Return...
2: Road Trip What is the Dark Woods? That was the first thing that entered my mind, and it would not be the last time I would wonder it. As if reading my mind, Juniper answered, almost mechanically, "It is otherwise known as Blackwood, but you may call it as you like. It is a place of both dark mystery and great magic, and it holds more danger and trainees in magic than any other place. To answer your other questions; I am taking you there via time-space warp; no, you aren't dreaming, and once there, you will learn how to use your magical powers to protect yourself, and then to protect others. I nodded, trying to digest it all. The flower shop was gone, and in its place was...A tent? Juniper laughed as she observed the expression on my face. "That ... Is the time-space warp, and our ticket to the Blackwood." Juniper grabbed my arm roughly and led me to the tent. It was small, a camping tent, even; she opened it hastily and shoved me in, closing the door behind her. She plopped down immediately and began to lick her forearm, like a cat. Her striped tail flicked back and forth, loud purrs interrupting the odd silence between us. She paused to look up from her bath, narrowing her fiery eyes at me. "You should go to sleep, you know." She yawned, stretching and then silently curling up. "We've got along time 'til we get there. And then your training will begin." I really didn't want to ask any more questions, but one thing truly intrigued me...Even above the question of how we could travel anywhere in an unmoving tent, I wanted to know how she had changed so much. Her hair, as she slept peacefully, settled around her thin arms and shoulders in orange tendrils, quite different from the previous short-length black hair. Her tail, though-- it kept swishing and swirling, so real... However, it was impossible that it could be real, that any of this wasn't a dream. Could it be anything else? I sat there, upright, for a very long time, until I could no longer resist. I reached over and gave the tail a good yank -through some primitive instinct I suppose- expecting it to fall off, or something of that nature. Juniper leapt bolts upright, a dreadful yowl filling the crowded tent. She panted, glaring at me with true contempt. "If you EVER pull my tail again, I swear I'll.... GRRRRHH!" She began to flash her sharp, deadly claws, and I felt a genuine quiver of repent. "I-I really is very sorry... I just wanted to see if- if-" "If my tail is real; yeah, yeah, I know the drill," she growled, ��every other new kid does it; why would you be different?" She plopped back down in a ball, sighing angrily. "Go to sleep if you know what's good for you," she grumbled, "There are MANY very long hours left. And don't go pulling my tail EVER AGAIN!" Her long, striped tail thumped on the ground quickly, as a tense cat's does, but eventually fell to its rest as well. I slowly settled on to the padded "tent" floor, grabbing some of the quilts on the ground and pulling them over me. I shivered slightly, feeling the warm sunlight and fresh summer air fleeting away in to a fearsome darkness; a chilled feeling swept over us which no earthly midnight could bring. This place was foreign to me, and although I could not see where we were headed, nor understand how we had moved, I knew that there was danger. The wind around us pocketed and I felt the tent lurch forward, then tilt down, plummeting through the unseen sky. Juniper was calm and sound, as though she had made this journey thousands of times before... It was then that I realized just how real this was, and just how much therapy I would need afterward.
