The Familiars of the Lost Witch (ONC 2024)

7. Asha

As days passed Kyrells dreams became worse. He would croak in his sleep and wake up disoriented, searching for Cybele, who had vanished in his dreams.

Asha reassured him every time, she was confident, at least she wanted to seem that way. Kyrells worry seemed to infect her too, she grew restless and couldn't nap in peace, not only because the bird wouldn't let her for long.

It can't go on like that. If Cybele didn't come back soon, they would come to her! Her peaceful life was in danger.

"Maybe Cybele got distracted on the way back or the meeting took longer than expected. Eitherway we should look for her, waiting is boring", Asha meowed. She didn't know who she wanted to convince more, Kyrell, the boy or herself.

The boy didn't seem very enthusiastic about going away to look for Cybele, but it was his job to take care of them, Asha knew, and Kyrell would go without question. And even though she didn't want to admit it, they needed him. The possibility of them finding her grew when he came with them and it was safer to travel with a human.

On the day they would depart Kyrell was very energetic even though he didn't sleep much again. He was flapping his wings constantly, hopping and flying from one room to another. It really got on Asha's nerves, but she resisted the urge to pull some of his feathers out.

The boy packed one of Cybele's bags with food and water for them, a few herbs and a useful book with simple potions Asha ordered him to take along. If one of them got hurt he could use the herbs to make a potion and cure them. That would only help with simple wounds, but it was better than nothing. They had to be prepared for anything.

Asha didn't want to show him where Cybele kept her money, he could just steal it and run away, but they would need it, so she showed him one of her hidden money stashes. He didn't take more than she ordered him too and she kept a very close eye on him.

Sitting on the outside of the windowsill Asha closed her eyes and let the first sunrays warm her fur. In her thoughts she went back to the first time Cybele took her to the to witch meeting when she was still little. Even though it was a very long time ago, she could remember it clearly.

They had to cross the forest, then go around a big lake and through fields. In a forest full of conifers on a big clearing surrounded by stones would the meeting be held.

Because the human couldn't fly, they had to travel by foot and it would take them at least three days to arrive there, if they didn't find Cybele on the way, like they hoped.

"Are you ready?", she asked the boy behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know it was him, his steps were already familiar and there wasn't any other human around anyway.

"Yes, I think", came his answer. Before one of them could say anything more, Kyrell landed next to her.

"Can we go now?" The look in his eyes was a hopeful one and Asha didn't want to take away his hope, so she just purred, ignoring her own worry and the bad feeling growing inside of her.

---

Asha was used to sneaking through the streets and on top of the buildings of the city all night, that was nothing to her. But travelling all day, the time she normally just spend lying around and napping, made her tired. Her paws felt heavy and began to hurt, but she didn't want to admit her defeat yet.

Kyrell was still flying from one tree to another and waiting for them before he flew ahead again. Sometimes he would come down and sit on the boys shoulder to tell them what was ahead of them. Sometimes they had to adjust their route, because they wanted to avoid a village or they realised they weren't on the right way.

Asha usually had a very good sense of orientation, but she had never been this far away from Jericho and her home on foot. To make it worse she only knew the way from above but she couldn't fly. So she had to share what she remembered to Kyrell, who had also never been this far away. He was their eye in the sky, their compass and would check with Asha whenever he was unsure.

The boy just walked in silence along side them. There wasn't really anything to talk about. Sometimes when Asha saw a useful herb on the way she asked him to pick it up and store it in his bag. Then she would tell him what he could do with that, sometimes he would ask questions, but that was it.

After another while they took a break while Kyrell flew ahead to scout out the area. Asha wanted to distract herself from her aching paws and the curiosity gnawed at her, so she asked straight away: "Why did you leave food at the orphanage?"

His hand stopped midway to his mouth, a water bottle in his hand, and with an half open mouth he stared at her. "How-?"

"I have my ways", she meowed and licked her right paw. "But did you really think I wouldn't notice you sneaking out every few nights with a bag full of food? You humans are really dense."

He flinched for a second, avoiding her eyes, then murmured: "But if you knew, why didn't you confront me before?" He still avoided her question.

Yes, why didn't she say anything before? Did she think he would tell her on his own? No, she just loved secrets and finding out those secrets. She wanted to find out the reason behind it on her own. But now they would be away for a long time, he couldn't go to the orphanage and she couldn't follow him in the meantime.

But Asha didn't want to wait till they returned, she couldn't wait this long. If the only possible way to find out his secret was asking directly, then she had to do that. It was as simple as this.

He still seemed like the didn't want to answer, but he would eventually. Maybe she could guess an answer out of him. "Was the orphanage the place you lived before? Does someone you know live there? A famlily member maybe?"

The boy flinched so hard that the water splashed out of the open water bottle. She had guessed correctly.

For a second she thought he wouldn't answer her, but then he murmured: "My sister."

___

Wordcount:
chapter: 1132 words
in total: 9166 words

Now the journey officially begins!

And we passed the second ONC round! ;D