»»———— • ————««
After a few days of tense silence, both groups expecting the worst, you get your answer. Or a sort of one, anyway. Never one for straightforwardness, it comes in the form of a dream like the first, with just as many questions in its wake. Your healer wakes you with enthusiam that even the most optimistic of your clan had slowly curbed the longer you went without a word from anything, everyone grim in the face of the increase of fires in your territory.
You healer had laid the dream out in front of you, eyes shining as they explained what they saw and what they think it meant. You don't think you can find the same solace in it, but at least it's something to work with. Your healer says they can't think of who it means at the moment, and that perhaps you should talk to the rogues in case they did.
Which is how you find yourself slipping, this time alone, into the rogues temporary camp. You're spotted immediately by Etna, who you assume is on high alert in the unfamiliar area. He waves his tail at you in acknowledgment before turning and making his way to most likely alert Hecate of your presence.
You're proven right when he comes back into view not long after with her on his heels, their height difference as startling as ever. Etna breaks off from her as she nears you to attend to his own duties and she makes the rest of the short trip on her own, coming to stand in front of you. You can't help but note that she seems a bit jumpy, fur fluffed a bit and ears almost constantly swiveling to take note of the surroundings. It's a strange change in demeanor, but you chalk it up to the fact that you're all on edge. She gives you a questioning look when she finally focuses on you, and it's all the prompting you need to tell her why you're there.
"Our healer had a dream. They seem sure it's trying to tell us who we're looking for but couldn't think of what cat it could be referring to, so they asked me to relay it to you." Hecate flicks her tail, clearly not interested in the why, so you move on, "They said they saw a spider spinning an intricate web, with a cat pulling at one end of it, working with it like they were making something, and at the last second a second cat coming in and snapping the thread with its teeth." This clearly catches the small leaders interest, stilling her twitching for the moment. "They think it means three separate cats, one creating something, which is the spider, one making it which was the first cat, and one either ending or breaking it, which is the second one. They don't know if it means that we're looking for three cats who are behind this, or if it's one, and the connection between the three is something important. Do you have any idea who it could be talking about?"
Hecate frowns is what, at first, you assume is confusion. But something flickers in her eyes before she can mask it and you can't help but pounce on it, leaning closer. "What? does something sound familiar."
She hesitates, clearly torn between keeping it to herself and telling you, and you nearly remind her that you're supposed to be working together when she sighs, posture slumping. "The city we came from. There was a trio of sisters we called the spider sisters, as silly as that sounds. They were... odd. A little unhinged even for city cats. We didn't have much to do with them, and they didn't much like us so we kept away from each other. I don't know what they would have to do with this, though. The city is a far ways off and last I checked at least two of them were dead. It's gotta be about something else we just don't see yet."
She doesn't seem sure of herself, but you reason that it would be ridiculous for cats you didn't even know were still alive had anything to do with this, not over petty squabbles from long ago in a place so distant. She's probably right, and it's just a coincidence that it lines up. Besides, wouldn't she recognize another cat from where they were from hanging around? "You're probably right. We'll figure it out. At least we have somewhere to start now."
Hecate gives you an uncertain nod, "If that's all you have, for now, I have matters to attend to. I'll make sure word gets around to my cats what we're looking for. Maybe one of them will find something. You know the way out?"
You agree, taking her last question as the dismissal it is. You spot Pan and Apollo lounging together as you make your way back to the entrance, the blue tom cleaning the other's ears, and offer them a wave of the tail. Pan happily returns it, paired with a wink from Apollo over his head that almost has you flushing. You shake it off and are nearly free of the camp when what you can only call some sort of yowl startles you into swinging around. It takes you a second to place it, but when you do you can't bring yourself to do more than blink in surprise. Nike, grown now as Etna had said, is facing some cat you don't recognize, positively snarling with her fur puffed out twice her size; intimidating on an already large cat.
You tune in just in time to hear her hissing, voice pitched in anger, "And you're a harebrained, useless waste of a healer! A fox could do a better job!"
Startled, you move closer, surprised to find blood speckling Nike's pelt. Perhaps she'd gotten into a fight? Etna had said she'd been acting out. Then her words strike you, taking time to process due to the vitriol in them; she had called this cat a healer. Pan had used it days ago, to your confusion, and here it was again. But this time, it was clearly aimed at someone who wasn't the Oracle.
You glance around, looking for someone who's going to step in but everyone around seems to be ignoring the spat, clearly used to them. Huffing you make your way closer; may as well fall to you. "Nike, is everything alright?"
Both cats swing on you, and you take the opportunity to observe the stranger. She's got a striking coat, just as dark in places as it is bright in others. Her ears and eyes seem a little too big to her head and her face is angular, body matching with a slim frame and almost twig-like legs. It's all brought together by a large scar, cutting its way across her face and through one of her eyes, clearly blinding it in the process. You can't help but think it adds to the fact that she looks a little unstable, body twitchy and her working eye not sticking to one place longer than a moment.
She bares her teeth at you and you can't help but step back in surprise. "Mind your own business clan cat. This insubordinate whelp has nothing to do with you."
"I'm just making sure everyone's alright. She's clearly been into something if she's bleeding."
"Which is none of your business either! I'm their healer, not you, so do us all the favor and get lost, preferably back to where you came from."
You can only stare in shock, not sure what to do with the hostile she-cat. You note, distantly, that at least you had given Nike the chance to slink away, probably to lick her own wounds, so it wasn't a total loss. Shrugging with discomfort, you back off and make a quick exit, not wanting to stir the healer up further. You understand, suddenly, why Hecate hadn't wanted you to know that the prophecy had come from her. You most certainly wouldn't have believed it if you had been told she was the source before the fires had started.
The rest of your journey home is filled with thoughts of spiders, fires, and the strange she-cat who seemed just weird enough to be unable to shake from your mind.
»»———— • ————««
Writing Prompt 5: What are your new suspicions to who the cuplrit may be - do you still think it's one of yours? Could it be someone the rogues may know? What could be their motives? Does your leader still trust the rogues, or are they starting to doubt your cooperation?
Art Prompt 5: A new character! Draw me what you think this new mysterious healer looks like, or draw the imagery of the dream.
Hecate | Etna | Nike
»»———— • ————««
Writing Prompt End Date: August 20th, 11:59 PM EDT
After a few days of tense silence, both groups expecting the worst, you get your answer. Or a sort of one, anyway. Never one for straightforwardness, it comes in the form of a dream like the first, with just as many questions in its wake. Your healer wakes you with enthusiam that even the most optimistic of your clan had slowly curbed the longer you went without a word from anything, everyone grim in the face of the increase of fires in your territory.
You healer had laid the dream out in front of you, eyes shining as they explained what they saw and what they think it meant. You don't think you can find the same solace in it, but at least it's something to work with. Your healer says they can't think of who it means at the moment, and that perhaps you should talk to the rogues in case they did.
Which is how you find yourself slipping, this time alone, into the rogues temporary camp. You're spotted immediately by Etna, who you assume is on high alert in the unfamiliar area. He waves his tail at you in acknowledgment before turning and making his way to most likely alert Hecate of your presence.
You're proven right when he comes back into view not long after with her on his heels, their height difference as startling as ever. Etna breaks off from her as she nears you to attend to his own duties and she makes the rest of the short trip on her own, coming to stand in front of you. You can't help but note that she seems a bit jumpy, fur fluffed a bit and ears almost constantly swiveling to take note of the surroundings. It's a strange change in demeanor, but you chalk it up to the fact that you're all on edge. She gives you a questioning look when she finally focuses on you, and it's all the prompting you need to tell her why you're there.
"Our healer had a dream. They seem sure it's trying to tell us who we're looking for but couldn't think of what cat it could be referring to, so they asked me to relay it to you." Hecate flicks her tail, clearly not interested in the why, so you move on, "They said they saw a spider spinning an intricate web, with a cat pulling at one end of it, working with it like they were making something, and at the last second a second cat coming in and snapping the thread with its teeth." This clearly catches the small leaders interest, stilling her twitching for the moment. "They think it means three separate cats, one creating something, which is the spider, one making it which was the first cat, and one either ending or breaking it, which is the second one. They don't know if it means that we're looking for three cats who are behind this, or if it's one, and the connection between the three is something important. Do you have any idea who it could be talking about?"
Hecate frowns is what, at first, you assume is confusion. But something flickers in her eyes before she can mask it and you can't help but pounce on it, leaning closer. "What? does something sound familiar."
She hesitates, clearly torn between keeping it to herself and telling you, and you nearly remind her that you're supposed to be working together when she sighs, posture slumping. "The city we came from. There was a trio of sisters we called the spider sisters, as silly as that sounds. They were... odd. A little unhinged even for city cats. We didn't have much to do with them, and they didn't much like us so we kept away from each other. I don't know what they would have to do with this, though. The city is a far ways off and last I checked at least two of them were dead. It's gotta be about something else we just don't see yet."
She doesn't seem sure of herself, but you reason that it would be ridiculous for cats you didn't even know were still alive had anything to do with this, not over petty squabbles from long ago in a place so distant. She's probably right, and it's just a coincidence that it lines up. Besides, wouldn't she recognize another cat from where they were from hanging around? "You're probably right. We'll figure it out. At least we have somewhere to start now."
Hecate gives you an uncertain nod, "If that's all you have, for now, I have matters to attend to. I'll make sure word gets around to my cats what we're looking for. Maybe one of them will find something. You know the way out?"
You agree, taking her last question as the dismissal it is. You spot Pan and Apollo lounging together as you make your way back to the entrance, the blue tom cleaning the other's ears, and offer them a wave of the tail. Pan happily returns it, paired with a wink from Apollo over his head that almost has you flushing. You shake it off and are nearly free of the camp when what you can only call some sort of yowl startles you into swinging around. It takes you a second to place it, but when you do you can't bring yourself to do more than blink in surprise. Nike, grown now as Etna had said, is facing some cat you don't recognize, positively snarling with her fur puffed out twice her size; intimidating on an already large cat.
You tune in just in time to hear her hissing, voice pitched in anger, "And you're a harebrained, useless waste of a healer! A fox could do a better job!"
Startled, you move closer, surprised to find blood speckling Nike's pelt. Perhaps she'd gotten into a fight? Etna had said she'd been acting out. Then her words strike you, taking time to process due to the vitriol in them; she had called this cat a healer. Pan had used it days ago, to your confusion, and here it was again. But this time, it was clearly aimed at someone who wasn't the Oracle.
You glance around, looking for someone who's going to step in but everyone around seems to be ignoring the spat, clearly used to them. Huffing you make your way closer; may as well fall to you. "Nike, is everything alright?"
Both cats swing on you, and you take the opportunity to observe the stranger. She's got a striking coat, just as dark in places as it is bright in others. Her ears and eyes seem a little too big to her head and her face is angular, body matching with a slim frame and almost twig-like legs. It's all brought together by a large scar, cutting its way across her face and through one of her eyes, clearly blinding it in the process. You can't help but think it adds to the fact that she looks a little unstable, body twitchy and her working eye not sticking to one place longer than a moment.
She bares her teeth at you and you can't help but step back in surprise. "Mind your own business clan cat. This insubordinate whelp has nothing to do with you."
"I'm just making sure everyone's alright. She's clearly been into something if she's bleeding."
"Which is none of your business either! I'm their healer, not you, so do us all the favor and get lost, preferably back to where you came from."
You can only stare in shock, not sure what to do with the hostile she-cat. You note, distantly, that at least you had given Nike the chance to slink away, probably to lick her own wounds, so it wasn't a total loss. Shrugging with discomfort, you back off and make a quick exit, not wanting to stir the healer up further. You understand, suddenly, why Hecate hadn't wanted you to know that the prophecy had come from her. You most certainly wouldn't have believed it if you had been told she was the source before the fires had started.
The rest of your journey home is filled with thoughts of spiders, fires, and the strange she-cat who seemed just weird enough to be unable to shake from your mind.
»»———— • ————««
Writing Prompt 5: What are your new suspicions to who the cuplrit may be - do you still think it's one of yours? Could it be someone the rogues may know? What could be their motives? Does your leader still trust the rogues, or are they starting to doubt your cooperation?
Art Prompt 5: A new character! Draw me what you think this new mysterious healer looks like, or draw the imagery of the dream.
Hecate | Etna | Nike
»»———— • ————««
Writing Prompt End Date: August 20th, 11:59 PM EDT
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