A mist of blood— that is what Sheila finds as she opens the palm of her hand.
While Tika and Maulana's friendly duel clashed, Alena and Elijah's eyes remained locked on the action. Sheila, however, she felt lost as she discovered the blood within her hand—her face revealing devastation as her eyes quivered at the site.
"Is everything okay?" Yonka asked, as she approached Sheila from the sidelines. The concern for her friend too was clear on her face.
Ania had stayed behind to keep her eyes on the match. While observing it, she was throwing little kicks and punches of her own, hyping up over the duel.
Sheila quickly closed her palm and hid it away, and shoot her head to throw off her expression before looking to her friend directly.
"Yes, everything is just fine. I've just realized that it has been a while is all," Sheila answered back. Yonka appeared confused.
"'Been a while…' since what?" she asked.
Instead of being open about her experience, Sheila had quickly formulated a means to dodge the question. The others hadn't yet experienced what Sheila thought she might be going through, and didn't want to concern them until she had the facts.
"Hey, I've got something I need to do. Would you keep an eye on the others for me? I'd like to be filled in on what I've missed when I get back."
"That's fine, but are you sure everything is okay?" Yonka asked again, gently pushing as she wasn't convinced.
Sheila nodded to Yonka reassuringly.
"Yes, everything will be alright, so don't worry. I'll be back shortly," she answered, as she rose to her feet. "Please look after the others for me."
At that moment, Yonka observed Sheila closely, as Sheila gave her one more nod before heading off into the woods. As Sheila disappeared from Yonka's site, Yonka turned around to rejoin the others. While Alena was keeping a close eye on her friends, she saw how their faces reflected the enjoyment of their interaction, but she was also mentally noting down each move the girls performed, studying their form. Before she knew it, Yonka had joined her at the edge of the water, and had set her hand upon Alena's shoulder. Alena turned her head, looking up to Yonka standing up beside her.
"So what do you think? Your friends seem to be enjoying themselves," said Yonka.
Alena looked back to the duel, still knelt by the water.
"They're happy. Is this what you and Anni did out here as well?" she asked.
"This and a number of other things. It was our favorite spot before our own voyages began," Yonka answered.
Alena turned to Yonka once again.
"What were your initiations like?" Alena followed.
"Well, in our special case, as Ania and I are twins, our journeys had occurred simultaneously. We quickly found each other, and were able to work together on our tasks. It just meant that we both had to prolong our initiations to ensure we could each go home together—one case per each of us. It wasn't exactly easy, but we had each other," Yonka explained.
Considering Yonka's words, Alena looked out to her friends who were still sparring over the water.
"What about Tika and Maulana? They're not twins. Will they be separated?" she asked.
"Even Ania and I don't know the ins and outs of our people's traditions, but I would think that if they have been together since the beginning of their training, they would be permitted to leave the village together as Ania and I had. They would just be set out in different directions, then from there they could rejoin each other before continuing on. They did say they were enrolled together when Kenrir took them under his wing, didn't they? If that's the case, then they should have received the same preparations, and if they can show they're better off together, there should be no reason for them to be separated altogether. They have one another, just like you've always had Elijah. Our companionships are much like a sacred rite all their own, and our people wouldn't seek to interfere with such bonds if it can be helped—though sometimes, it can be tricky," Yonka replied.
Alena's eyes descended upon the water.
"I hope you're right. I wouldn't want them to be separated. I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do without Elijah by my side," she stated.
Elijah, hearing Alena's words, pushed his head against the side of her face. He purred, and waved his tail about as he glanced upon Alena's face.
"You definitely won't have to worry about that detail. While our cat relatives live amongst us, they're not held to the same code as the people of our village. They can come and go however they wish. After all, they're only here because of the great tree; well that, and they're unbothered by us due to our close connection. After all, unlike other beings—we can understand them. Other entities just don't have the means to connect with them on such a pronounced level," Yonka addressed.
Alena looked up to Yonka in surprise.
"Wait, do you mean not everyone can communicate with them?" she asked.
Yonka let out a brief chuckle, "How would they? While anyone can mimic them, what means would anyone have to learn their proper communication? While I could be wrong, Ania and I never once ran into anyone who actually knew what our fellow cats were trying to say."
At this point, Yonka had decided to sit by Alena's side, as the two continued to chat while the duel carried on. As the girls Tika and Maulana started becoming familiar with the width of the log, they grew more confident with their balance and soon began going all out. Maulana rushed three steps forward, and shifted in a diagonal twist, lifting her leg up high behind her, as she swung it in, down towards Tika like an angled axe. When her foot hit the ground, she shifted her weight again, lifting her next foot even higher to repeat the attack while building up momentum into performing a third axe kick, raining it down in a vertically parallel swing. As she performed this sequence of attacks, Tika shifted from left to right, avoiding the first two kicks before performing a backwards summersault to evade the final strike. Confident in her steps and timing, Tika lunged forward, kicking herself up from the foundational surface while bringing her knee close. She spun in the air, and at the right time, drove her foot straight out, extending her body into the flying kick. Maulana, seeing her upper hand, reacted quickly—sweeping one hand into Tika's ankle, and as she did, Maulana dipped her core towards Tika's pelvis, pressing her hand firm against her inner thigh while catching Tika's pelvis along her elbow, dipping further into Tika's momented force. Maulana was knocked back slightly, but upon catching her footing behind herself, Maulana used Tika's free falling weight against her, hooking her center and throwing Tika off to the side.
When Tika felt the abrupt shift in gravity, she immediately recognized her mistake. The next moment was met with a splash as Tika crashed into the water. Maulana, nearly losing her balance, barely caught her gravity as she plopped onto her backside while digging her sharp nails into the log for support. Her heart was pounding, feeling as though she nearly too fell in. Alena and Yonka were splashed by the water, as the two girls squaled at the rush of water coming in. Elijah panicked, leaping out of Alena's strapped on satchel, and darted away from the body of water. Surprised by his alarm, Alena sprung up, turning to face Elijah as he sprinted away.
"Elijah! It's not that serious!" she pouted out to him.
When Tika sprung from the water, Alena turned back around, and witnessed Tika spurting water from her mouth before taking a sharp breath. As she approached the two watching from the water's edge, Tika rose from the water and shook her hair out, standing it and the fur of her ears on end. As she did, Alena and Yonko felt the shower of water enveloping them.
"Hey!" Alena cried out in drug out pout, as she rose her arm attempting to shield her face. All the while, Yonka leaned over, doing the same. When Tika stood before them, she smiled, as all five of the girls soon united together in laughter.
Meanwhile, out in the woods, Sheila had found a spot to settle away from view, as she huddled up on the ground, hugging her legs into her chest, as she reflected on what had gone unnoticed.
As she sat there, isolated from the others, Sheila's face spelled out devastation as her growing trauma overwhelmed her. She was under the impression that her end was drawing near—as the staining liquid in her hand was still fresh.
"How did this happen?" she asked herself, holding her hand up in view.
Nothing about this situation made any sense.
"I… can't be sick. What kind of sickness… could have caused this?" she openly wondered.
As an herbalist, Sheila knew much to do with the distinctive properties and benefits of various plants of their realm, but she was no doctor. Her heart was beating heavily, and she soon fell into a fit of taking quick, shallow breaths; trembling.
Instinctively, in her spout of fear, Sheila picked up a handful of earth, and began using it to scrub away at the blood that was plaguing her consciousness. She needed to get rid of the evidence however she could, without leaving a single trace. Tears began trickling down her face, as the panic led her to sniffle and scrub at her palm more relentlessly, as little by little, the earth crumbled back onto the ground. No further words left her mind as she wiped the stain from her hand. She sat there, her mind a mess, and took deep breaths as she searched for a reason to uplift herself.
"No, I can't get lost in this… Alena and the others are waiting for me."
"Alena…" she muttered, her heart catching in her throat.
Sheila soon stood up, as she began scouring the forest for an herb which she hoped would help suppress her cough from coming up again. She needed it to. She couldn't allow herself to raise any concern from the others just yet, no matter how much keeping the secret would hurt.