Squashed Birds (For the Big Meany)

He shouldn't be here, not for this reason. Not for this cat. The one who brutally killed his mate, maimed an apprentice, caused so much pain, killed Falconpaw's own mother. So why did he care? Why did he need to know Rockthorn still existed? For what possible reason? Rockthorn's sick smile as the cats around him discussed his death and Falconpaw's words were none of the hesitant speech he normally had. That smile burned into his mind even now in death. The tom lashed his tail, only Falconpaw could find a way to stress himself out until he was sick in the peacefulness of afterlife. However, he'd always use Blizzarshine's words, Blizzardstar now. She had said he was a brave cat, somehow, someway, Falconpaw was brave. He'd confront Rockthorn and perhaps he could leave this with a little less stress in his life. He caught the Dark Forest's fungus-filled scent. Of mud, and humid air. Dead leaves and the smell of ThunderClan's ruins... And Rockthorn. Just faintly as if there weren't enough smells there to block out the scents of cats. Swallowing thickly, he placed a paw in the mist, then another before backing away again. He was an idiot.

Oh? What's this? It seemed that a bird was trying to get his attention. Rockthorn stood with a gurgle, his throat wound bubbling as air escaped through a torn wind-pipe, the blood bubbling, and streaming before disappearing into thin air and the cycle starting over again. Padding through the rot of trees and fungi, their spores clouding the air as he lurked his way to the border. It wasn't long before he saw the young tom's shuddery form, tail giving a lash Rockthorn tried to lick his chin of his own blood but coughing up another fit of it and coating his chin once more.

"Well hello! It's nice to see you Falconpaw, it's nice of you to come see me!" Rockthorn's voice was jovial and broken, shuddering and breaking as he spoke; that's what he got for having his throat torn out. Rockthorn cringed at the memory, jumped in his sleep by the Windclan leader, Ashstar. He'd show her a piece of his mind once she ran out of lives! The tom's teeth unconsciously clenched, glowering down at the shuddery tom he once took under his wing. "Have you found your mother? I'm doubtful she's in Starclan, having been a filthy rogue with no belief in those baffoons." Rockthorn asked, his voice toning down to a mutter as he thought.

Falconpaw felt like the world hated him at the moment. How many times would he need to encounter such copious amounts of blood? Rockthorn's wound was the very same his mother had. Only now, he could see everything. "R-rockthorn!" he said rather dumbly. Yes, of course, it was Rockthorn, that was his intention. He flinched for a moment under the hard look Rockthorn gave him, ducking slightly before he forced himself back to full height. "Sh-she isn't here." Thank goodness for that. She may have taught him to not hold grudges but, Rockthorn? He'd die again just from seeing them together. He cleared his throat. "I-I needed to s-see you again." Falconpaw said, assertiveness in his stuttery mew. "W-windClan's gloating w-wasn't w-what I wanted m-my last memory of y-you to be." He took a step closer, still protected by the last of Mist. He only had to back up if Rockthorn tried anything. The tom was smart enough to make Falconpaw feel some sort of family connection to him, he now knew that family meant very little to Rockthorn once he gets what he wants.

"After all, I've done, you still want to see me? You're quite the joker aren't you?" Rockthorn gave a broken chuckle, his maw stretching into a sneer as he looked down at Falconpaw like he was crazy. "Just about crazier than me!" Rockthorn snapped at the apprentice with a huff before giving him a soothing smile. "Why don't you come on in? I'll show you around my home, seeing as I live here now. I kind of miss Thunderclan, not too much though. It was full of rotten, foul cats who are all as heartless as the cats here." Rockthorn spat, bloody spittle disappearing before hitting anything.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I'm not going to hurt a cat I care for like a son." Rockthorn meowed smoothly, giving Falconpaw a soft nod before backing away from the border.

He shook his head slowly. "Y-you don't kn-know family." Family wouldn't have left him that way with only memories of crimes and sneers, plots of murder and trickery. As far as he was concerned, Hawkpaw was family, Blizzardstar was family, he couldn't keep letting Rockthorn drag him into his clutches with that need to fill the gap his very teeth had opened up. He could give into that warm feeling he wished was real. He hated himself for caring about the tom so much. "Y-you wanted t-to murder your ch-children and... C-Cloudstorm." He suppressed a shiver at the memory. He had to drag her to Sunningrocks, he could still taste the blood, he could smell it too.

Rockthorn's eyes seemed to darken a couple shades as he turned to look back at Falconpaw. "I mated with Cloudstorm to keep her close, I had to do what I did to keep her as a friend, to keep her as a companion in dark times. BUT THEN SHE MATED WITH LEOPARDCLAW BEHIND MY BACK AND I HAD TO KILL HER!" Rockthorn roared, his eyes going wide as he spun to face Falconpaw. "Those kits wouldn't have even been mine I bet! She never cared for me, she betrayed my trust so she could put her rump up to the oh so noble Thunderclan deputy! What I did wasn't enough! She deserves worse! I lost her to that despicable tom who can't find satisfaction in one mate!" Rockthorn snapped, pulling and rearing his head back as he glowered down at the apprentice.

"Come in with me."

Falconpaw leaned forward, stretching himself upward to meet the other somewhat at eye level.
"I'm n-not moving!" he sighed at shrank back down to his usual hieght,
"What h-happened to u-us? Y-you taught me ab-about StarClan, you. Y-you helped m-me at my apprentice c-ceremony! I-I cared about you. I-i do care about y-you. B-but, this isn't right. Th-this isn't the Rockthorn I kn-knew then.""Sh-she didn't need t-to have your k-kits to be your friend! Y-you were so lucky to have a-a mate! She ch-cheated, y-you move on, you don't m-murder her." he said firmly. He thought over the horrid memory. "I-i had to watch. I had to w-watch your kits huddle w-with the corpse of th-their mother, Rockthorn. I... I j-just can't do this. I-i can't change you back." he choked out, hunching forward, the thinning mist mingling in wisps on the dead forest floor and coiling around Falconpaw's neck much like his hope for the fearsome exile before him... Falconpaw didn't think cats like that could truly be real. He was just like the cats in Raven's stories. Caught up in vengeance and grudges, pride, greed. His shriveled, weak appearance didn't match the strong emotions this made him feel. He missed the few good times in his life. He missed the old Rockthorn, Raven, Blizzardstar... Leafpaw and Sunpaw, Emberpaw. Where had he gone? Th-this was a mistake.
I-i clearly care t-to much about you," he murmured with a chuckle, a pain-filled smile broke his muzzle. "I-it's funny isn't it. No. P-pathetic, pitiful, I c-care about you. You o-orphaned me, made my life miserable. Y-you tried to be my f-father. You're sick." He shook his head, teary-eyed now. He was so pathetic, but Blizzardstar had seen something in him. Perhaps he wasn't stupid for this? Was this... bravery? Why now? He was dead, what good was he?

Bumpitity