Cherry had finally made her decision. Flicking her tortoiseshell tail, she headed out of her room to confront the others that she was ready to leave for the journey ahead to the kingdom of Epirisana. As she stepped out, the others smiled to her, reflecting a warm gaze to her in greeting- even if she’d only been in her room for twenty minutes.

“Well?” Raiden said, his black and brown tail twitching with curiosity. Cherry blinked her eyes and nodded, “I’m ready, if Diamond knows the way out of this- well, mess… then it’s more then definitely worth visiting her.”

The others purred with happiness, “then we should get going right away!” Quail Song meowed, leaping to her paws. The others rose as well and quickly ran to prepare themselves for the long journey ahead. Gabby smiled and closed her eyes, slightly flicking her ears with a calm appearance. “I haven’t enabled my true ability in quiet some time,” she’d purr, “it’s time I finally do.”

Without a moment to ask her new friend what she meant, Gabby trotted away to collect whatever she needed. Cherry drew one of her paws over her ear, she’d gotten used to living life as a cat, sharpening her claws every now and then and brushing her fur down when it was bristled. Things were more simple than being a human, but yet she still missed walking on two legs instead of four, and having fur was still a little weird to her.

Within a few seconds, everyone emerged from their rooms with everything they might need. “Well then,” Blade spoke, “let’s get going.”

With a swish of a tail, the nine cats departed from their friendly treehouse and started through the woods, beginning their journey to the kingdom of Epirisana.

/-^^-\

The group had been traveling for awhile now, Cherry’s paws felt numb from all the walking, everyone else seemed to be felling the same, except for Quail Song who was flying above them (she seemed to be showing the fact off that she could fly and they couldn’t). After a long silence, the roaring sound of water echoed through Cherry’s spotted ears. Peering through the thinning forest, a lake stood in their path, making the group stop.

Dude sighed, “I forgot about this…” he’d murmur, slouching his shoulders and running to get to the bank of the large mass of water. The others didn’t seem to thrilled either, all except for Gabby. The silver tabby brushed aside everyone and met the water with a calm gaze.

She touched her nose to the lake, and within a few seconds, the feline turned into water, laughing as Cherry gasped in surprise.

“Y-you can-“

“Turn into water? Yep!”

She jumped into the water, silver droplets from the lake spashing up onto the others as she twirled around in sync with the calming breeze that caried the lake’s scent. She was hardly visible, making Cherry strain to see her.

Whisper Rose looked across the lake to the land beyond, it was quiet far away. The long furred cat’s eyes shimmered as an idea sparked into her head. “Quail Song, you and I can lift everyone across the water! You can carry some on your back and I’ll make the rest levitate over.” Quail Song looked at her like’d she had four ears, “I can only carry at least one! And can you really put your power to the test with floating everyone across?” She’d scoff.

Whisper Rose glared at her through slitted eyes, “I’m sure I’m capable of it.” She’d reply, “this isn’t how we got across last time, so we’ll have to make use of what’s already with us.” Storm and Snowdrop glanced at eachother, Whisper Rose never usually talked. “I could try to bring everyone across the water with y’know, clouds.” Storm offered, taking a paw step forward. Snowdrop shook her head, “don’t do that, everyone will probably fall through,” she told her. Storm’s fur bristled like a growing cloud, “well let’s see then!” She spat. Storm formed a mass of clouds and shot them at Snowdrop, lifting her up in the air with a startle.

She hit the ground with a hiss, glareing at Storm with disapproval. Gabby twirled around, “are we gonna keep going or not?” She’d ask, a smile on her face. Everyone nodded and came closer to the bank of the lake. Quail Song lowered herself to the ground, letting Cherry climb onto her back. The feline lifted herself back into the air, winceing as Cherry dug her claws in her back. “Stop clawing my fur out!” Quail Song hissed. Cherry loosened her grip, “sorry, I’ve just never been up in the sky before…” Quail Song nodded her head and rose up higher into the air. Whisper Rose waved her paw a few times and wind came and picked up Raiden, who was startled. Then, Storm glared at Snowdrop and picked up Dude.

Blade and Snowdrop kept their eyes on them as they began to cross the lake. The wind was calming, letting Cherry relax. Raiden and Dude seemed to enjoy floating over the water, they stretched one of their paws down to touch the crystal lake, laughing as water sprayed up into the air. Beneath the flying cats, Gabby was laughing with happiness, leaping out of the water like a dolphin as she followed them. Purring, Quail Song lowered herself, letting Cherry run her paw through the water.

In a few more moments, they had reached the other side, dropping the three off and heading back for the other two. Gabby leaped out of the water, mid air turning back to normal. Her fur wasnt wet at all, it seemed like not a single drop had clung to her.

After a few moments, the others joined them across, shaking their fur from the water. They all began to laugh with each other, purring and describing what could have happened if they fell in.

Cherry watched her new friends, reflecting the harmonized gaze everyone else shared. Lifting her head up to the dimming sky, she reminded herself that all of them were here together, they’d all gone through the same things she had in arriving to an unknown world. Picking up the pace, they all started raceing one another toward their destination, knowing that they’d be safe together.

(Sorry that this part was so long!)