Disclaimer: I don't own GX. I own the OCs and I own the plot. That's it.
Chapter Three
Atticus shot upright in his bed. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. His heart was pumping faster with every beat. His breathing was heavy. He sat in the dark trying to remember every detail of his dream.
He ran through the forest. Sticks snapped in two beneath his feet. He was running from something. A small animal. Black, green eyes. A cat. He tripped over a small rock and landed on the ground. He rolled onto his back. The cat jumped onto his stomach.
"Why do you run?" the animal asked calmly. "Why are you afraid of me?"
The cat shook its head and jumped off of Atticus. It climbed up a tree as Atticus scrambled to his feet.
"You give me every reason to be," Atticus told the cat. It looked down at him from the branch it rested on.
"What reason?" it asked.
"You hissed at me for no reason. You chased me down just to ask me why I'm afraid,"
The animal nodded. There was a pause.
"Can I ask you something?" asked Atticus.
"Go ahead," replied the cat.
"Why did you hiss at me?"
"Because you threatened me," said the cat. Atticus looked confused. "You were standing there staring at me and my companions for no reason. You were still as stone and I was afraid you would understand me,"
"Well, I understand you now and you don't care,"
"I had a question, I needed an answer. And now that I have my answer, I can leave,"
The cat jumped down and started to walk away.
"Wait!" Atticus yelled. "I have one more question,"
The cat sighed. It sat down and looked up at him.
"What?"
"What's your name?"
"That is something you'll need to find out on your own," replied the cat.
"Why?"
"You said you had more question. I gave you my answer. I don't need to answer anymore. Good bye," the cat stood up and walked away, leaving Atticus alone.
Atticus glanced around the room. No cats. He wiped the sweat off his brow and lay back down. This was getting a little creepy to him.
Tierra sat against the tree outside her dorm. It was about 1:45 in the morning and she couldn't sleep. She was thinking about her dream and what Callie and Amadeus told her.
Angel walked up and sat next to her.
"What are you doing up?" the cat asked.
"Can't sleep. I have a lot on my mind,"
"Like what?" asked Angel. Tierra sighed and told her about her dream and about seeing the boy in class and about Callie and Amadeus's analyzing. The two sat in silence while Angel thought about everything.
"Sounds to me like you like this boy," the cat finally said. Tierra wasn't expecting such an interesting statement.
"W-what?" she asked.
"He's in your dream, he's in your class, you're thinking about him now," replied Angel.
"I never said that,"
"But you are, aren't you?"
Tierra took interest in the ground. Angel smirked as best as she could.
"I have to go. Callie and I have some hunting to do,"
Sunlight crept through the slits in the blinds. Atticus rolled over and squinted at the light. To his surprise he actually managed to get some sleep. He sat up and stretched, recalling his dream. He remembered seeing the cat. But could it really talk? No, that's nonsense. How could a cat have the ability to talk? That would be like a lizard being able to breathe fire. It was physically impossible. Right?
"Come back here you evil yarn ball!" Callie yelled as she chased a yarn ball around Tierra's room. She pounced on it and began a wrestling match. Callie rolled around so many times the yarn started to unravel and wrap around her body, proving she was losing.
Tierra had already left for class. She had closed the blinds tightly so Callie didn't have to hide from the sun. All four cats were in the room. Angel was sitting on the desk watching Callie lose to yarn, Amadeus was sitting on the windowsill, also a spectator to Callie's wrestling match, and Galen was lying on the bed, asleep.
"So, who do you think is gonna win this?" Angel asked Amadeus.
"I'm rooting for the yarn ball," Amadeus replied. Callie shouted something at him, but it was muffled do to the yarn wrapped around her head, covering her mouth.
"What was that, Callie?" asked Angel. Callie struggled to get the yarn off her head, which took about two minutes. It fell down to her chest as she stood on all fours.
"Meanie!" the white cat yelled. Amadeus faked offense and pounced on Callie for revenge. The two rolled on the floor for a few minutes. Callie yelped every now and then, out of fear not pain, while Amadeus laughed. Amadeus finally broke up the play-fight to be sure Callie knew he was just playing.
"I can't believe you fell for that!" the black cat meowed. Callie glared at him.
"Aw, Amadeus, that was mean," said Angel, before pouncing down on him and starting a fight of her own. Angel never let anyone mess with her friends. Especially Callie.
Callie watched Angel and Amadeus for a minute, glad that Angel stood up for her. Then she saw Galen and got an idea. The albino jumped up on the bed and crept up behind the gray cat. She crouched down and waited for a few seconds.
"HI GALEN!" Callie shouted as she pounced on her friend. Galen yelped as he and Callie fell to floor.
"What was that for?!" he yelled as he stood up and shook his fur.
"For fun," Callie replied with a grin.
"Why me?" Galen asked.
"Because you're fun to annoy," said Callie.
"And why is that?" Galen hissed. Callie took great pleasure in his anger.
"Because Amadeus just hisses and leaves. And Angel swipes at me. You, on the other hand, get really mad and ask the same questions every time I jump on you. You even yelp!" the albino laughed.
"I yelped because I was surprised," Galen defended. Callie grinned. "What?"
"I scared you! I scared you!" Callie chanted. Galen glared at her. Her grin faded, her ears went flat against her head, and her tail drooped. "Please don't hurt me," she said quietly.
Galen shrugged and hopped back onto the bed. He looked down at Callie.
"I never hurt you, Callie. Why would I start now?" he asked. Callie shrugged.
"No clue," she replied.
Tierra sat on the cliff overlooking the beach. Her brown hair framed her sun-tanned face. Her hazel eyes watched the water. The sun was just setting. Soon she would have to go back and get the cats. But for now, some time alone would be nice. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her chin on top of her knees and continued to watch the waves crash against the shore.
She thought about what Angel had said last night. Was she right? Did she like that boy? Tierra let out a long sigh as she released her legs. She pushed herself into a kneeling position and picked up a small rock next to her. She held it her palm. It was very smooth and perfectly flat. The white on it had faded so much, it was almost clear. She held up to the setting sun. The light tried to pass through, but was held back by tiny bit of color left.
The rock reminded Tierra of her dream and the mystery it held. She wanted to understand, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. Just like the light trying to pass through the rock. It wanted to. It seemed to push with all its might. But the bit of white left acted as barrier between where the stream of light was and where it wanted to go. Tierra closed her hand and held the rock tight in her fist.
The last bit of sun crept behind the horizon and moonlight slowly took its place. The four cats met Tierra on the beach. Once they were there, Amadeus and Galen headed for the water to fish, Angel dedicated herself to hunting a mouse in some tall grass nearby, and Callie started looking for something play with.
Callie spotted something white hidden beneath the sand.
"Ooh, a feather!" she exclaimed, digging it up. Upon hearing Callie's random exclamation, Galen looked over at her.
"Oh no," he sighed under his breath. The gray cat walked out of the water and ran to Callie. "Callie, don't! That's not a feather! It's a-" Galen was cut off by Callie realizing that the "feather" was alive.
"I'm gonna name you Jimmy!" she said, patting the clam. The clam didn't like this, and opened its mouth. "Are you hungry, Jimmy?" Callie asked it.
"Callie! It's a-" Galen was once again cut off. But this time it was because of Callie's scream after "Jimmy" clamped down on her paw.
"Ack! Bad Jimmy! Bad, bad Jimmy!" the white cat tried to discipline the clam. She shook her paw furiously trying to get it off. "Eeeeee!!!!! Get him off me! Get him off me!"
"Callie, hold still!" yelled Galen as he rushed to her. Callie stopped shaking her paw, but continued to scream.
"Eeeeeeek!!!! Galen, get him off!" she demanded. Galen pried the clam off Callie's paw and threw it back into the ocean. "Owie…" Callie complained, nursing her paw.
"It's okay, Callie. The clam's gone," Galen reassured. Amadeus, Angel, and Tierra had watched the entire scene. But, now that it was over, they all returned to what they were doing. Callie, on the other hand, looked at Galen with big, sad eyes.
"Gone?" she asked. Galen nodded.
"Yes. The clam is gone," he repeated.
"No! What did you do with Jimmy?" demanded the albino.
"I threw back in the water," explained Galen. Callie looked out to the open sea.
"No! Jimmy! I'll never forget you!" she called. If Galen could roll his eyes, he would've. Then, something else caught Callie's eyes. It was a small speck of white in the sand next to Galen. Callie walked over and sniffed it, then looked up at her friend. "Galen, what's this?" she asked.
"That's a baby clam," said Galen.
"Really? Yay!" said Callie, lifting the baby clam with her paw. "I shall call him Jimmy Junior!" she exclaimed.
"Not again," Galen mumbled. At that moment, the baby clam, or Jimmy Jr., as Callie liked to call it, attached itself to Callie's whisker. Which she laughed about.
"Okay, Jimmy Jr., you can get off now," said Callie. But the tiny clam didn't listen. It stayed on her whisker. "Jimmy Jr.! Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" she shouted. She began to shake her head furiously to get the clam off. It worked, and Jimmy Jr. went flying. "Jimmy Jr.!" Callie exclaimed, running off to find him.
"Callie! Callie!" Galen yelled, running after her.
"Galen!" Callie yelled, popping up in the grass. Galen sighed with relief. "I found Jimmy Jr.!" Callie held up the baby clam proudly.
"Callie, why don't let Jimmy Jr. back into the wild?" Galen replied.
"Aw….fine.." the white cat replied, gently placing the clam in her jaw and carrying it to the water. She left it where the shore meets the water and let the waves sweep it up. "You know, Galen, you're no fun."
"Thanks Callie." the grey animal said.
After that, Callie decided to go into the woods. She soon found a little squirrel sitting at the base of a tree.
"Ooh! A squirrel!" she exclaimed. The small rodent looked up from the nut it was chewing. "I'm gonna call you Larry!"
The squirrel cocked his head at Callie, who was approaching it very cautiously. The squirrel dropped its nut and scampered away, seeking safety in a nearby tree.
"Wait! Larry! I promise not to hurt you!" the albino followed the rodent up the tree, only to find him resting on the end of a long branch. As soon as Callie came into sight, "Larry" looked at her. She grinned and ran out onto the branch, scaring the furry little creature and causing it to jump onto the branch of a neighboring tree and scurrying away. Callie frowned, then realized she was loosing balance.
"Uh-oh." she said innocently as she dropped from her high perch and fell onto a passerby. As she got up, she noticed the stone around her neck glowing more fiercely then when she was around Amadeus, Galen, and Angel. She looked at the animal she knocked to the ground. Currently, all it looked like was an orange fur-ball.
The animal coughed as it lifted itself to its feet, revealing it to be a cat. Callie noticed the glowing rock around his neck.
"Friend!" she shouted, pouncing on him, intentionally this time.
"Ow…" the tom-cat groaned. "Who are you?"
He got up and examined Callie closely, paying special attention to her stone.
"I'm Callie!" she exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and almost hitting the cat in the face. He glared at her, then took a more polite approach and introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you Callie." he said, slightly sarcastic, "I'm Flame."
Callie grinned, staring at Flame with large eyes. Flame cocked his head.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Doing what?" Callie asked.
"Staring at me." The orange cat replied. Callie thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.
"I dunno."
The two then walked back to the beach, where Amadeus and Galen were happily nibbling on freshly caught fish.
"Amadeus! Galen! Look!" Callie exclaimed. The two looked up and grinned when they saw Flame.
"Greetings," they said in unison. Flame inclined his head in a nod of acknowledgment.
"Greetings," he replied.
"It's about time we found a new cat," Galen commented.
"Tell me," said Amadeus, "what you know of the secret,"
"Not much," the orange tom grunted. "Only that I'm a part of it."
Amadeus nodded and padded away, Galen following after him.
"You'll have to excuse Amadeus," said Callie, "He can be annoying."
Flame nodded, assuming the black cat was Amadeus and the gray was Galen.
"You have to meet Angel and Tierra!" Callie exclaimed. "Come on!"
She bounded away as Flame simply walked behind her.
"Angel! Tierra! Angel! Tierra!"
"What?" both asked. Tierra was making a new drawing and Angel was calming grooming herself. Callie attempted to make a drum roll sound with her tongue, then introduced them to Flame. After introductions were done, the three headed back to Tierra's dorm.
When they entered they found Galen asleep on the bed and Amadeus sitting contently on the windowsill. Callie ran over to the ball of yarn she was playing with before and continued her game while Angel leapt onto the desk chair, then the desk and sat back on her haunches. Flame looked around with disgust.
"What's wrong?" Angel asked.
"You…You live like house pets," said Flame.
"No we don't," said Callie, who was currently under the yarn ball.
"Yes you do!" Flame retorted, "Look at yourselves!"
This managed to wake up Galen and caught Amadeus's attention.
"What's wrong with the way we live?" Galen asked. Flame looked at him with complete shock.
"You're sleeping on a bed, Amadeus has made himself at home on a windowsill, Callie is playing with a pet toy, and Angel is quite comfortable on a desk! These are all human things! Humans keep cats as pets and this is how those pets act!"
"Quiet!" Amadeus shouted, jumping from the windowsill to the floor then marching up to Flame. "You have no right to judge the way we live," he said, taking a calmer tone, "This is how we chose to live and we have been fine with this arrangement for years. Unfortunately we can't tell you to go back to your home for we need all every cat here. You are going to live here with us, so get used to it."
The two cats stared at each other ferociously before Flame brushed past Amadeus in a huff and curled up in the far corner of the room. Amadeus took back his place at the windowsill.
Angel, Callie, Galen, and Tierra all exchanged glances before shrugging and returning to what they were originally doing.
A/N
He-he, this was a fun chapter! Thank you my wonderful reviewers! I am sooo happy you like the story! Hey, just out of curiosity, out of all the cats so far (include the new cat Flame, if you wish), who's you're favorite? I'll be asking that question every few chapters, just for the heck of it and to see which cats people like most. I'm weird like that. Oh, and ignore any typos. There was large one in the last chapter. Just to let you know, last chapter I typed chapter three when it was really chapter two. This is the real chapter three. Sorry for the confusion! R&R!
-Wolfie (Sarah the Slayer has given me that nickname, and I like it!)