... At least, that's what it wants others to believe. Most of that is a farse- a mask Rodi uses to protect himself. It's nigh impossible to get it to lower its defenses and bond with fellow not-cats for somehow he has convinced itself that he is- at heart- an undesirable and fragile, weak person, to which other cats would agree should they ever find out.
Part of him wishes he could put down this shield and truly enjoy the company of its crew, while another part hisses and spits in fear of what they might think of him.
This new world he's found himself in is a dangerous place, a profoundly uncharted territory of which it and others have never traversed. Rodi asserted himself as the leader of its little clan as soon as their paws touched the chilled earth and bolstered his fellow cats into following it deeper and deeper into the woods, eventually finding a suitable place to set up their new home.
Within the forests of this strange new place lie many threats, and Rodi has taken it upon himself to deal with them in order to maintain the trust his cats have in him- vulnerability will make it seem an unfit leader, and surely they would all leave him to rot.
This has the... adverse effect of putting itself and others in highly dangerous situations.
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1.
He was one of the first to fall in the fight against The Shadow. It had already been horrifically weakened by hordes of hounds and the skeletons of reanimated rodents, even possessed trees, but nothing- nothing- could have prepared it for what lay ahead in the thick and shadowed woods. Not even the light of the sun dared tread upon its domain.
At first, he felt confident. After all, it'd come out alright in the face of insurmountable odds save for some smarting injuries, but Annora had enough knowledge to keep it up on its feet. Whatever awaited them in the deep forest didn't have a clue what it would be dealing with.
His adventuring team, however, was hesitant. Something was... deeply off, and every cat could sense it. Except for Rodi, it seemed, as with a rallying chirp he urged the group to continue. Who knew what sorts of things they might discover here? They'd never find out if they didn't explore!
The cats followed their fearless leader into the depths, now sure that he would keep them safe.
That was his first mistake. Letting its own taste for adventure get in the way of his own instinct for self-preservation. Allowing his cats to blindly follow him, like sheep.
As they followed the path, the group of cats found that the trail led into a deep, cavernous maw; the hollowed-out corpse of a giant not-redwood tree. Fascination overtook the group's collective unease (of course, sans Rodi who was absolutely stoked at this formation...) as they approached, Ilgenar- the scout- sniffing the air around the tree.
Within the basin, an ancient piece of stone lies in the center of the trunk. The stone was inscribed with runes identical to the symbols marred into the surface of the runestones that they were greeted by upon setting paw on this world, a fact that Ilgenar verbalized loud and clear.
As if roused by the sounds of the adventuring team, whisps of shadow rose from the floor like great tendrils. The fur on every single not-feline's pelt rose, the phenomenon even eliciting a hiss from Violet, the thief. Annora instinctively stood in front of the lithe cat, using aers' size to shield the other. Rodi looked around frantically- what was going on? What had he led his team into?
As the creature began to manifest, Rodi noticed it looked.. a whole lot like Nestor, but wrong. As if they were being viewed through a shattered mirror, or in the reflection of melted glass. It sent a chill down his spine. Out of nowhere, Violet dashed out from behind Annora and threw xemselves behind the strange shadowed Not-Nestor, promptly lunging at the being- completely missing it. It had completely shifted its corporeal being to the side, every single twitching white eye staring indifferently at Violet.
The rest of the battle was a blur. Annora had charged in and placed herself between Not-Nestor and the thief, puffing out aer long fur to appear larger than she truly was, and Ilgenar had given a rallying cry. Rodi ran towards the creature and tried to sink its teeth into whatever flesh it might have possessed, but as it had done with Violet the being phased to the side, sending Rodi tumbling.
There was a horrifying shriek, and then everything went dark.
Rodi woke up in the small dilapidated building that the Lost Lights called home, Valour standing over him and mewing in indecipherable concerned tones. Honesty explained that it had been unconscious for several days, and Ilgenar had been watching over them while the rest of the party recovered from their wounds.
The cat was grateful to even be alive, though concern washed over it as it craned his neck to look at Ilgenar. They were sitting in a corner with wide, glossy eyes, occasionally shifting to look at the three other adventurers.
That night, Rodi was plagued with horrific visions. The sounds of thousands of not-cats, all screaming over one another. Desperate pleas for help. Piercing white eyes stared into the deepest pits of his soul, dredging out every fear and hurt that it had ever felt. You Are Not Worthy, it spoke.
Rodi hasn't gone that deep into the forest since,
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art by corrosivelimes
art by me!
