Web of Lies

xi

It was cold, damp, and Robinflight was starting to regret looking for Coralstar at all. More drops of water landed on her back and she grew more irritated with each one. If she ever made it out, she'd have frostbite times ten.

If.

The word danced through her head, taunting her. She knew there was a slim chance she'd get out, but that didn't mean she had to treat the situation like she'd never get out, right? Robinflight laughed coldly at her crude attempts at hope. There was no way she'd ever get out of here. No one would ever find her. She'd either starve to death, or die of frostbite before anyone even heard an echo of her calls. Robinflight had dug her grave, now she had to lie in it.

"Hello?" A small, kit-like voice asked. Robinflight froze, her blood running colder than the water falling from the ceiling. Slowly, a tiny, white, fluffy kit wandered out of the darkness. The kit stared at her, innocence in their glossy blue eyes. "What's wrong?"

This had to be a hallucination.

"I- uh- was- come on, I'm going crazy, right?" Robinflight asked loudly, her voice echoing around the cave. "No, you aren't real. You're like, a figment of my imagination."

The kit grinned, their smile like sweet poison. Robinflight watched, shocked, as the kit shifted into a skinny cat that looked like a corpse. In fact, it was a corpse. Flies buzzed around where a left ear was torn off, exposing rotting flesh. Robinflight's jaw dropped as the corpse began to speak, a hoarse, sickly voice filling the silence.

"You, you're smart. You saw through my disguise. Never saw one like you," It hissed with a grin, exposing black, chipped fangs.

"What do you mean, never saw one like me? Who, what, are you?" Robinflight demanded, praying to StarClan that whatever this was, it didn't want to hurt her.

"How about you give me your name first?" The corpse asked, lifting a mangled paw.

"Uh, no thanks," Robinflight declined, backing away. She started to remember the tales the queens used to tell her as a kit. Stories about tempei, walking corpses that roamed caves. If you gave them your name, you had to do what they said until your death. Then, you became tempei and the tempei controlling you was allowed to rest. "I'd rather not."

The tempei clicked it's tongue, taking a step forward. Robinflight's heart raced as she racked her brain for info about the tempei. She remembered that tempei cannot lie about yes or no answers. Her mind quickly put together a plan, a bad one, a plan that was unlikely to work, but a plan nonetheless.

"How about we play a game?" Robinflight spat out quickly, her body cold with fear. She had a faint memory of a queen telling her that tempei could not refuse playing a game, as it went against their nature as a trickster. However, once you play a game with a tempei, you cannot stop until one of you loses.

"A game?" The corpse's dead eyes glinted, and Robinflight knew she could not turn back. "What kind of game?"

"A question game."

The tempei snarled, knowing it had been trapped. "Is that so?" It spat. "You think you can beat a tempei by tricking it? We are tricksters, girl, you cannot win."

"Do you want to play, or are you too chicken to accept my offer?"

The tempei looked appalled. Its face hardened and it flattened its ears. She had angered it, and now she knew she was really in trouble.

"Fine, if you insist. What are the rules?"

"I ask a question, you ask a question. No asking for names. You can't lie. You win by getting the other to tell them your name. You may start," Robinflight explained, trying to mask her fear with confidence. "What is your question, tempei?"

The tempei smirked, lashing it's broken tail back and forth. "What is your business here?"

"I fell down a tunnel," Robinflight said plainly. "I didn't want to have business here, but here we are."

"That's barely any information! How-"

"My turn," Robinflight reminded the corpse. The corpse hissed and let her continue. "What do you want with me?"

"Easy. I wanted to make you my slave, is that not what all tempei want? That is our purpose, after all. Now..." The tempei contemplated what it was to say next. "How did you get to the tunnel that you fell down?"

"My friends pushed me down it."

Robinflight watched as the tempei tried to contain its anger. She had to admit, it was fun messing with this monster, but she couldn't waste time. She had to get this tempei's name, and fast.

"Is that so?" The tempei growled, scratching the ground with broken claws.

"Yep. Anyway, my turn. Are your friends around?" Robinflight asked, sitting down. She was still scared, of course, but at least she knew her plan was coming together. Tempei could not lie about yes or no questions.

"Of course!" The tempei blurted out without thinking. The tempei realized what it had said, then looked up at Robinflight, a malicious, furious expression on its face. "My question."

"Of course."

"Why did you want to know that?"

"It's rumored that tempei travel in packs, however, I've never met a tempei. I couldn't confirm. But, now I know," Robinflight said simply.

"I'm sure." The tempei sat down, still eyeing Robinflight from her head to her paws. It sent a shiver down Robinflight's spine.

"My turn. Are your friends close by?"

The tempei twitched, starting to suspect Robinflight's plan. It tried to prevent the words coming from its mouth, but it could not lie.

"Yep!" The tempei looked disgusted with itself. "Why do you want to know?"

"You really want to ask that again? I told you, I was curious. I've never met a tempei before. My question: would they come if you yelled really loudly?"

"Yes! Argh! You're tricking me, aren't you?" The tempei yelled, its voice ringing through out the cave.

"Is that so? Well, I look forward to meeting them," Robinflight said with a smirk. Her plan was almost finished.

"What do you mean-" The tempei was cut off by a distant cry.

"Frozenfur!" The voice yelled, before a herd of tempei charged out from the darkness. The leading onr, the biggest one, approached the tempei. "Frozenfur, are you alright? We thought you were in trouble!"

Robinflight suppresses a laugh as she stood up. The tempei, Frozenfur, stared at her in horror, realizing what had happened.

"Well, Frozenfur, I guess I'll be going. I'll call on you when I need you, 'kay?" She had won, meaning she knew his name, meaning she could call on him whenever she pleased.

The herd of tempei broke out into angry shouts, and Robinflight ran past them before they could catch her.

As she dashed into the darkness, she congratulated herself. She had out tricked the trickster itself.