[Center][h1]Moss II[/h1][/center] [hr] An old weathered face looked at them with lifeless, cold eyes. Aged it was, covered in vines and half buried by a bed of earth. It was not made of stone but the light from the early dawn cast it in such a way, it looked as if it were. But one quick tap let any see it was of metal, still rust free after countless days passed. An ancient sleeping, waiting, but for what? Teefee began to climb the head, as all cats were want to do on an object that dwarfed them. Moss snapped her fingers and said to the girl, “Don't.” At Teefee’s puzzled look, Moss explained, “Sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone. Let it rest undisturbed by us.” Teefee pouted but otherwise obeyed. They had reached an old forest where well worn paths had become overgrown, if any existed at all. The morning light barely penetrated through the tops of the trees. It was dark within those gnarled boughs but not so entirely to thwart passage. Interspaced within the woods were large barren patches of earth. Like someone had come along and taken everything living or had cut it all away. Occasionally there would be a large metallic object within the clearing or scattered throughout the woods, much like the old head. Light peered down through the clearings at least and illuminated the surrounding trees, many of which grew… Wrong. They grew away from the clearings, as if unable to touch within. They were gnarled trees of no definite species, almost black of bark with diseased looking leaves, if any grew at all. Suffice to say, they steered clear from those places. Moss couldn't help but feel unnerved by them and at times they all fell silent when close to one, and she felt the strangest melancholy. She didn't even have to tell Teefee to stay away, the cat girl’s hair always stood on end and she put Rahdayo in between her and the clearings. When they had reached the head, in the night of last, they had assumed it was just a boulder and Moss had decided to take a break for the day. Only now did they see what watched over them in the night. The path they took was one she had only heard of but it was a shortcut, supposedly, in such uncharted lands. It would take them closer to their destination, if they managed it. So far nothing had happened. The clearings were eerie, yes, but nothing came of them in the dead of night. Granted, they had camped out of sight of any so far and Moss would keep it that way. “Why is this place,” Rahdayo began as they started to pack up, “So…” “Strange.” Zafrina finished for him. Moss took a moment as old memories burst free from their cages, filling her mind with voices she knew as a child. She smiled at that and then said, “Listen for a moment.” She stopped putting away things and placed her hands on her lap. Rahdayo and Zafrina followed suit as Teefee hummed to herself before being elbowed by Zafrina. She hissed low and then fell quiet, most likely more out of embarrassment. It wasn't silence that enveloped them but life itself. Birds chirped and sang their lullabies. Insects buzzed with their melodies. Some animal called out deep in the forest, only to be answered in a tree above them. They looked up, it was only a squirrel. “Is it so strange?” Came the voice of Moss. “The telltale sign of strangeness is silence all around you where it should not be. Even around those clearings, things chatter and sing. No, this place isn't so strange. You just aren't familiar with such woods. Not yet, anyway.” “But, mistress,” Rahdayo said, eyes yearning, “What caused those clearings? Why are there so many metal parts strewn through the woods? I've never seen the like of them before.” Zafrina and Teefee nodded in agreement. Moss started packing again but said, “My father told me his great grandfather survived a great ordeal once. Upon the surface, when home wasn't home. The sunlit world was dangerous after all and my great great grandfather ran from its evil to find shelter in the dark. Monsters sought him, but he tricked them at every turn. It was just a bedtime story. I thought.” She stood and looked at the great old face. “It was only when I knew better did I ask if it was true or not. My father told me there was a time when our world was besieged. That creatures so dark and terrible washed over the land, gobbling up any in their path. Like a fat goblin at a feast. He said the gods fought back, for us mortals who could not on our own. Terrible battles took place and the wounds still exist today.” She turned back to them and smirked, “Great granddad was a survivor. He ran for his life and got lucky. Wouldn't be here without him, so, guess that's good.” Her three pupils looked at one another before Teefee got to her feet and said, “Teefee knows such tales. Papa Kah would tell Teefee and Teefee’s siblings such stories before bed. Mama did not like when we all scrambled into bed with them at night. Papa Kah got a scolding.” She then went back to her humming and started packing before a butterfly flew past and her attention fell upon it. Rahdayo looked contemplative but it was Zafrina who spoke next, asking, “If it's true, then the gods must have won right? So what became of the creatures?” “I imagine they were all butchered.” Moss said. “Just look at the size of that head and tell me the body wasn't built to match?” She waved her hand in dismissal. “And if they weren't all destroyed, then they went into hiding in the forgotten places of the world. Nothing like that will be bothering us. Only bandits. If we're lucky.” Both Rahdayo and Zafrina blinked. “Lucky?” they both said. Moss laughed. [hr] It was a most uneventful travel, all things considered. They had left the forest three days ago, after a week within and the country had given way to sparse grasslands, dotted with an occasional hill or deep gully. On one such hill they had been able to see a long way around them. Mountains dotted the distant horizons to the north. The forest was behind them and the Trees were to the east. The trees, their guiding lights. Wasn't it odd how everyone you met instinctively knew where those trees were? Yet no one would have thought so. Even her pupils didn't think it odd. They just knew, so she was told. This puzzled Moss some but it wasn't that pressing of a concern. Furthermore, her other concerns [i]were[/i] more pressing. Zafrina had turned cold towards Rahdayo and they weren't talking. A common sibling occurrence but one that had grown tiring. It seemed that a dispute, one Moss had considered to be extremely stupid, was actually of life shattering proportions for the two. Zafrina had suggested adding a certain tuber to their supper a few nights back. For a more hearty stock and taste. Rah had denied this and was certain it wouldn't mix well with what he had going on. The fight, if you could call it that, was more of a heated argument about the culinary arts and not getting her way, Zafrina stormed off. If there was one thing Rahdayo had backbone in, it was his cooking. Now she was being brisk with her brother, who felt guilt when he shouldn't. Time and time again Moss had tried to explain to Rah that one did not need to feel guilt for everything but his heart was just too big. And Moss could tell how much it was bothering him. Every subtle facial tweak at her brushing him off. The sad eyes. He was easy to read and Moss wasn't the only one to pick up on that. Teefee made her move, filling in their silence with chatter and laughs. Zafrina’s coldness only grew. For if there was one rivalry in her party, it was between the girls and their want for attention. Moss just cursed her luck. On a night where the Hand shone brightest, Moss awoke with a chill. Groggy at first before her senses snapped sharp, she realized two things. One being that the fire had grown to embers and that her three pupils were gone. She felt a surge of panic threaten to knock her senses silly, so she calmed herself. Remembered her training. She quickly got dressed and began to look at the ground around their sleeping pads. Indented grass, footsteps that led off into the darkness. They had camped in the shadow of a hill that led down to a small brook. In the light she could make out nothing until the rustle of grass made her draw a knife, poised to throw. Yet it was Zafrina who stalked back into their small circle. She froze when she saw Moss and then walked forward. She didn't say anything, indeed her face was a mask of indifference as she got under her blanket and rolled away from Moss. “Fine.” Moss grumbled. “I guess I'll ask then, what's wrong? Where are the other two?” Zafrina’s biting whisper answered her, “Down by the water.” Moss waited for anything else but when it didn't come she stalked off, muttering to herself about rude goats. The trip to the creak was short, well usually, but she stopped halfway when she heard the strangest of noises. Like someone was whimpering. Was one of them hurt? Moss felt her heart speed up and she quickened her pace but as she got closer, the whimpering turned to a peel of laughter. Teefee? And then a low moan. Rahdayo? What was she doing to him? Why, she'd wring that cat's neck if she had hu- Moss froze in the pathway. Before her at the brook’s edge were Teefee and Rahdayo. The Hand's light revealed them to be very, very nude. Teefee was on top of Rah. Moving to some hidden rhythm. And it clicked. The whimpering. The moaning. Moss spun and trudged back up the hill, feeling very flustered and foolish. She reached the camp and instantly attacked Zafrina, jumping on her and shaking her shoulder. “You could have spared my eyes that, you stupid g-” She stopped as Zafrina looked at her, blue eyes watery, rimmed with red and cheeks stained wet. Moss sighed, deflating at the sight. Zafrina stared at her, rubbing her eyes. She looked… Sad? Sorrowful? Moss reached out her hand and touched her pupil's cheek. “Let’s talk.” She said in a soft voice. After throwing some wood on the fire, Moss wrapped herself up in a blanket and sat beside Zafrina. There was silence between the two and one Moss would have to break, as Zafrina just stared at the kindling flames. “Zafrina. Please tell me you aren't upset because you wanted t-” Moss began but was cut off as Zafrina turned to her, eyes brimming with a familiar anger. “You're joking right?” Moss raises her hands in defense. “Alright, not a great question to ask I suppose.” She smiled and Zafrina rolled her eyes. “Then what's this all about?” Zafrina sighed and looked away. “He shouldn't be doing that with her. She's… Not right for him.” “Oh?” Moss asked, putting her hands out towards the fire. It was warm on such a chill night. “She’ll hurt him. I know it. She's just a stupid girl and he's a foolish boy who can't say no.” Zafrina scowled, anger in her voice as she stood up and began to pace. “Teefee is always going on about being sold into marriage. How she can't wait to go home. And then she goes on leading my brother like this? She'll leave him after using him. He'll be… Devastated. I can't… I don't…” Zafrina looked pained, words difficult for her. This was odd, she was usually so full of quips. Moss shut her eyes for a moment, thinking about that one time Renny and Delo, her cousins, had been fighting over the same girl. This was strangely similar but still different enough to make her choose her next words carefully. “Zafrina. Why didn't you stop them, then?” At the question, Zafrina sighed and sat back down. “It would not have gone well if I did. He already hates me.” “Hates you? Please. He's your brother. He could never hate you.” Zafrina looked Moss in the eye, “Then why won't he speak to me?” Moss squinted her eyes. She wasn't serious, was she? Oh for the gods sake, she was. Moss opened her mouth to speak, framing it as delicately as possible, “Zafrina, have you tried to talk to him?” She opened her mouth to speak but shut it. Zafrina’s eyes cast a look of shame and she looked away from Moss. “You didn't like when he put his foot down the other day. Over that stew because you thought your idea was better.” Moss said, Zafrina nodded with some reluctance. “Ever since, you've turned a cold shoulder to him. You, Zafrina. You do it all the time. To him. To me. Teefee. It wasn't always like this. This conversation has been a long time coming. So why?” “Because I'm just a bitch.” Zafrina’s voice was quiet, etched with self loathing. “No.” Moss blurted but thought better of it, “Well, yes, you can be. So can I. But that's only a symptom of the real cause. So what is it?” “Thanks.” Zafrina grumbled, before looking up at the night sky. “I guess I…” Her voice wavered, “I'm just angry. All the time. I rarely feel anything else.” She took a deep breath. “I know if I lose my temper I'll hurt the people I care about so I shut them out. It's easier that way. For the both of us. I hate myself, Moss.” She quivered, looking back towards the dying fire. There was something else on her face. Terror. “I know such anger.” “No you don't.” Zafrina snapped. “I do.” Moss said with calm. “My first teacher was murdered in front of me.” Zafrina stilled. “Yes. You aren't the only one in the world to watch people you care about be butchered before your eyes. That anger drove me, consumed me and I ended up hating myself. Just like you. So I tracked down the murderers and I slew them all. All of them and anyone else there at that time, even if they were innocent. After that, my guilt coupled with that anger drove me to a very dark place, Zafrina. I thought about ending it all but time has a way of moving on without you knowing.” She sighed. “My cousin found me, wandering alone. She took me back home. It wasn't pretty at first but it did get better. And you know why?” She looked at Zafrina, whose focus was already on her, “Because they loved me and were patient. I let them in, I didn't push them away. Eventually I left. Not entirely well, never entirely will be but then I stumbled on a couple orphans. The girl, with her blue eyes, she knew them. They had been my own.” Moss took Zafrina’s hand and squeezed. “I never wanted children. Truth be told. But you've been stuck with me now for a long time and I won't let you suffer in silence anymore. I thought training you would help, perhaps it has, but now comes the hard part. Talking.” “Tears slid down Zafrina’s face. “How do I start?” She asked. “Apologize to your brother. Start from there.” “Okay.” She dipped her chin. Moss squeezed her hand again. “I am proud of you, you know. You're a brilliant young woman, Zafrina. With so much potential.” Zafrina said nothing as she nodded and wiped at her eyes. After a time she spoke again, “Moss. There's something else.” “And what's that?” Moss raised an eyebrow. “I missed my cycle.” Moss stared at her in disbelief and opened her mouth to say… She didn't know what. Thankfully, or ironically, before she could say anything Rahdayo and Teefee burst through the brush into the clearing, holding hands and giggling like children. When they saw Moss and Zafrina, Rahdayo blushed a deep red and Teefee’s face became extremely smug with triumph. Moss stood up and pointed a finger at all of them. “That's it! We're having the [i]talk[/i]. Now sit down!” [hider=Summary] We see our trepid adventurers through a forest of ancient days and they discuss such tales. Later the birds and the bees plus a little anger, get thrown into the mix, oh my! [/hider]