Scarlett's Redemption: rise of a new moon

Chapter 8

|| Chapter 8 ||
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A couple moons or so had passed. BloodClan had moved about the city, finding temporary camps here and there along the way. As they did, they began gaining in numbers. Consequently, the need for food went up again, and by the time they found this new camp, everyone was getting a bit malnourished again.

Some handled it better than others.

In this particular alley, they were as far west as they'd been in the city so far. Scarlett's temporary den was behind the chainlink of the alley, and within a narrow space between two walls. There, she'd found some cardboard boxes and stuffed it with some padding and discarded, raggedy towels for the time being.

As the moon was rising closer to its highest position, a familiar, warm scent began to surround her. It was sandalwoodsy. Cinnamon-y. And a bit like oranges. "Scarlett?" Khan mrrowed, lifting a paw to poke at her gently. "Can I ask you something?"

The curled up, shadowy ball of darkness took a deep inhale before releasing it tiredly. "What...?"

A pause. "Are you comfortable...?"

Glaring at the back of the box, the molly flicked her ear. "No," she replied flatly in annoyance.

"Ah," he chuckled weakly. Clearing his throat, the Toyger shifted his weight between his paws. "I, uh...thought you looked rather annoyed today. I wanted to come check in and..." Sighing, he lashed his tail. "Never mind."

Scarlett paused, rolling just so she could look over her shoulder. "Go on."

"No, I..." Frowning, he looked to be thinking to himself before growling quietly and shifting his gaze with decisiveness. "Look, I know things have been hard for you for awhile now. But really, you haven't been like the cat I met all those moons ago, especially since your claws were removed. And I get it, it sucks, but I'm tired of seeing you like this."

Scarlett furrowed her brow. "Like what?"

"Like that!" He exclaimed, whisper-shouting about half way through as he'd heard himself getting too loud. "You're cold in the face. Your voice is hardly ever not void of emotion. You act like you can never just relax for one second and let someone see you for who you truly are. I tried to avoid bringing it up and let you grieve, but knowing you the way I do, it looks like you're just always...in agony."

Scarlett blinked. Agony...? Flicking her tail, Scarlett breathed through her nose as she rolled all the way onto her other side and lifted her head to face him more directly. "Okay, why bring any of it up now?"

"Because no one else will!" He hissed, flattening his ears. His angered reaction caught her off guard. "They either don't have the guts, they're new and don't know about everything before and think 'this is normal,' or all in all, they're likely blind as hell. Because I– I..." Trailing off, he looked down and softened into a sad look.

Scarlett's eyes studied him for a moment before they'd widen and she quickly sat up, her back leaning into the wall of her den. "Khan, please don't say it–"

"No, I have to," he insisted, looking her in the eye. "Please." When she didn't respond, he lashed his tail, pausing as he worked through his own obstacles just to spit it out. "I...I'm worried about you, Scarlett. I don't like seeing you this way. If I could just take a moment of your day to lighten your mind, make you feel more at peace, I would. If you'll let me...because..."

After a few more beats, he released a sigh through his nose in a defeatist way, lowering his eyes again as they softened with his tone of voice. Then, he began to lower himself to a crouch as he lay down.