The Tale of Rayntreeayre

The Tale of

Rayntreeayre

By: Kaliyah Tomolonis

Dedicated to Chihiro. I love you so much.

Maple Leaf Book Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2018

Prologue

A large creature with a broad back, blood red bristles for fur, and glowing eyes, green as the sticks of light the Umens use for wrist rings during celebrations, lumbered toward an almost identical creature lying on a bed of soft, rotting prey skins. “Are we ready yet?” the larger creature on the skins wheezed weakly, staring at the skull and crossbones painted on the wall in blood, crucial for the ritual.

“Yes, my lord,” the smaller creature told him.

“Call me by my real name, in my dying moments. It would be a relief to hear it again.”

“Yes, Skull-Crack,” the smaller creature sighed.

“Blood-Flow, for the goodness of the Bristly-Creatures, are you ready to become leader, to become Blood-Crack?”

Blood-Flow gave a little shiver of excitement. “Yes, Skull-Crack.”

“Then, by the power in me, and in the Bristly-Creatures of below and above, I give you your name as leader. You will now, until your life comes to an end, be known as Blood-Crack. You are now the leader of the pack of Bristly-Creatures, or Breachers, known as the Flame-Pack. My best wishes go along with you. Good luck.” Then, he wheezed, and his piercing green eyes became a dull grayish beige color.

The Breachers gathered around and took their gray, slimy, hairy tails, and thumped them on each others backs, chanting “Skull-Crack. Skull-Crack,” Then, the corpse of Skull-Crack started to disintegrate. The skull and crossbones started to glow dark red. A downburst of purple light shone down on the dust of Skull-Crack. The dust gathered together and formed into a shape that looked like Skull-Crack, a cub again, bolting off into the large gray clouds, then hopping along, following his mother’s spirit.

“Good luck, Skull-Crack,” Blood-Crack breathed. “And may my first mission as a leader of the Flame-Pack be complete.”

Chapter One

A red furred mother cat rested on her side, watching her kittens.

“Mommy! Mommy! Watch this!” said a small orange cat with icy blue eyes.

“I’m watching, Amber,” purred the red cat, her forest green eyes glinting with amusement.

Amber leapt up and clumsily batted at a moth fluttering around her head. Then the moth flitted away. She bounced after it, then tumbled into a puddle. She leapt out and crashed into her sleeping brother. He woke, his fiery amber eyes flashing with anger for a split second. He hated getting woken up, hated getting wet. Then, when he saw his sister prancing around, his eyes lit up with joy, and he stood up, shook his black fur, and joined her.

“Yay, Soot! You’re finally up, you lazy pig!” Amber teased.

“I’ll show you who the lazy pig is, and it won’t be me!” Soot growled, playfully cuffing Amber’s ear.

A gray cat was walking toward the red cat. “They’re so cute when they play, Ruby,” he purred. “I’m glad we have our own kittens now.”

“Cute but tiring, Smoke,” Ruby sighed

“Oh, I know,” Smoke meowed. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Come on, my gorgeous children. We’re going hunting.” Ruby meowed.

“Yay! Hunting!” Amber screeched.

“Mmm. Hunting. Cool.” Amber’s older brother Dove said.

“Let’s go!” Ruby said.

They headed out into the heart of the forest. Birds chirped, the wind rustled in the trees and bushes, and wispy clouds floated, barely visible, above the thick layer of leaves. Ruby opened her mouth and tasted the air. There’s a squirrel nearby. It’s scent is blowing toward us, so it won’t be able to smell us.

Ruby crouched and crept forward. The others stayed behind, because they knew that whoever scents the prey catches the prey.

She was about to catch the squirrel. Ruby was not far away now. She crept through the ferns, letting her tail drag on the ground so as not to alert the prey with its swishing. Nose twitching, blood roaring in her ears, she leapt.

The squirrel squealed when she landed on it. It scratched at her paws and started biting them. Ruby cringed, but she gave it a sharp nip on the neck. It went limp as the light died from its eyes.

Triumphantly, Ruby gripped the squirrel’s body, and trotted back to the group. She spat it out.

“Ugh, I wish I had found a less furry animal! Prepare for a hairball later,” Ruby complained.

She efficiently dug a hole and swiped the prey in it, then moved on.

They ended up with a thrush, four mice, a chipmunk, and another squirrel. Ruby took the

squirrel she caught, and sat down in between Smoke and her daughter, Violet. Violet’s deep blue eyes sparkled in excitement as she looked down at her thrush. Her brown fur was ruffled, so Ruby smoothed down the spiked up fur on her head with her tongue. It did nothing.

“I love thrushes,” Violet mewed, ignoring her mother.

“I know you do.” And with that, she took a bite out of her squirrel.

“Oh, ugh!” Ruby meowed. “Why is there a hard chunk in mine?” She spit it out, and saw that it was a green stone. “It was in its mouth.”

This is interesting. I think I’ll keep this, Ruby thought. She picked up the stone in her mouth, and as soon as she did, it dissolved and ran down her throat.

Chapter Two

Ruby had many scary, confusing dreams. In them, she saw her family being taken away by hairy creatures, with hairs kind of like bristles. All of them looked as if they were on fire. She heard words, seemingly in a different language, but she understood it all the same. Flame-pack… Bristly-Creatures, or Breachers… need stone… Blood-Crack… Rayntreeayre. It was all very confusing. But one dream – or was it a vision? – came very clearly in her light slumber. It showed a green, unnatural light glowing in her chest. It showed her having the power to blow trees over with a single sigh, having the power to make something burst into flames at the slightest spark of rage, coating things with ice with the first trace of fear, starting a storm at the first glimmer of grief, causing flowers to bloom at the first glow of joy, her… having power… having the ability to make a difference in the world.

She also had a vision with an old white queen talking to her. “Your family is in great danger, Ruby. You are in danger. Listen, young one.”

It was impossible not to. The old cat’s voice was the only thing she could hear in the silence.

“You have been chosen to be the holder of the great stone of Rayntreeayre. This is a great privilege, young Ruby. You have the power to kill your foes… but you also have the ability to heal your loved ones, to bring back what you have lost.”

“But what have I lost? Why am I in great danger? Why is my family in great danger?”

Ruby mewed.

“You will find out eventually,” the old cat rasped. She faded away.

Ruby woke up. She hissed in frustration at the queen’s vague words. She looked around, and found out that her family was… gone. Fear glimmered inside her, and the entire den was covered in ice from the inside out, in the middle of Full-bloom, not in Air-chill. So the dream was true…

She looked at her chest, and saw the same glow as in her dream. Oh no. No.

She remembered that her family had been taken by those Bristly-creatures in her dream. That had actually happened…

The den was almost covered ground to ceiling with ice, and she leapt out of the den, but stayed at the peak of her jump. She could use this to her advantage…

She jumped again, and went higher. She tipped her head down, and she started to go down gently. She jumped, and jumped, and jumped, then ran at full speed. She was running at the speed of a cheetah!

She race toward where she knew instinctively her family was. I’m kind of thirsty, she thought, and the next thing she knew, she was next to an ocean.

“But it’s salt water…” she muttered, and she lapped at the water. It was the freshest water she’s ever tasted.

Suddenly, two large fish and an otter appeared below the surface.

Hello, one of the fish said telepathically, in a female voice. I’m Wishfish. This is

Totterotter, Wishfish said, turning her head to the otter. And this is Princess.

“Um… hi,” Ruby said, not sure if they would make a nice dinner or not. “Do you know

the way to a place called Rayntreeayre?”

No… I’m sorry, Ruby, Princess said.

“Wait… how do you know my name?” Ruby asked.

We have been waiting for you for a long time, Totterotter said. Wishfish had a dream of an old, white, female cat, saying one with a pelt of ruby and a chest of emerald would come. And she said that they were named for their pelt. And here you are! She told Wishfish to tell you something. The cat never said what, though, before Princess woke her up. Idiot. Totterotter playfully slapped Princess with his tail.

Suddenly, Wishfish started talking strangely. Talking strangely, not telepathically. “Ruby, listen to me.” It sounded like the old white cat in her dream.

“Your powers and instincts will lead you to Rayntreeayre. You will not need the guidance of others. But once you reach Rayntreeayre, your powers will be worthless without strength, compassion, and trust, of others and yourself. Remember these qualities, and you very well may be the most powerful being in Rayntreeayre,” Wishfish said.

Suddenly, a large bird swooped down. Osprey, Ruby thought. She’d never seen an osprey before, but her powers must be telling her that, she decided. The large bird swooped down, and snatched Wishfish in one foot, Princess in the other. Totterotter looked terrified. No! Ruby thought. Rage sparked in her chest, and the feathers on the bird’s head burst into flames. It squealed, but didn’t loosen its grip. Ruby didn’t let fear flow through her, because then it would freeze the fish. She leapt up, and scratched the osprey’s wings. Her claws tore straight through them. The osprey finally let go. It flew off into the distance, screeching.

She flexed her claws, and peered down at them. They had turned into the size of dog teeth, but were more than twice the sharpness. Despite the fact her claws had expanded five times their former size, they didn’t hurt at all.

Thanks, Wishfish said. We should be going now in case a predator comes back. You should get going too, so you can make it to Rayntreeayre. Bye. Then the fish and the otter dove down into the water.

Chapter Three

She did the jumps into the air and started running. She eventually made it to a mountain. She jumped a few more times to get a full view of it.

It was a strange sight. On one half of the mountain, all the vegetation was prospering. But on the other side, it was the complete opposite. The trees were just flimsy, bare skeletons made of branches, the grass was somewhere between brown and black. She could see the carcasses of animals, so many that it looked like if you just put a foot on that half of the mountain, you would instantly rot. In the middle of this strange landscape, there was a very large cave, with creatures crawling in and out of it. They looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite grasp where she’d seen them before, or heard of them.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The mountain?” said a feminine voice from behind her. “Well, the Rayntreeayre side of it. Definitely not the Dethoflyfe side of it.”

Ruby looked behind her. She saw a beautiful tortoiseshell queen with deep green eyes, silky, short, well groomed fur, and a small pink spot on her black nose.

“Hello,” said this cat. “My name is Maple Dew. What’s yours?”

“Ruby,” Ruby said to Maple Dew. “So… do you have these powers too?” She said, seeing a blue glow in the cat’s chest, like the green one in her’s.

“What powers?”

“Like being able to run on air, and having your surroundings change based on your emotions.” Ruby clarified.

“Yes. See, that’s part of how we get named. The first part involves the fur color, and the second part involves the color of your stone. Dew is a bluish color in Rayntreeayre. The job of naming cats or a group of cats gets switched around for the most powerful cats, and it’s going to be my turn next!” Maple Dew purred enthusiastically.

“Wait, so why is Rayntreeayre called Rayntreeayre, exactly?” Ruby asked Maple Dew.

“Oh. That’s because Rayntreeayre is the source of the three of the most important things on earth, which are rain, trees, and air.”

“And what’s Dethoflyfe?” Ruby asked.

“Oh. That’s the home of anything that wants to end any life that isn’t their own species. And it’s called Dethoflyfe because everything that touches the ground that’s not a horrible creature dies! Death-of-life! Anyway, what are you doing here? I’ve never seen you around Rayntreeayre before. Usually cats in Rayntreeayre are the only ones with powers, and yet here you are!”

“Um… well…” Suddenly, Ruby remembered those creatures lumbering in and out of the cave. They were the creatures in her dream! “Badger turds!” She snarled. “I’m going to claw their eyes out!”

“Whose eyes?” Maple Dew asked, but Ruby was already soaring to the Dethoflyfe side of the mountain, completely forgetting about the fact that most creatures that have gone there haven’t lived to come back. She heard a whoosh behind her as Maple Dew swooped down to catch up with her.

Ruby hit the ground on the Dethoflyfe side, and it felt… different from how she thought

it would feel. It felt like… a bubble.

It was a bubble. Or, what she was standing on was a bubble. Below only her was a green bubble, the same color as the light emanating through her chest. She looked behind her, and it was the same with Maple Dew, except her bubble was blue like the the light in her chest. The stones had saved them.

Next to her, she looked, and saw five stones just like hers. A purple one, an orange one, a pink one, a yellow one, and a red one. She took a paw and swept them onto her bubble. She could use those for getting her family out of there!

Ruby started running to the Breacher camp, and in her urgency, she was running at the speed of a descending eagle.

Soon, she and Maple Dew arrived at the camp. “I have to save my mate and kittens!” Ruby hissed.

“Oh, that’s what’s wrong,” Maple Dew murmured.

There were Breachers pacing everywhere outside. But soon, Ruby caught a glimpse of a nest with small brown pelt, a small orange pelt, a small black pelt, a larger gray pelt, and the largest one being a black pelt.

Violet, Amber, Soot, Dove, and Smoke. My sweet kittens and mate. Ruby thought mournfully. The Breachers must have kept them from touching the ground, otherwise they’d be a pile of bones by now. I’ll save them.

She suddenly spotted a gap between Breachers. “Now!” she breathed to Maple Dew.

Together, the two queens sprinted into the Breacher cave.

Chapter Four

She ran over to the nest her family was in. On all of them, there were deep wounds and scratches. She tried not to think about that. Gently, she opened Amber’s mouth, put the pink stone in, and shut it. She did the same for the others.

Once she put all of them in, they woke up. “Come on,” she hissed.

They crept toward a corner on the cave, one by one. Soot suddenly freaked out, and let out a wail.

“Hey!” a rough, shrill voice yelled. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Maple Dew’s eyes widened in horror. “Blood-Crack,” she breathed.

Badger turds! Ruby thought. Now we have to fight our way out.

“I’m sorry!” Soot mewed innocently.

“It’s fine,” You’re just a kitten! You shouldn’t even be here! I don’t blame you!

“Surround the kittens!” Ruby yowled. Maple Dew, Smoke, Dove, and Ruby formed a tight, protective circle around Soot, Amber, and Violet. The kittens mewed in terror.

“I’ll form a shield around us! You guys focus your energy on keeping the Breachers away from us!” Maple Dew meowed.

A blue bubble formed around them.

“Three, two, one, go!” Maple Dew yowled. Once she said go, fire and ice burst out of the

bubble and destroyed all evil life in the cave, turning the Breachers in compassionate, caring creatures.

Epilogue

They ran outside. “We did it!” Dove yowled.

“Let’s go to our new home, our home in Rayntreeayre,” Ruby purred.

And with that, they flew off to Rayntreeayre, and they got named Amber Heart, Smoke Amethyst, Dove Flame, Violet Rose, Soot Sun, and Ruby Tree, and lived until the end of time, and even after that, turning evil into good and saving felinekind.