i'm not here to apologize, i'm here to get this over with -closed?-

Pebblethorn made her way into camp once again. It'd been, what, two moons? Three? Four? As if she knew. She'd left around the beginning-to-middle of the Dark Forests reign, angry with Crowstar and completely done with everything. She ran off and lived with an old friend in an old cabin. They went to look for those who were exiled a few times, but they didn;t find anyone. When she saw the stars return, they said their goodbyes and she went home. It hadn't been a long trip back, but she'd postponed going back for a quarter moon due to some internal issues. She wanted to talk to Antdrop before anyone else. Her ex-mate was still alive, hopefully. After that, maybe she'd talk to Silver.

"Antdrop!" She called out, claws digging into the soft earth beneath her paws. She'd followed his scent and awaited his arrival.

Antdrop sat by the freshkill pile and a familiar, yet unwelcome scent hit his nose. Waves of emotion overwhelmed the tom and he stood up and turned around to face Pebblethorn. She'd called out his name, but he was too lost in thought to hear her. She... she was back? With his fur standing on end and ears pinned back, the tom honestly just wanted to run, as fast and far away from camp as possible. For the fast few moons, as far as he was concerned, the she-cat was dead, and he was perfectly find with that. Now, his old mate stood in front of him like a ghost from the past, and he didn't know what to say.

"What do you want?" he hissed, trying to contain his anger towards the older warrior.

Her ears perked up when she saw him. Well, he was still alive. And grumpy as ever. The cold anger in him never really left, after all. The love they once felt for each other was gone and dead. "To talk," she deadpanned, glaring at him from the slight distance but keeping her head high. The pride and strong nature she'd gained from both her father and brief time in the position of deputy never left, and she would always keep it that way. "Just... to talk."

To talk? After all this time, he had his heart broken, she left him, and now she wanted to talk? The way she stood proved to him that she was as selfish as ever and he'd never forgive her for that. Not moving or bothering to relax from his stiff stance, his green eyes stared into hers. "I must let you know that I'm not the young warrior I used to be, and falling for a cat like you was the biggest mistake I've ever made," in all honesty, it hurt him to say it like that, but he'd been holding all these feelings and he intended to speak his mind.

"I see the feeling is mutual. Look, Antkit, if you're planning on being obnoxious and oblivious to my feelings as well, we can leave our terms unfinished. But we are both warriors now. Older cats. Elders in our own rights of mind, if you will, or just me, anyway." she took a breath. She continued hastily. "I want you to know that I'm not sorry, though we both have... Obvious re- regrets. I just want to address the difficulties here- the less obvious ones, anyway."

Prickles of repressed emotion crackled in her brain and she took another breath. "I'm aware that our kits have... I know Rabbitpaw is still here. I want to make my absence aware and explain to her my absence. And you, too, I suppose. She is my top, and only, priority. But, Antdrop, I must confess," she gazed straight at him, cold gaze unmoving. "We are in the same clan, and we will be treating each other with respect as such. Pettiness will not be tolerated by me in any sense, and your foolish immaturity is the one obvious quality that has never faded." She bared her teeth ever so slightly, claws scratching into the dirt. "Let us, possibly, set our differences aside for the night to have recognition of what once was, and accept that we can't always get what we want." She closed her eyes and soaked in the cool air. "I want you to understand my reasoning. Now, let us be less formal and discuss this with simple maturity and less... Loathing."

"Please." She added bluntly. A word she rarely ever used.

Antdrop listened to Pebblethorn, his claws digging into the earth the more he listened to her words. Was she trying to make him the one to blame? The way she spoke about him like he was a kit gave him all the more reason to dispise her, but he stayed quiet, realizing that acting out wouldn't help anything. That was, until she mentioned Rabbitpaw. "If you even dare put your selfish burden on her, I'll... I'll..." he spat, but his voice soon faded, not willing to say what the end of his sentence would have been. I'll kill you. The fact that Antdrop loved his daughter so much and hated this cat's guts in a way that he was willing to kill her to protect Rabbitpaw somewhat scared him, but he knew if that was what it came to, he wouldn't hesitate.