Chapter 10- the selection process from the village and a failed chase
Dashiell and Honeycomb, together with their cubs Gingerfur, Sandstorm and Amberpaw and adopted Nekomata sons and daughters Nyarth, Satoshi, Kushanku and Akira; Mensa the Skvader and her son Snowwing; Hopper and Daisytail the Jackalopes and their daughter Dahlia; Rubyfeather the Parrot and her daughter Crystal; Rosebush the Hedgehog and her cousins Spikeball, Quill and Thorn; Chiseltooth the Beaver, Rosemary the Monkey, and Shadewing the Bat (who had managed to wake up from his fainting), felt like they were enveloped in a massive whirlwind of black fear, and that was especially obvious in the eyes of the ten kids as they continued to timidly gaze at Gollum as he prepared to read out the name on the slip of paper he had drawn from the tin marked with their name, Dashiell's family, on it. Around the petrified group of animals, the other community members, silence like that of death also enveloping them like a massive snow cloud, looked on sympathetically and fearfully, and they knew that there was nothing that they could do. They could not step in to intervene or they would face serious consequences, and they all knew that some of Gollum's comrades, most of them Wendigoes, Hellhounds and the ghastly, floating black, nightmarish, cloak ghost-like Shadows, had their gleaming white, glowing red, and penetrating grey or white eyes piercing them intently, making sure that no-one stepped out of line. Even Dashiell himself could do nothing, and the despair was clearly saturating the Cheetah's terrified gaze. He and his family had been chosen by the Queen to send one of their individual members into the horrible Fighting League, WITHOUT question and WITHOUT protest. But the black fear was having the most profound effect on Shadewing. The Bat was practically shaking as though he was extremely cold and his stomach felt very sick. His breathing was very rapid and he felt very weak, both mentally and physically. Then the Bat began to experience images flashing in his head: flashbacks. Nearby, Alexandrite who stood with Soran and company looked on worriedly.
"Something tells me that Bat's been through this before…" she murmured but was immediately silenced by a "Shush!" from Growler, making the colourful female Nekomata flinch and shoot the Dog a frightened gaze. Desdemona then turned her Eagle-like gaze in Gollum's direction.
"Here comes the name of who will be sent into the Fighting League from Mr Dashiell's family," she said in a hushed voice. The name then rings out as Gollum read that name on the slip of paper.
"Gingerfur," called the Black Dwarf. This stabbed Dashiell, Honeycomb, Amberpaw, Sandstorm and Gingerfur, but most especially the latter, right in the heart like a sharp icicle. Kushanku, Satoshi, Nyarth and Akira also felt the ice-cold icicle-like blade penetrate deep within them as well, as did Rosemary and the other members who had joined Dashiell's family, but most especially Shadewing as he shuddered all the more and moved his coated wings to his mouth in extreme horror. Then there was complete silence, except for the sobbing of a certain Cheetah mother as she watched Gingerfur slowly step away from her protection and that of his younger brother and sister and four adopted Nekomata siblings, complete stun and despair gripping him like frostbite.
"Are you gonna come up, my little Cheetah cub?" called Gollum, "You've been selected, so by orders of the Queen, you MUST come up."
However, Gingerfur only turned his head and placed his terrified gaze on the Black Dwarf. He was clearly reluctant to leave his family's side, and Dashiell and company, whose eyes were now weeping rivers of tears, were reluctant to allow Gingerfur to leave them as well. Nyarth especially looked on. Despite the older Cheetah cub's occasional obnoxious attitude, especially towards Kushanku, Nyarth still saw Gingerfur as a close adopted brother, and Kushanku, Satoshi and Akira bore that same bond with the Cheetah cub. They, along with Sandstorm, Amberpaw and the other members of Dashiell's family, as well as some of the community members surrounding them, among them Desdemona, Cyril and Alexandrite, wanted to intervene but could not, and many of them were shedding tears for the Cheetah cub as well. Then Gingerfur turned his terrified gaze to his dad Dashiell, pleading for his intervention and rescue from this grim situation boiling within him but then the Cheetah cub heard fierce growls emanate from nearby. At this, the Cheetah cub snapped his gaze back around and found himself on the receiving end of around six blood-red eyed glares and bared teeth. Six Hellhounds had come to force the Cheetah cub to leave his family's side and move to Gollum and his comrades. Then a couple of ghost-like black figures floated in, both of them armed with spear-like sticks (branches with one end sharpened to a tip) and pointed those sharp points at the terrified Gingerfur.
"Come along, Cheetah cub, NOW!" growled one of the Shadows.
"Yes, Gollum has to select an individual from dozens of other families and he hasn't got time for delays like this," said the other, "Now to the front, MOVE!"
And with that, the Shadow gently jabbed the tip of its spear-stick into Gingerfur's side, sending sharp pain coursing through the Cheetah cub and making him flinch. Gingerfur then realised he had no choice but to go to Gollum's side. Tearfully and timidly, he obeyed the two Shadow's commands and walked with the Shadows and the six Hellhounds through the animal crowd and towards Gollum and his group. As the distance between him and his family grew, Dashiell looked on; tears streaming down his face, and Honeycomb continued to weep hysterically.
"No," whispered Kushanku despairingly.
"This isn't fair," murmured Satoshi tearfully, his eyes completely flooded with tears.
"Dad, do something!" cried Akira to Dashiell. However, Dashiell stood there and only returned his tearful gaze to the Nekomata, and Akira knew that facial expression read, "I can't". At this, Akira felt her stomach lurch and returned her gaze back to Gingerfur as the Hellhounds and spear-stick armed Shadows finally reached Gollum and his group with him in tow. Gollum put on a wide smile.
"Excellent," he said, "We have our first participant for the Fighting League from Green Leaf Village. Hopefully Dashiell's family will find favour with Her Majesty the Queen through this selected participant who should be honoured to be sent into the very special decadal event," the Black Dwarf clasped his hands together and let loose a snigger as he rubbed together his hands gleefully, "Now on to the next participant from the next family…"
And with that, he called for another Shadow holding another tin over and took it, read the family name written on a piece of paper stuck to it and selected a piece of paper from that tin. Kushanku, Satoshi, Akira and Nyarth flinched as the name rang out and soon, they saw the next unfortunately selected creature, an adult Hedgehog, get guided (ore rather frogmarched) to the front by two Hags. The four Nekomata, together with Sandstorm, Amberpaw, Dahlia, Snowwing and Crystal, shuddered as they watched the poor fellow leave his family's side, wails of despair erupting from a female Hedgehog who the nine kids assumed to be his mate and the cries of two Hedgehog pups as they watched their father get torn away from them, and those wails were having a devastating impact on Shadewing. The Bat uttered something under his breath but it was too quiet for the nine kids to pick it up. The chosen Hedgehog wore a solemn-looking face for the dread of his fate was clearly present in his eyes, especially as his gaze remained locked onto his distraught family as he went towards Gollum and stood near Gingerfur. After this, Gollum moved onto the next tin of the selected family to choose a name from that family.
Time went by and Gollum continued to repeat the cycle of calling forward the next tin, calling out the family's name written on that tin and then sticking his arm in and withdrawing a piece of paper and calling then name of the individual, forcing the individual to go to the front despite the extreme heartbreak of that family member and his relatives and friends. However, some of the selected participants-to-be wore determined looking faces, and it was clear that they were hoping to emerge from the Fighting League victoriously and win the prize for their family, the prize shown to the audience by Gollum before the selection process. As Kushanku observed the facial expressions of these participants-to-be, he flinched. There were going to be several hundred participants selected from various villages around Narnia… but there was only one prize and there can only be one victor. It was obvious that the determination-saturated individuals were hoping to throw a lifeline for their desperate families and haul them out of the extreme poverty and the problems it caused, alongside the frigid conditions of the Eternal Winter. With this deduction, along with what was to come in the Fighting League Arena at the Queen's palace grounds, in his mind, Kushanku shuddered. The Nekomata then saw Soran's family get called with Soran subsequently selected and guided towards Gollum and his comrades standing with the other participants-to-be, including Gingerfur, by some Hags. Much like some of the other participants, Soran wore a determined facial look, but his family, among them Growler, Silver-Ears and Zira, looked on distraught and frightened for him but Soran flashed them an assured look that things will be all right. At this, Kushanku felt hot rage ignite within him again.
"This isn't right," hissed the young Nekomata under his breath. He then turned to Growler and tried to get his attention.
"Mr Growler," he called, "Hey, Mr Growler."
"Kushanku, SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" hissed a rebuking voice. At this, Kushanku flinched and snapped his gaze to the speaker, which was Honeycomb as she glared at him with a stern look.
"B-b-but Mother," said Kushanku, agitation for the participants, especially his older adopted brother Gingerfur, standing at the front of the audience with Gollum and his group as they continued to call out more families and select from their tins held by the Shadows, "Th-that lot is gonna be led into a potential death trap by being thrown into an arena to fight like wild beasts against other participants just for some 'better life'. Aren't you terrified for them, especially for Gingerfur?"
"Shut up," hissed Rosemary. Silver-Ears near her mate Growler also turned round and issued Kushanku a fierce "Shhhh!" but Kushanku continued to sweep on. Nyarth, Akira and Satoshi watched their younger brother as he continued to utter protests for the participants while Sandstorm turned and watched Shadewing continue to shake violently. Amberpaw, Crystal, Snowwing and Dahlia, however, said nothing. Then Honeycomb decided to take drastic action when she saw that verbal commands to snap Kushanku back into line were going nowhere. The female Cheetah stormed forward and seized the Nekomata under her front paws.
"Look, if you cannot shut your mouth, I'm gonna have to do it for you!" hissed Honeycomb and with that, she dragged Kushanku towards his siblings and placed him there. As she did that, Rosebush, Thorn, Quill and Spikeball flashed a wary glance at some of Gollum's comrades as they directed suspicious glares in Dashiell's family's direction.
"Quickly, silence that Nekomata," said Thorn.
"Some of the Hellhounds and Hags are getting suspicious," added Spikeball. Honeycomb did so and slammed Kushanku hard into the snow next to Satoshi.
"Now keep quiet. You're rousing suspicion and drawing attention to yourself," commanded the adult female Cheetah. However, Kushanku did not want to become quiet. The concerns for the chosen participants standing at the front of the audience with Gollum and company were boiling too much within him and were making him very restless. However, under the attempts to keep Kushanku in line or they would face severe punishment from Gollum and company, Dashiell and Honeycomb and the other adults with them such as Rosebush and her three cousins, were indeed terrified for the participants, most especially Gingerfur, one of Dashiell and his mate's sons who had been unfortunate enough to be selected to participate in the Fighting League. However, because of the tight rules that no-one should interfere put in place by the tyrant and her followers under the threat of serious consequences, they were too afraid to do anything, not even complain. That meant that Dashiell and Honeycomb were in a dilemma, the same applying to every other animal and creature under the Queen's oppression. It was either obey the Queen's orders and rules, regardless of how unfair, unjust and wicked they were, or end up in deep freezing ice of they didn't, but because of the deep fear set in place by the dictatorial Queen's extremely strict rules, all the oppressed Narnians were stuck. But that was not all regarding the Queen's fiendish tactics in striking fear into the oppressed Narnians. The Fighting League was not only a dictatorial tool used in keeping the oppressed Narnians in line, but it was also designed to ignite coveting within the desperately hungry, freezing and struggling creatures as you readers will have seen in the prize recap before the participant selection. And this was to serve as the main fuel to the fire of the animals' urge to fight for it in the Fighting League, as we will see later.
Gollum soon reached the last tin of the selected family and had drawn a piece of paper with the name of the final participant from Green Leaf Village written on it. After calling forth that final participant, who was a young female adolescent Harpy (bird-person) who was forced to leave her family side and join the other participants, Gollum prepared the closing speech while his comrades prepared the sleighs, ordered the participants into those vehicles and prepared the yule goats for travel to the next village.
"Well, I'd like to thank you all for your obligatory attendance, my Green Leaf Village friends," said the Black Dwarf as the remaining villagers looked on, especially at the participants-to-be as Gollum's comrades ordered them into the sleighs, "I hope you are looking forward to seein' your lucky family members participate in the most important event of the decade where they will have the possibility of emerging victorious and lifting you out of your unfortunately desperate situation of your poverty…"
None of the creatures, many of them severely distraught and weeping, gave a reply. However, a few of them were simmering with anger in silence, among them Nyarth, Satoshi, Kushanku and Akira as they glared at the comrades of Gollum as they ordered the selected creatures into the sleighs, especially Gingerfur as a Hellhound ordered him to sit in one of the seats. Gollum prepared to climb into the driver's seat of the main sleigh once one of the Wendigoes had noted to him that everyone was on board and ready to leave. The Black Dwarf flashed the extremely ugly deer-like creature with a ribcage-like part on its chest, lanky limbs and menacing misty white eyes and nodded.
"Right, now it's time for me and my comrades to leave for the next village," said Gollum and with that, he turned round, latched onto the sleigh and climbed into the driver's seat. Before departing, Gollum gave the villager crowd one last segment of speech.
"We wish you all the best of luck and may Her Majesty the Queen's favour shine on you after the Fighting League is finished," he called, "And make sure to continue to give to her and her followers ninety percent of your crops and delivered food, revere her, keep an eye out for any of those rotten two-legged creatures known as humans, and most of all, forbid ANY talk of the subject on the Great Lion for that is a total anathema to our mighty Queen, and obey ALL her rules and laws, as well as report ANYONE who wishes to disobey them…"
Kushanku, at this, uttered a hiss under his breath while the other villagers said nothing with the only sounds being the wailing of some of the families who had been selected to give one of their members to the Fighting League. Gollum then formed a smile across his chubby face.
"And that's about it," said the Dwarf, "And I think it's time we were off. I hope you lot are looking forward to the Fighting League and seein' your lucky family members participate in the league of a lifetime. Until then, see y'all. LONG LIVE QUEEN JADIS OF NARNIA."
Then with a thwack of the reigns to get the yule goats running and a loud, "HAAAAH!", the sleigh was off. The other drivers of the smaller sleighs also commanded the yule goats pulling them to get moving and within moments, all the sleighs, together with their load including the selected participants of Green Leaf Village, rushed off in a shower of snow. The villagers looked on as the sleighs disappeared into the forest, a trail of tracks left behind in the snow in their wake. However, the sleighs had not gone far when some of the participants began to struggle on the sleighs and cry out to their families as the gaps between them and the villagers widened. Kushanku, Nyarth, Akira and Satoshi's insides jolted violently as the frigid air was suddenly shattered by distraught wails and the pounding of hooves, paws and talons in snow. Kushanku jumped aside to avoid a Cat, a regular Cat that walked on all fours and had a single tail, unlike a Nekomata that walked on two legs and had a forked tail, rushed by, screams for someone in Gollum's sleighs exploding from its mouth and tears streaming down its face. Satoshi then snapped his gaze over to Shadewing and he was trembling even more violently than before. The poor Bat was, by now, in hysterics and he was experiencing flashbacks that added to his boiling panic attack. He was also hyperventilating, staggering and the threat of fainting loomed over him once again.
"Mr Shadewing's gonna collapse any moment," said a very concerned Satoshi. However, his three siblings were too engrossed in taking in the distraught wails and screams of distressed villagers (parents, siblings, etc. of the participants) as they watched their loved ones get taken away by Gollum and company further into the forest. Then Nyarth noticed some of the floating shadowy figures as they glided from Gollum's sleighs and began to order the chasers, among them Sandstorm, Amberpaw, Honeycomb and Zira as they cried out for Gingerfur and Soran among the selected individuals for the Fighting League, back. At this, a flash of outrage ignited within the oldest Nekomata and he darted off.
"All this stupid stuff about this Fighting League is tearing countless hearts into pieces," he snarled and with that, he began to try and chase down the sleighs.
"Nyarth!" called Satoshi, Kushanku and Akira all at the same time and with that, they gave chase. As the crowd of devastated villagers were driven back by the Shadows sent by Gollum to stop them from chasing the sleighs, spear-like sticks pointed at them and "Back, back, all of ya!" flying from their dark mouths at the crowd, Dashiell saw his four adopted Nekomata kits rush after the sleighs by the hysterical crowd.
"Nyarth, Kushanku, Akira!" he barked, "Satoshi!"
As he cried out the names of the quads, Rosemary, Rubyfeather and Chiseltooth came in while Mensa, Hopper and Daisytail left with Dahlia, Snowwing and Crystal and also sought to the hysterical Shadewing who had, by now, fainted again.
"Get BACK HERE!" screeched Rubyfeather and with that, she handed her daughter Crystal over to Rosemary, spread her wings and took off after the four Nekomata in a shower of snow as she ran into flight. Nyarth and his three siblings, however, were too blinded by rage to hear the adults' shouts and continued to try and chase down Gollum and company. However, due to the deep snow, they were having great difficulty and soon, they were overcome with fatigue and puffing and panting and were forced to stop.
"How are we gonna run after those sleigh things in THIS!?" shouted Akira in frustration and with that, she forced a kick into the white stuff and sent a small shower of it flying ahead of her. Nyarth gazed after Gollum and his group with the selected villagers, among them Gingerfur, in their sleighs as they receded further into the forest, then to the Shadows as they continued to order the devastated would-be chasers back with their spear-sticks and angry faces before flying off after them once they were satisfied that the chasers had admitted defeat, and then snapped his gaze onto some tree trunks on the edge of the forest. At this, Nyarth rushed towards these trunks and as he did so, he felt an instinctive ability within himself manifest, especially as hot rage continued to blaze within him like a bird called a Phoenix on fire. Without thinking and despite the fact that he did not have any training, Nyarth suddenly ran up the tree trunk and jumped off it, sending himself flying towards another tree trunk. Kushanku, Satoshi and Akira all stopped and looked on in utter astonishment as they watched their older brother land on a second tree trunk and take off in the direction of another, before he was eventually jumping from tree to tree. Nearby, Dashiell, Rosemary, Rubyfeather, Honeycomb and Chiseltooth rushed in and abruptly braked to a halt in a snow shower when astonishment tool hold when they saw Nyarth jumping from one tree trunk to the next and began to pursue Gollum and his group. Then Kushanku, Akira and Satoshi rushed over to another tree trunk, scrabbled up the bark and began to rush through the trees by jumping between branches. Rubyfeather continued to hover there before charging off after Nyarth.
"I'll see to Nyarth while you see to the other three," she told Dashiell, Rosemary, Honeycomb and Chiseltooth as she rocketed off. At this, the other four adults turned their furious glares on Kushanku, Satoshi and Akira as they ran through the branches in Nyarth's direction and began to give chase, Rosemary also rushing for another tree trunk, scrabbling up it and beginning to pursue the three Nekomata through the trees. As the Monkey began to pursue the three Nekomata while the two Cheetahs and the Beaver gave chase on the ground, Desdemona came in with Alexandrite, worried looks on their faces.
"Those four have lost their minds completely," cried the Griffin in utter horror as she watched Kushanku and two of his siblings rush like squirrels along the branches.
"And extremely dangerous and reckless," put in Alexandrite.
"Look, just join the other villagers, will you!?" called Silver-Ears as she helped herd the other kids to their parents and adopted parents, despite the devastation of having Soran taken from her, "and let Dashiell and his group deal with those four stupid Nekomata kits."
At this, Alexandrite and Desdemona hesitated before obeying their adopted Dog mother's commands and darted off after her.
Meanwhile, Nyarth continued to jump from tree to tree by landing on one tree trunk, launching himself into a straight flight towards another tree trunk to land on that and push himself into another trajectory again. His eyes were ablaze with fury as they were fixated on the sleighs holding the selected and devastated villagers, among them Soran and Gingerfur, and their choosers as they continued to glide over the snow with the yule goats rushing ahead. Gingerfur was crying his eyes out hysterically and was desperate to return to his mother, father and siblings' sides, and that same devastation was written all over the faces of the other selected villagers for the dreaded Fighting League as well. All of them were going to be forced into an arena where they will all fight against each other and several hundred other creatures chosen from other villages and towns in a bloody and gruesome fight to the death for the prize of a better life and freedom from poverty offered by the Queen, and it was clear that the vast majority of them would rather die of starvation, from the frigid snowy conditions or by other means brought upon them by the wintery curse than be thrown against hundreds of other creatures in a gruesome fight just for a change of lifestyle, but Gollum and company weren't going to allow them to return to their families. A few of them, however, were hopeful but the rest of them continued to wail in heartbreak and devastation, and some of Gollum's comrades were trying to comfort them and assure them that it was for the better. Just then, one of the wailing creatures, an adult male Hedgehog (not Thorn, Quill or Spikeball but another Hedgehog) who was forced from his family's side during the selection, noticed a streak of drab colour fly from one tree trunk to another.
"Look!" he cried out in alarm. The other selected villagers, including Soran and Gingerfur, all converged their gazes on the leaping fork-tailed cat as he continued to leap between tree trunks in pursuit of Gollum and company.
"Isn't that…" said one of the other selected villagers, a Rabbit.
"NYARTH!" cried Gingerfur. The leaping cat, which was indeed Nyarth, continued to leap between the tree trunks, closing in on Gollum and company's sleighs and within moments, he was within range of the vehicles. However, his presence had not gone unnoticed by the creatures that had selected Gingerfur and the others to participate in the Fighting League.
"Nyarth, what are you DOING!?" called Gingerfur as he watched his adopted Nekomata brother then attempt to close in on the sleigh during his jumping between tree trunks, "You're gonna get yourself KILLED!"
Nyarth, however, was too blinded by pure rage to listen and began to hone in on the sleigh, the biggest one holding most of the selected villagers, and then rescue them. However, Gollum's grating voice rang out.
"Shadows, will you deal with that Nekomata please? He's not been selected for the Fighting League," shouted the Black Dwarf. At this, Gingerfur, Soran and the other selected villagers all looked up and soon enough, a group of floating black cloaked creatures glided over their heads from the sleighs and began to intercept Nyarth to stop his pursuit, and Gingerfur could see that some of them were armed with the spear-sticks. This ignited alarm within the Cheetah cub, and he began to dissuade Narth from pursuing Gollum and his group.
"Nyarth, abort your pursuit!" cried the Cheetah as the furious Nekomata then began to dodge the Shadows' attempts to attack him, "You're PUTTING YOUR LIFE IN DANGER!"
However, Nyarth refused to listen and continued to jump between tree trunks, shooting past the Shadows so fast that he basically resembled an arrow after it had been shot by an archer from his bow. Furthermore, Nyarth even used some of the floating cloaked creatures as stepping stones between one or two trajectories.
"He's TOO FAST, GOLLUM!" cried one of the Shadows as Nyarth deftly jumped off its back and onto the next tree trunk. Not too far behind, Kushanku, Satoshi and Akira had managed to catch up by running like squirrels between the branches with Rosemary and Rubyfeather not too far behind. When they saw the horrific scene, the three Nekomata drew in horrified gasps.
"NYARTH!" cried Kushanku when he saw Nyarth then jump from one Shadow to the next and then finally land in Gollum's sleigh, much to the sheer outrage of Gollum and company. Rubyfeather and Rosemary also saw the Nekomata in the sleigh and barked Nyarth's name volcanically. Then as soon as he was in Gollum's sleigh, which was still moving, Nyarth began to try and rescue the selected villagers, starting with Gingerfur.
"I'm NOT gonna allow you lot to be THROWN INTO AN ARENA to participate in a needless FIGHT…" shouted the Nekomata but before he could finish, a massively clawed hand appeared and seized him by the two tails, much to the horror of Gingerfur and the others and also Kushanku, Satoshi, Akira, Rubyfeather and Rosemary who continued to chase him and the sleighs through the trees with Rubyfeather flying. Nyarth let loose a surprised screech as one of the Wendigoes then carried him over to a certain individual and soon, Nyarth found himself on the receiving end of a pair of bulging eyes ablaze with utter fury.
"You're disrespecting Her Majesty the Queen by doing this," growled the face, which was Gollum and as the Black Dwarf spoke, Nyarth caught a wisp of the Dwarf's rancid breath which smelt like burnt wood. The Nekomata flinched and gagged in disgust. Around the confrontation, the selected villagers were kept in check by the Hags and Hellhounds so they could only watch in horror as Gollum then reached a decision on what to do with Nyarth.
"What shall we do with this fork-tailed cat, Gollum?" said the grotesque white-eyed Wendigo as it held Nekomata by the tails. Gollum then turned his ugly hag-like face away and thought.
"Throw him out of the sleigh," he said, before his ugly glare turned to Kushanku and his little group as they continued their pursuit through the branches, "and have the Dryads loyal to the Queen deal with those five over there."
The Wendigo nodded obediently and left for the back of the sleigh with Nyarth in its clutches. The terrified onlookers with the Hellhounds and Hags blocking their way looked on as Nyarth was carried by his two tails to the sleigh's rear.
"NYARTH!" cried Gingerfur as a Hag barked an order at him to stay back. Nyarth continued to screech and shout furious protests at the Wendigo as the ugly deer-like creature then prepared to carry out Gollum's orders. Before doing that, the disgusting, nightmarish creature gave Nyarth one final stern glare with its misty white eyes that gleamed menacingly like the foggy surface of a metal in moonlight.
"You oughta be thankful of how LUCKY you are to be alive, Nekomata," growled the Wendigo in a dangerously low voice, sending shivers down the dangling Nyarth's spine, "But the next time this happens again, you won't be so fortunate as Her Majesty WILL get involved."
Nyarth, however, shuddered but then his anger resurfaced and he began to tremble with fury once again. However, it was a very dangerous move but Nyarth was too furious to even care.
"The QUEEN!?" he spat in disgusted retort, "She's NO QUEEN! She's NOTHING BUT A GREEDY, GLUTTONOUS, BLOODTHIRSTY TYRANT, and a BEAST!"
That did it. With an extremely enraged screech at the insult that flew from Nyarth's mouth, the Wendigo raised its clawed hand gripping Nyarth's tail and without hesitation, flung the Nekomata like a wet sock out of the sleigh, deliberately aiming for one of the nearby tree trunks. Gingerfur and the other onlookers screamed in utter horror as they watched the screaming Nekomata fly towards the tree trunk as Gollum commanded the yule goats to travel faster in the form of a thwack with the reigns connecting them to the sleigh, and a shout. The drivers of the smaller sleighs did the same as Nyarth continued flying towards the tree, his body perpendicular to it. Behind, Kushanku, Satoshi, Akira, Rosemary and Rubyfeather all let loose horrified screams and cried Nyarth's name. Then Rubyfeather sprang into action. Flapping her wings like mad, the ruby red Parrot charged towards Nyarth like a comet and just before the Nekomata could smash back-first against the tree trunk which would have seriously injured him or worse, Rubyfeather managed to seize the Nekomata in her talons and pluck him out of the trajectory, much to the relief of Rosemary and Nyarth's younger three siblings, especially as Rubyfeather rocketed upward with Nyarth in her talons to reduce momentum and then pull out of that path to safely lower Nyarth to the ground. However, their relief was immediately shattered when suddenly; one of the trees sprung into life and began to waver its branches as Rosemary, Kushanku, Satoshi and Akira approached it. Rubyfeather turned just in time to see the action.
"ROSEMARY!" she squawked. At this, the Monkey and the three Nekomata looked up and saw the tree move its branch aside (many of the trees in Narnia could move by themselves in this manner, an ability our world's trees don't have. This is because these trees are home to Dryads) to create a gap to make the quartet fall out of the branches and stall their pursuit after Gollum and his group. This ignited alarm within Rosemary and she immediately braked before she could fall for the trap, stopping just inches from the end of the branch and the gap. Akira did the same but Kushanku and Satoshi were not so fortunate for they had been running so fast. To the alarm of Akira and Rosemary, the two Nekomata slipped off the branch near the moving tree and began to plummet chaotically towards the ground, right towards a massive snow-buried fallen log at the foot of the Dryad-inhabited tree. Satoshi slammed hard onto the log, his arm getting caught between his body and the hard surface, before he slumped down the log's curved surface and into the snow. Kushanku, meanwhile, suddenly screwed his eyes shut and to the astonishment of Rubyfeather, Rosemary, Akira and Nyarth, the young Nekomata twisted his tails and suddenly spun them like a small tornado, all without thinking and in the grip of his utter alarm.
Kushanku covered his eye-tight-shut face with his arms and braced for impact against the log… until he noticed that he did not feel a hard smack against a hard surface. At this, the Nekomata slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms and peered out to gauge his position and to his astonishment, he found himself hovering in mid-air, his spinning tails keeping him aloft and suspending him like a bird hovering in the air. While he did that, Rubyfeather, after placing Nyarth onto the ground, hurried over to Satoshi while Rosemary and Akira scrambled down the trunk of the tree they were in and joined the Parrot as the fallen Nekomata stirred.
"Satoshi!" cried Rubyfeather. At this, Satoshi began to struggle and recover from his fall.
"Mrs Ruby…" he began but then he felt massive shooting pain surge through his right arm, the one he had caught between his own body and the log from the fall.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" screeched the Nekomata and sent his left arm to grasp his injured right.
"Don't move that arm!" cried Rosemary. Nearby, Kushanku descended from his spinning-tailed flight and touched down nearby. Rosemary hurried over to inspect him for any injuries. However, the Monkey was stricken with stun when she saw how the young Nekomata touch down.
'What did Kushanku just do?' thought Rosemary in astonishment. Kushanku, at this, only looked up and returned Rosemary's awed gaze with a curious one. However, Kushanku's curious gaze immediately flashed to one of horror when he saw Satoshi with his face in extreme pain and his left paw grasping his injured right.
"Satoshi!" cried the young Nekomata as he rushed to his brother's side. Akira and Nyarth did the same but then the group, together with Rosemary and Rubyfeather, suddenly found themselves cloaked in shadow. At this, all six creatures looked up and found themselves at the mercy of two looming Shadows as these ghostly creatures glared at them with outraged faces. In the distance, Gollum and his group on their sleighs and the selected participants from Green Leaf Village continued to recede into the distance through the trees.
"We bring you six a message from Gollum," said one of the hovering Shadows, "As soon as the Fighting League event is over and the Queen has collected the family of the winning victor, she's gonna decide on what to do with you and the rest of your family," its ugly, blank eyes then raked over Kushanku, the injured Satoshi, Akira and Nyarth, making the four Nekomata flinch, "Especially THOSE four!"
At this, Rosemary stood up to defend the four Nekomata quads.
"Look, I promise we'll…" she began but the other Shadow cut the Monkey off.
"NONE OF YOUR EXCUSES, MONKEY!" snarled the floating ghost-like mass of ragged cloak and bony limbs, making Rosemary flinch hard, "Your Nekomata kits have OVERSTEPPED THE MARK this time."
"Yes, they've disrespected Her Majesty's food collectors the other day," said the first Shadow, "tried to interrupt our very important selection process for this extremely important decadal event, and now they have the AUDACITY to chase us down and try to cause trouble, especially THAT one…"
And with that, its piercing glare bore into Nyarth who flinched and his behind Rubyfeather. However, the Parrot shot the Nekomata a furious look. Then the two Shadows ascended into the air.
"We'd better be off anyway," said the first Shadow, its gaze after the receding Gollum and company on their sleighs, "We've still got a few more villages and towns to visit to select individuals from those selected families chosen by the Queen to participate in the Fighting League…"
"But mark our words," hissed the other Shadow, "We WILL report this to our Queen. Disobedience like this could mean standing in the blizzard of Her Majesty's WRATH!"
At this, Rosemary, Rubyfeather and the four Nekomata all flinched. Queen Jadis's temper!? That would be like standing directly before a massive avalanche. Then the two Shadows; satisfied that the six creatures had got the message, then ascended into the air.
"Nonetheless, we both wish you happy Decadal Fighting League," said the first Shadow in a low, calmer voice, "And we sure hope that your Cheetah cub will bring you out of the poverty you have been forced to face since the Queen had locked Narnia in this winter to keep the peace and those wretched humans away."
Rosemary and her little group said nothing as the two Shadows then rose into the air and rocketed off after Gollum and his group, but not before issuing the tree that had stopped Rosemary, Kushanku, Akira and Satoshi in their tracks, leading to Kushanku and Satoshi's subsequent fall and the latter's injury, a command.
"Keep an eye on those four Nekomata and report to us any suspicious activity," whispered the black ghost-like creature. The tree gently wavered its branches to confirm that it had got the message and with that, the Shadow followed its comrade and the two glided off after Gollum and company before they could be left further behind.
Rosemary, Rubyfeather, Kushanku, Akira, Satoshi and Nyarth were left alone, Satoshi laying in the snow with his badly injured arm, just as another sound, this time from some of their community friends, flooded their ears as their names were called. At this, Rosemary looked up and saw Dashiell and Honeycomb, together with a few more of the villagers, some riding on the flying members, among them a Harpy and two on a couple of Perytons, winged Deer possessing the talons of a bird in place of Deer forelimbs as well as the feathered wings and tail of a bird, much like the Rabbit-like Skvader, run or fly towards her and the other five, Mensa the Skvader accompanying the flyers and their riders.
"Rosemary, Rubyfeather!" called Dashiell as he ran in with Honeycomb, "Kushanku, Satoshi, Akira and Nyarth!"
As their adopted Cheetah parents and the other villagers with them approached them, the four Nekomata shuddered, for they knew they were in even deeper snow now. However, Nyarth and Kushanku flashed one final gaze each at the sleigh tracks and yule goat footprints left behind by Gollum and company's vehicles and yule goats. Their eyes began to ooze massive tears and chills made their bodies tremble as the thoughts for those collected participants-to-be, among them Gingerfur, Soran and the younger ones, flashed through their minds. It certainly wasn't going to end well for those selected villagers once they were sent into the arena of the Fighting League at the Queen's palace, except the victor, at all. However, the four Nekomata, together with the other villagers, were completely unaware that the Queen herself had one further devilishly sneaky trick up her sleeve that she was about to use on the participants to ensure that they all would DEFINITELY fight against each other in the arena, WITHOUT any second thought or hesitation, and it was related to the promise of the better life and the rescue from the severe poverty for the victor and his or her family, only it was imbued with a wicked, little spell bewitched to remove any common sense or any thought of the consequences the participants would otherwise sense if they competed against each other in the brutal League…