Chapter 7

As the children walked farther into the darkness, they kept near Nicolus who had their only source of light.

As the silence and the voice of their own footsteps grew oppressive, Albedo opened his mouth

"So.... what should we be looking for?"

Nicolus was kind of glad but not at the same time. Sure, he broke the oppressive silence by asking the question but no one had the answer to that question so the silence was returning.

"F-For now, look for anything that looks out of place or strikes as odd". Nicolus tried to make an effort to break the silence and give the children something to do.

After nodding at Nicolus, they split up and looked around in the area lighted up by Nicolus' lamp.

"Hey Nicolus, I never wondered since I wasn't interested. What do you suppose is down here?" Serina asked after they had searched the area and were once again advancing.

"I am also curious now that you ask.... since its always just causing harmless pranks maybe its a fairy? They like to play pranks on people don't they?" Nicolus said with a hand cupped on his chin as he pondered and answered her question.

"Wow! A fairy! If we find one I will ask it to give me a blessing!" Elam said as twirled around with eyes bright with excitement, his other two friend also had such expression on their.

"But why would a fairy live in sewer?" Albedo asked in a confused voice.

That caused the adventurous trio to pause and become dejected.

"Yeah, why would a fairy live in a place like this" Ozzy said as he kicked a stone lying around.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Yeah, it would probably live in flowerbed or a great forest" Khai continued where his friend left off.

While a metaphorical cloud of dejection hung over the trio Albedo seemed to find something so he called everyone over.

"What's this?" Elam as everyone gathered around what Albedo had found.

"It looks like a cat's paw but it is bigger!"

By now Nicolus had already reached them and was looking at the tracks on the ground with a serious look on his face.

'it certainly looks like a cat but it is much bigger than your standard house pet cat. Is it a larger feline?'

If that was the case then Nicolus had to reconsider the prospect of this little trip altogether. Any type of large feline was going to make mincemeat out of them. Serina realized it the same time as Nicolus and also had severe expression on her face.

"Guys I think we should go back now-" Just as he had let the words out of his mouth something in the corner of his eye shifted in position.

The effect it had on Nicolus was dramatic to say the least, he paused mid-speech and then turned his body and lamp towards the place he saw something.

The other children looked at him with confused faces.

"What happened Nicolus?" Serina asked the question that was practically written on everyone's faces.

"There is something there! Just outside of the area lighted up by the lamp!" NIcolus told the others in a grave tone.

"Whatever is there, Come Out!" Nicolus voice shook from the sudden adrenaline rush, excitement and fear of unknown.

Again the thing in the darkness shifted place and Nicolus sensed it and turned the lamp in that direction but it was still outside the radius that lighted by the lamp. This time, everyone was alert and were able sense something as well.

"Whoever it is, please come out, we are not here to fight!" Elam said addressing the darkness.

'Yeah no shit Sherlock! What good can we do to a large feline monstrosity' Nicolus thought as his mind went overdrive in panic.

"Growl!" At this moment, someone stomach growled in hunger

"Everyone! I know that you don't care but this is not the time to get hungry" Nicolus shouted at everyone in admonishment and exasperation.

"""""It's not me!""""""

Everyone replied back as one.

'Then that means... '

Serina also connected the closely laid out dots and called out to the thing in the darkness.

"Are you hungry?"

No answer came back

"We got some snacks, do you want to eat?"

Nicolus saw something shift closer to them in the darkness and became more wary.

Soon whatever was in the darkness came into light and everyone became dumbfounded.

Correction, it was not an 'it', it was a 'she'. An unusual type of she with cat ears and tail.

What came out of the darkness was a cat beast-kin girl which fit the cliché with a T.