Multiple Settings Mass Clans: Beyond

[Moonsound]

Keesipip looked at Silver silently for a few long seconds. Mulling over in her mind what was being asked and how she should respond. As she opened her mouth to speak, she stepped started to walk to a spot behind Silver. Her steps were purposefully high and her footfalls were timed with her speech for emphasis. It was like the she-cat wanted to pace while she got her thoughts out but also knew she could only walk so far. So she compensated with long, slow, and high steps.

”Wellll… the two-legs you know, the humans, are still wherever you last saw them. But you’re not there anymore, you’re in a completely different place. Soooow, I think the best way for you to get a good grip on the situation is to do to you what Trin did to me. Because you are still trying to find a frame of reference that matches your home world, and it’s keeping you from truly seeing the new reality...Sorry in advance.” Keesipip meowed as carefully as she could. Her tempo slow and unsteady. The gray she-cat walked a couple paces away from Silver while she was talking but before she finished she had looped back and was standing behind the newcomer. With an awkward, nervous smile Keesipip shoved Silver with her entire body. Intending to push both her and herself through the portal in front of them.

On the other side of which laid a completely new world for Silver. One that would immediately accost her with a cacophony of new sounds, sensations, and images she‘d probably never even imagined. Out the shattered windows of the destroyed apartment the portal led to were skyscrapers that stretched off into the distance. With moving images projected by massive jumbo-tron billboards attached to their sides. Advertising all manners of celebrities and goods. And the apartment itself was occupied by cats and some animals Silver might recognize, but different. They wore clothes like two-legs, they smelled of artificial scents, and their pelts were well kept. Even the floor would be alien to her. Made of carpet that hugged your pads instead of any natural material you’d find in the wilderness on Earth. And that was before you took note of the truly alien looking aliens in the room. The ones that confused your eyes when you looked at them or seemed to casually break the laws of physics with their liquid bodies that magically held the perfect shape of a cat; while also somehow not making their clothes or the floor around them wet.

”You aren’t anywhere near where you came from Silver.” Keesipip stated both as bluntly and empathetically as she could.


______________________


The God-ring enforcer Morrigan walked up to adopted an uncomfortable smile, and leaned an inch away from her when she sniffed him. His eyes shifting between her and one of his colleagues.

”I’m a Mia’Moray ma’am.” The purple male said. He had a head similar to a red panda but with larger ears that sat parallel to the ground. A body not very different than that of a cat. And then a long, wide tail kind of like a beaver’s but with fur. His Lavender fur also had a subtle striping pattern to it, like a red panda’s. Beyond his physiology he wore a properly sized military vest with a gray digital camo. A blue insignia on the back denoting his affiliation to god-ring.

”Can I help you?” He asked, cocking his head.


__________________________


Trin stared agape into the void before shaking his head when Liz spoke to him.

”Huh?” The red eyed tom meowed, looking to her with an expression showing that he was a bit overwhelmed.

“God-ring is… God-ring is…” Trin tried to answer but kept trailing off. His mind distracted as he switched between looking at the damage done to the apartment, all of his dead friends and variants on the floor, and the video feed being broadcast from one of the drones that was swapping between all of them.

”DAD!” A voice shouted. One that immediately got all of Trin’s attention. His head swiveled to the direction of the shout and through the massive portal in the room he could see a lilac she-cat sprinting towards from the other side. Coming from what looked to be a medbay aboard a spaceship.

“Purple!” Trin cheered, turning and taking a few steps towards her before the blur of purple fur slammed into him at full speed. The two of them crashing to the ground. Before Trin could even finished gasping at the air that was just shoved from his lungs, Purple wrapped her forelegs around him and nuzzled into his neck.

”I’m so glad you’re okay!” The youngling exclaimed, holding her dad like he’d fly away. Trin returned the hug once he caught his breath.

”I thought you’d got hurt. I was so worried.” Trin muttered into the fur on her shoulder.

“Mmmnnn. I’m okay... B-but auntie’s not.“ Purple said, still hugging her dad.

”What?”

“She got hurt really bad. Her, Sppee, and Milky haven’t gotten up. Suh-Saraphina too, but she’s in the pod.” Purple informed as best as she could without removing her muzzle from Trin’s neck.

_______________________


As Hunter walked through the portal, his eyes immediately caught the frantic waving of his sister from across the “room” on the other side of the portal. The two siblings spotting one another instantly.


The rest of the group’s survivor, or at least those that could stand on their own, looked through the portal curiously. Giving their own gestures of greeting and attention.

PIM, in Fye’s body, hurriedly walked through the portal from the med bay back into the destroyed apartment.

”Oh my god I’m glad you guys are okay.” She said in a voice that wasn’t her own. Her artificial eyes scanned over the apartment, taking inventory of the two newcomers as well as everyone who had gone to return the kittens to their homes.

”Where’s Filament?” PIM asked, a very subtle tinge of franticness in her voice. With Fil on the other side of the kitchen island, he was out of her view.

”Did something happen?” PIM asked, her eyes flicking from Nyx to Thistle to Hunter, and even Silver. The AI was clearly trying to keep her cool but was also desperate for an answer.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"Well, we returned our little hitchhikers to their own dimension... And we picked up three more on our way back." Thistle points to Silver, Lizeth and Morrigan with is tail. "The better question is: what in the deepest pit of Helheim happened here!? Is everyone alright? Who's still alive?" He knows PIM herself is alright in this.... new body but he can't help the worried look he gives her. Them? The young tom leans to one side to peer around the AI and through the portal.


Lethe looks up when the portal opens but he doesn't move to stand. He just flicks his ears, unused to the weight of the hearing aids. The Ashuli tom keeps his quiet vigil between Callista and Cucumber Milk.


Returning to the top of the stairs, Thrush scans the living space below. The large portal is new and..... there! She spies a splash of purple. "Lilla!" She rushes down the stairs and to the violet sheline. When she sees the girl hugging her father, Thrush slams on the brakes and skids to a halt before the duo. Instead of embracing Purple and making her relief known like she intended to, she does not dare break up their hug. She quickly swipes the back of a paw across her face, getting rid of any evidence of tears. "Mæra in tivar!" she breathes, "Praise the Gods, you're alive! Where are the other kittens? Are they okay?"

 

[.silver.]

Silver listened to Keesipip intently. As she spoke, more questions buzzed in her mind. Questions to be unspoken, however, as the she-cat suddenly shoved her aside. "What--!?" she yelped, too perplexed to come up with anything else to exclaim. When she got to her feet, Keesipip was talking again. But somehow, she was somewhere else...again. The shock of the transition caused Silver to grip the carpet with her claws, her tail slightly puffed and her ears pulled back as she stared at the new environment with wide eyes. What kind of cats are these?? she thought.

Silver's gaze slowly met Keesipip's. "Yeah, but...," Silver stuttered, "The people, are they here too...?" Silver's eyes locked on the especially strange-looking animals (cats?) that looked real-but-not-real.

 

[Moonsound]

Purple pulled her head away from Trin’s neck after several seconds. Looking over at Thrush.

”Um. Bailey’s okay, and Rum’s okay. Jass too. Italia’s gone though. St-streaks not taking it well.” She answered Thrush shakily while Trin rubbed her back.


____________


Keesipip looked around the apartment aghast.

”No. No people here.” She answered Silver without looking at her. There was far too much to look at instead of the white sheline. Most of the room were cats, or at least aliens that closely resemble cats. But there some notable exceptions. Including the nabramblekin. The planet’s local police force and indigenous population resembled humans but were markedly shorter, and had animal ears and tails. No two nabramblekin in the room had the same types of ears and tails as another. Some had canid features while others had cervid or felid ones. All brightly colored to match their hair and very large eyes.

”I’m sorry, give me a minute to figure out what’s going on.” Keesipip said, padding into the med-bay.


_______________

PIM in Fye’s body nodded along to what Thistle was saying with quick, rapid head movements.

”Uh-huh, uh-huh, where’s Filament?” PIM asked, completely ignoring the tom’s questions. Her tone was desperate but even tinged with anger, as if PIM was angry at Thistle for not somehow conjuring up Filament’s expect gps location the instant she first asked.

“Every Trin and Italia are dead and Crimson‘s going to die.” PIM answered bluntly before brushing past Thistle roughly. Big, thick, webbed, aquatic, blue-scaled paws leading her over to the kitchen. Large purple eyes locked on to Filament.

“Filament. Oh I’m so… oh… Fil…” PIM, in Fye‘s voice, at first sighed in relief but soon realized what had the tom’s attention. As lightly as she could she started to tip-toe over to him.

”I am so sorry. Truly.“ PIM whispered, coming up behind the tom.

 

[.silver.]

"Oh, okay...," Silver responded, taking a seat where she was standing and wrapping her tail snuggly around herself. No people? Silver thought. She wondered what that was like. Where she was from (apparently), people controlled everything. They were responsible for roads and the monsters that ran on them. Hrududil? She couldn't remember what they were called from all the dimension hopping and new information. Was it more peaceful here without the people? Who would give her a little scratch from time to time?

Silver looked around but stayed put. In all honesty, she really wasn't looking at anything but rather moving her eyes around. All the new information was still a bit much and it felt safer to be scanning for danger without actually looking at anything in particular. Plus, she didn't want to be caught staring. Some of the animals here looked odd. It finally settled in for her that some of them were wearing clothes like humans, which Silver found a bit silly. Wasn't that uncomfortable?

 

[The_Morrigan]

"God ring....hm interesting" Morrígan asked before replying to Thistle "I prefer the term stowaway" as a joking tone left her. Watching as chaos ensued the idea that someone had attacked troubled The Morrígan as she began to look for ways to help the other cats.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"I'm glad you're okay, sweetie. I... uh...." Thrush sits down with a heavy thump, staring at the charred crater that used to be Milky's living room. "Oh, Italia..." she whimpers.


"Every Trin?? And Italia? Damn it!" Thistle growls, stomping a paw in frustration. "No matter what we do it seems someone is always one step ahead of us." There are two suspects for who could be behind this. The more obvious being Undertaker. But, given the violent confrontation aboard the party ship, it could be Red.


A low, continuous growl emanates from within the she-wolf's chest. Her heart weeps for the loss of Italia but also burns with a newfound rage and lust for vengeance. "Please let me be the one to kill him." The demoness whispers to Trin, "I will make him suffer for what he did. He will wish for the sweet release of death when I get my claws on him."

 

[Filament]

Flame lets go of Streak and the tom bolts immediately. His small legs carrying across the room, across the vast devestation inside it. Without thinking about it, the young tom jumps back through the portal into the medbay and disappears from view.
With a heavy sigh the orange tom flops onto his hindpaws, rubbing his forehead with a paw. Speed was okay at least. Slowly he rises back to his paws, taking a good look around the room before sneezing. The world had stopped spinning at least. He is soon joined by another orange cat, lighter in her fur color and she rests her head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're okay, Dad." She'd mutter to him and soon they are in the middle of having a hushed conversation.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lizeth shrugs her shoulders, looking around the apartment in awe. Even in its destroyed state it resembled nothing she'd ever seen before. What catches her eyes the most is the kitchen, even if its so foreign that she's only able to identify what it is by the old smell of food there.
She wants to ask what every little thing in the room does but she stays silent as her compatriots share ruins and worried mews. Beneath her paws is a strange sensation, something soft and plush and it reminds her a bit of a pelted carpet. Slowly her eyes move to the surface beneath her paws and she just kind of stares at it. It's scorched and bits of viscera lay atop it in places but it's not like anything she's ever felt before.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament stares at who he thinks is Fye, his lip quivering. "I-I- why was she..." His voice trails off and tears run down his cheeks as he tears his gaze from his mother's head, turning and looking directly into the eyes of this stranger. Who under different circumstances would be a wonder to behold.

"Deceit told me she wouldn't let this happen." The tom's voice cracks, the tom looking like he's about to fall apart. "She promised." He chokes out, the tears falling freely now.

"Where's Pim?" He mewls, his voice on the edge of a sob.

 

[Moonsound]

”I am PIM, Filament. Fye’s letting me use one of her bodies.” The AI said as she sat down in front of him, pulling him into a hug. The body she possessed was warm and realistic. You could feel individual muscles tensing as PIM squeezed the tom as snugly as she could. The lungs in her chest inflating and deflating in time with the air from her nose blowing over Filament’s shoulder.

”I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” PIM whispered.

________________

Trin squeezed Purple one more time before letting her go.

”When you get the chance, I’d expect nothing less.“ Trin answered Nyx coldly, his eyes glaring at the floor. He stared in silence for a couple seconds before the sound of someone clearing their throat broke his concentration. He turned his head to look at the investigator again.

”Trinity, if I may suggest, the med-bay would be more private for you and your folks. My investigation can be adjourned for now.” The leather clad cat said, using their eyes to gesture to the tv and then the portal. Their point was made abundantly clear when the headline of the news broadcast changed to say, “What medical ship is Trinity going on?” Along with the news drones repositioning themselves to get the best view into the portal to get the best footage of the med-bay.

“Thank you. Yes, that’s a good idea. You’re a Wissilan right?” Trin said, glancing at the tv, then the room, before his eyes landed back on the investigato. Try as they might to hide it, the other animals in the room were finding every excuse they could to look at him. And if not him, then his companions. Even in the med-bay the staff were gawking at him and exchanging hushed murmurs.

”Yes sir, I am.” The investigator answered. To which Trin responded by raising his right forepaw up high. The she-cat’s brows raised in surprise and a moment later she raised her own right forepaw. It must have been a cue from her culture because the two promptly did a “high five.” Their paws landed on one another’s backs as they walked past each other. Both gliding their paw along the other and smacking the other’s rear once it was reached. With the gesture done Trin continued walking into the med-bay, Purple following along.


___________

As Trin entered the med-bay all the staff stared at him like he was a ghost. Their expressions growing even more aghast when he walked towards and sat down beside Crimson’s bed.

A moment later Malevo strolled over to him and his daughter.

”Trin-ity. I kept Purple safe. It’s not like I deserve a reward or anything, I just wanted you to know that I kept your daughter safe. Without me she would have been too close to the blast to survive.” The crystalline fox said in that characteristically hard to discern voice of hers. It was like she was being both sincere and scummy at the same time.

”…Thanks?” Trin said, looking over at her awkwardly.

”I just wanted to make sure you knew. I’m someone who can keep your daughter safe.” Malevo said with a small smile. Trin squinted his eyes at her and the fox reacted instantly. She looked as though she genuinely did not mean to offend him. After a couple seconds Trin sighed.

”We appreciate it Malevo.” Trin said tiredly. The she-fox dipped her head and turned away. As she left Trin mumbled something about, “vatocians” under his breath.

______________

”Yeah and who always knows more than they let on, always slips away, and would know where us, Charlat, and Fil’s mom all are!? Deceit!” Stalker yowled her agreement with Thistle loudly.

“It’s always her! She probably planned the whole thing!“ Stalker yelled again.

”Doesn‘t seem like a thing she’d do.” Hunter muttered.

”Neither did shooting Eden Hunter! THAT SEEM LIKE A THING SHE’D DO BEFORE SHE DID IT!?” Stalker shot back immediately. Staring at him with a confrontational sneer. After five seconds she nodded and pointed at Thistle.

”He’s right! Every time we do something someone is a step ahead! Deceit fits that description.” Stalker stated with a harrumph.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Thistle has to bite his tongue to prevent himself from shouting at Hunter about his side-piece. Big surprise, Hunter, she lied to you! It's her nature. It's LITERALLY her name! He simply nods to Stalker, glad she's agreeing with him on something. Pretty soon the rest of the group is promptly herded onto the medical ship, leaving only the police team and crime scene investigators on the other side. Thistle sees Trin walk past with Purple in tow, but his sister isn't with them. Looking through the portal back to Milky's destroyed home, he sees Thrush remains staring at the crater, brokenhearted.

The craterborn tom marches through the portal and over to his sister. "Hey." He gives her a good nudge when she doesn't answer. "We have to go." Another one. "Let's go." Her response is too quiet to hear to he leans in closer. "Huh?"

"Italia." Just saying her name breaks the dam and tears start streaming down her cheeks. "Italia was killed in this explosion. She was just a kitten." Thrush's voice breaks on the word. "She had her whole life ahead of her. Six of her sisters as well! SIX! Who even knows when and where they were lost to us... Seven kittens who will never go home again or see the end of this gods-forsaken war!"

Thistle's gaze shifts from his miserable sibling to the charred wreckage before them. He wraps a foreleg around her, pulling her close. "Jeg vita." Thistle whispers. They share a quiet moment in honor of Italia and the rest of her sisters who didn't make it. Out of the corner of his eye, Thistle spies one of the investigators approaching most likely to shoo them off. "C'mon. Let's go before everyone leaves without us." The young tom pulls his sister to her paws. Thrush stumbles slightly, her vision partially obscured by her tears, but he lets her lean on him as they walk.

She gasps, slapping a paw over her muzzle. "Jass and Ruma must be devastated..." Thrush sobs.

 

[Filament]

Filament is flabberghasted by this revelation but deeply relieved in spite of his grief. He lets out a choked sob, pressing his face into her chest as he wails like a kitten. Tears fall freely down his face and he makes no attempts to stifle any of his noises. He wraps his paws around her and screams, burying his face deeper into her unfamiliar bosom. After what feels like hours but has surely only been minutes, he's hiccuping and coughing but he soon begins to cry again, although the sounds are much less feral this time. "She said she wasn't gonna do it to her. She said." He mumbles, almost incoherently, as if it mattered at all.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame gives his daughter a quick lick on the forehead as he moves over to the group, her following close behind. "Deceit has to go, next time we see her, we have to kill her. This isn't going to stop until we do." The tom uttered, a sneer on his muzzle as he takes another look around the room. Before he can say anything else, Holly brushes past him, moving between Stalker and her brother.

"Don't yell at him, this isn't his fault." She mews, coming to stand beside the brown tom in question. Her pelt prickled with dread but she had a promise to keep, even if it meant pissing off a cat she'd shot in the head. "We shouldn't discuss this here, who knows if any of those soldiers had listening devices, let's- Let's just talk about this back on the ship, we've all collectively said too much."

 

[Moonsound]

PIM ran a paw over Filament’s head as he cried, whispering nothing to him softly as he wept. When one of the camera drones focused on them PIM looked directly at it right just half a second before the feed blurred beyond recognition. And any time a different drone would try to film them, the same would occur.

“She did. She did say that. And she’s going to pay.” PIM whispered. Patting his back gently.

”When you’re ready, we should move to the GRV Mercy. Journalists have no regard for other’s privacy.” PIM meowed. She didn’t move or rustle though. Wanting to make it clear that Filament didn’t need to rush and could take his time.



________________


At first Hunter‘s brows began the journey downward to form a glare at his sister, but sprung back up halfway when Holly stepped in to defend him. Leaving him with a surprised expression for a couple seconds.

Stalker cocked her head and opened her mouth to snark back at Holly but the orange sheline had said something she agreed with. There were a lot more animals listening to them than Stalker was comfortable with. A fact that was cemented when she stole a glance at tv to see the news still filming them. Stalker closed her mouth and and started walking to the portal, though not without a sour look thrown at Holly.


”Thanks.” Hunter meowed just above a whisper before padding towards the portal. He cast a curious glance backwards at Thrush. He hadn’t expected her, or anyone, to care about his kits. It was somewhat, and oddly, comforting to see.


_____________________


Trin sat quietly beside Crimson’s bed, his head lowered and his eyes closed. Purple mimicked him, though she couldn’t help but peek her eyes open to see what her dad was doing every so often. Each time she peeked she saw nothing new.

Trin remained that way as everyone made their way into the med-bay. Once everyone had stepped aboard he brought his head up.

”Lexi can you close that portal please?” Trin asked quietly. The huntress did as requested with a nod. A moment later the portal vanished and the noise of drones and sirens vanished to be replaced by the low engine hum present in the medical bay.

While all the cameras were gone, the glass door sealing the bay was now overcrowded with military personnel. All squeezing to get a good view into the room.

”Um… T-Trinity sir, I apologize for my inadequacy in caring for this patient. We were limited in the resources we had at our disposal. If you want me to resign, I understand.” One of the medical staff, a dragon scaled tom-cat to be precise, approached Trin and bowed their head. He wasn’t even one of the doctors, by all appearances he was a nurse. Trin’s reaction was sudden and animated. Whipping his head to stare at him with eyes the size of dinner plates.

”What!? No! No. You don’t need to resign. I trust you did your best... How are you all limited in resources exactly?” Trin at first yelped then ended with a forced lopsided smile on his face.

”The bay is in quarantine. We can only use what we have.” The nurse said, keeping his eyes low and avoiding eye contact with Trin. Behavior the white tom was eagerly trying to dissuade against by lowering his head and purposefully getting into his direct line of sight.

”Unless we can prove none of us are infected!” The velveteen sheline beside Vasteye’s bed yelled the additional information. Trin looked to her, his ears perking immediately.

”My DNA causes the pathogen to shut down. A sample from me or any of the other mes in the apartment would guarantee you’re not infected. Even just our breath would suffice given enough time or proximity. It’s a safety Turish puts into all her work.” Trin explained, looking around the room at all the staff staring at him.

“So we’re immune?” One of the staff asked.

”No, you can contract it again if you‘re re-exposed later. But for now your body will remove any remnants of the now inert virus in your system. This bay is clean, nobody in the apartment would still be infected after standing next to so many of my variants.“ Trin said, garnering a few awed stares and agape maws. With nothing more to say Trin stood and started to walk over to Nastiel but was cut off by the plushy parasite.

”One last thing Trinity sir, uh, your friend Cucumber Milk? He’s a friend of yours right?” She asked. Trin responded by scanning the room for the tom in question. He’d been so focused on Crimson he didn’t think about Milky.

”He’ll be okay if you can get him to wake up. He needs to switch from his secondary aorta to his primary aorta. Any of the smelling salts we have don’t work on his species.” The parasite explained, extending her paw out to gesture that Trin go over to him. Which he did. He stared at the unconscious black cat for several longs moments before pursing his lips in thought. After growing a tiny smirk Trin reached forward and gently opened one of the tom’s eyes, then closed it. Before repeating the process for the other eye. Both eyes stayed open until Trin closed them one at a time in reverse order. He did this about ten time before a black paw weakly tried to swat his away.

”Stoppat.” Milky murmured in a voice full of fatigue.

”He has to blink consciously, so his eyes don’t close by themselves. I used to mess with him all the time.” Trin hastily explained to the parasite. She nodded and lightly but firmly pushed Trin out of the way.

”Milky, hey listen to me. You have to switch to your primary. Aorta. Can you do that for me? Switch to your primary! Aorta!“ The parasite said to the Tom emphatically. The celebrity groaned in response.

”Hey! Milky listen! You are going to die if you don’t switch to your primary aorta okay? Do you want to die? Can you answer me? Do you want to die Milky?” The parasite meowed as if she was talking to someone who didn’t speak her language well; Very slow and clear speech.

”No.” Milly grumbled out, staring to look around with his eyes.

”Great. Great. Okay Milky I am your doctor. I need you to switch to your primary aorta?” The living plushie continued in a more chipper tone.

”Which one?” Milky asked drowsily.

”The one that hurts buddy.” The parasite said while she lightly tapped him where his potentially fatal wound is. He instantly winced and sobered up a bit. A couple blinks and an exhale later the black tom looked at her with focus.

”Okay. I did it. Now what?” Milky asked, looking at her and then Trin.

”That‘s it Milky. You’re good now.” The parasite said in a relieved tone.

“Wha? What happened?” Milky asked lethargically. Trin smiled and quickly told him that would be explained later. It looked like the human-eyed cat somewhat grasped what those words in that order meant so Trin felt comfortable leaving his bedside. There was one more thing he needed to do.

”You all are probably very confused by everything going on but just hold on. We can answer your questions in a minute. We just need to have a chat with someone.” Trin said, looking at Silver, Morrigan, and Lizeth. Then looking away from them to a specific spot in the med-bay.

”Could you two step aside please?” Trin asked two staff animals who immediately heeded his request. With the space towards the back of the medbay, past the quarantine line the parasite was stuck behind earlier, now vacant. Trin sat down and closed his eyes. After ten seconds he sniffled and a portal appeared above the space he’d pointed to. And out of that portal fell a familiar black she-cat who’s orange eyes were filled with panic for a split second as her body righted itself and made her land on her paws. The portal she fell from then closed, leaving the high ranking demon in her formal military outfit stranded.

”What the f**k?” Was all Deciet said, her eyes looking around the room while she mentally tried to get her fur to lay flat after unexpectedly entering freefsll against her will. Her eyes landed on Trin first, who was wiping some blood from his nose, but she quickly started to take stock of who all was in the room.

 

[Filament]

After close to five minutes, the tears begin to dry-up, with the tom wretching but stopping himself from puking from how hard he's cried. His cheeks are waterlogged but he managed to steel himself and gently moves away from her. "Okay, l-let's go." He'd mew pitifully before standing to his paws shakily. The normally non-chalant and easy going cat looks like Hell. His remaining organic eye bloodshot. "I'm ready." The words catch in his throat and he chokes on them a bit but manages to walk on his own. "C-can you please stay close to me?" He'd whimper, heading through the portal with his companion.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Holly only nods in response to Hunter's silent words of appreciation, heading into the portal behind him and Stalker. Her pelt is bristling with anxiety but she pushes it back, keeping her breaths even and her gaze steady as she steps into the ship, bumping into Lizeth as she does so; earning a small 'urk' in response from the calico she-cat. Wordlessly, the two she-cats make their way into the main area and the slowly accumulating clowder.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alec raises his head from the bed of his mate as the group boards the ship through the portal. Catching sight of Filament and Thrush in particular, who look absolutely decimated in spirit. He gives Lulalissa a ginger lick on the forehead before standing to his paws and making his way into the main room where everyone is gathered, noticing the strangers immediately. His gaze is hard to read but it's not a friendly look by any means. "Who are they?" He'd ask, his voice coarse from crying, not that anyone who hadn't seen him back at the symphony would know. His pelt is still speckled with white dye spots as he strides forward.

"Deceit." The tom would utter, taking a couple steps closer than (the rest of Fil's characters) the others, his dumb but coldly furious gaze laser focused on the she-cat.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame lets out a ferocious snarl as Deceit is dropped in front of them, stepping forward "I meant what I said guys, I'm sick of this shit." The tom would mew, nodding his head to the group of people who no doubt want vengeance, including his nephew, who shuffles forward to stand beside him, seeming more than a little confused.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lizeth looks past the small cluster of cats to the dark-furred sheline, her eyes confused but curious as she took in the scene before her.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Thrush sniffles, blinking away her tears. When she realizes others are looking at her, she stops leaning against her brother and tries to regain her composure. She starts heading towards Jass and Ruma but stops in her tracks when a black cat falls in the center of the room. The sorrow in her eyes changes to burning rage in an instant.


Nyx watches the rest of the crew file in from Milky's place. Hopefully they'll have enough time to recuperate before they move on. There's a whump and a curse, so Nyx turns to see what's going on. A familiar demoness stands in the middle of the space, befuddled. The she-wolf notices Flame and Pestilence slowly approaching Deceit. And Thrush... She's seen that quiet rage before: the calm before the storm. Her little protégé turns into a true Demon, a violent spirit of vengeance. Next, she hears her feline friend speak. Thrush talks lowly, it sounds like a dark incantation, not unlike in the rituals the Inner Circle would perform.


"Du armr... huglausi... lausang bikkja."


'You vile... wretched... lying bitch.' Oh she is pissed. Thistle places a paw on his sister's back, as if that would actually hold her back if she didn't allow it. Looking at his friends, he sees a few of them stand up and face Deceit. Let's see how she fares when she's outnumbered. 'May the only thing that dampens the flames of Hel be the Gods spitting in your face.' Thrush continues speaking their mother tongue but has yet to actually make a move to attack the traitor.


Lethe lets out a sigh of relief when Cucumber Milk wakes. He'll never cease to be amazed by alien... things. Biology, technology, culture. The brown male breaks his vigil and stands, placing himself between Milky and Callista and the she-demon.

 

[Moonsound]

Deceit’s eyes continued systematically scanning and mentally checking off everyone in the room. As she did so, she couldn’t help but see the immense anger in their eyes and feel the rage coming off them. All of it directed at her. Thrush‘s unknown words gaining a decent chunk of her attention.

”What?” The she demon asked rather innocently and confused, her transatlantic accent on full display. In the space left after her query she, careful not to make the action too sudden or aggressive, reached into her left pocket and pulled out a lipstick case.

”You know what!” Trin snapped, biting the air on the last word. The venom in his tone gave Deceit pause. She had raised a paw to apply her lipstick, but stopped and placed the paw holding it back on the ground.

“Yeah! Cut the crap!” Stalker growled.

”No! I don’t know “what.” Why am I here?“ Deciet retorted in a slightly offended voice.

”Milky’s apartment was bombed. A demon death squad tried to kill the survivors.” Trin growled, gesturing to the visibly worn and injured members of the group.

”Yeah using a bomb with my sister’s head in a box!” False Lamb yowled.

”And Filament‘s mother!” PIM added in passionately.

Deciet looked around the room with her mouth slightly hanging open, her brows in a straight line, and her ears drooped. Not pinned back, just not standing erect.

”…What? …You think I killed them?” The she-cat meowed, visibly taken aback. Her tone conveyed confusion, annoyance, and shock.

”Filament’s mother was one of your targets and now she’s dead. What else is there to think?” Lexi stated cooly.

“Yeah and I stopped her assassination myself! You can ask Triss. She was fine almost two days ago!” Deciet meowed dramatically, but not in a loud voice.

”Triss is dead Deciet!” Trin snapped at her again, his voice wavering slightly on the word dead. Yet again Deciet looked taken aback.

”I don’t use bombs, as you all show they’re not the best way to get rid of a tar—I-I’m not a monster! I don’t kill family for fun! You SAW me go and try to save Purple. And Charlat was NEVER on the list. Why would I kill them now?” Deciet meowed somewhat vehemently.

“I don’t know Deciet, why would you!?” Stalker snarked back almost immediately.

 

[Filament]

Alec's gaze darkened as Deceit spilled more bullshit at their paws. Noticing her handling of a lipstick tube. "Put the fuckin' lipstick down, or I'm going to pop your shins, Deceit." The tom wasn't the brightest, probably the most dimwitted in the group, but he knew for a fact that he couldn't remember her wearing lipstick, not even once. He angles his God-Ring issued rifle just below her chest but makes no move as though he's going to pull the trigger, yet.

"Tell me why you're playing turncoat, you were kind enough to tell us about the virus, but you promise over and over again to stop these murders and they keep happening." The tom elaborates, nodding his head at Thrush. "If you don't wanna play along, I'll just break your legs and leave you to her (Thrush) for what you did to Eden, to everyone. Make your words fuckin' count." He's already made the decision in his mind that no matter what she does, she dies here but he's not about to tell her that she's not leaving this ship alive.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame stands beside his cousin, the two united for once in a common goal although he's managing to keep a cooler head. "I must admit, you've worked very hard to convince us that you're doing your best to keep us informed on Undertaker's mission and even subtly keeping it's progress slow, but you also worked with us to deceive us when you first met with us a year ago." He breathes in and gives her a looking over. "You got all buddy buddy with Thistle, you ordered my friend, Farichea to be killed when you were sure she was going to defect. You've been playing both sides for long enough." With a conflicted look, he turns his head to the side.

"Someone should've ordered your death by now, there's no way they don't know that you're helping us, that or your feeding us things they want us to know for some as of yet unknown purpose. Maybe you don't even know that they know about you and will soon be made an example of and are just in the unfortunate position of rapidly running out of use to them. Either way, this stops here. You got an ultimatum the last time that you had to pick your side and it's clear that decision was made long before then by you."

He looks at Trin. "I don't think there's going to be much of a vote here, but I think it's about time we finish this."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Holly doesn't really have a horse in this race but stares on, heart pounding in her chest. She keeps her rifle ready just in case things go awry, having also noticed the she-cat pull out the lipstick case. She's ready to kill again, not for the first time but this time she knows that she will be justified but she doesn't move her rifle to the ready position, unsure of how this will affect her promise to Hunter.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament chokes back a sob as Pim mentions his mother again but manages to mostly keep it together this time. Atrocities will only commit atrocities, but genuinely in his heart, he knows that they have no other way to stop her. If they get her locked up, she'll be broken out again and well... They've seen what happens when they let her go with their trust. This has to end here, not for revenge, as tempting as that is. No, it's because she's completely complicit in all of these murders, likely part of the planning behind them and even though killing her won't stop them, it will stop their information leak.

"We have to end this now. We can't let her go again, Trin." The tom manages to utter, his voice husky, a stark contrast from its usual collected tone. "It won't stop what's happening but she's the leak in our ship."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hal casts a glance from the water front at the apartment, stray bits of grey smoke still creeping out it's shattered windows. The fire has stopped but he can smell death in the air, warily, he turns his head. Still in shock from his encounter with Mother and Cannibal's father. Things were spinning and it wasn't because he was drunk. With a small shakey breath, he begins to walk in the opposite direction, a million thoughts racing through his head.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Streak puts his paws over his ears and nuzzles against Jezebel, this is all too familiar to the youngling and he trembles slightly, trying to block out the angry voices. His sisters were dead, his dad was angry at him, some she-cat he'd never met was going to be shot. It was all too much.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lizeth stares onward, her jaw hanging open in shock at what was happening. "Are you feral?" She'd utter out, her voice shocked as she watches them pretend to debate whether or not to kill this she-cat in the middle of this strange room. She wants to say something else but she holds back, the realization that wherever this is, is not so different from where she came from even if it looks different; hits her like a brick. A look of realization crosses her face and her gaze lowers.

 

[Moonsound]

”I didn’t kill them!“ The she-demon screamed, wringing her voice and backlighting her words with a shrill sound as her accent strained against the intensity of her outburst. She shook her paw and flicked the lipstick container away.

”I didn‘t even kill Mute! Why would I try to kill you guys now?! What‘s my master plan— warn you about the virus and then kill you all? That make any god damn sense!?“ Deciet spout out emphatically. Her line about the eponymous shapeshifter made Trin’s ears twitch.

”What are you talking about?” Trin growled, stepping towards the demoness, putting himself in line with Flame and the others.

”Mute‘s not dead. And HE knows that!“ Deciet pointed to Alec angrily.

”Mute’s not dead?” Trin asked dumbly.

”No! You all going to kill your informant now!? …I personally stopped all the family assassinations left when you told me to! Something you wouldn’t have known about if I didn’t tell you! I’ve kept my promises. And I’m getting tired of having to justify myself to you.” Deciet meowed, glaring back at the animals in the room.

”I went double agent because it was the right thing to do! I never wanted to poison the multiverse! Undertaker is using my people! I’m not stupid, I know a war with god-ring isn’t something we can win! And now that he’s unleashed that virus animals are going to want blood. Undertaker just laid the blame for the largest terrorist attack in history square of the shoulders of my nation! HIS terror attack! I told you about the virus because whether you believe me or not I don’t want billions to die! I want him gone too! And I don’t want to see my home burned because of him!“ Deciet explained passionately, looking at the row of animals in front of her. Her voice held no desperation or fear. She wasn’t pleading nor did her eyes hold trepidation at the prospect of being executed.

”Why wait to tell us?” Trin asked through a steely gaze. He did take a second to glance back at Filament when he spoke. And while his face was turned away from Deciet you could see in his expression that the tom said something that turned on a lightbulb in his head.

”I didn’t know about the operation until I was promoted. Before that anything I had on operation Downfall had no mention of a virus, just the orchestra playing a song. And I had to make sure I wasn’t the only one who was told the information, because no I am NOT compromised and Turish thinks it’s the Haven agency that got the word out.“ Deciet answered, looking at Flame while she said the last sentence. It seemed him calling into question her proficiency in spycraft rubbed a nerve. Trin stared at her intensely, and Deciet stared right back without a flinch.

”Why send a bomb now and not any time before the symphony?” Trin asked, keeping his gaze locked with Deciet’s eyes.

”I didn’t bomb yo-“

“That wasn’t an assertion. Explain why we’d be bombed now instead of any other time before? We’ve been in the same building for days. Why now?” Trin cut her off swiftly and clarified. Deciet cocked a brow before understanding what he meant.

”…To tie up loose ends? Undertaker gets his war and gets rid of his rival in one day. Maybe he thought you’d retaliate irrationally for Pest’s death?“ Deciet said with a small shrug.

”What do you mean get rid of me?” Trin asked, his stoic visage unchanging. Deciet cocked the same brow.

”You…die?“ Deciet stated, looking unsure why the clarification was needed. Trin stared at her for a couple more seconds before subtly nodding.

”What about the rest of me?” He asked, only to be met with a swirl of confusion in Deciet’s eyes.

”Your body? What’s with the semantics rigamarole? It dies too I presume.” Deciet stated, an almost mocking cadence to her voice at the end.

”Vasteye?” Trin meowed, looking to the tom.

“She doesn’t have a clue.” The silver tabby responded with a nod. Deciet looked over at him curiously.

”I don’t think you blew up the apartment.” Trin said, leaning back on his haunches. No longer in an alert pose.

”Why are you so sure now?” The demoness asked skeptically, cocking her head a degree.

”Because you don’t know who you bombed. That bomb killed someone very important and arrived during the only time that important animal would be in the apartment. Who do you think that was?” Trin replied, turning his head away while he talked to stretch his neck. A short sigh of relief coming out of his maw when he finished.

“…Filament’s mom?” Deciet said simultaneously sure and unsure. She was sure her guess was the most logical but she wasn’t sure the answer was what would be the most logical to her.

”No. Irreplaceable as she is, she’s not who I was referring to. If you planned it, you’d know the strategic importance of the bomb going off when it did. You’d also know that I couldn't have possibly been in danger from the bomb. I wasn’t in the room. You’re not the mastermind.“ Trin meowed, his gaze softening a tiny bit from hardened to just merely stressed.

”What’s to say I’m not fibbing?” The demoness asked, raising her chin.

”Vasteye is to say. Even without him you clearly don’t have enough info to lie correctly. If you knew what that bomb did you’d have never said Filament’s mom was the important victim.” Trin meowed.

”Filament‘s mother Kismine wasn’t killed in the blast. But Deciet still spoke of her from the perspective that she was alive leading up to it. Not like someone who gave the order to behead her.” Jezebel spoke up. Deciet looked over at the dark furred she-cat but didn’t acknowledge her any further.

”She‘s a spy! Of course she’d be a good liar!” Stalker challenged.

”A good liar and a truth teller look no different. I risked my neck to tell you about the virus and that big robot, and plan to continue risking my neck to keep giving you information and this is how I’m treated just hours after? With a firing squad?” Deciet replied, leveling her gaze on Pest in particular.

 

[Filament]

"That is enough." Luther growls lowly, shouldering his way through the throng of Earth cats, positioning himself between them and the other two cats (Trin and Deceit.) He keeps his pistol low but sweeps each of them, barring the ones who weren't slowly creeping up to Deceit; to show them that he was serious. "I get that you're all thinking like a mob but a mob is only as smart as their dumbest member, divided by how many are present-" He points his pistol at the ground between himself and Alec and then sweeps the ground in front of all of them as though he were drawing a salt line between him them. "I'd be willing to bet that Pestilence here is your weakest, now slow down before you follow his example in acting foolish." The tom orders, although in reality it's more a plea. His voice is very militaristically dry and lacking in emotion while still sounding commanding. He gives a nod over his shoulder to Trin as he interrogates the demon behind them.

He glares at each member of the mob but keeps cool, even if some of them are armed.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Filament begins crying again in full as his mother is mentioned throughout Trin's interrogation and he burrows his face into Pim's new body. His body shakes and quivers but it's fairly obvious that he has no intentions in getting involved in the crowd and their white noise.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alec glares back at Deceit for a few tense moments before lowering his gaze in shame. "B-but-" The tom stutters, trying to find some sort of rebuttal while Luther stares him down with his bright yellow eyes, his expression harsh and prepared at the same time. For a moment he feels as though the tom's gaze reflects his own. He'd had the exact same expression as he looked at Deceit just moments ago. Luther would fire on him if he made a move.

Steeling himself as best he can, his expression turns angry again. "I don't even know that it was Mute! We've seen Holly being copied before by someone else, and Undertaker had a body double. Red too." The tom mews, body shaking with rage and fear as he struggles to regain his credibility. "You told us about the virus moments before it happened, what good did it do huh? It's still spreading!" He bares his teeth at her, exposing some of his damaged dental work.

"She's fuckin' full of shit Trin. Deceit didn't give a shit about us until her own people were involved supposedly, why trust her now huh!?" The tom caterwhauls, but stays stockstill, under the eye of Luther's barrel.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Holly seems to be thinking things over in her own mind. She can definitely see why Trin believes her and as much as she hates to admit it, after everything she'd done, she can't find fault in the demon's words.

"Why go through the trouble of grabbing Hunter, convincing him to aid the demons and then having Kees' shot in Panolpy then?" That's the one bite she's having trouble swallowing but she stays calmer than her father or her cousin.

"I don't think you're lying but I don't get it."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame growls at Luther as he steps in between himself and the traitor. His eyes are wide, taking in everything. He knows better than to play with his life again, but he's killed before. He thinks that Luther won't pull the trigger in his outstretched paw, the tom wielding the pistol with one extended leg. "Get out of the way. You have no idea what we've had to deal with because of them. She even lied to me as recently as me and Aceline came back to life! Why would she have done that if she's really on our side, huh?"

 

[.silver.]

(Hey y'all, sorry but there's so much going on that I'm having a hard time following lol I can tell you guys have an awesome story together. I'm gonna dip, though. Have fun! Silver can just disappear into the background haha)

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

(I'm sad to see you go, Silver. I hope you can find an RP that suits you so you can continue writing and creating wonderful characters. Don't be a stranger Love you, dude.)


"You knooww... A true expert in espionage wouldn't've given in so easily," Meows Thistle, "The second suspicious eyes turned on you, you folded like a bad paw of cards! An expert would still be undercover. A master of deception could've easily wormed their way into Trin's Inner Circle; turn us all against each other to keep us distracted while they work from the shadows instead of running off like a coward."

Thrush blinks, the next slew of curses and insults dying on her tongue. "We cannot kill her, of course!" she states with a laugh, like the thought alone is the most ridiculous thing in the multiverse, "We should merely cut off her paws, that way each step is excruciating pain if she attempts to flee."

 

[Moonsound]

(See ya Silver. Sorry, you’re right there really is so much going on. I completely understand. It’s very chaotic and I didn’t make anything clear for you. I hope you have fun wherever you go after this! You’re always free to come back if you ever feel like it, no questions asked. Always welcome in Mass Clans. Or just to chat. )


Trin glanced over at Luther and gave him a nod of respect. A small smile threatening to spread across his face as he did so, before he quickly turned back to the demoness and the smile vanished.

Deciet looked at Luther in relieved surprise. Whether or not her expression held admiration of just self-interested glee at the odds of her being shot going down was unclear. But a postive emotion of some kind glinted in her eyes as she looked at the God-ringer. For a moment Deciet exhaled like she was about to relax. Only for her to go right back to high alert when Alec’s lull in anger was short lived. Deciet opened her mouth, but someone else beat her to the verbal punch.

“Holly’s mimic was Mute. And nobody else can do what they do in the way they do it. Mute’s Mute. You’d know if it was them or not… I’m not saying I trust her–she’s not asking us to trust her. She’s saying she’s too valuable for us to kill.” Trin meowed, at first talking to Alec while looking at him. Then turning back to face Deciet. His tone at the end indicating that his position to the demo was not congenial. Something she wordlessly affirmed with eye contact and a nod. She was leveraging her usefulness against her life and she was aware.

“I’m not a patriot. My goals align with yours, that’s all. Just another soldier fighting for peace the best way I can.” Deciet meowed. Her mouth hung open longer than it needed to at the end of he dialogue. As though she had more she wanted to say but decided against it. As with all things Deciet it was subtle, but there.

Trin heard Holly’s questioning and nodded along. Clearly showing that he agreed and wanted to hear if Deciet had an explanation for that behavior.

“After I’d spent so much time with you all and heard of what you’d encountered. I got interested in the supernatural. Especially after I got an hold of Trin’s sword. And despite you guys hiding it, I picked up on the fact that Hunter had some kind of higher protection. So I figured it’d be useful to have him as an ally rather than an enemy. The profile I’d made of him showed he felt disenfranchised and could be turned under extreme conditions…. then he exploded. I’d already been looking for a holy item myself when it happened. I found that lipstick, hired her to get his body, and the rest was easy. Hunter wanted a friend and power. I gave him both. I never told him to shoot Keesipip. I just thought he’d be a great psychological tool as well.” Deciet explained, her tone now casual and academic rather than passionate and emotional. She pointed out the lipstick canister, then False Lamb, and then looked at Hunter warmly.

“I decided to shoot Keesipip. There was never a plan to. We didn’t even really have time to plan, with Hal’s caaaaall…” Hunter meowed, trailing off as he mentioned the tom’s name. He turned his head to and fro to check the room for his presence. Suddenly aware that Hal might have been killed in the explosion.

“Hal left before the bomb. He’s ok.” Vasteye assured him, as well as anyone else who went to return the kits home.

“Wait. My brother has higher protection?” Stalker asked loudly and skeptically. Hunter’s reaction showed that he too was completely surprised by this knowledge. But he was not skeptical like his sister, just truly suprised.

“Yeah? Did you not know? You—I can explain later!” Deciet replied. Gobsmacked by both Stalker and a considerable amount of other group members reactions. She’d thought they were hiding Hunter’s indomitability, not ignorant of it. Deciet was going to say more but stopped when Flame spoke up.

“Without me you and Aceline would still be stranded in that place we found you at. The wood! I could have left you and nobody would have known. That wasn’t some easy place to get to either. Believe it or not I don’t want to hurt you guys… Anymore. Anymore.” Deciet challenged Flame. Adding the last part in a “I’ll be fair” tone of voice. At the same time her eyes flicked like they were going to roll. But it wasn’t a tell, like you’d expect. She wasn’t lying and failed to contain herself, it was like she was conflicted about something she’d said. It wasn’t that she lied. Her quick slip showed that something she said conflicted inside of her. It was also weird in and of itself because Deciet didn’t slip. All her time as Devin showed that. So was it a real slip, or was she faking it? And if it was faked, what would be the benefit of conveying herself as conflicted with her prior words? Once again it was all very quick. Gone in a flash and if you blinked you missed it.

Once Deciet had finished addressing Flame the twins had their chance to interrogate her.

Deciet’s brows came down and her jaw hung open in abject offense.

“What’s with the assumptions that I’m bad at my job? That, wasn’t my job. My orders were never to do that. If that was my job I would have been great at it, but that wasn’t what I was supposed to do…. I’m telling you all this because I genuinely am willing to be your mole! I. Am not. Trying. To hide. Anything. I didn’t fold; I thought Alec would’ve explained some of this to you all but I guess not. And I just fell out of a portal from my bedroom to be surrounded by animals that look like they want to kill me after I just committed treason! So yeah! I’d rather not get shot and have it all be in vain. I just got promoted! I don’t want to die because the animals I am trying to help just felt like killing me.” Deciet said, locking on to Thistle. Again, implying she was a bad spy seemed to rub Deciet the wrong way consistently.

“Glad to see you again too Thrush. Always a pleasure. Are we done? Am I not going to get shot now? You didn’t give me a whole lot of time but I do have some info I can safely share.” Deciet purred to the sheline in question, sitting down and wrapping her tail around herself.

 

[Filament]

(Was fun having you, feel free to come back if the urge ever comes back. It's not an easy thread to keep up with for sure.)

Luther lets out a very expasperated sigh of irritation as the two earth twins prattle on. He'd expected that most of them would be smarter than to carry on with 'Alecs' Tirade, even if they genuinely thought they were any different. With a small crick of his neck, he keeps his gun low but directs his gaze at Thrush. "You sound psychotic, I'm questioning why you're allowed near firearms but I'm sure that Trin-Actual has his reasons." The tom would mew. "Nobody's ripping anyone's limbs off, we are not farm-cats, and most of you could stand to learn to act like it." The tom growls, not breaking his ready position.

As Deceit finishes her responses, he keeps his head and by extension, his pearl-gripped gun in the direction of the mob. "Nobody is going to shoot you today, not without getting through me." The tom would mew, not taking his attention from the others.

"Listen, I know you don't have a reason to trust me, but are you really all going to follow Pestilence's example? The weakest link in your whole team, next to Hal and he's gone. C'mon guys, I genuinely want to think you're all better than this." Blood runs down the paw holding the gun from his missing claws but he shows no indication of weakness inspite of that and his bleeding pelt, littered with glass.

"This isn't how we do things in the civilized world, you're on the stage of planets much more civilized than yours and it's time you start acting like it. You stand to turn God-Ring against your efforts, again, I might add, if you keep up this behavior. None of you are going to hurt her as it stands now."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alec sneers at the God-Ring tom as he utters his alias, his breaths coming fast. "Trin, c'mon, this guys' a fuckin' spy." His voice lacks any sort of confidence and he lets out a small cough, blood running down his nose as he speaks, droplets falling onto the floor beneath them. "Fuck!" The tom would snarl, whirling his head to the side, losing his balance for a second before quickly regaining it and facing the three cats obstinately. "I'm not doing this anymore, she's got to go."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Holly stares in shock at the scene going on before her, taking a couple steps away from Alec for a multitude of reasons, namely that she thinks he might leap at the God-Ring tom and would prefer to stay free of gunshot wounds. "Pest, stop, we've at least got to hear her out." The she-cat would mew tentatively, keeping the demon rifle carefully pressed against her chest.

"Her reasoning makes sense to me, and you're bleeding." Her eyes flick with dread for a second before she manages to put a lid on it, keeping herself calm in spite of the way Thistle is acting too, which is irking her as well. She'd expected more of him but she supposed she had no right to expect anything anymore.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame stares in shock. "Higher protection... I thought Mother had his sword. I don't understand." The tom has to stop for a second, taking steps back away from them, his breath quickening. "Let's- Let's take a step back here for a minute." The tom pleads, his head spinning for a second before he sits himself on his hindquarters. "We all know Deceit is a liar, it's in her name but I don't believe that she's lying now. She could be our only shot at an eye on the inside. Is that something we want to risk?" Deeper questions cascade in his mind and it reels in response, the orange tom bringing a striped forepaw to his temple.

"She wants to save her world as much as we want to save ours, and that said, there's nothing left of Earth. We've already lost so much." He pauses, sucking in a breath. "If we kill her or hurt her, we stand to lose much more than if we trust her.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament growls at that. "Easy for you to say when you haven't lost your mother!" He pulls away from Pim, dropping into a crouch before leaping for the orange tom, eyes full of grief and fury. Something the tom had said had clearly struck one too many nerves. His mother was not just collateral damage!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lizeth stays frozen as the umber tom barrels into the orange tabby, her pelt spiking in fear. She sidesteps away from the clowder of cats, "stop!" She yowls, her cry as full of fear as it is with disgust and anger.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Deceit mentions so many things and there isn't much room to get a word in edgewise about them. Hunter's "higher protection" no one knows about? That would certainly explain how he survived the fall and explosion of the Mia'Moray ship? Deceit herself was the one who found Aceline and Flame? The Wood where has he heard that before? And Mute! Mute's alive!

The demoness mentions having found the lipstick (you can just buy makeup, right?) and he zeroes in on the tiny, reflective case lying by her paws. From what he can tell, it has no markings and there appears to be no buttons or other hidden whatsits. It's just an unremarkable little object. The demoness even made a show of applying it after she dropped in. "What's with the lipstick?" he questions, "The only time I've seen you wear cosmetics was at the Victory Day party. Going somewhere? Well, not anymore. Were you expecting someone? What's with it?"


Lethe feels his legs turn to jelly and he barely manages to keep from collapsing when Deceit tells everyone that Mute isn't dead. They're alive! That is some of the best news he's heard in a long, long time. After they deal with the she-demon, he deserves a long apology from Trin for how he acted and treated him after fleeing the Red Temple.

 

[.silver.]

(No worries at all guys! I just dropped in bc Filament recommended it haha, have fun! Lmk if there's any other newer RPs that you need players for)

 

[Moonsound]

PIM reached out in vain to stop Filament when he pulled away from her.

Aceline recoiled away in shocked when the tom made his move. Only to rush to try and get Filament away from Flame a moment later. She wasn’t the only one either. Hunter and a couple liferliners rushed over from where they’d been gathered to break up the two toms as well. Malevo wasn’t one of them. She was busy staring at Trin while failing to pretend that she wasn’t with errant glances elsewhere whenever it seemed like she’d been watching too long.

”Stop that!“ One of the lifeliners could be heard saying.


___________

Deciet watched Filament lunge at Flame with a neutral expression. But she did not move. Seeing no point in doing so.

Trin looked at the Filament’s display with a non-judgmental expression before turning his head back to the demon.

”The lipstick is the holy item. It’s how I brought Hunter back; with a kiss. Similar to Trin’s sword it seems to have the ability to revive. His body wasn’t damaged so I don’t know if it heals wounds.“ Deciet explained to Thistle, taking a couple steps over to the case and swatting it towards him. As she did so, she couldn’t help but squint her eyes a micrometer in amusement. Saraphina’s reaction to the kiss remark was priceless. The fire-breather was gawking at Hunter and flicking her eyes from him to her.

”It also accentuates my eyes. Very bold look orange lipstick. Gets lots of attention.” Deciet added on.

”Where’s Mute?” Trin asked the instant Deciet had been silent long enough to show she was finished speaking.

”Lying dead in a waste room in the Symphony last I saw.” Deciet answered in a way that was right on the verge of a purr. Her tone coquettish and that of someone playing dumb. Trin’s eyes narrowed and Deciet chuffed.

”While pretending to be Pest. They’re fine. The plan was that they’d find you after the Symphony. Probably didn’t have enough time. How does Mute do what they do?” Deciet ended on a question, tilting her head.

”Couldn’t tell you. Was there any back-up plan or meeting point if something went wrong?” Trin asked, his focus clear. He wanted to know where his friend was.

”We agreed that if something went wrong we’d be dead anyway. Or I would. They were pretty confident they’d be fine. All I know is they said there was a way for them to tell you who they were. Maybe they headed to the apartment? Or somewhere else.“ Deciet answered, shrugging their shoulders.