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Here's chapter two!!!

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He awoke in a cold sweat. His sheets were soaked with his sweat.** He had** no idea how he had come to wake up like this just that it happened. He had an itching in the back of his mind, like something was off, but he couldn't tell what it was. Couldn't figure out what it was that made him feel like this. The sun was just beginning to rise from the horizon, a soft reddish hue cast through his window, illuminating his room, allowing him to see around now what was inside.

What he saw completely left him without an ounce of air in his lungs. He figured out what made him wake up how he did. His attention was drawn to a series of clustered plants, stuck in a dead, disfigured shell of a fox, stuck in, what Merlain figured to be male, a hole cut in the chest and a shelf placed at the hip bone that housed the plants. The fox looked like he had originally been a fox and wolf cross breed. The plants themselves were entwined together by vines that wrapped around themselves and the plant stems and flowers. The flowers varied from shades of pink to white to a deep crimson red, and bloomed in various spots. All in all, in his head, it looked like the flowers took over and formed themselves as the internal organs of the wolf-fox who sat upon the dresser across from his bed in the far corner. The legs and arms of the dead fur lay motionless and the fur was paled from death and sun exposure. The head stayed stiffened at the neck, his muzzle pointed directly in front of him. His eyes remained closed. The vines managed to escape the chest cavity slightly and wrapped around the legs and arms at different lengths.

Merlain screamed. He screamed so loud that his voice quickly became hoarse. A quick pounding on the floor and a crash came from out of his room. He quit screaming, his back pressed hard against the headboard of his bed frame. Solstice managed to reach him and opened the door, looking at him and then followed his gaze. She sighed and motioned for him to follow her out of the room. His gaze remained upon the wolf-fox that stayed motionless against the wall, eyes closed, flowers blooming with life in the dead body. "Come on Merlain. Get downstairs."

He didn't hear her speaking. He couldn't take his gaze off the dead fur. He gaped and trembled, whining, scared that that body would suddenly open its eyes and come after him somehow. Solstice spoke up louder now, finally gaining Merlain's attention. "Come on! Get downstairs and wait for me by the door." Merlain nodded, still looking at the thing across the room, stumbling out of bed and reaching the door frame. Solstice had stepped out of the way. Once through the doorway, he bolted down the hall and down the staircase. His paw had wrapped around the doorknob as he was about to run out of that place and run. Just run. Run as far as he could, to get away from that room forever. But his wrist wouldn't turn. His paw wouldn't move to turn the knob that would get him out of there. It remained frozen in place. He tried to will his body to work, but it wouldn't. He couldn't do it.

He simply remained. A minute or so later, Solstice came down the stairs, out of her nightgown and into a sundress that was relatively plain other than a floral design here and there. She spoke up as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "About that...." Her voice had grown thin and raspy, and she spoke in barely more than a whisper, "that would be something that I'd rather not share with you. Let's just say that that is someone who was very close to me. That's all I will say to you."

Merlain gasped at how harsh his voice had grown, how hoarse it had become. "Why would you even do that to begin with? How could anyone do something like that? It's creepy and wrong."

"If you lost someone very close to you, wouldn't you want to do anything to remember them?"

"Isn't that what gravestones are for?!"

"That is how I remember him. It's my version of remembrance, so let's just leave it at that."

He was resolute and slightly maddened, and could hear it in his voice as he said, "fine."

They walked outside, his body finally moving to turn the knob of the door, swinging the door open. They stepped outside and in a unanimous decision had decided to return to the Clan World in order to train, as to not waste the precious time in the real world, where the rebellion force was working its way toward the Capital of Keirosa. They walked out into the woods through the nearest gate, Merlain making sure to stay a few paces ahead of the crazy old vixen. They reached a small clearing.

"Here is a fine enough spot," the vixen spoke up. Merlain stopped and nodded.

"So how exactly does this power work?"

"The power of Creation works by allowing you to create forms and manipulate the carbon within all living things. Basically you are manipulating carbon to your will. In order to make something, focus on the make-up of things. The grass, for example. Focus on how it's made up of carbon and cells and chlorophyll, which makes it green. It doesn't matter how deep you get into focusing on it, just enough that you can sense the carbon within it. The life that it has within it that allows it to grow and thrive and live.

"If you do this, then you can manipulate the grass. You can make it turn different shades, make it grow or die, make it shorter or longer. Things need to have carbon in them to make them work. It doesn't work on us until we're dead because we have too much water in the way and it only makes it impossible to manipulate it."

She takes her paw and waves it at the grass, making it grow rapidly, reaching now her knees, then her waist. She stops it and it goes back to the height it was. "You can also make it change into other things." She flicks her paw and a few of the blades of grass begin to lengthen and thicken, weaving in and out of each other, forming into vines woven together, growing toward the sky. She continues and more of the blades of grass turn into vines that surround and wrap around the first cluster. The ends of the vines sag over themselves but continue to grow and spread out. The grass from the base begins to turn a deep shade of brown, spreading up until it reaches a certain point, and then begins to turn to the ends of the vines a slightly lighter shade. Leaves sprout out from the hanging, more or less limp ends of the vines all over the place. She stopped and what was in front of her now was a tree, the same as the others, all made from about forty blades of grass.

She moves her paw to a tree that had already been there and it turns a ghastly white color before shrinking down, turning a variety of greens as it turned into vines and shrunk down to a patch of grass. "See? It works on a lot of things, most things, and lets you manipulate the carbon to your whim. Now you try."

He nodded, perplexed and mesmerized about what he was witnessing first-paw. He raises his paw to a plush patch of grass. He focuses in on the grass, how it was composed. How it was made. How it lived. He felt a strange feeling of cold water surround his paw. He looked at it to see that it had turned an odd shade of green.

He tried to do what Solstice had done. He tried to manipulate the carbon within it, to make the grass grow taller. It grew a small amount before snapping back to the length it had been.

He tried again, and it managed to grow a bit taller than the first time, only to snap back again.

He tried again.

And again.

And Again.

Each time he tried, it grew a little bit longer than the previous attempt. He growled lowly, irritation and impatience flooding his emotions. Solstice, only watching near him, spoke up. "You need to focus on the carbon Merlain."

"Don't you think that's what I'm trying to do!"

"Just be patient. Try to focus on the grass and then focus on retaining the way that carbon has been changed by your power. Don't try to just change it and leave it be. It has to be a fluid motion, shaping and molding the carbon to your whim."

He took her advice, focusing on the carbon at first of the grass and how it worked. He worked in his mind about that carbon making the grass grow, taking each bit it formed to make it grow and keeping that in his mind to make the next amount growing to stay at that length.

On this attempt, the grass began to grow taller, retaining its length and continuing to grow without snapping back to the way it was.

It was straining on his mind. After just a few minutes of growing the grass, he was mentally exhausted. He dropped his paw. It went back to its normal color as the grass snapped back into its original length. Solstice nodded.

"Nice work. It will take a while for your soul to keep up with the demanding effects that are needed for carbon manipulation. It's taxing on your soul. You'll get there. Now you have the power of the island so you'll be able to grow large structures and use the power to your maximum ability fairly quickly. It won't be long. Your body is also making room for more soul power to fill you. The island isn't slow with this, and you'll be able to feel a depth of soul power you never thought imaginable. Don't worry."

"I'm really tired."

"Let's take a break from training then. Come sit."

"I've had a question for a while. Why were you chosen to be guardian of Creation?"

"I was chosen because of my vast knowledge of herbalism and the wilderness... plus the Elder Tree."

He shot her a quizzical look. "The what?"

"The Elder Tree. It's a tree that has been said to have been growing since trees first existed on this planet. It's on a small island not too far from the city of Elsin, the capitol of the city-state of Elsin. It grew into a sort of fairy tale for children because no one ever really sees it. This tree is unable to be seen in the real world. It's definitely real though. I've seen it once."

"So why can't people see it?"

"It's a bare island, with no other vegetation other than wild grasses and flowers. Nobody lives on the island because of its sacred-like state. There are laws that prevent furs from making residency on the island. Most can't see it because it only is exists in the Clan Worlds, and can only be seen by those are part of the family of the Emperor. Even then, only certain furs are allowed to see it. It's very choosy. Zepharon knows who the Emperor is, and it chooses the Clan that should be the next family of Emperors and own the throne. We've been able to figure out a rough guide to determine the next Imperial lineage, but we're off sometimes."

Merlain only nodded, listening intently on the story, wondering why and how the island did all these things, but chalked it up to mystery and magic. The kind of magic that kept you always guessing what actually went on behind the scenes but you never quite catch on to it. Without realizing it, Solstice hadn't stopped talking while he was zoned out, wondering how everything happened.

"-should try to combine your two powers. Maybe shoot an arrow and use the head to control what you hit. That way you don't have to reach out as far because your soul weapons have the distance."

"That actually sounds pretty smart."

"By the end -by the time you have the Royal Crest that is -is that you should be able to use all your powers together at once. It's a strange combination but it works somehow."

He had stopped listening, eyes half-lidded as he tries to remain awake, feeling like that of a zombie. She continued on, but he didn't pay attention anymore. Seeing this, she finally stopped and sat back against a tree. He did the same against a different tree, falling asleep as soon as his eyelids closed.

He woke up a bit later. He couldn't tell how long he'd been out since time doesn't work inside the Clan World. Solstice is sitting across from him, eyes closed, legs folded under her, arms to her sides. She is meditating, he figures. She opens her eyes and nods to him. He does the same back to her and sits up fully, then stands. She stands with him and begins to speak. "We should get headed back, go back to the normal world. I'm sure your little buddy Jamie is filled with questions."

"Yeah, I bet he is."

They walk the short distance it takes to get back into Keirosa, remaining in the Clan World until they reach The Green Garden. Upon entering the door they switch back, the black specks no longer flying up into the air or an eerie yellow and orange-ish glow over everything. Merlain looked around for Jamie and found him in the living room that he hadn't noticed before. It was about ten in the morning, and he chuckled when he saw the always so wired up squirrel resting peacefully on the couch, face and body calm as he slept. Not wanting to, but having to anyway, he reaches down and shakes the little squirrel softly. "Jamie. Wake up."

Merlain is forced to take a step back with the forest rodent suddenly sits up, eyes darting left and right, breathing fast, obviously panicked. He calms when he sees Merlain standing there. "Hey, Merlain, what's up?"

"Well I figured you would want to wake up by now."

"I was having a nice dream... but if you say so."

"My bad."

"Naw, it's okay. You're right; it's about time to get up anyway. I sleep too much as-is."

"One couldn't guess with how hyper you always are."

"That's just my personality, travelling buddy."

"So I've seen. And heard. And witnessed."

The rodent sticks his tongue out and giggles, eliciting a chuckle from Merlain as well. He stands up and stretches out, his joints creaking under the pressure, a few loud pops sounding out, and a contented sigh from Jamie. "So. What are the plans for today? What have you been up to? Did you do anything exciting? Where have you been? Wha--"

"Whoa there, Jamie. You just woke up and you're already going as fast as an arrow."

"I told you, silly, it's who I am."

"Just calm down a bit."

"I'll_try_," he puts extra emphasis and sarcasm in the word try, giggling after. "So what were you guys up to?"

"I was training."

"What were you training?"

"I got the power of Creation."

"I thought you had Soul Weapons."

"I can get more than just one." The silent gasp from the squirrel lets Merlain know that he knew exactly what he meant by that.

A knock on the door alerts all three furs in the house. Solstices goes up to it and opens it, looking at a tall horse. Merlain and Jamie accompanied the vixen as the horse began to speak. He looked like a thoroughbred, but Merlain wasn't very good with the horse breeds. "Solstice," his voice was low and raspy, air wanting to enter his lungs first before he spoke; he had obviously been running. "Solstice, the Emperor wanted me to let you know that the invading forces are getting closer by the hour to Keirosa. We've been able to fend them off pretty well, but their strength is beginning to overcome us. All in all, both our forces and those of the invaders have waned by about half. It looks grim all across the island."

"Any word about the other islands?"

"We haven't had any information about them, but we figured they're just as bad if not worse. If we're able to defeat them here then we can send remaining resources and men to them. The Emperor will be sending his royal guard out in a matter of an hour or so."

"Thanks, Heiron." The horse bows and leaves, running quickly back to probably where he got the message to send to Solstice. She turned her attention to the two boys who had been standing near the stairs. "Well, boys, looks like you might be doing some fighting. Everything will be okay." She says confidently, but her eyes gave away her actual feelings: fright.