The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 25

Astral was drowning in all the dirt spraying up around him. He desperately searched for something to grab on to, but nothing came up at all!

Everyone around him was screaming in terror at this sudden attack. Everyone was grabbing at one another with no sturdy anchor to keep them steady during this underground bombing. Astral's mouth and nose filled with soil. He started coughing it up as soon as he inhaled it.

~.Royal POV (Black Mist).~

Black Mist yelped in surprise when the dirt randomly errupted like a sleeping volcano coming to life. His first impulse was to grab a tree, but they were all being uprooted. His second impulse was to make a net out of his ooze, which was just what he did.

The net wove itself right below him, and he was caught in the bouncy ooze with the other humans, who were chasing him down. They were dazed by the explosion.

Black Mist saw a large rock coming down. Eyes widened, he made the ooze make a sturdy roof over them to protect them. The rocks and tree trunks hit the roof with a thunk! while they were safe inside. Black Mist breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe in this net for now.

~.Human POV.~

Akari and Yuma held on to each other, determined not to get separated again. They protected each other from the pelting showers of dirt that came their way while they fell to the inevitable doom of death. Nothing good could come out of falling, after all.

"Yuma, hang on!" Akari yelled, keeping her grip on her brother.

Yuma nodded. "Are we gonna make it through this one?" he yelled over the noise of the others.

"I don't know!"

~.THEM.~

Lady Shila lounged around on her chair, watching on the monitor as all the people went into a riot. She was sure her little bombing surprise even hit the foolish group that was trying to get to them!

She dug her claws into the arms of her chair at a realization. That stupid King Godith would be able to get away from that! He always found a way of hopping on air to escape things like this. She smirked. Well, like his son, he would be sucked in.

"Ready the sucker," she commanded one of her lynx cats.

The lynx nodded. She slammed one of her huge paws on the button, activating the sucker. Shila grinned.

"That should take care of any fliers," she mewed.

~.Royal POV (Astral).~

Astral landed lightly on top of a pile of dead bodies. Somehow, he had fallen unconscious during his fall when something hit his head, which was probably not good for him. He groaned and got up. He didn't notice anything in his surroundings until a large, electrical shock fried every dead person, waking Astral up completely.

He bolted up and reached for his sword he normally kept by his side, but it wasn't there. Frantic, he grabbed a rock off the ground, preparing himself for who he knew was coming.

Wattchimera prowled out, growling. His snake tail was swishing all around like crazy and hissing angrily. Astral scrambled back. All he had was a rock, nothing more! Plus, his electric shocks wouldn't hurt him!

"Relax, little one," Wattchimera snarled, settling down. "I will not harm you."

Astral relaxed somewhat. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. I will not harm you." His snake tail begged to differ. It rushed at Astral at top speed with its mouth wide open, only stopping when the chimera snarled at his own tail.

Astral was confused. What was going on. "You said that you would not harm me," he stated, "but your tail did."

"It has a mind of its own," he explained. "It tends to do things like that."

"Ah." Astral put down the rock and looked straight at Wattchimera. "What happened? Everything just went crazy."

Wattchimera growled again and tucked his giant paws under his chest. "They've come to the silly idea of bombing the ground, which has ruined my home," he complained. "I have cooperated long enough with them! The only reason why I even bothered with them was that they promised a place to sleep, and now they have broken the deal!"

"I see..."

"With our electric powers together, I believe we can destroy them all along with their base. I've had enough of it anyways. Those cats are so annoying!"

It was ironic that he said that since he himself was part cat. Well, he wasn't one to judge because he, too, despised the cats and dogs.

"Are you suggesting that we team up?" Astral asked, biting his thumb nail.

"Yes. That is what I am saying." Wattchimera tamed his tail and rested it beside him. "Do you want to, or do you not want to?"

Astral pursed his lips. It was a difficult decision. After all, this lion goat almost killed him! However, the chance at getting back at THEM for making them move was tantilizing. "I want to."

"Then hop on my back. It will be faster that way."

Astral nodded. He flew up to the chimera's back and rested on the lion half, where static hummed harmlessly across his fur. Wattchimera bounded across the ground with lightning speed. Astral had to hold on to the mane to keep from falling.

~.Human POV.~

The siblings landed on something soft. It may have been bodies or sheets, but there wasn't the rotten smell, so it was safe to say that it was sheets. They had their eyes squeezed shut, so they didn't know.

Akari opened her eyes first. She looked around what seemed to be a room full of purple cloaks. So, this was where they stored them.

"Yuma, open your eyes," she said, shaking her brother.

Yuma opened his eyes and took a look around the room. "Huh. I was wondering where they kept them."

"Think we can use them to our advantage?" she hissed.

"Maybe, but what if the others think we're one of them?"

"Yeah, you're right..."

The room started rumbling dangerously again. The siblings held on to each other until the tremors died down. They had to think of a way out of the lair once more. If they kept up the bombing, they would soon be buried in a mound of dirt!