Thread:Claweight/@comment-31188145-20161009225148/@comment-31986068-20161010010936

fin geez have sense of humor

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.

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. is on chat naow