White Ghost and the Poison Arrow by Kellie Steele Page A

“AWAY!” This works and the
vulture flies away, clearly not impressed at the idea of losing its
meal. The vultures don't move far away, resting and squabbling on
the branch of a nearby tree.

    The kitten
inside the den cries out again. Arella peers into the hole and
looks at the animal within. Inside the den is dark, but Arella can
feel the warmth on her face. She can see furs of animals on
the floor of the den, as well as lots of dead leaves and plants to
make the floor soft to sleep on. Bright eyes peer at Arella from
the back of the den. Those eyes blink at Arella. One of them bright
green, the other an orangey yellow. “Hello little one.” Arella says
in a soft voice. She climbs inside the den, the little kitten
backing away from her. She holds up a hand. “I won't hurt you.” The
kitten seems unsure of her. Arella moves to the side of the den and
leans against the wall.

    After a while
sitting there, Arella starts to get tired. Her eyes start to close
as she stares at the wall in front of her. She jumps a little as
she begins to fall asleep, catching herself.

    The next thing
Arella remembers is the feel of soft warm fur against her leg, and
the sound of purring close to her. She wakes up, a little shocked
that the kitten actually came close to her. The sunshine is shining
through the opening to the den, lighting up the kitten so Arella
can see it. Arella can tell from looking at the shape and build of
the kitten that it is male. His fur is black as the night, long,
fluffy and warm. She runs her fingers through the fur on his back.
The kitten purrs louder and nudges closer to her. The kitten is
quite small, but looks like he would be old enough to eat meat. At
least Arella hopes he is. “Don't think I could bear it if you died
too.” She whispers softly to the kitten.

    Arella sits and
lets the kitten sleep for a while before she decides they need to
go back to her tree house. “Okay little one...” She says. The auron
kitten stirs and looks at her with his odd eyes. “We need to go
now. It’s a long walk back to your new home, and I'm going to have
to carry you all the way back.” The kitten just stares at her and
yawns, hid pink tongue and bright white teeth viable as he does so.
This makes Arella yawn too. The kitten stands up and stretches. He
then puts his front paws on Arella's shoulder and licks her cheek
with a rough tongue. She giggles as he does this. She stands up and
the kitten stays close to her feet. Arella watches him. As she
steps forwards, he moves forwards with her. “Interesting.”

    Pulling herself
out of the den isn't so easy. Arella feels like she has pulled
almost every muscle in her body. She turns around to help the
kitten out. He is sitting just by the entrance, unable to climb
out. Arella extends her arms down to the kitten and he moves
willingly towards them. She picks him up and pulls him out of the
hole. He blinks his eyes at the bright sunlight. “Yeah I know how
you feel.” Arella opens up her cloak and wraps the kitten in it. He
snuggles into her side and begins to purr once again. Arella picks
up her weapons, puts the dagger back in her boot and carries her
grathon in her left hand, using her right arm to hold the kitten in
her cloak.

    Once back in
the woodland Arella feels a little more at ease. She still does not
like being out in the open, but it was all worth it for the little
guy under her arm. “I don't know how we're going to do this you
know. I've only just learned how to catch fish for myself. Now I'm
going to have to learn how to catch other types of game, and enough
for two rather than just one.” Arella continues to talk to the
kitten, although she is sure he is not really listening to her. His
head pokes out from the cloak, watching the landscape pass around
him in silence. “How am I going to stop you from running away as
well. I mean, I don't want to keep you if you do not want to stay
with me. You are a wild animal after all, but I would feel