Lottery

Fall was once again settling over the lands of Lunaria.  A glistening golden crown over several months of continuing excitement and play.  From the rampant hunts for magical pebbles of the previous summer and autumn, to the fun of the winter season, and the dawn of spring, the most electrifying surprise of all.  A disappointment perhaps only to a certain group of pups who had found their “secret hiding spot” now occupied by an eccentric old granny of a Velox waja.

Through it all, the famed Mad Scientist Frederick continued to work.  His initial experiments in his old lab had moved over to his shack—well, no longer a “shack” persay, as the structure had been rebuilt to twice its old size and of a much less ramshackle nature since the explosive arrival of Lady Artemis and the Corps—in the Murky Forest.  A little less room, but much more quiet.  And safer, if truth be told, if any of the contained sources of glitch energy he had harvested from the isopteron cocoons reacted in unexpected ways.  As vastly important as the portal was, now that the work had come to the absolute delicate nature of harnessing and sustaining the energy in the structure of the portal itself, he had adamantly refused Nicola’s help.  Too dangerous. 

But those occasional wanderers who happened by the hut deep in the forest never found a lonely atmosphere.  Frederick worked with the enthusiasm of a man enjoying every minute.  The silence of deep concentration was often broken by humming, loud exclamations to his new dictograph (a gift from Nicola for Christmas and a godsend to a man who often thought far faster than he could write, though it did still require a bit more fine-tuning), and the clatter of tools on various surfaces.  But what had begun attracting attention more often as of late were the brilliant flashes of light that pierced through the shadows of the forest at irregular intervals.  Once or twice, the flashes were accompanied by a deep hum that seemed to vibrate through the swampy ground. 

There eventually came a cool breezy afternoon when the denizens of the forest finally spotted something unusual around the shack—routine bright flashing lights and hums aside.  Actual visitors.  Those of a mind for memory from the previous spring might have recognized the two: an elderly and yet still oddly spry older man with more than a little resemblance to Frederick himself, and a small frizzled looking foxlike creature.  They were greeted at the door by the resident scientist with great warmth and enthusiasm and ushered inside. 

 Not too far away from the borders of the forest, the landscape was much more bright and cheerful.  A market day was well underway, with wajas of all kinds browsing through the goods offered at the myriad of stalls.  It was here that, aside from those in the forest itself, the blinding flash of blue-white light was first seen.  It briefly brought activity to a standstill, and then set off a wave of gasps, chuckles, and bursts of speculation.  Though some were startled, the denizens of Lunaria had well and truly grown used to such random occurrences now.  And all knew the potential context. 

“Still hard at work, I see,” an old Earth waja said to the random passersby.  “The way I hear it, old Frederick has been at it nonstop.”  

“I hope it means the portal is nearly completed,” a petite African female said.  “He just has to be close by now.” 

“I’m sure it won’t be much longer,” her Bane companion assured.  

“What’s Sol-ar-eeee like, Mama?” a squeaky-voiced Normal pup asked his mother.

“We’ll find out soon, little dove,” replied his mother indulgently.  

On the northern edge of the market, beyond a picnic area where many wajas were enjoying various treats, a lone figure slowly trudged away from the happy activity.  This was another odd sight, for rare was it to find a Spitzen with such a morose expression on his face.  But morose the young fellow was.  He was small for his age, at least body-wise.  He made up for it with a prodigious amount of floof.  And thanks to the bright flash of light startling one of his friends, his head and chest were now liberally splashed with the water he had been drinking that a poorly aimed swat of a startled paw had spilled all over him.  He knew it had been just an accident, and his friend had immediately apologized, but all the lad could think of at that moment was how long it was going to take to dry his overabundance of fur, so his acceptance of the apology had been less than gracious.  His friend, hurt in turn, had retorted with even greater cruelty. 

“Fine then!  If you can’t take an apology, go off and cry about it!  That’s what you’re famous for.”

Cruel words indeed.  The Spitzen had stalked away from his friend, ignoring the quick apology as the words had been instantly regretted.  Slowly the sounds of voices, the smells of food, produce and fresh cut wood, and the hustle of a busy day faded behind him.  He left the market and kept walking until every speck of it was out of sight.  And then he let the tears come, hot as they trickled into already dripping fur even as he struggled to lick some part of his neck fluff back into some semblance of order.  As he sat down in the shade of a tall tree on the edge of the vast woodlands that eventually darkened into the Murky Forest, his tongue brushed over the silk ribbon upon which hung his most prized possession.  

Cloudpaw wasn’t a pup anymore.  Not the young, innocent thing he had been the day his puphood friends had found a crate on the bank of a lake, met the Lady Artemis herself and all her Corps, and then…sat and cried the Arctics into Lunaria.  Granted, he and his friends had been soaked in biting cold water by the Lady, and for such a young pup that had been an awful shock.  But the fact remained that his participation in that monumental moment in Lunaria’s history had been crying.  Nothing brave, or proud, or awesome.  Just having been one of the crying pups whose distress had called the legendary breed to Lunaria.  

This fact hadn’t actually bothered him all that much at first.  He had the snowflake medallion as a badge of honor, which he wore proudly every day…or tried to, anyway.  It had a tendency to get lost in his chest fluff.  But then another group of pups had made names for themselves.  Their story was truly impressive, and brave, and awesome.  And despite the fact that he was older now—he had grown into the markings in his coat a long time ago—it had not stopped him from feeling privately jealous.  In fact, he no longer tried to keep his fluff from hiding his medallion anymore, as the discussions around it now always led to a comparison between him and…them.  Not that he had anything against Tadavar and his friends.  It was just…just… 

Cloudpaw sniffled and curled up on the ground, his head on his paws.  His nose twitched under the mixed smell of soft earth as the memories came.  His old puphood friends.  Felix and Chilly Tim.  Did they live with the same kind of embarrassed shame as he did now?  He hadn’t actually seen them since early last year.  Both had moved with their parents to other regions of Lunaria, taking their medallions and their stories with them.  

His thoughts drifted.  He knew it was a puppyish thing to do to just lay here and let the autumn sun dry him.  But moroseness had turned to genuine sadness now, and at least here it wasn’t embarrassing to cry.  He did not hear the approaching footsteps until their tiny owner trotted out from the undergrowth and just about stepped on his head.  

“Look lively, boy.  Whatcha doing out here anyway, curled up in the duff?” 

It wasn’t often that Cloudpaw came across a full grown waja that was actually smaller than him, but now as he leapt to his feet in startled surprise, he found himself looking down a little.  This waja was wild and wiry, with fur that radiated an aura of static that made his ponderous fluff stand on end.  He had to blink a few times before he recovered enough to speak. 

“Miss…Farrah?  I thought you lived in the old park now.  What are you doing out here?”

 Farrah smirked. 

“Ah-ah, no miss, boy.  My days of ‘missus’ are far behind me.  An old friend called me out to the swamp again to help a new friend.  I owed them a favor, anyway.  And it turns out even brilliant scientific minds sometimes need expert advice…and a certain, how you say, ability to tame a few sparks?” 

She smirked again, showing a row of aged but still impressively white teeth in her little muzzle.  Cloudpaw considered her words a moment.  And then he remembered the blinding flash of light.  

“The…the portal?  The portal is open?!” 

Farrah puffed herself up proudly.  An impressive feat considering her fur was more ‘pop’ than ‘poof’.  

“We have been waiting quite a while, haven’t we?” She looked around mildly.  “I suppose they should find a better place to put it, though.  A little shack in a swamp isn’t exactly good for the tourist trade, is it?” 

“We have to tell everyone!” Cloudpaw was practically hopping with joy, his troubles almost wholly forgotten. 

“Well then, dry that muzzle of yours and hop to it!” 

The old Velox started off at a brisk trot, yet another feat impressive for her obvious age.  Cloudpaw found he had to work a fair bit to keep pace with her without breaking into a run.  He didn’t quite notice at first that her massive ears were still turned to him, and that she occasionally gave him a speculative glance.  

“So what was with the waterworks, sonny?” she finally asked, almost startling him again. 

 Cloudpaw blushed, turning his gaze away. 

 “It…nothing,” he mumbled.  “Nothing I want to talk about.”  He looked back towards the forest, scrounging for a change of subject.  “So what was wrong with the portal?  What took the scientist so long?”

 Farrah chuckled once.

 “Controlling the flow of energy isn’t as simple as putting it in a jar and sticking it in a plug, sonny,” she said.  “It requires a careful balance, particularly when it is as volatile as glitch energy can be.  I happen to know a thing or two about channeling energy, and old Oswald has a knack for wiring.  The portal is impressive, almost more than my fulgurite, but it had a lot of areas that could leak and spark.  I showed him what he needed to keep things stable, and Oswald patched the cracks.”

 “And now they have to find a place to put it so everyone can use it!” Cloudpaw looked around again.  “Why not here?”

 Farrah flashed him a toothy smile as she laughed.

“Grass and energy don’t mix, sonny.  They need an open place with as little plant growth as possible.  Good solid ground to dissipate any static charges.  Open air to keep the power cells cooled.  And yet still be on an easy travel route.” 

 That sounded like a lot.  Cloudpaw frowned.  How long would it take for such a location to be found?  He had his…opinions…of the Lady Artemis, but he also knew how important the portal was.  To her, to the mysterious land of Solaria…maybe even to Lunaria too. 

 He froze.  It took Farrah a few paces to realize he was no longer following.

 “What’s the holdup?” she asked.

 “I know a place!”

 If there was one thing Cloudpaw shared with Tadavar, Abacus, Bowli and Seafoam, it was the spirit of adventure.  But what he had that those pups did not was a few years.  Where Tadavar had to be sneaky to uncover his treasure, Cloudpaw had been able to freely explore for several seasons.  And explore he had.  He had never found another treasure like his medallion, but he had found his own secret place.  Open, airy, and with such a view of all Lunaria.

 “It has everything you said.  Space, open air, no plants nearby.  And it’s not hard to get there.  There’s no big travel roads right now, just my old dirt path, but I’m sure one can be made.” 

“Well then sonny, you’d better shake that tail!” Farrah declared.  “Go tell old Oswald and Frederick where this place can be found.  The sooner the better!  Just follow the marks on the trees, it’ll take you to the old shack.”

 Cloudpaw turned and set off as fast as he could run, his heart flying with elation.  At last, he could help!  Really help!  He had something more to offer the world than just baby-puppy tears.  And if it worked out, oh how proud he would feel.  How brave and important!  He flicked his head in a practiced way as he ran, pulling the medallion out of his neck fur so it could glitter and shine in the warm summer sun.  

“And just wait until I tell Felix and Chilly Tim!  They’ll be so happy!”

  Farrah watched the young lad depart with an amused smirk. 

 “Ah, fortune favors the young,” she said to herself.  “What a nice lad.”

 And with a flip of her tail, she turned and started off once more to oblige Frederick’s request to deliver the long-awaited news. 

The portal was ready.