Chapter Text
The walk through the forest was solemn, and no one was smiling. Hollow hung back slightly, Simon to her left and Fauna to her right. The Ruddy Somali that had spoken earlier lead them through the trees, to the training clearing.
“Scorch isn’t someone you should mess with,” began Simon. “She started the fire that caused the end of Paloma.”
“The Gem Kingdom?” Hollow shuddered. Simon nodded.
“Be quiet, will you?” Fauna hissed at them.
What’s her problem? Hollow wanted to ask. However, she appreciated her ears not being torn to shreds, so she kept quiet.
The walk continued in silence.
Not soon after, they arrived in a large clearing surrounded by trees. At once, everywhere dispersed.
“All trusted fighters are here?” meowed Scorch.
“Uh… I don’t think Dove is here.” said Owl from behind Ammolite. Scorch growled.
Dove was the tom she saw sleeping in the den. Where was he?
“Typical.” muttered Fox. Owl shot him a dirty look.
At that very moment, something burst through the bushes. Upon closer inspection, it was a small female corgi with brilliant green eyes. Upon even closer inspection, Hollow realized she was an Anti-Hero spirit.
“Dove’s here!” she yowled in a squeaky voice. Behind her, Dove slowly crept out of the bushes.
“Pixie.” Scorch said, obviously not pleased to see her. “Leave now.”
The corgi flashed a smile before whisking away into the bushes.
Pixie… such a non-threatening name, and figure, yet she’s an Anti-Hero.
Scorch marched forward to face Dove. Hollow hadn’t gotten a good look at the tom when she saw him sleeping in the den, but now she could see his sunset coloured eyes. There was fear shimmering in them.
“You’re late.” Scorch growled. Smoke practically came from her nostrils.
Dove didn’t answer. Hollow felt like she was about to cry for him.
Scorch took a step forward, hissing. “Explain why you didn’t follow us here in the first place.”
More silence. Scorch’s eyes flared. Owl ran forward to step in between the two.
“Scorch,” Owl began, his tone pleading, “you know Dove is mute. And I’m sure he had a good reason. He was napping.”
“Well, we can’t exactly ask him, now can we?” Scorch growled, shooting an annoyed look at Dove. “And, that still doesn’t excuse his lateness, but he’s here now.” she turned to the rest of the group, while Owl guided Dove to join them.
Hollow eyed the small tom. He looked so fragile, with short legs and a thin frame. How was he a trusted fighter?
“We’re doing another introduction circle today.” she said. “Seeing as we have a newcomer with us.”
All eyes were immediately on Hollow. Her pelt crawled.
Why do these guys like throwing me under the scrutiny of others?
“You know how this works by now.” meowed the Somali. “Afterwards, begin your training however you see fit. I’m not babysitting you.”
She slunk out of the clearing, pelt brushing the bush leaves, leaving the group alone. At once, everyone gathered in a circle. Hollow found a place between Finch and Simon.
She couldn’t help but notice Finch slightly inch away.
“So,” Simon began, “she already knows our names, but how about we show her what we can do?”
Amaryllis’ eyes shone with excitement. Hollow looked to Simon, curious.
“You mean… your toxic powers?”
“Oooh, she’s smart! How’d she know that?” Amaryllis marveled.
“He probably told her, dipshit.” Fox growled in response from the spot right next to the gray tom. “He gave her the tour, remember?”
Simon shot both of them a look, then moved his gaze back to Hollow.
“I’ll go first, then.” said Simon. His gaze then fixed on a tree at the other end of the clearing. Almost immediately, everyone moved behind him.
Hollow walked to the front of the group, standing next to Fauna, who was licking her paw. There was a spot on her paw where her skin was completely visible. She licked it vigorously.
She’s stressed… Hollow thought.
Simon closed his eyes. The Peridot he wore began to glow. Suddenly, his fur flared, and his eyes snapped open to reveal rings of lime green. His jaw opened much like a snake, showing long canines and a forked tongue. Hollow flinched, whereas nobody else moved a muscle.
A green liquid shot from his mouth and hit the tree.
Hollow watched as the hit area began to bubble and turn black, before it disintegrated completely. Only a moment later, Simon was back to normal, snapping his unhinged jaw shut, and bowing before them.
“Show-off.” Fauna muttered. Hollow was still staring, bewildered as the group began taking up the space of the clearing again.
“You just witnessed the work of a Toxic Spirit.” said Simon proudly. “The work of a p-”
Then, suddenly, there was a loud crack. The source: the tree with the melted bottom.
It was falling right towards them.
Borealis screeched for everyone to get away. Immediately, everyone bolted to the edges of the clearing the tree wouldn’t reach. Hollow was tugged backwards by the scruff by someone she didn’t see.
However, as they scattered, she noticed the small ragdoll that stood frozen in horror under the tree’s shadow.
It was going to fall on Finch.
Everything happened at once. Hollow was forced to watch as the tree fell towards the molly, and she closed her eyes tight and waited for the sound of impact.
But she didn’t.
Carefully opening her eyes, she bore witness to a shocking sight.
Finch backed away slowly, breathing heavily, unharmed. The massive shape of the molly Cougar stood where the tree had been falling.
Hoisting it on her back. The jasper she wore as an anklet was pulsing.
“Simon!” she rasped. “I’m going to fucking kill you for this!”
In one move, she sent the tree hurtling out of the clearing. There was a loud crash, followed by the sound of what Hollow assumed were more falling trees. Cougar’s crystal stopped pulsing.
Cougar bared her teeth at Simon, and Hollow was certain she was about to witness a blood bath. However, Cougar relaxed when a small paw touched her shoulder. Finch was staring up at her.
“You… saved my life.” she said quietly. Then she beamed. “Thank you so much!”
Cougar’s fur lay flat. Simon stuck his tongue out, smirking.
How is he… so brave? Hollow pondered, eyeing Cougar. The molly could rip him to shreds with little effort on her part.
Hollow saw white fur whisk by her. Flashfreeze ran forward towards Finch, concern on her face. However, the ragdoll molly moved away, ignoring her with a flick of her tail. Flashfreeze stared at her back as she padded away, guilt written on her features.
What was that all about?
A hiss brought her back to attention. Turning, she saw Fauna baring her teeth at Simon. The rest of the fighters watched, with emotion ranging from annoyed to amused.
“Simon… your ego is going to get us all killed.” She growled. Simon smirked.
“Oh, I’m sorry? Did you say something? I couldn’t hear you with that gross gravelly voice of yours.”
Fauna’s hackles rose. There was a snicker from the watching fighters. Hollow’s eyes widened.
Ancestors, no…
“You’re so fucking immature!” she screeched. “You don’t belong here.”
Cougar growled. “You should’ve died off long ago.”
Flashfreeze hissed. “All of you, chill the fuck out.”
“You’re all whiny children,” a new voice, belonging to Orca, spoke out. “Insolent, entitled brats.”
Amaryllis raised his voice. “Shut the hell up, all of you!”
Everyone was yelling, taunts and insults thrown around without a second thought. Hollow wanted to curl up and die. The negativity was draining her.
Maybe… I should run.
Hollow stood up slowly and padded off as subtly as possible. She barely made it far, however.
Simon narrowed his eyes at Fauna. “I’m the only one here who deserves to live.” he said, voice oozing with satisfaction. “Fauna, you belong at the bottom of the river. Drowned.”
That was the last straw. Something inside Fauna seemed to snap. With a scream, she threw herself at Simon, jaws wide open. Simon was quick to react, quickly turning to bolt out of her fury. However, he couldn’t pull himself out of the way completely. Fauna managed to sink her teeth into his back leg.
A horrible crunch echoed throughout the clearing. Simon let out a deafening shriek.
Chaos erupted. Like an explosion.
Hollow felt sick. Horribly sick. All she could see was Simon, writhing in pain, leg snapped. He clawed at the ground and at Fauna’s face, eyes widened like a hunted deer. And Fauna, refusing to let go, no matter how much the wolf pummelled her face with his paws. Blood ran down her face and over her good eye, but she was persistent.
Fauna’s eyes had gone black. All that was left in their depths was a ring of green. Her emerald was pulsing.
Borealis’ voice rang out, in utter horror and disbelief. “No! Fauna, stop! STOP!”
A few other gasps rang out. Hollow even saw a few fighters run into the bushes. Everyone looked horrified.
Is this what they looked like when I… I…
Hollow looked over to Fauna and Simon, and felt bile rise in her throat.
Black lines were creeping up Simon’s leg. It was horribly twisted. Blood was oozing. Hollow felt like she was going to be sick.
Suddenly, she was brought back to earlier, when Fauna had reduced prey to black ashes. Is that her power?
Simon screeched again. The world blurred around Hollow. Dove was gone, Ammolite was dry heaving, Borealis was sobbing, there was chaos. Fox threw himself at Fauna, Amaryllis rushing to hold him back. In the chaos, Owl ran in the direction of the camp, huge eyes wider than before.
Everyone was screaming. Icarus, in particular, howled deliriously, writhing.
Hollow couldn’t take it anymore. She had to say- or do- something.
But when she parted her jaws to scream, all that came out was a terrible roar, before her world went black. The last thing she saw was the horrified fighters, now staring right at her.