~Distractions~



Past the Leaders’ Mound, past the Meet, Greet, and Eat Clearing, past the deadening trees in the forest, was Inferno’s den near the moorland. Echo’s pelt dampened as a drizzle streaked across his fur, and his paws begun to ache at the long walk. He forced away the temptation to turn back.

“Where are we going?”

To my friend’s den.

“You mean the friend that wants to risk his life to confront your mother?”

The fur on the back of Echo's neck lifted. Listen, Inferno is my friend, and we’ve been friends almost my whole life. He’s just…dedicated.

“A little too dedicated if you ask me. If you get there and he brings up Feather immediately, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

You know, I’m really starting to regret this whole friends thing.

“Wait, no! I was just concerned…I’ll stop, I promise!”

Echo peeked his head in his friend’s cave. Inferno was drawing at the back wall, turning when Echo was at the entrance.

“Hi, Ech!” Inferno purred.

There was a flicker of warmth in Echo's chest. He remembered Spire's anxious words. He seems to be doing okay now.

“Hi. Whatcha drawing?”

“I’m finishing up a drawing of a story my dad told me once!”

“Cool.” Now what?

“Has Feather visited you at all recently?” Inferno’s eyes dimmed. “You look worried.”

“Nope.” Echo resisted the urge to lick his ruffling chest fur. “I’m fine.”

“Well—since you’re here—maybe we should be coming up with a plan on how to confront Feather, and when.”

“Haha! ‘Called it!” The Mind-Wanderer said.

“We’re not confronting her.” Echo let out a weary sigh. “We’re reporting her. It’s up to the Lawkeepers to confront her. We have no power over her that will make her listen. Look, I didn’t come here to talk about Feather.”

“But pushing the situation aside is the reason Feather hasn’t been dealt with by now, you know. We could do it when Feather least expects it.” Inferno's eyes lit up. “We could barge into her den in the middle of the night while she’s sleeping! We could be like Lawkeepers on a special mission, collecting information!”

Echo felt a twinge of amusement. “Sure.”

“See what I mean about him not taking Feather seriously?” the Mind-Wanderer asked. “He makes this sound like some sort of game!”

Be quiet! Echo silenced the Mind-Wanderer’s voice. He’s probably just joking. “Okay, joke’s over.”

“But I’m serious! We have to break into her den and let her know how much—”

“Okay, if we were to hypothetically go through with this plan, and hypothetically just break into her den, she would just report us. And hurt me. And doing it at night is not the best idea.”

“But if it’s not when or how she least expects it, we’ll lose the element of surprise!”

The element of surprise. Now, because of your reckless meddling, Feather’s definitely expecting you to do exactly what you want to do! But before Echo could point this out, a loud yowl sounded from outside.

Stiffening, Echo peeked his head out. A cerrien emerged from the trees, crying out with as much panic as if the sky was falling.

“Everyone! Get in your dens and stay there! Guard your valuables!” he called out. “All the infected cerriens have escaped!”

“All of them?” Inferno gasped from just behind. “Aren’t there sentries all over the northern Medics’ Camp guarding them?”

“I think so,” Echo sucked in a harsh breath of air. “They must have gotten overrun!” He stared at the entrance anxiously—frozen to his spot—each moment expecting a ferocious infected cerrien to appear and lunge into the cave with its top eye sparked with rage and its mouth frothing. His gaze didn’t waver as he asked, “How many cerriens have the infection?”

“Rose was just here. She told me it’s been spreading like wildfire,” Inferno said. “Enough to cause some damage.”

“And if all of them are out on the loose attacking innocent cerriens, then even more will—” Echo broke off his sentence as a small but muscular cerrien crept from around the cave. Her bottom eye was darkened and cloudy.

“A diseased cerrien!” Inferno exclaimed. He barged past Echo, into the outside world, and leaped at her with claws outstretched. He pinned the ravage creature to the ground as she clawed and swatted at his face. .

Echo rushed up from behind as Inferno hissed, “Leave now or we’ll rip you into a million little pieces and use your pelt to wipe dirt off our paws!”

With a heave, Inferno was sent rolling on the tough, springy grass just outside the den. He leaped to his paws as she let out a low, harsh growl, whipped around, and dashed away.

“Ha!” Inferno watched as she fled, tail curling high over his ears. “She saw she was outnumbered and fled!”

Echo exhaled a breath of relief and joined him at his side. The rain from that morning had died down now, but the ground under-paw was still soaked with it and springy under his pads. He crept out and glanced around the side of the cave. Behind the den, Echo found a stunted thorn tree and ascended onto the trunk, but the view wasn't high enough to see past the swath of trees in the forest.

Inferno alighted onto the branch, nearly sending Echo tumbling back down.

"Way to frighten the life out of me!" Echo hissed when his whipping tail caught against a long thorn.

“The whole territory must be in complete chaos!” Inferno appeared as though ready to soar right out of the tree.

"Don't you dare try to fly out of the tree. You're not a bird." Echo squinted against the light from his friend's restless tail. “Let’s head back inside before we’re spotted up here—”

“I have an idea!” Inferno exclaimed. “We were able to fend off that one sick cerrien easily, right? Well what if we went out there and attacked more to help out the scouts already trying to round them up? They need volunteers!”

“No!” Echo whipped his head around, checking with unease to be sure no other cerrien lurking nearby had heard. “Are you out of your mind? We’ll be shredded!”

“But that infected cerrien was so easy to beat!” Inferno protested.

“Is he stupid?” The Mind-Wanderer sounded appalled. “He’s gonna get himself killed!”

“But there’s just two of us and a whole bunch of them!” Echo jumped down from the tree and trotted back into Inferno’s cave. “We’ll be safer inside.”

“There’s plenty of scouts out there already.” There was the sound of fur brushing against grass as Inferno caught up with him and met him inside the cave. “I’m sure of it, and we’d be helping the tribe—”

“No!” Echo whirled around. “Haven’t you paid even the slightest bit of attention to what I said in the past? No running off on dangerous missions for no reason! There’s no need to put ourselves in danger like that!” He glanced at the walls of Inferno’s cave and all the things assorted on the floor, Surely there was something here to distract his friend? He noticed the drawing Inferno had been working on earlier looked complete. “Um…what about storytelling? You could tell me the story your dad told you.”

Inferno's ears twitched. “How would that help the tribe?”

“By giving the Medics less injured cerriens to treat? They’re already busy enough as it is without a some brainless cerrien running off and severely hurting himself just because he wanted to help the tribe!”

Inferno's ear-tufts dimmed.

Guilt seared Echo's harsh words. “Look—Inferno—I’m sorry. There’s just been enough going wrong in the tribe lately without—”

“It’s okay,” Inferno reassured him. “I get it.” He gazed into Echo’s eyes. “I’ll stop trying to run off. I promise—for real this time.” He turned to the art of his wall. “I’ll tell that story now.”

“Ooo!” The Mind-Wanderer mewed as Echo settled down on the packed dirt floor. “I’ve heard this one before! It’s my favorite story!”

“Legend has it that many, many years ago, there was a terrible revolution!” Inferno lifted his tail. “The Spirit-Watcher was hiding from the attackers with his egg, but was told to leave Moorest to find refuge somewhere else. During the journey, the Spirit-Watcher was warned by the spirits that his kitten would grow up to do terrible things, and that the father should not let him live.”

Recognition flashed in Echo’s mind. “I know that story."

"Really?" Inferno's ears perked up.

There was a question in his eyes, and now Echo's pelt burned. "Er—I time-traveled once and saw it."

"You saw it?" Inferno's jaw dropped. "Lucky!"

“I saw the spirit tell the father that the egg had to die, or else something terrible would happen. I didn’t stay long enough to his reaction, though.”

“You saw that?” Even the Mind-Wanderer sounded shocked.

“I thought it was just a story!” Inferno's paws were shaking. "I heard it was passed down from hundreds of years ago!”

Echo nodded. “I mean, it’s been such a long time and Fintaria’s still intact. The father must’ve listened to the spirit’s plea.”

“This is crazy...” Inferno said. “Sometimes I forget how insane your powers can be…especially if you learned to control them…” Then he jerked up. "Wait! You saw the ghost, too?"

Lightning danced across Echo's pelt. Why do I get the feeling I know exactly what he's about to say?

"Does that mean..."

"It means nothing." Echo said. "It's probably just a part of my powers. I'm a spirit when I time-travel, too. That means I would reasonably be able to see whatever spirits are there."

"But, Echo! What if—"

"It's nothing, Inferno. Trust me." All this Spirit-Watcher stuff has been getting to everyone's heads!

Inferno's gaze lowered to the floor.

Echo shifted his paws. No way he thinks I'm the Spirit-Watcher! I mean, come on! Mind-Wanderer, you can confirm to me that I'm right, can't you?

"You really saw that..." The Mind-Wanderer sounded as though Echo had just described watching a litter of kittens dropped from a cliff. "What else have you seen?"

Echo recoiled at the urgency weaving within the voice. Nothing like that, that's for sure! I typically just see random scenes that amount to nothing or stuff about Feather.

"Are you sure?"

Yes! Why?

"That's just so insane...Imagine what can be done with your powers, Echo!"

"What now?"

Inferno's words hauled Echo back into his surroundings. What now? The threat of possible attacks seeped right back into his nervous stomach, and he guessed Inferno was the same with fighting the infected cerriens. He again scanned the myriad of drawings scratched on the walls. There’s got to be something…

Echo noticed a fresh drawing next to the Spirit-Watcher’s egg—a firefly with a small passage under it reading:

Lightning the Firefly: for may he rest in peace where he currently lies at the site of his sorrowful, undeserved death.

Lightning…Lightning…I should know this! This memory wasn’t even about Feather! Why can’t I remember…?

“You kept a firefly as a pet?” The Mind-Wanderer was clearly mesmerized.

“Oh, yeah! I did that drawing of Lightning not too long ago.” Inferno followed Echo’s gaze to the firefly. “Seeing him for the few moments he was with us was one of the most important times of my life!”

Before Echo could reply, he was thrust once more into the familiar, light filled tunnel.

What are you doing? Echo's limbs thrashed in protest. If Inferno realizes I’m suddenly time-traveling, it’ll scare the life out of him! He hates it when I do that!

“Relax! You’ll only be gone for a heartbeat!” The Mind-Wanderer’s voice tickled his ears. “I wanna see how this “Lightning” stuff happened! And you clearly need a refresher, too!”

Echo was now in a grassy clearing, with many tiny yellow lights twinkling like fallen stars. The night sky overhead was clear, with wisps of blue and speckles of white. Two small kittens—Inferno and a light gray striped kitten with sky-blue eyes, horns, and spikes—were sitting in front of them, with Inferno’s orange ear-tufts nearly matching the fireflies that surrounded them.

"Take me back!" Echo whirled around in anticipation for the Mind-Wanderer's arrival.

“Shush!” The Mind-Wanderer snapped. “It’s starting!”

The cerrien’s black figure materialized beside Echo, only a pair of eyes if not for the light streaming from Inferno's ear-tufts.

Echo sighed and shifted his gaze towards the kittens. His fur prickled with unease when he caught sight of the light gray kitten.

“That’s not me anymore,” Echo mumbled. At least he was outside his body when he time-traveled. “But I still can’t seem to escape it...”

“Why are you so hard on yourself?” Echo flinched as though a searing bolt of lightning had crashed onto him. The Mind-Wanderer had overheard him. “What’s there to prove?”

“The fireflies are so pretty!” the gray kitten chirped.

The Mind-Wanderer switched his gaze from the light gray kitten and back to Echo. “Huh…I recognize Inferno, but…that light gray cerrien looks a lot like you. The kitten’s voice…did you have a sister?”

“Hey, Echo! I have an idea!” squeaked Inferno.

Echo heard a gentle gasp, and his pelt burned as the Mind-Wanderer’s gaze was trained on him.

“It’s you…you’ve certainly…changed a lot since you’ve grown up, huh?”

“It’s not me.” Echo stared at the Mind-Wanderer straight in the eye. “Not anymore.”

“I understand…you feel like you have to prove you are what you say you are.” The Mind-Wanderer sighed. “You shouldn’t have to. I never would’ve guessed if not for this…” He shook his head as though not knowing what to say next.

“Uh…thanks…” He was bound to find out eventually, I suppose… Echo told himself. Just like everyone else, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

“Let’s keep one of the fireflies as a pet!” Inferno’s suggestion jerked Echo from his thoughts.

“A firefly as a pet?” the gray kitten protested. “What if it flies away?”

That’s right…Echo could detect a tiny hole in the fog that had clogged up his mind. Lightning must’ve been a firefly we kept as a pet. I think I remember now.

“We’ll make a little leaf house for it so that it will be so happy it won’t want to fly away!” Inferno looked around, searching for something. He then picked up a stray stick laying on the ground and lifted it into the air. “C’mon fireflies! Land on the stick or we’ll make you!”

“I’ll start making the den for it!” The light gray cerrien swiveled from side to side. It wasn't long before many small twigs and pebbles were gathered. Tiny leaves plucked from a nearby shrub were spread out on a flat stone. The twigs were arranged on top, their ends gathering together in a point at the top.

“I got one!”

Inferno came scampering back with the stick in his mouth. A tiny, flickering yellow dot clung for dear life to the end of it.

“Set the stick down gently, so that we don’t scare him!”

The tiny den flickered to life as Inferno leaned in and gently rested one end of the stick upon the edge of the stone. The little speck remained planted on its perch.

“I think his wing might be hurt.” Inferno's ears drooped. “It looks a bit damaged. It was like that when I found it.”

The light gray kitten gazed down at the firefly to get a closer look. Though Echo couldn't see from where he was sitting, he could imagine one tiny black wing shriveled and arranged in an awkward angle.

“Oh no!” The Mind-Wanderer exclaimed. “What will happen now?”

Echo rolled his eyes. You're watching my own past like this is some sort of show for entertainment! He paused, catching himself. My past? Was this his past? It doesn't feel like mine, but I guess that's what it is. He watched the kitten version of Inferno, stifling a small purr of amusement at how his ear-tufts appeared too large for his head. Not all of my past is worth shutting away, after all. When it comes down to it, I wouldn't say I was happy, but I was happy in these small moments with Inferno. He's always been the closest thing to an escape I've ever had.

The firefly crawled off of the stick and was heading into the little den.

“He likes my construction skills!” the gray kitten beamed.

“What should we name him?” Inferno wondered.

“Hmmm…how about…Lightning!”

“Yeah! Lightning!”

The glow of orange and blue from the cerriens lazily nuzzled the stone so that Lightning was merely a black speck against its surface. Occasionally his abdomen would twinkle yellow, gently illuminating the inside of his shelter. Then there was the flick of a tiny wing.

“I think he wants to fly,” Inferno said.

“If he can’t fly, then he can’t get away from predators,” the gray kitten's whiskers twitched. “That means he needs us to protect him!”

“Yeah!” squeaked Inferno. “What if he’s the king of a firefly kingdom? He needs guards!”

“All hail Lightning! The ruler of all fireflies in Fintaria!” the gray kitten purred. “It shall be our sacred duty to protect this injured king firefly with all our lives. The fate of firefly-kind could depend on it!”

Echo's tail drooped. Were there really times like this when I could act so carefree? If only the mist in his head concealing moments like these could clear up.

“Lightning, you’re the best firefly ever!” Inferno said. “The best of the best! I don’t know what’d we do without you! We promise that no detriment will ever come upon you!”

A call sounded from farther down the slope.

“Inferno! Echo! Did you run off? It’s getting late! It’s time for you both to come back to the den!”

There was a chill in Echo's pelt when he heard his time called.

The kittens' heads turned towards a slope. Streaking towards them was Volcano’s glowing orange ear-tufts, paws, and eyes. The fiery light brushed gently against his night-black fur. He slowed his step as he neared them.

“C’mon, kittens. Time to go home!” His orange gaze landed on Inferno in particular. "Inferno, what did I say about organizing your own adventures without telling anyone?"

"I told Echo," Inferno chirped.

Volcano heaved out a sigh. The light gray kitten was watching him with an apologetic gaze.

"Come on. We're going back to the den." Volcano ushered them towards him with a sweep of his tail.

“But what about Lightning?” Inferno protested.

“About what—?” Volcano took a step forward and stepped directly on the firefly, which had grown brave enough to venture from the den and skitter across the stretch of grass.

Echo ducked when the Mind-Wanderer dramatically gasped.

“Lightning!” The Mind-Wanderer wailed. “Oh the irony!”

“Lightning!” The gray kitten shrieked. “Nooooooo!”

“Lightning!” Inferno gasped and turned to his father. “You killed him!”

“What? I—” Volcano stammered, his chest fur glaring as though it had caught fire.

“Hey!” The Mind-Wanderer called out to Volcano. “Murderer!”

“Get your paw off of him!” the gray kitten nudged the older cerrien with a cream-colored paw.

“How could you do such a thing?” Inferno snarled, outraged, as Volcano lifted his paw. The squashed body of Lightning lay there, flattened and destroyed. “He’s spilling bug juices!”

“I didn’t know there was a firefly there!” Volcano gasped, voice filled with guilt. “I’m sorry!”

“What disgrace!” The light gray kitten gently shuffled together the tiny remains of Lightning with quivering paws. “You killed the life we had sworn to protect, you monster!”

“Yeah!” The Mind-Wanderer turned to Echo. “The nerve of some cerriens!”

Echo lashed his tail. “Can't we just go back now?"

“I need to see how this ends!”

Echo stood and leaped in front of the Mind-Wanderer, his pelt now spiking. "Stop acting like this is some performance put on to amuse you! This is meant to be my past!”

"Your past that you can't even seem to remember!"

Echo flinched. "Shut up!" But inwardly he felt a hard weight on his shoulders press down harder.

I'm sorry, Inferno. I shut it away, and now there's so much I don't know.

“I’m so sorry to have been the cause of such a tragic death,” Volcano murmured. “Lightning was a good firefly. He will always be remembered.”

Echo hung his head and closed his eyes as the kitten version of Inferno let out a soft wail edged with anger.

"Look, I'm sorry." The Mind-Wanderer's voice urged Echo to meet his gaze again. "If there are things from your past that you want to cling onto, it's not fair that you can't remember them."

"Can we go back to the present now?"

The Mind-Wanderer let out a sigh. "Okay."

Echo's vision was blasted with a massive ray of blinding light. He shut his eyes until Inferno's voice droned into his ears.

“I remember the day as if it just happened. If only my father had the sense to look where he was going.”

"See? I told you. That didn’t even take a heartbeat! You weren’t even gone long enough for Inferno to notice!"

Huh… Echo could only nod at Inferno's words. At least he doesn't seem to realize that I couldn't remember. Shame burned his pelt. It's not fair! However disconnected from some aspects of my past that I am, that doesn't mean I want to shut away memories of my friend!

A caterwaul pierced the sky. Echo whirled around, his tail slapping the air. Two cerriens, one black and white, the other a soft light brown—both with slightly clouded bottom eyes—were dragging another cerrien with white fur to the ground just outside the mouth of the cave.

“Hey!” Inferno yowled, charging outside and flinging himself at the brown cerrien.

"Inferno, wait!" Echo exploded into movement. What are you doing?

The victim of the attack sprang up to their paws and helped Inferno pin the brown one to the ground. The two of them slashed at their opponent with strong blows. Echo leaped at the black and white cerrien, knocking him onto the grass with a dull thump. The black and white cerrien stayed still for a few moments before struggling back to his.

“Don’t let him bite you!” The Mind-Wanderer exclaimed. “That’s what infects you, isn’t it?”

Echo sprang for his opponent’s shoulders before his enemy had any chance to make the first move. They tumbled over and over on the grass, rolling down the slope towards the moor and eventually breaking apart.

Echo struggled to regain his breath as he clumsily righted himself and gazed across the hills. The black and white cerrien crouched still for a few moments, then paced towards him. Echo waited there, ready to spring when the time came.

Then the other cerrien broke into a run, streaking towards him at full speed. Echo blindly lashed out his paws with a squeak. Go away! The sound of a body hitting the grass perked up his ears. He jumped and landed squarely on top of him, pinning him to the earth. The infected cerrien thrashed, a whirlwind of black and white casting a furious glance in the direction of where Inferno and the other infected cerrien were fighting.

I won’t let you harm Inferno! Echo dug his claws deeper until fear joined fury in the infected cerrien’s blazing green eye.

“Are you going to kill him?” The Mind-Wanderer sounded thrilled.

Kill him? Echo stared down at the infected cerrien. Blood was spilling from where Echo had inserted his claws. It stained the ends of his paws. At some point it must have sprayed upward, because his cream-colored chest was now spattered with dark red. Echo choked for air. What have I done? It’s not his fault he’s acting like this. I’d be just as bad as one of them. Actually, I’d be even worse…

Echo released his grip.

The black and white cerrien lay there, flanks heaving. He scrambled to his paws and staggered for a few heartbeats until he was able to find stability. Blood trickled down his patchy fur. There was a jagged nick in his ear. He growled, slowly withdrawing from Echo with a bristling pelt stirred by the wind. Echo rocked on his paws, his eyes frozen to where the infected cerrien was retreated down the slope and across the moor.

He’s too weakened to try and attack again, Echo reasoned. If guards see him he’ll be easily captured.

He hurried back up the slope to see if Inferno and the other cerrien had any luck in defeating the other sick attacker. Inferno watched as a group of strong scouts dragged the sick cerrien away. One of them must have reported the situation and asked for reinforcements.

At the sight of Echo, Inferno was a flurry of brown and orange flying in Echo's direction. His friend just managed to skid to a halt before crashing into him. Echo's nose twitched. He doesn't look hurt. He's not limping. Actually, Inferno's eyes were alive and bright.

"That was great!" Inferno raised his tail high in the air. "We fought off three infected cerriens in one day!"

That was winning? Echo shuddered. Fighting that infected cerrien in the tree was one thing. I never thought I'd...

“What happened to the other cerrien?” Inferno asked. “Did you chase him away?”

I almost killed him. Echo couldn’t erase the sight of the bloodstained cerrien lying on the ground, its terror clear in every rise and fall of its breath and every part of its emerald-flashing eye. “I…yes…” Echo stammered. “He’s gone.”

Inferno pressed against him, making Echo’s pelt flood with warmth. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” Echo nosed him away, his pelt suddenly scorching. “I don't feel any pain.”

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Inferno asked. “We can go back to your den for your medicine if you want.”

“Wasn’t that so exhilarating?” The Mind-Wanderer exclaimed. “You aren’t really going to take that medicine, are you?”

Well...

"If I’m going to give you any advice as your new friend, I’ll give you this. If you want to prove you’re strong, especially to the friend you wanna be yellow-partners with, you—”

How do you know about that?

“Well, I’m in your head. I was bound to find out at some point, right?”

Echo gave an inward sigh. Whatever! It’s none of your business!

“Okay, okay! So what I was saying: You shouldn’t need to take the medicine. Things like that happen, and you need to learn to withstand it. I mean, come on! Wasn’t that so cool?”

But I nearly killed him!

“You didn’t, though! You stopped and realized what you were about to do. Think of it like this, you didn’t kill the cerrien, but you gave it its greatest weakness: fear. It won’t mess with another cerrien like you, will it? You could’ve just saved a life, Echo! You’re a hero! You shouldn’t be feeling shock, you should be feeling triumph!”

Maybe you’re right.

“I’m fine, really,” Echo told Inferno. “I don’t need it.”