"You didn't come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here."

- Alan Watts


A distant vision/
In the closest of moments to my being/
Standing free of design, an entity of my own/
And with eyes opening/

Say goodbye to the world as we knew it/
To the eyes that couldn't see/
Now we're dying trying to find out/
What this life could mean/
Say goodbye to the world as we knew it/

- Intervals - "Ephemeral"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcVZ3OL4YE4

---

Madrid, Iowa / September 29th / 5:23 P.M.



“You have any idea where we are right now?” The raccoon asked rhetorically.

Tyson trustfully strolled into the darkness as if he knew from experience where his feet would take him. Truthfully speaking, this was as far as he’d explored the cavern system he’d helped discover. Although, to call it as such was to indicate that it’d been incidentally shaped by the geological forces of nature at work. This cavern system, if you were so inclined to call it that, was not molded into form by mere accident. That much was apparent after first glance alone.

“Good question, Tyson. I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Naomi answered from a couple feet behind, daringly entering the darkened room with no trepidation. “Please tell me you’ve got some idea of where we’re going.”

“Well, yes and no,” he admitted, speaking over his shoulder. The raccoon’s cheerful and carefree tone bouncing back at them from inside the dim and cavernous chamber. “JP and I explored this place a few times over the summer, but neither of us went all the way down.”

“Right,” the badger verified, bringing up the rear. Waving the bright beam of his flashlight around the chiseled threshold’s impressive entrance, Jakub elaborated, “This is about as far as we’ve gone. It was too dangerous for us to go any deeper with just the two of us. If it weren’t for that access tunnel we passed not too long ago, we’d have no idea where we were.”

It first began near a nebulous point along the Skunk River Trail deep inside the North River Valley Park. Khloe had often taken Tyson, and most recently Jakub, down this road in search of secret truths. In the end, they were of such ostensible enormity she dared not speak of them or their inherent implications. Until the opossum’s search came to an end, neither boy knew why it meant so much for her to take them down this lonely, obscure stretch of sidewalk.

Ultimately, when she’d eventually stumbled upon such long-sought truths, their yield merely raised many more concerns than anyone, herself included, could comprehend. What made this breakthrough even more intriguing was the guidance both Jakub and Khloe had received that day late last May. It had come from an incredibly surprising source. What was said and, more significantly, by whom was enough to keep Khloe from resuming her weekly excursions upon this path. However, it wasn’t long until their curiosity overtook them completely.

“And just where have you taken us this time around? At this point, I really hope it’s not a path laid with good intentions,” the wolverine remarked once more, coming to a halt in the middle of the passageway and effectively blocking the others behind her from progressing.

“It’s like I said, I’m not sure what this all is or what it all means,” he said, pivoting around to face Naomi and the rest of his comrades, “but just outside that one tunnel we passed is a forest. A big one, too! Guys, I know you won’t believe me, but right now, we’re standing directly underneath Ledges.”

“That’s just not possible,” said the silver fox who stood precisely in the middle of their queue which began with Tyson at the front. “That’s like a twenty, thirty-minute drive at best. I know we’ve walked for a while now, but there’s no way we’ve gone twenty or so miles, Tyson.”

Even though Isaak was frequently the first one to question fantastic claims whenever they surfaced, there was still doubt found in his eyes. Like everyone else here, the silver fox had experienced a profound paradigm shift over the course of a single summer. As much as he wanted to make a case for a sound, rational argument, it was no longer simple to discern the truth from fiction. Upon graduation from high school, all five of them had awoken to greet a world where the supernatural and extraterrestrial were not subjects of debate. They were as real as anything else one could readily study, observe and hunt.

Isaak turned back toward Jakub, and after seeing no sign of mischief on his face, the silver fox again shifted focus on Tyson.

With much diffidence, Isaak asked Tyson hesitantly, “That makes no sense though. I know we’ve seen a lot lately, but unless we’ve been down here for hours, there’s no way we’ve walked that much.”

“I know what it sounds like, Isaak, but it’s true,” Jakub replied, moving toward the front near Tyson as he shone the light. “This room—whatever it is—is very close to Madrid of all places.”

The badger advanced from the rear, directing the flashlight beam toward the center of the room as he passed everyone else to take the lead. Once Jakub had made his way up to Tyson, he shone his light next onto the increasingly narrow path which led directly into the room.

“You see that? From here, it almost looks like an altar of some sort, and this walkway we’re on is our only way to it. C’mon.”

The badger motioned for the rest to follow as he kept the path set before them brightened and distinct in the near pitch-black conditions awaiting them inside.

“Mind taking out your flashlight for this one, too, Ty? Unlike you, most of us can’t see in the dark,” Jakub joked, blissfully ignorant of his comment’s inherent salience.

“Oh sure,” the raccoon acquiesced, removing his own flashlight from the front pocket of his red hooded sweatshirt.

As he turned it on, from inside Tyson’s head, Trace asked, ‘Ever plan on telling them the truth? Letting your friends in on your little secret? It would make matters easier if they knew you could see in the dark, for instance.’

‘At some point, for sure,’ Tyson thought, internally contemplating his next course of action. ‘I just don’t know how to approach it yet. I don’t want to scare them off. Make them think I’m some kind of threat. That I’m dangerous. I don’t want to lose them like I lost Brent.’

‘You didn’t lose Brent, Tyson,’ the demon noted. ‘That boy loved you. Likely still does. As for what happened, that wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself for things you can’t control. Your friends won’t abandon you once they learn about your inner demon, so to speak. They already know you’re weird. If you haven’t scared them off by now, nothing you say at this point will make them run for the hills.’

“I guess you’re right,” Tyson said aloud with a small laugh.

“What was that, dude?”

The young man was startled as Naomi approached him from behind. It didn’t even register with Tyson that he had spoken aloud what he intended to keep hidden. The raccoon had forgotten his surroundings and neglected the fact that he wasn’t alone with his thoughts.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I had a lot on my mind,” he admitted, trailing the badger toward the center of the spacious room. “I was thinking to myself and forgot other people were around.”

“No big deal,” she smiled. “It looked like you were deep in thought, but I didn’t want to interrupt what you had going there. Anything you’d like to share with the class?”

“I’d rather keep it to myself for now,” he said, glancing over his shoulder with a disconsolate expression. For the time being, Tyson kept his voice low and cautious. “It’s still too raw, y’know? There’s still too much that I don’t understand. Too much that still makes no sense. It still hurts even after all this time. And for now, I want to keep that to myself.”

Of course, of all people, it had to be Naomi who took note his internal strife. After all, she’d been the one who introduced them what felt like eons ago. It was sheer happenstance she found the otter in the first place. Studying near two of her younger sisters, Karis and Clair, at the local library, he’d made quite the impression with these small twin wolverines. Eventually, this chance acquaintance led to recurring games of cribbage between the two after school. It was only a matter of time before Naomi reckoned the otter was single. She then resolved to align the stars to ensure that the raccoon and the otter became an item if such strange alchemy was for the best.

“How ‘bout this, Ty? Whenever you’re ready to open up and let me know how you feel, I’ll be here to help you out, okay? Take as much time as you need,” said the wolverine as she softly placed a paw on his shoulder.

“Thanks,” he said, hesitant yet grateful. “I’ll bore you with my sob story sometime soon."

“Trust me, I’m good whenever. We’ll talk about Brent when you’re ready.”

The young man appreciatively smiled at his friend’s offer, but that smile soon waned once he glimpsed at his bracelet. Even though Tyson was the only one who could see, the raccoon still chose to hide this artifact from view as he observed it. He stared in surprise as the leather and metal bracelet began to shine with a bright blue radiance. While the light was still weak, the fact that it shone at all was cause for concern. Events of this nature were rare indeed, and whenever his bracelet shone light of any color, a figurative seismic shift was about to occur.

“So, Khloe,” the silver fox reluctantly inquired, “just what did Johan tell you about this place? It’s gotten harder to get a hold of him, and when I do, he changes the subject when this is brought up.”

“For years—ever since middle school—I wanted to find these caves again,” the opossum considered, crossing the threshold’s boundary, she was the last to step into darkness. “Even if none of you believed me, I still had to find them. I still had to try. Alone, if I had to. But a couple months ago, when Tyson went missing, I got spooked.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Johan the one who told you about what happened? About Tyson?”

“Yes, he was,” Khloe quietly confirmed, reflecting upon the vampire’s words of warning. “He told us—Jake and I—that Ty was in danger. That these caves—this whole thing here—was dangerous. And that we were in danger if we went inside. I knew that wouldn’t stop JP from coming back sooner, but I wanted to wait, at least, until we could all go in as a group.”

“I don’t understand,” the silver fox stated as the opossum’s word choice struck him as peculiar. “What do you mean when you say ‘again’?” Are you saying you’ve been here before?”

Their conversation was cut short by activity from those near the front. Jakub and Tyson were the first to reach the altar in the center. Illuminating the structure’s integral features under the glare of flashlight beams, they discovered that the platform on which they stood appeared to be composed of clear quartz crystal. In its entirety, the altar was about thirty feet in diameter, and lodged prominently in the middle atop its own pedestal was a large translucent crystal ball. As their light scoured its surface, Jakub caught sight of what laid beyond the enveloping shroud of darkness that surrounded the altar and the circular causeway which encompassed it.

“Is that water? I can’t tell. If it is, then it’s very still. Almost like a solid surface.”

“I don’t know,” Tyson answered, his interest now keenly intent on the leather and metal bracelet he always wore. The bright blue light had begun to swell in size to where its shine had consumed the raccoon’s left paw and wrist in an eerie glare. He turned it over to inspect it further but was taken aback when crackles of blue electricity leaped off his wrist in long, yearning arcs. “It’s too dark to make out from here.”

“Lookingglass,” Khloe muttered, standing equidistant from Jakub across the causeway.

The silver fox received the opossum’s whispers and asked, “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Isaak—tell me—what do you know about scrying?”

“Not much actually,” he conceded after a second’s worth of consideration. “Isn’t that divination? Fortunetelling?”

“It is, yes,” she murmured, trying to survey everything that could be seen in the dim light, “but there’s more to it than that. And what I’m seeing here has got me thinking.”

Intrigued, if not troubled, Isaak asked, “About what, Khloe? What’s on your mind?”

“The water they’re seeing,” she gestured toward Jakub and Tyson by flicking her head, “and the way this altar looks, I think is of great significance. If I were to make a guess, I’d say that this room here is like some huge scrying chamber, and if that’s the case then—”

Suddenly, the blue electric discharge coursing out from Tyson’s bracelet burst forth, clutched at and then suffused the clear quartz crystal ball with immeasurable energy. The young man noticeably gasped as the emitting energy resuscitated it using an arcane manner of defibrillation. The newly revived crystal ball, awash and aglow with hypnotic arcs of bright blue electricity, took on a milky-white countenance as it was resurrected. The mesmeric orb then shot a bolt of blue lightning from its top as the lively, electric arcs surged from the base toward the causeway on which everyone stood. As the bright blue discharge harmlessly streamed around their feet, the bolt struck the invisible ceiling’s vaulted expanse where it promptly exploded. The resounding boom that followed echoed across the scrying chamber in thunderous refrains.

Dismayed, the wolverine yelled over the din, “What the hell’s going on?!”

Just as soon as these words left her lips, the room was wholly engulfed with the crystal ball’s luminous glow. A fine mist arose from behind the causeway like a vaporous veil cloaking whatever else the blinding light didn’t conceal. Then suddenly, all was quiet. In short order, the bright milky white luminescence fell away to reveal a most wondrous view. The crystal altar was now adrift in a sea of clouds floating listlessly in the stratosphere. The path which led them here had vanished and so, too, had the open door. Swirling above the altar was the lofty grandeur of outer space. The crystal’s constitution became transfigured in the ensuing stillness. A prismatic configuration of colors spread out from the crystal ball’s pedestal like a focal point. Bathed in shades of vivid color, the small group of five beheld the scrying crystal expose them to a series of inscrutable, esoteric images of outlandish places that defied imagination but eluded recollection.

Though, as the din gave way to tranquility, a few among them soon discovered that their small of group had grown from a paltry five to an imposing eight.

Nearly breathless, Tyson saw the wraithlike visage of a girl who, for most his life, had survived in his memory as little more than a stubborn and restless eidolon. But even existing only as a tempting phantasm, the lynx had turned into the most precious person in Tyson’s life. Lustrous and transparent, she occupied her own space to Khloe’s left as if she were beside them.

“Daeja? DJ, is that really—?” Covering his mouth in shock, Tyson was unable to finish.

“It can’t be,” Isaak assessed, perceiving ghosts of his own. Standing directly across the room from where Daeja stood, from Jakub’s right, was a boy who’d often visit him in his dreams. Projecting confidence via opaque hologram, the skunk stood proudly as ever, silently scrutinizing the curious manacle he always wore with rapt approval as it glowed a bright blue.

In fact, both specters, the lynx and her skunk compatriot, were inspecting each artifact they wore respectively as they both radiated with that same bright blue energy. Although, they each saw the same phenomenon, both had wildly differing reactions. While the skunk was supercilious and triumphant, the lynx remained doubtful and disquieted.

“I know who you are, but your name, I can’t remember,” said the silver fox in distress.

“It’s that bike again,” the badger affirmed, gazing upon the glass orb as it held the figure of a vintage red and white Schwinn bicycle in its focus. “It wasn’t there when we came back. Where did it go? And why am I seeing it now?”

“The Bicycle That Isn’t a Bicycle,” Khloe proclaimed, lost in her own thoughts.

“Holy shit. This can’t be real. Brent!”

As the wolverine looked upward, she was accosted by the appearance of her absent and familiar friend, Brent Morris. However, the otter was barely recognizable in his current state. Blistering with otherworldly and uncontrollable energy, he soared above their group as he emanated a fearsome, tremendous strength from within a sheath of harsh magenta light. In horror, she saw two paws emerge from the unshapen darkness of outer space and begin to close in on him like a trap being slowly closed on unsuspecting prey. The eyes of some terrible, unspeakable creature bearing down upon him with the intent to kill.

“Guys, quick,” the wolverine implored, “we’ve got to help him!”

'Trace?'

‘Yeah, dude,’ the raccoon’s guardian spirit returned, reacting with awe, ‘what is it?’

‘What does this all mean? Daeja and this room,’ the young man pondered, helpless and spellbound. ‘If she’s not here, then how am I seeing her now? What is happening?’

‘I don’t know, Tyson,’ the demon acknowledged, his interest now paid to the red bicycle’s vision under glass. ‘I just don’t know.’

---

(from left to right) Shane Knight, Jakub Cooper, Tyson Bishop, Naomi Dalton, Isaak Valern, Khloe Quince and Daeja LaBrie

(above) Brent Morris and The Cowboy King


I just want to give my thanks to  aerokat None of this would be possible if not for her talent and effort. This was the piece I have been building toward since I first reintroduced Tyson. At some point, I wanted to get him and all his friends together in one image. And here they all are, together at last! I'm so very happy with the end result. She put a lot of time and energy into this one piece, and for that I'm incredibly grateful. She is an absolute joy to work with, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with her in this capacity. So please, check out her page for more cool stuff like this image! I know for a fact that she has plenty on her page to entice just about everyone!

In case anyone was interested, this link will direct you to her Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/poecatcomix/posts

Also, if you're interested in learning more about my characters and the story from which they're from, then feel to read about them from the very beginning:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16818465/


art is ©  aerokat

characters are ©  nazcapilot