Captain of the Guards- Chapter Two- The Fight

Almost the moment Fleck emerged from the brambles, she dropped into a crouch--body flattened, ears flat, eyes intent, whiskers twitching, nose scenting, and tail flicking--convincingly making it look as though she were hunting. She did not have to keep this up for long; moments after she had emerged from the bramble bush, a hulking, well-muscled sandy-colored tom with a squashed-in and scarred muzzle, stiff limbs, barely a trace of a tail, and a suppressed sneer arrived. He was obviously a guard.

“What are you doing here?” the guard grunted in a voice so deep that it was difficult to decipher his words.

Fleck stood in a dignified stance, her chin held high. I daresay, she looked quite impressive, even compared to the hulking tomcat. “I have come here merely to hunt,” she retorted, adding under her breath, “Mongrel.”

“You think that you’re in a position where you can talk back to me?” the tom sneered, looking as though her where on the verge of laughter. “Why, I’ve eaten mice that look tougher then you!”

At this exclamation, her spat at sun-bleached grass at her feet.

“Oh yeah?” Fleck growled, using all of her willpower not to spring at the guard.

“Yeah,” he said, his brow creasing as he jutted his chin out and raised his head a little higher. “And what are you gonna do about it you weak little female.”

He said this as though it were the worst insult that he could come up with. Okay, that’s it, Fleck though with a hiss, her muscles tensioning as she prepared to spring at the repulsive guard, I’m gonna show this tom just what this ‘weak little female’ can do!

“What’s going on here?” demanded a voice that Fleck recognized as the king’s. Immediately, she straightened. As much as she would like to kill this tom right now, her job and her kingdom was far more important then getting even with him.

Slate studied Fleck. She realized that his remaining guards were all behind him, snarling at her with not a trace of welcome on their faces. Probably picturing me being maimed, Fleck thought miserably. It would be quite difficult to get such cats to allow her into the guards. That was her goal: to become a guard. Any battle plan would be shared with them and only them. They were the solders after all. Becoming a Commoner was worse then being thrown out entirely. She would be completely oblivious to any battle plans, and yet still be trapped in the empire. No, she had to prove herself worthy of becoming a guard.

A gray tabby guard, almost as big as the sandy tomcat, snarled as her claws tore at the earth, “Can I rip off her head?”

“What are you doing here?” Slate addressed her, ignoring the female guard.

“Well,” Fleck cleared her throat as she began telling him her well-rehearsed story. “I am a lone cat, you see, and have lived without any other cat ever sense I left my mother and siblings. Its a lonely life, being a rouge. I was just looking for a place that was inhabited by a group of cats. And, while I was hunting, I came across here. I was wondering if I could join... You are the leader, am I wrong?”

“It is true, I am the king of this empire,” Slate said, sticking out his chest a bit. “But why do you think that we will accept you as one of our own? What skills do you have to offer?”

“I can hunt well,” Fleck began. “I can also fight better then you may assume, and am no stranger to the use of the dagger.”

“Fight?” the king said, his eyebrows raising, suddenly much more interested. “Well then, why don’t we see if you are as good as you claim. You will fight my guard, here,” he said gesturing to the tom for whom she had already developed a great disliking, “and kill him, mind you, or you will die.”

Fleck swallowed the great lump of fear that had risen inside of her throat before she spoke once more, her eyebrows raised and not a trace of fear given away in her eyes. As she spoke she tilted her head. “Well, I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“No, you don’t,” Slate said, a wicked grin spreading across his merciless face. “I’m glad that you understand.”

At that, Fleck gave the king a jerky, determined nod, and turned to face her huge opponent.

Smile still lingering upon his lips, Slate called out, “Then let the battle begin!”

Quick as a wink, Fleck analyzed her foe. He was three times her size, easy, and strong. But this was also his weakness. A great disadvantage of his was his bulk, which made his slow and clumsy. Fleck snapped her gaze to his eyes, which were full of the gloating glow of a braggart. It took no expert to tell that this was overconfidence. But Fleck most surely couldn’t say that she wasn’t afraid that this cat would win this fight.

The guard lunged at her. Fleck dodged his attack and skidded to a halt at his side. She ran her claws across his flank. With a howl of agony, he whipped his head around to return her blow with a bite on her ear. It took much of her willpower not to wail in pain at this, but she couldn’t afford that. Blood was leaking fro her disheveled ear and into her eyes, obscuring her vision. Blinking it away and shaking scarlet droplets of blood off of her face, she turned to look at her wounded opponent.

Charging at him, Fleck put as much force into the bite as she could, clings to his foreleg with all of her might. Hissing and twisting madly, the guard attempted fruitlessly to shake her off, but her jaws clamped still tighter. All of her fear and anger this cat had given her  became energy. With one last, ferocious bite, she unclenched her jaw from his leg and took in great lungfuls of air.

The guard staggered in a drunken sort of way, trying as hard as he could to keep his weight of of his mauled leg. Fleck took this opportunity to slash at his hind leg on the same side. Her enemy’s blood was now in a poll at his paws, soaking his flank.

Fleck doubled back one last time and then luged at him, hitting him hard in the side with her shoulder. Staggering, her opponent fell, and she grasped his neck with her jaws until she felt his body relax. It was done; she had killed the guard.

Fleck turned to face the other cats, her knees felling as though they were going to collapse any moment now. The king’s jaw had dropped, the Commoners were shrieking in horror, and the guards had the same bored look that they had had when the fight had started.

“You--you killed him,” the king gasped, obviously shocked to find her not ripped to shreds. “You--killed--my--best--guard.”

The other guards surged forward a few steps, looking both confused and annoyed. They began to say:

“But I thought that I was your best guard!”

“You told me that I was!”

“No, he told me that I was!”

And every single guard seemed to have been told that they were the best of the bunch.

“I LIED TO YOU ALL!” the king shouted above the hubbub. He tone calmed a little as he said, addressing Fleck this time, “You certainly have deemed yourself worthy of becoming a guard.” At this, Fleck dipped her head in gratitude. “I never imagined that a cat as small as you would ever be able to kill Oatmeal.”

“Wait,” Fleck meowed, stifling a laugh, “you mean o tell me that this guard’s name is Oatmeal?”

“Yes,” murmured the king as he departed. He didn’t seem to find this very ironic.

“Now can we rip off her head?” Moaned the large gray tabby she-cat impatiently.

“No,” Slate called over his shoulder. At that, he climbed up the tree and entered his den.

The other guards, too, left the clearing. Fleck heard half-hearted mutterings of ‘welcome to the group’ as they left her alone with Oatmeal’s lifeless body.

Fleck felt a pang of regret. She had never actually killed a cat before, and, even when she found out that there was going to be a war, she had never dreamed of doing something like this. She pitied Oatmeal for having such a painful death, and wished that she could turn time around and undo his death.

But then she remembered his jeers and remarks about her gender. She couldn’t help but feel a little smug. Sweet dreams, Oatmeal, she thought with a small smirk. With that, she left the bloodstained clearing and curled up with the rest of the guards in their den, soon falling fast asleep.

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-KittyLover8
 2013

Captain of the Guards- Chapter One- The Meeting

A lean, sandy colored she-cat with darker flecks dotting her pelt leapt off a sun-warmed den to join a small group of cats who had been sitting beneath her, evidently waiting. This band of cats was lead by a dark orange tom with a white underbelly. His eyes looked sad and tired.

“Let’s go,” said the red-and-white tom, his voice a hoarse whisper.

The cats set off, the sandy she-cat lingering in the rear of them, her hazel eyes weary. Soon, they came to a halt, beside a towering tree. The tree looked as though it were dying, the majority of its leaves brown and withered and the others drooping. The huge tree was growing atop a large boulder, which was taller then a man and a wide as at least a dozen. The ancient tree’s gnarled roots were sprawled across the surface of this stone.

Soon another band of cats appeared out of the half-shadow provided by the hulking tree and boulder. The small she cat crouched behind her fellow cat. She knew that it was likely for her to have to spy on these cats, and that, if so, it would not be helpful for her to be recognized as one of Ember’s cats.

“So,” said a gloating voice, that come from a large, ruddy brown tom who had a pleased sneer on his face, “you decided to show up. That’s a surprise. I would have thought that the legendary King Ember, Leader of the Great Empire, the biggest kingdom of all, would have had the sense not to.”

The tom gestured to his cats with a crude and sharp swipe of his tail. They were the size of two of the small, thin cat that Ember had brought. The cats were all muscle-bound and looked as though they would be pleased to inflict pain on any cat who so much as bothered them, due to the malevolent glint in their eyes.

King Ember ignored this comment, and rose his head as high as it would go, attempting to reach up to the other tom’s chin. “Why did you ask us to come here, Slate?” he questioned with a defiant glare.

King Slate laughed mirthlessly, and though a few of his subjects grinned, brows lowered, none of them joined in. “Ha ha ha! You are even more foolish then I thought, Ember. And believe me, that is not a statement that I expected to make. You mean to tell be that you have not guessed yet? I have come here to request you to give me all of your land.” The king turned to glare at Ember, his eyes glittering with menace. “Oh, wait, did I say ‘request?’ I meant ‘tell!’”

He proceeded to laugh heartily at this, and still none of his guards joined him.

Ember glared back at Slate, as stoney-faced as the guards. “My empire would never give in without a fight!”

“Ah, well then, it looks as though you’ll have one,” King Slate replied.

Ember opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment, Fleck saw something on a ginger she-cat’s leg--a slight distortion in the fur. She recognized it as a camouflaged gun. Because she was only able to see it, and many other concealed weapons on the enemy cats thanks to he ninja spy training, she knew that the others must not know. Still crouched behind cats she let out a low hiss and scraped the stone with unsheathed claws, so that long white lines became etched into its surface to alert her king.

Ember’s ears swiveled to face her and he, begrudgingly, abandoned King Slate and his cats momentarily to see what she had to say.

“What is it?” He hissed, eyes still on Slate.

“These cats,” Flack whispered, still in shock at the sight, “have guns.”

“What?” Ember gasped, a little more loudly then he had intended. “But it cannot be! We--they--can’t--!”

“Oh, stop your stuttering!” Fleck hissed, evidently annoyed, all shock lost. “We need to get out of here.”

The king was still in a shock. He and his kingdom had never seen war, and he knew that they were on the losing side. “But--but we cannot give them our territory! They will have us all enslaved! They will--”

“I know that!” Fleck snapped. “We’re not going to. It’s just that it isn’t currently in our place to announce what we’re going to do. Do you really want your head blown off?”

“No,” the king sighed regretfully. Ember took a deep breath of air to calm himself and then released it. He then nodded to her and turned back to face King Slate. “If you want a war...then there is nothing I can do to stop you. Farewell, fellow king.”

“You are a fool,” sneered Slate. With a moment of hesitation he added, “And a dead man.” This was followed by another bought of psychotic laughter.

At that, Slate turned heel and melted into the shadows. His guards followed this suit.

King Ember sighed, looking more tired then ever. “Let’s go,” he muttered to his cats, and they too left.______________________________________________________________________

“But it can’t be!” King Ember was crying scornfully. “Who ever heard of cats with guns? You have to have been mistaking it! If thy had guns, surely they would have killed us then and there...?”

“No,” Fleck murmured. “No, I think that they wanted the fact that they had guns to be kept a secret, a surprise. It would give them even more of an upper hand. If they had killed us there, our bodies would surly be found, and eventually someone would figure--judging by our wounds--how we had been killed. No, it would have been much safer for them to wait.”

“But what if you just imagined the weapons?” Ember pressed.

Fleck shook her head, her mind wandering, her eyes glazed. “As for the gun, I know for sure that it was there. There is nothing more to say. If you must, then you can go on telling yourself that it was a figment of my imagination. Then, I most regretfully say, our enemy will be in the exact place that they were hoping for.”

Ember studied Fleck, looking her up and down. Finally, with a long, defeated sigh, he said, “Ah, but Fleck, I believe you. I never did doubt you. But I would be lying if I said that I didn’t hope that you were daydreaming.”

Fleck nodded slightly, still looking as though she were in a faraway place.

“I also wanted to say,” Ember said, pausing at this, “that though I myself never expected you to do so, that it is time for you to do what you have trained for. You must spy on our enemy.”

Fleck gave another small nod, and departed. She knew that she would have to bring her things--her belt, her dagger, and her earpiece--and yet conceal them. She decided on leaving them nearby Slate’s Empire as that, if needed, she could retrieve them.

Fleck gathered them from behind one of the caves and set off. There was almost a whole mile of land in between the two kingdoms, so it took her quite a bit of time to arrive at the encampment. She took in everything for a brief moment--the small caves in which the Commoners must live, and the huge guard's den, which was caved out of a towering tree that had to be seven times taller then the Commoner's homes, the top have was where the king lived and the bottom was where the guards slept, and there was also a township clearing where the Commoners dwelt and a battle clearing where the guards practiced fighting and shooting--and then she darted behind some brambles.

Her scent honeyed and concealed by that of the bramble’s flowers, she set her things down onto the shaded grass beneath the bush, as that they could be left undisturbed in the promising protection of the bramble’s thorns.

This is it, Fleck thought nervously as the readied herself to exit the protection of the brambles. She had this one chance to get this right, and if she messed this up.... Well, if she messed this up, they had as good as lost.

Fleck took at deep breath to calm herself (knowing that the cats would be able to smell her fear), at stepped out of the brambles.______________________________________________________________________

-KittyLover8© 2013

Captain of the Guards- Prologue

Hi. I live here, in King Ember’s empire, a large kingdom that lives in peace, undisturbed. At least, we used to live in peace. The future for our empire is unclear now, ever since King Firebrand died. His kingdom is nearby, and the only other empire we know of. He and King Ember were good friends, and their friendship tied the two kingdoms together. But now, I’m not sure if this harmony will last.

King Ember told me about his meeting with the new king, King Slate. It is a custom for fellow kingdoms to do this--to express their sorrow for the loss of the old king and to welcome the new. King Ember told me that the new king did not seem grievous at all, and seemed merely to be pleased to become leader. Slate was also hostile, and had several bulky cats with his, apparently his guards. Slate requested for Ember to come to see him the following midday, bringing a few of his own cats.

Anyway, right now Ember is telling his cats about this. Five of us are to join him and see what Slate has to say. But I’m worried. I don’t think that this meeting is going to be a very pleasant one.

Anyway, our kingdom is a very easy target. We have developed no weapons whatsoever, and none of us, save me, have received any battle training. Why is it that I have? Because I am the entire empire’s only ninja spy. Yep, I always thought that my job was useless. I mean, why would an empire that has never even seen a trace of a war need a ninja spy? I always thought that my future was clear--that I would merely continue life as it was; hunting prey for myself, finding a nice cozy spot to sunbathe atop a den (cave, whatever), mingling with the cats every once in a while. But now, I’m not so sure its gonna be so clear anymore.

Ember’s finished telling the cats about King Firebrand’s mysterious death and Slate’s new leadership. I’d better go, or they might leave without me. Those cats couldn’t fight a mouse, and they need me. Ah, it’s a shame too, the sun is bright today. Oh, and by the way. The name’s Fleck.

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-KittyLover8

© 2013

Health: Smoking

Smoking started long ago, when the native Americans used to roll up dried tobacco plants and put one end in their mouth and set the other alight. Even this was unhealthy. But now smoking is much, much worse.

The worst thing about cigarettes and cigars is the fact that they are so addictive. Cigarette companies will pay actors and actresses to smoke on TV. People will idolize them and take up smoking.

But cigarette companies do far worse then just this. They put miniscule amounts of 200 different poisons; including arsenic (a fatal poison), methane (gas released from the intestines), benzene (which is linked to leukemia), and ethanol (which is alcohol). There is also cadmium--witch can cause lung and prostate cancer and fungicides and pesticides that also cause types of cancers and birth defects. There are also poisons that come from candle wax, rubber, and lighter fluid. Not something I would want to put in my mouth.

The reason why they put the 200 horrible poisons in cigarettes is so that people get addicted to them. They might start to imitate their favorite actress or actor or to look cool or something, but after a few goes, they become addicted to it just as you might get addicted to drugs. The gradually can hardly stand to be without them. The cigarette companies, obviously, do this to promote business. And, sadly, it works.

But it isn't just the poisons that makes cigarettes horrible for you. Smoke inhalation from the cigarette causes you lungs to rot and blacken. They end up looking eaten away at parts and become hard--not as flexible as they would without cigarettes. They look nothing like a healthy lung, which is pale, soft, and easily lengthens and shortens.

Cigarettes also cause other cancers--not just lung cancer. You can also get cancer of the, bladder, nose, kidney, mouth, esophagus, larynx (vocal chords), liver, stomach, bone, pancreas, and pharynx. It isn't just cancer that you have to worry about, either (as if it isn't enough). There is no proven link, but smoking may also cause leukemia.

You also have to worry about your teeth. Because of the cigarettes, your teeth will begin to yellow and decay. This won't just give you bad breath, either. Rotting teeth had been connected to heart diseases. And its not just your breath that will smell, either. The stench of the cigarettes will hang around you, your house, your car--wherever you smoke, really.

And smoking isn't just bad for you either. It's bad for the environment, too. First of all, it pollutes the air, seeing as it releases carbon dioxide (CO2). The amount of CO2 produced by smoking is tiny, small even at a large scale. But when you have several billion people smoking cigarettes, each one smoking hundreds of packets of them every year, you get much more carbon dioxide.

Smoking is bad for the environment also because of the fact that people litter, tossing used, often even still lit, cigarettes wherever they please. On the sidewalk, on the street, pretty much everywhere you look you can spot one of these foul things. Even if people where mindful and deposed of cigarettes the proper way--snuffing them out, placing them somewhere where they are not a fire hazard to cool off, and then throwing them out (into a trash can)--they will still end up in on of the countless dumps, still harming the earth. Each cigarette is tiny, but again, look at it by how many people smoke and how much they smoke. It really adds up.

Even if you don't care about your health or the environment, then what that of others? Smoking will cause the people around you to develop the same problems. My grandfather died from lung cancer because his wife smoked. This is an example of how smoking can effect your loved ones.

-KittyLover8
© 2013