[SRP] For Liberty (Destati x Epimetheus)

[Epine de Rose]

 

[Epine de Rose]

The black lion would be loathe to admit that he knew what had occured; he had been far more invested in his conversations with those who lurked in the shadows than the additional politics that had reared its ugly head as a result of several of the decisions his family had now decided to make. Suffice it to say that the disappearance of their mother, and the loss of the cubs had come as a blow to everyone... Except he had known that it was going to happen. Well, he didn't know exactly what was about to happen, but he was aware that there had been several events that had been set in to motion.

It was at the behest of this so-called "Prime".

...It was said that it would benefit everyone.

Unsurprisingly his father disagreed and had transformed in to an absolute beast. The scuffles that had occured on that fateful night had left them all reeling and at a complete loss. The Collective had been unprepared, his father had been unprepared, and quite frankly that made everything worse. The young cubs had simply vanished and in what could only be described as a banshee wail, their mother had too. Where the mother and her newborn cubs had once lain, there was quite literally... nothing.

A little blood would have provided them with at least some clarity on what had occured, but instead there was little else other than a haunting memory of a shriek in the night. The moment in which they had all stormed in had proved utterly ill timed, and at this stage, no one was quite sure who to blame. He'd never seen his father quite so distraught, particularly given that this was the first time he'd had his family in what should have been a safe space. There was a certain amount of irony to the fact that the wild, bandit lands beyond the walls, had proven a safer place to raise his children than his own home.

To his credit however, Destati had found some measure of control and he had slowly but surely sought to deploy his allies in the best manner he could. Each Collective member had been separated, the group splintered and sent off in a multitude of directions. Their mission was simple, they were to find out what had happened and where his family were, the unfortunate fact of the matter was that the only one likely to find out would be Adar... And The Prime had already prepared for this.

Beyond that, the only other who might have knowledge of it was the very son who now gazed at his ruminating father. Ah yes, The Prime's generals had been quite forthcoming with a fair amount of information, particularly when it had become apparent that Epimetheus had been more invested than they had previously anticipated.

You see, it was an inconvenient truth for the family - they were full of ideals that while they had acknowledged (in part), that their darker son experienced difficulties; they had never truly looked at it. He had lacked the disposition of Adar, and nor did he have the patience that Gideon exhibiting. For all intents and purposes the darkest of the sons had bought in to the idea that in order to gain a measure of respect in this world he didn't have to conform to its standards - it needed to conform towards what was right.

"You must take me for a fool," His father spoke at last and cast his gaze forlornly towards his son. Epimetheus had been watching him for a considerable amount of time, but the Justicar was far too used to sighting those who hid within the shadows to leave his own son unnoticed.

"Grieving perhaps, but no fool," Epimetheus replied diplomatically.

"Is that so?" Destati's tone was unusual as he turned to regard his son. His brow had lifted, but the rest of his expression was empty, perhaps even guarded, as he took the time to truly access his son.

"Yes...?" Epimetheus replied uncertainly.

"Then why, dare I ask, are you under the impression that I was unaware of your dealings with the Scourge?" Destati enquired in a low tone, one reserved so that others within the Justicar's compound couldn't overhear. It was enough to jolt his son, and the black lions eyes widened in a manner that shattered any poker face he might have been attempting to portray.

"You are fortunate that I am also well versed in how they function," his father continued. "Enough to acknowledge that on this occasion beyond the sparse details, you have nothing useful to offer," he paused briefly and shook his head. "Though one does find it particularly difficult to process the facts that have been laid out before him."

"I didn't do anything," Epimetheus replied cautiously.

"Inaction is a form of action, depending on the circumstances," Destati pursed his lips into a thin line. "You knew." It was a statement, not a question.

He was met with silence.

Destati hadn't expected anything more than this, he wasn't blind to the struggles of his son and he had taken his mate's advice on board when attempting to protect him... But in some respects, Epimetheus was far too much like his mother for his own good. He had always preferred action to inaction and when results hadn't been forthcoming, he had taken matters into his own paws... to the very detriment of those who loved him.

"You have picked your side."

"What?" Epimetheus now seemed alarmed.

"I will not say that I fail to understand why; I know why," In these moments his father sounded particularly tired, not entirely defeated, but certainly in need of a moment to recover. "What I cannot understand is the point in which you became so incredibly selfish," he shook his head. "You are entitled to your anger; but you are not entitled to cause harm to your own blood."

"I didn't do this for me," Epimetheus spat, there was truly no point in hiding this. Credit where it was due, Destati did have a network to rival the Scourge, eyes and ears everywhere it seemed.

"Of course you didn't," Destati drawled and drew close, a hairs breadth from his son, he opted to make his position clear. "This was always about justice, equality and liberty for all, was it not?"

Epimetheus set his mouth into a thin line as the Scourge General's words were thrown back at him.

"I suggest you run," his father advised cooly. "And I suggest that you keep running until you are far out of reach," he shook his head, the disappointment flooding into his face. "And when you have reached that sanctuary you so desperately crave, I suggest that you pray to whichever deity you believe in with a sincere desire for your Mother and your siblings to be safe," he hissed.

"What would be the point, you would just chase anyway," Epimetheus retorted.

"Because unlike you; even in the height of fury I have the capacity to show some compassion," The Justicar thundered. "You are right, you did not strike the blow, you simply witheld the information; and it would do your mother a disservice to deny that you are my son. The only thing I can possibly do to provide some semblance of Justice is to exile you," he lowered his voice once more to a deep rumbled. "But do not think for a second that I will hesitate to gut you if you cross my path again."

There was a paws as he lifted his paw and thrust it against his son's chest, forcing the lion backwards.

"Find you 'freedom'," he ordered darkly. "Your liberty, your equality," he drawled. "Wherever you feel that might be," he finished and continued to stare at his son.

A stand off occurred as the darker lion seemed to process what had been said. It was quite a bit to take in after all, to have one cast out from their home. Any other lion might have panicked but on this occasion it seemed that Epimetheus was all right, at least for now. They had been desperate in their attempts to gather him to their side, now there was nothing to prevent this. Whether they were prepared to provide him with Sanctuary remained to be seen, but at this point, he had no other option.

At this point in his life, he had already picked a specific road to walk down, he'd come to the cross roads and he had chosen a side. He wasn't wrong in this either, at least he didn't believe that he was; sometimes sacrifices had to be made to ensure progress and the personal sacrifices were often the most valuable...

However eventually, the Justicar's son did take several steps back, and with one final glance towards his father, he took his leave. With the compound largely unaware of what had transgressed, he would be left alone. Once he left though, there would be no promises.

Words: 1507