The rain is almost blinding in its intensity, the lightning from the storm lighting up a wall of falling water, limiting visibility greatly. Through the weather though, there's a single hare meandering towards the mountain, arms wrapped around himself and shivering, soaked thoroughly already. Darklett trudges his way toward Salamandastron slowly, hesitantly... Sometimes pausing, like he's trying to talk himself out of it. But eventually, he comes to the niche entrance, and halts there, still standing in the rain.

Standing under an outcropping in the rock, Zoe is watching the area leading up to the niche. A cloak is wrapped securely around her, her arms crossed over her chest to protect against the strange chill which the rain has brought. What the Colonel is doing out on such a night is unknown, but she observes the area with a keen eye, eyes slitted to see better through the sheet of rain.

Darklett looks up the mountain, standing right at the entrance... He takes a step backwards, as if he's about to forget about setting foot inside... But the step back is the only one, and he just stares up the mountain, flinching his eyes shut as raindrops hit his face. The step back is countered with a step forward, but he halts again, arms wrapped about himself more tightly, shivering, still debating on whether he should step inside or not.

Zoe_Lang observes his inner-struggle, and indeed tries to give him ample opportunity to enter. But when he's still trying to decide and the rain starts to get worse, the Colonel throws up the hood of her cloak, wraps her cloak a bit tighter about her shoulders, and steps out into the lancing rain. Really, stepping out entails taking a handful of steps from Darklett's right until she's standing beside him. She doesn't look at him, but rather stares at the niche along with him. "... Time t' go in, lad."

Having been so preoccupied with his turmoil, Darklett hadn't noticed the approaching Colonel until she spoke... When she does, he gasps and turns quickly to face Zoe... His breath is held, but... After a shocked silence, he nods and turns to slowly head in for the shelter of the mountain.

The Colonel's expression is neutral as he looks at her, and rather than speak again she merely follows after him, ducking her head as they enter the niche. Once out of the rain, she tosses back her hood and throws off the cloak, draping it over one arm. She does bother to send a look at Darklett, but she still doesn't say anything.

As Darklett continues into the mountain, he barely even looks back at the Colonel. The shivering isn't helping him at all, and the major drips as he walks, his uniform and fur completely drenched from being out in the rain... Presumably for a long, long time.

Long enough to have the Colonel out and waiting for him, it would seem. Because that's definitely what she was doing. She continues down the passageway, all the while considering Darklett out of the corner of her eye. She doesn't look... angry, but she /does/ look unusually introspective. There's silence for a good bit, and then there's... "So. I s'pose we have some things t' talk about."

"...Can I at least get dry first? I... haven't been completely honest with the Patrol." Darklett takes a shallow breath, then sighs. "I'll... I'll meet you in your office, just give me a few seconds, and I'll be completely cooperative." He raises his eyes, and braves through making eye contact with the Colonel, face looking grim, but at least steady.

Zoe_Lang considers him for a long moment, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. In the end, she nods and shrugs, looking conflicted. "... If it wasn't you, but. It is. So aye. In the office. I'll be waitin'." She gives Darklett another nod, and continues on down the passageway without another word until the point when they go their own separate ways.

Just a couple minutes after Zoe arrives at the Leaders' Office, Darklett shows up, out of his uniform and wearing dry clothes and at least looking warmer than he did when he first arrived. He stops just inside, and closes the door... He has an odd look about him, but the real feeling is nearly undetectable. Raising his paw to salute to the Colonel, he sits down across from her, a footpaw twitching against the ground as he waits for her to question.

Zoe_Lang is seated comfortably - or at least with the appearance of comfort - when Darklett appears. She sits up a bit straighter when he sits down, her paws clasped and fingers drumming nervously against the opposite knuckle. She doesn't say anything, not immediately, but instead looks down at the desk. Then, "... So what c'n you tell me, lad?"

"...Colonel. It's... like I said before. I haven't been completely honest with you... Since day one, actually." Darklett breaks eye contact, but only for a second, looking straight into Zoe. "Now that things have been brought out of hiding, though... I think I need to face them. I..." A pause. Does he really want to do this? "I originally came to the mountain to turn myself in for the murders of several beasts in several places, most recently of two families and one barkeeper in Halyard. It was only a day, maybe less, after I murdered them when I joined the Long Patrol."

It's clear from the Colonel's expression that she /hadn't/ believed it until now, and of what she knew, she didn't know nearly all of it. It is this moment of realization - and then horror - which currently flashes into existence. Her brow knits and a deep furrow forms between her eyes. Buuut... then a strange thing happens. First her expression screws up a fraction tighter, then... all of a sudden it clears. She sits back and shakes her head, folding her paws over her stomach. "Neh - I won't believe it. You wouldn't do that, Dark."

Darklett bites his lip at the response... Or lack thereof, that he gets from the Colonel. Still, though, he tries to keep his head up. He came here to own up to what he did, not to try and avoid it. However, what she says knocks him for a loop, and... he doesn't know exactly what to say in response. "...I..." He swallows down, almost painfully, and sighs. "I would... I did. I... I did, Colonel." Abandoning hope for further words to grace him, he just goes quiet and watches the Colonel.

Ahh, faith. The Colonel merely shakes her head again. "You were... hold old could you've been, eh? Just past recruit age, eh? Mayhaps you got mixed up in somethin', sure, or mayhaps you blame yerself for somethin' that wasn't really yer fault, but..." She shakes her head, making a tch sound with her tongue, "Nope, I don't believe it. But a'right, then, lad. Why doncha tell me what ya think ya did?" She makes an indulgent come on, then gesture.

Darklett bites his lip again, only harder... He's getting frustrated, and tastes a little bit of blood in his mouth. "I was... I was young. Yeah, I was really young. But I did what I had to do to keep the things I had. It was my life... I know, this might be hard to believe. From about... five, six seasons until I joined the Long Patrol, I..." He still has trouble admitting it, as much as he really wants to. "I was a murderer and a pillager. The vermin who grabbed me while I was a leveret trained me, and... That's who I became."

Whether Darklett's looking at her or not, the Colonel has dropped her eyes. She's staring at some point on the desk, no doubt a crack or blemish on its surface. Her eyes are slitted. "... Were you actin' of yer own free will, Dark? Is that what yer tellin' me, here?" She steeples her fingers together in her lap, drumming them together quietly.

Darklett is quieted by the question. It actually is given some thought... Depending on his answer, he could get off easy. "...I... Not at first... At first I acted out of fear. Once I saw how easy my life could be if I just..." He bites his lip again, face creasing in difficulty. "...They gave me food, shelter, protection... And soon, I enjoyed it. I became better at it, and became one of them... Yes. I acted of my own free..." Pause. He looks at the Colonel carefully. "...Free will."

At Darklett's words, the Colonel's already narrowed eyes close and she shakes her head, a slow but inevitable shake. She grunts. "Then do ya freely accept responsibility fer yer actions, along with any consequences t' come along with it?"

Darklett takes a difficult breath, his lips folding in on themselves as nerves start to get to him. "...Yes. I accept, Colonel," he manages to return, chest tightening up, paws clenching at the arms of the chair, footpaws pressing into the floor. His jaw quivers, and his breath is fast, though its volume is controlled.

"... Turn ovah yer weapons. You'll be escorted to yer dormitory, where you'll be direct t' turn ovah yer uniform." There's no life to her words at all, and she does not open her eyes. "... Only because of who ya are and what ya've done for the Patrol, you'll be welcome to remain in the mountain, undah discrete - and they will be discrete, I promise ya - guard. Until I c'n contact whatevah leadahship Halyard has, n they determine what they want t' do with ya, if anythin'."

Darklett clenches his teeth, looking down to the floor as he hears her judgement. He can barely keep his stomach from knotting up, fists clenching against tears that threaten to surface. "...Yes, Colonel!" the hare returns, before standing up, shaky paws going towards his belt and unbuckling it, removing it from his waist and laying it across the desk, knives and all. "It was a pleasure serving under you," the dark-furred buck manages to get out in a shaky voice that strains to hide the emotions inside him. "...I'm s-sorry to disappoint."

Zoe_Lang's eyes open only once the knives clunk onto the desktop. Her eyes scan over the knives, made by her own paws, and her overbright eyes cut away, now staring at nothing. Her jaw is set, if anything to keep some semblance of control. Her voice, when she speaks, is nevertheless choked. "'Twas a pleas-" Pause. "'Twas a rare pleasure. You were like-" a son to me. But she doesn't say it. Instead, she takes a deep breath and gives a firm shake of her head. "Dismissed."

And at that, Darklett raises another shaky paw in a final salute to the Colonel, holding his breath and biting down on his lip. The first step is almost impossible to the hare, but when it touches down, he continues a slow, paced walk out of the office.

The salute is not returned. She stares in stony silence, not meeting his gaze, until the very second that the buck has stepped through and out the door. Then and only then does she raise her paw, giving the empty office the salute that she could not give the once-Major. And that done, she stares at the only thing of him remaining, the knives, and sits in silence.