The Narabithian Chronicles: The Prophecy of Three

Revised Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

The journey to bringing Narabithia salvation begins in a park by a river in a western Oregon town. There, four teens and a cat were having a picnic. The two boys, cousins Jake and Jeff, were playing Frisbee Golf while the two girls, Jake’s best friend Gen and Jeff’s twin sister, Rusty, sat and talked. They were distracting themselves so that they wouldn’t remember the horrible tragedy that had happened, right there in that very spot, almost ten years ago. Gen stroked her cat, and a thought occurred to her. There was a pause in Gen and Rusty’s conversation, and Gen looked out over the near empty river that lay beside her. That river had claimed her sister’s life so many years before hand. Gen stopped petting her cat, and did something very uncharacteristic, especially when they were in the spot where Becky had died; she smiled.

“What?” Rusty asked. She pushed her rusty hair behind her ears, and it glinted like rusty gold in the sunlight. Her golden eyes flashed as specks of silver and rust danced in them.

“There was a reason,” Gen said, more to herself than to Rusty.

“What?” Rusty asked again.

Gen stood. She was a tall and athletic seventeen-year-old, with tanned skin, long, blonde hair pulled back in a braid, and shining silver eyes. She pointed at the river that had haunted her dreams for so many nights. “That river didn’t just kill her for the fun of it,” she said. “There was a reason. She did not die in vain.”

“Then why did she die?” Rusty asked curiously. She had never known Becky, but she wished she could switch places with Gen. Losing a little sister definitely would have been better than having to go through the childhood that she had.

“I don’t know yet, but when I find out, I’ll let you know,” Gen replied. They watched the almost non-existent river in silence.

“Hey, Gen!” Jake yelled over from the Frisbee course.  “You okay?” Jake was tall, fit, and fair skinned, with short, dark-black hair, gelled up in front, and electric-green eyes. His medical tags glinted in the sunlight, and Gen tried not to stare. She had a hard time believing that someone so fit and active could have so many heart injuries when they were a kid, and had to be careful to not over work themselves.

“Yeah,” Gen yelled back, “Never been better.” Jeff walked up behind Jake and put a hand on his shoulder. While they looked like siblings, you never would have guessed that Jeff and Rusty were twins. They had the same light brown skin and very similar face shapes, very pointed and lean, but that is where the similarities ended. Jeff was short with curly, golden-brown hair, and deep-blue eyes, while his sister was a good five inches taller than him, at least.

“Good,” he said. “Then you won’t mind settling a little bet for us.”

 “What bet?”

“Jake thinks he can beat you at Frisbee Golf. I told him that there was no way,” Jeff answered as the both walked up. “Whoever wins the bet gets the other a Dutch Bros.”

“Only if I get one out of it,” she replied.

“Only if you win,” Jake said.

“Then you’re on,” Gen said, running out into the field and grabbing one of the fallen Frisbees. She chucked it and the game was on. Jake and Jeff ran after her and grabbed Frisbees as well, but Rusty stayed behind. Gen’s cat purred happily as Rusty pet her. The cat’s name was Tabitha, and she was different from all other cats. Her coat was brown, but she had a small black mane of fur starting between her ears and ending right above her shoulder blades. Her luminescent, green eyes sparkled with intelligence and playfulness. She wore a collar like no other. It was red, with orange alicorns woven into it, and a gold name tag that said “Tabitha” on the front, and then had strange symbols on the back. It never came off her, no matter how hard Gen had tried to take it off.

She watched the teens with Rusty, longing to run and play beside them. But she knew better; and on the inside, she hated herself for what she was about to do. However, it was necessary for all of them, including Gen.

Rusty sighed. “I wish I could be one of them,” she said sadly, “That I could be normal.” Tabitha rubbed against her sympathetically. “Or could go to a place where I belong, and am loved by my peers, instead of treated like a freak.” Tabitha looked at her and smiled.

“What?” Rusty asked when she noticed that the cat was giving her the most painful expression she had ever seen on a cat. In her mind, Tabitha was either looking at her like she was crazy and trying to hide her opinion, or she was having intestinal issues. Rusty figured it was probably the first one, which was the reaction she usually got from people. “I’m not crazy, ok,” she said. “I just wanna be free from the reputation that seems to precede me.”

My dear girl, quite the contrary, Tabitha thought to herself. She purred even louder and rubbed against Rusty. I plan on granting your wish. She paused and then thought, and, trust me, I know how you feel.

Tabitha sighed inwardly and thought, well, now that I have the last ingredient, I better get to work. Rusty buried her head in her knees. Tabitha meowed loudly several times, as if trying to get someone’s attention. Then suddenly, she stopped.  Rusty heard strange noises and something that sounded a lot like chanting. She looked up, and her jaw dropped. “Guys!” she yelled, her voice a bit shaky. The other three stopped their game and ran over.

“What the-?” Jeff said.

Tabitha was dancing and twirling in circles while she sang, at first in the language of Cats, and then her voice became more human, and she sang in a language that none of them had ever heard before. On the park table where she danced, appeared glowing silver circles with strange markings around them. Then, when Tabitha was finished chanting, a circle, ringed with pink and purple flames, appeared before them. Inside the circle, appeared a log cabin with long grass surrounding it, and ivy climbing up its walls.

“What the heck?” Rusty exclaimed. 

“My home,” Tabitha said, “Would you like to see it?” They all looked at her in shock. She rolled her eyes and said something in a foreign language. The strange circle grew to a tremendous size, before swallowing the group of teens whole.

A/N: Here's Chapter 1! I wrote it still planning on having the prologue come before it, which I'll probably just copy and past into a slot right before this, so you don't have to jump around so much. Please comment and tell me what you think!!! :D