Chapter Text
Pearl couldn’t get the shifters out of her head. It had been around two days since she saw them last, and in that time she hadn’t left her farm. Hours were spent staring at the tree line, waiting for a familiar flash of orange fur to appear. It never did. Still, she waited — as she was doing now. But her impatience was growing, as was her anxiety. Would she ever see that woman again? Not that she wanted to, she barely knew her. She was just… curious. Some part of her still doubted what she saw, dismissing it as a realistic dream or perhaps an elaborate hallucination.
Pearl groaned, standing up from where she was sat and finally making her way towards the forest. Before all this, she hardly ever ventured out beyond the farm, but now the uneven ground felt all too familiar. She retraced her steps, stepping around bushes and ducking below the branch which had hit her during the first chase. The familiarity didn’t feel as welcoming as it should’ve. The trees seemed taller, the sun darker, the walk longer — though maybe that’s because she wasn’t running this time. Stumbling over roots, Pearl kept walking, inspecting every bush and mound of dirt until she found what she was looking for. A burrow, covered with moss and just barely big enough to fit a person. This was it. She knelt down and crawled through the tunnel once again, ignoring the growing dread as the sound of rushing water got closer. She couldn’t hear any voices this time.
She extended her arms and pulled herself out, feeling the soft moss of the clearing below her fingertips. The memory of cool air and gentle birdsong flashed through her mind, and she relaxed a little. But when she looked around, she didn’t see the same towering trees and soft light as before. Instead, she was greeted by the strong scent of ash, smoke rising above charred logs where trees once were. The dens were shattered, pieces of them strewn across the ground. The riverbank was stained with blood. Pearl gasped as she saw the unfamiliar bodies beside it, slumped over and pale. Hesitantly, she walked towards them, each step shakier than the last. She couldn’t spot either of the shifters she had seen before — instead, there were three men wearing torn tactical clothing, lilac masks discarded on the ground beside them. A strange symbol was drawn into the masks in a darker shade of purple: a tall rectangle, with the top left and bottom right corners as squares separated from the rest of the lines. It was oddly familiar, like she’d seen it before… but where? Every time she began to grasp at the memory, it slipped away, as if it was trying to hide.
Pearl grimaced at the sight of their injuries, deep scratches tearing through cloth and flesh as dried blood coated their clothes. She lifted the arm of one holding a crossbow with a wince, seeing the same symbol on the mask tattooed on his wrist. It must be the logo of some kind of organisation. But why would they go after this place? She glanced around again — no sign of anybody else. Whatever happened here must’ve been right after she left.
She looked at the scratches again, fear welling up inside of her. They were large, too controlled to be done by a wild animal; but no human would have a weapon that could make marks like this.
Pearl turned back towards the clearing, taking note of the demolished dens. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the shifters were most likely involved in this somehow, but why? Why would these strange people be after them? Why would they burn these trees, rather than chasing the shifters?
That’s assuming they even escaped. The thought of the fox — woman? She’s still a little confused by that — being captured caused Pearl’s stomach to churn.
She couldn’t see any familiar bodies around; no orange hair, no red eyes. They weren’t dead — at least not here. Whether they’d be safe if they were taken, or ran away, well…
Pearl shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind before she spiralled. She took one last look at the carnage before returning to the tunnel, not daring to head beyond the clearing. She was not going to risk getting lost in a place which had proven itself to be so dangerous. Not today, hopefully not ever.
The walk back to her farm seemed impossibly quieter now, the sun crawling beyond the horizon to shield itself from the fight it witnessed. Pearl was in a trance for the rest of the night, vague memories of feeding her chickens and collapsing onto a mattress the only evidence of it.
She just wanted to go back to being a normal farmer, without worrying over some missing fox.
———
It took another three days before the fox showed up again.
In this time, Pearl’s anxiety grew. She knew she was being slightly unreasonable, but after seeing the dead bodies with no explanation as to what happened, she felt like she’s allowed to worry for the shifters — even if she hardly knows them. She doesn’t even know their names! Still, she couldn’t shake the unease whenever she thought of what might’ve happened. Anyone would be scared after what she saw.
It happened when she was watering her crops, back turned to the forest and humming a tune under her breath; the kind of song you’d hear someone playing on the street, one that sticks with you despite not knowing where it’s from. The sharp cracking of a twig brought her humming to a stop, and Pearl bristled. She turned sharply behind her — towards the origin of the noise.
Standing before her was the woman from before, green eyes heavy with distress. The sunflower was missing from her hair, which was far more unkempt than it was before. Her overalls were dirtier, and her chest rose and fell rapidly with her laboured breathing. Pearl quickly averted her gaze, staring back into the woman’s eyes.
“Erm… hello again,” Pearl waved awkwardly, still slightly shocked — though mostly relieved. The woman waved back, stepping forward.
“Hey. I never introduced myself — I’m Gemini, but you can call me Gem.” She extended her hand, and Pearl shook it slowly. She has a firm handshake, Pearl noted.
“I’m Pearl. Where’s the… other guy? With the red eye?” Pearl asked, waving her hands to emphasise the description. Gem’s eyes narrowed.
“You mean Etho? He’s… busy. I don’t have that much time, but I thought I should warn you. You’ve been going out into the woods, right?” Gem leaned closer, and Pearl noticed the heavy bags under her eyes.
After a beat of silence, Pearl nodded. “Yeah. I have. What— what do you mean, ‘warn me’?”
Gem sighed, glancing over her shoulder. “Listen, Pearl. You need to stop going into the woods. It’s for your own good — you look a little pathetic. They’d kill you in an instant.”
Pearl scoffed. “Pathetic? I’m a farmer, thank you very much! I can hold my own in a fight.” She picked her sickles up off of the ground, raising them in emphasis. “And who are ‘they’? What are you talking about — what’s in the forest?”
Gem opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a sharp, whining howl in the distance. Her eyes widened, and her head immediately jerked in its direction. She turned back to Pearl for a moment, gaze firm. “I have to leave. Promise me you’ll stay away, please. If not for your sake then for ours.” And with that final warning, her form shifted again, orange fur covering her shrinking body as she darted away into the woods. Pearl blinked, mouth agape in shock. Another howl ripped through the air.
She gripped her sickles tighter.