animal jam - the first fox (book one) under editing

chapter seven, the kingdom

paws aching, i forced myself to trudge up the hill. jamaa township was slowly becoming smaller and smaller behind us, and the air began to thicken in the higher altitude. mira's shadow flanked us from her position up in the sky, looking over everyone like a guardian angel.

i remained stunned under her shadow. my heart's beating had decreased to a low thump, but my mind was still racing with questions and insane thoughts. why would i be chosen? last time i checked, there was no fox alpha... "well, things could change," a tiny voice from inside told me.

"hi there!" a friendly voice chirped. i turned to see peck, the purple bunny alpha. she had been walking with her predecessor, kirk, but she must've dropped back to talk to me. "i'm peck," she greeted, brushing purple fur out of her eyes. "you must be amelia! i've heard all about you. well, not really - that was a joke. i've actually never seen you before, but you seem decently nice, so that's fine. my name's peck! oh, i already said that, didn't i?"

we both kind of stared at each other for a few moments because i had no idea what she had just said. immediately, i concluded that this peck was - indeed - a rambler. she even managed to go one step further and slur her words. i frowned at peck and questioned, "i-i'm sorry?"

"sorry for what, silly? you know what, whatever it is that you did, i forgive you. but aren't you just so excited to be the first fox alpha? i mean, wow! what an honor. and you even have two species to look after! foxes and arctic foxes. i only have one species to look after, but that's totally okay. i love my fellow bunnies!" peck giggled ecstatically. that time, i ended up understanding a bit of what she had said, but i decided not to reply to her long and extended messages.

my mind went elsewhere once again as we ascended. fog dawned around our personal, little crowd and swooped between our legs like cats. in front of me and peck, i gazed at the other new alphas. they were all striding gradually side by side with their mentors. i noted to myself that i would not have a mentor to train me because infinitely i had no predecessor; so that left me with another annoying question to answer.

peck's one-way conversation finished with an amazed gasp, "wow, amelia! look, there it is!" she nudged my mangy, orange side and pointed upwards into the clouds.

and there it was in all its glory: the sky kingdom. this was the place where the alphas lived, and i never dreamed before of seeing it up close. we broke clear of the fog, and sunlight washed over our faces like a warm, soft blanket. it reflected off of the palace's golden roof like diamonds and shone into my eyes lightly. the rest of the alphas seemed to be in awe, too.

from up in the sky, mira squawked to us, "come on, champs! let's keep going. we're almost there." she flew on upwards and disappeared over the top of the hill. peck glanced at me, grabbed my paw, and pulled me along towards the front. "let's be the first to step foot on the kingdom grounds!" she suggested. i mean, dear mira, it was like peck had instantly made me her best friend. well, not like that was a problem or anything; but as she was pulling me to the front of the throng, i bumped into several other alphas. "sorry," i muttered after almost knocking over the new koala alpha, cosmo.

"apology accepted!" he called after me, but i wasn't listening. my focus was still intended on touring the sky kingdom. "this is crazy," my mind echoed, and silently, i agreed. never in my whole entire life had i ever thought about living in a place like this. i never thought it would happen...

but it was. and as i finally crested over the top of the hill, i saw how we'd get  there: a long, diamond stairway led up to the floating island. it was a definite miracle how those starry stairs managed to stay like that, and i concluded that it must've taken a huge deal of magic.

"gather around, friends!" mira called. "gather around!" alphas new and old crowded about the sky goddess. the new ones glanced up at the kingdom eagerly as the old ones chuckled in amusement. mira continued, "the sky kingdom is where you all will live for your time as alphas in training. after you complete your training, you will move to your own chosen dens based off of your personality and interests. but i won't dwell too much on that. now, come, come." she ushered us to the starts of the shimmery stairway, and peck hopped swiftly up the first few steps, the others following close behind.

from behind me, i heard greely ask an entertained mira, "we'll have our own rooms, right?" i didn't hear her answer, but i certainly hoped that was true.