F-Quest

©Luke (SonikFox) D.

12/9/99

Chapter 1

Awakened, I look up, a hard thing to do when your neck hurts as bad as this. Since the pain is too much for me to handle I put my head back down in the damp grass. Yes, I remember this green foliage that covers the ugly dirt with pleasant green. Seems as though it is the only thing that is familiar to me.

Something has just happened to me, but what? I don't know. As I put my hand to my muzzle I feel something warm and wet. It's blood, just as I had feared. The throbbing pain in my head almost makes me fall into a coma. Why would anyone do this to me? I just lay there, staring at the blades of grass.

I guess I should now figure out where I am. I know I am outdoors, I know it is very cold, I know it is late afternoon. I know much has just happened, but what? How did I get here? Enough questions, I must see if I can get up and move around and see if I can find my way back from where ever I came from.

I get up on my hands and knees, quivering almost out of control. Blood dripping off of me. My clothes have been torn and are now useless as a garment of any kind. I hold on to them in comfort. I get up on my knees, tail laying flat on the ground as if a useless limb. My arms are too week and I just lay them at my sides. The only thing I move at the moment is my head as I gaze up into the sky. It is all a grim violet, the clouds moving so fast.

My head bows to my chest as I gasp for breath, hurts so much. The lungs feel like they are burning from the inside. I must try and remember what has happened. I try over and over but there is no evidence in my mind of what I have ever been. What does all this mean? I don't remember even who I am. A tear roles down my cheek.

Suddenly I feel dizzy once again, now it is a familiar feeling. It is too strong of a feeling. Just before I fall face first back into the damp grass I feel as if someone is there with me. Has someone come to save me? Too late, I fall into blackness.

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When I come to this time, things seem much better. I smell a rich delicious odor and I am nice and warm. My eyes hurt as I try and let the light pour into my pupils. Everything is blurry at first, then I began to see my surroundings.

I lay on a cot with a blanket covering me. All of my wounds have been bandaged and taken care of. Looking around the room, I see a figure busy with something in the shadows. Obviously I was not afraid, whoever this was saved my life. I lay in comfort, what a contrast compared to the pain I had just survived. It was like black in contrast with white.

This was a nice dwelling, warm, calm, and welcome. Things neatly arranged around this circular room with another room that connected by a hall. There were all kinds of 'home-made' ornamentation that hung on the walls. All of these ornaments were unique and displayed a great amount of time and detail. Telling by the dirt floor, I knew that this was not a town-dweller. The high ceiling also looked as if it was made of thatch and mud.

I guess the figure noticed me looking around so he came over to see how I was doing. As he came into the light I finally saw who my hero was, a great stallion of gray and brown with great strength and wisdom. His eyes were deep and warm.

"How are you feeling?" The horse said in a deep wise voice. It was a comforting voice that was full of love and concern.

"I am feeling much better than I was before you came." I replied. My voice sounded week and pathetic compared to his.

"Felines always seem to be able to sustain many more injuries than other mammals. I am surprised you survived what ever it was that did this to you. Do you know?"

"No, I do not remember anything. I do not even remember who I am." I say with despair in my voice.

"Amnesia, you have indeed gone through a traumatic experience. I have given you all the medicine I could find that could help you. For now you need to rest, for it is still late at night. In the morning we will see if we can put any more of this puzzle together." The wise steed said as he gently rubbed his hand across my head. I laid back and soon fell back to sleep.

The next morning the sunlight shined through the window next to the cot I was lying out. As the warmth came in through the window the heat eased my body. I still did not remember much. Only that I got the tar kicked out of me somehow and I ended up here. Thoughts pour into my mind as I wonder about who I am. I figure I am about eight-teen or twenty years old. How much is a year? I notice that the confusion is strong when I try and think of things that I know I knew at one time. I hope the horse does not mind me asking a bunch of questions.

"I have never seen anyone sleep that well before." Said the horse as he came over to me. "Before you say anything, here, have some warm tea." He gave me some wonderful hot tea that made my whole insides feel warm and comfortable. "I really do not know how much you do know and what you do not so let me just start from the beginning. I am Mervin, the knower of most things. I was in the meadow yesterday gathering herbs for the things I make here. All of a sudden I heard a sound I had never heard before. Then when the sound came nearer and nearer I started to get worried. Like you I blanked out for a period of about ten minutes, only a moment. Then I got up and saw you laying near by." He said, pausing as if to think. "Do you know what and who you are?"

"No, sir. I know that they call my type a feline." I said the best that I could.

"You are a panther. The gray coat type. You are a very fast, agile, and skilled hunter. Many of your type sought long ago a meaning to life, and other mysteries of the universe. I used to think of such as being the most intelligent and wise. Now however, your type has been causing the most trouble, especially for us herbivores."

"But, sir, certainly I could not be responsible for any wrong doing. I would never hurt anyone." I said meekly.

"This is very fortunate that you do not remember your past, for you could have very well been. You have thick muscles and have a very strong body." He said as I lifted my arm to find that he was telling the truth.

"How can I find out what my past was?" I asked.

"Later we will go into town. But now I should tell you of the situation going on in this land. Until about five years ago everyone in this town lived in absolute peace, nothing much of the bad happened. Then all of a sudden those sounds that I described began happening and some of us began acting very bizarre. Some going and doing evil things…"

Anyway, the wise horse went to say that strange creators and such would appear and disappear. Sometimes rocks and grass would waver and ripple strangely. All the while I was wondering what my name was…. Then he said that the continent was still quite new and many areas were still unexplored. Maybe I was from one of the towns or cities that have yet been discovered from this town.

"Five other towns are near-by the farthest away being about 240 miles to the north east. I have lived here in Shirebrook for 60 years. The first ten I remember as a strange blur and have flashbacks. But they are to strange and alien, I do not understand them." He went on, "Well, we need to get a name for you in the meantime. What would you like to call yourself?

"I really have not thought about it much. Let me think…how about Silvercast." I said proudly.

"That is a very powerful name. I like it."

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