Saviors of the Forest

Chapter 32: Gears Set

It was the dead of night, and Thorn was wide awake.

He was in his room, the ceiling high and made of glass, so he could see the Moons and the Stars. There was a large desk, a wardrobe, and an even larger, utterly luxurious bed in the center of the room.

Thorn, as much as he hated to admit it, could absolutely get used to this kind of life. Well... This particular aspect. The luxury.

He had managed to slip Dutch a message to meet him in his room when he got the chance, and he finally heard approaching footsteps and a quick tap on the door.

Thorn silently got up and opened the door to a small, trembling Dutch who hung his head submissively.

"Hey," Thorn whispered. "Come in," he said, gesturing to the room and opening the door further.

Dutch silently walked inside and stood next to the door, not looking up.

"How can I be of service, sir?" Dutch asked quietly.

Thorn blinked at him, taken aback. "Hey, you don't have to do that. I don't want anything from you, I just wanted to explain."

Dutch gave a hesitant nod, glancing up at him for a brief moment.

"It's alright, I'm not Pirate. I'm not even really working with him. We're gonna save the Forest, right here, right now. But we need your help," Thorn said.

This made Dutch look up. "What?" he asked, then covered his mouth.

"...Me?"

Thorn grinned at him. "Yep. The plan is we convince Pirate I'm on his side, and then we steal his bracelets, so he can't use his mind control and has to fight for himself. The others are waiting for a message, and I told them that you'd be the start of the message chain. Do you think you could do that?"

Dutch's eyes widened and a small smile graced his lips. He looked much more relaxed now, and sat himself on the stone floor.

"I can do that. I've been Pirate's messenger lots of times. I'm really good at it. You just tell me what to say and who to give it to and it's done," Dutch said proudly.

Thorn laid a paw on his shoulder.

"I knew I could count on you," he said with a smile, a real one.

"Hey, do you still have Equity's medallion?" he asked.

Dutch nodded, pulling it out of his pouch. "It's just awful what he did to her..." he said sadly.

Thorn nodded silently, trying to shoo away the images of Equity's empty eyes and scarce, shallow breathing, confined to that cage that she hardly fit into.

"Why are you with him?" Thorn suddenly asked.

Dutch picked at his claws, startled by the question, and a faint flush made its way onto his cheeks.

"Well... When we were younger, much, much younger, we knew eachother. We were the best friends in the whole world. Almost family, and we both knew we wanted to be... More... Than just best friends," he said quietly, smiling distantly at the memories. He had almost forgotten them.

Thorn was stunned into silence. "So... He didn't force you to be his apprentice or anything?"

Dutch laughed, the sound a chitter.

"Not at all. I willingly followed him. It may have been a horrible mistake. But I was just as distraught as him about Queen Supernova and wanted revenge as much as him. I don't anymore, I've accepted her death and have found peace. Pirate hasn't, I suppose."

"What happened?" Thorn asked.

"Well, I wasn't there personally, but Pirate was. He told me that Queen Oakra stabbed a spear through his mother's heart. On the battlefield, as The War was still going strong. Queen Supernova had the same Snake that Pirate does. Sor. He gives me the creeps, but Pirate likes him, so I suppose he's alright," Dutch explained.

Thorn nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to the night sky, Dutch's eyes followed.

"Does he hurt you?" Thorn asked, suddenly worried about Dutch.

Dutch laughed again. "Well, no, at least not on purpose. He's incredibly bossy, but I'm alright with that. He was always like that, bossy. It doesn't really bother me. In fact, he spoils me," Dutch said, blushing.

"We share the best room in the Palace, and he made me my own little throne and my own little crown. He doesn't mind control me either, and he mind controls everyone. I mean, besides you, I guess."

Thorn nodded slowly.

"But he's Evil," he finally said.

Dutch let his eyes drift to the Stars again. "Not completely."

"How can you say that?" Thorn asked, heart pounding, a scowl fixing its way on his face.

"Sometimes I see the pup he was when we were younger."

Thorn shook his head. "But he isn't that pup anymore, you said it yourself, he's insane and needs to be stopped."

Dutch sighed and rubbed his head. "I know that. I truly do know, but I don't want to hurt him, I don't want him to die. He means a whole lot to me, you know."

Thorn nodded. He wouldn't want any harm to come to Feather, no matter what. He understood.

"I get it. But I think it's really for the best. If my Mate had gone insane like this to the point of both planning genocide and attempting it in the past, I would have to put a stop to it. So many others are suffering so severely, I've watched Creatures from my Village, Creatures I knew and loved, die before my very eyes after months of pain."

Thorn rubbed his wrist, invaded with the memories of his mother falling weak and him spending most of his time just trying to find food for the both of them, or at least enough for her. And he failed.

Dutch was silent, and he looked at his claws, nervously tapping on the stone floor.

Thorn looked at him. "Dutch, I'm sorry. We have to do this."

Dutch weighed the pros and cons. On the plus side, the Coyotes would be free to make their own decisions, there would be a healthy kingdom for all, the Forest could be cleared of its toxicity, life in the Forest could be better for all, and everyone could recover from the tragedy they've faced.

...But he would lose Pirate.

Was that worth it? To the rest of the world, of course it was. But Dutch wasn't sure if it was worth it to him.

"I don't know," Dutch finally said.

"Please, Dutch," Thorn begged. "We need you on our side, we need your help, we can't do this without you. Please, I'm asking you not as an ally, but as a friend."

Dutch covered his head.

"But he's my Pirate," he whispered woefully.

"It's alright, it'll be okay. I promise, you'll heal and you'll realize that you did the right thing. The Pirate you knew when you were young is gone, and he's not coming back. I'm sorry, but I can't let you destroy yourself and the rest of the World for him."

Dutch was silent for a long time, just thinking, replaying everything in his mind.

When they were much younger and sharing stories and picking blackberries, then to the night of Queen Supernova's death, when he first took in Sor, to his genocide attempt, to where they were now.

Everything was horrible, everyone was fearful, tense, hurting. He always knew that, but ignored it, because it was Pirate, he wouldn't want to do anything that horrible!

How could he have been so foolish?

He finally nodded. "You know what? I think you're right. I'll always have the memories of him before all this, nobody can take those from me. You're right. This has gone on long enough. Who do I report to?"