Post by saharastorm on Aug 17, 2008 12:40:25 GMT -8
Okay, basically, I'm writing a story called(you guessed it!) Foxtrott:The Blue Moon. I need some help: I cannot think of the major event to tie everything together!!!! This is the story so far and, yes I did write this myself, tank you very much!!!
P.S, I know this is very intimidating, so you don't have to read the whole thing unless you want to. But, basicly, there is a cat named Foxtrott, who is having strange dreams about dragons and phoniexes. He doeasn't know what they mean and his buddy, Sahara offers to take him on a trip into the Bermuda Triangle, which is called the Bermuda T in the book. So, they get on a boat and go into the Triangle and then, suddenly, a storm brews up and a creature appears and eats Sahara. Then it eats Foxtrott. A few hours later, they get spat out on a beach and come face to face with a dragon or demon named Silverwing. She then bites both cats, turning them in to demons as well. They then meet a big, giant demon named Fire King, who tells them they must go and retrive a stone called the Blue Moon stone. That's where I'm stuck! I don't know where I should send the two cats! So if you could give me an idea as to where to send them and what they should do. I know how the story will end, though and what the final battle will be like, so that's covered. I just need a basic idea of where to send them.
First place will be put in the book and will receive special thank yous and will be mentioned as a co-author.
Second place will be considered for the second book and, if put in the second book, will be put as co-author.
Please either post your idea here or, preferably, PM your idea to me. Thank you and good luck!! Oh, contest ends September 30. I'll PM the winners!!
Foxtrott
The Blue Moon
By Dawnshadow
PROLOGUE
The dragons spun through the air, doing aerial tricks that even the best pilots couldn’t manage. Foxtrott was hovering among them, doing nothing --until a large bird of sorts flew down in front of Foxtrott. The bird was extremely large and had a beak the size of Foxtrott himself. The bird reminded Foxtrott of a phoenix, but the bird was not orange, he was many shades of yellow with a scar through his left eye.
For a moment they stared at each other, eyes locked in the all the clamor. But in a heartbeat Foxtrott found himself frozen in the air, the bird spreading his wings, opening his beak and letting out a battle cry, which sounded like chalk scraping against a chalk board. The bird ruffled its feathers threateningly, but Foxtrott felt nothing except the awe he had a few moments before. Foxtrott watched as the bird grew nearer, larger and larger every second and still, Foxtrott did nothing.
When sense finally rose upon Foxtrott, nothing could be done, for the bird was only a foot from his face. The bird lashed out with his talons, large enough to pick up an elephant in each foot. But talons met claws as something behind Foxtrott lashed out and caught the bird’s talons an inch before Foxtrott’s face. The rescuer came into view.
It was a large dragon, orange in color that flew over Foxtrott so quickly, he hardly had time to see it. The dragon and bird tussled quickly before the bird flew away quickly, covered in blood. The dragon turned and said in a deep, heavy voice, “Go with my blessings, Foxtrott. Now, awaken!”
CHAPTER 1:
Sahara Comes
Foxtrott awoke, his body trembling and sweating. He curled his paws over the soft cat bed that he was sleeping on, trying to comfort himself, telling himself that he was home and nothing could hurt him here. Not even the giant bird thing.
It was hard to convince himself of this. The dream had seemed so real, so life like. It was like seeing your first 3-D movie, looking like a normal movie until the monster popped out of the screen, threatening to kill you, your movie thrill suddenly over with that moment. Only it wasn’t his movie thrill that was over for Foxtrott. It was his thrill to sleep.
You see, for the past few months, Foxtrott had had the same dream every single night, at least the part about the dragons flying around him. Until three nights ago, the bird had never been in the dream, nor had the orange dragon. But now it was so real and terrifyingly to close for comfort.
He didn’t want to sleep now. He wanted to stay awake and make sure the bird didn’t get him. Foxtrott shivered and stood up, arching his back in a cat-like curve. He then placed a brown paw outside of the bed and then the others followed as he went to do his normal routine.
Foxtrott marched outside and stopped, taking a deep whiff of the cool morning air. Light dew still covered the grass. The garden was quite beautiful in Foxtrott’s opinion. On the far side of the yard, about fifteen feet away, there was a flower garden that grew flowers all year round. Now there were daffodils, tulips and roses growing. On the right side of Foxtrott, a vegetable garden grew in the summer. Nothing was in the vegetable garden at the moment. The rest of the yard was grass, with the exception of the swimming pool in the middle of the yard and a trampoline in the top left hand corner of the yard. Foxtrott stood on a well-swept deck with a barbeque and table.
He sighed one last time, and then gracefully lit down the steps. He rolled in the grass, getting his vanilla-colored fur damp. As he was doing so, Foxtrott did not heed to notice the cat jump onto the fence. The cat was a skinny cat, with an orange colored back, tail and top of the head. The rest of him was pure white. His eyes were as green as emeralds and, in Foxtrott’s opinion, even though the cat was a tom; they were the most beautiful eyes Foxtrott had ever seen. When the cat saw Foxtrott rolling in the grass, he purred to him-self, half hoping Foxtrott would hear it. He did. Almost instantly, Foxtrott shot up, muscles tensed and ready to spring. Then, Foxtrott saw the cat smile, and relaxed, flicking his brown tail gracefully.
Yawning, Sahara leaped to the ground and rested his tail on Foxtrott’s back.
“I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to pop by and see how my old buddy was doing. And besides, I thought you wanted me to stay with you this month?” Foxtrott shook off Sahara’s tail.
Teasingly, he added, “I’m not your old buddy. How many times do I have to say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. What’s a nice round number…um…six hundred eighty seven? Yup! That’s your answer! And that was your… fifth time saying it. Six hundred eighty two more times to go.”
Foxtrott started to purr in amusement and then looked at Sahara with a concerned eye. “Have you been eating enough? You look thin.” Sahara shrugged, sat down and started to groom his fur. Foxtrott did the same, without grooming his fur.
“Oh, well, I’ve been on the run for a while. You know, snatching a mouse here and there, eating out of garbage cans...and I don’t recommend the Phillman’s down the street…ew, ew and ew! And you don’t look so feline fine yourself.” And for once, Sahara wins the ‘good observation’ prize! Foxtrott thought. And the truth was, he really didn’t look so great.
With the dreams disrupting his sleep, he hadn’t been able to eat, sleep or groom himself much, being so tired and all. But the worst part was, all he needed was a little sleep, and whenever Foxtrott took a sleep, the dream always came around. The best thing he could muster was a light nap. Usually, his cream colored fur was light and fluffy. Now, it was gangly and unwashed. His body was cream colored, but his tail, paws, chest, face and ears were a chocolate brown. His browns were now a dark, ugly color. His bright blue eyes usually sparkled like sapphires. Now, they were as dull as rocks.
Foxtrott looked at Sahara sternly and said, “I’m fine, thank you for you concern, though. And where have you been? Any new sights to tell me about?”
“Well, I didn’t see the most interesting thing,” Sahara began “but I heard about it from Rex and he usually has all the truthful gossip. The thing is, the Bermuda Triangle has started doing things again. In the past few years, ships could go in and out with ease, but in the last few weeks, that hasn’t been the case. You heard about the meteor shower that happened a couple weeks ago?” Foxtrott thought a moment, and then nodded. He had heard his Uplegs say a thing or two about it. Sahara flicked his tail in response and continued. ”Anyway, it mostly happened over Miami and no one thought much of it. And then Flight 145 disappeared.” Sahara paused for dramatic build up, and then continued, “After that, no more trips through the Bermuda T came out and once again it was a terrifying place. Rex said that one of his partners, Scuba, well, her person is a lobster catcher who enjoys thrills. He’s making one more trip into the Bermuda T before staying away and acting terrified of the place. And…well…I know I said I’d stay with you this month, but I have to get to town before the boat leaves.” He frowned and looked at Foxtrott, looking embarrassed as though he were expecting a scolding.
“I really wanted to stay and all, but I’ve already had a few set backs and had to get Rex to hold off the trip three times! Can you believe that? Anyway, he said that was my last chance to hold it off and I really want to do this and I know I might not be able to spend another month with you and your people and I was wonder if…if…you wanted to go with me?” Foxtrott was so surprised that, for a moment he didn’t answer. He was nervous about doing this. What if he died in the Bermuda T? What if he met a strange, cat-eating monster? What if he drowned when the boat tipped over? Or even worse, what if he got eaten by a lobster? But when Foxtrott looked into Sahara’s dazzling, emerald eyes, he knew he couldn’t say no.
He sighed and looked at Sahara and said, ears pricked high with interest, “I suppose, but what if I don’t come back?” Sahara looked at Foxtrott and shrugged.
“Well, I suppose that’s part of the suspense, isn’t it?” Foxtrott looked away, unable to met Sahara’s emerald gaze. “Into Miami we go!” shouted Sahara and they both leapt over the fence.
* * * * * * * * * *
Little did Foxtrott and Sahara know, on an island not so far away, a creature stirred. She peered up at the eastern horizon, the sun barely up. Why was the cat already leaving? She could sense it was urgent and not really something he wanted to do, but was doing anyway. The creature closed her eyes and sensed something else: a second presence, a close friend perhaps. The creature opened her eyes again, stood, let out a dragon sized yawn and spread her wings. He would be in the Bermuda T later today. And she would come for him and his friend. And perhaps then the prophecy would be appeased. She smiled. She was so young and yet she would get to fulfill a prophecy. And not a light one at that. With a last stretch of her wings, she took off, heading towards Miami.
CHAPTER 2:
Lobster Fishing
“Is this how the city always is?” Foxtrott complained as he lifted one of his chocolate paws to find it covered with muck. He shook it off distastefully and delicately placed it back on the ground. Sahara and Foxtrott were standing in an alley strewn with mud and guck, looking into traffic of feet and cars. Sahara said that they needed a little clear space and then they would shoot through.
Not hearing Foxtrotts’ question, Sahara continued to stare at the river of never ending moving feet. He glanced back at Foxtrott and mumbled,”This better clear up soon or we’ll miss the boat.” Sahara glanced up at the sun and squealed in alarm. “We’ve got to go now!”
Before Foxtrott could say anything, they were shooting through the crowd. Foxtrott had never been so scared in his life. Feet were coming at him, threatening to step on him, Uplegs yelling at him. And then it got worse. Instead of waiting for the cars to stop at a red light, Sahara shot through the cars. Foxtrott just about died twice, once when a car tire came too close and second when a second car hit his side. Yeah, that’s right. Hit his side! Not that hard, mind you, but hard enough to leave him a good bruise across his hip. Big, fat cars raced towards him, always missing by a whisker. The lights stared like eyes, threatening to kill and leaving his fur ruffled in their wake. Foxtrott’s heart was about to die of beating so hard. He had never run so fast in his life. The only thing driving him on was his pounding fear. He closed his eyes, waiting to get hit.
And then, it was over.
Just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. He plopped down on the opposite sidewalk, trying to catch his breath and gather his bearings. Luckily, the sidewalk on this side barely had anyone walking on it and those walking it took no notice of the two cats, thinking they were ship’s cats.
Foxtrott lay there on the sidewalk, panting and staring at nothing in particular, just listening to the hum of deadly cars. Foxtrott was so mad, he couldn’t think of any words to use without getting his mouth washed out with soap. And then he looked at Sahara’s face as though he were the devil. It was filled with pure joy.
“That was great!” Sahara yelled. “The most exciting thing I’ve ever done! Do you want to go for another?” He was gleeful like a little kitten taking his first climb up a tree. But Foxtrott felt like that same kitten trying to come back down. When Foxtrott finally thought of some words he said, “Sahara, you’re the most mouse-brained, dirty fox that I’ll ever meet. If we see a monster in the Bermuda, I’ll toss you in its mouth and say ‘Here’s a porker if I ever saw one! Hope you enjoy!’ You’re a-“
“Oh! Hey there’s Rex!” Sahara leapt up and race away, orange tail high. Foxtrotts’ anger was even worse now. He stood, fury pulsing through his veins, and walked, taking his good time, after Sahara. Now Foxtrott took in his surroundings. To his left was the road, cars still streaking along as though nothing had happened. Mouse- brain Uplegs! He thought. Then, he looked to his right.
It was a huge port, boats setting sail and coming in. The water was pretty that day and he tried to guess which boat would be their ride. Foxtrott didn’t think it would be too great. When he turned, he saw Sahara racing down the pier again, only this time there was a cat on his tail. “This is Rex. Rex meet Foxtrott.” Foxtrott looked the cat over.
He was a large cat, especially around his legs and belly, probably from learning how to swim. He was pure white except for the gray stripe down his back. And his fur was surprisingly thin, which made him a Devon Rex. He had large, radar like ears and wide, almost webbed paws. He had a long thin tail and was a little taller than Sahara. He had large, bright amber eyes.
Rex dipped his head. “A pleasure to meet you. Sahara has said quite a bit about you.” Foxtrott felt a bit of pleasure and surprise well up inside him. He had no idea that Sahara talked about him to other cats. Deep down, he was impressed.
Foxtrott dipped his head back. “I’m sure Sahara hasn’t said that much about you to me, but it is still great to meet you. But he did tell me you usually have very juicy gossip, like the story about going to the Bermuda T. Shall we be going to the boat?” And the other cats nodded their heads. “Follow me,” and Rex motioned them to leave.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The boat was one farther out in the harbor. It was the kind of ship Foxtrott had expected. Not too nice, not too bad. It was about the size of a sailboat, with a large cabin in the center. He could see the lobster bins along the walls and watched the Uplegs yell at each other and bounce about. Rex showed them onto the boat, the way the Uplegs usually got on. They greeted and patted Rex on the head. He purred back.
Once on board, Rex showed them into the cabin. They walked down a short flight of steps and passed several rooms in a thin, short hallway and stopped at the opposite end, which led to some stairs. Rex motioned them towards the door to their left, which had a small cat door in it.
“This is where Scuba sleeps,” explained Rex. The cats crept in silently, not really thinking about what the room might be until they got in. It was a storage room, filled with life preservers and lifeboats. “She stays in here in case the ship sinks,” explained Rex “So that way she can just jump in a life boat and swim for shore.” Rex looked about and called Scuba’s name several times, before a cat finally appeared from under the boats. Foxtrott looked the cat over. She was thin and tall, not really muscular, with a tan face, ears, paws and tail. She had a strange thin, pointed face with bright blue eyes.
Scuba daintily ran across the floor and dipped her head in greeting. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said, with such honesty in her voice Foxtrott couldn’t help but believe it.
Before he could say anything, Sahara pushed his way forward and said, “Oh, you’re Scuba. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sahara and this is Foxtrott and Rex.” Scuba giggled a laugh that sounded like bells in the wind.
“Oh, I believe I’ve already met Rex. But none the less, thank you for the introduction.” She turned to Rex and said, “They’ll be leaving soon, so you want to grab a bite to eat?”
Once again, before any of them could answer, Sahara leapt forward and mewed,”Of course, sweetheart.” Scuba laughed and motioned with her tail for them to follow her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“That’s it, just scoop your paw into the water…no, Sahara, like a spoon. Haven’t the two of you ever seen a spoon before?” Rex rolled his eyes at Foxtrott and Sahara, who were trying, unsuccessfully, to catch fish off the side of the boat. It was a bit hard for the two urban cats, but apparently, Rex and Scuba had taken quite a liking to it and had made it their “hobby”, as Uplegs called it. Foxtrott, though, absolutely hated water. His coat was thick enough to keep him wet for hours after he had been in water. For Sahara, it wasn’t as much of a problem to dry, but being the descendent of a South African cat, wasn’t water’s biggest fan.
Foxtrott lashed his tail angrily. Fishing couldn’t possibly be this hard, could it? He shaped his paw in the shape of a spoon he had seen his Uplegs use many times, and watched the water.
“Alright,” called Rex “I’m throwing in some more bait.” And Rex tossed more dry, old cat food in the water. It took a few moments before the fins started to come out of the water. Foxtrott spotted a juicy fish and angled his body so his shadow didn’t touch the water. Aim, aim… thought Foxtrott. He lifted a paw high in the air, stared at the fish, determined to catch it. He took a deep breath, threw his paw down into the water…
The water took his face faster than Foxtrott remembered falling. The water lapped up around him. He gasped for breath and found it clogged with water. He struggled around the fleeing fish, which were snapping their tails in his face as they pursued escape. The water made it hard to move and red dots were now blinking in his eyes.
I’m out of air! Foxtrott realized with a shock. And then he felt a grip around his neck and was pulled out of the water. As Foxtrott sucked in air hungrily, he heard the voice of an Uplegs above him. Foxtrott blinked the water out of his eyes and saw an Uplegs pulling him up. He was alive! The Uplegs dropped him on the boat and started rubbing his fur the wrong way. At any other time, Foxtrott would’ve complained, but he knew that the creature was trying to warm him up. It was working a bit and after a while, Foxtrott managed a strangled purr to thank the Uplegs. The Uplegs got up and left, his large back feet clacking on the deck. Foxtrott sat up and gave himself a good-sized shake and then began to groom himself thoroughly.
“Are you okay?” cried a voice. Foxtrott jumped and turned to see the three cats leap down from the railing.
He snorted. “No thanks to you,” he turned away and began grooming his stomach.
“It’s not our fault,” Rex began “When you fell in, the Uplegs immediately began to yell. They pushed us out of the way and grabbed you from the water. I’m glad you’re okay though.” Foxtrott grunted and turned to wash himself again. For a while, they just sat like that, staring at Foxtrott. He looked up.
“Do you mind?” They looked away. Foxtrott turned back, when suddenly, the world lurched and the boat moved out of port. Foxtrott dug in his claws and fluffed out his fur as the boat began to move.
“We’re leaving for the Bermuda T!” cried Scuba.
CHAPTER 3:
The Bermuda T
The boat rocked and Foxtrott felt his stomach lurch and felt lucky there was nothing in it. Since they had left port, the cats had been banished to the lifeboat room because the Uplegs had seen a storm and were worried.
Foxtrott glanced at his companions, Rex and Scuba looking fine, but Sahara looking a little green. Scuba glanced at Sahara and said, “You know, I think we should get a whiff of fresh air.” Sahara only nodded, instead of using one of his “charming” punch lines. Scuba stood and let Sahara lean on her side. Rex leaped and managed to claw the doorknob, opening the door just wide enough for them to get out. Impressed, Foxtrott tried doing that to another door, but was unsuccessful.
“Strengthen your hind legs, it makes it easier,” commented Rex. Foxtrott nodded and then pranced up the stairs with his friends. And Scuba was right; his stomach did settle when he smelled the fresh air. But the sight in the sky instantly set it churning again. It was dark and cloudy, with the wind whipping against the waves and setting the boat rocking. There definitely was a bad storm coming.
“I can’t hold it!” Foxtrott leapt out of the way as Sahara ran to the edge of the boat, leaned over and let it out. Foxtrott flinched at the gruesome smell and Scuba brushed against his side.
“Don’t let him talk to you in the face for the rest of the day,” Scuba warned. Foxtrott nodded and watched the waves, worried.
“Are you sure it’s safe out here?” Foxtrott asked warily.
Scuba cocked her head. “Actually, no. After all, this is the Bermuda T.” And she leapt up onto the roof, next to Rex.
“You know,” said Sahara, coming up next to Foxtrott and making him jump “I’m beginning to think those two are mates.” Foxtrott silently agreed. And then something wet landed on his nose. And then his back. Pretty soon, it was pelting rain and the two cats ran for the over hang where they leaped up onto the lobster bins. Rex and Scuba leaped down from the roof and joined them. Luckily, none of them were very wet.
“We’d better get under again,” said Rex, shaking his damp fur “Before this storm gets any worse.” Before anyone could answer, lightning cracked and the cats jumped. The boat rocked and Foxtrott gasped as the boat tilted sideways. He screeched and dug his claws into the bins. Foxtrott was fluffed out to twice his normal size and looked for his friends as the wind whipped up.
“Sahara?” he called desperately, the boat shaking “Rex? Scub--ahhhh!” his call turned into a scream as the boat tilted onto its side and Foxtrott’s claws were pulled out of the bins. Foxtrott scrambled to get a grip on the slick floor, his claws missing every pawhold. Foxtrott closed his eyes.
Please send a miracle, he prayed silently. As if answering his prayer, when he reached the edge, a wind blew, causing him to be able to turn and catch the stretch of wire that rimmed the ship. Foxtrott swung his tail in frantic circles, clawing the wire. He heaved himself up and gasped with the effort as he watched the waves roll below his body, only a few mouse lengths away.
“Foxtrott!” screamed a voice. Foxtrott looked up to see Sahara fly down from the roof, screaming, “Help! I’m gonna die!” Foxtrott prayed he could hold his weight and reached out to grab Sahara. He did, but practically broke his neck trying to hold him. Sahara scrabbled for a grip and gasped. Foxtrott let go and panted hard, water climbing into his mouth. Sahara looked at him.
“Thank you so much,” Sahara panted, “I would’ve died without you.”
“My pleasure.” Foxtrott looked away.
Suddenly, Sahara gasped. “Um…Foxtrott?”
“Yeah?”
“Remember how you said if we saw a monster, you’d throw me in his mouth and say I was a porker?” Foxtrott nodded, a bit puzzled.
“Are you planning on keeping that promise?” Sahara was staring at the sky, his ears flat against his head and his eyes as wide as saucers.
“Wh-“ But Foxtrott was cut short as he looked at the sky and his jaw dropped.
The lightning flashed, revealing a giant neck, towering above the two cats.
CHAPTER 4:
Eaten Alive
“Run!” Sahara screamed and scrambled towards the top of the railing. For a moment, Foxtrott was too stunned to do anything. But a shove from Sahara brought him back to reality. “Go!” and the two cats scrambled for the top.
The creature roared and dove into the water, a huge wave sending the boat rocking. The huge wave started moving towards the boat.
Foxtrott cried, “Hold your breath!” as the wave came and washed over them. Now the cats were shivering fiercely from cold, as they scrabbled over the railing and plopped onto the floor. Foxtrott shoved Sahara, who was sitting dumbfounded on the deck, panting and coughing.
“Get up!” Foxtrott heaved Sahara up onto his paws as the boat shook from the other side. “It’s over there!” Sahara yowled. They ran for the door. We have to get inside, we have to get inside. The thought paced through Foxtrott’s mind like a caged animal as they ran toward the partially open door, which was swinging like mad in the wind. Suddenly, pain shot through Foxtrott’s hips and he was pulled across the deck.
“Sahara!” he screamed. His sides ached in pain as he tore towards the railing. Foxtrott barely had time to put his claws into the mesh before he was pulled off the edge. He looked behind him, into the water and soon wished he hadn’t. The creature had its mouth wrapped around his hindquarters and was trying to pull him into the water. Blood was trickling down its mouth and Foxtrott realized with horror that the blood was his own.
“Sahara!” he cried desperately “Help me!” and suddenly, an orange blur flew past his face and onto the face of the creatures. It roared with rage and pulled back its neck, dropping Foxtrott onto the deck. For a moment, he lay there, losing blood by the second. And then he reared up and peered into the sky, rain blinding him for a moment. “Sahara!” he yowled. But it was too late.
The creature was swinging its long neck around, trying to shake the orange fuzz that was Sahara off its face. He clung on fiercely and clawed the creatures face.
“And that’s for Foxtrott!” he exclaimed. Then he clawed its eye. “And that’s for-“ but a yowl of surprise cut him short. The creature threw him in the air; the unexpected move making Sahara let go in surprise. The creature watched him, and suddenly, it opened its mouth and in fell Sahara.
Time seemed to stop for Foxtrott. He stood motionless, staring at the beady eyes of the creature that were staring at him. The storm raged and knocked him almost off his paws. But he didn’t care. Life had no meaning. He had lost his best friend. His eyes welled up; he reared onto his hind legs and yowled into the lonesome wind, “Sahara!” The cry seemed to echo around the world, making the wind howl less for a moment and the rain slacken a bit. But the creature was still pressed over Foxtrott, though he didn’t notice. But if he had, he would’ve seen the sympathy in the creatures’ eyes as she looked upon him.
I’m so sorry, dear one. And then she lurched down and scooped the cream cat into her jaws. She dove under the ship with a wave of her tail and was gone. The storm died down, and all was silent, as though the world was silent, holding its breath as the journey began. And the legend of Foxtrott was born.
CHAPTER 5:
Silverwing
Foxtrott blinked his blurry eyes open. The world was shaking around and he had know idea what was going on. Am I dead? He thought. Blinking his eyes, he sat up and felt his muscles scream in pain, trying to get him to lie back down. Foxtrott’s head spinning, he looked about in this dark, into this stinky, new world.
Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of living cave, with the stalactites and stalagmites being teeth and the cave moving in a steady beat, like the breathing of a creature. Foxtrott shivered and definitely not from the cold, for it was extremely hot and humid in the cave.
Managing to take a sitting position, he turned and started to clean himself and looked at his wounds. He had one ear with a nasty tear on it and a large, deep wound in his side with a bit of blood still oozing out of it. His paws were also a bit scratched up and he licked them more gently.
When he reached his right back paw, he heard a groaning, making Foxtrott jump a mile. He spun around, fur bristling, and saw for the first time, the orange mound of fur at the back of the cave. Foxtrott padded over to it, sniffing it daintily and jumped a mile again as it moved.
“Please, mother,” it murmured “Five more minutes.”
“Sahara!” cried Foxtrott “You’re alive!” Sahara leaped up, fur bristling and muscles tense. “Don’t touch the cat food!” he yowled and bowled over Foxtrott.
“Sahara,” gasped Foxtrott through a mouthful of fur. “It’s me, Foxtrott.” Sahara looked down and saw Foxtrott, then leaped off and gasped.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Foxy!” Sahara cried and pulled Foxtrott up. “That was a total accident and-” but Foxtrott was already hugging his friend, cream fur puffed up in happiness.
“I’m just glad you’re okay, Sahara,” Foxtrott murmured “I thought you were dead.” Sahara wrapped his tail around his friend, too, and rasped his tongue over his ear.
“Hey, pal, I said we’d be BFF’s, didn’t I?” then the two cats spread apart and truly took in their surroundings.
“Where are we?” murmured Sahara. Foxtrott shook his head, for he was baffled too. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, the cave lurched forward and Foxtrott found himself tumbling through the thick air. And then the cave went horizontal again, leaving the cats sprawling on the floor.
“We’ll feel that in the morning,” coughed Sahara, scrambling up on four feet.
“Hang on,” said Foxtrott “I don’t think this is over.”
Sahara rolled his green eyes. “Well you say that and it won’t be. You’re the main character!” Foxtrott glared at him, when suddenly, the mouth of the cave opened and light streamed in. Once again, the world went vertical and Sahara and Foxtrott tumbled onto the beach, coughing and sputtering out sand all the while trying to scramble to their paws.
“What is up with this, man?” sputtered Sahara, glaring at the sky, trying to find the cave. But they were both surprised. Neither had remembered it, but they had been eaten by a giant creature and were both surprised to see it staring back down at them. It had a long, serpent like neck and tail girl. It had a short, gray body that had about an eight foot wing span. It had a frill around the back of its head and a short dog-like muzzle, though it had scales instead of fur. It had four legs with four claws on each foot. The tail was about three feet, with a dolphin body. Humans would call it a plesiosaurus, but cats don’t know that.
They stared at each other, each party hoping to out stare the other, Sahara giving the famous emerald-eye glare. And then something really strange happened: the creature started laughing. Sahara and Foxtrott exchanged a glance, both having surprise in their eyes. It laughed and laughed and then it did something else strange: it started to shrink, transforming into a small, gray dragon in the blink of an eye.
“You know, when they told me I was to rescue a hero, I didn’t expect a little scaredy-cat!” The dragon had a thick, English accent and sounded like a long with spikes on the end of it. Its back, neck, tail, chest and head all had a silver armor on it. The body was about seven feet tall and seven and a half feet long.
She kneaded her claws into the ground and looked up at the afternoon sun. “Is this all the challenge you give me, Fire King?” she yowled into the sky. “You couldn’t give me more of a challenge?” she laughed again after that. Sahara’s tail was bristling with annoyance at being ignored and he stormed right up to the dragon and kicked sand in her face.
“Hey, Loony,” Sahara snapped “Are you gonna even tell us who you are, or are you gonna yell at the sky all day? ‘Cause, other wise, we’ve got better things to do.” The dragon snarled and leaped at Sahara. He yipped and ran behind Foxtrott. She glared at him, baring her teeth.
“Don’t doubt what I’m capable of doing, Earth cat.” She snarled again and then, in a friendlier tone, looked over the small, wet and smelly cats. “I am Silverwing, an air demon in training from the planet Lexxing.” Silverwing looked at Foxtrott. “You are the hero, Foxtrott.” And then she looked at Sahara. “And who is this ankle biter?” Sahara growled deep in his chest, and Foxtrott looked at him to let him know to shut his mouth.
“He’s Sahara, my best friend.” Silverwing’s eyes widened in surprise, and almost instantly looked at Sahara apologetically.
“I am so sorry!” she gasped “I just thought you were someone that had followed The Great One into the Bermuda T! I am so sorry!” Silverwing bowed slightly, a little flustered. Sahara circled around her daintily, looking rather amused with a smirk on his face and his eyes narrowed. With the afternoon sun shining on his fur, he looked like walking flame.
“Now that’s more like it!” exclaimed Sahara, coming back and sitting down next to Foxtrott.
Before Sahara could say anything else, Foxtrott interrupted. “Why did you call me that?” he asked, cocking his cream head sideways. “Why’d you call me ‘The Great One’?” Silverwing looked surprised he had heard and looked at him sternly.
“You will know soon enough.” Then Silverwing looked up at the sky as though just realizing where the sun was. “Great demons, we’d better hurry! Fire King is expecting us!” She leaped into the air, spreading her wings wildly and fluttering twelve feet into the air in an instant. And then she turned, glaring down at them as though they were idiots. And just like that, she fluttered back down, looking sheepish. “I forgot,” Silverwing muttered “You aren’t demons yet. I’d better give you the treatment.” She looked at Sahara for a moment and then walked over to him and sat down. Silverwing smiled friendly like. Sahara looked at her suspiciously.
“What treatment?-“ and then it happened. Silverwing leaped up and bowled Sahara over, teeth reaching for his throat. He howled and thrashed about, trying to escape. Foxtrott stared in horror and leaped at his friend, claws trying to tear Silverwing away. But it was too late. Silverwing’s teeth clamped around Sahara’s neck. He made a gurgling noise, and then fell over, limp, into the sand.
Foxtrott gasped, frozen and then glared at Silverwing. “What are you doing?” he cried, glaring at the silver demon that was slowly creeping towards him. “Why did you kill Sahar-“ and then Silverwing clamped her jaws around Foxtrott’s neck. He felt warmth surge through him and he could barely breathe as he felt liquid trickling into his body, giving him a new strength he had never felt before. And then he went black.
Chapter 6:
Demons
Foxtrott blinked his eyes open, against their will. He sat up, feeling the coolness around him. He didn’t understand. Why was it so cool? Wasn’t he and Sahara just on the beach being attacked by…? Silverwing! Foxtrott sat up quickly, spinning around like mad, trying to figure out where he was and where Silverwing and Sahara were. He suddenly felt something odd on his head and stopped moving.
Before he felt his head, though, he quickly looked around. He was in a small cave, with moss on the walls, water dripping into a pool close by and stalactites that glowed a faint, light green color. Foxtrott shivered and then felt his head. He suddenly saw the color of his fur. Or what had been fur. Foxtrott stretched out his paw and looked at it.
It was scaly and orange.
Foxtrott gasped in horror and saw that not only was he covered in scales, but he now had five toes with large, black claws on them. Foxtrott’s paw grasped for his head and he felt the second flaw of himself. He had no up-standing ears. He jumped up off of his moss covered rock and raced towards the pool of water and skidded to a halt in front of it. Foxtrott took a deep breath before he stepped forward to face his new reflection. A new face stared back at him.
In the pool was an orange dragon. It had a long, almost horse-like face. It had two horns on the top of its head and little seashell like ears. Deep, dark blue eyes were on its face and it had sharp pointed teeth on the side of its mouth. Foxtrott realized the creature wasn’t an it. It, so called, was actually Foxtrott. He gasped and leaped up and then spun around, looking at his body. He had a body that was probably around twenty feet tall and twenty five feet long. He was different shades of orange with scales. He had a long neck and burnt orange spines running down his back. He had wings with about an eleven foot wing span.
What have I become? Thought Foxtrott, his mouth open. “Actually,” said a voice “I heard we’ve become something called…demons.” Foxtrott spun around, jaws open in a fierce snarl and then stopped short as his mind registered the voice. It was Sahara. And yet the thing he saw there was definitely not Sahara.
The creature looked like a water dragon. It was about thirty feet long and six feet tall. It was different shades of blue, though it was mostly sky blue, and had an extremely long neck. It had webbed feet with long claws that looked perfect for catching fish. It had little tiny wings on its back that looked like fins. It was very sleek like a snake with legs and had webbed scales along its back. It had little seashell ears and a long, horse like face with sharp teeth that were hooked and obviously meant for catching fish, were jutting out of its jaw. It slithered forward and stood in front of Foxtrott, a mischievous smile coming upon its face.
“Dude, isn’t this just the most awesome thing that’s ever happen?” Okay, this was definitely Sahara.
Foxtrott looked at Sahara in confusion. “How can this be the best thing ever, Sahara.” Shaking his head, Foxtrott started to brush past Sahara, heading towards the mouth of the cave. “And anyway, how did you know I was in here?”
“Because I told him,” both Foxtrott and Sahara jumped and looked at the creature walking in. Foxtrott was surprised, for in walked Silverwing, only she was different in the way that she was no longer seven feet tall, but was fifteen feet tall and twenty feet long. Plus, she looked much more aerodynamic than she had before. Silverwing padded forward, looking Foxtrott over, smiling. “I didn’t do half bad for my first demon changing.” Then she looked Foxtrott in the eyes and murmured, “Follow me. Fire King would like to speak with you.” Then she glanced at Sahara. “Both of you.” And then Silverwing turned and started to pad out of the cave. Foxtrott and Sahara exchanged a glance, and then followed Silverwing out of the cave.
They padded through a long corridor, torches attached to the wall provided a dim light. There were also small openings in the sides, big enough for any demon to fit through. As far as Foxtrott could tell, though, there were no other demons in the entire cave. Sahara shivered next to him. “Creepy, how it’s so empty and quiet,” he whispered. Foxtrott flicked his tail in agreement and then noticed how, even something as normal as flicking his tail, felt strange in this new body. Sighing, Foxtrott continued to watching Silverwing pad in front of him. Then, suddenly, she stopped. This was, most obviously, not the end of the corridor, so why had she stopped? When Silverwing turned, Foxtrott instantly tensed and his fur would’ve been bristling if he were a cat. Was Silverwing going to attack them again? Foxtrott felt Sahara tense up as well. Silverwing glanced at them, sighing.
“I can feel your tension in your minds,” sighed Silverwing. “I’m sorry I attacked you like a rabid animal before, but since you did not volunteer to become demons and you were already suspicious of me, there was no way I could ever get a hold of your neck. You’d have thought I was trying to kill you.” Foxtrott suddenly noticed that Silverwing was directing this mostly to him, her gray eyes shimmering with sorrow and a bit of admiration. “I really, truly am sorry. Please, you can trust me and I won’t attack you again.” She smiled a bit. “Unless, of course, you need it.” Foxtrott smiled back and something passed between them and he silently forgave her. She got the message and nodded her head. Sahara, seeing Foxtrott give his forgiveness, sighed in defeat.
“Alright,” he muttered. “But don’t think that I trust you. But I do forgive you.” Silverwing smiled her sweet smile and then turned and continued down the corridor. Foxtrott glanced at Sahara, mouthed “thank you”, and continued on down the hallway.
When they finally did reach the end of the hallway, Foxtrott was staring at what was in front of him. Two demons stood there, both looking a lot like Sahara, except they were a lot more muscular and looked as though they could blend in with any forest in the world, being patterned with camo colors. Foxtrott stared at them with eagle-eyed surveillance. They nodded their heads at Silverwing and continued to watch the hallway, though Foxtrott didn’t understand what they were looking for.
And then Foxtrott walked into a huge cave that he never expected to be here.
The cave was brightly lit, huge torches lit on the wall at the very top and middle. Light also streamed in from the roof, though the roof had a thin curtain of moss covering it, to block out the rain and wind and it also made the sun a little thinner. But what was in the room really amazed Foxtrott. Hundreds, he guessed, upon thousands of demons littered the room. They were all huddling together in their own conversations, not concerned at the moment with the new comers. A slight stage made a half circle on the edge of the wall farthest of Foxtrott, for the room was almost a perfect circle. In the middle of the stage, it was slightly higher than the rest, with a small rock the was dented in the center, so it looked like a comfy bean bag, only it was solid granite.
Silverwing glanced back at them and murmured, “Look, I’ll go get Fire King and you just stay here and wait. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. The less attention the better.” Then she turned and spread her gossamer-like wings and took off. Foxtrott hadn’t noticed it there before, but there was a small cave behind where the platform rose up. Silverwing braked her wings and landed, then gently turned and walked inside the cave.
“Hey,” Sahara whispered in Foxtrott’s ear, making him jump slightly. Sahara looked around warily. “Why are we here? Why are we doing this, Foxtrott?”
Foxtrott’s tail lashed in annoyance. “Gee, I dunno,” He growled. “Whose dumb idea was it to come into the Bermuda T in the first place, hmm?” Sahara looked away, hurt. “Go ahead, say it out loud.” Neither cat had noticed how quiet it had gotten around them.
Sahara looked up. “Mine,” he muttered. Foxtrott was about to reply, when a deep steady voice spoke.
“No,” it growled from directly behind Foxtrott, making his heart beat uncontrollably fast. “It was not him that brought you here. It was kismet, the only thing that brings creatures together, large or small.” Foxtrott took the biggest breath of his life and then turned to look up at the creature that had spoken to him.
The first thing Foxtrott thought was, my gosh, how can any animal get that big! If the creature had been measured, he would’ve been around sixty feet tall and on all fours about one hundred feet long. His wing span was one hundred and fifty feet long, though his wings were folded against his sides at the moment. He looked just like Foxtrott, except he had a silver frill running around his head. His fangs were a silver color and his claws were silver as well(by the way, on his front paws, he had three claws pointing forward and then a thumb-like claw and his hind paws had three facing forward and one pointing back, like Foxtrott). And finally, running from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, starting out small then getting larger, were purple spines. And on the tip of his tail, which all demons had, was a purple arrow head-like point.
The demon stared down his nose at Foxtrott, literally, and smiled. “I am Fire King, leader of the demons who made a settlement on Earth. I am from the planet Lexxing. And I know who you are, Foxtrott.” He smiled a friendly smile. “I know your story up until Silverwing caught you cats.” And then Fire King looked over at Sahara, who looked as though he were about to faint, as though just noticing him.
Fire King raised a scaly eyebrow. “And you are Sahara, Foxtrott’s best friend, yes?” For a moment, Sahara just stared at him dumbly. And then he nodded his head vigorously, though Foxtrott could see his friend was shaking fearfully. Fire King nodded.
“I suspect you don’t know what’s going on yet.” Fire King looked them over quickly. “You probably would find it easier to understand this: you are dragons now.”
Foxtrott stared at this giant animal, not really understanding anything that had happened today at all, let alone this. It was just too much for him to understand. Foxtrott glared at this “dragon”, and said, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
Fire King smiled, not showing his teeth. “Of course we do.” Then he nodded his head toward the cave in the back, where he had walked from. “Come, we will explain.” And then with a few huge steps he slowly slid in to the cave.
When Foxtrott finally found his feet, he stood and followed Silverwing towards the cave, the creatures around him parting like a river. Sahara shakily walked beside Foxtrott, his head close to the ground as he hid from the crowd. Foxtrott nudged him gently into the cave, which Silverwing had already gone into. The two previous cats disappeared inside, their vision plunging into darkness. Foxtrott felt very vulnerable in the dark, not knowing what was in front of him, thinking he could fall into a pit at any moment. And then, suddenly, they were back in the light
P.S, I know this is very intimidating, so you don't have to read the whole thing unless you want to. But, basicly, there is a cat named Foxtrott, who is having strange dreams about dragons and phoniexes. He doeasn't know what they mean and his buddy, Sahara offers to take him on a trip into the Bermuda Triangle, which is called the Bermuda T in the book. So, they get on a boat and go into the Triangle and then, suddenly, a storm brews up and a creature appears and eats Sahara. Then it eats Foxtrott. A few hours later, they get spat out on a beach and come face to face with a dragon or demon named Silverwing. She then bites both cats, turning them in to demons as well. They then meet a big, giant demon named Fire King, who tells them they must go and retrive a stone called the Blue Moon stone. That's where I'm stuck! I don't know where I should send the two cats! So if you could give me an idea as to where to send them and what they should do. I know how the story will end, though and what the final battle will be like, so that's covered. I just need a basic idea of where to send them.
First place will be put in the book and will receive special thank yous and will be mentioned as a co-author.
Second place will be considered for the second book and, if put in the second book, will be put as co-author.
Please either post your idea here or, preferably, PM your idea to me. Thank you and good luck!! Oh, contest ends September 30. I'll PM the winners!!
Foxtrott
The Blue Moon
By Dawnshadow
PROLOGUE
The dragons spun through the air, doing aerial tricks that even the best pilots couldn’t manage. Foxtrott was hovering among them, doing nothing --until a large bird of sorts flew down in front of Foxtrott. The bird was extremely large and had a beak the size of Foxtrott himself. The bird reminded Foxtrott of a phoenix, but the bird was not orange, he was many shades of yellow with a scar through his left eye.
For a moment they stared at each other, eyes locked in the all the clamor. But in a heartbeat Foxtrott found himself frozen in the air, the bird spreading his wings, opening his beak and letting out a battle cry, which sounded like chalk scraping against a chalk board. The bird ruffled its feathers threateningly, but Foxtrott felt nothing except the awe he had a few moments before. Foxtrott watched as the bird grew nearer, larger and larger every second and still, Foxtrott did nothing.
When sense finally rose upon Foxtrott, nothing could be done, for the bird was only a foot from his face. The bird lashed out with his talons, large enough to pick up an elephant in each foot. But talons met claws as something behind Foxtrott lashed out and caught the bird’s talons an inch before Foxtrott’s face. The rescuer came into view.
It was a large dragon, orange in color that flew over Foxtrott so quickly, he hardly had time to see it. The dragon and bird tussled quickly before the bird flew away quickly, covered in blood. The dragon turned and said in a deep, heavy voice, “Go with my blessings, Foxtrott. Now, awaken!”
CHAPTER 1:
Sahara Comes
Foxtrott awoke, his body trembling and sweating. He curled his paws over the soft cat bed that he was sleeping on, trying to comfort himself, telling himself that he was home and nothing could hurt him here. Not even the giant bird thing.
It was hard to convince himself of this. The dream had seemed so real, so life like. It was like seeing your first 3-D movie, looking like a normal movie until the monster popped out of the screen, threatening to kill you, your movie thrill suddenly over with that moment. Only it wasn’t his movie thrill that was over for Foxtrott. It was his thrill to sleep.
You see, for the past few months, Foxtrott had had the same dream every single night, at least the part about the dragons flying around him. Until three nights ago, the bird had never been in the dream, nor had the orange dragon. But now it was so real and terrifyingly to close for comfort.
He didn’t want to sleep now. He wanted to stay awake and make sure the bird didn’t get him. Foxtrott shivered and stood up, arching his back in a cat-like curve. He then placed a brown paw outside of the bed and then the others followed as he went to do his normal routine.
Foxtrott marched outside and stopped, taking a deep whiff of the cool morning air. Light dew still covered the grass. The garden was quite beautiful in Foxtrott’s opinion. On the far side of the yard, about fifteen feet away, there was a flower garden that grew flowers all year round. Now there were daffodils, tulips and roses growing. On the right side of Foxtrott, a vegetable garden grew in the summer. Nothing was in the vegetable garden at the moment. The rest of the yard was grass, with the exception of the swimming pool in the middle of the yard and a trampoline in the top left hand corner of the yard. Foxtrott stood on a well-swept deck with a barbeque and table.
He sighed one last time, and then gracefully lit down the steps. He rolled in the grass, getting his vanilla-colored fur damp. As he was doing so, Foxtrott did not heed to notice the cat jump onto the fence. The cat was a skinny cat, with an orange colored back, tail and top of the head. The rest of him was pure white. His eyes were as green as emeralds and, in Foxtrott’s opinion, even though the cat was a tom; they were the most beautiful eyes Foxtrott had ever seen. When the cat saw Foxtrott rolling in the grass, he purred to him-self, half hoping Foxtrott would hear it. He did. Almost instantly, Foxtrott shot up, muscles tensed and ready to spring. Then, Foxtrott saw the cat smile, and relaxed, flicking his brown tail gracefully.
Yawning, Sahara leaped to the ground and rested his tail on Foxtrott’s back.
“I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to pop by and see how my old buddy was doing. And besides, I thought you wanted me to stay with you this month?” Foxtrott shook off Sahara’s tail.
Teasingly, he added, “I’m not your old buddy. How many times do I have to say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. What’s a nice round number…um…six hundred eighty seven? Yup! That’s your answer! And that was your… fifth time saying it. Six hundred eighty two more times to go.”
Foxtrott started to purr in amusement and then looked at Sahara with a concerned eye. “Have you been eating enough? You look thin.” Sahara shrugged, sat down and started to groom his fur. Foxtrott did the same, without grooming his fur.
“Oh, well, I’ve been on the run for a while. You know, snatching a mouse here and there, eating out of garbage cans...and I don’t recommend the Phillman’s down the street…ew, ew and ew! And you don’t look so feline fine yourself.” And for once, Sahara wins the ‘good observation’ prize! Foxtrott thought. And the truth was, he really didn’t look so great.
With the dreams disrupting his sleep, he hadn’t been able to eat, sleep or groom himself much, being so tired and all. But the worst part was, all he needed was a little sleep, and whenever Foxtrott took a sleep, the dream always came around. The best thing he could muster was a light nap. Usually, his cream colored fur was light and fluffy. Now, it was gangly and unwashed. His body was cream colored, but his tail, paws, chest, face and ears were a chocolate brown. His browns were now a dark, ugly color. His bright blue eyes usually sparkled like sapphires. Now, they were as dull as rocks.
Foxtrott looked at Sahara sternly and said, “I’m fine, thank you for you concern, though. And where have you been? Any new sights to tell me about?”
“Well, I didn’t see the most interesting thing,” Sahara began “but I heard about it from Rex and he usually has all the truthful gossip. The thing is, the Bermuda Triangle has started doing things again. In the past few years, ships could go in and out with ease, but in the last few weeks, that hasn’t been the case. You heard about the meteor shower that happened a couple weeks ago?” Foxtrott thought a moment, and then nodded. He had heard his Uplegs say a thing or two about it. Sahara flicked his tail in response and continued. ”Anyway, it mostly happened over Miami and no one thought much of it. And then Flight 145 disappeared.” Sahara paused for dramatic build up, and then continued, “After that, no more trips through the Bermuda T came out and once again it was a terrifying place. Rex said that one of his partners, Scuba, well, her person is a lobster catcher who enjoys thrills. He’s making one more trip into the Bermuda T before staying away and acting terrified of the place. And…well…I know I said I’d stay with you this month, but I have to get to town before the boat leaves.” He frowned and looked at Foxtrott, looking embarrassed as though he were expecting a scolding.
“I really wanted to stay and all, but I’ve already had a few set backs and had to get Rex to hold off the trip three times! Can you believe that? Anyway, he said that was my last chance to hold it off and I really want to do this and I know I might not be able to spend another month with you and your people and I was wonder if…if…you wanted to go with me?” Foxtrott was so surprised that, for a moment he didn’t answer. He was nervous about doing this. What if he died in the Bermuda T? What if he met a strange, cat-eating monster? What if he drowned when the boat tipped over? Or even worse, what if he got eaten by a lobster? But when Foxtrott looked into Sahara’s dazzling, emerald eyes, he knew he couldn’t say no.
He sighed and looked at Sahara and said, ears pricked high with interest, “I suppose, but what if I don’t come back?” Sahara looked at Foxtrott and shrugged.
“Well, I suppose that’s part of the suspense, isn’t it?” Foxtrott looked away, unable to met Sahara’s emerald gaze. “Into Miami we go!” shouted Sahara and they both leapt over the fence.
* * * * * * * * * *
Little did Foxtrott and Sahara know, on an island not so far away, a creature stirred. She peered up at the eastern horizon, the sun barely up. Why was the cat already leaving? She could sense it was urgent and not really something he wanted to do, but was doing anyway. The creature closed her eyes and sensed something else: a second presence, a close friend perhaps. The creature opened her eyes again, stood, let out a dragon sized yawn and spread her wings. He would be in the Bermuda T later today. And she would come for him and his friend. And perhaps then the prophecy would be appeased. She smiled. She was so young and yet she would get to fulfill a prophecy. And not a light one at that. With a last stretch of her wings, she took off, heading towards Miami.
CHAPTER 2:
Lobster Fishing
“Is this how the city always is?” Foxtrott complained as he lifted one of his chocolate paws to find it covered with muck. He shook it off distastefully and delicately placed it back on the ground. Sahara and Foxtrott were standing in an alley strewn with mud and guck, looking into traffic of feet and cars. Sahara said that they needed a little clear space and then they would shoot through.
Not hearing Foxtrotts’ question, Sahara continued to stare at the river of never ending moving feet. He glanced back at Foxtrott and mumbled,”This better clear up soon or we’ll miss the boat.” Sahara glanced up at the sun and squealed in alarm. “We’ve got to go now!”
Before Foxtrott could say anything, they were shooting through the crowd. Foxtrott had never been so scared in his life. Feet were coming at him, threatening to step on him, Uplegs yelling at him. And then it got worse. Instead of waiting for the cars to stop at a red light, Sahara shot through the cars. Foxtrott just about died twice, once when a car tire came too close and second when a second car hit his side. Yeah, that’s right. Hit his side! Not that hard, mind you, but hard enough to leave him a good bruise across his hip. Big, fat cars raced towards him, always missing by a whisker. The lights stared like eyes, threatening to kill and leaving his fur ruffled in their wake. Foxtrott’s heart was about to die of beating so hard. He had never run so fast in his life. The only thing driving him on was his pounding fear. He closed his eyes, waiting to get hit.
And then, it was over.
Just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. He plopped down on the opposite sidewalk, trying to catch his breath and gather his bearings. Luckily, the sidewalk on this side barely had anyone walking on it and those walking it took no notice of the two cats, thinking they were ship’s cats.
Foxtrott lay there on the sidewalk, panting and staring at nothing in particular, just listening to the hum of deadly cars. Foxtrott was so mad, he couldn’t think of any words to use without getting his mouth washed out with soap. And then he looked at Sahara’s face as though he were the devil. It was filled with pure joy.
“That was great!” Sahara yelled. “The most exciting thing I’ve ever done! Do you want to go for another?” He was gleeful like a little kitten taking his first climb up a tree. But Foxtrott felt like that same kitten trying to come back down. When Foxtrott finally thought of some words he said, “Sahara, you’re the most mouse-brained, dirty fox that I’ll ever meet. If we see a monster in the Bermuda, I’ll toss you in its mouth and say ‘Here’s a porker if I ever saw one! Hope you enjoy!’ You’re a-“
“Oh! Hey there’s Rex!” Sahara leapt up and race away, orange tail high. Foxtrotts’ anger was even worse now. He stood, fury pulsing through his veins, and walked, taking his good time, after Sahara. Now Foxtrott took in his surroundings. To his left was the road, cars still streaking along as though nothing had happened. Mouse- brain Uplegs! He thought. Then, he looked to his right.
It was a huge port, boats setting sail and coming in. The water was pretty that day and he tried to guess which boat would be their ride. Foxtrott didn’t think it would be too great. When he turned, he saw Sahara racing down the pier again, only this time there was a cat on his tail. “This is Rex. Rex meet Foxtrott.” Foxtrott looked the cat over.
He was a large cat, especially around his legs and belly, probably from learning how to swim. He was pure white except for the gray stripe down his back. And his fur was surprisingly thin, which made him a Devon Rex. He had large, radar like ears and wide, almost webbed paws. He had a long thin tail and was a little taller than Sahara. He had large, bright amber eyes.
Rex dipped his head. “A pleasure to meet you. Sahara has said quite a bit about you.” Foxtrott felt a bit of pleasure and surprise well up inside him. He had no idea that Sahara talked about him to other cats. Deep down, he was impressed.
Foxtrott dipped his head back. “I’m sure Sahara hasn’t said that much about you to me, but it is still great to meet you. But he did tell me you usually have very juicy gossip, like the story about going to the Bermuda T. Shall we be going to the boat?” And the other cats nodded their heads. “Follow me,” and Rex motioned them to leave.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The boat was one farther out in the harbor. It was the kind of ship Foxtrott had expected. Not too nice, not too bad. It was about the size of a sailboat, with a large cabin in the center. He could see the lobster bins along the walls and watched the Uplegs yell at each other and bounce about. Rex showed them onto the boat, the way the Uplegs usually got on. They greeted and patted Rex on the head. He purred back.
Once on board, Rex showed them into the cabin. They walked down a short flight of steps and passed several rooms in a thin, short hallway and stopped at the opposite end, which led to some stairs. Rex motioned them towards the door to their left, which had a small cat door in it.
“This is where Scuba sleeps,” explained Rex. The cats crept in silently, not really thinking about what the room might be until they got in. It was a storage room, filled with life preservers and lifeboats. “She stays in here in case the ship sinks,” explained Rex “So that way she can just jump in a life boat and swim for shore.” Rex looked about and called Scuba’s name several times, before a cat finally appeared from under the boats. Foxtrott looked the cat over. She was thin and tall, not really muscular, with a tan face, ears, paws and tail. She had a strange thin, pointed face with bright blue eyes.
Scuba daintily ran across the floor and dipped her head in greeting. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said, with such honesty in her voice Foxtrott couldn’t help but believe it.
Before he could say anything, Sahara pushed his way forward and said, “Oh, you’re Scuba. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sahara and this is Foxtrott and Rex.” Scuba giggled a laugh that sounded like bells in the wind.
“Oh, I believe I’ve already met Rex. But none the less, thank you for the introduction.” She turned to Rex and said, “They’ll be leaving soon, so you want to grab a bite to eat?”
Once again, before any of them could answer, Sahara leapt forward and mewed,”Of course, sweetheart.” Scuba laughed and motioned with her tail for them to follow her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“That’s it, just scoop your paw into the water…no, Sahara, like a spoon. Haven’t the two of you ever seen a spoon before?” Rex rolled his eyes at Foxtrott and Sahara, who were trying, unsuccessfully, to catch fish off the side of the boat. It was a bit hard for the two urban cats, but apparently, Rex and Scuba had taken quite a liking to it and had made it their “hobby”, as Uplegs called it. Foxtrott, though, absolutely hated water. His coat was thick enough to keep him wet for hours after he had been in water. For Sahara, it wasn’t as much of a problem to dry, but being the descendent of a South African cat, wasn’t water’s biggest fan.
Foxtrott lashed his tail angrily. Fishing couldn’t possibly be this hard, could it? He shaped his paw in the shape of a spoon he had seen his Uplegs use many times, and watched the water.
“Alright,” called Rex “I’m throwing in some more bait.” And Rex tossed more dry, old cat food in the water. It took a few moments before the fins started to come out of the water. Foxtrott spotted a juicy fish and angled his body so his shadow didn’t touch the water. Aim, aim… thought Foxtrott. He lifted a paw high in the air, stared at the fish, determined to catch it. He took a deep breath, threw his paw down into the water…
The water took his face faster than Foxtrott remembered falling. The water lapped up around him. He gasped for breath and found it clogged with water. He struggled around the fleeing fish, which were snapping their tails in his face as they pursued escape. The water made it hard to move and red dots were now blinking in his eyes.
I’m out of air! Foxtrott realized with a shock. And then he felt a grip around his neck and was pulled out of the water. As Foxtrott sucked in air hungrily, he heard the voice of an Uplegs above him. Foxtrott blinked the water out of his eyes and saw an Uplegs pulling him up. He was alive! The Uplegs dropped him on the boat and started rubbing his fur the wrong way. At any other time, Foxtrott would’ve complained, but he knew that the creature was trying to warm him up. It was working a bit and after a while, Foxtrott managed a strangled purr to thank the Uplegs. The Uplegs got up and left, his large back feet clacking on the deck. Foxtrott sat up and gave himself a good-sized shake and then began to groom himself thoroughly.
“Are you okay?” cried a voice. Foxtrott jumped and turned to see the three cats leap down from the railing.
He snorted. “No thanks to you,” he turned away and began grooming his stomach.
“It’s not our fault,” Rex began “When you fell in, the Uplegs immediately began to yell. They pushed us out of the way and grabbed you from the water. I’m glad you’re okay though.” Foxtrott grunted and turned to wash himself again. For a while, they just sat like that, staring at Foxtrott. He looked up.
“Do you mind?” They looked away. Foxtrott turned back, when suddenly, the world lurched and the boat moved out of port. Foxtrott dug in his claws and fluffed out his fur as the boat began to move.
“We’re leaving for the Bermuda T!” cried Scuba.
CHAPTER 3:
The Bermuda T
The boat rocked and Foxtrott felt his stomach lurch and felt lucky there was nothing in it. Since they had left port, the cats had been banished to the lifeboat room because the Uplegs had seen a storm and were worried.
Foxtrott glanced at his companions, Rex and Scuba looking fine, but Sahara looking a little green. Scuba glanced at Sahara and said, “You know, I think we should get a whiff of fresh air.” Sahara only nodded, instead of using one of his “charming” punch lines. Scuba stood and let Sahara lean on her side. Rex leaped and managed to claw the doorknob, opening the door just wide enough for them to get out. Impressed, Foxtrott tried doing that to another door, but was unsuccessful.
“Strengthen your hind legs, it makes it easier,” commented Rex. Foxtrott nodded and then pranced up the stairs with his friends. And Scuba was right; his stomach did settle when he smelled the fresh air. But the sight in the sky instantly set it churning again. It was dark and cloudy, with the wind whipping against the waves and setting the boat rocking. There definitely was a bad storm coming.
“I can’t hold it!” Foxtrott leapt out of the way as Sahara ran to the edge of the boat, leaned over and let it out. Foxtrott flinched at the gruesome smell and Scuba brushed against his side.
“Don’t let him talk to you in the face for the rest of the day,” Scuba warned. Foxtrott nodded and watched the waves, worried.
“Are you sure it’s safe out here?” Foxtrott asked warily.
Scuba cocked her head. “Actually, no. After all, this is the Bermuda T.” And she leapt up onto the roof, next to Rex.
“You know,” said Sahara, coming up next to Foxtrott and making him jump “I’m beginning to think those two are mates.” Foxtrott silently agreed. And then something wet landed on his nose. And then his back. Pretty soon, it was pelting rain and the two cats ran for the over hang where they leaped up onto the lobster bins. Rex and Scuba leaped down from the roof and joined them. Luckily, none of them were very wet.
“We’d better get under again,” said Rex, shaking his damp fur “Before this storm gets any worse.” Before anyone could answer, lightning cracked and the cats jumped. The boat rocked and Foxtrott gasped as the boat tilted sideways. He screeched and dug his claws into the bins. Foxtrott was fluffed out to twice his normal size and looked for his friends as the wind whipped up.
“Sahara?” he called desperately, the boat shaking “Rex? Scub--ahhhh!” his call turned into a scream as the boat tilted onto its side and Foxtrott’s claws were pulled out of the bins. Foxtrott scrambled to get a grip on the slick floor, his claws missing every pawhold. Foxtrott closed his eyes.
Please send a miracle, he prayed silently. As if answering his prayer, when he reached the edge, a wind blew, causing him to be able to turn and catch the stretch of wire that rimmed the ship. Foxtrott swung his tail in frantic circles, clawing the wire. He heaved himself up and gasped with the effort as he watched the waves roll below his body, only a few mouse lengths away.
“Foxtrott!” screamed a voice. Foxtrott looked up to see Sahara fly down from the roof, screaming, “Help! I’m gonna die!” Foxtrott prayed he could hold his weight and reached out to grab Sahara. He did, but practically broke his neck trying to hold him. Sahara scrabbled for a grip and gasped. Foxtrott let go and panted hard, water climbing into his mouth. Sahara looked at him.
“Thank you so much,” Sahara panted, “I would’ve died without you.”
“My pleasure.” Foxtrott looked away.
Suddenly, Sahara gasped. “Um…Foxtrott?”
“Yeah?”
“Remember how you said if we saw a monster, you’d throw me in his mouth and say I was a porker?” Foxtrott nodded, a bit puzzled.
“Are you planning on keeping that promise?” Sahara was staring at the sky, his ears flat against his head and his eyes as wide as saucers.
“Wh-“ But Foxtrott was cut short as he looked at the sky and his jaw dropped.
The lightning flashed, revealing a giant neck, towering above the two cats.
CHAPTER 4:
Eaten Alive
“Run!” Sahara screamed and scrambled towards the top of the railing. For a moment, Foxtrott was too stunned to do anything. But a shove from Sahara brought him back to reality. “Go!” and the two cats scrambled for the top.
The creature roared and dove into the water, a huge wave sending the boat rocking. The huge wave started moving towards the boat.
Foxtrott cried, “Hold your breath!” as the wave came and washed over them. Now the cats were shivering fiercely from cold, as they scrabbled over the railing and plopped onto the floor. Foxtrott shoved Sahara, who was sitting dumbfounded on the deck, panting and coughing.
“Get up!” Foxtrott heaved Sahara up onto his paws as the boat shook from the other side. “It’s over there!” Sahara yowled. They ran for the door. We have to get inside, we have to get inside. The thought paced through Foxtrott’s mind like a caged animal as they ran toward the partially open door, which was swinging like mad in the wind. Suddenly, pain shot through Foxtrott’s hips and he was pulled across the deck.
“Sahara!” he screamed. His sides ached in pain as he tore towards the railing. Foxtrott barely had time to put his claws into the mesh before he was pulled off the edge. He looked behind him, into the water and soon wished he hadn’t. The creature had its mouth wrapped around his hindquarters and was trying to pull him into the water. Blood was trickling down its mouth and Foxtrott realized with horror that the blood was his own.
“Sahara!” he cried desperately “Help me!” and suddenly, an orange blur flew past his face and onto the face of the creatures. It roared with rage and pulled back its neck, dropping Foxtrott onto the deck. For a moment, he lay there, losing blood by the second. And then he reared up and peered into the sky, rain blinding him for a moment. “Sahara!” he yowled. But it was too late.
The creature was swinging its long neck around, trying to shake the orange fuzz that was Sahara off its face. He clung on fiercely and clawed the creatures face.
“And that’s for Foxtrott!” he exclaimed. Then he clawed its eye. “And that’s for-“ but a yowl of surprise cut him short. The creature threw him in the air; the unexpected move making Sahara let go in surprise. The creature watched him, and suddenly, it opened its mouth and in fell Sahara.
Time seemed to stop for Foxtrott. He stood motionless, staring at the beady eyes of the creature that were staring at him. The storm raged and knocked him almost off his paws. But he didn’t care. Life had no meaning. He had lost his best friend. His eyes welled up; he reared onto his hind legs and yowled into the lonesome wind, “Sahara!” The cry seemed to echo around the world, making the wind howl less for a moment and the rain slacken a bit. But the creature was still pressed over Foxtrott, though he didn’t notice. But if he had, he would’ve seen the sympathy in the creatures’ eyes as she looked upon him.
I’m so sorry, dear one. And then she lurched down and scooped the cream cat into her jaws. She dove under the ship with a wave of her tail and was gone. The storm died down, and all was silent, as though the world was silent, holding its breath as the journey began. And the legend of Foxtrott was born.
CHAPTER 5:
Silverwing
Foxtrott blinked his blurry eyes open. The world was shaking around and he had know idea what was going on. Am I dead? He thought. Blinking his eyes, he sat up and felt his muscles scream in pain, trying to get him to lie back down. Foxtrott’s head spinning, he looked about in this dark, into this stinky, new world.
Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of living cave, with the stalactites and stalagmites being teeth and the cave moving in a steady beat, like the breathing of a creature. Foxtrott shivered and definitely not from the cold, for it was extremely hot and humid in the cave.
Managing to take a sitting position, he turned and started to clean himself and looked at his wounds. He had one ear with a nasty tear on it and a large, deep wound in his side with a bit of blood still oozing out of it. His paws were also a bit scratched up and he licked them more gently.
When he reached his right back paw, he heard a groaning, making Foxtrott jump a mile. He spun around, fur bristling, and saw for the first time, the orange mound of fur at the back of the cave. Foxtrott padded over to it, sniffing it daintily and jumped a mile again as it moved.
“Please, mother,” it murmured “Five more minutes.”
“Sahara!” cried Foxtrott “You’re alive!” Sahara leaped up, fur bristling and muscles tense. “Don’t touch the cat food!” he yowled and bowled over Foxtrott.
“Sahara,” gasped Foxtrott through a mouthful of fur. “It’s me, Foxtrott.” Sahara looked down and saw Foxtrott, then leaped off and gasped.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Foxy!” Sahara cried and pulled Foxtrott up. “That was a total accident and-” but Foxtrott was already hugging his friend, cream fur puffed up in happiness.
“I’m just glad you’re okay, Sahara,” Foxtrott murmured “I thought you were dead.” Sahara wrapped his tail around his friend, too, and rasped his tongue over his ear.
“Hey, pal, I said we’d be BFF’s, didn’t I?” then the two cats spread apart and truly took in their surroundings.
“Where are we?” murmured Sahara. Foxtrott shook his head, for he was baffled too. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, the cave lurched forward and Foxtrott found himself tumbling through the thick air. And then the cave went horizontal again, leaving the cats sprawling on the floor.
“We’ll feel that in the morning,” coughed Sahara, scrambling up on four feet.
“Hang on,” said Foxtrott “I don’t think this is over.”
Sahara rolled his green eyes. “Well you say that and it won’t be. You’re the main character!” Foxtrott glared at him, when suddenly, the mouth of the cave opened and light streamed in. Once again, the world went vertical and Sahara and Foxtrott tumbled onto the beach, coughing and sputtering out sand all the while trying to scramble to their paws.
“What is up with this, man?” sputtered Sahara, glaring at the sky, trying to find the cave. But they were both surprised. Neither had remembered it, but they had been eaten by a giant creature and were both surprised to see it staring back down at them. It had a long, serpent like neck and tail girl. It had a short, gray body that had about an eight foot wing span. It had a frill around the back of its head and a short dog-like muzzle, though it had scales instead of fur. It had four legs with four claws on each foot. The tail was about three feet, with a dolphin body. Humans would call it a plesiosaurus, but cats don’t know that.
They stared at each other, each party hoping to out stare the other, Sahara giving the famous emerald-eye glare. And then something really strange happened: the creature started laughing. Sahara and Foxtrott exchanged a glance, both having surprise in their eyes. It laughed and laughed and then it did something else strange: it started to shrink, transforming into a small, gray dragon in the blink of an eye.
“You know, when they told me I was to rescue a hero, I didn’t expect a little scaredy-cat!” The dragon had a thick, English accent and sounded like a long with spikes on the end of it. Its back, neck, tail, chest and head all had a silver armor on it. The body was about seven feet tall and seven and a half feet long.
She kneaded her claws into the ground and looked up at the afternoon sun. “Is this all the challenge you give me, Fire King?” she yowled into the sky. “You couldn’t give me more of a challenge?” she laughed again after that. Sahara’s tail was bristling with annoyance at being ignored and he stormed right up to the dragon and kicked sand in her face.
“Hey, Loony,” Sahara snapped “Are you gonna even tell us who you are, or are you gonna yell at the sky all day? ‘Cause, other wise, we’ve got better things to do.” The dragon snarled and leaped at Sahara. He yipped and ran behind Foxtrott. She glared at him, baring her teeth.
“Don’t doubt what I’m capable of doing, Earth cat.” She snarled again and then, in a friendlier tone, looked over the small, wet and smelly cats. “I am Silverwing, an air demon in training from the planet Lexxing.” Silverwing looked at Foxtrott. “You are the hero, Foxtrott.” And then she looked at Sahara. “And who is this ankle biter?” Sahara growled deep in his chest, and Foxtrott looked at him to let him know to shut his mouth.
“He’s Sahara, my best friend.” Silverwing’s eyes widened in surprise, and almost instantly looked at Sahara apologetically.
“I am so sorry!” she gasped “I just thought you were someone that had followed The Great One into the Bermuda T! I am so sorry!” Silverwing bowed slightly, a little flustered. Sahara circled around her daintily, looking rather amused with a smirk on his face and his eyes narrowed. With the afternoon sun shining on his fur, he looked like walking flame.
“Now that’s more like it!” exclaimed Sahara, coming back and sitting down next to Foxtrott.
Before Sahara could say anything else, Foxtrott interrupted. “Why did you call me that?” he asked, cocking his cream head sideways. “Why’d you call me ‘The Great One’?” Silverwing looked surprised he had heard and looked at him sternly.
“You will know soon enough.” Then Silverwing looked up at the sky as though just realizing where the sun was. “Great demons, we’d better hurry! Fire King is expecting us!” She leaped into the air, spreading her wings wildly and fluttering twelve feet into the air in an instant. And then she turned, glaring down at them as though they were idiots. And just like that, she fluttered back down, looking sheepish. “I forgot,” Silverwing muttered “You aren’t demons yet. I’d better give you the treatment.” She looked at Sahara for a moment and then walked over to him and sat down. Silverwing smiled friendly like. Sahara looked at her suspiciously.
“What treatment?-“ and then it happened. Silverwing leaped up and bowled Sahara over, teeth reaching for his throat. He howled and thrashed about, trying to escape. Foxtrott stared in horror and leaped at his friend, claws trying to tear Silverwing away. But it was too late. Silverwing’s teeth clamped around Sahara’s neck. He made a gurgling noise, and then fell over, limp, into the sand.
Foxtrott gasped, frozen and then glared at Silverwing. “What are you doing?” he cried, glaring at the silver demon that was slowly creeping towards him. “Why did you kill Sahar-“ and then Silverwing clamped her jaws around Foxtrott’s neck. He felt warmth surge through him and he could barely breathe as he felt liquid trickling into his body, giving him a new strength he had never felt before. And then he went black.
Chapter 6:
Demons
Foxtrott blinked his eyes open, against their will. He sat up, feeling the coolness around him. He didn’t understand. Why was it so cool? Wasn’t he and Sahara just on the beach being attacked by…? Silverwing! Foxtrott sat up quickly, spinning around like mad, trying to figure out where he was and where Silverwing and Sahara were. He suddenly felt something odd on his head and stopped moving.
Before he felt his head, though, he quickly looked around. He was in a small cave, with moss on the walls, water dripping into a pool close by and stalactites that glowed a faint, light green color. Foxtrott shivered and then felt his head. He suddenly saw the color of his fur. Or what had been fur. Foxtrott stretched out his paw and looked at it.
It was scaly and orange.
Foxtrott gasped in horror and saw that not only was he covered in scales, but he now had five toes with large, black claws on them. Foxtrott’s paw grasped for his head and he felt the second flaw of himself. He had no up-standing ears. He jumped up off of his moss covered rock and raced towards the pool of water and skidded to a halt in front of it. Foxtrott took a deep breath before he stepped forward to face his new reflection. A new face stared back at him.
In the pool was an orange dragon. It had a long, almost horse-like face. It had two horns on the top of its head and little seashell like ears. Deep, dark blue eyes were on its face and it had sharp pointed teeth on the side of its mouth. Foxtrott realized the creature wasn’t an it. It, so called, was actually Foxtrott. He gasped and leaped up and then spun around, looking at his body. He had a body that was probably around twenty feet tall and twenty five feet long. He was different shades of orange with scales. He had a long neck and burnt orange spines running down his back. He had wings with about an eleven foot wing span.
What have I become? Thought Foxtrott, his mouth open. “Actually,” said a voice “I heard we’ve become something called…demons.” Foxtrott spun around, jaws open in a fierce snarl and then stopped short as his mind registered the voice. It was Sahara. And yet the thing he saw there was definitely not Sahara.
The creature looked like a water dragon. It was about thirty feet long and six feet tall. It was different shades of blue, though it was mostly sky blue, and had an extremely long neck. It had webbed feet with long claws that looked perfect for catching fish. It had little tiny wings on its back that looked like fins. It was very sleek like a snake with legs and had webbed scales along its back. It had little seashell ears and a long, horse like face with sharp teeth that were hooked and obviously meant for catching fish, were jutting out of its jaw. It slithered forward and stood in front of Foxtrott, a mischievous smile coming upon its face.
“Dude, isn’t this just the most awesome thing that’s ever happen?” Okay, this was definitely Sahara.
Foxtrott looked at Sahara in confusion. “How can this be the best thing ever, Sahara.” Shaking his head, Foxtrott started to brush past Sahara, heading towards the mouth of the cave. “And anyway, how did you know I was in here?”
“Because I told him,” both Foxtrott and Sahara jumped and looked at the creature walking in. Foxtrott was surprised, for in walked Silverwing, only she was different in the way that she was no longer seven feet tall, but was fifteen feet tall and twenty feet long. Plus, she looked much more aerodynamic than she had before. Silverwing padded forward, looking Foxtrott over, smiling. “I didn’t do half bad for my first demon changing.” Then she looked Foxtrott in the eyes and murmured, “Follow me. Fire King would like to speak with you.” Then she glanced at Sahara. “Both of you.” And then Silverwing turned and started to pad out of the cave. Foxtrott and Sahara exchanged a glance, and then followed Silverwing out of the cave.
They padded through a long corridor, torches attached to the wall provided a dim light. There were also small openings in the sides, big enough for any demon to fit through. As far as Foxtrott could tell, though, there were no other demons in the entire cave. Sahara shivered next to him. “Creepy, how it’s so empty and quiet,” he whispered. Foxtrott flicked his tail in agreement and then noticed how, even something as normal as flicking his tail, felt strange in this new body. Sighing, Foxtrott continued to watching Silverwing pad in front of him. Then, suddenly, she stopped. This was, most obviously, not the end of the corridor, so why had she stopped? When Silverwing turned, Foxtrott instantly tensed and his fur would’ve been bristling if he were a cat. Was Silverwing going to attack them again? Foxtrott felt Sahara tense up as well. Silverwing glanced at them, sighing.
“I can feel your tension in your minds,” sighed Silverwing. “I’m sorry I attacked you like a rabid animal before, but since you did not volunteer to become demons and you were already suspicious of me, there was no way I could ever get a hold of your neck. You’d have thought I was trying to kill you.” Foxtrott suddenly noticed that Silverwing was directing this mostly to him, her gray eyes shimmering with sorrow and a bit of admiration. “I really, truly am sorry. Please, you can trust me and I won’t attack you again.” She smiled a bit. “Unless, of course, you need it.” Foxtrott smiled back and something passed between them and he silently forgave her. She got the message and nodded her head. Sahara, seeing Foxtrott give his forgiveness, sighed in defeat.
“Alright,” he muttered. “But don’t think that I trust you. But I do forgive you.” Silverwing smiled her sweet smile and then turned and continued down the corridor. Foxtrott glanced at Sahara, mouthed “thank you”, and continued on down the hallway.
When they finally did reach the end of the hallway, Foxtrott was staring at what was in front of him. Two demons stood there, both looking a lot like Sahara, except they were a lot more muscular and looked as though they could blend in with any forest in the world, being patterned with camo colors. Foxtrott stared at them with eagle-eyed surveillance. They nodded their heads at Silverwing and continued to watch the hallway, though Foxtrott didn’t understand what they were looking for.
And then Foxtrott walked into a huge cave that he never expected to be here.
The cave was brightly lit, huge torches lit on the wall at the very top and middle. Light also streamed in from the roof, though the roof had a thin curtain of moss covering it, to block out the rain and wind and it also made the sun a little thinner. But what was in the room really amazed Foxtrott. Hundreds, he guessed, upon thousands of demons littered the room. They were all huddling together in their own conversations, not concerned at the moment with the new comers. A slight stage made a half circle on the edge of the wall farthest of Foxtrott, for the room was almost a perfect circle. In the middle of the stage, it was slightly higher than the rest, with a small rock the was dented in the center, so it looked like a comfy bean bag, only it was solid granite.
Silverwing glanced back at them and murmured, “Look, I’ll go get Fire King and you just stay here and wait. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. The less attention the better.” Then she turned and spread her gossamer-like wings and took off. Foxtrott hadn’t noticed it there before, but there was a small cave behind where the platform rose up. Silverwing braked her wings and landed, then gently turned and walked inside the cave.
“Hey,” Sahara whispered in Foxtrott’s ear, making him jump slightly. Sahara looked around warily. “Why are we here? Why are we doing this, Foxtrott?”
Foxtrott’s tail lashed in annoyance. “Gee, I dunno,” He growled. “Whose dumb idea was it to come into the Bermuda T in the first place, hmm?” Sahara looked away, hurt. “Go ahead, say it out loud.” Neither cat had noticed how quiet it had gotten around them.
Sahara looked up. “Mine,” he muttered. Foxtrott was about to reply, when a deep steady voice spoke.
“No,” it growled from directly behind Foxtrott, making his heart beat uncontrollably fast. “It was not him that brought you here. It was kismet, the only thing that brings creatures together, large or small.” Foxtrott took the biggest breath of his life and then turned to look up at the creature that had spoken to him.
The first thing Foxtrott thought was, my gosh, how can any animal get that big! If the creature had been measured, he would’ve been around sixty feet tall and on all fours about one hundred feet long. His wing span was one hundred and fifty feet long, though his wings were folded against his sides at the moment. He looked just like Foxtrott, except he had a silver frill running around his head. His fangs were a silver color and his claws were silver as well(by the way, on his front paws, he had three claws pointing forward and then a thumb-like claw and his hind paws had three facing forward and one pointing back, like Foxtrott). And finally, running from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, starting out small then getting larger, were purple spines. And on the tip of his tail, which all demons had, was a purple arrow head-like point.
The demon stared down his nose at Foxtrott, literally, and smiled. “I am Fire King, leader of the demons who made a settlement on Earth. I am from the planet Lexxing. And I know who you are, Foxtrott.” He smiled a friendly smile. “I know your story up until Silverwing caught you cats.” And then Fire King looked over at Sahara, who looked as though he were about to faint, as though just noticing him.
Fire King raised a scaly eyebrow. “And you are Sahara, Foxtrott’s best friend, yes?” For a moment, Sahara just stared at him dumbly. And then he nodded his head vigorously, though Foxtrott could see his friend was shaking fearfully. Fire King nodded.
“I suspect you don’t know what’s going on yet.” Fire King looked them over quickly. “You probably would find it easier to understand this: you are dragons now.”
Foxtrott stared at this giant animal, not really understanding anything that had happened today at all, let alone this. It was just too much for him to understand. Foxtrott glared at this “dragon”, and said, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
Fire King smiled, not showing his teeth. “Of course we do.” Then he nodded his head toward the cave in the back, where he had walked from. “Come, we will explain.” And then with a few huge steps he slowly slid in to the cave.
When Foxtrott finally found his feet, he stood and followed Silverwing towards the cave, the creatures around him parting like a river. Sahara shakily walked beside Foxtrott, his head close to the ground as he hid from the crowd. Foxtrott nudged him gently into the cave, which Silverwing had already gone into. The two previous cats disappeared inside, their vision plunging into darkness. Foxtrott felt very vulnerable in the dark, not knowing what was in front of him, thinking he could fall into a pit at any moment. And then, suddenly, they were back in the light