Welcome to Issue 34
JessiCosmic Winning Entry
With the light coming over the horizon, it pounded Anberlin's eyes open. With a wince, he slowly stood up and curled the other way, facing the dark. It was too early for him to be up. After a few moments of laying there, he couldn't bring himself into that sweet dark silence that he wanted. Getting back up, he made his way out of his cave. "If I could look at you, I'd be giving you the death stare right about now." Anberlin spoke to the sun. Not wanting to stay long in the location, Anberlin set off to find a place with a lot less snow.
A few hours after leaving his cave, Anberlin began to grow tired of the same scenery. White here, white there, oh and a little white everywhere else. He looked behind him, and his footprints in the snow were already filled. A sigh emmited out of his mouth as he continued forward. "This place sucks." He softly spoke as he squinted his eyes, making it hard for the oncoming snow to enter. His eyes shot open immediately when he noticed something. It was brown! With the rare occasion, Anberlin rushed over. He wasn't aware, but he was at the Frost bite Mountain. Looking up, almost in awe, Anberlin began to make his way up. It was like an instant after entering the dirt domain, that his pelt became warm. He felt his paws dig into the soft dirt, enjoying the feeling. He would never turn back.
As he ventured into the mountains, he saw another Kratork, but her color was different. Anberlin had never seen a different colored Kratork before. He became wary, but made his way to it. "Who are you?" he asked the creature. The Kratork looked at him and tilted their head to the side.
"You come into my territory and ask who I am?" she spoke sarcastically as she laughed. "Who do you think you are?" she laughed again as other Kratorks of her same pelt color began to emerge from their caverns. Anberlin backed up a tad but stood his ground.
"I am Anberlin of the Diamond Glacier Domain." he watched as everyone elses eyes widend. He could hear them talking amongst each other, pondering the possibilities of how he got here.
"And you expect us to believe that?! The passageway seperating the Diamond Glacier Domain and our realm is full of traps, and you, a simple Kratork, are trying to make us believe you overcame them all without a scratch?!" she spoke once more, accusing Anberlin of lies.
Anberlin smirked a tad before letting out a full laugh, "You call me a simple Kratork, but you have yet to see my power." he yelled out "Fight me if you don't believe me." he urged her on. He didn't know that the passageway was full of traps, he was puzzled, but he would not let some female destroy his ego.
"There is no need for violence." a male voice came from a cave, casually walking out of it. "Shikon, that's enough." he said in a stren voice, watching Shikon back off, still angry. "What need do you have here?"
"I have no business, I was simply exploring." Anberlin looked at the old Kratork and then back at the girl, Shikon. Her orb was blue, unlike his white one. Why were they so angry when they were the same breed? Thoughts vanished when a Phelocan squaked in the air before picking up Shikon with his talons, she screamed while trying to bite at his feet to no avail. His talons could feel no pain.
Though he had just met her, Anberlin was worried. He didn't care about the outcome of the battle, he had to try something. There was something that attracted him to her. Anberlin started to run toward her when the elder yelled out to him, "Don't try it boy or you'll be lost too!" Anberlin knew that the Kratork had looked into his own ball, as did the others and since no one else ran after her, they knew their battle would be futile. Ignoring his comment, Anberlin kept running.
He made his way further up the mountain until he saw the colorful feathers of the Phelocan. He approached the cliff cave and walked in stealthily. He could see her, Shikon. She wasnt moving much due to her injuries. Creeping up behind him, Anberlin jumped on the birds back, hearing it call out in agony. "Albetran?" Shikon called out to him in a worried tone. Anberlin cocked his head at her and raised a brow. "Yeah, just stay there, don't try to escape or anything." he sarcastically called back to her, watching as she tried to move but couldnt. The Phelocan jumped off the cave, Anberlin still on back, and tried to drop him in the air by spinning. Using his claws, Anberlin started to scratch the bird. From afar, Shikon began to throw rocks, trying to help him.
After a long while in the air, the Phelocan began to grow tired from the struggle, lowering its wings and braced itself for the landing. It crashed hard, throwing Anberlin off of its back from the impact. Getting up, Anberlin made his way back to where he last saw Shikon, she was bleeding out. Going back down, he saw the rest of her Kratork pack, asking for their aid. They were all surprised that he had done it. They helped Shikon down the mountain and found some herbs for her for the wounds. When she awoke she looked around for Anberlin. "Anitron?" she called out. Anberlin knew she meant him. "You know, for some argumentative woman, you sure forget recall points." He commented to her, "My name is not Albetran, nor Anitron. My name is Anberlin.". She laughed before sitting up. "Thank you." she mentioned as she touched her hand to his. His white face turned red as he started to blush; she giggled. "Blushing are we?" she laughed while coughing from pain. "Hey, I wasn't blushing! They are simple battle wounds, nothing else!" he paniced as he got up and walked out of the cave.
"Where are you going?" Shikon asked in a toubled tone, tilting her head to the ground.
"I'll be back." he replied. "Whose the blushing one now?" He joked before walking out. "I wonder what my next adventure will be, since I am in a new place. Where will life now take me?" he thought to himself as he went into a different cavern to sleep after his battle.