The sun falling across Amy's face woke her. Bleary eyed, she shook her head
a moment to clear away the cobwebs. She got up shakily and brushed the dirt
and rocks off her clothes.
"Wait a second. Dirt and rocks?"
Her eyes came into focus and she looked around at her surroundings. She was in a forest. She looked down and found herself standing on the edge of a path that seemed to wind through the trees. Her eyes widened in horror at the scene.
"Where the heck am I???"
Her head whipped around and she found that she was alone. Mentally she ruled out the thought of having been kidnapped. She sat down where she was and thought for nearly 10 minutes on what could have happened. Nothing came to mind. One minute she'd been home, playing a video game, and the next she'd wound up in some strange forest.
She looked down the path in front of her. She knew she shouldn't move, that was the best thing to do when you were lost so that others could find you, but Amy doubted anyone even knew she was gone. Curiosity overwhelmed her and she got up and began to walk down the path. Her ears and eyes stayed sharp as she tried to figure out exactly where she was. She had never seen anything like this place before.
After a few minutes of walking, she saw a sign ahead of her. Her heart quickened at the thought of being able to figure out just where she was. She ran up to the sign and read.
West: Forest, Natalie River
South: Cave in the Woods
"What kind of directions are those?" She paused a moment. "And just where is the Natalie River?? Definitely not in California, that's for sure!"
Not wanting to go into a cave where it might put her in more danger than she was already in, she headed west. The path curved upwards, no sign of other people anywhere, and she began to become worried, which only managed to tire her out even more. Her eyes started to water at the thought of being truly lost and alone, almost spilling over, when Amy saw another sign ahead. She raced towards it, desperately wishing for an exit.
West: Forest. Beware of Witch.
South: Natalie River.
"Witch? Witch?! There's no such thing as witches!"
Her current state of fear and hopelessness at ever finding a way home drove her on west. She didn't care if there were a hundred witches; anything was better than being alone and lost. She didn't pay attention to where she was heading and tripped right over a tree root. She skinned both of her knees and hands as she hit the ground and fell forward on her face with a grunt.
She struggled to get up and was just about to have herself a good cry when something red caught her eye. It shone slightly in the sun, its surface smooth. Picking it up she felt it give off a slight warmth. She looked around and noticed that there were other small groups of the stuff on the ground around her. She picked up as much as would fit in her hands and began putting it in her pockets. She hadn't the slightest idea why she did it, but it seemed like as good an idea as any at the time and being able to do something, anything, besides wandering aimlessly gave her a sense of calm.
Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes in front of her. The branches parted to reveal a young girl dressed all in pink. And not only that, but she had ears and a tail like a cat's! Following quickly in her path were three smaller cats. And not your everyday run-of-the-mill cats either, oh no. These cats where standing upright, and not only that, but they were clothed. In overalls and shoes no less!
Amy's eyes widened to the size of golf balls at the sight before her. She let out a small squeak of fear and tried to scramble to her feet. However, this merely resulted in tripping over herself and falling backwards to land on her back. And then, to her amazement, the cat-girl spoke!
"Give me that Inotium!"
In slight shock, not knowing what to say at first. She followed the girl's stare to her fists full of the red. Was this the Inotium the girl was talking about?
As if that wasn't enough of a shock, the three cats behind her chorused, "Yeah Give it to her, meow!"
She blinked five times over and then did it again, her eyes widening further. No. It couldn't be real. It couldn't. But it was. It was real. Real real. Amy's voice was shaking as she got to her feet and spoke to the four in front of her.
"Ok. Ok, look. I don't know what's going on here, but I'm just going to leave, ok? Because I really don't need this. All I want, is to go home, ok?"
This apparently did not suit the cat-girl. She yelled out a "Stop!," which Amy did with much fear and shaking. To her credit, Amy managed to swallow her fear. She knew that she needed to do something quick or she'd end up cat food. Mustering up what little courage she had, she straightened her back and faced the cat-girl.
"I'm not giving it to you."
The words where out before she even thought about it. She hadn't meant to say that. Stupid stupid stupid. She'd meant to say that the cat-girl could gladly take the stuff as long as she showed Amy the way home. She'd been terrified enough as it was that the cat-girl would kill her anyway. Boy was she in trouble now.
The Cat Chorus then sounded. "Punishment, meow! Punishment, meow!"
The cat-girl grinned and two small pointy teeth indented her bottom lip. "Sounds like a plan to me."
And with that, she called out some strange words Amy didn't understand. The girl's staff began to glow and with a bright flash a creature now stood in front of Amy. And not just any creature. A dragon. A real live dragon. As in the kind that's twenty times bigger than you are, bright purple, spits flame, and wants to eat you, bones and all.
Amy felt like fainting. Her breath started coming in quick gasps. "Oh God. Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod. I'm gonna die!"
The cat-girl's smile turned malicious. "Hand over your Inotium or else!"
Amy turned her frightened face from the dragon to the girl. So, she had two options now. 1) Hand over the Inotium to the cat-girl and risk being killed anyway once she got it or 2) Keep the Inotium and try to face the dragon. Then again, the other girl would probably get the Inotium anyway once the dragon fried Amy.
Suddenly, out of nowhere a blue blur jumped at the dragon, sword drawn. With another bright light, the dragon was suddenly gone and in its place stood the man who had saved her. She couldn't see his face, as his back was turned to her, but she could see muscles under the sleeves of his tunic as well as black hair that seemed to absorb all light.
He called out in a rich voice. "Leave here immediately, or else...."
The Cat Chorus responded with an, "Or else?"
"I will slay you!!"
Amy did another double take. 'I will slay you????' What was this, the Middle Ages? With a hateful look and a threat, the four cat-people made a hasty retreat at the sight of the man's drawn sword. Apparently, 'I will slay you' held some force around here.
Now there was only Amy and the man left in the small clearing. He turned to face her and the breath caught in her throat as Amy saw his face clearly. Incredibly dark green eyes stared back at her. High cheekbones gave him the look of a noble, with lips from a sculptor's dreams. He had a short moustache and a small beard sprouted from his chin. He was gorgeous.
His eyes showed concern. "Are you okay? That dragon didn't scare you too badly did it?"
She could only stare in amazement. However, it wasn't in fear like with the dragon, it was with complete awe. Men like this only existed in dreams! How could he be real?
The man looked over his shoulder quickly, as though he had heard something. An almost disappointed expression crossed his face as he turned to Amy. His voice carried a sense of hurriedness. "I have to go now. Be careful. If you're ever in Mothergreen, try to find me. My name's Edward. I'm sorry I can't stay. Take care! Bye!"
And with those final words he took off back the way he'd come, leaving Amy standing in stunned silence. She was still unable to fully comprehend what had happened. Her head was spinning so much that she could hardly see straight. Her vision blurred again and as she tried to take a step forward her field of vision twisted out of control and she collapsed on the ground.
"Wait a second. Dirt and rocks?"
Her eyes came into focus and she looked around at her surroundings. She was in a forest. She looked down and found herself standing on the edge of a path that seemed to wind through the trees. Her eyes widened in horror at the scene.
"Where the heck am I???"
Her head whipped around and she found that she was alone. Mentally she ruled out the thought of having been kidnapped. She sat down where she was and thought for nearly 10 minutes on what could have happened. Nothing came to mind. One minute she'd been home, playing a video game, and the next she'd wound up in some strange forest.
She looked down the path in front of her. She knew she shouldn't move, that was the best thing to do when you were lost so that others could find you, but Amy doubted anyone even knew she was gone. Curiosity overwhelmed her and she got up and began to walk down the path. Her ears and eyes stayed sharp as she tried to figure out exactly where she was. She had never seen anything like this place before.
After a few minutes of walking, she saw a sign ahead of her. Her heart quickened at the thought of being able to figure out just where she was. She ran up to the sign and read.
West: Forest, Natalie River
South: Cave in the Woods
"What kind of directions are those?" She paused a moment. "And just where is the Natalie River?? Definitely not in California, that's for sure!"
Not wanting to go into a cave where it might put her in more danger than she was already in, she headed west. The path curved upwards, no sign of other people anywhere, and she began to become worried, which only managed to tire her out even more. Her eyes started to water at the thought of being truly lost and alone, almost spilling over, when Amy saw another sign ahead. She raced towards it, desperately wishing for an exit.
West: Forest. Beware of Witch.
South: Natalie River.
"Witch? Witch?! There's no such thing as witches!"
Her current state of fear and hopelessness at ever finding a way home drove her on west. She didn't care if there were a hundred witches; anything was better than being alone and lost. She didn't pay attention to where she was heading and tripped right over a tree root. She skinned both of her knees and hands as she hit the ground and fell forward on her face with a grunt.
She struggled to get up and was just about to have herself a good cry when something red caught her eye. It shone slightly in the sun, its surface smooth. Picking it up she felt it give off a slight warmth. She looked around and noticed that there were other small groups of the stuff on the ground around her. She picked up as much as would fit in her hands and began putting it in her pockets. She hadn't the slightest idea why she did it, but it seemed like as good an idea as any at the time and being able to do something, anything, besides wandering aimlessly gave her a sense of calm.
Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes in front of her. The branches parted to reveal a young girl dressed all in pink. And not only that, but she had ears and a tail like a cat's! Following quickly in her path were three smaller cats. And not your everyday run-of-the-mill cats either, oh no. These cats where standing upright, and not only that, but they were clothed. In overalls and shoes no less!
Amy's eyes widened to the size of golf balls at the sight before her. She let out a small squeak of fear and tried to scramble to her feet. However, this merely resulted in tripping over herself and falling backwards to land on her back. And then, to her amazement, the cat-girl spoke!
"Give me that Inotium!"
In slight shock, not knowing what to say at first. She followed the girl's stare to her fists full of the red. Was this the Inotium the girl was talking about?
As if that wasn't enough of a shock, the three cats behind her chorused, "Yeah Give it to her, meow!"
She blinked five times over and then did it again, her eyes widening further. No. It couldn't be real. It couldn't. But it was. It was real. Real real. Amy's voice was shaking as she got to her feet and spoke to the four in front of her.
"Ok. Ok, look. I don't know what's going on here, but I'm just going to leave, ok? Because I really don't need this. All I want, is to go home, ok?"
This apparently did not suit the cat-girl. She yelled out a "Stop!," which Amy did with much fear and shaking. To her credit, Amy managed to swallow her fear. She knew that she needed to do something quick or she'd end up cat food. Mustering up what little courage she had, she straightened her back and faced the cat-girl.
"I'm not giving it to you."
The words where out before she even thought about it. She hadn't meant to say that. Stupid stupid stupid. She'd meant to say that the cat-girl could gladly take the stuff as long as she showed Amy the way home. She'd been terrified enough as it was that the cat-girl would kill her anyway. Boy was she in trouble now.
The Cat Chorus then sounded. "Punishment, meow! Punishment, meow!"
The cat-girl grinned and two small pointy teeth indented her bottom lip. "Sounds like a plan to me."
And with that, she called out some strange words Amy didn't understand. The girl's staff began to glow and with a bright flash a creature now stood in front of Amy. And not just any creature. A dragon. A real live dragon. As in the kind that's twenty times bigger than you are, bright purple, spits flame, and wants to eat you, bones and all.
Amy felt like fainting. Her breath started coming in quick gasps. "Oh God. Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod. I'm gonna die!"
The cat-girl's smile turned malicious. "Hand over your Inotium or else!"
Amy turned her frightened face from the dragon to the girl. So, she had two options now. 1) Hand over the Inotium to the cat-girl and risk being killed anyway once she got it or 2) Keep the Inotium and try to face the dragon. Then again, the other girl would probably get the Inotium anyway once the dragon fried Amy.
Suddenly, out of nowhere a blue blur jumped at the dragon, sword drawn. With another bright light, the dragon was suddenly gone and in its place stood the man who had saved her. She couldn't see his face, as his back was turned to her, but she could see muscles under the sleeves of his tunic as well as black hair that seemed to absorb all light.
He called out in a rich voice. "Leave here immediately, or else...."
The Cat Chorus responded with an, "Or else?"
"I will slay you!!"
Amy did another double take. 'I will slay you????' What was this, the Middle Ages? With a hateful look and a threat, the four cat-people made a hasty retreat at the sight of the man's drawn sword. Apparently, 'I will slay you' held some force around here.
Now there was only Amy and the man left in the small clearing. He turned to face her and the breath caught in her throat as Amy saw his face clearly. Incredibly dark green eyes stared back at her. High cheekbones gave him the look of a noble, with lips from a sculptor's dreams. He had a short moustache and a small beard sprouted from his chin. He was gorgeous.
His eyes showed concern. "Are you okay? That dragon didn't scare you too badly did it?"
She could only stare in amazement. However, it wasn't in fear like with the dragon, it was with complete awe. Men like this only existed in dreams! How could he be real?
The man looked over his shoulder quickly, as though he had heard something. An almost disappointed expression crossed his face as he turned to Amy. His voice carried a sense of hurriedness. "I have to go now. Be careful. If you're ever in Mothergreen, try to find me. My name's Edward. I'm sorry I can't stay. Take care! Bye!"
And with those final words he took off back the way he'd come, leaving Amy standing in stunned silence. She was still unable to fully comprehend what had happened. Her head was spinning so much that she could hardly see straight. Her vision blurred again and as she tried to take a step forward her field of vision twisted out of control and she collapsed on the ground.