Idon stories

«So? How was it for you?»
Lyssa looked at the purple jill that curiously walked up to him. Her friend sat a bit farther away, cleaning herself and stretching extensively. As the hob, still a little embarassed, didn’t answer, she rephrased her question.
«The vision, I mean. Did you see anything? Did you feel strange or anything? Happens quite often with rookies.»
Now the jill with the kupfer pelt came up to them and intently looked at the hob as well.
«We’re so used to wandering into the other realm that we often can’t estimate what others see. We already know what to look out for in the visions, others might not.»
The hob looked off into the distance for a second to think about what he had heard, then turned his head back to them.
«I was hoping I had told you earlier, as I cannot really remember. I just know that whatever you two did, you helped me find out more about myself. Others had…always talked me down and told me I wasn’t worth anything. That I should’ve dieda long time ago. But I realized that’s not true now.»
Tezcatlipoca and Melisandre exchanged some knowing glances that Lyssa didn’t understand, so he looked at them with his head tilted in confusion and curiosity.
«You know, when we heard the prophecy that announced your coming, we heard that ‘a creature with one body but two faces’ would arrive and that ‘it’s broken and unmendable, yet will fix what has been destroyed’. I myself cannot completely understand the whole meaning of this yet, but it might make sense to you.»
«I see…I think the prophecy really was about me. I can’t say I’m completely better, but I know staying here has opened my eyes. About the world and myself.»
Mela nodded to herself.
«You will be able to fix yourself.»
«That’s not what I’m worried about.»
«What are you worried about then?»
«That I won’t find a place like this again. That it might turn worse sooner or later once more.»
«Like we said, you can stay as long as you wish. There might still be more slumbering inside you that we don’t know yet. The gods have sent you to us for a purpose.»
«I really hope you’re right.»
Now Teca got up and grinned at the piebald, winking at him.
«So now that you’ve decided to stay, I think it’s time we get you a better nest here, right?»

Together they departed into the jungle, even Teca joined them. While Mela decided to hunt for them, the purple jill showed Lyssa where he could find the materials he needed, asked him what he wanted and helped him carry it back to the temple. The hob decided to gather soft moss, some twigs and feathers from a few Feng-Face nests. As they looted one of the latter, Lyssa scaring away the bird so they could get to the padding, Tezcatlipoca climbed the tree it was located on and looked into the nest. Suddenly her face lit up and she called down to the trunk colored Tatra.
«You won’t believe what I just found!»
«What?»
«Catch!»
And without another warning, she threw something at the hob. He was completely taken by surprise, but managed to grab the thing that flew at him with his mouth and noticed it was warm and firm.
«Is that an egg?»
«Yeah and it’s not the only one! Put it down, I’ll throw another one down.»
He did as he was told and got ready to catch the next. After a third egg, they had completely looted the nest, the Feng-Face still calling from a distance in a shrill and alarming tone.
As they returned to their home, they already saw a Dark Pinto lying on the ground and Melisandre just arrived with another one in her mouth, as well as a Flower Quail. She put everything down in a pile and looked at them proudly.
«The gods have blessed us with great hunts lately. I think they approve of you being here and give us enough to eat.»
Teca smiled approvingly and Lyssa nodded.

They proceeded to enter the temple and carry his nest materials inside. For the first time since he had gotten here, they allowed him into the sanctuary where they both slept. In the past he had been in a stone corridor, close to the exit, not really in any of the rooms of the temple. The room the two jills had chosen as their sleeping place was covered with strange statues on the wall, but some of them were broken. In the middle of the back wall was a strange structure that looked a bit like a furless paw, tilted upwards to the sky. On it were already nesting materials, so it was the spot one of them had chosen. The other nest was amidst the statue of a snake that was curling up, providing shelter from all sides.
Lyssa looked around and saw a thick stoney overhang which was completely smooth and even, like the surface of a calm river. He looked under it and noticed a little hole underneath, one step lower than the ground, like a very small chamber that had been lowered into the ground, but also completely smooth.
«Here. I like to be hidden away from curious gazes still, so this is perfect for me.»
The two understood and Teca helped the hob bring all the material to his den. It took the hob a while to get the nest just right, but the padding was chosen perfectly and provided a soft ground for restful nights. When he lay down there, he could just look outside the hidden alcove without being seen immediately, which he appreciated a lot since his fur was too bright to hide anyway. And in this shade he would never be found if he didn’t want to be.
«Looking good, Lyss!»
«Yeah, real nice! Great place too, I’m sure it will keep you cozily warm at night.»
«Not like you, right Mela?»
She looked indignantly at the others and pointed at her nest on top of the stone paw.
«I like to live classy, alright? This is like a throne and I love it!»
«One night I’ll push you down, then we’ll see who lauchs last.»
Teca giggled to herself as she said that, but her friend already pounced on her and sweeped the jill with the skull face off her feet. They scampered a bit until they realized once more that they weren’t alone anymore and looked at Lyssa like two whelps that had been caught doing something dumb. To hide her embarassment, Melisandre cleaned her chest again, while Tezcatlipoca cleared her throat and tried to fix things.
«Okay, Lyssa, see…we have already let you into our community, there’s no reason to hide anything, but…you know, we got a reputation to uphold on the outside. So…don’t tell anyone or I’ll turn your pretty pelt as a rug.»
She said this threat in a cheeky manner, yet the hob was sure she would not be nice if angered, so he swore he would never tell anyone and promised to himself to keep that up.

A few quarter moons had gone by and they did more rituals to find out what would lie in Lyssas future, but never was the experience as ‘close’ as the first time. The more frequent they happened, the more he could control his mind and body during the events and understood more about the reasoning behind it. He felt more connected to the supernatural, though he didn’t intent to learn how to do any of that himself. He wanted to leave that to the professionals. Occasionally, Melisandre had left to do her job, though she never really told Lyssa what that was. One time he had asked Teca and she only jokingly said ‘she’s off to seduce Salikos’, which might or might not have been the truth. And if it was, Lyssa was pretty sure it wasn’t the whole truth. He began to feel very comfortable around the females and even told them more about his past and his experiences and they felt sympathetic with him. And while they did their best to lift his spirits and show him his potential, there was always this spark of bad thoughts slumbering inside him that sometimes welled up and grew, but never as much as it used to.
One day Melisandre returned after she had been absent for a few quarter-moons and the two others immediately saw she had changed.
«Whoa! Who’s that from, Mela?!»
Teca immediately ran up to her friend and pointed at her round belly. She was obviously expecting whelps. But the red jill only shrugged her shoulders.
«Couldn’t tell ya. From all I know, it might even be yours.»
She said and pointed at Lyssa, whose fur was standing off like spikes now, shocked by that reveltation, his eyes widened. Then she giggled at his expression and her tail twitched with joy.
«I’m just messing with you, it’s probably not yours.»
«You two girls really are something else.»
Lyssa calmed down again, but now, without directly asking them, he knew what had happened at the first ritual had been real, not just his imagination. But now that he had gotten so familiar with them, it didn’t even bother him anymore.
«I don’t think I’m father-material, but I’ll help you raise that bastard.»
«Wow, harsh.»
For a second they all turned silent, then they broke out in loud laughter. And it was the first time in the young hobs life he had actually and truly felt happy.