During his time at sea, Dario had seen quite the amount of trash. In fact, enough had floated by that he’d built himself quite a reasonable domicile upon his raft, the base of which he’d also expanded.
With wood that’d floated by, he’d built himself a house and furniture. With sheets of a strange, semi-hard material, he’d built a sail. The only thing he was missing now was a rudder, but the proud knight—nay, the proud pirate, was sure that the Holy Truth would provide.
Indeed, very little of Dario’s present countenance would suggest that the man had ever been a knight. In lieu of his shiny armor he donned a bandanna atop his head, a bare chest, and tattered trousersprotecting his decency and legs.
And of course, his left gauntlet was ever-present.
What pulled together the outfit, though, was the charming yet maniacal smile that was plastered across his face.
“Hahaha! So you’ve finally sent a worthy foe!” Dario shouted across the waves. “But it is all for naught, for I, Dario of the Seas, cannot be defeated!”
While the sky above Dario was bright and sunny, just a few hundred feet ahead, it was much different. Low, roiling clouds darkened the sky. Bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens, promising a swift and violent end for any unfortunate enough to enter their paths.
Below this violent canvas was a massive wave, easily tens of feet high. As it approached, it towered over Dario’s raft, as if threatening to engulf it whole.
It towered over the raft for what seemed an eternity, until it finally crashed over. Just before it made impact, Dario pulled his sword out of his left gauntlet’s holding space and stabbed it into the floor of his raft.
“Oh, Holy Truth! Hear my call and give me the strength to stand against this insidious world!”
Mana spread through his sword into his makeshift raft house.
The wave crashed violently into the raft, but not a single corner was damaged.
“You can’t break m-aAOISjOaia!!” Dario’s defiant shouts subsided into loud sputtering as the next wave crashed into the raft and filled his blabbering mouth with seawater.
“I will not be silenced! Do your worst!” he shouted as soon as he was able to spit the seawater out.
It seemed that the seas had heard his challenge, as waves, each larger than the last, rose and fell upon Dario and his raft.
Eventually, though, a peak of sunlight peeked through the clouds, which soon dispersed to reveal a bright blue sky. And in the distance, just a few hours of sailing away, was land.
Glorious, firm, unmoving land.
Between Dario’s raft and the island, however, was an harbor with a dozen warships docked. Dario kept an eye on them out of diligence, but as always, the Holy Truth provided the way forward. As luck would have it, Dario had sailed through the waves precisely as the sun was reaching its peak in the sky.
As the island was exclusively inhabited by felines… it was time for their mid-day nap.
And so, Dario calmly tied his rickety raft to one of the harbor’s posts and walked onto the island, making sure to not step on any of the many armored sailor cats peacefully enjoying their dream worlds.
“And so the Holy Truth continues to light my path, even in the most hellish landscapes,” Dario muttered to himself as he made his way inland.
It wasn’t an overly large island, from what Dario could tell. It would likely only take a day for him to walk from one end to the next, but there were a few interesting things about it. For one, the shoreline, save for the harbor, was perfectly circular.
For another, there was only one other “structure” on the island, and it resembled something like a spiral staircase built around a single pole. Each step was made up of a box with either rectangular or circular holes on the sides.
Atop the pole itself, casting a shadow upon the center of the island, was what seemed to be a giant bowl.
Instinctively, or perhaps it was by the guidance of the Holy Truth, Dario understood that the bowl was the residence of the first layer’s officer.
As for where his target was, the prison that held the most dangerous souls… Dario looked down at the dirt and sand beneath his feet.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Of course. For cats, who feel most comfortable when in a warm, tall vantage point, would deem it most appropriate to imprison others below ground in cold, damp cells.
It seemed like a foolhardy venture to just dig straight down and hope he just happened to come across the cells.
But on the other hand, if he were to try and enter through the front door, as it were…
He looked toward the sky. If he continued to approach the central pole, he would soon find himself in the shade—and if any of the feline guards were to catch sight of him and sound the alarm, he wouldn’t be able to survive against all of them alone.
No, he should…
But even as Dario formulated his plan, a soft, high-pitched “meow” sounded from his right.
He spun to the right, pulling his sword out of his gauntlet as he did so. All that met him, though, was open space.
“Meow.” It sounded again.
Dario looked down.
Just a few feet in front of him, and… below him, was the tiniest cat he’d ever seen in his life.
It was only a few inches tall and could fit in the palm of his hand.
“Aww, you’re so cu—” Dario’s eyes popped as the tiny cat’s mouth expanded, its jaw unhinged.
“WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” A terrifying screech erupted from the tiny cat’s enormous mouth.
Dario swung his sword downwards, but the tiny cat proved too nimble and darted to the side before running away and disappearing into the grass.
The damage was done.
Alarms blared across the island, forming a screeching cacophony that forced Dario to cover his ears with mana.
Felines approached from all sides—Dario could spot lions, tigers, cheetahs, and even armored, bipedal housecats armed with spears bounding towards him.
“It seems the Holy Truth has chosen my path for me…” Dario muttered, raising his sword toward the sky.
“Oh, Holy Truth! Allow me to destroy all that would defy your will!”
A golden light surrounded his sword’s blade. Dario gripped it tightly with both hands and brought it crashing down. A shockwave rippled out from the impact point, but Dario had controlled the force well. Most of the power was directed straight into the ground, blowing open a deep and shallow hole.
Dario took one last glance at his surroundings and the open sky before jumping into the hole. As he did so, he swung his sword about, collapsing the entrance.
When he finally landed he found himself within a large cavern, but it was not the underground prison he’d expected. Instead, it seemed to be an underground farm, complete with a fake sun, thousands of cows, and a lake at its center.
Dozens of house cats were busy at work milking the cows, while dozens more were pulling fish out of the lake and cutting them up with deft knife slashes.
At least, that’s what it seemed they had been doing. The explosion and Dario’s subsequent arrival had paused them in their tracks.
Dario cursed to himself, then swung his sword towards the ceiling of the cavern repeatedly, until the entire cavern started to shake.
He then ran towards a nearby tunnel, escaping the cave-in he’d just caused. A few surprised guards blocked his path, but he was able to dispatch them without even breaking stride.
It didn’t take long for Dario to reach a crossroads, and fortunately enough, the felines had posted proper signage along the tunnel walls.
One sign clearly said “Cells”, so Dario turned around the corner and sprinted down the specified tunnel.
“Ah, this is more like it,” Dario commented as he arrived at the top of a spiral ramp. He couldn’t even see the prison yet, but he could feel its existence.
There was nothing like the raw, unfiltered air of despair that surrounded a prison. And this was the same as the rest.
Dario opted to slide down the spiral ramp and landed heavily on his feet at the bottom. The prison looked no different from any other he’d seen in his Holy Kingdom—cold, hard, and dark. But a quick glance inside the closest cell revealed the difference.
Inside the closest cell was a spectral goat—most of one, at least. Its right horn had completely disintegrated, as well as part of its front right and both back legs.
As he continued forward, examining the cells, it was more of the same.
The prisoners were all spectral forms, damaged in some way. There was an emaciated minotaur in one cell, a fish with only half a head flopping around in a metal bowl in another.
But none were the ones Dario was looking for.
“There has to be a better way for me to search than to check the cells one at a time…” Dario muttered.
He doubled back towards the front of the prison area to see if he’d missed anything, only to discover that… he hadn’t. There were no records books, no system to know who was in what cell.
“Do they not care at all who they’ve imprisoned?” Dario muttered to himself. “Even if they wanted to free someone, they wouldn’t be able to find them!”
He then glanced down the hallway of cells again. “Well, I guess that’s kind of the point. The prison here is only for those who’ll never be freed…”
Furrowing his brow, Dario scratched his chin and contemplated his options. He very well couldn't check every single cell, as that could take years. The issue was, he didn’t seem to have a way of speeding up the process.
In such a situation, Dario realized he would have to take a feather out of the cap of his longtime rival and newfound friend, Cifa.
It was time for some underhanded, cowardly, absolutely no-good stealth operations.
Dario stepped back into the shadows as a clowder of cats slid down the spiral ramp he’d descended earlier.
There’s no way they see me in these shadows. Dario thought to himself. I can’t even see myself with how dark it is.
The cats slid off the ramp and landed deftly before spreading out, purring and growling at each other as they did so.
With a cocky grin, Dario silently celebrated his incredible stealthiness. Haha! With my incredible foresight and the Holy Truth by my side, there is no possibility of me being found.
Cifa really made it sound so hard to stay in the shadows. What an absolute buffoo—
Dario’s train of thought was shattered when a cat stared at him with unblinking eyes.
…Why is it staring right at me? Does it see me?
Dario moved his gaze downward. He couldn’t even see his own outline, so surely the cat couldn’t…
Unfortunately, Dario was not aware of a simple fact: cat’s had infinitely better night vision than humans did.
And so, the cat continued to stare at him—then, it slowly raised its paw towards Dario and hissed.
As soon as it did, all the other cats in the area turned to look at it—then Dario.
“...Shit.”