Laesara had had enough of this nonsense. She balled up her fists and stalked towards the tree. She refused to be afraid of nothing.
So at least be something! she insisted, daring the fekarats to show themselves, At least be something I can fear so I don't get laughed at again!
Better to be laughed at for fearing fluffy flying cat things than be laughed at for fearing sounds!
Are they even in the tree?
She slowed as she neared its base, her muscles tensing as she crept ever closer to it. It wasn't a particularly remarkable tree, aside from the apples. Its trunk was decently smooth, though it had ridges, and it's branches were not gnarled. It was definitely not a scary tree and as she put her hand on it, it felt just like any other tree.
She looked up into the branches, her heart in her throat as she sought out any movement, any glimmer of eyes, any sign that the Fekarats from before were present, or anything to indicate the source of the aggressive hiss.
Nothing
Laesara was getting sick and tired of that word. She had had enough of nothing.
She gave the tree trunk a slam of her forearm, making the leaves rattle and rustle weakly, as if in a breeze.
“Oi!” she shouted up into it, slamming the tree again, “I'm right here!” she slammed it again, defiant. She smiled in slightly wobbly triumph as glowing eyes began to appear in the shade. There's something “Come and get me!” she challenged, “I'm right here! Come and get me!”
“Hisssss....”
The sound was like the leaves themselves, magnified and directed, with malice, at her. It seemed to come from the tree itself, echoing out of the bowl of its boughs.
“Come...” she said, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. “And...” She was shaking, and her teeth were starting to clatter, but she forced them still. “Get...” She balled up her fists, her legs tensing as she made ready to run for it. What am I doing She wondered, but she knew exactly what she was doing, and she had no regrets. “ME!” she shouted into the trees. As the rustling in the tree became a sudden scurry of movement, she ran for shelter.
At first, she thought she was running from nothing, and was both embarrassed and relieved. She had gone up to her fear, and tested it, and proven it was nothing. And that was something.
When she looked back, though, it was not nothing that greeted her, but a tawny, writhing, feline swarm of angry creatures, their sharp teeth and claws glinting in the lowering sunlight, their bright eyes angry and intent on her.
Having the fear be something real is good too she reassured herself as she skidded into the hut and slammed the door on them. She could hear them skitter on the other side, shrieking angrily. She held the door, waiting until they quieted and lost interest. After some wary patience, she opened the door a crack and peeked outside.
Nothing.
She opened the door slightly more ajar.
Nothing...
She grinned at the tree in the garden, once more innocuous. “Ha. I bested you.” she said. She wasn't entirely convinced of it herself, but she had called the thing she feared to her, and had avoided it. That meant she could control it. That meant she could conquer it. That meant that she wouldn't be laughed at.
“Ha!” she shouted at the tree. Suddenly, from right next to her, she heard a yowl and a streak of pain graced her arm. She turned to see, hidden in the windowsil, a Fekarat. She held her scratched arm as it hissed and chittered, before returning to its tree.
She glared after it, no longer afraid, but angry. Very angry.
(643/500)
