CHAPTER 3
"Good morning," Angeline yawned groggily as she stumbled to the center of the temporary camp. She yawned and stretched as she rolled around in the grass, trying to get herself to wake up completely. "It's actually really fun traveling with you guys. For once, I'm free from Zanesville!"
"Nice day," Luna observed, then shut her mouth when Bella came over. She looked away, pretending to admire the trees, and hummed a fake tune and Bella ambled past her. Luna licked her paw, fluffing her pelt up again. She was starting to look like a massive marshmallow. "I can guard again today, if you want. I'm fine. You guys should probably rest more."
"What are you talking about?" Bella asked, wagging her tail. She was looking directly at Angeline, not Luna, and she pretended that Luna wasn't there. When she looked at Luna, there was an angry glint in her eyes.
"It's almost Winter!" Angeline muttered, sighing. She mumbled something darkly under her breath. "We'll have even colder weather than now, Winter is an extremely freezing season." She trembled dramatically.
"Hi," Ivy mumbled as she blinked open her eyes. "What happened?" A yawn escaped from her jaws, and looked at her ugly wound, wincing painfully. She lied down again, sucking in long, deep breaths.
"Hi, you collapsed after you got hurt by the angry fox," Luna explained, flicking her tail. She twitched her ears in curiosity. "I'm Luna. I was the one who saved you by healing your wounds. If your wound opens or bleeds, use this extra clump of sheep wool and cover the cut with it." She pushed the sheep wool in front of Ivy.
Ivy's memories finally came back to her, so she nearly jumped out of her nest, which was not very good for her. She gasped, her eyes narrowing again. A growl rumbled in her throat as she thought about the fox.
"Stop! Don't move or you'll open your wounds!" Luna gasped. She hurried over, gently removing the wool for the wound. She examined the bloody gash, then she bounded away and came back with more wool. She spread the wool again on Ivy's cut.
"I don't want to be stuck in my nest! What about hunting?" Ivy whined, clearly annoyed. "I'm the hunter here, what are we going to eat?" She let out a little harrumph and made a mad face.
"I'll go. We don't want to risk it," Angeline said. She ran off, her tail flicking excitedly. She soon disappeared into the lush forest, submerging into the swirls of green colors. "Luna, you forgot about me! I'm not hurt, I wasn't fighting. You can guard while I hunt! Wow, this feels like being Ivy!"
Bella narrowed her eyes at Luna, shoving her away to lick Ivy's forehead comfortingly. She smiled at Bella, then turned around and glared at Luna, who was looking guilty as she stood to the side.
"I'm going to go, um, hunting," Luna said, eyeing Bella nervously. She bounded away awkwardly into the forest, her plumed white tail flicking. "I'll be back soon!" She disappeared after Angeline.
"She's kind of suspicious," Bella hissed to Ivy. "She's probably going to do something evil! I don't trust her." She glared at the forest as if it were something evil and dangerous.
"I-I don't know," Ivy confessed. "I think she's great for saving my life." Ivy shuffled her paws nervously, not looking up. She didn't want to meet Bella's eyes because she knew that Bella was very strong, and she didn't want to anger her.
"She's just a mangy female cat that has some stupid charm that makes everybody like her!" Bella spat, stomping her hindpaw furiously. "I hate her! She's trying so hard to take my place!"
"I once met a cat like her. She was one of my best friends. She was Arrow's sister, but she died saving us. Let me tell you the story. One day, we were playing together in a forbidden garden. Our parents said to never go there, because there were unwanted coyotes in the night. We went anyway, when we heard the twelfth bang of midnight," Ivy said, her eyes filled with pure sadness. "It's a really sad story."
"If I were you, I wouldn't have gone. I would've waited until day, and gone with my parents. I hate coyotes," Bella shuddered, but she was still not convinced. She started to become more furious. "That's very naughty of you."
"We were having so much fun, until we heard a low hiss. Five coyotes stepped out into the moonlight, all huge and heavily muscled, with long, sharp teeth that glistened in the light. We were outnumbered," Ivy sighed deeply. Her eyes were dull, like she wanted to leave and find somebody else. "There was definitely no way that we could beat them in fighting."
"I mean, I guess you deserved it for sneaking out without permission. Especially after your parents specifically warned you about it! I mean, kittens these days are so naughty," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "Puppies aren't too naughty, just a little bit. I was good when I was little!"
"They were fighting us, and we had already driven off three. The last two were about to leave, too, but they wanted to kill one of us first so they could have more prey. So one of them aimed for me, and one aimed for Arrow because we were bigger than Arrow's sister, Marigold. Before they were going to kill us, she leaped in and sliced their noses, and she got killed by them. They were badly wounded, and our parents came to find us. They drove the coyotes away, and we were all very sad for losing Marigold. It was a big loss, too big for our poor parents to bear," Ivy sighed. "That's it. I don't really want to think about it anymore."
"How is that like Luna? Marigold actually helped fight! Luna just healed your wounds, so what use is that? Your wound was going to heal eventually! We were just going to put some moss on it," Bella said. "It would've been alright without Luna, we just sort of…panicked."
"She saved us, as Marigold saved Arrow and I. Luna acted very heroically. If she wasn't here, you wouldn't know what to put on. Moss is prickly and could open the cut easily," Ivy explained, shooting Bella a glare. "Besides, you and Angeline don't know a lot about healing, and neither do I. Luna's basically a professional."
"I mean, why do you respect Luna so much? I'm your best friend! Why are you paying so much attention to Luna? It's so unfair!" Bella complained, her eyes blazing in fury. "I thought you were like a sister to me. I was wrong all along."
"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm just grateful to Luna for saving my life. She really got me motivated, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my best friend. You've always been, and I could never abandon you," Ivy sighed. "I promise."
"All I'm asking of you is to stay away from Luna. She's got no brains, and she has this creepy cheerful voice that makes me think she's planning something bad against us but she wants to make sure that we trust her first before she reveals her evil plan," Bella snarled. "Just trust me!"
"I won't stay away from Luna, and that is final. I don't care what you think about this, Bella. Do you think it's supposed to help? It's just going to break our friendship. I say you play along, and befriend Luna. She'll be really nice once you get to know her!" Ivy meowed defensively.
"She is a deceiving creature! All she does is say cheesy things to you, then lick her fur as if she's dirty, but she's actually sparkling clean! Those kinds of animals are no use. It's just another mouth to feed," Bella growled. "We actually don't need her!"
"She's useful! We don't know a thing about healing stuff and medicine, and she literally knows everything. She will be useful once one of us gets injured. Then you'll see her real skills," Ivy said. "She can help us a lot!"
"No, it's just the way she moves. It's kind of suspicious. She moves so neatly, like she can calculate every step and then she can move without changing her position. It's almost like she can find out where to put her paws in a nanosecond," Bella said. "I used to think you were really graceful. But you walk crookedly compared to her, it seems like she's a goddess in disguise!"
"I never noticed that," Ivy sighed, frowning. "I think you should just lay off. Angeline and I can deal with it. You can't just keep protesting that Luna should go away. Well, Angeline and I like her, so we can let her stay. If you don't want to be near her, just leave."
Bella was shocked. The words stung, and she felt like crying. Her friend was going inferno on her! "I-I don't know what to say!" Bella muttered. Hot rage boiled in her skin. "Ivy, you're changing so much! You're so much meaner, and you're taking sides! I can't believe you! Take a chill pill!"
"Ugh, this is getting annoying. Can you just stop it? Luna is fine, and we are not making her leave. Do you understand?" Ivy growled, slamming her paw on the ground angrily.
"Fine. But I just want to tell you what my opinion is. Luna is just so weird! If only Angeline found a different person…" Bella huffed, glowering at Ivy. She rolled her eyes and let out a harrumph.
"That is enough already, Bella," Ivy snarled dangerously. She stared coldly at Luna. "I will not tolerate this foolishness. Don't argue and you'll be fine. If you do, we'll give you a piece of our minds."
"I'd like to give you a piece of my mind! You don't understand! You just think Luna is a goddess and she's so good, and she is the center of attention," Bella huffed, glaring at Ivy. "Clueless cat."
Ivy wrinkled her nose in disgust, rolling her shining yellow eyes. "Like you agree on anything we say!" She shot back, growling. Her black pelt fluffed up, and she glared even harder at Bella.
"I'm tired of you bossing me around! All you do is climb trees or hunt and then you boss us or ignore us! Don't we get any respect? You're like a demanding mountain lion that growls at everything!" Bella ranted, feeling satisfied at every word she was saying. She wanted to make Ivy feel guilty and make Luna go away.
"Well, you're like a flea in our pelts! All you do is complain or whine or say you want to go on an adventure or something," Ivy retorted. "I don't get any respect, even if it was my journey!"
"You think I can just magically change my personality?" Bella fumed. "You're so awkward! You hide from everyone, and you show off! You're just so uncomfortable around other people!"
"This wouldn't have happened if I didn't leave Arrow!" Ivy screeched, infuriated. Cold fire danced in her eyes, but after she said that, she quickly slapped her tail on her mouth.
Bella gasped. "Oh my diamonds! I-Ivy…" Tears started to flow out of her eyes, and she buried her head in her paws. Her tail drooped in between her legs, and she sighed multiple times.
"Bella, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it! I just couldn't control myself, Luna is just trying to fit in with us! I just didn't want our friendship to break apart." Ivy blurted, rubbing her face in Bella's shoulder comfortingly. "But Luna is growing on us now. I feel like I should believe in her."
"Okay, fine. I understand. But I still don't agree to fit Luna in. Ivy, please, just believe me. Kick her out, and I'll be very happy," Bella pleaded, sighing. She turned her sobbing face to Ivy. "Maybe you can meet my expectations on this problem! That would really cheer me up."
"No, but maybe later, when you have evidence. We are going to stay together, and if Luna actually betrays us, we'll kick her out. But since you don't have proof right now, we cannot kick her out," Ivy meowed firmly. "I make the decisions, whether you like it or not!"
"But she's so evil! Can't you see that? I thought cats were actually smart. Everybody says dogs are smarter than cats, but it's not true. Scientists have studied dogs more, so it is possible that cats have the same IQ," Bella barked. "Besides, I'm always nice to you! Uh…sort of."
"I know that. We had a secret school back in my town. They were in the trees, because dogs there were very aggressive and they would kill everything in their path," Ivy said. "But definitely not you and Angeline!"
"I know that too! After all, you are scared of angering us, since we're fighters," Bella teased, flexing her muscles. "We dogs are very aggressive when angry, but you're my best friend, so I would never hurt you."
"Totally true," Ivy said sarcastically. A purr rumbled in her throat, and she touched noses with Bella affectionately, smiling brightly. "I don't think dogs are aggressive, except for the mutt that challenged us in Zanesville."
"You'll see the truth soon," Bella muttered under her breath. "When she betrays us." Her friends believed Luna over her! She stormed away, muttering under her breath. She stopped at a small, clear pool, sighing.
"Why don't you put up with your friends?" A fairly familiar voice asked from the shadows. "I would, if I were you, Bella." The voice had a quiver of laughter in it, and somehow…it sounded male.
Bella gasped, surprised. She flattened her ears, snarling. Spit dripped from her jaws. "Who are you?" Bella whirled around, eyes wide. She growled menacingly. "Show yourself!"
A muscular golden American Shorthair stepped out, purring in amusement. He licked his paw and drew it over his ear affectionately. He blinked his warm, friendly amber eyes at Bella. "Nice to see you, Bella."