S.H.H.A.

All You Need Is Super Speed And Super Sass

Vibrations raced up Marshmallow's paws from the trembling ground. Splinters of wood pierced her fur like shards of glass -some breaking through her skin causing tiny beads of blood to appear amongst her dirtied white and grey coat. Her head throbbed from the ringing in her ears, and she tried desperately to regain focus.

The tree had landed inches away from where the tip of her tail had been before she curled it up between her legs. Marshmallow knew that if she didn't move soon, the next missiles would hit their target. But, no matter how many times she blinked and rubbed her eyes, a misty grey haze covered her surroundings, impeding her vision.

In fact, if Marshmallow didn't know any better, she would have assumed a thick layer of mist had mysteriously swept over her surroundings. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her. A chill ran through her body, despite the warm sun that had been shining mere seconds ago. Perhaps a cloud had covered it, but Marshmallow couldn't see to find out. 

Her ears perked up at the sound of her sister's voice hollering loud enough for Gear to hear from wherever she was safely hiding. Well, at least Marsh hoped she was safely hiding. Knowing Ninja, there was no telling.

"Uh-oh, you know what kind of tree that was? The protected Willow Oak. You'd be in trouble if a human found out~"

Gear responded through the robot much too close for Marshmallow's comfort, "Human rules hold no value to me."

Marshmallow could hear Gear's missile launching bracelets beginning to spin again. She went to step in the direction of the sound, not entirely sure what she could do to stop him in her current state. However, her ears flicked behind her when she heard someone whisper, "Marshmallow?"

Recognizing the voice as Emsea's immediately, Marshmallow whipped her head around to face the silhouette of a cat approaching and whispered back, "Emsea? You shouldn't be out here."

"Save it Marsh," retorted the tabby as she got close enough for Marshmallow to see her. Although the haze obscured some of Marsh's vision, her memory of Emsea's silver cat form was fresh in her mind.

Unlike Marshmallow, whose black stripes never reached the white fur on her belly, Emsea's delicate grey stripes streamed down her sides to where her silver fur mixed with white. Although her facial features were stone cold, Emsea's cantaloupe orange eyes held the same soft touch as Squmkin's darker ones.

"Brownie and Smores are with Ninja," she explained, quieter than before despite Gear's attention entirely on Ninja. 

When an explosion sounded from Ninja's direction, Emsea's hair bristled up, turning her into a fluffy ball. A very anxious fluffy ball. "We have to get out of here," said Marshmallow to her frightened sister. 

Judging by how Emsea had been searching for her despite being so close told Marshmallow she wasn't the only one having vision issues. Perhaps the mist idea had been correct. And perhaps it had something to do with one of her sibling's hidden "talents".

As if confirming Marsh's suspicions, the mist cleared away, revealing the tree that had nearly crushed her lying on its side. Emsea crouched to the ground, clearly not prepared for that to happen, but after looking in Gear's direction, she understood.

Gear was no longer facing them. He wasn't even near the fallen tree. Whatever Ninja had done to distract him had worked. Emsea sighed in relief, but Marshmallow had a different opinion.

"What did Ninja do?" asked Marshmallow, a sinking pressure developing deep in her chest. Typically, Gear only bothered with Ninja if she was actively taunting him. The fact that Ninja was nowhere in sight, but Gear's attention was on her didn't bode well.