🐈 Whiskers & Wings 🦇

🥭 Chapter 1 🥭

   The sun shone bright in the late-morning sky, its rays passing through the leaves of the forest trees. The sun, shining this brightly, had also brought the blazing heat, and there were little to no clouds floating across the sky. The only shade provided was the trees' shadows, and under them walk an unlikely pair of friends.

Rodney is an orange cat with a white tip on his tail. His forest-green eyes blended with the surroundings he was walking through, and they radiated curiosity and a sense of adventure. Sporting a maroon vest and a pair of blue jeans, the cat had a purple backpack strapped on his shoulders where a small toy fish attached to a string was sticking out, as well as where his friend Betty is nestled in. Betty is a dark-purple bat with blood-red eyes, large ears and a red bandana around her neck. She pokes her head out of the backpack to see her surroundings with a rather disinterested expression. They were out on yet another one of their adventures, which started because of Rodney's interest in what lies within the forest, and of course – Betty gets dragged along.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Betty asked the cat, sounding groggy from the amount of movement outside waking her up from her sleep.

Rodney chuckled as he navigated through the forest. "Not really, but isn't it more fun to discover things as we go? I can feel that we're getting closer to something interesting."

"Yeah, yeah..." Betty grumbled, "But seriously though, this better be worth the heat and the bugs biting at us. I'm not built for all this daytime activity."

"Relax, Betts. The forest is full of wonders. Besides, have a little faith in my whiskers, won't you?" Rodney's whiskers twitched in emphasis.

Betty rolled her eyes. "Last time I had faith in your whiskers, we ended up crawling through thorny bushes."

"Hey, we did stumble across a squirrel's birthday party after that, didn't we? And boy, that party was nuts!" Rodney laughed at his own pun, making the bat groan – Rodney and his bad jokes.

The duo continued their trek in the lush green forest, taking in their surroundings. They passed by a kaleidoscope of flower bushes, adorned with colours of crimson, violet and pink. The sweet fragrance of the blooms was intoxicating, and the little butterflies would flutter around them – which Rodney tried to chase one. There were also bees that were collecting the flowers' pollen and nectar to transport back to their nest, their tiny wings glinting in the dappled sunlight, a symphony of buzzing filling the air. The chorus of birds chirping were also heard from the treetops, each tweet and trill were a note in the grand opus of the forest, a song of life and vitality that resonated with Rodney's spirit, but disturbed Betty's sleep. Their path soon led them to a stream, its waters clear and cool as it flowed over smooth pebbles. With careful steps, Rodney guided them across, leaping from stone to stone, while Betty clung to the fabric of the backpack. Rodney had learned to be careful around waters, because the last time when he was careless near a pond, he fell in and got so scared to the point he got a fever the next day. After a while, the dense foliage of the forest gave way to a clearing, revealing a mystical temple perched atop a hill. The structure was ancient, its stones covered in moss and vines, but what's unique of the temple's structure is that it's adorned with statues of stone and gold shaped like – mangoes.

"Whoa... Look, Betty! The Temple of the Golden Mangoes!" Rodney exclaimed as he pointed towards the structure, his eyes wide with wonder.

Betty yawned and peeked out. Looking at where Rodney's pointing, her gaze sharpened and her curiosity piqued. "Golden mangoes?"

"Yup! Legend has it that these mangoes are unlike any other. Bite into one, and that juicy sweetness explodes in your mouth, while a cool, calming wave washes over you, banishing the heat in an instant. Tasting them is like finding a hidden oasis on a scorching day!" Rodney explained, which made the bat perplexed for a second.

"Well, I guess that makes them more intriguing." Betty said, her mouth already watering.

"Indeed it does, and we're gonna get our hands on those mangoes!" Rodney declared as he took an eager step forward, but he was stopped.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Betty immediately flew out of Rodney's backpack and was now gripping onto his backpack's flap with her feet as she flaps her wings. Rodney was just about to step his foot into a gorge and fall because of obliviousness to his surroundings, but luckily, he was pulled back by the bat just in time.

"Watch where you take a step!" She snapped, her tone a mixture of frustration and concern.

"Oh! Sorry sorry!" Rodney said as he wiped his brow in relief, "Phew, that was a close one. Thanks, Betts." He chuckled sheepishly.