Private Execution [C]

With every day that passed, it seemed the night air was only getting colder and colder, the temperature dropping steeper every time a patrol went out. Despite the thick fur filling out his neck, Webshadow shuddered as he cleared the gap between stones. They were far enough under the mud that all four of his paws were caked in it, mud clinging to his forelegs as he passed through the marsh.

The cold, the tacky mud, the sharp wind threatening to knock him off balance– it was all bearable. Webshadow could handle needing to shake his pelt out with every step, could handle anything the territory offered him. Not without a grimace, but he could shoulder through it. But the partner he'd been assigned for this patrol...

The tabby paused to look over his shoulder at the dark tom accompanying. Pale eyes narrowed as he regarded Burningwing, thick tail lashing. He had never liked the tom, not since he was an apprentice. And he'd only gotten worse as a warrior... Some days, he wondered why– or, really, how –Frostgaze had ever called Burningwing a friend. He was far too rough, too cruel and unforgiving in Webshadow's eyes. Maybe he was biased about him– the tom had been the only cat to ever really stoke ire in him. A grumble left Webshadow's throat as he turned away again.

"Hurry up, Burningwing," he called, his usual casual tone edged with a hint of frustration. "It's too cold to be taking our time. Let's just catch something and go home, okay?" The mix of snappiness and authority sounded odd to hear in his own voice, and Webshadow's ears briefly lowered at the thought as he hopped to another hidden stone.

Burningwing had been assigned to patrol with Webshadow... and only Webshadow. If only this was the day that he could lead him to where Tarot would be lying in wait. Fortunately for Webshadow, it was not. He padded after his hunting companion and remained fairly silent. His eyes would occasionally look for the rogue he'd spoken to, but to no avail. The rogue was smart enough to not enter Shadowclan's territory, and for that, he gave the tom credit.

The only other thing he could do was maybe set this up for future success... and that meant having to swallow quite a bit of his pride. He hated doing things this way... absolutely despised it. But honesty, chivalry and honorable tactics was only reserved for those who already had the upper hand to begin with. Burninging did not.

"Webshadow..." He caught up to the tom, biting back the bile that rose in his throat from even acknowledging the worthless sack of fox dung. He'd have to make this look as sincere as he could... as much as he hated it and hated himself for doing it.

"I don't know the best way to do this, so I'm just going to say it." Oh how he hated himself right now... "I'm sorry for the way I have treated you. It had a lot to do with... family things that I don't want to get into right now... but I've had time to really think about it and I decided that I was wrong. My... journey so to speak was a very hard and personal one... so I don't want to talk about it if that's okay, but I apologize. I hope that we can put this behind us and start over."

He had no idea how convincing that was, as he was not one to apologize... well ever. Certainly no one had ever apologized to him for anything either. Shadowclan was one big mess of just not apologizing. This humiliation better be worth it in the end... the end being that only pure Shadowclanners were in Shadowclan after this. He didn't care how many cats had to die for his goals, he would see them through.

The other tom was quick to catch up, and Webshadow gave a quick nod to acknowledge he was listening at the sound of his name. He wasn't thrilled to hear whatever Burningwing had to say, but if he had called him by name, he would offer him at least a moment of recognition.

But then the younger warrior kept going, and Webshadow nearly slipped off the stone he'd been standing on as he went on and on. Webshadow's glittering eyes settled on Burningwing, flitting across his features as he spoke. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, what he was hoping the tom would betray, but he had the feeling he didn't find what he was searching for. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on Burningwing, blinking once as he regarded him.

After a beat of silence, Webshadow began to speak. "I have a question for you," he mewed slowly, quirking his head to the left. "I won't take away from you your... family matters. I apologize for any difficulties you might have faced." He had the good sense to stop himself from adding you're a grown cat now, and you're as militantly hateful as ever. "Still, I do have a question."

Webshadow's head lowered as he slowly turned away, continuing to press on through the marsh, though he kept his pace slow as he moved. "I am willing to accept your apology, depending on your answer." His tail waved slowly, and the tabby paused to give the hardened earth he landed on a particularly fascinated look.

"Were you there, at the battle with SkyClan?" He didn't bother to look at Burningwing again as he spoke, but even without looking up to show his expression the rough edge of his mew was clear as day. "At the skirmish? Where my mother supposedly had to drag herself back to camp? My guess could be entirely wrong, and feel free to say as much, but..." Steadying himself, Webshadow fixed his focus back on his companion, brows lifting. "Was it you? That left her behind?"

Burningwing hardly had an expression on his face when Webshadow began to speak to him. At the apologizing for family matters, Burningwing gave a shrug. What could he have possibly done about it even Burningwing wasn't lying right now? He didn't entirely understand what the apology was for. It certainly couldn't have been true and genuine compassion, but it wasn't like Burningwing really needed it. He followed after the half blood through the marsh, but he didn't make it far before he had to stop again.

Was he there at the battle? Of course he was! Was this some kind of test? Burningwing hopped onto a stone adjacent to Webshadow... though his dislike for the rock was immediate with the scowl on his face at it. Regardless, he sat down on it anyway as water and mud soaked it from his paws.

"Yes, I was there." He commented dryly. He couldn't have lied about that if he had wanted to, so there was something else Webshadow was waiting on, clearly. "Your mother did have to drag herself back to camp. I will point out that you aren't questioning Emberleap as to why he also left your mother behind, but I won't needle you about that further." He did give Webshadow a look that bordered on accusatory, but he kept true to his word and commented no further. "During that skirmish, Shira used a battle move that Bloodstar recognized as an Asylum tactic. I know from my parents that he had been a prisoner of the Asylum for an entire leaf-bare and that's why he looks the way that he does. That battle felt like a border skirmish and not an actual war zone right up until that point. Bloodstar's demeanor changed. He even called her an Asylum cat before he started drooling all over himself like some ravenous dog that had just cornered himself some prey. He then proceeded to permanently damaging your mother's leg and is why she is in the elder's den right now." He paused a moment to let Webshadow try to envision what he was explaining to him before he continued.

"I will have you know that once I saw him doing that, I no longer felt inclined to show them the courtesy of a clean fight either. I sunk my teeth into the throat of the closest Skyclan cat and I had every intention in the world of killing her in retaliation for what Bloodstar had done... and whatever else he might do. Cicadapaw actually stopped me from going through with it, so I showed the Skyclan cat mercy. I beat her in combat and offered her the chance to escape. She knocked me out right after with no regard for the mercy I had shown her. Even after I was already down, the Skyclan deputy attacked me, according to what Cicadapaw told me. When I came to, the battle had just finished... and Bloodstar struck me again. I think he'd been waiting for me to wake up. I was no longer a combatant and I was still being attacked. It was clear there was no boundary Skyclan leadership wouldn't cross, so fox me for being a little scared."

His tone got sharper, the indignance clear in his voice. His tail lashed to one side once before going still.

"I spat in Bloodstar's face after he dared question me on why I was going to kill one of his warriors. I pointed out that he had just permanently maimed one of ours and his response was just spitting back in my face and threatening to send me back to Shadowclan inside-out the next time he saw me. Yes, I left Shira there. I couldn't have stopped them from killing her if I wanted to. I focused on getting Cicadapaw out, whom I could carry if I needed to. There was no way I was going to drag myself, my apprentice and Shira all of the way back to camp. Emberleap fled and abandoned everyone because he was also terrified of what Skyclan might do to us. If I had stayed and Bloodstar changed his mind, he could have ordered his deputy to kill Cicadapaw and then mauled me and your mother both. With a reputation like his, would you have put it passed him?"

Burningwing stepped off of the rock and slipped with expert silence back into the deep marsh water below. "So. Now that I have told you my story... what do you think now? What do you think of me retaliating in such a manner against Skyclan over what they had done to Shira? Are you still going to give Emberleap a free pass because he isn't me and that's the only difference in that entire situation? I know I'm hardly the most likeable cat in Shadowclan, but for you to question me and not him shows your bias and is an insult as well."

Now to see what Webshadow thought. Burningwing hadn't lied, not once the entire time. He had made sure to keep his true reasons for his anger entirely private even from his apprentice. His caution had served him well, it seemed.

Burningwing was quick to join him, settling easily onto an opposite stone. And he settled entirely, not just perching there for a moment, but he sat down and leveled his gaze with Webshadow's. The tabby glanced at Burningwing's half-submerged paws, wondering if he should take that as his cue to sit down, too, but he quickly decided against it.

The simple yes made Webshadow's ears turn forward, and he lifted his gaze back to his companion's. Already, he was ready to snap at Burningwing, especially with the confirmation that he'd left Shira there, defenseless. The mention of Emberleap's presence made his whiskers twitch, but the younger warrior kept going, and so Webshadow held his tongue. Clearly, there was going to be a story. He would save his commentary for the end. Even when Burningwing's expression focused into something sharp and bitter.

So, Bloodstar had been there, on SkyClan's side– he had been the one to maim Shira. Over a battle move, no less... Webshadow wanted to be sympathetic towards him, but trying to work their leader's thought process through his mind quickly became troubling. He had never been held captive like that, and so he could never truly understand. Webshadow wanted, desperately, to work through the pieces that had pushed Bloodstar in that direction, but he found himself falling short with every attempt. On some level, he understood– being their prisoner of war was traumatic, of course. Webshadow could reason with that. But to brutalize a cat who had no more affiliation with the Asylum besides the training she'd gotten, who had done everything to become a proper Clan cat in every way except name... Webshadow couldn't make that leap.

Burningwing's account caught him off-guard again, and Webshadow almost broke his rule about being silent until the end, but he bit at his own tongue to keep himself quiet. Did the dark tom think he would be pleased to know a cat had almost died, even if it was for his mother's sake? He had flinched and railed when Burningwing had killed a raccoon, and he was expected to show gratitude for a fellow Clan cat nearly sharing that grisly fate? Webshadow's hackles rose, and his claws flexed and scraped against stone.

Mercy? No boundary SkyClan leadership wouldn't cross? That was almost true; SkyClan had been hailed as vicious brutes for all of Webshadow's life, at least. But mercy? It could hardly be called that, when it sounded like Burningwing had to have been dragged off her by his own apprentice. Webshadow's nose wrinkled, and his tail lashed hard enough to thump against his own flank. More about Bloodstar's cruelty, and about how Burningwing had wanted to keep his own apprentice safe first. Respectable, Webshadow thought begrudgingly. There was nothing respectable about Burningwing, but that was worth... something. Hardly anything, but something.

Burningwing descended back into the marsh, and Webshadow watched him slip into the mud quietly. He remained dutifully on his perch, ears pinned to his head. So, the story was over. Now it was just on him to gather his thoughts and actually respond. He let the silence drag for a while, before he let out a little hum. He was ready to speak.

"You almost took a cat's life," he started slowly. There was an attempt at keeping his voice level, but it wavered with frustration and hostility that he couldn't manage to hide. "I want to understand that. Almost, I think I do. I appreciate your thought that that was some valiant attempt at vengeance. But Shira lives, and from what you have told me, the cat you attacked posed no danger to you. No more danger than an ordinary skirmish would present. We do not kill other cats, Burningwing– the Code says as much. I would hardly call that self defense, if you weren't leaping for Bloodstar's throat." Webshadow's tone had picked up a condescending air as he stared down at Burningwing. He bit his tongue again, but no amount of silent self-scolding would keep the disdain out of his voice.

"And I will assure you, under these circumstances, I do not blame you for leaving her behind. Well– I would like to not blame you. Were you any other cat, I would give you some reprieve. But you have never liked me, nor my family. You have such a particular distaste for rogue-born cats as a whole, it is hard for me to believe there was no malice in your leaving her. And even if there really, truly wasn't..." Webshadow paused, weighing out his next words. He rolled his shoulders, letting out a slow sigh.

Carefully, he dismounted from his platform, joining Burningwing in the murky marsh and pressing a few tail-lengths forward. "I'll use Emberleap as an example, then. I do not blame him for fleeing that battle." A beat, then, "Let me rephrase. I do, but only because Shira was involved. I blame him, because had he stayed, my mother would have had someone to accompany her home. I blame him because my mother was left for all but dead. However." The last word was spat with bitter emphasis, and Webshadow didn't bother to look at Burningwing as he continued to wade forward.

"I believe Emberleap was an Asylum cat too, right? I might be wrong, but... I do not think I am. After seeing the way Bloodstar mauled one of my fellows for fighting the way we were taught, I may have ran, too. That does not mean he is not guilty in this, only that I find it easier to rationalize his actions than anyone else's involved." Another heavy sigh left Webshadow, and he bowed his head. Conviction burned in his chest, a desperate need to fault Burningwing for this. He still did, certainly, but it was harder to pin everything on him with the story he'd been given. Still...

"I hardly believe you did everything– or, really, anything –right. I wasn't there, sure, but... Had I been leading that patrol, I would have called for a retreat at that point. With one cat already fled, and one incapacitated, I would have taken that as our sign of defeat. Especially with SkyClan's monstrous leader there. I certainly wouldn't have tried to kill an innocent warrior." Webshadow twisted around to face Burningwing again, eyes narrowed and glittering with contempt.

"I would have put ShadowClan first. I would not have left a warrior there to die. I care about the well-being of my Clan– do you?"

"You almost took a cat's life," Oh here we go... Burningwing did his best to keep his annoyance off of his face. He was aware that Webshadow had a... thing against killing other things. Idiot. He wanted to argue so bad about the Code. He knew it better than anyone, especially by some hypocrite that by all laws of the Code should not even be here. "Had I not been previously engaged in combat with her I would have leaped for more than just Bloodstar's throat I assure you." His tail flicked in annoyance. Webshadow continued to drone on and Burningwing'd patience was wearing thin.

"I care more about my clan than anyone in Shadowclan could ever imagine. Seriously." Was he done now? Could this conversation be over? He had already apologized, regardless of how fake it had been. Webshadow even admitted his own bias against Burningwing. What more was there to discuss?

"Maybe the answers I gave you weren't what you necessarily wanted to hear, but the truth is not always something pleasant. I have said all that I can, including apologize in the most sincere way that I can. I suppose now it is up to you whether or not we can fix things and move on, or if I have apparently committed such a transgression that you cannot bring yourself to accept what I have said or not. I will apologize and I will admit I was wrong, but I will not beg. I hope that's not what you're expecting."

At least that much was true. Burningwing honestly wanted to keep walked. Sitting still wasn't an easy thing for him to do, not when he was feeling agitated.