Sins of the Past [c]

For Aether, this was not just the place Bloodstar first took him to train, as much of a pain as that was. He couldn't help but gaze at the trees where he had hunted, desperately trying to prove his worth. To prove his loyalty. He climbed those same trees now. And his eyes wandered over the border.

ShadowClan.

Just the thought of them had his lips pulling back in a snarl. He was beginning to learn a lot about the Clans during his time in the territories. SkyClan, as cold as they could be, had honor. They cared for each other, and defended each other. RiverClan, while they took care of their own, was also kind. He has not met a cat in RiverClan he did not like. ThunderClan was respectable, to say the least. While some were more aggressive than others, there was also those who took a gentler approach. And as harsh as Aether had been back then, he could grow to respect that now. They had even taken in his siblings. WindClan he himself has not met, so he couldn't really say anything about them.

And then there was ShadowClan. His sister had once said that they would eat kits, and while they had claimed otherwise, Aether knew now that they were just as cruel. Apollo was not a bad cat. He was annoying, but he was not a fighter like the rest of them. There was no reason he would have needed to be killed other than the fact that he did not share their blood. Even the other Clans could put aside heritage and see a good cat. ShadowClan just wanted to kill them all.

His eyes narrowed as he glared into their territory now. Those foxhearts were probably lounging around in their camp now. He doubted they even gave a second thought to the family whose son, whose brother they took away. They might even be proud to have gotten rid of one more rogue from the forest, just as that stupid calico had said.

It was just as Poppyshine had said. This was not an anger any cat could talk out of him. No, this was a crime that, in his mind, still remained unpaid for.

Perhaps this would be the night that changed.

Swiftheart wanted to be alone for a little while, to be able to clear her head of all the past events that had happened recently. She insisted to not have company despite some of her clanmates protests about going out alone (idk some npc I guess)

She wanted to think about all that had happened... her mother gone.. with the finale that ended the dark forest it too took her leader and mom who she held so dearly. Swiftherat was always a postivie and upbeat cat but it took a heavy toll. As she was walking along, she was extra sure to stay on shadowclan side of the territory. Her mind wondered a while thinking about different things.... her brother nightstalker was now deputy and she was so happy and proud for him. He was an excellent natural leader and she looked up to him so much. He always looked out for her and she did her best to always have his back too.


She glanced across the border and it was more out of luck than actual awareness taht she spotted Aether across the border. A chill ran down her spine as she stood frozen in her tracks... that... that cat was there during the forgoten order battle she remembered him so clearly and he looked alot like his numerous siblings....

Fear and panic crept over her... she had grown alot stronger since that fight but the memory of being beaten so badly and hurt so much from it ran deep and she could hear her heart pounding from nervousness in her chest.

She looked around quickly... were his siblings hiding elsewhere nearby?? Had she just wondered into a trap. She breathed heavily trying to reamin calm but was not doing a good job of it.

She closed her eyes for only a second,

Swiftheart get ahold of yourself... you need to relax... if you freak out you are gonna have worse odds. she reminded herself of her training but hoped so much she wouldnt have to use it. She did not like violence if it could at all be avoided and the kind hearted molly did not want bloodshed. She really didnt even know who apollo was or what he meant to the forgotten order, from her point of view shadowclan was attacked by blood thirsty cats who killed amberdawn and burningwing in cold blood and took one of her mothers lives.


The way they wore amberdawns pelt made her sick and she had cried countless nights afterwards from nightmares over the fight.

She slowly backed up hoping to get out of here.... unfortunatly for her he had spotted her.... she met his eyes locked staring at each other. In her eyes she was sure he could probably see the fear that she felt...

He had seen her... but they didnt have to fight ... at least she didnt want to. "We dont have to fight" she said in a shaky voice that was so nervous she could hear it on the verge of cracking.

please... just walk away she prayed to starclan that he would... they could both go their own way and if they were lucky never see each other again. She could go home tell nightstalker and Froststar about this and curl up in her warm nest and try and sleep it off pretending it never happened

Aether smirked, climbing down the tree to face the ShadowClan cat. He was not as adept at fighting as he once was, not with the confusion of trying to learn SkyClan moves. But this molly obviously didn't know that. And he planned to put the fear of StarClan in her.

And he wanted answers, too.

"No, we don't have to fight. I am sure Bloodstar would look down on me causing tensions with other Clans, and I would rather not lose my place in the Clan. Be thankful you are not the calico tom. I was hoping we could have a..... chat? And then you can even send a message to him. No cat even has to get hurt! Isn't that great? I bet certain others wish they got the chance I am giving you."

Swiftheart couldnt belive what she was hearing... this cat... was in skyclan now??? her jaw dropped in shock before she could correct it.

At this point she had no idea what was going on... was this some trap were his siblings waiting in ambush to attack her just like they had during the big battle???


Fear made her frozen and she wanted so badly to run but she couldnt... if she did that and he caught her.... she wouldnt have a choice but to fight... he offered to talk and even claimed no one would have to fight/get hurt. His mention of others getting this chance made her fur bristle... he was talking about burningwing and amberdawn her clanmates that they had brutaly murdered without even giving a chance. Anger stirred in her which was unsual but was justified seeing what they had done to Amberdawn... the she cat who helped raise her and her (now dead) boyfriends grandmother.

She was still terrified from him though... she had no idea how out of form his fighting was... if she did know she would probably not have a care about it...

however, she saw him as way better than her in fighting since the last time they met she felt so powerless against any of them. Shadowclan had lost so badly that she now doubted her own self abilty which gave him all the leverage he needed for her to have no other optoin than to accept listening to his speech.

She tried to keep her voice from shaking... the kind hearted molly who was so usually talkative had no idea once what to even say... A couple moemnts passed of nothingness

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"Fine... Ill hear what you have to say" she agreed her voice literally trembling due to how scared she was. This was like meeting your childhood nightmare face to face for her and she could not conceal her fear and at this point was so shook she wasnt even trying to hide it.

"and yes... I can delive your message to him" she agreed. She hoped that by agreeing to this he would let her go ... as a messanger and that he wouldnt kill her as he had killed her clanmates.

Good. This cat was smart.

"Do you remember the name Apollo? I'm sure you don't, none of you seemed to even care. He was a kind cat. You would be surprised to find that a lot of us are. Rogues, I mean. You Clan cats have a bit of.....bias towards us, no? Because we were not lucky to be born into your ranks? That was why your Clanmate was so happy to kill my brother, isn't it? And to threaten the rest of my family too? We aren't out to destroy the Clans. Not at first. Apollo wasn't out to hurt any cat. He was the last cat to want a fight. The scariest thing about him was his stupid jokes. And then you killed him."

His claws dug into the ground as Aether fought back angry tears. This ShadowClan cat was lucky he was showing as much restraint as he was. Because oh how much he wanted to slit this cat's throat.

"Why? Why did you have to kill him? He was hardly older than a kit. We were all barely kits. Did that even cross any of your minds? That these cats you were fighting, that you were killing, were children? No cats ever had to die, you know. We would have been just as happy to leave you all alone. Isn't it funny? These cats you cared so much about, and you are the reason they are dead! Ha! I may no longer be involved with my family, but I can make you one promise. Because I am tired of losing my family and my friends. If you ever put a claw on any cat again, I will personally make sure there is no ShadowClan left to defend. I won't leave like I did last time. Questions? Comments? Concerns? No? Good."

Swifthearts eyes went wide with fear the whole time he spoke... she stayed quiet not inturupting....

so it was his brother? that was the reason why they had attacked... she had heard the name during the battle yes but never really knew exactly what was going on with it. She was too busy trying not to get killed herself.


She could tell that apollo meant a great deal to Aetehr and that he was on the verge of tears talking about his lost brother.


She felat a moment of empathy for him... she knew she would be furious if Nightstalker were to be murdered... she had felt it when loudnose was killed right in front of her...

But Aether was blaming her for something she had no actions in... before today she had barely even heard the name apollo.

"I did not kill your brother.... I am sorry he died. he sounds like a respectful and good cat." she said quietly.

she gave him a breif look of sympathy, the kind hearted molly was sypothetic to all ...

but it quickly faded remembering what he had done to her clanmates... and he blamed her for their deaths as well... she didnt know what to think or feel at this point and it was mainly a big mix of complex emotons she didnt know how to process or identify...

she was still scared out of her mind.


"we were young too...alot of us... and the way I remember it you being that age didnt stop you from killing alot of my clanmates...you killed amberdawn and burningwing... I bet you never even knew their names either... maybe you personally didnt kill them but you were with the crowd that swarmed them and slaughtered them without giving them a second chance... they didnt kill your brother either ... and I dont honestly know who did...

she hesitated ... "I did not have any part in your brothers death... I have never killed another cat and never want to"

(OOC: technically I guess swifheart "killed" fawnpatch the DF cat ... but thye were undead so I dont see that as killing really. Its more sending them back similar to like a zombie)

her mind raced... who would kill a rouge in her clan... she couldnt think of anyone... had cicadashriek done it?? she knew he never liked rogues but to kill one in??? Aether certainly seemed to think cicada had done it.


Swiftheart had no idea that it was ratrunner who had done it... the cat she loved so much and the one who she now was going to have his kits. She didnt know that ratrunner had killed apollo to save her brother nightstalker....

"Fighting more will not bring him back" she said with a shaky voice... she knew that was not a helpful thing to say... or even a smart thing to say... if someone from the dark forest had said that to her about loudnose she would have wnated to smack them... and he looked alot more violent than she ever was. but she was flustered and didnt know what else to say.

"please....I promise we will leave you alone we want peace... let us put this past us? she said still backing away from him a little out of fear.

"I will deliver your message... p...please let me go" she said looking at him in total fear her nerves at all time high. her heart ached in her chest and she felt it pounding away in fear and nervousness.


She begged of him to let her leave and return home. "You have made your point.. we can go our seperate ways here and now... we may not have had a choice back then but we do now" she said slowly backing away from him.

Aether narrowed his eyes at the cat in front of him, unsure if she was being honest or speaking simply out of fear.

"No, I never actually killed them. Again, I was hardly more than a kit, would you truly think I could take them down? I never raised a claw against either of those cats. I, myself, have never killed a cat in my life. And neither have you, I can tell. That is why I am not attacking you. Because, just as you said, there is no need to fight. We have both lost enough. You can just consider this a warning. I doubt either of us want a repeat of that night."

Aether forced a smile upon his face, as though comforting, though there was no kindness behind the action.

"I know you are not the ones who killed my brother. It was that calico, who relished in his death, and the thought of killing the rest of my family. All I ask is that you bring him to me. I want to face the cat that would bring harm to the cats I love."

The poor warrior was begging him to let her leave. And that made Aether laugh.

"You were never forced to stay here. I am on my side of the border, you are on yours, you could have left at any time you wanted to. Now, you seem like a good cat. What is your name? I am Aether, or I suppose I am to be considered Crimsonpaw, now, according to my naming ceremony. You can call me either, although I definitely prefer one over the other. Maybe we could even be friends! Wouldn't that be nice?"

Swiftheart blinked rapidly at all this...

This was the last thing she expected. She stood there unsure of what to even do for a couple of seconds. Her fear lessened alot but it was replaced by utter confusion.

He wants to be friends?? she thought so confused.... only moons ago he wanted to kill me and my whole clan... however, at the same time Swiftheart was a very friendly, trusting cat and she loved making friends and peace wherever possible.

She gave a little nod. "erm... okay I guess we can be friends" she said... she still couldnt say she trusted him all the way... was this some plot that his grandfather had? She couldnt be sure. Also didnt his grandfather hate him for what he did to skyclan?? How did he manage to join their ranks anyways??


Everything seemed so confusing to her and she just wanted to run away from it all. After a long silence she agreed to give his message


"alright... I will let cicada know... although I cant garuntee he will want to see / meet you obviously" she said eventually.

He then gave her his name hmm crimsonpaw okie he was an apprentice now too?? With how well he fought she had not seen that one coming...sure he said he was just a kit back then... but his siblings and him fought like warriors and defeated many of their warriors... they were not kits he was just saying that for sympothy or something... what mind games was he doing right now she had no idea.

Nothing was making any sense right now...

"Swiftheart... good to officially meet you.... ya know when we arent fighting for survival against each other" she purred in response. She had her doubts about his intentions but would go along with whatever for now.

When he said she could leave and he wouldnt pursue she felt the fear that had gripped her just moments earlier vanish almost completly... hmm okay well this could have gone alot worse she supposed.

She backed up deeper into shadowclan land. Goodbye crimsonpaw... I will delive your message...

(ooc: idk if mediocre is active recently so just pretend she like told cicada lols)