Another Way

Chapter 11: Truth

A tense silence filled the room at the vixen's words, Sue's shaking eyes going wider as she tried to chew through that revelation, a half whispered question leaving her shortly afterwards-

"Do you mean... l-like me?"

There was a brief flash of confusion in Sundance's expression, one that was dashed shortly afterwards thankfully, the fiery mystic firmly shaking her head as she clarified-

"No, not in the same way as you Sue, she's from this world, her clan is just a long trek away. Sorry for confusing you like that."

A conflicting mixture of emotions filled the once human at the elaboration, part of her glad that nobody else had to have been subjected to the same sudden dimensional shift as she had, but at the same time, if someone else indeed had, maybe they would've had a better idea of how to get back home- or at least be able to empathize with her more. Even with that in mind, she was no less curious about what Sundance had mentioned, affirming her words with a nod as she listened in further, wanting nothing more than to finally get to the bottom of all this.

"I see. H-how far away?"

"Approximately a week's march in a straight line, I think. It's not something she's been keen on finding out for herself though, going back there even briefly is something she'd rather never have to do ever again."

Sue was about to ask why before biting her lip, the apparent contradiction between what she knew of Solstice and what Sundance's words implied about where she hailed from giving her a pause.

"Is it because of shomething they did?"

"Worse- because of what they are."

Sundance took a deep sigh, followed by an even deeper hit of her pipe as she leaned back in her chair, sorting through her thoughts and memories once more. The Forest Guardian could sense flashes of anger bubbling from deep within her mind, briefly manifesting as her paws clenching on their own before being forcibly relaxed again, the mystic's composure straining but ultimately holding as she began to weave her tale.

"Her clan, on the surface at least, had a much similar ambition to that of Willow's clan. Bring healing to those who need it, and honor the Pale Lady through their deeds. And if it had stopped at that, then maybe they could've been said to be a force for good even. But they didn't- they didn't think themselves mere worshipers of the Moon, they thought themselves her emissaries, the closest thing to her incarnation in flesh, and as such, that their will was divinely guided too."

The mention of 'emissaries' made Sue think back to Basil, understanding filling her expression prompting a slow, affirmative nod from her mentor.

"That belief didn't come from nowhere, after all. And even though they have been scarcely expanding, their rotten ideology and beliefs had spread much further than their physical presence, even here. It sure helped that as opposed to Willow's kin, the Forest Guardians are far, far from unarmed, even if both you and Solstice are terrible examples of that."

Part of the once human felt like she ought to be offended at that in some way, but wasn't sure how or why, shaking that thread off and reflecting on what she already seen Solstice do even during the brief time they've known each other. She had her whole body lifted off the ground without the other Forest Guardian having to put in any real effort, she had her mind tampered with to calm her down and put her unconscious, she had her thoughts read- and none of those were even the flashy things she'd seen quite a few creatures be capable of here. Hell, she herself hurt the dangerous looking bee villager rather painfully judging from his reaction, and it was completely on accident, while being as weak and inexperienced as she was- who knew how harmful an actual deliberate attack like that would've been by someone who knew what they were doing.