Fate's Gambit: A Half-Blood's Odyssey

Chapter VI: Kaela and Allura

"Yo, Fruitcake," Allura says from the table where she's filing her nails. "What do you say you and I team up tonight if you catch my drift?"

Curse this for-no-reason dirty mind of mine. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean?" Allura replies with an agitated kind of sarcasm.

I open my mouth to tell her what I thought she meant but I decide to give it a second thought. "Do you want to go thieving together or?"

"Duh!" She exclaims, rolling her eyes then continuing to file her nails. She's filing them in a way that makes them sharper, rather than duller and shorter. I hadn't noticed it at first but her nails, much like her attire, are a black color.

"I guess that could be fun," I'm unsure. Going with someone else would essentially mean sharing the findings. What if she finds more stuff than me? What if she finds more valuable stuff?

"Perfect," Allura sets the file down and stands up. She produces a loud whistle, loud enough to echo through the tunnels.

Immediately, I can hear the pitters of small paws rushing toward us from all directions. The mice all file in and stop to watch Allura. They're neat and orderly, almost like soldiers in solid formation awaiting their next command. I spot Theo in the front. Now that I see all 236 mice together, I realize just how big of a number 236 is.

"You guys did great last time, so let's see who can sniff out another good one," Allura looks over the crowd of furry critters. "You know how this works: 59 groups of 4, search the entire town. Ready? Move out!"

One by one, groups of four take off into the tunnels until all are gone. They're all so obedient and intelligent but how? There's no way they have the mental capacity to understand complex commands like that. They shouldn't even have the capacity to understand speech at all. Mice aren't that smart, are they?

"How long until they come back?" I inquire, still pondering how they understood her.

"About two and a half hours," Allura answers. "What would you like to do 'til then?"

I scratch her head, getting behind both of her ears as well. I have no idea what I want to do for the next two and a half hours, but this is a good start. Allura seems really into it, too. She's dazed, with a crumpled smile and a cockeyed expression upon her face. Her tail wags in a wavy s-shape pattern and I can hear her quietly squeaking.

"My ears are a sensitive spot, you know," Allura mutters in her daze.

"I figured," I chuckle and scratch behind both of her ears. I'll have to try this on Cota once I learn her weak spot. I purr, Allura squeaks, but I'm curious what Cota would do.

"I'm not letting you do this for two and a half hours, by the way," Allura claims, though I almost can't take her seriously when she's as hypnotized as she is. I've had my fun with this, though, so I stop.

After recollecting herself, Allura says through a slight blush "I'm not sure what that was about, but don't do it again."

The way she said it came off to me as submissive and yielding, which makes me feel as if she'd appreciate it if I were to do it again yet just wants me to think she doesn't want it. With that, she tries to do on to me as I've done to her, but is too short to get her proper payback. She concedes with a grunt then changes the subject.

"So are you and Cota dating or what?" She asks.

"No, just roommates," I don't think me and Cota couldn't hit it off, per se, but her sisterly personality would make a relationship kind of awkward.

"I see, you just want to get closer first," Allura smirks.

"No, she's just the one friend that cared enough to not want me to live in a clock tower."