SWP: Origins Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A gentle breeze swept through the field, letting off a powerful scent in the air around the hound as he ran after the large orange butterfly. The scent was sweet and tickled his nose; the butterfly seemed to enjoy floating around in the pleasant aroma as well, taking off in spurts in various directions with no discernible destination. As the hound continued his nonchalant chase, he heard a low grumbling in the distance. There was an appealing rhythm to the sound, and as he ran, the rhythm intensified. The butterfly flew into the treetops which suddenly appeared above them, but the hound hardly noticed as he continued running towards the source of the music. There were voices now, and he could almost make out what they were saying. There was a phrase repeating over and over again, he just could not make it out. It sounded like the voices were trying to tell him something. If he got a little closer he might be able to understand.

He picked up his pace.

It was clear now that the voices were talking to him, but the bass in the music was drowning the voices out.

He ran until he could'nt feel his paws touching the ground. The voices were becoming clearer now.

“Pro….” A little closer.

“Protehh...” Almost there.

“Protect…” 

The hound slowed his pace. He was now deep in a forest, the trees above blocking out all light. The voices were surrounding him, echoing off the tall trees. It was clear now what they wanted him to do. “Protect…” As he perked his ears to listen to what must be his destiny, the orange butterfly floated past his nose, carrying the scent of the field they just ran through. The hound watched the butterfly circle the air in front of him, then flutter away. He gave a depressed sigh as the butterfly flew into the canopy and out of his sight.

The music. As he was focusing on the butterfly, he lost what the voices were trying to tell him. What did they want him to protect? The deep bass could be heard in the distance, but as he tried to focus on the sound, everything around him faded to black. He felt a sensation of slowly falling, and as he tried to steady himself, his eyes flittered open and his head quickly jerked up, ears at full attention.

There was no field, and no trees giving refuge to orange butterflies; instead, the hound was inside a dark cave with light reflecting off the brown wall in the distance. The smell of the field remained, however. He could hear the music but the source, and the message, was still unclear. He looked around as his eyes adjusted to his dim surroundings. He was lying on a small cot with a heavy blanket over his lower half. There was no sign of anyone else in the cave.

There was no sign of the kittens.

He tried to jump off the cot, but a sharp, searing pain shot up from his hindquarters all the way to his neck. He howled loudly and lay down on the hay serving as a pillow. The pain was unlike anything he had felt before.

A figure emerged out of the shadows. The shape was surrounded by a cloud of smoke and moved slowly, gently, to the rhythm of the bass.

The figure moved closer. The hound could see the outline of a face through the thick cloud of smoke, but the pain shooting through his body refused to let him focus.

He closed his eyes and tried to envision the butterfly as the pain washed over him, whisking him away into a deep, dreamless slumber.

End Chapter 3

I Love You All...Class Dismissed.