Land of Armonia

Chapter six

It was nearly noon.  The two had been walking four hours, and their bare feet began to tire.  They came upon a small creek.  Herogi leapt over it and turned to Amante as if saying, "come on, its just a creek."  Amante leapt past her and They continued walking. 

Both had the thought that they might not find another tribe.  For all they new, they could be walking away from the land of Armonia, the land that connected all the villages.  But Neither said a word about it. It was a horrible thought.

Herogi and Amante had been talking for the last four hours. She would tell him about fall harvests, for it seemed like a magical time of the year. And he would tell her about times when he was a kid, and would constantly play hide and seek with the warriors in training. The warriors where supposed to find all the kids to simulate rescuing lost villagers or wounded warriors.

As he told her stories about his tribe, Herogi thought that maybe the Chatons weren't always so bad. But she couldn't help but notice that his stories were from when he was a kid. He never talked about the tribe now.

He told her about when he was playing in the river when he turned 10. A woman, his baby sitter, watched him. Both where quit shocked when he turned into a black cat. It was his first transformation. He told her how he waited 6 days to turn back because he didn't know how when Herogi interrupted him.

"How did you become the Yéeyik?" She blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Amante was surprised by her question.

"I said, how did you get to become the Yéeyik?"

"Long story." Amante shrugged.

"We kind of have a LOT of time." Herogi smiled.

"I dunno. Its... complicated." Amante looked down.

"Why don't you tell me?" Herogi wondered. "I mean we just met, it's fine if you don't want to."

"Um..."

"Just tell me. I'm all ears." Herogi sighed. "Sorry if I'm coming off as rude." She apologized.

"Fine. It was a week before my birthday...
I was turning 13. It was a peaceful day in the village. Warriors cleaned their weapons in the sun. Women gathered grain, children played in the streets. Nothing could go wrong. Until I ruined it all. Remember when you were chosen? How you glowed and floated off the ground and all?" He asked Herogi.

"Yes. It hurt. Like my skin was burning off of me."

"Well when I was chosen, it was a lot different."
The clouds grew dark. Everyone stopped what they were doing. The wind began blow. And It blew hard. Some of the tents were knocked over. The women's grain baskets flew out of their hands and spilled on the ground. The warriors stood and readied themselves. Something was obviously wrong. Swords were drawn, batons at the ready. The children hid. Everyone could sense something happening. I was in the woods looking for firewood. My mother needed it to make our dinner. I had some in my hands  already. But they burst into flames. I was shocked so I dropped them. There were dry leaves on the ground, yet they didn't catch fire. I was amazed by it. I watched as the flames danced on the wood. A sudden wind blew the fire out. I noticed that the forest got dark. Dark as night though it was only noon. The wind scooped me up, and threw me into the air. I remember being high above the trees. I screamed for help, but nothing came out. Just like the wood, I caught into flames."
Amante paused. Herogi looked at him. Both stopped walking.

"And?" She couldn't help but say.

Amante looked at his feet. Herogi noticed a tear trickle down his cheek.

"Are you alright?" She said sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said and wiped it away. But he didn't continue telling her about it. Instead they just continued walking in silence. 10 minutes passed. Herogi was about to break the silence but instead Amante spoke.

"What... Is that?" He said pointing at a shadow. The shadow seemed to dance back and forth, swaying side to side. But it wasn't human. Slowly they crept closer. She grabbed her yoyo and he grabbed his baton and rounded a corner. They looked up and both paused. He stood up straight and she did the same, for mysterious shadow was a flag.

They both laughed.

"I totally thought it was a monster or something" she said between laughs.

"I know, me too!"

They stopped laughing and studied the flag. It was pure black except in the center. There, sat an eyelike figure. It was outlined in purple and the pupil was red.

"Looks like we found a tribe," said Herogi.

"Yeah, but who?"

"The Sly Vulpes." Herogi said. "Tribe of illusion. I thought you knew this?"

Immediately after she said this, eight figures rained down from the trees. The strange peludos had made circle around them.

"That's right little girl," said a woman who held a spear. Her hair was black and two grey wolf ears sat on her head accompanied by a grey bushy tail at her waist.

"Why have you strangers come?!" asked one of the men. He had the top half of a man, and the bottom half of a white wolf standing 7ft in the air.

"Err..." Amante mumbled. His black tail swished back and forth.

"Speak fool!" another man growled. Instead of a wolf, he had the ears, and tail of a fox. He had fox- like legs as well.

"We are just lost!" Amante said quietly. It was the first time Herogi heard him sound scared.

"Lost you say? Ha! and why would two cats wander onto dog territory!" said the woman who spoke before. Then it clicked. Herogi realized why Amante was scared. He was part house cat, and These were wild dogs. And The Sly Vulpes seemed to expect her to fear them too. But she was a wild cat. She was a cheetah. She wasn't going to be scared of some stupid dogs!

Herogi stepped forward. "I am Herogi, Yéeyik of the Cretos. Take us to your village or suffer a gruesome death!" She said bravely.

All the dog people froze. They began mumbling to each other. She could make out some of their words and sentences.

Did she say Yéeyik? Cretos! She's not a Chaton. what is she? what if she's strong! what is he then? Why are they here?

"Come. You look tired. We'll take you to the healing hut. You can rest for a while and then we'll ask you some questions," said a different woman than before. She had kind eyes, but vicious looking fangs which poked out the corners of her mouth.

"Thank you miss." replied Herogi. Amante still looked scared. The wolf man gestured them in the direction of their village. Herogi had seen people in her tribe like him before. Top half human and bottom half animal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Amante could see a tear roll down Herogi's cheek. Had she been crying silently? they followed the man and a foxlike woman.

"You all good?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's just that... my mom was like that man. He reminded me of her. That's all."

"I'm sure your mom will be proud of you after all this. You'll be a hero."

"My mom is dead. She was killed by one of your kind." After that they followed the man and woman in silence. Herogi felt angry at Amante, but she didn't know why. He didn't kill her mom. She lied to him. The Chatons hadn't killed her. They had killed her father. The former Yéeyik of the Cretos. And the son of her grandpa, the king.

No. They didn't kill her mom.

She killed herself.