She opened her eyes, and screamed...
I screamed as I awoke. I must had accidentally fallen asleep. Idiot, I chasened myself. That dream felt strangely familiar, as if I had dreamed it before. Either way, I needed to keep walking. I had to find the entrance to Sky Kingdom.
Aster had dropped me off at the edge of the forest, as he said he would. We exchanged goodbyes, and I promised again to give the message to Birch if I do see him. He could probably tell that I was feeling kind of rejected, as he reassured me that I would be happier in Sky Kingdom than in the Earth Kingdom anyway. He instructed me to find the entrance, I just had to find a large oak. He said that, unlike all the other trees, it stayed red the entire year.
"That's so weird. How does it stay like that? Are you sure it isn't one of those other trees, a... a.... a maple? Is that what I'm thinking of?"
"Nope, it's an oak. They call it the Sky Oak. The leaves stay like that for the entire year, even in leafbare," he replied.
So I'm looking forward to finding this weird tree that would allow me access to the Sky Kingdom. Well, that was Plan B. Aster's original plan was for a patrol to find me, but then we realized that the chances of that were highly unlikely, especially as it was nearing sunset. According to him, there's only one patrol at dusk. So my chances of a patrol finding me were slim to none. But who knows? Either way, I still needed to walk closer to the tree. He said that once I pass the periwinkle-colored lake (which I learned was called the Lake of Dreams) I would be in Sky Kingdom territory. Then, I would probably be able to see a tiny bit of the tree, and find it. Unfortunately, the question still remains: What would I do from there? Aster said that he had never been past the Lake of Dreams, so I would be on my own from there on out. All he knew had been obtained from Lichen. She's a protector, and she had seen the tree, but she had never been to Sky Kingdom. All I knew now was that I just needed to keep walking to The Lake of Dreams, and then I'd improvise from there on.
•☆•【<◊>】•☆•
"Come on Aurora, you're almost there..." I muttered to myself. Turns out I had underestimated both the distance and my athletic abilities. I was almost to The Lake of Dreams, but I was exhausted.
"Yes! There we go! Yes!" I exclaimed, unable to control my excitement. The Lake of Dreams was just ahead of me. I could feel that same connection to it that I had experienced the first time, the same connection I had to the necklace. I had made it there! To Sky Kingdom territory. Of course, I immediately was disappointed when I realized that I still had to go to the red tree. I wanted to rest, but I wanted more to get to Sky Kingdom. I also really wanted to see the Lake of Dreams up close.
I stepped closer, feeling that cosmic tug. Without even thinking, I reached inside the lake. I felt my claws snag on something else (I figured out how to unsheathe my claws after getting spooked by some sort of bird), something that felt like the rope chaining the amulet to my neck. I pulled it out, and I couldn't believe my eyes.
It was the same amulet around my neck, but it was a ruby red color, not an amethyst purple. I moved to try to put it around my neck, and then I hesitated. What would happen if I put this one on too? The purple amulet that I found had transformed me into a cat, what would this one do? Also, there was one more pressing question: could I get it around my neck? Instead of trying that and risk breaking my neck and/or any other limbs, I looped it around my foreleg, above my paw where I assumed was my wrist (if cats even have wrists). I waited for something to happen, but nothing happened. No change. I sighed in relief as I continued to walk, wondering what would have happened if I had never found the first amulet.
Well, for starters, I would've been walking on two very human legs and looking around talking to very human people and eating my very human dinner with my very human mom. Wait, that last bit came out wrong-
...Anyways, the weathers nice for a magical fantasy forest, as nice as magical fantasy forests can be... Do storms even happen in magical fantasy forests? Doesn't that usually mean something bad is going to happen? Am I jinxing it right now...?
...I'm gonna stop now, I told myself. After all, I still have a ways to go, and I can only jinx myself so many times before I manage to doom myself to a slow, painful death...
...That one doesn't count, right?
•☆•【<◊>】•☆•
I had walked for a while longer and stopped to rest. I examined the green amulet, running my paws over it.
What are these amulets? Lichen had called my amulet one of the 6 Elemental Amulets, so is this the second one?
It was identical to my amulet besides the color. I didn't know about the material, though. Mine looked like it was made from amethyst, while this one looked like it was made of ruby. Was there an emerald one? A sapphire one? I wondered if I'd ever find the other 4 amulets.
"I'm telling you that this patrol was pointless, not that you're stupid," stated a voice from somewhere near me, and I frantically searched for a hiding spot as they continued, "Thunder, you're very smart, but this was stupid. So what if an earth cat was near our border? They wouldn't be stupid enough to cross it for long. Besides, they'd just be getting themselves in trouble, with how intent the King, Queen, and the leaders in the Earth Kingdom are on keeping us at peace with each other."
"Swan, the point of this was to make sure they're staying off our border. I get that you wanted to stay home, but I don't want any mange-pelted pebble-brained rock kitty within 6 feet of the border. How does that not make sense?" This was another voice, who I assumed was this Thunder.
"Y'know, you should run for royal advisor. You'd have the King and Queen start a war faster than ever before. New record!" the first voice, Swan, snarkily replied, then continued, "If the earth cats find out that you're patrolling to keep them off their own land, you'd start a war. Not a stupid little screaming match, a war."
I tensed. Is that one of the patrol parties Aster told me about? From the sound, it seemed to be only two cats, Thunder and Swan, who were certainly not pleased with each other. I quickly ran behind a tree, only to find another cat right behind me. I screamed, they screamed, and then I ran and they chased me. The other two, Thunder and Swan, saw me and started chasing me too.
"Hey! Come back! I didn't mean to scare you!" I heard someone say, and I assumed it was the ginger cat, because they didn't sound like Thunder or Swan.
"Ember? What are you doing here? Who is that?" Thunder asked, clearly confused at why there's a random cat running around with Ember chasing them.
"No time! Sky's the limit!" Keegan said, and with a jump she was in the air... running. Keegan was running in the air. Welp. I found the Sky Kingdom cats, I thought, realizing the gravity of the situation.
"Got it!" Swan and Thunder said, then each running to a different side of me. I'm surrounded! I thought, running faster and faster, with the three other cats on my heels. Suddenly, Ember, Swan, and Thunder were all in front of me, forming a wall in my path. I couldn't stop quick enough, so I jumped, a horrible pain shooting across my side...
...along with black, feathered wings spreading out from my sides while I glided over the heads of the three, very perplexed Sky Kingdom cats.
YOU ARE READING
☆～Wings of Dreams～☆
خيال (فانتازيا)Aurora D'Toresky has always wanted to fly. She dreams of flying in clear skies, over lakes and trees. When she finds a pretty necklace, she's compelled to pick it up, despite not being too fond of jewelry. This choice becomes life changing, as most...
