~Intermission~
I'm having trouble getting a handle on my own thoughts. Maybe it's the pain or something else. I try to remember things one way and then my vision wafts out of focus, blurring my senses so I'm not even sure anymore. Cant I just forget?
Just dispose of me, please. That's what you do when something has outlived its usefulness. I won't need to worry about remembering correctly afterwards. It'll all stop sudden and at once. The cursed kit finally comes to an end.
Everyone would win. We'd all get what we wanted. All of them as well as me.
Redoak emitted a low, agonized groan. The seared flesh on his side fizzled and popped. The pain was akin to a galvanized army of angry ants crawling fervently across the raw skin. He wheezed, coughing out red speckled dark flakes. Smoke from the fire had cloyed together thickly, congesting the air to such a degree that it was difficult to breath without indirectly inhaling ash.
Swimming, his head lulled around dazedly. The last time he'd felt this wrecked physically was nest-ridden, sick with greencough.
Dispassionately Hollyfrost stared down at the injured tom. A swarm of volatile emotions were whirling throughout her, one more spiteful and rueful than the last, as she stood there festering. How was it there was some much she wanted to say, but couldn't verbalize simultaneously?
In the backdrop the auburn flicker of the ever burning forest roared on. It cast an eerie shadow on them, giving way to these twisted and malformed shapes.
"It was after that wasn't it?" Hollyfrost said. "After you ranaway and Oakclaw brought you back. That's the moment when everything began to spiral out of control and tumble down." She lapsed into silence, allowing gravity to soak in the weight of her next words. "You killed Brackentail, didn't you?"
Redoak didn't say anything. Though pained, the expression on his face was enough as to guess the answer. No intent was made to hide it.
"That's just like you. From the very start you were such a foxhearted coward that found it easier to ruin and sabotage than fight for happiness like I did. The problem is you never wanted to be happy. You shoved it away at the first given opportunity and always chose the worst option afterwards. You deserve everything that's happened to you."
Redoak continued to stare off vacantly, occasionally wincing in pain to show he was vaguely still lucid. Hollyfrost snorted in disgust at him, revile and contempt evident in her face.
"I actually felt sorry for you," she said, her fangs flashing sneeringly. "It's mousebrain to think now, but I wanted to help, make a better world for the two of us to live in. And what did you do? Give into that self-destructive nature of yours and ruin it all! Everything I did you actively fought back against for no other reason than because you're empty inside. So empty that you'll simply lie here and wait to die."
Sharp fangs abruptly fastened into the back of Redoak's neck, pulling harshly. A mixture of surprise and pain slipped from his mouth at the sudden jostling of his body, which shot a stabbing jolt at his side.
"That's for Sagebrush," she spat, spitting his hairs from her mouth. "That's for having the audacity to continue looking him in the eyes after killing his father. Was it worth it? After everything that's happened, do you think it was really worth it to do!"
He was in too much pain to answer. And even if he wasn't there was little chance he ever would. Brackentail's death was something he'd tried to erase entirely. That was the moment he'd crossed the threshold of no return.
A/N: Sorry for the wait. Just know that I'm working on three chapters concurrently right now that should be released in the coming weeks. Two are a part of the main narrative while the third is another bonus side story.