THE FADING FLAMES
. . . . . .
From the tom's sly words and the look on his face, Flame could tell that this cat was not sane. He looked crazy from the start. From when she first saw him when she walked into camp, he seemed… off. Maybe this was why.
"I don't know what you're—"
"I'm sure you do know what I'm talking about." He snarled, his bushy tail covering her mouth, despite her grunted protest.
"This is not your place. This is not your position to hold. I've waited a long time for it." His eyes were wild, and she was scared stiff. Somehow, she managed to slip out of his grasp and make an escape towards the exit. But, quick as a snake, Boulder blocked her way, snarling in her face.
"I won't let you take this away from me." He hissed furiously, aiming a swipe at her face with outstretched claws. Screeching, she ducked out of the way. In his misstep, Flame scrambled to her paws and leaped out of the tunnel, glad to finally see daylight. Not wanting to savor the moment for more than a second, she raced out of the den, looking around frantically. In her confusion, she crashed head on into another cat.
"Huh?" the cat responded, turning around to look at her.
He was young; closer to her age. Probably older, though. A handsome tom with brown tabby fur and light amber eyes. Looking closely, she noticed he had a shorter tail, one that ended in a small kink.
"Umm—uhh…" Flame searched for words to explain the panicked expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"There's a c—black cat… he's upset and…"
"Boulder." The tom grunted heavily as he stood up. How fast he confirmed it worried her.
As Boulder finally emerged, Flame covered behind the tom. Not really needed, though, because soon Red was standing in front of both of them.
"What's got your fur in a twist, Boulder?" Red asked, voice steady, but eyes holding in anger.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." The black tom responded sarcastically. "That kit just keeps pestering me. It's a surprise you didn't hear it from your den." He growled.
He tried to kill me! Flame wanted to scream, but the fear and the blank thoughts in her head kept her from doing so.
"I'm sure she won't do it again. But maybe you should try to make yourself more likeable so we won't have problems like this again." For all of the fear Flame had, she had a place to admire how confident Red was around Boulder. Just looking at the black cat sent a chill down her spine.
When Red finished seeing off the angry tom, he looked over at Flame and her companion. "Are you two alright?"
Flame nodded, still a little too afraid to speak.
"Well, good. I hope that he won't give you more trouble, but I can't promise he won't for us." Rolling his eyes, Red padded away.
"You must have bothered him a lot." The tom said, snapping Flame back to reality. "Boulder usually doesn't get that angry. Well… he does… but he hasn't for a while." The tom shrugged his shoulders.
There was something about him that reminded her of Red. Maybe the cool, uncaring side, or the confident, fearless side.
"Thank goodness Red was here." Flame sighed.
"He always seems to pop up at the worst times, but I guess this was an exception."
Flame was shocked by the little amount of respect came out of the tom's words.
Noticing Flame's expression, the tom chuckled. "Oh, you didn't know? Red's my dad. He's pretty chill most of the time. But I guess that's a good thing." He winked at her.
She laughed, finishing putting the pieces together in her head. "My name's Flame." She said. "What's your's?"
"Cole." He responded, chest held high. "The one and only."
. . . . . .