Silvershore

Chapter Twenty-One

Although Stormjay did like Perlina very much, the way she died was completely brutal and unnecessary. He saw the state of her body when he went along with around six others to her setting off ceremony. He couldn't even look at her. The gaping wound in her torso from the spear, the bone chiseling out of her back... it was all just too much.

He couldn't even begin to imagine how Jupiter and Ragna felt. They had to witness their mother dying in such a disgusting way. Jupiter wouldn't even talk to anyone except Ragna, and Stormjay couldn't blame him.

The worst part about everything, at least for Stormjay, was the fact that Daruk had sworn revenge on Bright Moon specifically. He knew how absolutely horrible Daruk was, but was still so furious at the way he was mentally torturing her. Leaving her with the fact that she could be killed by him at any day, at any time. She would never feel safe again, because of him. As much as she pretended that she wasn't scared of him, she was clearly petrified, and there was nothing anyone could do or say that would make any of the fear go away. She would be stuck with this horrible feeling for the rest of her life.

No matter what happened, Stormjay vowed to himself that he would never, ever let Daruk lay a hand on Bright Moon. He wouldn't let him win.

As Stormjay and everyone else who went to the setting off ceremony were on their way home, he made a very important decision that he never though he'd want to do. If he really wanted to protect Bright Moon at all costs...he had to know how to do it. So, from now on, along with his shaman duties, he'd learn how to fight for his pack. It would be like being a trainee all over again, except being on his way to being a guard wolf. He didn't care how long it took - he would become one of the best fighters The Pack of the Earth would ever see. It didn't matter how passive he was. It didn't matter that this version of him didn't want to hurt anyone. All that mattered is that he was doing this for Bright Moon.

"Stormjay...are you okay..?" Sky walked beside him. She didn't seem to be herself today...and how could she be? With everything going on?

"I'm fine." Stormjay nodded.

"You...just seemed a little spacey." Sky flattened her ears.

"Are you okay?" Stormjay asked. He shifted his focus from his plan for the future to Sky.

"I'm okay!" Sky gave a clearly fake smile.

"...No, no you're not." Stormjay frowned. "Is it Jupiter..?"

Sky let out a tiny, high-pitched whine in response.

"Aw, Sky..." Stormjay sighed. He wrapped his tail around his sister's back as they kept walking. "...You know why he isn't talking to anyone, right..?"

"I know why...I think I'd do the same if something happened to mom..." Sky whimpered. "But...it's not that that's bothering me...I just...I wanna do something to make him not sad anymore...but I don't know what to do."

Stormjay let out another sigh of despair. "It's...it's gonna take him a while. I don't think anything is really gonna make him feel better for a while. But...it's really not your fault if you can't do anything to help. This is something he needs to get through by himself."

Sky's ear twitched. "There's gotta be something..."

"You know what you can do?" Stormjay smiled. "Give it time. If he decides to talk to you about what's going on, hear him out and make him feel like he's got someone to talk to. Until then...just leave him alone, okay? He's a strong guy. He'll get through it."

"...I get ya..." Sky huffed. "Okay, I'll give it some time, I guess...thanks, 'Jay!"

"Of course." Stormjay grinned. "I'm always here for you, Sky."