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Description

pondstorm belongs to WanderingInSilver
hailwillow belongs to Fernyfeline

man i weNT hAM on this background,,, thank god for references
this rp was INTENSE

word count:

1323 words
1464 words

Hailwillow ||

"Let's just stay friends..."

Those words from his crush echoed in his head again, his heart heavy. She was ambitious, unprepared for anything deeper, which he understood. It still hurt, though. Constellationstep's daughter had been his best friend, and now that was all they'd ever be. Nothing more. Hailwillow softly kicked a stone causing it to clatter towards the river bed. He had nobody to talk to about this... Nobody.

Pondstorm ||

Everyone had chores, everyone, but Pondstorm enjoyed hunting patrols the most out of all of them. It gave her time to reflect, both internally and in the water at her paws. The fluffy dame sat idly at the edge of the bank, her paw drawn up and hovering as forms of fish wiggled around just beneath the surface.

However, a kicked stone tumbled right down into the water, a loud plonk following it - causing the fish to scatter and Pondstorm's hackles to rise. Letting out an infuriated growl, the warrior whipped around, her brows creasing deeply.
"Thanks for that, moron." She snarled out. However, upon spotting who she was talking to, her expression faltered and Pond quickly whipped back around, her ears pinning back.

Hailwillow ||

Jumping, the scruffy tom's river-blue eyes grew wide. He hadn't seen his gray and beige twin by the shore, blending in with the slate and sand. "P-Pondst-storm!" He gasped, ears burning as they twitched against his skull. She'd never called him a moron before... "I... I'm sorry about that... That was dumb..."

Pondstorm ||

Guilt sank in her belly, heavy and sour, but she fought it away with a shake of her head. Rising to her paws with a grunt, she stared bitterly up at her twin, face contorted into a hard, ugly frown. "Now I have to find a new hunting place since the fish you scared are halfway up stream by now." She stated dryly, dragging herself up the bank to his side, casting him a hardened, angry look.

Hailwillow ||

"Y-yeah..." He murmured, practically rolling belly up as despair crashed over him. He missed her. He missed their days as the duo in the nursery. He missed her gentleness, her confidence that she helped to boost in him. Now she cared more about glory than family, and Hailwillow didn't think that would ever stop hurting. "Sorry, I'll... Leave you to it." He sighed. In that moment, he had to face the cold hard truth.

He had likely lost his sister forever.

Pondstorm ||

The light tabby flared her nostrils at how he cowered before her, submitting like a child. It angered her, made her furious and disgusted. How did a tom like this drag her down? How did a cat like this share her blood? How did a tom like this cause her such guilt, and leave her sobbing in her nest? Why did she miss a tom like this? Stars... How she missed him.

"Please do." She spat, her tail lashing as she moved off. "You're enough of a pain in the ass as it is."

Hailwillow ||

He visibly grimaced at her words; as if she had slapped him across the face. "What did I do, Pondie?" He whimpered, tears flooding the sensitive tom's eyes. "What did I do to make you love being a warrior more than me?" The lynx point whimpered, feeling some sort of strange pressure build in his chest. What was that?

Pondstorm ||

She froze. She hated his voice, it was so pathetic, especially when he was crying. It made her skin crawl with the desire to wrap him up in her arms and tell him it was ok. But it wasn't. They had a life to fight for, and she was shrouded by the shadows of not only her father, but her siblings. Her life meant nothing. She would always be nothing.

"You did nothing. You are nothing." She snarled, her voice shaking with fury. It's something she told herself time and time again to force herself to believe. Her siblings mattered none, they were only obstacles, inconveniences at that. Pondstorm knew she would have to be bigger than her huge family to ever be seen as more than just one of Ridgefrost's Children.

Hailwillow ||

His jaw dropped at her words.

She sounded like she meant it. Every word. With conviction.

Slowly, the lynx-point tabby's face started to contort into a strange, rare expression for Hailwillow. The skin around his lips tightened, causing his black gums to peel back to reveal sharp, white teeth as his eyes narrowed into slits. It was a look of fresh, unbridled fury. Driven by heartache and betrayal. "Wow. Imagine caring so much about yourself and guts and glory that you condemn your family." He snarled, tears streaking his cheeks as his claws shot out from his toes. "How more selfish could you get? What, Pondstorm? Do you get a kick out of every time you make Mama cry? Watching our younger siblings' faces fall when you turn your back on them? When Da tries to tell you how proud he is of you and you throw it back in his face? I'm not nothing. YOU are."

The tom lashed his tail, a sob heaving in his lungs. "Just say it, Pondstorm. You don't give a rat's ass about me. Not as long as you suffocate me to get to the top of a social hierarchy. As far as you're concerned? Your family is competition. Ma and Da could breathe their last breaths today and you wouldn't bat an eyelash. Dad would be out of the way, so what would be stopping you from your obsession with Deputyship, hmm?" Hailwillow spat, his moment of furious strength ebbing. "As f-far as I'm concerned, it should have been ME who died when we were kits, not Honeykit! As if me thinking that my sist-sister's death wasn't enough punishment f-for such a failure like me, the hatred of my best friend will be what kills me. But th-that's no matter to you, is it?" He screamed as his sobs grew more guttural .

"You'd be HAPPIER if I died, so why don't you just SAY IT?!"

Pondstorm ||

At the voice that reached her ears, Pondstorm visibly flinched. She turned to face her brother, the tone of his words completely foreign to her. It sounded as though another cat was in there. It sounded so broken, so hurt, so full of anger, things that she could never imagine hearing from her brother. Pondstorm's heart dropped and she felt as if she was going to be sick. Each word crashed over her like the thunderous waves of the sea, clapping against rocks and leaving them raw, exposed and damaged.

I'm nothing.

Pondstorm bristled, her eyes blearing and cheeks hot with salty tears. "SHUT UP!" She roared, her voice cracking and insecure. The she-cat shoved her brother, a flat pawed push as anger and insecurities riled up inside of her. "I SAID SHUT UP!" She screamed, their voices clashing and shrill as they battled over one another in the clear air of the riverbank.

The feline was trembling, her eyes wide and as if she were standing before a monster. "Don't you dare say that to me." She growled out, her voice hollow and dripping with anger. "Don't you dare wish yourself dead, Hailwillow. Don't you dare." Tears rolled down her cheeks, hot and uncomfortable. When did she become so weak?

"You don't understand me. Don't act as if you understand me, Hailwillow." Pondstorm's voice was low and hissed, quivering with barely restrained anger. "Y-You..." She was backed into a corner, choking on her own words as the truth of her actions were shoved down her throat by her twin she had neglected for so long.

Hailwillow ||

He was prepared for her to shove him, and planted his paws with flaring nostrils as he took deep, rapid breaths, trying to keep his sobbing under control. His eyes were still narrowed into teary slits, and his thick legs trembled with panic and fury as she screamed at him. He had struck a nerve, a low point. This was the first time he had ever seen her cry. For the first time in all their moons of life, Pondstorm was crying.

"You can't control me, I'm not afraid of you!!" He yelled in response, stepping away from her with his pelt all puffed up, fangs bared as tears streamed from his eyes and snot bubbled at his nose. "Don't pretend you care, Pondstorm! You made your feelings clear; abandon your twin who has held survivors guilt for his entire life to go chasing glory. I just hope that so far, that it's been worth it." Hailwillow snapped shakily, his voice only dampened by the sobs. He still had the hot feeling in his chest, and it egged him on.

"Clearly not. Considering you're like a stranger to me." He laughed bitterly. "I don't care about your edginess, because you're right. I DON'T understand you. You choose to be so ANGRY, so bitter and against the world when you could have the love and unity of your whole family. But no. You push us away, you make Ma CRY at night, you make dad pace the den and wonder why he failed as a warrior and father. You scare Freckleshimmer and Larkwhisper, and intimidate Applefeather. I was your emotional tree trunk for so long, but I'm done. I can't walk around on eggshells around you any more! So go ahead; tell me I'm dead to you. Tell me I'm a failure. But that won't change anything regarding the fact that you're wasting your life!" He screamed, voice growing hoarse.

Pondstorm ||

She listened to his words, her fury sparking. Everything he said was a lie. She loved him. She loved her family. She felt guilty each night about her Mother, she regretted ever making Ridgefrost ashamed of her. She had been in and out of punishment during her Apprenticeship, and it had left her bitter and angry. She so desperately wanted to be something more than them, something different - something that stood out, but felt as though she was strangled and smothered by her family.

"Good." Pondstorm croaked, her eyes flashing, anger and hurt behind them as she trembled. "You are not my family. None of you are." She seethed, her teeth glimmering as she dug herself deeper and deeper into her hole of lies. By now, Pondstorm was so deep in her own shit, she gave up and let herself willingly sink into it.

"Family is weakness. You smother, you coddle, you whimper and whine. You will never make me better. You will never be better." Her voice was rising, and it shook and trembled once more. "I live in your shadows. I live behind the title of my father, I live behind the pain of my mother. I live behind the cowardice of my Leader. I live behind the softness of my brother, the empathy he emits, the way he wants everyone to be happy." She snarled, her voice feral and rough.

"I have ALWAYS been the disgraceful one. I have ALWAYS been the one to fail, to get myself in trouble. Ridgefrost has always been ashamed of me. You have always wanted me to grow up and be better, haven't you, Hailwillow?" She drew herself high. "Stop telling me to admit things to myself, and open your own eyes. YOU WISHED I WAS DIFFERENT, DON'T YOU? YOU WISH I WASN'T AS BRASH, AS BOLD, DONT YOU? " She roared, her anger bubbling as hot tears flecked in her vision.
"You never saw me for who I was, none of you did. It was always, Oh NO Pond, you can't say that! Oh NO Pond! Don't act like that! Everything was about your image, Ridgefrost's IMAGE." She was seething, her voice cracking with hot distress. "YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY. I AM, AND NEVER WILL BE, THE SISTER YOU WISH FOR ME TO BE."

Hailwillow ||

"SHUT UP!"

His scream cut her last several words off. "SHUT UP!" He screeched again, breaking off to heavily sob. "Who defended you when you were being yourself? Who wanted cats to be open about your headstrong personality because they loved you for you? ME! Who always loved you for what you presented, the good heart that you had deep down? All while supporting how you acted because THAT is what love is? Me, Starclan Damn it!" He wailed, grief thickening his mew.

"You're the only one telling yourself that, Pondstorm. And the more you let yourself think about that? The sooner your life will flash by; resulting in you being an Elder who has nobody around her when she joins the ranks of Starclan. Nobody to praise her for what she did right, HOW she did right. You will die alone, with regrets, but of course nothing phases you, so that shouldn't be in issue should it?" The calico tom snarled, thick tail lashing from side to side.

"The only time I've ever wished for you to be different is now. I want my headstrong, ambitious, family oriented, fun-loving Pondstorm. I want the good, the bad, the ugly, I want the authentic you. But you'd rather believe that you're hated, that you're so misunderstood, just to keep this bullshit lie to yourself about how you're a tortured youth who has to leave her terrible family situation behind to succeed. It must be so AWFUL having a family who unconditionally LOVES you." He seethed, choking on a sob that quieted him for a moment.

"But whatever you want to tell yourself, Pondstorm. As far as I'm concerned? You're not my family either. Not anymore."

Pondstorm ||

She listened to each thing he said, each point he made. He claimed to see through her eyes, but he was so dense it made her skin boil. "No, Hailwillow." She choked out, her eyes clouded and misty. "You loved a cat who you could whimper to. You loved a cat who'd let you feed off her confidence. You loved a cat who made you seem more than a a yellow-bellied rat who-" Pondstorm whimpered, flinching, her own lies catching in her throat.

As he cut her off, Pondstorm felt her ears and confidence drop. She had been the one cutting ties, and it felt so out of place for her brother to be doing this to her. However, instead of making herself feel as though she should right her wrongs, Pondstorm's gaze hardened. "Good."

Pondstormed turned her back on him, striding away. He claimed everything was so peachy, so perfect and pristine. But that was only because he had been a good kid. He hadn't been the one on the recieving end of everyone's grief and anger. He was shielded by his own 'mr. perfect' exterior. She? She felt like a scratch on the wall her family talked about covering up. Her own insecurities were leading her to believe her family wanted nothing more than to cut her off, and now? It had happened. Pondstorm weasled her way deeper into the territory, feeling sick to her stomach, as she let out loud sobs of anger.

Hailwillow ||

Hailwillow bared his teeth as he let out a coarse laugh. "You're full of shit." He snarled, "You have nothing to say because you know that's a lie." His claws scored the earth in pained frustration as his sister stormed away from him, shoulders shaking with sobs that threatened to explode from her ribs. It was then when Hailwillow felt the despair setting in. He was never going to get his sister back. She was gone, and he had to let her go.

He collapsed on the river bank, hiding his face in his paws as he wailed into them. He had thought losing Orchidpaw's affections was awful, as all first crushes were. But he had just lost his first love. His sister, his twin, his role model, his confidant. She was gone; leaving nothing but spite and venom in her wake. She hated him, and in that moment, Hailwillow believed everything that she had said to him.

Pathetic. Yellow bellied. Weak.

If that were true, though, why hadn't Greencough taken him? Why couldn't Honeykit have grown up while he rotted in the ground? He hadn't deserved to live; and he could think of no worse punishment than staying alive only for his sister, the very cat who was terrified of losing him as he wasted away in the Medicine Cat den, to condemn him. Their relationship had been fractured, severed and twisted to what was beyond repair in Hailwillow's mind. He felt like a tiny, helpless child again... He wanted his mother, he wanted Dawnheart.

The tabico continued to lay there, his grief ripping through his throat as muffled screams ejected themselves into the stones below his lips.

Description

pondstorm belongs to WanderingInSilver
hailwillow belongs to Fernyfeline

man i weNT hAM on this background,,, thank god for references
this rp was INTENSE

word count:

1323 words
1464 words

Hailwillow ||

"Let's just stay friends..."

Those words from his crush echoed in his head again, his heart heavy. She was ambitious, unprepared for anything deeper, which he understood. It still hurt, though. Constellationstep's daughter had been his best friend, and now that was all they'd ever be. Nothing more. Hailwillow softly kicked a stone causing it to clatter towards the river bed. He had nobody to talk to about this... Nobody.

Pondstorm ||

Everyone had chores, everyone, but Pondstorm enjoyed hunting patrols the most out of all of them. It gave her time to reflect, both internally and in the water at her paws. The fluffy dame sat idly at the edge of the bank, her paw drawn up and hovering as forms of fish wiggled around just beneath the surface.

However, a kicked stone tumbled right down into the water, a loud plonk following it - causing the fish to scatter and Pondstorm's hackles to rise. Letting out an infuriated growl, the warrior whipped around, her brows creasing deeply.
"Thanks for that, moron." She snarled out. However, upon spotting who she was talking to, her expression faltered and Pond quickly whipped back around, her ears pinning back.

Hailwillow ||

Jumping, the scruffy tom's river-blue eyes grew wide. He hadn't seen his gray and beige twin by the shore, blending in with the slate and sand. "P-Pondst-storm!" He gasped, ears burning as they twitched against his skull. She'd never called him a moron before... "I... I'm sorry about that... That was dumb..."

Pondstorm ||

Guilt sank in her belly, heavy and sour, but she fought it away with a shake of her head. Rising to her paws with a grunt, she stared bitterly up at her twin, face contorted into a hard, ugly frown. "Now I have to find a new hunting place since the fish you scared are halfway up stream by now." She stated dryly, dragging herself up the bank to his side, casting him a hardened, angry look.

Hailwillow ||

"Y-yeah..." He murmured, practically rolling belly up as despair crashed over him. He missed her. He missed their days as the duo in the nursery. He missed her gentleness, her confidence that she helped to boost in him. Now she cared more about glory than family, and Hailwillow didn't think that would ever stop hurting. "Sorry, I'll... Leave you to it." He sighed. In that moment, he had to face the cold hard truth.

He had likely lost his sister forever.

Pondstorm ||

The light tabby flared her nostrils at how he cowered before her, submitting like a child. It angered her, made her furious and disgusted. How did a tom like this drag her down? How did a cat like this share her blood? How did a tom like this cause her such guilt, and leave her sobbing in her nest? Why did she miss a tom like this? Stars... How she missed him.

"Please do." She spat, her tail lashing as she moved off. "You're enough of a pain in the ass as it is."

Hailwillow ||

He visibly grimaced at her words; as if she had slapped him across the face. "What did I do, Pondie?" He whimpered, tears flooding the sensitive tom's eyes. "What did I do to make you love being a warrior more than me?" The lynx point whimpered, feeling some sort of strange pressure build in his chest. What was that?

Pondstorm ||

She froze. She hated his voice, it was so pathetic, especially when he was crying. It made her skin crawl with the desire to wrap him up in her arms and tell him it was ok. But it wasn't. They had a life to fight for, and she was shrouded by the shadows of not only her father, but her siblings. Her life meant nothing. She would always be nothing.

"You did nothing. You are nothing." She snarled, her voice shaking with fury. It's something she told herself time and time again to force herself to believe. Her siblings mattered none, they were only obstacles, inconveniences at that. Pondstorm knew she would have to be bigger than her huge family to ever be seen as more than just one of Ridgefrost's Children.

Hailwillow ||

His jaw dropped at her words.

She sounded like she meant it. Every word. With conviction.

Slowly, the lynx-point tabby's face started to contort into a strange, rare expression for Hailwillow. The skin around his lips tightened, causing his black gums to peel back to reveal sharp, white teeth as his eyes narrowed into slits. It was a look of fresh, unbridled fury. Driven by heartache and betrayal. "Wow. Imagine caring so much about yourself and guts and glory that you condemn your family." He snarled, tears streaking his cheeks as his claws shot out from his toes. "How more selfish could you get? What, Pondstorm? Do you get a kick out of every time you make Mama cry? Watching our younger siblings' faces fall when you turn your back on them? When Da tries to tell you how proud he is of you and you throw it back in his face? I'm not nothing. YOU are."

The tom lashed his tail, a sob heaving in his lungs. "Just say it, Pondstorm. You don't give a rat's ass about me. Not as long as you suffocate me to get to the top of a social hierarchy. As far as you're concerned? Your family is competition. Ma and Da could breathe their last breaths today and you wouldn't bat an eyelash. Dad would be out of the way, so what would be stopping you from your obsession with Deputyship, hmm?" Hailwillow spat, his moment of furious strength ebbing. "As f-far as I'm concerned, it should have been ME who died when we were kits, not Honeykit! As if me thinking that my sist-sister's death wasn't enough punishment f-for such a failure like me, the hatred of my best friend will be what kills me. But th-that's no matter to you, is it?" He screamed as his sobs grew more guttural .

"You'd be HAPPIER if I died, so why don't you just SAY IT?!"

Pondstorm ||

At the voice that reached her ears, Pondstorm visibly flinched. She turned to face her brother, the tone of his words completely foreign to her. It sounded as though another cat was in there. It sounded so broken, so hurt, so full of anger, things that she could never imagine hearing from her brother. Pondstorm's heart dropped and she felt as if she was going to be sick. Each word crashed over her like the thunderous waves of the sea, clapping against rocks and leaving them raw, exposed and damaged.

I'm nothing.

Pondstorm bristled, her eyes blearing and cheeks hot with salty tears. "SHUT UP!" She roared, her voice cracking and insecure. The she-cat shoved her brother, a flat pawed push as anger and insecurities riled up inside of her. "I SAID SHUT UP!" She screamed, their voices clashing and shrill as they battled over one another in the clear air of the riverbank.

The feline was trembling, her eyes wide and as if she were standing before a monster. "Don't you dare say that to me." She growled out, her voice hollow and dripping with anger. "Don't you dare wish yourself dead, Hailwillow. Don't you dare." Tears rolled down her cheeks, hot and uncomfortable. When did she become so weak?

"You don't understand me. Don't act as if you understand me, Hailwillow." Pondstorm's voice was low and hissed, quivering with barely restrained anger. "Y-You..." She was backed into a corner, choking on her own words as the truth of her actions were shoved down her throat by her twin she had neglected for so long.

Hailwillow ||

He was prepared for her to shove him, and planted his paws with flaring nostrils as he took deep, rapid breaths, trying to keep his sobbing under control. His eyes were still narrowed into teary slits, and his thick legs trembled with panic and fury as she screamed at him. He had struck a nerve, a low point. This was the first time he had ever seen her cry. For the first time in all their moons of life, Pondstorm was crying.

"You can't control me, I'm not afraid of you!!" He yelled in response, stepping away from her with his pelt all puffed up, fangs bared as tears streamed from his eyes and snot bubbled at his nose. "Don't pretend you care, Pondstorm! You made your feelings clear; abandon your twin who has held survivors guilt for his entire life to go chasing glory. I just hope that so far, that it's been worth it." Hailwillow snapped shakily, his voice only dampened by the sobs. He still had the hot feeling in his chest, and it egged him on.

"Clearly not. Considering you're like a stranger to me." He laughed bitterly. "I don't care about your edginess, because you're right. I DON'T understand you. You choose to be so ANGRY, so bitter and against the world when you could have the love and unity of your whole family. But no. You push us away, you make Ma CRY at night, you make dad pace the den and wonder why he failed as a warrior and father. You scare Freckleshimmer and Larkwhisper, and intimidate Applefeather. I was your emotional tree trunk for so long, but I'm done. I can't walk around on eggshells around you any more! So go ahead; tell me I'm dead to you. Tell me I'm a failure. But that won't change anything regarding the fact that you're wasting your life!" He screamed, voice growing hoarse.

Pondstorm ||

She listened to his words, her fury sparking. Everything he said was a lie. She loved him. She loved her family. She felt guilty each night about her Mother, she regretted ever making Ridgefrost ashamed of her. She had been in and out of punishment during her Apprenticeship, and it had left her bitter and angry. She so desperately wanted to be something more than them, something different - something that stood out, but felt as though she was strangled and smothered by her family.

"Good." Pondstorm croaked, her eyes flashing, anger and hurt behind them as she trembled. "You are not my family. None of you are." She seethed, her teeth glimmering as she dug herself deeper and deeper into her hole of lies. By now, Pondstorm was so deep in her own shit, she gave up and let herself willingly sink into it.

"Family is weakness. You smother, you coddle, you whimper and whine. You will never make me better. You will never be better." Her voice was rising, and it shook and trembled once more. "I live in your shadows. I live behind the title of my father, I live behind the pain of my mother. I live behind the cowardice of my Leader. I live behind the softness of my brother, the empathy he emits, the way he wants everyone to be happy." She snarled, her voice feral and rough.

"I have ALWAYS been the disgraceful one. I have ALWAYS been the one to fail, to get myself in trouble. Ridgefrost has always been ashamed of me. You have always wanted me to grow up and be better, haven't you, Hailwillow?" She drew herself high. "Stop telling me to admit things to myself, and open your own eyes. YOU WISHED I WAS DIFFERENT, DON'T YOU? YOU WISH I WASN'T AS BRASH, AS BOLD, DONT YOU? " She roared, her anger bubbling as hot tears flecked in her vision.
"You never saw me for who I was, none of you did. It was always, Oh NO Pond, you can't say that! Oh NO Pond! Don't act like that! Everything was about your image, Ridgefrost's IMAGE." She was seething, her voice cracking with hot distress. "YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY. I AM, AND NEVER WILL BE, THE SISTER YOU WISH FOR ME TO BE."

Hailwillow ||

"SHUT UP!"

His scream cut her last several words off. "SHUT UP!" He screeched again, breaking off to heavily sob. "Who defended you when you were being yourself? Who wanted cats to be open about your headstrong personality because they loved you for you? ME! Who always loved you for what you presented, the good heart that you had deep down? All while supporting how you acted because THAT is what love is? Me, Starclan Damn it!" He wailed, grief thickening his mew.

"You're the only one telling yourself that, Pondstorm. And the more you let yourself think about that? The sooner your life will flash by; resulting in you being an Elder who has nobody around her when she joins the ranks of Starclan. Nobody to praise her for what she did right, HOW she did right. You will die alone, with regrets, but of course nothing phases you, so that shouldn't be in issue should it?" The calico tom snarled, thick tail lashing from side to side.

"The only time I've ever wished for you to be different is now. I want my headstrong, ambitious, family oriented, fun-loving Pondstorm. I want the good, the bad, the ugly, I want the authentic you. But you'd rather believe that you're hated, that you're so misunderstood, just to keep this bullshit lie to yourself about how you're a tortured youth who has to leave her terrible family situation behind to succeed. It must be so AWFUL having a family who unconditionally LOVES you." He seethed, choking on a sob that quieted him for a moment.

"But whatever you want to tell yourself, Pondstorm. As far as I'm concerned? You're not my family either. Not anymore."

Pondstorm ||

She listened to each thing he said, each point he made. He claimed to see through her eyes, but he was so dense it made her skin boil. "No, Hailwillow." She choked out, her eyes clouded and misty. "You loved a cat who you could whimper to. You loved a cat who'd let you feed off her confidence. You loved a cat who made you seem more than a a yellow-bellied rat who-" Pondstorm whimpered, flinching, her own lies catching in her throat.

As he cut her off, Pondstorm felt her ears and confidence drop. She had been the one cutting ties, and it felt so out of place for her brother to be doing this to her. However, instead of making herself feel as though she should right her wrongs, Pondstorm's gaze hardened. "Good."

Pondstormed turned her back on him, striding away. He claimed everything was so peachy, so perfect and pristine. But that was only because he had been a good kid. He hadn't been the one on the recieving end of everyone's grief and anger. He was shielded by his own 'mr. perfect' exterior. She? She felt like a scratch on the wall her family talked about covering up. Her own insecurities were leading her to believe her family wanted nothing more than to cut her off, and now? It had happened. Pondstorm weasled her way deeper into the territory, feeling sick to her stomach, as she let out loud sobs of anger.

Hailwillow ||

Hailwillow bared his teeth as he let out a coarse laugh. "You're full of shit." He snarled, "You have nothing to say because you know that's a lie." His claws scored the earth in pained frustration as his sister stormed away from him, shoulders shaking with sobs that threatened to explode from her ribs. It was then when Hailwillow felt the despair setting in. He was never going to get his sister back. She was gone, and he had to let her go.

He collapsed on the river bank, hiding his face in his paws as he wailed into them. He had thought losing Orchidpaw's affections was awful, as all first crushes were. But he had just lost his first love. His sister, his twin, his role model, his confidant. She was gone; leaving nothing but spite and venom in her wake. She hated him, and in that moment, Hailwillow believed everything that she had said to him.

Pathetic. Yellow bellied. Weak.

If that were true, though, why hadn't Greencough taken him? Why couldn't Honeykit have grown up while he rotted in the ground? He hadn't deserved to live; and he could think of no worse punishment than staying alive only for his sister, the very cat who was terrified of losing him as he wasted away in the Medicine Cat den, to condemn him. Their relationship had been fractured, severed and twisted to what was beyond repair in Hailwillow's mind. He felt like a tiny, helpless child again... He wanted his mother, he wanted Dawnheart.

The tabico continued to lay there, his grief ripping through his throat as muffled screams ejected themselves into the stones below his lips.