A Little To Late [Closed]

The small tom padded quietly towards the abandoned barn that he had called his home just a few moons earlier, the closer he got the more he were starting to regret this decision but he kept pushing himself to contiue forward, he didn't want his last memory of Chase to be a fight between the two of them. After moons of hoping to see Icepaw again, the Thunderclan tom he had fallen in love with, he had given up and finally admited to himself that the white tom most likly were dead... He felt his eyes water at the thought and pushed it away, he would not cry infront of Chase once again. No, he'd just say goodbye one last time before he'd leave this place behind, there were to many bad memories here and he wanted to get away, he wanted to start over.

Once he saw the barn he stopped and began waiting for the ginger she-cat to appear. He didn't want to sit down incase another cat saw him and decided to attack, he wanted to be able to escape as quickly as possible and also because he didn't know how Chase would react if she saw him here again. He tasted the air but couldn't seem to catch Chase's scent it seemed to have faded, he gulped, what if she wasn't there anymore... This had been a bad idea... Why had he even thought that she would have wanted to see him? After a few moment of hesitation he decided to stick around for just a few more moment, maybe she was still here, maybe she'd just masked her scent for some reason. He slowly padded a few steps closer to see the barn better, if it wasn't for the fact that he could smell other cats around here he would have called out her name but he didn't dare, not every cat was friendly, especially not the cats in the Regime... He shivered and thought about the scar he had across his muzzle. He had tried to keep that clan cat alive, he really had... He sighed and shook his head, he told himself that he had deserved it, he's the reason to why that cat's life had ended but he also knew that the tom had it better in.. What was it called? Starclan? Yeah, Starclan... He didn't have to suffer anymore, he were free from Shade.

Mao really had not been expecting a stranger to be loitering right outside the barn. For one, the strong scent of the Regime made it very clear that the area was inhabited by a large group of cats, and it was usually enough to drive off any curious strays or loners. Additionally, visitors at their doorstep were almost unheard of. The Regime was simply not the kind of gathering that one would simply approach. Thus, when the young rogue stepped out into the snow and was greeted by the sight of a tom she had never seen before, she gave a start. "Who're you?" She blurted out, amber eyes wide. Although taken aback, her first response was not to unsheathe her claws. Her gaze flicking over Dante, she warily examined the dilute calico. He did not look too much older than she was. While he did not look to be particularly hostile, Xuexi would be sure to call him an intruder. "What are you doing here?" She inquired cautiously, with a slight tilt of her head, "This is Regime territory. Depending on your reasons, your life might be in danger." Even as she attempted to put on a brave front, the tip of her tail flicked anxiously. Either Xuexi or her siblings could not be too far off. At the very least, one of them would be in the barn. "Are you," Her voice wavered ever so slightly, "a clan cat?"

OOC: Pardon the delay...

Dante flinched and quickly took a few steps back when he saw a cat exit the barn, when he noticed that the cat wasn't hostile he stopped and looked at her for a few seconds, he didn't remember her from his time in the Regime. "I'm.. Mystique." he answered her, his tail lashing back and forth nervously "I'm looking for Chase.. Is she there?" he looked behind the she-cat, trying to catch a glimpse of Chase's ginger fur inside the barn. Are you, a clan cat?, when he heared that he looked back at the young cat and blinked a few times "What? No, I'm not, I'm just a loner.. I don't want any trouble, alright, I'm just here to meet Chase." he paused for a few seconds "I err.. I used to be in the Regime." he mumbled.

Then something hit him and his heart started beating faster "Shade didn't come back again, r-right?" the small tom stammered, a hint of fear in his voice. He looked around, he still remembered how the large dark tom had dashed out of the barn but there were still a chance that he had returned. He gulped as he sniffed the air, he couldn't catch the scent of Shade but that may be since he had been gone for so long, maybe he didn't remember the scent. He shook his head quickly, no, Shade wouldn't have returned...

OOC: No worries :3

What did clan cat names sound like, again? The question flashed through the back of her mind. According to Xuexi, members of the clans all had very distinctive names—names that often failed to make sense. Did "Mystique" make sense? From Mao's point of view, the name at least had a meaning to it. Mystique seemed to be on edge, even more than she herself was. Somehow, the sight calmed her down. He was probably not a threat. Someone who had come here with ill intentions would surely be bolder, more audacious. At least, she assumed so. The mention of a familiar name she had not heard in a while caused her ears to prick up. For a second, she simply stared at Dante with wide amber eyes. "Chase? But she hasn't..." Oh. Then, as his words fully sunk in, an expression of dismay surfaced on her features. She hastily attempted to hide her emotions, but it was already too late. She failed to hide anything, as usual. "N—no, she isn't." The young rogue cast an uneasy glance over her shoulder. Now that she understood the situation, she suddenly realized that their current location was more dangerous than anything else. If Mystique had been a member of the Regime in the past, there was absolutely no way she could let Xuexi catch sight of him. Who knew what her mother would do? "We can't talk here." She hissed quietly, "Follow me." Stepping past the loner, she beckoned him with a flick of her feathery tail.

To one side of the barn was the moor. The wide fields, usually adorned by purple snatches of heather, were completely covered in snow at that time of the year. The space was too open; a single glance would be enough to make out a couple of cats standing around. Mao thus led Mystique in the other direction. Opposite the moor was a small thicket of trees. Hidden within the greenery, there would be less chance of their being noticed. Ironically, it was the same place Chase and Mystique had had their last conversation before Mystique had left the Regime. Of course, Mao was not aware of that detail. Once the young she-cat was quite certain that the place was deserted, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to face her companion. "First, let me introduce myself. I'm Mao. It's nice to meet you, Mystique." Now that they were away from the barn, she flashed him a small smile. It lasted only for a second, however, before she grew solemn again. "Was this Shade cat you mentioned the previous leader of the Regime? I've never met him, but I was told that he was killed by clan cats. My mother, Xuexi, is the current leader of the Regime. If she finds a deserter here, there's no telling how furious she'll be." Now came the difficult part. She shuffled uncomfortably, gaze dropping briefly to her paws. When she lifted her head again, she drew a quick breath before declaring, "Chase isn't here. About a month ago, she suddenly left the barn and never returned."

Dante were unsure if he should follow the she-cat at first but then decided that if she would want to attack him she would have already done that. He looked around the clearing, the same one that he'd seen and interacted with Chase in the last time. He looked at Mao as she introduced herself and gave her a short nod with a small smile. He were filled with relief when she told him that Shade were dead, then he only had to worry about Xuexi it seemed.

He looked at her as she shuffled uncomfortably, something was wrong... When she finally said it he froze and stared at her in disbelief, when he realized that Mao were completly seriuos. A few tears slowly started flowing down his cheeks, could this mean that... No.. Chase didn't just die, she had to be alive, she must have just left the Regime, right? "So she left? She must have told someone that she was leaving because she's not dead, she's not dead... not dead..." he shook his head, in his eyes Chase were unbeatable, he had looked up to her even if she weren't always that easy on him, she had taken him in and helped him as a kit, she'd trained him, taught him how to survive on his own and ofcourse taught him how to heal other cats. He should have never left... Maybe just maybe, if he'd stayed then she'd still be here... He looked down, why had he left? What had he been thinking? That he could have a relationship with a clan cat? How stupid could he have been? Even thought he just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry he didn't, he forced the tears away, she had to be alive, she had to, she'd probably just left...

At first, Mao was uncertain of how Mystique would take the news. He had returned to the Regime's hideout, all for the purpose of meeting Chase. She had no idea why he would want to meet her, but he probably had not made the decision lightly. Surely he knew how risky a move it was. When the tears began to form in his eyes, however, Mao was completely taken aback. "I—I don't know." She meowed, her tone faltering. How could she have ever thought that he would be a threat? The tendrils of guilt swirled within her, gripping her heart in its painful grip. Even though she had only told him the truth, she could not help but feel as if she had done something wrong. "We never found a body, so there's a chance she's still alive!" She blurted out, in an attempt to comfort him. Right... They had never found a body after all... No cat knew for certain whether Chase was dead or alive. But she still had to be honest with him. She could not have him believe in a false hope. "When Xuexi followed her scent trail," She continued, self-loathing growing with every word, "it was eventually overpowered by dog scent. B—but she could have gotten away. Xuexi gave up on searching for her, but we didn't find anything conclusive..." Her voice trailed off. Being the bearer of bad news felt absolutely horrible. "If she were going to leave, she might have told someone... Chase was always alone..." The young she-cat had found her cold and unapproachable, even a little frightening. As such, they had barely ever spoke to one another.

He looked at Mao and smiled slightly "She got away, she must have gotten away, she wouldn't let some dumb dogs kill her..." he mumbled, he mostly said that to try convincing himself that Chase were still alive. Dante sighed quietly "Why did I ever leave? I was such a idiot.." he looked down and shook his head "All because of a clan cat..". He looked back up when he realized that he were thinking out loud. He let out a sigh "I won't bother you anymore Mao, if Chase ever were to return please tell her that I'm sorry" he looked around in the clearing, the last time he'd interacted with Chase had been here and she had told him to leave, he had never really understood why she had told him to leave, had she really cared about him? If she hadn't cared about him then she wouldn't have cared if Xuexi found out or not, right? "Well I'll be on my way... I have too many bad memories from here, I'm leaving the forest behind, there must be some other place far away from here were I can live." he told her before he began walking away from the she-cat. Tears began streaming down his face, Chase was dead, it didn't matter how many times he tried telling himself that she wasn't, he knew deep down that she was. He had been to late.

"W—wait!" The sound of her own voice crying out startled Mao. For a second, she stared after Dante, her amber eyes wide. Why had she called out to him? Surely the loner had gone through enough pain. She knew that he did not truly believe that Chase had escaped. More than anything, his words had been an attempt to convince himself that some hope still lingered. Perhaps it was no surprise that he wanted nothing more to do with this place. She swallowed heavily before asking, "Why did you leave the Regime, Mystique? Have... have you met a clan cat?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt the stab of guilt—guilt for continuing to hurt him, even when he already looked so sad. But she had to know. If she were to let him go now, she knew she might never get another chance. For so long now, she had been searching for answers. "Why were you scared of Shade? Was my grandfather really a bad cat?" Uncomfortably, she pawed at the snowy ground. "Please tell me. I want to know more about my family..."

Dante stopped and looked at the she-cat in silence. He turned around and sat down with a low sigh "I guess I'll start from the beginning..." he wiped away the tears and took a deep breath "My mother raised me alone, I had no siblings and I had never meet my father. She was so kind... I don't know how someone like her could have fallen for such a cold-hearted tom like my father, I don't know why but he didn't want me to exist..." he gulped as a picture of his father killing his mother flashed before his eyes "H-he... He killed her.. She died because she didn't want him to kill me.." he paused and looked around quickly "After that I swore to get revenge on him, but that ofcourse would have been hard if Chase hadn't found me, I don't know why really but she decided to help me, she could have just left me for dead out there but no, she saved me.". He looked towards the barn "The Regime hasn't always lived here, when I joined we lived in the city, our camp was located in one of the dark alleys there. When I first meet Shade I wasn't that scared of him, he was intimidating tho, I mean, I'm not that big now so I was probably about the size of rat when I was a kit hehe. After just a few weeks in the Regime I had started hearing loads of rumors about Shade, I don't know which once to belive but before he became the Regimes leader he killed and hurt loads of clan cats, some say that he even.. Um.. Ate another cat... And I think they said he killed his own mother because she lied about who his father was...".

He sat quiet for a few moments trying to remember everything that had happened "The longer I was in the Regime my desire to kill my father faded, I'm not a violent cat... We caught a prisoner, the Riverclan leader's son. Shortly after that we moved to that barn. Cinderfall, the prisoner were in a bad condition already but Shade didn't care, aslong as he didn't die. I got my first real lesson about herbs here too and guess what I loved it, I think it more fun to help other cats than to hurt them. Chase didn't like this thought... Surely you've heared about when they went to a battle against the clans? Well, instead of joining them on the battlefield I stayed here, to keep Cinderfall alive and to get everything ready so that I could treat everyones wounds when they returned.". He looked at Mao, he felt as if he could tell the she-cat about this, the one thing he hadn't told anyone "I killed Cinderfall... I feed him a deathberry... He was suffering, I couldn't just stand there and watch him suffer... Shade would have killed him anyways so I spared him from a painfull death.." he looked nervously at Mao, he had killed another cat but he didn't feel guilt, sure he had done it to end his suffering but still... "This scar on my muzzled, I got that from Shade, I thought he would kill me when he found out that Cinderfall was dead, he were furious... But I still consider myself luck, since I'm alive and all... He stormed out of the barn and left Xuexi in charge. Chase and I also got into a fight... She told me that I could leave if I didn't want to do this anymore but she knew that I wouldn't leave...".

"Sometime after that I meet Icepaw, a Thunderclan tom..." a small smile formed on his face as he bagan talking about the tom he had loved "If only I'd been more careful.. Chase caught the scent of Thunderclan in my pelt multiple of times, she even followed me once when I went to meet him, she confronted me about it later and well... She told me to leave before someone else found out, so I did that.. But.. Icepaw died a few moons ago... I don't know for sure but he stopped coming to our meeting place, he were gone... I loved him..." he sighed and looked down. Dead, dead and dead, everyone was dead... Except for him, he was the only one left... "Dante... My real name is Dante but most cats in the Regime called me Mystique, so when I left I decided to start calling myself that..".


OOC: Yupp I kinda just came up with that deathberry thing yesterday and just had to use it,
I felt like it was something that Dante could have done and then just kept his mouth shut so he wouldn't end up like Cinder heh

To Mao's surprise, Mystique stopped and turned around. She had half-expected him to reject or ignore her. When he sat down instead, she hurried to copy him, curling her feathery tail around her pale-colored paws. Filled with gratefulness towards the older tom, she perked up her ears as he began to tell his story. For the most part, she listened in silence. Apart from the sporadic twitching of her tail tip, she sat absolutely still. The thicket was devoid of any other cat's presence. With only the sound of birdsong in the distance, Mystique's voice almost seemed to fill the place. By the time he had finished, Mao's expression had grown solemn and thoughtful. For a brief moment, she was at a loss for words. Dante's story contained more pain than she could have imagined. Despite Xuexi's harsh methods of training, Mao and her littermates had still been relatively sheltered. The world was much more vast than her young mind could grasp, and just as there were a lot of things she had yet to discover, there was a lot of pain she had yet to experience. Now she was beginning to see why he had been so attached to Chase. Had the standoffish older rogue really possessed such a side? I never knew... If she had ever taken the chance to approach Chase, what would she have found? It was too late for such thoughts now.

The pale-ginger tabby lowered her head. "Thank you for sharing your story, Mys—Dante. I will never forget it." As much as she could sympathize with him, however, Dante's story also shook her. If he had spoken nothing but the truth, it would mean that her grandfather had done some pretty terrible things. She did not doubt the tom; his words were too earnest for her to do so. But Xuexi had loved Shade. Her mother often spoke proudly about the Regime's previous leader, bringing him up as a role model her kits were to follow. Even if Xuexi had never outright stated her feelings, Mao believed that her mother had loved and admired him. Was there another side to the story? Her amber gaze trailed over the scar Dante had pointed out. Family, death, and love—he had told her today about many things she had yet to fully experience. She needed time to think over his words and absorb them. At the very least, there was one thing she could do before he left. "My family has caused you pain, and I apologize on their behalf." Shade had passed away when she was but a young kit. His actions technically had nothing to do with her, but the young rogue still insisted on apologizing. It was likely the only apology Dante would ever get from her family. When she finally lifted her head, the light in her eyes was soft. "Goodbye, Dante. I wish you happiness from now on!"

OOC: A good choice! :D