INFERNO

~*~

“Echo?” Thorn pressed his cobweb-soft fur against Echo’s flank. “Are you okay?”

Echo nodded absently, barely acknowledging the question.

Spire began to head towards the mouth of the cave. “We’ll wait with Echo outside the Schooling Cave,” they addressed the kittens. “Feather…Feather will probably be here soon to pick you up.”

Oh no, not her! A small squeak escaped Echo’s throat, but he got to his paws and followed Spire outside. Guards shifted aside to allow the cerriens to exit, and they began to wait beneath a large tree shedding its bright orange autumn leaves. She’ll be furious at me!

Thorn pressed against him again, the gentle waves of his purring soothing Echo as he slowly began to relax. Thistle was on his other side, batting at a fallen leaf. He jumped in the air, catching the leaf in his front paws and tearing it to shreds on the ground.

“Look!” Thistle announced proudly. “I caught it!” He scooped up the leaf particles in his mouth and laid them out in front of Echo. “I caught it for you! I’m gonna be the best hunter!”

Echo gave a tiny purr. At least the kittens liked him.

“Thorn! Thistle! Get over here!” A shadow fell upon Echo as Feather stalked up to him, blocking out the slivers of sunlight shining in the gaps of the branches of the tree. She towered over him, the thick white mane of her around her neck gently ruffling up.

“But he likes it when I sit with him!” Thorn protested. “I’m making him feel better!”

“Do as I say!” Feather hissed.

Thorn and Thistle got up and scampered to Feather’s side.

“Don’t be mean to him!” Thorn squeaked.

Feather shot her son a warning glance but didn’t speak. She turned her attention to Echo, her light green eyes tinted with annoyance. The comfort that Thorn had given Echo had vanished like dew on a hot morning, and was replaced with anxiety.

“So he had another of those time-travel things, did he?” Feather asked Spire without looking back at them.

Spire nodded.

“Echo, you really need to stop making all this stuff up,” Feather hissed, raising her long, tufted tail. “Why can’t you just live in the real world for once?”

“It’s not fake! It’s real! It’s how Echo found out he was adopted!” Spire leaped to Echo’s defense, though Echo could see his own fear clearly reflected in their eyes.

“Tell me, Echo.” Feather sat down in front of him, her voice a low growl. “Do you seriously think your spirit can magically be transported into the past? Don’t you ever stop to think about how ridiculous that sounds?”

“I—it’s not—” Echo squeaked in a small voice. Anger swelled up within him. Echo scolded himself. Call that a bold defense, coward?

“But it’s real! He actually saw his egg being taken into the Hatchery—” Spire hissed, then shrank back as Feather whipped her head around to glare at them.

“Is that what he saw this time, too?”

Echo nodded, his head ducked. “Part of it.”

“This again!” Feather snarled, rolling her eyes. “Don’t you stop and wonder why that’s the only place you’ve gone? You probably just fell asleep listening to that boring lesson.” She scoffed as she watched her son tremble. “Are you really making such a big deal out of being adopted?”

It’s not that I’m adopted, it’s that you never even wanted me at all to begin with! And then you even had more kittens! Was I such a failure that I had to be replaced? “But that wasn’t all I saw—”

“No more!” Feather snarled. “I’m sick of all of this! I don’t need to hear another word about it. I’m done with having to deal with this if it’s not my problem that you can’t tell the difference between dreams and reality.” She turned around, sighed, and stomped away before calling over her shoulder, “Thistle and Thorn, you come with me!”

The two kittens hurried to brush their small muzzles against Echo before scrambling after Feather.

Spire padded towards Echo, their tall, skinny figure looking down at him with mingled anxiety and compassion in their gaze. “Do you…want to go to your den?”

Echo nodded blankly. He suddenly realized how tired he was from running in the shadowy landscape on top of time-traveling. His whole body felt as though he really had been sprinting in the woods, but his mind was still buzzing with questions.

She hates me—for no good reason, Echo thought. And I can’t get through to her. I’m far too weak to hardly try! Why did I have to freeze up and stutter like that? Stupid coward!

Echo felt an agonizing wave of distress. How are you supposed to prove yourself when you’re like this? You’re supposed to be confident and strong, so act like it!

Echo got to his paws and wearily followed Spire away from the Schooling Cave. The Leaders’ Mound is to the left of us. He turned his senses into his surroundings. The moor is to the right, and beyond that is Alliance Forest, with the river separating it from us. A cool breeze gently rustled Echo’s fur, and he realized for the first time that the air was getting chillier. The trees’ leaves were steadily moving from bright green to shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown.

As they continued traveling through the forest, passing bushes, burrows, and caves used as dens, something flicked his nose. Echo leaped back with a surprised, high-pitched yelp.

“It’s just a leaf!” Spire purred. “You’ve been as jumpy as a mouse since we left the Schooling Cave!”

A dark brown head with amused orange eyes poked from behind a nearby rock. It was Inferno.

“That was hilarious!” Inferno exclaimed with a purr of delight. “The little squeak you made was hysterical! I didn’t think you made such high pitched noises since you were a kitten!”

Echo lashed his tail in irritation and embarrassment, which had somehow doubled now since Inferno had appeared. He had already jumped back at the snap of a loose twig on the forest floor twice and hid behind a tree trunk when a bird let out a harsh cry nearby. Imagine that! A cerrien scared of birds! At least Inferno wasn’t there to see those! But why did Spire have to be there too? You might as well be the most inferior, pathetic cerrien alive!

“It’s not funny,” Echo muttered angrily.

“It’s hilarious!” Inferno jumped over the rock to stand behind Echo and Spire. Despite being the oldest of the three, he was a bit shorter and fluffier than them, but his glowing eyes and brilliant ear tufts seemed to make up for it. “You sounded like Spire whenever they stepped on a thorn the other day!”

“Hey!” Spire protested. “That thorn hurt!”

“The leaf is hardly even half as funny as the thorn!” Echo growled.

“It’s funnier than the thorn!” Inferno said, his bright orange tipped tail curled over his back and glowing with energy. Echo felt a twinge of surprise. This Inferno was quite different from the one he had seen at the meeting. “It’s the best thing I’ve heard in days!”

Maybe he needs this.

Echo turned to Spire. “You were screeching about murderers killing all of Moorest just this morning! You have no right to make fun of me!”

“You’ve been spooked more times in a few moments than I have in a day!” Spire said. “It’s the funniest thing!”

“It’s not funny!” Echo snarled.

“We’re just teasing,” Inferno said, still a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Sorry we offended you, Ech, but you have to admit it was pretty funny.”

“The dumb leaf just tickled my noise, and then I made a little noise.” Echo replied sarcastically. “Ha! Ha! How hilarious! Too bad the leaders weren’t here to see such an absolutely significant, comical scene in cerrien history!”

“That’s a great idea!” Spire lifted their tail excitedly. “We should go get the leaders and scare you to make you make that noise again!”

“Shut up,” Echo muttered when Inferno and Spire exchanged purrs of amusement.

“Why are you so jumpy anyway?” Inferno asked.

“Oh! He tried to do that cool time-travel power thing to see who killed Coal, Velvet, and Auburn but instead ended up seeing his egg being taken into the Hatchery after it had been found. It…well it didn’t go well. He didn’t figure anything out, and Feather yelled at him again.”

The light humor in Inferno’s eyes faded, replaced with deep empathy. “Feather may not believe it exists, but Spire and I do,” Inferno said gently, padding over to sit beside Echo and giving his ear a friendly, comforting lick. “I want to help. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Not unless you can take away magical powers I was mysteriously born with.” He felt the warmth of his friend’s comfort, but another wave of anger rose up within him at accepting it. The familiar voice in his mind scolded him. Why are you accepting his sympathy? You don’t need it! Echo pulled away. “I’m fine now,” he mewed. “You don’t have to pity me.”

“You don’t seem fine. Rose told me the medics finally got the ingredients to make a potion that relieves anxiety or negative emotions in general.” Inferno told him, then added, “Don’t worry, it isn’t poisonous!” when Echo opened his mouth to protest. “It’s not perfect, and it won’t solve all your problems, but I’m sure it would help a little.”

“We were going back to Echo’s den,” Spire replied. “You can join us if you want. We can go to the medics’ camp first to pick some of that potion, and then turn around back to his den.” They turned to Echo. “You wouldn’t mind if it took a little longer to get home, would you?”

Echo shook his head.

“Off to the medics’ camp, then!” Inferno purred.

Echo didn’t want to admit it, but he felt a small tingle of happiness—the first he had felt since before he had tried to find the culprit of the murders. It would be nice to have Inferno’s company as well as Spire’s, even if it were only for a little while.

"You guys won't believe what I saw the other day!" Inferno mewwed as the cerriens passed by the Meet, Greet, and Eat Clearing. 

"What?" Echo lifted his tail.

"A cerrien was climbing this massive tree. There was a beehive hanging from one of the branches! He reached over to grab a bite of honeycomb, but he caught a bee instead! You should've seen him—he almost fell out of the tree! Now his cheek is all swollen! It's so funny!"

Spire snorted with laughter. 

"What idiot tries to take a bite out of a beehive?" Echo purred.

"That cerrien, apparently!" Inferno's eyes glowed. 

A dark purple cerrien appeared from behind a tree and trotted up to them. Echo recognized the cerrien immediately. It was Starlight, The Military Commander of Moorest and the one who found his egg.

“Greetings and salutations, Commander,” Inferno said politely, bowing and lifting his tail upright in a respectful gesture. Echo did the same.

“Spire, you’re wanted on a patrol of the moorland,” Starlight reported.

“Patrol?” Spire echoed, confused.

“Because of the murder case, we are stepping up patrols, and we need more cerriens to chip in.” Starlight explained. “We’d better go, or they will leave without you. They’re waiting by the stream at the edge of the trees.”

“Yes, Mother—uh, Commander—” Spire stammered and began to leave before looking over their shoulder, saying goodbye, and dashing after their mother.

“I thought we’ve been over this before!” Starlight called wryly after them as she followed.

At the medics’ camp—a wide earthy clearing sheltered by trees—Echo was greeted by a plethora of scents: nectar, honey, berries, and a variety of other plants and mixtures. Underneath it were the scents of many cerriens and the faintest whiff of blood and anxiety that made Echo's ears twitch uncomfortably. 

Inferno found his sister Rose in one of the caves at the edge where the medics kept their stocks of supplies. She was tending to a stack of labeled clay bottles, sorting them so that they could be placed on the shelves in the correct order.

“Hi, Inferno!” The orange striped cerrien purred cheerfully, her yellow eyes lighting up when she spotted her brother. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you have any bottles left of the anxiety medicine?”

“I think so.” Rose turned to the array of bottles already stacked in the crevices of the cave behind her. “Why?”

“It’s for Echo,” Inferno replied. “He’s been anxious lately. I think it would be good for him to calm down, but he needs some help.”

Rose turned her head back around. “Okay! That sounds like a great idea.” She blinked at Echo as though she’d just realized he was even there. “Hi, Echo.”

“Hi,” Echo mumbled.

“Let me just ask one of the full medics. Since I’m just a trainee, it’s always best if I consult somebody fully-trained before I prescribe a cerrien medicine.” Rose slipped into a tunnel in the cave.

Inferno turned to Echo, his eyes glittering happily. “Rose seems in a good mood. It’s nice to see that her medic duties seem to take her mind off everything, after what’s happened.”

Echo nodded in silent agreement.

After a few moments of waiting, she reappeared again, carrying a brown bottle. She gingerly laid it at Echo’s paws.

“My teacher told me of this anxiety-relieving potion that can be taken pretty much by anyone. It sometimes has a side effect of drowsiness, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable if you don’t take too much,” she mewed. “Take it anytime you start feeling anxious or sad. Just a few drops each time will do.”

Echo nodded. “Thanks.”

“Of course! I hope you feel better soon!” Rose dismissed them cheerfully. “I should be getting back to work now. See you later!”

“Bye!” Inferno waved his tail in farewell and the two cerriens padded out of the cave, Echo carrying the potion bottle in his jaws.

“Wanna try the potion now?” Inferno asked.

Echo nodded, setting the bottle down and popping the cork off with one paw. Inside, pale green liquid flashed from the sun's rays.

“I’ll get a leaf to put the droplets on!” Inferno called as he bounded to the side of the clearing to pluck a leaf from the various plants that surrounded the medics’ camp, returning after a few moments and dropping the leaf on the dirt ground.

Echo very carefully tipped the bottle over, worried he might spill too much of it. A few green drops quickly cascaded from the bottle and collected in a puddle on the leaf. Echo lapped them up, recoiling at the bitter taste that exploded into his mouth.

“Taste good?” Inferno teased.

“Not at all.” Echo licked his lips, trying to get the taste from his mouth. He was surprised to find himself more relaxed in mere moments. His tail no longer twitched and the ache in his belly faded. The soreness in his limbs faded away too. Can a few drops really do so much?

“Do you feel better now?”

Echo nodded.

“See, Ech? I told you it wasn’t poisonous!” Inferno purred. “Do you want to go back to your den now?”

“I don’t know,” Echo said as he reapplied the cork onto the bottle and carefully picked up the serum in his mouth. Will I become dependent on this?

“Want to go to my den instead?” Inferno asked.

“Sure.” Suddenly the need to go home didn’t seem nearly as urgent, and Echo was happy to comply. He felt a burst of energy surge through his limbs as they exited the medics’ camp and trekked through the forest. Being with Inferno felt like a sunny day after a thunderous storm—finally some warmth following the freeze.

“Squirrel!”

Inferno’s quiet mew of excitement dragged Echo from his thoughts. He stared ahead. A squirrel was nibbling on a seed in a patch of grass, unaware of the two cerriens nearby. Inferno crouched down, preparing to leap. Echo waited quietly behind him, not wanting to let his friend miss his chance at catching the small creature.

A few moments passed, then Inferno swiftly thrust himself into the air and landed squarely on top of the squirrel, killing it quickly.

“Nice leap!” Echo mewed.

“It wasn’t that great,” Inferno replied modestly, his ear tufts almost flickering a little brighter for a moment, and turned around with the dead animal in his mouth. He dropped it in front of Echo. “Want to share it? I took something to the Winter Food Cave earlier, so it’s fine if we eat it.”

“Sure!”

They crouched down across from each other to eat.

“Honestly,” Echo swallowed a bite, “you’ve already done something to help my problems, yet I haven’t even asked you how you’re doing!” He felt blood dribbling from the fur at either side of his mouth, and wiped the back of his paw across his jaw like a feasting kitten.

Inferno’s ear tufts and eyes dimmed, and Echo felt instantly guilty over bringing Coal’s death up.

“I try not to think too much about what happened.” Inferno’s tone seemed almost forcefully optimistic. “I mean, sitting around worrying forever won’t do anything except make you sad. Rose and I have been trying to keep busy with our hobbies and such as a distraction.”

Echo nodded. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Not really. Just you being here is enough for me.”

Echo purred.

The cerriens headed to Inferno’s den, a cave on top of a small hill just near the edge of forest and moor. The back of the den angled downward into the hill to cover up the passage that had classified the cave as a tunnel before.

Echo padded inside. The far wall on the other side was covered in little drawings of cerriens. There were also organized piles of stone tablets stacked against the wall of more art, and many sticks used for drawing propped up beside them. Echo took an interest in the wall-drawings. There were significantly more there since he had last visited.

“I see you’ve been busy drawing,” he purred, setting down his potion.

“It helps me feel better,” Inferno meowed. “Calms my nerves, especially now.”

Echo peered closer at the little drawings. One showed two armies of cerriens, possibly the recent war with Scorpoterria. Another displayed a group of cerriens with some dragons. Another showed two cerriens, one hanging off a cliff, with the other holding on to them at the edge. Below them, the stone was scratched to look like water, with a mysterious creature lurking underneath.

“That’s an interesting drawing,” Echo observed, almost nervously, pointing with his tail at the white scratches on the stone wall.

“Yeah!” Inferno was clearly passionate about his art. “Lately I’ve been getting inspiration from dreams as well as scenarios I’ve made up, but I don’t know if I’ll have the time to draw tomorrow morning unless it’s small. We are having Coal’s funeral tomorrow at dawn. My dad said it was okay if you wanted to come. You’re close enough to our family, after all.”

Echo hesitated, and then jumped to speak upon realizing he’d fallen silent. “Of course I’ll come, unless Feather wants me to watch the kittens for her again. If I refuse she’ll yell at me.”

Inferno blinked, hurt. “A funeral here is important. If she asks, just say you’ll be busy. You aren’t a kitten anymore. You should be able to do your own stuff throughout the day. If Feather yells at you for that, then that’s her loss, not yours.”

Later that night, Echo was fidgeting in his nest under the bramble thicket where he made his den. While his worries had been chased off earlier in the day, they had come creeping back with the departing effect of the potion.

What was that cerrien-like figure I saw while time-traveling? he wondered. Cerrien bodies are made of fur and flesh, but it looked more like pitch-black mist with no definite shape. Echo shuddered as he remembered its glowing white eyes. And why was it silent when I tried to speak to it? Echo sighed. Spire should have never suggested that I try to use my power! All it ever gives me is fear. I have to get some sleep, or I’ll be too tired for tomorrow.

Reluctantly, he stopped fidgeting and closed his eyes. But anxiety remained to tug at his fur, like a bothersome itch demanding it be scratched. But the more it would be itched, the worse it’d get. Echo sat up.

This is ridiculous! Why can’t I sleep if I’m so tired? I feel like a frightened kitten again, terrified of a bad nightmare!

His gaze caught sight of the bottle of green liquid sitting at the edge of his den. I might as well. I’ll never fall asleep otherwise.

At last, Echo pulled himself onto his paws, stumbling to where he had sat his potion before bed, and took a few more drops as he had done earlier.

Back in his nest, he curled himself up in a ball again, relaxing his body and closing his eyes. 

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