There was a flash of lightning, ripping across the black sky in a momentary scar of light. In its harsh luminescence a gruesome scene was revealed; a fresh corpse laying in a pool of purple blood; a knife laying on the ground beside it, its tip stained an olive green; and, for a moment, a shadowy figure crouched on the windowsill with emerald eyes. Darkness fell and when the lightning flickered again, the assassin was gone with only the verdant droplets of their blood to mark their passing.
Yet it was enough.
"Neophyte Redglare. There was another murder."
"A highblood?"
"Yes. The highest so far... a sea-dweller."
"...No clues again?"
"No. This time they slipped up."
A pause.
"...Really?"
"Yes. And it is your new assignment to find this green-blooded assassin."
"...Yes, sir."
"You know wha' your problem is? You... You need a woman."
Signless chuckled, reaching out to take the mug from his friend. "Psiioniic, you are very drunk."
Psiioniic pulled the mug back with a snort. "I'mma mage. I'd know if I wasth... was drunk." His lisp came out even stronger with the help of the alcohol to the point that he almost sounded like when he and the Signless had first met. "An' don't change the subject. You. You need a woman... or a man, if thass wha' you're after..."
"It would be a woman if it were to be anyone, as you well know. But no one would want to fill quadrants with a mutant blood like me."
"Don't let your mum here you say that..."
"Don't let her hear what?"
Both young men jumped guiltily as Dolorosa appeared behind them, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
"H-Hi, Mom..."
"Felidae! Felidae, come out here this instance!"
Redglare leapt down from her lusus' back, eyes blazing behind her red glasses.
"Felidae Onyxclaw!"
"Wow. It must be bad if you're using my full name."
Felidae dropped down from a nearby tree, frowning at her unexpected visitor. "Would you stop yelling? You'll drive away all the prey. Again."
"You. You got cut, didn't you?" Redglare snaked a hand out and grabbed her arm, causing the other to wince. She shoved up Felidae's sleeve and stared in expectant horror at the bandage wrapped around her arm. "...Oh, Felidae..."
"That's not my name anymore." She yanked her arm back, covering the wound with her hand. "It hasn't been for a long time."
"..." For a moment Redglare's gaze softened. "...It seems like only yesterday that we were wrigglers together..."
"Not for me. For me it's been a lifetime." Felidae turned slightly, hiding her face with the curtain of her hair. "What are you doing here, Redglare?"
"I've been assigned to hunt down and bring justice to the one who keeps killing the highbloods. The one that has now been identified as a middleblood."
Felidae snorted. "So you're here to arrest me?"
"No. I have no proof that it is you. That cut could have been received by any number of means and you are far from the only green blood with a hatred for those above them on the hemospectrum." Redglare said calmly. "I simply came to make sure my old friend was still alive... Felidae..."
"I am the Huntress now, Redglare. Felidae Onyxclaw died when Dualscar slaughtered my lusus for no other reason than he could."
"...I will call you Huntress and I will leave you to your peace if you do something for me."
"...What?"
"There is a man I want to you to hear speak..."
Author's Note: One fine day I was given the task of cosplaying the Disciple. I accepted and promptly set to doing my normal, pre-cosplay backstory research. And found none. So I decided to write my own. This is the first chapter of that backstory. It's only my own headcanon, nothing more.
I came up with Felidae's name after much struggling and I stand by it, even though "Felidae" only has seven letters instead of the customary eight. Whatever.
The name of the fic is something I'm pretty proud of. "Viridis" is Latin for green and a scrivener is someone who writes about a person's life. So, in essence, it's a cooler version of "Olive Scribe", the Disciple's title song.
If you have suggestion for the other ancestor's names, please tell me so I don't have to think as much!
~Ixaix
