The Overlord

  Moonlight poured in from the silhouettes of the branches above. Spider’s narrow, amber gaze stared above, lost in thought. He wished there could be less of an inconvenient time for Lune to give her reports, at least for her sake. How was his communicator supposed to work efficiently if she was circling back to him every night? She truly was a restless molly.

  It made him a little tired himself, but if it was Lune’s choice, he couldn’t argue with it. He blinked away his thoughts as he noticed a white blur through his mask. The tabby tom averted his attention onto the form, there was Lune.

  “Getting fresh air?”

  “Yes.” He dipped his head respectfully, then left to his den with his communicator tarrying behind him.

  His paws stopped at the end of the tidy space and he turned to face Lune. “Now then, what’s new?”

  “My Overlord, there is nothing significant to report about our borders. I’ve noticed Sage, Snail, and Tangle are all getting along well within the Web Colony…” as per usual, she’d run through the list, noting improvements and whatnot. It was routine but Spider paid careful attention.

  Before he could recommend anything, though, he caught the name he now often wondered about. “Beaver,” he repeated.

  Lune paused her report and acknowledged Spider with a twitch of her ear.

  “Do you think he dislikes me?”

  Lune’s stoic facade broke as she laughed. “Dislikes you? What a silly thing to worry about.” Despite her laughter, he stared back seriously. Quickly, she realized he wasn’t joking and continued softly. “You’re the Overlord. Why think about something so… inconsequential?”

  “I saw him and complimented him on his skills. I was confused to find he had no interest in talking to me. I figured you’d know, so why is it?”

  Lune grew quiet. Tense. “And why did you see him?”

  It was simple, yet he couldn’t give her the explanation. I stayed within my section, he reasoned to himself. Somewhat. He grew curious about what was beyond the deep forest as if he hadn’t been to camp recently. He never went outside of the “Overlord’s Section,” as others called it, in his own solitude. He was only looking to make an exception to that, if only for a moment.

  His silence spoke for itself. “That curious nature of yours’, tell me, why do you choose to indulge it as you do?” Lune glared at Spider and gave a cock of her head. “Don’t you know, you have more important things to worry about than…” she waved her paw vaguely, “bugs.”

  Was she implying his attention was caught only by a bug outside of his section? He could picture it as some comedic scenario, the Overlord running out of his area to catch a cricket he liked. To observe it. Perhaps that would be the old him, but many days he sat alone in his den, planning for the future.

  … Worrying about the future.

  “What about the Fire Colony? There’ll be more of it, yet you waste your day away wondering about a single cat. You have to think these things through, Spider. It’s our future.”

  He closed his eyes and pointed his muzzle down, as if in submission. “The Fire Colony is gone away. You said that they’re likely in the Lake Colony, judging by the scent trails. They must be planning a rebuttal with their allies. There’s nothing more we can do than to hold our defenses.” His final answer was to wait and see what would happen with the Fire Colony before making a move. But he knew that wasn’t a satisfactory answer, was it?

  “I worry about these things more than you think. I realize that the Web Colony is in my grasp and that it’s my duty to take care of it well.”

  “Sure.” Lune interrupted as her tail swept over his paws. “Fine then, your answer. Does Beaver dislike you?”

  “The whole colony is scared of you. They glance behind their shoulders toward your section like it’s a threat lurking behind them.” He looked up at her, naive behind his mask. Lune always saw through it. “When you’re in camp, they know something is wrong and that you won’t protect them.”

  “You throw them into battle. Leave them out to rot,” she whispered. “Isn’t this whole battle with the Fire Colony pointless? It hurts us, Spider.”

  His mouth hung open in disbelief. “It isn’t pointless. You said… We agreed, when Mocha died, that the Fire Colony…” Did it. And… had to pay? Now that they were gone, what was left? What if the Fire Colony didn’t come back and this was as much of a win as the Web Colony would get? It didn’t feel right, so when would the right come?

  He believed that the Fire Colony had done wrong. They took away one of his residents, one who he could tell, even from afar, was an essential part of his home’s community. Tinder, that kind leader he’d always remember, turned away Lune on an investigation. Spider didn’t understand anything but he trusted Lune on her word.

  “I said I found him by the Fire Colony’s border. You assumed it was the Fire Colony, didn’t you?” Lune softly asked.

  Suddenly he was cast into self-doubt. She was sure it was the Fire Colony, hadn’t she been? He thought she told him so, but what if she actually didn’t? His mind was a mess nowadays, perhaps he couldn’t count on it.

  “Why… Why are you saying this?” Spider stepped away, feeling small with Lune in front of him.

  “Look what you’ve done. You’ve started a war, and nobody trusts you.” Her voice… she pitied him, didn’t she?

  Lune broke the silence with a laugh as Spider dumbfoundedly stood there. “I’ve nothing to report to you, really. I’ll be leaving now.” She stopped at the entrance, looking ahead but still talking to him. “Why’s it that I’ve always wanted to be you despite your incompetence?” Then, she left.

  Spider was left to sit in his own confusion.