Swish Slays a Dragon Ep. 2
This is Tactical (A.K.A Tac). He is a clever and patient cat. Tac is a great asset to the Cooltpian Meowrines, and like the rest of Blue Cat nation, Tac was shocked by the arrival of the eggs. Tac’s training made him cautious, but once it became clear that the eggs and emerging pets meant no harm, Tac took to the role of pet commander.
Tac will tell you he loves his squad equally, and they all play a vital role in the team, but between you and me, I think Swish is his favourite.
This is Swish. She is an Air pet and a natural beauty. Her small companion is Loli. Loli never leaves Swish’s pocket and has perfect memory recall, which also help gives Swish a Tactical advantage.
Swish uses all her strengths in harmony. She is quick-witted, a precision flyer, and a strong teammate. She is a fast learner and has a real ‘Can-do!’ spirit. These are just a few reasons why Tac chooses to take Swish for almost every mission.
Swish and Loli have gone on many adventures. They fixed a well, talked to frogs, and collected marshmallows from Marshmellow Mountain many times, but none prepared them for this mission.
Meet Mort. This is Mort's photo from the academy. Mort is part of the Cat Forces elite; he is a Dragon. His comrades knew him to be a keen shot and fierce pilot. He flies his craft in a way that seems to defy Cooltopian physics, and he prides himself on his superior vision, but the day he met Loli and Swish, he never saw it coming.
For our heroes, it started as a typical day. Swish was flying patrol over the foothills of the Marsmellow mountains, the bit between Sapphire town and the Eastern ocean. She had surveyed the area many times. This day while flying, Swish spotted a plane. It had crashed into the mountainside.
“Loli, was that here before?” She asked her little companion.
“Negative, Swish. That is new. Better call it in.” Loli replied.
Swish radios. “Ugh, Captain, we have found something of interest. There appears to be plane wreckage on the North Face. Just at the mallowline. Shall I investigate? Over.”
“Copy that. Stand by.” Tac responded.
While they wait for Tac’s further instruction, Loli makes another observation, this time in the sea.
“Swish, that giant orange parachute in the waves over there; that’s new too.” Loli points.
“Captain, we have evidence of possible crash survivors. There is a chute in the water, but not far from the shore. Over.”
“Roger that. Cat Force is reporting a downed plane. We have been asked to provide aid. Over.”
“Copy that. Decreasing altitude and headed to the chute. Over and out.”
When Swish flew lower, she noticed a fellow pet in the water swimming around the chute.
“Hello, Fren, are you in need of assistance?” she shouted from the sky.
“Hiya! Sure, I could use a hand to get this rubbish out of the water. Some salty cat just abandoned it. Can you believe the laziness!?” This cute water pet was clearly annoyed.
Swish and Loli grabbed the chute and helped the pet bring it to shore.
“Thank you.” The water pet smiled.
“No problem. So, which way did the cat go? Were they injured?” Swish inquired.
“Didn’t look injured to me. They looked downright mean! It headed down the beach a ways, then turned into the mountains. OOO, he was an ugly one. Three eyes and humongous teeth. I tell you, he was scary, and I think he would have killed me if I wasn’t such a keen swimmer.”
“Oh no! Are you okay?” Loli and Swish ask in unison.
“Yes, I am fine. But I would leave that cat alone if I were you.”
“I see. Well, thank you for the warning. You have been most helpful.”
Swish and Loli waved goodbye to the pet, and it returned to the waves. Swish decided to update Command.
“Captain, do you copy?”
“Go ahead, Swish,” Tac replies.
“The chute has been abandoned, and we have received information that the pilot survived and did not appear injured. Tracks indicate they entered the mountains. Our informant says the cat is fierce and dangerous and has advised us not to engage. How should we proceed? Over.”
“I am on my way to the beach now. Do not engage the Dragon. I repeat, DO NOT ENGAGE THE DRAGON. Cat Force is particularly curious about the state of the plane. So, survey the crash site briefly and then rendezvous with me on the beach. ETA 45 minutes. ”
“Copy that. Over and out.”
“Did he just say dragon?” Loli asks, her voice shaking in fear.
“He did.” Swish lept into the air and began riding the thermals into the mountains.
“Keep an eye out, Loli, see if we can spot that cat on our way. Shouldn’t take us long to get there. Wonder what was on that plane?”
Loli was not as excited. She was scared. She kept a keen eye on the ground anticipating danger. And it’s a good thing she was.
“Swish, watch out, 4 o’clock!” Loli shouted.
Swish manoeuvre just in time, narrowly missing a rather large rock that had been flung at her. Swish looks below and realises the cat IS the dragon, and he is loading up a slingshot for another go. Swish swoops with speed and grace, rocketing past the beast unscathed. No time for him to even take the shot.
Now Swish was even more curious and even more motivated. She flew as fast as she could straight for the crash site. She circled it a few times before cautiously landing. There wasn’t much left of the cockpit after it had slammed into the rock face. A few feet lower, and it could have just bounced off the mallow.
“I wonder why it crashed?” Said Loli looking for clues.
“I think maybe this has something to do with it. Swish pointed to a green slime oozing from the tail of the plane. The fuselage was still fairly intact, and inside were boxes and boxes of green ‘radioactive’ slime.”
“Don’t touch it!” Loli cautioned, “We don’t know what it is or what it does.”
Swish calls Tac, “Captain, there isn’t much left of the plane, and it appears to have been carrying a slime now oozing down the mountainside.”
“Excellent work, Swish. Do not touch the slime. I am approaching the coastline now. Regroup on the beach as quickly as possible.”
“Copy that.”
“What do you think it is?” Loli sounded worried.
“I don’t know, and I am not sure I want to find out.” Swish turned from the wreckage and began her flight back to the beach. “Keep a look out…” Swish started to say before she felt a hard TWACK on her shoulder. The force sent her tumbling and cartwheeling into the billowing marshmallows. The Dragon cat pounced. He held them trapped against the fluff.
“DID YOU SEE THE PLANE? DID YOU TOUCH THE SLIME???? TELL ME!!!!!!!” He commanded.
The water pet was right. This cat was frightening. Loli started to cry softly, but Swish kept her cool.
“We didn’t touch it. We saw it, but we didn’t touch it.”
Swish reached for her radio, but the pilot clawed it away from her.
“Prove it! Prove it!” He shouted.
“Alright, alright, how? How can I prove it?” She was considering all her options. He had them in a really sticky position.
“You have to tell a joke. Do it now.” He wasn’t kidding.
“A joke? At a time like this?” Swish was confused.
“That slime makes pets so serious. You touched it, didn’t you?!!!” He was looking less and less stable.
“We didn’t, I swear. Ok, I can tell a joke. Just let me think. Loli, what jokes do we know?”
Loli opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. She was too frightened. The dragon could see Loli’s distress but didn’t relent.
“TELL ME A JOKE NOW!”
“Okay, okay. Why couldn’t the T-rex sleep?” Swish finally managed.
“Why?”
“Cause dinos snore.” Swish tried to deliver it with confidence. It was the best she could do without Loli, but she knew it was awful.
The cat smiled but didn’t let go. “Another.”
“Uh, uh, what's the worst thing about meeting you?”
“Easy now…” He cautioned her.
“The jokes portion of the greeting seems to Dragon and on and on.” Swish closed her eyes and braced against the mallow, preparing for the cat to find her unhumourous, but she was pleasantly surprised.
Now cat’s smile began to turn to a chuckle and then to a proper roaring laugh.
“You are right!” he said in amusement. “That is the worst part. Haha. I am sorry, I had to be sure.” The cat released Swish and Loli. “I am Mort, Cat Force Pilot and horrible at a first impression. I apologise for shooting you down, but if you had been infected, I couldn’t let you return to town. Did you see anyone else in the area?”
“We’ve only seen you and one water pet. They were with your chute.” Swish brushed herself off, relaxing a bit from the encounter.
“Infected? What is that slime?” Loli was finally able to speak.
“It’s top secret and no joke! When turbulence caused the vials to break and my cargo to leak, I was forced to eject. Be glad you aren’t infected. Now, where is your radio?”
Once Mort, the Dargon cat, had made contact, they all headed north to the beach. Swish was glad to see Tac waiting for them. He was talking to other Cat Force commanders and pointing out on the map where the wreckage was.
Swish and Loli never got to know what the slime did or why they weren’t allowed to touch it. She always suspected Tac knew more than we would let on, but she respected why she was kept from the information.
Swish did find out it took 20 earth pets to dig a trench around that plane, which contained the ooze, until a facility could be built over it. Very mysterious indeed. Now Swish keeps many jokes in the back of her mind, just in case she meets another dragon that she needs to slay.
Thank you to @Chriss900.eth for lending me his Cat and Pets. And Thanks to @coolcats for making inspiring IP.