“First things first,” Nora announced as the two of them left the room and walked up a giant spiral staircase. “You need some proper clothes.”

“Uh-huh,” Callie commented distractedly. It’s not every day you get to live in a house made in a giant, hollowed out tree. Several rooms branched off of the center staircase, sometimes literally. Leaves and plants seemed to be sprouting in every nook and cranny in here. And the whole thing was lit by those dancing fairy lights in the air.

“...and I think you’d look great in a giant cat costume,” Nora continued.

“Uh-huh,” Callie said, before she came to a stop. “Hey!”

“So you weren’t listening!” Nora accused.

“Only cause your house is so magical!” the catgirl gawked. “And the lights are so pretty! And, and-”

“I get it, I get it!” Nora laughed. “House tour later, okay? We need to get you some fresh clothes and a bath.”

***

Callie stared at the change of clothes left in the guest bedroom for her. She told Nora to pick whatever they wanted for her, but she wasn’t expecting something so… fancy. Like, way too fancy for a temporary housemate, right? Perhaps she shouldn’t have left the decision to them after all.

A gust blew into the room, and Callie shivered. The bath had felt amazing, but Nora had taken the opportunity to steal her ratty leather dress when they dropped off the clothes. So it was either this or a towel, and, well…

Gingerly, she picked up the clothes and unfolded them. It looked like a traditional shrine maiden’s outfit- a folded over white top with red trim, and a red skirt with a big bow on it. She was pretty sure the skirt was a lot shorter than an actual shrine maiden’s, but she figured it was for ease of movement in the forest terrain. The same reasoning probably also explained the short-sleeved top whose normally long, flowing sleeves were replaced with white arm wraps, again with the red trim. Wood sandals probably wouldn’t fare well against the uneven terrain so they had been replaced by white thigh-high socks and a pair of black flats.

With a sigh, she began to get dressed. Everything fit surprisingly well. She was finishing up with the arm wraps when there was a knock at the door.

“You decent, Callie?” Nora called through the door.

“Yeah, come in,” she called back.

The witch came through the doorway and immediately clapped her hands together at the sight of her apprentice. “Goddess, Callie, that looks amazing on you! It’s even better than I imagined! Ahhhh!”

“Are you really sure I can borrow these?” The catgirl asked. “Won’t it get all mucked up if we go out into the woods?”

“Don’t worry! I’ve got all sorts of enchantments sewn into it. That’s why it all fits perfectly! Besides, I could never pull off that outfit as well as you do. ”

“Really?” Callie stared at the clothes on her with newfound appreciation. “Huh. That’s actually really cool. So, you made this then?”

“Yup! I’m self-sufficient out here,” Nora beamed. “Only my gathering outfits get maintenance runes on them though; everything else just has basic protections on them. I can show you sometime, if you’d like.”

Callie’s ears perked up. “Really?”

“Of course,” Nora smiled. “Later though. Are you ready to go?”

“Go where?”

“Where else, silly? To get ingredients!”

***

“Are you sure you can see okay?” Callie asked. Feline beastfolk could see well at night, but even with the full moon to light the way, Nora was struggling to keep up with her pace.

“I’ll be fine, kitten!” Nora reassured. “Come this way a lot, and I have a bottle of foxfire if I really need it.”

“Okay, just be careful,” the new apprentice cautioned.”Miyaster? Where are we going anyways?”

Nora just smiled in response. “I told you, it’s a secret!”

“I know, but how will I know where to stop if I don’t know what to look for?”

“You’ll know, trust me!”

“That doesn’t-” The catgirl stopped and stared at the sight in front of her. “Woah…”

“Told ya.”

The pair had arrived at an enchanted clearing. Fireflies twinkled in the air, hovering this way and that over the forest floor. Blue petals joined the insects in their dance, falling softly from a large tree in the center of the clearing. There was a sweet scent wafting through the air as Callie marveled at the tree in full bloom, displaying an array of flowers in several shades of blue.

“This is…”

“Beautiful, right?” Nora whispered. “I try to come here every full moon if I can. Nothing beats the sight.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Callie breathed. “It’s so… magical.”

“Yeah, I said the exact same thing when I first found this place. Now stop gawking, kitten, before you swallow a firefly.”

“Nya!” Callie covered her mouth quickly. “So what do we need from here?” she mumbled through her hands

“Sap from the lunar cherry blossom,” Nora announced, waving a tree tap at her. “Maybe I should stock up on the flower petals too…”

“I can do that!” Callie offered. She set down the bag Nora had given her, fishing out a few jars. She unscrewed one, setting the rest on the floor for now. 

“Eager to help, huh?” Nora laughed. “Thanks. I’ll tap the tree while you gather petals.”

“Kay!” The catgirl began her job in earnest, grabbing the freshest looking petals from underneath the canopy. When she got tired of picking through the trampled or damaged ones on the floor, she began launching herself through the petal storm with several nyas of delight. This was fun!

With her first jar filled, Callie turned around to present it to Nora, but they were nowhere to be found. The tree was gone too, and the sky was pitch black. Shadowy figures began to weave in and out of her vision, whispering quietly.

“What a disgrace,” One spat at her.

Another put a worried hand to their face. “Playing in the mud like that? What do you suppose her father thinks?”

“I’m surprised they even let her stay. It must be ruining their reputation.”

Callie dropped the bottle of flower petals. “W-who are you? Who are any of you?”

The growing crowd of figures ignored her questions. Their fierce whispers were starting to become shouts. 

“She has no sense of dignity,”

“She’d be better off as a stray,”

“Can you believe how disgusting she is?”

“Stop!” Callie yelled. She hunkered down, covering her ears in an attempt to ward off all the nasty comments. “I know I am! Just leave me alone!”

The shadows were all around her now. And there was one in particular closing in on her. Its voice boomed over the rest. “You’re nothing! You’ll never amount to anything more than a cowardly sewer rat! I never should have believed you’d change.” “Callie! Callie!”

The shadowy figure reached towards her. Callie fell backwards, scrambling away from the hand on all fours. “D-Don’t come any closer!” She cried. “I’m sorry! Just leave!”

The shadowy hand didn’t retreat. It began to pick up speed even, and balled up into a fist. “I wish I never had you.” “Snap out of it! Please-”

Callie curled up tight and screamed in fear.
“Spirit Healing!”

The shadowy fist never connected. It faded away, and the scenes and the smells of the lunar cherry blossom brought Callie back to reality. She squirmed as arms wrapped around her, but it was a warm and gentle embrace.

“Easy there, kitten. You’re okay, you’re okay.”

“N-Nora?” Callie whimpered. “What-what just happened?”

“I wish I knew. It looked like you were having fun, but then you started panicking. What’s got you so spooked?”

“I- you- uh-”

“Take some deep breaths for me, okay Callie? Tell me what happened when you’re ready. No rush.”

It took a few more minutes before Callie could think clearly again. “There were these shadow people. They were talking about how terrible I am. It was whispers at first, but then they began to yell and-” Her voice caught in her throat.

“Kitten… I’m sorry you had to go through that. Were any of these people familiar to you?”

Callie shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe? I couldn’t see anybody’s face.”

“That’s okay kitten. Don’t push yourself too hard right now, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Good girl. You did a great job tonight. Let me finish up and then we can go home.”

***

The rest of the night passed quietly. Callie tried to keep her breathing steady as Nora packed the gathering supplies back into her basket. The witch had insisted that Callie took a shower to clear her head, and lent her a dark green nightshirt for bed. Nora herself had changed into a set of flannel pajamas, and was currently checking the catgirl for additional curses.

“Well the good news is that you aren’t cursed, and most of your injuries have healed. The bad news is that means I have no clue what caused those visions of yours.”

“That’s okay. Thanks for checking up on me.”

“Of course! Oh, wait, I think I found something.”

“Found what?”

Nora didn’t say anything, instead opting to scritch around the base of her tail.

“N-nyaaa~”

“Hehe, you like that?”

“Y-yeah…” Was it embarrassing moaning for a stranger? Yes. Could she help it? Probably not.

“Well, since I’ve got your attention, you should know that you’re not terrible. In fact, I think you’re wonderful just the way you are. Don’t let those visions of yours get to you.”

“Okay…  but-”

Nora cut off the catgirl by scratching behind her ears. “No buts! I still need my cute little assistant to help gather silverbelle flowers.”

“Silverbelles? Where do you find- nyaaaa~” Nora had switched to chin scritches, and the combined care and personal attention had rendered the catgirl immobile. 

“Someone’s sensitive,” Nora giggled. “To answer your question, I’ve built a little garden not too far from here. We’ll go in the morning. While we’re at it, we can pick some veggies for dinner.”

“Nyookay...”