Nona: Chapter Five: Pool of Reflection
Viper sighed. "Looks like she's gone and knocked a few teeth out" she said sounding disappointed.
Petra looked over at Katelyne and Viper and she scoffed. "Look if you want to fight me fine, but don't go crying to me when you have your legs snapped in half" she boasted, she had a Nonaian accent yet there was a trace of an Irish accent.
Viper face palmed with her right hand. Katelyne wasn't sure of what to do. She just stared at the tiger and zoned out.
Petra scoffed and crossed her arms. "What are you looking at?" she asked Katelyne sounding rather mean and rather loud.
Katelyne snapped back into focus. "Umm..." she mumbled.
"Ummmm?" Petra asked Katelyne sounding rude.
Katelyne looked surprised. She started to look down at the ground.
Viper sighed again. "Petra can you please stop this, she's new around here," she told her.
Petra walked over to Katelyne ignoring Viper. "Think you're so tough?" Petra asked Katelyne, she was only an inch away from her. She grabbed her by the collar of her coat.
Katelyne let out a whimper, but she didn't feel scared. She looked right up into Petra's eyes. They were like green emeralds.
Viper quickly walked over to Katelyne and Petra. She grabbed the back of Petra's gi and the back of Katelyne's coat. She pulled they away from each other and looked at Petra with anger in her eyes.
Petra scoffed. "Look I'm just having a little fun with the new girl, that's all" she told Viper sounding sly.
Viper grumbled. She was about to say something, but she was interrupted by a deep and loud Irish accented voice saying "Petra, that is not how we treat our guests!"
Katelyne, Viper and Petra looked over at the entrance of the tavern. There was a old tiger anthro man standing at the entrance of the door. He had a long white fu manchu mustache that was down to his chest, aqua eyes, big white bushy eyebrows orange fur with black stripes like Petra and he was only a hair taller then Petra. He wore a long robe that was one side black and the other side white, it was like the ying yang symbol on Petra's gi.
Petra and Viper faced the old tiger and bowed in respect for the old man.
Katelyne didn't know what was going on. She felt a little embarrassed from not knowing what to do.
The old man looked over at Katelyne with his wise old aqua eyes. "Who might you be?" he asked her sounding calm yet fierce.
"I'm Katelyne, Katelyne Starkey" she told the old man, she sounding slightly scared, but she had a nice smile on her face.
The old man raised his eyebrows and look disbelief.
Katelyne cocked her right eyebrows and had a look of confusion on her face. "Excuse me sir, are you okay?" she asked the old man.
The old man lowered his eyebrows. "Come with me, Viper, Petra, you two come along" he ordered, he started to walk out of the tavern.
Katelyne looked over at Viper. She didn't know what to do. Viper was the only person she knew in the Sanctuary.
Viper sighed and let go of Petra and Katelyne's jackets and followed the old man.
Petra grumbled and had an angry look on her face. She followed after Viper and the old man.
Katelyne quickly followed them and walked next to Viper.
Petra walked behind Katelyne and Viper, and Katelyne and Viper walked behind the old man.
No one said a word during the walk. Katelyne looked back at Petra a couple of times. Petra looked like she didn't want to see her, like she was angry at her.
Katelyne looked forward and sighed. She wondered what was with Petra, why was she acting that way to her?
The walk took about ten minutes, and then they came across a cave. The entrance of the cave looked like a head of a dragon. Cherry blossom trees surrounded the cave. The pink pedals fell off the trees and were in the gust of wind, they danced and twirled all around in the wind. The light shined in the cherry blossom trees. It was a beautiful sight. Katelyne smiled at this sight; her eyes started to become glassy. Then she looked forward towards the dragon cave.
The four of them soon entered the cave. The inside of the cave was big and rather dark. You could hear a eerie wind that echoed throughout the cave. It was haunting, but Katelyne found the sound of this wind beautiful. Petra walked beside Katelyne. Katelyne looked at the magnificent tiger martial artist. Petra didn't look at Katelyne; she just looked around at the dark cave.
They soon came to a light blue-green pool; there was an opening in the roof of the cave so they could see the pool. There was a small island in the middle of the pool with a cherry blossom tree. There were pedals in the pool but they just calmly floated in the pool. There was a carving of a dragon in stonewall behind the pool.
The old man walked over to the pool, he looked over at Katelyne. "Starkey, can you come over here?" he asked Katelyne sounding serious.
Katelyne looked at Viper, she didn't know what to do. She was nervous and scared.
Viper looked down at her and tilted her head towards the old man. "Go over to him, he wants you, don't worry you'll be safe" she told Katelyne.
Katelyne looked over at the old man. She took a deep breath and swallowed her fear. She started to walk towards the old man.
"Look into the pool" the old man, told Katelyne.
Petra crossed her arms and scoffed. Viper looks over at her and gave her a angry look. Petra looked over at Viper and snickered towards her.
Katelyne stepped forward towards the pool. She looked down into it. She just saw herself reflected into the pool. Then the reflection started to ripple. There was a blind flash of light that came from the pool.
Katelyne closed her eyes and gasped. She started to feel like she was underwater. She opened her eyes. She wasn't in the cave.
She was in 1940 downtown New York that was called Stella. It was around the middle of the day in the middle of summer. She was in the middle of the streets. Humans and Anthros in suits, trench coats and fedoras walked down the street. No one looked at her, like she was invisible. Katelyne gasped. She looked around and she noticed a cat anthro walk out of a apartment. She kinda looked like Katelyne. She had red 1940s retro hairstyle; she was around 5'11", a sharp-short face, a thin body type, grey fur and steely blue cat-like eyes. She wore a long grey trench coat, a black pinstripe suit, a red pinstripe tie and fancy black dress shoes. Katelyne tilted her head to the right. This woman seemed to stick out more then everything else. Everything soon started to turn grey and time stopped around her. The woman was still in color but she was frozen in time. Katelyne gasped.
"Victoria Starkey" a elegant feminine Kwae voice echoed in her mind. Katelyne gasped again. She looked around; she didn't see anyone who wasn't frozen in time except her. "Born 1913, Stella city. Died 1979, the Sanctuary. Detective from 1936 to 1957. Loving mother and wife."
Katelyne felt as if she was in the water again. She closed her eyes and the blinding light flashed again. She opened her eyes.
She was in a tavern in 1784; she was sitting in a chair at the bar. She sat next to a big and muscular cat anthro. He had smoky grey fur, a scar across his left cheek, around 6'5", a long-broad face and fiery orange cat-like eyes. He wore a long black leather trench coat, a raggedy black werewolf hunter's hat, a raggedy white dress shirt, well-worn black leather pants, and a black leather ammo belt across his body and well-worn black leather boots. He had a mug of mead in his left hand. Katelyne just looked at the man.
Then everything around her started to turn grey and time stopped around her. The man was still in color but he was still frozen in time. Katelyne still just looked at the man.
"Garrett Starkey" the elegant feminine Kwae voice echoed in her mind. Katelyne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Born 1742, Ádh mór" Which was the city of Dublin. "Died 1802, the Sanctuary. Werewolf hunter from 1763 to 1799. Karate instructor from 1790 to 1802. Great teacher, founder of the Sanctuary, loving father and husband".
Katelyne started to feel like she was in water again. The blinding flash of light soon appeared again. Katelyne opened her eyes. She was back in the cave. Everyone was looking at her.
"So, what did you see?" the old man asked Katelyne. He had his arms behind his back.
"I... I think I saw my ancestors.. Garrett and Victoria" she told the old man.
The old man raised his eyebrows. He had a happy and excited look on his face.
Katelyne tilted her head to the left, cocked her right eyebrow and had a puzzled look on her face.
The old man walked over to the dragon carving. "Do you have the ring?" he asked her.
Katelyne checked her coat pocket. She pulled out the ring and showed it to the old man.
The old man's smile grew wider. "Now come over here Starkey," he told her sounding very happy.
Katelyne took a deep breath and exhaled. Her heart started to race. She had a strange feeling like this would be a big deal. She slowly crept towards the old man and the dragon carving.
Petra scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Taking forever" she muttered under her breath. Viper looked at her looking cross. She put her right index finger against her lips. She sharply shushed her and looked back at Katelyne.
Katelyne soon got over to the old man. She held up the ring towards him.
The old man softly chuckled. "Now place the ring in the dragon" he told her.
Katelyne looked around at the dragon carving to see if there was a section she could put the ring in. She noticed the right ring finger on the dragon was slightly lifted up from the wall. It was lifted enough that Katelyne could put the ring on the finger. She quickly yet gently place the ring on the ring finger. She started to feel the ground beneath her rumble.
The old man and Katelyne stepped back from the dragon carving. The grounding was rumbling, and then it stopped. The eyes on the dragon turned from stone to icy blue lights, as if it was coming alive.
Katelyne gasped and started to look amazed. This was surely something fantastic. Viper, Petra and the old man were all amazed by what was happening.
The ground started to rumble again. The wall with the carving on it started to rise. It was a door leading to a secret room and Katelyne had unlocked the door. The wall carving had risen and it makes a click noise when it got to the top. There was a room, like a vault behind the wall carving.
Katelyne quickly walked towards the room and looked in. The place was filled with cobwebs and dust. There was a dusty bookcase with a few books on it with old, dusty, leather covers. There was a wooden table with a note on it. There was a medium sized steel crossbow leaning against the bookcase, it was dusty and slightly rusted. There was a small black satchel next to the crossbow. There was a silver long sword next to the crossbow. It wasn't bent or dusty or rusting. It looked as good as new. It had strange symbols engraved on the blade of the sword.
Katelyne walked into the room. Her heart started to beat faster. She had a strange feeling like she's been here before. She walked over to the table and grabbed the note. She opened up the note and she started to read it.
"Dear reader, hopefully a fellow Starkey. My name is Victoria Starkey; I was a detective in the city of Stella. I have found this place call "The Sanctuary" which was built by my ancestor "Garrett Starkey" who was a werewolf hunter and a master of the martial arts of karate.
I have come here to store away a magical artifact and books on the mystic language, which has been long forgotten for most people. I have stored away all of that in a place I'm calling "the vault", which I will have people help me to build it. I have chosen this location for the vault so the decedent Starkey would look into the past in the pools of reflection and see Garrett and myself.
I have also stored away Garrett's equipment in here so people won't steal away his equipment and sell it off. It has a much great purpose for our world. If you have any troubles with caring all the books, the crossbow and the sword. Don't worry, there should be a small pouch I have magically enchanted to have a limitless capacity, but don't put anything else in there.
I wish you the best of luck, Katelyne.
~Love your ancestor, Victoria"
Katelyne was amazed. This was more then half a millennia ago, and Victoria could tell Katelyne would be reading the note. Katelyne wasn't exactly a common name in the Starkey family. She was actually the first Starkey to be called Katelyne.
She slide the note into her trench coat pocket. She looked around the vault to find this magic bag. She looked over to the bookcase. She noticed something small and red, it kind of looked like a pouch, but one of the books was leaning on it. She walked over to it and she lifted up to book. She saw the pouch. She quickly grabbed it and opened it up. The inside of it was pitch black; you couldn't see the bottom of it. She reached her hand in the pouch. She fit her whole arm in and she could onto touch the bottom of it with the tip of her middle finger. She took her arm out of it and looked around at the vault.
Viper, Petra and the old man waited outside for her. The old man was patient and silent, Petra was taunting Viper and making mean and taunting faces at her and Viper was trying to ignore Petra but it was difficult for her.
Katelyne started to grab the books off the bookcase and place them into the pouch. There were about ten books; they all looked the same, except each book had a different symbol on the front cover. She soon grabbed the crossbow, the small black satchel and the sword and placed them into the pouch. Everything fit easily in the bag, and it was strangely light. It felt like it weighed as much as a can of spray paint. It was incredibly light for a pouch with a sword, a crossbow, a small satchel and ten books. She placed the satchel in her pocket and she walked out of the vault.
"So, Starkey, are you ready for your adventure? Since you have the equipment," the old man asked Katelyne sounding content.
Katelyne cocked her left eyebrow. "What do I have to do?" she asked the old man.
"There is a great evil, it will shroud the world in a forever darkness, a forever winter. It is up to you Starkey to stop this darkness" the old man told Katelyne.