Where? (Sinbad)

21. To Grasp for Power

Valefor's claws opened once after only a few seconds of squeezing the strange liquid out of his hand. Everyone looked down towards the liquid on the floor, which seemed to be thickening by the second as it morphed claws and fangs. Eve was prepared for another mini-bear like the one she'd encountered previously. Although she knew she wasn't participating, she didn't exactly feel like getting yet another scratch to gloat. As it continued morphing, slowly rising and growing taller, Eve widened her stance, ready to pounce in a moment's notice. Eve's eyes narrowed as it finally finished it's morphing process only to reveal...

A cat.

"Behold! My double! Minifor!" Valefor cheered excitedly. "He will be your final challenge for this dungeon. Whomever manages to catch him will gain the power of a king!"

"WHAT?!?!" Everyone cried simultaneously. The three assassins looked more bored than anything while Drakon and Hina looked shocked and almost angry. Sinbad was the only one who looked excited, maybe even happy, about the challenge.

"Really? The challenge is that simple?" Eve questioned as she walked forward and past the group. Moving in closer, she inspected the lone cat who seemed sleepy and more lazy than anything else.

She crouched down, leaning closer and moving her hand out slowly, her palm facing upwards as she gently scratched the underside of his chin before moving to pet the top of his head. "He doesn't seem that hard to catch," she commented.

"Only because you do not, or more so, cannot seek him for the sake of the trial. Though he is being surprisingly accepting of you," Valefor noted curiously.

"You call this a final trial?!" Drakon yelled in frustration.

"We just have to catch this frail little creature... and that's it?!!" Hina turned to the djinn, not quite believing what he was just told.

Valefor simply nodded as Eve picked Minifor up, softly petting him and providing gentle scratches as he climbed onto her shoulders. She simply chuckled as he rubbed his face against hers while the others stared at her in disbelief. Sinbad smirked, seeing an opportunity to catch the cat, granted with Eve's help.

"What?" She questioned, noticing everyone's eyes on her, likely questioning how she'd gotten the cat to go to her so willingly.

Drakon turned angrily towards the djinn. "Is this some sort of mockery?! How is this supposed to be worthy of being a trial?! Even she can catch the cat!!"

"Hey!" Eve yelled in the back. "I heard that!"

"This is too troublesome...!" The youngest assassin muttered before launching his blades, tugging on the strings to turn them towards the cat and, in turn, Eve. Eve barely had time to notice the whoosh that pierced the air and even less time to react. Minifor launched himself out of her arms and into the air, landing safely on a fallen pillar on the opposite side of the room. Eve, on the other hand, managed to jump back in the nick of time to avoid getting cut(again).

"Hey!" Sinbad yelled furiously. "You could've hit her! She's not even participating in this and yet you still target her!!" 

He marched toward the assassin, who simply rolled his eyes. "I wasn't aiming for her, I was aiming for the cat. She just happened to be in the way."

Something about the way he said those words bothered Sinbad. Just before he got the opportunity to take another step towards him, a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned back and was met with soft hazel eyes.

"Sinbad, not now," Eve urged. "You have more important things to worry about anyway."

"You!!" Valefor screeched and furiously pointed a finger towards the assassin chief. "I told you again and again, no violence!! If Minifor didn't have my magoi infused in it, it'd be dead by now!!"