The Snake Warriors

Chapter Five

I dart behind a tree. I've been following her for ten minutes now. I'm going to regret this. We appear to be nearing a lake of some sort. There are wisps floating above the water. I can see their reflections on the water from here. Why did I walk after her? If I find out anything useful, it had better be really damn useful. I hate walking. I run to another tree as quietly as possible. I peer out from behind it. Hey, I see someone sitting by the water's edge. It's a man with blonde hair. I can't make out much else, he's sitting too far away. His head isn't quite human shaped. Wait... are those fox ears? Right where a normal human's ears would be too. He has a more human form. Interesting. Lotus walks over to him and sits down beside him. She curls up into a ball and hugs her knees to her chest. I move quickly to another tree so that I'm in earshot.

"-gonna do?" I manage to catch Lotus saying.

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure this out, bu-" the man with the same voice as Foxtail gets cut off by Lotus.

"Don't give me that same bull shit excuse you've been using for the past three years as a reason to not move on from it! Let it go. You've been moping about this for far too long. You and I both know it's not healthy- spirits know I know. Call me a hypocrite, but that kind of guilt and/or self-hatred rots you away; it eats at you 'til almost nothing of who you used to be is left. Most of you will end up as a black, vile, and evil pool of rot."

"Lotus, you know because you've been through things worse than I have. You understand. We're the same that way."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between you and me. You have a choice. It hasn't been eating at you for as long it has me. You can let go. That black pool may make it tempting, it may make it fun to hurt and die inside, but in the end, it's not worth it. I barely have to will to live sometimes. You've seen me when I'm like that. Do you want to be that mess? And if you don't let it go, you will be that mess. Sure, maybe you won't be like that for a long time, but eventually it will happen," Lotus can really hammer in a point when she wants to. However, listening in on this feels pretty disrespectful. I did learn that Foxtail does have a more human form, but I should probably head to the camp. 

I go back one tree. I check behind me. They haven't noticed me. I scan around me for a good tree to go to next. That is one of the most absurd sentences I have ever thought of. There! I run to it. 

There's no way they could have heard me unless I wasn't keeping my footsteps as quiet as possible. I think I'm far away enough that I can run without them noticing. So I start running. 

What did I just hear? What happened to them? Was the black pool Lotus was talking about a real thing or a metaphor? It feels like that was a metaphor. But for what? I speed up my pace. I feel kind of bad for spying on them like that. But the implications this has for Foxtail's shapeshifting magic. Well, I don't have much time to think over all of this. I'm almost to the camp. I stop running and take a moment to compose myself. 

Something bad is going on here. Something I don't think anyone can fix. Those two people are broken, that much is obvious. But why? Is it something they share or... I just wanted to find Cace, but something tells me I'm getting involved in something that goes deeper than a missing boy on a quest. 

I sit down. I can't help but recall the last time I spoke to Cace. The day he left. I caught at the stable as he was saddling up.

"Cace," I said, "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure. Someone has to do this. The rest of my family just too cowardly. "

"Or maybe they just want to hold on to what family they can."

"Sorcha," he turned to me, "I know there's a way to safe Grandmother out there. Even if I only hold on to her for a day longer, that day is worth it. Family is something you never give up on, no matter what stands in your way."

"What if she dies before you can come back and save her? Then what?"

"Then I tried to do something. What's your problem? This is my family, my choice! Since when do you have any say in the matter?"

"For one, I've known you for years. For two, your Grandmother is my Godmother. I care about her just as much as you do. Finally, your family needs you too. They love you, they need you," I wanted to tell him right then and there. I wanted to throw my arms around him and never let go. Yet I couldn't. I knew that this was the only way he could really come to terms with the fact Grandmother Raina was dying. That's how he was, ever since we were kids. The only way he could deal with his problems was to do something, even if it was pointless or more likely to do harm than good. It was his stupid sense of honor, that he had to try and do the right thing, no matter what, combined with his brash behavior. That's part of what I love so much about him.

God, the memory of that is so strong. I can barely pull myself out of it. Did he walk this way? Did Cace stand on this very ground, wondering where to go next? 

I need to get to their camp. I'm exposed out here. If something were to attack, it could easily surprise and overpower me. Besides, maybe watching the Mallorian Remnants go about their day will allow me to clear my head. I stand up and walk into camp