Sly

I lay against a large root, staring at my stick. It stuck straight up, the shadow of it slowly moving over the dirt. 

In the Godswood.

Alone and lost.

No big deal.

When I wasn't staring at the stick, I was swatting at the bugs. There were so many bugs in the Godswood, and every last one of them wanted to bite me. The air was warm and thick and hard to breathe, and the quiet was going to drive me insane long before I could get home at this rate. The light above was already dimming over the treetops, and my hope of a makeshift sun compass guiding me home faded with it. The tiny cracks in the canopy above just weren't going to shine down here long enough for a trail of the sun to be obvious enough in the shadows.

"Piss it." I kicked my stick over when the last of the direct sunlight faded. Laying back on the hard ground, I took mental inventory of what I had to work with. 

My knife. 

A bundle of Maplewood offering to Claw, god of the hunt and wild things. 

The clothes on my back. 

That was it.  I flung my forearm over my eyes and tried to think of what to do next.

"Shadow pox it. Davery would have a plan." I sighed. The only sound around me was the gentle rustling of leaves high overhead, and the wet sound of lapping water.

Lapping water.

I sat up and looked at the lake. The surface had been still as glass until just now. Small ripples glided a few feet from the edge of the water, seeming to come from behind a mossy rock. 

I stood slowly and quietly, hand on my knife, and crept towards the rock. Whatever was drinking the water wasn't too big, perhaps I could try to use it for food if she could figure out how to make a fire. Though, probably not with the offering bundle to Claw. I can't imagine he'd like that mixed with a kill.

Or would he?

I shook the thought away and focused on the animal. Probably a squirrel, maybe a chipmunk, or if I was lucky a rabbit. What she found was none of those things.

A fat gray tabby cat with white paws looked up at her with slight alarm. It had a large, unsightly silver bow around it's neck and it was clearly fed and groomed regularly. Maybe a little too regularly for its own good, judging from the sway of it's round belly.

"What in the twelve hells?" I breathed. 

This creature was well cared for, and I doubted the strange forest people did it. If anything, the ribbon looked like typical Unayan silk that any street merchant would sell. 

No, this thing was from the city.

The cat looked at me, still crouching over the water, and flicked one ear to the side and forward again. Then it rose and trotted off, its fat little body swaying with every step.

"Wait!" I ran back to Graham's bundle of wood and grabbed it, then turning and chasing after the cat. It was agile, more than it should be. I may as well have been chasing Aivel again over the vines and around the trees, for all I lost her breath trying to keep up.

There was wrongness about the cat, but not in a bad way. It simply, didn't belong. In the Godswood, anywhere. But where a cat was being groomed, there were humans. Humans that could hopefully lead her home.

I followed the cat for what felt like an hour. Once, when it was particularly far ahead, I could swear it stopped and looked back at me until I got close again. I shoved that from my mind and focused on not tripping instead.

No. I shook the thought from my head. It's this place, it's messing with my head. This is just a cat. A cat who's running home. And I'm running after it like a fool.

At some point, I registered the vines underfoot spreading out. Some of my footsteps landed on solid ground. More light escaped the canopy of leaves to fall on the path ahead. I would have held my breath, if I didn't need it so badly to chase after my furry gray guide. I could sense a breeze, the wind that swept through the Midlands' flatlands.

My eyes locked ahead when I saw the opening of the trees. The ground turned from rich soil, to yellow clay, which grew little more than tough grass. Definitly the stuff Unays was made of. The trees couldn't live there, the forest was done, and a cry of relief escaped me. 

"Thank Shadow!" I flopped on the hard ground, panting and giggling. The near disaster of the day catching up to me and possibly driving me mad. I wasn't sure yet, but I had all the confidence that Davery would definitly call me out if I was mad.

I closed my eyes and touched my heart and forehead in the gods blessing. When I finally caught my breath, I watched the sun dip closer to the horizon. Back in town the dinner bell would be ringing about now. People would be bustling in the streets. Addah would be kneading dough.

I looked around. The cat was long gone, wherever it went. I owed it a nice fat fish if Iever saw it again. Standing and brushing the dirt off my pants, I stretched, and judged my way home from the red sun. My legs ached fiercely, along with my arms and my jaw. But at least I was free of the eerie air behind me. The woods of legends and nightmares. I blessed every step of clay I took.  

Davery will never be able to talk me into the Godswoods again.

~Davery~

Boots thumped overhead in the Snoring Dragon. The rain had chased a good number of people indoors, and the Dragon was as good as anywhere to warm your bones and drink your fill. That is, if you were willing to stay the night, considering the curfew. That, or risk running into a mongrel on the way home.

The cold cellar on the other hand, held little warmth apart from the oil lamps and thin blankets. One such lamp illuminated the room from where I sat, occasionally holding my fingers over it to chase away the bite.

I hunched over the little table I shared with Sly and painted the thin velum with my left hand. I was much better with it now than I had been months ago, but I wasn't near as good with it as I wanted.

"Forge pox it." Jexa cursed from the other chair, calling on the god of creating and making with one's hands. 

I looked up with a sigh. Jexa had two perfectly good hands, and he was still worse than me at painting the velum. He had dripped blue dye on an already finished red square.

"Don't worry about it. We have enough for now. I'll get Sly to help me later." I leaned my own chair back, propping my boots on the edge of the table and taking a break from the delicate work with a wide yawn.

"Sorry," Jexa mumbled.

"Nothing to be sorry about, my friend." I waved a hand, dismissing his apology. "If you want to blame someone blame the mongrels. Or better yet, blame the absent king or his regents." 

Jexa abandoned his paintbrush in the bottle of dye and rubbed his sore eyes with the heels of his hands. "This is cursed harder than dock work, you know that?"

I smiled, admiring his effort despite all his grumbling.

A creaking of the cellar door drew Jexa to his feet, drawing his blade and hovering in the doorway. He did have good reflexes, I'll give him that. But I remained leaning back in my chair, waiting for my sister to arrive.

"It's nice to see you too." Sly sighed and Jexa let her slide past him. "This is from Graham, for the Hunt." She flopped on her mattress, tossing a bundle of wood on the ground with a clatter.

I noted the new gray tunic she wore. Other than being damp from the rain, it was clean of blood.

"Tired?" I grinned. 

Sly scowled up at me, her eyes full of fire. I let my chair drop back on all four legs and leaned down to pull a splinter of wood from her hair.

"I told you to chop wood with Graham, not bring it back with you," I teased.

"Send Jexa next time. I'm not going again." Sly rolled onto her other side, facing her back to me and Jexa. 

Something must have happened for her to take this long to get home. I'd ask about it later.

"We'll see. More importantly, have you been through any of the squares today? Seen the message boards?" I watched her back stiffen. 

"No, but I heard the rumors in the market." Rolling back over, she pinched the colar of her new shirt and held it up, an explanation of the new clothes and possibly why she got back so late. "So it's true? A curfew?"

"'Fraid so." Jexa sat heavy in his chair, propping himself on the table with his elbow. "Speakin' of which, the dusk bell's already sounded. I better get going soon."

She finally eyed the table curiously, sitting up to see better. "What are you two doing?"

"Ah, a new message system, of sorts." I lifted one of the small velum squares, no bigger than my palm, and a flickering candle. "Most of the Black Daggers' requests come in cover of dark. With the new curfew, very few would have the chance to come to us."

Sly watched as I wrapped the velum square around the candle. A drop of hot wax sealed it in place.

"It's blue." Sly crawled closer to the table, watching the flame dance behind the thin blue curtain.

"Yes, and each color means something different. Blue is help with food. Red is help with the guards. Green is help with illness, and so on. We are going to bring these candles to several of our contacts. Those that still help their neighbors. Stick a candle in the window, we come to you. Our friend here, as a night dock worker, can collect our requests." I grinned at Jexa who nodded with a smile of his own.

"Oh, I understand." Sly stood stiffly, looking over the table. "I can help you paint these. Are we taking them around tomorrow?"

"Yes, and thank you. You and Marak, but don't let him work too hard." I yawned and stood. "I'll go buy us a little dinner. Thank you Jexa, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright then." Jexa stood to follow me out. "Keep your nose outta trouble until then, eh?"

Jexa started walking out of our rooms and up the stairs, I glanced back long enough to see Sly give a weary look to the messy table we left behind. Inks, candles, and little squares of vellum scattered across the worn wooden surface.

"A dagger's work is never done, I suppose." She picked up a brush and got to work.

Indeed, sister. And thank you.

And I followed Jexa up the stairs, my nose leading me to Addah's cooking.