Chapter 14: Sibling

The vixen and her student stared blankly at each other for a few moments, both of them trying their hardest to figure out what the other was thinking without having to resort to explicit telepathy, Sue being the first to eventually crack as she tried to bring up her excuse- a very valid reason in its own right, but an excuse here all the same-

"Don't you think that me being there after what happened with Spark and... her friend would help?"

Sue's question thankfully finally broke through Sundance's thoughtless confusion, though unfortunately all it resulted in was a quiet sigh and a light shake of her head, plumes of red fur warming the air around them with each motion. Right as she opened her mouth to respond though, the point of Sue's words did finally begin to take more of a hold underneath her vulpine skullcap, the resulting pause giving Sue a brief, exciting hope- a hope that would be dashed right away all the same, however-

"^Hmm... while I can't deny it's a good idea to bring up what had happened and show how our separation is harming both of us and even third parties, I really doubt dragging you personally into all that would help. I know you feel guilty about Solstice's breakdown and emotionally invested in all the ugly history that led to it, especially with your leg still showing what it all leads to, but you're not responsible for any of this. These aren't your sins to be burdened by, Sue.^"

As much as the Forest Guardian wanted to reflexively disagree and continue to assert her point, the moment of hesitation right as her voice got stuck in her throat did elucidate the very real risk of her potentially giving too much away through her insistence, the brief hitch lingering on as she pretended to relent, simply sighing and mumbling out instead-

"I... I suppose. It really feels rough, only being able to watch from the sides and hope that Spark and P- her friend will be able to be friends in peace one day..."

"^Oh it absolutely is. Alas, it's gonna be a touchy, difficult discussion either way, and it'll be up to the whims of Fate to decide whether we can even affect anything anymore, but I sincerely doubt your physical presence and direct input would contribute at all to swaying most of those there- your deeds will be plenty, believe me.^"

Sue acknowledged the words with a pretend somber nod, internally relieved at the verbal diversion working out and Sundance not seeming to be suspecting much of anything- though at the same time, she couldn't deny that the vixen didn't have a good point about all of this. Who knows whether the people wronged by what had happened here all those years ago would care even slightly about yet another Forest Guardian showing up in there to try and steer their judgment, and the more thought she gave to it, the less enthusiastic she was about the idea of disregarding Sundance's words and tagging along anyway.

But at the same time, what else could she do? Give up and let her destiny be completely swayed willy-nilly by yet more forces and events beyond her control or comprehension?

Fat chance.

A couple pats of a warm, furred paw on her shoulder snapped Sue out of any more internal discussion, the vixen offering her a soft smile, softer still by the virtue of her inebriation, and an approving look.

"It's alright Sue. You've already helped plenty, more than most here can honestly claim- you make the most of your stay here, and we'll try our best to mop up the murk in the background. I'd even go as far to say that focusing on that is probably the best thing we all could do today- compose ourselves, take a breather, try to enjoy this slice of Spring. How's that sound?"

Relaxing was self admittedly not a strong suit for Sue, not one bit, especially not after her father's passing- each day had a shopping list of tasks that needed to be dealt with, ranging from urgent like work, urgent like keeping up on her classes, urgent like keeping on top of cooking, urgent like making sure she always had something clean to wear, to urgent like churning through her schedule weeks in advance to even carve out a single week in which she could take a break from it all in earnest. Suppose that if she's already taking a break from reality, having a whole day for explicit relaxation even with so much looming on the horizon couldn't hurt that much, even if she doubted she'd be any better about not letting the anxiety over what were to happen in the future cloud over her immediate senses in the present.

"Alright, th-thank you. What did you have in mind?"

"We could fetch Solstice, make sure she's alright, grab a snack, go for a walk, chat about something more pleasant- maybe even enjoy a mug or two of something harsher come evening. How's that sound?"

Not particularly riveting, but then again, neither was her preferred relaxation method back at home, consisting of loading up her favourite sandbox videogame, disconnecting her brain from all external stimuli, and warping in time to about twelve hours later, then acting all surprised when realizing it was dark outside all of a sudden.

"I-I like that, yeah."

"Great- Astra, we'll be heading out, mind-"

Sue's glance over at the dragon while she was being helped back up to her feet revealed the fellow impromptu nanny to be presently talking to the gray, four armed not-human she'd seen around the place a few times, their build so bulky they nearly matched Astra in size despite nominally only looking to have about a foot on Sue's current body. The construction worker took their leave shortly afterwards, Astra thankfully remembering to respond to her name being called out before flying off with them, turning over to the two women as her unassuming wings began to lift her off the ground-

"Oh! I'm sorry Ma'am Sundance, I've just been called to help with moving some ore and rock around, I can't-"

"Don't worry Astra, we'll just ask Splitleaf, it's no problem."

"A-alright- hopefully Joy will be alright with that too. See you all later!"

"Take care Astra!"

The once human's follow up brightened the dragon's expression in particular as she took off, flying only a few feet above the buildings over to what seemed to be the other end of the village, the sight catching enough of Sue's attention to where she had to be patted on her shoulder again to snap her out of her momentary daze, following in Sundance's pawsteps right away. Or at least, that was the intent, their idea of leaving the kiddos under Splitleaf's watch getting dashed shortly afterwards by the reappearance of one of Sue's favourite tripping hazards right beside her, Joy's embrace of her good leg almost making the Forest Guardian trip and fall over there and then.

"Joy! Wh-what's wrong sweetie?"

The tyke shuddered a tiny bit at her friend raising her voice out of surprise, the actual response she had in mind to the translated question running into the obstacle of her simply not knowing enough words, in any language, to properly formulate it, Joy eventually mumbling out to the best of her ability-

"N-n-n-n-not g-go..."

Awwh.

If Sue had the ability to, she would've squatted and pulled the toothy girl into as big of a hug as her tiny body was capable of there and then- but alas, all she could do instead was to stare down at her with a soft, sad smile, feeling bad for her.

"Well, you could come with us if Sundance agrees-"

"And I do~. Though I imagine it'd be much easier for you to keep up being held, and I can't imagine it being at all easy for Sue to balance carrying someone in one arm and operating a crutch in the other. If you'd like Joy, could I give you a lift instead?"

Predictably at this point, Joy reacted to Sundance's presence with a bit of a startle, tunnel vision on her friend making her subconsciously overlook the extremely-hard-to-miss vixen up until then- though at least as opposed to her previous fears, this time the little one didn't seem to be as completely terrified, thinking about the idea earnestly enough to look up to Sue for her opinion. And once that opinion was delivered, in the form of a big smile and an even bigger nod, Joy finally relented, trying to mouth something in response with her front mouth before giving up and reaching up to the vixen with her arms.

The rattle of metal clinking and rubbing against metal wasn't a pleasant sound to listen to, but it was thankfully brief, Joy's jolt at suddenly being surrounded in an orange glow making her back maw snap shut with enough speed and presumably force to make her big friend that bit paler at the idea that her hand was present in there not all that long ago. And once the two mouthed girl was done being spooked, she actually got to appreciate her new position that much more, waving up at Sue from not that much further down as her tense body quickly relaxed from all the warmth it was now partially enveloped in, the sensation so much more pleasant than she would've thought possible.

"Like the view?"

In a first, Sundance's comment didn't result in any more of a startle for Joy, the little one simply acknowledging with a nod as she waved up at Sue from up closer, the once human returning the gesture once they all got moving. Right as they were leaving the impromptu sandbox, someone else overtook them on the path back to the village, the foxmother figuring it as good of an opportunity as any to strike up some chit chat-

"Afternoon Kantaro, how's work going today?"

The beetle craftsbug had to turn around with most of their body to look over at the source of the call, feeling a bit less tense at what he saw- enough to make him slow down for a moment, enough to only stay barely ahead of them as he responded, voice low and grumbly-

"It's going. That swing was long overdue, and Root talked me into putting up another shrine. Suppose if there's anywhere Moon's Grace's attention should be kept at, it's on our little ones." His words were accompanied by quick, prayer-like motions at the mention of their deity, though thankfully no specific thoughts towards the rest of the group for not going along with the gesture.

"Glad to hear about the swing. Wonderful statue by the way, really makes it feel like She's in motion there."

To Sue's surprise, the only sounds that left Kantaro's mouth in response to the praise were drawn out grunts and grumbles, their meaning nothing more than annoyance at a mental glance.

"Well, gotta keep trying then in any case, eh?"

"On, and on, indeed. At least the rest of the day is more banal."

"Hopefully it at least brings you calmness if nothing else then. See you around Kantaro."

The craftsbug acknowledged the parting words with a curt nod before taking a sharp turn back in the direction of the ongoing construction effort, a couple questions creeping up onto the forefront of Sue's mind as their impromptu band marched on in a mostly straight path-

"What's... what's wrong with him?"

"Oh?"

Sundance and Joy alike were looking at the once human in confusion, though the latter more so at finding herself feeling sleepy at the warmth around her and the unfamiliar, awkward voice of her friend managing to put a dent in that drowsiness.

"I-I watched him make that statue, it's so well done and everyone else thought so too it sheemed... what's his problem with it? O-or is it with the Pale Lady-"

"Oh no no, it's only ever with his own craftsmanship, I've hardly met anyone that's as unflinching of a devotee as Kantaro."

"But it was wonderful!"

"Wonderful, but not perfect."

"It's silly to expect perfection, nothing is perfect."

"Normally I'd agree with you, but... that's not how he sees it. He has managed to taste perfection twice, and hasn't managed to repeat it in many, many years now, and each failure only makes that fact sting harder and harder to him."

Right as Sue was about to ask what had Kantaro managed to create that somehow broke through that glass ceiling he'd set for himself, one very related, and indeed incomparably more impressive sight crept back onto her thought process, the engravings on Duck's central altar stunning to even thank back to. And if the second taste of perfection was what she thought it was-

"And let me guess, only one of those perfect creations is still standing?"

The knowing, proud smirk accompanied by a drawn out nod coming from Sundance was all the confirmation Sue needed, the once human feeling bad for the apparent master of wood- and stonework alike having one of his finest creations destroyed because of what was ultimately prejudice- and all the more confused at him continuing in his devotion despite that, apparently.

"That's rough."

"Yeah, it is. Thankfully, he managed to get rid of one massive weight on his shell a couple years ago, but all that seemed to give him was placing even more pressure on the other cruel puzzle without an answer that he'd been bashing his head against for years now, alas."

Sundance's wording made Sue briefly want to prod deeper into what she meant by the other "puzzle without an answer", but she ended up reconsidering- partly because that sounded like something private, and partly because truthfully she was interesting in something else even more-

"I see. While he was working, someone else came up to him and talked briefly-"

"Lemme guess- cream and dark purple, with a fiery collar and a bad temperament?"

"Yeah, them."

"Root. Figures the old coot has nothing better to do than to come and micromanage, hmph."

"Who is he even?"

"Night Mother's chief priest. Leads most of the big, important ceremonies and has little useful to do otherwise."

As if Sue needed another reason to like that planty lady any more- if she had any idea that was being said, she would've probably had to suppress her clapping at what in hindsight had to have been a clapback at the priest.

"Soooooomething tells me you don't like him."

"Hah. All I'm saying is that if you start complaining about others not doing enough, you best have a spotless record yourself. Or if you keeping crying blasphemy, you best pay close attention to what you're trying to preach actually says about-"

The low, spiteful grumble that Sundance's words cut off into was left off from translation- and knowing the vixen, was likely to contain at least a couple swear words. As curious as Sue was, she ultimately didn't push any deeper, partly because it was supposed to be their day of relaxation, and partly because the sight that they'd walked into was much more immediately eye-catching, one detail of this little village that Sue had been curious about beforehand coming back with a very satisfying answer.

Willow may not have had a person on hand to be busy patching up every waking moment, but passing on medical knowledge was a truly inexhaustible task, one that the chubby medic seemed to be very glad to be undertaking, the individual squeaks and mumbles that comprised their lecture much louder and clearer than their usual vocalizations. The large, blackboard-like stone slab that they were standing in front of was filled with a couple chalk sketches of something anatomical looking, hard to pick up on exactly from the distance, but the little that Sue could make out well enough looked like a cross-section of someone's arm, each individual bone and tendon being accompanied by a couple sentences from Willow, one or two questions from the audience, and the most curious of all, one or two additions from what had to be a co-lecturer.

The exact shape of their body was difficult to make out until they had walked closer, seemingly consisting of three dark green growths sprouting out from a central point at their base, with what looked like their "actual" body growing up out of the central growth. As simple as the answer turned out to be- plain white- determining the exact color of their upper half was tricky with the massive, multicolored collar surrounding their head, looking incredibly posh on its own, and all the more gorgeous at the squinted realization that every single bit of color in that large bundle was its own, vivid flower bloom.

After how difficult it turned out to even begin to classify Astra and Joy into the local taxonomy of "types", it was nice to finally find someone whose plant affinity was so blatantly clear, the thought leading Sue to wanting to attempt to classify all the assorted strangers around her again-

"Sue? Mind taking a seat here and waiting for me to grab Solstice?"

The fiery vixen speaking up had Sue take a moment to blink her attention back to the subject on hand, uncertain why Sundance brought her along here only to then split up again, but ultimately it didn't really matter- the sight in front of her would occupy her attention for as long as the vixen's departure would take.

"Sure!"

The Forest Guardian paid only as much attention to the nearby bench as was strictly necessary for her to sit down on it before refocusing back on the medical lecture, left arm engaging in an autopilot petting mode on feeling Joy scramble up to her and start watching along, each gentle, drawn out pet of her back maw making the toothy girl relax further and further.

With Sundance departing, Sue could go back to looking at the medical students, the one her attention ended up immediately latching itself onto hard to miss both on behalf of their mostly white coloration, and perhaps even more importantly because of their constant activity. They were responsible for well over half the questions constantly being aimed at Willow and the living bouquet alike, and judging from the duo's responses being eager and in depth each time, without as much of a single sign of exasperation, these sure looked to be good, productive questions, the fact almost heartwarming enough to make Sue consciously overlook the fact that the questions were being meowed out every time.

Almost, but not quite, the amusingly familiar speech of what turned out to be a feline student forcing Sue to suppress her giggles once or twice to not distract the session or draw attention to her own rudeness. Her composure was as appropriate as it was pointless in the end, with Willow eventually noticing her being in the extended audience and greeting her with a brief wave, causing almost everyone else to look at her over their shoulders or equivalent, letting her catch a very brief glimpse of the attentive cat's golden eyes before they resumed focus on the lecture proper, being the first to look away from the Forest Guardian shaped distraction.

Most of her lecturers would kill for a student this proper, ha.

The rest of the students were largely nowhere near as actively engaged, but seemed to be taking mental notes all the same, listening in deeply as the drawings on the stone chalkboard shifted from the anatomy of a mammalian-looking arm to what almost looked like a cross section of a plant with a distinct hand at the end. Appropriately enough, most of the lecturing in that part was done by the much more flower-themed of the two teachers, Willow stepping back to take on a secondary role for now, the bouquet's drawings much larger and more detailed on behalf of... a long, prehensile vine that extended from somewhere in the mess of flowers behind their head, the stick of chalk gliding along the stone with precision and speed almost as good as that of the tenured physics professor back on her campus. As odd as she felt at the realization of just how glib that planty tentacle was, some of the weird sensation faded soon afterwards at the awareness that her own mental reach felt much the same when it was extending and reaching out- just not visible to the naked eye, which arguably made it even worse if anything.

...let's just drop that subject.

Trying to shake that uncomfortable train of thought off, Sue attempted to reset herself by taking a look around the rest of the plaza, noticing how even most of the other villagers that were just passing by did stop to pay closer attention to the lecture for a moment or two, even the non-planty ones to whom the current subject didn't apply as much. Those that didn't were largely preoccupied by something immediately important, either moving around clay pots of various liquids, woven baskets of green-yellow fruit and what Sue was almost certain to be some kind of grain, or, in one case, a block of solid stone the size of a fridge. The latter at least was being done by two people, one of them bringing much more of a smile to the once human's face than the other- though even if Astra's point of leverage was noticeably higher, pushing most of the weight of the stone slab over to the gray humanoid, it didn't make the undertaking any less strenuous for the dragon, wings having to work extra hard to keep herself vaguely stable in the air as they marched on with their cargo, the resulting gusts knocking a couple passersby off balance.

Probably best to not wave at her right now, hah.

Sue's sweeping glance over to the other side of the small clearing, interrupted first by a wide smile at seeing Joy gather enough courage to slide off of the bench and start hesitantly stepping over closer to the audience of the lecture, then proceeded to summarily crash and burn because of one particular sight off in the crowd on the other side of the plaza, her heart immediately beginning to hammer that much harder in her chest. The small, green spider she saw at the playground was scary enough, seeing that red beast that had almost done away with her a few days ago in flesh was a whole other level of terrifying, Sue's vision swimming as she focused on the savage, ferocious insect casually skittering its way down the street, serenity giving way to hyperventilating. Part of her expected them to immediately change course and hone in on her, the paralyzing terror only giving up for long enough for her to grasp her crutch again in case she needed to get out of there- or more likely to try to whack the feral beast in a desperate move before it'd come and finish the job-

Oh god it was looking at her it was looking at her no no no no go away go away go away-

In a move that was almost impossible to fully process for her fear-gripped mind in the frightened chill of the moment, the spider did indeed proceed to do just that, skittering off quickly into an alleyway, out of sight, though whether it was to actually get away or to merely get a chance to flank her was yet to be seen. Alright, the latter didn't feel anywhere near as likely as the former, but there was no way in hell she was about to give that thing an opening anyway, sliding away from the direction it had departed to while her attention flickered between each of the paths that connected to the clearing from that direction, the repetitive, anxious loop feeling like something out of a shoddy indie horror game.

And just like in a shoddy indie horror game, there was a mandatory jumpscare at the end, though thankfully taking form of hearing Willow's voice from much closer up than before and a couple pats on her hand as opposed to a speaker-blowing screech- though Sue couldn't deny the startle feeling almost as bad as the latter would anyway, the once human only barely managing to stop herself from screaming out loud.

Both lecturers and the ridiculously aptly dubbed teacher's pet had relocated from their previous spots to right in front of her, each individual emotion much easier to sense now that her mind was no longer being choked with her own fear- Willow's eagerness, bouquet's light concern at Sue's startle, teacher's pet's oddly unemotional and yet very intense focus on the pink medic's words as the latter pointed at Sue's bandaged leg. The Forest Guardian's hunch at what she ought to do in response fortunately turned out to be the correct one, Willow's lecture continuing as they reached one paw underneath Sue's now straightened leg to hold it in place, the other busy pointing out what had to be intricacies of the bandages currently wrapped up around the limb.

The white and navy cat didn't cease with their barrage of questions, one point in particular responding in a longer back and forth between them, the living florist shop also interjecting with their own curiosity once or twice throughout the exchange. At some point the question finally fell in Sue's court to answer, the trio looking up at her for a response, resulting in the first instant of utter, unbroken silence between the trio in what had to be close to half an hour as they futilely awaited her reply. And only an instant of silence it was, Willow reminding themselves of the obvious and speaking out loud about it immediately afterwards, the cat-person acting on their words without skipping a beat- namely in the form of one of their ears unfolding, revealing a golden, eye-shaped... something inside it, looking almost fleshy with the absence of fur while not looking like she'd imagine an eardrum to look like. Especially since eardrums usually weren't capable of lighting up with a bright, golden flare in a way she'd only seen Solstice and Sundance's eyes do in the past- though fittingly enough, the eye and ear-eye catching sight was followed with something feeling weird inside of her mind, the brief jolt blunt and uncoordinated, before it was followed up by a quick, monotone voice, mellow and feminine-

"Hi. Willow's asking why you tried to walk with a broken leg."

Sue would need incomparably longer than the basically no time it took the feline to act, her hesitation annoying the other psychic a tiny bit, though the emotion was so unnaturally well compartmentalized inside her mind that Sue almost didn't notice.

"Uh, I was sca-"

Willow speaking up again cut Sue off mid-word much to her surprise, with the observation that she still couldn't understand them answering the question as to why before she could even consciously think through it. The white cat's reaction was the first instance of genuine emotion Sue'd sensed out of her so far, though even then it was just a brief, bright blip of annoyance at herself, followed up by the light inside the unfolded ear briefly shining that much brighter and easing out right after.

"Now."

"Oh?"

"Repeat."

"Oh. I-I was scared, had no idea where I even was, and needed some answers badly. And didn't realize how much it'd hurt..."

"Ha! Ah, it's alright Sue, I was just explaining how I went about patching you up to Northeast. Anywho- after that incident, the wound reopened underneath the bandages and started to bleed quite badly. First I tore the old dressing off to avoid the infection risk, then applied the first Healing Pulse to stem the bleeding in the moment, then wiped the skin clean with water and white spirit, and then got to the salves- covered the wound up with a couple layers of antiseptic dressing, applied the Tanga salve around the edges, and rubbed Sitrus salve in a bit further around."

"No follow-up pulses?"

"No no, Sue was already drained enough by that point she dozed off, pushing any further would be more risk than was appropriate Northeast, especially with immediate bleeding stemmed."

"How many dressing layers?"

"I think I went with three there, mostly because I realized that it'd be for the best to make it so that it can sit undisturbed for a couple days, and baby-proof it with a thin cast on top of the bandage since we had no way of communicating with Sue at that point... no offense."

The Forest Guardian's response was thankfully just an amused giggle as opposed to anything more stern- she was in absolutely no spot to be judging Willow for how they'd treated her with how annoying of a patient she must've been at times. Her reaction was mirrored by the chubby medic themselves and the living flower power alike, Northeast ending up as the only person that continued to be silent throughout- even Joy added a bit of a raspy, harsh chuckle of her own after having climbed back onto the bench in the meantime, though her laughter was mostly because of everyone else having a good time as opposed to anything more specific.

"That is curious however~ a Forest Guardian making it to adulthood without as much as Telepathy? I faintly remember Solstice mentioning that, found it unbelievable, and yet here you are... is it a result of a developmental condition?" - Flower person's words were slow and dignified, making Sue think of a rich widow in her fifties, enjoying her life and wine selection alike to the fullest every day- now in a handy, planty form, though similarly capable of asking blunt questions.

"We think it may very well be something like that Orchid, or at least was since she's been able to start slowly picking psychic skills up recently- an exceptionally rare and unfortunate case either way, best not dwell too much on it and just appreciate her being safely back with us."

Willow's diversion was much appreciated, the tension leaving Sue's body as quickly as it had began building up at Orchid's question- though annoyingly enough, only for the briefest of moments, Northeast not shying from immediately beginning to poke holes in it-

"So she's been capable of psychics for some unknown amount of time up until now and only started acting on that in here? That sounds incredibly unlikely."

"What's so difficult to believe, Northeast?"

"At the very least she would've had to notice her inner sense waking up at some point prior to her arrival here."

Sue expected to see the white cat staring at her with anger or distrust the moment she shifted her attention over from Willow- though instead, she only saw that same flat expression, befitting the continually monotone voice, the intent extremely difficult to make out.

"I'd say we drop that subject, I don't think Sue wants to be interrogated and have her version of events called into doubt right now, or ever really."

"I'm not-"

"Oh dear, what did you do to get all our medics' attention now Sue~?"

The calm, relaxed voice immediately snapped Sue out of her previous focused state and back over towards the approaching Solstice, the mayor looking so, so much better than when she last remembered seeing her- still far from perfectly okay though, there was still some puffiness underneath her eyes, her sclera were still slightly reddish, her voice had a bit of a warble to it- but at the very least, she was trying her hardest to be okay right now, and that's all that mattered, Sue smiling bright at the sight.

"Hardly anything but being a jumpy student and a useful case study in application of dressings~, worry not dear Solstice."

"Ha! Though you're right, it's for the best we went from chatter to a bit of practice, lemme go and g-"

As Willow turned towards the stone blackboard, their upbeat tone was replaced by a whole lot of confusion as they concentrated on the grass in front of their impromptu canvas, clearly scanning for something-

"Huh. I could've sworn I brought some rags to practice bandage application with. Suppose we'll just have to grab a couple more from my clinic instead, if you could follow me~"

The older Forest Guardian chuckled lightly as Willow took the opportunity to start leading their own group away from Sue while changing the subject, neither Orchid nor even Northeast being opposed to that one bit, as much as Sue expected the latter in particular to suddenly turn over her shoulder and shoot her a distrustful, suspicious glare. Sue's attention could only last on them for so long before she turned back to her temporary kinmate, dropping the crutch down on the dirt and sliding in much closer before pulling Solstice into a tight side hug, her front spike hugging the older Forest Guardian's chest, the sensation of her steady heartbeat reverberating through them both proving to be surprisingly, though not unwelcomely deeply calming.

As much as Sue appreciated her back getting hugged by Joy, she couldn't deny the brunt of her attention resting on the other Forest Guardian, Solstice's embrace tight and slightly shaky, the older mother clearly having to actively put in effort to avoid breaking into tears for Duck knows which time within the last twenty four hours, thankfully stabilizing herself by giving Sue's shoulders a few gentle, tender pats.

"I'm okay Sue, I'm okay, don't worry."

"A-are you sure? I can-"

"I'm absolutely sure. We've both had more than enough tears yesterday to last us a full Moon, let us focus on here and now instead, alright?"

While Solstice might have been successful in avoiding any more dampness in her eye area, Sue wasn't, sniffing a couple times as she let go of her more-than-mentor-it-felt-at-times, wiping her eyes and redirecting some of her attention to the toothy girl on her other side instead, holding her tight to her side.

"Mhm. Okay."

"Wonderful~. Sundance is off to grab us all snacks, and in the meantime... someone would like you to meet him Sue." - The shift in tone towards somberness made Sue gulp slightly, the girl uncertain whose presence could've prompted such a mood shift, her own heartbeat speeding up in response.

"Oh. Who is he?"

"His name is Dewdrop, he's one of our weavers, we've got to thank him for antiseptic dressings and bandages in particular- some of which you're wearing right now if I'm not mistaken~." - Solstice's clarification made everything even more confusing if anything- of course she'd love to meet someone whom she could thank for contributing to her recovery, the contrast between the positive news and the anti-positive mood swing rather dumbfounding to think about.

"That's great! Wh-what's wrong?

"He's... a deathweaver, of the same kin that the one that grievously injured you was."

The click with which all the facts finally fell into place may have only been probably loud enough to be audible to Joy and Solstice, but the gulp that followed it most definitely was, Solstice's arm immediately wrapping around her student's body and pulling her in closer to comfort her some more, the tingling of the other Forest Guardian's magical skin calming but nowhere near enough to make Sue feel alright on its own.

"O-oh, -him... I-I think I saw him earlier..."

"Yeah, you have, he went looking around for me afterwards to help facilitate some communication between you two and let you two meet."

"But, wh-what for? He's not the one that-"

"No, of course he's not, but he still feels a bit guilty, and perhaps even more importantly doesn't want you to be scared of him in the future, like you are right now."

The indirect, gentle call-out was successful at stopping Sue's raging thought process in its tracks before it could get any more anxious, the reasoning making perfect sense and succeeding at making her feel rather bad at indirectly forcing someone innocent if really, really, really scary looking to come defend themselves because of her fear.

"Oh, sorry-"

"Nothing to be sorry for Sue, your fear is all too understandable- that's what made him want to intervene directly even more and help you overcome it."

How the fuck was the beast that nearly took her life and someone so considerate the same species?!

"I-I see, that's really nice of him. I... alright, I-I think I'm ready."

Sue was extremely uncertain whether she was actually ready, but it didn't matter- she'd rather not keep Dewdrop waiting any longer because of herself being irrational, shifting her gaze downwards and focusing on the ground as Solstice first hesitated, but then decided to follow along and call the spider over-

"^Alright Dewdrop, she's ready.^"

The younger Forest Guardian's heart skipped a beat at seeing the deathweaver first peek out, and then finally step out of the closest alley, his each motion intentionally stilted and slowed down to make his appearance as non-sudden as physically possible, a gesture that Sue appreciated as greatly as she felt bad about it even being necessary in the first place. As Dewdrop slowly approached, Sue finally had an opportunity to notice a couple ways in which he differed from the panicking recollection she held in her mind- the elaborate cap was probably the most eye catching of the bunch, the gorgeous blue accents that ran down the length of the two flaps of ether side of his head behind his eyes downright popping out from the brown canvas and red chitin. The piece of headgear was appreciated even further at the notice of an elongated, stiff front flap, resting on top of his horn and curling in at the end to keep its tip concealed. In addition to the cap, the two... not-legs on the top of his abdomen were each carrying a not-legful of tassels each, the vivid yellows, oranges and reds fitting his color palette well.

"Good afternoon Sue. I apologize our meeting is in... as tense of a situation." - Even if Sue's physical ears could still hear the hisses, clicks and chitters that underlaid Dewdrop's words, her mental perception was entirely focused on his calm tone and eloquent delivery, helping her in maintaining her calm a fair bit.

"Good afternoon Dewdrop. I-it's alright..."

"It's not, I know it's not alright, but that's understandable. I'm not holding it against you."

"Thank you. I-I just didn't expect to see another... of that one, here."

"Oh I can absolutely imagine, with your first encounter with my kin being what it was. But no, thankfully we're not all like my sibling, though if anything that makes what he did even more monstrous."

"Y-your sibling?"

"Not literally no, though... entirely possible they were part of the same brood as I. Depressing to consider."

"I-it is, yeah. Why are they- why did-"

"Why did they almost murder you while I'm here holding a rational conversation?"

Not quite how Sue would've phrased that one, but yes, that was very much the spirit of the question, the Forest Guardian nodding firmly.

"It's... down to choice, in the end. The awareness of this place has spread far into the woods, and I'm more than certain that they have heard its beck and call as much as I have. Shelter, food, duty and possibly even family- as long as you abandon your predatory ways, irrevocably, forever. Some would call it an impossible to believe lie, convinced that it's little more than a ruse to lull gullible fools in before dispatching and devouring them- predator and prey species alike. Ultimately it is their choice whether they want to trust us. For me, and many others, the choice was clear... but sadly not for all. And as harmless as that distrust is with prey species..."

Dewdrop didn't even need to finish that thought for its brunt to hit Sue, the Forest Guardian nodding along sadly, trying to put on a weak smile for the increasingly less monstrous spider, speaking up shortly afterwards-

"That must feel horrible, kn-knowing what your own flesh and blood is doing out there, and probably also feeling like it's your fault for not convincing them."

"Every day I think back to the final time I talked with my brood, when all of us were still little and subsisted on berries for the most part- I tried to argue with them how it would make no sense for this place to be a trap, how that trade off is worth it. All they could muster back was paranoia and outrage at their "identity" as predator species even being called into question like that, insisting that that was our purpose, that was what we were adapted for. And-"

His segmented body shuddered, mandibles clinking together a couple times in an unnerving way.

"It's not even untrue. That was what we are adapted to after all, but to put that as the ceiling of what we are capable of, to insist there's nothing more one would ever want out of life, that murder for sustenance is the most supreme of callings... I can't put myself in that mindset, I never could."

The silence that followed lingered on for a moment as everyone gathered composed their thoughts, Dewdrop eventually breaking the lull with an awkward silence and reaching over his forelegs to rub underneath his eyes, one at a time.

"I apologize, I just... really let all that out all at once, didn't I, hah.

Solstice's, and especially Sue's chuckles that followed helped in diffusing much of the tension, the once human picking up the slack again as more and more of her nerves faded away-

"It's alright Dewdrop. I can only imagine the weight th-that comes with that sort of awareness of what you c-could have done."

"It's heavy indeed, though thankfully I have others here to talk it all through with, others that know that sort of pain."

"You can add 'emotional support' to the list of what our village offers, teehee."

The arachnid laughter that came out of Dewdrop in response was the most bizarre sound in the world to listen to, the repeated clicks making it almost sound like the world's quietest machine gun going off.

"Indeed Solstice, hah. Well, I'm glad you gave me a chance Sue, a-and I hope I won't be as scary of a sight going forward."

If not for her injury and having no idea how well that idea would even work on an anatomical level, Sue was of half a mind to give Dewdrop a big hug there and then, fear replaced by empathy and a bit of pity for the most part- any spider this size was going to be inherently unnerving, but at least he'd likely not make her panic again in the future.

"You really won't be, and you're welcome Dewdrop. I-I- thank you for this, it was illuminating, and I'm really sorry f-for things being the way they are."

"Not something either of us can change, sadly- all we can do is keep this place growing and hope we sway more hearts in the future. Speaking of, how far did you all push the other deathweavers back after Sue's attack, Solstice?"

"A day's march, more or less."

"Pushed back?"

"Between offering predators a place to stay and protecting everyone already living here and others nearby, one of those is more important in the end. A whole brood being nearby is a grave danger for all of us, no matter how much some of its members could be persuaded if given enough time- and so it has to be dispersed, burned down, and its members pushed back, far, far from here, so that they're no longer a threat."

"And once the time comes, the eggs they had left behind will hatch here, and the little ones will be welcome into a place where they don't have to hunt."

Dewdrop's follow up in particular made Sue second guess herself, the uncertainty growing on her face as a part of her worried about the moral implications of what she'd just heard described- keeping their territory safe was one thing, but kidnapping the eggs left behind? Though... not like the other answer felt any better, the baby spiders instead eventually growing into yet more of a threat, not just to the village specifically but also to any other prey species around them...

"Indeed Sue, there isn't a "correct" answer of what we ought to do in a situation like that. We can only hope that offering the unhatched ones a life of safety right from the get go is the right call, even if it comes at the price of taking them away from their families, and that if we end up wrong, then that whatever awaits us on The Gate's other side forgives us for our sins."

"I don't doubt one bit that this course of action is the right one for my kin at least... though yes, definitely a case by case basis kind of dilemma. In either way- whatever judgment awaits us, that's way off in the future, and now I really should get to catching up on green silk, hah."

"...wh-why green specifically?"

"Some prankster thought it'd be funny to steal half the bundle I kept on hand and I only realized partway through weaving- oh well, just have to grab more green dye and get back to spinning."

"There's no rush Dewdrop, tassels aren't a priority, take your time."

"Ha- with the rate at which Root has been putting up shrines lately you'd think he would eventually start wearing one on his back."

Solstice grumbled at the mention of the other elder in a very familiar and fed up way, mumbling into her hand and rubbing her eyes as she briefly switched to telepathy-

"^I'll have to bring it up with him, I don't know what's gotten into him lately. Take care Dewdrop, and may She keep your rest peaceful.^"

"See you both around~ oh, and you too little one, I almost didn't notice you, ha."

A glance over Sue's shoulder determined Joy to be in a pensive mood herself- though the thoughtfulness couldn't last all that long after Sue got back to the toothy one with all the affection she was owed, a slight tickle on the girl's front resulting in her whole body squirming and handsies flailing, the lovely, gasping laughter mixing with notably less lovely clinking of metal- though the end result was still really nice, simply because it was Joy.

"Took y'all so long these went cold in the meantime, pfft."

The vixen's voice had the rest of the group perk up to watch her finally rejoin them, one paw holding three portions of candied, syrup-covered fruits on sticks, one of them shorter and with only a large slice instead of the full thing.

"Well if there's anyone to help offset that grievous injustice it'd be you Sundance~, agreed though, rather heavy stuff for what was supposed to be our opportunity to relax, let's go make the most of what remains of the day, eh Sue?"

Solstice's quip had Sundance roll her eyes before summoning a small, but fierce flame out of her free paw, warming the treats back up as the rest of the group got up and going, Joy that bit more skittish at the sight of an open flame, opting to keep to Sue's side this time.

"Yeah, something more relaxing would be nice- had any place in particular in mind?"

"Hmm, no, I don't-"

"Yes I do~."

Solstice was clearly as curious of what the firefox had in mind for them as Sue herself, their obvious curiosity going unanswered as they were simply lead forward towards a destination that quickly grew clear if confusing for the older Forest Guardian, while the younger one knew too little to treat any of this as anything but an exciting ride to who knows where, more than down to let her very warm, very soft host handle all the details. A quick glance upward at seeing their shadows start to lengthen had the sun beginning its inevitable descent down the celestial dome- though before Sue could pay that too much attention, a closer sight caught her attention instead, the rest of the group joining her in watching intently as they ate their reheated treats.

Snowdrop was busy handling several rectangular baskets of grain and berries next to a large hole in the ground, lined with a light material Sue couldn't pick up on from a distance. The flirty, frosty performer's routine seemed to be straightforward- assemble a stack of three baskets at a time, do... something to it that then resulted in them all suddenly getting overgrown with frost and even a bit of ice in places, and lower the freshly frozen pile of foodstuffs down into the hole, next to the previous pile, the world's weirdest, most unintuitively manually operated freezer getting closed shortly after the final pile was lowered into it. While the icy being took a moment to admire her handiwork and clean her ear-flap-hands by the means of swiping them against each other, a couple smaller villagers took the opportunity to run up to her instead- a half green, half cream snake with a yellow collar, and the pink bat-scorpion-spooky-why-was-their-stinger-so-big one she'd seen yesterday in the middle of her own breakdown.

They didn't arrive empty handed either, each of them helping carry their end of a clay pot half the snake's size, the liquid inside dark and sweet smelling, enough so for Sue's group to smell the almost cherry-like scent all the way from their vantage point. The couple little ones' request was very straightforward thankfully, Snowdrop giving it some thought before talking through it with the kids, eventually figuring out just the right way of going on about it- and by far the flashiest.

The clay pot was grasped more firmly in her hands than Sue would've thought possible with how dainty they looked before being flung straight up with a surprising amount of strength, enough for the entirety of the dark pink juice inside to be thrown up into the air above the group- and then snapped frozen with a single powerful gust of chilling wind from Snowdrop's mouth, turning the potful of juice into a potful of ice cream that was then scooped right out of the air and back into its container, with almost nothing splashing back on the frosty girl herself. The couple dark specks that did land on her head and one of the crystal horns made for an amusing sight, Sue and the kiddos alike giggling to themselves as the frosty treat was lowered down, Snowdrop joining them all not long afterwards- at least until she noticed Sue and the rest of that little group having been spectating her all along, simple glee turning into a fluster bright enough to melt some of the frozen juice on her head as she scurried out of sight, Sue wanting to give her a big hug out of reflex.

"Awwwwh~ she's sweet, isn't she?"

"Yeah! A-almost hard to believe she'd managed to put as scary of a show back at the stage as she did."

"A ghost of many talents you could even say~! Gods, if she'd been here twenty years ago when I first came here then... hah, no telling who would my heart be with nowadays."

Solstice's blunt admission made Sue blink a couple times as they all got moving again, Joy the only one left unsatisfied at the spectacle, and even then mostly because of the fact that she didn't get any freshly made ice cream in the end.

"I-I definitely see what you m-mean, heh..."

"Oh, now you do~?"

Sue threatened to catch on fire following the mayor's comment, looking away with a bright fluster as the other two women laughed among themselves, Sundance in particular wanting to egg her on for a while before deciding to give her some mercy- she'd be even more flustered soon enough, no point to speed that process up any more than was necessary in the moment.

"Yeah, Snowdrop's a treasure, though... she's always struck me as wanting something more permanent."

"D-don't we all?"

Sundance looked back over at her student with a light smirk and a raised eyebrow, the faintest bit of her chuckle seeping into her words-

"I don't~. Never really felt that romantic pull."

"Oh. B-but uh, what about Spark?"

"A very, very happy accident- though an accident all the same."

The topic had Sue struggle to gather words properly, much to the other two's continued amusement, a big, awkward question then creeping up into the forefront of the younger Forest Guardian's mind, one she'd avoided bringing up earlier due to the implied tragedy-

"B-but, with whom?"

As Sue had feared, the question had Sundance pause- though as opposed to the fear of the vixen suddenly breaking out into tears, she instead began to count on her fingers, eyes darting off into the sky as she enumerated the possibilities-

"There are... seven candidates in total I think- two of them are dead, two more don't live here, and none of them ever spoke up or came forward even after Spark was on her way- as far as I'm concerned, she's mine and mine alone."

Sue tried to compose some sort of response to such a revelation, though no matter what from what side she attempted to approach the subject on, she inevitably ended up with some variation of "how!?", each with a vastly differing tone and implication, their sum total largely cancelling each other out over the long few minutes the rest of their march took, a cheeky smirk glued to the vixen's expression all throughout. The sight of their eventual destination succeeded at finally snapping Sue's thought process out of the embarrassed deadlock it ended up spiralling into, the nearby grove of fruit-bearing trees right next to a house-sized patch of flowering plants, a handful of berry bushes, and what looked to be tomato plants being supported on an elaborate array of wooden scaffolding.

Further look into the farmland found arrangements of crops that were similarly messy, dozens of different species of plants interwoven in a pattern that looked completely random and chaotic, but which Sue swore had to have some method to it, there was no way they'd just plant so many different crops in such a haphazard way, they'd only end up with a pitiful amount of each come harvest. Though even that simple thought further complicated the sight in front of her- as sizable as the village's breadbasket was, it still felt like way too little to feed an entire village of what had to be hundreds if not thousands, no matter how nourishing each individual berry was, not if harvested annually at least-

Before she could give the agricultural conundrum any more mental fuel to burn through, a loud, howling, beckoning whistle had Sue look over towards its source- though all she'd managed to make out of them was a dark brown lower half and a paler body sprouting out it, topped off with a pair of orange arms presently waving towards someone off to the side before stopping, their gaze craning over towards their group by the moment-

And then, Sue felt a familiar, giddy sensation, accompanied by the pleasant aroma from before, her head attempting to track the quickly moving presence right behind her and turn around- though by the time her body unfroze enough start budging, an excited, whistled message had reached her mind first, accompanied by a couple leafy pats on her shoulder-

"Want another fruit?"