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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Chapter 38: The Forgetful Shaman

Misty was at a beach at the base of a cliff. The sun was setting, and waves lapped at the shore, her paws standing in the water. She looked in the distance, thinking about nothing in particular. All that could be heard was the sounds of the waves coming up to her.
On a rock nearby, three ravens perched. They each had red eyes. Misty found this a bit odd, but didn't fret about it as she looked at the ravens, who seemed to be studying her closely.
Then, a raven screeched and the two others joined it. Misty lay down and covered her ears with her front paws from the noise. She looked to see the first raven to screech was expanding into a shadow, yet its head still was there, its eyes glowing bright red and screeches coming from its gray beak. Eventually the whole landscape was covered in blackness. The raven's head disappeared, and the screeching died out.
Now Misty was floating in an endless black void. She sat there, not quite knowing what to do, as she kept floating. Then, something appeared in the shadows.
It was white, and it was in a smoke-like form. with large wings. It appeared to be a wolf. Misty watched as it stood there, looking around, as smoke flew off of it. Then, something black came from the shadows as well, with red eyes like the ravens. It spread its wings, and Misty saw it, as well, was a wolf. It also seemed smokey. As soon as the black and white wolf made eye contact, they shrieked and lunged at each other, looking prepared to kill one another. The place shook and then Misty's vision went black.


Misty woke up. She looked around to see Rhett and Koro in the corner, talking to each other. Campbell was still asleep, and so were Adele, Glory and Bracken. Lephos and Sidew were nowhere to be found. They were in a large room that was reserved for "important guests", as Lilypaka had explained.
She got to her paws, the dream she had still playing back in her head. None of it made sense to Misty. She made her way for the exit, and two guards on the outside turned her way. "Goddess of the Earth! Hello!" they exclaimed, bowing deeply.
"Is there a dream-interpreter?" Misty asked.
"A what?" one of the guards asked. He had a stick-spear, and a headband made of grass.
"Someone who knows what dreams mean," Misty replied.
"Go and see Busara! She shall tell you," the other guard insisted.
"Where's Busara?" Misty asked.
"To the Council, and hang a left!" The headband-guard exclaimed.
"But you mustn't walk to the room! I shall carry you," the other guard puffed out his chest.
"No! I will!" The headband-guard said. "I am the strongest!"
"Like heck you are!" the other guard hollered, tackling the headband-guard. They began wrestling on the ground, and Misty slipped away, looking over her shoulder at the two fighting meerkats.
Misty walked for the wooden stairs. Sunlight came in from the hole at the top of the tree. Tons of meerkats were out and about, and they all saluted to Misty as she trotted past. Misty headed for the Council's room. No members of the Council were to be found. She assumed they were either fighting again or all asleep.
Misty went left for a door she hadn't noticed before. She ducked into a door and squeezed through. It lead to a darkened room. The only source of light was from a hole in the wall that served as a window. There was a piece of wood that had a green-gray orb on it, and candles around it that were unlit. There was a bird-like thing Misty had never seen before sleeping in the corner. It had yellow feathers, and was definitely not a songbird. It had red on top of its beak and under. Since the bird's feet were nowhere to be seen, Misty assumed the bird was sleeping on them.
"Hello?" Misty called. No response. "Busara...?"
Suddenly, a brown female meerkat with a purple flower on her ear popped up from behind the orb. "Oh! Hellloooo!" she greeted Misty. "How can I assist you? Perhaps I could predict your future, or I could interpret a dream--"
"Interpret a dream, please," Misty said.
"Ooh! I love dreams. Dreams are the most interesting things ever!" Busara exclaimed. "Who are you?"
"Misty," Misty replied.
"Ah! Misty! Wonderful name," Busara smiled. She walked over to the bird and ruffled its feathers with her paw. "Isn't that a cool name, Berry? 'Misty'. I wish I had a name like that." The bird woke up and made a clucking sound. Definitely not any bird sound Misty had ever heard. "Wait...what's my name again?" Busara frowned. "I think it was something along the lines of--"
"Busara?" Misty frowned, confused about how Busara forgot her own name.
"Ohhhh! That's right!" Busara exclaimed. She ran up to Misty. "You're a wolf! Such lovely fur. I wish I were a wolf. I think I'm a meerkat?" Busara examined herself. "Meerkat, yeah."
"Uh...can you help me, please?" Misty asked.
"Ah! What do you want help with?" Busara said.
"A dream interpretation...?" Misty tilted her head in confusion.
"Dreams! I love dreams," Busara grinned. "Now, who are you?"
"Misty," Misty replied, getting a bit irritated.
"Wonderful name!" Busara exclaimed. "My name's Busara. I wish my name was something like 'Misty'. Don't you, Bury?" Busara turned to the bird.
"I thought its name was Berry," Misty said.
"Oh yeaaahhh! Thanks for the reminder. Now, what do you want help with?" Busara asked.
"A dream interpretation!" Misty snapped. "I already told you, and this is, like, the third time!"
"It is?" Busara grimaced.
"YES," Misty growled.
"Ohhhh..." Busara grabbed her arm with her other hand nervously. "Uh...sorry. I have...short-term memory loss. Runs in my family."
"Short-term memory loss," Misty echoed. "Are you related to the Pakas?"
"Pakas?" Busara echoed. "Sounds like a cool name. Maybe. But I dunno. Anyways, what are you here for again?"
"A. Dream. Interpretation," Misty grumbled.
"Okay! What was the dream like?" Busara asked, perking up.
"Well, I was first at a beach--" Misty began.
"The beach!" Busara exclaimed in wonder. "I love beaches! I just love the sun, the water, the sand--"
"Yeah, well...then three ravens appeared," Misty continued. "And--"
"Ravens? Blech. I hate ravens," Busara frowned. "Whenever they see Berry out and about, they swoop down at him! Don't they, Berry?" Busara ruffled the bird's feathers again, and it made another noise before turning back to look into space.
"--Then there were two winged wolves. They fought and tried to kill each other," Misty explained.
"Ugh, that sounds so depressing. I don't know if I even like this dream anymore," Busara frowned. "Is that all? I hope it is, because this dream is going downhill."
"It is," Misty confirmed.
Busara nodded and grabbed the orb, studying it intently. She moved it around in her paws, as if trying to take in every detail she possibly could. Misty noticed that Berry seemed to be eyeing Busara, as if the bird was curious. Misty found herself leaning forward as Busara's face screwed up in further concentration, wondering what the meerkat was going to say.
The orb then uncurled, revealing itself to be a bug. Busara popped it into her mouth with a smile.
Misty grimaced.
"What? It's my breakfast!" Busara protested. She then ducked under the table and pulled out a clear orb, but this one definitely looked legit. She then moved her paws on the orb and purple, yellow and red swirls appeared into it. Misty gaped at the beautiful orb and felt herself being drawn closer to it. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the bird was looking a bit fearful and it flapped its wings in alarm, scooting further into its corner as if trying to get away from the orb but unwilling to run away.
"The Peacebenders call for your assistance!" Busara exclaimed. Misty was alarmed to realize her voice had changed. "You and your friends must journey to the land of Yin and Yang and stop them from their fight! Or everyone is doomed!"
Busara then grew wide-eyed and shook her head. "Phew! Sorry, got knocked out there for a minute." She then smiled and looked at Misty. "Ah! A visitor! What can I help you with? Perhaps I can predict your future, or--"
"Wait, what?" Misty said. "But--"
"You want me to predict your future?" Busara asked.
"There's got to be more!" Misty exclaimed.
"More to what?" Busara said.
Misty sighed in frustration, then left the room. She passed the Council, who were all fighting and punching each other once more. Misty didn't even bother trying to break them apart, as she headed down the steps and to her guest room.
"Guys, you'll never belie--"
She then gasped to see a concerned Koro standing by Bracken, whose teeth were gritted and his paws were on his head. "Make it stop! Make it stooop!" he cried.
"What happened?" Misty ran over.
"He got a headache and won't stop whining about it!" Campbell yelled.
"I don't think it's an ordinary headache. It seems incredibly severe," Koro commented. He looked straight at Misty. "Is there like, a Healer or anything here?"
Misty was unable to look Koro in the eye. "There's this shaman...but she won't be any good. Short term memory loss..."
"I don't want this headache!" Bracken wailed. "Take it away!"
"It should wear off eventually," Rhett shrugged. "I mean, it's just a headache..."
"Yeah, but I don't know how much more Bracken can stand of this," Koro pointed out.
"I'm going for a walk," Glory insisted, "I can't stand to see others in pain." She headed out the door.
"Where were you, anyway?" Campbell trotted over to Misty.
"With the shaman," Misty muttered. "And she told me something..."

Author's Note:
Haven't made a chapter in a while, been busy. :c Hope this makes up for it.

3 comments:

Please, no rude comments, or that "magician" is going to return to set your house on fire. Again. Honestly, he has nothing better to do...