She had never fully related to the term “clueless” more than she did now.
Cinna traipsed through the forest, her delight at its beauty slowly fading as she worried more and more on how to find the earth crystal. There were no paths, no signs, nothing that would guide her way even to get to the other side of the forest, much less how to find a priceless treasure within it. She hadn’t even found the wind crystal by herself; she had been led to it by her foxy friend Rye. Now she was utterly alone in a place where one could get lost as soon as they stepped inside.
A low growl made Cinna freeze and look around, her ears cocked to locate the source of the sound. The leaves overhead rustled as a dark figure jumped from branch to branch, too quick for her to make out exactly what it was. Suddenly it dropped to the ground, tensed in a crouching position and ready to strike. It wasn’t much bigger than she was, and Cinna was able to recognize the dappled coat as that of an ocelot. Only twice as big as a house cat, it was a formidable foe for a kalon such as herself. And yet, ocelots only hunted small prey… what was it doing attacking something so big in comparison?
Cinna didn’t have time to ponder this, jumping away only a split second before the ocelot slashed her with its claws. The two circled each other, one staring the other down, both waiting to see who would move first. As their eyes locked, she felt a chill run down her spine; the ocelot’s irises were an eerie purple. It looked half-starved, and the malice in its glare was too strong even for a predator. Was it diseased? Again she had to cut her thoughts short as it lunged at her again, its fangs only inches away from her muzzle. Another good look at the beast helped her put the pieces together: it had been Touched by the darkness that had spread through Kalokairi. Whether possessed or poisoned she didn’t know, and there was no way to find out. Not like this.
A whirlwind of claws snapped her out of her thoughts; she only just dodged in time. Luckily for her, the ocelot only managed to get a few tufts of fur between its claws, but this time it had managed to cut the string of her pack. It fell to the ground, and the ocelot turned its focus from her to the re-used flour sack. The creature pounced on it and picked it up in its jaws, spilling bread all over the ground. A good shake sent the wind crystal flying across the clearing, and Cinna felt her breath catch in her throat as the ocelot lunged towards the relic. “No…!”
She didn’t have time to say much more than that. As soon as the ocelot’s paws touched the crystal, a gust of wind tore through the forest. The beast let out an otherworldly screech as the wind crystal began to glow, trying to pull itself away but seemingly stuck to it. The wind grew stronger and stronger, bringing tears to Cinna’s eyes and drowning out the ocelot’s cries. A dark, hazy form phased out of the creature and thrashed about violently before being torn apart by the air currents. The wind finally stopped, and she and the ocelot fell to the ground.
Cinna got to her paws, blinking the dust out of her eyes. She carefully walked over to the wind crystal, the ocelot now lying a couple feet away. She put the treasure back in her bag, keeping one eye on the creature as she gathered her things. It didn’t appear to be dead, but she had no way of knowing if it would attack her again or not. As she replaced the last loaf of bread, she turned to see it looking back at her. She backed away quietly, glad to see it wasn’t hurt but still feeling uneasy after all the chaos.
At least she knew for sure the crystals would work against the darkness.
(694 words)
