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Chapter 29: Cat Fight and a Crazy Bird
"I… is that Spat?" Panda asked after he had caught his breath, suddenly realizing the bat-like hamster was there. Spat was cowering under Kaito's fist and leapt back quickly when Kaito turned away.
Panda shook his head quickly. Not giving Kaito time to answer, he prompted, "Whatever, c'mon, we gotta go! Now! The cat was pretty close to here last time I saw it." He looked around warily.
Kaito still couldn't believe that a cat could hold such a threat, but he nodded to Panda's request. "All right, let's go… Sparkle…" he paused as he looked toward Sparkle, who had been tensed by the sudden warning "…-sama," he hesitated to add.
Sparkle twitched an ear, regaining herself. "I can look after myself," she said quietly but stubbornly. She spun around and began heading back to the festival, though Kaito thought it'd be safer to escape through the forest.
He was right, apparently, as the huge tabby cat suddenly pounced in front of Sparkle from behind a nearby bush. With a loud gasp, Sparkle fell back, staring up at it with wide eyes.
Kaito felt a sudden, strange sense of fury as the cat raised a claw, ready to simply swipe Sparkle out of the way. "Kaito-kun!" Panda yelled in alarm as the longhaired hamster suddenly dashed for the cat.
Kaito leapt up before the tabby lunged for Sparkle and bit one of it toes. The cat yowled in surprise and swung its paw around. Sparkle snapped back to reality and took this time to flee toward Panda.
Kaito held onto the cat's toes as tightly as he could. It seemed he was doing this a lot lately. He was surprised when the cat suddenly stopped swinging him around. It lifted him to its eye level, examining him. "You're the one I want," growled a strange voice unfamiliar to Kaito.
Thinking fast, Kaito kicked out his leg right into the cat's eye. This time, the cat writhed around enough to toss him off its toe. He was thrown to the side, right into the lake. He stayed underwater for as long as he could. When he finally resurfaced, gasping for air, he was surprised to see that the cat was gone. Panda and Sparkle were looking away. But where was Spat?
It was a good thing Kaito could swim. He had been taught how to by his teacher at his kingdom. Though getting wet was his biggest pet peeve. His long hair soaked in water like a sponge and made him feel three times heavier.
Kaito's fur hung over him like a wet towel when he had swam over to the edge of the lake and walked out. "Kaito-kun, are you okay?" Panda asked when he noticed him. "Yeah. As long as I'm still in one piece," Kaito replied, brushing a cut on his arm.
"Sparkle, are you—Hey!" Panda began, turning around to see Sparkle walking off. "Let her go," Kaito said solemnly. He couldn't be bothered with this. Spat had apparently fled and now he wanted nothing to do with Sparkle. It wasn't his problem anymore.
The two hamsters returned to their homes after that, but not before Panda lectured Kaito on how crazy attacking a cat like he did was. "Though, it was quite brave. I'd never be able to do that," he had said. Kaito was surprised by this compliment. Knights never admitted to not being able to do something. He was finding himself becoming more and more convinced that these Ham-Hams weren't knights the more he hung out with them.
When Kaito asked, Panda told him that a human had come over and chased the cat away while he was underwater. Apparently he had been too nervous to bother seeing if he recognized the human.
Kaito returned to his cage only moments before Roberto came into the room. He was carrying Samba, to his curiosity. Kaito watched as Roberto sat on his bed and gently rubbed a bandage on the puppy's foreleg. He could only wonder what had happened.
Roberto then looked at Kaito with surprise. "Did your water bottle break, or something?" He asked. Kaito cocked his head. He had only been able to dry himself a little bit. It'd be hours before he was completely dry; one of the downfalls for having long hair.
Kaito left a little late that morning after Roberto left. He wasn't really in the mood for going to the clubhouse, and dealing with the Ham-Hams and their predicable questions.
When he finally did leave, he took the long way around the city. He went a different way than usual, to avoid meeting Sparkle again. He brushed his arm, which was still sore from yesterday. He then suddenly remembered the strange voice he had heard when fighting the cat.
Where had it come from? The cat? Impossible. Cats didn't talk. His thoughts were interrupted by a different strange voice in an alleyway he was passing.
"Oh, buggar!" It exclaimed in an annoyed tone. The voice was a bit high-pitched and reminded Kaito of the squawk of a bird. He looked down the alleyway, not sure if he should go in.
"Well, isn't this just great? It looks like a fish, but it is? No! It's just a can… And… now... I'm… stuck...!" Curiosity forced Kaito to quietly pad toward the voice. It was coming from behind a few tall cylinder shaped gray objects. One was turned over. He crawled up it and peaked over the other side to see a creature he didn't recognize.
It was a bird, Kaito could tell, but it wasn't like the ones near his kingdom. This bird was all white with gray wings and a black head. Its beak and legs were a unique red color.
Kaito could see that the odd bird had gotten its foot stuck on some sort of small white net sticking out of a ripped black bag. Tugging at it wasn't helping. Kaito decided to put aside the fact that the bird was speaking and asked, "You need help?"
The bird spun around and screamed quickly, making itself fall over. "You are a strange looking… thing," it commented. "Speak for yourself," Kaito replied. "What? I'm a seagull, of course!" The bird said, spreading out its wings. Kaito cocked his head.
"It's the black head, isn't it? Everyone always double-takes when they see the black head," the bird said, brushing its head with a wing. "Uh…" Kaito began. "No, wait! It's this isn't it?" the bird interrupted, holding up its caught foot as high as possible.
On its foot was a small round metallic yellow band. It was actually the band that was caught of the white net. "Everyone's always gotta notice this, huh? 'What's that around your leg, Tobi? It looks stupid,'" the bird imitated mockingly. "I don't know what it is? I didn't put it there!" It squawked angrily.
"Whoa… uh, calm down," Kaito said, raising his paws slightly. "Calm down? How can I calm down? I've been stuck here for hours!" the bird hissed. "Maybe… I can help?" Kaito reluctantly offered. "Really?" The bird suddenly asked hopefully.
Kaito slid down the other side of the garbage can, wondering just why he was wasting his time with this. He padded over to the bird's caught foot. "I might be able to bit through it," he said. "Oh, then you must be a… uh, a rabbit, huh? They have big buck teeth that can bite through things," the bird asked. "No," Kaito replied, beginning to gnaw at the net.
"A mouse, then?"
"No."
"A suger glider?
"A what…? No. And you're free." The bird gasped. "Ah! I'm free! Oh, happy day!" It jumped up and flapped its wings, fluttering in the sky for a moment, before falling back down beside Kaito.
"Wait… Let me just warm myself up," it said. Kaito watched as the seagull stretched out its legs and wings. Were all birds around here so strange? "So… just what are you then?" it asked. "A hamster," Kaito answered simply. "A hamster!" the bird chirped pleasantly. "Hamsters are so cute!"
"Are… you okay?" Kaito had to ask after a moment. "No, actually, I'm not. I'm a bit on the, uh, weird side. In case you haven't noticed," the bird admitted. Kaito cocked his head. "It's not my fault. Humans made me weird. They also put this on me." It got angry when it mentioned the metallic band.
"Um… I have to go," Kaito said, slowly crawling back up the garbage can. Going to the clubhouse didn't sound like such a bad idea all of a sudden. "Go? Where?" the bird asked quickly. It followed Kaito as he padded out of the alleyway.
"I could fly you there!" It offered, spreading out its wings. "I'm not sure…" Kaito replied uneasily, remembering how the seagull had fallen before. "Don't worry! I'm ready this time." Without warning, the bird pecked at Kaito's scruff and lifted him up. "Hey!" Kaito exclaimed.
"Up, up, and away!" The bird squawked, flapping its wings and lifting into the air. It was a bit unsteady at first and a few times Kaito thought they were going to fall, but after they reached above the buildings it was fine. Kaito didn't dare look down.
"Where to?" the seagull asked. "Uh… the park," Kaito answered after a moment. "By the way, my name is Tobi. We should be friends, like, uh, the tortoise and the hare," the bird suggested. "It's the lion and the mouse—Look out!"
Tobi just narrowly missed flying into an opened window at the side of a building. "I know what I'm doing, don't worry!" He assured. Kaito couldn't help but worry, hanging over a bird's beak 50 feet in the air.
