“The time is near, Cup.”
I jolt awake… no, I don’t. I am still dreaming. I remember being in the bush dens when I fell asleep. But now I’m by the Mira Statue in Jamaa Township. The sun is shining very brightly into my eyes, and it’s hard to see who is talking to me. All I can make out is a large, skinny blue figure standing on top of the gigantic Mira statue.
“What time?” I ask quietly.
“An enemy shall return, along with the unexpected villain. The time is near,” the figure speaks in a bellowing voice.
“Can’t you tell me who they are? It’ll help a lot more!” I grunt angrily. These dreams make no sense. They tell me something is going to happen, but they’re not specific. What can I do if they don’t be specific? And why can’t they do anything about it themselves?
“You’ll have to learn how to figure things out yourself. If you don’t have that skill, you’ll never save Jamaa. You were chosen to save Jamaa because of your special aura. We cannot help you, but the alphas can. I am part of a different dimension,” the figure explains, seemingly reading my thorough mind filled with confused thoughts.
I wake up with a jolt. Rapicik orders me to go to Faber in the center of Zone Two to begin my training. As I exit, I realize that Nova hasn’t really talked to me as much again. Is she leaving me yet again?
Rapicik and I exit the bush dens and out into the dim morning sunlight. He scrapes his claws against the ground as he walks, and nearly stumbles over. I hide my smirk, but he realizes that I was about to smile, and he smiles too.
“So, what is this training like? Did Faber do it back in Jamaa, too?” I ask Rapicik.
“Actually, yes. We always knew there was something special about him. He was the biggest and strongest out of all the Jamaasians. He instantly became an alpha after being selected by Mira. He didn’t need training because he was already too good at the job. He trained others to become great, but one day, he was gone like that. He came here and created Zone Two, along with Zone One. He’s explained to me everything that happened after he left Jamaa. He now tells me it was a private message in his dreams that told him to come here. I don’t know why, but it was creepy. The dream told him that he would be killed in such a gory way… it really freaked him out. But they told him he should run away to this place, and that’s exactly what he did. He left without a trace.” finishes Rapicik, glaring at me with curiosity growing in his expression.
“But who would want to kill him?” I whisper. We’re now getting close to the center of Zone Two where Faber stands on top of the tall rock. The sunlight floods through the clearing and many animals are starting to wake up.
“I don’t know. But there’s some really, really old rumors that a small wolf was jealous of him. The elderly Jamaasians say the wolf was named Archie. He was not good at fighting, jealous of everyone, and was abused by his parents. Nobody liked him, and he was always talking trash about everyone. He was constantly beat up in the streets of Jamaa, and was considered to be the least rarest Jammer of all. One day, he disappeared, too, but with a trace being left behind,” Rapicik says.
“What was the trace?” I question as we now stand directly in front of Faber himself.
“A small note had warned he would return,” Rapicik stares off into the distance.
I think about it for a moment. This does seem logical. But wait a moment- there was an Archie in Jamaa. The one that always bullied me.
But he’s dead.
Could the small wolf be his grandfather, though?
I stop thinking as Faber grabs me by the neck and tosses me on top of the rock.
“Step one in fighting: always be prepared.”
Faber dashes towards me faster than any animal I’ve ever seen. I try to dodge him, but he’s too quick. His claws slam into my chest, drawing a little blood, but he doesn’t hurt me too hard. It’s just training.
I try to roll him over, but he uses so many muscles to easily pin me down. I gasp for breath and he smiles.
“I always like to see animals struggle,” Faber giggles a little. Rapicik smiles, observing the scene.
“Because when you struggle, you are more determined to earn greatness. And if you are more determined, you shall earn greatness!” Faber releases his abundantly strong grip on me, and I squirm out from underneath him.
“What was that for? I wasn’t even ready!” I argue with him, glaring at him in anger.
“It’s my introduction to your training.”
So, he begins to explain many different tactics to fight. The first one is for when someone tries to attack you with their claws. You can dodge out of the way, and before they turn around, claw them across the back.
Faber brings out an average sized tiger who looks like him, but has seemingly red eyes. The tiger introduces himself as Roland.
“Hey, Roland,” I reply.
“Hey, Cup,” Roland responds with a deep, stern voice. He looks slightly older than I am, but much more tougher.
“You two will practice the move I just explained. Roland, you should already know this. Firstly, Roland, I want you to attack Cup. Now!” Faber demands with a huge growl.
Roland sprint towards me, but not nearly as fast as Faber. He swipes his claws at me, but I just barely dodge him. I claw his back, and he whimpers a little, but then pounces onto me. I can’t get out of his grip. He’s too strong for me.
“Okay, Cup. I will now explain to you how to get out of that situation. If you can’t move your claws, use your back legs to claw the hindquarters of your attacker. If you can’t do that, they might not have a good grip on your face, so you could easily bite their face. This is always forgotten by many young ones because they forget to guard the pinned opponent’s face,” explains Faber thoroughly.
I first try to bite his face, but he dodges it in the air. He gets ready to bite my face, but I use my hind legs to claw him. He clearly forgot to guard them, so he screeches and retreats off of me.
“Good job, Cup!” Faber and Rapicik both congratulate me. I hate being congratulated.
Roland smiles, too. It seems as if none of this has even phased him now.
Then Faber explains a move that almost never fails. When you sneak up on someone, you could jump in the air and twirl, so it confuses the opponent. Then you can strike them with your claws when they aren’t expecting it. I practice this move with Roland, and we both do it very good after a few attempts. Then we learn about the dance move- but it’s not literally that. It’s like dancing around so quickly that your opponent doesn’t know where you are. Then you can jump out and ambush them when they’re not looking in the right direction. Only fast animals can do this, so both Roland and I need more practice with this move. We continue our training throughout the day, and we even gather some attention for the public. Sweat pours down my forehead as the morning turns into the afternoon. The blazing sunlight makes me feel like dying from complete exhaustion, but I strive to do my best in front of everyone.
Faber then brings out more animals. An absolutely beautiful, red wolf with amazing brown eyes comes onto the large rock. She smiles as she passes by me and I smile back.
Behind her, Jalar himself walks up to her side. She whispers something to him, and Jalar grunts super loudly. He stares in my direction, and I can feel the embarrassment surging through my veins.
“Katira and Jalar. I need you two over here. You’re both good fighters,” Faber demands without looking their way. They instantly trot over to where we’re standing without saying a word.
“Okay, all of you three,” faber points to Katira, Jalar and Roland.
“Attack him,” his gesture turns towards me. I can’t take on three animals at once!
Jalar is the first to jump forward. I easily dodge out of the way, and claw him across the back pretty hard. He doesn’t flinch as blood pours out of the cut. He pounces onto me, trying to bite deep down into my neck, but I use my hind legs to scratch him. He yowls in pain as I slip out from underneath him, and I sprint at him as fast as possible. He nearly rakes his claws across my forehead, but I jump over him like I’m alive and in space. He staggers back in surprise, but this just makes it easier. As I spin upside down in the air, I land on top of him, pinning him to the ground. I make sure every part of my grip is secure. He struggles underneath my grip, but he can’t get up.
I stare up. Weren’t all three of them supposed to attack me?
Everyone just stares in surprise as I still remain on top of Jalar, pinning him down with ease. Faber himself stares in shock, and so does every member of Zone Two surrounding us.
“What?” I suddenly blurt out.
Faber finally snaps out of his trance and orders me to come back to training tomorrow.
What did I do wrong today? This makes absolutely no sense. I personally believe I did amazing! But why is everyone else just staring, doing nothing, not congratulating me? I might not like it, but what’s going on?
As I enter the bush dens, I can hear someone whispering.
“He really will save Jamaa.”
I fall asleep as night swallows the land of Zone Two. I’m ready to dream. I want more answers.
“Hello, son.”
I am in the crystal cave again, with my father that lives in Zone Two. Or, at least, he says he’s my father.
Zikah- no, my father- leaps down from on top of a tall, glowing crystal and smiles at me. It’s creepy how similar we are.
“You want answers, don’t you?” Zikah laughs.
“How did you know?” I question him with fury.
“Cup, I am your father. I hope you remember that. I can tell by your expression, your behavior, and basically everything else.”
“But how can you visit me in my dreams?” I ask.
“It’s simple. That crystal is magical, and I can interrupt dreams whenever I want. All I have to do it sleep on the crystal, then think about someone, and I will be in their dream if they’re sleeping,” my father grunts as he scratches his left ear.
“Don’t tell anybody else, please,” he orders before I can say anything.
“Well, what are my answers?” I scream.
“None of this makes any sense anymore! Useless dreams. Everyone is acting weird. Nova doesn’t talk to me that much. Rocky still hates me. I’ve just become hated by a gang of animals. What’s wrong with me?” I beg for an answer as a tear flows down my cheek.
“Oh, don’t worry, Cup. I won’t give you any nonsense like all those other dreams do. Let me explain to you everything,” Zikah, or my father, or whatever he really is, sits down on the tall, blue crystal again.
“First of all, an enemy is going to return to Jamaa and try to take it over,” he says out loud. His eyes were currently pure white and gazing into something that isn’t visible to my own eye. I want to know what he’s doing, but now isn’t the time.
“Also, a friend shall betray you and Jamaa,” he continues. I gasp, wanting to know the names. But it’s probably not possible to predict them now that I think about it.
“The Phantoms will have something to do with many battles to come, despite your dreams telling you they won’t. They might not be important, but they won’t go away,” Zikah suddenly shrieks.
“And there will be a battle in Zone Two soon! Cup, you are in danger! So is Jamaa! There is so much to come!” he begins frantically screaming like a deranged animal. The white in hi eyes now glows red, and he turns his gaze towards me in the dimly lit crystal cave.
“Get out of here!” a demon like voice shrieks at me. I scream, frightened. What was that? What just happened?
I awaken myself. It’s the dead of night. What kind of dream did I just have?
I peer across the bush dens and spot my father, lying silently awake on the other side. I push my way past Nova and Rocky, who have both been ignoring me lately. I don’t really care about Rocky, but Nova just doesn’t talk now.
“Umm… dad…” I whisper with horror in my voice.
“I know what happened. I can’t do that again. It is so dangerous, Cup. I should’ve never told you those answers. The Ancient Jamaasians are angry…” Zikah shivers as a cold breeze sweeps through.
But I can still get answers from it.
Zikah suggests that I go back to sleep. I head over to my resting spot, and I see Zikah already snoring on the other side of the den.
“Psst… Nova!” I whisper in Nova’s cold ears.
She awakens in silence, and glares at me.
“I need your help.”
Nova hesitates, but then nods. Inside, I scream with delight. She’s finally returning to her normal self. Maybe now we can have decent conversations again without Rocky being an obstacle.
I explain to her what I’m planning, and I see her eyes fill with curiosity and wonder. So do mine. We both exit the bush dens in complete silence, and night is still controlling the earth. Everybody else is asleep.
“Are you ready?” she asks.
“As ever.”
We pad away. I am going to find all the answers I want.
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