"Eel, Batfish! I need you two to go help Irving and the others collect some coconuts and palm leaves!"
Kainalu watched Cordelia, the group's Guide Leader Advisor, sort out the day's patrols and duties. It had been 2 sunrises from when he and Kjartan went on that beach adventure. Kainalu was still grounded, but he was glad that his parents didn't find out about it.
Now, he was just sitting outside the Kit Carriers' den, trying to keep himself distracted from his punishment by watching around camp. His littermates were out doing some exploring or something, Kainalu wasn't quite sure where they were.
He had woken up later than everyone else that morning. He didn't care much for where they were since he was still pretty angry at his parents for grounding him. As he continued watching around camp, he ended up zoning out.
"Kainalu?" A voice broke through his thoughts. He jumped, not expecting anyone to talk to him. He quickly turned around, looking up to find Sedna, an Ancient in the group, staring down at him "Oh, hi Sedna."
Sedna slowly settled down beside Kainalu, letting out a relieved sigh once she finally laid down "What're you up to kitto?" Sedna asked in her usual raspy tone. Sedna always liked to come up with nicknames when talking to others.
In this case, Sedna likes calling the kits 'kittos.' "Oh, nothing, just looking around," Kainalu responded "Hm, did your parents leave without ya?" Sedna asked, raising a cat brow. Kainalu shook his head "No, they grounded me."
"What'd you do this time?" Sedna asked, letting out a sigh "It's not super bad." Kainalu murmured, shuffling his paws in the sand. Sedna glanced down at him, not prying for an answer any further.
She looked up, watching around camp with Kainalu "Well, mind sharing some breakfast with me and the rest of the Ancients?" Sedna asked, nodding over to the Ancients' den "Oh, uh, sure." Kainalu responded.
Sedna got up, Kainalu following her. They headed towards the food stash, Kainalu staying close to Sedna in case she fell. Sedna inspected the food stash, sniffing out which one looked and smelled the best, despite how old her senses are.
"Here, you hold this crab while I take this cod." Sedna instructed, helping Kainalu steady the crab in his mouth. He held the crab up high, making sure that it didn't drag in the sand. He led the way to the Ancients' den, Sedna following him.
Takumi emerged from the Ancients' den, making eye contact with Sedna "Ah, that's some fine breakfast right there," Takumi commented, motioning to the food in Sedna's jaws "You'll have your share as soon as Delja is awake."
"Did someone call my name?" Delja's voice sounded from within the Ancients' den "Yes dear!" Sedna called to her. Delja poked her head out of the Ancients' den, her dull eyes slowly adjusting to the lighting outside the den.
"My, my, what fine prey have you brought us today, Sedna?" she asked, immediately noticing the prey that was dangling from Sedna's jaws. Sedna set the cod down, Kainalu putting the crab right next to it.
"It's cod and a crab. Kainalu helped me give it to you two." Sedna explained. Kainalu was pretty sure Delja didn't hear Sedna since she was partially deaf, but that clearly didn't seem to matter to Sedna in the slightest.
"You're so good at picking out our food, Sedna!" Delja purred, picking up the cod. Sedna turned to Kainalu "Want to go grab something else from the pile for you and me?" she asked. Kainalu nodded.
Takumi and Delja had already taken the crab and the cod, and Kainalu was fairly sure that there wouldn't be anything left for him and Sedna. As they headed back towards the food stash, Kainalu spotted Undine, a Teacher in the group, leaving camp.
His trainee, Holly, followed close behind him. Kainalu watched them closely, but soon lost his focus on them. He and Sedna ended up picking out 2 minnows, and soon went back to join the other Ancients.
As they settled down to eat, Kainalu felt a bit happier than he was before. Watching the camp was boring but spending time with a bunch of old cats sounded much more fun "Did I ever tell you about the time that I nearly lost my leg to a shark?"
"Really?" Kainalu gasped, his eyes sparking with interest. Delja nodded "It was back in my young days, when I was a new Protector," Delja began. Kainalu took another bite out of his trout, settling down to listen to Delja's story.
"Back then, the weather grew warmer, and nearly everyone wanted to go play in the water. Our Guide Leader, Tsunami, allowed the whole group to go down to the water's edge and cool off. Me and my brother, Caspian, went down with everyone else. It was the first time we've ever had a chance to cool off instead of having to work. Caspian was a Gatherer and mostly spent his time working, sometimes even working till nightfall. When we went down to the shore, we found a remote spot so we could chat and hangout in the water. Little did we know, there was a large shark waiting for us. We decided to play a little game with some moss we found earlier, but as I went to go chase it, BOOM! I slammed right into a shark's neck! It had leaped out of the air, supposedly trying to get our moss. I nearly lost my beath hitting that large thing. Then, I heard Caspian yowl "Shark! Shark!" Everyone ran out of the water. I fought with that shark; it had my tail in its blasted mouth. Caspian swiped at its face, but it didn't dare let go of me. So, I came up with the bold idea to wiggle my paw into its mouth so I could swipe at its tongue. My plan was working well so far, but my tail was growing more and more torn apart. Finally, I swiped straight through one of its front teeth, leaving a few scratches on my front paw. It swam away, whimpering like a wuss."
Kainalu stared in disbelief "What ended up happening to your tail?" he managed to ask through the amazingness shock "Well, I did almost lose it, but the healers managed to help me," Delja responded, a proud smile on her face "That's so cool!" Kainalu exclaimed, his tail high in the air.
"And it's a true story too. Delja has all those scars to prove it," Sedna purred, nodding to the old molly's tail and front leg "Yes ma'am, I do. And boy I won't ever forget that story." Delja meowed, flexing her scarred leg.
Wow, she really is brave! Kainalu thought with admiration. He spent the rest of his day listening to the Ancients tell stories to him, his interest never leaving his eyes.
YOU ARE READING
{~Over the Horizon~}
Action"Someday, we will all figure out our destinies and find out what our ancestors have in store for us." -Sedna A large group of cats were shipped to an island by humans. They were used as a science experiment, but the humans soon forgot about them ove...
