Since the last thread got closed, I am re-posting this!

Summary: After a series of troubling nightmares, a young Zolnixi named Lilly discovers that a huge group of Sylestis has been driven out of their home territory by an unspeakable force, and she must save them. Along with Yale the Vulnyx and her Zolnixi mate, Flower, Lilly will have to lead the Sylestis home and fight a danger Sylestia has never faced before.

Contents:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Part 1, Part 2
Chapter 3: Part 1, Part 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Characters:
Lilly - female Zolnixi
Yale - male Vulnyx
Flower - female Zolnixi
The Exiled:
Majestic - male Faelora, one of the two leaders of the Exiled, hails from the Southern region
Perseus - male Lighira, one of the two leaders of the Exiled, hails from the Northern region
Lunarnight - female Luffox, a star-seer from the Southern region
Whipporwill - male Aurelon, a messenger from the Southern region
Tempest - female Lighira, a messenger from the Northern region
Nyx - female Vulnyx, Yale's mother, formerly a rogue but now living with the Northern region
God's Warriors:
Lady Kai Darkwing - female Nephini, one of the leaders
Master Snowmark - male Griffi, the second leader
Script - female Zolnixi, the third leader

Northern Region
Mostly hunters/meat eaters. Includes: Aurleon, Draeyl, Griffi, Kelpari, Lighira, Lupora, Morkko, Ny'vene, Nytekrie, (rarely) Puffadore, Vulnyx, and Zolnixi.

Southern Region
Mostly plant-eaters/prey species. Includes: Aeridini, Aurleon, Bulbori, Faelora, Griffi, Luffox, Lunemara, Nephini, (rarely) Puffadore, Qitari, Ryori, Sylvorpa, Vulnyx, and Zolnixi.

There will likely be many more characters needed for the story, so if you'd like to see your character included, ping or PM me!

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Prologue

Twenty days and nights of nothing but traveling had taken its toll on the huge mass of Sylestis making their way down from the mountains and across the plains. There had been little time to eat or drink while they fled their doomed homes, as most of their time was spent fleeing from their assailants. Outside of their home territories, the prey quickly became less abundant for the meat-eaters, and the foliage, where there was any, was scraggly, tough, and hard to come by. It didn't take long for food to run out, and the air was filled with the wails of hatchlings whose mothers could no longer feed them. Those who hadn't starved, or fallen from steep cliffs, or died from dehydration or exhaustion were nothing but skin and bones by this point, pushed on by nothing but sheer desperation. Perseus, one of the leaders, found himself distressed over these facts as they came to a stop near the base of the mountain to finally rest.

Perseus and those he looked after had come from the Northern region of these lands, and were used to living in the mountains. They had been living there, content for thousands of years, and Perseus himself had grown up there before he was elected leader. His paws had grown used to navigating endless systems of caves, clinging to rocks and making critical decisions to survive life in the mountains, keeping his Tribe strong. Now, he found himself mostly controlled by the basic instincts of survival, his body overcoming his mind in a fight to stay alive. He'd even taking to scavenging like a vulture off of kills long-dead, ignoring the threat of disease in favor of the minute chance of a meal.

However, there was still something of his old self left in him. Perseus had managed to make a kill; a deer, a distant cousin of the Faelora, and a small one, barely fit to feed a single Lighira of his size. But then, he wasn't planning on eating it, himself. Instead, he dragged it over to where a few of his Tribe's mothers laid with their hatchlings, depositing it in front of them so that they could feed.

"Oh, Perseus, thank you so." The male turned upon hearing someone addressing him, recognizing it as Aphrodite, one of his mates. Although the two of them currently had no cubs, Aphrodite made it her job to watch over and take care of the other mothers and their hatchlings, feeling as though she had a duty to them. She was a strong, capable mate, but even she couldn't escape the effects of undernourishment. Her coat, which had once been sleek and shiny, was now rough and dull. Her eyes drooped, as did her lips, and her face was hollow and thin. One could count each of her ribs just by looking at her, and she appeared as if she might fade away at any moment. "The mothers and hatchlings have had such a hard time. We've lost so many."

Leaning forward, Perseus pressed his muzzle against hers in a comforting gesture, noticing the way she looked down and her shoulders drooping. "Do not blame yourself, Aphrodite. There is nothing we could do."

"We should have stayed to fight," she sighed, shaking a bit as she leaned against Perseus. "There might have been a chance, if we'd only had..."

"Our enemies possessed the powers of the Gods," Perseus told her, leaning down to lick her ears. "We could never have defeated them, my love. We would have lost more had we stayed." The two looked over to where the mothers and hatchlings were cleaning off the remains, having stripped the deer down to its bones. They'd taken to cracking the bones to get at the nutritious marrow, and Perseus decided to leave them be. "Eat some, Aphrodite. I know you haven't. The woods nearby hold some prey, if you'd like to hunt."

Aphrodite looked to him as if to protest, but his knowing gaze silenced her. Even though he, too, was a shadow of his former glory, he still had a powerful and piercing gaze, and the aura of a great leader. Nodding in understanding, the female set off to go hunt, her tail dragging limply in the dust behind her.

Folding his legs so that they rested under him, Perseus, himself finally laid down, his head drooping as he closed his eyes. He had to be strong, for his Tribe, but he couldn't help but fear that their ancestors had abandoned them, and that all of them were going to die anyway, be it from their enemies or from starvation. Hoping that he was wrong, Perseus willed his ancestors to send him a sign, any sign, as he drifted off to sleep, the stars blinking slowly overhead.

Chapter 1: The Message

There was no thrill greater than that of the hunt. Lilly believed this with all her heart as she plunged through the deep undergrowth, tiny paws moving quickly through the grass and bushes, nose pressed to the ground. The spirit of hunting flowed in her blood and was forged in her bones; she was built for it, and she knew it. Slinking deeper into the forest, she parted her jaws slightly to hopefully catch a scent.

There! Lilly's muscles went taut as she spotted a mouse in front of her. The tiny creature was completely engrossed on gnawing on a mushroom, not noticing Lilly there at all. Perfect. An easy kill was just what she needed.

Sliding through the grass, Lilly stopped just in front of the creature, paw raised, ready to strike. Her hindquarters wriggled with excitement, adrenaline coursing through her body, and then--

Leaping into the air, Lilly pounced, coming down on the mouse with her two front paws. It barely had time to squeak before she leaned down and snapped her jaws around it, quickly ending its struggle, and its life. Now that the hunt was over, she leaned back on her haunches, keeping one paw over it as she sent a prayer to the ancestors, thanking them for her kill and for this meal. Just as she was going to take a bite, a voice made her pause.

"You are a well-trained hunter." Whirling around, Lilly's fur stood on end as she locked eyes with a male Lighira standing across the clearing from her, tail swishing slowly from side to side. Although he didn't seem to be aggressive, she kept her hackles raised as he approached, golden eyes looking her up and down. "That mouse didn't even notice you."

"I am a good hunter," Lilly finally said, her voice coming out a bit high. Clearing her throat, she continued, trying to make herself look more intimidating in the face of this massive creature. "I'm Lilly. Who are you? I've never seen you around here. Who's your owner?"

"I have no owner," the Lighira said, lifting his head proudly. "My name is Perseus. I am the leader of a group of Sylesti who were chased out of our homes by beings so terrifying, none have ever heard nor spoken of them."

"How are you here?" Lilly stepped away from her kill, and as she did, it vanished into thin air. A dream. She was dreaming. Her tail lashed in displeasure, and Perseus's ears flicked. "How--"

"How I got here is of no concern," he replied. "What matters is that my Tribe is in danger, and so is yours." Tilting her head curiously, Lilly narrowed her eyes. "What chased us is sure to come to chase you, too, and if you are not prepared, it will be the end of your world as you know it."

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Lilly countered, pinning her ears flat against her skull. None of this made sense.

"What you must," said Perseus simply, and as he did, he turned, fading into the background just as the mouse had done a few seconds earlier. Lilly went to cry out for him, but her voice didn't come from her throat, and she could no longer hear anything. Instead, her ears were barraged by a cacophony of screams and wails, terrifying noises from creatures frightened out of their wits.

---

Lilly woke with a start, finding her fur still standing on end. It stayed that way for a moment, before she realized that she was home, and safe, and then her fur finally flattened. She'd been curled up at the foot of her owner's bed, since she was his favorite, but now she found herself uneasy and wanting to leave. The bed felt cursed, somehow, and she leaped off of the bed and over to the door.

Pushing the door open, Lilly went to the kitchen, checking her bowl to see if anything had been left there. Occasionally, some of the Sylesti who lived outside would bring in parts of their kills to the inside Sylesti, and today, Lilly was lucky. The leg of a freshly killed rabbit sat in her bowl, which only meant one thing; Flower had been out hunting. Rabbits were her mate's favorite prey, and if it was fresh, that meant she was still awake. Perfect.

Sitting down to tuck into the leg, Lilly re-played her dream in her mind, shuttering as she thought of the screams she'd heard at the last minute. This wasn't the first odd dream or nightmare she'd had in the past few weeks; she kept having visions of mountains, of huge masses of Sylesti making their way down treacherous pathways and cliffs. The worst was the one with the avalanche. One of the huge snow slides had triggered in one of her dreams, smashing into the groups of Sylesti and burying them under tons of snow. Some managed to make it out, but the haunted cries of mothers who had lost their hatchlings kept ringing in her ears.

When she'd finished her meal, Lilly stood, licking her lips and doing some quick grooming before she went outside to face her mate. They'd been together for some time now, ever since Flower had been brought back with her owner after a trip to the city. Apparently he'd found her there, starving and dirty--what a change a few days made! Now her coat was thick, her eyes were bright, and her muscles strong. She was so unlike the wild Sylesti she'd seen in her dreams.

The dreams simply wouldn't leave her, would they? Until now, Lilly hadn't spoken to anyone about the dreams, preferring to keep them to herself, and doubting that anyone would listen. However, Flower seemed to have a knack for these sort of things; sometimes the human would call her a "little psychologist", whatever that meant. Trotting across the linoleum floor, Lilly pushed through the small flap on the kitchen door, leading her outside to the garden, where the moon bathed the flowers and grass in a bright, silver light. A few of the outside Sylesti were there, sleeping or grooming each other, but they paid her no mind as she walked down the gravel path. The tiny rocks crunched between her toes, but she didn't shiver or complain. Although she lived inside, Lilly was a hunting Zolnixi, and was quite used to getting her feet dirty.

Underneath one of the huge rose bushes, Lilly found her. Sticking her head underneath it, she prodded flower gently with her nose. The other female lifted her head to look over her shoulder, and then smiled. "Lilly." Her voice was gentle and smooth, comparable to that of a silk dress, fluttering slightly in the breeze.

Flower emerged from her hiding place, and then gave Lilly a nuzzle, moving to press her body against hers as they walked. "What brings you out here, sweetheart? You rarely ever leave the home at night."

"I needed to talk with someone," Lilly replied, her voice a bit cautious. "I've--been having these weird dreams, and I really need to talk to someone about them. I'm--scared of what they might mean."

Flower seemed to understand Lilly's plight, so she lead her to a more secluded part of the garden where they could speak. It was through a pair of thorny bushes and was protected on all sides by a part of the garden wall and bushes. Although she feared someone might hear them, Lilly knew there was no going back now. Her mate wouldn't make fun of her--right? Slowly, Lilly started to describe the dreams, trying to keep all of the details straight in her dreams, down to the final one with Perseus the Lighira. As she spoke, Flower nodded along with her, listening intently to every word. When she was finished, Flower sat silently, tail twitching for a few moments, before she finally spoke.

"Well, dear. It sounds like you're being contacted by some kind of spirit," Flower finally said. It wasn't what Lilly wanted to hear.

"But--if that's true then, what am I supposed to do about it?" Lilly asked, getting up and starting to pace around in nervous circles. "I mean--I hunt but I've never gone on some big journey before, and Perseus didn't even tell me where he and his Tribe were! How am I supposed to get there, guess?" She noticed that her fur had started to rise again, so she flattened it, then sat down to give her chest a few nervous licks. Flower pressed up beside her, leaning over to lick behind her ears.

"Give it time," Flower murmured. "Spirits rarely only contact once. Try to sleep again tonight, and see if he comes back."

"But, the nightmares--" Lilly started to say, but Flower leaned forward, brushing her muzzle against hers.

"Sleep with me under the rosebush tonight, love. It'll keep the nasty spirits away." A smile crept across Lilly's face, and she nodded, following the other female back through the bushes.

There they slept, curled up together under the rose bushes, but Lilly did not dream again that night.

Chapter Two: A Call to Arms

Somewhere, many miles from Lilly's home, a powerful male Faelora made his way to the top of a hill, staring wordlessly at the stars. His name was Majestic, coming from the Southern regions of the mountains, and was the leader of the Southern group. No one really knew quite how old Majestic was; it had always seemed like the great stag was eternal, his silvery coat being one of the staples of his lands. He had inherited his role as leader from his father, Blaine, but it certainly hadn't been handed to him. Fifteen of his siblings all clashed together for the role of leader, but Majestic had come out on top, not due to physical strength, but due to intelligence. Of course, no one from his current Tribe knew of his story, for they were all too young. Except for one specific Sylesti, who Majestic had come to see.

Slowly making her way up the hill was a small, yet striking Luffox, a female named Lunarnight. Her name was fitting; her pelt, a dark purple, was dotted with bright yellow half-moons, and she wore moon armor. Her wide blue eyes seemed to take in everything around her, pupils darting to and fro quickly, as if she was trying to take in the entire world in one sitting. Her coat was not the only thing that made her special, or set her apart. Lunarnight was a star-seer, a Sylesti with a strong spiritual and physical connection to the ancestors. She had trained from birth to hone and strengthen her abilities, and now she was the Southern region's most powerful star-seer, considered a prophet by many. However, she was old, and the journey had taken its toll on her body. Her coat was patchy from where some of her thick fur had fallen out, and her paw pads were cracked and painful.

Helping her up the rest of the hill, Majestic stood beside her at the crest, looking up to the stars again. Lunarnight did the same, her brow furrowing as she did, a slow sigh leaving her chest. The two of them sat like that for a few moments, silently observing the night sky, before Majestic spoke.

"I fear our ancestors have abandoned us, Lunarnight." The Luffox seemed shocked at his words, flicking an ear in response.

"Why do you fear that, Majestic? You know they always walk with us, watching us from the skies, offering help when they can."

"Then why have they not helped us?" Lunarnight turned her face from Majestic, whose heart sank. Had they not spoken to her, either? If the ancestors would not even speak to her, then what hope was there?

"I know what you fear," she finally said. "You fear that they have not spoken to me? They have, Majestic, but it is not what you want to hear. The ancestors cannot help us." Majestic stamped one of his hooves in frustration, snorting loudly. "Hold on. I said the ancestors cannot help us. That does not mean no one can."

This confused the great stag. "Who, then? Humans?" He spoke the word with a tinge of apprehension. Wild Sylesti in general tended to keep away from humans, but the Sylesti from the Northern and Southern regions even more so; they had lived in the mountains for thousands of years, and protected them from encroachment. However, Lunarnight shook her head again.

"No. Tame Sylestis."

This seemed to shock him even more. "Tamed Sylestis? How could they possibly help us?"

"There are three, two Zolnixi and a Vulnyx. I have seen them in my visions, and I know where they are. If you and Persus will allow it, I will send out two messengers to fetch them."

"And then what?" Majestic asked, voice filled with disbelief. Lunarnight looked at him squarely as she replied.

"And then we wait."

---

"Hey, curly-tail, get up."

Lilly received a rude awakening the next morning from her hunting partner, Yale, a large male Vulnyx. He stood in front of the rose bush, poking under it with one of his long, curved claws. Groaning, Lilly rolled over onto her back, looking over to find Flower still sleeping beside her. Right, she'd slept under the rose bush with her last night, because of the nightmares. It seemed to work--Lilly had no nightmares last night, but she'd also had no dreams at all. She couldn't tell if this was better or worse.

"Come on, I said get up," Yale repeated, bringing Lilly back to earth. Shaking her head, she dragged herself out from under the bush, yawning loudly as she shook dew from her fur. The weather was one of the worst parts of sleeping outside, but she felt strangely warm, as if the wetness of her fur didn't reach her skin. "We get to go out hunting this morning."

"Uh-huh. Where?" She walked closely beside Yale as he walked through the garden, going up to the fence and jumping on top of it. Lilly followed suit, and the two of them balanced on the fence for a moment as the older male thought.

"Forest." The sun was only just barely starting to rise over the horizon, and Yale jumped down, stalking off towards his destination. Lilly followed, tail wagging slowly as they went. "Most of the prey will just be starting to stir. We'll catch them off guard." Before he became a part of the home, Yale was a wild Sylesti all of his life, and had learned to hunt out here. Lilly had learned to trust his judgement, for the older male was rarely ever wrong about hunting.

The two of them were barely inside of the forest before they noticed a rabbit, hopping about the undergrowth. Seizing the rare chance, Yale motioned for Lilly to circle around it as he dropped into a hunter's crouch, sliding forward almost on his belly through the grass. Lilly circled around towards the front of the creature, getting herself into position for when Yale drove the creature towards her. She held her breath, not wanting to make a single sound as both Yale and the rabbit inched closer, heart fluttering in her chest. There was one moment when she froze, as the rabbit lifted its head, sniffing at the air. She feared it had scented her, and that they might have lost their chance.

She need not have fear, though, because as soon as it happened, Yale burst out from the grass with lightning speed. Frightened, the rabbit ran straight into Lilly's paws, where she killed it with a quick bite to the neck and smack on the ground, just to ensure that she'd finished it off. Kill still warm in her jaws, she looked up to Yale, delight sparkling in her eyes.

"You can have it," the male said gruffly, turning his back to her. "I heard you had a pretty rough night last night." Lilly shrugged as she started to pick the fur off of the rabbit's skin so that she could tuck into it more easily, acknowledging Yale's question before she took a bite.

"It's nothing. Just weird dreams." Yale grunted in response, still searching out another good spot for the two of them to hunt in. Some of the prey in the forest was too large for just the two of them -- a full grown deer was much too large for the two of them to hope to grab, but perhaps a fawn...

Lilly finished the rabbit quickly, her instincts telling her to eat her meal hurriedly and then dispose of what was left over. She kicked a bit of dirt over the bones and fur that remained, knowing that some scavenger would come by to take the scraps later. Although she was tame, she was knowledgeable about how the wild worked, and used it to her advantage. Once she was finished, she hopped over to Yale, eager to continue their hunt.

Before they could search for new quarry, however, they were interrupted by a loud flapping in the bushes beside them. Immediately, Yale started to growl, walking stiff legged over to the bushes, hair along his back and neck rising in an aggressive display. The flapping continued, before there was a quick "honk" and something tumbled from the bushes, feathers flying in all directions. It was a dark blue and white Aurleon, followed by a navy blue Lighira with red wings, who pounced on him to hold him down.

"You idiot! You got us all turned around!" Snapped the Lighira, who was clearly upset and ruffled. The two of them looked as if they'd been in a fight, recently, and they were totally ignoring Yale and Lilly.

"It wasn't all my fault, that hunter shot at us! What was I supposed to do, die?"

"Maybe he wouldn't have shot at us if you hadn't dove at his head!"

"I thought he was aiming at a Faelora, how was I supposed to know it was just a deer? You know how my eyesight is--"

"Uh, excuse me?" Lilly finally said, seeming to end the two Sylesti's argument. Their heads whipped around to face her, and they muttered a few quick apologies before separating, the Lighira letting the Aurleon up. He quickly began to preen his feathers, trying to put himself back together it seemed. The Lighira sat to give herself a quick grooming, before facing the other two again. Yale, upon realizing the two meant no harm, allowed his fur to fall flat, but he still stood in front of Lilly, eyes narrowed.

"Sorry about that, my partner here--" the Lighira elbowed the Aurleon, nearly sending him sprawling, "got us a little off track. We're looking for some Sylestis, do you think you could help us?"

"We can try," Lilly replied hopefully. They'd probably scared off most of the prey around here with their bickering, which made her grateful that she'd caught that rabbit earlier. "Who are you looking for? Do you know if they live around here?"

"I believe so. They're--tame Sylestis." The Lighira spoke the words as if they were foreign to her. "We're looking for a female Zolnixi named Lilly, and a male Vulnyx named Yale."

For a moment, Lilly was so stunned that she didn't speak right away, so Yale did it anyway. "That's us. Are you two wild?"

"Indeed," said the Aurleon, who seemed to be recovering. "We are two representatives from the Eastern and Northern Mountain Tribes. I am Whipporwill, and my partner here is Tempest."

"Mountain tribes..." Lilly's mind immediately flashed back to the male Lighira she'd seen in her dreams. He had said that his tribe had been chased out of the land from where he lived...could it be? "You...wouldn't happen to have a leader named Perseus, would you?"

"That is my Tribe leader," said Tempest, dipping her head to Lilly. "He told me about you. It is an honor to meet you, Chosen One."

This time, both Lilly and Yale were in shock, and they spoke in unison; "Chosen One?"

"Yes, the Chosen One," Tempest echoed, looking Lilly in the eye. She had the urge to look away, but kept staring at her levelly as she spoke, tail twitching slightly. What were these wild Sylestis talking about? They must be confused. Sure, she'd been having weird dreams, but there was no way that she was that special. "Surely you must understand what we mean?"

"No, I don't," Lilly answered firmly. "I have no idea what's going on, and I don't know why you're here!" Now it was the two wild Sylestis' turns to looked shocked, looking between themselves and then back to the tames. Realizing that she'd raised her voice, Lilly tucked her tail between her legs, and looked away bashfully. "I'm sorry, there's just been a lot going on recently and I--"

"It's alright," Tempest said, stepping forward and resting a wing on Lilly's shoulders. Yale stiffened visibly, which wasn't surprising. Although the two were not related, and hadn't grown up together, the older male seemed to view Lilly as something of a daughter. The two had known each other for such a long time, he may as well have been her father, and he was nervous whenever she was in a potentially dangerous situation. However, Tempest meant no harm, and Lilly sighed, letting her shoulders sag under the weight of the lighira's wing.

"It must be tough, having the weight of such a thing on your shoulders," Whipporwill said, waddling over to the other three once he was finally finished preening. "We were unaware that you didn't know about your--er--status."

"To be fair, I have been having some strange dreams," Lilly told them. "But still--what does Yale have to do with any of this?"

"Our star-seer told us that she had had a vision of you, Yale, and one more Sylesti, a female Zolnixi. We believe her name is...Flower?"

"My mate," Lilly gasped. "That's my mate--but they haven't been having these dreams. Right?" She looked at Yale for conformation, who nodded in response.

The two wild Sylestis shrugged. "We're just going off of what our leaders and star-seer told us. We know just about as much as you do."

"Well, how about we go back to the ranch and talk all of this out," Yale finally spoke, stepping forward to address the others. "It seems like there's a whole lot that we need to get sorted out, eh?"

"Ranch? Is that a...human residence?" Asked Tempest cautiously. "Because if it is, I'm not sure that we should go there. They may attempt to capture us."

"Our human does no such thing," Yale assured them. "All of the formerly wild Sylestis who live here had their trust gained by our human, and chose to live here of their own accord."

Although the two seemed apprehensive, they decided to follow the two tame Sylestis back to the ranch, something which seemed to relax Lilly just the slightest bit. Most of their walk through the forest was in silence, with the occasional growl from Yale's stomach. Upon hearing it, Lilly paused, looking at their little party.

"Yale, do you want to hunt before we leave?" She asked. "I mean, we've got some time, right?" Before Yale could answer, Tempest interjected,

"You hunt? I thought tame Sylestis were given all of their food by humans."

Lilly shrugged. "Well, some of them are, but since we live out here, so far away from the nearest city, our human takes us out hunting pretty often. He says it "saves him money", whatever that means. Plus, since we have formerly wild Sylestis with us, they like to hunt their own food most of the time."

Tempest looked down at her feet, ears twitching. "Humans work in strange ways...though, I suppose if you would like to stop to hunt, you should." She sat where she had previously been standing, and as Lilly took a better look at her, she noticed something startling. Tempest looked to be in a similar condition to Perseus, the male lighira from her dreams. Her coat was dull, and she was thin, her skin seeming to cling to her ribs and hips. Whipporwill didn't seem to be in great condition, either, with dull feathers and a hollow look to him.

"Maybe you should hunt too," Lilly suggested, padding over to nudge her with her nose. "Come hunt with us. We could take down bigger prey with you around, after all."

After getting Tempest's agreement to help with a hunt, the group of four broke off from the path towards the ranch, and instead set off towards the right side of the forest.

To the left of the forest sat the ranch, and to the right sat an open meadow, where the smaller cousins of the Faelora, deer, liked to graze. Normally, deer would be off the menu for Lilly and Yale, as they were too small to bring them down on their own. However, with Tempest on their side, they had the final link in the chain that they needed, and fanned out to form their hunting party. Whipporwill perched himself in a tree; Aurleon preferred eating fish and sometimes small rodents to meat from a kill, as their beaks were designed for swallowing prey whole, not ripping it apart.

The three Sylesti focused on a single target in the herd, an elderly stag who had become separated from the rest. One of his hooves appeared to be damaged, as he was limping heavily. He was an easy target, and taking him out would allow for more resources for the stronger, healthy deer, as well. Such was the balance of the forest, and it was the job of the hunters to keep it in check.

Lilly was the first to strike. Her task was to scatter the herd and make them nervous, as well as drive the intended target towards the two larger hunters. She did just that, weaving in and out of the herd, nipping at the deer's heels like a cattle dog. Confused and frightened, they scattered every which-way, not noticing as Yale and Tempest moved in for the most challenging part of the kill.

Once the old stag had limped close enough, it was Tempest's turn to strike. Her large size meant that she was the only one who could pull down the animal, and pull it down she did, pinning down the deer so that his final struggles wouldn't injure anyone else. The weight of her body kept his hooves from flailing about, and kept his head from thrashing too much.

Yale did the actual killing, thanks to his huge saber-like teeth. Because they were delicate, he couldn't pin down the animal and then kill it, so Tempest's role was vital in the end. With nearly-scientific precision, Yale drove his great fangs into the creature's neck, severing the windpipe and slicing through major arteries. Death was nearly instantaneous, and as soon as the final breath shuddered out of the creature, Yale let go and stepped back to wash his face.

"A good, clean kill," Yale commented, looking over at Tempest, who seemed to be regarding it with apprehension. "Go ahead and eat, we won't stop you."

"Well, you are the one who killed it," Tempest said, shifting so that she was no longer resting on top of their kill. "Shouldn't you take your choice of meat first?"

"I'll be alright, I'm not the one who's starving," the Vulnyx replied gruffly, motioning with his head to the Lighira's skinny form. Lilly couldn't help but smile at that. Yale tried to pass himself off as rough and uncaring most of the time, but he had a big heart, and did let it show at times. As he stepped away from the kill, Tempest could control her hunger no more, and fell upon the deer, tearing into it quickly.

When he went back to stand beside Lilly, she heard his stomach growl yet again, and she frowned. "If you're still hungry, why don't you--"

"She needs it more than I do." His eyes were focused intently on the Lighira, who had already made her way through half of the kill. When she was finally finished, her belly bulging, there was little left of the kill, and she laid down to rest for a moment, cleaning her face and paws of any scraps. Giving a heavy sigh, Yale looked over at the remains of the deer and narrowed his eyes. "Looks like we'll have to bring that back to the ranch. We didn't manage to kill anything else."

"We'll go out again later," Lilly assured them, resting a paw on his shoulder for a short moment before letting it drop. Seemingly unconvinced, the older male padded forward to retrieve the rest of the deer, and then started to haul it towards the trees, and back towards the ranch. With the two wild Sylesti in tow, they finally began the trek back home, knowing that their strange ordeal had only just begun.

Chapter Three: A Farewell to Stables

"So. The Exiled think that they have hope?"

The high-pitched voice of a female Nephini echoed throughout the small cave. Upon hearing her voice, a male Griffi lifted his head from where it rested on his paws, tail twitching slowly. Lady Kai Darkwing, the Nephini who had spoken, was hunched over a small crystal ball. Turning it around in her paws, she looked over to Master Snowmark, the male Griffi, and beckoned him over with her tail.

"Come here, you big oaf. We need to talk about this." Yawning and groaning, the Griffi got up, slowly plodding over to the much smaller creature and then falling down beside her. The sudden motion caused the crystal ball to roll out of her paws, and Lady Kai gave a soft squeak of alarm before grabbing it again. "Careful! If you break this thing, you know I'll be--"

"I wouldn't break it no matter what I did," Snowmark snorted, resting his head on his paws again. Lady Kai growled in response, the noise coming out pitched and warbled. "Now will you quit your squealin' and tell me what you're blabbering about?"

Rolling her eyes, the Nephini rubbed her webbed paws over the crystal ball again, blinking slowly. "The Exiled sent out two scouts to find three tame Sylestis who they believe can defeat us and lead them home."

"Three tame Sylestis, beating God's Warriors?" Snowmark laughed, then moved as if to get up. "Listen, next time you wanna talk to me about somethin' stupid, can you please let me finish my nap first?"

"Would you hold on, you half-brained imbecile," Lady Kai snapped back at him, eyes narrowing. "These tamed pets...they aren't like others. Their auras are different. There is something...strange about them."

"But they cannot possibly be stronger than us?" A third voice asked. Trotting into the cave was a small female Zolnixi, shaking mountain snow off of her paws and pelt. Her ornate red-and-gold fur identified her immediately, and Lady Kai seemed to brighten a bit at her appearance.

"I do not know, Script," she said as the Zolnixi came over. "They are not the strongest fighters, but...they glow with potential. They could spread unease throughout the Cult, and if they do, our influence will fail."

"But we have the talismans, and our Uppers have the elemental orbs," Script pointed out. "Even if they do, they cannot overpower the Uppers."

"Still, we must be careful," Lady Kai urged. "I say we should send out a few scouts of our own to counter them. Better not to let them get stronger, and get rid of them while they're still weak. Then there will be no chance for survival." The other two nodded in response.

"I'll get Silver and Amara," Snowmark said gruffly, finally getting to his paws. "They'll be the best for this job." Lady Kai nodded in agreement, then turned to Script.

"Follow them to ensure nothing goes wrong," she told her. "We might need you for backup in case this doesn't go as smoothly as he thinks." She motioned to Snowmark, who was now out of earshot at the front of the cave. Script nodded, and quickly ran off to follow him as he unfolded his huge wings, taking off with one mighty flap.

Left alone in the cave, Lady Kai turned back to the crystal ball, rubbing it again with her webbed paws. "Yes...we shall remove the threat while it is small."

---

Upon reaching the stables and the human home, the reception for the four Sylestis was, for lack of any better words, awkward. All of the tame Sylesti who lived in the stables were trying to figure out who these outsiders were, where they came from, and how they knew Lilly and Yale. Lilly and Yale, on the other hand, were trying to seek out Flower, and figure out why the two wild Sylesti were here as well, to get to the bottom of this whole mess.

"If we have to leave on some magical journey of faith or something," Yale muttered as they searched the yard and barns for Flower, "then we'd better do it soon. If the human finds out, he'll try to track us down, and I doubt the wild Sylesti will welcome a human with open arms."

"We've had enough trouble with humans," Whipporwill snorted. "I assure you, if he manages to find us, he won't be treated kindly."

"Humans would only get in the way of the danger," Tempest explained, a bit more mildly than Whipporwill. "It isn't that we hate them. Our foes are much too powerful for any normal human to beat, and bringing them around would only put them in danger. Besides, we've lived apart for thousands of years. There's no reason to change that, all of a sudden."

"But humans could help you," Lilly pointed out. "They could help to feed you, and take care of your injured. We have healing potions that--"

"Would only be a burden to us," Tempest interrupted with a flick of her tail. "Many of our Tribe would have their pride damaged knowing that they were helped by humans, myself included. You, however, are a different matter. Although you may be pets, you are kin." Lilly wrinkled her nose with distaste at the word "pet", but perked up as soon as she saw Flower. Noticing her with the two wild Sylesti, Flower gave her mate a strange glance, but came over when she was beckoned.

"Flower, this is Whipporwill, and Tempest," Lilly introduced the two Sylestis, who dipped their heads respectfully to Flower. Still a bit confused, she waved a paw. "And this is my mate, Flower." There were a few confused greetings, before Lilly looked around the crowded stable. Perhaps this wouldn't be the best place to talk...

"Let's go outside," she suggested, starting off towards the door. "We can talk more about what's going on out there, and the fresh air should be nice." There wasn't any resistance to Lilly's idea, and the two wild Sylesti practically bolted to the door, obviously uncomfortable within the stable. She didn't blame them; it was a new, strange environment, and it could get a bit stuffy at times. Besides, they wouldn't have to worry about eavesdropping as much outside, where everyone was scattered around.

"Alright, so explain to us everything that's going on, please," Yale said to the newcomers as the five of them sat in a circle. By the look on the other two's faces, Lilly could tell that this story was going to take a while, so she settled onto her belly to listen.

---

It was Whipporwill who decided to tell the tale. According to Tempest, he was a storyteller back in his Tribe, and would be able to tell the tale much more eloquently than she. Folding his skinny legs underneath him, the Aurleon took a deep breath, before beginning the tale.

"Well, this whole ordeal began because we were chased out of our homes by an enemy we have never faced before. As you know, the Southern and Northern Tribes have lived in the mountains for thousands upon thousands of years, long before any humans came to settle in the valleys below. Our terrain is treacherous, life is difficult, and food can be scarce, but its beauty is unmatched by any other landscape. It may not be what you'd call prime real-estate, but it is home.

Our leaders were approached by a strange group of Sylesti who called themselves "God's Warriors." They said that they and they alone needed these mountains in order to please their God, and go into the next stage of what they called their initiation. Of course, our leaders refused; this was our home, we had carved out a living here for generations, and we were willing to fight for it. Unfortunately, they were too, and they were much, much stronger than us.

These..."Warriors" possessed strange artifacts they called the Talismans. They gave them unearthly powers, powers so incredible even our greatest fighters could not stand up to them. There was only a single battle, and they decimated our ranks. It was the Northern leader, Perseus, who decided that we should leave. It would cost us more lives to stay than it would to leave...so we believed. The Warriors allowed us to leave, and we did, but either way, we had paid an ultimate price. We lost nearly half of our Tribes coming down from the mountains and onto the plains and valleys below."

At this, Whipporwill stopped for a moment, his eyes shimmering as he remembered the terrible exodus. Flower wrapped her tail around Lilly's, sensing her mate's emotional upset as they watched the Aurleon. The effects of the journey could still be seen on their storyteller himself, showing that his tales were in no way exaggerated.

"And then, a few nights ago, the Southern Tribe's star-seer told us that she'd had a message given to her by the ancestors, that involved the three of you. She said that you would be our saviors, and you could defeat God's Warriors."

"Tell her that she's misinformed," Yale said, narrowing his eyes. "If what you're telling us is true--that these Warriors have mythical powers or whatever--then there's no way we can do anything that you haven't. Do we look like superheroes to you?"

"There must be something," Tempest said desperately, her eyes meeting Yale's. "Ancestors do not send messages without reason, there has to be something--"

"No, there is not," Yale snapped, cutting her off as his tail lashed. "I'm not going to run around trying to play hero for a desperate group of migrants. Look, you lost your home, it sucks, but it happens all the time to regular wild Sylestis, and you'll just have to deal with it. There's nothing we can do." Turning his head from her, he stalked off quickly, leaving the other four Sylesti to sit there in silence. After a few moments, Flower looked over at the other two, padding over and putting one paw on Tempest's shoulder.

"I'm very sorry about him," she started to say. "I'm sure most of what he's feeling is simply shock. He's not really used to--"

"It's fine," Tempest murmured. With her shoulders slumped and face down turned, she looked even more hopeless than she had when they'd met earlier. "Maybe the ancestors were wrong. I just thought that...we had hope..." Her voice started to crack, but she turned her head before the others could see her cry. "We'll leave in the morning, if that's alright with you? We're sorry for bothering you."

"Wait," Lilly finally spoke, trotting over to Tempest, Whipporwill, and Flower. "Wait. This all started when I started having weird dreams, and then Perseus spoke to me. Maybe--maybe if he comes to me again, if he speaks with me, then it'll shed some light on things?" She suggested. It was a long shot, but she didn't want the two to have come all this way only to be shut down so harshly. "I--I believe I was contacted for a reason, even if I don't know what it is yet. And maybe we--maybe we are superheroes, we just haven't gotten our powers yet?"

That seemed to make Whipporwill remember something, and the gangly creature suddenly jumped to his feet, flapping his wings excitedly. "Yes--yes that's it, you must be right, Lilly! My mother used to tell me stories about magic-using Sylesti who didn't know they were magic users until it was unleashed! The magic must just be sitting dormant inside of you!"

This put all four of the Sylesti into an excited mood, with Lilly quickly wagging her tail in excitement. "Yes, yes, I believe it--Flower, you believe it too, right?"

"Oh love, you know I am a believer in the things we cannot see," Flower said, running her tail along Lilly's side. "But it's not me you have to convince, it's Yale." Lilly's ears drooped when she realized Flower was right--how on earth were they going to get Yale to believe them? Unless...

"I've got an idea. It might not work, but if it does it should convince him," Lilly said, partly to herself and partly to the others. "Whenever I would have the dreams, I would sleep in Little's room--the human," she added for Whipporwill and Tempest. "Maybe there's something about Little's room that makes it conducive to the dreams?"

"Yale likes to sleep outside, though," Flower pointed out. "He doesn't like sleeping inside--"

"I might be able to tempt him in, though. Yale loves the chicken the human makes, if I save some for him and tell him he can only have it if he comes inside, he will. Then Little will bring him in his room, and then, maybe Yale will have dreams like me."

"I always knew you were a genius, love," Flower giggled, leaning forward to press her muzzle against Lilly's. "Alright, let's wait for tonight. If all goes well, we should be able to leave out tomorrow."

In high spirits, the four Sylesti disbanded, unaware that they were being watched from the shadows.

The day was beginning to wind down by this point, and most of the Sylesti were getting ready for sleep. Some of the more nocturnal species, like the Lupora and the Vulnyx, were getting into position to guard the stables and ensure that nothing could come in to hurt anyone. While they didn't have any problems with the other humans and Sylesti who lived around here, every once and a while something would try to sneak its way onto the property.

Tonight, however, even this vigilance wouldn't be enough to protect them from what was about to happen.

As Lilly and Flower were helping to get Tempest and Whipporwill settled in to rest, Lilly felt a twinge of unease run through her. Yale hadn't returned after stalking off in a bad mood, earlier, and she wondered if the older male was alright. She had no doubt that Yale could take care of himself; after all, he had been wild for most of his young and adolescent life. However, times were difficult and trying right now, and she didn't want anything to happen to her friend. That, and, she was going to have to convince him to come inside of the house somehow.

"I'm gonna go try to find Yale," Lilly told the others as she started off. She shouldn't have to search for long, she thought. Even though Yale liked to wander, the property that they lived on was wide and encompassing, and more than enough to entertain him. There were only a few places he really liked to go to, anyway, and Lilly knew all of his favorite haunts.

The Stables were set up in an interesting way. In the front of the property, there was the house, where Little lived along with some of the indoor pets. Behind it stood a wide, encompassing backyard, filled with bushes and hedges that had been sculpted and shaped meticulously. In its center was a large stone fountain, from which the Sylesti could drink from whenever they wanted. Then, beyond the backyard were the actual Stables, large barns set up similarly to horse barns where the outside Sylesti stayed. Beyond that, the property stretched for several hundred acres in every direction; Little had bought the land for relatively cheap a few years back specifically for the purpose of having a wide ranging area, of course unbeknownst to his Sylesti, so the setup for these Stables was very different from most.

About halfway into her trek from the outer Stables to the backyard, a deafening screech met Lilly's ears. It was similar to something like a lynx scream, but much more bone-chilling and familiar to her. It was Yale's distress call, a noise he never made unless it was absolutely necessary. What in the world was he using it for now?

"Yale," she whispered to herself, before taking off in the direction of the screech, her large ears swiveled forward to hear in case it happened again. The first cry had given her enough verbal information that she needed to find him, however, and her sprint slowed to a jog as she got close enough to see what was happening.

A fight was going on, that much was obvious, but things were happening so fast that it was hard to see what was going on. It looked like Yale was fighting something; he was rolling on the ground in typical Vulnyx fashion, hissing and spitting and lashing out with his claws. There seemed to be two separate balls of color latched onto him, one with wings that beat furiously. Aiming for that one, Lilly pounced, pushing it off of Yale in order to make the fight a little more fair.

She managed to knock the attacker off of its feet for a moment, but it didn't take long for it to stand back up and face her. Lilly let out a loud snarl, her hackles raising as her body tensed, looking into the eyes of her opponent. It was another Zolnixi, a female about her size, with a bright blue-and-green coat. She also had huge, feathered wings, each one about the length of her own body, which were bleeding slightly. Despite how fragile they seemed, she didn't seem to be trying to keep them tucked into her body, instead opening them in a threatening display.

Lilly was not one to be intimidated that easily, and she rushed her opponent, going to face her head-on. She didn't realize her mistake until she was too late; the other Zolnixi was much too fast for her, easily dodging her advance and slamming into her side. All of the wind knocked out of her, Lilly fell to the ground, letting out a bark of surprise as she was pinned. The other female instinctively went for her teeth, but Lilly managed to push up with her front two paws to keep her jaws safely away from her throat, if only for a few moments. She battered at her opponent's belly with her back paws, but despite the pain she was undoubtedly in, the other refused to back off, teeth snapping dangerously close to Lilly's throat.

This Sylesti was here for only one thing, and that was to kill.

Suddenly, almost as abruptly as it started, the fight stopped. Somewhere in the distance, a light flicked on--Little had heard the noise.

"We've been spotted," a second voice said, likely from whatever was attacking Yale. Lilly's opponent jumped off of her, and she got up just in time to see a second male Zolnixi sprinting at full-speed across the clearing. The winged female spread her wings and flew off after him, leaving Lilly dazed and slightly confused.

Before she could contemplate what exactly had just happened, a soft groan startled her out of her own thoughts. Yale! He'd taken damage from both of the attacking Sylestis, no doubt he must be worse off than she. Running over to him, Lilly's eyes grew wide as she noticed blood pooling around him from where he lied, panting on his stomach. The skin on his left back leg had been almost totally torn off, revealing blood and muscle underneath. He also had deep gouges, from bites and scratch marks, all down his sides and near his hindquarters.

"What happened?" Lilly asked, helping him get to his feet. "Why did they attack you--who were they?"

"Do I look like I know?" Yale hissed, leaning heavily on her as they limped away from the scene. Some curious onlookers had already arrived, murmurs of questions rising as they watched from the shadows. "I don't feel like playing twenty questions right now, Lilly. Let's just...get back to the human. Whoever they are, they don't want to be around him."

As they limped off towards the house, Lilly couldn't help but wonder: were those two Sylestis wild? And if so, had they been lied to about everything? Was there some kind of counter-strike coming? Was any of this actually true, or had it been a setup? Each one of these thoughts made her stomach churn, and she tried not to think about any of them. She'd find her answers soon enough.

Chapter 4: A Midfall Night's Dream

"Well," Lilly sighed, watching Yale sleep on the human's bed. Flower sat next to her, tail wrapped gently around hers. "At least we didn't have to bribe him to come in, huh?" Little had only taken one look at Yale and had rushed him into the back room to get patched up, ignoring the large Sylesti's protests. Now he was asleep, his face scrunched up even in sleep, paws twitching ever so often.

"We're going to have to wait longer now," Flower replied. "For Yale to heal. We can't leave until he's ready."

"If he ever is, there's still a chance he won't dream and he won't want to go, anyway," Lilly reminded Flower, who twitched her tail in response.

"Try to stay positive. We can't let Tempest and Whipporwill down."

She had a point. The two of them had traveled far to be here, and had risked a lot, but...there was also the possibility that they'd ended up leading the two Zolnixi who had attacked them here. Not allowing herself to voice these doubts, Lilly swallowed heavily, before standing up.

"You stay and watch Yale, I'm going to go talk to them," she told her. "I want to know if they know anything about what happened tonight." Giving Flower a parting lick on the cheek, Lilly left, slipping out of the flap in the back door and making her way towards the fountain at the center of the backyard. Tempest and Whipporwill sat underneath it, speaking to one another in hushed tones. They stopped as soon as Lilly approached and faced her, both of them looking uncomfortable.

Why do they look like that? Lilly asked herself as she stopped in front of them. Do they feel guilty? Or are they afraid? She decided not to ask them any of that, instead saying, "Yale was attacked."

"We heard," Tempest said first, shuffling her feet. "We were afraid something like this might happen. The ones who run God's Warriors are very powerful, one of them has a crystal ball she uses to see things from far away."

"So you think she saw what you were doing and sent assassins to kill us?" Lilly asked cautiously. There was always the chance that they were lying to cover themselves, even if she didn't necessarily believe it. "If you thought it might happen, why didn't you tell us?"

"We didn't think they'd come so close to humans," Whipporwill explained. "But it looks like we were wrong." The three of them were silent for a moment, before Whipporwill asked, "Will he be alright?"

"Probably, the human's taking good care of him," Lilly replied. "But it means that we'll have to wait longer to leave. He won't be in any condition to by tomorrow."

Although they nodded in understanding, Tempest looked down. "I fear we may not have much time left..."

Just as she was saying that, a voice exclaimed from behind them, "Lilly!" The female turned, blinking in surprise as Flower ran up to her, panting slightly. "Come quick, I think he's dreaming!"

---

Flower and Lilly raced back to the house, flying through the door flap and skidding to a halt in front of the owner's bedroom. The door was still open, giving them a clear view of Yale, who seemed to be having quite the experience.

His face was twisting and scrunching in his sleep, as if he were trying to speak, but nothing was coming out. His claws were flicking in and out of his paws, digging into the bed momentarily, then springing back. The muscles in his legs seemed to be working tirelessly, though he was getting nowhere, churning the sheets on the bed with fervor. It was good that Little wasn't in the bed at the moment, or else Yale would certainly get shoved off, breaking his trance for sure.

Still, Lilly was a bit worried, and she looked to Flower. "Flower...what if he's having a terrible nightmare? What if it's got nothing to do with what we want it to?" Her mate flicked an ear to acknowledge her, before replying carefully;

"It's possible, but do we really want to wake him up and risk breaking his connection? If he's dreaming about the tribes, we need to let him work it out himself." The two fell silent again, watching as Yale's struggles became more violent, as if he were trying to escape from something.

Lilly couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She'd had some terrible dreams, herself when she was first learning of the tribe; horrible dreams, where she was chased by the echoing screams of dying Sylesti through deep, black forests. She wondered if Yale was having a similar experience as he thrashed about on the bed, tangling himself in the sheets.

Almost as soon as it had started, it stopped. The Vulnyx gave one last, great shudder and fell still, his chest heaving like it did after he'd finished a long sprint. Lilly and Flower leaned over, Lilly putting one tentative paw over the door's threshold. Just as she did, Yale's bright green eyes snapped open, focusing on her almost immediately.

"Well, kid," he huffed, looking thoroughly terrified. "It looks like you were right. We head out in the morning."

Chapter 5: Great(est) Expectations

"Yale!" Lilly protested as Yale hobbled out of bed, pushing his way through both she and Flower before going towards the kitchen. As he leaned down to take a drink of water from the water bowl, Lilly leaned down next to him so that they would stay eye-to-eye. "Listen, I'm glad you've had a change of heart, but you're in no condition to be going anywhere tomorrow! Your wounds have to heal!"

"My wounds'll be fine," Yale muttered, taking a sharp breath after he'd finished gulping down water. "I've gotten worse as a kitten, the human just over-reacts. I said we leave tomorrow, and we leave tomorrow." He spoke in the tone which usually signaled "we are done with this conversation," but before he could leave, Flower stepped in front of him.

"What made you change your mind?" She asked curiously. Yale hesitated, seemingly upset at her question, his ears flicking back and flattening against his skull.

His reply was simple and gruff. "Well, I--I saw my mother." That made Flower gasp audibly, and Lilly's eyes widen. Yale's mother? Yale had never talked about her much, but from what she knew, his mother named Nyx was a proud, independent female. She was certainly where Yale got his attitude and hotheadedness from. "She was--skinny, and her fur was falling out. She looked...really sick." That made sense. It seemed like all of the Sylesti from the mountains were starving, or sick, or both, if what she'd heard and seen had been true. "And she looked--old. She's never looked old."

"Did she speak to you?" Flower prompted again, once Yale had started staring off into space. He shook his head rapidly as if to clear it of cobwebs.

"Yeah...she did. She said that she missed me, and she hoped she'd see me soon. I think she thought--" he swallowed heavily again. "I think she thinks she's going to die soon."

Stepping forward, Lilly pressed her muzzle against Yale's, rubbing gently as she did. "I'm so sorry. That's why you wanna leave so quick, huh?"

"Yeah, kind of. I haven't seen her in such a long time...and when the dream ended, I kept hearing these awful screams."

"I heard them too, the first few nights," Lilly assured him, resting a paw on his shoulder. "Look...if you really wanna leave that bad we can try to go tomorrow. If things get too bad, I guess me and Flower can just carry you!" She said cheerfully, finally eliciting a laugh from Yale.

"Yeah...I'd really like to see you try that, Lilly. You're strong, but not that strong."

As the three Sylesti laughed amongst each other, Tempest and Whipporwill, who had been hanging around beside the open window, turned to smile at each other. The first part of their mission was now complete.

Now, they just had to get them there.

---

The morning seemed to come much too quickly for Lilly. As the sun rose over the horizon, it found Lilly watching the human ride off in his car as he always did in the morning, possibly for the very last time. She had tried to steel herself and steady her emotions, but found it impossible. She had always been a very sensitive creature, and she felt the waves of emotion crashing down on her before she had even spoken with anyone. This was going to be tough.

Turning away from the living room window, Lilly pushed her way through the plastic door flap one last time, letting her tail uncurl against it as she did. It was a familiar, almost comforting feeling, one she would undoubtedly miss. She would miss everything, she supposed, trotting over to the fence before leaping on top of it.

The Sylesti who hadn't stayed up through the night were now starting to wake up, making their way towards the food the human either left for them, or what had been killed and brought back during the night. Lilly spotted Flower emerging from under her rose bush, and she jumped down from the fence to greet her, wagging her tail slowly as she pressed her muzzle against hers.

"Flower," she sighed, looking steadily into her mate's eyes. "I'm scared." Lilly had been so ready to help the wild Sylesti when they first came, but now that she was facing a seemingly endless journey, she was having her doubts. Her heart was pounding, blood rushing and echoing through her ears, but somehow she managed to hear Flower's reply.

"I know. It's difficult to leave home, for any reason, but we're facing the possibility that we might not come back." Lilly's heart lurched. Flower seemed to notice this, and pressed closer against her. "But don't worry, Lilly. We've been taught well, and we're only going to learn more. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"I hope so..." Lilly trailed off, looking out across the backyard. From the morning mist, she could just make out Yale limping across the yard, carrying a bundle of something around his neck. Lilly and Flower gave him a curious look as he sat down, tail twitching. "What's around your neck, Yale?"

"Healing potions," he replied. "Midnight gave 'em to me, said these should be enough to last us until we reach the next Sylesti Village."

Sylesti Villages were common around these areas, even though most humans were unable to access them. They were protected by a special type of Ryori magic, which made them appear as dangerous or unnoticed places to most humans, places like garbage heaps or dumps. To other Sylesti, they were seen as what they were: bustling villages, filled with vendors and traders of all sorts. They were places of commerce, trade, and most of all, communication.

Still, Lilly wondered if their two escorts had even been to a Sylesti Village, or seen one coming down. They had been flying, after all, and it was quite likely that they hadn't even noticed one. If they were as old-fashioned as they seemed, they had probably never seen one before. As if on queue, Tempest and Whipporwill emerged from the barns, not appearing tired at all. In fact, they were looking better than ever--still skinny, but bright eyed and full of energy, definitely ready to move out.

"It looks like you two are ready," Flower remarked, flicking her tail with interest. The other two nodded, filled with glee, but Lilly felt herself growing more nervous. She felt their departure looming over them, and she looked over her shoulder once more at the human's home. She might not ever see it again. She might lose her life on this journey, like so many of the wild Sylesti had coming down from the mountain.

"Lilly?" Suddenly snapped out of her trance-like state by Flower's voice, Lilly turned to look at her, flicking an ear in response. "Are you alright?" Forcing herself to put on a brave face, Lilly nodded, grinning a bit.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Or...I will be." Flower didn't seem to convinced at that, but she didn't get a chance to say anything more before Tempest spoke up.

"The sun is rising," she told the others gently. "We should get moving now, if we can. It will soon get hotter, and if you'd like to hunt, this is going to be the best time to do it." Nodding in understanding, the three got to their feet and moved towards the back gate, Lilly expertly unlatching it so that they could move forward. Circling around the back of the farm, all five of the Sylesti sat, looking out over the vast expanses of rolling hills and forests stretched out in front of them with wonder.

"Well, we'd better get moving," Yale sighed. "We've got the whole world in front of us to get through."

okay well i tried editing on your prologue, this might be worse in your opinion...--


Twenty days and nights of nothing but traveling had taken its toll on the huge mass of Sylestis making their way down from the mountains and across the plains. There had been little time to eat or drink while they fled their doomed homes, as most of their time was spent fleeing from their assailants. Outside of their home territories, the prey quickly became less abundant for the meat-eaters, and the foliage, where there was any, was scraggly, tough, and hard to come by. It didn't take long for food to run out, and the air was filled with the wails of hatchlings whose mothers could no longer feed them. Those who hadn't starved, fallen from steep cliffs, or died from dehydration or exhaustion were nothing but skin and bones by this point-pushed on by nothing but sheer desperation. Perseus, one of the leaders, found himself distressed over these facts as they came to a stop near the base of the mountain to finally rest.

Perseus and those he looked after had come from the Northern region of these lands, and were used to living in the mountains. They had been living there, content for thousands of years. Perseus himself had grown up there before he was elected leader. His paws had grown used to navigating endless systems of caves, clinging to rocks and making critical decisions to survive life in the mountains, and keeping his Tribe strong. Now, he found himself mostly controlled by the basic instincts of survival, his body overcoming his mind in a fight to stay alive. He'd even taking to scavenging like a vulture off of kills long dead, ignoring the threat of disease in favor of the small chance of a meal.

However, there was still a morsel of his old self left in him. Perseus had managed to make a kill; a deer, a distant cousin of the Faelora, but it was a small one, barely fit to feed a single Lighira of his size. But then, he wasn't planning on eating it himself. Instead, he dragged it over to where a few of his Tribe's mothers laid with their hatchlings, depositing it in front of them so that they could feed.

"Oh, Perseus, thank you." The male turned upon hearing someone addressing him, recognizing it as Aphrodite, one of his mates. Although the two of them currently had no cubs, Aphrodite made it her job to watch over and take care of the other mothers and their hatchlings, feeling as though she had a duty to them. She was a strong, capable mate, but even she couldn't escape the effects of undernourishment. Her coat, which had once been sleek and shiny, was now rough and dull. Her eyes drooped, as did her lips, and her face was hollow and thin. One could count each of her ribs just from a glance at her, and she appeared as if she might fade away at any moment. "The mothers and hatchlings have had such a hard time. We've lost so many."

Leaning forward, Perseus pressed his muzzle against hers in a comforting gesture, noticing the way she looked down and her shoulders drooping. "Do not blame yourself, Aphrodite. There is nothing we could do."

"We should have stayed to fight," she sighed, shaking a bit as she leaned against Perseus. "There might have been a chance, if we'd only had..."

"Our enemies possessed the powers of the Gods," Perseus told her, leaning down to lick her ears. "We could never have defeated them, my love. We would have lost more had we stayed." The two looked over to where the mothers and hatchlings were cleaning off the remains, having stripped the deer down to its bones. They'd taken to cracking the bones to get at the nutritious marrow, and Perseus decided to leave them be. "Eat some, Aphrodite. I know you haven't. The woods nearby hold some prey, if you'd like to hunt."

Aphrodite looked to him as if to protest, but his knowing gaze silenced her. Even though he, too, was a shadow of his former glory, he still had a powerful and piercing gaze and the aura of a supreme leader. Nodding in understanding, the female set off to go hunt, her tail dragging limply in the dust behind her.

Folding his legs so that they rested under him, Perseus, himself finally laid down, his head drooping as he closed his eyes. He had to be strong, for his Tribe, but he couldn't help but fear that their ancestors had abandoned them-and that all of them were going to die anyway, be it from their enemies or from starvation. Hoping that he was wrong, Perseus willed his ancestors to send him a sign, any sign, as he drifted off to sleep, the stars blinking slowly overhead.