The sun was getting closer to the horizon, glazing the whispy clouds with pink, tawny shades. Although the sun was anxious to come up, it was still a few hours journey to peeking over. The final stars of night in the west blinked out, hiding from the daylight. The band of deep blue in the sky close to the water's edge fizzled to a purple. The water danced with hypnotic colors.

The island was silent. There was no wind in the trees. All was completely still besides the slow rise of the animal's pelts, and a slight grumbling from the mountain. Hardly noticeable if you moved at all, but if you stood motionless, you would feel the trembling in your toes.

The tiny vibrations woke Rocco up. He sat up to see the mountain clearly. It seemed motionless, but the trembling land told a different story.

He shrugged and looked at the sleeping animals. It took him a minute to blink off sleep and notice that Trinket was gone. A fresh set of paw prints led to the jungle.

Maybe she went to make dirt or get a drink. He thought.

He fell asleep again, but when he woke up, she was still gone. He was beginning to get worried, and decided to wake Gunter up.

He shook the dog's fluffy white pelt. "Gunter! Wake up! I think Trinket is missing!"

Gunter blinked a single eye open in indignation. "She's probably just making dirt, go back to where you came from."

"No! That's what I thought!" Rocco said. "She has been gone for at least the space of an hour!"

"What?" Gunter asked, rising stiffly.

"Yes! Do you think we should look for her?" Rocco asked.

"No, I don't think we should. She's a very capable cat. Maybe she went to get water and she found something shiny; the trip to the river takes a while, you know." Gunter flopped his head back down. "I think we should sleep for a while longer."

Anxiety started to rise in Rocco. He rubbed his fore paws, trying to think.

He leapt to Rita. "Rita? Are you awake?"

She sat up, stretching. "Yeah, I sort of was. Trinket's missing?" She asked.

"You heard?" Rocco yipped.

"You aren't very quiet." She commented, standing up. "I'll help you find her; I'm awake anyways. But we should see who will help first off."

They manage to wake up Dondigo and the remaining cats, leaving Gunter alone to sleep.

"Whatever trouble she has managed to get herself into, she deserves what's comin' to her!" Bjorn said. "After her endless chatter last night, I would laugh if she spontaneously combust!"

"What if she's in real trouble?" Snaggle asked sympathetically. "Trinket's a tough cat, but she has her moments!"

"I'm sure she's fine." Rita said. "The journey to and back from the pond is a little over an hour. I wouldn't be surprised if she ran straight into us."

Rocco didn't feel so sure. As he continued through the dark jungle, the ghost dog-feeling haunted him. The jungle was pitch black in places, waiting for the sun to return.

When they saw the river, it didn't make Rocco feel any better. Ghostly light fluttered between the trees, illuminating the river a soft green. The color made Rocco want to hurl.

"The green . . . " Dondigo shuttered.

"Just the dawn!" Rita said, trying to reassure herself. "A trick of the light." Her voiced was concealed by a thin layer of bravery.

"Her scent isn't here . . . " Bjorn said. "But it's wafting from upwind, towards the pond."

"Come on!" Rita said, bounding towards the pond with all four paws.

"Strange she would go straight to the pond. She could have easily taken a drink here." Bjorn said, following the white mouse.

"This feeling . . . It's terrible! I don't think I can go on!" Dondigo said, covering his ears with his paws.

"Dondigo, you have to! Or they'll think you're a scardy-cat!" Rocco said, ignoring the cuff over the ear from Snaggle. "And I'm sure it's nothing."

"Feelings don't lie!" Dondigo squeaked. "I'm going back; Gunter was right! Sleeping is better!" He scurried back the way they came before Rocco could say anything.

Fine. I don't control his life. Rocco thought, following Snaggle up the river bank.

But Dondigo was right. The haunting feeling of a ghost, wishing to kill you, was not a pleasant one. It made your blood curl like a rotting flower.

When they got to the pond, Rocco deeply considered joining Dondigo. The first sliver of sunlight illuminated the waterfall, making it appear like fire.

"Her scent ends where the river and the pond meet. She must have gone for a swim." Bjorn said.

Uh oh, Rocco thought. I do not want to swim into that ghoulish cave right at sunhigh. That water's probably freezing!

Rita hesitated before dipping her toe in the water and shaking icy droplets off. "Brr, it's nippy."

But she waded a few feet then swam to the cave. Her movements were rigid and her teeth chattered.

The cats followed grumpily. Snaggle got in slowly, getting used to the water. Rocco waited till Snaggle was halfway in before following. He didn't want to be up front, but Snaggle would take up the rear.

The water was hawkish as a fjord! It made him wince as he swam past Snaggle and towards the waterfall. He braced himself for icy water on his head.

The cave was even darker than before, but the reflection of the torch came much sooner. With each water drop and echo Rocco jumped. The creeping feeling wringed the courage from his throat and stomach, scraping down his spine.

To see the torch was a terror and relief. It would be good to get out and dry off, but he knew the shouldn't stop.

The animals hauled themselves from the water. Rita had to help Rocco by pulling on his scruff as he scrambled out. They shook themselves off, Snaggle's long fur sticking out like a porcupine.

Bjorn grabbed the torch with his mouth. Luckily, it curved slightly outwards, so it was easier to hold. "Come on, the mud is unsettled by her paws." He said around the torch.

He led on with an impressive amount of courage, even though they all felt like fear was climbing up their throats. The animals huddled close together as to share warmth.

The cave's floor felt like fish guts. As Rocco paid special attention to the floor, he noticed a set of dainty paws had traveled down the cave. Trinket, please be safe! He prayed silently. And ghost dog, if you are able to hear my thoughts, please don't hurt me!

The cave whispered in response. Don't be so sure of yourself . . . Only prayers to your deity can help you now.

The voice sent shivers up his spine. To one who wasn't listening or didn't care, the howling in the tunnel would be all normal. But it was the only thing Rocco could think about at the moment. He walked closer to Rita for comfort.

"So windy . . ." Snaggle commented. It echoed through the cave like an evil laugh. Was the ghost dog using every sound to his advantage?

"Please don't speak unless we need to!" Rocco squeaked. "It sounds terrible!"

The cavern opened up into a large, dark alcove that couldn't be fully lit by the torch.

"You know what else sounds terrible?" The voice belonged to Trinket! She must have been in the darkness somewhere, as her voice was in close proximity.

"Trinket? Is that you?" Bjorn asked. Each sound was like an enormous lion roaring, or a crow screeching.

"We've been searching forever! Why didn't you come back? I'm all wet now!" Rita complained.

Two twin specks of purple light flittered in the darkness. "Being wet is the worst of your problems." Trinket purred, sounding harsh as a wolf.

Lines of purple fire popped up around Trinket in a circle. Ghostly purple light dyed her pearly pelt, and green twinkled on her earring. She was grinning, and her eyes were the shade of the ghost dog's.

She threw her head back, laughing. She laughed like she hadn't been able to in centuries. "Ah, how great that feels! Using your own voice besides lending other sounds. Well, I guess this cat doesn't own my voice, but she does sound quite beautiful. I wish I could do a few songs before killing her."

Shock flared through Rocco. This wasn't Trinket; it was the ghost dog! He somehow took control over her body.

"B-b-but, h-how-" Bjorn stuttered, dropping his torch. His haunches flared up like a sail.

"She was such a weak mind. You have to protect such a fine body with a keen mind. To catch her awake would have been easy enough, but she was sleeping! No one even noticed her walking off in the middle of the night!"

"You can't just . . . Take someone's body like that!" Rocco barked, mustering up more courage than he thought he had.

"Why not?" The ghost dog asked, smiling. "You're just lowly animals, toted around by greedy humans. Lowly is an overstatement; chum is more like it."

Snaggle dared to let out a growl. It was small, but compared to the fear he must have felt, it was audacious.

"But don't worry; you'll all be dead in the space of an hour." The ghost dog cackled.

As if on cue, the Earth started to tremble. It shook hard enough to throw Rocco off his paws. Chips from the tunnel's ceiling rained down.

"Too bad I can't be in such a fine host for much longer. And terrible how such a fine island will be destroyed. But it won't matter; I'll find a new host and a new island soon enough; there are plenty of fish in the sea!"

The cat who was once Trinket howled with delight, screeching like a death cry. In a way, it was.

Ceiling bits fell in larger chunks, shaking the Earth.

"Come on, we have to leave now!" Rita squeaked, running back.

The others snapped from their trance and followed.

The ran frantically in the dark. It was impossible to see where they were going.

"This part's unstable, sprint!" Bjorn hissed.

Rocco flew over the mud, hardly touching the ground. A large rock landed on his tail, but he was going so fast that the bone in the tip was torn right off. The arching pain in his spine and tail was nothing compared to the panic in his brain and heart.

He ran into boulders often and nearly missed falling avalanches, but he had only one thought in his mind. Out! Out! Out!

His heart leaped when he hit cold water. He swam faster than he ever had before, new terror fueling him. Rocks crashed on the water, causing huge waves.

As soon as he saw the waterfall, has scrambled out of the pond and darted after the other animals. Out out out!

He raced through the jungle, tiny hear pounding. If it could go any faster it would break his tiny chest.

He ran straight through bushes and ran into almost everything, not caring about anything but getting out. The island shook even fiercer.

A huge tree splintered with an enormous shake, and it fell over with a chorus of cracks. Bjorn ran into it, but quickly recovered and scrambled over easily.

Rita followed after Snaggle, and she waited at the top for Rocco. "Come on! Get up!" She barked, holding out her paw.

He tried to scale it with a variety of kicks and slashes, but he fell of at about halfway. "I don't know if I can do it!" He whined, feeling like a pup again.

"Come on! There's no time!" Rita said, stretching out more urgently.

He shook his head swiftly, blinking off tears of frustration. He ran around the tree instead.

It was long and splinters covered the jungle floor. He turned back towards the path, his paws pierced and bleeding.

He limped back, long behind Rita and the gang. It felt like decades, but he finally reached the beach.

The mountain had red goop flying from it's top, and smoke covered the sky. It was all gray and black with fiery embers shooting from it's jowls. A huge fire had started and was spreading like a disease.

"Where's Trinket?" Gunter asked.

Bjorn shook his head. "Dead. She got possessed by the ghost dog and he trapped her in the cave behind the waterfall. There's no way she could have survived that."

"Possessed?" Gunter barked. "What do you mean-"

"I'm saying we need to leave, or we'll end up like her!" Bjorn hissed. "I'll explain later, but we have to leave the island! The ghost dog is set on killing us!"

Gunter nodded. His eyes were cloudy, but he nodded in agreement. "Yes. Or else Trinket would have died in vain."

"Do we have to swim again?!" Snaggle moaned.

"If I have to swim another league, I think I'll die." Rocco said. He was trembling from shock and pain. The thought of swimming again was worse than being crushed by a boulder.

"I'll let you ride on me, but we have to leave now. Hope you grabbed a drink, 'cause we may be on the water for the rest of our lives." Gunter said mournfully.

Rita smiled. "Hey, as a great captain once said to me, I'll die trying! And if I die, I'll go to Davey Jone's locker with my head held high and my tail stiff and straight!" She chirped.

And with that, the waded into the ocean, not stopping to say goodbye to the island they temporarily called home.

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The end

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