Hunter's Woods Writing Prompts

   The initial reaction to a kitten joining a clowder is often one of joy and revelry. A time of hope and celebration for the child newly brought into the world, wishing good fortune on the rest of their life; a time of happiness and relief for their parents, who could finally see their baby; a time of excitement for their friends and family, with a new member to add to their ranks, a new friend to make.
   There was no such reaction from Virva, however. In fact, her reaction was quite the opposite: Pure, seething rage.
   A god. Another godsdamned god with their godsdamned tree. Deity or not, what right had they to seek her out even now? The sheer audacity that they had to kill each other, to finally give her a chance to get away, only to be born anew and follow her! How dare they? How dare this cat, with their two heads, three tails, glowing runes, and that horrible, horrible growth on their back, try to worm their way into her life now, just as the goddess had always interfered before? As if her sister wasn't enough.
   When did her feelings start to change? Well, more than anything, it was when she found that they largely felt the same about her old realm.
   One way or another, despite the animosity she held towards the young god, Berkeley told her of the panic they felt when the dragon god spoke to them, demanded of them responsibility they were in no way prepared to handle. How horrible they felt with the memories of all the lives they'd been torn from thrust upon them all at once, how it was far too much for any one being to handle, much less so suddenly. All the wonderful lives they'd lived and people they'd met, and the memories of losing them, one by one. And they told her of the sensation of waking up in a world unlike the one they'd always known and been born into, how strange it was even with their pasts to guide them, the way all the felines watched them stir in the tiny grove with such obvious, lofty expectations. The immediate sense of pressure, unfamiliarity, and...
   Being watched, endlessly, by beings they wanted nothing more than to get away from. It was a feeling she knew all too well. One she admitted to sharing.
   She hated that realm, hated that tree. And she admitted that, well, hate was a strong word, but it was the best she could find in the moment. The tree's branches and the goddess they belonged to suffocated her, clung to her like chains. She didn't want things to go as far as they had, of course not, and yet... she was grateful when they did, because it gave her the chance to get away. Even if, as it turned out, she couldn't escape entirely.
   But... perhaps she blamed them a little less for that, now. After all, they were trying to escape, too.