GG | ✔️

6. Imperial-red

The swallow-schlepped sojourners somehow swam against the air currents. 

The tomcat's paw repeatedly peeked out from inside the backpack. He was trying to swat at one particular greyish chick.

A minor portion of the flock would display a stuck-out-tongue emoticon at the feline each time he failed to capture it. 

"What is... that... gobbledygook of yours?!" Duo whinnied at the birds, irked. "I cannot seem to grasp its meaning."

"Duo! No! Don't touch the birds! Bad cat! Swallows are our friends! Don't swallow them!" Una shook the backpack left and right as if stirring a cat broth.

"Killjoy." Duo retreated to the safety of his fortification. "Ah, at least you did not call me 'kitty.'  I am tremendously bored. And I officially no longer have acrophobia. I had no idea flying is just like sitting in a waiting room, biding one's time till the appointment with Dr. Ground." 

"Walking in the air is so delightful, Duo! I wish it wasn't so scary to be this far from the ground! My tummy keeps making nasty tumbles whenever I look down!" Una closed her eyes.

Duo's blue eye and a yellow eye joint-binoculared the ground. 

"Una. There is some kind of kerfuffle down there. Maybe you should look, just in case. I am a mere tomcat after all. Who am I to comprehend the hullaballoo of The Human Affairs Department?"

Una understood only the "maybe you should look" part. 

Plus, she stumbled upon anxiety in Duo's voice. 

She looked.

The lackluster landscape stretched its arms to embrace her at a dizzying speed, sporting a whirly kaleidoscope of colors.

"I know where we are! We are exactly above the Imperial Fresh Ice Cream Parlor! Something's not right, Duo!" 

Puppy-shaped flames lovingly licked the building foundations with an all-out ardor.  

"'Something is not right' is an understatement as big as a house. That parlor might just get blown to smithereens!" Duo's head was now pryingly propped on Una's shoulder.

"Duo! If the petal is in there, it will burn! We need it for the next poem! Darling swallows, can you take us down there faster?" Una chirped in a plea.

Her desperate beg-song obtained a birdlike rising cadence. 

Two-hundred-winged aircraft touched down amidst the murky mist. 

"It is difficult to see, but I surmise we are witnessing Store Wars!" sooty smoke swooped out of the tomcat's jaw.

"Store Wars?" Una was flummoxed.

An XXL-sized burnt cake whooshed past them, catapulted out of the bellicose bread shop from across the street. 

"Ah. I was right. 'Countly Cakes' is doing a 'fire-at-will' thingie against 'Imperial Icecreams'. Earnings enmity," said Duo.

A next piece of the flaming tart got wedged in the "Imperial Icecreams" foundation. 

A tangerine-colored flare expanded lickety-split. 

"Bullseye!" Duo did a mini-clap with his front paws. He hastily hid them behind his furry back at Una's disapproving glance.

"I occasionally enjoy warfare theatricals," the tomcat muttered apologetically. "And, there's sustenance for us now. We can't afford to be picky! The five-second rule!"

Una's stomach did a hungry barrel roll. Then she changed her mind.  "Eww! Carrot cake. I am not that hungry. I'll pass." 

Another burnt cookie kerplunked at their feet and paws.