A/N: For the record, all country borders are the same as they are in WoT; the country names, however, are much different. Feel free to trace Mordi's adventure if you have a map of "Randland". Also, this is set in the Age waaaay after Rand al'Thor. Waaaaaaaaaay after. Basically, this is the Third Age come again, in a sense.
Mordecai sighed. Kicking the dirt ruefully, she walked away from the clique of furres near the school building that were now occupying themselves with avid gossiping; minutes earlier, their entertainment had been her blundering foolishness. Biting her lip, she walked on.
It had started when she had tripped and fallen in front of Kati. The female was a canine, with pale greenish fur, and bright, sunny yellow hair. She had landed, unfortunately, right on the canine's foot, her elbow digging painfully into the other's.
"OW! Why don't you watch where you're going?" Kati had shouted.
"I'm sorry, I just fell, and…" Mordi had stammered.
"And what? You fell on me. That's a big no-no."
"I'm sorry!"
"Just shut up and go away, kay?" Just then, Lisai and Cisare, two of her best friends, had made their appearance. Lisai was an albino feline, and Cisare was a lapine, with tannish fur and platinum-white hair.
"What's this? The village idiot?" Lisai had said, smirking. Cisare had a smug grin plastered across her face.
Speechless, she had gotten up, and walked away.
Grimacing, she kicked at the dirt again. With a start, she realized she was at the foot of the little pool she had grown up with, and had learned to swim in: the Coldwater Pool. Looking down with a frown, she followed a minnow's path with her eyes, deep in thought. She never noticed the approach of another furre.
"Did Kati get at you again?" a voice from behind her said.
With a start, Mordi whirled around. There, behind her, stood her best friend, Mori'gaia. Leaning against the cave wall, she was a tall hybrid; sniffing, Mordi flicked at a spot on her face. Hybrids were generally looked down upon, either that or ignored altogether. Gaia was part canine; her body and face said that for sure, yet that fire-orange hair, and those ember-like eyes could not have come from another canine. Mordi opened her mouth to say something, but her open mouth shifted to an annoyed frown as her second-to-least favorite furre stepped into view behind her friend.
"Hey, baby. How're ya doin'?" he cackled. He was an equine, chocolate-furred with black markings and similar hair, with an attitude to match. And he persists to no end, she thought grimly.
Snorting, she crossed her arms. "Blood and ashes, Jaido, why can't you leave me alone?"
Jaido stopped, wearing a hurt look. "Ooooh, that hurt. Look at me, I'm crying." His expression quickly faded to a mocking look. "Now, why can't we just go down to the dock for once, babe?"
"I said no, you flaming idiot!"
"Oh, but you've got to. I bet you want to! I know you do! You just can't resist ol' Jaido!"
Baring her teeth in an angry grin, she hissed through her teeth. "What part of the word 'no' do you not understand?"
"All of it," Jaido replied, cackling at his own joke.
Baring her teeth even more in a silent snarl, she shut her eyes and balled her fists. "I'm giving you to three. One. Two…"
At three, he bolted, laughing.
Gaia walked up to her. "He thinks he's so funny. Look at him, runnin' away, giggling like an idiot!"
Mordi sighed. She fingered the ring on the chain around her neck absentmindedly. Her mother had given her that ring as she lay on her deathbed, and with it came a dire warning:
"You must leave the village with this. Never."
"I promise, Mother. I will not."
Blinking, she let it fall back to her chest. She looked up, and approaching were a trio of furres, followed closely by a giggling clique. No! Burn you, Kati! she thought angrily.
The three were Tam, Minkasho, and Chachu. Chachu was a goofy, white and orange furred feline, Minkasho was a black equine who looked constantly confused but was just as silly, and Tam…Tam was a tall, cream-furred canine. None of the usual slight color streaks were in his fur; it was a pure and unblemished, and his short, straight hair was a light grayish-brown. And his eyes. Mordi backed behind a palm, simultaneously sighing and growling. His eyes, unlike most furres in the small village of Cairindy, were a dark brown.
Yet, it was a well-known fact that Kati had eyes for him. And Kati got whatever she wanted regardless of what anyone else thought or did. Mordi only clung to the fine thread of hope that no one knew what Tam thought about her.
"Hey, Tam, wanna come walk with us to the river?" Kati said. Her clan giggled behind her.
Tam blinked; after looking to Minkasho and Chachu, he shrugged. "I don't know, I guess…"
"Great!" Kati interjected, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him away, Cisare and Lisai dancing around them excitedly.
Gaia snorted beside Mordi. "I can't believe that-"
Mordi sighed, not for the first time, as Gaia went into another rant about the 'unjustness of the world'. While the hybrid was still speaking, Mordi got up and began to follow the group.
And then came the voice.
"Flesh so fine, so fine to tear, to gash the skin; skin to strip, to plait, so nice to plait the strips, so nice, so red the drops that fall; blood so red, so red, so sweet; sweet screams, pretty screams, singing screams, scream you song, sing your screams, come to me, I know you cannot resist; come to me, come to me, COME…"
Reeling, she fell back, head in her hands. Gaia caught her, shouting something, but all hearing was lost to her. Sight fading in to a gray dot, she fell. And fell. And fell into the dark abyss of her flickering thoughts.
***
Waking with a start, she shouted. Eyes flickering to and fro, Mordi looked upon her friend's frightened face.
"Wh-…What happened?"
Gaia's eyes widened. "Thank the Light you're okay. You just…fell. Like you fainted, but you were saying things…I couldn't make it out, but it sounded…Are you okay?" she finished finally.
Getting up and brushing herself off, she said a curt, "I'm fine," then started off after Tam and Kati again. But deep in her mind, troubled thoughts arose of the voice that was not her own.
A/N: How'd you like that? Tell me what you think; use the little button below. :)
