Pick Your Path: Book 1

60

" Go!" Rose shoves you over the edge of the slop as Will and Ellie approach. You yelp as you lose your balance, slide onto your back, and tumble down the slope. You hear a set of paws skidding down the slope as Rose jumped down after you in her fox form. Ellie skidded to a halt at the top of the hill as something big flies past her and dives down the slope after you and Rose. " Move!" Rose shoves you to the side as talons slammed into the spot you were just sliding down.

" Huh?"  you look behind to see a gryphon pulling his talons free of the rock with a screech and continue to chase you.

" Get ready." Rose warned before the two of you are thrown off the ledge and onto empty air.

" Ahh!" you let out a small scream as the ground abruptly disappeared from underneath you. You plunge downward, back first. You feel something nudge you and turning you around so you went feet first.

" Rule number one, always land feet first." Rose grinned before tucking her paws in and diving past you, her tail  brushed against you as she passed by. The gryphon dived into the ravine after you. You squeak as it approached and flip yourself around, diving faster to where Rose was. She breaks out of her dive to land feet first into a river with a splash. The gryphon behind you gives a roar before spreading it's wings and abruptly flying upwards to avoid the spray of water. If it got it's feathers wet, it probably wouldn't fly as well or not be able to fly at all. You dive through the spray and into the water, next to where Rose landed. Immediately something furry begins to push you over to a tunnel, in the direction the river was headed in. You swim the surface inside the tunnel as the gryphon hovered over the water, giving a growl of frustration. It couldn't get in, the tunnel was too small.. " This way. " Rose surfaces next to you and swims alongside the current. Her tail trailed behind her as she lead the way downstream. You anted as you tried to keep the water out of your eyes and swim at the same time. Rose was pretty good at swimming despite the fact that she doesn't have waterproof fur. ' We're coming up on the exit." she warns as the river begins to slope downward. You slide downward until you splash into a large cavern. You were currently in a large, crystal lake. An open roof revealed the sky above you. No sign of Ellie or Will.. Two other tunnels lead in different directions, one was a water path, the other was a ground path leading uphill. Rose pulls herself onto a ledge that hung over the lake. You swim over to her and haul yourself next to her. The sunlight shone through the open roof and onto the ledge you and Rose sat on.

" Rose?" no response. She layed in the pool of sunlight with her eyes closed. " Oh.." she's asleep. You lay back on the ledge, allowing the warm sunlight to dry your wet clothes. The rock felt so warm from the sun. Maybe a small rest won't hurt..

.

..

...

....

You open your eyes to the pinkish, yellowish orange, sunset. 

" Looks like they've given up." you sit up to see Rose yawns from where she layed. Her light purple and white pelt swaying in the breeze that blew in the room. " We should be okay for now."

" What about Kurama?" you asked, he's probably looking for you.. " Won't he worried about me?"

" He knows you're with me." Rose assures, " So it's fine. You'll meet up with him later." she stands up, shaking her pelt before siting back down, " We'll stay here for a while before moving. It'll take a while for Ellie and Will to find us, if they haven't given up yet." you nod before turning your gaze to the sky. It was relatively clear tonight so most of the stars were visible. Rose rests her head on her paws, her eyes watching the ground tunnel entrance. She's probably keeping an eye out for Will and Ellie. You let your thoughts wander to various things. What are the sisters doing right now? Are they even looking for you? Probably not.. Is Morphia still mad at you and Kurama? What's Raven thinking in this situation.. She is the more colder of the two sisters, maybe she's neutral on the situation? Where's Kurama right now? Rose said he'll meet up with you and her later.. How late is that? It's already sunset and he's not here.

" What if he's in some type of trouble?" you mutter quietly closing your eyes. Kurama's a strong half-breed, he should be able to handle any threat with ease.. What's taking him so long? Is it because he had to shake off Ellie and Will? Or is it because of some other delay? What if he couldn't find this lake area? What if Will or Ellie reach here before him?

" Hey." you hear Rose greet someone who had entered the cavern. You hear her get up and leap into the water with a smalls splash. " Your apprentice is worried about you."

" Okay." You hear something land lightly on the ledge followed by something pulling itself out of the water, probably Rose. " Thanks for keeping an eye on (Y/n) for me, Rose." you hear Kurama speak as you drift off to sleep for the second time.

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(Y/n) can be quite the handful to deal with, Kurama. Wish you luck training her.. She doesn't seem to know much about fighting or dodging like no experience at all. ~Ro

Don't worry about it, Rose. I can deal with it. Besides, it means I'll be able to have someone to annoy Morphia with. (Y/n) seems to enjoy annoying Morphia, she finds it funny. ~K