Chapter 3: Beneath the willow tree
I woke up to the smell of fish and the sound of sizzling. Jaxon was cooking on the fire near the back of the cave on what looked like a pan but it was warped, he must have made it himself, which I think is impressive. Finally, I could see him and pay attention with a whole night of sleep.
He had dirty blond hair, strong arms, and determined bright blue eyes, he also looked about my age.
I looked outside peeking through the large leaf. I gasped. I was right. I'd seen the sun rise plenty of times, but not like this. There was no chain fence blocking the view of the vibrant pinks, oranges, and yellows and even the butterflies, which rarely wandered into view. Every single plant seemed to glow especially the bright, colorful flowers, which I could smell even from there. In the distance, I could hear happy birds chirping and. I also noticed the large leaf covering the entrance to the cave was connected to a huge tree right by the cave.
"Don't stand there to long he said"
I forced my eyes away from the beautiful sight to face Jaxon.
"When did you get that?" i said signaling to the fish which he was now flipping.
"last night when my mother was relaxing by the lake, she does it every night" Jaxon answered. "She likes to talk to the stars"
"Do you want one or two?"
I sat there still wondering what he meant but then realized how hungry I was. I wanted two, but I was pretty sure I should use our resources sparingly, but before I could answer, my stomach did for me. It growled "two then" he said.
Jaxon took the fish he was cooking off the pan and put two more on. I knew Jaxon wouldn't let me leave, especially without him. Hey, it's not exactly my fault I'm curious, is it? I think it is but I'll blame my mom. So, this is where I'm dumb. I slipped out the entrance behind Jaxon still facing the sizzling fish.
A little aways away from the cave, I heard something, a squeak? No. A meow. What would a cat be doing here? Back at home, cats and dogs were only science experiments, since they were the only thing known to live, them along with few humans, when it happened. I say "it" because I don't know what happened. All I know is people, grandparents, tell us stories of trucks that went around giving them cold, sweet and soft food called ice cream. And people everywhere and the world had lots of cities and towns. Honestly, I think they made it sound better than it was.Now there is only one civilization known, ours, the Amaury tribe.
Finally, I found the cat. Most people have never even seen cats or dogs. But I'm not most people and it was definitely a cat I recognized from when some scientists were transporting them to another lab escorted by police of course.
When they stopped, I peaked in of course then I got brought home by the police but, I managed to get a book that had a lot of pictures and information but only about cats. I studied the book until I knew all of the information. I never should've taken it. That was years of research, and highly confiscated. But I never knew it'd ruin my life.
The cat was a chocolate Siamese beneath a huge willow tree. I got down on my knees "What should I call you?" I asked as I scratch behind his ear. And he seemed quite satisfied.
I got down on my knees, he started meowing and freaking out I thought it was me it definitely was not. I saw a man, I remembered this one, from a picture, of the heroes who tried to find more people.
From what I heard, the man in front was sent in with a bunch of armor and weapons and he was the fastest, strongest, and stealthiest man we had. Of course, he never came back now I knew why.
He stared into my eyes but all I saw was blood-red eyes like hers, but with a small black dot in the middle which may have been his pupil. Only looking at his eyes, nothing else sent chills up my spine. The man's face had no expression; he also had thick leather armor covering his whole chest with a dagger in his hand. And I knew he was her minion.
I thought I was dead but Jaxon jumped from what seemed to be air. "Come on" he screamed, shooting a few arrows, one of which pegged the man in his chest making a horrible thud sound. The man only looked down and pulled it out, allowing a thick black liquid spill out.
Jaxon bolted into the thick dark shadows of the trees. I grabbed Willow and ran too. When we finally reached the cave we were both panting. Willow's was pretty heavy-and pretty big for a regular house cat. "Why would you leave like that!"
"Well, I knew you wouldn't just let me go!"
"You were nearly killed! You don't know anything about this place!" He yelled. His eyes redirected to Willow. "And what's that?"
He pointed at Willow "A cat?" I said confused that he didn't know what a cat was. "I know it's a cat!"
"Then why'd you ask?"
I heard him groan "Well, if you're going to be sneaking off then you need a skill to protect yourself" Jaxon said, "I won't always be able to save you"
his anger almost slowly disappeared from his voice.
"Now go get rid of him" Jaxon said with discuss and pointed to Willow, "No!"
"Why not? I don't want another mouth to feed!"
I had to think of a reason that would make him want to keep willow. "Willow can sence the monsters" I said not really sure if he could, I guess I'll have to test it later. He was considering it now. Finally, after I finished my fish he said fine but he wasn't happy about it and sat in the corner in his hammock until night barely speaking at all.
Willow was asleep in the other corner of the cave the rest of the day as well. The whole next day, we were trying to figure out my skill. I was pretty Sure I had none but I was pretty good with a bow and arrow and I was good with a knife and throwing knives.
Jaxon had made all his weapons on his own, which I thought was cool especially because they were so well made, the blades were a perfect chrome color with a sharp edge and a smooth handle. All of Jaxon's arrows had prefect, sharp points with flawless feathers which went with the smooth arched bow with a stretchy string.
Jaxon had me make some of my own weapons but they weren't quite as perfect as his.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone