It was when the steady incline of the land became noticeable that Griffin realized the eyes he'd felt watching him were gone. The trees that had shielded the ground from the sky for miles on end finally began to thin out, revealing dapples of sunlight on almost ever surface. The shape of Lovesong in front of him had an almost misty quality, as the early morning rays picked out every individual patch of color. When she turned her head slightly to see him out of the corner of her eye, he scowled. Something was definitely off about her.
"Where do you come from, Griffin?" The calico she-cat asked, nimbly leaping over a puddle in the middle of the well-worn path. Her gravelly voice betrayed no real interest, though her ear twitched slightly as she waited for an answer.
"I don't know." He mumbled. It was an honest answer, at least. "Why do you care?"
"I don't." Lovesong answered matter-of-factly. "Wovenstar will, though."
"Who's Wovenstar?" Griffin asked after a moment.
"My leader." The young she-cat answered, standing a little straighter. Even if she tried to mask it, the pride in her voice was evident. "She alone rules over EarthClan. I serve underneath her, as her deputy."
"That's stupid. Haven't you ever heard of Democracy?"
She cast him a withering look over her shoulder. "Yeah, and what would happen when we chose the wrong leader? Some cats are idiots. Democracy, honestly! That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard."
"Works fine for the humans." Griffin muttered under his breath, before remembering something he'd heard once from a rather talkative parrot. Right… George W. Bush. Can't forget that. He shuddered visibly, though Lovesong didn't notice.
Finally, Lovesong paused. Griffin skidded to a halt behind her. "Look behind you, Griffin." She spoke softly, gesturing with her stump of a tail to a place in the distance.
Blinking, Griffin turned. The sight ripped his breath away, left him completely speechless as the magnitude of what lay out in front of him slowly sank in. The most amazing place, the most beautiful land, the most perfect world of endless forests and mountains and rivers. Birds carved the air with skilled wings, golden sunlight touched the land with silver, and a soft song whispered from the trees. They were high above it all, looking down at a place that as surreal and beyond his wildest dreams. The wild world spread out as far as he could see. This… this was freedom.
"You probably weren't aware, but you've been on a mountain this entire time." Lovesong told him, looking up to where the mountain began the suddenly climb steeply. "The entrance to the EarthClan camp is very near here. Not too high up, luckily. Wovenstar's terrified of heights, so…" She looked back at the young tom and saw he still was staring, completely unmovable, at the golden world.
All this time… this is where I was…? He though to himself, feeling as though his head was spinning. Just the feeling of his claws sinking into the steady earth and the fresh breeze in his fur was enough to fill him with the most emboldened sense of power, of freedom and of fear. Griffin was so huge, yet so tiny. So powerful, yet so insignificant.
"Come on, boy." Lovesong said after allowing him a bit longer to marvel. "We are almost there."
Reluctantly, the red-furred young cat tore his gaze away and followed Lovesong up the sharp incline of the mountain. Stones poked uncomfortably at his pads, and as the air thinned he felt it was getting harder to breath. But Lovesong seemed to be in her element, leaping elegantly from boulder to boulder with her breathing as light and easy as though she was simply lying down. In no time he was struggling to keep up as she set a brisk, smooth pace. Often times she'd look back at him with a coy smile on her lips, something he guessed she didn't show often unless she was teasing someone. Which she obviously was.
"Getting tired?" The calico finally asked, halting atop a flat-faced rock. Numerous claw marks plagued its edges, scratches of white against a stony gray surface.
"No." Griffin lied, gritting his teeth as he caught up with her. Despite traveling most of his life and being in phenomenal shape because of it, he was hungry and exhausted. He simply wasn't used to this terrain.
Lovesong seemed distracted. She hefted herself up onto her hind legs unsteadily, trying to peer beyond. "We're here." She stated, her blue eyes flashing momentarily with a hidden signal. Griffin just barely caught sight of a tiny head ducking out of sight from behind a boulder. The ground beneath their paws began to tremble dangerously, and Griffin dug his claws in. He cast a frenzied glance at Lovesong, who seemed completely unfazed.
Slowly, achingly slowly, the wall of rock in front of them began to move. Two massive slabs of stone split, pulling away from each other with a thunder-like sound. As the obstructions were moved, a black tunnel yawned, looking completely natural. Griffin stared uncomprehendingly, his mouth open. A small hatch suddenly opened atop the tunnel, and down dropped a tiny white she-cat.
"Greetings, Lovesong." The little cat bowed deeply, her blue eyes shining with suppressed curiosity as her attention drifted to Griffinpaw. She didn't ask, though she began to fidget uncomfortably.
"At ease, Skypaw." Lovesong smiled, obviously amused. "This is Griffin. I found him poking around our border. Wovenstar will have to deal with him now."
Skypaw giggled, covering her mouth with one paw. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Griffin." She suddenly blinked, remembering something. "Oh, Lovesong! I meant to ask you about the entrance! Do you think it's a bit too flashy? Wavepaw talked me into that rumble effect, and I'm sure that it's not nearly as discrete as it should be…"
"Don't worry about it." The deputy answered, patting the smaller she-cat's head with one paw. "It works fine."
Skypaw flushed happily beneath her white fur and nodded gratefully. "Ah- thank you, Lovesong!" She then waved them off as they continued on down the tunnel before she leapt back up out the hatch.
"She's very proper." Griffin observed gruffly once they were out of earshot.
The calico nodded distractedly. "Her name is Skypaw. She is one of the Clan's apprentices. I wish Wavepaw wasn't always getting her into trouble, but that boy is such a hooligan he's always leading the apprentices into something stupid…" She began mumbling under her breath.
Not much time passed before the tunnel began to brighten. Pleasant warmth radiated throughout the tunnel, relaxing Griffin instantly as they padded along. The floor was smooth and well-worn, and it too seemed to give off heat that soothed his aching pads. When the light at the end of the tunnel finally came into clear view, Lovesong's ears pricked. "It seems the Clan already knows we're here." She murmured, though how she could tell Griffin had no idea. "Must be another one of Daringhowl's inventions."
Before Griffin could question her more, the tunnel opened up, and the two young cats were thrown into a spectacle of light. A huge stone cavern, rising so high Griffin had to crane his head back to see the top. Spiraling sunlight found its way through small holes that dotted the near and far side of the cavern. The entire place glimmered, almost as though encrusted with jewels. On further examination, this proved to be true. Smooth, glimmering chunks of jade and mica and every other mineral imaginable were what made up the walls. Smaller tunnels then the one they'd entered were on every side, apparently heading deeper into the mountains. The place was so massive that Griffin's paw steps echoed like firecrackers.
"Hiiiiiiii Loveyyyyyyy!" A voice suddenly yelled.
Lovesong sighed in an amused, tired way, and Griffin turned to see where the voice had come from. A massive ledge of stone jutted out from one of the walls, creating a kind of balcony to the den in the wall behind it. Around the ledge were more, smaller and lower shelves of stone. Several elderly cats occupied these ledges, their faces sour and fur patchy. More cats than Griffin had ever seen in one place before crowded around that stone, some looking at him, and some looking at the she-cat perched on the ledge. She was small, her snow-white fur laced through with silvery blue tabby stripes. She had blue eyes, not sky-blue like Lovesong's or Skypaw's, but an icy hue that managed to be piercing and warm at the same time. She was waving frantically to Lovesong, a grin stretched wide.
"Hello, Wovenstar." Lovesong smiled. From the way she rolled her eyes, it was obvious she was quite used to her leader's antics. "I've brought the trespasser. Griffin's his name."
"Oh, that's a cool name!" Wovenstar gasped, her eyes widening. "I knew this guy once, his name was Chimera! They're pretty much the same thing, right? Or at least come from the same place? Maybe… hm. I don't know. Eh." The leader blinked, tapping one paw on her forehead as she thought. Finally she shrugged.
"I dunno!"
"She's… she's so strange." Griffin muttered to Lovesong. He suddenly noticed that this she-cat was younger than Lovesong, younger even then Griffin himself. And yet she was leader. There were much older cats in the crowd, and they took orders from a half-grown kitten? Yet they seemed amused by her antics; charmed, even. The two approached the ledge slowly, and Griffin couldn't help noticing the glares the elders cast him as they walked by.
"M'kay," Wovenstar began, peering over the ledge with bright, childish eyes. "So, Griffin, would ya like to tell me why you're here? And I don't wanna hear that whole 'it was your beauty that lured her here, dear goddess!' spiel." She said with an exaggerated swing of her head and wave of her tail.
Griffin blinked in confusion. Surely no cat was really so arrogant? It was only when she began to giggle at his confused expression that he realized she was teasing him. He flushed angrily and glared at her indignantly. "I didn't come here on purpose!" He protested, sounding like an offended child. A tom behind him chuckled slightly, obviously amused that he was even trying to argue with the bouncy leader.
"Lies!" Said leader decreed, her voice ringing with mock seriousness. "You lie! To the dungeon with you!"
"Wovenstar," someone from the back of the crowd chided gently. "I told you no more pretending we have a dungeon!"
"That's no fun, though!" She whined in reply, pouting. "Why can't I have a dungeon? Lovey, I demand a dungeon!"
"I'll try to arrange it." Lovesong grinned.
"Good Lovey! Now, while we're on the subject of dungeons-"
"Wovenstar." A sharp, leathery voice interrupted. A she-cat who sat on the ledge to Wovenstar's left glared at the young leader. Griffin was beginning to grasp that this council of elders was not at all fond of the boisterous child. "Stay on subject. You're boring your Clanmates to death."
Mutters of protest rose from the crowd. It seemed the Clan was much friendlier with Wovenstar than the elders gave them credit for.
"Alright, alright." The white she-cat grumbled, looking back at Griffin. "Red one! As our code dictates, you must now join my Clan! It's like being a prisoner, just more fun. Isn't that right, Daringhowl?"
A ginger tom from the back lifted his paler-striped tail in agreement. "Yup, yup. A little rough at first, but fun."
"Now hold on a minute!" Griffin protested loudly. "I never said anything about this! What if I don't want to join your Clan? I have to keep going, idiot, I'm-" It was then that he noticed. For the first time, the insufferable ache in his paws to keep moving was gone. He felt… he wasn't sure. It was pleasant though, this feeling. Like there was no longer any reason for him to move. Something… something lie here, in this world.
"You have no choice. You are now my minion!" Wovenstar laughed. "Welcome to EarthClan, Griffinpaw!"
Spastic updates FTW.
(By the way, this story is rather old. Like, a couple years. I only just now got around to posting all the older chapters. So sorry that I suck. 'N all that jazz.)
Review, please? X3