Silver Dust's Journey

Through the Mountains

Silver Dust blinked open her eyes. She had accidentally fallen asleep. She was curled up in an abandoned Peregrine Falcon nest with Compass pacing close by. He was cackling a tune in some foreign language. It sounded like this:

"Kloqoejk kesasultijik ne'pîti'kw

Waisisji'jk weli maliamujik

Ansale'wit jikeiwaji Silver Dust

Ke'sk Kisu'lkw jiko'teket

Wjit ki'l aq wjit ni'n

Ksite'taqnji'j wli-npa nike'j

Mukk wktayulij poqnitpa'q

Piskwasit tepknuset ta'n eymin

Aq Kisu'lkw jiko'teket wjit ki'l aq wjit ni'n"

"What are you singing?" The kitten asked, her gaping mouth wide as she yawned.

"Ah! You are awake! I was just singing a little song in luauzurosh, the language of the Beavers from the frozen north. Their language is beautiful, don't you think?"

Silver Dust nodded and asked, "Which way do we go?"

"There," The bald eagle stretched out his enormous wing, his leading primary feather pointing east, 

"Towards the rising sun."

The kitten trotted on rocky ridges as swiftly as a mountain goat with Compass flying over her head. T

The mountain's snowy peaks sparkled good luck to the two.

"Silver Dust!" The eagle blabbed. The kitten looked up to see what circumstance made her new friend cry out like so, with out a lengthy explanation that followed.

On a cliff above was a family of pale-furred mountain lions. They were the most dangerous creature in these mountains, known for being able to catch huge eagles, like Compass. From where Silver Dust was standing, they were just smudges among the rocks. She counted two big cougars and three smaller ones, juvenile cats, but who knew how many more of them were hiding among the boulders. 

There was doubtless that there were enough mountain lions there to snag a whole Convocation of eagles.

"Compass! Come down! Those are mountain lions! They'll catch you in one leap!" Silver Dust perceived that the young eagle was too unsophisticated about life in the mountains to know what cougars are and how many eagles they took down in a moon.

"No one catches eagles! We, raptors, are uncatchable. Those cats can't fly. I can, if they jump, I'll just fly away! Easy, right? I only cried out because I thought it was a bear, and bears eat cats, and your a cat. Well, anyways, that cougar... wait... one, two, three, four... those five cougars have no chance of catching me, absolutely zero per..."

A huge, cat-like, pale orange silhouette slammed into Compass. The bald eagle stalled.

"Okay Silver Dust you were right mountain lions are dangerous I should have listened to you if I did I wouldn't have gotten caught mister cat please get off of me I mean it fine whatever but you'll say sorry that you didn't afterwords!" The young bird jabbered in one breath. To Silver Dust's surprise, Compass swiftly spread out his crumpled wings and flew straight upwards like a peregrine falcon that lost it's sense of direction.

After doing multiple swerves, loops, and swirls, the cougar fell into the dark abyss below, screaming with terror.

Compass was soaring high above, his dark feathers looking bright as ever against the misty grey sky. He swooped down to stand next to the wide eyed kitten.

"B-but how..." Silver Dust began.

"Come on, let's go! Before those screaming rascals attack again!" The eagle proudly puffed out his feathers and glided off.

Silver Dust stood still for a few moments, momentarily glancing at the high cliff where the mountain lions had arranged their ambush on the talkative eagle. But the ambushers were nowhere to be seen in the dense underbrush. Not a speck of pale fur showed through the light-coloured leaves.The silver kitten hurried along the rocks after Compass. She spotted him circling the skies, evidently looking for a path out of the mountains. Soon, he did something like a small dance in the air and hurriedly flew to the young cat.

"What is it Compass? More cougars?" Silver Dust inquired with worry. She in no circumstances wanted to hear another one of those big mountain cats to fall screaming into the rocky chasm.

"Oh, no no no! Not at all! Not after I threw one of their friends down." The bald eagle attempted to look modest, but unsuccessfully, "I found a path through the mountains. We'll be out by tomorrow morning!"

The silver kitten went bulge eyed with surprise, "You mean we'll travel all night long?!"

"Ok, maybe not," Compass yawned, "Goodnight." The eagle carelessly flopped down on the rocks. Silver Dust rolled her eyes and sighed but settled down next to her friend.

"I'll be out of the mountains tomorrow," She whispered happily to herself, "Out of the mountains..."