"Community shall arise and crafts a gentle loyalty, iron in nature."
Channeling the Crimson Eye's power alongside using whatever strange, internal energy they possessed had fully exhausted Evelyth and they had quickly bid a hasty retreat into the temple where they curled up behind the podium to sleep. Their body had shut down relatively quickly, seemingly 'turning off' in response to the heavy exhaustion resting inside of her. She'd awoken of course with a warm, red blanket wrapped securely around their shoulders and the makings of the most impressive grass-bed yet stacked behind them. The Crown reported that the followers had wanted to build it around them, but - and Eve already knew - they were incredibly sensitive to movement around them and so began stirring whenever they got close. Eventually, Ratau had draped the blanket across their shoulders and banished everyone from the temple until Eve had awoken and declared themself willing to interact with the outside.
They weren't even able to thank the rat, given the elderly man had returned to his own home - a little shack away from the Garden.
Eve had to admit, their heartbeat had spiked immediately at the realization that they were alone - alone with others who could only speak their tongue tangentially. The followers were trying, they really were - even Naliyen and her kit - but it made them feel so much more alone to be resorting back to using the Crown as their voice instead of having others who could understand them naturally.
I thought I was already used to loneliness, they had thought dejectedly to themself as the news sank in, Yet the bite of lonesomeness is as sharp as ever.
Sometimes, Eve really hated being a sheep and they wondered in a brief moment of bitterness if Ratau had noticed their detachment to the cult and had left intentionally. A lone sheep would bond quickly to a group after all, as quickly as a lone wolf to a new pack and perhaps the rat (as he'd always said) was just too loyal a servant to the old red-crown bearer to want any good for Eve.
The bitterness passed as quickly as it had arrived but the thought remained in the back of their mind, nagging and nipping when they noticed themself beginning to take requests from the cultists. Forming further attachments to them - and that was ignoring the newfound... awareness she supposes, that she can feel for Valefor who now carried the strange signature she'd placed upon him.
Eve had to admit - they were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. These new powers, the apparent visage that is the Waiting One referring to them as a 'vessel' which implied a longer term stay. How would they even begin to communicate the confusion they were now feeling - perhaps it was in exchange for the death of Leshy? The black sheep was aware that now, the confrontation would be inevitable - killing three of his most loyal, and it was no secret that the bishop of Death and Decay loathed his siblings of the Old Faith for his imprisonment, seemingly uncaring that the fall of the Old would also necessarily include himself.
Perhaps he thinks their time in command of this world has expired? Eve mused to themself, watering one one of the budding farm plots (good on the followers for continuing to expand it in hr absence). They had been pondering this since they awoke, allowing the conflict they felt toward Ratau to sort of fade. As frustrating as the concept was, the rat was not unlike herself - never once did he claim allegiance to Eve or their cause, instead directly stepping in as their mentor and claiming to have ruled this cult before them. Obviously, that meant his loyalty would be to his Lord whom he (apparently) had already once failed. Far more pressing was the expectations of a god they had only communicated with twice, the conclusion that she would serve him.
Perhaps it was something they could bring up when they had the chance? It was clear the One Who Waits could grab them whenever they used the Red Crown for transportation, so they would only have to wait until they returned to the Lands of the Old and then... well, hope that the Waiting One deems it time to converse.
"Silent One?"
Eve looked up, turning their scarlet gaze upon the almost rigid form of Naliyen. That was the newest one, a title the vixen and her daughter had placed upon Eve that had been growing rapidly popular among the cult. Eve didn't mind, honestly it felt more suitable than the usual 'Blessed Lamb' and less misleading than Ratau's affectionate one of 'Promised Liberator.' The vixen had even unknowingly granted them the pleasant reassurance that the title was for their skill as much as it was for their method of speech when her daughter commented on the large bell dangling around their neck. She'd allowed the little kit to flick the object, an almost jarring jangling sound coming from the object that otherwise remained silent when Eve was in motion.
"How do you expect us to fair with these sub-par sleeping arrangements?"
I have slept in far worse conditions and found myself content.
"Perhaps this is satisfactory to you but I will not have my kit's growth stunted over this," the fox said sternly. "Do you know how to build a proper shelter?"
I am but a sheep. Such a luxury as a stable shelter has never been mine.
The fox's agitation faltered, Naliyen likely remembering in that very moment what the sheep people had been up to for the last seventy or so years. Evelyth has been the only sheep alive for the last twelve years of their life and their population un-recoverable only a year or so before they were born.
"I... see..." the vixen muttered, then she nodded sharply. "Fine. That means I'll be doing it myself - cottontail, prongs, come with me."
She didn't even stop to check if the other two were following her, the vixen striding off with purpose in her steps. When Eve gave them a conceding not, Maon and Lumor wordlessly walked after the fox to begin fixing shelters.
Is there anything else that you find unsatisfactory? they decided to ask the remaining followers.
"Nothing comes to mind Silent One," said Fina honestly, scratching her ear. "Though do you maybe have ideas on how to keep the crows away?"
Crows?
"They are picking away at our crops."
A scarecrow then. Place a bell-upon it also - the wind jostling it should dissuade our feathered intruders from continuing to feast upon our work.
"Do you know how to make one?" the hedgehog inquired.
"I know how!" Tynamar said enthusiastically. "Mama showed me!"
"Alright," agreed the hedgehog easily, offering a nod and begun ushering her off.
... perhaps then we should attempt to construct a location to store wood, Eve signed to those who remained. Those sleeping beds weren't exactly cheep to make as far as materials went - they had to strip trees of branches and do their best to weave the leaf-laden ones. Though in the beginning it had helped in their efforts to clean up the abandoned cult-grounds, it was starting to pass into the point of becoming... barren. Eve appreciated and took security in the gathering of trees separating them from the wider world so they wanted to reduce the number of trees chopped down within the central part of the clearing - that said, without somewhere to store lumber gathered from father away, all that would happen was that it would rot and mold when it rained. Or be consumed by the bugs and beetles nesting through the layers. A dedicated lumberyard so that you all may have wood without having to wait for my returns from outings.
"In this case Silent One, perhaps we should also have a mine?" Amdusias offered hesitantly. When Eve raised a brow they continued, "It fills me with shame that we have to rely on your holiness to retrieve the common stone for our creations. Though we are honored by your tenderness to us o Blessed Lamb, we should not take time from you that could be better spent spreading word of your greatness."
'Spreading greatness' was not the reason Eve ventured out on the 'crusades' as the Crimson Eye referred to them but they wouldn't fight a proposed method of making their tentative flock of gardeners more independent from their aid. So they nodded their approval at the idea and rose to their hooves, stretching their arms upward. They ignored the slightly intense looks from their followers as the red cloak draped across their shoulders shifted a little showing thick, lightly curled black wool - perhaps they would shear themselves later.
For now she motioned for Amdusias to lead them onward.
