_.Time Means Nothing._

[Bane]

We all realise that I'm the problem here

As the sun slowly disappeared below the sharp, ugly cracks of rock, Bane had sat. While the rest of his clan settled down to rest, his eyes remained open, staring over the frozen expanse of lake, boring holes into the ground. Even as the cold settled in and a chorus of crickets resonated over the land, he remained motionless. His mind was confusing - even he could not fully understand his thoughts. It was into the early hours of morning, as dawn patrols would be preparing to leave, that finally he broke. He could not sit still any longer - he could not think for one more second.

And so he ran. Careless of whether he would be missed, or of whether the others would track him; he ran as fast as he could, down the expanse of rock, and out into the open.

If he had to stay there any longer, Bane would go mad. It was not where he wanted to live, hidden on another clans territory. But could he really complain? Afterall, it was atleast a place to live. Shouldn't he be grateful? No. For had it not been for him, they would still be living on their old territory. They would never have been chased out, and things would be normal. They would be happy.

He had failed.

Without thinking, without realising, Bane had ran into the meadow. As if back from a hunting patrol, the sleek tom stalked through the grass stems, not a sound to give away his position.

Cats surrounded him. They chatted among themselves, organised patrols and training sessions with the younger members. There was Goldenblaze - a look of satisfaction on his face as he was surrounded by his family. Barbwire, outspoken as always, demanded she be allowed out to train with her father and mother. Razorblade sat outside his den, only a kit but as intelligent as any other assassin or warrior surrounding him. He sat alone, never one to socialise, but content nonetheless.

A screech of a cat.

Blood distorted Bane's visions. Looking to his paws, they were covered in blood. Fur scattered the floor - and ahead of him, row upon row of battling felines. In front of him, a sleek gray and white she-cat felled a warrior twice her size - Bane recognised him as the DuskClan Deputy. Frantically looking around him Bane realised that death surrounded him - apprentices not yet old enough to fully understand the world, and warriors too old to have any hope of living much longer anyway. The battle seemed unending - until...

A horrendous howl sounded behind him. Turning around immediately, Bane was confronted by a scene he remembered all too well - yet couldn't remember at all.

His own body lay before him, blood spilling from his mouth, his eyes wide open. The same white she-cat as before stood over his body, her mismatched eyes staring at his body as if unsure what had happened. Kestrel.

And then he saw it. Heartless. She was in a rage. He saw her kill Razorblade - saw Goldenblaze helplessly try and bring his mate back around. It was all in vain. The cats settled down, and slowly went their seperate ways.

This land was cursed. And it was all his fault. Why had he bothered to fight anyway? For pathetic pride. For honour. Instead he had lost both. Whilst he succeeded in clearing his mind of the impurities that clouded his judgement, he had lost so much more. And he had dared to return.. why did BoneClan accept him back? He had failed them, surely they were not so blinded by their loyalties to him that they could not see he was worthless to them? He was just an old, ill, pathetic excuse for a leader.

As if nothing had changed, Bane sauntered with the same grace he had always posessed onto the rock he had held meetings from. There he sat, elegent, beautiful; broken, foolish.

He had been wrong to ever return.

[/size][/blockquote]

(Open to anyone. Preferably BoneClanners though ;])

[Heartless]

They are aware of their own crookedness and deceit…

Worthless.

A timeless call ghosted across these forlorn, vacant, godless lands. How many had fallen here? How much had been lost, stripped away from this world so cunningly, so easily? Faith and hope meant little to the dead and the damned, especially when times seemed bleakest, when darkness overtook all. It was a weary, broken balance; shattered in a night of blood and carnage. Not even beginning to heal, only barely chancing another futile pass at mending…

It was these lands that the Siamese found herself on, reeking of old blood and fear and anger and loss. Familiar lands, ones that she knew that she had crossed upon before, had traced and hunted and once knew so very well…. But that was it. That was all. Memories lost, shadowed by the darkness, stripped away until the machine remained. A perfect killer, no thoughts, no memories, only standing to do the Master’s bidding.

But the Master had no orders for this heartless beast on such a dauntless night, and she was out ad about for herself. Wounds, previous wounds that had seemed so life threatening, so fatally inflicted at the time, had healed fully without any complication; the spindle of ghostly scars the only remnants of it having ever occurred. She remembered nothing of that, only the pain, the lingering hurt. Something lost, something gone, and then a rage, a rage so blinding that nothing in her path had been able to stop her. Until….until…

Until.

The Master had been there. She had retaught her the Ways, thoughts back adrift to the days before the waters had taken her away from her home, and had, in fact, saved her life from the assault her clan was to face soon after. She worked for Her, brought her the kits that She desired.

And she also sat there, watching blankly, as the Master tortured those young kits until they finally broke. If she had been good and was lucky enough, she got to eat those kits soon after.

This land was far from her new home, much warmer and a lot more hospitable then the craggy lands of the north. Even so, such thoughts refused to grace her mind as she slunk through the long grass, blades brushing lightly across her flank. Cats were also much more common in these lands, perhaps not this particular fallen territory itself, but in others. She had realized that better earlier, upon killing the young rogue tom whose blood it was painting her tan and brown form. In anything, she was in better shape now then she had ever been before, each and every muscle honed to fighting fit. It wasn’t a startling change, but enough that she positively glowed as she wandered into a particular spot of land that reeked of cat scent, stale and old but still there.

This? Now this tugged at something, lost far into the depths of her mind.

Heartless positively growled her brown-tipped tail lashing from side to side as she investigated scent to scent, her mind not pulling up any faces to match to each one but she found herself incapable of shaking the feeling that she knew these scents. That there had once been faces to them, upon a time much happier then now.

Further thought ended when a fresher scent captured her attention, and the she-cat trailed around a brushy den to spy a dark figure onto a rock [that rock!] that had been used before to address them all [them? what them?]. He was a large tom, a powerful one that, even though he scented of hard times and impossibility, seemed just as godly as he had before. It took a few moments, long breathless ones, before even an inkling of who it was sitting before her.

But then Heartless remembered him.

Remembered him.

So much had passed since those days long ago, when the killer had first joined Boneclan’s ranks. It had been nothing then, a clan of two, and she had been the first actual member to join outside of Bane and Sharpfang. The clan had grown, both with members and power, until that fateful day when that world had shattered.

And where had it left of them? What had become of Boneclan now?

Blue eyes narrowed as Heartless stalked a few steps forward, sizing up Bane as if he were to be nothing more then the little rogue had been earlier – lunch. But no further move to attack followed as she kept the standoff, raw pissed off strength fairly emanating from the cannibal as she watched her leader, a cat by all rights had been dead, and once respected friend. There really were no words to say to the sight before her right now, nothing that she could say to put all wrongs back to right. Both were at fault for their own sins, their own betrayals, and Boneclan had suffered immensely because of it.

…as they engage in their personal war of light and darkness.

[Bane]

The wind ruffled the tom's fur as he sat, like a statue, upon the rock. He had no thoughts, could think of nothing to do except sit. BoneClan would be waking - would they wonder where he was, try and find him? He hoped not. Anybody who knew Bane understood that when he wanted to be left alone, he would not stand for anyone interrupting him.

The stale stench of death and rotting bodies was making Bane feel sick. But then he scented something.... recognisable. A wave of anger, undeniable strength that Bane could not forget. Heartless? Or was his mind playing tricks on him?

Bane didn't turn round to check. He didn't need to. Only one cat could get so close to Bane without raising suspicions. It was Heartless alright. The cats black fur bristled with frustration, anger and fear. What should he do? Despite the rising panic he felt, Bane kept a cool exterior, his peircing green eye staring straight ahead, acting as if he was still alone. There was a moment of shared silence, as both acknowledged each others existence, but refused to speak it aloud. Until, Bane spoke. His voice was calm, cool and collected. It was when he was his most dangerous. In low tones, the words flowed like wind through air.

"So as soon as things get rough, you run away. When we are strong, you stay, yet as soon as it looks like we're losing, you turn against us."

It sounded as if it was a greeting. In reality, it was anything but. She shouldn't have come here. She didn't dare. Did she understand how much suffering she had caused? Did she even realise how integral she was to BoneClan's success? Without her, and without Bane, they were nothing. Sharpfang and Darkangel... had tried their best. But it was not a clan without her. Without him...

"Goldenblaze has gone mad. BoneClan went without healing, for you killed their medicine cat. They have lost hope. And you dare to return to this land... my land."

His land? No longer. His foolishness had cost him this place. His voice remained calm, yet he felt his body temperature rising, his fur prickling as he fought the urge to turn around and kill her. He cared not for her reasons, or rather, anything she said would not change Bane's opinions.

"You are a traitor."

He was at his most dangerous when he spoke like this. No emotion leeked through those words. He was close to breaking point.[/size]

[Heartless]

Words. Such words. They bored her, those utterances, and for Heartless allowed the black tom them with that same air she had. Words. Had she forgotten them, forgotten how to speak? The Master disallowed speaking, granted her life as long as she continued to please Her…but was that a life? She could remember living now, even though faces still did not return with names…real living.

There was no hesitation. No emotion. Nothing in that beautiful, montone voice when she finally returned his words for her own.

“You are a fool.” Such utterances should cost her the life she still had, unknown to all of Boneclan. And yet, even knowing this, Heartless also knew they were the truth. “How many died for your aimless cause? Like divinity, a godlike being, cats were called to your cause; yet not all chose or even welcomed the death that swept down on them.” Strong words, unfaltering words, even as the she-cat held her ground; her brown-tipped tail flicking from side to side every few moments. There was no tenseness in her form; Bane could clearly turn on her at any moment and rip her to shreds. Zinstorm, her young, brave son. Darkazure, the wise old warrior. Razorblade, the young medicine cat who had barely had the time to place his paw on his path before being ripped away from it. Only a few names, a few losses, from the multitude that left Boneclan as nearly nothing.

But she didn’t care.

Not one word was uttered in defense of his claims of her being a traitor. She knew it was true. She never tried to hide it, nor really desired to. Too bad, so sad. “Your land, Bane? These lands are no one’s lands, much less yours; stripped away from you because of your own foolish ambitions. Go on, try to claim them now with what little force you have left at your back, I dare you.” Open defiance, again, an open taunt. Bane couldn’t do that; the remnants of the clan wouldn’t even be allowed to escape with their lives that time. They’d just be torn apart. There had been so much lost because of the war, was there even hope on it being recalled back? Power and glory, Boneclan might never again reach the fear and terror inflicted by their name. Nothing now but a kit’s tale; told by mothers to keep their young in line.

Goldenblaze? No face rose to join the name, although she knew who the cat was in essence. Her mate. So, had he snapped because of losing her? What a pity. Maybe, with time and the return of Bane, he would return back to his senses. He would find another pretty little female and court her, probably father more kits with that new girl.

It, likely, wasn’t true. But it was the lies that Heartless fed herself so that it didn’t hurt.

What should he do? Kill her now? Might be best. Shut her up before more such truths escaped her muzzle, slicing into him like the blades of a knife, cutting for all they were spoken with not even a hint of careless indifference to the death she might be signing herself up for. No matter. “You died. You were Boneclan, Bane. Its lifeblood. Without you, the clan will never be nothing more then ‘what is’, no place in existence for me.” He had given her life. A purpose. Goldenblaze had come later, and a part of her still loved her mate so dearly…but it wasn’t the same as the same fiery loyalty that streaked for Bane and Bane alone. She had not vowed her alliance with Boneclan, some rogue clan with barely even a name for itself, that fateful day…all those many moons ago. She had not vowed her alliance for her mate, one of several she had in her life, or for her own children she had bore while called amongst its ranks. It had been done for Bane. Just for him; the dark god that this broken vestige of a cat before her barely beckoned back to.

But was that over? Was such loyalty destined to fade away? Or, even worse, to change to loathing of one another…even hate? “The clan has lost hope, you say. The clan would have lost hope because of one cat. You, their broken leader, the one who guided them in all their pride and honor, not me. Take responsibility for the actions you committed, rather then placing them on another. Or are you just not brave enough to do so?”

Those brilliant blues closed easily, completely relaxed. What would happen would happen. Bane would likely counter with some of his pretty words, for he had always been the eloquent speechmaker, against her own. So be it. “You died. Like leaves on the wind, Boneclan scattered – only a few of the most loyal remaining together. Or, in actuality, you did not die. What did you do Bane? Did you hide away like a shameless little coward, so that no one even know that you still lived? Allowed for the last pieces of your clan to slowly crumble, to drift apart, to become something nothing close to its true glory? Tell me then, king of fools, what makes you any less the traitor then I?” …ouch, that one had to hurt. There was a strange light glimmering within those blue depths, the same touch of madness that had struck her moments after Bane had supposedly died, the glittered before she had completely snapped. She had always been mad, and had been very much feared for the madness and cannibalism, and that had not gone away even now. The Master could not strip her of that….just the same way the Master had found Herself unable to break her. Only Bane had succeeded in that venture.

Heartless was done. She had spoken her piece, said more words then she had in moons, and now…the she-cat turned her back to her own leader and prepared to leave. What he said in response did not matter, what he did in retaliation did not matter. He had heard her, she was sure, and now he would have those words to think and mull over. It was enough. She was fairly certain there was no place left for her back in Boneclan and, really, even if there was she could not return. It would place the entire clan in jeopardy…the Master would now allow her prized killer to go free without blood paid in retribution.

Even so, the feline stopped after a few pawsteps, one brown ear flicked back. “I don’t expect for you to do this. I don’t ask for there to be a place for me ever again in Boneclan, although if there ever is I might one day return should there be a time when it wouldn’t be dangerous for you all in me doing so. But…tell Goldenblaze that I am sorry. I know it will not change actions committed, nor will it lay at peace the consequences because of them. But I hope for him to find some sort of peace in it all. Do not allow him to come looking for me, I must ask, for he will be killed and Boneclan shall be one less warrior that I’m sure it’s incapable of losing right now.” The Master would have Shinentai kill him. Or the cocky little Carnage. Or….even worse, She would order her to. Her head turned, and she fixed the dark cat with a long stare, blue eyes blank as ice. “And Bane, I also do not expect for you to forgive me. I do not ask it, but expect the same in return. We both had committed wrongdoings, to the clan and to each other.” She turned, again, to head away.

[Bane]

His legs shook with anger. He was no longer able to keep his calm exterior, and cared little for what Heartless thought of it. His heart was close to failing once more, but something kept him sitting upright. His eyes clenched tight, and he let the words slowly eat away at him. Worms on a faceless corpse, they worked their way to his mind, where they echoed. One word in particular would never leave him alone.

Fool.

Everything she said was true.

The anger turned into helplessness, as Bane stopped shaking but felt like he was shrinking in on himself. His head was bowed, his eyes shut lightly but firmly - like a vulnerable kit, his tail tucked between his front legs as if it were a barrier between him, and the rest of the world. How could he expect to become leader again, expect others to have faith in him when he had no faith in himself? They would eventually ask him why - why had he not returned sooner? And how would he answer. Tell them he had been afraid? That because he was no longer feared among the clans, he could not face returning to a land where all spoke his name with cheers and laughter, proud in themselves at how they had felled the demon. He was seen as a fool, an idiot with too much pride. He, who thought he could take over the Meadow.

Heartless was moving as if she was ready to leave. Bane was all but ready to accept that... but something told him that he could not lose her again. She was the only one he could talk to, the only one who would speak to him as if he were any other cat. Sharpfang, Darkangel, Pripyat; they still saw him as their king, unbeatable, flawless. They would not listen to him without taking these things into consideration. It would mask their judgement. Heartless... she had just proven that she does, and has always seen him as just another cat. Though her words insulted him, they made him realise that he needed her... if only for these moments, he sought her judgement.

"I did not die. I was ill. But in my fight with Kestrel... the illness left me."

He started speaking, not caring for whether she would listen or not. It was time he let it all go.

"It was the illness... it made me who I was. It was it that made me foolishly send our clan into the battle. For what... I still don't know. I had too much pride, too much honour. It made me thirst for power. It consequently shattered all that had once been of BoneClan."

For the first time in ages, true emotion flowed through his words. A dark, neverending sadness. He was spilling everything out to a she-cat he hated, a she-cat he wanted to kill.

"It was that which the clan was loyal to. They saw my strength, and thought I could lead them to a better life. I failed, and now. Now, I have changed. Older, wiser, and seeing through clear eyes. I no longer seek to flaunt my power. I simply wish for a calm life, my own land. But that shall never be. I don't know how to live like that. Since I was a kit all I was taught was how to kill and fight. A simple life doesn't suit me. So what am I to do? All these cats that follow me, they are the same. They cannot comprehend a life without death and blood and war. They will not follow me any longer, if they knew that I had changed..."

"A clan that does not know how to live like a clan. Ironic, no?"

He spoke this sentence silently, like a sigh.

"I hate you, Heartless. As I wandered in fear of returning here, the only thing that kept me sane was knowing that you, along with Sharpfang and Darkangel, would look after BoneClan until I returned. Three cats were what was needed - without you, their power did not work. Darkangel, just a princess; and Sharpfang, who was just lucky to have been there when BoneClan began. Without you, this is all they were. BoneClan needed you, and you were not there. I hate you; but I need you. Tell me, what am I to do? I am not the cat that BoneClan was once loyal to. How can I restore the clan when I am not the headstrong leader I once was? How can BoneClan live peacefully when the only thing it's members understand is how to kill and steal and fight..."

Funny, how a once-schitzophrenic king winds up asking a cannibalistic, insane she-cat for advice on how to lead his clan.

[Heartless]

Where had the calm, emotionless, godlike Bane gone? Even as she was turning to leave, Heartless could see the tom shake in rage, unable to control himself in the same iron way that he once had been able to do so. Had he truly fallen so much? But finally he stopped shaking. For that brief moment, just a blip of time, she nearly thought that the old Bane had returned, that he had gathered himself and would bear down on her with murderous wrath…but it was not to be.

He had become a coward. He had become no more wondrous then any other cat, unable to even hold himself with even a shadow of the power he had once possessed. Heartless was truly ready to go, even as he spoke of an illness, of how it had vanished during that fateful battle with Kestrel, how it was because of it that he had torn apart Boneclan. Excuses, that was all that truly sounded to her ears. Excuses, reasons to put the blame on something else, rather then allow it to truly fall upon himself.

But then there was something she hadn’t expected to hear, even as she padded away. It caused pause to her movements, as much as she loathed for it to occur. Sadness. An emotion so deep, not even the brightest of light could cut through it. Sadness…coming from Bane? Now this was interesting. Had he really changed? Yes, this was true…because she knew that the cat before her was certainly not the same cat he had once been, but even so…he held no faith in himself, no hope in himself. How did he expect to even have a chance to lead the clan, returning to them like that?

“What else is life but a war, Bane? A war for survival. The loyalists to Boneclan are all adaptable cats; they can find a way to work in a new life. Or, even if they refuse to bend, just let them leave. You are not as you once were, but even now, I can see you still have power. You need to look in yourself, look at what still survives for you, and once more realize it.” Heartless turned back, knowing that if she turned and left then, all would be forever lost. Perhaps it was just because she was bored, and this conversation served to at least pass the time until she was called back. Perhaps it was because even now, she needed Bane with the same fierce determination that he still needed her.

There was no forgiveness, not for each other, because such wounds cut too deep for them to mend in just one meeting, in just one time in finding each other again. Only time could heal such wounds. “You ask me, a traitor to another, what you are to do. What answer do you expect for me to give? I am no all-knowing beast, one that has the answers to everything.” Even so, she mused for a second as her tail flicked, before settling over tan paws. “You might not like the answer I have for you, but it is an answer. If even the whiff of you returning and Boneclan holding any land managed to make its way to the clans, they will not go so easy this time. They will rally again and destroy you all. Find a territory in secret somewhere, or remain nomads until the time comes when you no longer have to be afraid. As for the clan…yes, I can see why you’d say some will leave when they see you are supposedly such a changed cat. Let them leave. Kill them before they get far enough away to spread rumor of your returned existence; whatever you desire. Those cats are trained murderers, killers at their finest. Do not allow for their skills to go to waste. Spiderlily spoke to be about something she grew up knowing of once, which might be tweaked to assist you all. She used to fight with something known as hit squads, small groups of cats hired to do the dirty work for the clans of the area she lived in; whether it be sabotage of another clan’s plans to outright murder. You know the ways of clans, Bane. While all the clans barring Duskclan had rallied to take us out, they will not remain allies for long. Something will rise that will drive the lines of allegiance apart, and then the services of mercenaries would be far more sought.” It was just an idea, something that needed much refinement and work, but an idea that she could have so easily just kept away, turned and walked away, leaving Bane with nothing to take away from this chance meeting. This was more difficult then Heartless had previous expected, harking back to old times when they were so few, when plans and idea were outlined and discussed between the oldest members of the clan until they were refined to perfection. It was something she did in fact miss.

“Just…do what you can, any way you can, until you can find your place once again. An empire cannot be rebuilt overnight, they say. If you really wish to live peacefully instead, just as any other clan, you may even have to leave the valley to do so. They never would allow it to occur otherwise; Boneclan would always be hated and ridiculed.”

It was a bit ironic, wasn’t it?

“Is that the sort of answer you wanted, Bane?”

…because you live…

[Sharpfang .|. Felony]

<sub>A darting blur of black, as if running from the hells itself. As if running from something... The tall grasses whispered as the cat rushed by. And in the wake of the old tom, Barbwire trotted, her pace as relaxed and cool as ever. But Bane wasn't as he used to be, and it was not hard to keep up nor find him when she lost sight of him. What was that old tom up to?

Simply put, she wanted to go home. Bane just happened to be going in the same direction. He seemed... Troubled. Leaving him to his thoughts, Barbwire continued on, until she heard a chilling voice, and it assaulted her ears and made her freeze.

She listened, just frozen to the spot. Her eyes stared at the floor, and a light tremble shook through her coat. And then she turned away to face them.

"Boneclan is as strong as it always was," Barbwire said cooly as she stepped up, taking a seat in front of her mother. She looked every little bit of both her parents, and she was every bit of her mother. Well, with all her sanity and stablization intact.

"You see wrong. Boneclan is as strong as we ever were. Broken, but sure as hell not beaten. You aren't... You weren't there to see it through it's hardest times, only to find itself back on it's feet somehow. Unsteady, but up nonetheless. You f**king bastard, what the hell are you doing back home, then?" She said curtly. Suddenly, she turned to Bane, eyes flicking. "I do not wish to tell my father this, what... SHE has to say to him," She growled, turning to look at Heartless as she referred to Bane. "He'll only go against her will, and i'd rather not have another parent die before my eyes. Since I see no mother here, I see no Heartless. All's I see is one coward of a son of a bitch to come back here on this fine evening," She said simply, tilting her head to the side.

She hated Heartless. She hated Heartless more than she could ever say, or Bane or anybody could even know. But she grew stronger in it. She had simply risen to the empty spot of 'Heartless #2'. One she no longer wanted. "Go back to where you f**king came from, this is our land. This is a memory's land, not yours. Go back to what you found in place of all you could have ever wanted," She murmured. "But hey, the grass is always greener on the otherside."

It held no reasoning behind what she was telling Bane. Though Barbwire would never admit it, she found it a fairly good idea. But Barbwire wanted her gone. She wanted her dead.

... No, she was already dead in her eyes, and Barbwire wanted that clear to her. She was already dead to Boneclan. How dare she return?</sub>

[Bane]

He listened to her words as if she were wisdom itself. His eyes closed, considering everything she told him.

"Is that the sort of answer you wanted, Bane?"

It..... It would do. He grinned to himself, as Barbwire stormed in and consulted her mother. All the while he sat still, too busy thinking of everything he had heard to worry about petty insults. Barbwire's words were clouded by bias - at seeing her father so torn up, and having to cope with the suffering, she had learned to hate Heartless. She did not understand that her mother had just saved BoneClan.

As Barbwire finished her short display of wrath, Bane coughed and slowly, elegantly stepped off the rock. He came to stand facing Heartless, behind and to the side of her daughter. His expressionless eyes stared into the she-cat's own ice-cold orbs, until finally, a small smile of gratitude graced the old king's face.

"Truly, I am grateful. But let it be known that if you ever step foot onto BoneClan territory, my warriors would rip you to shreds... regardless of my attempts to stop them."

For Bane wished that he could accept Heartless back into the clan, but knew that things would never be the same. Barbwire was not the only one who wanted Heartless dead. If things could be as they once were, Bane would be at peace. But things change... people change. Heartless had severed all ties she once had in BoneClan.

"It is obvious you do not remember who your mate is. You think we could tell Goldenblaze of our meeting, and stop him from coming after you? For his own safety, I cannot tell him."

If the wisened warrior knew that his mate was alive, it would hurt him more than it already has. To know that his mate wished not to return to him, and that she was still a savage would surely drive him to death.

"I fear the answer, but need to know - why? What made you do this? Any mother who can attempt to kill her own mate and abandon her kits must truly be ill..."

He knew it - he saw it in her eyes. Heartless was not sane. She never had been, but she was once able of sustaining her rages. She had once been capable of having allies. He braced himself for what he might hear, but more than anything feared how Barbwire might react. Barbwire always did have a knack of turning up at the wrong time...[/size]

[Heartless]

Mm. Oh my oh my. Of course, it couldn’t be a conversation between two traitors, oh no, there had to be an interruption. In anything, perhaps there was a touch of disappointment in her eyes as she glanced at her daughter for even a moment, before those icy eyes returned to what cat was more important – a brutally abrupt dismissal. Heartless had thought she had taught the young she-cat better, but it seemed that Barbwire refused to remember such teachings, instead seeing with unclear eyes. If anything, Heartless felt shame towards the young cat, but even that ebbed and forever slipped away.

Bane was taking her words to mind, thinking over them. She paid no further attention to the little temper tantrum being thrown right before her, blue gaze following Bane as he stepped from the rock and came to, instead, stand by her daughter. There was silence between the two warriors, insane cannibal and broken king, before a touch of a smile graced his muzzle. “I understand.” There was a note of a wicked smirk on her face, that same damned daring look she wore before racing wildly into battle, but those words…they meant more then face value, just as his did. She understood, and echoed the desire for old times…but old paths grew damaged and made traveling down them difficult, and this one was such that it was likely to never be followed ever again.

“If you are incapable of granting that request, I have another then. Knock some sense into Barbwire, and Cinderstorm in he see things as she does, for it’s sickening to see a feline so biased as she. I thought she’d be trained better.” Daring, mocking, yet still strangle hollow and emotionless words. Sbe clearly could not care less for the she-cat before her, and yet it was such a personal, odd request. But if this little feline was going to serve Bane, Heartless required her to be nothing but the best for him. Required.

There was no such place as Heartless 2.0. You see, this demented beast was one of a kind.

Now, this was all fine and dandy, even with Barbwire’s untimely interruption. But Heartless had began the shift her weight impatiently, growing slowly more and more unstable – wanting nothing more then to streak forward and rip into the two cats in front of her. Her tail flicked from side to side, its brown tip a static blur before it settled by her placing a paw on it, and she blinked her unbreakable gaze. No time for that, for losing her control and flying off the handle and killing everything in her way. A berserker, good for nothing but hunting and killing whatever target given to her…fighting on past her last breath…

“What made me do this?” Heartless repeated under a low growl, but stopped her movements and restored enough of her control that she could once more face Bane without fear of losing it and attacking. “Such a question, such a question. Does it surprise you that there’s little you know of me? I’ve had other mates then Goldenblaze, two others, both of which I attacked and drove off. Never did love them like I do with him, doesn’t matter though. Had litters, two before Barbwire’s, but there are only a few survivors from each. Guess what I did wit the others? I devoured them, and enjoyed every last minute of it. Familial ties have very little hold on me Bane, love involved or not. That wasn’t it.” Oh dearie me, whatever was Barbwire going to say to that? Heh, at least that litter had been the one to escape any kits being eaten, there must be something said for that. Oh, and she had never once said that she didn’t love Goldenblaze now. It was still there, inside her somewhere…but she was still standing sure in the assumption he would just move on and find someone else. “So, you ask, what made me do this? It was you, Bane. You were the one who made me do this. Or did you, such a wise and all-knowing leader, never see it? I was not loyal to my family. I was not loyal to Boneclan. I was only loyal for you, stood only for you. When we thought you had died, there was nothing left anymore to stand strong for, not family nor allies, nothing for me to keep hold of myself as I was. It had been so long…everything just snapped. I remember very little of the moments right after Kestrel supposedly killed you, although this meeting has brought much back.” Heartless gave a bit of a shrug, shaking her head. What answer had he been expecting with that? “I reverted back to the cat you found, all those moons ago. Now a very wonderful cat now is she? Heh. With manic, altogether giddy laughter the cannibal finally rose, turning her back on the two and heading away into the underbrush.

Words drifted back to them, carried by the soft breeze. “If you have any young kits, or get any young kits, in your remnant of a clan, keep a very close eye on them. She is not biased, and will call for Boneclan kits just as she has for other clan kits in due time. And if they go missing, you’ll never see them again…”

Final parting words for the two Boneclanners, a warning that Heartless had every right to not give…