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You wake your healer and deputy the next morning, tired and already dreading the conversation ahead. They both seem confused by your presence, helped along by your clearly bedraggled state, and you can only wave off their concern as you all come together in your den. Both prickle slightly when they catch Hecate and The Oracle's scent and, just like their concern, you brush it off with a tired wave. You all have bigger things to worry about.
Shaking yourself slightly as you sink down in your nest, you turn your attention to your two most trusted advisors, both of them looking back in turn with questions in their gazes.
"Hecate and her Oracle were here last night." Before either has a chance to react to that news you barrel onwards,
"They came with what they say is a prophecy from our ancestors." Your deputy takes a step forward, frowning.
"Why would they speak to them and not us? They aren't their ancestors.""They have spoken to the rogues before, though," your medicine cat reminds, rolling their eyes at the look they receive in turn from your deputy. They sit, bringing their tail flush around their paws before turning to fix you with a look of their own.
"What did they have to say?"You can only blink at your healer for a moment, sending a vaguely confused look to your deputy, who only answers with a sour face. After taking a moment to collect your wits, you repeat the prophecy to the pair. You trail off at the end, watching them both intently for their reactions. It makes you feel a little better that both seem just as struck by the words as you were, but there's a creeping doubt in the back of your mind about the fact that none of you seem to know what to do with this. Instead of giving it time to roar into an inferno, you lean forward to add, almost rushed,
"Hecate said she'd be back in two days for our answer. We have that time to decide."Your deputy furrows their brows and shifts their weight, clearly deep in thought.
"Can we have time to think about this? We can meet tomorrow and work it out."Their words stir your healer from their own thoughts and they nod in agreement,
"Give it time to sink in. Tomorrow at sun high in your den?"You can only agree, even if you don't want to sit with no plan for even a few hours longer, much less a day. You understand, even if you don't like that you do, that they need time to align their own thoughts on it before you all hash out a plan. Seemingly relieved, both drift out of your den, presumably back to their own duties for the day. With a tired sigh, you join them, hoping to abate your own worries by drowning them out with day to day clan life.
The day still passes in a haze, Hecate's words hanging over you like a dark cloud, and when you finally sink into your nest that night you know any sleep you do manage to get will be scarce and restless.
When you wake the next day you're groggy and everything aches, and you know this is telling of the day ahead of you. You decide you're going to pass the morning in your den, not up for dealing with others on top of your already sour mood.
At sun high, as promised, your deputy and medicine cat creep into your den, both looking as tired as you feel. You give them both time to settle, mindful of your comfortable spot in your nest. They come to lay near you, and you spare them both a tired smile. As soon as they seem okay with their spots you start, not wanting to drag it out any longer than needed.
"What have you decided?"Your healer sighs but allows your deputy the floor. Said cat stretches their paws out, flicking one in emphasis as they talk.
"We don't know if this isn't a trick. They may have kept to their own since the last greenleaf but we can't forget how they came here originally. Hecate is still inexperienced and you remember how volatile she was." Their tail lashes with their emotion, even as your healer reaches out a paw to still their movement.
"We can't assume they mean us harm. Just because we haven't received word yet doesn't mean they're wrong. The ancestors didn't alert them of us the first time." They turn their attention to you.
"You're the one that talked to her. In the end, you have more insight on this than we do right now."You can't hold their gaze for long, eyes falling to the floor of your den. You don't want to make the decision when you're all so clearly divided and uncertain. Your thoughts race, too fast for you to grab onto a single one, and you shut your eyes briefly. Taking a deep breath, you shake your head slightly to clear it. Perhaps it would be best to err on the side of caution before you knew more information. You could always change your mind later and hope you saying no to Hecate won't cute all ties.
"For now... we can tell them no. Just until we no more, and hopefully the ancestors approach us as well." At your healer's stricken look you hurry to add,
"This isn't the permanent answer. We just need to know more before we commit to anything." This seems to appease both other cats in your den enough, though neither seems completely happy.
"And if this makes Hecate decide not to work with us at all?"You sigh, casting your gaze skywards, even if you can't see it through the roof of your den.
"We must hope it doesn't."You all decide to break up the meeting at that point, having your own duties to attend to, and not wanting to dwell on the decision any longer. You can only hope it's the correct one.
The remainder of the day passes in a blur again, but you can feel the weight of the decision in the back of your mind, weighing on your shoulders and making your steps heavy. You already dread Hecate's visit tomorrow; she won't take kindly to the decision. You briefly wonder if this bad feeling means you're making the wrong choice but brush it off; what's done is done. You can only hope she won't turn you away should your answer change.
That night your sleep is just as restless at the first, any sleep you do have plagued with nightmares. When your deputy comes to wake you in the morning you're almost thankful, glad to have something distract you. This slight lift in mood is shattered when you catch sight of Hecate at the camp entrance, flanked by two of your warriors and Pan at her back. Pan waves his tail enthusiastically at seeing you, nearly falling over his paws attempting to push his way next to Hecate. She sends him a mildly exasperated look, poorly masking the fondness in her eyes, before turning to pin you with her gaze.
You drop your own eyes, uncomfortable. The air is charged around you and you aren't sure if you're simply imagining it as a result of your choice or if those around you can feel it as well. When you finally come to stand in front of Hecate she seems to sense something off in the air as well, pulling herself up to her full height and holding your gaze.
[b]"Well,"[/b] she prompts, edges of anxiety creeping into her voice though you can tell she's trying to hide it,
"what's your decision? Are you with us?"Your eyes find the ground again, and it's telling that you have to drag up your courage to tell her your answer; all of it had fled the moment you set eyes on her.
"We think it unwise to join forces with you as of yet. Our ancestors haven't approached us, and my counsel isn't comfortable going by your words alone."Hecate immediately bristles, though you aren't sure if it's in offense or fear.
"Think about what you're deciding," she hisses,
"This is not merely the fate of one group or another. This is all of us.""I'm sorry." You shift your paws, turning your head away. And you are sorry, but this is what you had decided on. Ancestors above may it be the right path.
Hecate wheels on her paws, startling you out of your thoughts.
"The disaster that follows be on your head then, clan cat. Remember it was you that condemned us all." She pushes Pan out of the camp in front of her, the small tom in question sending you a hurt look over his shoulder as he's herded out. You find you can't hold his gaze. The interaction weighs heavily on you the rest of the day and you constantly catch your deputy and healer watching you in concern on the edges of your sight, clearly unsure what to do now that your die had been cast. You could only hope you'd be afforded an answer soon.
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You awaken a few mornings later by outright chaos, the clan's various voices raised into a caterwaul of cries and yowling. You curse your luck- the past week has been unkind to your sleep schedule- and leap to your paws, scrambling to exit your den and see what's gotten everyone so panicked. You're hardly out into the camp before the world tilts under your paws when your deputy is bounding over to you, fur bristled. You only have time to shoot them a questioning look before they launch into an explanation.
"You know how a few warriors were confined to the den with what we thought was greencough? It wasn't. Apparently one of them took a sharp turn last night and they found them dead this morning. It doesn't look like greencough. Everyone's panicked." They cast a harried look around the camp, and over their shoulder, you can see a group gathered at the entrance to the healer's den.
The panic makes sense now, you dimly think, your world going hazy as Hecate's words come back to you. You murmur them quietly to yourself, eyes unfocused. A terror you have yet to face takes the due it thinks owed. Indeed, you muse, thoughts almost edging into hysteria. You're shaken out of the bubbling panic as your deputy nudges you, clearly unsettled as well.
"Perhaps we should seek out the rogues," they suggest, clearly not happy with any part of the situation, but who can blame them. You can only nod, tail twitching with a number of emotions you can't express at the moment. It seems your paw is being forced. Maybe this was the sign you were waiting for.
"Stay here and calm the clan. We don't know what this is yet. It may be wise to start a quarantine." You catch the gaze of one of your senior warriors, motioning for them to follow you as you bound out of camp. You can only hope Hecate will still have you. Perhaps you'd been too hasty to turn her down, too afraid of what danger they could pose that you overlooked the larger one looming behind her.
Your clanmate with you seems to realize that it isn't the time for questions, matching your steps silently as you rush towards your destination. The path out of your territory is as familiar as the whiskers on your face but your rate slows once you cross your borders, wary of the land you don't have dominion over and weary from your previous speed. The warrior at your side seems to pick up on your uncertainty, moving to lead the way the further you go. At your curious look they shrug,
"It seemed important to know where they resided, even beyond our borders." You don't ask when they figured out where you were headed; they likely figured it out along the way.
The rest of your journey is silent, both your and your companion caught up in your own thoughts. You spare an occasional though towards your clanmates, hoping whatever pestilence the prophecy spoke of wasn't highly contagious. That was the last thing you needed in a tightly knit clan. Disease spread like fire in close communities like yours. After a moment you spare the same though for Hecate's group; they were likely in shambles as well if the sickness had made itself known to them.
After, in what your opinion, was entirely too long, you and your clanmate are scrambling into the rogues camp. It's telling that you aren't met by any resistance when coming in uninvited, and once you're fully into camp you realize why. Just like the scene you left this morning, there are a group of cats huddled around what you assume in Janus' den, the scent of fear and confusion discernable even across the camp. It must have reached them too, you can only think with guilt.
You call out to them, startling a little as Hecate swings out of the crowd, kittens huddled at her paws becoming visible when she shifts, and you can only wince in guilt and sympathy. She nudges the small beings away and breaks out of the cluster, making her way towards you. Even from where you stand you can see the accusation in her eyes and drop your own away in shame. If this had been your clan in this situation you'd be furious at whoever put them there, and you have a feeling she may blame you a little for this. It had been you who turned down her olive branch, after all.
Hecate brings your attention back to her with a sharp call, tail lashing behind her.
"Well, clan cat? I can't imagine you're here for a chat. Change your mind already did you?"
You bristle at the hostility in her words, but you know they aren't particularly uncalled for. She may be rough around the edges but she cared for her group, and you had tilted the scales out of their favor.
"I'm sorry," you start. She sniffs, clearly unimpressed. "I cannot take back our original decision but we've agreed we should at least try to work together. For both our sake."
She snarls a little at you, shifting so you can see her fearful group behind her. You wince again, dropping your eyes.
"You're blind clan cat." The malice in her words makes you flatten your ears. You can hear your clanmate shift behind you, to chime in on your behalf, perhaps, but you stop them with a flick of your tail. This is your responsibility, not theirs.
"But, I understand the need to work together despite our differences. If it will keep both our groups alive I will do it." You finally chance a glance back up to see her frowning at her cats, worry clear in her eyes. It's endearing, a little bit, to see the harshness of what you assume is a front get smoothed out around her own group. You almost laugh when it turns back into a glare as she turns back to you.
"We had a couple of cats fall ill this morning. It's not anything even close to what we've seen before."You shake your head, casting an uneasy look at the huddle of cats behind her.
"We believed it to be greencough, at first, but it clearly isn't. We had one of our own fall to it this morning. Our healer doesn't know where to even start looking for a cure. The usual remedy had no effect. The best they could do was ease the pain and soothe the cough a little."Hecate's ears flatten a little, not happy with the news.
"If it works that fast..." her eyes flit back to her own group,
"We need to figure out the cause. If we don't I fear we'll all be dead in less than a season. What herbs did your healer use in the meantime? I'll let ours know. Anything helps."You rattle off the ones you remember to her, and she nods in thanks.
"It may be wise to set up a quarantine in the meantime. Slow the spread of it." After a moment you add,
"I know we got off on the wrong paw about this, but going forward I would be honored to work together."Hecate considers you for a second, like she weighing your words, before dipping her head in agreement.
"I'll hold you to it, clan cat. Do not back out of it. We can meet at sunhigh tomorrow on the edge of your territory."You nod in turn, casting a concerned look at her group. You're about to ask if there was anything else you could do, maybe send your own healer over for a few hours to help when she speaks again, almost like she knows your thoughts.
"We'll be fine. We're no strangers to disease." She turns, flicking her tail in farewell as she heads back over to the gathered group. As she nears the group of kittens from before flood out to surround her again. It's almost funny, how much it clashes with what you know of her, but you suppose you never really did get to know her, and time had passed since then. She does seem mildly disgruntled by the presence of the tiny beings but isn't doing much to deter them, seeming to favor outright ignoring them as they tumble over her paws and squeeze themselves under her short frame. It's made more comical by the fact that not a single one of them seem to be hers. You stifle a laugh in the fur of your neck, glad to have something lighten the dismal mood.
You watch them go for a bit, still worried but assuring yourself they must be able to care for themselves, else they wouldn't have survived in the city, and much less here. Heaving a sign you push it out of your mind, for the time being, instead returning your focus to your own clan. It was time to return and check on them. You could only hope no else had passed in your absence. With your clanmate at your flank, you turn homewards, hoping that your luck would hold, and wondering how you would begin to even explain the days to come to your clanmates.
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Prompt 3A: You have decided against unity. How does your clan take the news? Was there any particular reason you chose not to work together?
Art Prompt 3A: Draw any scene from the above story, whether it's your leader meeting their advisers or with Hecate and Pan.
Hecate |
Oracle »»———— • ————««
End Date: This writing prompt closes at 11:59 pm EST on the 12th. The art prompt does not close.
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