"Thank you Emmi, Please take care of those two for me."
"I will Cat. Leave them to me." she said and pet his head a few times. Even as a humanoid there was still something comforting about that.
They exchanged a quick embrace and Cat left the Paws and Claws. He knew the way to the Black Rooster. When he was just starting out and needed some weapons and armor, going to an auction house was sometimes the cheapest way to get them.
When was the last time he had gone to an auction house? He couldn't remember. Two, maybe three years ago? That seemed about right. He had gotten an amulet of protection for his guild leader. His guild leader took such good care of all of them. He only hoped that he could live up to that legacy.
He knocked twice on the door before entering the Black Rooster. It was supposed to be for good luck, and he needed all the good luck that he could possess.
"Hello and welcome to the Black Rooster. The next auction will be starting in forty four minutes. Do you already have a seat reserved?" asked the weasel-kin that greeted him at the door.
"Not this time Westle. I am here to see the silver nest."
A smile formed on Westle's face. "Oh how the mighty have fallen, or perhaps it is something else?” Silence hung in the air as Cat refused to respond. “Very well, but please Cat, do not make things harder on us. We have a business to run."
"I am not here to tank your business Westle. Now, are you going to show me in."
Westle and Cat had known each other for many years at this point and had never had any reason to think poorly of the one other. Westle also seemed to have a good reputation for someone on the gray side of the law.
"What are you looking for?"
"I need to know if you have been selling Rookie's Bane."
"What? I may sell poisons, but only in small amounts. You know that there are some monsters that can only be taken down that way. And don't forget about the guilds that feed their adventurer's poison to build up a resistance. But Rookie's Bane? Even I wouldn't sell that stuff."
"Do you know who would be selling it."
"Hmm, lets see. You know my memory isn’t what it used to be perhaps it… no not them.”
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes Cat proffers a large silver coin.
“As always you know how to help a person remember.” The coin disappeared “you will want to check the Viper’s Den.”
"Isn't that a guild?" Cat asked, a bit taken aback. He had lived here for about 5 years now, and there were still some things that surprised him. This was one of them.
"I know. I feel the same way, what is the world coming to? No honor amongst, well anyone anymore I should think, what a way to go." Westle said, screwing up his nose.
"Do you know a way to find out who they would be selling to?"
"I wish I could help, I really do, but if I knew that kind of information, I would be rich or dead. Or both, quite likely both.”
"You owe me Westle. I helped you when no one else would."
"Fine Cat. Give me the night, and this clears my debt."
Cat knew that Westle was good for it.
"Don't let me down Westle." Cat said and leaves the establishment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wake up and wonder what was wrong with me. Why couldn't I move. Why was I so heavy? Had Cat fallen asleep on me again? I only let that happen once, maybe twice. Had I been so tired that I let him fall asleep with me again?
"Cat. Hey Cat. Move. I can't move. I can't..." Pain. Pain unlike anything I had ever experienced courses through me. I began to know when it was going to hurt by the sound of my own heart. Lub was fine, dub was pain. It was ridiculous but I do believe that I was becoming resentful of my own beating heart. Lub dub. Lub dub.
I somehow manage to sit up and realize that while I wasn't alone in my room, Cat was not asleep on me.
"Oh my gosh. You woke up. Ami, I thought that you were dying. It's been forever. I didn't know when you were going to wake up. I tried not to leave your side, but I had to. I had to eat and use the bathroom. Oh, they tried to make me go to bed but I refused. I mean, I didn't want to sleep until I saw you wake up. It might be a little backwards, but it makes sense to me." Kay says.
His eyes were a little red. Oh my. Had Kay been crying. Why had Kay been crying.
'My condition?'
"Kay. You were right. It was that rat bastard." Cat said, spitting fury as he came into my room.
It was beginning to feel a bit small with all of us in it. But not quite small. Rather warm and cozy I suppose.
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"Cat, please do tell me. What is going on?"
Cat runs his fingers through his hair. I could tell that whatever he had to say I was not going to like hearing.
"You were poisoned. I'm so sorry. It's” he paused unsure if he should continue.
“Its what? It is what!” Kay shouted.
“Rookie's Bane, Amaya was poisoned with Rookie’s Bane."
“R… Rookie’s Bane?” Kay seems to deflate and slumps onto the floor.
"Being poisoned does seem to be excruciating. But I am not comprehending... Is poison not easy to remedy once we have the antidote?" I ask, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
"That is the case for most poisonings." he says and sits down on the bed next to me. I scoot over to give him a bit more space. As a humanoid he is rather large.
"Thanks." he says. I awkwardly try to skootch into a sitting position but it was exceptionally painful. "Rookie's Bane doesn't have an antidote. It is produced by one particular Boss monster in the middle floors. Usually it isn't so bad because the adventurers down in those levels have a higher constitution, letting their bodies fight it off. That or they have developed poison resistance. Without either of those..." Cat trails off.
"What will the poison do?"
"It will attack your constitution, your immune system. You will most likely live, but you will never be an adventurer."
"I'm sorry, but I do not accept this. I simply cannot accept this. Not be an adventurer? If that is the case then I should go home. And while I miss home, I am not ready to go back. I don't actually want to go into my family's line of work." More tears fall from my eyes. Plip, plop. They are cold where they land on my skin.
"You, you can’t go home. Without the magic of a dungeon town supporting you, you will die in a matter of days. You can stay here of course, we are all here for you. You can even still be a part of the guild." Cat says, sounding choked up.
"How?"
"Manage the money. Help make us food. Maybe you can try your hand at making potions. Be the one to discover the antidote for Rookie's Bane."
I start full on crying now, sobs wracking my body, causing me to shake. Cat gently grabs me and pulls me up into a hug. I cry on his shoulder, and he doesn't even complain that I am getting him wet. He lets me cry until I fall back to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cat makes his way down the stairs, shaken from his interactions with Amaya. She was so small, so fragile. And he had failed her. He wasn't sure what to do with himself.
Through threats, paying people off and extortion he had gotten the name of the family that had bought the poison. He could have kissed the meticulous bookkeeper that wrote it down. It was difficult to get the information, but he had eventually gotten it. And he was going to bury Rex. He was going to bury him so deep that his family wouldn't be able to save him. If Amaya couldn't be an adventurer, then he would make damn sure that Rex wouldn't be able to become one either.
Emmie walks up to Cat as he comes down the stairs.
"How is she?" Emmelina asks.
"Alive." Cat said, and let the word hang in the air. Just because she was alive today didn't mean that she would survive this. People sometimes seem to be making a comeback, getting some vitality, then the poison will attack them harder, and they will die. Most die within the first three days if they are going to die of it.
"She woke up then?"
"Only long enough for me to tell her what is going on. She then cried herself to sleep."
"Is that why your shirt is all wet?"
"Yes." Cat said.
"This isn't your fault Cat. You cannot keep blaming yourself. This isn't your fault, and neither was the death of our guild leader."
“I can and I will.”
Emmelina takes Cat and guides him into a big, plush chair in front of the fire.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked Cat gently.
Cat leaned over and put his head in his hands. Did he want to talk about it? He wasn't sure. He hadn't really talked about it. Where should he even start.
"You know, I don't actually enjoy being a cat more than a person. I mean, I suppose I like them equal now."
"Then why are you always in your beast form?" she asks gently.
"As punishment. A cat can't go into the dungeon, hold a shield, or be expected to protect anyone. A cat is that, a cat. People sometimes get mildly surprised when I talk. That's it. They pick me up, pet me, and feed me things. And push on my toe-beans." Cat had to add the last one. Ami liked doing that after all.
"I see. So, you chose to be in a form you see as weaker as you felt too weak to protect your guild leader?"
"Yes." Cat said softly. Most wouldn't have been able to hear that he had said anything. But Emmie was listening. She was always so good at listening. Maybe her and Kay should spend more time together. Maybe then he wouldn't feel the need to talk as much.
"Oh Cat. I am so sorry that you went through something like that. But you do know that it wasn't your fault. You protected the rest of us. He just leapt out to try to fight that monster." she said soothingly. She had been one of the ones that had been behind Cat's shield, one of the ones that he saved. Cat often didn't think about those that he saved, as it was the ones he didn't that weighed on his conscience.
They had been caught in a two-pronged attack. Cat hadn't noticed. He was too busy being the tank, taking the hits, and using his shield skill to defend the others. They would lean over and attack it, taking its health down little by little. Cat was so focused, that he didn't notice when a stealth monster had crept up behind his party. However, his guild leader had, and he leapt out to attack it. He had more years of experience than the rest of them and was ridiculously strong. I guess he thought he could solo the stealth beast. It turned out that he couldn't.
"Thank you for sharing that with me." she said, and gently placed a comforting hand on his knee. "What happened yesterday?" she asked him.
"She had blocked one of the darts. It turned out that one didn't even have poison on it. Because she was able to deflect it, we thought that would put off the attacker and that he would leave us alone for the day. We were wrong. Alice sent me to go protect Kay, thinking that they would go after him next. As soon as I started walking away, she got hit by the second dart. I should have known!" he shouted. Emmie leaned forward and hugged Cat's head.
"You couldn't have known. Neither you nor Alice could have known what was going to happen."
"I'm going to kill him." Cat snarled through clenched teeth.
"No you will not. She still needs you. Kay does too, now more than ever. If they did this to Amaya, someone they hardly know, what will they do to Kay?"
"Knowing Rex he is going to smugly think that this is enough to keep Kay from pursuing becoming an adventurer."
"And it won't?" she asks.
"Have you seen that boy? I won't allow him to quit. He has the potential to be the strongest mage that this town has ever seen."
"See? You can't go killing that boy. Don't you have evidence? Can't you start building a case against him? Get him kicked out of the town? Barred from becoming an adventurer in this town?"
"All I can do is try. I want to see that she lives first. Give me two more days and I will go before the Owl guild."
"Okay. We will all be there for you. So don't give up. And Amaya is always welcome here, poisoned or not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wake up after more fitful sleep. My heart hurt as bad as my body. This was the most pain that I had ever been in. I don't know what I can do. What do I do? What do I do?! I have to save Zayne. I can't save him by mixing potions. I can't sit on the sidelines and send my friends into the dungeon without me. No. I do understand that I am being selfish, but this simply will. Not. Do!
'Why did you create such a nasty poison?'
I let my silence speak for me. I know that I was being childish, but I AM a child. I often do try not to be, but I can't help it. I am still young, and was supposed to be resilient, able to take on the world. But here I was, in this bed, sweating, shaking, crying, and not sure that I am going to survive. How dreadful. I might die and I won't have even gotten the chance to save Zayne. I wouldn't have even gotten the chance to try.
Unacceptable! I am not sure what I need to do but I shall do something, I must!
I feel as though I should pull myself out of this bed when I hear a knock at the door.
"Come in." I say. I tried to project my voice loud enough for the knocker to hear, but my throat is so sore from crying that I am simply unsure whether they heard me or not.
The door opens and Kay enters the room. He is holding something too. Was that a steaming mug? Of tea? How thoughtful. I struggle to sit up. It does not go as well as I believed it should, but I was able to maneuver myself closer to a seated position than I have been able to thus far.
"Oh good, you are still alive. I was worried that while I was away getting the tea you were going to die on me.” Kay set the tea down on the nightstand that happened to be next to the bed and wrapped me up in a tight hug. "You are not allowed to die. Nope. Not for a long time. And I will enter that dungeon and slay all of the monsters. And I will bring back everything and mix up potions from it. People might say, Kay why are you doing that? Don't you know those don't make a potion, and I will then tell them that I am not trying to make a potion I am making an antidote. And I will keep trying until I find an antidote. And you seem to be from a race that lives a long time, so you will eventually get to become an adventurer, right? Right Ami?" Kay asked his voice trembling. What else was there to say?
"Right."