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Mending

Sunset followed Spiny to the spot where they had confined Gold. Her eyes had a bewildered look in them, as if she had seen something horrifying.

"What's wrong, Gold?" he tenderly asked as she began to cower.

"Angel," whimpered Gold. "Angel killed… changed… changed and killed-"

Sunset's ears twitched, and he glanced back to see Hugo standing next to Spiny, having come to see what the commotion was all about. Turning back to Gold, he wondered if Angel could have completed part of their task for them. Could he have destroyed the Shadow? "Whom did Angel kill?" he asked almost eagerly.

"Twilight!" was the whined response.

Sunset stood in shock for a moment or so. His own sister? The demon child killed his own kind?

"She didn't know…" continued Gold, "didn't know. I went back… I saw him kill her… he tried to kill another, too," she muttered, "but I think they got away."

Sunset turned to face Hugo again, ready to ask him if he understood the fear they faced, but he was gone. "Gold," he sighed, thinking nothing of Hugo's disappearance and turning to look her in the eyes. "That's why we banned anyone from leaving our grounds. Who knows what Angel is capable of?" He walked towards her and placed a somewhat comforting paw on her back. "I know you still hold your membership in that family close to your heart, but having been within the family should have taught you better than any of us the chaos that comes from it."

"Yes," sniffed Gold, "But the love was greater than the chaos."

Hugo silently made his way down the rocky precipice and towards the cave that he had recently heard so much about. A frosty chill was in the air as winter was approaching, but this cold just gave him strength in body and mind.

That eon could still be down there, he thought to himself as he began to leap from rock to rock. They could still be alive… they could need help.

With that in mind, he jumped past the remaining rocks onto the rocky bottom and ran cautiously towards the cave.

Hugo peeked in as he approached the cave, and could only gulp back in terrified awe as he saw the images that still lined it. Glancing off to one side of the cave, he noticed a darkened silhouette hovering over what seemed to be a mangled body. The silhouette was female in shape, he could tell, because of the more petite form than what he had seen in Midnight and others. Rage began to build within him, as he believed he had arrived too late and that this was the Shadow that now stood before him.

I will destroy one, he thought to himself. For the clan and any others I have ever cared for. Both should not be allowed to roam this earth, and I will make sure there is one less.

With that, he leapt at the figure, pinning a now shocked and very hurt Eclipse back-first into the ground. She screamed.

"Blood-thirsty monster!" Hugo cried out as his eyes began to glow white. "I'll send you back to the hell from which you came!"

Angel was sitting in the rear area, pondering over the horrid sketches made with the blood of his sister when he heard the scream. He stood quickly, heading towards the cave's opening.

As Hugo raised his paw in attack, Eclipse's eyes grew wide, and she stammered in both pain and terrified recognition, "Hugo?"

He stopped his attack in the air as the color drained from his face. He replied in horrified shock, "Eclipse?"
At that moment, Hugo was ripped off of Eclipse by an enraged Angel and thrown almost into the opposite wall. Hugo stood quickly, his fur bristling and crystallizing as he prepared for a battle. Angel widened his stance and continued to growl.

"Run, Eclipse!" Hugo cried out as he lunged at Angel. "I'll hold him off!"

Eclipse did run, right between the two. She held Angel back a bit as Hugo skidded to a halt. Glancing at Hugo before turning towards Angel, Eclipse pleaded with him to calm as Hugo watched on in confusion. Eclipse was a friend of his from long ago, perhaps one of his only. But why was she protecting this evil? He didn't understand.
When Angel had finally calmed, Eclipse stepped away from them both in horrid pain. She had over-exerted herself and now the pain in her chest was immense. Angel followed solemnly, followed by a somewhat nervous and worried Hugo.

Eclipse lay down carefully further in the den, Angel watching her carefully as Hugo came up behind them.
"What happened to her?" Hugo quietly asked.

"The Shadow got her," Angel quietly replied, "and I don't know how to help her."

Hugo began to growl quietly "I'll kill it. I'll kill the Shadow for this."

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"The Shadow has taken its residence within Eclipse," Angel sighed.

Hugo's face turned to an astonished surprise. "I'd have to kill Eclipse?'

Angel nodded.

"What about Angel, the demon?"

"You mean they call me a Demon now?"

"That's… you?" Hugo then flushed in embarrassment. "I suppose I should have been able to tell from your fur. But… you aren't a bad guy."

"You should have seen me if Eclipse hadn't have tried to calm me."

Hugo looked down in thought. There were two sides to this story now. He had heard about the first, and was now seeing the second. The creatures that he was supposed to fight were actually fighting themselves, which complicated the situation entirely. How could you get rid of the bad without taking out the good?

Hugo glanced back up as Angel brushed by him, walking towards Eclipse. "First things first," Angel commented as he looked back up towards Hugo, now standing beside Eclipse, "due to the recent commotion, I haven't had time to even try and heal her."

Hugo walked over towards them both and looked down on Eclipse as she lay silent, not truly asleep; yet not truly conscious either. "Is there any way I can help?"

Angel glanced up again, wondering who this eon actually was. Eclipse seemed to know him, so evidently he wasn't that bad. "Alright," breathed Angel. "If you lend me some of your energy, I should be able to create a moonlight strong enough to at least mend her ribs."

Hugo nodded. "Okay then, let's do this."

"Sunset," murmured Gold as she slunk otherwise soundlessly into his resting grounds. She had had time to ponder what she had seen, and her words came out cold, almost unfeeling.

Feeling this chill that was now set upon her, Sunset smiled inside. He now knew that the one person in the clan that thought that Angel deserved to live may have turned. "Yes, Gold?" came the warm reply. He had to show her that this side was better, lest she turn her back to both.

Her eyes remained glaring, piercing. Sunset almost shuddered. "When is the next evolution ceremony?"

Sunset stared at her for a moment. All of her life she had never wanted to evolve. She joined all of the eons in celebrating the ceremony that happened every solstice, but never desired to take part in the evolution itself. Was she just volunteering to make the ceremonial etchings in the mud again?

"The winter solstice isn't for a while yet, Gold. Another new moon must come and go."

She glared at him, though not in contempt, and sat down beside him. "I want to evolve, Sunset." The harshness in her voice surprised him. Not once had she ever been this angry at anyone for any more than a few hours.

"Are you sure y--?"

"I'm ready," she snapped. "And I don't want to wait on the ceremony. I want to do it tonight."