Bear

Leona and I are walking through the tunnel of grey stones, back to the place we were

earlier. But something is missing. I look around for a moment before realizing what's wrong.

Gingercat! She couldn't have gone far. She knows to stay put, unless….

Oh no. Trouble.

In the distance, I see the young tabby cowering under a large figure. What is it? I glance over at Leona, speechless. Leona is shocked too, for her eyes are wide as she sees our younger sister. I begin to run towards Gingercat, hoping I get there in time to be useful.

"Gingercat! Run!" Leona meows, loud enough to echo around the stoney tunnel. The bengal cat runs past me, on her way to help the ginger tabby. Leona's very fast, much faster than Gingercat and I combined.

As Leona gets closer to Gingercat, the kitten backs away. Leona launches herself at the big creature. A grizzly bear, still small, still a threat. Leona had jumped at the same time the bear turned its head, so the bengal cat landed on its face. The bear growls, and I silently pray that Leona doesn't get bit. Or worse.

"Dark?" I hear Gingercat ask, her voice echoing off the walls of the stone hallway. My job now is to protect her, or else she'll get into some other trouble, as usual. That's what Gingercat and her twin, Grey, are best at. Or at least from what I've noticed. It might not be true though.

"Yeah," I meow reassuringly. "It's me." Gingercat stands taller, and I'm assuming that's her way of saying, 'Now you're in trouble with me, for once'. I turn my attention back to Leona, shocked while not being shocked at the same time. She's barely hanging on anymore. Well, she hung on longer than I had expected. With one powerful shake, Leona is thrown off of the shaggy brown animal. Oh god, this could hurt. But Leona can handle a lot more pain than anyone I know.

"Look out!" Leona is flying through the air, unable to flip herself upright. Gingercat isn't quick enough to dodge Leona as she tumbles onto the stony floor. Gingercat yowls as her bigger sister lands right on top of her, crushing her little body. Leona grunts at the pain.

Gingercat's lucky that Leona isn't that heavy, or else that would really hurt, not saying it doesn't right now.

"Sorry Gingercat," Leona coughs, sounding like the breath got knocked out of her. Not surprising. I could help, but there is too much going on to think properly.

There's a bear over there.

Leona isn't breathing right.

Gingercat is weaker from being crushed.

But why am I just standing here?

Suddenly, a pair of thick black claws reach out towards Gingercat, but no one can possibly avoid this blow. Not even the fastest of our trio. Gingercat screeches in pain, making my fur stand on end. I hate hearing others cry, or make any sounds of pain.

Leona quickly picks up the smaller ginger tabby, running with her in my direction.

The bear is no longer here, luckily. But if there was a bear around here, there's a good chance that there could be more than just bears, or more bears.

"That looks painful," I glance over at Gingercat's tail. Almost half of her tail must have been ripped off, which to me, is disgusting to think about. There's still dark blood running through her thin fur, but it must have died down. Hopefully nothing finds the blood trail. Gingercat just hangs limply under Leona's grasp, too hurt to speak. I don't know how she feels, but I can only imagine how much pain she's feeling. She's probably in shock too, I'd assume.

The tabby glances down at her tail, looking away straight after. I see her clench her teeth while shutting her eyes tightly. She doesn't like anything to do with blood, gore, broken or missing body parts. I understand that.

"Don't pay attention to my tail," Gingercat snaps. "Let's get away from here!"

"Good idea," Leona mumbles, making sure she doesn't drop her load, also known as Gingercat. The oldest has three claw marks running down the side of her face, over her emerald eye. I think Leona's alright. She's gone through much worse in her life.

We pick up the pace, running silently through the tunnel, further away from where the beast had been. Hopefully we don't run into anything else. Not today.

"I want to walk on my own!" Gingercat whines, half-choking. "I have legs for a reason!" She kicks under Leona's soft chin.

I hear a low growl from the older cat. "No," she replies, her voice muffled as she keeps her teeth in her sister's scruff. Leona keeps up at a steady pace, slowing down every few minutes to re-adjust her grip on Gingercat. She's doing good for only using one eye.

Just before Gingercat opens her mouth to say something back to Leona, I hiss, "Don't argue with her." I look down into the kitten's light green eyes. "You know the consequences."

"Fine," Gingercat sighs, continuing to hang limply under her sister's grasp.

After a while of running, we turn a corner leading into another tunnel. Only this time, the tunnel is much darker and colder. More empty feeling too. I wonder if there's actually a way out to this place. It's full of dead ends, or tunnels connecting to other tunnels. Surely, there has to be something else here somewhere. Maybe even someone to help us out. Maybe.

Leona sets down Gingercat, moving her jaw around, whiskers twitching.

"If only there was light, we could see better." Gingercat meows, sitting down on the cold stone. The cold feels nice, but somes spots feel ice-cold. Ice-cold things aren't fun to touch.

"Not even a cat's eyes can see through this type of darkness." Leona says quietly, staring into the emptiness. She sits down next to Gingercat, and Gingercat snuggles up under her sister's chin. Leona purrs, something you would rarely hear from her. I sit down too, a bit farther ahead.

Something catches my eye that I never saw before.

What is that?

I see something glowing in the distance. Is there actually light, or is it just my imagination?

"Is that something glowing?" I ask, glancing back at Leona. She stares at me like I'm crazy. Leona looks over my shoulder, her ears perking up and eyes glowing.

"I see something too." She tilts her head to the side, curiosity washing over her.

Gingercat immediately sits up. "Let's check it out!"

"Woah there," I say, gently holding Gingercat down. "We need a break from all the action, little one. We need to get rest before we can go anywhere." I get up, walking over into a small spot in the wall. Some stone must've fallen here a while ago. The others follow me, and we settle together in a furry bundle for warmth.

"Tomorrow?" Gingercat asks me. I nod. Tomorrow.