The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 8

The five cloaked beings threw off their cloaks to reveal what they were.

The leader was a wolf-looking furry. He had a short-ish snout and sharp teeth. His hands were a mix of hands and paws, his feet were definitely only hind paws, and a fluffy tail flowed behind him. He was completely black save for his hair, which was black and gray and falling down his face. His paws were dark gray with lethal claws sticking out. Unlike a cat's claws, they could not retract. His eyes were white, and over the left eye, a scar pierced through the fur in an ugly, ragged manner.

The one beside him was a cheetah. She had a sassy look on her, which made her seem like a total bitch. She had short, red hair so as not to interfere with her fighting. Just like a cheetah, she had spots all over her body with the exception of her belly. She had the stripes under her eyes that blocked the glare of the sun, which really helped her fighting abilities. Her greatest ability was her speed.

The one who was laughing like a hyena was actually a hyena. He was short with short, fussy, light brown hair. He wore a perpetually insane grin on his face, and he giggled madly ever now and then. His eyes were somewhat crossed outward. He had a black snout that faded from black to tan. He only had paws that were black and a short, black tail. He was somewhat hunched over all the time. He had round ears on his head, and light black speckles spotted his body.

The ones on the far right and left were twins. They were small girl Siamese cats with brown ears, tails, paws, and nose fur. Their tails were thin as well with small fluff. They had big, baby blue eyes and black around their noses, which faded into the brown. At the moment, they had no claws showing, but that was only because they were retractable. Even though they were small, they could really fight.

"Yuma, they are dangerous," Astral warned. "Be careful."

Yuma nodded. Astral made the first move and attacked the leader directly.

Not expecting that attack, the wolf howled, literally, in pain and stumbled back. On his snout, the fur was singed to such an extent that his flesh was showing. He made a low, rumbling growl and gave a sharp bark. The rest of the team attacked in a flurry of hisses and snarls. Astral blocked with his sword while Yuma dodged their attacks and retaliated with his fists and his feet.

Astral managed to get separated and cornered by the children cats and the lady cheetah. He raised his sword to fend them off.

"Aww, he thinks he can defend himself!" sang the cheetah. She laughed a mighty laugh. "How do you plan to do that!?"

She lashed at Astral. He managed to block it with the flat of his sword, which earned the cheetah a direct sting from it. She hissed and struck his face while he was distracted by the flash his sword gave off when her paw made contact with the sword.

Astral gave an immediate scream of pain as her claws dug deep into his cheek. His sword hand pulled back, and he accidentally hit it on his chest. Instantly, his heart contracted violently from the strong electric charge sent directly to it. He gave a choking cry and leaned against a building while the cheetah laughed and the Siamese cats giggled.

Breathing very heavily from the shock, he lifted himself off of the building and ignored the insistant sting on his cheek as best as he could, which was harder to do than you think.

He swept his sword at the cheetah, and with her amazing speed, she dodged it easily and got Astral into a headlock with a laugh. Astral stabbed his sword behind him and actually heard her scream. She loosened her grip, and he twisted around with a yank of his sword. To his surprise, one of her eyes was on the tip. With a face of pure disgust, he flicked it off.

He turned to face the twins, but they weren't there. He whipped around in all directions, desperately looking for them.

~.Human POV.~

Yuma's hands clamped around the wolf's snout as tight as he could. He had experience closing a dog's mouth when it tried to bite him, so he did a fairly good job. Still, the hyena was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, with a shrieking laugh, the hyena jumped at him from the side. Allowing his reflexes to take over, he lashed one foot out at his face, hitting home just as he was about to take a bite. They hyena fell back, giggling like mad.

Yuma looked at him with confusion. Is this guy insane? How could he be one of the best?

With a grunt, the wolf freed himself and took a snap at his prey. Yuma leapt out of the way at the last second as his jaws snapped right in his face. The human boy yelped in surprise.

"No one gets away from us!" the hyena giggled. He got up, licking his chops. "Your precious prince is more than likely dead!" He laughed like a madman again.

Yuma chuckled. "No, I don't believe it. He's trying to get his brother back. There's no way he'd get killed at the beginning of the trip."

Then, some kind of high-pitched noise sounded in their ears. The furries looked up with a frown.

"We'll deal with you later," the wolf snarled. He gave another bark, and they all put on their cloaks and walked off.

Yuma watched them go, crossing his arms. When they left, he looked around for Astral.

"Astral!" he called. "Where are you!?" He walked around with a limp. The damn wolf managed to get his fangs on his ankle.

Yuma's eyes spotted a dimming light on the side of a building. He ran over and saw that it was Astral.

"Astral?" He shook him gently yet firmly. "Astral, wake up!"

The only response was a small groan. The boy noticed deep and small tears all over his body as a result of fighting with the felines. On the ground beside him lay his sword, dull and out of juice.

Yuma grabbed the sword and sheathed it. He slung it over his back and picked Astral up bridal style. He would get him to his brother no matter what.