The Beginning

Chapter 27

Riley was suspicious of what was going between Clauchice, Lhrioun, Sam, and Carlos.

Sam and Carlos walked into Riley's den, talking quietly to each other. Riley caught "... it's good news," and " I hope he gets better soon."

"What are you even talking about?" Riley asked them, narrowing her eyes.

"We heard that the tournament is postponed for three weeks," Carlos said.

"There's some Tribes that aren't prepared yet," Sam added. "Slaughlitte decided to give them three more weeks to prepare."

"Yeah. Clauchice and Lhrioun are really excited. They still need to test out their projects," Carlos said, nodding.

"Wow. Which Tribes aren't ready?"

"The Desert tribe, and the Water tribe," Carlos said, counting off his fingers. "Lepardhice is a perfectionist, so she wants her project to be perfect. Littefhur is too lazy, but he promised to work on his."

"I don't blame Littefhur," Riley said. "He lives in the desert, for God's sake. Heat makes me lazy as well."

"That's my point," Sam agreed.

"What are you doing?" Carlos asked, sitting beside her.

"I was bored, so I decided to draw Jhaufyther," Riley said.

Sam came to her other side. Her eyes widened. "Jesus, that's so good!"

"Especially the shading," Carlos agreed. "It looks as if he might pop out of the paper any moment."

Riley was pleased. Back home, her drawings weren't appreciated at school. All their compliments felt fake and robotic, so she stopped bringing her drawings to school. Of course, she would trust her family, Carlos, and Sam for their genuine compliments.

"I've been working on it for a while now," Riley said, trying hard to remain humble. "I kept messing up his eyes."

"You managed to fix it perfectly well, though," Carlos said.

"I know, but they still look a bit weird."

"Let me see." Riley handed him the sketchbook and he erased the edges of the eyes, then sketched the eyes a bit rounder. He gave it back to her. "Is that better?"

Riley looked at the drawing and saw that it now looked identical to Jhaufyther. "Oh my gosh, it is. Thank you!"

"Don't forget that his eyes are really round," Carlos told her. "You're welcome!"

The sound of Clauchice's footsteps came closer and closer. She poked her head into the den. "Jhaufyther is asking to see you, Riley."

"Why?"

"He wants to tell you something." Clauchice glanced at Carlos and Sam.

"I'll come with you," Carlos said.

"He might tell us something as well," Sam agreed.

They walked to Jhaufyther's den, where Lhrioun was standing. He shifted his paws. "Why are you standing there?" Riley asked. She didn't like what was going on.

Lhrioun moved to the side, exposing Jhaufyther in the sunlight. Riley gasped.

Jhaufyther's wing was flopping to the side, at an angle that wasn't natural. His tail was broken in the middle, and there was an infected wound near the middle. His front left paw was shattered, and it looked like it would take some time for it to heal. She now knew why Slaughlitte postponed the tournament.

Jhaufyther winced. "Yeah, um... I had a little accident while traveling."

"ACCIDENT?" Riley shouted. "Y-you have bones broken in TWO PLACES."