A/N: ok here is the second chapter. Btw, fyi, I have no idea where exactly I want this to go…Also, should this be k/j or k/n? (sorry, I HATE k/c, k/d is BORING!!!). Anyway, I command you to r/r.
Thank you so much to the 6 that r/r ed before the second chapter was up. You're the reason I updated so soon.
And now….(drumroll)
Chapter 2
" Promise you'll come back Kel." " I promise, Neal."
'I will come back,' Kel thought fiercely. 'I will.' Perhaps it was her anxiety, perhaps it was something else, but all of a sudden Kel wished her friends were here, especially Neal. They would have told her she could do it, as she knew she could. But suddenly, because they weren't there, she wasn't sure she really could survive her ordeal. How could she when there was no Neal to throw rolls at? No Merric to argue with? She was all alone.
" Kel, it's time." The familiar voice of her former master, the Shang wildcat, interrupted her thoughts. (A/N: yes it's one of those "Eda Bell resigned in protest of Wyldon's decision" things. Please bear with me.)
Kel nodded and followed her into a room filled with every member of the Shang council. The Shang bear spoke: "You must pass through the fire. It will brand a picture of your animal onto your arm. Are you ready?"
Once again Kel nodded. She couldn't speak; her throat was caught. "Then begin," the bear commanded. Kel took a deep breath and stepped into the fire at the center of the room.
Intense heat and pain swamped her, but she didn't scream. She couldn't scream. Instead she gritted her teeth so hard that her jaw ached, and clenched her hands as her nails dug into her skin. Suddenly, the pain throughout her body dulled into a throbbing ache, accompanied by a searing, stinging, ripping sensation of unbelievable agony on her right arm. Abruptly the pain in her arm ceased, and she almost welcomed the milder, if still excruciating, pain that enveloped her body, the pain of burning. She stepped out of the fire, somehow sore all over, but otherwise unharmed. Gentle hands supported her as she stumbled blindly towards the unicorn, who smiled encouragingly before taking Kel's arm and turning it so that the council could know Kel's rank.
Kylaia's eyes widened, and she gasped in surprise. Kel, her own dear friend, was the warrior that Shang had awaited for a millennium. She would be the greatest warrior of all time, for the Great Mother Goddess had promised it. Had promised the warrior whose name would be Her own….
Kylaia looked up, awed, and said reverently, "let the Shang council welcome she who serves the Mother, she who is the greatest of us all, the Shang Goddess."
A/N: yep! That's all you get! Ok, I know, I know, it's WAY corny, but WHAT ELSE IS BETTER THAN A DRAGON!!?? Oh yeah and I'm sorry if kel and/or kylaia seems mary sue-ish, but TOO BAD!!!
Now R&R!!!!!!!!! J PLEASE?