[taillow]

Time was an illusion at this point, and the dark tabby was unsure how much of it passed before the soft fall of paw steps alerted her that she wasn't alone. Immeidately Dusklion stiffened, claws sliding out and muscles tensing. Moons spent in the outskirts with her brother had taught her to never be caught off-guard and to always be ready to fight for life. But the voice that spoke her name was familiar, and just as quickly as they had slid out, her claws went back in.

"B-Birds." Embarrassment crawled hot over her pelt as the head Lionheart (for now) scrambled to her paws. She kept her head ducked away from her leader, shaking it as subtly as she could to dry the tears that still fell from her eyes. By now her wounds had faded into the numb cacophony of other torrent emotions that stormed throughout her body, each of them thrashing against each other violently. "I-I..." Dusk was not normally one to be speechless - but all of the words she could've spoken were some place in her mind that she couldn't reach right now.

But reach she tried. Eventually, after a couple of beats, Dusklion turned to face Birds, though her gaze lingered on the forest floor. It traveled to her leader's paws, slowly up, until she managed to meet the scarred she-cat's blue gaze. Within her chest her heart continued to thud like the sound of heavy rain in a storm, so loud that she was certain Birds could hear it. "I'm sorry." The words came out in a haste, spoken as if she couldn't get them out fast enough. "I didn't mean to... for all of that to just... my brother, h-he is..." Nothing was coming out right and Dusk didn't know how to fix it or even attempt to stop it. "I worked hard, 'n I did everythin' right, I trained hard 'n I..I..." No, no, no! This isn't how she wanted this to go!

"...I'm grateful, I am. When I joined the Clan with F-Fades last leaf-bare, I swore that I'd give all I had for this Clan... our home. No matter what, at the end of the day... that's what matters. RiverClan thrivin'... like we used to." It felt weird to say 'we' since Dusklion didn't even know or had experienced what she considered the golden era of RiverClan. But she had felt so in tune the moment, so in tune with this Clan by the water, that if she didn't know any better... she would've believed that her and Fades had been born here.

But that wasn't enough. It was obvious that in the time they had been here, while she had been busing herself, that her brother's goals had changed. Had she been so wrapped up in her own ambition that she hadn't noticed? Had he not felt like he could tell her, as she had told him? Something about the thought of that nearly broke her heart - if there were any other pieces left to fall... to shatter. Out of every single cat in the entire world, it was Fades who she had trusted most. Now it felt like even that was gone, and it made Dusk feel unsafe. Vulnerable. It was an emotion she couldn't afford right now though, not with a task placed before her.

Looking at Birdsnow now, Dusk was calmer than before, and there was a clarity in her eyes. "I'll go with you to the Starcave," she answered softly, nodding her head once. "...If you need to remove me from my position, I'll..." ...why couldn't she get the words out? "...I understand." The entire Clan probably hated her by now, and while she could just grin and bear it... the thought of that was exhausting. "...At least let me make sure... you're safe, on the way to the cave. We don't know if any of William's followers are out there, or if any thunder-rats might try to take another swipe at you... 'N RiverClan needs... needs a strong leader." She didn't say it, but her lifted gaze held Birds own with the same intense passion as it had during the meeting; And that leader is you... I hope.

...Okay, that was it. Those were all of the words she had in her, and afterwards her shoulders slumped just a little - not enough to be noticeable, though. Dusklion still stood, paws still steady. Her blue eyes were free of tears, though there was a lingering exhaustion in them. She wouldn't falter though, because she had a job to do - and that was to make sure Birds made it safely to speak with StarClan.

[ @poppy - not sure if you want to have the next post be at the starcave or here! ]