CotL Year Of Art Zine

Behind the first ghost floated a second. Both ghosts appeared the same age, maybe seven or so, with the same round cheeks, wearing matching striped sweaters and chullo hats with a star shape sewn on the crown. The wool on the one inches from Narinder's face was more wiry and her eyes had a mischievous spark, while the one behind her's wool looked soft and her expression more reserved.

He'd seen the two around the grounds before. The Lamb once spent a day peeking under baskets and around offering altars as they tried to find the two hiding ghosts. Admittedly, Narinder had found it amusing watching The Lamb sneak and bleat around like an absolute fool the first time, though the subsequent times the ghosts came for a visited did not yield the same reaction from him.

The children had a pension for troublemaking. The two would jump out and scare followers or distract the living children while they were being tutored. If not for his overly-sentimental ex-vessel shrugging the pranks off as not a problem, Narinder would have grabbed the ghosts by the scruff and tossed them out of the cult gates weeks ago.

"The Lamb isn't here." Narinder waved his hand to shoo the wiry-wooled child away.

"No duh," The wiry-wooled one scoffed. "That's why we're here to talk to you."

The soft-wooled one pulled back her sister then explained, "The Shepherd said if there was ever an emergency and they weren't around, to go to The Goat, and if The Goat isn't around, to go to you."

Narinder was not sure if he should be annoyed at being third in line or thankful for it.

The wiry-wooled one said, "Yeah, neither The Shepherd or their loud goat friend are here, so you have to help us, Mister Kitty."

"My name is Narinder, not 'Kitty,'" he snapped. 'Kitty' was a name for a pet.

With an eye roll, the wiry-wooled one replied, "So you have to help us, Mister Narinder." She clapped her hands together, as if Narinder wasn't paying attention to her already. "We need your help finding flowers for our mama."

Narinder blinked slowly, took a breath, laid back down, then pulled his blanket over his head.

He had accepted some foolish quests on behalf of his followers before—playing wing-man to a certainly doomed relationship, making vile dishes for them to eat, midnight murder over petty reasons—but not only was dealing with idiotic mortals' flippant requests no longer his job, these two children did not even follow his Crown.

The wiry-wooled one huffed. "Hey! Get up! You have to help us or we're gonna tell on you."

"Oh, no…" Narinder muttered flatly. If The Lamb forgave him for attempting to murder them in The Gateway, then Narinder doubted they would be too upset that he didn't want to go flower picking on the demand of some ghosts.

The soft-wooled one pleaded, "Please, please, please, Mister Narinder? The flowers only bloom in early spring, by the time The Shepherd returns, they might be all dead and we missed our chance to pick them."

Narinder adjusted the blanket, but didn't remove it from his head. "Then do it next year. You're ghosts. You have all the time in the world."

"But we wanna do it now!" The wiry-wooled one shouted. Suddenly, a spot on Narinder's back went cold as the little ghost sat on him. She phased just enough through the blanket that she brushed his bare fur.

Narinder shuddered. He pulled his arm free to try to wave her off, but his hand went right through her body. To touch ghosts that didn't want to be touched, Narinder had to concentrate, channeling the little bit of power he still had from his Crown, but it was hard to concentrate when his body was starting to freeze.

She smirked and settled down farther to allow the cold to spread. The soft-wooled one caught on to the plan quickly and joined her sister, sitting on Narinder's hips.

"Get off!"

"Nope. Not until you help us." The soft-wooled one shook her head. "We'll stay here all day—we do have all the time in the world, after all." The two shared a smirk.

"Motherfu—alright, fine!" Narinder groaned, throwing his arm over his face, as the ghost children cheered at their victory.

There were three types of people Narinder should know better than to try and argue with: a child, a ghost, and a god.

---

The sun shone through the fresh, green leaves and dappled the ground. The grass underfoot was soft, and had the circumstances been different, Narinder would have found a place where the sun broke through and taken a nice nap.

Rolling up his sleeves above his elbows, Narinder asked, "What flower are you two brats looking for?"

"We're not brats." The wiry-wooled one put her fists on her hips. "My name is Keru. That's Aza."

"What flowers are you two brats looking for," Narinder repeated then sneered, "Keru and Aza."

Keru bristled, but Aza moved forward before Keru could argue. Aza said, "We don't remember what they're called, and we couldn't ask Mama because then she'd know we were getting them for her."

Narinder slumped his shoulders forward. Of course, they didn't know. That would make it too easy.

Rubbing his temple, Narinder asked, "Well, what did it look like?"

"Um, it was purple?" Aza scratched her chin. "Purple with green leaves."

That did not narrow the possibilities down as much as Narinder had hoped. He looked around, hoping that maybe the flower was common like horsemint. Did horsemint even bloom in spring? Wait, was horsemint purple? Maybe it was pink or red?

Narinder had spent so much time in The Gateway, he barely remembered what flowers and nature even looked like when he returned, and he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to teach himself the name of every plant around since regaining his freedom, but there couldn't be that many purple flowers.

"Purple with green leaves doesn't tell me much." Narinder took a breath. "Is it tall? What did the petals look like?"

Keru and Aza exchanged a look then shrugged.

"We dunno," they chorused together.

Narinder wanted to punch a tree.

Keru said, "Mama only showed us the jelly she made with it and said the flowers were purple and her favorite. She was going to show us them, but then," Keru flinched, "we never got to see spring with Mama and Papa again," she ended with a whisper.

Aza patted Keru's back as Narinder chewed the inside of his cheek. He didn't know these children well enough to guess if Keru was being genuine bringing up their murders or if she was trying to pull on his heartstrings.

He dragged the hand from his temple down his face. "Jelly. She can make jelly with them?"

"It's really yummy jelly!" Aza waved her arms excitedly around. "It's sweet and tasty—I bet even a sour puss like you would like it."

Narinder pulled her hat down over her face as he walked past.

He didn't like sweet things. In the days of his early godhood when his followers would gift him baked treats made with honey, he would force himself to take a few bites, pretend he enjoyed it, then hand the rest off to one of his trusted disciples to secretly dispose of.

Narinder's knowledge on what one would make jelly with was limited. He remembered long, long ago watching his followers make jellies and jams, so he knew the flowers needed to be seeped, then water and sugar added, and then it was boiled. He vaguely recalled some sort of other fruit juice was needed to make the jelly firm up, but whatever it was remained a mystery to him.

If only the children had mentioned that before they left the grounds. Heket cooked all the time. She would know what purple flowers made good jelly, and Leshy would probably know where the flowers were want to grow, too. If neither of them, then maybe Shamura would have the answers.

He considered for a moment heading back to recruit his siblings' help, but dismissed the idea. Narinder doubted any other member of his family were very high on the list of emergency helpers The Lamb gave to Keru and Aza.

"Oh! I just remembered!" Keru flew to catch up with Narinder. "Mama did show me one. It was pressed in a book and dried. I don't remember exactly what it looked like, but I know if I saw it, I'd know it."

Narinder sighed. "Better than nothing, I suppose."

The trio searched the forest that encircled the cult grounds. They found plenty of purple flowers—purple dead nettle, henbit, crocus, and more—but Keru dismissed each one with a shake of the head.

Narinder tossed a sprig of henbit to the side. "And you are certain it was not a flower on a tree?" He craned his neck to eye the pale pink buds on a near by tree. A soft breeze played with his exposed fur as he sat on a rock to rest, bringing to his ears the distant sound of running water.

As Aza wandered ahead to search, Keru shrugged. "I don't think so. Mama would have mentioned it if it was."

Narinder bent over in exasperation. How long had these children been dead, anyway? There was a chance whatever flower it was no longer grew in these lands. His family had driven plenty of plants to extinction when one of them decided they didn't want that plant around anymore. He, himself, had ordered a particular type of bush pulled from every inch of his lands and burned to ashes because it made his nose run.

He flinched as he realized there was also a good chance the flower only grew on Ewefall and he was wasting his time searching anywhere else. Woolhaven, from what he had been told, had been the only place in The Lands of The Old Faith that had seasonal cycles after Yngya went into hiding.

He started to voice his concern with Aza rushed in, tackling her sister.

"Keru!" She wheezed, as if her movements still required effort.

"What? Did you find more purple flowers?" Keru grabbed her arms, eyes sparkling.

Aza shook her head. "I found something else! Mister Narinder," she floated to him, "come quickly!"

Narinder cringed but forced himself up to his feet. He followed behind Aza through the low brush. Brambles hidden among the new foliage hooked his robes as he passed. He paused to yank himself free as Aza led Keru to the moss-covered base of a large tree. She crouched and pointed to something Narinder couldn't see.

"Oooh, poor thing," Keru cooed, reaching out as Narinder neared.

A sharp, startled chirp made Narinder jump as a fluffy chick scurried between the two ghosts. The chick flapped its tiny wings in a vain attempt to keep its balance, but tumbled over an acorn and rolled forward until it hit Narinder's foot.

He snatched the dazed chick and held it gently, but firmly, between his hands. The chick peeped and struggled as the children floated closer to look at it.

"It's a baby." Keru poked the chick's head. It shuddered and tried to hide down in Narinder's hands.

"It's a nice snack for all my hard work," Narinder corrected, licking his lips. It had been a long time since he had the opportunity to enjoy the crunch of tiny bones between his teeth. Fish was nice, but nothing compared to a freshly captured young bird. Of course, he would prefer if the chick was a little bit bigger, but beggars can't be choosers.

"No!" Keru shouted at the same time as Aza cried, "You can't!"

Narinder held the chick over his head, though he knew the action was pointless.

Aza jabbed her finger up the tree the chick had been at the bottom of. "Its nest is up there. You need to put it back. Keru and my hands are too cold. It'll get chilly if we try to carry it to its nest ourselves."

"It's mother probably pushed it out. Birds do that when a baby is sickly, you know." Narinder covered the chick completely with his hands so the children couldn't get a better look at the healthy critter.

Keru narrowed her eyes at him then sniffed dismissively. "I bet you're scared of heights. You can't climb up to put it back, can you?"

Aza scoffed, "Yeah! I bet he's too lazy to climb."

"Lazy and scared."

Narinder rolled his eyes. He knew they were trying to goad him into returning his snack to its nest. Well, it wasn't going to work! After thousands of years dealing with his siblings, it would take more than whatever taunts these two children could think of to make him—

"The Shepherd did call Mister Narinder their pet cat, didn't they?" Aza crossed her arms and nodded. "A pet cat probably can't climb very well."

"Pet?" Narinder cried. "I am no pet to anyone!" He huffed towards the tree. There was a nest in the crook of the tree not too far up. Narinder deposited the chick into his hood, hissing at it, "if you fall again, I'll eat you."

The chick responded with a confused cheep, but huddled down in the hood.

Narinder cracked his knuckles then flexed his bright red claws. Using his back claws, he stepped against the tree then hauled himself upwards with his front claws. The rough bark bit into his palms as he climbed, and Narinder scolded himself for letting his paws grow so soft. Half way up, he vowed to stop pushing his duties on to hapless new followers.

From the ground, Aza and Keru cheered him on.

"You can do it, Mister Narinder!"

"Go, sour puss, go!"

Narinder grabbed for a branch under where the nest sat to pulled himself up. From inside the nest, two more chicks stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. His stomach growled, but he pushed the thought of shoving the morsels into his mouth away.

Instead, he took a moment to enjoy his climbing accomplishment and looked across the woods from his new vantage point. He could see a stream snaking its way through the brambles and some more of the trees with pale pink buds. He followed the stream with his eyes until he saw, just barely in view, a patch of deep purple.

Smiling, Narinder reached into his hood for the fallen chick.

Just as he grabbed it, a piercing caw sounded over the children's cheers. A full-grown bird swooped at Narinder, its claws grabbing at his ears. The bird screeched and repeated its dive. He pressed himself against the trunk.

The chicks in the nest seemed to chirp encouragement to their parent as the bird flapped against his face and pecked at Narinder's third eye. He squeezed all his eyes shut. If only he had a free hand. He could grab that bird from the air and break its neck.

"Hey! Stop!" Aza shouted, flying up to the branch.

Keru hurried between the bird and Narinder, waving her arms. "He's trying to help you!"

The bird flapped and cawed at the ghosts. It tried to peck at them, but its beak went through their bodies same as Narinder's hand had earlier in the day.

Taking the opportunity, Narinder dropped the chick in his hand to the nest. The chick rolled on its back, looking confused at the sky before getting to its feet and hustling to hide between its siblings.

With his hands free, Narinder started his frantic and frazzled decent down the trunk.

The bird, however, did not want to let the possible baby-eater go without a reminder to stay away from its nest. When Narinder was about half way down, the bird flew low overhead and defecated warm, watery poop.

Swearing at the bird in a language he knew the children didn't know, Narinder hopped the last few feet from the tree to the ground. He unrolled his sleeves to wildly wipe at the poop rolling down his face.

Aza and Keru soon joined him. He waited for their laughter at his predicament, but, surprisingly, it never came.

"Wow! Mister Narinder!" Keru bounced in the air. "That was so brave of you!"

"Yeah! You climbed up there like it was nothing and weren't scared at all!" Aza confirmed her sister's statement.

Narinder felt a blush creep up his cheeks. Thankful for his dark fur, he turned from the children with a forced laugh.

"I used to stand taller than that when I was a god—and I faced much worse enemies as well."

The children gasped and jumped in front of him.

"You did?" Keru asked at the same time as Aza asked, "You were?"

A sense of pride welled up in his chest at the children's excitement. He didn't usually like to bring up his time with The Red Crown, as it tended to be a reminder of what he had lost when The Lamb usurped him, but at that moment, he felt like sharing.

---

"And so I leap on The Roc's back, my dagger in hand," Narinder raised his hand as if holding the dagger, "and I crawled between its shoulder blades to—"

"Look there!" Aza shouted, pointing to a large patch of purple flowers. Keru zoomed past her and Narinder. She lowered herself and squinted at the flowers before gasping.

"This is them! These are the flowers Mama likes!" Keru pumped her arms up and down in victory.

Narinder stepped over a low growth of brambles and examined the plants. The flowers had five petals, four long petals and one rounder, while the leaves were heart shaped with scalloped edges.

Narinder barked a laugh.

"Violets!"

Keru looked over at him, tilting her head. "Yeah, that's what Mama said. She liked 'violet flowers,' but I think these just look purple. No fancy color."

He shook his head. "No, these flowers are called violets. Now, I remember them. I've never had them, but I know you can eat them." He plucked a flower and tossed it in his mouth. It tasted mild and grassy, maybe a little sweet. Nothing he would seek out to eat, but he understood why others might.

As he swallowed the flower, another memory came to him. The first time he watched a follower make jelly. It had been with violets. He remembered how excited the follower had been to show her god the violet-infused tea changed from a blue-green to a purple-pink when she added something—lemon, maybe—to it. Even if Narinder wouldn't enjoy the resulting jelly, simply watching the process had been so interesting to him at the time.

He bet Aza and Keru would find that color change magical.

He smiled to himself as the children danced together over the flower patch.

Perhaps these flowers weren't even their mother's favorite. Perhaps she just wanted to share that magic with her daughters.

---

Days passed and Narinder dozed, curled up under his covers.

Keru and Aza had spent an hour picking flowers. The two would have plucked the whole patch bare had Narinder not stopped them. It was one thing for The Lamb to strip an area bare of resources when they were crusading against his siblings, but this patch was close enough to the cult grounds that taking all the flowers would have been a disservice to the nearby nature and bad forging practice.

Narinder wasn't sure how the children managed to take their pile of flowers home to Woolhaven. When he asked them their plan, Keru waved him off and proclaimed they would figure it out. She and Aza just needed Narinder's help finding the flowers, after all.

Narinder yawned, enjoying the morning sun on his face, when his door curtain flapped aside.

"Hello, Nari!"

He groaned, but pushed himself up as The Lamb came in with a big grin on their face.

"Welcome back," he grunted, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his paw. "Now, get out."

The Lamb rolled their eyes, but didn't stop smiling. "I will. I will. I have plenty to check up on, but I have something to give you first."

Narinder perked up as The Lamb reached into their fleece. A gift? Narinder liked gifts—though when they came from The Lamb, he called them 'offerings.'

They dug around their inner pockets a moment before letting out a sound of triumph.

The Lamb pushed a small, glass jar into his hands. He turned the jar to examine the contents.

"Aza and Keru?" He asked, already knowing the answer, and twisted the lid off the jar to sniff the purple jelly. He stuck his finger in and tasted the sweet, floral stickiness. As he hummed to himself, The Lamb swooped in and took a finger full for themself to try.

"They said you helped them find flowers for this." The Lamb nodded in confirmation. "If you don't want that, though, I'll be happy to…" They trailed off, holding out their greedy hands for the jar. Narinder pushed them away with one hand and held the jelly protectively to his chest with the other.

He didn't like sweets, but he decided he would keep this gift, just this once.

---

AN: I've made several types of flower jellies before when spring time rolls around. It's a lot of fun! Dandelion jelly tasted like honey and there is a nice sweetness to violet jelly. My favorite is redbud jelly though, because it has a wonderful tangy taste to it. Amazing when paired with BBQ sauce in a crock pot dishes.

This piece took me about 13 hours and 37 minutes, and I spent weeks working on it. This is probably the largest piece I've ever done and it challenged me a lot. Figuring out the perspective and background was really difficult for me, and colouring even more so. I'm really happy to have made something that I feel proud of though.

I am so excited to be participating in this year's @cotl-yoa Here are some teasers of that "big project" I can't wait to show you all these pieces in all their massively sized glory ( as much as Tumblr compression allows 😅)

This is the Seasons CotL Collab!

I really enjoy pouring my heart and soul into community projects like these, and with over 35+ creatives on deck, I have nothing but confidence that this year's gonna be something truly special ❤️

There are so many skilled and wonderful people in the cotl-fandom. The amount of love, laughs, and memes are testimonial to that, I'm so proud of all of you ^•^