Trails of intertwined stars: Chapter 34

~Chapter 10: Escaping the Maze~

The cat king stood on the balcony, readying himself for his hit whilst playing golf. He swung the club, the ball soaring high into the sky.
"Nice shot!" Natoru laughed.
The ball soared down into the maze, hitting the last guard chasing Muta, on the head. Muta watched confused as the guard collapsed off the wall onto the floor.
"That's one of ours!" Natori groaned, watching through binoculars.
"What?" The cat king frowned.
"Sire, how could you?"
"We won't count that one," The king chuckled.
"Natori," Natoru nudged the judging servant," Look."
Natori frowned, turning to look with his binoculars.
"The guards have scattered," Natoru stated.
"They're all lost," Natori sighed.
"What about Hikari?" The king hummed.
Natori turned to look at Hikari, who was calmly walking behind Baron, not even near any enemies.
"Oh! They're getting close."

"Yo!" Muta waved, walking over to Hikari and Baron from the opposite direction.
"Welcome back," Hikari hummed.
"Any luck?" Baron tilted his head.
"Dead end," Muta stated.
Baron grunted in response, turning left, the two following. What they didn't notice was a strange looking chunk of wall pulling off from the maze, waddling over to the entrance they came through and standing in place. Another did the same to an exit before they arrived. Baron frowned, turning the other way, unaware.
The cat king laughed, watching," They're falling for it!"
Baron frowned, reaching another dead end, not noticing the out of place chunk of wall.
"Another dead end? It's getting harder."
Hikari stared at the wall, looking up and down. Compared to all the walls in the maze, which was even, this one stuck up weirdly at the top.
"Uhm...Wait! There wasn't a wall here before!" Hikari pouted.
Muta raised an eyebrow," Must be your imagination, brat."
"NO! I'm sure we went through here!" Hikari stomped her feet, immaturely.
"What!?" Muta scoffed," You mean the walls have legs!?"
What they did not realise was behind the wall was a cat, sweating, with armbands attached to the chunk of wall; trembling. Baron rushed forward, pressing his hands on the wall and feeling it.

"Hikari is right!"
The feline stepped back, glaring angrily at the wall.
"This is no wall. It's a fake!"
The cat brought his leg up, kicking the wall. The cat controlling the wall yowled, landing face first, conveniently knocking down all the other fake walls, creating a path for them. Turns out cats aren't as smart as they seem and will just act like dominos to your goal. Each wall leading to the tower stairs yowled as they fell. Muta gaped, gobsmacked.
"See!?" Hikari giggled.
"Good work, Hikari," Baron congratulated her.
"You gotta be kidding," Muta uttered.
"WHATTTT!?" The king screamed, his eyes wide.
Natori shook his head in despair," How often have I told them not to line up like that!?"
Baron led the way, running over the wall path, a muffled yowl with every step; followed by Hikari and then Muta.
"THEY'RE GETTING AWAYYYY!" The cat king roared, running after them.
Natori wailed, running after him, followed by Natoru and the guards.
"Your Majesty!" Natori panted," Wait!"

The three climbed up the stairs to the tower, Hikari falling behind. She clutched onto her knees, groaning with a pant. Baron and Muta turned to look at her, stopping on the stairs.
"Go ahead," Hikari laughed, awkwardly," I'll catch up."
Without hesitation, Baron rushed down, scooping the girl into his arms; running back up the stairs past Muta.
Muta rolled his eyes, following," Show-off."
Baron ran, holding Hikari firmly, bridal style. The cat glared ahead, whereas Hikari stared bewildered at the drop below and how fast it sped by.
"Baron, it's okay!" Hikari yelped.
"Don't worry!" Baron stated, running decently fast even whilst carrying her.
Baron ran up the stairs like a human, in fact compared to the other cats, he acted more human than cat. Muta followed behind, running like a cat for more speed. Hikari stared at Baron, blushing, watching his face as he ran. His emerald eyes only looked at his destination, never the floor below him, yet he never tripped. There was a noise of another cat feature growing on Hikari, but she wasn't entirely sure what grew. Confused by the noise, Baron glanced down at her, for any physical change. Hikari gulped, blushing even redder, turning away to look at the floor.
"Your Majesty, please!" Natori wailed, chasing after the king on the maze wall," It's dangerous!"
"THEY WON'T ESCAPE!"
"I stationed soldiers in the tower, just in case," Natori panted, out of breath.
The cat king laughed, stopping suddenly, a few soldiers falling into the maze because of it," Brilliant, Natori! Why didn't you say so?"

They watched as more green cat guards climbed out of a door on the side of the tower, meeting Baron, Hikari and Muta on the stairs.
"That's the spirit!" The king laughed maliciously," Get them!"
The guards took one step forward, the chunk of stairs they were standing on collapsed, the cats yowled as they fell all the way down.
"NYO-!?" The king yelped.
Carefully holding Hikari, Baron tiptoed around the edge of the broken steps onto the stable ones; Muta following behind. The king stared at them escaping, emotionless, only his eye twitching.
"Shoddy construction, I'm afraid," Natori mumbled.
The king whipped around, screaming," THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!"
"Nyraaaaagh!" Natori wailed.
"We have no choice!" The king scowled," Give me the secret weapon!"
Natori yelped, flinging himself at the king," What? No, not that! Your Majesty, think of your image!"
The king held out his paw," Detonator!"
Natori folded his arms, shaking his head, stubbornly," I refuse! The cable simply won't reach!"
"Try the wireless unit," Natoru hummed, passing the king the yellow remote with the big red button.
Natori flailed, wailing.

Hikari skipped up to the top of the stairs, Baron and Muta behind her.
"Finally, the top floor!"
"Almost there," Baron smiled, reassuringly.
The king smirked maliciously, slowly pressing on the button, ignoring Natori's constant whimpers.
"NOW!"
He firmly pressed on the bottom. They watched as explosions escaped from the sides of the stairs. Baron glanced down, gasping.
"What's happening?" Hikari frowned.
Baron grabbed Hikari, pushing himself and her to the wall, grabbing Muta so he could do the same.
"Hold on!"
The tower grumbled, the stairwell collapsing. Bringing the tower speeding down to the maze. Hikari screamed, holding onto Baron's cane so she didn't fly away, whereas Muta just floated. The cat king burst into laughter as the fog of rubble left, Natori wailing behind him.
"That was quite spectacunya," Natoru smiled.
"LET'S GO!" The king sped off.
Natori yelped, chasing after him, followed by the other cat servants.
Baron, Muta and Hikari stared at the rubble which was the extremely long staircase they had ventured up.
"We're back on the ground," Hikari frowned.
Baron grabbed a napkin from his pocket, dusting himself off.
"Now we wait," Muta sighed.
Baron nodded," We're trapped."