Chatterbox: KYNGDOM™ Archive

It's midnight. I sneak out the door, a shoulder bag slung around my neck, creeping slowly so as not to wake Anwen. I couldn't be seen, I would have to take the shortcut. A chill ran through my bones as I thought of walking through the woods by the creek, a usually serene and relaxing place, but the image of that mysterious creature that had sabotaged me the last time I walked here just wouldn't get out of my head. All the same, I took the shortcut. I thought I heard a rustle, it must have been the wind in the trees. Every time I started to relax, a sound pierced my ears and I jumped back before I could realize it was just an owl or leaves rustling. I could just see the eerie full moon through the trees. Finally, I could see the clearing that I had been heading to; a rush of relief pulsed through me. Then I felt something. Claws? No. It had to be the wind ruffling my fur the wrong way. As I neared the clearing, I felt silly for being so scared. After all, nothing had snuck up behind me and shot me with a tranquilizer gun, had they? I looked behind my back and saw something glistening in the grass. It caught my attention immediately, and I decided to investigate. As I got closer, and the moonlight just caught it, I saw that it looked something like a pendant. I smelled it, then edged nearer so I could pick it up. Just then, a large, heavy net came down on my head. I peered through the holes of the net, my heart pounding. I saw a white cat, with a grey striped tail, and grey markings above its eyes. It had a black/grey spot just below the tail that made it look like an exclamation mark. Its paws were velveted, but its claws were not retracted. It had one blue and one green eye. It stalked silently, making a full circle around the net, looking me in the eye the entire time. It stopped and sat, still looking me in the eye, tail flicking back and forth. I didn't know if it lived in the forest and was curious about the net, or if it was the mysterious creature who had captured me in the forest that day, and was back for more. I almost laughed at the mere thought. I hadn't expected that the creature was a cat. Maybe a human or even a panther or a bear, but not a house cat! It spoke,"The name's Orién, and I'm sorry" was the last thing I heard before I fell unconscious. 

~~

My eyes blinked open, and I cringed at the bright light. I was in some sort of lab. The cat was still sitting there, tail flicking, watching. "You weren't supposed to wake up yet," the cat said. "Where am I?" I groaned drowsily. "You'd pass out if I told you," it said. "My name is Orién. (or-EE-in) Don't worry. I know everything." I didn't know what she meant by this. My back left paw was throbbing constantly, I realized also that I was in a hard, uncomfortable, metal cage. Two people in white lab coats whispered something in Orién's ear, then each took one side of the cage, lifted, and carried it out into a big room with a concrete floor. A huge mechanical thing with a propellor, some windows, and big letters that I couldn't read (Orién told me it was called a helicopter) was sitting in the middle of the room. The scientists pulled a rope with a hook out of the helicopter and hooked it onto my cage. One of the humans then pressed a button that made the ceiling slide away. Orién jumped into a personalized carry case, which one of the humans then picked up and placed in the helicopter. I noticed that they had strapped weird little vests onto me and Orién. Then, the helicopter started rumbling and flew through the open ceiling. My cage swayed back and forth, suspended far below the helicopter on a long rope. I closed my eyes, knowing death wouldn't be as bad if I didn't see it coming. Then the helicopter stopped moving and just hovered over a forest. One of the scientists lugged the cage up by the rope. She opened the top, pulled me out, and set me down on the floor of the helicopter. She then strapped Orién to my back, whispered instructions into her ear, and threw us out of the open door. Wind rushed through my fur as the ground got closer, then Orién, using her claws, cut the strap holding us together. As we sailed toward earth, she pulled the strings on both her and my vest. "They're called parachutes!" Orién yelled almost inaudible over the rush of the wind. Just when we were about to land, and I was starting to doubt that I would die, my parachute ripped. I hit the ground with a thud. My back left paw hurt worse than ever before. I couldn't stand or walk. Tears stung my eyes, and even as I tryed to fight it, a yelp escaped my throat. Orién landed, glanced worriedly at me, then scampered away. What would become of me!?!?