Chapter 10: A new home and some new friends.
"No way. You've got to be kidding me" Demon said as he gawked at the big cave in front of him.
The shadow who had given him the collar and etc said, "Nope we're not kidding. This is where we all live. We also have some territory surrounding the area but its not much." this kougra had also became known as Barek.
The other shadow that he had met was named Thul. He had simply nodded to Barek's answer.
Indeed the big deep black stone cave was where many shadows lived. Some actually slept outside, but those were mostly guards.
Demon shook his head in disbelief. He had gone from a comfortable home to a hole in a mountain. He sighed to himself, "I hope things get better soon"
Barek and Thul walked on though the big area where many shadow cubs were pouncing and playing with each other.
Demon watched them with interest as he walked by them. Then suddenly he was pounced on and rolled. He finally stopped rolling to see that he had been pinned down by a shadow cub about his age who was grinning happily, his eyes shut.
"Hah! I finally got you Helter! You said I couldn't but I did, now what choo' gonna do about it!" the shadow cub said then opened his eyes and looked down...only to find that he didn't pin down who he thought he had.
Demon stared up at the other kougra for a moment before growling, "Get off!"
The shadow cub, now wide eyed, nodded and quickly scrambled off of him. "W-who are you darigan? You shouldn't be here. O-our leader will get mad if she finds you hear without permission!" the cub said in a nervous tone. He had heard about darigans, and that most weren't the friendliest of pets.
"My name is Demon. Apparently you haven't heard but your leader is dead. I'm your new leader" Demon said watching the cub cautiously.
The shadow cub looked at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, "You! Yea right I doubt she was brought down by an outsider like you! From the way your coat looks your from central right? Hah! She definitely wasn't beaten by you, most pets from there are weak anyways!"
Demon growled and was about to pounce on the other cub when Thul walked up beside the cub, "Skelter I would stop laughing. He has indeed killed her and taken over the army. So your laughing and insulting your new leader" he smirked.
Skelter stopped laughing and looked up at Thul, "W-what? No way!"
"Yea you have to be kidding dad!" and cub said as he walked up to them.
Demon thought he was seeing double the new cub looked exactly the same as Skelter, "Who are you?"
The other cub just walked up and sat down beside Skelter.
Thul sighed, "Sorry he isn't much of a talker unless you get to know him better. These two are my sons. They are identical twins. This is Skelter" he pointed to the first cub, "and this is Helter" he said pointing to the other.
"Twins? Hmm I've never seen twins before, but I have read about them." he smirked, "Heh cute"
The brothers stared at him for a moment, "So your really the new leader? How odd. You must be the youngest yet..neat!" they smiled.
Demon was about to reply when an ear splitting scream sounded in the air. He jumped out of the way as a small black blur rushed past him.
Helter shook his head slowly, "She's so weird!"
Demon looked at him, "Who was that? What was that?"
"That was Quince. She's the oddest kougress I've ever seen! If she sees or even feels like a speck of dirt or anything she freaks and runs to the water to take a bath because she feels dirty"
"Yea I sometimes think she should've been born a Maraquan kougra" Skelter snickered.
The small black blur stopped right in front of the twins, "Hey -gasp- guys have you seen my -gasp- mom?"
They shook their heads, "Nope. What happened this time? Did a spyder look at you?" Helter chuckled.
"Or did a leaf hit your tail?" Skelter joined in.
"NO!" she glared at them, "I stepped in some mud thank you very much!" she turned to leave only to come face to face with Demon, "Oh hello...who are you?"
"Hello. I'm Demon" he said giving a slight bow.
Quince blushed a bit, though you couldn't really see it through her fur, "O-oh..umm..." she tried to think of something to say but nothing came to mind.
"Yea plus guess what Quince? He's the new leader of the army!" Skelter said.
Quince looked shocked, "What? No way...wow."
Demon smirked, "Yes. But no worries, I don't think I'll change anything much. Well except the place we live, that is going to change."
Quince blush deepened, "Uhh yea kay. I have to go now bye!" she said quickly and ran off.
Demon looked after her in confusion, "What's her problem?"
The twins shrugged.
Thul chuckled, "Oh she's fine. Well anyways I need to catch up with Barek and then tell the elders and the others about what has happened" he turned to Helter and Skelter, "How about you two show Demon where his bed is, its really late and you all need some rest. You can show him around the place tomorrow"
"Yes dad" they muttered.
Thul smiled and walked off.
Helter turned to Demon, "Come on we'll show you where to go" and began to walk towards the cave, with Skelter in tow.
Demon got up and followed them. He looked around taking in all the surroundings he could, "How old are most of the cubs around here?"
"Most are about our age, five. But Quince and some of her friends are four" Skelter said over his shoulder.
They entered the cave several minutes later. Demon looked around to see many kougras and kougresses chatting, sleeping, or just staring at the rocky ceiling.
"Here you go, it might smell like our old leader for a bit but it'll wear off soon" Helter said as he nodded to a cliff high up above the ground. There were smaller cliffs in the wall that led up to it like a staircase.
"Alright thanks" Demon said before leaping up to the first small cliff then steadied himself before jumping to the next one. He had almost slipped near the top but caught himself. He finally made it to the top to find a mat that looked like it was made out fluffy furs. Demon shrugged, he was to tired to care about such things. He walked over and flopped down on the comfortable mat. He yawned and curled up into a ball before drifting off to sleep.
-To the elder's cave-
"So he's a cub?"
"Yes sir. Very young. Five to be exact the same age as my boys" Thul said as he bowed to the elders.
"Hmmm. Well I hope he can take care of such a task. It seems like so much pressure and stress to put on a cub" one said.
"It does seem like a lot sir. But he's not like a regular cub. He seems so much more mature, and he posses a lot of knowledge for such a young kougra." Thul said as he stood again.
"I say that we kill him or kick him out, leader is now place for a cub" said Zeem a rather new kougra to the elder group.
"Well lets take a poll then. All in favor of giving Demon a chance at the position?" said the head elder.
Several paws were raised into the air.
"Ok. Who in favor of Zeem's idea?"
A few paws rose.
"Alright then. We'll give him two weeks if he's failed miserable by then he's gone"
(So whats up with Quince anyways? Lol. Will Demon make it or will he be an outcast again? You'll find out in the next chapter of Dearest Brother of Mine! -insert dramtic music here-)