1048 Sunset Boulevard

Coal Wars Chap 3

September 14, 2008 | Uncategorized

~We all headed toward the heart of the forest. The area was getting denser and the trees taller, creating a canopy above us. The shadows lay still beneath our feet as we weaved through the thick brush. We soon came up to a wall of bracken, unlaced with tall grass and grape vines. I turned a sharp left and I heard the others do the same. I resisted the urge to look back at Artek. Instead I tried answering the many questions in my swarming in my head like angry bees. Why is this happening? Who was doing this? Why hadn’t the elders done anything about it yet? What had happened to father…? I swatted that last bee to the back of my mind. I really didn’t want to think about my father at the moment.

We soon came to a small opening in the bracken, I wasted no time in ducking myself into the other side. Light flooded down into the small round field that now surrounded us. Rockhoppers ran past and around us, all doing work of some sort. I waited until the last of my companions came out of the hole before running to a large pile of assorted rocks a large rock with a platform with a smooth platform settled secured atop. I stopped a few feet away. I felt eyes on my back, I was a rare sight around here. At first I was a bit nervous; I hesitated, but Artek was soon at my side. I felt him flick his ear to touch mine, reassuring me. I knew he could feel my anxiousness. I soon remembered why we were her and the fire within me burned once more.

“Father! Its Rosalin, come out!” As soon as my name was spoken, a small head popped out from a opening in the rocks. “Wosy, it’s you!” squealed my little sister. I smiled at her, she could always make me feel a bit happier. It was like she had her own ray of sunshine leaking out of her, she could just fill even the most troubled hearts with a bit of hope. “Awtek is wif you? Yippi!!!” She ran over to Artek and jumped into his arms, who skilfully scooped her out of the air. “How ya doing Bluebell?” “I’m fine. Wat about all youz guys? Why awr you hewr, sistew?” Artek put her down and she walked over to my side. She only came up to about my waist. “I have to talk to father.” I said to her quietly.

A few moments later, there was movement at the base of the rocks. Four Rockhoppers emerged, each with a slightly annoyed look on their faces. In the front was another fuzzy Rockhopper, like myself, and he was coming straight at me. “What is it now Rosalin?” he asked. Seriously, as if he didn’t know. “You know perfectly well what’s wrong now. All the water is drying up! Lakes are no more then trickles of water flowing down a ditch and even Spearow pond has dried up, but you haven’t done anything do deal with it! What is it going to take for you to do something about this? Wait until more Rockhoppers die? Or maybe another mother would be better.” He glared down at me hard after that last sentence. “You know that your mothers… accident was unintended and a force of nature. It was no ones fault. But that is beside the point. We are trying everything we can do to to help the Rockhoppers and any other creature in this area live, its nature if no rain falls. If the sky dosn’t want to give us rain, then we have no rain.”

“But father I’ve already told you that this drought isn’t natural! I can feel it. It has to be the dragons doing, they ruin everything else for us, and all they want is to kill us off so they can destroy our forest and dig for stupid oil. They are greedy, unforgiving killers and all that’s happening is their fault!” I yelled at him. Why wouldn’t he listen? Another bee formed in my head and started swarming with the others. He squinted his eyes at me, his icy blue eyes looking directly at me. “Do not talk back to me young lady. You know that there is absolutely no way that-”

“Actually…” We looked to the elder to my fathers left, Aldo. He was a flower Rockhopper, like my sister, before becoming an elder. Now his flowery ears were a dull gray and his leafy tail brown, like a dead winter scene. This is why I never wanted to become an elder, it takes the life right out of you. “You see young Kaiaka, there is tails of creatures unlike ourselves that control the elements. They live far to the north, beyond Okibi Ridge… in the Spirit lands. They are the Element Spirits, and they control not only Earth, Wind, Water and Fire, but many others as well. It is even said that they control light and darkness themselves! It is said that they were born in the stars and created our world, Eleenta…. but of course, this is only myth. But it is said that the main four live in the Spirit lands. If they do exist, then they might be the cause of all this madness.” My heart flew, this could be it. “That’s it father! It’s obvious that the dragons stole the Water Spirit and now it has stopped raining. We need to fight back!”

“We will do no such thing… because we already know that it is not the dragons doing.” said my father. He sighed and looked at me with grave eyes. “It seems the dragons are having the same problem, and they think it’s us. We got a message not to long ago… and they say that if we don’t fix this mess that they will come and make us.” My heart stopped. “You… you mean like a war?” Katie said from behind. I heard Crow ruffle his wings. No, not a war. “No… no father you can’t let this happen.”

“We have no choice Rosalin. We… we must fight back.” I inhaled a sharp breath as if I had been stapped. “No! You cant let them go into battle! I know how your sick mind works and I know your planning to make everyone fight.”

“It is as I said child, we have no choice.” I breathed out an rugged and exaspereated breath. Artek sensed my the anger boiling inside me.

“Now Rose, you shouldn’t-”

“Shut up Artek!” I barked at him. I’m sure that he was hurt, but I was to angry to care. Katie gasped that I would yell at him like that, and even Crow looked suprised. I glared back at my father. “Of course you have a choice! You can’t make them fight! If dehydration isn’t enough to kill them, this will. You could send someone to go and find the Spirits and see what the heck is happening!”

“Child, you know as well as I do that there are no-”

“Well maybe there are! Maybe we have a chance. Maybe we don’t have to fight. Maybe-”

“ENOUGH! I said no and that is final!”

I turned and ran, knocking Bluebell as I did. I shot through the bracken unconcerned if I was scratched by thorns or not. Once through, I ran faster. I just ran in any direction, I didn’t care. I just wanted go get away from all this. From him. I jumped over a log carelessly and fell flat on my face. I picked myself up and kept running, ignoring the blood flowing down my cheek. The tears stung my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them come out. I promised mom I wouldn’t. I ran until my feet wouldn’t let me any more. I slumped down against a tree and tried to catch my breath. I replayed all the events that had just happened. The yelling, the hope, the anger, the sadness. I looked inbetween the lines and realised something that I had done. Something that I now regreted. “I… I yelled at Artek…” I said. My voice cracked on his name and the tears started spilling out of my eyes. I was to weak and shocked to even wipe the shame of them away. I had just yelled at Artek, my best friend since we were kits. I hung my head, I could see the blood from my cheek drip onto the cold ground below me. Father was going to make everyone go to war. We were going to loose, and the dragons would win. The answers, acomponied by new ones, now swarmed in my head. Why did I yell at Artek? Why was my father doing this? Why did my mother leave me? Why was I still crying? Why did this all have to happen? Why were the dragons blaming it all on us? Why, oh why had I yelled at Artek? The crying turned into loud sobs and my head was pounding. These questions weren’t bees, they were hornets. They would fly around and sting, but they wouldn’t die after one shot. They would just keep stinging while more showed up, and they would keep stinging and they wouldn’t die until I knew the answers. I felt two stings; they were hard stings that weren’t in my head, but my heart. I was thinking about my Artek… and my mother. Why did he loose his eyes? Why did my mother die? I knew the answers to these questions, but the hornets kept stinging anyway, and they hurt 10 times more then the others, because the answer would just feed these two. Keep them living. Keep the pain alive.

“It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. Its all my fault. its all my fault…..”

Aldo-Old;elder-Germanic Kaiaka-Shadowed sea-Hawaiian Rosalin (Raa-su-lin)

Hope you liked it, the last part made me a bit sad, and I hope it made you want more. If you want me to post the next one, comment. Please comment about it right after you read this last line. Ok…now!~