[Dizerel]

Originally Posted by spade

If den walls could talk, the ones that surrounded Kestrelstar right now would be screaming. Agony ripped through the tom as he furiously dug in the corner of his den, sending dirt and soil flying out behind him. Claws were curved and hooked, and the leader ignored the snags that caused drops of scarlet to stain his fur. "Traitors, all of them," he gasped, sucking in air like a vacuum and trapping it in his puffed out chest. Dig. Dig. Dig. More dirt, the pile behind him growing.

So entranced by his current task, Kestrelstar failed to noticed the figure that stood in the entrance to his den. A friend, a close confidant, a cat he hadn't talked to in awhile. Finally, her voice got his attention, and like a startled bird Kestrelstar's head snapped up. Warning bells rang in his head as he turned, muscles tense and claws out. Ready to go on the offensive, the leader advanced forward, eyes wild. Until he realized who it was.

"Junipersong-" Air rushed from his lungs as it was evicted from his chest, his frame deflating as the realization that this wasn't an intruder. Adrenaline seeped out of him as the gray tabby turned, retreating back to his hole. Not quite done yet. Curving his paws once more the leader set to work before stopping again. That was rude. He was leader still, despite the shadows that plagued his mind. "What did you want to talk about?" It was robotic and forced, but at least it provided him a break. Turning, Kestrelstar looked at Junipersong again, studying her as if he was trying to crack a code.

She did sort of walk into the leader's den without being invited in first, but she was certain that Kestrelstar wouldn't mind too much. If he did, he could just tell her to keep it in mind for the next visit. Though, walking in immediately made her feel disoriented from the giant pile of dirt that was still growing, and the large hole. She hadn't been in the leaders den many times before but its obvious that this wasn't how it was supposed to look.

She flinched back a bit as he snapped his head towards her, his claws still extended. Even if he hadn't intended it, it looked fairly threatening. She started to feel uneasy now. Normally she would be hopping from paw to paw, but now it was more of a nervous shifting of weight back and forth, her tail betrayed the unease that she felt by hanging low towards the ground. Were those rumors really true? She shuddered to think so. This had to just be stress getting at him. And as unhealthy a coping mechanism as digging a hole in your abode was, she could also think of far worse coping mechanisms too.

"Ah I... See that you are renovating. I didn't want to intrude or interupt you or anything but I know that recent times have been... more than stressful, so I thought that if you had the time, we could just chat? Get some stuff off our chests, help each other through our problems." She tried to smile. Normally it was bright and natural, but for once, it looked a bit forced. She tried to phrase it as 'the both of them' mutually helping each other, since that was more appealing than just saying 'you have a problem and we should talk about it'. Hopefully through this strange and somewhat crazed exterior he had right now, there was still the same Kes she knew and loved underneath.