Guide Stars

Zero stopped for a moment, the blades of grass blowing gently around his feet thanks to the soft breeze. He shifted his gaze up to the stars, as if they were going to guide him somehow. Tonight he had started going on the run again, he was outlawed back in the Pridora Kingdom for something he never did. Not like he cared though… he wanted to see the world outside of those dull grey walls surrounding the kingdom anyway. He wanted to see other creatures aside from just housecats. And right now, he had just gotten out of a large birch tree forest that surrounded the southwest side of Pridora. He was in a large expanse of grassy plains, a winding river smack dab in the middle of it.

    Looking ahead, Zero started to run once more. He couldn’t waste too much time if he wanted to outrun the angry mob that wanted to capture him. Silently praying within his head, he was so focused on running that he tripped on a rock and fell face first into the chilly waters of the river, and getting a small scrape on his chin. Luckily, it wasn’t all THAT deep for a river. But it still probably went up to his elbows at the deepest point. Stunned and wet, Zero picked himself up with a groan and shook himself off. Looking behind him, he looked back at the distant birch forest. He knew that the mob from Pridora were probably still there, trying to find him. After taking a brief rest, he started to walk across the river, the fur on his legs, part of his tail, and stomach becoming saturated with water. Once he crossed the river, he shook off as much water as he could before he sat down. He sighed and started to talk to himself.

    “Once they do figure out that I went this way, hopefully they won’t cross the river..” Zero muttered to himself as he looked back towards the forest again. His voice lowered as he spoke his next sentence. “Cats don’t like water after all..”

    Once he felt as if he got enough rest, he decided to run once more. He had though he heard the yelling of commands behind him in the forest. They were onto him. Running as fast as he could, he couldn’t waste much time being out here in the open plains, especially with him being a fugitive. He knew that going across that river was a good idea since when he looked back briefly, he saw that mob of angered felines, hissing and spitting as they all came to a halt at the shore of the creek. They had never thought Zero would ever go across that river, knowing their nature as house cats and having a hatred of water, planted deep into their minds for as long as they could remember.

    Looking ahead once more, Zero continued to run into the distance, confident. If he were to find anyone else on his journey, he knew that they must’ve been falsely accused somewhere too. If they weren’t, who knows what could’ve happened? Once he reached the end of the plains and into the forest of mixed tree species on the other side. Zero stopped for a moment, the blades of grass blowing gently around his feet thanks to the soft breeze. It was like the world stopped for a second. He looked up at the stars, asking for guidance one more.