The Tree's Heart

IV

Back at the cabin, Willow was getting busy making some dinner. She was chopping up a bunch of herbs and boiling potatoes and carrots over her little stove. Clover was sitting on the bed, her knees pulled towards her chest, watching Willow prepare the dinner. They were both silent and all Clover could hear was the wind outside the cabin, the crackling of the fire and the noise of Willow chopping ingredients.

Clover wasn't sure whether Willow was still angry with her or not. They hadn't spoken since Willow had found her out in the forest by herself, trying to run off. Clover didn't even know whether she should apologise or not. She didn't feel like she had much of a reason to be sorry for running away, but she also didn't want this weird tension between her and Willow. Especially not, if she was supposed to stay here for a while longer. And if she was going to try this Willow's way, it seemed they'd have to spend some time together.

There was a little scratching noise at the window and Willow looked up from her cooking, quickly wiping her hands on the towel she had hanging on her skirt, before heading over towards the window and opening it, letting a three-coloured cat inside with a smile. The cat climbed onto her shoulder and sat there for a while, before hopping off onto the ground and getting comfortable near the fire. The cat was shooting Clover a short inquisitive look, but then looked away in disinterest and closed its eyes.

"Pooka likes being in here when it's going to be a cold night." Willow explained, before getting back to the cooking.

"Her name is Pooka?" Clover asked, just to break the silence. Willow glanced over her shoulder at her and nodded slowly.

"Yes. That's what I just said."

"I didn't know there were cats around here. Like, wild cats." Clover commented, hoping she could get some of her questions answered. She wasn't even sure where to start with her questions, but she wanted to know what Willow's plan was. She wanted to know how she proposed to get her out of this forest and why she seemed to be so careful in this place. Even if Clover didn't believe in magic, she wanted to hear what Willow thought. Maybe that would make it easier to trust in her at some stage.

"Wouldn't be much of a magical forest if there wasn't a cat around. Then again, who knows if Pooka is really a cat?"

"What else would she be?"

"Could be a person turned into a cat. Could be some sort of shapeshifter. I don't know. There's a lot out there that I don't know of yet. This forest is ancient. It has all kinds of things. Beautiful things, yes, but also dangerous things." Willow explained. Clover nodded slowly. She crossed her legs on the bed and leaned forward a little.

"So what's the deal with this place? I don't know anything about magic whatsoever. I have no idea how any of this works." Clover said to her. Willow was quiet for a while and put some more ingredients into the soup she was making.

"You'll learn eventually. Let's hope you don't find out the hard way." she finally answered, causing Clover to groan in frustration which woke Pooka up from her slumber. The cat gave her an alarmed look, before curling up again and closing her eyes once more. Clover felt bad for waking her up like that.

"How am I supposed to trust this whole process if you're not going to tell me anything about it? I mean, I'm trying, but I'd like to have some answers." she complained. Willow didn't turn around to look at her.

She just continued chopping her vegetables and throwing them into the pot. Clover wasn't sure whether she should be pressing the issue, but she felt like she was owed at least some sort of an answer, some explanation of what was going on here. After all, she was the one that was trying to get out again.

"You've got a lot of fire in you. That's going to help." Willow finally said, before putting a lid on the pot and turning back to her. Clover gave her a confused look, tilting her head to the side, waiting for an explanation.