The Journey of a Lion: Chapter One

Withta nestled in at her nursemaids teats with her brothers and sister, squeaking and rolling about until she grabbed hold. Somewhere in the outer realms the Uprights were clanging around and banging things, but she hardly noticed. Her parents and older siblings and nursemaid and, well, everyone, had told her that they were always noisy. She had gotten used to it.

After a few minutes of drinking she felt as though she might burst, so she lay down with her brother, Whistar. They cuddled together in the luxurious nest that had been created as a sort of getaway space for members of the royal family. All around them the fruits of late night raids were spread out to be eaten at leisure. It took only a moment for Withta to fall into a half sleep and she no longer noticed her surroundings, only the thump of her brother's heart. Tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump tha- CRASH!!!

Bright light streaked into the haven and a silhouette loomed above them. Withta could feel her heart and her brother's beating rapidly, her breath coming in shallow spurts. Their nursemaid had sprung up as soon as the crash sounded, scampering away with Wathna and Wuther still attached to her. Whiddur fell off as she leaped and was laying beside them, staying as still as possible, just like they had been taught, just like their instincts told them to be.

The Upright, a massive creature with a hairy face and an enormous body, examined them for a moment and Withta was certain that it would scoop them up with one of those giant hands and pop them like grain into its gaping mouth. It seemed like hours before it finally moved away from the opening, but still the three of them couldn't move. Then it returned and really did scoop them up. But it didn't eat them, as she had feared. Instead, it dropped them into a container where they lay, shivering with fear and adrenaline.

She had the sensation of being forced downward, into the bottom of the thing, and when she looked up ever so slightly, everything seemed to get shorter. The Upright focused its eyes, which were probably bigger then herself, on the siblings and made some sort of rumbling noise. It scared her so much that she whimpered quietly, clinging to Whistar and Whiddur.

Then they were moving and the world passed by them faster than anything she could have imagined. She had watched the fighters in the yards racing back and forth, building up their strength for the raids, but even they weren't as fast as this. They were set down somewhere and the Upright left again. She took a moment to shut her eyes and resolved not to open them again until her brothers shifted. Soon, she fell into a light sleep, comforted by their familiarity. They were lifted again, after a while, and sll three of them tensed up, but Withta left her eyes clamped shut. Above her, she cold hear the grumblings of Uprights, she thought three of them, and Whistar was lifted from her. She opened her eyes to see her brother moving through the air into the hand of a different Upright. This one had less hair than the first and seemed to be somewhat smaller. Then Whiddur was lifted away from her and put into a different container. She could see him through the clear walls of it, nestled uncomfortably between the wall and whatever was inside of it.

Then she felt her tail being lifted and was suddenly up in the air. The Upright who had her was murmuring something at her and quickly put her into the container with her brother. They nestled together, hoping that they would put Whistar in with them. Eventually they did, but he ended up on the other side of the container. Withta smelled his fear and realized that it was less than her own. She wondered what the Uprights had done to him, to make him less afraid, or if he was just naturally more brave than she.

Outside, the creatures were still grumbling and moving about and after a long while their container was picked up again and they were carried. She looked up and saw that it was the second Upright, this time, and that it was taking them out over the open green space that their nursemaid told them about in legends and stories. They were all still for the length of that journey, until the Upright set them down, grumbled something, and walked away. After a few minutes, they cuddled up together and shivered as one.

~*+*~

Ilsta, who had been nursemaid for the royal family for three generations and was reputedly unshakable, was in an unheard of panic as she scurried into the throne room. The king and queen were conversing with courtiers and other noble mice, settling disputes and hearing pleas. But all conversation stopped as she squeaked to a stop, breathing hard and chattering rapidly.

"...and then it was looming over us and I ran away and now three of the little ones are lost and..." Deep breath. "...we're never going to see them ever again!" The maid collapsed on the floor in heaving sobs.

"Ilsta!" the queen cried, rushing down to the nurse. "Ilsta, what on earth are you babbling about? I couldn't understand a word you said. Something about the children? Was that it?"

"Yes! Yes! A giant Upright has stolen them away!" There was a shocked silence in which no one even seemed to breathe except the distraught Ilsta. Then, all at once, the room erupted in noise as people began to understand what had happened. The king began calling out for a search team to check all the hiding places that the children had been shown and the queen consoled the various noblemice who were sobbing along with the nursemaid. Eventually she managed to find out that Wuther and Withna were both safe in their beds there at the palace but that Whiddur, Withta and Whistar, the crown prince, had all been left behind in her panic.

"I'll never be forgiven for leaving them behind!" the maid wailed. "I'll be damned forever, and if I'm not I'll be disappointed in the justice system! I can never be forgiven!" The queen, being a kindly mouse who loved easily, naturally forgave her immediately, knowing that she may never have gotten away with even two of her precious children. But still, a terrible blankness filled her heart where her three babies used to reside.

All throughout that day parties were sent out, again and again, searching for any sign that the crown prince and his siblings had survived. One scout eventually came back with some vague information about an Upright walking across the green spaces with a jar.

"I'm not completely certain," the young mouse said, "but the princes and princess may have been inside. At least, I think I might have seen one of them stick their head up. I can't be certain, of course, and there's still hope that..." He trailed off, waiting for the king's reply. King Yustaf was becoming an elderly mouse. He knew that soon enough someone would be succeeding him on the throne and he had hoped that it would be Whistar. The young mouse was bright and quick to learn and promised to be quite strong. And he was blessed with a mark upon his face, the white star for which he was named. It was seen as a sign upon his birth that he should be the next in line. After all, all the males from earlier litters had either died, left or become Lunatics. Wistar, being the eldest of the youngest and marked in such a peculiar way, was the obvious choice for kingship. Yustaf sighed.

"Thank you, Orille, you said your name was?" The scout nodded. "Thank you, Orille. The news that you've brought, though grave, indeed, will be a help to us. The most we can do, now, is to hope for the safe return of my children and post watches at all the entrances." He sighed again. "You may continue with whatever duties you must attend to. Thank you." The scout bowed and left the throne room, leaving the older mouse alone. After a moment, Yustaf called for his attendant and asked for a quill and paper. He wrote four letters, one to his military general, one to the High Priest of the church and one to a professor at the university. Those first three were summons to a council to discuss what should be done. The last one he addressed to the crier council, so the news of the kidnapping would be spread around the city.

He sighed again, and left the throne room to see the two young ones who had survived.