Middle Of Nowhere

Negotiation

Lee was in visible confusion. He saw something move in front of him. His predator drive kicked in full flow. He stood the tallest he can be on four with a raised rear, giving a slight wiggle adjusting his hind legs, all ready to pounce and conquer. He had his ears pointed straight at the moving critter, a rat, off to a side in the darkness of the tunnel network between two light spots which were cast by the flickering lights signaling for maintenance. To his dismay, the floor he stood on was not as firm as he would like, as he was not able to amp himself up for the leap he had intended. Even when he managed to make a half-hearted start, something invisible stopped him as he collided face first.

"This brat means trouble," Melody eyed Lee from a few steps behind, watching the feline balancing himself as the surrounding floating bubble propelled the cat forward. Aurelia was right in level with the levitating Lee with Lumien following close behind.

"I don't know why, but this creature is out to harm me," Aurelia sighed. It had happened the last time when she had met with Amy. Lee had growled, making tones akin to muttered insults, and had leapt with the intention of clawing her face. He showed similar aggressiveness complete with a twitching tail, all stressed out and guard up, that they had to resort to the bubble. The cat's tolerance towards Melody was the only saving grace which got them this far.

"We have been walking this way and that for a while now, it's annoying," Lumien made the observation vocal while they were all thinking the same thing.

"How hard can this be? I don't know if the cats of this realm are actually this clever. Are they?" Melody shook her head as she saw the caged beast swatting air and giving off blank stares.

The plan was simple, they wanted to meet the cat's owner. Aurelia knew the house of the village chief. The cat had to be somewhere around there. Momentary distraction due to food was how Lee ended up in this situation. Aurelia had mentioned there was something unusual about the caracal and that the woman was not the owner; the cat had acted on his own. Melody trusted Aurelia's expertise on animals. She had a hunch that Aurelia had something else on her mind that she was not letting them in on.

Melody had used her potion in patches throughout the tunnel to search for paw prints that would otherwise be indecipherable. She was able to trace the animal frequenting in some parts of the tunnel network over others. This could be where the real owner was, or whoever this misbehaved cat was food buddies with. The animal however was intent on harassing them. Other than making faces at Aurelia, total non-cooperation was what they got from him. He either refused to move, even stressed enough that he did his business without scratching out a pit. As he refused to walk, they were now walking him.

Aurelia sensed that they did not have much time on their hand. The tunnel felt like one giant trap. Other than the cart tracks presumably for the mined material, the three managed to activate one or the other crystal as they walked around. Each time it shone gold and drained them a little. Aurelia had told them that the crystals only worked during the night; hence they selected the harshest part of the day to be visiting the realm. But it turns out that the crystal would still work if the magic source is close enough. She was concerned if this crystal pattern would alert somebody. She was also exerting herself to shield others around her from inhaling the toxic air.

After an hour-long stroll interspersed with awkward silences, they approached what seemed to be a bunch of stores – the ones selling essential supplies like clothing material, oxygen masks and cells. Aurelia felt a pang of guilt as she observed water being sold to a high price. There was a separate store that sold medicine for a subsidized price. Not only for currency; a deal could be bartered on a case-by-case basis as well. If she had not been on a mission, the sights would've fascinated her a bit more.