The Hovering Ingress: The Hidden World

Chapter 47

Training

Three Sune Cycles Later

It had been a few sune cycles after the incident. Jasar quivered against the cage bars as he sat close to the group. For him the cycles were going by so slowly that it made him want to go insane. Quietly he hissed and lashed his tail, wishing he hadn't given up so easily against that black spirit. He wouldn't be this terrified of an ophoris coming to the prison cave. It scared his wits out of him when he was taken to a 'spar' battle by two ophoree. Because he was so shaken by the Sinisters, he barely fought against the dog he was assigned, almost getting killed. He would have been if Xengu hadn't dived into the arena and finished them off in a few lethal blows.

Reminded of what the winged feline had been doing for him, the cat looked to her as she nipped at the knots in her wings. If he was any stronger, he wouldn't have to have her fight for him so often. He wished he could do something for her, but he just couldn't! His mending abilities were wearing off due to the lack of good nutrition and water, and all he had done socially was argue with her.

"Jasar, could you go growl somewhere else? You're keeping me awake," Favi grumbled.

"Sorry," the cat replied as he got up and started heading to the other side of the cage.

As Jasar sat down against the cold bars again, he put his elbow on his knee and his chin in his fist as he continued to think about the amount of things Xengu had done. She had, dumbly and recklessly, gone out of her way to try and sneak the group out, and honestly would have done it better than an ophoris and a cat. Then again, she did get into the tunnels, so that was way closer than Raid had gotten. Even if she did hate Raid and berated her, maybe she did have a better understanding of the situation when giving a first glance. Not to mention the multiple times she had to save the others from death, and how she reacted to Marsh's temporary death. What was motivating her? What made her be so willing to do all of these things?

The cat was so deep in his thoughts that he was startled when he heard a growl from the other side of the cage. Looking, he found that Xengu was being held down by Favi, who was snuggling into her wings and protesting her leave. Finally after getting tired of all the growling and pitiful mews, Marsh bonked Favi upside in the head to get her off the panther. Xengu gave a grateful nod to the forest lynx before turning and looking directly at Jasar.

The tom cat froze when their eyes locked and then quickly scurried to hide his face. For a moment there was a while of silence and he moved to lift his head when a black hand tapped on his shoulder. With a shriek, he fell over and tumbled on the ground a little, groaning he put a hand to his head. Looking up, he found Xengu staring down at him in confusion. Quietly Jasar turned a bashful gaze to the side before coming up to the cage bars.

"Uhm, what do you need?" he asked.

"I was going to ask what was wrong," the panther said as she relaxed and wrapped her tail around one of her legs.

"O-oh, it's nothing, just grumbling about yestersune's fight..."

Jasar crossed his arms and looked away from the panther as she stared at him. Finally, she let out a huff.

"If it's because of the fact that I jumped in, then please understand that I felt the need to protect you- "

"It's- well, I would have said it's not that but... that's partially not true. Yes, it does have to deal with you having to jump in every single one of my fights but..."

The cat couldn't find the right words to explain how he was feeling. He just wished he wasn't so helpless! Finally, Jasar sighed and banged his forehead against a cage bar.