The Meteors

Chapter Six - Pigeons Don't Eat Nuts

"So, what's the big news?" Dalton asked.

Sandstorm took a deep breath before announcing, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are going to the South Pole."

"Now?" Paulina asked.

"Yeah, if you don't want to die. But first, we are going to meet Whitefur."

"The clan leader?"

"Exactly."

"So, you know where Whitefur is?" I asked, excited.

"Er... no."

"What?"

"Okay, so what are we going to do?" Dark Panther asked.

"Hey! I've just met Aldwyn behind the toyshop. Be right back!" Sandstorm said as she ran back to the toyshop.

"Who's Aldwyn?" Mary asked.

"He is also one of the Master Cats," Dalton answered before Dark Panther could open his mouth.

"How do you know?" Dark Panther asked.

"Oh, Sandstorm told me about the Master Cats."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Runningwind, Goldenfur, Ashpaw, Aldwyn, Sandstorm, Leoni, Redtail, Orion, Twilight and Darkpelt. Ranked by the results of the test."

"You are... the last," said Mary.

"At least I'm included," Dark Panther muttered.

"I wonder what the first like is."

"Don't worry, you will meet him sooner or later," Dark Panther muttered, "And you'll be surprised."

"Why?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Just then, a completely black tom cat emerged from behind the toyshop. His fur was all black that it was hard to spot him at night. Plus, he ran as fast as a cheetah that he was a blur of moving black creature.

"Darkpelt! So good to meet you! Three Master Cats in one town!"

"Hey Aldwyn! It's been so long. Any loyals?" Dark Panther greeted him.

"Nope. Better to live alone."

"Oh! I forgot! My name is now Dark Panther."

"Cool!"

"Huh. You are always the fastest. Only Runningwind can defeat you," Sandstorm came panting.

"So, do you know where he is?" Dark Panther asked.

"Yes. He is currently in Wayland." Wayland is the part of the world that you once called China.

"Wayland? Which part? Wayland is big!"

"Dunno. I got the nut this morning that said he is going to invite every Master Cat to attend his birthday party next month, but I guess he will have a much bigger party in the Antarctic. The Pigey said it's from a cat in Wayland and he is looking for a black-and-white cat, an orange cat, a grey cat, and a white cat."

"Hold on! Why are you talking about nuts and what is a pig doing here?" I asked.

"Not piggy, it's P-I-G-E-Y. Pigey is our term for a pigeon and-"

"Not our. It's his term for a pigeon," Sandstorm cut him.

"Fine. It's my term for-"

"So what's a pigeon doing with nuts? They don't eat nuts. They eat seeds," Dalton lifted his head from his book.

"Let me finish, Mr. Know-it-all. As I said, Pigey is-"

"Don't call me Mr. Know-it-all," Dalton muttered, but no one seemed to notice, except Aldwyn.

"Okay! Let me finish! Why are you all cutting me in the middle of my sentence?! Just let me finish!" he shouted, clearly frustrated.

"Hurry up, then."

Aldwyn took a deep breath.

"Okay, as I said, Pigey is a pigeon and they don't EAT nuts, but they CARRY them. They are our personal messenger as they are the only one who can speak Cat Language. Well, the only flying creature who can speak Cat Language. And the nuts contain our message. Satisfied?"

"Okay, one more question. How can you put a message inside a nut?" Dalton asked. He is sure a curious boy.

"Magic."

"Magic? I thought you cats aren't capable of doing magic."

"Every animal leader clan has magical powers."

"Oh. Then can cats read and write?"

"Argh! Why do you have to ask so many questions?"

Aldwyn ran back to the toyshop and returned bringing what looks like a cashew.

"Here, see it yourself."

He bit his own paw and winced. He put his bleeding paw on the nut and it started to buzz, but before anything happened, he quickly withdrew his paw.

"Oops, I forgot that we will attract attention."

He was right. Some people have started to glance in our direction. Not everyday you can see a group of people talking to a group of cats.

"Okay, let's get back to the car," Wilson said.

"Right," Sandstorm agreed.

We went back to the truck. Aldwyn winced at every step.

"This is your car? It's a truck!" Aldwyn said.

"Just get in," I said.

In the truck, Aldwyn put his still-bleeding paw on the nut once more. It started to buzz again and this time we stared in astonishment as it began to glow dark blue and shape-shifted into a black-striped white cat which look more white tiger than a cat, except for its size.

Then the cat began to say, "Greetings, Aldwyn, my fellow Master Cat. I invite you to my birthday party, which will be held on Friday, 19 August 1212 at 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. All Master Cats are invited and will be challenged to a combination of run, swim, climb, hunt, and fight competition. They will be ranked once more, so start practicing. I'm looking forward to seeing you. Bye."

The message ended with a flash that temporarily blinded us and when we finally opened our eyes, the cat was gone and there was only the nut.

"Wow," Dalton said, clearly amazed.
The others also have the look of astonishment on their face. Neither of us has ever seen magic before, well, except for the cats.

"Looks more tiger to me than a cat," Paulina commented.

"Yeah. He sure looks like a white tiger," Mary added.

"He is," Aldwyn said.

"He is?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Oh, another surprise!" My Grandfather chuckled.

Author's note: Thank you sooo much for reading this story! I didn't think I would get 500 reads! Thanks guys!

Sorry for the late update. Today is my birthday and I didn't have time to update yesterday...

And please vote, comment, and share! I would really like to know what you think about this story.