The Beginning of War

Chem slowly walked through the crowds of cats lying on the floor. Some were sitting staring sorrowfully at her but others were crying, desperately trying to put on a brave face. She didn't realise how many actually loved her father but the sad faces from the other cats, revealed to her that the tribe was slowly breaking up; they weren't the brave, happy tribe she knew before. Too many problems harassed the young female's mind. What was going to happen to Dracon? Where were the missing Keyra? Was Balmor going to attack? When would they move on? And also, who would carry on the leadership?

Her ordeal with the usually friendly Kar had stood her in her place, had shook her head out of the clouds and make her face reality. It was hard but no one had said it was going to be easy in the first place, no one had even known it was to have happened. Antok the leader and her father was dead and now the tribe had more things to face than their memories and feelings. They had wounded to attend to, lost to find and they had to move on to somewhere new, away from this place of death. Their home was hundreds of miles away, they had no food or water, some were suffering from illnesses…someone had to do something fast.

Stepping through the crowds of cats who tried to smile at her she looked each one over. Who would be fit enough and clever enough to carry on in Antok's place? She had already considered her mother but of course she was in a state of shock like herself and wouldn't have time to react and control the others. She looked towards Linka who was still tending over Dracon. He may have been clever but he certainly wasn't the fittest and Dracon was too young and hurt to face the responsibilities. Adrick might have been up to the standard but he always seemed to be in a world of his own, so she was afraid to ask. Looking over the cats, she realised that none of them were fit enough or brave enough to carry on in her father's place. What was she going to do?

She walked back up to Linka to see how Dracon was getting on and was amazed at what she saw. Dracon was looking clean and all his burns and scratches had healed! Even his skin around his chin had somehow covered up the bone again and all the blood was cleaned up. He looked much, much better even though he had a few scars.

"Surprising what a few of my herbs can do," Adrick said smiling at Chem. She ran over and hugged him and rubbed heads with Dracon who croaked some words to her. She tilted her head and pressed her ear closer so she could hear what he was trying to say. Suddenly he flipped her up into the air and pinned her to the ground. He was standing over her with those loving brown eyes grinning and he licked her cheek. She squealed with surprise and pushed him off.

"What are you…wow!" she screeched banging her head against his. They looked into each other's eye lovingly and Dracon opened his mouth as he laughed.

"Wow!" he yelled his voice almost cracking and they both rose up on their hind legs and punched each other playfully with their front paws. She pushed him over and pinned him to the ground laughing. Linka stared at Dracon with as much astonishment as Chem and then he turned to look at Adrick who was laughing. He winked at him before adjusting his headband and making off through the desert.

The cubs continued to roll about in the sand, kicking dust into Linka's eyes. He snorted and walked off moodily to leave the cubs energetic spirits alone.

"Dracon, I…" Chem began lying next to him her head against his.

"You what?" he asked urging her to say it with a grin on his face.

"I…I really like you," she said shakily bowing her head in embarrassment. There was a few seconds of embarrassed silence between the two cubs when the male stood up and sighed,

"I suppose I love, er, like you too." He fell on the floor laughing while Chem pummeled him. Her brow, however, was still wrinkled. "What's up?" he asked fiddling with her hair, trying to make some sort of girly hairstyle for her.

"I gotta find someone to carry on the leadership." Dracon finished his wonderful creative skills, which Chem desperately tried to flatten out, and said,

"I heard about your fathers death, I'm…I'm sorry, so bloody sorry!"

"Dracon," she said rubbing her head under his chin, "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault okay?"

"That’s not what Raga thinks!" Chem looked strangely at Dracon who was looking the same at her. Looking behind herself she saw a bird, well what she thought was a bird, glaring at her with beady green eyes. Its body was just like hers but it had some really nice, feathery wings which were tinted with green and white. Comet examined the two lovers with a sigh and then stood to the side to reveal Raga. He looked dreadful. His face fur was all dry and hard where it looked as if he had been crying and there was sleep in the corner of both his eyes. And his wings, those wonderful wings that had saved Chem, lay tattered and torn by his sides, useless and dead. They had scratches all over them and his expression was depressing and saddening to watch. He looked up at the two cubs and said,

"Chem, I'm sorry!" He flopped down of the floor his head curled into his front paws and he lay there, his red body in the golden sand. He looked lonely and depressed, once again; another Keyra had changed, like Kar had.

"Raga, what's happened? Did my father attack you?" the striped cat asked laying opposite, trying to see the winged beast's face.

"No, it's my own fault, I killed your father," he mumbled.

"You killed Balmor?" Chem asked excited and saddened at the same time.

"No, Antok." The young cub looked taken aback at this comment and she tapped Raga's head to make him stare up.

"Invido, killed my father," she said not really wanting to bring the topic up again.

"Yeah, but that's what I was tryin' ta explain ta the lil fella," Comet butted in. "You see, I found him in der forest, like and…" the friendly bird mumbled on while she explained why Raga was so upset. When she finished, he looked up and said,

"But it's my fault!"

"No, no, no!" Chem said softly rubbing heads with the poor cat, "I do not blame it on you, my dad would think you made the right decision."

"But I thought that I…I mean…I thought it was my fault. I'm old enough to have saved both of you and-"

"What gave you that idea?" Dracon said butting in.

Raga stood silently and looked sorrowfully at the two cubs with wet eyes. His nose was running; he could feel it running down the sides of his cheeks and he realized that he must look a right mess. He wiped it away and suddenly smiled at them and then at Comet. Why had he been so stupid, he did not know. It was Chem's dad who had died and she was taking it much better than him, he was probably making it worse for her.

"I'm sorry," he said still smiling, "I let it get to me." Chem laughed and rolled her eyes and looked about for Comet. She couldn't see her on the ground so she looked up to the skies and saw a small black blotch, slowly get out of view.

"She didn't stay long," Chem said following the dot to the left. "Why is she in a hurry?" Raga looked up and had a last final look at his friend before screwing his face up at the pain his wings were giving him. He thought he'd grown used to the pain but now they were hurting more and they were glowing red again, even though they looked tattered and ripped. He carefully brought them together and let them rest lightly on his back.

"Your pendant works then?" Dracon asked showing the first bit of interest. He nodded and motioned for them to leave him. He had to catch up on his sleep…but he still felt responsible for Antok's death.

Balmor wandered up the rock and breathed in the wind that blew into his face. Sighing he looked below him to see Ruff and Scythe putting his tribe into their war groups. Some of the ones, which had been organized, looked fierce and they were each wearing their 'war junk' as it was called. Some wore earrings, necklaces, and rings and did their hair in spikes to make them look larger and some had masks, tattoos and face paint to make them look more frightening. As the last cats were ordered about, he roared out his orders to the others.

The plan was simple. Three groups of cats would depart at midnight, each taking their separate ways. The 'Kalkuta' or General, would be responsible for their own groups and would make sure the cats were as silent as they were born to be. He, Balmor, would watch the formations move from the cliff face. Scythe's group would go west, through the jungle and up the river cliff face, to wander along the sandy ground towards the enemy. Ruff's group would go to the east along the cliff and then down to the other side of the desert. Deck' sam's group would go straightforward and meet the enemy straight on. It was the perfect ambush.

Balmor leapt off his rock onto the ground and ordered the three generals too him. Deck' sam was the first to come and was his favorite fighter. The cat's head had never been revealed to anyone, everyone had to guess what she looked like because of the red, rubbery mask she wore over her head. The mask was decorated with evil teeth and rips in the fabric, provided the eye slits. Deck' sam's body was well built and strong and her body was so interlaced with stripes, it looked as if her fur was almost patchwork.

"Ah Deck' sam," Balmor said nodding, "are your troops ready?" The cat turned her head to the side so she could view his fighters and growled at them to get in order. They did so and stood with their heads slightly upwards, in a way of a salute.

"They are," she said gruffly and turned to face her troops and roared, "No failures in my lot! You will all make it in war form and march proudly and silently. If any of you blow it, you will have more than the Keyra to worry about." A few whispers spread through the cats after this comment and she sighed and said, "You will have to deal with me, you idiots! Now be silent and shut up!"

Balmor laughed silently and turned to face his mate who nodded. It looked as if the troops were ready.

"Alright!" he roared, "Make me proud and move out!"

Thump! Thump! 'What's that noise?' Thump, thump! Thump! 'I said what's that noise? Where am I? Hello? Wait! Who am I?'

"Don't be afraid."

'What? Who are you? I can't see!'

"Search for your tribe."

'My tribe?'

"They need you. Awaken!"

Antok opened his eyes and gasped for breath. His head spun and the landscape seemed to be a mushy green colour.

"Argh," he moaned and clutched his head while his eyes focused to his surroundings. He was surrounded by trees and the ground was dry, leafy mud. Birds had begun squawking in the trees and their inquisitive faces stared down at him from the branches, as if he was a statue, which had suddenly come to life. He remembered the river and his daughter, the battle, Dracon. It was all a blur to him but he could still remember certain things and the vision. 'Search for your tribe,' it had said, 'They need you.'

Concerned for the safety of his tribe and daughter he rose up but it felt as if he hadn't used his legs in a while so he lay down again. They ached and were sore, like his head, but determination set him off, even though it hurt. He didn't know where he was but they couldn't have been too far away. It was cold so he guessed that it was almost night and that if he didn't get out of the jungle soon, it would be too dark to see where he was going. His sight wasn't like normal cats, he couldn't see in the dark. Not even Linka could explain it. 'I'll have to hurry he thought', and began to run gaining more and more ground as the hours ticked by. 'They need you!'

It was almost midnight and the tribe was all asleep apart from Dracon, who faithfully agreed to keep watch. He wandered around the sleeping cats, trying desperately to remember their names. This tribe was much bigger than his own, he kept forgetting all their names and it caused him quite a lot of embarrassment at times. He gave up on his third try of trying to name a female cat, roughly the same age as Kar, who was snoring excessively. He was about to wander around the outside of the groups of Keyra when he heard panting behind him. He pulled back his ears and yelled out as something pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. He struggled with his eyes shut but his energy was slowly drained from him, as he tired himself out,

"Just ain't been my luck lately," he said opening his eyes. His attacker was a huge male, with black hair and grey fur and the teeth, which were bared at him, were massive and very sharp.

"Who are you!" it roared at him. Dracon shielded his eyes from the drool, which was spat at him and said,

"I think you should introduce yourself first." A few of the other Keyra had woken up to see Hadrian roaring insults at Dracon. A few sighed and went back to sleep and others just stayed awake a bit longer to watch. Kar wandered over sleepily and looked at Hadrian through dreary eyes,

"It looks as if I didn't come quick enough!" he said to Kar but kept his eyes firmly on the striped cat. "Don't worry, I'll see to this one." He lifted a paw to perform his famous deathblow on Dracon's head but Kar was suddenly shook out of his sleepy state and jumped through the air, knocking Hadrian off his victim. The two fell into the sand and Dracon got up worriedly to go help Kar.

"Fool," Hadrian roared, "what are you doing?"

"Welcome back mate!" Kar said shaking his head, "this is Dracon, the new member of our tribe." He pointed towards Dracon, who put on a cheeky smile. Hadrian realized his mistake but didn't ask any questions; he just grunted and delivered his news,

"Striped cats, on the rampage!"

"What?" Yekaf said, wandering over with a few other Keyra who looked confusingly at him.

"They are coming! Hoards of them. Khay' lar and myself saw them coming over the cliff, there may be more."

"Khay' lar?"

"I haven't got time to explain, they're coming and they want to fight! It will only be ten minutes before they're here!"

"Oh, dear," Yekaf said and ran off to wake everyone else. Dracon also ran off to wake Chem who stuttered and looked up at him.

"Wha-"

"Striped cats," he said ignoring her, "coming this way, now! We have to prepare ourselves." She got up drowsily and snarled as the situation was made clear to her. Damn them to come after her dad dies! They all had it planned and now they wanted them to die too. She wasn't going to let it happen.

"Does my mother know?" she asked.

"Everyone's being informed."

"Then let's go!" she said running off to the others. Dracon looked on uncertainly and sighed. "Oi! You wid us or wid them?" He nodded and followed her.

Copyright of Meghan Fisher