On the Outside
“I can’t believe Tib got us all booted! For once, I wasn’t doing anything wrong!” Samphire huffed, glancing angrily back at the gates to the resort.
Tib shrunk back, a sad chirp escaping their throat.
Noor stepped forward to reassure her friends, “Sam, I thought you and Tib came to explore the mountain rocks and dirt, anyways. You don’t need to have access to the hot springs to do that. There’s way more dirt out here than there is in there.”
Tib’s orange eyes brightened, momentarily forgetting their guilt, but they ducked down again in apologetic submission when Samphire swung around with growl, “There’s food in there, though! Ugh I should have kept an eye on them. We all know how gullible Tib is. We’re such idiots.”
“What about your mom, Sam?” Noor chimed in, “She always has something good to eat. We can make it a nice camping trip in the mountains.”
“What, with all the food Tib stole and gave to her right before we all got kicked out?” Samphire scoffed.
Tib whimpered in shame.
“Come on, Sam, go easy on Tib,” Noor coaxed, “They were just trying to be helpful. I don’t think they realized they were risking all of us getting kicked out.”
“Yeah, well they should have!” Sam retorted.
“There’s no use arguing over what’s already happened,” Noor pointed out, “Why don’t we just make the best of the lots we’ve drawn and have a nice vacation in the mountains.”
Samphire growled in defeat and Tib’s ears perked up cautiously. The cicada mothcat felt bad about their mistake, but they were more than ready to explore the mountain geology outside the resort walls.
Before the trio had the chance to set off on their slightly-revised vacation, though, Sam caught sight of a grey and white mothcat in the distance. She cursed under her breath. There was no mistaking those splotchy green wings.
Noticing Sam’s sudden tenseness, Noor put a gentle paw on her friend’s shoulder, “What is is, Sam?”
“Maya,” hissed the smelly mothcat.
Noor turned to look in the direction Samphire was glaring in. Sure enough, Sam’s rival was approaching at a slow but steady pace. Her saggy belly jiggled like pudding as she strolled towards them with a smug look on her face.
“Not so high and mighty now, are you?” sneered Maya as soon as she was within hearing range.
Sam hissed, her hackles raised.
“What, no clever retorts now that you’re stuck on the outside, too?” taunted the grey and white mothcat.
Without a word, Samphire lunged at Maya with a yowl. Unfortunately for her, her jelly-like opponent had astonishingly good reflexes. Before Sam got a single strike in, razor sharp claws slashed across her face, leaving behind a bloody nick in her nose. The smelly mothcat rolled backwards, her guard lowered, but Maya wasn’t done.
The rain of clawed strikes didn’t cease until Tib, wailing like an ambulance, dove straight into the middle of the fight with their oversized green body. Realizing she was outmatched, Maya spat and gave Tib a conclusive whack on the nose before sprinting of, jigging all the way.
Sam stood up, hackles still raised and blood dripping from her nose and left ear, “That… that… I’ll show her! I’m gonna have a great time out here in the mountains! Just watch me!”
Noor gave her friends a pained smile, “Are we ready to go find Babb, now? It’s starting to get dark, and my stomach is growling.”
“Heck yeah! Let’s go find my mom. We’ve got a smug pudding-cat to prove wrong,” Sam announced.
 Tib buzzed excitedly and hopped up and down a couple times before prancing clumsily in the direction they remembered Babb heading in last. Their friends followed close behind.