YAY! It's finally summer! Lol, but I am still SO happy!
Chapter 9-Dew's POV
The sun was bright and the sky was coated with a fresh layer of azure blue paint. It was a crisp, clear, airy morning. Birds chirped loudly and a faraway woodpecker let out a low drum-like sound. It's drilling on a tree was heard all the way to the meadow and fresh air flowed through the atmosphere. There were absolutely no signs of rain anywhere. The darkening clouds had all passed away that one time and now it was warm, warm, warm underneath the shining, dazzling sun. Such a day made it perfect to travel to the Warrior Cat Forest. But the Seven were trying to figure out how to get there. There was just a faint outline, just a bordering, of what to do.
Dew sighed quietly, almost to herself as she trotted to the rest of the group, which Iris had gathered together. It was almost the afternoon, the sun was already climbing up the stairs to the top floor right now, but the heat just bounced off her coat and she was as cool as ever with her ice horn. The Seven had voted and decided to stay in the meadow where they found a bigger cave to rest under. The outside was colored dark, looking like burnt ash, and the rim at the entrance was so pale that it was nearly named off as white. The inside of the gave was a nice shade of a smoky charcoal gray. It was large enough to shelter them all whilst proving safe from occasional showers too.
The Seven were all at attendance in the meadow, frantically examining the map and instructions, hoping to plan a safe route from their camp to the entrance of a new dimension. The raw scent of fear rising from the Seven was carried away by the wind, but still remained faintly. Dew peered over Rainstorm's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the yellowing pages. She read a part of the scroll that the saber cat was holding read, 'Over the great mountains carved hills of snow, and to the middle of where the plants all grow. Hidden in the shadows of tangled vines, there lies all clues and maybe some signs. Search behind and even more deeper, for there is the portal to the world of warriors.'
"So there's a portal in the middle of the Lush-Leaved Forest, at least that's the forest I'm guessing for, where Iris and Feather hunted the other day, and we have to get to there. Speaking of meat, I'm going to cook the prey we caught…" Rainstorm sauntered off toward the wood pile in the back, leaving the parchment at Dew's hooves. Skylight trailed after the saber cat, chortling about knowing some really tasty cooking recipes. The alicorn stared at the scroll before pushing it back to Iris who swept it up into her wing limbs and folding it back together to put with the other group of papers, patting it lightly.
"Anyways, these mysterious greater powers didn't even give us simple clear instructions!" Sundaze blinked her hazel brown eyes and pointed to the scrolls in Iris's claws. "All of them end in some knotty twist." The Sundog began sorting to parchments out. "Okay, so basically there's just a few scrolls for how to get there, which is confusing, there's a whole forest out there, what the warrior cats are, and another bunch for some useless information about why they're fighting the wars, which personally I think those don't even make any sense. I mean, listen to this, 'Talons and claws filled with blood and death, the darker ones is who brought this mess.' They could at least tell us who the darker ones are! Or what this even means!"
The Sundog flopped down in exasperation as Rainstorm was struggled with the fire, hissing as it singed her paws. "But the real question is where, exactly is this portal. They should've sent a map instead of telling us to scavenge all over the Lush-Leaved Forest!" The saber tooth cat called over as she snapped at the failing flames again. She sighed and then got to her paws to get some more wood. Rainstorm poked at the log ungraciously with one long claw before rolling it over and dumping it onto the fire. The flames began working again and a puff of smoke blew up as Rainstorm coughed at the dust.
The multi-colored dragon nodded, half aware that the cat wasn't listening any more. "You are right Rainstorm, the instructions are very transparent, but we still need to fulfill the prophecy anyways." Iris agreed. She narrowed her eyes, studying the parchment more, jabbing at it as if hoping more words would appear. When nothing happened, she sat down and began taking out another scroll, examining and reading it all over again. The dragon seemed very stressed out about the prophecy. And truthfully, Dew was a little too. A little? Maybe too less of a word to use at the moment. Extremely was more like it.
There were thousands of lives resting on their shoulders, what if they failed? What if they all died because the Seven prophesied were hopeless creatures? The alicorn touched the dragon lightly with her wing tip and she relaxed slightly. Sky looked up from beside Rainstorm, her wings flapped lightly as she came over to join the others. "But how? How are you six going to make this bloody war stop between the Great Kingdoms? How are you going to do it without instructions?" The weather bird asked, looking curious about how they were going to fulfill the great prophecy. Apparently, she was just as interested in it even though she wasn't part of it. Maybe more interested than Rainstorm was at least.
The saber cat was still grumbling about the fire. The dragon muttered to herself for a moment. Dew caught a few words like, "Couldn't they have made this any easier for us?" But Iris just said to the weather bird, "Well, Sky, we're going to find our own way." Iris slowly removed her ivory sharp claws from the parchment and set the instructions down beside her on the green, juicy grass blades. She had an almost grim expression on her face as she said that and it stayed with her as she took up another scroll to briefly read again.
Dew shook her head in disagreement, staring past the dragon for a moment, into the shadowy, dark woods. The Lush-Leaved Forest was so full of mysteries! Many turns would stop abruptly with a dead end and the wind never seemed to stop howling in there. But it had been peaceful there too at times. Just that it was so sudden. She would come to a sunny clearing and all the mysteries would end, but then once she took a step back into the forest, they'd start she turned her gaze back to Iris, but her voice wavered as she protested, "But still, Iris, isn't it dangerous? We are basically playing around with the future in our hands…"
Shaking her head, the dragon stretched her wings. But no matter how the alicorn looked at it, Iris seemed nervous too. Maybe at the prospect of ending two terrible wars storming and killing in all of the Great Kingdoms. Dew shuddered as she thought once again what would happen if they failed. The dragon's voice fluttered, but it was still strong, as she said, "I know, Dew, but they didn't even send us the commands anyways, I don't know why, but take a look at the scrolls yourself." Iris handed the scrolls quickly over to the alicorn and Dew nervously accepted it, placing it down in front of her hooves.
She flipped through the paper, searching and reading the titles of the scripts one by one. Each one of them looked just as confusing as ever. She paused as she came by the one Rainstorm and her had been reading. She read a little further from where she stopped off. 'Into the waves and swirls of time, leading to the place to the start of crime.' She flipped past it hopelessly before giving up at the last parchment. "Iris is right, there are no directions into how to 'fulfill the prophecy.'" Dew confirmed shakily at last, lifting up her head from the papers. She pushed the scrolls back to Iris and sighed to herself.
All six of them nodded solemnly, with Sky sitting off to the side, looking unsure if she belonged with the group or not. There was a silence between them, no one knowing what to say or do. What were they going to do? The Lush-Leaved Forest was huge, she doubted that the Seven could nose behind each and every vine to find the portal in the first place. And then? What if they did? In the Warrior Cat Forest, what would they do? How were, they, just them seven, including Sky, supposed to stop big, raging wars that's gone on for years and years?
She groaned just thinking about it. There was nobody to guide them like their guardians had done, so they were free to do anything. Yes, they were free. But was that good or bad? They were also free to just ignore the prophecy completely, just to get on with their lives. And what if they did try to stop the wars; then what would've happened? Would all of them even come out alive? They were inexperienced after all, only fledglings testing out their small wet wings.
There was a long silence, not awkward, like Dew had always expected silence to be, but definitely not comfortable either. It was just...empty. Like their minds were blank and nothing was happening. She couldn't think straight right now. What could they do? If only...If only there was someone to guide them right now...Like their guardians. Longing filled her heart as Fury bravely spoke up. "I miss…I miss training in the caverns." Her fellow griffin hesitated for a moment before adding, "And having battle practice with Iron."
There was another stretch of quietness before Dew nodded her head sympathetically, her own thoughts mirroring Fury's. That was true. Even if fighting wasn't her thing, what she would do to get back in that cave right now! "I miss Maple teaching me how to heal." She murmured quietly, remembering all the magical nights she had spent with the RainWing, filling up empty bottles with ointments and herbs. She remembered the skies clearly that last time. There had been no clouds at all, just a large, full moon, that Maple had even said that it was a super moon. Such a pretty glowing orb hanging from stars in the dark night, only the moon lighting the skies up like a lantern.
She leaned backwards, absorbed in the memory. But the more and more she thought about it, the fainter it got, the more distant, like it was already leaving her since the guardians weren't here. Her tail brushed the Sundog's back and heard Sundaze say sadly, "I wish Cerberus was here to read scrolls to me." Even though Snowfur had disliked the cowering dog, Sundaze, being his fellow canine companion, had found his company quite enjoyable. No one replied to this comment for a while, everyone thinking about what that had been left behind, already buried in the soil and grass that they now walked over.
Tears stung the back of her eyes and she quickly blinked them back before they fell on their own accord. Dew ducked her head, rapidly forcing back hot tears. Rainstorm flattened her ears as the whispering wind gusted over the cat's silvery white fur and she let out a soft purr as her cheeks puffed up into a transparent smile. "I even admit that I miss Snowfur's thorny, bitter comments" The saber cat meowed and flicked her tail over Sundaze's paws. The Sundog stared for a moment before she forced a smile on too and let her mournful expression disappear.
The breezy air poured over the grass, making the green blades sing softly in the peaceful, calm afternoon. The sun was steadily rising up into the highest point, fluffy white clouds painting over the light blue sky, and sleepy animals, all sorts of prey, crawled out drowsily from their dens. She sighed. Why couldn't she just make this moment stay? If she had learned anything, something was going to happen sooner or later. Something always did. Even if she didn't want it to. Feather piped up too. "And I wish Windy was here to pluck pineapples from the orchard trees for me!" She said, trying to bring the mood up, and energetically flapped her wings.
The dragon hadn't said anything the entire time. She had just plainly listened to her friend's words. But Iris seemed lost in her own trance, as if she was thinking about her own memories and everything she was sad about. And when she did speak, her voice was clogged up, like she was choking down her own emotions. "We all miss our guardians, don't we?" Iris asked quietly, folding her wings close to her sides as she finally said the few words that each one of them knew was true. The guardians...It seemed so long ago now that they were all the way here already. What were the guardians doing right now? Were they worried? Nervous? Were they searching for them?
Sky broke into her chain of questions in her head as she chirped softly, but firmly, "I miss my mother…But I'm staying with you! She couldn't care less about me, because all she cares about is Cloud…" The weather bird's voice dwindled off as she bowed her head in distress. Dew blinked. Would Sky come with them into the Warrior Cat Forest? She wasn't necessarily part of the prophecy, but she did have connection to whoever had lots of information about the prophecy, so that would be helpful. Especially since she was a weather bird and could get it to stop raining if their was a sudden pour of water. Oh, how useful that would've been about a few days ago!
The dragon stood up, brushing off some dirt on her wing limbs as she shook her head to Sky's comment. "That's not true, your mother loves you no matter what. Definitely." The weather bird looked away as she said this, but she obviously didn't believe it. Iris's voice returned back to it's normal authoritative one as she took charge and proudly announced," Just because they aren't here doesn't mean that we have to stop training, and sharpening our skills! Come on; let's organize some activities for us to do!" Dew leaned over to watch as Iris scarped out the schedule on a flat slate of stone.
Daily Routine:
*Sunrise* Morning patrol to catch prey, consists of just two. Breakfast of leftover from last night or fresh caught prey by the patrol. Warm-up racing activity between everyone. Attend to the temporary camp's needs as in feeding the fire, cleaning the cave, catching water etc.
*Noon* Begin sharpening their skills to help prepare for the journey. Battle Training: Team up with partner to fight. Hunting: A pair goes out to practice hunting whilst catching some sort of lunch. Agility/Racing: As the name suggests, racing between all members. Stealth: Practiced in battle training as a technique. If there isn't enough prey caught, a pair goes out to harvest some.
*Afternoon* All training ends. Lunch of the prey or plants just newly gathered. Attend to the camp if needed. A few minutes of relaxing time to make sure it's not too stressful. A trio goes out to hunt for dinner, one goes out, not too far, just in the meadow and in sight of the camp, to find some juicy greens.
"Sunset* Before dinner, a quick night patrol of three to check that there are no threats around the camping area. Eat dinner, everyone has their own share. Leftover will be stored for tomorrow's breakfast or a good midnight snack. Review a day's work and give critiques on training. Set a guard and another one who will trade-off later and then sleep.
*Midnight* The occasional wake ups from a nightmare about the prophecy. Trade-off with the guard. Maybe have some food to snack. Continue sleeping.
About a day and a half had passed and the Seven were making good process. Iris had said that towards the end of training, about maybe a half hour before it ended, that Dew should go out and refresh her knowledge on herbs since healing, Iris felt, would be especially important on their journey. The alicorn had agreed. She was slowly improving in her fighting skills, which had always been a weakness of hers since she had to mainly rely on her horn for ice attacks. "Wait, we have powers right?" She asked Iris. Dew had been thinking about that question all night long, staying awake past hours. The guardians and the prophecy had said something like that.
Dew pawed the dirt and grass beneath her questionably, nudging a plant with a pretty flower loose. She paused, staring at the flower. She used every chance she could get to practice. Perennials, she quickly identified. Peach-leaved bell flowers. The purple flower uprooted on the ground was a peach-leaved bell flower, from the family of perennials. She could recognize it by it's sharply ended petal tips and it's violet flowers. It had a darkish bud in the middle which gave off whiffs of the flower's pretty scent. And, she could confirm it because these grew in meadows! She let out an inward sigh of relief as she realized she had got it correct and blinked out of her herb trance, back to the dragon.
Iris was motioning toward the alicorn's bluish horn. Dew glanced up at it. Her horn was always freezing cold, but she never felt it, and for that reason, she never felt heat or coldness either. The alicorn tilted her head down sideways a bit so that Iris could get a better look at it. The dragon's wing limb brushed past it and she shivered and confirmation that it was as cold as ever. "Yeah, and so far we know that your ice horn will freeze anything it strikes." She said, and shivered again. "Brr! And also freezes my blood to ice!"
Fury walked over, as they had just finished training and it was their afternoon rest time. The griffin grinned as she heard what they were talking about. She gave an energetic beat of her wings as she flew over to the sun, letting it's heat warm her golden-brown feathers. "And my power, which seems to be kindling, is fire! Whenever I'm angry or protecting something, my feathers start to tingle and suddenly, a spark catches and I'm steaming smoke!" She proclaimed proudly, beaming, and clacking her beak. Fury flew around in a full circle in the air and the alicorn laughed, admiring her swiftness and agility.
The dragon laughed too, as if calmed down slightly by Fury's playful attitude. "Well, we know that Sundaze can use the sun's power, but I'm pretty sure all Sundog's can do that. The rest of us have no idea is we have a power, what so ever." She folded her wings as she walked over to nudge a half-asleep Feather. The little phoenix jerked awake at once, blinking her eyes rapidly. Iris laughed again, before suddenly asking the weather bird, "But wait, Sky, can you summon lightning and thunder?" Her eyes were bright with excitement as she eagerly awaited her answer. Dew didn't have to have mind powers to know that Iris was desperately hoping for a 'yes.'
Dew leaned forward as Rainstorm padded out over to them. The saber cat sat down and started grooming herself, her tail curling in pleasure and she said something inaudible to herself. She also wanted the 'yes' answer, because she was thinking about just how helpful that would be! Feather did say that the weather bird could stop rain and all, because it stopped pouring once Feather started talking to it. But the little thunderbird was taking a long time, thoughtfully clacking her beak and considering her answer to the question seriously. "Uhh, I don't know but I thi-" She began but was quickly cut off by Fury's alert, short tone.
The griffin's wings were ready to fly out and her usually flattened and calm feathers were ruffled by something not just the wind, and the air around her was filled with surprise and maybe a bit of anxiety. "Hey guys, shhhh! I hear something!" She had gotten her wings ready to attack, talons out, and her teeth driven back into a snarl as she stared towards the Lush-Leaved Forest. A horrible, sickening feeling came from the pit of her stomach and she lurched over. What could've scared the brave griffin so badly? Part of her was filled with curiosity, the other half was filled with dread. She blinked and for a wonderful moment nothing happened. But then she heard a low sound, coming from the earth and sky itself.
Rumble, rumble.
The alicorn cringed at the noise. "This isn't a good thing is it, Iris?" Dew trailed off and gasped. Her eyes widened into glowing glassy orbs as a huge furry paw dipped down from the long, forest shadows. Then a curtain of inky velvet appeared, the big body of a animal, and then finally three large, snarling, drooling, and hungry wolf heads came into view, with all the claws and teeth one could get! A low growl hissed and snarled in it's throat, venom bubbling in it's growl. Terror seized her and she held her breath tightly. It bared it's teeth, looking like it was about to roar, yet no sound came out. It just breathed heavily, and the Seven were able to hear every heart beat of it.
The Seven waited intensely in the entrance of the cave, taking shallow breaths. "Don't move unless it move," Iris said through gritted teeth. "Show it that we mean no harm!" The monster stamped one paw firmly into the ground before planting another down, a threatening growl came from it again. To Dew, it sounded like lava about to explode from a volcano. She stared in horror as it didn't move closer, but just swished it's tail in somewhat anger.
Cold sweat formed underneath her layer of fur as it seemed to take hours that the Seven and it just stared at each other. Feather inhaled the air sharply, before quietly asking, "But Iris, what is it? It looks like some huge dog! Sundaze? Do you know?" She turned to the Sundog, eyes widening with every bit. Dew saw the Sundog shivering, not with cold, but with pure fear. The alicorn looked back at it and saw that it was not moving. For a moment she had the fantasizing thought that it was just going to leave.
Then she heard Sundaze's soft voice speak. The Sundog was trembling, but met Feather's gaze. "It is Cerberus, the great hound of the Underworld, pet of Greek god Hades. Our guardian Cerberus was named after him." Feather pressed against the Sundog, seeking her warmth. Sundaze pressed closer too, now shivering wildly with dread. The right head snorted to the left head that growled passionately and started shaking their tail wildly. The middle one, leader of all heads, stamped its paw sending dust clouds exploding into the air, and then gave the signal.
Cerberus, the middle one, tossed his mighty head toward the sky and howled with bloody rage. Attack them. That was the soft, yet anger-filled voice they heard. It was just two words, but it brought chills to her spine and made her heart beating out of control. Her throat choked up as she watched, paralyzed, the monstrous Cerberus dog take another huge, rumbling paw step towards them, snarling with every little movement from a twitch of his ears to the tip of his tail. Dew's eyes flashed white with fear as she realized what could happen now. The Seven were all left with two choices:
Fight or flight…
A/N: YAYYYYYYY! 4,000 word chapter! What will the Seven do? And, I DONOT OWN CERBERUS, ITS GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND ALL THAT, NOT MINE.
~Iris&Frosty XD