The Witch, The Wizard, and The Out-Worlder

A Long Trek, A Beautiful View

   

Off in the distance, I could make out a large white tower just above the large foliage. It had to be the Out-Worlders. My heart began to race with the thought that I may be home in just a few short hours. I let the vision soak in for a few seconds. In my excitement, I almost failed to notice how dense the plants and trees became the closer they grew to the tower. After a few more moments of observation, I decided I should wake Felix from his nap so he could see how close we actually were.

It didn't take me but a few minutes to jog back down the hill and skid in next to Felix. As I came to a complete stop next to his side, the dust caught up and clouded over us.

"Felix!" I screeched as I shook his arm. He quickly sprung awake, ready for action. "Calm down, nothings wrong."

He took a sigh of relief and proceeded to fan the dust away from his face, "Then what is it? Have I been asleep for too long? I lose track, dreams are so entrancing... all the mice..."

Before I knew it, I was up on my feet and I had started walking up the hill, "No, it's not that. I walked to the top of the hill and I saw it, the Out-Worlders's tower. It's just a little bit farther!" I couldn't help but to nearly shout, I was so excited to leave this world and go back home.

"That's good news then. Let me gather up our things so we can leave. I'll do it in just a second..." His eyes began to droop as he grabbed his bag, all the while slowly creeping back to his sleeping position. I jogged over and pulled him up before he could get too comfortable. His eyes opened and he forced himself to wake up, "I don't think you know how to properly nap. One of these days you should let me teach you, life is so much easier when you nap." Without further hesitations, Felix began packing his things, this time without his eyes drooping.

A sudden realization hit me, "My mom is probably worried sick right now." I thought out loud. She would wake up that morning and not see me. She would think I ran away because of the vacation I was going to miss. My mind began to race thinking about what they were doing, how they were reacting to me being gone.

"We will get back home soon. Just you wait and see." Felix was sweet, there was something about the way he spoke to me that relaxed me and eased my worries. Just being around him gave me a sense of ease.

We spent only a few minutes packing until we were ready to go, "Let's get going. We're so close." I let out a heavy breath. I knew it wasn't far ahead, but the thought that this may be over soon, I felt a little sad. It was a whole new world, a part of me wanted to explore it, but if I did, I risk a lot more than I would like to.

When we reached the top of the hill, Felix got a chance to see the spiral tower break through the forest. "It's not far at all," he sounded relieved upon seeing how close it truly was.

"They always say that the last ten percent is the hardest." I joked. I don't think Felix realized I was kidding, as he made no response. That was a down side of him being a cat up until recently, sarcasm went nowhere with him.

The journey downhill was a slow decent into shaded darkness. The forest was so dense that it blocked out most of the sunlight. There was a completely different feeling from the rest of the world. It was significantly cooler in the shadows. The wildlife was scarce, but present. I could see and hear things as they skittered through the shadows, watching intensely. Little yellow orbs shimmered in the depths of the shadows while small twigs snapped, sending me on edge.

"Hey Felix." I called out to him. My nerves were on end, I wanted to hear a familiar, friendly voice.

He turned to look at me, "Yes Keiko." He answered, not looking at all nervous or scared, in fact, he looked like he was plotting. His eyes were squinted, always looking around, eyes darting from side to side.

"It's different down here; I think I can see things in the darkness. It feels like something is watching us." I whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"There are plenty of eyes watching us, but they are only curious." It was as if he knew, he was so sure of his response, "My eyes are not what they were as a cat, but I can say with certainty that these eyes do not have the intent to hurt."

I took another look around, "So, you're not worried at all?" I asked him. Just the sheer number of eyes were enough to be intimidating.

"They are truly just as afraid of us as you are of them. I can see it in their eyes, I promise." I heard more twigs snapping while he spoke. The creatures were in a mad frenzy trying to keep up with us. The bushes shook and leaves brushed together.

"What are they?" Everything was so different, I doubt he could answer with any amount of certainty.

"I cannot say, all I do know, is that I can hear them panting and running in circles. At times, I can see their eyes blinking vigorously. If nothing else, they are in a panic." It was only when he mentioned this, that I could make the same distinctions.

Off to the sides, I could see flashes of their eyes as they stared at us. I can hear the soft pants as they gasped for air while they kept up with our pace. It wasn't often, I'd imagine, that they had strangers in their end of the forest.

The path toward the castle began to twist and turn as well as fork. After so long, I wasn't sure we were even heading in the direction we needed to be in. I wasn't sure if Felix felt the same because his expressions were unreadable.

"I feel like we aren't going in the right direction. Maybe we took a left when we were meant to head right." I felt like I could just keep rambling on and on with my complaints.

"It is hard to tell, but I feel like we are moving towards the castle." He wasn't as sure of his answer as he normally was, that made me more nervous that I already felt. If we we're going in the wrong direction, we would never know.

"Should we turn around?" It was hard to get any sense of direction. There was no sun to guide us.

"Cats have a great sense of direction." It was all he said, but it didn't help the ebbing feeling in my gut.

"Felix, you're not a cat anymore, can you be sure your sense of direction is still," I paused, trying to find the right words, "in tact?"

"If my sense of direction is not the same, how would I know? I am running on instinct alone." Even though he wasn't certain, he acted as if he was, which, to an extent, was re-assuring, though I still wasn't satisfied we were on the right path.