Chapter 3
The massive cat watched them with interest while Oskar tried to get a grip on the situation.
Well, she hasn’t killed anyone yet. That’s a good sign… right?
// I don’t speak kitty, friendo, but I think she’s made it clear she’s on your side. Still though, you know cats... keep it civil and maybe don't get her too wound up and you might be okay. Besides, if she wanted to eat you, you’d be et. Ate? Eated. She’d have eated you up by now. //
Eated me up? I feel like you’re just baiting me now.
// Eated. //
You need a reboot.
// You need a second boot. //
Oskar smiled involuntarily and replied, Okay, you win this one.
// One more for the PUBster. //
A small green line flickered at the bottom of his vision, compliments of the PUB. Obviously, it was happy with itself.
Oskar had already moved onto staring back at the cat, still looking back patiently at the group. Other than its eyes, it hadn’t moved since they first entered the cavern. The cat’s eyes locked on him, and she winked. His heart skipped a beat as she spoke.
“It is rude to stare.”
Her voice was feminine, but it was nothing like Oskar had ever heard. Her singsong whisper was husky, and seemed to come from every direction. When the cat looked away, he couldn’t stop himself from scanning her, even though he was still blushing.
// Interesting scan… almost nothing to go on. She could be a Rank A threat level for all I know. I should get at least a hint of something, but it’s like she’s a void. //
Blinking, Oskar ignored the scan results as he tried to figure out what just happened. He'd barely caught the flicker of movement as the cat looked back at him the exact moment he scanned her.
It happened so fast that it was over before he could even muster up enough of a reaction to flinch. A flash of her golden eyes was there and gone, and by then, the cat was already looking over at the Kobolds. It wasn’t until after the fact that he realized what she’d done.
Wait, was that actually her, or was it like a phantom version?!
// Um, I have no idea, but I’m guessing she caught us scanning her. I literally just said don't get her wound up... let’s double down and scan her again. //
Do you actually want me to get eated up?
// Data is data, buddy. I only have permanent access to my own databanks since there's no active global network. C’mon, take one for the team! //
He ignored the PUB and pulled in a lungful of fresh air. There was a more stable series of scents to the cavern now- one of pine, grass, and running river water. The smell of the first spring rain. As if carried on separate breezes, they came and went, sometimes together and sometimes separately. The temperature was a little warmer now as well, more comfortable, which was good. They’d almost dipped into the 40s at the end there, and all four of them had begun shivering.
The cat’s voice carried in the cavern as she spoke, “I will tell you this plainly, so there is no confusion, and so you may approach me without fear; while I live, you will come to no harm here.”
Listening closely, Oskar could sense the ring of magic in her silky voice. He felt Sora and Talau, along with what he could only guess was the Magic Within, respond as if the words were magic themselves. The Sora he was holding onto by instinct almost escaped his control, reaching out to her until the sound of the words faded away in a soft echo.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
They were safe, and Oskar knew it to be so. If she’d wanted them harmed or dead, she could have left them outside to be overrun by the Hyena-men and that shadow creature.
// And if she wanted us for lunch… //
I know, I know. She’d have made sandwiches.
// What, no. I was implying- //
I know what you were implying, “PUBster.”
// You got a long way to go before you can start picking on me about names, scooter. //
Trying not to let the PUB destract him more, he listened as the cat continued to address Oskar’s group.
“In truth, I love you. All of you. I know your hearts, I know your worth. You are among the very few Collectives who would truly sacrifice yourselves for the sake of one another. For that alone, I would love you. Your hearts resonate with mine, and so I have done what I can to lead you here safely. I am sorry I could not do more.”
Her tone was somber, but her affection was clear, and not just in her words. The enormous cat’s golden eyes were sad, her musical voice low and broke for the first time, and she stopped speaking for a moment to gather herself.
“I am, however, a creature of great pride, and once of great power.” She grinned fiercely, pausing for a moment, but her fierceness abated as she physically shook herself out of whatever memory had encapsulated her. Oskar watched her eyes soften.
She met his gaze and spoke again. “Sadly, only pride, as useless as it is, remains. Please, come closer so that we may continue more comfortably.”
Her eyes glanced up at the dark cavern behind them and she said, “However, perhaps we should wait a moment for the last guest to arrive. I have been waiting to meet her as well.”
Penny! I was so distracted that I didn’t even feel her coming, only that she was still nervous.
Oskar heard scratching behind him, and the Pangolor came spinning in a slide around the corner. She was splayed out, having lost purchase on the glass floor because of her reckless speed and hard nails. Her final spin brought her facing the group, and she skittered up onto her backside into a sitting position a few feet away, watching Oskar’s face with no shame whatsoever.
“Kwinn,” she said simply.
“Hey, pretty girl. Change your mind about staying outside?” Oskar said, trying not to laugh at her. She used her tail to stabilize and so she could push herself to standing, and then walked with exaggerated care closer to Oskar and Erik’s side, who’d again taken his place under Oskar’s arm.
Penny didn’t seem phased by the lights changing or the big ass kitty laying on the rocky platform, and only cared that she was near Oskar again. The group hesitantly moved towards the cat, finding places to settle down on and near a series of knee-high walls that branched in from the sides of the cavern in a loose spiral. They also found the area near the huge cat to be comfortable and warmer.
Being the lowest part of the cavern- as it appeared to rise again behind the platform ahead of them- there was sand pooled around the center platform. Oddly, the sand was warm despite the cooler temperature. Both the Kobolds quickly moved from sitting atop the low walls of cold glass to the warm sand. They all got comfortable while the cool, fresh breeze and the wonderful scents it carried gently swept through the cavern.
The large cat smiled at them.
“I have a fascinating story to share, and I believe you, Fox, will find this story especially… engaging.”
Fox sat up in some alarm, but the cat put up a soccer ball sized paw and said, “I must ask you to trust me. There is no way for me to explain to you what you are about to experience, but I will not do this without your permission. I can only say that I want to tell you a story of your people as well as a piece of my own tale. I ask you to trust me.”
“Can you at least tell me your name?” Fox asked.
Her voice was surprisingly strong. Stronger than Oskar thought his own would have been in her position.
The cat answered in her singsong voice, “There was a time, in my pride, that I would have been happy to do so. Older and wiser, I think it best for both of us if you first are shown my humble beginnings, brave Kobold.”
Fox watched the cat for a long minute in silence, and then nodded.
The cat smiled kindly, and then spoke. “I ask you to say it out loud, Foxune.”
Fox blinked at the use of her full name, but then said, “Yes. I give you permission to show me what you will.”
Adruptly, the shimmering lights in the room brightened, and the temperature dropped noticeably. Oskar breathed in a deep breath of cold air, again fighting his own memories as they pushed into his thoughts. The pressure eased somewhat, and then the lights and magic in the room condensed in on Fox.
Everyone but the cat, who now radiated power, stared in concern as Fox flashed with blue light and then the shimmering, ethereal magic they had seen on the calico and Erik enveloped her.
Fox rose smoothly into the air, her feet hovering above the floor. The room grew brighter and brighter, blinding Oskar even through his Goggles.
Fox, though, suddenly found herself in a different place, in a different time. She found herself in someone else’s body… and living someone else’s life.