Shiny was still clinging to Huckleberry's back as he stepped out into the arena. He was feeling better after his last fight, but he was still a little nervous about this one. He didn't want to fight someone so small again. It stressed him out too much. He didn't want to hurt anyone. Huckle-friend, you'll be fine. I'll see you after the match. She jumped off of him and ran back into the crowds to stand beneath the feet of the Greaters crowded around her.

Huckleberry stepped up to face a white wolf and breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't a kitten this time. It would be like his spars with Jayberry that he had when he was a child, although, of course, a lot less violent. This was for fun. Just for fun.

His little tail swished behind him and he tried to look optimistic. "Hi," he said a little nervously, but didn't know what else to say. He glanced towards the judges, waiting for their announcement.

Huckleberry knew about Kera. How could he not? Blackberry had repeated her name over and over, every time in the same spitting, hating tone of voice. She was her greatest enemy. The family had sworn to kill her if she should ever show her face. If she was ever found.

When she first appeared, Huckleberry did not think anything of it. There were many wolves in the caves. He thought that Kera was gone, disappeared. Perhaps hibernating. Perhaps dead already. He didn't care - he would rather never face her. But now...when Glory announced his name, he realized exactly who he was facing.

He froze. Shock and horror crossed his face and stayed plastered there. She was standing there, just standing there, the one that had killed his mother, who had sworn to kill his whole family. She spat and growled and every word stabbed deeper and deeper into Huckleberry's heart. He shouldn't be alive. He should never have been born. His mother should be dead.

He didn't know when the tears started flowing down his cheeks but there they were, dropping on the ground as his whole body trembled. Huckleberry... He heard Shiny whispering through their connection and he latched onto it like a lifeline.

His voice trembled and shivered as he responded to the wolf's cruel words. "....I know. Mother...m-mother has told me. B-but...I'm not...not...." But he was a murderer. He had killed the magpie. He had held her in his jaws and snapped her neck. His eyes widened and his stomach churned at the memory. You didn't do it. You had no choice. She made you do it.

Huckleberry nodded slowly, Shiny's quiet voice breaking through his own self-hatred and guilt. "I'm not a murderer! I never wanted to be!"

He shook his head, scattering small salty tears all around him. He stood up taller, the fear still burning in his gaze but a new sense of resolve breaking through and his gaze hardening. Shiny's words of encouragement and everything they had been working on were finally something he could show off. "I never wanted to be a murderer! I never wanted a mother who made me kill! You aren't the only one she hurt." Here he raised one of his claws and traced over the thick, visible scar the ran across his head. "Sh-she...my mother...Blackberry...she is...is..." he was faltering. He didn't want to say it. He had been trying to force it down all this time, convincing himself that he loved her. That she loved him. That she was his Mama and perfect. But she wasn't. "She's cruel. She's terrible! I hate her!" He spat out the last words but it was too much. He let out a sob, his heart heavier then he thought it would be. He thought it would be like a weight lifting off of his shoulders but it only pressed down harder.

"I don't want to die!" he suddenly screeched out, backing away from Kera.

Huckleberry's entire body trembled so hard it was a wonder he was still standing on his feet. Shiny couldn't take it anymore. The little gembound pushed through the crowd and sprinted across the field. Calm down, Huckle-friend, calm down. As she neared the hybrid, she crouched and sprung as hard as she could, landing squarely on Huckleberry's back where she began to furiously groom his fur. It was a common practice between the two. Whenever Huckleberry felt he was slipping, she would ground him again. She would bring him back.

It helped, at least. Huckleberry had been moments away from another meltdown. Every word that Kera spoke lashed him deeper and deeper. She was right. She was the most right. He had killed before so did it matter the circumstance? Did it matter if he had wanted to do it or not? But she didn't understand, she didn't understand SHE DIDN'T KNOW!

"I KNOW," he screamed out. "You think I don't know?!" Despite all of Shiny's grooming, he couldn't keep himself stable anymore. There were too many memories threatening to overwhelm him. Too many emotions ringing through his head. It was like a bell tolling over and over, a thunderstorm that wouldn't let up. His breathing was quickening and his body was twitching. "I lived with her my whole life!! I watched her kill, I watched her train us to kill, I killed because she made me. Because she would have killed me! Because it was my life or the life of a stranger!! I d-d-didn't want to, I c-can't...she was innocent," he began to wail with grief, his legs unable to hold him up anymore.

Huckleberry collapsed on the ground, wailing pitifully. Shiny cried out and tumbled off of him, only to get to her feet and pawing at his arms. But he was gone now. His eyes didn't see Kera anymore. They only saw the bird, broken before him, her eyes staring into nothing. "N-no..." he whispered. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I didn't want to. I didn't mean to! Please don't...don't hate me...Cloudberry, please...I don't want you to hate me...I killed you, I didn't want to...she took you from me, I didn't want her to...I love you...please..."

Shiny whimpered and pressed harder. Huckleberry...Huckleberry!

Through his fit he could distantly hear speaking. The eagle was saying something, his booming tones reaching through the haze. Huckleberry, you need to get up! Please, they need you to fight.

To fight. Of course. Everything always came down to fighting, to bleeding. Everything always came down to that. Kera didn't care about any of it. It was now that he saw the true fury of his mother's enemies. How much hatred had been born of her own. How merciless everything was. Pride's affinity towards him and made him complacent. This was someone with no forgiveness.

With a great amount of effort he found himself once again lying on the floor in front of the wolf. He shivered. If that had been a real enemy, he would be dead. He thought that they'd worked on this, him and Shiny. He slowly started crawling to his feet, trying to force his body to stay calm. He glanced up at the bird and looked down at Shiny. The catsquirrel reached up and licked one of the tears off his face before turning around and bounding back into the crowd. He watched her go for a moment before facing Kera again.

He didn't meet her eyes. He was too ashamed. She was right. He didn't deserve to be forgiven, did he?

He sighed a deep breath, still shuddering from his meltdown and his eyes still wet. "I...I will f-fight...but I won't start it." Instead of looking at her eyes he looked at her paws. There was no point in trying to talk to her anymore. Might as well get the fight over with.