The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 22

The next morning, all was in a hustle. Yuma awoke to the voices outside and the sounds of feet moving, wings flapping, and tails slithering. Beside him, King Godith awoke as well.

"It looks like it will be a busy morning," he yawned. "Same as every day."

Yuma looked over to the machine to see Akari rousing. Slowly, life returned to her eyes. She looked very confused as to where she was until her gaze settled on her brother.

"Yuma?" she croaked. "Is...is that you?"

"Yeah." Yuma grinned fro ear to ear and ran over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I think so..."

"Rest, child," Godith sighed, getting out of bed. He walked over to her and took off the tubes. "Yesterday has been stressful. Just rest."

She nodded, then she looked at Yuma with a smile. "Glad you got us out of there okay."

"I couldn't have done it without him." He gestured to King Godith. "Otherwise, we'd be dead!"

Speaking of dead, why did the eagle Kuna ask for them to leave him there? Was he going to revive him or something? Nah. It was too silly. After all, no one could just magically revive someone.

Beside the bed where she rested, Black Mist looked a little more relaxed than the day before. It was probably due to the fact that he was getting his darkness back.

"Explore as you wish, boy," the king said, walking out. "I will be attending the meeting. I will inform you of the outcome when it is over." Without waiting for a response, he left.

He's just like Astral... Yuma thought, laughing to himself. I guess he takes after his father.

Just as he was told, Yuma took the freedom of exploring the inside of the tent town. There were many tents and stores that sold fruits and vegetables that they grew. They were more like trade centers, actually. They reminded the boy of those town back in the day that they had to learn in history.

Yuma watched and saw how they interacted with each other. It was nothing like what he saw with the cats and dogs. They were friendly instead. They shared, befriended, all that jazz. Maybe they wouldn't mind if he asked what they were.

So, Yuma approached a woman rabbit. "Excuse me," he nudged.

The rabbit looked at him. She was a short woman with a small snout, like a the animal she was. She had white fur with a pink nose. The inside of her folded ears were light pink. She had large feet like a rabbit and hands that looked kind of like paws. She was a little pudgy, but she didn't seem to care, unlike the girls in his school. Her eyes were like a human's with a pink color.

"Yes?" She smiled with a twitch of her nose.

"I wanted to ask what you guys are. You look like those cats and dogs."

"Well, you see, we were fused with animals by their organization. We're the ones who rebelled against them, and now we're helping the king." She spoke in a hushed, playful tone. "He's actually hunting THEM down," she whispered. "His sons don't know that. That's why they moved here."

Yuma nodded. "Ah. Thanks." He smiled at the rabbit woman.

"Any time! If you have more questions, feel free to ask anyone." She then hopped off since her feet were too big to move normally.

Yuma walked around again. He looked up to see a hole in the ceiling that let in fresh air. Then, he noticed many smaller holes, but they were still pretty big. He supposed that was how the sunlight came through to energize the plants they grew.

~.Royal POV.~

Godith briskly made his way to the council to discuss the matters of THEM. Now that they knew where they were hiding for once, it was imperative that they had to destroy it and everyone inside of it. No member of THEM was to survive. The council was in a large hollow of a tree, where no one knew they existed exceot for a select few.

By the time he got there, the whole council was already seated around the tree stump inside of that hollow.

"I apologize for my tardiness," he said quickly, taking his seat in one of the chairs. "I had a troubled sleep."

"It is fine," Mephisto, a flying squirrel, said. He was brown with black eyes. His two front teeth stuck out in a rather bothersome way that seemed to force his words to slur. He had the ears of a squirrel with brown fur all around his body. His tail was large and fluffy. He found that and the flaps of skin that stretched from his arms to his legs very bothersome. Light brown stripes made a sort of track down his face and down his back. His hands were regular hands, but his feet were that of a squirrels. He was the second-in-command next to Kuna.

"Where is Kuna?" one of the members asked.

"Most likely in his tent," Godith suggested. "He has my eldest son in there."

"Ah, how are your boys?" another one asked.

"One is in the care of Kuna, and the other is recovering."

"Let us get down to business," Mephisto sighed. "Now, we know where THEY are, yes?"

The team all said "yes" in unison, as if they had the same minds, which they didn't.

"Underground, cleverly hidden," Godith added. "One would need to know where to look if they were to find it."

"Understood." Mephisto crossed his arms. "What should one look for, then?"

"Well, abnormalities in the ground. No matter how well a hole is covered, there will always be something abnormal. Look at the dirt around it, and you will see it."

A deer man spoke up. "Don't you think that they would have switched bases?"

Godith grinned. "Do not give them credit for being clever. Yes, they have built a whole labyrinth for intruders, but they have not thought of making a second or third base. It takes too much time and effort, and none of them have ever wanted to make another one."

"I see."

"Then we attack it," declared Mephisto. "When we have everything we need, we attack."

They all nodded in agreement.