Posts by V??????

"Talisman's right," Vertigo aimed a lick for his daughter's head, "He's hurting, too, but he's handling it in his own way. We have to be strong. You all are the future of this Clan, and he's right -- the rest of the Clan will someday be looking to all of you as an example. You need to show them that even if your mother has left, you're all proud to be who you are, and you'll grow up to be better cats than your mother, or even I, was."

His words were affectionate, and when his son went for the door, Vertigo frowned. "Don't get mad at your sisters, Talisman. Mayzie didn't mean it. We're all hurting, but like you said, we need to be strong for each other. Please, stay." The tom rose up from his place next to his daughter and he moved toward the door, gesturing back toward the assembled kits. "I have some news about your brother as well. Don't worry, it's not bad news. But I'd like you to stay and hear it."

Already Vertigo's mind was racing. Their team, like SunClan's, consisted mostly of domestic cats -- but they had two large dogs to match SunClan's two massive servals. Those would pose the biggest threat, and needed to be dispatched as quickly as possible; once they were out of the way, the rest of this would be simple.

But then, there was the reverse strategy as well. Dispatch the small cats first, and then focus on overwhelming the two dogs with the sheer force of numbers.

"Cover me," He attempted to send the telepathic message back to his Clanmates. It was time this battle began; he needed to break their line, get them to scatter. "Grab the first one to scatter away from the others."

Then the cream tabby launched himself forward toward Cyanspectrum; it looked like a suicidal move, throwing himself straight at his line of opponents, but he was prepared to skirt off to the side or jump over them, whatever he needed to do, the instant they burst into action.

Vertigo blinked his verdant eyes, a subtle surprise written there as he listened. Magnus' words seemed very genuine, grateful, and the cream tabby almost found himself feeling harsh for the way he'd handled the situation earlier. True, it was Vertigo's responsibility to ensure his Clan's protection, and letting BloodClanners stroll into the territory was a breach of that. The way Magnus handled the situation was equally inappropriate. But nothing bad had truly come of it (aside from some stolen herbs), and here the tom was now, appearing well-mannered and even thankful despite the punishment Vertigo had given him.

So even before Magnus admitted that, yes -- he acted so harshly toward his Clanmates because he still felt alienated from them, because he did not feel truly accepted and thus still felt the need to keep an emotional distance between them -- Vertigo realized that was certainly the case. The Boss' sympathy finally got the better of him, and his eyes became soft, understanding, almost paternal in a way. Magnus was a young cat who needed direction, acceptance. And Vertigo felt like he ought to have been more conscious of that to begin with.

"I see," Was all he could manage at first. He then paused, thoughtful. "Well, Magnus, all things considered, I think you've carried your sentence long enough. You didn't break my conditions and I think that shows great maturity on your part." He didn't look to Cremekit, although he could see her perk up in his peripheral, "I now release you from confinement to the school building."

Before the serval might react, Vertigo added, "Furthermore, it dawns on me that you do not have a mentor, do you?" He hadn't been in SunClan for his apprenticeship ceremony, anyway, the tom was fairly sure. His ears swerving forward, a smirk curved the corner of the Boss' lips as he concluded, "Because I would be pleased to take you on as my apprentice."

Mentoring a serval sounded like a challenge, but Vertigo welcomed that. Should Magnus accept, it would give Vertigo a chance to more closely watch the ex-BloodClan serval; not because the cream tabby thought he couldn't trust him, no, but so that he could perhaps get closer to the tom himself and make sure that he someday felt like a welcome member of SunClan. So that Vertigo could offer his own guidance, where Magnus' parents no longer could.

Plus it'd make it easier to keep tabs on what the serval was doing in his free time. Vertigo was a just little suspicious of how much time Magnus spent with his daughter. She was a bit too young to be swooning over the tom as much as she seemed to be.

"Well?"

[ ooc. no harm done! <3 Fighting threads move pretty fast. ]

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Vertigo considered jumping in to help Spencer with Kiwipaw, but judging by the looks of things, she had it handled. Feeling a rush of pride for his Clanmate, the cream tabby remained alert, perched next to Magnus, and awaited either a movement by his original target or an opening to strike at one of the other SnowClanners.

Vertigo spotted the opportunity to help and when Mosaicpaw rushed forward to intercept Spencer, the cream tabby leaped after the apprentice, attempting to throw all of his weight against her so that she was winded and knocked away from the battling cats. If he was successful, it wouldn't do much damage to her, just throw her off-course; she was just an apprentice, and the SunClan tom felt unfair pitting the entirety of his strength against her.

Indeed, Vertigo found his paws skidding on the ground as he missed his mark, stirring up dust as he refused to unsheathe his claws and dull them against the floor. Mosaicpaw managed to hit his legs, too, releasing blood from the shallow cuts -- but rather than try to remain upright, the cream tabby led his imbalanced weight into a lunge in pursuit of the apprentice. Again he would aim to shove into her, this time with more strength, in an attempt to pin her into the ground.

The genuine shock and surprise in Renegadeblood's voice as he broke into her mental channel made him sting with guilt, but he pushed the thought aside as quickly as it came. Fairydust's arrival was met with a respectful nod but also a curt gesture which he intended to mean, give me a moment.

Immediately the cream tabby knew something was off. He wasn't sure how or why, but he could vaguely identify cats through contact with their minds; it was sort of like encountering a familiar face, or a familiar feeling. Each cat had a different mental "resonance". Because he'd broken into Renegadeblood's mind before, he had a general idea of what hers felt like... and this cat's mind felt nothing like it.

Confusion emerged from Vertigo's own thoughts. His expression no longer hostile, he plunged further into the recesses of the female's mind, finding nothing familiar about her sense of identity. She seemed to truly believe that she was someone named "Cerys", a warrior of SunClan, and identified these cats as her Clanmates -- him as her leader. Where was Renegadeblood? Momentarily he wondered if the female was just that cunning that she really could hide her thoughts from him, but how was that possible? Surely she wouldn't be able to suppress even the reflexive emotions that emerged when one was faced with enemies and unfamiliars?

Withdrawing from the female's mind temporarily -- he would enter it again if he became suspicious of her behavior -- he decided to try something else. But not before he cast a fleeting glance at the rest of his Clanmates, hoping they would let him investigate without interference for a moment.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," The tom mewed, his voice softened to a practiced tone of sympathy, familiarity. "As I'm sure you know, we've had quite a few run-ins with BloodClan lately. You'll have to forgive us for being on-edge."

The whole time, he watched the female's expression carefully. "Where have you been?"

She really looked upset. The emotion she was displaying appeared very genuine; Vertigo liked to think he was experienced enough to tell when a cat was lying, but he could visually see no indication that she was. There was only the lingering distrust and suspicion that made him think otherwise, which was understandable when one considered this was the same cat that he had been harboring as a prisoner of war less than a moon ago.

Honestly, Vertigo wasn't sure what to do at this point. BloodClanners were strutting over their borders left and right these days, and it was only bringing trouble with it. Even if Renegadeblood hadn't been sent as a spy -- which felt likely, all things considered -- her very presence within their borders would only give BloodClan yet another reason to antagonize his Clan. Not that it made much of a difference. It didn't matter how many reasons Vertigo circumvented, they'd just find another one.

Still, letting a noted member of BloodClan into his camp with his only reasoning being that 'she's acting funny, and I have this feeling she really thinks she's someone else...'

Casting his eyes toward Fairydust again, the cream tabby now attempted to reach out to her with his telepathy. "I've touched her mind. I can't find any mental trace of her identity as Renegadeblood -- she seems to honestly believe she's a SunClan warrior named Cerys."

Then it struck him. She was essentially Renegadeblood, under the guise of a new identity and a different loyal alliance. If she really thought she was a member of SunClan... could they, possibly, use her a spy? Not only would it avoid the risky business of having her in their territory, but no one in BloodClan would give it a second thought. And if she really was a respected member of the enemy Clan, they would share intel with her that they wouldn't dream of sharing with a newcomer. It would give them all the benefits of a spy with none of the associated risk. And if this really was Renegadeblood, she'd essentially be getting sent straight back to BloodClan, defeating the purpose of any mission she might have had.

"Cerys," the tom began again, his body language becoming relaxed and more welcoming to her presence, "Did you forget? You were there on an important mission for SunClan." He stepped forward with concern in his features, closing near her body with his own in a gesture meant to convey comfort. "You may have gotten heat stroke and collapsed; the climate they live in is certainly different from ours. I know a place outside of camp where you can rest for a bit if you need. If you're up to it, I'd like to have a chat with you."

He wouldn't be taking her anywhere near their camp if he could help it, so he hoped she would oblige. With another look at Fairydust, he added, "Fairydust can join us." That would be a safety precaution on his part. If Renegadeblood's intention was to get him alone, having another cat with him would help ensure his protection, although personally that wasn't one of his biggest concerns. Better to put himself in danger than his entire Clan.

[ ooc. I'm getting some major ideas from this XD
How open are you to plotting with her, Paramore? ^_^ ]

[Size=8pt][ ooc. PM'd you <3
Would you mind making another thread for Verti / Renegade (/ Fairydust), Paramore? ^_^ I'd like to get the plot going before I return to break ]

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Ah, good. She agreed. The tom felt a smile curve at the edges of his maw and he beckoned her to follow him, hoping Fairydust would do the same.

Before he departed, though, he was conscious of the arrival of both Permafrost and Frostbite, the latter inquiring why Renegadeblood had returned to SunClan. "I touched her mind," he repeated what he had attempted to tell Fairydust. "There isn't any trace of her identity as Renegadeblood. She truly believes she's a member of SunClan named Cerys. I don't know why this has happened or if she's simply learned to feign her sense of identity that efficiently, but either way -- I'll do what I can to convince her that we've planted her in BloodClan as a spy. If she really does think she's Cerys, we can use her to gather information, and no one will think twice of it because she's already a member of BloodClan. If she's faking it, we'll just be sending her straight back home. I won't let her near our camp."

Vertigo knew he didn't necessarily have to explain his motives to Frostbite, but in situations like this he felt it was better to inform his half-brother rather than leave him in the dark. That way he could avoid potential misunderstandings, and whatever else might arise from a disagreement between the two.

"I'll handle things from here," the cream tabby informed the rest of the assembled group, nodding to each of them. "But I'd like a patrol of our borders to make sure someone from BloodClan hasn't followed her. Frostbite, I'll put you in charge of that."

"Make sure the camp is guarded and tell everyone to be alert, just to be safe."

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It wasn't until that moment that Vertigo realized this was one of Lovestar's kits with his fa-- Sabre, and immediately, the reflexive kick of anger and betrayal stirred from his stomach, coloring the cream tabby's features with discomfort for but an instant. Mention of his son in the same breath only worsened the sensation. But he stayed still and quiet as Brooklyn poured her words out to him, and when the childish first-impulse of a reaction passed as quickly as it came, both maturity and logic told Vertigo that he would be wrong to associate this female with his residual sentiments from both of her parents.

Of course, while her comments that SunClan was 'getting their butts kicked by BloodClan' and how 'she didn't want to be here anyway' had a way of getting under his skin, he had to remind himself that this was a scared, stranded little kitten who'd been abandoned by both of her parents. Wait--

"I thought Lovestar went to the Tribe with your father?" Vertigo's eyes squinted with confusion, casting off the rest of her comments with a rather strained nonchalance (honestly, he wasn't going to try to defend the honor of his Clan against a sobbing kitten). "You mean they left you and your siblings there?"

"I've never met my mother before. I feel nothing towards her and yet, I want to stick up for her. Why should I? She didn't even want us."

Many emotions ran through Vertigo at that. He remembered when he was a kit, thinking he was so important because he was the son of Sabrestar and Flamestar, two great leaders who were adored by all of SunClan. Or so he thought. He remembered watching his father, wanting to be seen and acknowledged by him... especially in the absence of his mother, who had apparently vanished off the face of the planet without a word. Now there was Brooklyn in front of him, a young she-kit who had been abandoned by Lovestar, a betrayer of SunClan and Vertigo's own children, and Sabre, the same father who had failed to act like one to a young Vertigo for most of his life. It hurt, seeing this individual who's very existence, who just by being born, had the power to evoke such a strong response in the cream tabby.

He might have confessed all of that to Brooklyn, too, but she was young. He was surprised she was even up and about yet; he could still remember when she'd been born. Maybe that could be a discussion they shared in the future. Today, niceties seemed like the best thing he could offer her.

Stepping forward, the cream tabby reclined again closer to the female, attempting to establish himself as a welcoming and comforting presence. He nodded his head respectfully to her as if greeting a colleague and returned her greeting; "I'm Vertigo, leader of SunClan." Addressing himself as such just after remembering his youth made his head spin a little. He could claim to being a born and bred leader, he supposed. "It's nice to meet you, Brooklyn."

Though he was assisting with the decorations, Vertigo's ears swiveled back and there was a clear tension in his body when he heard the approach of another cat. Pupils expanded from their cat-like slitted form as he turned his head, only for them to relax back into curved ovular forms as he smiled and dipped his head to her.

Just about to greet her, she spoke before he could. "It's no problem," He reassured her, his tail sweeping the smooth stone surface of the courtyard pathway surrounding the fountain. "I'm glad to help. You and Frostbite have been through a lot... it's nice to see you both get your happy ending."

He couldn't help but feel stirrings of jealousy in his stomach, too, but that didn't take away from the genuine happiness he felt for them. Icebreaker was a sweet cat from what he could tell, and ultimately, he wished his half-brother happiness too.

"How do you feel? Have any pre-wedding jitters?"

When Fairydust emerged, Vertigo tried to send the female a quick telepathic message; "Play along with me."

"You, Cerys, were sent on a mission to infiltrate the ranks of BloodClan. We've been at war with them for some time, now; we needed an insider to tell us what they're doing, when they're doing it, and who they intend to do it with. And you managed to succeed in that. You created a new persona known as "Renegadeblood", and effectively worked your way into BloodClan's ranks." He met the female's eyes as he told her this, a very calm seriousness to his tone and mannerism. "You had been meeting with us to feed us intel, but you stopped several moons ago. We were unable to investigate why without breaking the cover you'd worked so hard to maintain. And now that you've arrived, and clearly have no memory of your mission..." He paused thoughtfully, "I believe someone might have found you out and tried to wipe your memory."

He wasn't sure if she would accept his explanation, but he continued to watch her, keeping himself postured near her as a means of comfort.

Avoiding mention of sending her back to BloodClan just yet -- he would rather instill her with a sense of determination to serve her Clan, first, by telling her that she'd been sent on this important mission and let her know how helpful it'd been so that she would decide to return herself -- he cast his virid eyes over her form and added, "You don't appear to be hurt, so I can't be certain. It's good that you made it back safely to report to us."

[ ooc. sorry to make you wait ;3 ]

[ ooc. Sure, as long as he can do the same <3 ]

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Dragonkit had said that, huh? Vertigo felt a smile curve at the edge of his lips, but it was a very empty one, a humorless one. He loved his son and knew that he meant well at heart, but he had a long way to go toward growing up. He was too young to understand tact and diplomacy the way Vertigo did; how, one day, he would have to learn how to handle things with a level head regardless of how many emotions teemed beneath the surface.

"No, that's not true. You'll have to learn to respect your Clanmates... but I'd never have you kicked out for a reason like that." Besides, as young as she was, and considering what had happened, Vertigo could more than forgive whatever verbal transgression she may have committed. It could only be expected. Lashing out at her would not help the situation, and it was that kind of forethought that Dragonkit would have to learn.

When she gasped, then, Vertigo's ears swerved forward again and his features hardened with concern. What was wrong? Was the stress getting to her? He'd have to fetch Wishfulthinking immediately if it was -- he couldn't imagine all that emotional baggage being good for a kitten. Her comments afterward, however, only served to confuse him. "See what? Is something wrong?"

Though the cream tabby shared her gift, his manifested itself in a different way. Conjoined with his telepathy, he felt emotions from other cats only if his mind was connected to or within a close enough proximity to them, and considering how much he was feeling at the moment, any residual emotional feedback he might have been currently getting from her was drowned out by his own. Still, in his concern, he considered attempting to reach into her mental channel with his own. That way, if she was experiencing some kind of pain, he would be able to feel it as well -- and it might help him understand what she meant before something went too wrong.

Yes. She appeared to believe him. Perhaps this would work after all.

"You may have taken a mate in BloodClan. You had to pretend to live an entirely different life over there, so that no one suspected you were actually sent by us." Even if this was all 'pretend', he had to admire how thoroughly she would have to have been to have evacuated their premises like this. "Cerys" would have been very skilled at what she did. "It might not have been that someone found out -- it could have been something else," Vertigo tried to reassure her. "You've invested too much work into your mission already to let it fail now; you've created a whole life there, and those cats trust that you're loyal to them. You, or "Renegadeblood" I should say, have taken a mate and possibly a family in BloodClan. If you were to stay in SunClan, they would become suspicious."

The cream tabby frowned, then. "Of course, your safety is also top priority. Should you go back to BloodClan, we would want you to come straight back to SunClan if you feel like there is a threat of someone exposing you. You may be met with confusion or hostility again by your Clanmates," Clanmates referring to SunClan's cats, of course, "like you were today -- but that is just a ruse that we have been taught to uphold in case any BloodClanners see you returning here. And if you can, report back any BloodClan cats that you think may be an issue." His frown curved into a smirk denoting confidence. "You may not be able to do anything to them within BloodClan, but I could, of course, find a way to conveniently dispose of them."

If he could gently touch her mind -- in a way much less obvious and invasive than his method before, so as to hopefully not spook her -- he would attempt to instill her with a sense of warmth and determination as he spoke telepathically. "Remember that even while you're over there, you'll have me, and the rest of us. You will be safe. No one else can take your place in this mission."

She'd made a scene when she left? Hm. That might make things a little more difficult.

"What kind of scene did you make? Did you attack any of them?" If she had, that would significantly reduce the amount of trust they'd be willing to invest in her, he was sure. "You might be able to claim that you were possessed. I've heard of that happening to cats, so perhaps they would believe that; you could tell them that you went straight home as soon as you fought the spirit off."

Mentally, he went over the scenario in his head. Renegadeblood, warrior of BloodClan, had just arrived in SunClan believing herself to be a SunClan warrior; now, he was convincing her that she was a SunClan spy sent into BloodClan under the guise of a persona known as Renegadeblood, who had been possessed by another cat (and who, if necessary, she could claim was someone from SunClan, providing a plausible explanation to her Clanmates why she'd suddenly claimed alliance to their enemy Clan).

Quite frankly, in hindsight, the web of lies was rapidly escalating into an obscure complexity. It would certainly make keeping his "facts" straight a challenge.

Vertigo felt sympathy compel him toward the female, and he moved himself closer, attempting to wrap his tail around her smaller frame to comfort her. He still wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she didn't appear to be in physical distress; he tried to gently reach into her mind with his own, opening a mental passage between them and permitting each one to contact the feelings of the other. From her he felt a fear, as she'd stated, but more powerful than that was an emotion very familiar to him -- such a lonely, despairing feeling, dragging the cream tabby's own emotions to surface and almost engulfing him in a heart-wrenching ache of grief.

"You're all right. You're safe here -- SunClan can be your home." He would have said, 'it is your home', but considering how she'd first burst in here claiming that she didn't want to be a part of it, he didn't want her to feel like he was forcing the alliance on her. It was her choice where she wanted to be, really. But he wanted her to understand that SunClan was open to her. She didn't have to be alone. They could be her family.

Seeing that she appeared a bit dejected, the tom tried to encourage her again, "Don't worry. The most important thing to remember when convincing others is to be confident. If you sound sure of yourself, cats will believe almost anything. Decide on an explanation and stick with it -- then they won't think twice about it." The irony here was a bit astounding. Oh well.

When she asked about Renegadeblood, Vertigo tried to remember all he could about the female; suddenly her time as a prisoner and the information Frostbite had managed to fish from her mind felt very helpful. "Yes. She is fiery and persistent," He remembered when they had fought, and was almost confused by the fondness he felt when recalling the memory. She had been a respectable adversary, and he recalled thinking how it was a shame that she couldn't be fighting on his side. Now she was... sort of. "However, she is protective of her Clan and her family. She took a mate named "Frightnight", I believe, and likely has kits." He remembered feeling her protective rage when he'd tried to manipulate her mind, and the panic she felt when she realized she might lose her litter during her battle with him. Again, it was a shame she hadn't been born in SunClan. Half of those BloodClan bastards would have killed their own children for a piece of meat.

"Most importantly, she is the daughter of Coppermine himself. Adopted, of course; you were born in SunClan." He was lying through his teeth right there, but he was worried that if he told her she was Coppermine's full-blooded daughter, she would have questions about how she'd ever become a member of SunClan. Questions he wouldn't know how to answer without arousing suspicion. He could only tie up so many loose ends. "You've already gotten close to many important members of the Clan with your persona as Renegadeblood. Do you remember? You've done very well in your mission."

"That's the spirit! See? You know what you're doing." Vertigo attempted to place his muzzle against her forehead briefly, an affectionate gesture that seemed -- almost felt -- genuine. For just a moment he'd forgotten that he was handling a dangerous situation and that it would still be unwise to let his guard down. "Remember, if anything happens, you can send a message. I'll come meet you at the SunClan border if necessary, and support you however I can without raising suspicion."

When the tom ushered Vertigo on to follow him, the cream tabby did so. The cloud of gloom that seemed to hang overhead as he brooded over the past celebrations that had ended in tears and chaos was lifting off of him, and when he stepped into the long corridor where Westernwaste had painted the portraits of SunClan's high positions, Vertigo was briefly overwhelmed with a flash of emotion.

There were SunClan's oldest leaders, cats that Vertigo only knew by name and by the stories he'd heard throughout his life; there was Sabrestar, his father, the once powerful leader who had led SunClan in a time of prosperity, when things were easier; there was Flamestar, his mother, a wise and generous pro-Clan leader who had however briefly brought peace to a SunClan otherwise ravaged by civil war; Colouredstar, the tom who Vertigo had once respected, proclaimed his enemy, and eventually made amends with before his death; Mountainstar, his well-meaning brother, both of whom had ruled together with a partnership that Vertigo admired; Lovestar, a Colouredstar supporter who Vertigo had been at odds with until their responsibility to SunClan forged a companionship between them that would later be broken apart; and then there was him... Vertigo. Raised in SunClan during an era filled with political unrest and turmoil, doing everything he could to keep it strong and afloat despite all the odds against them. Would he be remembered as fondly as his parents once were -- and perhaps still were, by some? Would cats someday tell stories about him the same way he heard them told about his parents, or the old leaders of SunClan? Or would his memory be one that was someday better left forgotten, represented only by his portrait as seen in this hall dedicated to all cats who lived in service of SunClan?

With all the emotions teeming inside of him, it was very stiffly that he turned his wide green eyes back to Westernwaste. "Vertigo, I would like to dedicate this room of rememberance to you. It has portraits of all the past High Positions, and the present as well. I want to thank you for leading this clan through tough times.. and wish you good luck on your attack." He heard the words, all of them. But he didn't seem able to process them at first.

Then they struck him. "Vertigo, I would like to dedicate this room of rememberance to you." Something so beautiful, yet so nostalgic, so painful, that evoked so many emotions. Something that represented all of the cats who had left their footsteps both on SunClan and on Vertigo's own heart.

"I want to thank you for leading this clan through tough times."

No one had ever said that to him before.

No one had ever said, "Thank you for trying so hard for us." It was such a simple statement, but really, it was one that Vertigo had never heard. His first week as leader had been dogged by the horrifying memory of watching Colouredstar die seven, eight, nine times over in a fiery death as determined by the Star Forest, seeing those same ancestral spirits blinding and maiming his Clan for reasons entirely beyond his control, and then being forced to bear witness to his own half-brother's start down a path of insanity as he murdered some innocent cat in their name. All in his first week. Cats had cried out against him, wanted him overthrown because they wanted a leader who would protect them, solve the problems that he was too weak and powerless and mortal to do so. Nothing he did could help. BloodClan attacked, stole his cats, turned them against him. So many others attempted to kill themselves and were subsequently sentenced to death by a set of ancestors that Vertigo had been forced to obey or otherwise face his Clan's imminent annihilation. He'd been called a failure as a leader. He felt like one. He could do nothing to solve their misery. He'd distanced himself from all of them, feeling hated by the very Clan he loved and vowed to protect.

Now? Things may have been better now. Maybe they weren't. But regardless of everything that had happened, Vertigo hadn't given up -- he was still trying -- and those words seemed to make everything worth it. "Thank you." It was like being acknowledged in a way he never had been before. At first he smiled, warmed and humbled by the praise just as Westernwaste had been, until it faltered and the tom bit his lip, lowered his eyes, trembling with the sheer emotion and finding it increasingly difficult to withhold tears.

"Of course," When he spoke, his tone was just as strong and confident as he'd trained it to be, with the only indication of the feelings teeming underneath being the way it wavered. "I've... I've been honored. Thank you."

[ ooc. I have no idea where these posts come frommmm ]