Are We On Mars?

Chapter Nine

"Help!"

Lionshine's head snapped around at the cry. "Who was that?" she grumbled, and headed out of the rover, coughing slightly at the dust rising from the surface. The other cats followed her, and she heard the thump of each set of paws hit the ground. Greenface was last; he pushed his way past the others and hastily sprinted a few meters away, dry heaving. The other cats, unsympathetic, headed toward the cry of help.

"Guatannnnna!" the voice sounded again, more desperate this time. Shadepelt voiced everyone's curiosity: "What was that?"

"It was help," offered Pebblepounce, "but in Venian."

"Oh."

They went a bit faster now, peering through the fog. Suddenly an orange shape loomed out of the fog, writhing frantically. It was furry, bright orange, with a long tail and wide paws. It looked a bit like a cat, but it was larger and didn't have proper ears.

It was wrestling with a small gray creature that had sunk its teeth into the orange thing's paw. Shaking its foot repeatedly, the orange cat-like thing was unsuccessful. It tipped its head back to cry again, but Lionshine forestalled it. "Hey!" she called, waving her tail, then remembering she was in a space suit and hopping up and down.

It whirled around with a strange squawk of surprise, and seemed to shrink with fear as they approached. Pebblepounce stepped forward and spoke rapidly. "Djek yuiks clowwrs ekesk?"

It yelped back. Pebblepounce, not taking his eyes off it, murmured quietly. "I asked if it needs help, and it says yes, but it won't pay us anything if we help it."

Alderwood snorted loudly, mocking Lionshine's exact thoughts. "Sure, we're absolutely going to want pay," Shadepelt added with a sarcastic smirk. "Tell it that we'll help it for nothing," Lionshine told Pebblepounce.

He dipped his head and turned back to the creature. "Cughdle ekesk ckdls roc oralseept."

"Djsk, djsk!" the orange thing cried back excitedly. "Skekef skeeolp Wkwwssseddl."

"His name is Wkwwssseddl," translated Pebblepounce. "And he's very thankful."

The cats easily dispatched the gray thing, Lionshine and Shadepelt wounding it severely and Pebblepounce delivering the killing bite. It tasted remarkably good, so they quickly ate it while keeping half an eye on Wkwwssseddl. Greenface joined them moments later, looking less queasy and quite excited.

Wkwwssseddl was nursing his paw, but when the cats finished eating he began jabbering loudly to Pebblepounce.

"Smwk rifv weifir eidovjri ieeiic keico iirov ieow krkv fkdk rrffeddesc fovo ttf f doeld otgob wssk!"

"He says, um, for saving his life he will lead us to his village and introduce us to his father who is the leader. He also says that the creature we ate is deathly poisonous, and soon we will die but his father has the antidote for the poison."

"Great, telling us that now," Lionshine hissed. "Ah, well, let's follow him."

"Jeeod eodod edodo totvk," Pebblepounce told Wkwwssseddl.

Wkwwssseddl got up and began padding toward a light shining through the fog, and as they walked the light grew brighter and the fog cleared, until they could see a bustling village in the distance. It was small, mostly stone huts, with many of the orange creatures walking around. They could see that every creature was a different shade of orange, and some had different colors, but mostly red, orange, and white.

They quickly reached the largest hut and walked in. Pale blue stone jugs lined the walls, all filled with a whitish liquid. Wkwwssseddl went straight to one and drank it happily. When he had finished, he gestured to the jugs and spoke seemingly gibberish to Pebblepounce.

"He says this is the antidote."

They drank it, finding it tasted something like milk and fresh water from a spring. By the time they had finished, another orange creature had come into the room. Pebblepounce was watching them intently. He turned to Lionshine. "Wkwwssseddl is telling his father, Wasselddl, about his adventure and why we're in his house. His father seems very impressed."

"Sksx ekdcj meiijfkwi mekwi kek kie krk kek jwnsy get?"

"He wants to know if we want to go on a tour of the village," Pebblepounce explained. "We're his esteemed guests."

"Absolutely!" Lionshine exclaimed. "This will be a great learning experience."

"Sjeek emxk krofc." Pebblepounce told Wasselddl.

"Skekoeck kririv meido!"

"He says that's great, and we're leaving now."

"Ready?" Lionshine faced her team. "Remember, listen to everything he says. Pebblepounce, got your great translating skills up to date?'

"Yep!"

"Okay. Let's go!"

brought to you by Leopard who apologizes that her chapter isn't very funny but mostly serious. Funny parts come later ^.^ enjoy!