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