The King's Remorse

Don't Say Never Mind

"Oh, you're up," I reply lamely.

"Yeah, I am."

"So..."

"What?" Phoenix's fiery gaze glows in the dim lighting.

"So you're keeping watch?"

"Yeah, I am. Do you want to?" Oof. I don't want to, but saying 'no' would be rude.

"Well,-," I start, but Phoenix cuts me off.

"Too bad. I want to keep watch. Go back to sleep." The black cat's lip curls, letting the moonlight glint off of his long fangs.

"Why... Why..." I stutter, trailing off. "Never mind."

"Why what?"

"N-nothing. Never mind."

"No. Tell me."

"It was nothing."

"Tell me, Wolf. What was it? It clearly wasn't nothing since you started speaking, so tell me. What was it?" I hesitate. Dove rolls over, and Ky's paws twitch in his sleep.

"It's just... Ne-."

"Don't say never mind." Phoenix's fiery eyes glare at me, and the corner of his lips pulls up into a brief snarl.

"I-I, uh... I don't... H-how-." Why is he so angry?

"I-I-I. H-how," Phoenix mocks. "Just spit it out. Get to it, Wolf."

"I don't know how to word it, though."

"Then figure it out."

"I don't want to be rude and word it wrong..." I wince.

"You're being rude by not telling me what you were trying to say."

"I was just wondering why you're so angry." I fiddle with my fingers, avoiding his gaze. Phoenix snorts.

"Why don't you tell me why you think I'm so angry, as you say," he snarls.

"Well, uh. I don't know. King Garonda XIV is probably part of the reason, but I don't know if that's all of it. Maybe something happened to you, like, personally or something? Maybe someone tried to kill you? I don't kno-."

"I'm gonna cut you off right there. First of all, quit the rambling. Second, you basically just told me nothing. You mentioned KG14, but other than that, you told me absolutely nothing."

"So was I right?" I trail off.

"I'm mad at KG14," is all Phoenix says before he turns his back to me and continues is continual scan of the forest for anyone he perceives to be an enemy.

I frown and spend a moment going over what just happened, but I end up not thinking too much about it. Adjusting the blanket around my shoulders, I curl up once more and drift off to sleep.

xxxx

"Wake up, Wolf. We're about to leave," Phoenix growls, jabbing me in the stomach with a forepaw. What a wonderful way to wake up. I sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and yawn as I stretch. Dove reaches out and gets my blanket to put in the backpack. "Wolf, ya ready?" Ky asks.

"Yeah. Let's go."

"So where exactly are we headed," I ask after a while of meandering through the forest.

"We're going to find Arcane. We just have to make it up to the top of Ragdon Volcano."

"Ky! For the last time, Arcane isn't real!" Phoenix stops, turning around to look at his brother with an exasperated expression.

"Yes, he is." Ky pouts.

"No one has seen him in, like, forever."

"Just 'cus no one's seen him in years doesn't mean he isn't real. He's just hiding."

"Arcane is dead!" Phoenix roars.

"Don't you think that someone would've found his body by now if he was dead? Arcane's ginormous."

"There wouldn't be a body to find since Arcane was the Midnight Wolf. Someone else is now."

"Who?" Ky raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know. They haven't said yet."

"If someone other than Arcane was the Midnight Wolf, we'd know. It's hard to hide since they'd be giant-sized and covered in swirling patterns of the galaxies and stars. Arcane still exists."

"But where? Can you tell me? Since he's so big, it would be hard to hide, Ky," Phoenix sneers.

"I never said I knew where Arcane was. I just said that he exists. After being alive for sixty or seventy years, he knows how to hide."

"I-."

"Sorry to interrupt, but you guys are bickering needlessly. We'll know whether or not Arcane exists after we reach Ragdon Volcano," Dove sighs, holding up his hands to silence the brothers.

"Don't cut me off." Phoenix bares his teeth and takes a step to advance upon Dove, but Ky moves in front of the black cat.

"Don't attack, Phoenix. That's Dove, and he's needed to bring down KG14."

"Don't call him that."

"Don't call who that?"

"Don't refer to him as KG14. He doesn't deserve the title of King."

"Then what do we call him?"

"I don't know." Phoenix shrugs.

"Ok. Let me know when you come up with a different name to call that evil person."

"Evil isn't strong enough."

"I know," Ky replies with a smile. "He's really evil."

"Don't start with that," Phoenix grumbles, but a smile graces his face.

The hours tick by, one after the other, and Ragdon Volcano slowly draws closer. "Watch out!" Ky suddenly shrieks. Dove's arm shoots out to pull me into his side, halfway behind him, as his grey eyes flicker around, searching for the enemy.

Thank you for reading this chapter! Please vote and comment your thoughts! There are only a few more chapters in Undead (Wolf's section of The King's Remorse), perhaps two or three, before the POV switches.

Why didn't Phoenix really answer Wolf when she asked him why he was always so rude?

Why is Phoenix so grouchy?

Who, or what, has Ky spotted?

Is Arcane really still alive, or is his body hidden in some hard-to-get-to spot?

-Werewolf14-