Cosmo's Destiny

Chapter One


 The wind whistled in the trees as Cosmo clung to his mother's belly.The blinding lights of the monsters speeding by the trees scared him,so he tried to snuggle further down in his mother's pocker.The gentle heartbeat calmed him,but what he didn't realize was thatit would be the last time that he heard her gentle heartbeat and soft breath."HONK,HONK!"a monster wailed,and slammed into the tree stronger than any Loudclaw.It drilled straight through the tree in a matter of seconds,and Cosmo fell to the ground.His mother was still alive,but her heartbeat was getting slower.THOOM.Before he could react,a monster crushed his mother,spilling fresh blood and oil on his head,and he started crying.His mother's body went limp,and he tried to wriggle out,but he didn't have the strength.Before long,a slippery paw grabbed him,but it wasn't his mothers.He thrashed,but it was no use.Cosmo blacked out.

Chapter Two

 He awoke in a large pouch that was much,much warmer than his mother's pouch.He lay in a pelt softer than any koala pelt,and another slippery paw was trying to give him some squishy stick thing through a hole in the transparent pouch.He bit down on the stick at the end of the stick,and rich,yummy white-water poured out.However,it was much skimmer than his mother's milk,and he tried to pull away,but his teeth were stuck,and he had to drink all of the weird white-water untill the slippery paw drew away,"Mraw?" He was confused,and slowly walked around the pouch.As night fell,the bright-ball above him dimmed,and he had the chance to crawl out of the pouch.The fall was high up,but not as nearly as high as the fall from the tree.The ground was hard and slippery,and it smelled like poison to Cosmo.He clawed his way to the exit,and crawled barely through a crack in the door.Immidieatly he saw the familiar white-koala,with spots all over her face.But more monsters awaited him in a ditch close by,sleeping under the moonlight,their evil grins in need of dental care."Bo boh?"He crawled toward the woods to the west,and fell asleep in a tree branch.

Chapter Three

 He awoke to crickets chirping,and found that he had eaten poppy seeds some animal had tracked in here.No wonder why he slept so well.He found a few other herbs the elder koalas reccommended,and he put them in an alcove in the tree.Cosmo would find something to heal later."Are you lost,young one?" Cosmo nearly jumped out of his fur."Momp?"was all he could manage.The voice laughed."So you're a baby,and your mother didn't teach you our tongue yet.That's expected from a koala that smells like milk!"Cosmo was embarassed,and started licking the milk out of his pelt."Aww,I didn't mean to insult you!"the voice said.Finally,Cosmo summed up the courage to look up.A mother koala with no baby in her pouch stared down at him,grinning."Come on in,"she said,"Beatrice was a healer.She would've taught you how to heal if she'd survived the move to this forest.I'll teach you instead."Reluctantly,Cosmo crawled in and sucked her milk.“Do not fear the woods,because many forces can heal you."his newfound foster mother muttered to him."Other forces hate animals,though,and shouldn't be called upon."He didn't understand,but just took a nap instead.

Chapter Four

 Ten years later...
 Cosmo leapt to the other tree.He had now stashed many herbs in his alcove,and the koalas here came to him when they needed medical help.Cosmo's muscles were now streamlined from yanking herbal roots out of the ground,despite his foster mother's training.He had learned that her name was Alla,and she was a friend of his mother,Beatrice.He also had learned nature magic,calling upon dryads and satyrs to help him heal.He had dreams of a grey heron,a mask,and phantoms in a faraway land,which disturbed him greatly."Your time will come,"the heron had said to him in his dreams last night.He had found himself saying "I will serve you,Mother Sky.""Huh?"Cera asked him on a nearby branch."What's this talk about this 'Mother Sky?'"Cera looked puzzled,so he told his apprentice about his dreams.She simply rolled her eyes."You're only eleven,so I don't trust your judgement."Cera said,quite wisely for a six-year old."I think you have a vivid imagination."Cosmo cussed under his breath."What?!?"Cera had a weird sixth sense,which annoyed Cosmo,but it came in handy when strangers lied about their health.She could easily sense any sort of hidden evil act(like lying or cussing under your breath),but this time she let it go."Look,I want to show you the weird lichen I found at the edge of the woods,but you're acting weird."Cera had told him about some ominous lichen near the normal toadstool harvesting grounds,and somehow it felt like it tied to his dreams."Fine."Cosmo said."Maybe I can idenify it.""Well,Cosmo always stops acting weird just to idenify a weird lichen species."Cera teased,but she led him to the spot anyway.

Chapter Five

 Cera led Cosmo to the spot.Purple fog surrounded the normally yellow lichen,and Cosmo felt like this was something important."Well?" Cera asked him impatiently."What is this lichen?" In a trance,he stroked the fungus.The lichen fell off,revealing an artifact phantom statue.How did he know that the weird spider-like creature was named a phantom?Before he could cover up the stone statue stuck to the tree,Cera pulled the statue off it's post in curiosity,and the phantoms flew out of the tree."Rarr."a phantom snarled."EEEK!"Cera yelped.She bolted to warn the others,leaving Cosmo to fend for himself.He picked up a stick,and it elongated into a wooden staff with a green orb on the end."Hi-yar!"A bolt of green light struck the phantoms,and a few disentigrated.The rest made a noise like bats,and lunged.He sidestepped,and struck them with a blast,and they turned into mice,fleeing."Good work."The same heron that visited him in his dreams flapped down to congragulate him,her eyes full of pride."You'll make a wonderful alpha.Come with me."Cosmo nearly stepped into her back,but stopped himself."Will I ever see Beatrice and Cera again?"he asked the grey heron.She seemed to know what he meant."You won't,but I promise that Jamaa will be a land lusher than anyplace else."Cosmo stepped onto her with no hesitation,since he only loved his deceased mother.Immidieatly he was in a forest greener than his own,with huts and platforms high up in the trees.Animals with face paint approached him warily from behind a log,but Mira(how did he know her name?)motioned for them to come closer."Cosmo,"she said,"these are the alphas that protect this land,Jamaa."Mira said.A small bunny with ear socks and adorable eyes shyly peeked out from behind a regal tiger with a cape and three beards."Hello."Her voice was harmonious,with melody and beat to it,like every breath was a song.As soon as he heard her voice,Cosmo knew what to do.He would be the best healer that ever was.