Chapter 10: The Game
The young wolf pup nudged the mountain lion cub slightly. Kai glanced over at Silvermist. She gestured with her paw slightly towards Fengbao.
Kai was having second thoughts about asking his dad for help. He would have to explain what they had been doing. He just didn't know if he'd approve of going against the goat since Fengbao was forced to work here.
"C'mon Kai, go and talk to your dad," Silvermist whispered to him.
Kai just looked down at his plate of vegetables. He drummed his finger on the shaky wooden table they usually ate at and sighed. "I don't know, Misty."
"Kai, you've been 'I don't know'-ing for the past five days. Tell him, please?" she begged.
Kai looked at her silver eyes and then at his food. "Anything is better than eating this food I suppose," muttered Kai. He took a quick look over at the dumplings. He was being tortured by the wonderful aroma wafting over his way. But, he and Silvermist still weren't allow to have any.
Kai got up off the wobbly seat and over to his father who was talking to Sue. He stood straight, paws behind his back, and his eyes focused on his dad. He waited patiently for him to finish his conversation with his mother.
His gentle green eyes went from his mother to his father as each one spoke. Then, Sue gestured to their son and Fengbao looked at the cub. "Yes, Kai?"
"Dad," he began. He rubbed his arm and his mouth opened, but no words came out. He paused and Sue just said, "Kai, close your mouth. Nobody wants to see the inside of it."
Kai just said, "Can you train Silvermist and I?"
Fengbao looked at his son curiously. "Train you? Train you for what exactly?"
Kai saw that his father was puzzled by this. He continued, "Well, Silvermist and I want to find a way out of here. And we found one. But we have to get through the guards and a giant volcano monster."
Fengbao just blinked and smiled. Kai knew that smile though. It was the smile that told him that his father would play along. Fengbao thought it was all in Kai's imagination and he didn't want to crush it.
"Sure son. I'll train you," he said with that smile. He turned back to his wife and Kai tried to explain.
"But Dad," Kai insisted. "I'm telling the truth! You have to believe me. We really need training."
"Kai, if you wanted me to teach you and Silvermist some fighting moves, all you had to do was ask," Fengbao said putting his paw on Kai's shoulder.
Kai looked down. His dad wouldn't listen. So he just deicded to go along with it. "Okay, Dad."
The young mountain lion turned back to glance at his best friend. Silvermist shrugged. She didn't know what to say either.
Kai went over to Silvermist and said, "I think we'll just have to go along with this. Just until he actually believes us."
"But until then," Silvermist said, turning her attention to the food placed in front of her. "We have to eat this slop."
The two both groaned as they stared at the awful and slimy tasting food.
After lunch, they went out into the halls. They didn't have anything specific they wanted to do. They just wanted to relax and enjoy their time. They walked down the dim halls and passed a few guards who murmured as they walked by. Kai looked back and gave some glares which made the guards fall silent.
Kai chuckled after he glared at the fourth guard that talked about them behind their backs. Silvermist smiled as well and wagged her tail as they walked at an easy pace. Kai tilted his head to the side slightly. He stared at her tail that wagged sideways quickly.
He stopped and looked back at his own tail with his gentle green eyes. His light brown furry tail just hung low to the ground, but didn't touch it. He tried to wag it back and forth like Silvermist. This time, both Silvermist and Kai cocked their heads at the sight.
"I think it's just a wolf thing," Silvermist said with a playful smile.
Kai smiled back. He stopped trying to wag his tail and repositioned his head. Silvermist did as well and continued to walk down. She saw a group of kids down the hall playing jump rope.
She thought of something she hadn't before. She saw within the group, sheep, goats, bunnies, and leopards. She looked at herself. She had soft, silver fur, silver eyes, and had a tail she could wag all day long if she wished.
She just looked at Kai then. He had light brown fur with some black spots and unique patterns on his fur. Kai told her that he would someday lose those and just have plain light brown fur like his parents. He had a dark brown vest and dark brown, slightly baggy, pants. He had told her that he might get a belt to carry around a weapon.
But the thought still raced through her mind. I wonder if there are any other wolves, she wondered. She didn't know if there were any other mountain lions, but she did know that there weren't any wolves around that she knew.
Kai interrupted her thoughts and suggested, "Hey, how about we hang out with them?"
Silvermist wasn't really sure if she'd like to join them. She sometimes played with the other kids by her home, but not very often. Her father usually played with her and told her different stories about what he had experienced through the years. She remembered him telling her that he had climbed tall and dangerous mountains, swam in waters that held ferocious sea creatures, and traveled in the murkiest and extremely eerie forests.
Silvermist then looked at her friend and thought she might give it a try. She remembered her mother's words, which were, "You never know until you try."
Silvermist just replied, "Sure."
Kai and Silvermist walked over by the group of kids. They stopped playing and looked at the two. Most of the kids smiled widely once they saw Kai. One goat approached the young mountain lion. "Hey, it's the prank master," he said, holding up his hand for a high-five.
Kai smiled and high-fived the young goat. "Thanks Danny," Kai said. He turned to his best friend. He put his arm around her and said proudly, "This is my best friend, Silvermist."
The others just stared at her. They just blinked. They didn't say anything to her. After awhile, some of them started to whisper to one another. Silvermist didn't know what to say. She felt nervous and smiled sheepishly, "Hi."
"What are you?" asked one child.
"M-Me? I'm a w-wolf," Silvermist said, still feeling shy.
"What's a wolf?" asked another child.
"A wolf is similar to a dog I think," Danny replied.
One small and cute little sheep pushed through the group of children so she could see Silvermist up close. She just stared up at the she-wolf who was taller than her. She reached out her small hands and said, "Puppy-dog!"
Silvermist didn't know what to say or do. She saw that the little sheep was jumping up and down, her hands still reaching up towards the ceiling. Silvermist bent down slightly and picked the sheep up. The little sheep hugged Silvermist and said, "Puppy-dog!"
Silvermist smiled and wagged her tail. Another sheep came over and took the sheep from Silvermist roughly. "Get your dirty paws off my sister, you dog," the female sheep snapped.
Kai stepped forward. "Leave her alone," Kai growled.
"I'm not afraid of you. You're just a kitty-cat," the sheep said, sticking her tongue out at him.
Kai narrowed his eyes. He growled and his claws-small but very sharp-unsheathed as his anger built. He raised his paw to strike, but a guard stopped him. "Hey, kid. No hitting," the rhino said.
But you always do it, Kai thought in his mind as he looked back at the guard.
The guard noticed the little wolf next to him. "Hey, it's the mutt," the guard said with a sly grin. He reached down and yanked Silvermist's tail.
"Hey!" called out another guard. "What in blazes are you doing?!"
"Playing with the mutt," the rhino guard replied, letting go of her tail.
"Don't you know what happened to the other guard?" the one guard whispered to the rhino. He then whispered what had happened to the last guard that yanked her tail. The rhino guard then took a large step back, his eyes wide when looking at the young wolf. The two ran off, before she had the chance of fighting them.
"See? Even the scary guards are afraid of her. She's weird," the sheep commented, still holding her little sister. The little sheep however, took a liking towards Silvermist. "Puppy-dog," the little sheep said in a whisper.
"C'mon Silvermist," Kai said grabbing her paw and beginning to turn away. "We don't need to hang around her."
Silvermist followed Kai and looked back to see them all huddled together in a group, whispering to each other. She could just imagine the insults and names they were calling her right now. She then looked straight ahead, trying to ignore the group of kids.
The next day, Kai and Silvermist were wondering whether Fengbao would teach them some moves today or tomorrow. They just leaned against the wall, close to the lunch room.
Silvermist heard her friend's stomach growl. "I think you should go and eat," she told him.
"I'm not going to eat that stuff. It's nasty," Kai said cringing.
"You're mother won't be happy with you if you don't," Silvermist reminded him.
Kai sighed. "Alright. But you're coming with me."
"I'm not hungry," she said with a smile.
Kai just looked at her and muttered, "I'll get back at you for this."
Silvermist just laughed lightly and waited for her friend to come back out. She spotted some of the kids from yesterday and tried not to make any eye contact with them. She tried to ignore them mostly. But they didn't do the same. "Hey," the little sheep's older sister said to Silvermist.
Silvermist reluctantly looked back at the sheep and said quietly, "Hi."
"I'm sorry for being so mean to you yesterday," she said. Silvermist relaxed a little more.
Silvermist forced a smile and said, "It's alright."
"No, it's not alright. I was being really mean to you when I shouldn't have been," said the sheep named, Dawn.
Danny came forward and said, "How about you play a game with us?"
Silvermist looked back at the door towards the lunch room. She wanted Kai to come with her. But soon, Danny and Dawn grabbed her paws and led her down the hallway towards where they were yesterday.
I hope Kai won't mind, she thought to herself. She didn't know whether he'd be angry or perfectly fine with her playing with the other kids without him.
The other kids looked at her and smiled happily. She smiled back, starting to feel a little more welcome. But something in her mind told her, Watch out for a trick. You should leave now.
Silvermist didn't see anything suspicious about them. Not at that moment anyway. She waited for them to explain the rules of the game. "This game is called tag," said Dawn.
"Oh! I know how to play," Silvermist said with a smile.
Dawn looked at the wolf pup and said, "That's good." Dawn continued on, "Now since we all know how to play, let's begin. I'm it."
Silvermist ran off away from Dawn, who was chasing her. Silvermist smiled, she liked playing with other kids. She ran on all fours, her tail wagging as she ran. She then jumped up and pushed her foot against the wall and launched herself over to the other wall. She did a back flip over Dawn and started running the other way.
"Whoa," Dawn said.
Silvermist stopped running as she saw Dawn completely stunned. It took days of practice, fighting that volcano monster, she thought to herself. She just smiled and said, "Catch me if you can."
Dawn smirked. But not in a cheerful and happy way. More like a sneaky and sly way. I told you to watch out for a trick! said a voice in her mind.
Silvermist didn't understand. She was too lost in thought and didn't pay attention as Dawn approached. Instead of giving Silvermist a light tap on the shoulder, she tugged on her tail. "Ow!" Silvermist barked.
Dawn laughed. She then ran off. Silvermist stroked her tail. Her tail was still sore from the guards pulling it. She then felt angry and ran after Dawn.
Dawn's eyes grew wide once she saw the enraged she-wolf charging her way at full speed. She sprinted down the hallway and Silvermist was just mere inches away from her. As she ran on all fours and was about to tackle the sheep, someone pulled her back with a hard tug on her tail.
Silvermist winced in pain. She let out a loud bark from the tug. She lay on the floor. She didn't know whether to get up or not. Rage was building up more and more inside of her, yet she was also starting to break down. Tears started to build in her silver eyes.
Dawn panted, almost about to fall over from exhaustion. But then she saw Silvermist lying on the floor, her eyes glassy, her whole body shivering, and some occasional whimpering. She stood tall, trying to ignore the strong urge to sit down and relax. She looked down at Silvermist as she approached her.
Silvermist looked up at Dawn. Her now gentle and teary-looking silver eyes met with Dawn's narrowed and angry dark brown eyes. Dawn went around to Silvermist's tail. As she began to lean over and yank Silvermist's tail, someone yelled, "Hold it!"
Dawn looked up, as well as the other kids who were watching. A young mountain lion looked at her furiously. "Step away from my friend."
"Or what?" Dawn asked. She was ready for a challenge.
Kai growled, "Or this." Dawn, too distracted by Kai's glare, didn't expect the footsweep coming her way. She was soon knocked off her feet and was being held by her ankles. Kai held her up high and said, "Are you gonna say sorry?"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Dawn cried out. The other kids around the corner scattered; in fear that Kai would do the same to them. Kai then placed Dawn down and went to help Silvermist up.
Silvermist wiped the tears away with her arm and accepted Kai's offer-an outstretched paw to help her get up.
Kai looked at her and said, "My mom can help with your tail."
"O-okay. It r-r-really hurts," she stuttered.
He looked back at Dawn who was shivering as she walked back to the others. He just had a bad feeling that this wouldn't be the end of everyone pulling Silvermist's tail.