Double updates in a weekend! Yay!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SPIRIT ANIMALS
Chapter 7: Clues
Conor startled awake, breathing hard and drenched with sweat, thinking about the terrifying dream he just woke up from.
It was dark. He felt water drip onto his head and looked up. He discovered that he was in a cave, and moonlight and starlight streamed down from an opening in the cave. Eager to reach more light, he hastily rushed to the bottom of the sky hole, staring into the sky above, and tracing the path of light on the cave floor, he found a small plate of gold on the ground. He bent down to pick it up out of curiosity, but almost immediately after his finger made the slightest contact with the plate of gold, his peaceful dream melted away, and he closed his eyes, screaming at the top of his lungs as he experienced the sensation of falling through empty space. After a few heart- wrenching screams of help, he slammed into solid ground,
stomach lurching with the feeling that he was about to vomit. Conor felt momentarily relieved that he finally was not vomiting anymore, but that feeling was almost immediately replaced be the feeling of sheer horror…he was hanging off a cliff!
How did I even get here?! he mumbled grouchily to himself.
Suddenly, he felt cold, stabbing blasts of pain rack his arms, and realization slowly dawned in Conor…he was dangling off a cliff IN ARCTICA! How can it get any worse? Conor shouted angrily at the cliff before a shadow loomed over him and his next thought was, I never should've said that, I jinxed it…
The sun gradually rose over the mountains above and soon in was glaring right at Conor's eyes! Conor knew he couldn't hang on much longer, he whispered pleadingly to the stranger, who was cloaked in the black shadows by the sun, to haul him up. The second the words left his mouth, he had an instinct that he never should have asked this stranger for help. The instinct came a bit too late, though. The figure smiled a sinister smile that showed all its teeth at once, and stabbed a dagger into Conor's hands. Pain wracked Conor's body and he was screaming and falling through empty space…
Next thing he knew, he was sitting in his safe, warm bed. Conor flipped his palms over, expecting to see deep wounds in them, but all he saw were the callouses and burns he got from his quests to save Erdas. Conor shuddered out of both relief and fear. Out of all his prophetic dreams, this one was the most ominous. Conor wanted to wake his friends and his mentor, Finn immediately and tell them about his dream ,but the speakers sounded again, and the Captain's voice rang out again, "Attention, everyone, we are arriving at the Southern Dock in fifteen minutes, please prepare your gear."
Conor sighed and got out reluctantly from bed and found an Abeke he had completely forgotten about lying on the other bed in his room. Conor silently breathed a sigh of relief, Abeke had enough on her mind for now, if she saw his reaction when he woke up from the dream, she was really going to freak out.
Conor stood up, pulled on his cloak, and shook Abeke gently, "Wake up, we've arrived."
The Niloan girl yawned and stretched in a very catlike position, "That soon? I'm still so sleepy."
"So am I," Conor said, helping her up, "Are you feeling okay today?" he asked, eyeing her up and down.
Abeke batted his arm playfully away, "I'll be fine once we're on land," she joked. "I'm going to get my cloak, it's still in there." She slipped with all the feline grace of Uraza out of the room. Conor stared at her for a few seconds longer and shook himself, he had more important stuff than developing a crush right now, he scolded himself.
Fifteen minutes later, Conor and the others met on the dock, silently watching the Tellun's Pride III depart, its form slowly disappearing into the mist. To Conor's surprise, Meilin looked as angry as Rollan as she had been yesterday, while Rollan was looking at Meilin guiltily.
Finn's eyes darted between Meilin's angry eyes and Rollan's guilty ones, apparently decided that their personal affairs had no importance at this moment, and set off toward the rock mountainous areas that will lead toward the Southern Wall.
Conor huffed and puffed to keep up with Finn's long strides. Growing up in the mountains of Northern Eura, their mentor probably had tons of practice hiking. Conor, however, was not so lucky. Those soft, green hills of his homeland are no match to the rocky mountains of both Eura and Zhong.
Only Meilin seemed at ease in the rocky terrain, she kept a steady pace with Finn, sometimes even passing him, choosing the turns with absolute confidence, Conor envied her quick decisions and grim determination, it was always something he struggled to accomplish.
Meilin stopped to wait for them at the peak of the mountain. Conor looked down from his view and drew in a breath of awe.
Red brick buildings and bamboo bridges crisscrossed the city below. Paintings of the Great Beasts were painted on almost every building he can see. In the distance, Conor saw a temple dedicated to Jhi. The twilit light shone over it all, giving the city a lavender purple glow. It was a breathtaking scene.
"Father used to take me here fer stamina practice," Meilin said, her gaze distant, as if watching a memory. Her eyes flickered to the ground, the back to the distance again. "It's been so long since I last came here," her voice came out with a note of unbearable longing.
Rollan stepped forward tentatively and intertwined hands with her, lending her support, Meilin leaned on his shoulder, her anger at Rollan gone. Conor and Rollan both let out a sigh of relief, glad they were not angry with each other anymore, the tension in the atmosphere lessened a lot. Suddenly. To Conor's surprise, he felt Abeke's slender hand slide into his. He stiffened a little, but he clasped her hand tighter, all the while thinking, what am I really feeling for her right now?
Finn looked back and forth between the two couples and cleared his throat awkwardly, "We'd better make camp."
"How?" Rollan protested. "We're on the peak of a mountain, rocks are, like, everywhere! I don't expect Maya to melt it for us like what she did with the ice."
Finn smiled mysteriously, "In case you haven't noticed…" he gestured toward a small path that will lead toward a flat clearing.
"Oh, of course, I was just checking to see if you remembered that path. Good job!" Rollan stammered, ears turning bright red.
Meilin and Finn both rolled their eyes, and Abeke let slip a quiet chuckle.
Finn led them into the clearing, and Conor, Rollan helped Finn set up the many tents, all specifically colored to match the green shades of the forest, so predators won't spot them. Meanwhile Abeke and Meilin prepared a dinner of roasted wild turkey that Abeke had hunted earlier.
After setting up the tents, Conor sat down on the grass with a contented sigh and released his spirit animal, Briggan. The large wolf pranced around Conor happily like an overgrown puppy before lying down on the grass beside him. Conor scratched Briggan behind the ears and the wolf made a pleased rumbling noise in his throat. Its been a long time since they can travel freely instead of being hunted around the world as fugitives, the four were almost not used to the feeling of traveling without pressure.
Conor's thoughts were interrupted when his nose caught the delicious smell of turkey, and the sound of Abeke calling them over for dinner. Conor's mouth watered, he was so hungry, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Meilin lay out five smoking, blackened, charred pieces of meat on five separate plates.
"Wow, this looks like a paradise," Rollan said sarcastically, sitting down beside Conor and Meilin.
Abeke gave them all an apologetic glance. "Sorry, guys. Due to an accident involving a hungry leopard with no self control, we dropped the meat into the fire. Kind of like the way she was the first time she was in Greenhaven," she gave Uraza a ferocious glare, while her spirit animal gave her the same look in return.
(Yes, I'm talking about the time Uraza chased down the sugar glider in the book Hunted LOL)
The meat was still delicious, though, Conor thought as he bit into it. Crispy on the inside and, surprisingly, juicy on the inside. He finished the rest of his drumstick, and gave his turkey wing to Briggan, and watched the beautiful sunset, streaked with pink and yellow. Vaguely he heard Rollan smack his lips happily and exclaim to the two girls, "I love that meat! Let's tell Uraza to burn our meat more often." Then the sound of Meilin chasing him around the the clearing, shouting angrily. (Though he had to admit, he secretly agreed with Rollan) Abeke came to his side and leaned against his shoulder. Then the peaceful playtime was over.
"Time for bed, team!" Finn called from his tent.
Conor stood up and stretched, then crawled into his tent with Briggan following closely at his heels. The wolf sat down in the corner of Conor's tent and made an amused barking noise, tongue lolling out in a wolfish grin.
"What?" asked Conor in confusement. "Oh, no, you can't be hungry, can you? We've just had dinner."
A look of disbelief crossed Briggan's face and he butted Conor's leg, as if to say, "Don't play dumb. You know you like her."
"Oh, shut up, you," Conor snapped, his face heating up. But as he lay down, he felt a fluttery sensation in his stomach, as if there were butterflies flapping in his stomach. Briggan gave an amused growl from nearby, and Conor wondered if the wolf had guessed his thoughts.
"What if she really likes me back?" he wondered hopefully, and fell asleep with a a smile on his face.
Oh, and I forgot to include this in the OC form:
Nationality of your OC:
Thank you!