I dig my claws into the ground, jumping forwards and accelerating in a split second. The ground beneath me becomes a blur as a boom snaps through the air, causing all eyes to shoot my way a few moments later. I've missed that familiar sound.

I crash into Phoenix, and we tumble to the ground. My claws dig into his sides as I struggle to wrap my jaws around his throat. One of Phoenix's forepaws bats at the side of my face, and he shoves my stomach to throw me off. I jump again to avoid tripping and falling to the ground. There's yet another boom this time, but it's significantly quieter.

"Apologise!" I scream. I dig my claws into the ground as I begin to accelerate. Just before I break the speed of sound, though, Phoenix gets to his paws slowly as he shakes his head and begins to laugh. I lean back as I skid to a halt. Dirt piles up around my paws, dirt rising towards the sky in clouds.

"What a-a-are you l-laughing at?" I growl.

"Nothing, nothing."

"What is i-it? Tell me!" I advance a step towards him, fluffing up my fur in what I hope is an intimidating stance.

"I wanted to see what your ability was." Phoenix rolls his eyes, sitting down.

"Then w-what were you l-laugh-laughing at?" I hiss.

"I didn't realize how personally you'd take it."

"What?" I snarl.

"I said, I didn't realize how personally you'd take it." Phoenix raises his voice.

"I-I heard you t-the f-first time. I just d-don't see how you c-could ins-insult my mom!"

"Yeah. Brook's not your mom. Hope you knew that," Phoenix states.

"C-course I knew that. S-she's a u-unicorn, a-an-an-and I'm a cheetah. But why w-were you i-insulting her?" I curl my lip.

"I wasn't!" Phoenix exclaims with a snort. Little orange flames start to flicker across his black pelt.

"Y-yeah, you were!" How could he not've been? He literally said 'I'd be shocked if she could even land one blow'!

"I wasn't insulting her; I just wanted to see what your ability is since it's awfully obvious you have one, so I said things that would hit home. I swear I wasn't insulting Brook."

"B-but you st-still said the words," I murmur. He still insulted Brook, though.

"No! I didn't! Ok?" Phoenix digs his claws into the ground as he leaps to his feet. The flames explode, reaching tall towards the sky.

"But y-you did! You s-said the words th-that insulted Brook. Y-you in-insulted her!" How isn't he getting this?

"Phoenix!" Ky comes running over. The other three in the group must've figured something out since Brook is no longer trying to skewer them on her horn.

"What?" Phoenix snarls, turning around. His eyes glow with fire.

"What's going on? You two are clearly bickering over something."

"We're not bickering," the black cat grumbles.

"Phoenix was insulting Brook, but he says he wasn't." I shoot daggers at the back of Phoenix's head with my eyes.

"What a way to make a good first impression, Phoenix," Ky says sarcastically.

"I wasn't! I wanted to see what Clap's ability was since it's so obvious she has one! I wasn't insulting Brook! Ok?" Phoenix growls.

"Did you, or did you not, say mean things about Brook?" Ky asks.

"No," Phoenix says at the same time as I say yes.

"Phoenix, answer my question literally. Did you, or did you not, say mean things about Brook." How is answering it literally any different?

"Yeah, but I wasn't insulting her! Seriously, when is anyone going to get this?" A low growl rumbles in his throat.

"So, Phoenix, what did you mean then?"

"I wanted to see what Clap's ability was, so I figured saying some mean things about Brook, which I didn't mean, was the easiest way to see what it was." Phoenix bristles as he blazes with fire. His ears are drawn flat against his head.

"Yeah, so Phoenix was only saying the things he said to make you mad, Clap. He wasn't saying them to actually insult Brook," Ky says.

"But h-he still s-s-said them. He still in-insulted Brook!" Why can't they understand?

"Clap, it's alright. I appreciate you defending me." Brook walks over to me and bends her neck so she can rest her nose against my shoulder.

I frown, but I don't say anything else. Phoenix insulted Brook, whether it was his intention to or not. Why don't they see that? Can't they? Why won't Phoenix apologize for what he did?

The flames crackling across Phoenix's fur die down until they're just slightly longer than his fur.

"What's for dinner?" The black cat growls.

"Whatever you get," Brook shoots back, just as harshly.

"What's with the attitude?" Phoenix snarls.

"I could ask you the same thing." Brook doesn't blink as she replies. Yeah, she's going to win this one.

"You answer first." The flames slowly grow bigger and angrier as Phoenix's temper rises.

"Two can play this game, Phoenix," Brook murmurs. Her mane and tail flow in the breeze.

"Phoenix, calm down. Be nice!" Ky scampers over to his brother.

"Why should I?"

"Because we need Brook and Clap to like us! How else are we going to win against KG14?"

"We can defeat him on our own. Illusions and fire? They're hard to beat." Phoenix snorts.

"It'll be an awful lot easier with Brook and Clap. Argue against that logic."

"They'll get in the way."

"Phoenix!" Ky cries in frustration. His voice rises.

"What!" Phoenix roars back, his voice just as loud.

"Give them a chance! Not everyone is evil. Not everyone is King Garonda XIV."

"What did you just say?" Phoenix's voice is low, seething.

"Not everyone is King Garonda XIV." Ky holds Phoenix's dark gaze.

"Why are you using his full name? He doesn't deserve that. The only thing he deserves is a slow, torturous death, screaming in pain as I slowly rip him to shreds." The black cat's lips curl into a fearsome snarl.

"Please, Phoenix. Give them a chance? You know Wolf and Dove aren't bad."

"Yeah. Only 'cus they're the ones who will help me kill KG14."

"Well, not exactly that," Dove murmurs, though he doesn't jut into the brothers' conversation. More like argument.

"So you're going to give them a chance?" Ky asks hopefully.

"Only since you're asking. As far as everything else is concerned, I hate them with my entire heart and I want them dead," Phoenix mutters in reply. He curls his lip. Alrighty then.

"I'll take it. Do you want to start a fire? Pretty please?"

"Puppy dog eyes don't work on me." Phoenix glares at Ky.

"Worth a shot. But please?"

"Fine."

With only a halfhearted glance at a patch of grass a few feet away, Phoenix starts a fire. He doesn't spare it another look as he pads away, to find something to eat, I presume. "Wait! Ky!"

"Yeah?" The tan cat turns around from where he was starting off to follow his brother.

"Isn't the fire going to spread?"

"No. Don't worry about it. The fire won't grow or spread. Phoenix knows better than to let something like that happen." Ky gives me a slight nod before trotting off after Phoenix.

"Clap," Brook calls me over. I jump forwards and am in front of her a fraction of a second later.

"Yeah?"

"I..." Brook narrows her eyes, pondering what she wants to say next.

"What is it?"

"Never mind. I'll tell you later."

"Ok." I nod.

Brook wanders off. Ky and Phoenix are off on one side of the Green Grass Field, and they appear to be hunting a rabbit. To my left, Wolf and Dove are discussing something as they skin a squirrel. Dove has two more tucked under an arm. I guess it's time to find something to eat.

I've never left the Green Grass Field since Brook and I can't, but we've never run out of food or water. It's our own little paradise. But also a prison. A pretty prison. Everything we could ever want and need without freedom to leave.

A rustling in the grass beside me snaps me back to reality and away from my thoughts. One of the gophers I'll occasionally see scuttling around. My favorite. I crouch down, locking my gaze onto its furry form. The tip of my tail twitches as I take a slow step forward. I exhale slowly.

The gopher nibbles on a piece of grass, still oblivious to my presence; the wind is blowing towards me. But then it switches direction and the gopher's nose twitches.

When the gopher takes off running, I dig my claws into the ground and jump. I'm beside the gopher in an instant, though I'm a few feet away since the creature has started sprinting away from me as fast as it can. My tail swings out to the side to prevent me from skidding out as I suddenly change directions, but my gaze never strays from the gopher. A second later, my paws pin the gopher to the ground, and I finish it off with a quick bite to the back of the neck.

I carry the gopher over to the shade of the big oak tree that resides just slightly off-center from the middle of the Green Grass Field and settle down. And I knew there was a reason why gophers are my favorite, I think as I take a few mouthfuls of it.

"Do you want to join us around the fire?" Wolf asks me. She holds one of the skinned squirrels in her hand.

"Uh, s-sure." I rise to my paws and grab the gopher in my mouth.

Dove is roasting the other two squirrels on sticks over the fire. He looks up as we approach. "Hey, Wolf. Hey, Clap. How's it goin'?"

"Fine. You?" I drop the gopher onto the ground and settle down beside it.

"Fine as well. Could I ask you a question?" Dove twists the sticks to cook the other side of the squirrels.

"S-sure." I frown. What's he going to be asking about?

"How long have you been here?"

"I-I don't know. My w-whole life?" I shrug.

"What are you asking about, Dove?" Brook stands beside me, eyeing Dove.

"I was wondering how long you two have been here."

"About a decade. Why would you be wondering?"

"I was just curious. I don't mean any harm." Dove starts to put his hands up but stops when the sticks with the squirrels on them tip towards the fire. He quickly grabs them before they can catch fire.

"Wh-what's it like o-out there?" I ask softly.

"Well, let's see. Do you know anything already?" Dove thinks for a few moments.

"I d-don't know. Brook t-told me stories a-about this huge dragon that's the same shade of grey as you two. T-that one's c-cool."

"Yeah? What happened in it?" Wolf's interest is piqued.

"He... Hm. Oh, h-he took over the world, a-and he killed a-an-any one who opposed h-him."

"Well, that one's true." Dove chuckles.

"It is?" I say.

"He isn't a dragon, but we have a King named King Garonda XIV. He refers to himself as the King of Ragdon, but that title doesn't exist." The corner of Dove's mouth pulls up into a slight smile.

"He s-sounds pretty evil," I murmur.

"Wait, wait, wait! What's going on? Is it a story?" Ky drops the rabbit he was holding in his mouth to the ground, and his ears perk.

"Yeah, Ky. Ya wanna hear it?" Wolf asks around a mouthful of squirrel.

"'Course! Let's hear it."

"I'm not that far into it, but it's about King Garonda XIV-."

"Why are you calling him a King? He's no King. He doesn't deserve the title of King after everything he's done! Call him a King one more time, and we're going to have a problem." Phoenix's face twists into a look of rage. The tiny flickering flames covering his pelt explode into an inferno.

"Phoenix! Calm down! I wanna hear the story." Ky frowns at his brother.

"Fine. But don't refer to KG14 as a King," Phoenix grumbles. Wait.

"I-I'm a-assuming KG14 stands for K-King G-Ga-Garonda XIV, s-so why a-are you saying K-KG14?"

"Because... Because I-." Phoenix tries to think of a reply, but he ends up just shaking his head with a low growl. The tip of his tail twitches as he bares his teeth. His paw prints burn with little embers when he stalks off. I watch the tiny flames flicker and reach for the sky.

"Can you tell me the story?" Ky asks eagerly, drawing my attention back to the group.

"Sure. So... Garonda XIV? I guess is the King, and he rules Ragdon with an iron fist. Everyone who opposes him is killed off like livestock."

"So he sees us as cattle?" Ky thinks about this for a few moments.

"Yeah. He sees us as disposable. You already know this, Ky! We're no strangers when it comes to his wrath!" Phoenix shouts from across the Green Grass Field. What does he mean by that? We're no strangers? I'll have to ask Brook later if I remember. And that's a pretty big if.

"I know, Phoenix. I was just thinking!" Ky shouts back.

"What d-does he look li-like?" I ask.

"The King?" Dove picks at the last bits of meat from his squirrel.

"He's not the King!" Phoenix roars.

"Y-yeah." I nod.

"He's got hair that's pitch black. His eyes are purple; the same shade as the Amethyst Throne, though flecks of red are speckled across the purple in his eyes. He always wears a suit, and it's been purple every time I've seen him."

"Don't forget his pasty white skin," Wolf adds. "It was creepy."

"D-does he have a-a crown? 'Cus don't a-a-all Ki-Kings have crowns?"

"Of course. It's solid gold with amethyst gems embedded in it. I feel bad for whoever had to build it; it's over-the-top fancy." Dove chuckles.

Over the next half hour, I learn a lot about King Garonda XIV. Sorry, Phoenix, but I'm calling King Garonda XIV a King until he steps down, willingly or not. He's the King whether we want him to be or not. Wolf and Dove are prophesied to kill King Garonda XIV, though when Phoenix returns to the group, he says that he calls dibs on killing the so-called King of Ragdon.

"I'm making him pay with his life," is what Phoenix says when he's asked about killing King Garonda XIV.

"Make him pay for what," Brook asks thoughtfully.

"That is for me to know, and not for you to know. Ky, no telling." Phoenix fixes his brother with a hard stare.

"I wasn't planning on it," Ky murmurs in reply.

"W-wait," I say after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" Dove asks.

"H-how do y-y-you know that you-you're prophesied to kill K-King-King Garonda XIV?"

Thank you for reading my story! I hope you're enjoying it. Please vote and comment on what you think of the story!

What do you think of Clap's character? I think she's one of my favorites, apart from Phoenix.

How do Wolf and Dove know that they're the ones who are supposed to kill King Garonda XIV?

Do you have any guesses as to what happened that made Phoenix so bitter and angry towards King Garonda XIV?

-Werewolf14-