Forum Thread

Silver clutched the pouch. She pointed at the bag. "Those are the quest rewards, no one touches this." She then speeds up, trotting toward the Guild at her graceful gait, awaiting the stone walls of the gates to the base. She hadn't seen Luna Sparkle or Purrcilla yet today. She hadn't even said good morning to them, and wondered if they had looked for her. Nonetheless, she wanted to see them after that exhausting battle.

---

Shadow rolled his eyes. Classic demon Silver. “Anyways,” he said, are you able to walk? We can take it slow, and get you some rest. Anyways, I’ll visit you tomorrow to see if you want to go to the market. We can visit fidget, and share our stories. Anyways, I’m tired and I best you are, so lets head back and get a good rest.

---

Alex sighed. "I'll be fine," Alex told shadow. Shadow was a little awkward, but he had been kind and caring in the time he'd known him. "You're a good friend, you know that Shadow?" Alex complimented with a smile, not letting shadow in on his true intentions. "I'll see you then," Alex told him. and glumly walked back to his den.

He dropped to the floor, and started picking up his coins. He deposited all 800 into a scrap of green cloth he had found, and tied the makeshift sack to the strap of his smaller pouch. After that, he probably didn't deserve to be a guild member anymore, and he didn't feel like lying to the guild leaders. He had already kind of said bye to Shadow...I should probably go and apologize and resign to Starlight and Conan, Alex thought, and began walking to the fortress.

Lyra was coming out of her den, she had to apologize to shadow for being rude. When she got out she immediately went to Shadow’s den. “Shadow?” Asked Lyra. “I’m sorry I got mad at you I just wasn’t in a very good mood.” Lyra waited for him to respond then turned around to go back to her den. “I really am sorry...” Replied the she cat before trotting away.

Alex tried not to bump into any cats he knew on his way to the Fortress. His green pouch hung heavily, weighing down his body, making him slouch while walking. He approached the fortress and gathered his courage. He stood outside the door for a solid 10 seconds, untill at last , he felt ready to confront the leader and assistand leader of the guild.

Seeing Lyra poking her head in, Shadow felt part of the weight lifted from his shoulders. Responding to Lyra, he said, “It’s fine. I know ho won’t being included feels, and It feels exceptionally horrible. Just try not to do it again. Talking about acting weird, something’s wrong with Alex. You want to go check on him with me? Shadow asked Lyra.

---

Looking back at him, she gave him a stare that said, Sure let’s go. She went to Alex’s den to see what he was doing, then she said. “Uhhhh, Shadow... he’s not here” Lyra just looked at him, waiting for a response.

Shadow just stood there thinking. “He did act kinda weird today, what with the absence of bad puns. Let’s walk around, and see if we can find him.”
Mulling over what Alex as like recently, Shadow guessed that he felt remorse for destroying the cafe. Knowing Alex, he would have a complete mood shift. “Actually, let’s go ask the other cats, and see if they’ve seen him recently.”

---

Alex walked into the Fortress, swalowing back the lump of nervousness in his throat. Truthfully, he would have felt worse if he didn't go at all. "Hello?" He meowed. "Can I see Starlight, please?" He wondered what life would be like, going back out of the guild. A deep voice answered him, definetely not the voice of the guild leader. "Who is it?" A dark grayish brown tabby tom marched out of the room. "Alex!" It was Conan. "Starlight is busy, but I'd be willing to talk with you." He responded kindly in a deep, gruff voice.

Let's just get this over with... "I'm resigning." As soon as the words came out his mouth, his tail drooped. He felt bad to disappoint Conan and Starlight, and his friends. He knew it deep down that he did want to be here, but after what happened today, he didn't feel like he was worth it. Once all this was done, would these cats he had met even miss him? Alex waited for Conan's scolding, but it never came. He just looked at Alex, surprised. "You're resigning? Are you not happy here? I thought I say you yesterday, you looked like you had made some good friends already..."

"I burned down half a building today." Alex said bluntly. "People could have died, and it would have been my fault." In the presence of the brave cat, Alex felt compelled to tell the truth. Alex told him about his quest today, and Conan listened well, than looked at him with sympathy. "Well, did you mean to do it?" "No!" Alex snapped a little. "And thats why I should'nt be here. Cause I'm to weak and impulsive."

Conan looked at Alex thoughtfully. "You would be able to get stronger here," He pointed out. "Would running away from the problem really make things better?" "No..." Alex mumbled softly. "I'll tell you what." Conan's positive tone of voice surprised Alex. "How about one of these days, you go back to the village and help them fix the building? You don't even need to tell them you burned it, only if you wanted to. Would that help?" Alex thought about it, then nodded. Conan was really insightful. "And don't leave the guild. Your friends would miss you, whether you think so or not. And you know you want to stay."

Alex realised how stupid he'd been to try to leave the guild. Everything Conan had said was true. It wasn't completely better, but Alex felt a small purr rise to his throat. "Thank you, Conan." He wasn't completely better, but he knew what he was going to do next, at least. Alex smiled a little, which made Conan grin as well. "If you ever need help, you can come to me, okay?" Conan reasurred in a rumbly voice. "Now, you go off and eat something, you must be hungry after your quest." Alex nodded, and slinked out of the fortress.

Amberstorm was sitting by the trading cart with her tail wrapped around her paws. She was watching everyone closely, observing what the guild members were doing.

Skye was sitting near Amberstorm, practicing with her frost shards and making them float around her.

---

Wandering around the area, Shadow spotted another two cats, one looking around, and the other practicing. Remembering how lost he felt when he just joined the Guild, he walked up to them and introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Shadow. Are you here to sign up for the guild? Or am I just clueless and you already are in. Anyways, if you’re trying to sign up, I know just the person you want to see.”

---

Walking out of the fortress, Alex saw Shadow talking to some unfamiliar cats, and Lyra close by. Not really in the mood to talk to anyone, and just wanting to reflect about his time with Conan, he decided to try to sneak around them. He began taking a wide arc around the two cats, hoping they wouldn't notice him.

Lyra's ears flicked to the back of her head, she herd something, then turned around to see what it was. She noticed a shadow sneaking around behind her, then she realized it reminded her of someone, suddenly she realized it was Alex. "Alex what are you doing over there?" Said Lyra. It was weird of him to try and hide.

Alex made a mental not to work on sneaking, "Ah, nothing. I'm just exploring a little bit, I wanted the feel of grass under my paws instead of the hard path, thats all. Then I was going to head back to my den room." It was only a partial lie. Grass did feel better on his worn down paws, and he was planning on sleeping. He glanced at the sun setting across the horizon, turning the sky the colours of fire. Fire. He sighed. Everything seemed to be reminding him of his mistake. He swore again, he wasn't going to use fire. Maybe tommorow he would go back and help fix the cafe, then buy himself a real weapon. He was going to need one.

“Hey, Alex seems so sad lately.” Shadow mentioned to Lyra. “I think we should cheer him up, what do you say? He kinda looks distressed, and he looked a bit uncomfortable when he said that he was exploring, then went right back into his den. What do you say we get some gifts for him?

---

Lyra knew he was lying, she didn't know why, but she did, that made her angry. Controlling her anger she said. "Fine, if you won't tell me, I guess I'll just have to go..." Then the angered archer turned, and walked away. She didn't know why Alex didn't trust her all of a sudden, but she was determined to find out.

Alex began padding back to your den. On the streets, you couldn't show weakness. If you were weak, you were prey. It might look civilized to the untrained eye, but Alex knew it was a lawless place. That's why he couldn't be weak. If he was weak here, people might turn on his friends. Heck, his friends might turn on him. You're such a failure Alex, you can't even be honest to your friends. he scolded himself. The sun had set, and the night sky was full of stars. Alex looked up and pondered for a minute, then walked into his den, and covered the entrance, making it known that he'd rather be alone. He tucked himself into a ball, and finally alone, cried himself to sleep.

Lyra just went to sleep, she didn't want any messed up friendships, but how could she be friends with someone who lied to her. She went to sleep and stopped thinking about it. At some point she would try to get him some gifts, to see if that would help.

Shadow yawned. He was tired from all the action and emotional diffusing. It was time to retire to hid comfy little beanbag, and get a good nights rest without any more conflicts. However, before drifting off, Shadow had one more thought. If the group’s friendships were to stay together, he, and maybe Lyra (Silver might have been to blunt), would have to confront Alex. Then again, bluntness might have been what they needed.

---

Timeskip to next morning.

Alex set out before the sun had even risen so that he could go at a leisurely pace, and so he would'nt run into anyone. He brougt 500 of his 800 coins with him in his green cloth (it was his favourite colour, and he had grown quite fond of it). His destination was the village from yesterday, and by the time he had reached it, the sun shone bright, turning the clouds pink and the sky purple and pale blue. The light turned his fur fiery. Again, another reminder.

As he approached the cafe, the sun shone on the wood with an orange glow, yet another reminder of the fire. He found a gray cat (most likely the owner)working on the cafe wall already, obviously struggling to lift the replacement timber planks. "Can I help?" Alex offered to the cat. She nodded, clearly glad to get some assistance.

The pair worked together in silence, removing the old burnt beams and replacing them with new ones. By the time they were done, it was already well into the morning. More cats were coming out of their dens and houses. "We're done," The store owner said. "Thanks for all your help. I don't have anything to give you for your hard work..." Alex considered apologising, but he'd have to give an explanation, and it would cause more trouble than he'd like to today.

Instead, he slipped off his cloth, and handed the store owner 300 pieces of gold. Seeing her surprised face, he responded, "I insist, as repayment for the planks. I should get going now," Alex answered, not wanting to stay longer than he needed. He smiled at the store owner, still feeling guilty, but a little freer and lighter. He padded out of town, but not before buying a long, bronze dagger from the armory. He was going to need a new weapon since he wasn't going to use elements anymore. It suited him. Calmly, Alex walked back to the guild, the dagger in his mouth, the pouch of money empty, and his head full of thoughts.