Adventures with Amoris (Part 1)

 

"Are you coming Amoris?" Nereus said, as he quietly led the way from the Pride.

"Yes, just slow down!"

"We have to be quiet."

The lions of the Pride were sleeping, or at least were supposed to. Nereus had made sure that his trail was covered by mist so that the cubs would be hard to see.

"Almost there..."

Nereus was walking a little fast now, excitement flooding his body. Eventually, he got to a place that couldn't been seen at all by the Pride. He began to concentrate.

Within a few second, a black, gaping hole in the air appeared, swirling mystically. The other side shown through: a very red and dusty planet. Nereus knew exactly where he was as he'd been here many times before. "Let's go." He whispered.

Both cubs leaped through the hole. It could still be seen from where they now stood, but it became smaller and smaller and eventually disappeared. The planet beneath them was giant, way larger than the rock they called home. Amoris stood amazed at the view. She knew that Nereus had placed many of the stars in the sky himself. The whole sky was sprinkled with lights and stardust, some of which were way closer than others and all of they had brilliant colors. He had truly made a masterpiece. "Do you like it?" Nereus said, proudly.

"It's amazing!" Amoris breathed. The sight was incredulous.

"Well now that I've showed you that, let's go have some real fun!"

Another black hole hovered, welcoming them both. They each leaped in excitedly and landed on a new planet. This planet had several beautiful rings around it. Nereus began glancing around, making sure the area was safe. The planet before them seemed very purple and white, with large stalks of purple streaking towards the sky with a beautiful white plume near the end. These stalks surrounded them like a forest.

"Which way?" Nereus asked, flicking his tail with excitement.

"Hmmm... Let's try this way."

There were large boulders in the direction they headed. It seemed most quiet besides a little background noise that seemed to be made of soft humming. Looking at the sky they could see space and all the stars- the view was captivating. After some time the two came across a large waterfall and they were at the very top. They had a view of a large, magnificent valley and the buzzing began to get louder.

And louder.

And louder.

The buzzing noise became almost deafening until a large winged creature right above them. Both the cubs in fear leaped into the waterfall, and, using their water elements, carried themselves down to the bottom safely. When they both got out, both of them were wide-eyed, but Nereus was loving it at the same time. "What was that?" He burst. Excitement shook his body. They looked around them again but the buzzing was only faintly heard again.

"Do you think it will come back?" Nereus asked.

"I hope not..." Amoris admitted, feeling as though she'd rather get back to her bed.

"We have to see what it is, Amoris! Don't you get it? What if we could talk to it? Or what if it was good?"

"What if it kills us?!" Amoris spat.

"We're going."

Amoris knew she wouldn't win and relented. Clearly she didn't want to go, that thing had been at least twice as big as an adult lion! Nereus led the way towards where he thought he heard the buzzing. Sure enough, it became louder and louder. This time, the massive creature swooped again above them, but it grabbed ahold of Amoris and kept going, seizing its prey.

Nereus had done it now, but there was no way he was letting it get away with Amoris. Seizing up more water nearby, he orchestrated the waves with such skill so he could ride on it like surfer. This way, he was able to follow the creature without too much trouble. Obstacles made it harder though, like large boulders or the weird purple stalks. He kept his eyes on Amoris- he could still see her brown shell.

The large beast began to slow down, enabling Nereus to catch up a little. It began flying in circles until it landed upon a great pile of purple stalks. Nereus could see the creature put Amoris down in the pile. He got closer and closer to her and could see the terror in her eyes.

As soon as he got close enough, he used the water below him to dart at the beast's face. The beast roared at the water and shot forward at Nereus, it's mouth wide open. Nereus stopped, now that he had gotten the beast's attention. He began to concentrate. So much so, that his eyes started becoming glowy. The glow swirled and swirled, becoming black in color. It swirled vertically in front of Nereus. Soon enough, a large black hole formed and just as the creature was about to eat Nereus, it instead flew directly into the hole.

Nereus was out of breath after creating such a hole. He began to feel dizzy and faint and crumpled to the ground. Amoris raced after him, but not before something emerged from the nest. Another creature, just like the one from before, except a fraction of the size followed after Amoris. She turned around to protect Nereus's body, and, using the water that he used on the beast before, encircled the small clone now. It spun faster and faster and the creature couldn't escape. Suddenly, the water from the ring shot to the middle, piercing the clone. It groaned in agony and fell to the ground.

 Amoris raced to Nereus. He was breathing, and she let out a sigh of relief and she lied down next to him. Everything was quiet.
 

---

A few hours later and Amoris awoke. They were still safe and still nothing was heard. Nereus began stirring, and Amoris could see him smiling. "That was fun..." He whispered. Swirling black appeared in front of them both, coming from Nereus. "Let's go." He whispered. Amoris nodded and helped Nereus climb into the hole that led the way back to their beds.