smoke & mirrors (hiatus)

.: chapter fifteen :.

.: ♛ :.

HERONSKIP crawled out of the jailhouse first. He scanned the clearing. Dewleap stood behind him, and Oakstripe kept watch.

"Okay, okay, okay, let's go," Heronskip mumbled. He fled from the house and ran to a bush. Dewleap's gray pelt disappeared after him. Oakstripe glanced quickly around the clearing and then took off, too.

Dewleap and Heronskip were already pressed tightly together under the bush, but Oakstripe squeezed in the bush and piled on top of them.

"No! Why would you come in here— we have to go," Dewleap groaned. Heronskip nodded, and stood up quickly, basically throwing Oakstripe out of the bush. She fell against the rocky ground and winced as her jaw collided against the floor.

Dewleap emerged from the bush and Heronskip followed. "So, what way do we go?" Dewleap asked, a little too quickly.

"You know, it's NOT like the PROPHECY said anything about where we need to go," Oakstripe hissed.

"Yes, um, I mean, yes it did, kind of," Heronskip mumbled. "We have to find the spirit cat. Y'know. The one without a face."

"Well, where are we supposed to find that?" Oakstripe snapped, her temper wavering. She was sick of waiting. This stupid prophecy just needed to be fulfilled. Who cared where they needed to go?

Then she caught a hold of herself. What am I thinking? "Let's just go to the Star Temple."

The Star Temple was the Brook Kingdom's "holy" shrine to their ancestors. That was where the Star Kingdom gave out their holy warnings. If one was to go to Star Temple without any reason, they would fall to their deaths. That was simply how it worked. In fact, that was how Oakstripe's mother had been lost.

With a pang, Oakstripe recalled the day her father had come back from her parent's trip to Star Kingdom.

"Your mother is dead. She was caught in the middle of Star Rock. Fell to her death," Dewleap said.

"What?" Oakstripe exclaimed. "What did you say?"

"I said we have to head left."

"Oh. Right. Let's go," she added hurriedly. She and her friends took a left turn out of the King's Center Village and headed towards Star Temple.