Arrow for the Messenger

"[THREAD TITLE]" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
== Summary ==
[Write a summary of the thread's events here, including spoilers and important plot details. Check the Order of Threads to see if the thread you are placing already has a summary, to make less work for yourself.]
== Full Text ==
Treepelt Halfpaw: White Hallows dawned just as cold and wet and foggy as it had been all week. The town sleepily began moving to take care of crops and feed animals as soon as the sun broke over the horizon, and several of the children of the little town began running up and down the muddy streets, screaming and laughing as children are wont to do.
Tree wearily walked back down the road to her home and rested her gloved hand on the door handle, standing still as she stared at the familiar wood grain of the entrance. There was nothing she’d rather do more than return to the barracks, or even better, stay out of town all day and go hunting. But throughout the night, the questions had begun to rack up inside of her brain, and she needed their answers more than she needed space.
She cracked open the door, and frowned as she saw the interior was completely dark and empty. She dropped her bag by the front door and shut it firmly, the loud bang echoing through the apparently-empty house. 
“Kendra?” she called out. “Vox?”
No response.
Dario Hjort: Dario could hear the woman yelling from the other room; his eyes were not fully adjusted to the light that filled the room he occupied. His feet, while sore, felt better than they had in many weeks. The comfort of a real bed was something that was lacking in the lives of himself and the companion he had spent so many years traveling with, and he was grateful.
He maneuvered himself out of the bed and to the ajar door across the room. Pushing it open softly, he saw Tree moving through the house – her movements were almost frantic.
“Good morning, Tree… is everything alright?”
Treepelt: Tree snapped her head at the sight of a pair of familiar antlers poking out of one of her rooms, and she sighed, folding her arms and tapping her foot rapidly on the ground, shedding mud on the floor.
“Dario, where’s Vox, and where is my daughter?”
Dario: The deer felt his heart rate increase, in addition to the shaking in his hands. He wasn’t used to Tree taking this tone with him.
They’re… gone?
“Tree, I… I have no idea. They were here when I went to sleep, and now…”
He felt lightheaded. His heart would not slow down, and the room felt… smaller, somehow. Dario knew that Tree wouldn’t like this answer.
Treepelt: “Gods damn it.” Tree marched over to the table and fell into a chair, putting her elbows on the table and resting her face in her hands, another wave of fury rising within her. But she was too tired to express it, and to Dario, of all people. He seemed a victim of circumstance, no matter how long he was away with Vox, no matter where he and Kendra were now. She didn’t have the heart to take this out on him.
A few involuntary tears of emotional exhaustion made their way down her cheeks, and then she wiped at her whole face, scrubbing them away. With a sigh, she looked up at Dario. “You must be hungry,” she said tiredly.
Dario: My hands… I don’t know what’s wrong with me…
He moved to place himself in a chair next to her; his breath still heavy. He couldn’t even think about food in this moment.
“No, I’m… I’m good. Thank you, though.”
Treepelt: Tree’s tail flicked, and she reached out a hand, carefully touching Dario’s shoulder. He was in clear distress, and she felt a bit bad about it. But only a bit. “Hey, I’m not…I’m not blaming you. I’m just…worried about where they might have gone.”
Dario: “I know… I’m sorry…”
He clasped his hands tightly in each other to keep the shaking to a minimum. He felt short of breath as the hand of his friend provided a slight calming effect.
“He- when we were in a bad spot, a few years back- Vox promised he wouldn’t go anywhere without me again. I don’t know if I could handle…”
He felt the shaking of his hands move into his lower back, creating an aching in his spine. The state of panic he was stuck in began to take a toll on the deer; the last time they were separated like this, Dario was lucky to be alive when all was said and done.
“I’m so sorry, Tree. I don’t mean to be this way… it’s your husband and child. I’m being selfish.”
Treepelt: “Hey. Dario. Shh.”
She turned completely to face him and leaned her elbows on her knees, taking his hands and pressing her thumbs into his palms, rubbing slightly back and forth. She looked up at him from her bent-over position, her tired, furious demeanor melting into something more motherly. Her heart broke as she recognized the symptoms.
What hell did you take him through, Vox?
“Dario, I need you to breathe.” She continued to trace steady circles against his palms. “Just breathe.”
Dario: His head spun constantly, only allowing him to recognize the cat half-breed looking into his eyes. His mind defaulted to the worst-case scenarios that were persistent in his psyche.
“I’m trying, Tree, thank you… I hate that you’re seeing me like this, I usually don’t…”
He allowed his head to fall between his legs, trying strenuously to breathe slower. He had to get his heart rate down. Vox was the only constant in his life, before and after his death. He wouldn’t forgive himself if anything happened to the boy…
…the man. He’s not a boy anymore.
“Vox and I had something happen to us… not too long ago. It’s not easy to even think about, but…”
He kept focus on his breathing, allowing his pulse to decrease to a point where he was no longer lightheaded. He placed a hand on Tree’s, giving her a feigned smile in return before returning to a concerned gaze.
“We have a lot to talk about, Tree.”
“That’s all I’ve wanted you to do for me,” Tree responded, squeezing his hands. “Neither of you have said anything to me about this, and I’m scared for both of you. I’m all ears.” Studying his face, his youth struck her. Hard. He couldn’t have been older than her children.
“What happened, Dario?”
Dario: Dario had worked so hard to stop shaking. The memories flooding back began to elevate his stress, but she needed to know. She had every right to know.
“It was a few months back… or at least, I think it was. I’ve been trying my best to forget about it, but I can’t forget the face…”
He held his breath for a moment. Dario didn’t expect it to be this hard to talk about.
“Vox told me to wait at camp… it was still light out, so I didn’t expect anything could go wrong. He’d done it so many times… gone to get food… but then it was dark. He didn’t come back. I don’t know what happened with him that night, becau-”
He froze. It was clear as day to him – he could see his face as if it were right in front of him.
“They took me. Tree, I fought as hard as I could, I swear, but there were three…”
He felt tears welling in his eyes. He didn’t want to lose his composure in front of her; she lost just as much as he did, if not more.
“I was convinced it was Central. I couldn’t fathom anyone hating us as much as them, but I guess… there was a copycat. Far fewer in numbers, but it was Hel.”
Treepelt: Tree’s knuckles grew more and more white with every second; without a word, she put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him into a hug, her aging arms wrapping around his back with a bit of difficulty. She gritted her teeth where he couldn’t see her struggling with her emotions. Her eyes were wide and shining. A scream, from her own desperate, smoke-filled throat, echoed through her memory.
“Get out of here! Run! Tell Scorch I’m sorry!”
With a shuddering breath, she held the back of Dario’s head and just…hugged him. The morning light crept slowly across the floor; dust drifted in the weak silver beams. She cleared her throat and said in a low voice. “Dario…you’ve told me enough, but if you can…how…how long were you…?”
Dario: “I’m not sure.”
He felt trapped, just like before… he could nearly feel the cold of the iron on his back. The lack of sleep destroyed his perception of time.
“I think Vox got me out a few weeks ago. We left from there and came straight home. It became too much for us to handle alone.”
Alone. He remembered that Vox was gone again, and it terrified him. He knew, in the presence of Tree, he was safe… though older, he could tell she was hardened from the last decade. It helped that she was a mother with her own children to protect, but it still ate at him.
“I just wish I knew what to do.”
Treepelt: She leaned back and sighed, looking down at his hands, still dirty from travel and trembling with stress. Tree didn’t have any good answers for him. Directly after her most traumatic episodes, even more insanity followed suit. In a way, it distracted her from being…well, traumatized. But, ironically, the worst moments had always been the quiet, peaceful ones.
“You…you don’t do much. You try to live life…normally, after it happens.” She held his forearms, giving him something physical to focus on. “Eventually, day after day, you’ll have a few minutes where you don’t think about it. Then a few hours. Then, someday, you’ll realize it’s been off your mind for…days.” She squeezed her hands and looked at him sympathetically. “It gets better.”
Dario: He smiled; it was genuine, this time. It hurt to remember what he endured, but having someone like Tree during his weak moments put things into perspective for the deer. His breathing was leveling out in a way that stopped his hands from the shaking that plagued him before.
Damn it, Vox, you picked a good one.
“Thank you, Tree. I don’t usually lose myself that quickly… Vox only had to put up with that once, but I can tell you two operate in similar ways when it comes to this sort of thing.” He looked her in the eyes, now cognizant of what they needed to do. “I promise, I’ll explain more in time. For now, let’s talk Vox and Kendra.”
Treepelt: Her expression dropped a little and she looked to the side, shaking her head. For as many years as she had lived past her youth, her anger, when it made an appearance, seemed to never have subsided as it should. “What about them?” she said, keeping her voice from becoming hostile. “I have…no clue where they went, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Dario: “I figured you probably didn’t… you seemed perturbed when you got here.”
He gazed at the ground, hoping that something would come to him. Vox hadn’t mentioned any plans once they returned, other than his fear of what his family would think… and that obviously went over as well as expected.
“Should we… do we need to find them? Do you think they’re alright?”
Treepelt: She got to her feet and paced back to the shelves of the kitchen, taking down a wrapped bundle of cheese and placing it on the counter, pausing a moment. “Didn’t you say,” she started, her brow knit, “that he never left your side? Or…tried not to?” Her hands twitched a little as she undid the linen. “Why would…he…” She drifted into intense thought. What could be so secretive…or dangerous…that he would need to leave his best friend of so many years? Gods, it had been too long since she was good at his mysterious, lonely games.
“I don’t want to put y…” Treepelt tried collecting her thoughts. “We shouldn’t fight danger with more danger. I fear that may be what they could be looking for.”
Dario: “He tried his best, but there were times where it wasn’t possible.”
He kept his thoughts focused on the moments that weren’t spent in confinement. The forests, the caves… he kept his mind on the better moments spent with his friend. He was too tired to dwell on the hardships.
“I understand. He has a good head on his shoulders; I’m sure he had a good reason for leaving.”
“I can think of a few stories to contest that,” Tree said, but she said it in good humor. She shook her head, a few strands of her bicolored hair falling in front of her face. I married an absolute idiot.
 “What are you going to do now?” She brought him a modest breakfast, a meal she knew from experience was something to eat on a stomach full of nothing but nerves. 
Dario: “What am I gonna do?” 
He pushed around the plated meal in front of him, wanting so badly to have any ounce of an appetite. Taking in small amounts, he pushed to repress the nausea enough to eat anything at all. He didn’t want to be rude.
“I honestly haven’t thought about it. I knew we were coming back… but we don’t have any more answers than when we first left. At least, not for why we left.”
He looked to Tree, reading nothing but concern on her face. She saw him… differently, than before.
“We might have some problems on our hands, and I have no idea how to stop them.”
Treepelt: Treepelt raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “Problems? Like…more possible marital problems, or, ‘a demon that killed my husband is best friends with my children’-type relationship problems, or…or dungeon, High-Central problems? We may or may not be able to deal with those kinds of problems. The track record is decent so far.”
Dario: “I’ll be honest, I have no idea.”
He could feel her mind racing. That last thing he said probably could have been elaborated on, but he was equally in the dark as she was.
“I have only a name. The man who did… all of that, what I told you about…”
It made him sick to his stomach to even think of the half-breed that betrayed his own. He could never forget that face.
“It… it was Sylar.”
Treepelt: Drrrrrum. Tree’s claws cascaded across the table as she thought hard. “That doesn’t sound like anything familiar, unfortunately. Do you plan to find him again? Not to insult my…” She squinted in confusion. “Brother-in-law, I suppose…but that doesn’t sound like a smart thing to do. Not yet.”
Dario: “Definitely not. I would love nothing more than to never see him again.”
He sat solemnly, unsure of what exactly his next move was. This was his only home, and he didn’t want to impose on Tree. It felt as if he was merely existing in the timeline of his friend, without any real sense of purpose.
“I think I just need to be alone for a while, if that’s alright.”
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Treepelt Halfpaw
Category:Dario Hjort
Category:Act I