X || Gas Mask || Path of Diamonds

X

Wing whipped around as soon as she heard the clank of a chain and the sniffling of two creatures. Prowling the storage facility was a cat with a tail made of a salivating monster—quite frankly, it reminded her of the Chain Chomp enemies from Super Mario Bros. She quickly ducked as it sniffed in the air, whipping cautiously around in her direction.

“X?” a rasping voice hissed. The prowling cat stopped.

“Yes?”

“What are you looking for?”

“Intruders.”

“It’s my watch.”

“Very well then.” Wing slunk away, but her tail knocked into a rusting computer.

“There!” X yowled, and Wing was slammed into the wall. The females began to fight, until a powerful swing of the tail sent Wing hurtling across the room, knocking her unconscious.

June 15, 2019

Gas Mask

I snarled as the mask wrapped tighter around my face, ripping at it with my claws. Get off, I hissed in my head, but it only felt tighter. I blinked rapidly as it filled my face with gentle smoke, clawing at the porcelain. It wouldn’t come off. I yowled the best I could, but it was nearly impossible to speak.

The smoke was beginning to fill the mask, and as I breathed it in, I was calmer. Allowing the strange feelings to trickle through my body, I shivered and wrapped my tail closer, soaking myself in the coolness. My eyelids fell and I dropped to the ground, deep in sleep.

I started awake, hardly able to remember where I was. The museum. Stealing an ancient mask. I whipped around upon realizing the mask was still on my face, but it had changed form. Instead of the glorious, hand painted beauty I had held in my claws, I was wearing a tacky gas mask, made of cloth and plastic, cracked a little. It wouldn't pry off this time either. I stared at myself in the glass of another mask.

My eyes had changed to a whirling mess of oranges and yellows and reds, as if I had been infected with a strange curse. My tail was the big change—a billowing cloud of toxic gases that spun in the shape of the slim bone.

This is what you get, a voice in my head taunted. I narrowed my eyes. Yeah, yeah. Stupid. A thief, a bad deal maker—who did that lady think she was, trying to get someone to steal a fancy mask for her? She must’ve known what it would do, if she couldn’t get it herself. A voice from behind shook me from my thoughts.

“Radiance, darling, you look wonderful.” I whipped around to face the cat who made the bargain. I hissed, unsheathing my claws. “No need to get feisty, you look amazing,” she purred. “You will make an excellent addition to my team, if you would so choose?” I narrowed my eyes.

“And what would that get me?” I snarled, muffled by the mask.

“All the money you need. You wouldn’t have to steal anymore. Oh, and, I’ll have my scientists onto the case of your new accessory. Deal?” I thought about it for a moment. What do I have to loose?

“Deal.”

June 27, 2019

Path of Diamonds

“Breathe. Just breathe.” Diamond turned to stare at the voice whispering to her, and she relaxed, drawing the powerful stone back into her body.

“You did excellent,” Nefari purred, pulling her tail across the floor in a large arc to sweep away the shards of diamonds that splintered the ground. “Almost ready to show to the world.”

“You think so?”

“Very much so,” she nodded, smiling an honest smile for once. Diamond sighed and curled onto the gently blowing grass, tasting the stone in her mouth, the crystal that made up her teeth. Out of every diamond shaped pattern, she had learned, hosted the ability to become a turret of sorts for the expelling of her uniquely dangerous ability—the fact she was made of quickly growing diamonds wrapped in a pretty pelt.

Nefari turned to Diamond, coiling her tail around her. “You make me so very happy, granddaughter.” Diamond smiled. She was worth something.

Oct 6, 2019