Fake Fate - Chapter Three

Instructions

Snow awoke cold. She opened her eyes to see that the sun had moved. She was no longer in its light. With an exhausted sigh, she sat up, stretched, and went to the patch of sunlight, a few feet away. She lay back on the ground and dozed off again. Well, she tried to doze off. A buzzing in her ears annoyed her. She opened one eye again and saw a gnat flying around her head. Snow lazily put her paw in the air, trying to catch it. Even the small movement exhausted her. She was too old for this. All she wanted was her old life back, when she hadn't been too old to move. Snow smiled, recalling how her life used to be. She used to have the energy to do great things. She could climb trees, she could swim, she could hunt. Now she just lay in the sun, chewing grass when she was bored. Before, she had had a mate and some adorable kittens. Her mate had long since died and her kittens had grown up and gotten mates and kittens of their own. Now Snow just wanted to sleep. So she did. Again, she couldn't, but this time it wasn't the gnat that bothered her. It was voices. One voice was high pitched, it was a small animal, either a rabbit or a ferret. Although neither tended to come near where Snow lived. The other voice was low. A larger animal. Not large enough to be a bear. Perhaps a fox or wolf. As the voices got closer, Snow could hear three sets of paws. So there were three animals, but only two were talking. She still kept her eyes shut. She wasn't going to be eaten. Foxes and wolves preyed on smaller animals than herself. "Do you think we're there?" The voices were audible now and the smaller animal was speaking. "I'm not sure." One of the larger animals said, her voice was much older than the small animal. The smallest animal was likely only a few cycles old while the larger sounded at least two shifts old. "We're here." The third animal sounded much older. Her voice made her sound as old as Snow but it held energy the cat didn't possess. "Snow should be here." Snow opened her eyes, surprised to hear her name. "She should?" The small animal asked, a shape moved at the edge of her vision and she saw a bunny move around. Snow was far enough away that he likely wouldn't see her, but she wanted to know what these intruders wanted. "What are you doing here?" She called to the bunny as she sat up. The bunny turned, when he saw her, he ran in her direction, jumping in the air a few times. "Hi!" He exclaimed. A fox and a wolf followed behind him but they were much slower. "I'm Bubble! Are you Snow? Oh, of course you are, your fur is white as snow!" Snow scowled at the bunny. Her natural fur color was white as snow, true, but her fur was so covered in dust and dirt that it was closer to a shade of light tan than it was to white. The bunny was obviously making fun of her. "What do you want?" She demanded. The bunny, Bubble, smiled. "We want to see you! This is Zera." He said, pointing to the fox, "And Shimmer." He pointed at the wolf. Snow narrowed her eyes at Shimmer. "Shimmer, huh?" She asked, "You expect me to believe you're the Paws of the Elders?" She demanded. Shimmer nodded, "Wolves do not lie." She said, "You know I am not lying. The moon sent me a sign to find you, Bubble, and Zera. You three have a great destiny." Snow scowled, "I don't care about destiny. I've lived my life. Now let me sleep." She closed her eyes again but Shimmer continued, "One of you will be my successor." Snow's eyes snapped open and she could see Shimmer hadn't told Bubble or Zera about this. "What?" Zera exclaimed, "One of us? That's why you came? To tell us that one of us is going to be your successor? Which one?" She wondered. Shimmer waited until Zera was done then she spoke. "Usually, the Elder is given one successor. However, you three are equally ready to be the Paws of the Elders. There will be a trial. One of you will be the successor." Bubble looked ecstatic, "Really? When? Where? What do we have to do?" He asked. Shimmer said, "Your trial will be hard. That is all I can tell you. Do you all agree to participate? You cannot go back to your life before until the trial is complete. Do you understand?" Bubble immediately nodded. Zera hesitated for a moment but nodded too. Shimmer looked at Snow. Snow hesitated. Her life was nice now. Sure, it was boring, but it was good. However, she could one day be immortal, and that appealed to her. A life without waiting until the day she died, it was a heavenly offer. "Alright. When do we start?" She asked Shimmer. The Elder smiled, "You already have." The wolf said, then she turned and vanished into the forest.