Aqua lay on her bed both mad and upset, she knew her father was in the middle of an important meeting, but still, she could not help feeling like he had resented her. Oh well, that is every day for me, Aqua thought to herself. She rubbed her orange tabby cat, Firestar, as she talked to herself. "I wish I could talk to my friends about my powers, but they would probably think I'm crazy. Right Firestar?" A tiny agreeing meow came from Firestar as he looked at her with his big blue eyes.
Somewhere in Aqua's room a voice spoke to her, "You can talk to me about your powers." Aqua jumped at the sound of the other voice and hopped off her bed to see who was there, "Who said that?" Asked Aqua looking around her room for the owner of the voice, but found no one. "I did," the voice was clearer now; it was a little deep and belonged to a man. "Where are you?" Aqua asked, still perplexed where the voice was coming from. "I'm right here," said the voice as Firestar walked to the end of the bed where Aqua was standing. Aqua looked down at her cat just as he said, "Sup. I've been waiting many years to reveal myself to you and tell you who you really are Aqua."
After the shock subsided, Aqua let out a small scream. "You're a talking cat!" She yelled pointing at Firestar. "And you have water powers, we're both not normal," replied Firestar. Aqua let out another scream. "Would you please stop doing that," Firestar said trying to cover his ears with his tiny paws. "How? You're just an ordinary cat," Aqua asked her cat. "Well, for one thing, I'm not a cat," Firestar said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Then what are you?"
"I'm a wolf."
"Really?" Aqua said half questioning him. He was a talking cat after all, but that may not be all of what he could do. "Prove it," she challenged. "Sure, just stand back," Firestar said. Aqua took a few steps back and Firestar's whiskers twitched for a moment and began to glow.
There was a blue flash of light and standing before Aqua was a huge black and grey wolf with blue designs and markings all over his body. The unique markings, which were made up of swirls and flames, covered his back, legs, and tail in a very unique pattern that reminded Aqua of designs on a house rug. Firestar had the same blue eyes he had as a cat, but now in his wolf form. "Wow," Aqua breathed, marveling at the sight she had just witnessed. "I know. I'm amazingly handsome aren't I?" Firestar said as he puffed out his chest.
Aqua laughed at Firestar's comment, "Is that all you can do?" She asked a little curious.
"Why, are you not impressed?" Firestar asked a little confused.
Aqua let out a bored and unimpressed yawn. "It would be truly amazing if you could turn into a person, but I doubt you can even do that." "Sure I can," Firestar replied. "Prove it," Aqua challenged pressuring him to see what she was really dealing with and how much he could really do.
There was another blue flash and standing before Aqua was not a cat nor a wolf, but a good-looking guy a little older than herself. He was tall and lean with dark brown hair and blue eyes just like he had in his other forms. Firestar smiled at Aqua showing his pearl white teeth. "And you doubted me, I'm hurt," said Firestar lifting his hand to his chest acting like he had been hit. That's when Aqua noticed his tattoo, but it was not just any tattoo, it was the same one she saw on the man that was following her at the mall the other day. Now that she took a good look at him she saw that he not only resembled that very man, but he was him indeed.
"You're him," was all Aqua could say. Firestar knew she recognized him. "From the mall, aren't you?" Firestar nodded his head. "Who are you really?" Aqua asked. Firestar let out a sigh, "Well I'm your protector, a Guardian." Aqua gave him a look of not understanding, so he explained. "A Guardian is someone, like me, who can change into different forms which I just demonstrated. Some of us even have powers. There are hundreds of Guardians; we protect people of great importance even if it means sacrificing our own lives for them. Like you." "Me? Why am I so important?" Aqua asked.
"Let's just say you have an interesting past," Firestar said with a hint of mystery in his voice. Aqua didn't know what to think about that. An interesting past? That must have something to do with my water powers.
"Firestar, why were you following me at the mall?"
"I have been protecting you since the day you were born and following you even if you didn't see me, but a few days ago you actually noticed. I knew then that I would have to reveal myself to you soon because you were about to discover the truth."
The truth? Then Aqua understood. "Do you know why I have water powers?" Firestar thought for a second before answering. "No, but I might know someone who does."
"Who?" Aqua asked. "His name is Darkmoon, he is the leader of the Guardians. He just might know about your powers and maybe he can tell you about a few other things," Firestar said. "Like what?" She asked curiously. Aqua had so many questions that kept piling up that Firestar either would not or could not answer. "I guess you'll have to wait and find out," Firestar said as he grabbed Aqua's hand and headed out of her bedroom. "Follow me."
Firestar had almost lived in the Frazee's house as long as Aqua had, so navigating through it was a breeze. "Where are we going?" Aqua asked as they headed through the kitchen and into the living room. "To the place where it all began. My world."
Firestar and Aqua walked outside and onto the patio then they stopped when they reached the pool. Without even a moment's hesitation, he let go of Aqua and somersaulted into the pool. "You want me to jump into the pool with my clothes on?" Aqua questioned the man-wolf-Guardian who could be a serial killer leading her to her demise for all she knew. She stared at him while standing at the edge of the pool. "Why not? I did," Firestar said thinking it was odd of her to say so.
Firestar held out his hand and Aqua accepted it, knowing if he was going to kill her, he probably would have already done so. He helped her into the water where they headed to the small rock waterfall that was at the back of the pool. "This is where I found my necklace," Aqua realized thinking back to yesterday's events. Firestar said nothing and went behind the waterfall followed closely by Aqua. Behind the waterfall was a small cave, Aqua had always thought it was a dead end in the back, at least that is what her father had told her.
"Um Firestar," said Aqua as he hopped out of the water and headed deeper into the cave, "that cave comes to a dead end." Firestar did not answer, so Aqua had no choice but to follow him deeper and deeper into the cave.
Aqua never knew how big the cave was, it seemed to go on for forever. It was almost pitch black in the cave, the only light was coming from the walls, which shimmered a dark blue color giving the tunnel a magical feel. Aqua hoped Firestar knew where he was going because she had no idea how to get back to her backyard's pool.
Finally, the narrow tunnel started to open up and get brighter, we must be close to the end of the cave, Aqua thought. Aqua heard the roar of a waterfall and figured they had gotten turned around and was back to the pool at her house. But never had she been so wrong.
As Aqua and Firestar stepped out from behind the waterfall the first thing Aqua noticed was that her clothes were not wet anymore, the second was the view. The two friends were no longer in Aqua's backyard or in Coronado, California at all. They were in an entirely different world.
"Where are we?" Aqua asked taking in the sights and sounds that enveloped her senses. "We are in The Forbidden Forest right now, my world," replied Firestar looking around as well, it had been so many years since he had been here and already so many things had changed and it was only the beginning.