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Vigier hadn't known how long he had been running. The loss of Aurora had broken his normally unshakable resolve and the emotions flowed unhindered from his eyes as tears. Aurora had been his life for the past two years and he felt intense guilt over her loss. "I should have been there for her," he thought as he wept. "She was my responsibility. My duty as her grandfather was to protect her." She never knew how important she was to him, He relied on her strength and potential to keep going. Without her, her felt alone and useless. She was his source of hope. As he wandered, he noticed a small deer in the nearby clearing. Even in his old age, this deer would be no match for his experience hunting. Vigier shook, trying to clear his head of the grief, refocusing on the deer. "With or without Aurora, I'm still the leader of the Swiftpaw," he thought, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I have to be strong and be a leader." He snuck up behind the deer with expert skill and pounced catching the deer by surprise. The deer stood stunned for a moment, but quickly bucked Vigier as he weakly scratched the deer's neck with his normally strong jaws. Vigier watched the deer run off into the woods as his emotions overtook him. Without hope, he could do nothing. Aurora was his hope and now hope was gone. He knew that he was no longer a leader. He slowly limped back to the Swiftpaw camp, each step a reminder of his lost strength.

Aurora heard Blade's response and smiled widely. She felt like she could spend an eternity happily watching the stars next to Blade. She knew that she would have to go back to the Swiftpaw sometime, but she wanted to make this night last as long as possible. She lovingly licked Blade and nuzzled his muzzle with hers, snuggling in tightly. She looked up at the stars. She knew she would remember this night for the rest of her life. After tonight, she would get back to work, but right now in the clearing with the stars beaming down on them, was her time with Blade. She snuggled with Blade, watching the stars go by and staring deep into his loving eyes, blissfully allowing the time to slip away into memory.

Vigier slowly limped back into the camp, tears flowing from his eyes. The rest of the Swiftpaw were shocked to see the normally invincible Vigier limping and crying. "Brenidje," he called weakly.
Brenidje slowly wandered over to Vigier, annoyed at being disturbed. He spoke mockingly, "What do you-" One look into Vigier's dead eyes quickly removed the mocking tone from Brenidje's voice. He knew that it was serious. He finished his statement in a hushed, reverent whisper. "-want, leader?"
Vigier responded in an emotionless whisper. "Brenidje, you are now the leader of the Swiftpaw. I will no longer be part of the Swiftpaw." Without waiting for a response, he turned around and slowly limped out of the camp. Vigier felt dead inside. He knew he wouldn't be alive much longer. He just needed to see his granddaughter one last time.

Aurora heard Blade's reminder. She had been hoping to avoid leaving the clearing as long as possible, trying to prolong the evening as long as possible. She responded sweetly, "Yes, I suppose I should go back to the Swiftpaw." She sighed, as the bliss of the evening was ending. "We should go back together," she added, hoping Blade would be agreeable to the request. She got up and looked back and Blade, beckoning for him to follow.

ooc: I just got back from a party, so I'm gonna call it a night and edit this post tomorrow.

Brenidje maintained a solemn demeanor as he heard the news, but inside he was ecstatic. "Pharoah's gonna love this," he thought to himself. "I'll be one of his top wolves, and I might even get a chance to be his heir. That layabout Blade hasn't done anything to deserve his rank." Brenidje's eyes lit up as he began plotting his rise to power. "You heard Vigier," he barked to the rest of the pack. "First thing we need to do is move away from this place. Pharoah's goons are probably already closing in. We'll need to go somewhere Pharoah wouldn't expect." As Brenidje's plan materialized in his mind, he felt more and more euphoria. Soon he wouldn't be able to maintain his solemn demeanor. "I'll go clear our trail so we have a little more time," he called, turning away so no one could see the smile on his face. "Just a few minutes to calm down and I'll be ready to go," he thought as he distanced himself from the rest of the pack.
Aurora looked back to see Blade following her. There was a giddy skip in her gait as she began walking back to the Swiftpaw camp. As they drew near, Aurora began to focus on the situation around her. She knew she needed to get back in the habit of full awareness and being ready for anything. Her eyes scanned the surroundings for any other life. In the distance, she spotted the form of a wolf wandering away from the Swiftpaw camp. She signalled to Blade and both of them slipped invisibly into the surrounding bushes, silently stalking the wolf. As they neared the wolf, Aurora recognized him and an enraged scowl came over her face. "I'll handle this," she whispered to Blade, beginning her attack.
Brenidje grinned as he tried to calm himself down. He heard a noise but he ignored it. Suddenly he was forcefully tackled to the ground. He squealed and laid still, pinned to the ground.
"Brenidje," he heard an angry voice above him. Brenidje looked up to see an enraged white wolf forcefully pinning him to the ground and snarling. "Oh Aurora," Brenidje replied timidly, mind racing trying to find an escape. "You know, I-"
"SHOVE IT!" Aurora screamed, causing Brenidje to flinch again. Aurora lowered her voice. "You have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't rip you apart, you traitor." Brenidje fearfully looked into her menacing eyes, panickedly trying to come up with a possible escape.

ooc: Welcome back

ic: Brenidje was terrified and rendered completely speechless by his terror. He knew he had to do something to get out of this situation, but his mind was frozen from terror. "A-a-aurora. I-it's not w-what y-you think," Brenidje stuttered badly, barely mumbling the words. "I-I d-didn't mean to-"
Aurora snarled cutting him off midsentence. "You knew exactly what you were doing you spineless traitor!"
Brenidje could see the rage building in Aurora's eyes as she pinned him with greater and greater force. He needed to distract her somehow. "Vigier," he mumbled weakly as Aurora's attack brought him closer and closer to unconsciousness.
Aurora heard her grandfather's name and let up, scanning around for him. She couldn't see him around their current location. She glared down at the gasping Brenidje, who was just recovering. "Where's Grandpa," she asked Brenidje.
Brenidje had just barely recovered and wasn't in a hurry to get into a similar situation again. He didn't even consider lying at this point, any lie would bring Aurora's anger down on him again. "He wandered off that way," Brenidje responded meekly, pointing in the direction Vigier had gone. "He thought you were dead and he seemed despondent about losing you. He didn't say where he was going, but he didn't look good." Brenidje looked back at Aurora, tail between his legs hoping she wouldn't attack again.
Aurora advanced again, standing over the cowering Brenidje. "If you're lying..." she snarled threateningly.
Brenidje broke into tears of fear. "I promise that's the truth," he sobbed. "Follow the scent if you don't believe me."
Aurora ran over toward where he had pointed and searched for the scent trail. Even though it was faint, Vigier's scent was there and it lead away from the camp. Aurora's mind raced worriedly. If Brenidje was telling the truth, her grandfather was in a bad state and she couldn't waste any time finding him. The scent was faint enough already. But she wasn't going to trust Brenidje after what he had done, and she wanted to punish him. She looked around trying to figure out what to do and she spotted Blade in the shadows. She remembered how much she cared about her grandpa and she knew what had to be done. "Love over hate," she thought to herself. She bounded over to Brenidje and snarled, "Your days are numbered." Then she quickly turned and indicated for Blade to follow as she sped down the trail, tracking her grandfather's scent.

Brenidje cowered into the fetal position as he saw Aurora bounding towards him. He heard her say something threatening and lay still, expecting her to tear him apart for what he'd done. He didn't know how long he'd cowered there crying, but eventually he gathered enough courage to open one eye and look around. To his surprise, Aurora was nowhere to be found. He gingerly stood up, still shaking from his fear. As he brushed the tears out of his eyes and tried to gather some shred of his dignity, he scanned around, this time looking for anyone who may have seen him in his fearful state. Seeing no one around, he exhaled a sigh of relief and he tried to clean himself off to hide any sign of weakness from the rest of the Swiftpaw. "I really hope no one saw that," he thought, finally calming down from the encounter. As he padded back to the Swiftpaw, his mind began again to scheme against her. "She'll pay for this someday," he thought. Soon he arrived back with the rest of the Swiftpaw. He saw a few puzzled looks as they looked over him and thought it best if no questions were asked. "Move, now," he yelled, sprinting back towards Pharoah's lair.

Vigier didn't know how long he'd be walking for when he limped toward the entrance of Pharoah's lair. His eyes were laden with tears and devoid of life. "Pharoah," he called weakly. "I give up."

Pharoah turned around and grinned evily. "I thought you might." He said, his voice dark and cold. Pharoah slowly approached Vigier, the evil grin still planted on his face. "And just why have you given up, hmm? Is it because of your grandaughter? Ha! That plan of mine worked rather well, Brenidje makes a great spy, I might just give him a promotion," he paused for a moment. "Want to know what happened to her? It was rather simple..Brenidje trapped her in my lair, then me and my guards took her to the prisoner cave. I told Blade to guard her, ha! He's probably killed her by now..and soon, you'll be joining her and your daughter." He added then laughed maniacally.

ooc: Sorry for delay. Lot's of schoolwork...

Vigier slowly lifted his downward stare and his eyes met Pharoah's. Something about Pharoah's statement didn't seem right, but he was too far gone to respond. "You've won," he said, resignedly. "Do what you will with me. Just let me see my granddaughter's body one last time."

Aurora hurriedly track Vigier's path, only slowing to check that Blade was following behind. As she followed her grandfather's steps, she grew more and more worried. "Grandfather's path is usually direct and focused," she thought, as she followed the weaving path of her grandfather. "Something's wrong." She was trembling as she followed the path and soon her mind clouded with memories of her grandfather. She slowed down as she realised her thoughts were impairing her focus. "Blade," she said, turning to look at him. "I'm worried. Grandpa's never like this." She wasn't sure why she was saying this, she just knew she needed something to ease her anxiety. She hoped Blade would have an answer as her eyes began misting with tears.

Brenidje led the Swiftpaw at a cruel pace, snapping at the slowest ones to keep them moving. He checked behind him often, hoping that Aurora was still searching for Vigier. "Move you dogs," he sneered derisively at the rest of the Swiftpaw, herding them towards Pharoah's lair and if everything went according to Brenidje's plan, their demise.

Pharoah's evil smile faded. "Very well." Said Pharoah, starting to lead Vigier slowly out of his lair.

"He's probably given up and gone to Pha--" he paused for a moment. "On second thought, he's probably fine..Hey look! There's the lair!" He added.

Vigier mindlessly followed Pharoah, not really recognizing that they had left the lair. He could feel his strength leaving him quickly and regardless of Pharoah's actions, he knew he was dying.

Aurora heard Blade's words and gaped. Even though he had said the Vigier was probably fine, the rest of his words worried her. Especially that she hadn't noticed that the path was leading to Pharoah's lair. "I wonder why he would be heading there," she thought as a little bit of dread entered her mind. "Grandpa's path was unusual and if he was desperate and hopeless-" She shook the thoughts out of her head. "I have to keep focus. I didn't notice that we were heading towards Pharoah's lair. This isn't a time to go soft." She tried to put the emotions behind her, but she still felt them in the back of her mind, lurking, waiting for a moment of weakness to flare up. She also wasn't ecstatic about going back to Pharoah's lair, the site of her most recent failures. But she knew what needed to be done. She put on as brave a face as she could muster and looked at Blade. She gave him a quick hug and prepared herself for what she had to do. "Let's go," she said, slowly walking towards Pharoah's lair.

Brenidje could see Pharoah's lair in the distance so he guided the Swiftpaw into a small cave to avoid suspicion. "Wait here until I get back," he ordered. "No one leaves. Got it? I need to erase our trail, so Pharoah won't be able to find us." A quick scan over their faces showed the Swiftpaw weren't going to question the lie. They were far too exhausted from the unexpected travel to defy orders and many were badly weakened from exhaustion. Brenidje turned and grinned, padding off toward Pharoah's lair. "They won't stand a chance," he thought chuckling to himself as he went to betray them to Pharoah.

"Hey look, there they are!" Said Blade, seeing Pharoah and Vigier emerge from the lair. "So, what's the plan? Do we just walk up to him and challenge him, or do we use stealth?" He asked.

ooc: gah, writers block.

Aurora saw Vigier and froze. She wanted to spring into action, but her emotions came crashing down on her, breaking through her barriers. Besides the clues she had picked up from the trail, Aurora saw the dead look in Vigier's eyes, his defeated posture and his mindless following of Pharoah. She wondered if there was something seriously wrong with him and her minded overloaded with worries. She felt a nudge on her shoulder, Blade wanted an answer. She snapped back into focus and looked back. By now Vigier and Pharoah had disappeared from view. Aurora sighed, angry with herself for not acting immediately. "I guess we have to go with stealth now," she mumbled disappointedly, trying to force the worries out of her head.

Brenidje arrived at the lair and entered a back entrance. Flagging down a guard, he asked, "Where's Pharoah?"
"He had to deal with a prisoner," the guard replied.
"Well, find him and tell him I have the Swiftpaw ready to become his prisoners. I'll wait here for his orders."
The guard ran off to deliver Brenidje's message.

Pharoah noticed one of his guards heading towards him. Pharoah commanded him to halt and walked up to him. The guard muttered something in Pharoah's ear. An evil grin appeared on his face. "Tell Brenidje to take as many guards as he needs and take the Swiftpaw prisoner." Said Pharoah. The guard nodded and ran back to where he last saw Brenidje.

Brenidje saw the guards approach with the news from Pharoah. He smiled as he heard the news and thought about how pleased Pharoah would be with him. He wasn't about to mess this up by bringing too few guards. "Besides Pharoah doesn't need any guards now," he thought. He eventually decided to leave a few behind so Pharoah wouldn't be angry "Leave two or three guards with Pharoah and bring the rest," he said. "Have them meet me here as quickly as possible." The guard sprinted off to comply with Brenidje's request.

Aurora slowly followed Pharoah's path, hoping that her grandfather hadn't gotten too far ahead. She stopped as see saw most of Pharoah's guards waiting in the next hallway. They hadn't seen her, but there was no way for them to sneak past without being seen. She turned to Blade and whispered, "What do we do now?" Before Blade could answer, they heard one of the guards call out a command and soon most of them had turned to leave, leaving only three behind. Aurora couldn't believe her luck, but she was still unsure. She wasn't confident in her decision-making right now, and she was still trying to suppress all the pent up worries. She turned back to Blade, hoping for his advice.