EARS [DEERNOSE PLOT P2]

He was safe from their eyes now. But their ears listened, waited to hear him shift on the cold dirt. Two pairs were listening now, standing just outside the entrance. Whether they were protecting the clan from him or him from the clan, it did not matter, he was a dead cat. Eaglethorn wanted to kill him, a blind kit could see that.

Deernose the Mad. His thin form lay curled up at the very back of the underground den. He felt lightheaded, his paranoia forcing him to take quiet, shallow breaths. Outside, the clear weather was at an end, clouds were gathering on the west horizon, the descending sun setting two clouds ablaze. They were being stretched by the building storm and were soon swallowed without so much as a grumble of thunder.

Whoops, the lock on his tongue broke like melting ice. At first just a trickle, then crasing all at once. The doomed cat began mumbling nonsense that slowly escalated into hateful yowling that would send the queens to fill their kit's ears with cotton. Someone should shut him up...

...and Willowbreeze would.

Being rather conflicted upon whether or not to hate the old elder, the warrior had taken to standing outside the elder's den, keeping both her father out and others safe away. What did she care? Willowbreeze hadn't much going for her besides being the granddaughter of the leader. Otherwise she was just a quiet cat who would go out in the gusts of wind and hunt rabbits for days. There really wasn't all that much to her.

Listening to the rather ramble-like words coming from the elder inside of the den, she turned quietly towards the tom. She was pretty much blocking the sunlight from his eyes, and when she turned her face was outlined by the sunlight. "Hush. They just don't understand how good of a warrior you truly are." Her words rang calmly, the amber eyes upon her frame easily peircing through the darkness of the den to the tom. Manipulation... It was worth a shot. Nothing else was in her voice then the same purity as always, nothing gave hint to her scheme to make him quiet. Nothing except what was in her own head, and nothing could get into that. "It's not like everyone can see the brilliance in you, they're all blind. But I can see it perfectly." She purred, having taken a slight step inside of the den. "You're strong, swift, and agile. You offer more to WindClan then even I have, and I find it amazing." Having taken another small step, she was practically asking permission to come in and talk with him.

Cobaltfire was the other cat standing guard outside the den that Deernose was in. When Deernose started yowling hate, and Willowbreeze turned to quiet him down, Cobaltfire turned also, peering into the den, ready to quiet him down if Willowbreeze's words did not. She had noticed his slow decline into madness, not knowing what it was until today. She had seen the signs, but waved them off until they couldn't be ignored.

She felt sorry for him, and privately wanted to see him go to StarClan, so he wouldn't be in misery and madness anymore. She wouldn't mind helping him reach StarClan more quickly either. It was probably for the best. It's for Falconstar to decide, though.

Deernose looked up at the illuminated face of one of the she-cats guarding the entrance to the den, lowering his voice until the harsh words echoed on the ancient walls. Detecting no hostility from the warrior, he pulled his black paws under his chest, feeling the thin layer of moss only slightly cushioning his bony wrists. The wounds Eaglethorn had dealt on the old warrior's back still stung; it had only been a day and a half since his attack on Brindlesong. Since then, they'd given him two pieces of prey, one each morning. They both lay untouched at the edge of the tiny cave.

The tom blinked in surprise; his clanmate was... Complimenting him? He warily watched as the she-cat entered the den within a few pawsteps. The old cat was unsure of what to do and simply scooted over, leaving a place for Willowbreeze to sit. "I, ah, thank you," he mumbled, wrapping his whip-like tail around his paws. "Why are you being kind?" he asked, turning his head away in shame. "I attacked your mother."

Feeling somewhat relieved that the older tom had quieted his words of anger to a stop, because in no way were they actually really nice, Willowbreeze gave an inaudible and content purr in the back of her mind. Watching the tom under a calm gaze, she looked at the untouched pieces of prey and couldn't help but look a little upset by the fact that he had yet to lay a paw upon them. Oh well, she wasn't going to force him to eat. She just simply wanted to get to know more, and get to know the reasoning behind what was going on. Willowbreeze would slink her way in somehow... But the one thing that could possibly damage her was actually growing attached in some way to Deernose in the process.

Watching the tom shuffle over a little bit and give her some room, the she-cat came in the rest of the way, laying down just off of the nest that the elder rested upon. To say the least, the warm sand actually felt comfortable beneath her body. Listening to his reasoning, she only gave a slight chuckle. "Yet my mother had made fun of you. She didn't see it as such, but I could see the insult behind it. Even if it was against the warrior code, and I mean not to criticize you, you were simply doing as a good warrior should... Standing his ground, and defending his honor." Her calm words were much, much more then what she usually spoke. But what was so wrong about it?

"She has seen worse anyways. When Ivyfur and Brindlesong had been captured by twolegs, her being Brindlepaw then, she survived it. You had a purpose to attack her, and I see she was in the wrong to be so rude." A soft, gentle rumble accompanied her words as a pink tongue slipped from her maw, and even if the tom didn't smell the best it wasn't exactly horrible. The medicine cat den smelled worse, anyways. Running the pink comb-like muscle across the toms' ears gently, she decided it'd at least be good to make him look better before Falconstar had him come out from the elders den. For all she knew there had been no word about it yet, but if there were to be soon he'd best look presentable. Plus, she just thought it would be kind to groom the elders' fur.

There had been rumblings. It was hard for the leader of the clan to not hear of them. And so Falconstar was heading for the elder's den, to try and get the truth straight from the cat's mouth, as they say. As he neared the den though, he was able to decipher the end of a conversation, clearly between Deernose and another cat, and he stepped closer to listen. That voice was Willowbreeze's, and it wasn't exactly honest from what he could hear. A frown creased his face, but if these rumblings were true, then perhaps it was better for Deernose to be calmed. Still…

"Deernose, I wish to speak with you." The veteran leader made his presence known, stepping into the entrance of the den and looking at the two… rather close cats.

Cobaltfire watched Falconstar approach the den in which she was guarding. It was evident that he was here to speak with Deernose, and she stepped back with a nod to let him pass. She watched as he called out to Deernose, and halfway entered the den to speak with the aforementioned cat.

She couldn't help but hear the conversation already going on inside due to proximity, and out of curiosity, she wished to hear Falconstar's words to Deernose.

All of this assurance felt uncomfortable, in a way. Was she really saying this was okay? That he had good reason to end up where he was now? He could feel others listening again: the other guard, approaching paws. Then he could feel something against the backs of his ears. Was she.. Grooming him? Now this was odd. About to open his mouth to speak, another shadow, larger, blocked the fading sunlight.

Deernose sat up as Falconstar entered. The tom before him held Deernose's life in his claws; the leader may choose whether he lived or died. He didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. Which wasn't far at all, considering the actually younger cat's physical state. The mud-colored warrior raised his head and sat straight, brown eyes all but emotionless. "Of course."

Falconstar's gaze was cool and collected, with a light frown on his face. "I've been told you attacked a clanmate in camp earlier. I'm aware you've been unwell, but attacking one of your own is a very heinous crime. Tell me, did you attack Brindlesong?" He figured he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from Deernose.

Getting right to the point, wasn't he? Maintaining an unerring stare, the heavily graying warrior spoke in a forcefully calm manner. "Unwell is a rather mild word, don't you think? Yes, Falconstar. I did attack Brindlesong. Ask your son, he was there. Threw me to the dirt, he did." He spat the last sentence. Deernose's breath was gradually quickening, his gaze faltering. At that moment, it dawned on him that he might not see the sun ever again, after tonight.

Willowbreeze had continued to groom out Deernose's fur, but stopped rapidly at Falconstar stepping in. She somewhat jumped back even, as if she were embarrassed that Falconstar had somewhat... Uncovered her little plan. At Deernose parting somewhat to speak with Falconstar, which she was still by him, the she-cat had sat with her tail curled abut her paws. Her amber gaze somewhat burned at her leader, emotionless and cold... But she held herself in a proud manner. It took a lot of willpower not to go rambling off about what had happened, she had seen it all from the force and had been willing to go see if Deernose was alright, but she had eventually not.

Falconstar narrowed his eyes, admittedly not having expected the elder to have been so cavalier with his answer. He seemed self-aware at least, for what good that did. "Deernose, we don't attack our clanmates under any circumstances. What could have possibly led you to do such a thing?" He knew that Deernose wasn't as… stable as he was in his youth, but this was beyond the pale.

He frowned. Why did he do it? Mind straining to think back to that morning, Deernose struggled to remember why he had been so eager to use his claws and teeth. Aha! "I felt threatened. She suggested that I was weak and I decided to prove her wrong," he responded calmly. "So what if we were born in the same den." For some reason, some part of him felt like he was talking out of his tail now; this hadn't been Brindlesong's fault at all. The sane portion of his mind knew that.

A bit of a defensive look appeared on the she-cat's maw, and she stepped forwards. Whose side would she pick? Both. An equal medium was, in her opinion, most necessary for this type of situation. Her tail flicked, and one of Deernose's facts was actually wrong. Brindlesong wasn't born in the nursery like most cats... But rather the tunnels. Shrugging the fact away from her mind, she sighed. "Falconstar, what he said, in my eyes, is the truth. Brindlesong was incorrectly joking with Deernose, putting him down without herself truly realizing it. But also, I must be equal..." Her voice was strong and confident, most unusual for her. "Deernose, I am in no way trying to put you down, or Brindlesong. But the meathod you took, going straight for her throat, was rather extreme." Her gaze had turned to look at Deernose, and within them held a 'I'm trying to defend you, follow my lead' look. Quickly though, she looked back at Falconstar. "Despite the connections I have to Brindlesong, I see it that she is no different when compared to other cats. That is why I seek not to defend her, but rather both sides." She explained, her tail flicking in slight annoyance.

Falconstar shook his head slightly, glancing over his shoulder and out of the den. He couldn't see Eaglethorn in his vision, which was probably a good thing. He knew that the angry tom would probably not be held back from committing his own brand of justice. Still, he didn't find Willowbreeze's reasoning all that convincing. She was his granddaughter, but he still had a clan to run. "Regardless of Brindlesong's intent, rising to violence is certainly not the answer. You could have killed her, and I really wouldn't have many other options besides having you banished, and that's the best case scenario. You're very lucky she's alive." Deernose had been a loyal warrior to WindClan for a long time, and it felt strange to even consider forcing him from the clan. On top of that, he was an elder, and it was becoming abundantly clear he couldn't take care of himself. Still, handing down no punishment would not do at all. He still wasn't a hundred percent sure on what he'd do.