Leaps of faith were sometimes the most terrifying ones to make, but Vow hadn't even made his on good faith. He had encountered his first otherworldly creature, and she spoke with a smooth tongue and dangled the truths of this world in front of his nose as the perfect bait. Her name was foreign upon her tongue, and after his first embarrassing stumble through addressing her with it she had taken pity upon him. "You may call me Kat." She had said, and he felt the warm evidence of a blush upon his cheeks.
She was a unique creature, all long limbs and elegance unmatched. Her coat was a vibrant shade of red that was jarring to look at it, and yet he could not help but stare. Vow had learned quickly how to direct his questions towards her - it seemed she delighted in being vague if he gave her the opportunity to. At first, it had frustrated him having to rephrase his questions in a million different ways to get the correct answer. But, once he had caught on to how she operated she was surprisingly... informative. She was a fount of valuable information that he needed to obtain. Vow was a member of the Coven of the Pale Raven, and he would not be so useless as to not bring anything of value back from this venture.
"Why, then?" he found himself asking her after silence had settled for too long between them. Vow had no idea how long they had been travelling, but from the soreness in his legs he assumed it had been a while.
"Hmm?" Kat hummed, prompting him to clarify whatever question weighed heavy on his mind. They were travelling through an area Kat had described as 'The Crossroads', an area that seemed to react to her very presence within it. Flowers shifted colors as she passed them by, their glow soft and alluring. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, and he could ask her about the flowers, about why they changed colors. But, he had a more pressing question weighing upon his mind.
"Why has the veil been... shut until now?" He picked up his pace, and found himself walking by Kat's side rather than behind her.
When she spoke to him, it was almost in a conspiratorial whisper. "I do not know, it is one of the few things that have been frustratingly out of my reach. Now that the veil has been weakened, I find it shameful not to act upon it. As interesting as this world may seem to you, your own world is likewise as tempting for me." It was a subtle deflection away from a topic she was not so comfortable engaging in. She gave him a small nugget of information to coerce his curiosities elsewhere. Looking into his mismatched eyes, she knew it worked.
"I doubt my world has many mysteries for you to uncover." His reply was almost dismissive, after all, his home did not have color-changing flowers or crystallized flora. His rabbits most certainly did not have the antlers of a deer either.
"No? Then perhaps our deal was unfair..." she teased.
"It is too late for you to go back on it now."
Kat hummed in amusement, mirth lighting in her blue eyes. "If you were not so mortal, I would be offended by your lack of faith in me." She turned her head towards him, her 'third eye' reflecting the light around her. "I will be certain to get as much out of our deal as possible, so you should be sure to do the same."
Vow stopped in his tracks, his voice gruff for a moment at the insinuation that she was holding back from him, "I am, aren't I?" he demanded quickly.
Kat, for her part, merely looked amused. She knew how to distract, knew how to get what she wanted. So, she lifted her paw and tapped it underneath his chin, incredibly invasive but she was likewise incredibly confident that he would not mind. "I don't know, are you?" Her voice was sultry, and she knew exactly what she was doing.
It only took Vow a couple moments longer to realize it too. "Not yet," he answered, voice thick with sudden nerves and something else. She smiled at him in response, and it felt off... but everything felt off here. The Ethereal turned to continue on her way, and Vow silently followed.
