The Midnight Arose

The Midnight Arose.
It was the Basket Turtle who said: "Ummph." But the Ocean Bear thought that it was uttered by the Reddish Hare and, slapping him hard, he said: "Shush! You don't want us to be heard, do you?"
"Okay, so I don't," - whispered the Reddish Hare, his ears becoming even more red from anger and embarrassment. - "And I also don't like being slapped like that all the time."
"We don't have all the choices we want, do we?", - said the Ocean Bear.
"We don't", - agreed the Reddish Hare.
The three of them looked up at the pale moon which was beginning to shape in the sky. The sunset, fiery red, had crossed the horizon minutes ago, giving more and more freedom to the night approaching.
The Sleeper Dog howled from a hill far away and the Basket Turtle said: "It is time."
The three slowly left their shelter, which was an old oak and thick bush. Without a rush, yet not slowly, they moved from stone to tree, from tree to road, from road back into the shadows of the forest. The cool summer wind calmly rustled the leafage, everything was silent and lonely, as if that land, left by the people, was even forgotten by God.
The Violet Hamster sniffed the air and stooped into some hole, entering the dark world of the underground worm maze.
The Sharp Owl opened her left eye, slowly fixed her gaze on an endless blue of the sky and went back to sleep. It wasn't her time yet.
The Sleeper Dog sang a long sad song once more, as if feeling something strange.
The three were almost invisible, having turned into small dots.
They had a long journey ahead.
They went abroad...
...to never come back.
The Sleeper Dog barked and then cried again.
* * *
Kayda, the wizard, tapped the ground with his cane and plodded on hopelessly. He was attempting to leave Withered Dry for the fourth time and it was just natural to be worried that this time would be no more successful than before.
He adjusted the pattern belt which held his pants, the move being so much a part of him as his skin was. His thoughts travelled in a sinusoid, from evening joy to evening fear, both exaggerated and somewhat vague.
The forest line obediently followed every curve of the road and, turning back, Kayda saw the Three House Village disappear behind a grassy hill, the latter also vanishing at the next turn.
Soon the forest was left behind and a vast plain opened before him, with a road almost invisible in the high grass, going straight to the horizon. The space was so incredibly great and the horizon line gave a feeling of such freedom, that Kayda felt an urge to throw away his cane and a heavy sack and run till he reaches the end of the world...
He did no such thing.
But he didn't stop either. He went on, steadily, patiently, hard. Dry land eventually turned into sand and every step was an effort of will. Once or twice his sharp eye caught a glimpse of a Violet Hamster peeping out of the hole or of an Infertile Fly heavily crossing the sky, but he didn't stop.
It was an hour before midnight when Kayda looked back at last.
South nights are dark and he couldn't see the forest or hills of the Withered Dry anymore. Only a degraded spot suggested that over there is something that is not a plain.
Kayda adjusted his belt and continued with his journey.
He was no longer alarmed. He knew he made it.
He left the Withered Dry forever.
* * *
Some minutes later Kayda saw three lonely dots ahead of him. Every step seemed to bring them nearer. About an hour later he arrived to what seemed to be the camp. A fire was set and the Basket Turtle, the Ocean Bear and the Reddish Hare were gathered round it, warming themselves. Only then the wizard felt that it indeed was quite cold.
He greeted the party and asked if he could join them. They agreed with no reluctance.
"We may miss the Midnight Arose," - said the Basket Turtle.
These words puzzled Kayda greatly.
"You, of course, meant that you may miss the midnight arise, didn't you?"
"The Midnight Arose," - said the Basket Turtle solemnly.
"The Midnight Arose," - repeated the Reddish Hare and ate a stalk of grass.
"Yes, the midnight arose at...um... midnight," - Kayda proceeded carefully. - "Actually, it's not midnight yet. Why do you think you will miss it?"
The Ocean Bear laughed and poked the Reddish Hare's side with his finger:
"He is totally unaware of what we are talking, is he not!"
The Reddish Hare started and his ears became even more red from anger and embarrassment.
"I don't like being poked into sides with fat fingers!" - said he resentfuly.
"We don't have all the choices we want, do we?", - said the Ocean Bear.
"We don't", - agreed the Reddish Hare.
Kayda stood up, confused and overloaded with weirdness. He had always been weird quite enough himself to even try to understand the weirdness of those three. He started for the road.
"Wizards should know what the Midnight Arose is," - uttered the Basket Turtle. - "Especially if they want to leave."
Kayda stopped.
"How do you know I'm a wizard?" - he asked, surprised. - "And why do you think I want to leave?"
"I've seen you at Withered Dry."
Kayda should've quessed that these three were from Withered Dry.
"Is it really important to know what that Midnight Arose is?"
"It is," - said the Ocean Bear.
"It is," - repeated the Reddish Hare.
Confused, Kayda sat back in front of the fire and waited while the Basket Turtle decided to talk.
"The Midnight Arose is a kind of a wind which, once encountered by a traveller, may carry him wherever he likes."
"And? You are saying that these plains are likely to produce such a wind?"
"Any place is appropriate. The wind needs to be called. So it says here in the book," - and the Basket Turtle pointed to Ocean Bear. With growing amazement Kayda saw that Ocean Bear's huge round stomache was covered with miniature writings.
"Incredible!" - said Kayda sincerely.
"It is the Book of Winds, chapter 15," - said the Basket Turtle. - "A handbook for any traveller."
"And how can this Midnight Arose be called?"
"Four have to perform a spell dance at midnight."
Kayda looked at them.
"But there are only three of you!"
"Yes, exactly," - said the Reddish Hare.
As truth began to dawn upon the wizard, the Ocean Bear stood up and firmly lifted the Reddish Hare along by pulling him up by his ears.
The Reddish Hare extracted an injection and his ears became even more red from anger and embarrassment.
"I don't like being pulled up by the ears!" - said he bitterly.
"We don't have all the choices we want, do we?", - said the Ocean Bear.
"We don't", - agreed the Reddish Hare.
"It is time to rehearse then," - said the Basket Turtle and Kayda snapped out of his confusion.
"I am not doing any silly dancing!" - he said.
"You are not," - agreed the Basket Turtle, - "because this is not a silly dance. I find it quite enjoyable, actually."
The plain and the moon watched four figures move strangely as if to some silent music. An unexisting band played a gentle melody and an unexisting flute player had problems extracting a lower C from time to time.
"To some we also don't exist," - said the Basket Turtle, moving in circles and waving it's tiny head from left to right. - "To some we are just part of a made-up story."
"A story someone probably wrote out of boredom," - said the Ocean Bear, - "for you can't possibly write a story about someone like us unless being very bored."
"We are boredom itself," - said the Basket Turtle.
"We are boredom itself," - agreed the Reddish Hare.
The unexisting flute player performed a difficult passage without mistakes and both the Basket Turtle and the Ocean Bear applauded. The Reddish Hare was busy scratching his left ear, while his right ear got accidentally stuck in the wizard's belt.
Time passed slowly, but no matter how slow it passed, midnight happened and dancing was suddenly more then mere rehearsal. Every move became filled with sense, as if those moves were words of a mysterious language.
Pink shaded waves crossed the plain and circled the four dancers, creating a whirlpool and lifting them up into mid air.
"We made it!" - laughed the Basket Turtle, tumbling.
"And what happens now?" - asked Kayda. His cane and a sack were left on the ground, but he had no time to be concerned about that.
"The wind will take you wherever you wish."
"And where shall we go?"
"Each of us goes his own path," - said the Ocean Bear.
"We always go different paths, even when we are walking the same road," - said the Basket Turtle.
Suddenly the Ocean Bear was taken by one of the waves and carried away swiftly, disappearing behind the horizon in a matter of seconds. The Reddish Hare in turn made his decision and vanished.
"And where will you go?" - asked Kayda.
"No matter where I shall go, I shall never return," - said the Basket Turtle. - "But you'll want to visit Withered Dry one day."
"I don't think so."
"I know you don't. Not now."
Pink wave took the Basket Turtle and started carrying it away, but before it vanished, Kayda could hear it's words: "Don't be so serious about the words of a turtle, wizard. Turtles aren't as wise as they're believed to be... But they are in shells."
Kayda closed his eyes and thought of the place he always longed for.
At first nothing happened and for a moment he was afraid the wind was going to leave him where he was, alone, with months of journey ahead of him, but just then waves of warm air hit his face and he knew he was flying at the speed of thought.
Somewhen his feet felt ground beneath them and, opening his eyes, Kayda found himself walking a city square on the other side of the planet, with Withered Dry and three weird travellers seeming to be nothing but a distant dream...