Way of the Slugcat

Sky's the Limit

Night seemed to know exactly where their destination lay. He wound through the blackened tunnels with confidence as Thorns followed behind, and after a few minutes they both wiggled through a small gap in the wall. The shelter behind it was nothing more than a miniature pocket of air. Night had to press himself up against the back wall just to allow Thorns into the room. In a way, Thorns was thankful for this. It meant that he could be absolutely certain that his friend was with him until the shelter doors opened again. Their reunion had seemed too surreal, so fantastical and improbable, that his imagination had come up with an equally ridiculous anxiety about him vanishing into thin air. Now that he had time to think, many other fantasies had crept into his mind, and not the good kind. Noise... he needed some kind of noise, if only to break the eternal silence that inhabited these lonely tunnels. That, and to satiate his curiosity.
"H-hey, Night?" He whispered as the shelter doors were sealed shut.
"If you're about to follow that with a request to move, I'm afraid I cannot comply."
"Oh, no! I do not think either of us have the ability to do that...'' He replied, as both of them combined had taken up all of the shelter's space, save for the small tunnel leading outside. "I was actually going to request that you explain to me how on earth you managed that grand entrance earlier. Truly a feat of great skill."
Thorns couldn't see Night, but he had a feeling that a smile had replaced his usually stoic expression.
"Oh yes, great skill indeed." Night giggled. "Allow me to elaborate..."

The black slugcat watched as his friend as he rode further and further into the distance, the living weeds eventually swallowing them from his view. The entire time, he could see the look of panic on Thorns' face as he tried to steer the raindeer back towards the ledge. Alas, it was all in vain. All either of them could do was watch as the space between them grew.
Night had told him that he would catch up. That everything would be fine. And he had believed that at the time. But now, watching the tiny speck on the horizon grow smaller by the minute, he wasn't so sure.
I should have done more.
I should have said more.
I should have... I should have... I should have...
"Quit!" Night slapped a paw across his own cheek. "Quit that! This is your job! You've never lost a pupil, so why start now? Go get on with it, damn it!"
And so, he did.
His plan began with a hunt. He bounced his way up to the top of a structure half sunk in the mud. His eyes scanned the surrounding landscape for one single color: green. There! No, wait, that's a fern. Over there perhaps? No, only an eggbug. What about in that direction...?
In one, swift movement, Night had leapt onto a pole and slid all the way down to the structure's base. He then set off galloping in the direction he had spotted his prize. His body gracefully slid and rolled over the rough terrain, its speed making up for the long cycles where he could not use it in fear of outpacing Thorns. A little wall jump here, a tumble and a slide there... Oh, how freeing! If only those tactics were effective in a field of leech grass.
Just as Night was about to turn the corner, his nose picked up a rather concerning scent on the breeze. If he had been upwind of the source, he would have never even noticed. Reacting quickly, the black slugcat flipped backwards onto a pole. Not wanting to lose his momentum, he continued his movement and shimmied up to the top.
There below him in a small valley, a tiny green skinned grub wriggled about within the jaws of a blue lizard. The predator looked slightly confused as to why its prey was continuing to struggle. It seemed to have the same knowledge about the little thing that Night did: It could do nothing to escape even if it did manage to slip out from between the lizard's teeth. A tiny, helpless larva in a cruel, cruel world. It also happened to be the epicenter of Night's plan. He could not let it die yet.
Having no time for caution, Night leapt down from the pole. The little beast turned to face him. Its beady eyes narrowed as it hissed at the approaching slugcat. After making eye contact, however, it seemed to hesitate. A wave of realization washed over Night. This lizard looked familiar...
"Are you... that lizard from the junkpile earlier this cycle?"
The reptile did not respond. It ceased its noise and continued staring at Night. The slugcat stood ready for an attack.
The lizard glanced down at its wiggling prey, then back up at Night. One could almost see its prehistoric train of thought as it looked back and forth between the two for nearly a minute straight. The distant roar of thunder shook it out of its trance. It gently set the grub onto the ground, leaving it to squirm around freely, then backed away and vanished into a thicket of red foliage. If Night had not been on a timer, he would have taken some more time to ponder what had just occurred. Unfortunately, he knew that the rain would not wait for him. He scooped the grub up with one paw and tore a thick red vine from its roots with the other.
"Alright now little thing," He addressed the grub. "If you cooperate with me, then you might not end up getting eaten this cycle. I can't say anything about not being rained out, but at least you won't be swallowed by anything. Alright?"
The grub wiggled passively.
Oh perfect, Night complained, I seem to have taken up Thorns' habit of speaking to creatures that can't understand me.
A slight feeling of sorrow crept into his mind with that thought. His own pupil, left to wander the world given only one direction; go down. What kind of a direction was that!? Go down where? How far down? What was he even looking for? What would Moon think of this kind of horrendous guidance?
No. Moon is dead, you saw for yourself. What does it matter what she would think?
"Aug! Shut up!" The black slugcat dropped his little companion, yanking his ears down over his eyes. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! All that matters now is that I get him back before something horrible happens to him. You can do this, Night. I can do this. Make Moon proud. Make her teachings worth her time."
It was only then, after he had slowed his breathing, calmed his thumping heart, and silenced his own doubtful thoughts, that he heard the unmistakable squealing noise of the grub at his feet. He looked down at the thing, rocking back and forth while shooting a beam of yellow light from its mouth into the sky. After a few moments, it was replaced with a weaker, green blinking light. Night hardly had any time to process the situation before a shadow fell upon him. Glancing upwards, he could make out the awkward shape of a vulture, elegantly silhouetted by the fading sunlight. And it was flying straight towards him.
"Ah... alright I guess." It happened sooner than he wanted it too, but at least it had happened. Grasping the red vine in both hands, Night prepared himself for what might just have been the most fool harty task he had ever attempted.
The blue masked bird dove towards him. At first it set its sights on the screaming grub, but Night had made sure to make himself appear more interesting. He began jumping up and down and making all sorts of ridiculous noises. He had long since discarded any embrasement he had about his various impressions of the land's fauna. They may not have been accurate, but they sure attracted attention. His vulture mimicry was by far the worst out of the lot, nothing more than a horse screeching that tickled his throat. The slugcat's adversary seemed to take offense at this. It charged towards him, purple gas rocketing it towards him with an open beak.
Predictable. Thought Night, relieved at the bird's dim wittedness. Just before its cartilaginous beak closed around his body, Night leapt out of the way and tossed one end of the vine into his place. As expected, the vulture took the bait, and hard. It was a wonder that the vine didn't snap from the pressure. The bird threw its wings up before its body and buried them into the rubble below, stopping itself before it collided with a grove of foliage. Meanwhile, Night used his slugcat agility to his advantage. Being so small, a rodent such as himself could build up speed quite quickly. His paws vaulted him off the ground and into a nearby wall, then off of the wall and over the vulture's feather filled back. He took one end of the vine with him. On the other side, he snatched up the opposite end and held the two together as firmly as possible. Confused, the vulture attempted to shake the vine loose from its beak. Night pulled backwards on the two ends as hard as possible, yanking the vulture's head skyward. It let out a frustrated screech and attempted to pull harder. By this time, Night had already scrambled onto the vulture's back. This was going much better than expected, but he couldn't let out a sigh of relief just yet.
With his paws positioned firmly on the reins and the vulture unable to yank him off its back, as he had given the vine some slack, it was time for the second to last phase of his plan: getting airborne. Luckily, the bird seemed to have the same idea. Not three seconds after boarding, Night's ride executed lift off. The ascent happened much faster than he had anticipated. Without warning, the vulture rocketed into the air as purple gas spewed out of its body. Night could almost feel the bird getting lighter as it happened. His paws clung to some surprisingly soft feathers in a sudden panic, leaving his mouth to be the only thing viable to hold the reins. Afresh air sped past his body as the plants and buildings below became mere specks in a vast landscape of fields, creating a feeling Night could only describe as "nauseating, yet exhilarating at the same time! As if my gut had been left in the dirt and my body continued to ascend towards the clouds." And towards the clouds he went, up and up and up, until the rise came to a slow and bouncy stop. The gas started to come out in little bursts rather than continuously, keeping the bird and its hitchhiker at a somewhat consistent height.
"Alright, now for the hard part!" Night exclaimed, as if the last couple steps had been a walk in the park. "Wherever a creature's head faces, the creature will walk. Let us see if this applies to you as well, my flying friend!" And, with a yank on the vines, the vulture's mask turned towards the westward horizon.