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"Please, there's been a mistake..."

Faroth's pleas fell on deaf ears. The guards stared straight ahead, only prodding him forward when his steps faltered or slowed. They were entering the main floor of the Tree, the center of activity, all the more busy right now at the end of the day due to the curfew restricting most Faun to the inside of the Tree until dawn broke in the morning. The dappled faun, bound and being escorted by Tree Guards, was drawing a lot of attention from on-lookers. He could feel their stares just as he could feel his cheeks growing heated with shame. This wasn't right. He was no traitor. Was this just because he had been late in getting back? They'd been waiting for him though, from the look of things. There had to be some mistake, that's all he could think.

Another twinge from his leg caused him to falter. The grip the guard had on that arm tightened for a moment as his leg nearly gave out and Faroth winced, muttering a hurried 'sorry' as he resumed limping along with the escort. Though he wasn't trying to actively resist, he couldn't help but uncomfortably shift his shoulders, testing the earthen binds on his wrists. Not something he'd be getting out of easily. His strength lay mostly in his legs and back muscles, but the angle at which he was bound wouldn't make things easy. He'd never been much of a magic user either.

Not that he was exactly pondering a dramatic escape attempt. From heavy guard? Inside Laisidhiel? Besides, it'd be like admitting guilt. He wasn't that far gone yet. Surely this was some mistake, he'd get everything straightened out. Everything would be fine. He just needed to figure out what was going on, explain anything that needed addressing...

The thoughts were meant to keep him calm despite the armored guard, the stares, the whispers from all directions... Faroth's ears laid back in visible anxiety, showing that his mental struggle wasn't succeeding. He looked ahead, rather than around at the staring Faun, noting a familiar figure ahead looking over some scrolls. He gave some directions to a young Faunness who hurried off to the kitchens, likely to assist with dinner preparations, then turned to the approaching group. The Chief! Surely, he could get this straightened out. "Chief! I--"

Before he could get a sentence out, one of the guards stopped with a sharp salute and addressed the Chief loudly, drowning out Faroth. "Sir! The traitor has returned!"

Faroth swallowed hard, ears flattening further against his skull. That wasn't a good start.




((Anyone is free to join this RP as a witness to the events. I do ask that the main events not be interrupted, however, or at least if you plan to have your Pae do something to disrupt, at least ask me first. Thanks!))

Mo's face was stern. To hear that such a traitor was so close to home... Faroth! Ranuin's father! He knew Ranuin was Moony's friend and... well, he supposed he was her love interest? They never really seemed to talk much about their whole situation, but still... this brought about so many new questions. So many new precautions. Should he separate Ranuin and Moony until this mess was settled? Or just watch the boy a little closer now?

For now, Mo followed Rais a few steps behind, eyes becoming more narrow as they fell upon Faroth. How could he? He knew about the rules in place. How could he possibly believe even talking with a Blood Pae was even ok?! And him not telling anyone of any sort of previous connections - well, had he mentioned any, certain matters would have been addressed in private. He was at least certain of that much.

When he stopped behind Rais, he turned, checking on Twinkletoes.










Twinkletoes was pinning her ears to her head. So many noises in such a confined space. At least she could muffle them like this... it just made her look extremely awkward...

Not to mention, she definitely looked out of place in the moment. She never came into the tree anymore. Most had grown accustomed to her dancing about the branches outside. She nodded reassuringly to her father, then peered around his figure, looking over at Faroth briefly before casting her eyes away.

She flinched only slightly when one of the guards shouted. Partly because of his volume. Ears pinned down or not, things were still pretty loud when in such close proximity... But also partly because the phrase seemed to sting. To know that she was the one to rat him out and him be humiliated and captured in front of everyone.

After getting her nod that she was ok, he turned back towards Faroth. Eyes darkening and swimming with various different things that needed answers. However, his lips merely pursed together, letting Rais take this one and listening to how he might handle this.

If there was one faun that did not seem to have any sense of negativity or apprehension in present time, it would be little Faelon. Always out and about trying to talk with somefaun new or bring a smile to their face, it wouldn't be surprising if most of the tree recognized the boy by now. Some of his favorite places where his Auntie Luna's, where he could get sweets, or his Auntie Cadence's, where he could get sweets, or his brother or sister's alcoves, or the fountain, or up at the top, or just outside the gate, or anywhere really. There were so many places to explore in the tree and so many newfaun to meet: he had to do it all!

Today was an adventuring-sort-of-day. Papa was out on a jog or something, and mommy was talking with the aunties, so, naturally, that meant he and Haldir could do anything they wanted (on the condition that Ranuin was there with them). He didn't mind though. Actually, he loved playing with his older brother and feeling his furry tail and paws. Sometimes he wished he'd had a furry tail and paws like him too.

Laughing and running through the halls, he turned to look back at the others as he kept moving, "Hey Ranuin! Where do you think we should go next?! Maybe we cou--" his words caught as he stumbled, a common result of running backwards, and he fell over with a laugh.

A laugh which quieted at the sound of the cheiftain's voice someways away. He didn't sound to ha... Wait... Had he just said Faroth? Papa? Ear twitching, he looked back to the curving hall, the smiling fading, before returning to Ranuin. His head tilted.

Had he misheard?

Despite what some might think, Ranuin didn't really mind getting stuck with 'babysitting' duty. Sure, it meant staying around and keeping an eye on his little brothers, but, on the plus side...it meant hanging around with his little brothers. Who could be a little rambunctious and full of energy, but hey, so could he! He may have teased them about being 'stuck together' from time to time, but he always did it with a smile.

Reaching the end of the day, he figured the sun would be setting and it would be time for the evening meal soon. Even if the boys showed little signs of getting tired yet, he knew just how quickly it could hit them late in the day. Especially if they got a belly full of food, could drop right off snoring into their plate--

His hearing far sharper than his little brothers', Ranuin caught the raised voices long before they noticed. Shouts...angry...pleading...tension on the air making his fur bristle... Tall enough to catch sight of the procession, his eyes widened and he barely caught himself from rushing forward and shouting for their father.

...why was he being escorted by armored guards?

Why were his hands restrained behind his back?

Stomach churning, he stared over the heads of other watching Faun, desperately trying to figure out what was going on. He'd forgotten about his brothers until Faelon's voice broke through his thoughts. He looked down, confusion clear on his face as well. He had no answers for the boy.

Haldir had lagged behind the other two, not far enough though to be missed, but just enough to not be swatted by accident by his big brother's swishing tail. He had been wrapped up in the thoughts of what might be for dinner, leaving his brother to be the louder, more outgoing one drawing all the attention up ahead. He'd started to notice something odd though. Faun were staring at something...some whispering to each other. What was going on? Why did it feel all...weird now? Like...one was holding their breath, waiting on something...

His brothers had noticed it too. Faelon looked confused, but so did Ranuin. He stepped closer to his big brother, reaching out grasp hold of his fluffy tail for reassurance. "Ranu...?" He looked up questioningly, trusting that their big brother could answer their thoughts.

Belvah had only barely made it in before the curfew she'd known nothing of. Of course, she'd been given a hard time about cutting it close and how there wouldn't be a second time. She'd had to play along, hoping that the guardian watching the entrance didn't realize who she'd been, and even more so, whom she was carrying with her. Valere'd been fussy, the guard was almost anxious to get her out of his way to get the crying little one away from him. As it turns out, it was a blessing in disguise. Thank Earth for it.

Maybe her luck had been because of the commotion going on. Sharp emerald eyes darted around, looking for the cause of this mayhem. And there was a halfway familiar looking face. And Rais, looking rather angry. What on Earth had the poor dappled grey faun done to deserve Rais' wrath? In an attempt for a better look at the situation, she made her way next to a dark colored mare with a glorious mask upon her face. Minimal detail in the grand scheme of things, but the mask stood out. "What's going on here?" She wondered aloud, utterly confused by the situation.

Valere squirmed, not wanting to be held so close to his mother's arms. He was hot and this was not a fun place to be. He wanted to be out and free and having fun! He'd gotten to have a lot of fun before they'd come here! Play time was his favorite! His squealing had long since turned to whimpers, but that didn't mean he was any more content to be held so close than he'd been when he was crying at that mean thing before all the noise!

Olea had heard the whispers in the halls about some dispute happening relating to a potential traitor to the tree. She had been leaving her room to head to the evening meal. A pit formed in her stomach as she thought about what had happened to their home, the fear still a semi-fresh memory. Was it possible that there was truly a traitor here? How had they managed to conceal themselves so easily?

She found herself at the outskirts of the forming crowd, her heart hammering as she stood on the tips of her hooves to look over the shoulders of others. She could see Rais, but then again it was hard to miss the Chieftain: he practically commanded attention just in presence alone, and as it was he radiated anger. She couldn't recognize the other faun, the one with his hands behind his back and clearly the subject of this uproar.

Looking around, she searched for someone who may be able to shed some light on what was happening, why someone from the Tree was being accused of such a horrendous deed.

Midnight Strike caught the words of another, wondering what was going on. Taking her attention off of the scene she saw well...Wasn't that the Chieftain's wife? Or ex-wife or...The more she thought about it the less she knew. It was like the only time the Circle spoke to anyone was when bad things were going on. Though there only had been bad things going on, she guessed she couldn't blame them that much.

Taking a side step over to Belvah Midnight spoke in a hushed tone, "They are saying the dappled one is a traitor, spoke to some...'Blood pae' whatever they are...We are banned from even talking to them since they were the ones who not only attacked the tree but celebrated as well..." She was trying to remember as much of the note as possible. "There was a notice not to long ago..." She shook her head thinking about what was written on it. "It's tough times ahead, that's for sure.

The two twins attention wavered from the boring adults and to the fussing baby in arms of lady their mother was talking too. The twins looking to each other, Rosso making a face to his sister. She could read him loud and clear. Babies were weird. Picolit made her own face back, though it seemed to say more of 'I think he's adorable!'. The twins would continue their silent speaking before looking back to the adults. Adults were so boring. That was something they both could silently agree on.

Belvah frowned, she'd seen the posting. Was Rais that far gone he'd be willing to go this far? But then, she didn't know the story here. "Blood pae... How could they have blown up our home like that?" The frown marred her face, not really leaving. She'd not had a bad experience with blood pae. The ones she'd met had actually saved her.

"I have to wonder..." She started, promptly stopping herself. She may not have been married to the chieftain anymore, but that didn't mean her words wouldn't have impact. She'd holed herself up so quickly after everything many faun likely had no idea what was going on. Couple that with disappearing during the aftermath of the explosion... Belvah knew she had to keep her mouth shut.

"Shhhh, Valere. You can't run around right now." She cooed to the fussy baby in her arms. It got close to the result she'd been going for. "What on earth could Faroth have done to deserve this amount of attention?" And the faun's name had come back to her. He'd been with her when she was saved by those strange teenagers. How on Earth could she have forgotten Faroth? That bitter thought settled itself in the back of her mind, promptly making her feel like she'd done a terrible thing before the great splitting with Rais.

He whined one more time, having been shushed by his mother. With a huff he settled into whatever position he was supposed to be in. But there were other kids around and he wanted to play. He squirmed again, not liking being so close to his mother. Maybe she'd let him look at the other kids while she was talking to the big thing! He kept squirming, hoping she'd turn him around until, finally, his goal was achieved.

Brilliant green eyes blinked at two very different looking kids across from him.