2. Realisation
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PoX's Note: Updated one day later (according to Australian time. I don't know about America)! What an improvement! Actually, I posted this an hour earlier, until I realised that my Author's Note somehow disappeared! How sad TT^TT Anyway, this is just a chapter where the silver tabby she-cat explains Lionblaze's whereabouts and blah blah blah. It's all the things that YOU need to know too, otherwise you will never understand what is happening throughout this story. So, enjoy!
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The silver she-cat quickly grabbed Lionblaze by the scruff and started to haul him over to the forest. Lionblaze immediately broke free. He glanced at the she-cat once more, still confused, and quickly sprinted off for the trees. He heard scrabbling on the floor as the she-cat struggled to catch up. Glancing over his shoulder, Lionblaze called out, "Why are we in danger?"
"There's...a pack of...wolves," the she-cat explained breathlessly as she pelted after Lionblaze. "They're known . . . as the Death Pack. They . . . have killed many cats . . . before . . ." Now she was struggling to breathe, so Lionblaze slowed down, but just slightly. The she-cat flashed Lionblaze a grateful glance and managed to catch up next to him. "I've never seen them in my life," she continued. "But . . . today I saw them, threatening to kill my . . . littermate. He died just . . . when . . . I told them to stop, and then they started to . . . chase me."
"How'd you manage to run out of their sight?" Lionblaze asked, impressed.
The silver she-cat stared at him in surprise. "You did it," she answered. "Don't you remember? You came out of nowhere in a flash and blinded the Death Pack before they caught up with me. I couldn't see everything, but I remember that you fought them off, snarling and hissing things that I couldn't understand. Something about finishing an uncompleted tale..." She stared at Lionblaze curiously. "What was that about?"
Lionblaze didn't know either. Did he really fight them off and said those words? He couldn't recall a thing! "Was . . . that all I did?" Lionblaze asked. "I mean, did I say anything else, or do anything else? And how did I pass out? And what happened to the Death Pack?"
"Well . . ." the she-cat thought deeply for a moment. "After you fought them, a brighter light beamed out from you, and it blinded the Death Pack, but only temporarily," she added. "Once the light disappeared, I saw you down on the ground, unconscious, and the sight of the Death Pack fleeing behind a rock that led to the cave that my littermate and I lived in. I woke you up, and then we came here, away from the Death Pack."
"And . . . where am I?" Lionblaze meowed, curious.
The silver she-cat glanced at him in surprise. "Are you telling me that you've never heard of Credon before? It's one of the most well-known Kingdoms in the whole of Amberosia! Everyone should have heard of this Kingdom before."
Well, I've never been here before! Lionblaze thought. And this place is really weird. What's Credon? And what is a Kingdom, anyway? Glancing around, he noticed that the trees were a really bright orange. "What type of trees are those?" he asked the silver she-cat, gesturing with his tail towards the tree.
"Why, it's Aspen!" the she-cat answered. "The Credon Kingdom is well-known for the Aspen trees! I mean, how else are we known to Amberosia?" She then stared seriously at Lionblaze. "You've never been here, before, haven't you?" She sniffed. "Your scent carries the smell of another forest."
"I come from the four Clans by the lake," Lionblaze explained. "But I've never been here before. You see, we have this medicine cat in our Clan who told me that someone had to complete an unfinished tale . . . and then I went to sleep and then woke up here. I don't really know much at all except for what you've just told me, about this Credon Kingdom and Amberosia." He had difficulty in having to pronounce the word, but somehow managed to say it properly.
To his shock, the silver she-cat's eyes widened with fear. "T-t-the Clans?" she gasped. "You mean from the Clans of Blood?"
"What Clans of Blood?" Lionblaze didn't really understand. Did she mean by BloodClan? The Clan that tried to rule over the old forest? But they weren't called the Clans of Blood. "I come from ThunderClan. The other three Clans are known as ShadowClan, RiverClan and WindClan."
With this, the silver she-cat relaxed a little. "So you don't kill," she meowed. Lionblaze shook his head. "Good." The she-cat stretched, then blinked with surprise. "Right. I forgot to mention my name!" she added. "I'm Breeze. Nice to meet you." She smiled.
"I'm Lionblaze," the ThunderClan warrior replied. "And umm . . . if you don't mind me asking . . . what are the Kingdoms?"
"Well," Breeze meowed, "Kingdoms are basically big areas for those who rule a bit of the land of Amberosia. The areas that these rulers own are being populated with cats like me." Lionblaze nodded in understanding. "There are a whole number of Kingdoms that many don't know how many there are. The three top Kingdoms that are well-known are the Ardun Kingdom, the Yuun Kingdom and the Credon Kingdom. Basically there is rivalry between all the Kingdoms –" Like the Clans, Lionblaze thought –"And we all battle to fight for the top three Kingdoms that the King and Queen would choose. This is only the first time ever that the King and Queen chose us."
"King and Queen?" Lionblaze echoed. "Who are they?"
"Well, they are the rulers of all the Kingdoms," Breeze explained. "A few cats had tried to overpower them to make their Kingdom rule over all the others, but all who've tried failed. We don't know why, and they won't tell us a word. Anyway," she added. "The King and Queen live in the Royal Kingdom, which is located somewhere in the Sea."
"The Sea?" Lionblaze asked.
Breeze nodded. "Yes," she meowed. "They live on water." Lionblaze blinked in surprise. "As I said before, those few cats that searched for that Kingdom had found it, but they won't utter a word none. So we still don't know exactly where the Kingdom is located." She glanced at the sky, which was turning pink. "We should get back to my den," she suggested. "Before the Death Pack search for us again." Lionblaze nodded, and followed Breeze to wherever she lived. There was still a mountain of questions that Lionblaze wanted to ask her. Why am I here? What is the Clans of Blood? Will I ever get back home, to the Clans?
...
In his dream, Lionblaze woke up again to see the exact same mysterious forest where he had encountered Tigerstar. Am I going to see him again? Lionblaze thought, fear in his chest once more. But if I see him again, then maybe I can get back to the lake . . .
"Hello there, young one," a voice meowed from behind Lionblaze. Turning around, Lionblaze laid his eyes on a cat identical to him. Yet not so. Instead of amber eyes, he had an ocean blue. The tom was about the same age as Lionblaze himself, yet there was wisdom in this cat's voice as he spoke.
"What do you want?" Lionblaze asked warily. He didn't feel comfortable around here. He was worried that this cat was part of the Dark Forest.
The tom purred. "I'm not part of the Dark Forest," he told Lionblaze. "I'm a friend of whom you honour. Flame, you can call me." His eyes were gentle as he added, "Bluestar wants me to pass a message to you." Lionblaze's ears pricked immediately. It would have to be something important if she had sent another cat to search for him. "She wants to tell you to complete that unfinished tale," Flame meowed. "Once you have completed it, you may return to the Clans. However, if you are injured in any way and die in Amberosia, then you can never return. Your soul stays in the Kingdoms."
"B-but how am I to complete the tale?" Lionblaze demanded. "How did it start?"
Flame stared at him, hard. "I started the tale for you," he meowed. "You are to finish it."
Lionblaze didn't understand. What did this cat mean? "You started this tale?" Lionblaze whispered. "H...how...?"
"I was born in Amberosia, you see," Flame explained, "I looked exactly like you, except with these blue eyes. I was a friend of Flower, a beautiful golden she-cat with green eyes." He cleared his throat. "I . . . loved her a lot. Then one day, the Death Pack got me and dragged me over for their dinner. I managed to escape, but bloody and badly injured. I found Flower, but she mistook me for a monster of some sort and killed me right on the spot, not knowing that it was me." He sighed, sadness clouding in his eyes. "I visited her in her dreams that night, telling her that it was me she killed. She was so sad. I've never seen her that sad before."
"Then...why did you tell her if you knew she was going to be really depressed?" Lionblaze asked.
"I was young when I died," Flame replied. "I didn't know that she was going to be like that." He gazed into Lionblaze's eyes. "You must complete the tale by finding her and overthrowing the King and Queen off their seats and gaining power. The Credon Kingdom must rule."
Lionblaze protested: "Isn't it better for the Royal Kingdom to rule? Why should the Credon Kingdom overpower everybody else?"
"Because with the Royal Kingdom ruling, all the other Kingdom's would live hungry every day," Flame answered. "Although we have loads of prey to share, it is forbidden to pass prey over to other Kingdoms, and so everyone is starving, and thirsty too."
"Then why not all the Kingdoms ally together to defeat the Royal Kingdom?"
"Ah. Well, you see, not everyone disagrees with the King and Queen's rules," Flame explained. "Some like the Heta Kingdom believe that the King and Queen in their Royal Kingdom deserve to rule. They're the underlings of the Royal Kingdom. They know nothing of freedom." He glanced behind him. "Someone's calling me. I'd better go..."
"W-wait!" Lionblaze stammered. "What am I supposed to do?"
Flame turned around, still padding away. "Find Flower," he replied. "She's expecting you near the Willow Tree, the only tree that is different from Aspen."
Lionblaze yowled, "Where is the Willow Tree?" But Flame was gone. Lionblaze decided to pelt after him, but soon the trees disappeared and Lionblaze was in nothingness but white surroundings. Suddenly a huge paw flashed out of nowhere and nudge Lionblaze's side roughly . . .
"Complete . . . the unfinished tale . . ." Lionblaze muttered as he kicked back the poking paw. He heard a she-cat yelp and immediately recognised the voice; Breeze. Quickly he turned around. "A-are you okay?" he stammered. "I'm really sorry if I hurt you in any way . . ."
To his relief, Breeze shook her head. "You just scared me when you started murmuring about completing the unfinished tale again, and then out of the blue you kicked me. Anyway," she added, gesturing towards the bright sunlight. "It's sunhigh. I was hoping that we could go hunt out a bit just to keep our stomaches full."
Lionblaze nodded, but then quickly questioned, "Have you heard of a cat named Flame?"
Breeze's eyes widened. "You've heard of him?" she asked. Lionblaze nodded. "And from where?" The golden-brown tom sighed and explained the whole thing, except he skimmed around the part where Flame told him about Flower. Once he finished, Breeze nodded, although her eyes were wide with awe. "Well, you see, Flame was a ruler of the Credon Kingdom," she meowed. "He, his family and his to-be mate Flower were fair to us. At least we weren't left to fend for ourselves like the Heta Kingdom does. Wait, have I told you about the Credon Kingdom's relationship with the Heta Kingdom's?"
Lionblaze shook his head. "I heard Flame mention the Heta Kingdom in my dream though," he offered. "He said that they were loyal to the Royal Kingdom, no doubt about that, but they do not know about freedom of their own, if I recall."
"That's true." Breeze licked her paw before continuing. "But you only know part of it, if that is the case. The Heta Kingdom were commanded by the Royal Kingdom to attack us, apparently just to see which Kingdom was stronger." Breeze shrugged, although Lionblaze noticed a tinge of anger shown in her eyes. "Many of our cats were lost, but we fought bravely, and it was our victory in the end. It is now rumoured that the Royal Kingdom wants us completely wiped out, but for whatever reason, I don't know."
"All the more reason for the Credon Kingdom to rule all the other Kingdoms," Lionblaze meowed.
Breeze sighed. "But you see, we still know nothing of it. As I said yesterday, the cats who have tried to overpower the Royal Kingdom come back, white on the face, and they refuse to tell us anything about it. I think that something must have scared them, almost to death that they can't tell us." She shook her head. "Lionblaze, we really need to think this through before we just find them."
"The only way that I can finish this 'uncompleted tale' is if I find Flower by the Willow Tree," mewed Lionblaze, "and set off on my journey to the Sea, where this Royal Kingdom is supposed to be. And then I overpower them, and then I can return home, where I belong." Lionblaze huffed. "I still don't even know why I'm here in the first place."
"Well, I think that the reason is because you are like a mirror image of Flame," Breeze replied, "except for those eyes. But if we want Flower to convince you, we can always ask a witch I know of who can change your eye colour from amber to blue."
Lionblaze protested: "We don't need to. I'll just tell Flower the truth and then we can do it together. Plus, Flame probably visited Flower in her dream and told her that I was coming to see her. Don't worry," he added when he noticed the doubtful look on Breeze's face. "I'm sure that Flame would do something instead of sit and watch the whole thing."
"I guess so." Breeze's look still hadn't changed. Finally she turned to lick her fur. Between licks she asked, "How about we go hunting?"
"That sounds great right now," Lionblaze answered, pawing the ground when he noticed how hungry he was for the first time that morning. "Maybe we can catch a couple of squirrels to eat together, but I also wouldn't mind a vole either, or perhaps a –"
Breeze interrupted him. "Wait; you can catch squirrels?" Lionblaze stared at her in shock. "I mean like, I have a fear of . . . heights," she admitted. "And because I live with myself, eating squirrel is rare. I haven't eaten it in a long while now. About a season ago was the last time I ate one."
"A season ago?" Lionblaze was completely appalled. "Are you serious?" Breeze nodded. "Well, the only way you're ever going to learn to climb trees is to overcome your fear of heights." Breeze opened her mouth to argue, but Lionblaze swept on. "You'll see; it doesn't get scary after a while."
Breeze forced a smile. "You won't make me regret this?"
"Of course not," Lionblaze snorted, but he purred, amused, afterwards.
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PoX's Note: What do you think of this chapter? I know the ending was a bit crap, but I seriously couldn't think of anything else to write other than that. So, please drop a review just to tell me your opinion on it! Every review will be loved! Oh, but no flames. If you really think I need improvement, a CC would be much better. Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter for this story! Thank you for reading and I know that you are waiting for the next chapter, which will be most likely updated next week!