[Neptune.]

Public humiliation it is, then. Spiderthroat yells. Cats gather, their gazes scathing and they mutter either out loud or under their breaths. And Hollowpaw can't bring himself to believe it's unneeded. He hadn't thought himself arrogant or that he'd known or been better than anyone else all thanks to his rank before all this, but Spiderthroat's words plant the thought in his brain and, even as he shrinks to the ground, belly flat against the dirt and ears pinned to his head, he cannot help but wonder if maybe he really had thought of himself that way.

There is no demotion that faces him. But the no demotion is probably far worse than actually being demoted. With it, comes a promise of exile - probably a hidden threat of death, too - if he messes up even slightly one more time. It's meant to scare him, it's meant to light a fire under him, it's meant to tell him exactly where he stands at the moment. And where he stands is on a patch of leaf thin ice in the center of the ocean. No way out. No way to safety. But his feet are still on relatively solid ground for the time being, even if it cracks and wobbles. He isn't drowning yet.

Wolfhawk-- Wolfpaw-- is not as fortunate. His demotion is done with malice and what Hollowpaw can only fabricate in his own interpretation of the anger in Spiderthroat's voice as vindictive glee. Hollowpaw does not take pleasure in all that's said, but he can't feel as though this is the wrong course of action. The only reason he himself does not face the same fate is because he'd tended to Dragonflycliff. He'd played first responder to Bumblestar's wounds but from there... nothing. Incompetence. His fault she'd lost another life. Not Wolf's. His. He has half a mind to point that out, but Hollowpaw is not a glutton for punishment, and he thinks Spiderthroat already knows this, anyway. There's no point bringing it up.

He nods, minutely, an acknowledgment. He wants to retreat into the crowd, to vanish from sight, but he forces himself to stay rooted to the spot. He has half a mind to offer some form of comfort to Wolfpaw, but he instead just curls his tail in tighter against himself. This will not happen again.