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Artemis - Ronan - Electra
Word count: 711
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬Artemis grinned at the prospect of a Mediterranean getaway.
"It's so pleasantly warm!" He exclaimed, beaming and stepping lightly on his toes. Electra and Ronan on the other hand dragged behind like a dead weight to the party. Of course Artemis was content in this sweltering heat, he had the shortest fur! Electra and Ronan were practically walking pom-poms with thick, matted fur from the sticky heat and beads of sweat hanging from their limp pelts. The now-seemingly pleasant creepy, yet cool, forest was a mirage in the distance behind them.
"Please can we go back to the forest? Maybe we missed another crystal or something?" Electra made a weak excuse to go back to the inviting darkness and shade of the canopies of the forest.
"It's way too hot!" Ronan groaned, taking a feeble step forwards, before falling flat onto his face out of heat exhaustion. Electra hesitantly dragged the giant ball of fur to his feet.
"Get up you fat ball of fuzz", Electra complained curtly, holding Ronan up with great struggle.
"If I wanted to go to a cheap sauna, I would have paid for one", Ronan complained like a spoilt kit.
The couple of squabbling comrades didn't dampen Artemis' mood, he continued leading the way for the first time in their journey, with a vibrant, expressive skip in his step. The juxtaposition between this merry individual and Ronan and Electra was unreal.
"I'd rather be anywhere else!" Ronan exclaimed with frustration, shaking his pelt free from the sweat beads that made his fur uncomfortable in the stuffy, claustrophobic climate. Electra's eyes widened with sheer horror, as she inspected Ronan's pelt.
"So, the prince really turns out to be the frog," Electra said wittily, meanwhile Artemis suppressed an outburst of dense laughter. Ronan glanced between the two bemused kalons aggressively and they displayed their most professional poker faces.
"What is it!?" Ronan demanded urgently, tail flicking violently now with obvious annoyance at the pair of suspicious characters.
"Tell me!" He demanded once more. Although their brief hysteria soon became crystal clear. Strands of Ronan's pelt, his glorious, well-groomed pelt, scattered around the igneous rock of their surroundings and drifted through the oppressive air. You could cut the tension with a knife. The thrashing of his tail and the shaking of his pelt had left Ronan's pelt stripped of its glorious locks. Truly mortifying.
"How dare you even consider laughing," Ronan hissed.
"I thought those shadow creatures were the real threat to our expedition," Electra pointed out to Ronan with warning undertones. Soaring temperatures only made tensions within the group more fractious. Raging heat only shortened Electra and Ronan's fuse, meanwhile Artemis remained frustratingly calm and collected.
"Remember why we're here," Artemis frowned towards the two, with a serious glint in his eyes.
"We need to stop the shadow plague," he reminded them, stepping forwards to lead the party through the flattened, volcanic land. Thankfully though, a large majority of the volcanoes here were dormant or extinct, which gave the trio peace of mind. Lava lapped at the edges of the volcanic rock. A blistering pool of crimson and coral.
"Don't fall in," Electra teased, trailing precariously close behind the fretful movements of Ronan and the guarded steps of Artemis.
A single strand of dark hair landed on Ronan's nose, causing him to sneeze abruptly, sending the formal line off-balance immediately.
"Grab on!" Artemis called, stretching out his lengthy, leopard-like tail behind him, followed by Ronan holding up his tail for Electra to grab. Both Artemis and Ronan winced, as the sharp jaws of Ronan and Electra clamped firmly shut onto their tails. The infrastructure of their line became more tough and resistant from this simple linking. Once the narrow passageway had been voided, the three kalons continued their journey towards the crystal that would help save Kalokairi. Electra's pelt was shedding now also.
"Stupid heat, feels like summer," Electra commented, brushing the lose strands of hair free from her pelt with a feeble swipe from her large paw.
"Silly mosquitos as well I bet?" Artemis giggled, continuing to pad daintily through the winding path that led through the scorching surroundings.
"Of course!" Electra snapped, quickly closing her jaws in an attempt at catching some of the buzzing annoyances.