Sumac

Sumac is the secondary antagonist of Ode to Epilogue, a loyal follower of Rhyolite and sister to Ametrine. She is fierce and strong, and very clever when she wants to be. She is childhood friends with Rhyolite and will do anything to project him at any cost.

### Loyal Beginnings

Sumac is clingy with Rhyolite from a young age, always following him around and making sure he doesn't get into trouble. Being stronger than him, she often has the upper hand and uses it to protect him from other cats, and even sometimes dangers in their landscape. Because of this he grows to trust her explicitly, and with the three of them including Ametrine, form a tight group that feels closer to family than anything Rhyolite had ever had.

Naturally when Sumac becomes aware of Calabar's horrible mistreatment of Rhyolite, she takes matters into her own paws, throwing their leader aggressively over the same edge she dangled Rhyolite off of. Sumac is proud of this, and from that point on, always vows to keep him safe.

### Confusing Situation

After the confrontation with Cherry, Rhyolite comes back with fresh scars that deeply upset Sumac. She comforts him and fixes him up, and is overall misguided about what actually happened thanks to Rhyolites narrative bias. She becomes angry at Cherry and Cinnamon for betraying them, and promises that if she sees either of them again, she will handle it.

At the end, when confronted by Foxglove and his small group. Sumac is overpowered by Sunflower and unable to stop Hoot from sending Ametrine to the other side. After seeing her sister fall, Sumac is consumed with horror and grief and runs from the scene. It is her biggest regret in leaving Rhyolite behind. She finds his body washed up on some levels under their landmasses, and unable to soothe her guilt, promises vengeance on Foxglove for taking her entire life, and family, away from her.

### Aftermath

After finding Rhyolite and Ametrine's body, Sumac follows the water from where Foxglove dragged himself from the water to hunt him down. She finds him eventually and confronts him about what happened. Angry, she blames him for everything that happened and everything that went wrong, even things far outside of his control. When he tells her that he didn't want it to end that way, and that he wished things could have been different, she becomes even more angry. He apologizes and asks for her forgive him and accept him still, but she can't find it in herself to forgive him or herself for running and leaving Rhyolite to his fate. Distraught with a whirlwind of emotions, Sumac starts to scream, and her soul song appears for the first time.

### Sumac's Scream

Sumac's soul song is charged with hostility and despair, and the aggression behind it startles Foxglove and shakes the air. It goes on for several seconds as the song spans farther and farther, drawing the attention of ??? to them. ??? shows up right as she exhausts herself and starts to soften, but when she comes back to her senses, ??? says a series of confusing things and informs her that because she could not handle what she had to feel, she ran from her problems like she often did. This time, right out of her body.