Saviors of the Forest

Chapter 6: Saviors?

The Jickeys sat in a circle around Viktor's boulder. They glanced at each other with expressions ranging from marveled to hostile.

"Welcome to Cave Abella," Viktor said with a distant smile and polite nod.

Feather cleared her throat, trying to squash the stupid look of curiosity from her face.

"Viktor," she said. "did you call us 'Saviors'?"

Viktor nodded with a dreamy gleam in his evergreen eyes.

"Yes," he said in his deep voice, thick with emotion. "The All-Knowing Saviors of the Forest."

Feather's eyes widened.

What?! No, no, he has the wrong Jickeys, Feather tried to assure herself. There's no way in Nether I'm a Savior of the Forest. After all the things I've said about them? Of course not! Silly, silly Feather.

The Jickeys all frantically looked at each other with a mutual expression of 'this guy is insane.'

"Uhm, I- I'm sorry, Viktor. I don't... I don't think we're the Jickeys you're looking for," Thorn grumbled with an uneasiness Feather didn't know he could express.

Moss looked around Cave Abella with an expression of pure astonishment. Thorn jabbed him in the haunch with one of his claws.

"You look like a dreamy idiot, it's honestly painful to watch. Please stop," he said sympathetically.

Moss gave him a grumpy pout.

Viktor scoffed, not acknowledging Moss and Thorn's bickering. "Nonsense. You five fit the Prophecy perfectly."

Moss spun around so fast that Sage almost fell over backwards.

"There's a Prophecy?!" he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.

Sage grumbled something about how she didn't trust any of this nonsense. Moss rolled his eyes.

"What Prophecy? I didn't know there was a Prophecy," Acorn gasped. "What's it say?"

Feather felt a stab of homesickness. Squirrel had said the exact same thing the day before.

Viktor pressed a paw to his chest, distraught. "You don't know of the Prophecy?!"

The Jickeys shook their heads, glancing nervously at each other for validation that they weren't supposed to know it and they had just dozed off during a class one time.

Viktor put a paw to his temples, looking utterly disappointed.

"Could... Could you read it?" Moss asked innocently.

Viktor stood on his boulder and sighed dramatically. "Very well."

Thorn looked at Feather with a 'can you believe this?!' expression. Feather giggled and Sage glared at Thorn, her eyes narrowed.

Viktor pulled a large, waterproof leaf from his bandana. Sage's jaw dropped.

"Did you know he had that in his thing?!" she whispered furiously.

Feather shook her head. "I did not."

Viktor took a breath and recited in his deep African accent, "Five wolves with wings at the edge of the wood, they are the ones to bring forth greater good. The Inventor's coat is gray, like a dying ember. The Crafter's coat is white as December! The Magical's coat is the color of luck, while the Healer's coat is the color of muck. But the Navigator's coat is a pale sapphire, a color all were sure to admire. These are the ones to save them all, these are the ones to make sure the Forest won't fall. The Saviors of the Forest."