[center][fancypost=border-width:0px; width: 400px;][font=andale mono][align=justify]//some gore warning maybe??
Spring.
The season of new life, of brightness and new beginnings. Spring had come upon Blizzardclan once again, and Riddlersgame was there with his Clan to experience it, though this was far from his first time experiencing the season, as it may have been for many of the young members of his Clan. Riddler was one of the oldest in Blizzardclan now, an experienced warrior who was now surprised by very little. However, in a way, Riddlersgame was experiencing a spring of his own - he was changing, becoming someone brand new despite his age. People were always changing, in a manner of putting it, adapting to new circumstances as time went by. He had, however, had gone beyond that - he would perhaps go as far as to say he was completely transforming. Into what? He wasn't sure, exactly.
When did it begin? When he returned to Blizzardclan several months prior. He had left to try and cope with his hallucinations and paranoia, to try and banish Ed, his other half, from his mind. For a time, he had been successful, and he had taken it as a sign that it was time to return home. He had found Tama, who had been his sister of sorts. He had been reunited with Sweetophelia, the only girl he had ever loved, and he had met Pierce, who quickly became his best friend. For a time he had been happy, and then, he lost her. Tama, passing suddenly as she slept, had been a massive blow to his psyche, and just like that, Ed had come back to him. At the time he had been terrified, frightened by the things Ed would have him do to those around him, though now that a few months had gone by, he no longer feared that side of him.
The tall tabby was resting now, enjoying the weather, curled peacefully around a book. Something about the fresh smell on the breeze and the warmth of the sunshine put him at ease as he half dozed, green gaze half lidded and black spectacles slipping down his nose. He looked calm and casual, his usual polite, reserved demeanor slipping away as he grew closer to sleep. He almost looked younger, as though the time and worry and responsibilities that aged him had begun to leave.
Summer.
Summer was a season known for it's stifling heat. It was like spring's worse brother - still decent, the trees still green and the prey still plentiful, yet somehow slower, more constricting. It was the time to stock up on herbs and food, a busy time when the hot weather just made work more difficult. Perhaps some enjoyed it much like young humans did, viewed it as a time slack off or swim or whatever else they liked doing. Riddler, for one, didn't really have an opinion on summertime as a whole - it was what it was. To him, it simply signaled that fall was right around the corner, a time in between two more important seasons. The period after Tama's death had been difficult for Riddler in numerous ways. She had been his best friend for so long - he had told her, trusted her with, everything. He had met her when she was no more than a baby, a naive girl who needed a big brother to protect her. The first time he had ever killed had been for her, consumed by vengeance when he encountered a rogue who had raped her. He hadn't thought about what he was doing then, but even now, he didn't regret it for an instant. She had looked out for him too, sometimes being the only thing that kept him from flying off the handle when Ed had been so new and scary to him. After all they had been through, having her go so suddenly without the chance to say goodbye had been like a physical blow to Riddlersgame, and had brought on the return of his more violent alter-ego. A short time later, he had learned that he was to be a father - a subject that had given him considerable stress at the time. He had never planned to have kids, and he had worried both that he would fall short as a father and that they would inherit his unstable tendencies. Now, of course, he loved his two sons dearly, but before they were born he had certainly had mixed feelings about them.
"Hey, do I know you?" An unfamiliar voice graced Riddler's ears, and the tabby opened his eyes, a look of confusion crossing his features as he glanced up at who had spoke. It was a Blizzardclanner, no one familiar and clearly no one of importance. A frown pulling at his lips, the tabby gazed up at him. "I'm afraid not," he meowed, a feline eyebrow quirking to signal his skepticism. Perhaps if he had been in a worse mood, he would have told the stranger to buzz off and let him go back his nap, but he felt generous, and all the time he had spent as a Paladin encouraged him to be friendly and helpful regardless of what the other person was like. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked, sitting up and suddenly becoming taller than the NPC as he reached his full height.
Fall.
Fall was like a warning. The grace period between the ease of summer and the difficult cold of wintertime. It was like one last chance to enjoy the world before it changed, before the leaves were completely gone and replaced with snow. Fall gave one the time to adjust and fully anticipate what was right around the corner - winter always followed fall, after all.
Riddlersgame began to accept his reality as time went by. Life without Tama was difficult, at least at first, as he adjusted to the void she had left in his chest. However, she hadn't been the only one he cared about in his life. He still had Sweetophelia, whom he treasured above all others, and before too long he had his two boys, Mieczyslaw and Aleksei. Furthermore, he had Pierce, who quickly became something between a best friend and a little brother to him. As a matter of fact, it was because of Pierce that Riddler had become what he had. The young vice-leader had been captured - once, Riddler had let it slide, the second time, he had snapped. Pippa Cipher had snatched the serval, hurt him, and Riddler had taken the decision of her punishment into his own paws.
"No, I do know you. Riddlersgame, right?" the stranger asked, voice becoming eager. Riddler, truth be told, was a bit pleased someone he had never met recognized him - perhaps he was a bit more well known than he thought. "Yeah, that's me," he confirmed, a small smile finding his features until the NPC spoke his next words; "You knew Tama, right? What did you think of her?" What kind of fucking question was that? Why would he even bring her up? "Yes," he meowed, voice tight and mouth flattening into an unamused line. "I did." Naturally, he didn't want to discuss this, particularly with someone he had just met a moment ago. It was a painful subject and always would be, and in a way, he would always be grieving the loss of his little sister.
Winter.
The coldest, harshest season. Winter brought on chilly winds, grey, dark skies, and a shortage of food. There was no color in winter. There was no forgiveness from winter.
Pippa Cipher was dead, and Riddlersgame had killed her. Slit her throat and left her corpse to rot. In his mind, she had deserved it - she was a Cartelian, she had hurt his best friend, and Pierce would surely not have been her last victim had he not intervened. Perhaps one could excuse his slaying of the girl as an act of passion as he sought to avenge his friend and find justice, but something had happened to him that night. Something that he had been fighting to prevent since he was just a young Paladin - Ed's suggestions and endless whispers, his assurances that killing this person and hurting that person was a good idea. For months and months Riddler had attempted to silence his pursuasive voice, but the night that he killed Pippa, he had done the opposite - he had listened to it. And, better yet, Ed had been right. Riddler had enjoyed every moment of it, the feeling of his blade against her throat, the sharp tang of her blood as he ended her pathetic life. Since then, Riddlersgame hadn't really heard Ed's voice. However, he knew full well that he was far from gone. Instead, he and Ed were one and the same - the voice of Riddlersgame speaking the same words.
"I didn't think she was all that good," the stranger babbled, ignorant to the threatening scowl creeping across a certain tabby's thin features. The NPC sat down casually, glancing up and into the trees as he continued. "She was too soft., too weak, y'know? She should have been a bit more-"
WHACK!
Riddlersgame had hefted his book into the air and struck the stranger across the head with all the force he could muster, his green gaze filled with contempt. The Blizzardclanner fell, letting out a groan of pain. "How dare you speak of her that way!" Riddler snarled. A rush of anger and adrenaline had filled his ears, drowning out all thought. Here was, attacking a Clanmate simply because he spoke ill of a former leader - was he insane? Was he completely out of his mind?
Kill him, kill him, echoed back and forth in his brain, Ed's voice - no, his own voice - ordering him to end this guy. He had called Tama weak, called his dead sister, weak and soft. Plus he sure as hell couldn't just let him go now, or he'd run off and tell everyone, and, at best, he'd lose the respect of his family and Clanmates. Surely, Riddlersgame wasn't thinking straight, attacking him like this, but there was no going back. And even if there was, it wasn't as if he could've stopped himself now.
"How dare you," he repeated, hitting him violently with the book once again. Blood was present now, oozing from the NPC's mouth and a wound on his forehead. The rush had consumed the warrior now, filling his ears with nothing but the sound of the ocean and the erratic beating of his own heart. A look of pure contempt in his green eyes, the skinny feline raised a merciless claw to his victim's throat, and, with a flash of his claws and a spurt of fresh blood, it was over. The NPC's corpse twitched for a moment and then was still, eyes dull and expression limp.
Spring.
Green leaves. A bright sun and a cool breeze. It was a beautiful day, and Riddlersgame knew it. It was a beautiful day, and Riddlersgame had blood on his white paws. He had blood on his paws, but he didnt mind. He could clean it up, after all. It was just blood.
Spring was a time of metamorphasis. When creatures awoke from their long winter's sleep and when new life grew and prospered. Riddlersgame was far from new to this world, but in a way, wasn't he something of a new creature? He had come so far from the annoying, awkward child he had been when he first joined Blizzardclan, and even since he had returned several months ago. His rebirth, so to speak, might not have been conventional, but he would be a liar if he said he was unhappy with the new him, with the creature he had become. The hatred and malice in his bright eyes had faded, his usual softer, more relaxed, analytical glint returning as he gazed down at the corpse at his feet. Vaguely, it occured to him that, perhaps, he had indeed been remade. Remade into a monster.
And he was okay with that.
By the time anyone found Riddler's victim, the killer himself would be long gone and whatever light scent he may have left on the body covered up. This wasn't the first time hiding his scent, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be his last. However, he had opted not to hide the corpse like he had in the past - he just didn't feel like spending the time today - so the NPC could be found out in the forest, clearly beaten with a blunt object before having his throat cut, and with no scent besides Blizzardclan's clinging to his fur.
OOC: word count: 2,143
so YIKES that was a lot
if you guys wanna reply IC feel free, just a reminder that it can't be traced back to him c: