This was the second time this has happened. The first time Caesar had attacked them while they were allies, and Jacob reported that he had been promptly punished. But this time - oh, this time, they were enemies. Technically neutrals, but the fact that Caesar had attacked her probably wasn't a good thing. After all, Pincher had warned her that he would unleash hell on Snowbound if she didn't return all the supplies they've lost. Although Atbash had no idea that Caesar had been sent after her and she thought it had been completely his idea, but she supposed the former option wasn't too far off, especially considering Pincher's warning.

Atbash's entire body exploded with pain as she awoke from consciousness, and she grit her teeth as she tried to move in a more comfortable position. Memories suddenly flooded back at what happened to her, and the first memory that appeared was the flames Caesar put on himself. Oh, the flames. They reminded her of what he did to their Home Dimension, and the Hailcaller let out a wail of fear, covering her head with her paws. The movement hurt, but god did the memories hurt worse. The smell of smoke, how it suffocated her, and how her parents had been left to be burned alive. Atbash was shaking in her nest, her claws hovering dangerously above her ears, as if she was going to claw at them. She wasn't going to and was almost unaware of the fact her claws were unsheathed.

That should have been me! She cried to herself mentally. She should have been the one to rot, not her parents. They did nothing to Caesar, but she betrayed him. That's why he was targeting her so much, because she betrayed him - or so that's what he said. It was true that she had always been around for him and offered support, but how could she support him when he was clearly going mad? But that was betrayal to him, her not helping him destroy their home. And honestly, she... was starting to believe it. Maybe if I helped him, I wouldn't be here right now. She wouldn't be in pain, she wouldn't have almost died, she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of leading. She would be safe.

The sound of somebody coming made Atbash jump, lowering her paws from where they covered her face. Her body was unbelievably tense, and it took her a couple moments to register that it was Kirishima who was the first to approach. Of course, it didn't take long for others to join him, and Atbash's black gaze studied each person for a moment, as if trying to figure out if they were real. The she-cat opened her mouth to speak, however pain - actual, physical pain - flooded through her body and she winced, her body shaking once more as she tried to get rid of the burning feeling that went across her. Frowning, Atbash nodded at Kirishima's question, watching as Dimitri came over and laid flowers by her nest. She tried to reach forward to touch his forehead with her nose in a gesture of thanks, but once again her body was racked with pain as she moved.

It was strange, suddenly feeling pain when normally she wouldn't. Is this Corruption? Atbash thought to herself. No, no Corruption was described to be much worse. Corruption was described to be a constant, burning pain, like your entire body was on fire. Atbash knew she wasn't bleeding from the normal spots where Corruption was obvious, so she was just feeling actual pain. It was weird, and frankly, it scared her. Atbash lowered her head to lay it down on her paws and she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry." The telepathic signal she tried to throw out to everybody was almost automatic, as if she had always had this power. And technically? She had, she just wasn't able to use it before now. And although she would normally be excited to get her powers back, right now she was too distraught over what happened to care. She was just glad the was kind of a way to talk without actually physically talking.

"You're going to be okay." Was she really though? Atbash shook her head in response to Cry's words, trying to fight off tears of pain and sorrow. Sorrow for being in this state, sorrow for not having a good relationship with her brother. Atbash wanted to be close to Caesar again, but his explosive personality prevented her from trusting him ever again. She wanted to be able to tell her tribe that everything was fine, that all this was just some big misunderstanding, but it wasn't. Caesar was throwing a fit, over what? Her not being by his side when he needed her most. I'm sorry. She wanted to say to him, but it was likely he wouldn't even accept that by now.

Atbash barely felt Cry's wing brush down her back, but her body trembled at the touch. Just a cold chill was what it was, since luckily the Polarheart didn't touch any wounds, but Atbash just did not want to be touched. She liked that Cry - and the others - were trying to be comforting, but this was too much. Atbash wanted to speak, oh how she wanted to speak, but she just couldn't.