Depredation of Nightmares Chapter 7

cat4prowl --

Sorry I've been so behind - being grounded had me crippled.

The crowd was rippling with anticipation, seeming to swell with impatience, all around me, excited voices whispered.

I have chosen my three apprentices based on their tactical intelligence. I choose Raymond Wong, Phuong Nguyen, and Rheeba Daniels.”

Ray walked silently towards Zhou Li, followed by Rheeba, who gave a small smile of encouragement in my direction, and a skinny Japanese girl with long black hair.

Not too bright, that floor was hard.

Rhigos shot him such a cold look that it seemed to freeze the sarcasm on Stryder’s face and I hoped he never looked at me like that.

lol Zhou Li is backwards! I used the Li as a first name and Zhou as a last name! as for coden's background, read ch.8!!! thx for your help azila, it's wonderfantastical to have people reading your stories!

Gosh, I'm really behind on this. I've been really busy the last few weeks.

I don't have much to say (except the usual: WE NEED MORE OF CODEN'S BACKGROUND!!). This story is developing really nicely as are the characters. One little thing... "Zhou Li" should actually be "Li Zhou" because "Li" is a very common Chinese family name and in Chinese they put the family name before the given name.

Oh, another little thing...

cat4prowl wrote:He placed his hands together menacingly, fingertips touching, and lowered his chin to glare at us. My heart gave an uneven thud and I wondered suddenly if he had one. If he did, it was surely hard, cold, small, and cruel.
He spoke then and it was amazing how stiff his jaw could look when he was speaking such fast, fluent words, “You have been chosen above the other werecats for your skill. My job, as you know, is to teach all the finest arts of our kind: speed, strength, intelligence, cunning, efficiency, stealth and so on. You are not here to have a good time and you will not play around with me. All punishments will be extreme and severe. You will meet here tomorrow at five thirty sharp. Anyone who is late will regret it. Dismissed.”
We sat in awe, amazed, stricken.

cat4prowl wrote:sorry this one took so long. writers block had me crippled
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Chapter 7
The crowd was rippling with anticipation, seeming to swell with impatience, all around me, excited voices whispered. Worried but hopeful smiles lit the cruel faces of my fellow werecats. Restless bodies jostled each other, watching enthusiastically as the first master stepped behind the podium.

Of course, being the mysterious, powerful person I am, I remained calm and cool. At least on the outside, inside I was acting every bit like the mob around me.

The master at the podium spoke then, and the effect was amazing. The whole herd of us froze. We were totally silent.

“I am Zhou Li,” the man at the podium announced with an Asian accent, “master of knowledge, trainer of the famous Huang Chao, and member of Llewellyn’s council of five. I have chosen my three apprentices based on their tactical intelligence. I choose Raymond Wong, Phuong Nguyen, and Rheeba Daniels.”

Ray walked silently towards Zhou Li, followed by Rheeba, who gave a small smile of encouragement in my direction, and a skinny Japanese girl with long black hair.

They bowed deeply to him and he gave a small bow in their direction before whisking them through a back door.

I began to nervously crack my knuckles as the next master stepped up. Someone told me I was making too much noise so I stopped and began to rub my cold hands together instead.

The next master, Jose’ Rodriguez, the master of speed, chose Tiger, Shadow, and a tall black girl I didn’t recognize.

Daniel Williamson, master of strength, chose Godzilla, a broad shouldered girl named Alice, and a tall, well-muscled guy called De’ondre.

Roger Thornton, master of stealth, Lorelei Lemon, master of cunning, and so on.

Then Trayton Rhigos stepped up and everyone took a step back. He had the air of someone that you didn’t mess with; ice cold eyes, a hard jawline, and a scowling forehead. The room temperature seemed to drop as soon as he turned his rocklike eyes on me. When he announced himself as the master of power, I had expected no less; it suited him. He went on to explain how he was the combination of all the elements and a hard knot formed in my stomach.

Before he even said my name, I knew he had chosen me.

It took all my willpower to keep the fear off my face and walk towards him in a straight line, but I did. Behind me, I felt the presence of my fellow apprentices but I wasn’t paying attention. Rhigos glared down at us, inspecting us carefully, before turning on his heel and striding towards the back door.

We followed silently.

We arrived in a small, square room with three polished wooden walls and one wall entirely covered in glass, wiped so clean I thought we were half outside at first. To the left of the entry was a dark oak desk with a can of pencils, one piece of paper and notepad. Across from that was a long wooden bench and, oddly, a tall ornate mirror. The temperature inside was frosty, it seemed to fit him well.

Rhigos swooped to the other side of the room and pulled a curtain closed in one broad fluent motion, turned on his heel, and sat in the tall chair behind the desk. He motioned for us to take a seat on the bench.
It was hard and cold, like him.

He placed his hands together menacingly, fingertips touching, and lowered his chin to glare at us. My heart gave an uneven thud and I wondered suddenly if he had one. If he did, it was surely hard, cold, small, and cruel.
He spoke then and it was amazing how stiff his jaw could look when he was speaking such fast, fluent words, “You have been chosen above the other werecats for your skill. My job, as you know, is to teach all the finest arts of our kind: speed, strength, intelligence, cunning, efficiency, stealth and so on. You are not here to have a good time and you will not play around with me. All punishments will be extreme and severe. You will meet here tomorrow at five thirty sharp. Anyone who is late will regret it. Dismissed.”
We sat in awe, amazed, stricken.

This is going to be fuuun…

He stared at us expectantly for a while, “You know the way to the door, I assume?”

I blinked and shuffled out the door behind my two companions.
As soon as there was a barrier between Rhigos and us, one of my companions swore.

I glanced over, recognizing the voice. It was Stryder.

He grinned then and the grin surprised me. It was reckless, blissful, and somehow challenging. Like he was daring me to do something…

What’s up with this guy?

I gave him one of my famous ‘what the heck is wrong with you’ looks and flicked my jaw out slightly. Without a backwards glance, I strode down the bland gray hallway, took a left turn, and pushed past the back door and across the yard to my cabin, flopping face first onto the cot.

He bugged me so much for some reason; maybe Rheeba had the same problem…

It was unreasonable, and probably cruel. It was something in his eyes, a carefree, reckless look that made me… jealous? Probably. He seemed so perfect and content with his life that maybe I wished for the same feeling. Which was pathetic.

He wasn’t so bad, I remembered. I had a conversation with him like any normal person, joking around easily. But since then… my annoyance had built up? I didn’t know. Rhigos had annoyed me, that’s for sure. I hated being constricted. So that must have put me in a bad mood when I saw him afterwards.

Rheeba stormed in then, slamming the door behind her.

I rolled over and lifted my head, “What’s up?”

“Stryder is. I suppose you don’t know him though.”

My eyebrows shot up, “Actually I do. He came up to me when you were at the stand and he’s with Rhigos like me.”

She looked surprised, “Lucky.”

I gave her a questioning look, sitting up and letting my legs dangle over the edge of the cot.

She looked around uncomfortably and I was surprised to see a blush spread over her cheekbones. I knew what was coming.

“Don’t tell anybody but I really, really like him. It’s like, I’m not even myself when I’m around him. I can’t talk.”

I felt like slapping her in the face. That was exactly the kind of thing that made me dislike him. But, she was my only friend so I figured I owed it to her to tell her what I knew, “He thinks you don’t like him as much as everyone else. He told me so. Said that’s why you didn’t introduce him to me.”

“Really?” she seemed intrigued, “Did he seem sad about that?”

No, he was happy, he can’t stand you. “Yes, he said he couldn’t figure it out.”

She seemed cheered by that fact and lay down on her cot, “Good.”
I rolled my eyes, biting my tongue.

Stupid Stryder.

* * *
I fell asleep quickly that night, having been deprived of sleep the one before. Morning, as usual, came too fast. My body refused to move so I rolled off the bed in an attempt to wake up. Not too bright, that floor was hard.

“Ow,” I said aloud, surprised.

I think the thump must have awoken my cabin mates, or else they were already up.

“You alright Coden?” Rheeba, of course.

“Fantastic,” I mumbled into the floor, but the way my face was crushed against the wood made it sound like more of an incoherent mumble.

She laughed, “Well you better get up soon.”

“Whatimeisit,” I asked, mashing the words together sleepily.

“Almost five thirty,” she said, her tone still amused.

“Crap!” I scrambled to my feet, shrugged on some fresh clothes that I found in a drawer of the dresser. Apparently, they donated clothes to the idiots like me.

I sprinted out the door, forgetting my shoes. Barefoot’s better.

The leaves were frost covered and jabbed at my feet as I ran, so I instantly regretted that decision. I ignored them though, throwing open the back door to the meeting hall and dashing into Rhigos’ office. And of course running smack into my favorite person.

Stryder steadied me and grinned, fighting laughter. I jerked away from him, turning my attention to Rhigos.

He was sitting at his desk, his fingertips touching in that same, cool, menacing way they had been last night. His stony eyes were crouched under his brows, lurking in the shadows, cold and unfeeling as the rest of him.
“Next time,” he began in his soft, low voice, “You will arrive on time and not, in such a rushed, desperate state.”

I nodded, trying to control the sound as I gasped for air.

“Take a seat,” he motioned to the bench with a long, bony hand.

We sat instantly, seeming unable to disobey him in the slightest.

“I’m disappointed,” he smiled menacingly, “The best trainees we have to offer can’t even get out of bed in time. I will soon change that. Unlike the other masters, it is my duty to teach you much more than just one element. The history of the werecats makes it necessary to have at least one supreme master. I am aware that some of you”-his steely eyes fixed on me-“are so new that you do not know the history of werecats. For your sake, I shall explain.”

Stryder rolled his eyes.

Rhigos shot him such a cold look that it seemed to freeze the sarcasm on Stryder’s face and I hoped he never looked at me like that.

“The theory of werecat existence is uncertain, as is the theory of human existence. We are here now and that is what matters. Since before the oldest tales can recount, we have had one mortal enemy. Werewolves.”-he snarled-“Like cats and dogs in the human world, we are in a constant state of warfare. We exist to kill them, they exist to kill us. The reason you are training with me right now is simply what Llewellyn stated in the council, quality over quantity. Those dogs”-he spat the word-“don’t stand a chance. And that is all you need to know.”

He sure cut straight to the chase, didn’t he?

“Lathan,” Rhigos barked suddenly, addressing the other apprentice, who I suddenly recognized as the boy version of Erin that Rheeba introduced me to “You would know all about this, I presume?”

Hs face twisted with fury, “No,” he said sharply, “I would not. I don’t speak to my brother anymore.”

“Ah yes,” Rhigos purred, answering the confused look on my face, “Your brother. Pity you didn’t kill the dog when you had a chance.”

“Pity indeed,” Lathan agreed coldly.

Really great...leaves me breathless every time. Nothing wrong with it at all, no errors to point out.

You're a special person, you can get me to stop playing guitar hero 3 to read the next chapter in your story. You must have some magical powers. Lol.

~Spirit

Oh. Ok. Now it makes sense. Well, I don't have anything bad to say...so I love your book!

your #1 fan

because I forgot to say it last time...

BBB

thx so much for reviewing this bigbad! about the masters, im not quite sure what you mean but as for them all being the same, its supposed to be that way. they're all about orders and rules, like the military. and then each one is a specialist in a different field, except Rhigos who does it all. they're kind of supposed to sound the same because it shows how stiff and 'rule-y' they are. if that even makes sense...

well thanx so much for the critique! this time i should get another chapter rolling pretty quick

....

Oh my gosh! I love this book. As always, I couldn't find one mistake, which really bummed me out. So now i guess I'll have to go on blabbing about how much I loved this chapter.

First of all, I love Coden. She is so freaking funny. And I noticed that you didn't use yah once! Great job! Ok, now for "I am Zhou Li," That really made me get confused...or more discombobulated. (lol) Zhou Li make me think about Kung Fu...That is the only name that I just really didn't like. For Stryder, I think that he is a very interesting character, and I could see Coden and him falling in love. But then Rheeba would get mad...Oh, sorry. I'm babbling, aren't I? Oh well, I can tell that you want me to continue.

The diologue that the Masters had was NOT very realistic, I'm sorry. It's just that each of them seemed the same, except for the one Master of Power. Yeah. He's gonna be interesting.

Ok, well, I'm all babbled out, so I just wanted to say:

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!


BBB