Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-31986068-20160429231407/@comment-31986068-20161111203247

Sorry it's super long ,.,

Have patiensssssse....

PROLOGUE

Sunset.

The cat’s amber eyes, to many, looked as if they had been made out of the dying sun in the evening. There were even rumors he sat at the entrance to the cave every sunset so that the sky, painted with bright oranges and reds, would retain the fierce light in his eyes until the day he laid down when he was old and gray and walked away from the cave, into the embers. The tom was young and often touchy, but made no effort to stop the rumors. They were normally stopped anyway by the elders, who scorned young ones for talking behind the tom’s back.

There were also rumors about his bright golden pelt that seemed to ripple like the auroras when he sat in light. But even the elders said he was white-furred when he was a kit, and gained his golden color.The day he was first carried out of the cave at sunset by a queen when his eyes were still closed, his body turned to the sun and his brilliant, beautiful amber eyes opened, and the sun seemed to melt his white fur away with the purest golden.

He was joined today by a lion. The lion padded out from the cave and sat down beside the cat. “Any thoughts about the prophecy, Roe?” he growled. Roe laughed, and the sound echoed across the frozen tundra the cliff overlooked. “I’ve just started, Gratil. Give me time.” Gratil’s tail lashed and Roe looked away, watching the spurts of pink splashed across the horizon.

“The raven’s child of Epsilon shall fight the wolf of Omega, but the cat of Theta shall slay them both.” Roe mewed the prophecy very softly, and his whisper echoed faintly, very faintly, away from the cliff and the cave and carried far, far away, all the way to a small cabin in the outskirts of Fairbanks, Alaska.

PART ONE- Igikpak

CHAPTER ONE

Rain looked out on the dying embers of sunset, perched atop her favorite large rock. “Rain! Dinner’s ready!” she heard her father, Brendan, call. “Alright!” Rain shouted back, and turned back to the sunset, watching it for a few more moments. It was all very peaceful.

And then she heard a very faint, echoing noise. A soft whisper. She heard “Raven’s child,” “Omega”, and “cat of Theta,” and then the whisper was gone. “Rain!” another voice, a higher voice, called. It was close to Rain. She turned and saw her sister, Sparrow, climbing the large rock, her small hands digging into the grooves, pulling herself up. She reached the top quickly. Rain marveled at her little sister’s skill. She was only eleven, and Rain was fourteen, and it took her longer to climb the rock. Sparrow pointed this out to her. “I do it slowly to admire the sky,” Rain said lamely as an excuse.

Sparrow laughed. “There’s venison for dinner.” Rain hopped down instantly, leaving Sparrow on the rock. “Rain! I can’t get down!” Sparrow whined. “So you can get up quickly, but you can’t get down at all? You’re just like a cat climbing a tree.” Sparrow acted much like a cat, as Rain and Brendan had always said. She was always climbing trees and rocks and dangerous structures and unable to get down without Rain’s help. She would often jump high in the air when startled. Even her eyes looked catlike.

Rain, on the other hand, was more like a wolf. She sometimes enjoyed solitude but often hated being alone. Brendan always said to Rain, “You remind me of the huskies I had when I was young.”

She liked being outside at night, and seemed to be enchanted by the moon, no matter how many times she had looked at it. “Rain!” Sparrow’s voice brought Rain out of her thoughts.

“Right.” Rain helped Sparrow down and ran into the cabin.

It had a very warm atmosphere; Rain could smell the delicious meat and she hurried into the dining room to eat. There were plates of venison, rabbit, and elk. “Saved all the meat from recent hunts for this day,” said Brendan. To strangers, he looked rather fearsome, with his black mustache and an almost menacing gleam in his eyes, but he was very friendly, and cared deeply for his daughters. He was a very skilled hunter, and often took Rain and Sparrow on his hunting trips. Rain was good at shooting the deer for the venison and was not allowed to shoot at any elk, because they were huge and might run in her direction if she shot off target. Sparrow was too young to use a rifle. She instead made snares for the rabbits and was as good at it as Brendan was shooting elk.

Rain enjoyed venison with barbecue sauce. Sparrow liked rabbit with steak sauce. She had caught all the rabbits whose meat was on the table and was immensely proud of it, refusing to eat the chewy elk meat or the venison meat, and would not let anyone else take any of the rabbit meat. “Be reasonable, Sparrow,” said Brendan. “We want to enjoy the rabbit meat too. You caught quite a lot last time.” Sparrow swelled with pride, and Rain grabbed several pieces of rabbit meat while she was distracted.

Rain began to chomp down on elk meat when she remembered the strange whisper she had heard. She told Brendan about it. “Raven’s child..?” Brendan queried. “I don’t know,” said Rain. “That’s what it sounded like. I suppose me and Sparrow are raven’s children, because mom was really connected to ravens or something?” “That’s possible,” said Brendan. “Remember that time I always tell you about...a bit after...she died..” Brendan’s voice trailed off. “When me and Sparrow wandered off, and you found us with a raven, and she had built a nest for us, and wouldn’t let you near.” Rain finished the story for him. He had a hard time talking about Rain and Sparrow’s mother. “Very strange,” said Brendan. “And this.. cat of Theta..” None of them knew what that could be referring to.

They began to discuss the trip they were going on tomorrow. Brendan had planned for them to drive to Gates Of The Arctic National Park, where they would spend a week. They were, at least, until Brendan found out they could only take a plane there. So they would go to the park headquarters in Fairbanks, and then drive to the ranger station in Bettles, a small town south of the Park, and then arrange for a plane to drop them off by Mount Igikpak.

Gates of the Arctic was probably one of the most remote national parks in America. There were no roads or trails, no guides or specific attractions like Yosemite or Arches. Just a Belgium-sized park filled with sheer wilderness. Brendan had looked on the NPS website, which said you must have survival experience in case there is an emergency.

Rain and Sparrow simply looked at Brendan.

They were all packed up and ready to go. Though excited for the trip, both Rain and Sparrow felt sleepy as they cleared the table, brushed their teeth, and went to bed. They had no trouble falling asleep.

That night, Rain had a dream. She could not see herself, but she simply stared ahead at a rocky landscape where there was an odd-shaped cluster of rocks. It was shaped in an incomplete circle, with a small open space between two large rocks in the cluster. Rain moved towards it in anticipation, but suddenly everything turned black and she saw a flash of something that looked like a pig.

And then she awoke.

CHAPTER TWO

Brendan woke them early. They grabbed their bags and checked for anything they might have missed. They closed doors. Turned off lights. Hid away all electronics (because, obviously, a smartphone isn’t much help in a vast wilderness with no cell service).

They packed everything up into the car, said bye to the house, and Brendan began to drive towards Fairbanks. Rain got out of the car as soon as they arrived at the headquarters. It was a short, uneventful visit. Brendan got some info about the park, and that was all. They got back into the car and drove away, all thoughts on Bettles. Bathroom breaks were not a large worry, since everyone was used to going in the woods on hunting trips.

It grew boring fast. Rain tried to read, and then she got carsick, so she had some buffalo jerky instead. About thirty minutes in, Sparrow fell asleep. Rain fell asleep as well, but woke up about fifteen minutes later. “How much longer” was all Rain remembered saying during the ride, and she was half-asleep at the time. “About five hours now, honey,” Brendan told her. Rain had grumbled a bit and then her eyes slid closed, and she fell asleep again, this time for “five more hours,” as Brendan had put it.

It only seemed like Rain had slept for ten minutes. Brendan woke her and Sparrow, and the two got out of the car sleepily and stretched. Sparrow knelt on the ground and did a downward dog pose for a few moments. “Cat,” Rain remarked. Brendan went inside the ranger station and then they were dragging their luggage to the plane. “This’s th’ Stormy Hawk,” said the pilot. “One of th’ best we have.”

They loaded their luggage into the back of the plane and got inside. Their car would be there when they returned. After all, there weren’t many thieves looking for cars to steal out in the vast, silent wilderness where there wasn’t much food that you didn’t have to catch with a weapon or a trap of some sort.

The plane ride was about thirty minutes until they reached a small plain and the Stormy Hawk landed. “This’s near Mount Igikpak,” said the pilot. “Just hike about five minutes, you’re there.” They thanked the pilot and the plane flew away.

Seven more days in the wilderness.

In the darkness, a brown shape huddled. The lion next to her lit a torch, and the tail of the shape’s hat fluttered feebly before settling down again. “In answer to your anticipated question, Gratil, I do not have any complete answer to the prophecy,” said the shape. But you must ponder the wolf of Omega. Think of the leader of that group of malfeasance-filled beings. His bloodline traces from Omega, does it not?” The lion thought for a moment, then growled, “You are getting somewhere, Fireblaze. But do you have any idea of the cat of Theta?” Fireblaze sighed. “I am not entirely sure about this, but perhaps the heathen who leads the group of shameful animals has a bloodline which traces to Theta..?”

Now the lion, Gratil, sighed. “Fireblaze, you must learn to speak of the leaders and their tribe’s names instead of calling them silly names.” “I will not,” Fireblaze retorted stubbornly. “They are evil animals. When they die, they will not go to the good place.” Gratil shook his head. “No matter. Thank you, Fireblaze.” “One must need patience at this time,” said Fireblaze softly as Gratil padded away. “Patience..”

CHAPTER TWO

Brendan had set up the meat rack inside the tent (they had a big one) and went out to shoot a rabbit.

Rain heard one gunshot, and then silence. But then there was another gunshot. Brendan came back with a rabbit, but he called to the girls: “Rain! Sparrow! Lookit this!”

They ran over and saw a faint trail of smoke emanating from something blue. “It looks like a fox,” said Brendan. “Didn’ shoot it. I just shot this rabbit, and I heard a shot behind me, and here it was.” He bent over it. “S’got red eyes too.” Rain heard a faint rustling behind her. She turned around and just then really took in Mount Igikpak. “Could I go explore?” Rain asked. “Tomorrow,” said Brendan. “S’too dark. Whatever shot this fox could still be out and might accidentally shoot you too. I got shot by a hunter once, in the leg. Thought I was a big caribou.”

Brendan put the fox on the meat rack. “We won’t eat it?” said Sparrow worriedly. She didn’t like eating other predators. “Nah,” Brendan replied dismissively. “Might just skin it. We need some warmth other than blankets out in the cold.”

They went into the tent, but then Brendan stopped. The fox was gone.

Rain turned around again and saw what looked like several animal shapes running away with the body.

Brendan was extremely flustered and Sparrow made him go inside the tent. Rain sat guard for bears.

Come midnight, she would wake Sparrow so she could watch. It was a very peaceful spot, and Rain felt as if she could stay there all night. She wasn’t even tired.

Midnight came when Rain thought it had only been five minutes, so she got up, and surveyed the moonless night sky for a moment longer.

Suddenly she heard singing. Mournful singing.

Rose, Ro-ose Rose, Rose

Will I ever see thy wed?

I will marry at my will

Sire

At my will

Hey-ho, nobody’s home

Meat nor drink nor money

Have I none

Still I will be very merry

Hey-ho, nobody’s home

A poor bird

Take fa-light

High above the shadows

The starred night

Building bridges

Between our divisions

If I reach out to you

Will you reach out to me?

With all our voices,

And all our visions

Friends we will make

Such sweet harmonies

Rain was very still, and she drank in every beautiful word. The voices started to sing again, but the noise slowly faded away. Rain was suddenly very tired because of the song, and went inside to wake Sparrow.

The very next day they were all tired. Brendan woke them up and told Rain to prepare the rabbit while he rested a small bit. He was the last one to watch for bears that night.

After they ate Rain asked Brendan again if she could explore on Mount Igikpak.

“Alright,” said Brendan, “But be real careful. It’s rocky up there.”

Sparrow and Rain climbed up the mountain and found a silvery-colored snake. “What’s that?” Sparrow asked Rain, since she was supposed to know about different kinds of wildlife. “It’s some sort of snake,” Rain muttered. “Non-venomous. By now it would’ve bitten you a thousand times over.” The snake was curling around Sparrow’s arm. Rain instinctively tensed, like it was about to pull her sister’s arm off. Sparrow laughed. “Relax, it’s not a constrictor, obviously. It’s not gonna eat me whole.”

Rain did not recognize the snake, although she knew and could recognize almost every snake species in North America. She could tell a milk snake from a coral snake, which prevented Sparrow from picking up something that could kill her on their brief trip to Arizona. They had left early because the tarantulas were freaking Sparrow out.

Rain studied the snake more. The snake shifted a bit and the light shined down on its brilliant silver scales. Rain looked at the middle of it when this happened and she saw what looked like a cross on its side. Rain flipped the snake so that its head would face away from her and saw it clearly: A flashing, crystal-like golden cross, with bright silver and sapphire ropes intertwined with it. She gasped and nearly dropped it. And then she saw the snake’s eyes.

They were bright blue and crystalline, and the light from the sun seemed to be absorbed by the eyes so that they glowed even brighter than they already are.

Sparrow was now examining the cross. “It’s a church cross,” she said. “It’s like the cross Jesus was on. I wonder if it means anything?”

“Look, Sparrow,” said Rain. She showed Sparrow the beautiful snake’s eyes. Sparrow gasped. “What kind of snake is that!?”

They decided to go and show Brendan. It was very queer that a snake was here in the cold Alaskan wilderness at all. Only garter snakes could live up in the cold anyway.

Brendan thought the snake was amazing but he didn’t know what kind it was. They went back up to Mount Igikpak.

Sparrow and Rain would remember the snake for a while, they knew. They wondered if there were more nearby. They put the snake on the ground.

Instead of slithering off as the snakes Rain caught normally did, the snake lifted its head off the ground, and gazed at them with its sapphire eyes. Sparrow noticed they were rather hypnotic, but then again, most snake’s eyes were. The snake’s head tilted and the forked tongue slid out for a moment. It was white. Rain heard a faint, whispering hiss for a moment. “Patiensssse...”

It slithered away and Sparrow blinked. “Did you hear that?”

CHAPTER THREE

Coming Soooooon.....