Nudging woke Catherine up. Her eyes met with those of Nathaniel, who was preparing for the journey of the vast Time Realm to find Eran, the next Timekeeper.
When she sits up in bed, Catherine notices everyone else had disappeared.
"The hell's everyone else?"
"They are outside, we are waiting for you."
Catherine pulls off the blanket covering her, and takes her coat from the bedframe.
"...I'll be out in a minute." she says, putting the jacket on.
Nathaniel quietly accepts her answer, and leaves outside with the others.
Catherine put on her shoes, brushed her dark hair, and grabs her things before she herself walks outside.
The other Prodigies greeted her in silence.
"...Well. Are we ready to go?" Kenzo asks, unsure.
"Think so. We wouldn't be out here if we weren't, would we?" Arsenio asks rhetorically.
"Ready or not, we need to leave. We cannot let Noelani go unpunished."
They all nodded, then look at the area ahead of them.
"...Let us go."
Nathaniel leads them, and the other Prodigies follow behind him.
The first part of the walk was brisk, as they trekked silently, then the first obstacle of course, appeared in front of them.m
"A...cliff." Arsenio snickers. "We're stopping for a cliff?"
"It's not the cliff we're worried about.."122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MQP2OL7na
Kenzo points out.
"Oh yeah, then what are you-"
"Shut up, Arsenio. We're making sure the coast is clear." Catherine hushed.
"Alright, alright.." He looks off of the cliff with them.
His hologram pulled up in front of his vision. "Let's see here..."
Allowing him to see around his surroundings, the hologram gathered data and showed it to him.
"Hmmm... alright. There appears to be a deep valley, if we go down the cliff...the valley should be a safe space. Unless there's something this thing isn't telling me.."
Nathaniel begins to walk down. "If that is the case, then we should press on."122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdqifpr6Dh
Arsenio looked doubtful.
"Hey, I'm still working on this thing. I'm sure the safe place is in the valley, but don't you think we should at least be a little cautious?"
Arsenio stared at Nathaniel, who eventually saw the point.
"Fine, we shall come back if there is any inconveniences."
Arsenio nodded, and began walking down. The rest of the group followed him. They went to the bottom of the cliff. They noticed a dirt path on the side of the cliff, next to a stream of water. The path itself had a dome of grass laid out on the side.
"Looks like the safest place in this valley is next to the river.." Arsenio mutters, looking at the rest of the data.
"N-Nothing seems to be o-out of the ordinary.." Isabelle mentions.
"Let's head down the riverbed, then go up the riverbank to see what happens."
The group continues down the path, and descends to the level below. They look around the flat valley, which was bordered by a forest. There was another road going through the valley, and into the trees.
"...We're still far from safe." Kenzo grumbles.
"Well, we have two options. Stick in the safe spot near the riverbank, or continue walking into the forest until we find another spot." Catherine states.
Nathaniel gathers his own thoughts before leading them.
"...All that seems to be left here is a quiet stream and a spot to rest. We will rest for now, but only for a minute."122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxME8U6XLB
With slight fatigue, they all sat in the patch of grass near the riverbank. They have been walking for the past couple of hours.
"My feet..are in...so much pain.." Catherine complains.
Allowing him to see around his surroundings, the hologram gathered data and showed it to him.
"I believe this is the path we are to follow. It seems there is a path about a few kilometers ahead of us." Nathaniel says, observing.
"Damn. You're right." Arsenio says, looking back at the path ahead of them. "There's a straight path through those trees."
"Let us keep going." Nathaniel says, continuing along.
Catherine grumbled in reluctancy, trying her best to keep up.
Nathaniel went to lead the way again and the Prodigies followed.
It wasn't a long walk to get from one side to the other, reaching the towering forest. The leaves themselves were strangely, dark blue but slightly glowing, and looked suffocating if you were to climb in them.
They walk for hours. The path seemed to get more and more deteriorated, as time passed by. The trees, at first, seemed to blend into each other as they headed deeper into the forest, but as they walked more and more, the intertwined path became much more straight and manageable.
In the far distance, they could see nothing but the darkness of the leaves and bushes, but in the corner of their eyes, they could see a wonderful light. A patch of grass underneath a large tree, and around it, some beautiful, glowing mushrooms in colors of teal and purple.
"Seems like a good place we can chill."
"Yeah, my legs are about to fall right off...and I haven't eaten since yesterday.."
"Then it is settled. We will rest here for now."
Ezra, who tagged along for the journey, pulled out the many cooking utensils.
"I'll get some food started then."
A sense of tranquility overcame them, as they sat and relaxed underneath the tree.
"This place is pretty soothing." Arsenio complimented. "
"I-It is...very nice t-to see... everything is so... colorful in here..."
Isabelle was extremely attentive to something in the distance, still attributing to the conversation.
"Hey uh...Belle? Something the matter?"122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzEBndTxGj
Arsenio asked, concerned.
"O-O-Oh... It's n-nothing.."
She looks out again, squinting harder this time. "I just... thought I s-saw someone over t-there...something bright..."
Ezra chuckles to herself as she begins to plate. "Isabelle, there's no reason to be paranoid. Come, have something to eat, it'll take your mind off of it."
"...Okay.."
Nathaniel, Catherine, Arsenio and Kenzo also take their own plates and begin eating.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKHIxR030N
After it was over, everyone went to do their own thing.
Deeper into the evening, the Prodigies settle down. The forest, somehow, becomes even darker. They set up for the night, using their abilities to protect themselves. They all say goodnight to each other, then sleep against the tree.
Isabelle and Kenzo set up something similar to a barrier of their Gifts, for someone or something to trip on before they got close enough to attack them.
After what seemed to be two or three hours...something grazed the barrier, waking the two up.
Isabelle woke up hyperventilating. Kenzo did the same because he heard the light clinking of the chains, and when he saw Isabelle was wide awake and breathing heavily, he went to help.
"Isabelle, are you alright? What happened?"
"I-I felt something b-brush up against the thread!"
Kenzo puts a hand on her shoulder. "I heard something too. Let's stay up...just in case..."
She nodded.
"Okay, first things first.."
He looks out beyond the small area they were confined to.
"Let's find who tried to come up here.."
"I-I can't do that! It's too d-dark to s-see!"
"Shhhh..We don't want to wake the others..."
"W-what do we do?"
Light growling is heard, spooking the two.
"We get out some bait. If it's an animal, it'll eat it, no doubt."
"Ezra would be upset if I took some of the food she wanted to cook.."
"Well right now, we don't have a choice..."
Isabelle hesitantly walked to the loaf of bread leftover from earlier.
"I-I found some b-bread..."
"Good. Now give it here.."
Isabelle hands a few pieces to him, before he chucks it out into the open.
The smell of the forest got stronger. Isabelle gasped as she saw something familiar.
"What's wrong?"
"Those bright lights...I've seen them before...e-earlier today..."
When the creature looked up after eating the bread, it's hazy, piercing green eyes stared Isabelle down. She turned pale as a sheet.
"It can't touch us while we're inside this thing...I hope..."
The creature sniffed and scratched at the ground looking for crumbs. Isabelle, terrified, tried to inch closer.
"Isabelle! What are you doing, are you crazy?!"
"I w-want to show I d-don't want to h-hurt it.."
With his chains, Kenzo pulls the creature down from it's standing position.
"Quick! See what it is!" He says, holding down.
Isabelle shivers as she lowers down to take a better look, finding a large mass of dark fur struggling around.
She lightly touches it, scared to provoke it at first, but then slowly pets it to comfort it. The creature stops it's intense struggle.
"I think i-its...calm now.."
"Wait..what did you do?" Kenzo releases his chains. Isabelle pets it again, trying to keep it calm.
"I c-comforted it..."
"...What does it look like?"
"I can't see v-very well...but...i-it's very fluffy and b-big.."
"You mean a bear?!"
"It m-might be..."
"Get away from it, Isabelle! We don't know what it's going to do!"
"But i-it's calm now...it's not t-trying to hurt m-me.." she stands up, and strangely enough, the bear-like creature stood over her. "Maybe w-we can get a... c-closer look at it..."
Kenzo hesitates before answering.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeXEZWmHMP
"...Ooookay...I'll bite. But if it does something even remotely dangerous, I'm tying it down, okay?"
Kenzo takes away the chains, letting Isabelle walk in with the animal. When it stepped into the light of the bioluminescent mushrooms, it's anatomy became much more clear.
It was as large as a bear, as one would think it would be when catching a first glance, but it was obviously that this large animal was quadrupedal. It had the snout of something more canine-like, but the most noticable detail was it's face, instead of the face of a normal wolf or bear, the face looked almost like the skull of said animals, with two glowing, green, hazy dots for eyes.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiCn8ZB7W9
A sort of symbol was also glowing brightly on it's chest.
Kenzo's freak out was mostly silent at first, but then grew to loud yelling as he pointed in fear.
The sound of Kenzo's screams finally woke the others.
"Kenzo! What the hell's your problem?!"122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ979zy6Gz4W
Catherine yelled, half asleep.
"Yeah man, no one has time to wake up in the middle of the night.." Arsenio added.
"B-Bear! Right-"
The animal had disappeared, and so did Isabelle.
"...Where's Isabelle?" Catherine asked, rubbing her eyes.
"...Oh no! It must've taken her!"
Nathaniel puts a hand over his mouth.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFFrPxycfi
"Do not wake Ezra until we find Isabelle. What did this 'bear' look like?" He lets go, letting Kenzo answer.
"It was mostly dark, but it didn't have the face of a bear, it looked more like a dog.. It had these really green eyes and it looked like it was wearing a skull.."
"Hmmm...Catherine.."
Catherine was in the middle of stretching her sleep away. "Yeah Nate? What is it?"
"Ask Chrono about a creature with this same description. He must have information about these forests."
Catherine yawns. "Alright...just a minute."
She falls into the ground and finds Chrono reading a book in the Phasing Dimension.
"Hey Chrono..."
"Ah, hello Catherine. You're up early..."
"Kenzo saw some bear-dog looking thing...said it had green eyes and a skull on it's face...have anything on something like that?"
"Oh, you must mean the decaid. You five must be in the forest.."
"Yeah...do you know anything about the thing?"
"Well, decaid are regular creatures there, and they vary in colors and size... they're really powerful when angered, but when tamed, they're really good mounts, especially up the path you're going..."
"Yeah well...Isabelle got stolen by it..."
"Did you notice?"
"I was half asleep when Kenzo noticed she was gone, so I guess not..."
He closes his book.
"They're very stealthy. Don't worry though, they usually return things where they find them."
"Good. Ezra would freak out if she found out Isabelle went missing.."
Catherine began to climb back into the forest, with Chrono following her.
"Good morning, Prodigies. I heard about your situation, and I'm here to help. Now, where was the decaid when it disappeared?"
Kenzo turns around to point behind him.
"I swear, it was standing over Isabelle, right behind me. I turn away for a second and she and that bear thing disappeared!"
"I-I didn't disappear...I just w-went out for a m-minute..."
Isabelle was carefully bestriding the decaid that had taken her.
"I g-guess it w-wanted me ride along w-with it."
"Huh. There she is." Catherine says.
"I-I'm sorry if I scared y-you all.."
"If Ezra found out we lost you...who knows what she'd do.." Kenzo said nervously.
"You s-shouldn't be afraid of my sister... she's just b-being overprotective.."
She jumps off of the decaid and lightly rubs it.
"I..t-think... I'm going to c-call it...C-Claude.."
Dawlly appeared from her pocket and stares angrily.
"Izzy, what about our companionship?! What happened to the bond we shared?!"
Isabelle pats Dawlly as well. "It's okay...you s-still mean a lot t-to me."
"Hmmm...okay..."
Dawlly starts to climb back inside her pocket, when Isabelle stops it.
"You can stay out...for now.."
Dawlly was confused, but floated over and sat on her shoulder. Claude begins to lick Isabelle's face as a sign of affection. She giggles happily.
"... We're seriously gonna regret this, aren't we?" Arsenio asked.
"I mean, if she's so keen on keeping it.." Kenzo replied.
"I have no problem with her keeping it, as long as it doesn't eat all of the food I brought along."
Ezra's voice echoed through the forest, as the others grew silent. She sipped a small cup of tea.
"H-how long were you awake?"
"Ever since you started screaming."
Kenzo looks away, his face powdered in bright red. "O-Oh.."
"Well, we're all up now. We should pack up and keep walking...If Nate's up to it, that is.." Catherine asks.
Nathaniel nods. "It seems we are well rested."
They pack up and get ready to leave. Isabelle once again mounts Claude, holding tightly as to not slip off.
"Well, I guess I better return to the Phasing Dimension, someone has to keep it protected while Catherine does her job as a Prodigy.."
Chrono waves them goodbye.
"Good luck on your travels, Prodigies. Make it to Eran, no matter what."
Then, Chrono disappears into the forest. Ezra had finished packing up by the time their conversation was finished, carrying the cooking set by the strap across her.
Nathaniel walked in front of the group.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkeBLjzvv9
"Let us go. No progress will be made if we stand here."
Well rested and eager to get to their destination, the rest of the Prodigies ran behind.
Little did they know the dangers that awaited them further ahead.
To be continued in Prodigy: Casters of Time: Chapter 7
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