Hatchford was pacing backstage, his knees practically knocking. His first appeal... He was a bundle of nerves. He’d dressed up in black slacks, a white shirt, black vest, and a long tie that was slightly askew. He’d been tugging on it for the past half hour.
Zhira, on the other hand, was busy giving his paws a last minute cleaning. He’d been washed and combed and dried and brushed and shined up, looking his best. He was absolutely confident in himself, and had no time to worry about how it would go.
When his number was called, Hatch took a deep breath and tried to straighten his tie. “Okay, Zhira. We can do this.” He headed out with Zhira prancing right at his side, and tried to make himself look as confident as Zhira looked. His palms sweated as he looked at the curtains, waiting for them to part, but he wiped them onto his pants and smiled as brightly as he could. “Okay, Zhira... Let’s go.” He flicked his hand, and Zhira headed to the center of the stage right as the curtains parted.
There, Zhira stood looking around at the audience, as poised and confident as ever, tail slowly swaying as he waited. He knew what to do. He was just waiting... He heard Hatch’s fingers snap, and he leapt into action. ‘Payday.’ Zhira ran over to one side of the stage, and then the other, picking up speed before jumping into the air. With a quick spin, he threw a large coin into the air. ’Fury Swipe.’ As the coin reached its peak, he jumped up again and swiped at the coin three times. The single large coin burst into four smaller coins. ’Growl.’ Crouching with his rump wiggling in the air, he gave an adorable growl. Then he darted around the stage, growling and swatting at the falling coins to keep them from hitting the ground, making them twirl and catch the lights to twinkle and shine. He hit them as high as he could, and spun to prepare for the next move. ’Bite.’ As each coin came back down, he jumped forward and bit down on the first coin he reached. That coin vanished in a sparkle of light. With a twitch of his tail, he jumped at the next one as it neared the ground, and after a bite, that one vanished as well. He went after the third coin, and another shimmer vanished with his bite.
As the final coin dropped, he darted forward and caught it in his mouth without biting down. He ran with it in a quick circle, and tossed it back up into the air. He jumped up after it again, and he was blocked briefly by a bright flash, and a shower of little coins rained down. Landing, he rolled onto his back and growled cutely again, pawing at the coins as they fell. Once the last coin vanished, he jumped back up and twitched his tail contently. Bowing to the crowd, he turned and pranced back to Hatch, almost smirking as the applause rose behind him.
