Kripa Arc II

Ishtar clenched her teeth as she tried to get back up and leave the cave. The pain was still there but dulled down, yet she felt there was something wrong. The panicked jill ran to the next river, trying to wash off the paste the priestess had rubbed on her body, hoping it would make her better again. Breathing heavily, she looked at her reflection in the water but was both uneasy and relieved at the same time to only see herself looking back at her. This was just a horrible trick the Tatra pulled on her to scare her, the strange medicine just made her body react in a weird way, but that had nothing to do with the whelps. Now that she had calmed down, she felt ashamed that she was obsessing about something so ridiculous, as it couldn't possibly be true. Slowly she made her way back to the kobel, hoping to get some rest from this exhausting day. It just seemed like a horrible nightmare, but nothing more.
Back at the den, the Mayur with the yellow throat saw her partner sitting on a large branch in front of the nest, his face expressionless, yet serious. She couldn't tell if he knew she had lured him away intentionally or not, but she surely wouldn't let anything show.
«Did you find him?»
«No, the only Saliko I saw was this hob that keeps trying to freeze us out. You know, the one who has a pack close by. Took me a while to get him to leave, thought maybe Rahkshi would only show up after he was gone but I guess that was wrong.»
Ishtar felt her heart rate drop, glad the caramel had been busy for so long, so he couldn't have noticed herself being out for such a long time.
«Told you it was nothing but a dream.»
«Seems so. And where were you? I told you not to leave the kobel.»
She got a bit nervous, scared he'd find out she had released the Tatra, her temper getting snippy.
«I gotta do my business somewhere, don't I?! Now stop asking such stupid questions.»
«You look bad. You should lie down.»
His words didn't seem caring or worried at all, more commanding and insulting, but Ishtar was sure that her mind just played tricks on her.
«Yeah, sounds good.»
The jill climbed the tree and rolled herself into a little ball, falling asleep quickly, but Makuta still had something to do.

This fruitless chase had been nothing but a waste of time, but he just had to have check anyway. Either way, he still had the priestess in his possession to find and contact his son.
The hob walked across his territory, towards the rock dens, only to find the cave entrance to his prisoner open!
«No...!»
The red Mayur was sure he'd find the cave empty, the jill being gone, but to his surprise, as he peeked inside, he saw the priestess sit in the middle of the hole, calmly staring at him. Her ties had been cut cleanly, surely not by herself, and she seemed somehow...changed.
«What happened here?!»
Makuta growled mad with rage, the fur on his neck standing on end as his plan was going completely awry.
But Melisandre didn't move a muscle at the sight of him losing his patience.
«She tried to release me and send me away. I told her I couldn't go, as you still need me, but she didn't understand. It doesn't seem like she wants you to succeed with this feat.»
«So you were free to go but you stayed anyway?»
Makuta was suspicious of the female – he hadn't exactly treated her well. Everyone else would've tried to take to their heels and run, but not her for some reason. Either way, it didn't matter. He needed her and she was still here.
Not to help him of course. She wanted to see the curse take shape. Just as she had watched her son die, she wanted to see the monstrous hobs whelps take their last breath, that was the only reason she remained, even if that meant she'd die at his claws if he found out about it. But from the green Mayurs reaction after the curse was done, she wouldn't tell him, so for now, Melisandre was safe.
«We can start the first ritual now.»
«The first? What do you mean the first?»
«You want to establish a spirit link with your kin, right? We need to find him, which might be a tedious task. Then we need to make a connection and attract his attention somehow. It might take a couple quarter moons...» giving her enough time until the birth of the litter, she thought.
«So do you know where he went?»
«He's been gone for a long time, he might be anywhere.»
«Could it be that he's dead?»
The hobs face didn't even twitch at his answer.
«No. Not with what I taught him.»
«Then we will find him sooner or later.»

~

A few days passed and it was hard to miss that Ishtars condition had worsened. She could hardly speak or eat and slept all day, her pelt getting dull and her overall appearance seaming to fade away to nothingness. Yet despite all that, Makutas mind was so occupied by the task at paw that he hardly even noticed. He thought she just caught a cold and would be fine soon enough, not even considering that his whelps might be in danger, but the jill was getting more and more concerned. Not that she could do anything about it now, she was simply too weak.
Satisfied with how obedient the Tatra suddenly was to him, the hob with the filled spots had decided not to tie her up anymore and just used the bolder to keep her in place, knowing she was in no shape to remove it on her own and his partner couldn't help her either. Of course he was mad at Ishtar at first, believing what Melisandre had told him, but he saw no reason to confront the green jill, as it wasn't important anymore. The priestess was still there, that was all that counted for him. Every day he was now checking by, starting to know the ritual and its ingredients by heart.

At first he thought she had just tricked him, lying about her skills, as he was supposed to get visions of places where Rahkshi had been, but there was nothing but darkness behind his closed eyes.
But one day, when he was expecting nothing to happen like usual, he suddenly noticed something strange.
«Do you feel that?»
«Feel what?»
«That breeze. It's getting kinda chilly in here.»
«There's nothing here at all, the cave is completely calm. Are you getting a sign?»
«Maybe...»
The hob tried to focus and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw colors start to fill the darkness, red everywhere.
«Guess you were wrong, there are no red plants in Ibea, are there?»
Melisandre chose not to answer that, knowing fairly well about a place like that, but she didn't want to tell him.
«Is the place maybe just covered with something? Flowers? Blood? Lava?»
«Argh...I can't tell, this is all so blurry.»
«Keep your eyes closed and concentrate on your son.»
«No, I can't. I'm getting a horrible headache.»
«You'll get used to it, that happens to beginners. Spiritwalking is not an easy technique to learn you know.»
«Yeah yeah, whatever sweetcheeks.»
She squinted her eyes disapprovingly at his pet names for her, but as long as that was as far as he went, she'd let him be. He seemed to just be the kind of creep to talk like that.
«Well, then that's enough for today. For next time we need more bird bones, so bring enough with you.»
«Gotcha.»
But before Makuta left, the jill held him back, looking at him with an insistent gaze.
«Will you bring me food today? I haven't had anything in so long...»
«...»
«Please, I'm hungry.»
Never would the jill have expected to beg for a little scrap of meat, but times have changed and she had no other choice. He looked at her and noticed the spark her eyes had been missing was back. There was something going on and he didn't like it.
«Sure.»
As he left the cave and closed off the entrance, he grinned to himself. He'd get something for her someday, but not anytime soon. He couldn't risk her regaining any strength, as he had already begun letting his guard down, being charmed by her demeanor. Or maybe...maybe her plan wasn't to manipulate him. For a moment he had to wonder if the reason she had stayed was because of him. After all, females all over Ibea had been scrambling to be with him for a night or two. Maybe that was the glimmer she had shown. Arrogant and narcissistic as he was, Makuta enjoyed the thought of his prisoner actually getting attracted to him, feeling quite aroused at that outlook. And she was pretty, he had to admit that. He might surprise her with some 'affection' some day, that is if she deserved a little treat.

That night, Melisandre grabbed the remaining ingredients from the ritual and pulled out one last bone from behind one of the rocks she had hidden for this purpose. During the ceremonies with Makuta, she had noticed with her trained eye, an aura that she wanted to follow, curious about what it meant. The Saliko she noticed in her own vision must've had something to do with Rahkshi, that she was sure of.
Falling back in trance, her gaze was soaring above the trees of Ibeas jungle, searching for the spirit that had surfaced. It took a while, but she felt herself getting closer to the signal, somewhere on the Island to the west, where the volcano was rising out of the earth. Along the shore the sense was strongest and Melisandre searched the coastal area for any clues, until she noticed the signal getting really powerful. She heard a voice, the thoughts racing. A jill was in distress, sending out waves of anguish as she struggled with her memories of...a red hob. The priestess focused and got closer, seeing a maneless tabby jill with brown fur, floating on the shallow surface of a little pool of water. The fungi had tears in her eyes and while her appearance was completely calm, her insides were screaming in terror as the image of the vampire with the shoulder mane kept haunting her.
«This can't be...it just can't be. Gods, what am I gonna do...I can't deal with this.»
«...ear me? C...n you hear ...e?»
The stranger raised her head and looked around. She was sure she had heard a female voice from somewhere just now, but she seemed to be alone. No scent, no sound...nothing showed the presence of another Saliko in her territory.
«Who's there?!»
Now that she was aware of the voice, Melisandre could strengthen the connection to the fungi and her voice got clearer.
«Do not be alarmed, my name is Melisandre. I am a priestess looking for someone important. And I fear you have seen him before.»
«Am I asleep? What a weird dream. But...him? Who do you mean?»
«A red hob with long fangs. He goes by the name of Rahkshi.»
The fungis eyes widened, but she shook her head.
«No...no his name was Kraata.»
«So is it not him?»
«Well, the rest of the description fits. But...why are you looking for that monster?»
Monster. That was the clue she had been looking for.
«Has he come through here? On the coat where you live? I need to make sure he does NOT return from wherever he is.»
«I...I think he's dead.»
«How so?»
«I fought him and he got pulled out into the open sea.»
«I think he's still alive somewhere. Listen...what's your name?»
«Quelana.»
«Alright Quelana, if you ever see him again, just run for your life and don't look back, you hear me? He's a trained killer and will NOT hesitate to hurt you!»
«That doesn't surprise me...I had a feeling about him. That he would be back someday to finish what he started. I don't think he'll ever forgive and forget about me until I'm dead. He's not the kinda hob who gives up that easily.»
«You speak from experience?»
«I...can't talk about it...»
More tears collected in the brown tabbys eyes and she had to collect all her strength not to start sobbing from stress and fear.
Melisandre had heard enough but she felt bad. Something had happened and she felt like she just couldn't leave this jill to fight with her demons on her own. They were both suffering from the same torturers in one way or another.
«You can tell me, I won't judge you.»
«I...I...»
The maneless Mayurs voice was trembling, her whimpers getting louder as she lost control of her emotions once more.
«He forced me. I couldn't escape...couldn't move. He did it again and again. And now...»
«What are you talking about, I don't understand?»
«I am carrying his whelps.»