Snake's Eye – Chapter 3
Enlightenment
The walk seemed to go on forever. I believed it would never end. Forestclaw continued his night-activities, looking around and smiling at the night world, as I kept warming myself and moved closer to him for safety. I didn't like the nighttime, since it was the opposite of the daytime. Besides, I wasn't nocturnal.
We came upon a lake, and I frowned. "I don't remember this on our way to the concert…"
Forest sat down on the grass. "We walked right past it on our way. We just went a bit too south this time." He stretched out and lay down on the grass, smiling up at the stars. I stood beside him and looked over the lake at the moon's reflection. It shimmered, occasionally broken as a fish petpet jumped up to catch a bug. I looked down at him. "Shouldn't we be going home?"
He looked at me. "Do you really want to go back to that racket right now? This is the only time we'll get peace and quiet."
That kind of won me over. A relief from the usual noise and rumble was a blessing from the Faerie Queen to me. I sat down on the grass beside him (to his left) and breathed in the night air. It did feel good, and I breathed it in deeply and let the smells and warmth fill me up. Forest snapped me out of my thoughts when he spoke up. "The night sure is wonderful."
I looked down at him. "Yeah, it's alright, I guess." He smirked at me. "You guess?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please, you sound like Fire."
Forest put his front paws behind his head. Seriously, you people with legs and feet and paws are really odd, strange creatures. "You seem to get along with FireHeart very well."
I nodded and looked up at the stars. They were like diamonds in the sky…'up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky', the old nursery rhyme goes. "He's a good pal. We wrestle with each other and race with each other, and when we're tired we try to see who can eat the fastest." I smirked and laughed. "I remember when we both got the Sneezles! It was before I moved in here; we were diagnosed, and we both stayed in bed. But, we had a little walkie-talkie system, and we threw insults at each other. Since we couldn't get out of bed to go to the other's house and beat the Meepits out of each other, we could say whatever we wanted!"
Forest watched me with amusement as I grinned at the stars. "That sounds like fun."
I looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. "Then how come you don't join in?"
Forest turned his head away, not looking at me. "I…I don't get along with the others that well…"
I shrugged. "Neither do I! Fire's my only friend, and DL's only my friend 'cause she's my new owner! It's really hard being new and unfamiliar with your surroundings. Everybody's a stranger, and you can't forget your last owner and all the memories there, and everything's just turned upside-down!" I sighed, my happy mood ruined. "It royally sucks…"
Forest looked me straight in the eyes, making me freeze. I couldn't look away, not because of some 'magic' or something, but because I saw something I usually don't see in his eyes: emotion. Or, to be more specific, sorrow. He whispered quietly, "I know that all too well…"
He looked away, and the 'spell' was broken. I blinked and tilted my head. "Huh?"
He looked at a lightning bug on a blade of grass to his right, avoiding my gaze. "I'd rather not…"
I lay down, putting my head on my right wing like you humans put your head on your hand, and shrugged. "Alright, ya don't have to if ya don't wanna…"
We lay there quietly, listening to the sounds of crickets chirping and Lupes or something howling to each other. I twitched my tail from time to time, just looking at his odd face, but I had to stifle a yawn. He still heard it, though, and glanced at me. He got up and cracked his neck. "Well, we should be going home now. DL's probably going nuts right now over where we've been, and only Coltzan knows what the others will do!"
I stood up and stretched my wings. I immediately wished I didn't and started rubbing my wings on my shoulders again. Forest looked at me and laughed. "Well, the cold will keep you awake."
I rolled my eyes. "That was so funny I forgot how to laugh…"
Forest smirked. "I didn't." He laughed.
I shook my head at him. "You're different than what I thought you were like."
He nodded. "Thank you."
Later, at about 8 o' clock NST…
We arrived at the front door, and Forestclaw and I looked at each other nervously. I slowly grabbed the doorknob and turned it. Forest stepped back as I opened it slowly. Carefully, I opened the door all the way.
The house was quiet.
I looked around the front hall. Nothing moved in the dim light that the moonlight that filtered into the room could show. I signaled to Forest, and we slowly stepped in. We turned and both slowly closed the door shut, but behind us we heard a click. The light of a lamp flooded the room, and we both whirled around to see DL sitting on a comfy chair, her arms crossed and a 'where-have-you-been-all-of-this-time' look on her face.
She held up her hand, and we both shook our heads rapidly. DL smirked mischievously.
Snap!
Just a snap of her fingers, and the house burst with sound. Footsteps sounded all over the house, and all of the little people burst from the two doors into the front room. They all started chattering over each other, even while Icy tackled Forest and Tania latched herself onto my wing. I tried to shake her off, but she was a strong little Aisha.
Finally, DL told them to be quiet. She looked at us, grinning. "Why were you guys so late?"
I finally shook Tania off and looked up at her. "It took a long time to go there and back. I suggested flying, but Forest said we should walk."
DL picked up Icy off of Forestclaw, and he got up and brushed himself off. He was back to his normal indifferent self, and he looked at DL, his expression blank. DL looked at him knowingly, although of what I couldn't tell, and said, "Alright, gang, split up; time for bed." She was responded by a chorus of 'awws', but she eventually got them to go. Fire, however, lingered for a moment. I winked, and he winked back before he was ushered out by DL. The house was quiet once more.
I walked down the hall towards my room, and Forest followed me since his room was down that way as well. When I came up to my room door, I looked back at him and smiled. "G'night."
He nodded, and I walked into my room and closed the door. I curled onto my stone bed, and it suddenly felt colder than usual. I missed the grass by the lake, and the warm night air…
I shook my head and sighed. "I need to sleep." I curled up into a swirl and lay my head onto my wing, covering my face with the other. Soon, I finally drifted unconscious.
