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The approach of sunhigh has your nerves on end, both expectant of and dreading the coming meeting. Your clan seems tolerant of their partnership, for the most part, more concerned with the ill cats around them than they are of working with the rogues. Perhaps you should have taken it up with all of them originally. Then again, they might not have been eager to work with previous aggressors before the sickness had started creeping upon the clan; disaster was a good motivator.
When it comes time to depart you take your healer and two of your warriors, not wanting to seem like you're distrustful of Hecate by bringing too many cats but wanting to be cautious, regardless. You won't be surprised if she has others at her side just as you do. The trip to the edge of your territory is dull, which you can only be thankful for. The quiet was better than the wet coughing ever present in the medicine den now. The quiet chatter of your clanmates behind you soothes your frayed nerves, proof you're all still alright for the time being. You can only hope it stays that way in the days to follow.
You reach the meeting place before Hecate and her cats, it seems, and all of you settle down to wait. You can't help but remember a similar situation when the rogues had first gotten to your territory, where you had had a meeting in much unfriendlier terms. You were sure you never imagined this, then; your clan working with the rogues against a common enemy. It was almost funny how fast situations could change.
A rustling shakes you out of your head and you snap to attention, ears shifting forward. A quick scent of the air calms you, the scent of the rogues clear in the air. They follow shortly, pushing into your meeting place. Hecate offers a nod of greeting and you return it before allowing your eyes to stray to her companions. Etna is present, along with Pan, and you're glad for the friendly faces. She has another cat you don't know with her, and after a quick once over you turn back to her. You understand why she may have left the Oracle at home; the tom wasn't the friendliest and didn't seem concerned with much of went on around him, but you're confused at the absence of Janus. He was a little two-faced based on your interactions with him but he was smart, and from what you understood, one of her advisors; his presence seemed to be warranted.
Before you can second guess your inquiry, you open your mouth,
"Did Janus not wish to come? This seems like something he'd be interested in." The immediate prickle of discomfort in the air tells you this was probably not a good subject to start with, but before you can try to brush over it Etna is speaking up.
"He's dead." You blink at the abruptness, started by the shift in the usually polite tom. It takes a moment longer for the words to sink in.
"What," you snap out, more exclamation than a question,
"When did it happen?" The tom had been nothing but kind to you and had played a part in stopping the war with the rogues before it happened. You can't help but be a little ruffled by it, even if you hadn't known him well.
Hecate's shoulders raise a bit, her posture slouching. It strikes you, that even though they had seemed to be quarreling when you first met them, that she had been mending relations with her group. There was no telling how close they had ended up getting, and, from what you understood, they had been good friends before their original falling out. His death probably affected her more than it seemed to.
"A few months ago," she eventually offers.
"We don't know what happened." And you could imagine how much that stung.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open old wounds." You shift uncomfortably on your paws, not happy with the tense shroud hanging over everyone now. Turning your attention to Etna again you ask,
"How's Nike? She must be close to grown now?" It doesn't completely rid everyone of the somber mood but it's a good enough change in subject.
Etna practically lights up, as he seems to do with anything concerning his sister.
"She is! Bigger than even Pan now," he chuckles,
"And, between us, in a little bit of a moody young adult stage. She'll grow out of it eventually."Hecate sends him a disbelieving look at this, and you can't help the snort of laughter when you remember that even as a kit she had quarreled with the tiny she-cat. To see them interact now.
Rolling her eyes Hecate cuts in, shaking off anything that shows beyond her usual indifference,
"While catching up is pleasant, we have bigger concerns right now."Despite the terseness of her tone, you can't help but agree.
"Right. Did you get any more messages? Or figure out what they want us to do?"The rogue leader shakes her head, tail lashing.
"No, they've gone quiet. And I don't know beyond what the omen said. I have a feeling it's only going to get worse. And it clearly wants us to work together to solve it but I'm not sure how we're to do that. How do you stop the spread of a disease you don't even understand?""I don't know. Perhaps there's something causing it? Something they mean for us to stop." You're grasping at tails, you know. All of you are working blind on this, but you can't imagine what else they could mean. They wouldn't tell you to work together to stop something with no cause, that would be pointless.
Everyone stews in silence for a moment, trying to puzzle out the riddle you'd been given when Pan speaks up.
"You guys have good ancestors right? They're the ones that sent our healer the message. Don't you have bad ones too? Couldn't they be doing something?"You all stare at him for a moment in various states of surprise. Your own healer is the first to recover, springing forward, eyes bright,
"We do! They normally don't have enough substance to them to do anything but if something were stirring them up, perhaps they could.""Stirring them up?" Hecate asks, eyebrows drawn,
"What do you mean?""Some source of energy. Another cat, most likely.""A cat's doing this? Who would want to ruin both groups?" You don't know who says that, too caught up in your own whirring thoughts, staring at Hecate. You shouldn't be so caught up on it, but something Pan had said bothered you. Their healer had gotten it, was what he had offered as an explanation, but on the first night in your den, Hecate had said the Oracle had received it. The old tom had no paw in healing last you remembered, and you don't know why Pan would call him that, anyway; not when he knew his name. Had they gotten a new healer after Janus? And if they had why wouldn't Hecate say the prophecy had come from them instead of the Oracle. Perhaps she had been-
"Clan cat." Your attention jerks to Hecate, face curious. You could see the others looking at you in your peripheral as well. Had you missed a question?
Huffing, Hecate asks, again you assume,
"Do you know of any cat that would have such a quarrel with you that they'd want to ruin your clan? Or my group?"You shake your head in response, awareness filtering back in. Maybe you were thinking too hard about this, and it had just been a slip of the tongue. Like Hecate had said, you have bigger things to worry about.
"Well. Clearly, we won't solve who's behind it sitting here. Perhaps we can all send out more patrols. If a cat is causing this they have to be around." She turns her eyes to your healer,
"Maybe try to talk to your ancestors? They may know. I'll ask the Oracle to try to as well.""Talk to your elders too, maybe they remember events or old enemies you don't," Etna adds, smiling a little.
"We'll figure this out, I'm sure."You envy him his optimism, you have no such hopes over a quick or good conclusion. You can only wish to be proven wrong.
"That's all we can do right now. I'll send word if we find anything, you'll do the same?"Hecate nods, rising to her paws.
"Luck be with all of us. Let's hope we can resolve this before cats start getting hurt." She signals for her cats to fall in behind her, leading them out of the clearing with head and tail high, exuding confidence you can't muster at the moment. You suppose you'll all see.
With a huff you get to your feet, waving your own cats into a loose group.
"Let's head back. We can start looking into it when we're home." Despite yourself, you feel grim about the whole thing. If a cat was causing this you had more trouble than just sickness. Any cat foolish enough to meddle with dark spirits was one that had no care for the havoc they brought about. This could easily be the end of all of you.
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Prompt 4: What does your leader think about the idea that dark spirits could be behind the disease? How do they plan to investigate the matter further?
Art Prompt 4: Draw your leader and the cats they took with them to the meeting, either on their way there or at the meeting itself. Feel free to include Hecate and the rogues as well.
Hecate |
Oracle »»———— • ————««
End Date: This writing prompt closes at 11:59 pm EST on the 16th. The art prompt does not close.
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