cheeto pecked on his companion's shoulder, peering at belladonna curiously as weasel and melete made their way over to her. pip fluttered towards his new friend, squeaking.
"you're awake. thank goodness!"
belladonna groggily opened her eyes, then broke out into a sudden coughing fit.
"oh, not you too!" weasel cried, eyes darting around anxiously. "first laurel...now.."
the tortoiseshell blinked and stared blankly at her friend. "the sky...it's falling..."
weasel began to back away, but belladonna seized her by the shoulders, shaking her. "...alright! you definitely need to have some herbs."
"it's falling, weasel!" she screeched.
gently wriggling out of her sick friend's grasp, she turned to melete.
"the feverfew probably won't work. do you happen to have any other herbs?"
the amber tabby rummaged through the pouch she had containing her various inventions. after a few moments of digging, melete triumphantly fished out a piece of comfrey root, holding it up for weasel to see. "would this work?"
weasel sighed in relief. "yep. quick, let's give it to her."
"here. belladonna. eat this."
after swallowing the root, belladonna seemed to gain clarity once more, focusing on the two feline forms in front of her.
"...what just happened? the sky was..." she trailed off, forgetting the end of her sentence.
"hush, sweetie. get some rest." melete soothed, wrapping her tail around the feverish molly.
"but— the world—"
———
everything feels blurry. melete and weasel start to look fuzzy, and the blackness in the corners of her eyes is starting to appear once more.
belladonna feels a strange moment of vertigo, neither asleep nor awake.
she feels dizzy.
something- lights are shining in front of her. fading in, fading out. they seem...familiar...
oh.
stars.
they glimmered and taunted her in the back of her mind.
the stars are watching.
they are laughing.
an invisible cold wind blows toward her, making her shiver uncontrollably.
she is nowhere. this is her mind. why is it cold?
a presence.
"who's there? who's there?!" she yells, glaring around her empty mindscape. the stars have disappeared.
and then the tinkling sound of a hundred little chimes fill her ears. it is both agonising and addicting at the same time.
a flash of multicoloured fur catches her eye. it's them.
the feline in front of her does not seem triumphant. instead, they seem...worried.
either way, she is not going to entertain them.
"you! belladonna growls, fiery rage being channeled in her eyes.
mania sighs, dragging its long tail, ears shifting through all thecolours of the rainbow.
the colour-changing feline stares one last time at belladonna with their hypnotic eyes, drawing her in like a moth.
"you need to save them." their voice is like an echo, and it sends chills down her spine.
then they vanish, leaving behind nothing but confusion.
"belladonna, wake up!"
the unmistakeable soprano of weasel's voice rings in her ear, and she jerks awake.
———
weasel stared anxiously at the sleeping molly. she is tossing and turning. a nightmare?
she doesn't know. melete's crimson eyes look anxious as she stares down at belladonna.
she's a bundle of nerves. the chocolate she-cat is so lost in her own thoughts that she doesn't realise her friend has awoken from her uncomfortable slumber.
she feels a tap on her shoulder, and she whirls around to find cheeto.
"ah! belladonna, are you alright?"
her friend doesn't seem feverish anymore. instead, she seems...angry.
"they came back." she growls, clearly very mad at something.
"...who came back?"
"mania." she spits out the word with bitterness.
"you mean...the god of chaos?"
"yes. that mania. i knew this fever seemed strange. they've been haunting my dreams for a while, always appearing at the most random times."
"but...that's...why are they visting you? if they are, it must be important. from what i've heard, mania isn't the type of god to play with and taunt mortals." melete mewed. weasel nodded in agreement.
"no, they clearly are just doing this to spite me." belladonna hissed, eyes narrowed.
"wait." melete interjected. "try to recall their expression in your dream. were they triumphant? amused? anything of the sort?"
weasel watched as belladonna squinted in concentration. "...no? they seemed....worried."
"i told you so. anyway, we can discuss this later. didn't you say we needed to climb the mountain for etherblooms? if you're well enough to walk, that is. or else you can stay here."
"no, i'm fine." belladonna grunted, then gestured with her tail to weasel. "fine. let's go. pack our things."
so the trio continued upwards, abandoning their makeshift shelter.
———
"IT'S SO COLD!" weasel groaned, grumbling as snow coated her paws. she looked up to see how much further, then quickly averted her eyes. she would not get lured in by those entrancing stars, those alluring shifting hues.
melete squinted. it was day, yet clouds covered the sunne, making it seem like night had fallen once again.
"guys, where are we going to camp if we can't find a cave?" she blurted, worry in her eyes.
belladonna knitted her brows in concentration, thinking of a solution. "then we freeze to death." she meowed flatly.
weasel couldn't help but let out a half choke, half laugh kind of sound, playfully shoving at her friend's shoulder.
"there's no way you would let us die! i know you!"
"maybe i would. then mania would stop bothering my beautiful sleep!" belladonna smirked.
"okay, but seriously, we're pretty close to the top. we should be fine. that part is warmer."
the sun had set by the time they reached the summit. it was ...rather cold. thankfully for cheeto, his flames warmed them all up.
"woah! all the etherblooms...they're in bloom!" melete squealed excitedly. weasel delicately plucked several, depositing them in her pouch.
"the one good thing about leaf-bare is that all the etherblooms are in full bloom. so this trip was, in my opinion, rather worth it."
"couldn't we have gone in warmer weather instead?" weasel moaned. belladonna cuffed her ear lightly. "no, you doofus! that's when they all shrivel up and wither."
"well, i think that's more than enough blooms, so can we go down now?" melete asked. pip nodded, shivering and using his wings as a blanket.
"alright, fine. but it'll take us at least another day or two to get back down to flat ground. after all, it's already dusk!" belladonna mewed. "we'll probably be able to get back to our shelter in another hour or so."
weasel sighed but followed belladonna and melete down the snowy alpine slopes. "fine. but dibs on cheeto tonight, i'm so cold!" she huffed.
teasing each other, the three wanderers travelled back down the mountain, completely forgetting all about everything else in the world.
somewhere in the realm of the divine, a pair of eyes peered down at them.
"save them...please.."
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[ # 1,126 words ]
-- cats on patrolbelladonna | she / her | HP 100% | HUP 20% | Sick: Yes
melete | she / her | HP 100% | HUP 20% | Sick: No
weasel | she / her | HP 95% | HUP 10% | Sick: No
-- custom predators / prey? n/a
inventory items used
x1 comfrey root
[/quote]
