.an overdue return. | 1x1 .reptile. & .saige.

[saige.]

You trick your lovers
That you're wicked and divine
You may be a sinner
But your innocence is mine

Please me
Show me how it's done
Tease me
You are the one

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In that instant, Ashice's mind drew a blank. His son was fine? But..if that were true, why was he called here by Emberleaf? The thought puzzled him, but if she had any intentions that benefited her, then it would've been made clear sooner and before they even reached past earshot of the others. Perhaps even prior to that. So if that wasn't her plan, what was it then? What was the purpose of pulling him away from training his needy Apprentice who sadly was right about him neglecting her, but he was the Deputy for StarClan's sake! He had far too much on his paws to really worry about an Apprentice. What possessed Arrowstar to assign Spiderpaw to him was more of a mystery than the black depths of the night sky.

"I...uh well Emberleaf called me away from training and said that you needed to tell me about Valorpaw's condition," he explained, confusion evident in his tone and the way he slowly rose his tail to point towards the sleeping form of his son who was nestled deep into a world of dreams. Ashice lowered his tail and continued to stare at his son, he continued to stare at the blackness that quickly enveloped around his vision and sent him spiraling into a pit of thoughts and where a broken puzzle lay before him. Steadily, however, he began to watch as the pieces moved before his hallucinating eyes and fit together, finally becoming complete after a drawn out moment of utter silence. When the idea finally came together, he blinked slowly to refocus his eyes on Shadowfrost; expression frozen and blank with worry. "Emberleaf came and got me, leaving Spiderpaw, Wolfhowl, and Hollypaw all alone. And I could hear Spiderpaw following me not too long after Emberleaf led me away. That means Hollypaw and Wolfhowl were left alone out in the middle of the territory-" He needn't say more.

"Oh StarClan, what did I just fall for?" He asked aloud, though directed at no one other than his ancestors who lay overseeing the living world in the stretch of the sky. Ashice swallowed what felt like frozen thistle slowly falling down his throat and creating sores to cause him pain for moons to come. "Shadowfrost, we need to go. Follow me," he ordered hurriedly as he felt adrenaline flowing freely as if was blood itself through his body and pumping into his legs and propelling him through camp and out the entrance quicker than a frightened rabbit.

----

With the level of speed Ashice had achieved in the mere moments of panic and rush, they had arrived back at the training area where he stood along with Spiderpaw, Wolfhowl, and Hollypaw only a short while ago, proven by the fresh scents holding onto the air. Chest heaving desperately for a proper amount of air and muscles complaining for the sudden use, he shook his head to clear his troubled mind of things that could easily wait until later. As of now, he had to find the pair of cats dubbed Apprentice and mentor before anything else. Looking first where Wolfhowl had laid upon the rock, then down to where Spiderpaw and Hollypaw stood nose-to-nose with bristled necks ready to claw each other senseless. For a moment, he recalled the fear his Apprentice displayed when looking at Wolfhowl. The look in his eyes matched the deep blue that reflected in Hollypaw's as she approached Spiderpaw with her newfound defiance. Oh StarClan, what had become of the once so sweet she-cat?

A long breath fell into his chest and replenished his lungs while his mind drew back to the blank state, trying to clear up any thoughts that didn't matter at that point in time. Narrowing in to pin-point scents in particular, Ashice furrowed as it was much harder to do so than he remembered, even from when he was first learning this as an Apprentice. His eyes flickered back open again, turning from left to right as he looked around. I wasn't even gone that long...where...where did they go? He asked himself, but of course it was a hollow attempt as he would receive no answer; or at least no immediate answer. Feebly falling to his haunches, Ashice hung his head and gazed mindlessly at the ground, "They...they couldn't've just dropped off the face of the territory. I..I was only gone a moment. There's..there's no way...Oh StarClan I shouldn't've have believed her..." he whined, guilt replacing where strong adrenaline once was and depressing his state of mind.

[Reptile]

s h a d o w f r o s t

"It's much better to face these kinds of things with

a sense of poisoned rationality"

A pure wave of hatred flooded over the petite she-cat as unsheathed claws dug into the ground with each step that pulled her forward. Only a fox-brained cat on some sort of delusional herb would be dumb enough to leave that large tom alone with another cat, especially if it were to be a she-cat. Though her amber eyes narrowed, Shadowfrost couldn't cast even a simple troubled glance over toward the direction of Ashice without feeling guilt. It wasn't entirely the Deputy's fault. Rather, it weighed heavily upon the shoulders of Emberleaf; of all Warriors, she would know best about how the tabby would easily flip and panic over news that wouldn't even relate to Valorpaw, yet still run to his son crying.

What startled the Medicine Cat was the silence that followed Ashice's nonsense ranting as well as him plopping onto the ground. Looking back out towards the distance, Shadowfrost attempted to do what he tried; catching onto the couple's scent. Paws glided her upon the ground as though she was weightless before abruptly coming to a dead end. On the other side of the large rock, the trail grew weak and impossible to determine the route of the two cats. What was left behind was a bunch of tangled smells of what she had grown up to determine best. Herbs. A growl rumbled low within the calico as a tail lashed out in anger, understanding now what was going on. Wolfhowl was much more intelligent than the many would believe a cat with a disorder to be, and was obviously hiding his trail as he most likely dragged Hollypaw to her demise. But... How, exactly? And where?

Turning away from her path, Shadowfrost quickly hurried back over towards the Deputy. She sat down close to his side as a support and provided a comforting lick across his shoulder, understanding that the situation was probably very hard on the tom. Not only would he be questioned and scalded by Arrowstar, but his own son would most likely be there to watch. Releasing a small sigh, Shadowfrost looked up at the tom that seemed to tower over her small height. "They probably went out for a hunt when you were dragged away. I bet you Spiderpaw left the scene because she thought hunting was useless, or was just afraid of Wolfhowl. No need to worry." Shadowfrost gave a small smile before shyly looking back down towards the ground, eyes focused upon her shuffling paws.

[saige.]

You trick your lovers
That you're wicked and divine
You may be a sinner
But your innocence is mine

Please me
Show me how it's done
Tease me
You are the one

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The words meant for comfort that rolled off of Shadowfrost's tongue did nothing to set the Tom's mind at any remote ease. Though her suggestion to the pair's disappearance was meant to be a peaceful one, one where there was nothing to worry about and no fret should enter the mind, but that was out of character for the deranged Warrior known as Wolfhowl. Ashice shuddered under the sudden warm rasp of a tongue against his fur. It brought upon memories long forgotten, memories of his old mate. Oh how she had used to draw her tongue across his shoulders when he couldn't sleep, it seemed to be the only thing to get him calm. His eyes returned to the Medicine Cat sitting beside him, just catching her smile before she shifted her own gaze to look upon her multi-colored paws.

"There's always need to worry," he replied shortly, mind immediately flashing the image of his sickly son before fading to black once more. For a moment, Ashice said nothing more to add on to that, or even elaborate in the slightest. Rather, he lifted his head upwards, ears pealed back against his skull and attention pulled to the clouds hanging in the sky. What did his parents think of his mistake? Or more importantly, what did Grayfern think? Leaving a young cat like Hollypaw alone with a monster like Wolfhowl; how could he make up for that? Any chance the Tom got to mess things up for the Clan he took, but with as much intelligence and planning as if he had been plotting this for moons. How painfully clever is he? Ashice had always wondered, but perhaps that came with his past. Though he knew nothing of it, it must've been dreadful if it turned a cat with much good potential to what he is now.

Ashice was again silent as he faced Shadowfrost, his once vivid blue eyes now hollow from hopeless thoughts. "How can I face Valorpaw after this?" he asked, his voice growing quieter with each word spoken until it hit a low whisper. The tabby slipped his paws forward until he was laying on his belly, adjusting so his paws fit under his chin as he rested with tail swaying nervously. "Arrowstar is going to kill me..." There were millions of rants and bad scenarios that all pooled in his mind at once, but the main two that deemed most important to him were the ones he spoke of; his son and his leader. If he didn't have the respect of those two Toms, then what was the point in even being Deputy still?