thewarningafter | IC inbox for Snowblind

That's reassuring.

... I mean, it would have been if you hadn't followed that up with that completely unreassuring sigh.

[He blows out his cheeks, rubbing the back of his head.] How did that even happen? I mean, one minute me and Peter are talking giant pencil souvenirs and suddenly he tells me he's calling himself Sunpaw and now this? Can you give me a rundown here because I feel like I accidentally picked up the second book in a trilogy and there's no recap.

It's been...hard. For all of us, but for Peter....

[There's the kind of pause you get when someone stops to rub his face and figure out where he does even begin to explain.]

Rocket still hasn't come back. Bluestar suggested a, uh, a naming ceremony for Peter. An apprenticeship kind of deal. And after everything that happened, a little group cohesion seemed like a good idea at the time. So Gamora and I sort of, uh, played chorus. Sunpaw, Sunpaw, that kind of thing.

And then she actually took him on as an apprentice, and then suddenly she was announcing the formation of a city-state and Peter's...not seeing the problem.

[Flynn listens quietly and attentively. There's an earnest expression on his face which makes him look a little older than he usually comes across and which betrays just how concerned he is about all this.]

I think he's feeling very lost. He feels like he's made too many mistakes and I'm pretty sure he blames himself for Rocket, too. So now he lets Bluestar make the decisions.

I don't know her very well but all feline city-states aside I don't think it's good for him.

[The most ragged of sighs comes out of Stephen.]

I just wanted to boost morale. He needs direction; he needs something and I don't know how to give it to him. This wasn't supposed to be such a big thing.

I didn't mean to-- Hey, this isn't your fault.

I just, we still talk and I can keep trying from over here but you're actually with him, maybe you can try to... I don't know. Boost his self-confidence somehow? I know he thinks the world of you.

That's what I've been trying to do. He's...he helped me out, a while back. He was kind of better at this than me.

[That brings a smile to his face.] He's good at that, yeah. I wonder if he knows.

... I tried to do that, too. I'm not... I know how you feel. I'm not really good at it, I find. Will you keep me updated?

Yeah. Yeah, of course. And if you have any ideas....

[Stephen's voice goes quieter still.]

I'm playing along for now. I don't know how deep this goes for Peter, but Bluestar was...upset after all the backlash.

Thanks. And sure, I will.

[Upset. Flynn doesn't like the sound of that. Especially not with Stephen being so quiet and that little meaningful pause.]

How so?

She kind of lost it on me. Went into a tirade about how all humans are selfish anarchists and she's the only one championing law and order. I mean, I say anarchists, but the actual words she used were kitty-pet. Like a house cat. I don't know how much is being lost across cultural lines and how much of this is just...crazy.

... Peter used some weird words, too, when we last spoke. Called himself a kit. He immediately corrected himself, but... [But that was weird.

There's a pause on his end, too.]

Do you think she's dangerous? Not... as a cat, but. You know. [As an influence on Peter.]

Of course he did.

[Siigh.]

I think she's got a lot of influence over him right now.

What do you think we should do?

I don't want Peter to shut down on me, it's all very us versus them already. But I don't want to just... stand by.

I'm working on it. I'm going to stick with them, try to be the voice of reason. I'm trying not to turn this into something where it's me or her.

Sounds like a plan. Let me know how it goes, okay?

Yeah. You know, if you wanted to come, uh, join Snowclan...I hear we've got the best territory in town.

So they say!

But I don't think Blue would have me at this point. I've been a little... vocal about the endeavor, I don't think she'd believe me. Maybe I can drop by as a guest, she said she'd be alright with visitors.