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ooc: Sorry for the delay. Last day of finals and then I was at the airport with no internet all day

ic: Aurora awoke well before sunrise. She knew she wouldn't sleep particularly well that night. Too excited about the raid. She wandered off into a nearby meadow and looked up at the stars. Lay down and smiled. It had been so long since she'd had a chance to just watch the skies. Something told her that today would change her life forever

Aurora gathered with her strike team at just outside Pharoah's lair. Vigier was taking the rest of the pack to a safe location where they would meet up after the raid. Her team all knew what to do, she just needed to make sure they had someone who knew what to do in case they needed to escape. "Brenidje, come here," she barked.
Brenidje wandered slowly over. "What?" he whined, annoyedly.
"Just in case something goes wrong, this is our exit," she told him pointing to a small hole in the wall. "It'll only fit one wolf at a time, so we'll need to go through quickly, but there's another advantage." She gestured toward the teetering rubble surrounding the hole. "We can use this to block the exit and cover our escape. If something happens to me, I'll need you to get everyone through, block the exit and get everyone to the meeting point. Understand?" she asked, staring intensely.
Brenidje was about to make a crack about her leadership, but something about the look in her eyes scared him. He recoiled a little and nodded in agreement.
"Good. Thanks Brenidje," she replied.
"Alright everyone," Aurora ordered. "Let's move. You all know what to do. Best of luck everyone" Aurora sped off into Pharoah's lair, leading the others.
"Oh, I know exactly what I'll do," Brenidje thought to himself, laughing inside. "You'll need all the luck you can get Aurora"

Pharoah was in his cave, staring into a large crystal. "They have come." He muttered with a small and evil smile. "Everything will go according to plan...today, I shall capture Aurora." He muttered, slowly heading towards the old ruined building they would be raiding. 'I know what they're after..and they won't get it!'. Pharoah then ordered some of his wolves to follow him.

ooc: writers block.

Aurora burst into the lair and looked for the posted guard. There was none. "Odd," she thought to herself. "There's usually one over there. Maybe the guard took a break. No time to worry about that." She hurried onward deeper into the lair.
Brenidje waited a little behind the others. He signaled to Pharoah that the raid had begun and caught up with the others to avoid suspicion. He laughed to himself. "Maybe Pharoah will let me help torture her," he thought to himself, glaring at Aurora.
Aurora carefully scanned the surroundings. There were no guards in sight. It seemed like the place was completely empty, like the raid had happened exactly when there would be no one around. "This seems to be going really well," she thought to herself. "Too well. This seems too easy." She stopped near a turn and peeked around the corner. No guards. Something felt wrong. "Wait here," she ordered. "This doesn't feel right. I'm going to make sure everything's OK behind us."
Brenidje heard this and scowled. If she went back now she would find Pharoah and his planning would be for naught. "Aurora, we can't stay around here. We have to move quickly or else we'll get caught. We should keep going or we'll miss our chance," he pleaded, hoping she would accept his excuse.
"You're right," she agreed. "But something seems wrong and I have to check that out. You keep going and lead the others. I'll catch up," she said running back to check for ambushes.
"NO!" Brenidje thought to himself. "I have to keep her from going back otherwise everything will be ruined." He began to panic. He had to do something. "Aurora wait!" he called desperately.
Aurora stopped annoyedly. "This had better be important," she replied, staring at Brenidje. She noticed that he looked worried and panicked.
Brenidje knew he had to think fast. "Um, uh, I-I don't think you should g-go back there," he stuttered trying to buy time. "Because I-I," he paused trying to come up with something. "I'm n-not ready to lead," he said his voice trailing off. "I don't think I can do it. You're a much better leader. You should lead and I'll go back to check," he said with an embarassed smile on his face. The embarassment he was feeling from having to improv this excuse luckily matched the appropriate emotion for his lie.
Aurora saw the look of deep embarassment on his face. She hadn't expected that kind of reaction from him. "Maybe he's coming around," she thought a hint of a smile coming over her face. "You'll do fine," she replied, giving him a gentle lick on the cheek and running back to check.
Brenidje froze, shocked by what had transpired. By the time he recovered, Aurora was too far away for him to do anything. His plan was ruined. The only thing he could do to maybe salvage it was get them so deep into the Pharoah lair that there would be no hope of escape. "Move you lazy dogs," he snarled, sprinting as fast as possible to lure them into the trap.

ooc: You can post the rest of the raid. I haven't got anything to add.

Aurora wretched and ran onward panting. "He tastes TERRIBLE!" she thought to herself, "OK when we get back, he needs hygiene lessons." She scraped at her tongue with her paw to clear the taste and then focused on the task at hand. She backtracked their path scanning carefully for anything suspicious. No guards. Maybe they really had come at the perfect. She decided to check around one more corner and go back. She peeked her head around the corner and saw Pharoah leading a large squadron of wolves. She knew they wouldn't stand a fighting chance; they were too heavily outnumbered. She knew she had to get back to her raiding party and lead them to the exit. And she knew they had seen her, so she didn't have much time. She turned and sprinted back the way, she'd came, yelling for the others.
Brenidje heard Aurora's yelling and knew his plan was doomed. He kept running for a few paces, but the others had begun to stop so he knew it was useless to try and lure them any further. He turned to see Aurora come running in.
"Pharoah's here. We have to get out of here," she explained quickly, already motioning for the others to keep moving. "This way. We can block them once we get out."
Brenidje hadn't had a chance to tell Pharoah about the exit. There wouldn't be any guards stationed there. Pharoah wouldn't be happy. He had to keep Aurora from escaping. Maybe he could get to the exit first and fight the others off. He took off in a dead sprint in the direction Aurora had indicated. The others saw him go and quickly followed suit.
Aurora saw the others go and began sprinting herself. Her highly trained speed quickly eclipsed the others and she arrived at the exit.
Brenidje saw Aurora speed by and knew that there was nothing he could do. "If only there was some way to keep Aurora here," he thought to himself. His mind raced, trying to figure out how to betray her. He thought a little and remembered what she said. "We can block them once we get out." They were using the exit that she had told him about. If he could just get in front of her...
Aurora had already reached the exit. She waited until she knew everyone could see. "Through here," she called. "Follow me."
Brenidje knew he had to act fast. "Aurora wait," he called hoping she would stop. "I need to talk to you, now. Let the others through first."
Aurora stopped and let one of the other wolves through. She turned around and glared at Brenidje. "This had better be EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!" she growled snarling menacingly.
Brenidje saw the look of intense anger in her eyes. He knew if he didn't play this correctly, he wouldn't have to worry about Pharoah. He put on a face of extreme concern. "It's just, we might not survive this and I wanted to apologize for the way I've acted. I've been a jerk. It's just... You're so beautiful and I love you."
Aurora was shocked speechless. She didn't know what to make of this. Part of her felt like this was extremely suspicious, but she had never had anyone say something like this. She knew her Grandpa loved her, but this was different. She had spent so much time training that she didn't any real friends. She wanted to believe that someone else cared.
Brenidje saw the shocked look on Aurora's face. She didn't immediately kill him so he felt like he had a chance to pull this off. "Lay it on thick," he thought to himself. He looked into her eyes and began in his sweetest voice. "You were just so beautiful, I didn't know how to act. Everything about you is just so perfect. Your fur is so luscious and soft and it has the most beautiful shimmer like the silvery clouds on a clear winter night." He knew she liked watching the sky. "And your eyes are like looking into the night sky and seeing the stars sparkle."
Aurora had never heard these kinds of compliments before. Her face softened and she smiled gently. She had never known that Brenidje cared this much. She saw the last of the others go through and knew she had to focus on the mission. "We'd better go through," she said softly, smiling sweetly. She couldn't completely refocus her attention. She thought, "Wow, I was completely wrong about Brenidje. He's come around and maybe he would make a good mate."
Brenidje seized his opportunity to get in front of Aurora and scrambled into the exit ahead of her. He saw the happy look on her face. He hadn't expected his plan to work this well. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face. "Oh, and one more thing," he said as he climbed out of the hole.
"What?" Aurora asked sweetly, smiling and looking happily at Brenidje.
"You got played *****," he snarled. "Have fun with Pharoah." He collapsed the rubble above savouring the look of betrayal and brokenness on Aurora's face. "Now to enact the last part of my plan."
Aurora was shocked. She saw the rubble fallen, blocking her escape and crushing her dreams. "BRENIDJE!" she screamed. "BRENIDJE! WHY?!"
Brenidje lingered, enjoying her helpless screams.
Aurora dug furiously at the rubble, but it was no use. She was trapped. She knew there was no escape and she wouldn't stand a chance against those number. She had failed. And it was her own fault. "I should never have trusted him," she thought, still shivering from the shock. "How could I be so stupid? I spent my entire life training and it's all pointless." And for the first time since she was a pup, she broke down and cried, all of her spirit seeping away into the ground with her tears.

At that moment, Pharoah and his group of wolves came up behind her. "Well..if it isn't the old fool's furball of a grand daughter." He said, adding an evil chuckle to the end of his sentence. "Sieze her and put her in the prisoner cave." Pharoah ordered his wolves. The wolves obeyed and forced Aurora up, they surrounded her and led her to a dark and damp cave that smelt a bit musty. The wolves pushed Aurora in and stood guard while Pharoah went off to find Blade. When Pharoah found Blade, he told him to guard their prisoner.
"As you wish father." Said Blade, heading towards the prisoner cave. "Go about your daily businesses, I will take over." He said to the wolves. The wolves bowed their head in respect to their future leader and left, leaving Blade with the prisoner. Blade stood outside the cave for some time, wondering what was in the cave, but he dare not look inside incase it was something dangerous. But, curiosity soon got the better of him, and he went into the cave. He saw a beautiful female wolf inside the cave, she seemed very familiar. "Hello." Said Blade simply, not recognising the female.

Vigier began to worry, the raiding party was later than he had expected.He began to worry. "I hope everything's OK," he fretted. "What if- NO! Aurora will be fine." He focused on preparing everything for their return.
Brenidje saw the Swiftpaw camp in the distance as they slowly approached the camp. The news of the death of Aurora had taken a toll on everyone in the party and they didn't have the energy to return quickly. He took a deep breath and thought over the details of the lie, preparing himself to deceive the rest of the pack. The raiding party bought his story about Aurora sacrificing herself to save the rest of them. Vigier would be the hardest to convince, but he had an idea of angle to use to get through to him
Vigier saw the raiding party approach. He ran out to meet them. He noticed their slow gait and sorrowful faces and he knew something was wrong. He scanned the party. Everyone was there, except for one: Aurora. "What happened?" he asked frantically. "Where's Aurora?"
"Here we go," Brenidje thought. "If I can convince him, I'll be home free." He walked slowly up to Vigier and put on his most sorrowful face. "Vigier, I don't know how to say this b-but Aurora-" Brenidje paused and looked away, as though the words were hard for him to say. "She didn't make it."
"Liar!" Vigier yelled immediately snarling and standing over Brenidje.
Brenidje knew he was in good shape. That was too quick to be calculated. He was just responding to his emotions. "She sacrificed herself so the rest of us could escape. I waited as long as I could before blocking the exit but she couldn't escape. There were too many of them,. She fought valiantly but she just-" He choked, hoping Vigier would accept the disguised emotion. "She told me to tell you something," Brenidje explained, gesturing for Vigier to come away from the others a little bit. "She said that she hoped she made you proud and that she loved you,"
he whispered gently.
Vigier's eyes began to water. He knew he couldn't fall apart in front of the rest of the pack. "There's food for you all in the camp. Eat whatever you need. I need to take care of some things," he replied slowly, barely keeping back the building emotion. He began walking off into the forest.
Brenidje knew he had succeeded, but he wanted to solidify his position. "She died a hero," he said. "She wouldn't have had it any other way."
Vigier walked into the forest, not really knowing where he was going, but not really caring either.

Aurora lay curled in the prisoner's cave. She felt depressed and worthless. "I've trained all my life for one thing and I've failed," she thought, as tears ran from her eyes. She stared at the floor of her cave, hoping that somehow this wasn't real.
"Hello."
A voice interrupted her thoughts. She didn't have the will to look up. She thought back to her training. She knew that Pharoah would want to strike while the Swiftpaw were weak. He was probably sending someone to try to extract information from her. Well they weren't going to get anything from her. "I know what you want," she replied coldly, staring at the floor. "I'm not going to give you any information. I'm not going to say anything."

Aurora tried to tune out the guard's words, staring at the floor. She continued staring, even when he went silent. She wrapped herself in her thoughts trying to screen out the outside world. She hadn't expected her failure to hurt so much. She didn't even like Brenidje all that much, but something about his betrayal made her feel broken inside. "I guess I never knew how much I wanted someone to care about me like that," she thought with tears streaming down her face. Her thoughts turned to her grandpa and the rest of the Swiftpaw. She hoped they were OK, but she couldn't do anything to help them. All she could do was stay silent.
"A-Aurora." Aurora heard her name quietly whispered, so that anyone else would never had heard. She figured it was just a ploy to get her to let down her guard. She ignored the response acting as if she hadn't heard.
"It's me.. Blade." This caught her off guard a little bit. She hadn't expected the guard to know that she had befriended a pup named Blade as a pup. She nearly released her focus, but then her grandfather's advice came back to her. "I don't want you seeing Blade anymore." She remembered how well trusting her emotions had worked today and decided to follow her grandfather's advice. Putting aside her curiosity, she retreated back into her shell.
She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't notice as he approached and feeling him brush away her tears was a bit of a shock. She still hadn't recovered when his paw gently lifted her eyes to meet his.
She immediately recognized that the guard was Blade even though he was much older than when they had last met. She noticed that he had grown up to be very handsome and attractive. His smile made her feel safe and secure. Her heart fluttered. This was a new experience for her. She wanted to tell him anything and everything, but she couldn't. As she tried to speak, nothing would come out. She put her head down and slumped over, tears returning to her eyes. "I can't do anything right," she chided, rebuking herself with her thoughts. All her dreams seemed to be crashing down around her

Aurora heard his questions and felt like her suspicions were confirmed. "He's just here to interrogate me," she thought. She felt a bit of anger toward him, which helped to calm her fluttering heart.
She began to turn her head toward him as she spoke. "I'M NOT TELLING YOU-" When she saw Blade her heart began to flutter again. Her anger evaporated and with it went her will to deny information. Only her strict training allowed her to pull her eyes away back to the floor and keep from revealing everything.
She tried feebly to continue her statement. "-anything," she finished in a soft calm voice. She felt defeated. It was only a matter of time until her emotional resolve gave out and she betrayed the Swiftpaw by telling Blade everything.

Blade stood there silently, showing no emotion. He frowned slightly then looked down at Aurora. "I will let you go. But if you ever get captured again, I might not be able to help." He muttered, stepping outside and backing away from the entrance. "You can go." He said.

ooc: writers block.

The words echoed through her head. "You can go." She looked up at Blade, extremely confused. She saw him standing near the entrance of the cave, but not blocking it, indicating he wanted her to go through. As she slowly stepped toward the entrance, there appeared to be no change in his body position, no increase in readiness so he wasn't trying to pull a surprise attack. He was genuinely letting her go free. When Aurora realised this, she couldn't hold back her emotions. Her face betrayed an infatuated smile as she looked at Blade. She focused past her beating heart and managed to speak very softly.
"Blade. Thank you," she whispered sweetly, unable to make her voice any stronger. She was still very nervous when speaking to him. She drummed up a little more courage. "If you don't mind me asking, why?"

Aurora heard him say that she was beautiful and waves of emotions came back. She wanted to believe that he was telling the truth but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it if Blade turned like Brenidje had. She decided to ignore the comment for now and take the chance for escape. "Alright, I should leave, but thanks so much for saving me," she said to him walking out of the cave. She took one more look over her hero. As she turned to leave, she went over every detail of his image in her mind; she didn't want to forget any of it. The smooth brown and white fur. The beautiful red eyes. The heroic scar over his left eye. She flashed back to a memory from the past. "This is what happened last time dad got mad." She stopped in her tracks and thought about what she was doing by leaving.
"If Pharoah found out that you let me go, what would happen to you?" she asked, concerned.