Chapter 57: Kiri’s Tears
Tera was losing the clan members.
Yara stepped forward, her expression conflicted. The deer female looked between Tera and Kiri, visibly torn.
"Tera," Yara said carefully, "I am not sure Kiri would have really done this. Why would you think she destroyed the shelters?"
"I—" Tera’s voice faltered. She looked at the wreckage. She looked at Kiri’s tearful face. She looked at the clan members who were watching her with eyes that said ’how dare you.’
This was ridiculous, but Tera did not want to keep quiet. She had kept quiet after what had happened with the farm, and look at how it had escalated!
Ermin cut in, "I do not know who did this."
Every head turned to the panther.
He looked just as frustrated as everyone else, and Tera felt her heart drop, thinking Ermin was about to defend Kiri and that his favourability for Tera would drop.
But his next words were unexpected. "But I understand why Tera suspects Kiri."
Kiri’s crying stuttered. Her wet eyes snapped to Ermin, and something flickered behind the tears that was gone before anyone else could catch it.
"Since I arrived at this clan," Ermin continued, his gaze steady on the fox female, "You have approached me multiple times. Every conversation you started eventually turned to Tera. I understand her behaviour being suspicious at the start, but your interest in her has been so much."
Kiri pulled away from the female consoling her and faced Ermin directly. The tears were still streaming, but her voice had an edge now, sharp enough to cut through the grief she was performing.
"Of course, I asked about her! Everyone asked about her! She was exiled for drugging you and forcing an imprint. Was I not supposed to be curious when someone like this had been brought into our clan? Was I not supposed to be concerned for everyone’s safety?!"
She turned to the group, her wet eyes sweeping across them with practised desperation.
"And now he is defending her?" Kiri’s voice rose, cracking with apparent disbelief. "After what she did to him? Does this make any sense?" She jabbed a finger toward Ermin, her whole arm trembling. "After all that she has done to you, how could you stand by her side and defend her?!"
Kiri’s voice broke again, and she pressed her hand to her mouth, shaking her head as tears flowed freely.
Tera hissed, unable to take the theatrics anymore. "Stop this madness—"
"This is so unfair," she sobbed. "I have done nothing. I admit I was cold to her, and I am sorry for that, I truly am. But to accuse me of destruction? Of harming the clan? When I have been loyal to this group since I arrived."
She looked up, and her eyes were red and swollen.
"I loved those shelters," she whispered. "Sleeping inside them was the first time I felt safe since the Collapse destroyed my tribe. Why would I destroy the one thing that made me feel safe?"
The female who had been consoling her pulled her back in, stroking her hair. Two others moved closer, forming a small protective circle around the crying fox.
One of the males, a badger who had been quiet until now, shook his head slowly. "This does not feel right. Kiri has been part of this clan longer than the shiftless one. We cannot just accuse our own because of suspicion."
’Excuse me?!’
Bessier looked between Tera and Kiri with wide, confused eyes. "Maybe it was an animal? A—"
"An animal does not use a stick to avoid leaving claw marks," Tera snapped.
Kiri slightly flinched at those words and Tera’s eyes sharpened as she caught that slight movement.
’This bitch!’
[This system recommends calming down before taking any drastic actions!]
[This is a very dangerous female]
"But... I don’t think Tera has ill intentions."
"She helped find this place for us and build, after all."
"But maybe she was mistaken?"
[Influence +1]
Tera was shocked at the sudden turnaround.
[Some of the clan members are uncomfortable with Host accusing Kiri]
[They feel Host is too passionate due to the efforts of her work being destroyed]
[But they feel Tera might be doing too much]
’Oh, come on!’
Kiri sniffed. "I felt you had changed, but maybe I was wrong."
[Influence -1]
[(꒪⌓꒪)]
Tera’s heart plummeted. This demoness was on a journey to destroy her reputation.
Xavi had been silent through all of this, watching everyone and trying to track their behaviour. His golden eyes moved between Tera, Kiri, and the clan with the heavy deliberation of a leader weighing a decision that had no clean outcome.
Tera could be just wrongly convinced that Kiri had done this, but she seemed to strongly believe Kiri was responsible.
Looking at the fox female crying in the arms of the other beasts, his brow furrowed. Something about Kiri’s reaction was nagging at him, though he couldn’t place what. He had known Kiri for months. She had never been warm toward newcomers, but she had also never caused trouble openly.
As for this strange outburst... he needed to trust his instincts.
And it hurt him to see Tera this hurt.
She looked defeated.
He wanted to hug her and tell her he believed her, but as the clan leader, he also needed to calm the beasts down before this escalated any further.
Stopping any escalation would also help Tera.
He couldn’t side with his future mate without proof publicly.
"Stop this," he commanded, silencing everyone. "The—"
Tera turned around and started walking away, startling Xavi and Ermin.
He turned towards her. "Tera—"
"I need to be alone," she stopped, her back to them as she whispered, "Please."
Her voice was flat, emptied of everything, and it made Xavi’s chest tighten.
Tera walked into the forest, and the weight of what had just happened settled over the clan like a damp fog. Some shifted uncomfortably, and a number of them watched Kiri, their suspicions slowly returning.
Just like Kiri’s performance, Tera’s dejected demeanour left a faint impression on a number of the clan.
Kiri wiped her eyes, sniffled once, and excused herself from the females consoling her. She started walking away too, her head bowed, and her tail tucked low, the picture of a wrongly accused female seeking solitude to nurse her wounds.
"Where are you going?"