E c h o s o f t h e F o r e s t

C h a p t e r 4 : T h e M o s s

(Really intense stuff, panic)

"Legend has it that the moss grows on the north side of the trees." - The Moss by Cosmo Sheldrake

The Fenna shuffled around in the narrow hallway. Although there were only about twenty, it seemed like there were one hundred. Akita and Shell carefully helped Tomathias down the hallway. It led to a bunker, where the Fenna rushed inside.

When Tomathias and the two others were about a cat tail away, three adult cats jumped to stop them. The two guards pounced, catching them off guard. Akita was about to run around them until Tomathias tugged her to the right, running to the exit of the palace.

They dodged falling items swiftly. Tomathias saw the exit almost completely empty, which meant the palace was fully raided. He looked behind him to see a cat still chasing them, and they continued to run. They darted into the forest, jumping and ducking like they did before. Shell, however, was falling behind.

"I've never been in the forest! I can't run like this!" Shell said. They weaved through some thick trees that they could just barely fit through.

"That'll keep them away for a while." Akita panted. She looked at a clearing. The large trees made a perfect circle. Moss on the trees faced to the left of the rising sun.

Tomathias observed the moss. There was a rustle. Tomathias's tail puffed up, Shell and Akita seemed alert, staring at a bush. A small, large eared head poked out of the bush.

"Oh, it's a Fenna." Akita said.

"Yes, I am." The small Fenna said. They walked out of the bush completely. Their small, brown body had black bat-like wings and an extremely long tail. They had gentle green eyes that reflected off of the sun. "Welcome to The Sunclearing."*

"Wait, Moss? The legend?" Tomathias seemed dumbfounded.

"I'm a legend?" Moss seemed surprised as well. Tomathias nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Moss asked.

Akita began, "The Jewel Palace was raided by rebels, we had to escape."

Moss frowned. "How sad, but stay as long as you'd like! This place is safe!" Tomathias looked to a shaded corner, curling up comfortably. Akita and Moss basked in the warm sun that shone directly into the clearing, while Shell went out to get some food and herbs. It was a comfortable home, safe from most dangers. Tomathias sighed, closing his eyes slowly, tucking in his injured arm and falling asleep.

Ayyy!

Thanks for reading chapter 4! Sorry that it's so short, I promise I'll work on the next chapter more!

*A sunclearing is a large area in palaces or even towns in which cats (and Fenna) would go and bask in the warm sun, typical cat behavior, right? Now, The Sunclearing is an ancient part of the woods that only Fenna would be able to enter. It is known that a small Fenna named Moss lives there, and as you can tell, she does. Moss is something known as a Halfspirit, or what we call a demigoddess (They call their gods/goddesses The Great Spirits) and is extremely kind to Fenna and other visitors that end up in her clearing.

Yeahhhh so see yall in the next chapters-