There was no place for a martyr in the annals of the world, Python had come to harshly realize. She could cut her ties from her kingdom, cast away her material belongings - but she could never run faster than her guilt. It would catch her, like a slavering hound, and scoop her up in jagged jaws. But how was she to evade the inevitable, the force that prevented her from truly moving forth? The fell tyrant lingered around the dilapidated Shipyard for some time, as if the threads of a ghost wafting along the byways, shifting silently through the abandoned and cobweb-ridden rooms. It was better this way, she reasoned, to deprive the world of herself. This did nothing to quell the restlessness that beat along the ground of her paws, that rustled through her as a quake. Eventually, she would abandon it too, as if her sorrows had swelled enough between the hallowed walls. Aimlessly, she would find her stake elsewhere. Perhaps she would gain the courage to seek her lost lover and her begotten children.
After many moons, when weary paws drifted back towards the Shipyard, Python discovered that she was not alone this time. Slivers of glowing eyes peered from beyond the shadows, watching her in a rapture of suspense. Her head raised to meet them, short whiskers twitching in nervous electricity. "Hello...? My name is Python. I was once part of Riverclan, but I have shed my ties to them. I stand alone." An uncertain voice eked out from the ticked tabby's maw, so unlike the commanding voice of a former ruler, as though it had been swept away with the changing tides of the unfeeling seasons. Her confidence once came from those that stood behind her, and with none to support her, she was nothing more than the hollow husk of a monarch. None grieved for a king while they still lived. "I am here to join this... group. Leaf-bare is approaching in a few moons' time. I cannot survive out there, at least by myself. I can hunt. I can fight. I will not be dead weight to you." Python dipped her crown to any who would humor her, like a sea animal broaching itself from the water's surface, rendered vulnerable and unarmed. The she-cat had little clue of the goals nor motivations of this group, nor who inhabited it in the first place. What she did know was that the winter season would soon claim her if she did not act.
After many moons, when weary paws drifted back towards the Shipyard, Python discovered that she was not alone this time. Slivers of glowing eyes peered from beyond the shadows, watching her in a rapture of suspense. Her head raised to meet them, short whiskers twitching in nervous electricity. "Hello...? My name is Python. I was once part of Riverclan, but I have shed my ties to them. I stand alone." An uncertain voice eked out from the ticked tabby's maw, so unlike the commanding voice of a former ruler, as though it had been swept away with the changing tides of the unfeeling seasons. Her confidence once came from those that stood behind her, and with none to support her, she was nothing more than the hollow husk of a monarch. None grieved for a king while they still lived. "I am here to join this... group. Leaf-bare is approaching in a few moons' time. I cannot survive out there, at least by myself. I can hunt. I can fight. I will not be dead weight to you." Python dipped her crown to any who would humor her, like a sea animal broaching itself from the water's surface, rendered vulnerable and unarmed. The she-cat had little clue of the goals nor motivations of this group, nor who inhabited it in the first place. What she did know was that the winter season would soon claim her if she did not act.
- OOC This is backwritten to be around 3 months ago (so mid-September)! For context, Python joined Riverclan while they still lived at the Shipyard, but did not follow the clan when they moved. Anyone who was also at the Shipyard at the same time may recognize her! Also @Adder but no need to wait!
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