(takes place right after Hywel gets his heart broken </3) ashestoashes 

Hywel was so angry, but the anger was starting to feel like a permanent fixture in his bones. It was frustrating more than anything now, how that last conversation played in his head, again and again and again. He couldn't even understand why he was so angry. Was it because he had wasted his time chasing after something for so long? Was it because of how callous Doefreckle's last words were? Or was it because anger was easier to feel than anything else? Than the hollow emptiness eating at his innards, the sadness and confusion reminding him of how he wasn't good enough, how he was never good enough. 

This was punishment, right? From the gods he had ignored for so long? There was nothing better than pretending that he was okay in front of Elizabeth, pretending that they never fought in front of Rhiannon, pretending that she wasn't looking outright smug or that she actually cared about his feelings right now when she was still angry, pretending that his heart hadn't been completely crushed by the elusive tom who had all but disappeared...

He found himself in the forests far away from the league, and yet far enough so that he'd certainly not run into that familiar tortoiseshell tom, looking upon a pond that seemed so familiar to the sight he grew up in long ago. He didn't know why he had wondered here, when all he really wanted was a distraction, another body in his path around the city. A sigh left his mouth as he stared at the water, unable to even shed a tear about the situation he was in, not even noticing the rustling in the undergrowth.