A Strange Discovery

Dawn made her way through the underbrush, pushing aside branches and leaves that almost seemed fake. They were oddly colored; blues and greens, even silvers and violets. Everything was strange here, but when she, a young, ambitious explorer, somehow ended up in this mystical realm, she had not hesitated to run off into danger immediately. She had absoluetly no idea where she was, or how to get home, but that didn't seem to bother her. She pressed on, blindly crashing through the forest.

She knew she had to find something good, or she would never hear the end of the relentless teasing from her sister Holly about her adventure.

After a few more minutes of walking, she came to the edge of a clearing, or so she thought. Only a couple feet ahead, the ground fell away, revealing a steep cliff. Something caught her attention, aside from the weird glowing flowers in the trees.

She could hear voices, though they clearly were not speaking English, or any language she had ever heard, for that matter. Dawn crept as close to the edge as she dared, using the bushes for both support and cover, and looked down into the valley.

It was half underwater, with more than a dozen waterfalls spilling down into the crystal pools. She could hear the falling water now, and she was surprised as to how loud it ws, considering she had not heard anything until now.

Dawn saw what she at first thought were fish swimming around in the pools. It was only when one burst out of the water, and somehow scaling the entire cliff wall, which was two hundred feet down at the very least, and landed next to her. Dawn shrieked and jumped back, but she was half stuck in the bush, which she now realized was full of thorns. Despite the fact that she had several scratches on her arm, a few of which were bleeding, she was immediately awestruck by the sight before her.

It was not a fish at all. It seemed to be a strange mix of lizard, dragon perhaps, and a cat of some sort. It was maybe only the size of a typical house cat, so she assumed this was the case. It had no hind legs, Dawn noticed, so perhaps it was also part snake? Its skin was a shiny and smooth silver, with scales in only a few places. Its forelegs were one of these places, where the smooth skin turned to bumpy scales, though still seemingly cat's paws. The tail also had scales, as well as four rings made of some kind of metal wrapped around it. The tip of its tail had a soft puff of silvery blue fur, as did the top of its head. It had a face that definitely resembled a lizard, with sharp teeth when it opened its mouth. The insides of its cat-like ears were lined with the blue fur as well as what seemed to be a layer of webbing to protect the inner ear from water. The most amazing part of this beautiful creature was the forms on its back. They appears to resemble wings, but at the same time, they looked like webbed feet that one might find on a bird. And they sparkled, translucent blue that stretched elegantly all the way down to the tip of her tail, turning from the wing like shape into normal spines.

Before Dawn could react, the creature squeaked at her, blinking its large yellow eyes. Stunned, Dawn could only stare at it more. The creature crept a couple inches closer and nudged her arm with its nose. It was so strange, feeling cold scales instead of warm fur from a being that looked so much like a cat.

It seemed to notice the scratches on her arms, and made a noise that almost sounded like a laugh, before gently pulling the brambles off her. Dawn stood up, still mesmerized by the little creature.

It tilted its head at her when she did not move, confused as to why she did not leave. Dawn wondered if it understood that she was lost. Judging by the look in its eyes, she guessed it did.

Neither of them knew the way for her to get home, so Dawn ended up following the little cat down a path along the edge of the cliff to the pools below. She could see now that there were dozens of the small creatures, their scales and fur ranging from silver, blue, and purple, to gold, red and green. They were beautiful.

Dawn sat in front of one of the pools of sparkling water, glancing up from her notebook every now and then. She had drawn the creatures from every angle, and the little silver cat that she had first found had brought various plants and even small animals to her. she drew them all, writing even more.

Nearly a month passed before Dawn returned home. As expected, Holly was asking questions the instant she saw her older sister enter the house.

"Where were you?!" Holly demanded. She wasn't exactly expecting the simplicity of the answer that her sister gave her.

"I was... with some friends..." Dawn replied.

The Kytalo, as she had named them, were her little secret. Especially Kyota, the little silver one, who had given Dawn the little key that now hung on a small silver chain around her neck. The key to her world.