Note: I aplogize for the mispelled names in the previous chapter. I caught them after the fact. I will try to fix them at a later time. Please R&R all the same. Please, please, please...
Dylan is suspicious. The creature continues to amaze Orlund.
Ch. 2
The day was uncomfortably hot, and it wasn't helping Dylan's mood. The knowledge of Trance's sun making its way into the system to cause some havoc had settled into his thoughts like poison. The fact that they had yet to figure a way to stop it made it all the more potent. Not only that but Trance seemed to have vanished again. Outwardly she appeared fine, but Dylan didn't need to see it to know that inside she was struggling. Something was going on with her and he had yet to figure it out, but he was going to, one way or another.
Dylan was hoping to find trance at Harper's bar, since that was normally her only other haunt. However, she did, on occasion, go to visit Orlund. Dylan hoped that wasn't the case now. Orlund was a good man, both honorable and brave. On the outside the slender looking young man may not have seemed a threat but he had a dangerous streak he kept well hidden. The only problem was that he tended to take things too seriously. He jumped into dangerous situations without thinking them through. He was naïve, and right now Dylan did not have the patience needed to deal with him (especially long speeches about what an honor it was having worked with Dylan to find the Methus crystals and having Dylan here, and so on and so on.)
Dylan came in sight of the bar, only to stop abruptly when two familiar figures hurried from the shade of an alley, crossing the dusty ground. One was Harper, and the other, ironically enough, was Orlund. Orlund was hunched up holding his jacket tightly closed, obviously hiding something, and Harper was looking about in his usual wary and nervous way that always made Dylan uneasy in turn.
Dylan's shoulders sagged and he felt suddenly very tired. It was bad enough when he spotted Harper sneaking about, but having Orlund with him only made it worse. Harper was very skilled at getting everyone into trouble, but Orlund was probably the worst to get involved in anything Harper was up to. It would only end in him getting either very hurt or very killed.
" Harper, I will never understand what goes through that messed-up head of yours," Dylan said to himself. He altered route to follow Harper and Orlund, making certain to keep a good distance between himself and the two. However, as he thought about it, he came to a decision. Rather than discovering what the two were up to, he chose to simply put an end to it right then and there if he could. So he increased his pace and closed the distance.
" Harper, Orlund?" he said when he was five steps from them. Both stopped suddenly, Orlund turning quickly around but Harper turning more slowly, tensing as he usually did when caught.
" Dylan," Orlund said, straightening as though Dylan were his actual captain.
" Hey boss," Harper said sheepishly with a casual wave. Dylan folded his arms, looking from one to the other, but finally settling on Harper.
" Okay Harper, we can make this simple or very difficult. What are you up to?"
Harper quickly adopted innocence. " Up to? Boss, what could possibly make you think I'm up to something?"
Dylan smiled, shaking his head. " Harper, Harper, Harper. I would think you would know by now that when I ask you what you're up to, it usually means you are - in fact - up to something. I have yet to ever ask you that without it ever being true. So I will ask again, what are you up to?"
Harper held up his hands defensively. " Hey, boss, for once I'm telling the truth. I'm really not up to anything. I'm just helping our buddy Orlund out that's all," he clasped Orlund on the shoulder. " No big deal there. He just needed to restock some supplies…"
Dylan turned to Orlund, who was probably even more predictable than Harper.
" Orlund, what are you hiding?"
Orlund's brown eyes widened. " Hiding?"
" Under your clothes. You're hiding something."
Orlund swallowed. He was caught in a flux; either hide what he had or disappoint a High Guard officer and lose his respect. Dylan hated doing this to him, but it was probably for his own good.
Finally, Orlund succumbed, stepping forward with a hangdog expression. He opened his jacket slightly, enough for Dylan to see the golden head with the big ears and slit-pupil eyes. The creature looked up at Dylan and squeaked excitedly. Orlund quickly closed his jacket.
" Okay then," Dylan said, a little surprised but hiding it well. " What the heck was that?"
Harper shrugged. " We don't know boss. Orlund found it in the tunnels with some dead guy. He wants to keep it and asked if I could help out."
" It's very harmless," Orlund added suddenly. " I've had it for three days now and it has done nothing dangerous."
" Then why are you hiding it?" Dylan asked next.
Harper pointed at Orlund. " Hey, it's his pet. I just don't want any trouble if it came from someone else. That's all."
" You said you found it on a dead man…?"
" He was dead when I found him," Orlund replied. " From one of my traps. I don't know why he was there, but he shouldn't have been. The creature is mine by right."
Dylan sighed, putting his hand to his face and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
" Actually, I don't think Seefra has any laws concerning finders keepers Orlund."
Orlund tightened his hold on the jacket, and for a moment a shadow of fear passed over his face. " But it came to me."
Apprehension and a cacophony of warnings stirred in Dylan. There was something not right about any of this. He had never seen such a creature as the one Orlund now held, and he had seen quite a number of beings in his unusual lifetime. But there was no doing anything about it without a concrete reason. Besides, Orlund probably wouldn't hand the creature over without a fight, and though Dylan could win in that fight he'd rather not put up with it in the first place. And, besides, Orlund could probably use the company.
" Fine," he finally replied, hesitating slightly in continuing uncertainty. " Just… keep it hidden."
Orlund visibly relaxed, and Harper perked.
" Really boss? Thanks."
Dylan held up his hand to stop Harper from saying anything further. " But if anything goes wrong, you're both in a lot more trouble than you can handle, got it?"
Both nodded, Orlund happily and Harper uneasily.
Dylan shook his head, wanting to say more, to back up his warning, but could think of nothing else. So he turned and left the two to their devices, already regretting that he had.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
It was difficult going carrying both two packs full of food and the creature. By the time Orlund returned to his tunnels his back was aching from the weight and his chest and shoulders stung from the scratches the creature caused when it tried to get to the food.
He made his way to the small, hidden chamber where he normally slept and deposited the sacks of food on the highest shelf of rock he had. He then set the creature down on the pile of blankets, cloth, and old pillows he used for a bed. The creature looked up at him expectantly, rising onto its back legs and pawing the air.
Orlund took some dried meat from one of the packs and sat across from the creature. It continued to paw the air until he tossed it the meat, which it caught and downed in one swallow.
" I don't know if this will do you any good," Orlund said, tossing the creature another strip. " I don't even no if it is real or something synthetic. I've been told that some can make a vegetable seem more like meat."
When Orlund tossed a larger strip, the creature caught it in its paws, dropping to the floor to tear it apart and swallow it. Amazed, Orlund did it again. Again the creature caught the strip in its front paws, only to toss it upward in the air and leap to catch it.
Orlund laughed in wonder. He tossed more of the dried meat, and each of the creature's catches was different from the last. At one point it caught the meat with its tail, at another leaped up in a back flip to snatch it faster than Orlund could blink.
" That was amazing," Orlund breathed. The creature sat and made a series of guttural, clicking purrs that Orlund could have sworn was laughter.
" I can see you're intelligent," Orlund said. The cat-thing tilted its head to one side curiously.
" But what should I call you? I can't just keep calling you creature."
He had a few names in mind, but he could not tell whether the creature was male or female. He would have to wait to hear what Harper would say once the blood sample he had taken was analyzed. It was odd, but when Harper had nicked the creature's toe to get the blood, it had hardly reacted at all except for a slight squeak.
The creature tilted its head the other way, then opened its mouth to stretch its jaws in a yawn, revealing its sharp, serrated teeth. It then circled, following up with some pawing at the blankets, until it finally curled up and went to sleep.
Orlund was mystified. He had traveled to all the Seefra worlds, collected many wonderful Vedran artifacts, but none of them could compare to this creature. It was, by far, his most ultimate find, though it had come to him. It was like a gift. He remembered gifts. His mother had made a scarf for him once that had been a gift. His father had given him a weapon to help guard the tunnels, and had called it a gift. Gifts had always come to him unawares, either as a reward, out of need, or simply to make him happy. They were also rare.
This creature could be useful. It could help him guard the tunnels and chase away the cave dwellers, depending on how large it became of course. But even if it grew no bigger than it was, he liked its presence. The tunnels would be less empty with another living being dwelling in them.
Orlund knew he needed to start his rounds, but he found that he could not leave. He could only stare at the creature. A part of him feared that if he left, when he returned he would find it gone, as though it had only been a dream. So he remained where he was, and the emptiness of the caves became a distant memory to him.
