TOW: Something feels off...

Season: Winter 2026
Location: Beach close to The Sun Stones
Prompt: “A truth among lies”
Characters: Creed, Maeve & Cruz

~*~

The first days among new packmates passed rather peacefully. No one bothered them, no one asked difficult questions… Until Maeve, Tephe’s Archvicar, appeared on the horizon.

Therapy. 

It didn’t sound bad. Apparently, everyone new in Tephe had to attend it and had survived. Cruz didn’t mind at all - she even felt a certain excitement about the new experience. But when it came to Creed, he had a completely different opinion and no intention of hiding it.

~*~
And so the questions began.
The first ones to surface were the most uncomfortable - those concerning their past. Fortunately, they had foreseen this moment and crafted a story meant to deceive their packmates - about how they had always felt different, misunderstood. That was why they had set out on a journey, searching for a place they could belong.

Cruz felt a flicker of pride at how convincingly she had delivered their story, but Creed couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Maeve had not interrupted her even once, listening in composed silence to every word. When a heavy silence settled between the three of them, Cruz and Creed exchanged a subtle glance. Was something wrong?

“Is that everything you have to say?” Maeve asked calmly.
Cruz nodded at once. Creed, however, frowned, his gaze fixed intently on the Archvicar.

“Hmm." Maeve pretended to contemplate something before smiling and standing, "In that case, come find me when you’re ready to tell the truth.” Without another word, Maeve nodded a simple farewell and turned, soon disappearing from the shoreline altogether.

When Archvicar’s silhouette vanished from their sight, freshly made rookies turned to face each other. “What now?” Cruz asked, astounded that their plan had been so easily exposed.
“What if they tell everyone we lied to them?! W-What if they throw us out because of it?!” she nearly shouted at her friend, terrified.

Creed frowned even more angrily as his gaze was still fixating on the stone where Archvicar had been sitting. “Then we will be on our way.” He didn’t answer his friend - he concluded what had happened to them before his tall frame stood up and moved in the opposite direction from Maeve’s.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 (here) | Part 5

An amazing collab between me, Roo and Cactus! Roo did the shading, background and final touches, Cactus did the sketch and colors while i did the lines!

Maeve (c) @TheStarvingRaven
Creed (c) @XxCactusxX
Cruz (C) @Mako1305