(Character references- Kitsume is my avatar, Moondancer- http://www.sylestia.com/view/pets/?petid=404517, Spiritfox- http://www.sylestia.com/view/pets/?petid=435377, Kizar- http://www.sylestia.com/view/pets/?petid=443891, Zion-http://www.sylestia.com/view/pets/?petid=435676)
Kitsume pulled open the wooden door that led to his house and heaved a sigh. Moondancer, Spiritfox, and Kizar were clearly exhausted from the vigorous training he had put them through. Slipping off his shoes and smiling at the sensation of bare feet on carpet, Kitsume walked over to his large armchair and sat down heavily. It was Christmas Eve, and Kitsume planned on spending the rest of the night at home with his Sylestis.
"Zion! I told you not to eat those cookies!" Kitsume lightly scolded, the mechanical-looking Zolnixi glancing up from the plate of frosted cookies he had his snout in. Zion leaped off the table, running into the kitchen, most likely looking for more food.
Kizar, his rather festive looking Griffi, sat beside his chair, a mug of hot chocolate in his beak. Kitsume smiled and took the cup, sipping on the hot drink.
Kitsume caught a glance of Moondancer curled in front of the fire. His first Sylesti had his tail wrapped around a Griffi egg, Kitsume had hoped putting it beside the fire would decrease the incubation time.
Not even bothering to stifle a yawn, Kitsume snuggled farther into the soft chair. A sudden weight on his lap told him Kizar thought a nap was a good idea too. Eyes drooping, Kitsume soon fell asleep to the sounds of a crackling fire.
~
A wet tongue on his fingers quickly brought Kitsume to the waking world. Letting out a confused mumble, the pale boy opened his eyes to see Spiritfox licking his fingers.
"Hmmm? What is it, girl?" He ask, slowly waking up more.
Spiritfox looked at him with puppy dog eyes and nodded towards the door.
Kitsume quickly realized what she wanted. "You want to go out? To train, right?" I must have been asleep for like a hour, he thought, my Sylestis must be healed up now.
Getting up from the chair, he noticed Kizar was siting in front of the door, wanting to train too.
"Alright," Kitsume said, laughing. "only because it's Christmas. But just for like forty five minutes or something. I want us to open a gift before Christmas morning." He turned to Moondancer, still snoozing by the fire. "Hey, Moon, wanna come?" He asked, and the Zolnixi immediately leapt up and ran to him.
Kitsume took his party to the forest, where snow was coming down hard and fast. Shuddering and pulling his coat tighter around him, Kitsume explored the forest with his Sylestis, hoping to find something of interest.
But their exploration brought nothing. He had fought a couple of wild pets, but they were common and not worth catching. Finally, the small group came upon a large cave.
"Everyone, come over here!" Kitsume said, calling his pets to him. "We should go in there. Maybe we can find some strong Sylesti!" Or at least warm up a bit, he added to himself.
The party ventured into the cave, searching every passage. It was huge, with towering ceilings and tall stalactites and stalagmites. Soon Kitsume and his pets came upon a fork in the passage- one path to the left, one to the right.
"Moondancer," Kitsume said, turning to the Zolnixi. "Which path should we take? I am leaving this decision to you."
Moondancer took a long look at both paths. He strutted to the right, sniffing the ground. Cringing, Moondancer quickly dashed to the left and sat down.
"Left?" Kitsume said. "Great. Lets continue."
The party walked through the chosen path, Kizar scouting ahead for items and boxes. After a couple minutes though, Kitsume noticed his pets were acting odd.