[A/N: Soooo, this is my first oneshot; hope you like it!]
Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues, YouTube or any other brand mentioned in this story.
Cats Don't Swim: "Cats don't swim, Dan. They don't even like the water." "Well, maybe Saladin's different!" (Post-Clue Hunt)
One hot summer afternoon, after the events of the Clue Hunt, an extremely bored Dan asked a confused cat a question that obviously wouldn't be answered.
"Aw, come on Saladin! Didn't Grace teach you some cool tricks in her spare time?" he asked, holding up a cat teaser toy that Saladin was supposed to chase. The key word being 'supposed'.
"Mrrp?" the cat lazily replied as if to say, "Why bother with this now? I want some Red Snapper!" Well, Saladin did have a one-track mind (usually involving Snapper.)
Amy, who was reading a very interesting book on the sofa, rolled her jade eyes. "Dan, he's used to sleeping all day and eating when he's not. Besides, we've never taught him any tricks."
"Yeah, but maybe Grace did!" Dan argued.
A few seconds later, Nellie emerged them from the kitchen, wearing her neon orange apron that read, 'KISS THE CRAZY COOK!' and called Amy and Dan. "Hey kiddos! Time for lunch!"
Dan's mouth started to water; he's been waiting forever for lunch. He didn't even care that Nellie called them 'kiddos' again. The cat toy fell on the carpet, completely disregarded.
While Amy and Dan headed to the kitchen, Saladin jumped up from his favourite sleeping spot and bolted for his food bowl. Nellie started putting in his most desired food, Red Snapper.
After a very delicious lunch, Amy went back to her book (After all, Meggie was about to destroy the Shadow!) [1] while Dan picked up the cat toy and started waving around the cat teaser toy like a hyperactive toddler again. Not that 'Dan' and 'hyperactive toddler' were very different.
"Come on, Saladin! Can you do anything besides sleeping, eating and cleaning yourself?"
In reply, Saladin licked his left front paw.
"Oh, that reminds me... Saladin needs a bath," Nellie said, striding into the room with her iPod in her right hand.
Amy put down her book. "Cats are relatively clean animals so why does he need a bath?" she asked and walked over to Saladin to stroke his head.
"Well, Mr. Wellington told me a while ago that she saw Saladin rolling around in the fertilizer at the rooftop garden yesterday. I dunno how he got up there. Maybe he used the stairs or something? I guess we'll never know," Nellie rambled. "Anyway, I was thinking that he might need a bath considering he reeks right now."
Dan scrunched up his nose. "So that's where the smell was coming from! I thought Ms. Delia was cooking again."
"Don't be rude! She might hear you. She's right next door, you know," Amy scolded, shooting him a scathing death-glare.
"Yeahhh right! Ms. Delia, a bajillion-year-old woman, could hear me all the way from here."
Amy just rolled her eyes at her brother's retort and asked Nellie how they would bathe Saladin.
"Don't ask me. I'm an Au Pair, not a cat-sitter."
Dan suddenly yelled, "I have an idea!" and ran to the bathroom. A few seconds later, they heard the ominous sound of rushing water. Amy and Nellie went to see what he was up to.
"What are you doing, Dweeb?" Amy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"For the gazillionth time Amy, my name is Ninja-nushi Dan, not Dweeb!" Dan protested while he turned off the shiny silver faucet. [2]
"So what are you doing, Ninja-nushi Dan?" Nellie said, just to humor him.
"If Saladin won't chase my cat teaser toy, he might be able to swim!"
"Where'd you get that crazy idea?" Amy rolled her eyes.
"Grace was a clue hunter, right?" Dan said. Amy nodded, not seeing where this was going. "Well, I'm pretty sure she got tired once in a while, hunting for clues. Maybe she taught Saladin to swim when she got tired! Remember that picture we saw of Saladin in some sort of diver suit one day when we were at Grace's mansion?"
Amy looked sceptical. "I always thought that perhaps Grace just liked to dress him up."
"Perhaps you thought wrong." Dan then ran out from the sea green-tiled bathroom and came back carrying Saladin.
"Whoa, Saladin dude, you're heavy!" Dan closed the bathroom door with his right foot and put the aforementioned cat down.
"Mrrp," the Egyptian Mau said, annoyance obvious in his meow.
"Get in the water, Saladin! Go on! Swim!" Dan persuaded, moving his hand about for effect.
The cat stared at Dan, confused.
"Cats don't swim, Dan. They don't even like the water," Amy scoffed.
"Well, maybe Saladin's different!" Dan answered back. He then had a thought. Maybe, I can persuade him with some Red Snapper.
"The problem is that there are too many 'maybes' and too little facts," Amy said, rolling her eyes. Dan pointedly ignored her.
He left the bathroom, once again, and came back with some leftovers from Saladin's lunch.
Dan held up the fish to get the cat's attention. Saladin looked at it with complete interest and started to paw at it.
"Do you want the fish, Sal? If you jump into the water and swim, I'll give it to you!" Dan said, waving around the piece of Red Snapper.
To everyone's surprise, the cat jumped into the freezing water and started doggy-paddling, or rather, kitty-paddling, back and forth in the tub.
Amy gasped in awe. Hmm... apparently Dan was right.
"Whoa! I am so gonna take a video of this and post it on YouTube!" Nellie exclaimed in consternation while Dan jumped around the room ecstatically.
"Awesome! Maybe he has ninja skills too!"
[A/N: Random Fun Fact- There is a breed of cat called the "Turkish Van" that likes to swim. It is also called the "Swimming Cat". I remember reading this in a book somewhere but I forgot its title.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this oneshot! :) ]
[1] The reference to Inkheart was purplee uzumkai's idea. She is also my super awesome beta. Thanks, dudette! :D
[2] In English, it is "Ninja Lord". I just translated it in Google Translate so if my translation is wrong, please tell me! :)