ORIGIN

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Huckleberry shivered as he carefully stepped through the loose rocks of Polaris. It wasn't the colder air that was causing the trembling, it was the memories. The last time he'd been here...it hadn't gone very well. The Olympics had shaken him to his core all those cycles ago. He'd been piecing himself together since joining the Kingdom. The kindness that had been shown to him had been strange but most welcome. The gentle therapy, courtesy of Mercurius, the trust that Rift put in him, it was changing him. Finally, he was opening up. He was getting better. And that all had come crashing down.

"Apparently, she lost her fucking mind enough that she made you. It's a shame she spawned an actual offspring who looks like some pathetic monstrosity." Kera's words kept ringing in his ears as he passed the place where it had all taken place. Shiny was resting on his back, softly purring, and he anchored to that. Kept himself thinking about that and only that. He was stronger now. He could do this.

Huckleberry pushed himself onwards, trying not to think about what he was doing. Why he was here with the tiger that he'd never really talked to before. He just couldn't go alone. He didn't talk as they walked. He didn't even try to search. Maybe he didn't even want to find Blackberry. No. I'll find her. I have to.

@Orlaith

Orlaith had her paws full with raising her new daughter that just hatched recently. Her daughter had spunk in her, that was for sure. She constantly had to remind her kid to not be a dominant, assertive brat all the time. But Zoya did what she wanted to do. Though, there would come a point in time where Zoya would be firmly put in her place, and that time wasn't too far. Maybe she spoiled Zoya because she was a new mother. Nonetheless, that was no excuse to let her continue her behavior, newly hatched or not. Now the tigress had other things on her mind. She was told to find this goose known as Blackberry. What was most surprising was she had to find her goose with her own son. Pushing the thought aside, she focused on the task at hand. Orlaith had heard of the horrors the goose committed. It was not safe to let her roam free. She saw Huckleberry and trotted up to him. "Where do you think we should look first? I don't think she would be in Polaris, a lot of gembounds are here constantly I believe."

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry flinched when the sudden voice broke through his thoughts. He stepped away instinctively and turned, the feathers on his neck bristling but they flattened quickly. It was just the tiger. A testament to how freaked out he was, then, that someone he knew was there had scared him so much.

He glanced around a little nervously. "Uh, well, our old home was in a cave by Polaris. She's not there anymore but...maybe she's around here. Or in another tunnel nearby. I don't know, Polaris is a big cave." He lifted his muzzle and sniffed at the air. Polaris was big, sure, but Huckleberry had always had a good nose and something, ever so faintly, touched his senses. Something familiar. Like blood and decay and distinctly like home.

He froze and turned his head in the direction the scent was coming from. "I-it's...she's somewhere nearby. I think. Th-this way." He took off, but his legs felt like lead. He'd been avoiding this forever and now that he was going out to find her, to face her again...he didn't want to. He really didn't.

Shiny purred harder against his back, but it didn't help. Nothing would, really.

@Orlaith

Orlaith realized that she must have freaked out Huckleberry. She didn't mean to upset him, but before she could apologize, he spoke. Instead she nodded to his words, and apologized anyways. "I apologize if I scared you, I didn't mean to." Then the hybrid spoke, saying that he may have caught Blackberry's scent. Her ears perked up in a level of seriousness. She then spoke politely to him, but was still alert. "Lead the way." Orlaith hoped that the goose would come with them willingly. After all the things she had heard Blackberry do, she needed to answer for her crimes. Orlaith was ready to use brute force, if it came to that. If not, then good, everyone would be safe from harm. She hoped Huckleberry wasn't too scared, if he was, she would be there for him. "If you ever need to speak with me, or need anything Huckleberry, you can trust me. We may not know each other, but we are a part of the same kingdom." With that she stayed silent. She sincerely meant what she said. Maybe this great kindness came with her being a new mother.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry glanced sideways at Orlaith, pausing for a second. She was weird. Most of the Kingdom regarded him with a mixture of fear and pity and usually avoided talking to him. Or, at least, he avoided them. Or maybe both. But Orlaith was talking to him directly, offering her air, letting him take the lead. He wasn't used to this kind of power and he internally shrunk back from it. He was never ever the one in control because how could someone that could barely control themselves hope to have a hold on others or be anything like a good leader?

Trust her? They'd barely even met. And after everything that'd happened, how could Huckleberry trust anyone? At all? But her forwardness and gentle voice at least let him believe that he could maybe come to kind of trust her in the future. "Th-thanks. Yeah, I guess. Um, sorry, I'm no good, no good at talking. I'm just a little scared." And it was quite obvious too, from the way his ears were pressed flat against his head, the slight tremble through his whole body, the way his wings were poised to flight...he was ready to bolt at any second.

After a moment, he set off again, forcing his legs to move forward. After a little while, he stopped again, unsure if he was even following the same path. He could smell her, but he couldn't be sure if they were even going in the right direction. Perhaps it had drifted. Perhaps it wasn't even hers. It'd been so long since he'd seen her and many of the family had taken up a similar scent. He looked down at the pebbles by his feet and reached out a talon, gently touching the stones at his feet. A sharp snap of magic jumped between them and Huckleberry felt movement in his head. Not long, barely an hour ago, someone had moved it. Someone with sharp claws.

His ears perked, forgetting his fear for a moment. "Oh, she passed by not long ago! I think! Hopefully its her and not Jayberry. Or someone else." It only lasted for a second - his expression immediately dropped as he looked over at the tiger. "You don't want to meet Jayberry."

They were on the right path. Blackberry was on the move, albeit quite a slow pace. Her talons dragged across the ground, his head was dropped low. In her beak she held a broken piece of vine with a number of strange objects tied to it, in varying states of decay. She stared ahead, barely seeing, barely caring for anything at all.

She'd returned three now. She thought that there'd be something to it, something to returning the trophies she'd stolen, a sort of atonement, perhaps. Or, at least, closure. For her, for her victims, for her victims' friends or reincarnations...but she was a fool. Of course they would react with anger and disgust. Envy, Septiezal, and Winter had all thrown away the pieces she'd returned to them.

What was she supposed to do now? What could she do? Stay in the shadows for the rest of her life, buried in guilt and hatred until the darkness consumed her again? She could already feel herself slipping sometimes. When she remembered things. When she thought about what she'd done and what had been done to her family because of her. The anger threatened to take control. The need to tear, kill, destroy was almost overwhelming sometimes. She couldn't. She couldn't go back.

She trudged on, hopeless and desperate, her fragile mind on the verge of fracture. They would catch up to her soon - she wasn't trying to hide.

@Orlaith

Orlaith could smell the scent getting stronger and stronger. Apparently Huckleberry was right, so she did pass here very recently. Good, they were getting close. Orlaith did not want to know who Jayberry was, and by the look on Huckleberry's face, she sounded worse than Blackberry. She shook her head and quickly dismissed the thought. She decided to stay closer to Huckleberry as they were getting closer, just to be safe. She answered Huckleberry in regards to Jayberry for a quick moment. "She doesn't sound like a delightful gembound to meet." She wondered how bad this Jayberry was. Though her attention was still focused on finding Blackberry.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry shook his head. "She's the worst. Maybe worse then Mama. She killed a lot of people for no reason and tortured Lessers for fun. She attacked Yew a couple of cycles ago. I hope she's not with Mama but...they were always close." He didn't even realize that he'd said it, caught up in fear again as they got closer and closer. Huckleberry had been strong at the meeting, announcing that he'd stand and testify but he was faltering now. He needed to be strong. Stay strong. Shiny licked the fur on his shoulders.

And then they rounded and bend and there she was. Dragging her feet, bent over, barely moving, but it was her. And Huckleberry completely froze. His heart began racing at the sight of her. He hadn't seen her...not in a long time. Not since the battle that terrible battle. He'd seen her as he lunged forward, raising a claw to push her out of the way. He'd missed and a moment later, he was on fire, blazing bright white, screaming so terribly. He couldn't see, he couldn't see anything. Nothing but blue as it engulfed his world and everything went dark...

Huckle-friend. Calm down. Focus. Breath. Slow your heart. Shiny's voice cut through the haze and immediately his magic flared into action, almost unconsciously. His heartbeat, which had been raging out of control, began to slow and steady itself. Once he was back in control of himself, it was like a deadly, icy calm had fallen over him. Mercurius's teachings were loud in his ears, the words of Pride were booming in his head. He was breathing steady. He was calm. He was ready.

He turned to Orlaith, eyeing the rocky outcrops surrounding them. "Sneak around her," he whispered. "Stay behind the rocks. Get on the other side of her in case she tries to escape." He pulled back and then proceeded to march forward. He paused, giving Orlaith a bit of time to follow his command before, at last, he stepped out, whether she did or not.

He slowly, quietly, crept up behind and paused a short distance away, taking a deep breath. "Mama."

She didn't notice them there. How could she, so wrapped up in her thoughts of darkness? But she heard him when he spoke. One word, that voice she thought she'd never hear again. She froze mid-step, eyes widening with shock. Was this really happening? Was she dreaming or hallucination? She slowly turned her head around and knew that the creature standing in front of her was real. She could smell him. She could see and hear him. She was too far to touch him, but she wanted so very much to believe that if she stretched out a wing, she would feel him too.

Her beak cracked open, the vine necklace falling and clattering on the ground, but she paid it no mind. "H-Huckleberry?" she rasped, weakly. "I-is that really you?" She turned herself all the way around to face him, trembling a little bit at the shock, at the raw emotions pouring through her body. "I though you were captured or dead. I...I'm so glad to see you. My son...my baby..." She took a step forward but then paused. The look on his face, the icy anger, the determination. He wasn't happy to see her.

She stopped, stepping back. She sighed, all of the joy in her frail form falling away. She seemed to shrink, the scars on her body seemed to widen, the loose skin under her eyes seemed to deepen, everything about her seemed to grow so much older and wearier. "Are you here to kill me?"

@Orlaith

Orlaith nodded as she made the attempt to sneak up behind the goose, but a rock she didn't notice moved under her paws, foiling her plan. With her sneak attempt failed, she moved quickly to stand on the opposite side of Blackberry, blocking her escape. She heard the goose call Huckleberry her son, her baby. But that meant nothing. Blackberry still had to answer for all she had done in a fair trial. She hoped the goose would come willingly. With her head held high the tigress spoke in a loud, clear voice. "Blackberry, you are coming with us to face a trial due to your past actions against the gembounds of this cave, by the order of Rift. Your trial will be fair and just. Please come with us willingly to Eridanus first with us, and do not make this any more difficult than it has to be, please." With that her golden eyes locked onto the goose's own, in a firm but respectful manner. She hoped that she would listen to her instructions.

@Huckleberry

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