"I'm the one killing him! I called dibs on him, so he's mine and only mine. Understand?" Phoenix snarls

"S-sorry," I say softly.

"And stop stuttering. It's annoying me."

"Phoenix!" Ky leaps to his feet. "That's rude!"

"Wolf and Dove are prophesied to bring down King Garonda XIV in a poem that was written long ago. It is believed to have been written by the first Midnight Wolf, and it is called The King's Remorse." Brook starts speaking to prevent the two brothers from getting too far into their bickering.

"How does it go? I didn't know that anything had been written by a Midnight Wolf." Ky's eyes are wide with awe.

"I only know the first two lines, but I know nothing after that. The lines go:

The Wolf and the Dove shall rise

With the help of the Phoenix whom the King will despise."

"The Wolf and Dove are gonna rise with the help of the Phoenix whom the King will despise?" Phoenix asks, clearly not believing Brook.

"Yes," Brook replies, searching for Phoenix to speak up in his disbelief.

"Doesn't that seem just a little odd? Who would believe that? How is The King's Regret or whatever the hell the poem is called saying how the future of KG14's reign going to play out? Why would anyone believe that?"

"Language, Phoenix," Ky mutters.

"What the hell did you just say?" Phoenix asks with a smile.

"Language! Language! Language! There are children present."

"Whatever." Phoenix snorts with a flick of the tip of his tail.

"So, Brook, who knows the rest of the poem? Perhaps it'll help us." Dove peels the bark off of a stick he'd found on the ground.

"Any guesses?" She swats at a fly on her side with her tail.

"Arcane!" Ky jumps with excitement.

"Arcane doesn't exist, Ky!" Phoenix groans in frustration.

"Sure he does. Why wouldn't he? He's been the Midnight Wolf for over sixty years now." Brook looks at Phoenix in confusion.

"Arcane is dead! No one has seen him for, like, ever. He's dead."

"Who's the new Midnight Wolf?" Brook challenges. Yay! Go, Brook!

"We don't know yet since they haven't come forward."

"Surely they'd've come forwards; why wouldn't they? The Midnight Wolf holds an awful lot of power as they can wield the cosmos. You know, the constellations and galaxies across their body? And let's not forget about the Midnight Tear. I don't know about you, Phoenix, but I'd be willing to bet an awful lot that Arcane still exists. But now, that's just what I think." Brook smiles innocently.

"Arcane doesn't exist. He's dead. He died after he killed Freedom."

"Wh-what proof d-do you ha-have that he's d-dead?" I pitch in with a frown.

"What proof do you have that Arcane isn't dead?" Phoenix counters.

"I-I'm the wrong person t-to a-ask."

"No one has found his body, Phoenix. No one has found his body, just like I've told you a million times before," Ky says.

"That's not proof!" The flames burning across Phoenix's black fur crackle with his anger.

"Arcane is absolutely ginormous. No one has seen him in twenty or thirty years. I think someone would've found his body by now with all of the search parties that went out in search of him." Ky's ears pull back loosely against his head.

"Whatever. I'm done talking about this." Phoenix turns away from his brother.

"So is it alright if I ask why you're here?" Dove asks cautiously.

"No," Brook replies sharply. "Anyways, it's getting late. Sleep anywhere you'd like, but Clap and I are sleeping under the big oak tree in the middle of the Green Grass Field." Brook nods her head towards the tree, and I follow her.

"Sleep well!" Ky shouts after us. I look back to nod in reply. Wolf shifts into her animal form and curls up next to Dove, who simply lays down on his back and drapes an arm over his eyes.

"Wh-why are they h-here?" I ask softly when we reach the base of the oak tree.

"I have no idea, but I didn't think anyone could come in here." Brook furrows her eyebrows in thought as she watches the group. Phoenix is sound asleep in a bed of flames next to his brother. Ky is still awake and is weaving an illusion to hide both himself; Phoenix was adamant that Ky not waste his energy.

"A-A-Are they nice?" Brook chuckles at my question.

"Well, I certainly hope so, Clap."

"Wh-where did you learn th-that p-poem?"

"Back, long ago, when I met Arcane," Brook murmurs.

"Y-you met him?" I gasp in awe.

"Yeah."

"Wh-why do you o-only know one line of th-the p-poem if you met A-A-Arcane?" That doesn't make sense. If she met him, shouldn't she know the entire thing? Brook lays down next to me, neatly tucking her forelegs underneath her.

"I still only know a few lines, but I know more than one. I want to see what they'll do with that one line. The part I know goes like this:

The Wolf and the Dove shall rise

With the help of the Phoenix whom the king will despise

Help shall arise from a sacrifice

A scream shall claw through the air in a slice

The demon shall eat until he's full

To the war he'll feel the pull

The father shall be found

From the curse to which he is bound."

"Whoa. Th-that's cool. Wh-who's the f-father?"

"I don't know." Some unknown emotion flickers across Brook's magenta gaze for a split second. Her eyes have always weirded me out; they're red in the middle, but then they quickly turn purple. Though I guess I'm not really one to talk. I have bright blue eyes, and there's a line of pink across my eyelid. We can be weird together.

"Y-you don't?" Disappointment makes its way into my voice.

"I'm sorry, Clap. I've lost touch with the world outside of the Green Grass Field. As far as I know, the father could be anyone." And Brook weaves herself further into what I'm assuming is her web of lies. How could she not know? She's always been able to answer my questions!

"You h-have no i-idea?" Please answer it.

"Clap, the father could be your father, but it could also be any other father. I have no idea. For all I know, your father is dead. I hope all my heart he's alive, but I don't know. As soon as we became trapped in here, I lost the ability to keep tabs on what was going on. I have no clue what things look like out of here."

"Then wh-why a-are we here?" It's the one question I've always wondered about but never bothered to ask- I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer, so I put it off.

"King Garonda XIV was upset with your father. Your father wasn't opposed to King Garonda XIV ruling, but your father warned the King about the power the Amethyst Throne had. This angered King Garonda XIV, so he trapped you in the Green Grass Field. I followed you to keep you safe. But King Garonda XIV knew your father was a loyal follower, so he gave us a sort of haven- everything we needed to survive, but nothing more."

"Wh-what's my father's n-name?" Brook narrows her eyes, pausing as she debates about how to answer.

"His name is... His name is Ice."

"I-Ice," I say, testing out the name. Ice. I hope you're still alive, Ice. I want to meet you. That would be cool; to finally meet my dad.

"What a-a-about my mom?" I perk my ears as I await the response. Brook tenses, closing her eyes for a short moment.

"It's getting late. Let's go to bed now." She stands back up. What does she mean by that? Why didn't she answer my question? I want to know about my mom. Why won't she tell me? Maybe tomorrow. I'll ask Brook about my mother tomorrow, and maybe she'll answer tomorrow. 

"Come on, Clap. Let's go to bed."

"O-Ok." I lay down on my side and close my eyes. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll ask about my mother.

"Sleep well, Clap."

"You too, Brook," I murmur in reply.

xxxx

I sleep soundly through the night. I never wake once, and nor do I dream. Every time I start to wake, I drift off again before I become aware of my surroundings.

"Clap! Clap! Wake up, Clap," a voice is hissing in my ear, which I flick in my sleepy daze to try to get it to go away.

"Clap!" There it is again. I ignore the voice and let myself slip deeper into Dreamland.

"CLAP! WAKE UP!" This time, the voice is screaming in my ear. I jolt awake, jumping to my paws in a blur.

"Y-Yeah?" I shake my head to rid myself of my lingering sleepiness. When I look around, I see that Wolf, Dove, Ky, and Phoenix are standing next to us. Hopefully, they haven't been here long.

"The f-." Ky cuts Phoenix off.

"You'd better watch your language, or I'm going to make you be living in KG14's palace for the rest of your life," the tan cat threatens. But I can see funny-ness in Ky's eyes. He's maybe joking?

"Like you really would," Phoenix sneers. "Anyways, I was just going to say the ferocious Guard and Soldiers are right outside here. I don't know what you thought I was going to say."

"Uh, huh," Ky replies sarcastically.

"H-how do you know for sure?" Dove is squinting at the edge of the Green Grass Field. I look but don't see anything either.

"Use your nose. There's a foreign smell, and we're the only ones here. Logic." Phoenix rolls his eyes.

I sniff as well, swiveling my ears to see if there are any unfamiliar sounds. Living here for my entire life has allowed me to notice any unusual sensations immediately. The slightest vibration in the ground that shouldn't be here. A change in the wind. A different birdsong or noise. But they're not in the Green Grass Field. The barrier makes this our own little world, free from being affected by things outside.

I narrow my eyes.

"For the love-. Look just past that little bush dead ahead. See that little patch of silver? Last I checked, bushes aren't silver. That's clearly the armor of a Soldier who's unsuccessfully trying to hide," Phoenix says, annoyed. "YOU KNOW I CAN SEE YOU BEHIND THE BUSH! YOU'RE NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB HIDING!"

Flames curl from around him. The orange from the fire matches his burning gaze.

"Do you guys see them?" Phoenix turns around as he states his demand. I look at the bush carefully, and, sure enough, a Soldier is crouching behind it.

"Oh, th-there it is. I-I see the S-Soldier."

"No," Wolf murmurs as she looks.

"Let's get closer. They can't get in, right?" Ky looks up at Brook.

"The Guard and Soldiers shouldn't be able to, but you guys got in just fine. I must say, I don't know much about this place and who can get in. I didn't realize anyone could, or that anyone would find our home."

"Enough chitchat. We're stalling. There is one surefire way to make sure the Guard and Soldiers don't come in." A slow smile spreads across Phoenix's face as his lips pull back to reveal his fangs.

"And that surefire way is?" Ky is skeptical.

"Kill them. They can't come in if they're dead. Logic, right?"

"I see a flaw in your so-called surefire plan, Phoenix." Dove steps into the conversation.

"What is it?" The black cat grumbles.

"How do we get out?" Dove raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know. Just put one leg in front of the other."

"We might be able to, but Brook and Clap can't." Dove gestures to me and Brook.

"Have you guys tried?" Wolf turns to us.

"No, but why would be able to? King Garonda XIV wanted us trapped here."
"Why? Did you guys do something?" Ky tilts his head to the side. Yeah, why are we trapped? Brook hesitates, narrowing her eyes. She looks at each of the four visitors carefully before opening her mouth. "Well," she begins cautiously.

"GET THEM! GET WOLF AND DOVE FOR MY SOVEREIGN, HIS EXCELLENCY, HIS HONOR, HIS HIGHEST OF ALL HIGHNESSES, KING GARONDA XIV!" Something in the barrier surrounding the Green Grass Field breaks with a shattering sound.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a vote! Also, comment on your thoughts! I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Uh, oh. It looks like the Guard and Soldiers have stumbled upon Clap! But did they really stumble upon the Green Grass Field?

I know I've asked this before, but does Arcane exist? Who do you believe: Ky or Phoenix?