The Beginning

Chapter 4

Riley gulped. He was huge. He seemed even bigger now that he was in the sunlight. Riley had to guess that he was somewhere between thirty to fifty feet tall, and his paws were nowhere near the size of a garbage truck, but they looked that big. He had long, plumy and silky blue and white fur that occasionally shifted, the white patches morphing into clouds. What Riley thought was a whip turned out to be his tail, a monstrous one, at least ten feet in length. It was plumy, but also bushy because the fur was very dense but kept together, not sticking out all over the place like Riley's cat Mochi. It swung into view, then back into the darkness behind him.

It occurred to Riley that these things can fly, but she couldn't know how. Her first thought was wings, but she has read mythology of dragons flying without wings, magically slithering in the air as their way of flight. Then... it couldn't be possible. The only creature from mythology that flew with wings was...Catwings.
Carlos looked at him, terrified. He voiced Riley's thoughts. "That's a Catwing. A real, live Catwing. Not mythological creatures. An actual real one. Standing in front of us. In the flesh."
Riley nodded. "I also thought they were myths." She looked at the Catwing again. "They're real after all. All this time, I guess."
Carlos frowned at her. "But where are his wings?"
As if responding to him, the Catwing opened large wings that were unique to only Catwings. They were bat-shaped, but they were rounder and bigger, which was what allowed them to fly at startling speeds through the sky. On top of his head, there were two long and shiny horns that came to a point sharper than any knife. His eyes looked even more eerie in the sunlight, and he stared at her as though he was the hunter, and she the prey. The Catwing swung his tail around, and Riley's blood turned to ice. A long stinger, shining with venom, slid out of it, coming to a point that couldn't possibly be achieved by a knife filer. He sat down, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws, and narrowed his eyes, studying them. The darkness unfolded to reveal two other Catwings beside them. Other than their fur and eye color, they looked identical.
Riley was surprised to realize that they are triplets. That was her theory at first, but it was incredibly dark that time, unnaturally dark. I'm guessing these creatures had something to do with the darkness, Riley realized.
Carlos slowly turned around and started walking back to camp. The blue Catwing opened his mouth and roared; a loud, echoing sound that rattled Riley's eardrums. It was so loud, in fact, that she had to crouch down on the ground to avoid her eardrums being shattered. Carlos fell down, crawling toward her, his agony displayed on his face as he rolled around, covering his ears with his hands.
Riley felt pity for him. She knew that he was experiencing the same pain as her. The blue Catwing pointed to Carlos and growled something at the other two. The other two looked at each other and shrugged (actually shrugged! Riley never thought she would see a "mythical" creature do something so familiar-looking) and meowed back at the blue Catwing. He rolled his eyes and sighed. The green-brown Catwing frowned at him and hissed at her gray-furred brother, who hissed back at her and pointed, this time at Carlos.
Despite the way that the blue one seemed to command the other two, Riley could tell that he was the youngest Triplet, and that he is as much ordered around as Riley was. The blue Catwing looked at Riley again, smirking. He jerked his head toward his brother, then looked at her again. Riley didn't need to understand his language to know that his brother will... give her a ride next time. He slithered in front of Riley, his blue belly fur brushing her head. Lashing out a paw, he grabbed Sam and tossed her in the air. Riley held her breath as she saw Sam screaming, getting caught by the female. The female opened her wings and started flapping them.

The air that grabbed Riley was nothing like she ever has experienced before. It seemed to be alive, grabbing her and throwing her around, a miniature tornado that got larger and bigger as the female flapped her wings even more. It was so much, in fact, that she once again had to force herself to the ground, but this time it was impossible. As she was being flung around, the female used this to her advantage to grab her. She saw Sam a few feet away from her. So close, yet so far away, Riley thought achingly. The blue male stood up on his hind legs and spread his wings majestically, his shadow falling over Riley, his blue eyes glittering with hunger. He turned around and jumped into the air, flapping his wings to fly. It once again slapped Riley, but this time the air was not as severe as before, and it quickly dissipated.