Picking Up My Shattered Heart [open]

OOC: Takes place directly after this topic

By the time Rosethorn made it through the entrance of camp, she was basically crawling. She was so tired. Tired from fighting, tired from crying, tired from hurting. What happened to the simplicities of her life? Teasing Mistyfalcon, hanging out with Quietstep, training with Batglow. Those moments of happiness seemed so far away now, so foreign. She didn't even have the energy to feel pain anymore, she just collapsed where she was, feeling numb all over. She didn't even have the energy to care, just lying there, letting her breathing settle.

"Rookfire. I need Rookfire. And Murkystrike. There is rogue that needs to be dealt with. He is a danger to the Clan." Her eyes began to slightly close, settling to be half-lidded. She was so tired. She wanted to forget today had even happened. It had to have been some bad dream, manifested simply through her own fears. But it was all too real.

Rookfire had been wandering around ShadowClan camp when Rosethorn came padding in. Something was wrong with the she-cat, something really wrong. It wasn't her breathing, though it had always been bad. Though she did sustain a lot of injuries, the black tuxedo could tell that it was more than just that. Somehow, the cheery she-cat who had always lit up the camp with some light-hearted teasing couldn't feel anything. Rookfire didn't know what caused her to feel this way, but-

"There is a rogue that needs to be dealt with. He is a danger to the Clan."

A rogue? Tavora and her kits? It had to have been them. Tavora had always been someone that Rookfire despised, despite his mentor's love for the she-cat. In the black tuxedo's mind, Iniko was Asylum at its best, and Tavora was Asylum at its worst. What she had done to Rosethorn... wait. The tortoiseshell she-cat had said "rogue", singular, and "he". What rogue could hurt her as much as Tavora could? It had to have been one of her kits, right? "What happened?" Rookfire asked, more worry in his voice than he had ever experienced before. Rosethorn's physical scars could heal, definitely, but her emotional scars were what the tom was worrying about.

"That stupid fox-heart happened, that is what! He nearly killed me! I did what Murkystrike said, I tried to talk to him, but no! He only sees what he wants to see! Because everything I do is so bad, and I am a traitor who abandoned the family! Tavora is dead, and he is still so blind! All he does is just follow in her shadow, and turn a blind eye to anything bad she does! Oh wait, I take it back, anything bad she does to anyone else! It is only really bad if it gets turned around on him! Stupid fur-ball can rot with her if he wants to be like that."

After her outburst, she broke into a small fit of coughs, warning her to take it easy. So instead, Rosethorn lied back down, silently fuming as all her prior rage from during the fight came bubbling back up. Of course, Rookfire probably didn't even know what she was talking about, but her head was spinning too much to really process that part.

"Do you think Murkystrike will let me take the rest of the day off from my duties? I'm honestly not in the mood to do much right now." And I don't want to risk seeing him again.

When Murkystrike had been approached by a warrior who said that Rosethorn had asked for her, she heaved herself to her paws and stepped out of the den as quickly as she could. The scent of blood filled her nose and she swung towards the medicine den, trotting towards it. She caught the tail end of Rosethorn's words, and as she stepped into the den she mewed softly. "Of course you can, Rosethorn. I'll make it happen. You focus on resting and healing. What happened to you? And where? I'll send a patrol to the spot immediately." Her voice was soft, but rage simmered underneath the quietness of it, flashing in her eyes as she looked over the younger warrior's injuries before turning to Rookfire. "How can I help?"

When Rosethorn burst into a cloud of anger, Rookfire could feel his anger bubbling with her. "Are you serious?" Rookfire shouted. "Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, your family is in the wrong on that, not you." At the mention of Tavora's death and how it didn't change how Rosethorn's siblings thought about her, Rookfire scowled. "Even after her death, he isn't listening to your side of the story," the ShadowClan medicine cat repeated, not shouting for once. He knew that this he was Tavora's son, and that they had met before, but Rookfire didn't remember what he looked like.

As Murkystrike came into the medicine den, Rookfire nodded to the she-cat. "I need some horsetail and cobwebs. Horsetail is the tall, spiky plant at the far left side of the den. Cobwebs should be around there as well." As Murkystrike grabbed the horsetail and cobwebs, Rookfire turned to Rosethorn. "If you need anything, I'm here for you." The black tuxedo didn't think that Rosethorn would necessarily take him up on his offer, but he could at the very least offer it to her.

"Not only that, he even lied on her behalf! Or, I think it was a lie. He....he said before she drowned, that she was coming back for me... Tavora, she wanted us to be a family again. She was upset that I was gone. She missed me. But again, he could have been lying to give himself an excuse. He also said that he became the replacement scapegoat, because it is clearly better to have her take her anger out on me than him. Once a coward, always a coward, I guess."

She was still trying to be angry, at all of them, but thinking on the words that were said, who was really wrong? Wasn't she just as cruel as he was? And if Tavora died coming back for her... Did that mean she killed her mother? No. He was lying. Tavora had never been a good parent, even Galloway admitted she abused him. She never would have changed.

"Murkystrike, he was at the Pine Grove, stealing prey. I-I think he is mad at all of ShadowClan because of me. He ran off, but maybe if your patrols spot him, they could...uh, honestly I don't know what will get through Galloway's thick skull at this point. I am just so tired now. I want all of this to just go away."

Rookfire told her what he needed, and the heavily pregnant she-cat swiftly obliged, collecting the weird spiky plant he called horsetail and the cobwebs before returning and passing them along to him. Rosethorn spoke up then, and Murkystrike frowned and nodded. "I understand. I will tell them to drive him off of ShadowClan territory." She sighed, first rogues come to try to take Batglow, now Rosethorn's brother... Even if he didn't deserve that title with the way he treated her. "I'm going to step out for just a moment, to set up the patrols and increase the numbers and shorten the timing between them. With any luck, he'll get the hint that he's not welcome." She growled before pushing her nose to the top of Rosethorn's head and stepping out of the den to give the other warriors their new assignments for the day.

Mistyfalcon had stirred awake with the absence of Murkystrike curled against him, and the dark-furred tom padded out of the den with a yawn. The scent of blood quickly caught his attention, and the tom instinctively glanced over toward the nursery before glancing toward the medicine den. His first instinct had been to look for Murkystrike, and she appeared fine.

He followed her into the den, and the source of the blood and commotion soon became apparent.

"What happened, Rosethorn?" As much as she could aggravate him, Mistyfalcon saw her as a little sister, and he was genuinely concerned for her. He listened quietly as she spoke, lip curling at the mention of Tavora. "Good riddance." He muttered, tone for a moment sounding almost cheerful. He'd never liked the flat-faced she-cat, and Mistyfalcon didn't care to hide that fact. Murkystrike mentioned that she'd increase the patrols, and Mistyfalcon would happily volunteer for them. Shadowclan warriors did not need to be harassed on their own territory, regardless of where the rogue was coming from.

"We'll deal with him if we find him." Mistyfalcon reassured her, tail twitching. "Don't take anything he says to heart, Rosethorn. Not your fault he bought into her foxdung."