Chapter 6: A Wolf's Temper
Silvermist looked around the hall. She and Kai had finished eating and were heading to their new hideout.
Kai asked if there were any guards out in the hall. She told him that the hall was clear. The two ran out into the hall and went left. They stopped by the guards' head quarters.
"Here it is," Kai said pointing to the door on the right side of the guards' head quarters. The guards' room was at the very end and the hideout was right next to it.
Kai looked behind them to make sure no one was looking. He got his claw out and picked the lock. He opened it slowly and saw that it was still empty.
"Welcome to our new hideout," said Kai.
Silvermist looked around. The room was pretty big for them. She could picture everything. Crescent and blue moon paintings on the walls, stars drawn on as well, super secret weapons, and tons of snacks.
Silvermist's mouth watered once she thought about all the cake and cookies they could have in their hideout. But her thoughts were interrupted when Kai pulled her in the room.
"What was that for?" she barked.
"Keep quiet," Kai shushed her. He closed the door and put his ear on the wooden door. He heard two guards coming their way.
"I don't know about her, but the boss says she's special," said one guard.
"He says he just took her from her mother," said the second guard.
Another guard joined in the conversation, "Ha! That little mutt, special? That's utterly ridiculous!"
Kai cocked his head. Who were they talking about? He continued to listen.
"That 'little mutt' happens to be important to the boss. And you know that whatever the boss says goes," said the first guard.
The third guard just said, "I still say that mutt will be the next one who's going to get it if I run into her again."
The first guard said, "Boss won't be happy about you messing with her."
The second guard spoke up, "Why don't we just go talk to the boss?"
Kai stopped listening and looked at Silvermist. "We need to spy on those guards to see who they're looking for," said Kai.
Silvermist said with a cheerful smile and a salute, "Yes sir!"
Kai saw her wag her tail and said, "What are you doing?"
"I'm happy and I'm wagging my tail," Silvermist said.
Kai rolled his eyes. He wasn't used to hanging around wolves. He thought it was strange. He opened the door and saw the three guards go in.
"I'll go in first and you stay here. If I'm not back in five minutes, come looking for me," Kai said.
Silvermist nodded. Her tail stopped wagging. She was a little nervous going on by herself. She watched with her silver eyes as the mountain lion snuck into the room.
Kai peeked in at first and then saw they were all talking in one corner of the room. He had hidden behind two potted plants.
His eyes watched as all the guards gathered around a rectangular bamboo table. They all stopped talking and there was a cold silence. The air seemed stiff and Kai felt nervous that if he moved, someone would hear.
His ears jerked up once he heard someone's foot steps come from his right. He crouched down more and watched as the goat with a staff walked in.
The goat seemed to have a limp and looked weak. Is this their leader? Kai wondered.
His thought was proven correct once one guard spoke up, "Leader, three guards have come with a question for you."
The goat continued to limp over to the bamboo chair and sat down. He said, "Let the three guards step forward and state their question."
The three guards came up. Two were slightly shaking in their place while the one in front stood boldly, his head held high, his black eyes narrowed, and his chest outward a little.
The guard in front said, "We've come to report about that mutt you said was special. She isn't worth anything."
"She is. You know nothing," the goat said simply.
"I know nothing? Listen goat! I'm the strongest rhino guard in this whole dumb dungeon! I'm the strongest and toughest and I can defeat you in a snap!"
The goat threw his staff behind him and rushed at the rhino guard. The small goat lifted the rhino goat up with ease and tossed him to the side.
The goat grabbed him by the throat and said, "You dare question me? You won't see daylight if you ever do that to me again!"
"Y-yes sir," he managed to say.
The goat let go of his throat and walked over to the chair. But this time, without any limp.
Kai took a small step back. This goat was obviously incredibly strong, but his looks were deceiving.
Kai listened in again. "Now, my plans are simple. We will leave this pup be. If she tries to escape, you stop her. If she attacks you, attack her back. But do not mess with her without her starting it, understood?"
The guards responded all together, "Yes leader."
Kai had lost track of time. It had been over five minutes. He went to sneak out, but then they all got up to talk as their leader left.
Silvermist shivered. Oh I hope he's okay, she thought worriedly.
Her tail was in between her legs and her ears were flat down. She looked at the hideout. The walls were a light tan and the floor was an old cement gray. It was very dusty, but she rather stay there than go into the guards' room.
She opened the door slightly and looked at the guards' room door. She swallowed hard and sighed. "I have to conquer my fear," she told herself.
She stepped out and confidently grabbed the door. She swung it open, not thinking before doing so, and all the guards stared at the wolf pup.
Her fear shadowed over her at that moment. Her ears flat down, eyes wide in fear, and her tail tucked between her legs again.
Kai looked around for someway to help her without getting caught. He didn't find any. Then soon, something terrible happened.
The guard who had been tossed to the side by their leader, came forward from the crowd. He looked down at the wolf pup and snapped, "You little runt, get over here!"
Silvermist screamed and tried to run off, but the guard grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. "You've gotten me in so much trouble," he said.
Silvermist looked into the rhino's eyes. She recgonized him. He was the same guard who had ordered Sue to scrub the floors. "You," was all she could say.
He grinned. "Yes, me," he said eerily. He turned her around and yanked her tail.
She let out a sharp bark in pain. The guard just laughed at her. The guard scoffed, "What's the matter little puppy, does that hurt?"
Silvermist tried to take her tail away from him, but he held on tightly. He yanked it again and again. Silvermist felt tears start to build in her silver eyes.
Kai couldn't take it anymore. All the guards were now torturing the little wolf pup. He stood up over the plants and yelled, "Leave her alone!"
The guards turned to see the young mountain lion step out from behind the plants. The guard who now held Silvermist by the tail, scoffed, "Oh, the little mutt now has a kitty cat friend now, huh?"
Kai hissed and lunged at the rhino's face. He scratched and punched the guard quickly. All the guards came in and tried to carefully remove the mountain lion cub.
Even though Kai was attacking him, the rhino still held onto her tail. The rhino started leaning backwards from Kai blinding him. Silvermist felt the hard pull on her tail once more and had enough.
Her eyes narrowed and her fur bristled. She showed her fangs and easily took her tail away from him. She tackled the rhino down and Kai jumped off of him.
Kai stepped back, not believing what was happening. Silvermist swatted her paws quickly, yet striking hard. The guards ran towards her, trying to calm her down, but she didn't listen.
She then charged at them. She gave a hard kick to one guard's stomach and he went flying back into the wall. Kai just blinked in astonishment.
She took one guard's arm and flipped him over. She took another and tossed him over to the other guards, knocking them all down.
The rhino guard, now having tons of scars and scratches on his face, seemed slightly scared of the little wolf.
"I have had it!" she barked. She looked at the rhino. "Stop yanking my tail or I'll take that horn and throw you across the room!"
The rhino guard got up and tried to fight her again. Kai went to stop him, but Silvermist got to him first.
She charged at him, gave him a hard punch in the stomach, took his horn, and threw him across the room.
The rhino now had a giant bump on his head and his face was bleeding from the scratches and scars from Silvermist.
Silvermist panted. Her fur no longer bristled and she relaxed. She looked around and saw what she had done. She was both happy and terrified.
She was happy she had defeated the guards and they had stopped yanking her tail, but she had lost control of herself for that moment. She had no idea what came over her.
She looked at Kai to see if he had anything to say. And he did; he said with a wide smile, "That was awesome!"
Silvermist just blinked. "What?"
Kai walked over to her and said, "You were like," he started to imitate her moves. "Hi-ya! And then, ha! And then you were like, hee-ya!"
Silvermist giggled. "So, I did good?"
Kai nodded. "You did great. You'll make a great partner."
Kai gestured for her to follow him and Silvermist did. The lion cub and wolf pup walked off and back to their hideout. But the guards' leader was watching.
The goat smirked when he looked at all the guards lying unconscious on the floor. So, that wolf is strong even at a young age, huh? That will be just fine. I just need to make sure she doesn't know that she's the next guardian until her powers kick in, thought the goat.
He saw the rhino guard, who had multiple scars on his face, was starting to wake up. The room was spinning in his sight. The goat approached him.
"Maybe you'll listen the next time I instruct you to do something," said the goat.
The rhino nodded slowly. His face searing in pain from the scratches and scars. He then blacked out and the goat went back to his room, planning about what he could do with Silvermist.