slowly padding out of the cave, melete glanced at belladonna in concern. "are you alright, hun?" she asked, anxiety clear in her crimson eyes. belladonna coughed, nodding. "i'm fine," she croaked, limping beside the rosetted molly. weasel exchanged worried glances with melete.
"belladonna. please, it's too dangerous. we should get you back to camp, where you'll be alright again...maybe whatever hallucinations you're having will go away." weasel meowed, nudging belladonna's cheek with her nose.
belladonna blinked slowly at the chocolate she-cat, then booped weasel with her own pink nose. "really, i'm fine." she meowed gently, flicking her fluffy tail, irritated, then walked briskly in front of the other two wanderers.
"i'm concerned. do you really think she'll be alright? the paracosm is a dangerous place..." weasel whispered to melete. she knitted her eyebrows and thought for a moment. "...i think that if she believes going there is the right thing to do, maybe she'll get better. after all, mania must be trying to tell her something important."
weasel nodded. "you're right. thanks, melete." she purred. despite having known those two for only a week, melete couldn't help but smile. ahead of her, belladonna seemed to wobble slightly in her gait, but continued pushing through the snow. they were almost down the mountain.
beside her, weasel sighed. "i still can't believe those rogues attacked us. like, they knew she was sick! how could they still fight us and just run away like mice?!" she winced as she stared at the wound on melete's leg. melete herself silently agreed. she'd thought they were a rather charming and friendly bunch...although she guessed that not all cats are what they seem.
suddenly, a victorious cry. "we've made it down!" belladonna yowled. "now it's time to find mania once and for all!"
weasel sniffled. the chocolate molly's nose was beginning to run. melete glanced at her. "do you need some herbs for your nose?" weasel shook her head. "we're almost down the mountain anyway. we'll be out of this blasted cold soon. i'm sure my little nose will be able to tolerate this weather for a little while more."
melete nodded, glanced at the other cat's nose one last time, and continued following belladonna.
———
the tortoiseshell stared into space. she was sure something was in the trees, watching her. was that the flash of a fuchsia pelt? the swish of an indigo tail. surely that was a neon green nose blending in with the leaves? a pair of red and orange eyes staring at her? MANIA WAS WATCHING HER.
she would never be free from this madness, would she?
as her paws felt springy grass underneath, she breathed in a sigh of relief. she was finally down the mountain. now she could hunt mania down and get rid of the ringing in her ears, the chaos in her head.
"belladonna! wait up!" a voice called, snapping her out of her trance and bringing her back to reality.
belladonna sighed. of course, how could she have forgotten? she had two travelling companions with her. she couldn't just leave them behind. padding over to melete and weasel, she sighed. "okay. are you guys alright or do you need to rest? it's going to be kind of a long trip."
"we're fine!" weasel mewed. melete nodded alongside her. "good. then let's go."
after walking for a short while, they were stopped in their tracks by an unfamiliar blue tabby.
"hey, yer new around here!" he meowed enthusiastically. "are you three youngsters here to fish too? i could teach ya all the tips and tricks."
belladonna stared blankly at him for a moment. "not really. but sure, we could stop to fish if you want." weasel mewed from behind her.
great. more delays.
no, don't think like that. we'll go hungry if you think that way, belladonna. she thought.
she wanted to claw at something. mania was unmistakeably lurking in their lair, perhaps laughing away at her suffering.
calm yourself.
she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she realised that weasel and melete had struck up a conversation with the tabby tom. "i'm wahoo! who're you?"
"i'm weasel, she's melete, and that is belladonna."
"oh hoho! any of you three care to entertain an ol' fisher?"
melete smiled. "we'd love to."
belladonna padded along, following the other two she-cats.
"hey, say, melete, was it? ya look like you know a pun or two. have any to tell me?" wahoo chuckled.
melete snorted, covering her nose with a paw. "sure, if you want. just know that it's going to be really bad."
weasel grinned. "TELL US! TELL US!"
"okay. why is a fish easy to weigh?"
"why?!" wahoo and weasel chorused.
"because they have their own scales!!!"
the other cats burst into fits of laughter, wheezing and giggling nonstop. "oh, that was a good one."
weasel purred. belladonna didn't know how to feel about that. she was barely paying attention to what was going on around her.
all that she could see was mania.
"hey, belladonna? would it be okay if we made camp here and stayed the night with wahoo?" melete asked.
belladonna absently nodded. "sure."
"great! we'll go catch some fish, then. feel free to join us, if you're feeling better." the rosetted molly smiled, then padded away to join the others.
and they left belladonna sitting there, mismatched eyes staring at nothing.
"curse you, mania. i won't fall for your tricks any longer." she growled, unsheathing her claws and digging them into the grass.
belladonna. you need to save them. i am not your enemy.
the black tortie exploded. "SHUT UP!" she growled, then calmed down.
memories flashed through her mind.
"mania....
who do you want me to save?" she whispered softly, gazing up at the shifting ether and watching the stars dance.
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[ # 969 words ]
-- cats on patrolbelladonna | she / her | HP 90% | HUP 20% | Sick: No (FINALLY SHE'S WELL)
melete | she / her | HP 95% | HUP 20% | Sick: No
weasel | she / her | HP 95% | HUP 20% | Sick: No
-- custom predators / prey? n/a
notes :: i've completed a monthly task! (tell wahoo a pun)
also tatsu praying please don't let anything bad happen next reply goodness
inventory items used
none!
active / monthly tasks
none !
[/quote]