Tybalt had expected them to take shelter with one another. It is perhaps his maleness that made him fail to realize that she might just blame him for her sister’s death. The thought had occurred to him, attempting to press in against the walls he put up against it, pride fighting back the idea that he had brought them all to this tragedy. He wouldn’t be able to stand against it being hurled in his face though…and it was. He rose when she rose, but when her golden eyes met his lavender ones a fury entered them that he had not been prepared for. ..
Bramble had been of the sweetest nature, the sort of creature who was nurturing and affectionate without trying. Even though he hadn’t been given much of a choice, her imprint had always been certain that he would have been unable to help loving Bramble even if he hadn’t bonded to her. He had been convinced from time to time that she’d wanted to be a mother more than she wanted him. From the moment they had met he’d wanted to give her everything she desired. Of course, if he could go back Tybalt would never have touched her that way. Never given her the chance at what she’d wanted… He would deny her that one thing, so that he would be able to give her anything and everything else.
Foxtail’s ferocity struck him as so unlike her sister, that for a moment she was the only thing his mind could process. She was almost like her, and yet as different as the sun was from the moon. Tybalt stood his ground; he did not snarl or prepare to defend himself. Let her attack him, let her give him the death that the universe should have delivered him when it had taken Bramble. His fault. His fault. A black blur, Foxtail collided with his larger ivory bulk and the both of them fell to the earth together. Her dark head buried itself into his shoulder. “It’s alright, Foxtail…” He rumbled with a shudder of pent emotion. Pressing his black nose into the thick, half-raised hair at her shoulders and breathing deep of her own familiar scent—only to find that it was only as alike to Bramble’s as his own was. Something of her sister lingering, but fading rapidly away. She curled against him and he formed his body to her own as the rain fell ever more rapidly. “I would go back and change it if I could. I can’t imagine my life without the two of you, but…” He trailed off, finishing the thought in the confines of his own mind.
The water soaked into his pelt, turning it a dark orange and matting it against his back. He sheltered her face from the storm with his thick neck and closed his own eyes against the sight of the wet world and grey sky. A whimper vibrated through his skin, and he rumbled a gentle reassurance in response. He was emptied out, and he kept searching for that ‘Bramble-feeling’ in his chest… He would never find it. Without any idea of what to do next, all Tybalt was certain of was that the only home he had left was curled close to him. So he said the only thing he could think of. “Let’s stay together.” Then, a twinge of something made him add, “Bramble would want us to stay a family.”
