"Mint now gets to perish in her own creation!"
To her surprise, Zar stopped some distance away from the liquid, before snatching the fur atop her dome and forcing her eyes toward the ground.
"If you think we like doing this, you're mistaken!" he hissed into her ear. "But you're a danger to yourself and everyone around you!"
Then he shoved her forward, but not far enough for her to fall in.
She landed on her knees, confused. Did he expect her to just walk in?
"You brought this upon yourself!" Zar finished.
She looked behind her to see everyone taking a step backwards.
Suddenly, something burst from beneath the steaming, grey substance.
Mint recoiled onto her back in surprise and terror: before her was a luminescent snapping vine!
It was the only living thing known to be able to survive in such a harsh environment, and it looked hungry.
Now shot full of adrenaline, the young spirit squirmed to her hooves and awkwardly ran away from the foul creature…
...only to be palmed in the nose by Hito, knocking her onto her back. He kicked her back towards the center of the semi-circle that had formed around her.
Mint looked up to see his face was one of pure sorrow.
Then, the sensation she dreaded arrived: she felt the snapping vine grab hold of her leg and start dragging!
Two more had surfaced as well.
The crowd watched in morbid stupor as she was pulled towards her doom, her muffled screams growing louder and louder with every inch.
"Don't help her!" Zar shouted. "Unless you wish to be next!"
The other two sentient, purple vines wrapped themselves around her too, and in her struggle, the gag came loose, allowing her screams to be released at full volume.
No one was coming to save her; her screams were purely ones of terror and not cries for help.
Just as she felt the heat of the bubbling liquid touch her hooves, she shut her eyes and prepared for the end.
But just as she felt herself succumbing to the darkness, she felt an immense surge of energy from within.
She had no idea how, but she was suddenly fully unrestrained!
Her eyes still closed, the spirit brought her paws up to her face, curling into a ball in fear.
No longer being dragged, she finally stopped screaming (opting instead for a horrified whimper).
A faint humming could be heard all around her.
She peeked out through a pair of fingers to see a bubble of light surrounding her.
As quickly as she saw it, it receded back into her. The humming noise ceased, replaced by shocked and confused murmurs from the crowd.
"Wha-wha-?!" was all that could come out of Mint's mouth as she got back to her knees and stared at her paws. "Wha-wh-wh-what?!"
She was just as confused as them. Her restraints all seemed to have vaporized, and the three snapping vines behind her sank back into the grey lake with their top halves burned off!
Her breaths were short and shallow; in her head, she was still convinced she was about to die.
Where had that power come from?! She'd never practiced anything like that before!
"She's more dangerous than we thought!" said Zar. "Push her in!"
The crowd charged her, everyone brandishing some kind of weapon.
"AAH! NO! PLEASE!" she shrieked in vain, nearly tripping and falling in by herself.
Just as all seemed lost for Mint, a lone guardian spirit swooped in on a vine and snatched her up!
As the crowd of shocked spirits receded from her, she looked up to see that it was Keo holding onto her.
"Fir!" he yelled, before tossing her over the grey cesspool towards his brother. "Get her someplace safe! I'll meet you there!"
Fir gracefully caught Mint in mid-air as he spoke.
"Roger that!" he replied, grappling onto some blue moss and carrying his sister away.
Keo bashed off a lantern and out of sight as Mint and Fir traversed away through the dying woods.
Finally, the two of them landed on a rocky ledge to catch a breather.
"We'll wait for him here," said Fir. "They'll try to capture him too now. Hopefully he can lead them astray."
No response. He looked over to see Mint standing with her back to him.
"Mint?" he started. "How in the world did you-?"
He stopped when he noticed her paws were clenched tightly into fists.
It began to rain.
"Oh...Mint, I-" he said as he reached out and grabbed her arm. "I don't know what to say-"
"DON'T...touch me!" she growled, swatting away his paw and whipping around to face him.
"Look, I'm sorry-"
"Oh, you're sorry? You're sorry?!"
She shoved him in the chest.
"That's it?!"
"I know you're angry-"
"No! Don't even start!"
Lighting struck and thunder clapped.
Mint's eyes flooded with tears as the rain became a downpour.
"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!" she screamed, shoving him again. "Neither of you even bothered to listen to me!"
"Mint! You stole the light! How else do you expect us to respond?!"
"Shut UP!"
This time, as rushing air began to blow past their perch, Fir caught her arms in his paws when she went to shove him again.
"We screwed up, okay?!" Fir yelled, having to shout over the wind. "Are you happy?!"
The young spirit stayed silent as he held her close, her anger slowly dissolving into sobs.
"We just gave up our old life for you!" he continued. "That's not sorry enough?!"
Mint started quivering from both the cold and her emotions; her glowing fur had already become saturated with water, and she felt the raindrops start to roll down her face and body.
"The least you could do is be a little more grateful," Fir finished in a softer tone, but still loud enough to be heard over the weather.
She fully broke down when he said that, resting her forehead on his chest and crying into it.
He released her arms and the two of them hugged it out for some time. The storm slowly passed, and so did the most turbulent of their emotions.
"Why would you do it?" she finally asked. "Why? I didn't ask you to…no one asked you to..."
"...Because it wasn't right..."
Mint and Fir both looked up to see Keo sitting at the edge.
"That's not like us," he continued as he stared into the fog. "We don't...execute...other spirits!"
"How long have you been sitting there?" asked Fir.
"Long enough."
"Were you followed?"
"Don't think so, but we shouldn't stay."
Keo then somberly stood up and turned around, facing Mint with his usual "no nonsense" look.
"But we're not leaving until I get some answers!" he said firmly. "How did you save yourself? What was that?! What happened?!"
"I-I don't know."
"What do you mean, you 'don't know'?"
Mint stood up and threw her arms in the air.
"It means I don't know! Okay?! I don't understand what happened…"
She started pacing back and forth.
"It was some kind of defense mechanism I think, except I never trained it!" she said. "It-it's as though I was recalling it from a past life, or…"
She stopped moving.
"...or a memory…"
"A memory?" asked Fir.
Her look of realization faded, and her ears plastered themselves against her head like an ashamed Moki.
"Guys?" she started. "I should start from the beginning."
. . .
"You ran from four howlers?!" said Fir in astonishment. "Four?!"
Mint nodded, clearly still jittery from the event. She sat before them on her knees, with both of her paws in her lap.
Her two brothers sat cross-legged, having listened intently to her tale.
"So you stole the spirit tree's light," Fir started. "Because of what you thought you saw?"
"I don't think it, I know it!" said Mint. "I found a meadow, where flowers and grass were growing without spirit light!"
Fir remained skeptical.
"But still, you were just one spirit in a large meadow," he said. "How can you be so sure that you searched everywhere?"
"I didn't need to search everywhere," said Mint. "If spirit light was actually there, much larger plants and much more lush undergrowth would've been present, but it wasn't! It was...simple...as though it was getting there, but more slowly."
"On its own?" asked Keo. "Without help?"
"Exactly!"
A moment of silent reflection passed.
"And the spirit light gave you his memories?" he asked. "And you think that's how you were just now able to escape death?"
"It must have been one of his powers," said Mint. "She said they would come to me, should the need arise."
"Huh."
"And I swear to you, I never trained that skill! I never even knew it was a thing!"
More tense silence.
"I think one thing is clear," said Keo. "We need to see this place for ourselves."
"You're not serious," said Fir.
"What choice do we have? We've no doubt been outcast from Niwen at this point!"
"True…"
Keo turned to Mint with a concerned but determined look on his face.
"We still don't fully trust you, but we saved you because you're our sister," said Keo. "And we all deserve a chance to be heard and to learn in case we're wrong!"
Mint gave him a look of satisfaction, but not without a hint of annoyance.
"I'm not saying you are," he continued. "I'm saying I don't know. And the only way we're going to find out, is if you lead the way."
Surprised, she donned a look of apprehension.
"Me?" she asked.
"I don't know the way to the meadow," said Keo. "Do you Fir?"
"You're guess is as good as mine, boss."
She just stared at them both in shock. It hadn't occurred to her that she would have to be the one leading the expedition!
"If I could share some advice," said Keo. "You're never ready...but you have to start somewhere."
"Well, I suppose we'd have to start at the edge of the dark forest," said Mint. "From there, I could hopefully recall which way I went."
"Then that's where we'll go."
He stood up, placing his paws on his hips.
"Looks like we're heading south," he said.
"Um, one thing, before we go," said Fir, his voice suddenly somber.
He walked up to his sister with eyes sad and shimmering.
"Mint, I hurt you today," he said. "I just wasn't thinking...can you ever forgive me?"
She just stared at him for a moment, mostly in surprise. She'd always known him to be a stone-cold warrior, this kind of softness was unexpected from him.
Nevertheless, she understood.
"It's okay," she said as she embraced him. "I was being stupid and irresponsible. I needed some sense knocked into me...I just didn't know who to trust."
"You were more perceptive than us, I guess," said Fir, hugging her back.
"...Come on, big brother...we have work to do…"