Celia (Old)

Chapter 13

It was late afternoon. There were clouds covering every inch of the sky and a cool breeze that was blowing the leaves everywhere. Celia was sitting outside with Dawn, Harley, and Rowan. Leena was inside the burrow doing something that was taking her a while. Dawn was still processing her vision from earlier that day, Harley was staring at Blossom again, Rowan was chasing his tails, and Celia was waiting for Leena to come back. She wondered if her parents would approve of Leena being her friend, thought it was becoming common for Lizens to make friends with humans.
"Why do you keep staring at her?" Rowan asked Harley as he shook his head a little and looked at Rowan.
"I don't know, honestly." Harley told Rowan as he slowly turned his head back to stare at her. She was sitting like a dog on the giant rock with her eyes closed and head up a bit, and her feathered mane flowing with the wind.
"You like her, admit it." Rowan told Harley as he stared back at him.
"I do not!" Harley exclaimed, trying desperately to defend himself.
"Then why do you keep staring at her?" Rowan asked Harley again.
"ROWAN STOP!" Harley shouted as everyone turned, including Blossom, stared at them with their ears perked up and facing forward.
"Great, you've alerted everyone about this." Celia said in a monotone voice. Blossom got off of her rock and started approaching them as everyone else started continuing whatever they were doing prior to Rowan and Harley's conversation.
"You know, I can hear you from the other end of the clearing." Blossom told the four of them. Harley stared at her with his ears lowered and had a nervous look. Blossom shot a angry glance at Harley and said "As a leader, I have no time for romance, so save your breath."
"I'm sorry, Blossom." Harley told Blossom, breathing heavily as if he was running. Blossom rolled her eyes and replied "It's not that I'm not interested, I just have no time, especially with the possibility of enemy attack at any moment."
Blossom then shifted her glance to Dawn, who was staring blankly at the ground.
"Did you get another vision, Mama Dawn?" Blossom asked Dawn as she looked up to stare back at her.
"Yes, I did." Dawn responded.
"What was it?" Blossom asked Dawn again.
"I had a vision of fire, not sure where, but fire destroying everything with a voice calling out to someone." Dawn told Blossom as her neutral glance quickly turned into a worried one.
"Fire, at this time of year. Well, thanks for letting me know." Blossom said before walking off, heading back to her rock. Harley let out a large exhale and said quietly "Well, that went smoothly."
"Hey Dawn." Celia attempted to get Dawn's attention. She turned around and replied "Yes, Celia?"
"Why do some Lizens here call you 'Mama Dawn'?" Celia asked, who was genuinely curious.
"It's just a name some Lizens gave me, but I raised Peregrine, Sparrow, Julia, and Blossom as if they were all my own." Dawn began.
"You raised Blossom?" Celia asked Dawn again.
"Yes, I did. Ever since those humans stormed and took over my former home, I've been left with no child to raise. I found them as eggs with no parents and brought them here, and now one is leader, the other is second in command, another is the messenger, and the last one goes out to gather supplies." Dawn finished before adding "I'm the second oldest Lizen in this tribe, believe it or not."
"Who's the oldest?" Celia asked again, she was always full of questions.
"Jasper, he's the oldest. He never leaves his burrow and sleeps a lot, but that's because he's over one hundred years old." Dawn replied before adding again "And I'm only fifty seven years old, which was impressive about five years ago when Lizen slavery was still a thing here."
"Wow, he's old." Celia commented. Dawn nodded before asking "One things I've been wondering is what happened to Harley's face?"
Harley turned to look at Dawn and answered "It happened when I tried to kill Walter. It's a long story."
"Well, I'm glad he had the same thing happen to him." Dawn said as Harley quickly spoke "It was me who gave him his melted face, if you didn't know."
"Don't worry, I believe you." Dawn told Harley as Celia saw Leena exit Dawn's burrow wearing different clothing. She was wearing a yellow and pink plaid button shirt with a white shirt underneath and blue jeans.
"I see you liked that one." Dawn said to Leena as she approached them, smiling.
"I do, I love the colours of this shirt." Leena responded as she sat down beside Celia.
"I'm glad you do, that used to be Julia's before she became too big for human clothes." Dawn told Leena as she exclaimed "It's been a long time since I last wore something comfortable, thank you so much!"
Dawn smiled before suddenly putting her hands over her head again and leaned forward. She was having another vision. Celia and Leena were prepared to help her if she needed it, but Harley and Rowan just stared at her all confused. Blossom quickly ran back again and exclaimed "Mama Dawn you're going to be alright!"
After a few moments she lifted her head back up and put her hands down, her eyes still blank.
"He's coming." Dawn said as her eye colour came back.
"Who is?" Celia asked.
"Walter!" Blossom exclaimed rather angrily as she ran back to the rock.
"He's coming, but not physically, and he's coming for you four." Dawn explained a bit more as Blossom called everyone for a meeting. The wind suddenly stopped and the rustling of the leaves became silent. There was dead silence across the clearing.