((I managed to write, edit, and get this chapter up in less than a week. Go me. Actually, I wrote all this as quickly as I could for two reasons. The first being that next week is the last week of school for me and also the week that they cram all the final exams into (oh, boy…) and it is highly unlikely that I will have time to write on this story at all next week. So, I figured I'd write another chapter and hope that keeps you reviewer-people content. Of course, a while ago I would have just waited until school let out and I had some time before getting around to writing, which leads to my second reason. I kinda felt I owed it to the reviewers to attempt to get chapters up faster. Seriously, I write erratically...getting sometimes a couple chapters up every month, sometimes less. And, yet, you reviewers still review when I do manage to finish a chapter. You all have more patience then I do. Much more. So, anyway, this is kind of a thank-you for all that, but, considering how my editing process was much less thorough, it might be a thank-you full of grammatical errors and nonsensical sentences. Eh, what can I say? It's still a thank-you.
Ok. I used the word humane in this chapter. Now, I know it doesn't fit with the vocabulary that animals are supposed to know (woah, that phrase is ironic… 'doesn't fit with the vocabulary that animals are supposed to know' indeed) but all the synonyms I could find didn't fit. So, if any of you can come up with a word that does fit, please tell me, because every time I read over that, it makes me wince. Oh, and, if Darkclaw appears to know too much about broken necks, that's because he does. I don't know why I wrote that part in there. Someone told me about that a long time ago, and I've never managed to shake it out of my head. So, I wrote it down, to see if that would help. It hasn't.))
…
Search parties were all over the place, searching, apparently, for him and the other two. Root knew very well that they would never find Darkclaw, but was a bit worried about Redsplash. In her current state, she appeared to be inviting any reason to die to herself. If she went searching for a reason to die tonight, she would find it. As for himself, Root was managing to stay unnoticed with such ease it would have been eerie, if Root ever really thought about it.
Darkclaw was leaving tracks. Tracks that even the hares did not notice, but Root was following with only minor trouble. It was obvious to the squirrel that the wildcat was doing this on purpose. If he had not wanted to be found, then chasing Darkclaw would be like chasing a nightmare: impossible and infinitely dangerous. As Root followed the tracks, he erased them. One of these hares might happen upon them eventually, and the last thing Root needed was innocent blood on his paws. Fatefiend's blood had already stained them, and that was bad enough. If some poor troupe of hares followed these tracks to Darkclaw, there was no way to know what would happen to them, but Root was willing to guess it would not be a fun experience for any but the wildcat.
When the tracks stopped, Root did not see the cave entrance for a full minute or so. It was ingeniously disguised by nature, with plant life draped across the small opening as if purposefully hiding it. The squirrel only marveled for an instant, and then he trudged on in, and it began increasingly apparent that it was not nature that had hidden this cave. The walls were too smooth, and there were several unlit torches shoved in niches along the way. Root could not see them, but the shape was familiar to him, and he recognized them easily as he felt his way along.
He had been walking in darkness for about five minutes or so when he saw the flickering light of several torches. Following the light, he managed to find his way into a wide, tall room. Darkclaw was sitting, in all his dark and brooding brilliance, in the very center, glaring at the torches as if the light hurt his eyes. There was something different about him, now, something Root couldn't quite understand. Maybe it was something that had changed within Root himself, and not in the wildcat sitting in front of him.
Root remembered clearly being terrified of the wildcat. But now…now Root wasn't sure there was anything in the world he was afraid of, and that realization was not a happy one. Fear made one real; he knew that. Without fear you were just a shell of something that could have been beautiful: the abandoned cocoon of a departed butterfly. It hurt, for some reason, this new fearlessness. Darkclaw had been easy to fear, once, and now it was as if the wildcat suddenly lacked those vicious teeth and ominous claws. The world had lost its' claws, in a way, but the world was still brutal. It did not need claws to kill you. The claws only made death seem more humane.
"Squirrel." Darkclaw's voice was low, now, and tired in a way it had never been before. Before, Darkclaw had always possessed the control to keep his tone neutral or mildly threatening. Now, it seemed, Fatefiend's death had robbed him, too, of the energy it took to keep up normal pretenses.
"Wildcat." Root replied in the same bitterly tired voice as he crossed the cave and settled on the rough rock floor in front of the wildcat, who had surrounded himself with torches as if to ward away the night with a circle of flaming wood.
"How is the otter?" It was an odd question as, perhaps an hour ago, but almost certainly less, he had been far more certain about Redsplash's health than Root had been. Was it possible that Darkclaw was not as certain about what he said as he pretended to be? Or was the wildcat attempting to take back the way he had seemed to know everything? It made no sense, but perhaps it was better that way.
"Alive. I suppose." It was a hard question to answer, and Root failed miserably at it.
"You suppose?" Green eyes flicked upward, indifference replaced by curiosity and minute alarm.
"She left…I was talking to her, and I made her mad. She was talking about suicide, but I don't think she meant it. Not really. She said she lost her life." Root shrugged, not understanding the words when he repeated them back any more than he had when he had heard them.
"Ah…" Darkclaw nodded at this, as if it was something he had expected, but had still had doubts about. "Her nature is chaotic, is it not?"
"What?" Root was far too tired to answer questions tonight, but this sounded like a question that would have been hard to answer even if he were wide awake.
"It is very hard to understand her, as she does not understand herself. I suppose one who has declared war on all her race stands for must be a very confused beast, but Redsplash…" His head shook back and forth. "There is something about her we will never understand, until he know about her kin and her past. I had hoped to know more by gathering information from Fatefiend, as he was prone to drop tidbits, but now…" There was a sigh, but it sounded almost like a hiss.
"But now Fatefiend is dead." Root did not like how the words tasted. It seemed hard to form them, and hard to force them out of his throat.
"Yes. And this death of his…it certainly ruins my plans. I don't suppose you know anything that could bring him back?" Darkclaw peered up at him as if he was deathly serious about this. It was almost as if there were, for some strange reason, a hope that Root would know how to bring the dead back to life.
"No…"
"Ah, of course not. Not you. Not anymore." The wildcat turned his head away from the squirrel and, for a second, it sounded as if Darkclaw were crying. This alarmed Root severely until the squirrel realized that the wildcat was not crying at all…he was laughing.
"There is nothing funny here, Darkclaw." Root informed him icily.
Darkclaw shook his head again, turning to look at the squirrel. "Actually, squirrel, it is quite hilarious. I don't suppose you would understand the humor in the situation, being as you currently are, but the irony is astounding. Don't ever seek redemption again, squirrel. It will surely kill us all." And then the wildcat stood up, and began to walk away.
"What? What do you mean?" Root demanded, bounding to his feet. "Where are you going?"
"To find our dear friend the otter and attempt to force her through a stage or so of the grieving process. We have no need for sorrow. Not from that one." Still laughing, but his laugh bitter now, the wildcat left.
…
The ocean was calm here. It was a bay, of sorts. The water seemed to lose its' energy, and only lapped at the shore like a dying swimmer reaching pathetically for sand. None of the patrols came to this part of the ocean, not tonight anyway. Perhaps they had already searched it, or perhaps they simply forgot about it. Neither Darkclaw nor Redsplash were familiar with the minds of hares.
The otter was standing, neck-deep, in the ocean, staring southeast as if intent on finding something in that direction. Her eyes were red, but that was merely the bloodwrath slowly leaving, and not the evidence of tears that had never been shed. She had a strange look on her face, as if she were trying to understand something, and attempting to keep all emotions off her face at the same time. It was strange, how one could see so much on her face, but nothing in her eyes.
"What do you think you're doing here, Redsplash?" Darkclaw questioned, standing on the shore directly above where the waves touched the sand.
"Looking…" she replied distantly, as if not paying attention to him, but answering anyway.
"And what are you looking for?" Darkclaw inquired.
"I am looking," here she took a breath as if she required the extra air to finish, "for the Nameless One's lands."
"That's rather pointless, don't you think? What do you expect to gain from it?"
"What do you expect to gain from questioning me about it? Did you come to make sure I was alive, or did you come to make sure I was surviving?" She spoke this quietly, almost whispering.
"I came to make sure you were still utilizing your lungs." Darkclaw informed her evenly. "I did not come to listen to you mumble incoherently about survival."
"Well, I am still breathing. You can leave now, Darkclaw."
"You'll never find them."
"Find what?"
"The lands of the Unnamed One. You cannot see them from here."
"We often look for things we cannot see. It's what makes us keep living. We were searching for something, Darkclaw. What was it?"
"Depends. Who was searching?" Darkclaw asked, settling reluctantly into this eerie game of conversation.
"Fatefiend and I. We came here looking for something…but I can't remember what it was. Do you know? You know a lot, but…do you know this?"
"I don't presume to know everything, and the reason why you came here currently escapes me. Perhaps you were looking for treasure." Darkclaw's reply was sarcastic. After all, he would only take so much of a moping otter before it began to annoy him.
She nodded. "Treasure, of course. But treasure is everything. Every gasp of air is treasure, because treasure is simply what you have that others wish they did. This breath of air I just took is a treasure to someone who is dying of strangulation."
"Like Fatefiend did." Darkclaw agreed.
"Fatefiend did not die of strangulation. His neck was broken." Redsplash argued, and, for the first time, she sounded like his answer mattered…as if she were finally listening to him.
"Did you think that a broken neck is what killed him? You've broken bones before. It's not the breaking that killed him, Redsplash. When your neck breaks, your mind cannot tell your lungs to move, and so they don't. Fatefiend strangled to death, Redsplash."
Redsplash twitched oddly, almost as if she shuddered, but only her shoulders. "He did not want to die that way."
"I don't suppose he wanted to die at all."
"He didn't."
"Get out of the water, Redsplash. You won't find comfort searching for something you'll never find."
"That's my life now, Darkclaw. I might as well get used to it." And then Redsplash dived underwater and swam out to sea. Darkclaw was startled at first, but knew better than to go in pursuit. Few could catch an otter in water, and Darkclaw was very well aware that he was not one of those few. With a growl, he turned back towards the caves. Hopefully Redsplash knew better than to swim too far out to sea. Losing Fatefiend was acceptable, though disastrous. Losing Redsplash, too, was intolerable.
…
By the time Darkclaw got back into the cave, he was startled to find Redsplash already there. She was eating something in a dark corner. Root had, apparently, gone out and fetched their packs while Darkclaw went searching for Redsplash. The squirrel had created some kind of food, probably for something to do, and we currently staring at the empty bowl as if it were a monster.
"When're we leaving?" Root's voice was oddly hollow, and it was only after asking that the squirrel looked up to find his answers in the wildcat's eyes.
"Where do you think we'd go?" Darkclaw demanded harshly. Now was not the time to speak of such things. Darkclaw was irritated and fatigued.
"Somewhere. Anywhere. Just…we can't stay here."
"Of course we can't stay here, but, unless you liked being chased through the forest, we can't go back the way we came. And someone who thinks my family is at war with him owns the area surrounding the mountain of Salamandastron. He will not just kill me, if he finds me there. He will kill us all."
"Then why did you let us come here? Do you want us to die, Darkclaw? Is that it? If you want us dead, then just kill us."
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be alive." Darkclaw snapped. "In a few days we can leave. I have a message in transport that will allow us into the lands beyond Salamandastron."
"So, we're supposed to stay here until that message has been delivered? I won't do it, wildcat. You can't make me stay here. The whole place reeks of death now. The air is poisonous. The hares are searching for us. How long until you think they find us, Darkclaw? How long do you think we're safe?"
"Eternity." Darkclaw growled. "If that's how long we need to stay."
"We need to leave, Darkclaw. We can't heal if this death is there all the time!" By 'we' he meant Redsplash, and it was obvious. It was this reference, perhaps, that brought Redsplash out of her silent observance of this argument.
"We're not leaving." She said quietly, like she was only now realizing what she meant to do. Darkclaw looked at her, and he knew what she meant. His lips tugged down into a frown, and his eyes glittered with disapproval.
"What do you mean?" Root inquired, his tone carrying an odd sense of dread. Perhaps he, too, knew what was coming.
"I have to get my vengeance. Vengeance for Fatefiend." Redsplash nodded. These words sounded right, even if they felt painful.
Root looked at her silently for a very long time, lips pressed together in mute anxiety, but he knew, eventually, that he would have to ask the question hanging in the air. "And how, exactly, do you think you're going to get that?"
"We will need an army." She told them both, her head tilting to the side and her eyes focusing on the air in front of her.
"The only armies about are Salamandastron's army of hares, and the five of the Unnamed One's armies combined into one. They are marching this way." Darkclaw informed them in a rumble.
"What?" Root demanded loudly, though Redsplash only blinked and smiled.
"We are about to be caught in a war." Darkclaw stared at Redsplash, watching her as one would watch an approaching disaster.
"We will go to the Nameless One's armies, and we will join." Redsplash informed them both, with a terrible kind of calm for one talking about what was most likely suicide.
"The Nameless One is still looking for you." Darkclaw reminded the otter quietly, frowning but not scowling.
"Well, that is a problem. But it's not one I'm worried about. If they come to capture me, I will kill them." She nodded slowly and smiled. "I will kill them all."
After that, Redsplash did not speak another word for the rest of the night. Root told them both how stupid this was, many times, and Darkclaw suggested that the squirrel get some sleep. Finally, still muttering about suicide and stupidity, the squirrel curled up on the cold rock floor, and dreamed deeply of things he would not remember when he woke up. Darkclaw watched Redsplash stare blankly in front of her for about half an hour after Root fell asleep, but even the wildcat needed sleep sometime, and he went into the shadows to seek out sleep. Redsplash did not sleep that night, but went to watch the hares and the sky at the mouth of the cave, waiting for the sun to rise.
…
The left when the sun had begun to rise. After that, they did not stop. It was amazing, really, how one could walk for days if properly motivated. Redsplash, it seemed, simply forgot to eat or drink at all. Occasionally, she would start to stumble and sway oddly, and Root would hurry to catch up to her, force her to drink something, and, if she were close enough to fainting to not be able to fight back, force some food down her throat. But Redsplash was strong, and this only happened perhaps half a dozen times in the three days they traveled.
Night and day passed without meaning. Shadows grew, shortened, and disappeared. The sun flew across the sky, to be met by the moon, and twilight and dawn danced in an endless, hollow, waltz. Footstep followed footstep, and breath followed breath. One of them would blink, and hours would slip past. None of them knew what kept the others going, but all of them were united in not wanting to stop. Their past held horrors none of them were willing to face. They turned their backs to their lives and marched silently onward.
It was in the early evening of the third day that they came upon the horde. A simple search party met them, and brandished bloodstained weaponry at them dangerously. Darkclaw batted the spears away in blatant aggravation, and Root and Redsplash stared blankly at the swords and daggers, as if wondering if such things were supposed to be intimidating to them. Finally, it became clear to the three travelers what was happening. Darkclaw took the lead, and Redsplash did not seem to care. Root seemed suspicious for a moment, but voiced no arguments; he was far too tired for such nonsense.
"Put away your weapons, idiots." Darkclaw commanded the search party of rats harshly. "We have come to join your army."
The rabble of rats glared up at him. For the briefest of seconds, it seemed they would attack and that would be the end of it, but, in a way that gave a new definition to reluctance, they agreed to take them back to their army's leader. Darkclaw's ears pricked forward at the mention of this, and he smiled. He realized far before the other two that the five armies, which were supposed to join as one, were still treating each other as separate entities. Darkclaw knew very well how this could be used, and this was the best news he had heard in many very long days and equally as endless nights.
They traveled for perhaps fifteen minutes before entering a gigantic camp. Fires lit the fading sky like thousands of minute suns. Each fire had, on average, five beasts sitting around it. There were tens of thousands of beasts here, if not even more. Darkclaw's eyes fairly gleamed with the possibilities. But, even in that brief moment of joy, he noticed the state of the camp. Invisible lines had been drawn, which no beast here dared to cross. The armies were not mixing. That was blatantly obvious. If anything, they were fighting against each other. Darkclaw's quiet smile turned into a malevolent smirk.
"I sent you to bring back food, and you bring me back this?" Demanded an outraged, rather squeaky, voice. "I oughta kill the lot of you!"
Darkclaw, Redsplash, Root, and the search party of rats all turned to see a burly rat come stalking up, waving a short sword hazardously. "They said they wanted ta join!" One of the rats shouted back, swallowed, and then added, hastily. "Sir."
The burly rat narrowed his beady eyes, scowling. "Sir's right." He growled. "And 'ow many otters you know that wanta kill hares? They're spies."
"The otter is not. And is the squirrel either." Darkclaw remarked, his tone calm, before adding, almost as an afterthought: "And I, most certainly, am not a spy."
"No one spoke to you." The burly rat, who was obviously the leader, growled viciously. "An' if you want to join an army, you've gotta learn to speak when spoken to, and not any time else!"
Darkclaw smirked at him. "Forgive me, then, I did not know I would be welcomed so…poorly."
"Just who do you think you are, wildcat?" The rat roared, standing on the tips of his footpaws so that he could wave the short sword in Darkclaw's impassive face.
"I am the son of Saedian and Caraya. I am the brother of Bloodrise, Lian, Grenail, and Bluefang. I am a prince of the clan of Warheart." Darkclaw said all of this in a disinterested drawl. "Who are you?"
"I'm Kani, general of an army of the Nameless One. My master does not like your clan."
"And my clan does not like me." Darkclaw retorted, his tone both serious and ironic. "I was exiled last season, or about then, anyway. I heard about my family's enemy's plans for this area, and came here as quickly as possible. If my family exiled me, they have no say over whose army I fight for, and I intend to fight for the Unnamed One's."
"Why?" Kani demanded suspiciously.
"Because I never fight on the losing side of a war." Darkclaw answered calmly.
Kani stared at them suspiciously for several seconds. "No." He snapped finally. "I don't trust any of you. Take 'em away, rats. Kill 'em."
"Now, now, Kani, let's not be hasty." Drawled the smooth voice of a large red fox, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Just because you never accept any but rats into your army does not mean mine can't use some…reinforcements." He smiled broadly and stared at the three of them as if they were meat hanging from hooks, and he was feeling a bit hungry.
"Stay away from my prisoners, Rekth!" Kani bellowed loudly, sounding both possessive and outraged.
"They're not your prisoners if you intend to kill them, Kani.
Aysini's army does the executing, and she owes me a favor." The
fox answered smoothly.
"I'll kill them myself!" Bellowed the rat and moved his sword
as if he were planning to decapitate Root. Of course, this would have
caused a chain reaction if Root, Redsplash, and Darkclaw were awake
enough to realize what happened. As it was, there was the hissing of
the sword moving, and then a loud metallic sound as the short sword
met an oddly curved blade. The fox, Rekth, had blocked the sword with
what appeared to be a scythe, and he was looking rather annoyed about
having to do so.
"Kani, do not attempt to ruin the plan it has taken us generals weeks to create. It may not be the most brilliant plan, but it was the only way we could keep all five armies in check. If you decide to execute the prisoners or new recruits, you are going to have to give Aysini the right to scouting parties."
"I won't." Kani growled.
"Then I will take these prisoners and go call in that favor owed to me." The fox replied quietly. "And if you try to stop me, I will kill you. No rat is going to ruin this army. You will not ruin this siege."
"I'll kill you someday, fox. You and yer entire army." Threatened the rat, his teeth flashing yellow.
"How many times are you going to say that before you challenge me to some kind of duel?" Rekth inquired uninterestedly. "Come along, you three. We have to visit the fair Aysini. And, if we're lucky, she will threaten our body parts and not our lives."
They walked along after the fox, none of them looking anything close to healthy. Redsplash's eyes were red from fatigue instead of wrath. Root looked about ready to fall on his face and die. Only Darkclaw was alert, but, for him, this was all routine, and even he had a strange cast to his features that hinted at not near enough sleep. Several beasts looked up as they passed, the rats of Kani's army with particular detestation. It was becoming increasingly apparent that Rekth and Kani were not exactly allies, even if the Nameless One had ordered them to be. One of the rats went so far as to draw his dagger as Darkclaw passed. The wildcat was not worried. If any of these rats attempted anything dangerous, Darkclaw would kill them in the instant it took him to realize what was happening.
They crossed over the freakishly well-defined border between armies, and into one full of all the species one could except from a normal vermin army. After the completely rat army of Kani, it was almost a relief to see weasels and stoats. One could stare at rats for only so long, after all. Mixed, though they were, they was still something…off about them. It took a while to be noticed, but the fact that they were all burly and had the look of a fanatic was not missed by all three of the misfortunate travelers. Darkclaw noticed it, and he immediately became even more alert. When walking with the wicked, one does not let down one's guard.
"Aysini!" Rekth crowed the name as if summoning forth an old friend. "Ay-sini!"
"What is it you want, Rekth?" Came a brutal feminine voice. A female fox stood up from a fire, golden eyes glaring cruel rage. Her fur was jet-black, and her fangs pearly white. Her black tunic was stained with blood, and she wore the skull of some misfortunate mammal as the buckle for her belt. She fairly bristled with daggers, and had one long, thin sword she carried on her back. Overall, her appearance was nearly as malicious as the wicked glittering in those golden eyes of hers.
"It is very simple, Aysini. I promise." Rekth grinned widely at her and he strolled over to stand across from her, gesturing at the three beasts behind them. "Kani wants them killed. I want them alive."
The female fox cast demonically appraising eyes over all three of them. "I don't see why you'd keep the squirrel. The otter doesn't look strong, either."
"If nothing else, we can use them as false hostages." Rekth replied with a shrug of his red-furred shoulders.
Aysini scowled. "My beasts want blood, Rekth. We have not seen a decent amount for days. If we don't see it from these three, who'll take their place?"
"I have prisoners we're not using. Let's kill them." Rekth suggested indifferently. "Or, even better, we can make these three kill them to test their loyalty. Nothing like killing the innocent to prove one's true vileness, after all."
Aysini glared at him. "You like to talk, don't you, Rekth?" Rekth's grin faded to a scowl, and Aysini shrugged. "But, I accept your suggestion. Bring three prisoners to my camp, have these three kill them, and we will call it even."
"All right, then." Rekth agreed with a faint smile and a nod. He turned, towards the camp directly to the right of Aysini's.
"Oh, and Rekth…" Aysini's voice rang out behind them. "If that Warheart wildcat you're leading around comes near any of my beasts, I will dig your eyes out with my daggers."
"Of course you will, Aysini. How could I expect anything else?" Rekth called back good-naturedly, grinning like a cub given candy.
…
Redsplash was holding the bow in her paws like it was some fragile artifact of an ancient culture. She had strung it seconds ago, and was waiting patiently for the burly weasels to drag the screaming female mouse out of her cage. It was irritating, really, as her screaming had set off the entire bunch. There were many prisoners, and all of their voices were intertwined in furious and frightened shrieks. It was hurting Redsplash's ears.
The blood of the shrew Darkclaw had killed was already soaking into the sand. The corpse was to be mutilated by Aysini's army and then thrown into the ocean. Darkclaw had objected to the loss of good meat, but Rekth had offered him the bodies of all the hare spies his army found, and Darkclaw had settled into contented silence. The smell of the recently dead made Redsplash's nostrils twitch. Root appeared as if he might be sick.
When they finally brought the mouse out and shoved her to the ground, Redsplash brought up the bow quickly. They had given her three arrows, and she would use all three. The first hit the mouse in the shoulder. It was hardly unintentional, but Root looked completely shocked. The screams reached a fevered pitch and, for some reason, Redsplash felt a smile forming on her face. She was no sadist, not really, but pain seemed almost funny now. The second arrow flew all the way through the mouse's delicate ear. Blood was flowing freely out of wounds now. Root was looking more and more likely sickened by it all, and Darkclaw looked a little amused. Suddenly, pain was not funny anymore. The third arrow pierced the mouse's heart, and her high-pitched screams were silenced.
Redsplash passed the bow on to Root, and went to stand by herself, watching unemotionally. The prisoners were looking at her as if she were a new kind of demon that they had never seen before. A demon wearing the mask of one of their own. Redsplash smiled at that thought, but could not have explained what was funny about it. Root was staring at the bow as if he was wondering how it had gotten into his paws, and if it would kill him if he held it too tightly. A ferret gave him three arrows, and Root promptly gave two back, mumbling something about wasting arrows, but Redsplash knew that he just didn't have the stomach to torture his prey.
The hare was young, barely more than a cub really, but he was not screaming, as the fully-grown mouse had. He faced Root without showing any fear, and it was impossible to tell if he really felt any. Perhaps, if the hare had been screaming, it would have been easier. As it was, Root lifted the bow and aimed at the hare's heart, but could not find the will to kill him. For a second, everything seemed lost. If he killed the hare, everything that mattered to Root would be false…and if he didn't, he would die, and Redsplash would be left alone. Again. There were some things that just could not be allowed to happen.
Root attempted to explain this, using his eyes, to the hare, as he let the taunt string go, but the hare did not understand. How could he? The arrow silenced his frantically beating heart, but his accusing stare could not be silenced with a simple act of mortal violence. Root dropped the bow in the sand and turned away, fighting to keep some kind of screaming objection silent. Something murmured appreciation in his mind, something that liked the killing. What was normally a voice in his head gave him no words, but the approval was tangible. It nearly made Root sick.
"All right, then, Aysini, they're perfectly murderous. Approve?" Rekth's voice rang out, full of mockery for the newly dead.
"The squirrel hesitated." Aysini reminded the other fox, scowling.
"He was aiming." Rekth argued laughingly.
"Make sure he learns to 'aim' faster." Aysini snapped. "Now, go back to your army."
Rekth shrugged and led the three of them out of the gigantic crowd of beasts that was Aysini's army. All of them carried knives, intent upon disfiguring the corpses of the three dead beasts. Root could barley breathe, with the way they crowded him. Darkclaw and Redsplash shouldered them out of the way, and Root followed in the space they left behind, but, still, they crowded. Air was precious, suddenly.
…
"We killed them." Root hissed at the two of them later that night, in the tent they had been allotted and had placed practically in the center of Rekth's army. Root had objected, but Darkclaw had been instant. Now, Darkclaw sat on a veritable mountain of pillows he had stolen from the tents around this one, whose owners had stolen them from the places they raided. Redsplash had taken a few from him, and was propped up against them, ransacking the bags she had 'borrowed' from passing vermin, and taking bites from apples, cheeses, meats, and various other foods before throwing them away as if bored of their taste. The only thing she kept was a bottle of wine she had taken from Kani's tent, and she sipped from it constantly. The two of them watched Root as if only mildly entertained by his restless actions and his useless words.
"Do you not understand that? They were innocent, and we killed them!"
"Keep your voice down." Redsplash cautioned blankly.
"You should know by now, squirrel, that none are truly innocent. You are not. I am not. The otter certainly is not. None here are. Do you think that hare you killed would have been captive if he was innocent? He was obviously a Salamandastron hare. These armies haven't even reached the mountain yet. That hare was a runaway. You only run if you've done something that requires running from."
"It doesn't matter! He did nothing to us!" Root argued fiercely.
"The Nameless One has done nothing to you in particular. Yet, you would kill him if you saw him, wouldn't you?" Darkclaw questioned. At the mention of the Nameless One, Redsplash's upper lip drew up in a snarl.
"That isn't fair!" Root objected.
"Well, perhaps not to you it isn't." Darkclaw agreed amiably, shrugging his gigantic shoulders. "But you can hardly yell at us for what you, yourself, did too. You killed with us, Root. Do you not remember?" There was a mocking tone to that last sentence, but Root had no time to consider it.
"I only did it because you got us into this situation!" Root hissed.
Darkclaw rolled his eyes and stood up. "I did not. I merely manipulated the situation we were already in. If you're looking for someone to blame for being here, blame Redsplash. She decided to come here. Get some sleep, squirrel. You're talking nonsense." The wildcat went to the entrance, or exit in this case, of the tent and began to leave.
"Where are you going?" Root demanded, his voice nearly shrill with annoyance.
"To study this army and find it' faults." Darkclaw replied cryptically and left.
"He knows too much already. He doesn't need to find any thing else out." Root announced vehemently as he paced anxiously back and forth. As tired as he had been before, he was filled with a nervous type of energy now. He was restless and nervous, and those two were never a good combination.
"Let him find out what he can." Redsplash told Root calmly. "We will need it."
"For what?" Root demanded, loud enough to cause Redsplash to look up at him sharply. "What are we doing here, Redsplash? What do you think we'll accomplish by doing any of this? Joining with vermin that want you dead, going to war with an undefeated mountain, fighting a badger…it's all madness, Redsplash. Do you not understand that?"
"I understand it perfectly, squirrel." Redsplash retorted, her tone venomous and her expression a snarl. "And if you don't like it, you are free to flee whenever you want to."
"I can't do that!" Root bellowed. "Redsplash, you don't understand loyalty!"
Redsplash was on her feet in half a second, lunging forward as if she could make her point clearer by invading Root's personal space. "I know what it's like to lose it." She growled.
For a second it appeared as if Root was about to attempt to kill her, and then, magically, he reigned in his temper, and words came flying out of his mouth, even though he had planned on simply walking away. "Is that how you're going to use it? Do you think throwing his death at us like that is going to make me feel sorry for you? Well, it doesn't work. Not on me, and not on the wildcat."
Redsplash's paw connected solidly with his jaw, and the squirrel staggered back a few steps. The otter wanted to say something, anything, but words were beyond her now. Root just snorted, shaking his head. He appeared to want to say something, but decided against it. The squirrel followed Darkclaw's lead, and left, but he did not follow the wildcat's footsteps. Sometimes, you just need to be alone.