Kilian and Elara watched the unfolding sibling drama from a respectful distance, allowing Domina to have her moment of scolding and reluctant embraces.
Gris and Luna, still somewhat dazed by their sister's sudden emotional shift, clung to her, their earlier terror replaced by a grudging acceptance of their fate.
After a minute had passed, Kilian decided the cute scene had run its course.
He approached them, a calm, steady presence.
"Are you guys done reconnecting with each other?" he asked, his voice cutting through the lingering tension.
He paused, letting his gaze sweep over the three of them.
"Can you lend me your ears for what I'm going to say for a second?"
Hearing Kilian's voice, Domina's head snapped up.
Her eyes, still slightly watery from her emotional outburst, locked onto him.
The memory of the healing potion, of his touch, and his unsettling words from moments ago, sent a fresh wave of heat to her cheeks, making her face a faint pink again.
She quickly averted her gaze, her ears twitching with renewed embarrassment.
Yet, the desperate hope sparked by his earlier declaration about her mother overshadowed her mortification.
She looked back at him, her voice barely a whisper, laced with raw desperation.
"Can you really save our mother?"
Gris and Luna, who had been listening in bewildered silence, immediately looked up at their older sister's question.
Their eyes, wide with anticipation, now fixed on Kilian, waiting for his answer.
Kilian met their gazes, one by one start from Gris's hopeful stare, then Luna's innocent, pleading eyes.
Finally, his attention settled firmly on Domina.
He looked directly into her eyes, his expression solemn and unwavering, devoid of any prior amusement.
His voice was low, firm, and filled with a rare, potent sincerity.
"Just trust me, Domina" Kilian stated, his words a binding promise, "I promise I will save your mother."
Kilian extended a hand towards Domina, his palm open and inviting, a silent offer to help her to her feet.
Domina stared at it, a battle of hesitation warring in her eyes.
She didn't even know his full name yet, only that his attendant had called him "young master," hinting at a noble status.
Yet, her gut, raw from desperation, urged her forward.
This man had already helped her siblings, even healed her bites without demanding payment upfront.
The desperate hope for her mother's cure outweighed her deep-seated wariness.
As her hand slowly reached for his, Kilian's lips curved into a subtle, knowing smile, as if he'd just sealed a victorious deal.
He clasped her hand firmly, pulling her up with an easy strength.
"Well come on, let's go now," he urged, his gaze direct.
"I don't have all day."
Domina, still a little unsteady on her feet, blinked at his sudden impatience.
"Where?" she managed, the question slipping out before she could fully process his tone.
Kilian let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head at her seemingly "dumb" question.
"Where else," he answered, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "but to your house? Let's save your mom already."
As they began their walk, the small procession moved through the less bustling byways of the marketplace, heading towards the residential alleys.
Gris and Luna, now fully recovered from their momentary fright, skipped ahead, their earlier fear forgotten in the excitement of a new journey and the lingering taste of pastries.
Domina, however, walked beside Kilian, a quiet unease settling over her.
The absurdity of the situation began to truly sink in.
This man, a complete stranger, was claiming to instantly cure her mother of a grave illness, without so much as a moment's preparation.
Her brow furrowed with doubt, she finally broke the silence.
"Are you sure you don't need time to prepare for this," Domina asked, her voice low, a hint of skepticism she couldn't quite hide, "before trying to heal our mom? It's... it's a serious illness."
Kilian glanced at her for only a second, his expression unreadable, before returning his gaze to the path ahead.
"Yeah," he answered, his tone casual, almost dismissive of her concern.
"I already prepared and brought what I needed to use to help your mom."
He then looked to Elara, who was walking serenely on his other side.
"Right, Elara?"
Elara offered a small, knowing smile.
"Yes, young master," she confirmed smoothly, her voice calm and unwavering.
Despite their confident assurances, Domina remained deeply bothered.
The notion of an instant cure, especially from someone who seemed to treat her siblings like chew toys and her own dignity with such playful disregard, gnawed at her.
Yet, with every step, their home drew nearer, and the desperate hope for her mother battled fiercely with her ingrained caution.
She bit her lip, deciding against pressing for more questions, her growing anxiety overriding her natural suspicion.
A few more feet, and they arrived.
Tucked away in a narrow, almost forgotten alley, stood their home.
It was a humble structure, a simple dwelling of mismatched wooden planks and patched-up walls, leaning slightly with age.
The thatched roof was thin in places, browned by sun and rain, and the single window was smudged with grime.
It was undeniably old and cheap, the kind of place barely considered fit for the poorest of the city's inhabitants.
Yet, despite its dilapidated appearance, there was an undeniable warmth about it, a sense of lived-in familiarity that proclaimed it, unequivocally, a home for four.
Domina pushed open the rickety wooden door, which groaned softly on its hinges, revealing the humble interior.
The younger feline children, Gris and Luna, darted inside without a second thought, already familiar with its comforting, if cramped, confines.
Domina lingered at the threshold, her shoulders slumping slightly.
She turned to Kilian and Elara, a faint blush returning to her cheeks, her gaze sweeping around the meager living space.
"Please... make yourselves at home," she murmured, her voice barely audible, laced with a shy embarrassment at the visible poverty of their dwelling.
A shadow of sadness crossed her features, reflecting her quiet shame over their circumstances.
Kilian noticed her distress but said nothing, his expression remaining neutral.
However he didn't make himself at home.
Kilian stepped past the threshold, his eyes already assessing the layout, not settling down or relaxing for a moment.
"Show me the way to where your mom is resting," he stated, his voice direct and business-like.
Domina, momentarily surprised by his immediate urgency but a flicker of hope rekindling in her eyes, managed a small, hopeful smile.
"This way," she said, turning quickly. She led him towards a room nestled in the far corner of the small house.
Elara followed silently behind them, her presence a calm, unwavering shadow.
They entered a dimly lit room, where a woman, appearing to be in her early thirties, lay still on a worn pallet on the floor, seemingly asleep.
Her normally vibrant feline features were painfully gaunt, her face alarmingly pale, almost translucent.
Dark, purplish-black spots, stark and ominous, were spread across her skin, particularly visible along her neck and the exposed skin of her arms where her thin blanket had slipped.
These discolorations seemed to pulse with a faint, unnatural darkness beneath the surface, starkly contrasting with the pallor of her remaining skin.
Her breathing was shallow, barely disturbing the stillness of the air, and her limbs lay unnaturally still, rigid and lifeless.
*Illustration
It was the image of a body slowly, inexorably fading, consumed by an unseen decay.
Kilian immediately pulled a simple wooden chair from the corner of the small room and settled beside the makeshift bed.
He leaned in, his gaze scrutinizing the mother's lifeless form, his expression unreadable.
After a moment of intense observation, he let out a soft, almost imperceptible click of his tongue.
"Tsk"
The tiny sound, so minor yet so loaded with an unknown assessment, instantly frayed Domina's already thin composure.
Her hope, so recently rekindled, threatened to crack, her eyes darting nervously between Kilian's grim face and her mother's still form.
Instead of offering any immediate reassurance about the mother's condition, Kilian turned his gaze to Domina.
"Have you heard of a disease called Gloomrot?" he asked, his voice low.
Domina's eyes widened, a fresh wave of panic seizing her.
"No!" she blurted out, her voice tight with fear.
"Is it infectious? Is it a virus? Are my siblings going to end up like Mom too?!"
She took an involuntary step back, her gaze darting frantically to Gris and Luna, who had hesitantly entered the room behind them, their faces a mixture of confusion and quiet worry.
Seeing Domina's spiraling panic, Kilian reacted swiftly.
He reached out and firmly gripped both of her shoulders, his touch grounding amidst her rising terror.
"Calm down, Domina," he stated, his voice firm but reassuring.
"It's not a virus. No one here is infected, and no one is going to end up the same as your mother."
He held her gaze, compelling her to listen.
"Don't worry and let me explain. Your mother is suffering from a disease called Gloomrot."
Kilian paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing, his voice shifting to a more authoritative, informative tone.
"Alright, listen close about Gloomrot. It's not like the usual sicknesses you catch, so don't worry about it spreading from person to person. It's... darker than that."
"What it does is, it slowly takes away your strength. You start feeling weaker, then these weird, dark purplish-black spots show up on your skin, and they just get bigger and blacker."
"Before you know it, you're stuck in bed, can't move a muscle, not even to eat anything solid. You'd have to live on broth or mush."
"The worst part is, your mind stays perfectly clear, so you're just trapped inside your own body, aware of everything."
"People usually get it from being in really old, cursed places, like those forgotten ruins, or lands where some seriously bad magic has been festering for ages."
"Sometimes it's from getting too close to a monster that's just dripping with that kind of corruption, or touching some ancient, evil artifact."
"It's not a bug or a germ, it's like a deep, spiritual rot from tainted magic that just seeps into you."
***
/I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If its alright, please drop a comment or a powerstone to help me keep making this world bigger!