The Beginning

Chapter 21

Jhaufyther should've known that Riley was up to something.

After waking up to Riley not being in her bed, he got up and frantically looked everywhere for her, once startling a mouse. He killed it and ate it quickly, then continued looking for Riley. He was about to go ask Clauchice when he saw her with Carlos at the lake bank.

He stormed up to her. "You little-"

"I know. I'm sorry. I just had a lot of thought of what you said last night. I told Carlos about it, and we both agreed on finding a way to help you."

"HELP me?" he growled. "The only way you can 'help' me is by getting out of the way. Unless you have some master plan, I'm not listening." He sat down next to her and lashed his tail, absently kicking up dirt.

Carlos coughed. "HELLO? You do realize that you have some tiny humans RIGHT NEXT TO YOU?"

His voice brought Jhaufyther back to reality. He looked at Carlos, who was covered in dirt. "Oops, sorry. I was just thinking about how I can win."

"First off, you can't win with that attitude," Riley said.

Jhaufyther glared at her. "Gee, thanks."

"We need to figure out a way to win without doing any hard work." She got up and started pacing in front of Jhaufyther and Carlos.

Carlos glanced at him. Jhaufyther knew what he was thinking, and he liked it. "So... you want us to cheat?" Jhaufyther asked.

Riley stopped pacing and stared at him. "What? No! Just win by changing the rules and making it unfair to everyone."

"That's the legitimate definition of cheating," Carlos said.

"Actually... we can win without 'changing the rules by making it unfair to everyone' AKA cheating. I like the idea, but I don't want to get caught cheating."

"What happens if you do?" Carlos asked, smirking. Jhaufyther did not like the look in his eyes.

"...Nothing! Just, you know, get disqualified."

"Nah, there's something else, is there?"

"OKAY, FINE. If I get caught cheating, I have to do what Lhrioun says for one month," Jhaufyther admitted.

"So? It doesn't sound that bad," Riley said.

"Yeah. What's the worst that can happen?" Carlos agreed.

"Did I mention that I have to do ANYTHING he asks me? Like, anything you can think of?"

"Even... you know..."

"NO. Get your mind out of the swamp," Jhaufyther said to Riley. "You're so dirty minded."

"You did say anything," Riley answered, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

He glared at her. "I hate you."

"My point exactly," she said triumphantly.

He shook his head. "You two disgust me. I'm gonna go see Klickhaze and leave you to your nasty thoughts."

He flew away, hearing Carlos and Riley laugh behind him. He smiled to himself. I love those two, he thought. Riley's friends are so interesting to be around. What would I do without them? As he reflected on that thought, a spout of water hit him in the face, causing him to falter in the air and lose his balance. He glared down at Klickhaze, who was laughing with Hazefhur, waving their tails in the air.

Let's see how they like this. He stopped and narrowed his eyes at the two of them, then smirked. He pointed his tail at the water and summoned a huge ball of water. The water flew from the lake into his stinger, and he pushed out the water into his paws. He formed the water into a ball again, then threw it at Hazefhur, who was unaware of the huge ball of water flying at him. It crashed into him like a water bomb, and absolutely soaked him from head to toe.