The Adventures Of Mint & Coco

3: Our New Perspective (Mint)

"The sun is setting..." I comment. Coco shrugs, "I guess we'll have to sleep here somewhere. Maybe the cave?" she suggests. I nod.

We make our way down the mountain that we had hiked up earlier, looking for signs of human life. My feet ache terribly.

What were we thinking? Human life? In another dimension? Or what if it's a dream? I... I hope it's a dream. Who could know? This, this could be a hallucination. I could have fallen off a cliff and now I'm in a coma.

I am shaken back to life by a drizzle of rain, landing directly in my eye. I flinch and blink it off. "Hooray it's raining..." I snort. Coco brushes rain drops from her purse, "Yeah. Good thing there is a cave."

By the time we arrive, the rain has stopped. All that traveling through the rain for shelter, and now that we're here there's nothing to be grateful for. I frown.

Coco snaps in my face saying, "Hey, we're here." I tilt my head up. This is the first time I've realized how gigantic this cave is. "Wow this really is a lot like the movie huh. We search, we find a cave, and we're all of a sudden transported to Narnia."
Coco raises an eyebrow, "Why must we copy? Let's give it our own name. Like maybe... C&M World? I don't know." I chuckle, "I don't think so. If it was a name like that it would be M&C not C&M. C&M sounds like some weird tv show title."
Coco and I laugh.
"Well then, what do you want to name it, Miss Bossy?" she asks. I pause for a moment. "How about Mystic ...um Mystic something." I shrug.

Coco shrugs as well, "We'll think about it." I nod in agreement.
All of a sudden I see something move in a bush beside us, and a long, tail like, snake like rope wiggles above the cedar. "Isn't that the tail from earlier?!" I gasp.
Coco tries to take a closer look. But the tail disappears into a trail of bushes, leaving Coco and I wide eyed. We both shake our heads and walk into the cave, without another word.
It was probably just a helpless cat.

Coco quickly passes out on a nearby pile of leaves and feathers that came from who knows where. As for me, I settle down by the entrance of the cave, hugging my legs.

I am almost asleep when I see a pair of icy blue eyes staring at me from the bushes.
There they are again.
My heart starts pounding, and don't know what to do. Maybe if I stay still it'll think I'm dead or something...

The eyes disappear, as if they closed. Seconds, minutes pass by. I become too tired to be bothered by it anymore -like when I was little and I would think someone was going to kill me, but I would fall asleep regardless because I was exhausted- so I lay myself down and drift to sleep.

I awake from sleep by the gusty sound of wind from outside the cave. I blink the fog from my eyes and sit up. My hair is a tangled mess, and it smells like leaves and river water. I scrunch up my nose and push away my hair.
My arm hurts, worse than it has ever hurt before. I run my left hand up my right, searching for a wound. I don't find a scar or anything like that, just a puncture on my upper arm, near my shoulder. I feel the need to cool it off with something cold... Water!
I dash out the cave, noticing that Coco hadn't been there.

I appear at the base of the creek we had passed yesterday. I trot myself up the terrain, and force my arm into the freezing water. I barely flinch from it; enjoying the frosty relief on my arm.
I hear movement from beside me. I look down, and Coco is doing the same exact thing as I am. I don't bother to look at her for more than half a second.

But still... something seems different about her... I widen my eyes and take another look.
Coco has ears. Cat ears.
I rub my eyes, thinking I must be seeing things. I look at her again. She has caramel colored ears, and a caramel tail with Bengal details. I scream, "Coco! Look at your reflection!"
Coco hops out of place, startled by my quick remark. "What?" She steps up to the water and gasps. "What the heck is wrong with me?" she turns to me and yelps, "Oh my god, Mint! Look at your reflection!" I shutter. No...

I reach up to my head... and I run my hand across the top and feel cat ears. I scream.
What?! No, this isn't possible. There is NO WAY this is really happening.
I wiggle my tail, the new muscles feel wrong. I step forward, eyes slit, afraid of what my appearance may be. I stare at the water; my reflection waving from the current.

I have tan ears, and a tan tail, with brown tips on each. My leaf pendant is strangely throbbing, and I am speechless. I lift up a hand, and somehow unsheathe cat-like claws.
I look at Coco, and we share the same terrified face.

What is happening?!