Redemption: Purrsia

Chapter 11

The area outside the runestone chamber was abuzz with magicat activity, as word had gotten out that Neara's daughters were going to complete the trial of D'riluth. Adora was sitting on a high rock ledge as the small crowd gathered below, she could only watch as Catra and Kywa prepared for the trial, she focused on Catra's face trying to read her expression but it wasn't giving anything away, she was worried about her, the more she thought about it the more she was certain there was something a little off about the way Catra agreed to doing the trial so quickly. Adora sighed loudly, trying to shake the niggling feeling in her gut.

Tao came over and patted Adora on the shoulder and then sat down beside her,"You're worried too?",

Adora nodded,"How come you're not down there with them?",

"Purrsians aren't magicats, so right now i'm in the same boat as you all i can do is watch",

"Do you think they'll be ok in there?",

Tao sighs,"I don't know Adora, I would love nothing more than to assure you everything will be fine, but after today's events...i just don't know. From what Percival has told me there was only ever one other time the trial was taken with conflicting siblings'',

Adora looked at Tao,"What happened to them",

Tao pauses for a moment before answering,"Neither of them came back", Adora looked down at Catra. Now she was more worried than ever and that niggling pain started to make her feel sick.

Catra and Kywa sit across from each other both of them dressed in a black tank top and shorts, a male magicat sits in between them in front of a fire pit, throwing in small pieces of bark and thin leaved branches that slowly fill the air around Catra and Kywa with a sharp and sweet smelling thick white smoke. Both of them had a female magicat sitting in front of them, each mixing up red ochre with a stone knife. Once the mixture was thick enough they started painting over the stripes on the girls fur as well as painting stripes on their legs and lastly the outline of the mask of D'riluth on their faces.

As the magicat was painting Catra's face she opened one of eye and looked over to Kywa," so have you done this before?",

Kywa answered Catra without opening her eyes,"a trial no, it hasn't been done for many years, way before our.....", her voice trails off, she pauses for a moment and frowns,"...our mothers time".

The female magicats finished their work and stood up. Percival appears from behind them,"It is time", both Catra and Kywa stand up. Kywa leaves behind Percival, Catra follows and notices that the stone knife has been left behind, she picks it up and hides in the back of her shorts.

Percival stands in front of the old stone entrance, the girls stand in front of him. He takes a moment to look at them both,"You're commencing this trial under less than ideal circumstances, the one thing you have to remember the inner chamber will sense your hostility to one another and try and use it against you", the girls nod silently and step forward to stand next to Percival as he waves his hand to open the door. Catra and Kywa walk past Percival and through the doors into a dark corridor, "D'riluth guide you", Percival says as the doors close and the girls are plunged into darkness.

They both create a small ball of light, moisture runs down the stone walls in pools across the dirt path, they exchange a wordless glance then start walking down the path behind them in the darkness appear several sets of evil red eyes. The shadows crawl across the walls and over the ceiling closing in on Catra and Kywa, Catra ears prick up at a familiar uneasiness and one of the shadows gently wraps its spindly fingers around her upper arm,"Thissssss one is filled with hatred", another shadow curled around Catra and came to rest on her other shoulder,"Yesssss, what a delightful sssssmell".