Spirit's Journey

CHAPTER 24- Spirit: Why Me?

I swallowed a lump of fear. The wolves could be tracking us at this very moment.

In fact, maybe they were behind that pine tree over there. I swung my eyes to the left and right suspiciously.

Tree, tree, bush, rock. It was so boring here! And I hadn't had a whiff of prey since we'd left.

The ground was hard and dry, making my pads ache. Not that they had any other reason not to...

I'd had no food in two days, and the stomach pains were coming on strong now.

And Storm, really? What a stupid name, and a stupid coincidence that the first day we'd meet him he'd fought in a storm with us.

Well, at least it wasn't a human-cat name, like Hannah's. Animals in the wild were most named after items, or physical things that you could see or touch.

Hannah was not anything, as far as I knew- Just a random name made up for being a name.

I was Spirit, named after my bright spirit, or so had said my mother.

Fallan? It sounded like fallen, you know, like fallen leaves, but it was pronounced with an a. I'd no idea where her name came from, but whatever. I wasn't about to criticize my mother for her naming skills.

Arching my back, I bounded a few more steps ahead of everyone.

We had been traveling for a while now, and nighttime was nearing but I didn't care.

Occasional running had put everyone in a kind of gloomy mood, panting and not wanting to talk much.

Except for Fallan, though, of course, who was chatting noisily with Storm to the right, behind me.

I cocked an ear in their direction, only half-listening for the first time, and what I heard instantly sent a jolt of anger up my spine.

"So now he's been hunting us ever since, or I think so. That's how we came up to now and met you. Why me, though? I never did anything to Ash. What a butthead!"

I instantly swiveled backward as Fallan laughed at her own joke.

Arching my back, I snarled.

"He doesn't have to know out whole life story!" I was so close to clawing off her ears as she smiled.

"Too late."

What an idiot! Fallan and Storm.

The black cheetah hadn't replied, just stepped back and looked embarrassed.

He simply muttered a sorry, to which anger lept up in my throat.

"You should be!" I snapped.

"Mind your own buisness."

Sneering, I turned away with my nose in the air to lead again.

Served him right. I snorted.

Great! Just great. Now he knew everything about me, and everyone else in my Pride. You didn't see me go snoop around in everyone's business, sticking my nose where it didn't belong, did you? No.

It was also Fallan's fault. Yeah, more of Fallan. Everytime something went bad, you could count on seeing fat little paw prints of that energetic little nusiance behind it.

I didn't absolutely hate Fallan, but Great Skycat she sure could mess up! Whether it was intentionally, or by accident.

My thoughts wandered back to that day when I thought she'd actually been maturing.

"I just think I need to start pulling my weight," had said the cheetah, or something of it. For a second I thought she'd been maturing a little there, but jeez was I wrong! There was no possible way I could ever like Fallan.