~ It started to rain, and I couldn't cry enough tears to forget their faces. ~
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The pattering of a wet droplet landed onto Riley's nose while he'd drifted into a deep slumber. The fox from before was now a cat in all white; a Maine Coon with watchful eyes of two separate shades. It was fixated not on the sleeping boy, yet on the way the bed he'd crafted had kept them both afloat for this long.
Riley's nose twitched by a sudden spray of ocean waves. He jutted from his lying position, and nearly was washed away – head first into the waters which had wrapped their wavy drifts upon the trundle's frame. It swooned to the song of the waters while the long-haired feline in all white merely anticipated the boy rising to beat the odds and take hold of his new title without causing a ruckus.
~Are you awake? Are you truly? ~ The cat blinked and batted its long and pretty whiskers to sway from side to side. Riley fully now, had awoken in a daze as the waters threatened to sink his metal and wooden vessel down into the deep.
Just like the world here; which was still cloaked in night time darkness, the sea stayed only as silent as its wailing could count on reaching such young and deaf ears.
~What happened!! ~ He gasped and gripped onto the headboard for extra security. Dying again would drain him terribly, he'd already felt the annoying itch of a cold frost that seemed to live on forever in his memories.
But, if he was a creator as the "creation" had spoken and not a god, then why did he have a moment of reincarnation at all? Was that what this was? A simple quest? He had not a thought as Riley tried to stay aware of the night sky above, and of the cat on his chest.
~You fell into the spell of dreams and awoke to the riot of the World's confusion. You tried to leave your role with you, behind it. ~
Ah, he'd not gotten it mad – but this was the World's one rule. You could not leave unless it gave the O.K.
Riley stuttered and shook his head. Was this cat working with the World? ~I didn't think resting meant starting over! –
~You said it in your mind, you did. ~ Recited the cat. ~Rest will erase all progress. ~ It finished, leaving Riley red and afraid to even shut his eyes again. The cat could read his thoughts?
~I wanted to get some sleep so I could figure out how to do what you wanted, but without having to lose any of my memories. ~
~It is forbidden to keep them. Even with your title, you must restart what was and begin here to discover your true purpose –
~I was just a kid in high school! ~ Riley shook his head again frantically and heard the sea thunder at his blight on their world. It made him yelp back in surprise.
~You said that your rest would erase a part of your past. Then, let it do what it may in order to have this role fulfilled –
~I can't! ~ Riley shouted at the cat over the roaring waves now.
~You will not be allowed to return if you cannot sacrifice a small part of yourself. ~
~That's blackmail! And it's not small! I basically die if a do or don't do what your overlord wants! ~
~That, was your wish. ~ The cat interjected. ~YOU wanted to escape and so, you have. ~
~Not on an old bed in the middle of the…ocean! ~ Riley whined and tried to see past the cat's puffy shoulders.
Its one amber eye was close to glare, when Riley soon missed his chance to tell it off and fell with a great SPLASH into the water.
~Help!!~ Riley threw up his arms and tried to keep from failing – he had to get out of this place! It was dangerous and dying three times wasn't healthy for growing boys.
~Why not create!! ~ The cat was whisked away off with the bed, to never be seen for the time it took Riley to come to the conclusion… that his hands were tied. The cat was just a guide, not a boy scout with tools to help anyone but itself in this situation. Not a life guard to keep his companion from dying, young at all as he still was!
~Create??? CREATE!! I wish I had a school of fish to lift me up by –
~OW! ~ The prodding of of his pant leg by a school of strange fish was no mystery, as Riley realized that his words had helped with the rescue efforts as well. Was he not a real god then??
They shoved the boy forwards into the sea's waves until he'd come face to face with a sight of bare land at the surface. A grotto just below. Riley pointed, and the school of fish sent him to his designated location of choice.
As soon as Riley had step foot onto the sand, the world sped up and the sands became as before. A desert cloaked in darkness. Only this time, the moon was not as full. Was it getting smaller?
The cat from before had become a falcon, as it swooped low to aggravate the poor traveler for an even shorter spell.
~No, NO! You are not allowed to ask for help! If you have no one else, you can be home to your little world much sooner! This only makes the world angry! You must not rely on that trick! Your time will revert, again! ~
~Why is that such an issue? You didn't bother to see me when I would have been thirty – feet under?? ~
~I do not aid, I manage time. ~ The falcon made a low sound in its throat before it had taken to the skies, and then shook its wings dry up on a nearby pine tree limb, out of the corner of the world's walls.
~How'd you do that? ~ Riley stopped to see that the branch appeared in thin air. As if created from a hole in …
~Wait…. Is that how you came back so quickly? Well?? ~
~I, survey, and this is alright. ~ The cackling bird threw its head to the side with its feathers now ruffled into worrisome tufts.
Its thick brown and white specked plumage was as a real falcon to the Middle east. There had to be an explanation as to what that bird really was. A spirit? A monster?
~How do I know that I can trust you? You brought me here –
~On behalf of your wish, I came into your world. THIS world. ~ It explained to the boy. Frustrated as it could ever become, having now the sentience to feel the neediness clinging to the boy's ego was an upward battle.
Going, way, way downhill at some point.
~I don't own this, take it back –
~If you do that, you won't exist. ~
Riley looked at the bird, gawking. Then, looking at the moon before returning to glare at the bird's green eyes, begging to know why it was being so cryptic. And realizing it was out of its feather brained mind.
He gawked, dumbly staring up at the fowl.
~WHAT? ~
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~I told you before. You must revert to these primal days and take on your role. ~
~WHY? ~
~Only then, will you discover –
~I don't want to vanish…I'm not dust! WHY!? ~
~BECAUSE! ~ Shrieked the bird in warning. ~Wishes hold to having many consequences. YOU wanted to exist ELSEWHERE. THUS, you must exist here in order to have your life restored –
~AHA! I DID, DIE! ~ Riley looked at his palms which had begun to sweat profusely. ~I…Can't…~
~You lay in wait; a coma as your kind calls it. That is all. ~ The bird stifled a sniffle, as it knew. The boy would want to go back so badly, that he'd give into these atrocious demands without question.
~So…If…~ Riley bit the inside of his cheek and rubbed his arm nervously. The idea that he was dealing away his own life so soon, it must have been a trick! Why would he ever…
~What…did I do –
~I cannot say. That is a part of your long journey. Though, I promise. Once you finish your time up on this plane, you'll understand everything. So? Do you not reclaim your rightful title as Creator? ~
Riley for some off reason, nodded. He wanted to go home. And, if this was the only way to have his wish granted, then so be it.
~The contract is now formed until the lesson is securely, earned. ~ The bird recited this page as if he'd read it a dozen times over.
~So? What comes next –
~You are to create a place that can suit your purpose of returning home, but! You must not do so as with before. Escape this sight, and your wish will be terminated – you will be erased and never be allowed to wake up again. ~
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Riley's farewell could have been smoother than this. His head had been laid onto what felt threaded and as slivers against his backside; a dreadful way to be buried, Riley groaned and attempted to roll over.
A set of whiskers met his eyes, sharp as toothpick they nearly had him jump by the space between both he and the imaginary beast.
"The Maine Coon cat!" He shouted and was up with bolts of lightening set to rev up his poor, wobbly legs as a useless donkey in the muck.
He felt a bit useless, just as it was now – and where did the bird and girl go from earlier? The water! Were they –
~You don't die, we aren't born to steal life - we grant wishes! ~
Riley looked below where he'd been lying in not straw, but very hairy cats and their pointed whiskers.
He screamed and tried to claw at the wall for some way out. There was a wall, this was a place within a place so…
There had to be an exit.
~Stop! You cannot attempt to leave again! Wait!! Nyaarr! ~ The Maine coon cat shouted in what seemed to be telepathic waves, a voice that had Riley shouting and banging at the walls to let him through. Then, yes! He remembered the accursed gift! He could create!
~Cats! Stop the creator! Stop him! He will leave! He must not!!! ~ The cats rose with their multi – shades and eyes as different stones of every birth month. Some were slits and others wide as dinner plates. Their snarling, hissing mouths and raised haunches were straight off a movie poster. He was sweating down into his patchwork tunic. Riley was done waiting for time to move - he would leave this place and find his way –
~BAST! ~ The cats shrieked out and scurried as rats into the back of the space, where shadows fell to cloak them all up into nothing.
The girl... Lily!
It was, Riley saw as he peered over the Maine Coon cat's remaining shoulder. ~Did you do this?? ~ She brought her hands to her hips and snorted angrily at the animal. The bird; Wodin, was there too. He laughed and knew he was safest beside the girl from the past.
~I…Was not going to upset the world! He has a job too! ~ The cat sat and licked its fur, pretending not to bother with Lily's disposition at this time. ~You knew this, we let him wander – yet you.... Oh, you are favored by the world…forget this petty violence. ~
Letting the dark world unfold as night outside those walls, the room reformed itself to look as a study hall from some Victorian detective novel. The arm chairs let the bird perch, with the boy and girl left to sit in two other green pieces of furniture the world had to offer them for comfort.
~The world has made us real, and I know of one other who was born by that boy. ~ Bast settled his powerful eyes onto Riley, who jerked in his seat at the cat's suspicions of him being here.
~The world is not supposed to house too many. You; lily, are a sole exception… ~ I went on as the fireplace in this look - alike study burned hot, while the endless night had returned to watch over them.
~Why is this world even in existence? ~ Riley tried to use logic to distract his own thoughts of running off again. He was afraid that this much exposure would make him seem more a prisoner rather than a guest to the World the cat spoke of so highly.
As if it were, a living essence, or a deity that only few had lived to tell of.
The Maine coon's eyes started to shift towards the girl and her bird ally. ~Wodin? Did you not explain? This world is a test! A way to have both parties understand their means without conflict. The world seeks no one, they instead seek it out as –
"But what about my life?? I am in a hospital bed somewhere, and my parents..."
~You recall too much, human!~ Wodin spat back at Riley from his perch. Feathers fluffed; he had no intention of letting the boy get all the credit. He was just being tested by the world. If his wish wasn't granted properly, they'd all end up as stardust for attracting bad energy onto this plane.
~I won't be turned into stew for the mountain trolls! NO, NO! ~ Wodin squawked and flapped his wings, upset that his time as a figure of honor was only in his name. He was created by the memory of heroes. He was a joke! A failure!
~Oh, dear friend…~ Lily took to allowing Wodin to stay at her side until he'd calmed down. The bird looked ready to tussle, not cry. She had to have some reason for being too caring to the angry figment of someone else's imagination gone wrong.
~There, all better? ~ Lily petted the feathery character on his back until he'd almost let out a low purr like a kitten. It gave poor Bast a fresh set of goose bumps.
~ Getting back to the topic! ~ The disgusted cat shivered and shook off his tormentor's looks.
~We are here to have the CREATOR understand that his memories are kept safe. They will not be destroyed by any means. ~
"You speak pretty well for a hair – ball." Riley shrugged, and had the cat shoot him a seething glare in return.
~I'm not just a cat, I'm also a being like the one YOU let loose unto this world! That is why we must not let you run off! Your power is only to be used to complete the task –
"Wait…. That, thing I made, wasn't you? –
The cat went silent, then burst out laughing as Wodin joined in.
~You?? I was made by a scholar in the very far past! You'd not compare! He too was a creator and made his wish a reality. The laws of space and time do not apply to this world! This plane houses many doors, many possibilities that have not yet occurred, that is why it may grant wishes if it chooses to allow a single person to wander inside of its walls. So, you were chosen, and Lily…~ It stopped at the utterance of her name, as if invoking the spirits who dwelt within these walls that only cats could clearly see.
The cat had been leaping from bookshelf to mantle place as it spoke, but now it was just ready to find its feet back along the study room's carpeted path.
Its toes hit the floor soft as the wind through the air; whereas only a sound heard of that would have been a tornado in the distance.
There was no such wind there outside. Just an empty place where only the fire could burn brighter than the stars blazing brightly outside, away from any wayward eyes to spy on them as they stood and dreamed up at the heavens above.