[Empress Of Evil]

She had to calm down. Taking slow, deep breaths, Auroraflame calmed down and silenced her sobs. She couldn't be like this in front of her mentor. She had to stay strong, she couldn't let her emotions get the better of her. But it was much harder than the deputy could ever expect. The ebony she-cat could never know what to expect when it came to emotions. When she was angry, she could feel like hurting everyone in her sight. When she was sad, she could become extremely weak emotionally. Looking at her former mentor, it hurt Auroraflame to see her in such pain. No one had the right to be going through the amount of pain that her former mentor was. This wasn't right, it wasn't fair. But life wasn't fair and it wouldn't ever be fair. Even if there were times where you felt like life was treating you like a queen, something would eventually come and make you tumble down to the bottom. But that was all just part of life. It was the obstacles that you had to over come. It was just life's way of teaching you not to give up. Great rewards will come if you work hard after all. But, this was all too much at once. Auroraflame knew that in a few weeks she would stop dwelling on the fact that she had murdered a cat and move on. But losing her former mentor might last in her mind for a bit longer than that. Especially having to deal with this all at once.

The deputy's ears immediately swiveled around as her mentor spoke again. That didn't last long as a moment later she found herself pressing her ears against her head. She knew that Rainpebble was right, but even after the many moons of learning from her former mentor, Auroraflame had still decided that some things couldn't just slip pass. The ebony pelted she-cat knew that peace was the way and not violence, but she was defiant and she yearned to let her enemies know that a big crime would not be forgotten. Even if she had to do it alone, she would always do what she believed was right. If no one was ever going to believe in you, you had to believe in yourself and prove them wrong. It wasn't fair that others didn't trust you to do something, so you just had to show them that they were wrong. Even if it wasn't always the nicest thing to do, anger could drive Auroraflame to do powerful things. When she was angry, the she-cat would show everyone else that they shouldn't have accused her, have wronged her, she wouldn't stand for that. It was just her strange way of being fair.
As Rainpebble's next set of words reached her ears, her icy blue hues widened. "No! Don't think like that, you will survive!" she said fiercely, the transparent droplets starting to fall rapidly once again. "There is hope, there is always hope," Auroraflame whispered, choking back her sobs.
The spotted she-cat's words made sent pain running through her. "No, i'm no legend. I couldn't save you, what kind of a cat does that make me?" Auroraflame mumbled numbly, her fur damp with her tears. The words that Rainpebble were pushing her towards feeling proud against her own will, but she refused to let herself rejoice. She had made a mistake, maybe it would've been better if she'd asked Grousestar to not let Rainpebble go. She should've been there to protect her. But knowing her former mentor, it wasn't like the she-cat would've listened. She would've gone no matter what she'd said. "Yes, you will be right beside me because you'll live through this. Please Rainpebble, you're not going anywhere anytime soon," Auroraflame said, struggling to speak through the sobs that shook her. She trembled as her former mentor coughed up blood. There was no denying it. For the moments leading up to this, Auroraflame had hoped harder than she ever had. But fate was going to decide what it wanted to do. Normally, the she-cat would've already admitted that the she-cat was going to leave soon, but she couldn't. Rainpebble had taught her to keep hoping, she couldn't just let that all go. Everything that she had been taught, the ebony she-cat would never let go of. She would keep it and make sure that she didn't forget to use everything she knew.

As Rainpebble's paw touched her cheek, the deputy could already feel her becoming colder than it should be. "No, please, don't," Auroraflame begged, her voice barely audible as she looked down at her former mentor, her usually optimistic, bright icy blue hues, pained. As the spotted molly spoke her final words, the she-cat was overwhelmed with emotions. "No!" Auroraflame wailed, moving forward and placing her two front paws on either shoulder, shaking the lifeless body gently. "No no no no no!" Auroraflame cried, the tears coming down in streams as the deputy buried her head into the blood stained, cold fur. One word echoed continuously through her mind the whole time.

No.

@starfall @Brooklyn Trees