CHAPTER 2
Birds chirped to Bella and Angeline from the bright blue sky, clouds looking like large bunches of cotton candy. They stretched, muscles relaxing and flexing. It was finally the day to continue traveling to Diamond Kingdom, the famous, rich kingdom that every animal wanted to live in! It was very well protected as well. Lucky for the three friends, there was a competition, and they'd be able to see what's inside!
Ivy jumped down from her tree. "Come on, we should hurry. I heard if you're late to the Diamond Competition, you get executed, but I think that's just a rumor. People lie because they want to keep you from going to Diamond Kingdom and winning the Diamond Competition that everybody is buzzing about," she blinked warmly. "Ah…well, I hope we win!"
"Wait, there's a competition?" Bella asked, frowning. "You never told me about that!" Her expression changed from calm to shocked and annoyed. She let out a small harrumph and turned away from Ivy.
"Squirrel-puke! I forgot!" Ivy cursed under breath. She apologized sheepishly, flattening her ears to her furry head. "Well, it's a competition where there are many tests, like hunting, racing, fighting, and some other stuff. The prize is unknown, but it is said to be one-of-a-kind and unique!"
"That sounds good! I don't really care about hunting, but I'm really fast! I would enter the racing competition," Angeline barked, darting around in circles. As she breathed, little puffy clouds of frosty air came out from her mouth, then vanished. "Right now is the time of my daily warm-up, but luckily, our traveling will cover all of it!" She grinned, wagging her tail.
"I'd fight," Bella growled, flexing her muscles. Even though she was a small Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, she was strong and could dodge any kind of attack while attacking herself. She could invent any battle formation that could actually work on the first try! "I'm not bragging, but I'm actually really good!"
"I'll gladly go hunting, but if there's tree climbing, I would do both," Ivy confessed, shrugging nonchalantly. "I really can't wait, but the journey will be very dangerous." She licked her paw.
"Uh…I hate dangerous journeys," Angeline whimpered. She let out a little whine, her usual bright and adventurous eyes were small and dull. "You never told me that it would be dangerous! I should've never agreed to this deal. Well…now what am I going to do?"
"Don't worry!" Bella barked determinedly, frowning at them both. "We will still go, even if it is dangerous! You think we're weak, but we can succeed if we believe in ourselves. Come on, you guys, don't you want the prize? I bet it's so cool and maybe really expensive!"
"But what if it's a scam?" Angeline gasped, shivering and trembling in the cold weather. "That would be horrible. We would waste all this time together! I'd rather be home in the warmth while telling really funny and embarrassing stories." Her dull eyes grew wider and wider by every thought.
"I think I agree with Bella," Ivy said smoothly. "I kind of want to see what the reward will be. If there is no prize, it was worth it visiting all the towns and villages with you guys. It'll improve our friendship!" She gave Angeline a friendly nudge, hoping to cheer her up.
"Please?" Bella crouched and gave Angeline her biggest, saddest puppy eyes. Ivy flattened her ears, faking a hurt look at Angeline and sighed dramatically. They both leaned closer to Angeline, practically breathing on her.
"Okay, fine," Angeline sighed. "But don't do that every time you want me to do something. It makes me want to burst out with sadness!" All three of them set out and exited Flowtown.
"I hate walking," Bella moaned. Only Ivy was being positive. The other two were just whining about walking or how tired they were. Annoyed and dismayed, Ivy kept walking and ignoring the two dogs behind her and kept walking.
"I'm so exhausted! Can we take a break?"
"UGH! I WANT A BREAK! RIGHT NOW!"
"Oh my diamonds! I'm starting to wonder if we ever slept last night!"
"Ouch! I was so busy trying not to doze off that I stepped on a branch!"
"Oof. I'm going to be careful from now on!"
"ARGH!"
"Whoops…whoa–!"
"Are you okay?"
"Never been better…just tired!"
"BREAK! BREAK!"
Ivy started to regret trying to find the kingdom and trying to make it in time for the contest with the people behind her, but decided to not care too much. She would try to go anyway, it would still be a cool adventure.
"I want to rest," Angeline whined, groaning dramatically. "My paws hurt so much from walking!" She licked her paw pads thoroughly, trying to soothe the pain that was jabbing into her pads.
Ivy decided to check up on Bella and Angeline, and surprisingly they were still following her. Bella used to wander off when on these long walking distances, because she was really energetic and hyper.
"It's getting dark," Bella observed, looking nervously at the sky above, which was glittering menacingly. "We should stop now to rest. We can't risk getting hurt in the dark, and we all need our sleep."
"We'll stop at the next village and settle for the night," Ivy reassured them, though she never knew when the next village would show. After about one hour of walking, Angeline saw a small province in the distance, a thin line on the horizon. They stopped for a second to look at the beautiful sunrise, then kept on traveling so they could cover more distance. "This is starting off really well!"
All of them started trotting and quickly enough the village became closer, and closer, and closer, until they could smell the fine lavender the town grew in their beautiful community garden.
"Wow, this is beautiful. I think it's called Lavender Dream Garden, well…it really feels like a dream!" Angeline said, scanning the sign with her eyes, and it turned back to her usual bright eyes. "They grow beautiful lavenders and use them for scents all around the village."
"That's cool! It would be better if they had the nonpoisonous kind of ivy," Ivy joked, laughing. She read the sign over and over again, stretching out her tired muscles. They had come such a long distance. "It would sort of be like me as a plant, that would be so funny!"
"We already have ivy. You!" Bella teased. The three friends cracked up. Bella wished they could be like that forever, but they might be saying goodbye to Angeline when they came back.
"Oh, I'm going to miss you after we're done with the journey," Ivy meowed wistfully to Angeline. "Are you sure you want to go when we are finished with the journey?"
"I need my town. I have friends there too, but visit me!" Angeline barked apologetically, her eyes glistening with sorrow. "Please do. I'll miss you so much, and I don't know how to thank you for saving me when I was starving."
Bella whined pitifully, a stream of tears rolling down her cheeks. "I wish you could stay with us, then life would be way happier. Especially with Par–" She shut her mouth quickly, hoping nobody heard, and licked Angeline with one soggy tongue, trying to cheer Angeline up.
Ignoring Bella, Angeline rolled her eyes as if they were forcing her to stay with them. "If I stayed, then my family and friends would be hurt. I am going back, so don't try to make me stay with you!" Angeline snapped, annoyed. She frowned and harrumphed, turning her back on her friends.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Bella said, looking shocked and guilty. "I didn't mean to annoy you so much. I'm really sorry if I hurt you." She hung her head, looking ashamed. She exchanged a worried glance with Ivy.
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I do want to stay with you, but my family and friends need me," Angeline explained. "But I could visit you and you could visit me, would that be fair?"
"I have some logic to share, and I'm pretty sure you'll be happy about this, so…Angeline, couldn't we stay with you and your family and friends?" Ivy meowed thoughtfully, her tail waving excitedly in the air. She purred and curled up on the cold, colorful leaves. "After all, we all live in Zanesville! Or we could just live near each other and visit each other everyday!"
"Oh, yeah! You're right! Congratulations for that wonderful idea! You've always been the clever and shady one!" Bella barked happily, congratulating Ivy, who was purring even louder. "Wait, what do you think, Angeline? Can we stay with you and your friends and family? Please?"
"Of course! I'll just have to introduce you. Are you guys okay with that? I really hope you're okay with it, because my family and friends are sensitive when strangers come by," Angeline barked. "I hope so!"
"I am!" Bella jumped up and down licking Angeline's cheek cheerfully. "I'm so excited, I've never really been on a real journey before!" She grinned wide at her friends, sitting down to make a proper circle.
"Um…" Ivy muttered reluctantly. "Sure, as long as you don't reveal anything about me without my permission. Just say my name, my birthday, and my breed. If you don't want to make your explanation too complicated, just say my name."
"Alright, then. It's settled!" Angeline exclaimed, and she and Bella cheered, making Ivy just smile and flick her tail, amused. Angeline started planning everything with Bella, who agreed with everything she said.
"Hey, can I tell you a story about when I was little? I was pretending to go on a journey, but it kind of backfired at the end…" Bella grinned sheepishly, her tail wagging. "So…can I?"
"Of course! No problem!" Angeline nodded. "What about you, Ivy? Are you okay with it?"
"Sure, why not?" Ivy shrugged, sitting down and yawning. "You better get on with it, though."
"Alright! Once when I was five years old, I decided to have some fun because my parents were talking about boring stuff, so I went into the woods and pretended to fight evil villains that were played by trees. I got lost, and I was stuck in there for hours, until I heard a distant roar, and I thought it was a dinosaur!" Bella barked.
"Was it really a dinosaur?" Angeline asked, her jaw dropping in awe.
"Of course not, Angeline! Dinosaurs don't exist anymore! They're extinct!" Bella scoffed. "Well…I guess you're too little to know that, you're just a puppy. Anyway, these really scary German Shepherds came, and I bet they were hunting, so they sniffed the air and I ran."
"Good job. We all know that some German Shepherds can be dangerous, but not all of them," Ivy yawned again. "You definitely made a mistake sneaking into the woods. I made a mistake once, but let's not talk about it. Somebody died in that story."
"Yikes! Thankfully I didn't die!" Bella gasped, shuddering. "So they tried to kill me, because they were absolutely starving, I could tell because their stomachs were rumbling really loudly. They nearly got me, and then my dad–who was way bigger than a normal Cavalier King Charles Spaniel should be because he trained himself every day–jumped in and scared them off!"
"Great! That actually was pretty much an adventure! Pretty terrifying though!" Angeline laughed.
"Yeah, it was! Ivy, do we have anything to do now?" Bella jumped up and licked her lips.
"Let's keep journeying now! Or should we rest for a bit?" Ivy asked Bella and Angeline thoughtfully, stretching. She yawned and purred, feeling comfortable journeying with her best friends.
"I want to keep journeying! I'm so excited!" Bella exclaimed, still bouncing up and down. She stopped listening to Angeline's impossible plans and her stomach rumbled loudly.
"I think we should rest here and hunt for food so we can be ready for any challenges that might come on our journey," Angeline suggested thoughtfully. "Plus, Bella's stomach is rumbling, which is super annoying." She laughed.
"Good idea, Angeline!" Ivy praised. She then ran to the yard next to the park and pounced on two rabbits and clawed a thrush by the stomach. Then she pranced back spitting out the prey she caught. "I got food! Come and take your portion!" Ivy meowed cheerfully, guarding all the prey that she caught. She shoved some of the prey to the others, taking a rabbit and devouring it in one whole bite, licking her lips afterwards. She smiled blissfully.
"Wow, Ivy, you're really good at hunting now, even better than before!" Bella said, grabbing her thrush and tearing the flesh out of the paralyzed thrush. She sighed in relief and satisfaction as her stomach stopped rumbling.
"Yeah, it's so cool to see you in action," Angeline praised. All of them ate until their first portion, and they all went back to the yard and looked for seconds. They were extremely full and exhausted from all their eating, so the three strays went off to sleep in their own separate nests. "I wish I could be like you! You're like my role model, except you're just a friend."
The next dawn, they woke up and stretched. Ivy bounded off to hunt, so Angeline and Bella were left alone guarding the temporary camp. They both were shivering in the cold weather, but they were having fun talking.
"Ah," Angeline yawned. "That was a good rest. It's so fun traveling together. Oh, no! My family and friends don't know I'm here! They must be so worried!" She felt sick in the stomach, and she looked up at Bella worriedly.
"That's so sad! I hope they don't think you died," Bella shuddered at the horrible thought of Angeline dead. "I guess you can explain everything afterwards. It will be quite a story!"
"I just hope they can trust me," Angeline sighed, her tail drooping in between her legs. She lowered her head in shame, wondering how she could leave her friends and family without telling them. "They'll be so angry!"
"I'm sure they do. You're very responsible," Bella responded, having sympathy for the young Golden Retriever, who was crying and moaning apologies to the blank air in front of her. "I just know it!"
"I miss them so much," Angeline mumbled, sighing. "I don't know what to say when I get back to my home. They'll be so mad at me!" She stopped as another fit of crying shook her.
"Guys, eat quickly, it's time to keep going," Ivy meowed. She padded into the center of the temporary camp and set down her prey. She caught a hawk, a thrush, and a plump mouse. "We can't afford to be late!"
"Whoa, what is that?" Bella asked, prodding the hawk violently. It was huge, enough to fill the animals' bellies for a day. "I've never seen a bird that big before!" She sniffed the hawk curiously.
"It's called a hawk. They're very rare to see these days because they mostly hang out in the cold mountains. I was lucky to catch it. I had to leap onto it and drag it down!" Ivy exclaimed. She ripped part of her mouse with her teeth and pushed it in front of Angeline.
"Eat, Angeline," Bella urged Angeline as she bit into the hawk. They gobbled the prey up, then continued traveling, trodding onto the frosty grass while they chatted happily about. "You need your strength so that you can continue the journey. Otherwise, we'll all be hungry after a few hours."
After a while, they neared a forest. A disgusting scent flowed into the air, causing the eanimals to cringe, trying hard not to sniff directly. They stopped right in their tracks, wrinkling their noses.
"What is that smell? It's revolting!" Angeline gasped for air. She shook her fur along with Bella, her black nose still wrinkled. She had a look of disgust plastered on her face, and she tried to stop breathing in the smell.
"Fox," Ivy whispered, her eyes wide with fear. "Huge, terrifying red creatures. Angeline, run! You're still a puppy. Bella and I will handle this. We've fought one before, and we will do so now."
"We fought it with Arrow," Bella pointed out, looking at Ivy as if she had just sprouted two heads. "He's really strong, remember? At least one of us will get badly hurt, nevertheless killed."
The fox stepped out of the shadows, growling maliciously. Slaver dripped from its jaws, and its eyes were bloodshot from hunger. It snarled, pawing the ground with its humongous paws.
"ROAR!" The fox leaped and slashed at Ivy. She nimbly dodged and drove the fox toward Bella, making Bella shot under its stomach, biting hard. The fox attacked again, tearing at Bella, but Ivy jumped onto its back and sank her teeth into its pelt.
The fox yowled in pain, its eyes narrowing in anger. It clawed the ground in frustration and shook itself, making Ivy fall to the ground with a thump. It tried to scratch Ivy, but she dodged again.
"Wait, Bella!" Ivy shouted frantically. Her voice was getting weaker, and she crouched to lick her wounds. "It's getting angrier! We need to scare it so it runs away! If it gets angry, it will keep fighting until it or us dies!"
"That's it!" Bella exclaimed, her face suddenly brightening. "Ivy, go from behind. I'll bite it, and you scratch it from the back." She nodded at Ivy with newfound determination, and growled as loudly as she could.
Ivy leaped behind the fox, and Bella darted toward it, pouncing onto its neck, biting and slashing. Ivy jumped onto its back and scratched everything in her path, yowling in anger.
The fox howled in pain, shook them off, and ran away, whimpering. Its ears flattened and it left paw marks in the frosty grass, whining with each step it took. Finally, it disappeared into the trees.
"What a bad Autumn!" Bella puffed, shaking the blood off her fur. The ground was stained with blood. She flopped down in exhaustion, only to wince at the coldness to her fur.
Ivy licked the blood off her, looking dizzy at the strong taste. "My blood and fox blood is not as tasty as prey's!" She spat blood out of her mouth, making a disgusted face. She suddenly groaned.
"Are you guys okay?" Angeline barked, looking worried. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. "Yuck, it's so disgusting, I'm never going to get that smell out of my nose! I'd be so happy when it grows stale."
"Just a little dizzy…" Ivy mumbled as she crumpled onto the ground. Her black pelt was turning red from the blood gushing on her pelt. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she lay limp on the ground.
"IVY!" Bella barked, and the two dogs ran over to her. She had a long gash on her stomach, and it was gushing blood hard. "Oh, no, she's losing blood! She can't die! She won't die!"
Angeline suddenly bounded away, tail between her legs. She sprinted toward the village behind them, and disappeared behind a wall. Moments later she came back with a plump white cat who was holding clumps of fluffy white stuff in her mouth.
"Hi, I'm Luna. This is sheep wool. It helps stop blood," Luna plastered the wool onto Ivy's cut, gasping for breath as she did it. "Here's some extra for you on your journey. Angeline told me about it." She handed the rest of it to Bella.
"Thank you so much, Luna!" Bella sighed in relief. She nodded at Luna and smiled warmly in gratitude. "Ivy could've died without your help." Her tail wagged furiously, and she couldn't help laughing.
Luna blushed. "I mean, I think you should rest. After a battle, getting some rest is the best way to cure your wounds. Rest your wounds and they'll heal quicker, and tomorrow, you'll be fine," She stared at Ivy thoughtfully for a moment. "Yeah, you should stay for a while so she can be better."
"Um, I've been thinking, Luna…could you come with us on this journey?" Angeline pleaded. "We could get hurt, and we got really lucky to find you. We don't know even a bit of healing knowledge!"
"Well, okay, I guess…as long as I can go back to my home after," Luna sighed, looking back at the village with longing in her eyes. "You guys better sleep now. I'll keep guard for you, I'm in pretty good health. Besides, I really don't have anything to do, except for–whatever."
"But-" Bella protested, her tail drooping, but she got cut off by Luna, smiling in amusement. Bella frowned as Luna purred, and she let out a little harumph, scowling as she clawed the ground in frustration.
"Don't worry, I'm a real fighter. You may think I'm a healer, but I'm a guard in my family. We just have to know healing stuff to heal ourselves when we get older," Luna winked at Bella. "I'm getting older by the minute!"
"Fine. How about we have a practice fight so we can see how good you are?" Bella challenged in a sneering tone. "If you win, you guard for us. If you lose, I will guard, and you sleep like a normal cat."
"Alright. Sounds fair," Luna shrugged, crouching down. Her thick white pelt brushed the grass as she elegantly flexed her muscles. "I'm ready now, Bella. Go on–attack me!"
Bella pounced, diving underneath Luna, her claws sheathed. Luna neatly rolled to the side and kicked Bella with her hind legs. Bella flew backwards, but she landed on all fours. Luna darted toward Bella, and Bella assumed she would dive under her, so when Luna approached, she crouched and raked downwards, but instead, Luna swerved to the right and raked her sheathed claws onto Bella pelt. Bella fell from force, and Luna pinned her down.
"I win," she meowed. There was not a speck of dirt on her. Her fur was still silky, and there was no exhaustion in her eyes. "Now, I get to guard, and you can't complain about it."
"Fine," Bella grumbled through gritted teeth. She was panting in exhaustion, and her wound was bleeding harder. "But I still get to guard the rest of the days. It's my job, not yours."
"I'm not trying to take your place," Luna said, looking hurt and alarmed. "You need to rest from the fight. Besides, I don't really care about fighting, I'm a healer, so don't worry about it." She shrugged and sat down.
"Okay, then. We'll rest. Come on, Angeline." Bella huffed, she glared at Luna. Angeline and Bella padded away under a gorse bush and curled up, drifting asleep in no time.
Little did they know about Luna.
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