beware the ides [closed]

The late evening sky, a simmering smudge of unperturbed silky darkness wreathing against the jagged teeth of the illustrious Highstones, was laden with the lingering weight of cloying humidity- an uncharacteristic stillness bearing down upon the forest with the grace of a stalking fox, the continuous threat of teeth upon precious arteries and veins. The prickling presence of faint electricity provided a mouth-curdling inkling of an unusual Leafbare storm, a dark smear of coiling energy gathering somewhere just beyond the reach of the eye, the tremulous threat eagerly awaiting its chance to unleash a torrential downpour upon the already overflowing territories. Somewhere, countless leagues away, the dark stain across the horizon was briefly illuminated by a dazzling flash of lightning; the resounding crack of thunder a faint shudder across the late evening sky, bleaching the snow-capped forest an utterly dismal stark white.

The barren foliage that concealed the vulnerable contents of the island was occasionally illuminated by the blinding tendrils of lightning, the faint whispers of intimate conversations turned pallid and stifled under the suffocating presence of both awaiting rain and unwarranted onlookers bedding down among them as though they were long-welcomed. Most had settled down for the evening several hours ago - wise in their decision to get a full night's sleep in preparation of a full day's worth of duties - and were already lost to the world in their deep dreaming, blissfully unaware of the brewing storm that crept ever closer. Jayshriek could not be counted among those, however. In the few, unbearably short days that had crept forward following the naming of Loonwhisper as Deputy, his patience and already pitiful drive to interact with others had plummeted astonishingly, to the point where he preferred the constant company of an Asylum babysitter to that of the familiar ease occasionally offered by his own Clanmates and kin.

To the untrained and unfamiliar eye, it would hardly seem as though Jayshriek's behavior had truly changed; though the select few who could actually appropriately judge his character could plainly see the restless tension laid upon his shoulders, the near constant absence from camp. Flanked by an extraordinarily patient Asylum attendant, Jayshriek remained idle even as the choppy buffets of the encroaching storm began to whip with a greater intensity, plastering his unkempt mane against the sharp jut of his ribs with an unpleasant force.

Betrayal, Jayshriek couldn't help but reflect over the broken train of thought for the countless time that evening, the strange pain he had felt during the initial ceremony was betrayal. Even with as closely as he guarded his heart from his mother, it still somehow found him.