"Mar!" Gorian shouted, "Let go!"
Gorian did not believe his friend heard his shout. Mar was still hanging on to the shield after a device ripped it from Moraine's paws. As the blue and black felines watched, the green furre was dragged along the rocky slope. The shield then banged against a boulder and flipped into the air. Gorian instinctively held a paw to his mouth as he watched Mar fall into the shield. He could not recommend Mar to let go now.
"C'mon," Moraine instructed, "Let's get to him before your shield suffers damage."
Moraine dashed after Mar and Gorian followed, cautiously. He still felt a little weak after his stay at the vamp colony. He had no doubt that wherever Mar would stop, Moraine would get there first. He gently jogged and watched his friend bounce off every large rock in his downhill path.
Mar was approaching the tree line, Gorian mused. Soon he would be out of sight in the shadows of the growing forest. His shield took a nasty hit on a boulder and Mar shook inside. He flew, with shield, through the air and into the trees. Moraine was right behind him and soon disappeared in the woods herself.
Gorian entered the forest a moment later. It did not take him long to spot Moraine. She was standing in one spot, looking up. As he approached her, he too glanced up to where she was staring.
It was a giant structure with three large wooden blades rotating on the side of the wall facing him. Gorian heard of these buildings from stories of other cities in Furcadia. A windmill, was it? It appeared to be a little worn. Ivy draped over the roof and curled around one of the blades. The building itself was large, but still smaller than the surrounding trees. Gorian did not think anyone would be able to see it unless they were standing at the spot where Moraine and himself were now.
"Friends of the noble stranger!" shouted someone from the door of the windmill, "Welcome to my hut!"
Gorian could not see the furre, so he and Moraine approached the building cautiously. It was not until they reached a few feet from the doorway that he realized that there was a slightly plump orange musteline there. Gorian squinted a little. It was extremely bright inside the windmill and the furre's bright yellow hair and clothing did not help the ease of his eyes.
"I'm Uusha," she said, smiling, "I'm sorry to startle you. I wanted to get your attention, but I had no idea your friend would actually ride inside the shield."
"He has the ability to get himself and others into trouble," Moraine muttered.
Gorian and Moraine were lead inside by Uusha. The inside of the windmill was large and filled with curious devices, including the hand that got itself attached to the shield. Gorian had never seen anything like it. What was it made of? It was cold to the touch.
"Its amazing, Gorian," Mar said to his left, "There's no scratch at all to your shield."
Gorian looked over to Mar. He and a purple feline were examining the face of the shield. He was right, there were no scratches at all. If anything, the shield looked more polished. The blue G looked neat and sharp and the rays of yellow looked brighter than ever... but that might have been because of the intense light in the building.
"This is Jwapala," Uusha introduced the purple furre. She was well built, obviously someone who cared a great deal about her fitness. Her dark purple hair leaked over her ghostly white eyes. Even more intense were her white clothes that only seemed to reflect all the light in the room.
"Why is it so bright in here?" Moraine asked.
"I prefer it that way," Uusha replied, "I do must of my experiments in here."
"Experiments?" Gorian asked.
"To find answers to my questions," Uusha giggled as she lead them toward the back of the room, "Haven't you ever asked why the sky was blue everywhere except Slen? Why could you see the bottom of the ocean near Hlund? Or maybe you wondered why there were more felines in Furcadia than anywhere else?"
"But that has been explained," Gorian told her, "Ayem made Slen's sky orange. He also made the water clear along the west coast."
"Oh," Uusha frowned, "You're a follower of Ayem?"
"Yeah."
"Wait a minute," the musteline cried, "Who are you anyway?"
"I'm Gorian," he replied. Why would she demand who he was if she wanted to get their attention in the first place? This furre seemed intelligent, but she appeared dense too. She looked behind Gorian and asked Mar and Moraine who they were too. Gorian tried hard not to show his annoyance.
"Why did you bring us here if you didn't know us?" Moraine demanded.
On the other hand, Gorian mused, some furres would show their annoyance as soon as they could.
"You three looked worn out," Uusha replied, "I assumed you needed a place for the night."
"How could you see us?" Mar asked, "We were far away."
"With this," she answered pointing at an object by the window, "It uses mirrors to reflect and magnify light that reaches its lens."
"What's a mirror?" Gorian asked, "Or a lens while we're at it."
"Are there really maggots in here?" Mar asked as he reached for the object.
"It magnifies light," Uusha corrected him, "Look through the eyepiece."
Mar looked through the tube. He blinked a couple of times, then closed his left eye altogether. He frowned and lifted his head from the object, but still looked out the window.
"Wow," he said, "I could see the creek from here. But my head hurts."
"It takes some getting used to," Uusha giggled again, "I call it an eyescope."
"You three must be tired," Jwapala mused, startling Gorian. He completely forgot that she was there, "Why don't you three call it a night. The ladder leads to a floor with a few extra beds."
"I haven't slept in days," Mar said, "And I certainly welcome a bed."
"Thank you, Jwapala," Gorian smiled, "But I had been asleep for a long time already. Physically I'm worn out, but my mind is wide awake."
"So be it," she replied smiling, "Sileia made some food if you're hungry."
"Who's Sileia?" he asked.
Jwapala pointed to her right. Gorian followed her direction and spotted a young feline. How long was she here, he wondered. He did not notice her until now. She was very quiet. Her green eyes refused to make contact with the group. She was small and probably unnoticeable to anyone. Her blue fur literally clashed with her pink hair and markings. And her pink clothes were probably not the best fashion.
"Hi," he said, "I'm Gorian."
She simply smiled and walked into the next room.
"Sileia cannot speak, Gorian," Jwapala told him, "But she listens well. Mar, Moraine, I'll show you the bedrooms."
Gorian heard the three climb the ladder as he gazed around the objects in Uusha's large room. Some were scary looking, while others were ... puzzling. Uusha explained as many of them as she could, but her words basically bounced off his ears. Most furres considered Gorian intelligent, but these instruments were well over his head.
"I think I need to go outside for a moment," Gorian grinned, "Fresh air often relaxes my body."
"Curious," replied Uusha, "But all right. There's a balcony on the third floor. I can get a great view of the stars up there."
"Thanks," Gorian said as he walked to the ladder. He grunted as he climbed. The pain was still there, though he felt it was slowly going away. Soon he would be able to help carry his shield again. He only wished he knew where he and Mar were going next. He decided to wait until Mar woke up tomorrow. Gorian knew they needed a long conversation together anyway.
He reached the third floor and fought the urge to pant from exhaustion. It took most of his strength to get up there, so he knew he was going to stay at the balcony for a while. He struggled as he walked to his right, following a sharp cold breeze. He felt the hole in his red jacket and he remembered Gelae getting shot right through his body and this garment. Why complain about a pain that was going away, Gorian thought. He was lucky to be alive.
As he approached the planks extending out of the building, he paused. Stars littered the sky high above the trees. There were so many of them, Gorian thought. Moonlit would be happy here. There were only a few clouds tonight, which meant a good night show. He sat just inside the building, alongside a pillar and stared above him. He wondered how Moonlit and Kaelin where doing. How long had it been since he saw them?
Movement from inside the building caught Gorian's eye. He turned and found Sileia standing there, smiling. He smiled back. She bent down to him and offered him some warm food.
"Thanks," he said, "Its a great view here. Do you ever just stare outside like this for hours at a time?"
Sileia nodded.
"I did this all the time for years," Gorian continued, "Sometimes I wondered where the stars came from or how could there be so many of them. I suppose Uusha has answers for those too."
Sileia shook her head, grinning from ear to ear.
"No?" he laughed, "In a way I'm glad. Where's the fun in knowing everything? Though I admit, sometimes, I wish I knew a little more."
The pink haired furre sat next to him and stared out to the sky. Gorian thought back to Kaelin. He kept nagging her about information about his family. She said very little and at the time Gorian felt cross with her because of that. But perhaps she only knew a little. She did tell him about his grandfather though. And as it turned out, many Meovanni citizens knew of stories relating to him.
"You see those stars over there?" Gorian pointed to his right, "That's my grandfather, Gorian the Warrior."
Sileia snapped her head to him automatically.
"Something wrong?" he asked, "Do you know my grandfather?"
She stood and looked back to the sky. With her paws she clapped twice. Gorian looked to her, but then looked back to the forest. He heard something brush against some of the leaves out there. As Gorian struggled to stand up, something large flew toward them at tremendous speed.
"Ayem," Gorian gasped, "It's a bird... I think."
It was a fat bird. It flapped its wings as it descended toward the balcony. Its legs stretched out as it landed. The large bird was so heavy that the planks below creaked and struggled against the weight. It was certainly dark outside, but Gorian could make out a rein around its neck.
He watched as Sileia approached the beast with a wide smile and hugged it. The bird cooed softly to its friend. The feline mounted the grey bird and motioned Gorian to sit behind her.
"Well," Gorian said softly as he shrugged, "At this point in my journey I probably shouldn't be so surprised."
Awkwardly, Gorian climbed onto the bird. The feathers were soft... too soft. Gorian felt himself sliding off its large back. Sileia grabbed a hold of his left arm and wrapped it around her waist. Gorian nodded and wrapped his other arm in the same fashion. Just as he felt settled, the bird flapped its wings suddenly and Gorian found himself squeezing Sileia.
Sileia did not seem to mind, however. The bird flew off into the sky. The cold wind ruffled through Gorian's teal dyed fur. He shivered. Instinctively he tightened his hold on Sileia for warmth. She turned to look at him and smiled.
As they approached one of the clouds, Gorian's mind was filled with awe. How far up could he go? He often wondered what it would be like to fly and this trip certainly qualified as flying. Below he felt the trees and the windmill fall smaller until cold droplets of cloud drifted around them.
They were slowing down now. A few flaps, just like before when the bird was descending. Where were they going, Gorian thought. Not long after, he felt the bird land. The two furres bounced once and Gorian became aware of another presence... or more accurately, he felt a number of them.
Gorian looked into the cloud. He could see trees! And inside those trees, he could just make out a large building. His ears twitched as he recognized the sound of rolling water.
"Where are we?" Gorian asked.
Sileia looked back to her passenger again. Though her lips did not move, he heard her voice. It was deeper than he thought it would be, but as shy as he expected, for it was very quiet and almost haunting.
"Allegria Island."