After I'haach had stepped through the world gate, Dauhieh began rearranging the hyperstrings controlling the gate into a new configuration.
"So, does anyone else think that I'haach should be with us on this one, or just me?" Zach asked, stretching to show off his impressive muscles to the two queens.
"Dream on," Sihm told him, then quickly gave him a shallow and short scratch on his left haunch. Zach slipped and fell, hissing in annoyance more than pain. "It's not like there's any threat of attack or something like that during this little trip downside."
"Are you kidding?" Zach asked, getting up and glaring at her. "Alright, you need to get this into your head, kitty-pet, and get it in fast. Everything in this business is dangerous, especially downside."
"But I thought that the New York team dealt with all the problems with the saurians!"
"They did," Dauhieh said, pulling her claws out of the matrix. "However, that doesn't suddenly mean that it's safe. We're talking about going to the source of world gates, and in particular a world gate that has a strange unrecognisable malfunction in it. Who do you think could cause that neat of a problem in a gate?"
Sihm thought for a moment before answering. "Nobody. There isn't a cat living that I've heard of that could make that kind of a job. Only someone who's…" Sihm's eyes lit up, "someone who's achieved transcendence could achieve that."
"And who has achieved transcendence?"
"The gods," she said, looking over to Zach. "So you all think that the Lone Power is in on this?"
Exactly right, came a voice in Dauhieh's head. Dauhieh instantly recognized it as I'haach's. While normally two wizards wouldn't be able to use such communication at a distance that great, Dauhieh and I'haach had achieved a state which some called 'synchronisation'. It meant that the two could walk through each other's mind as they pleased, so long as they weren't too busy with something on their own end. You've got to give her credit. Most wizards her age wouldn't be able to figure that out.
True, but Zach had a reason to get mad at her. If she goes around thinking like that, she'll be dead before she's any use. And besides, what are you doing listening in? Couldn't you be doing anything more productive down there?
It's three A. M., I'haach's voice sounded dry on the other end. Do you know how hard it is to wake Rhiow, Urruah or Arhu?
Dauhieh shook her head. She could imagine. She tuned back into the conversation that she was having with the other two wizards.
"Don't you think we should get going?" Dauhieh asked, flicking her tail towards the gate behind her.
"As soon as you've opened the gate, we'll go," Zach said.
"It's open, Zach."
"Wha—"
"I've been doing this for a long time; I know what I'm doing, and I can do it in a way that even you wouldn't be able to detect too easily."
"Well then why can't we see it?" Sihm asked.
"It's in non-visual format."
"Oh," both Zach and Sihm said together.
"Let's go then," Zach said casually, and jumped at the gate…
…to land on his face on the pavement.
Zach hissed in pain and fury. "I told you it wasn't open!"
"And you believed me anyways," Dauhieh observed, her whiskers forward. "Learn to trust yourself more."
"What is it with you and I'haach?" Zach asked in annoyance as she went back to the gate. "The two of you are always going into that 'learning from every moment' thing. Don't the two of you ever relax?"
Sihm gaped at Zach, as though in shock. "I'haach, take a break? The world would fold in on itself."
Dauhieh laughed quietly. "I doubt the reaction would be that dramatic, but it would be something."
"You have to hand it to the kitten though," Zach said, admiration clear in his eyes. "He's probably the best leader I've ever had."
"Is that so?" Dauhieh asked. "Does that include the short time that I was leading after Rehleh fell?"
Rehleh had been Dauhieh and Zach's leader before I'haach came along. She fell from extreme old age about a month before I'haach appeared to take the responsibilities, and during that time Dauhieh lead the two based solely on experience.
"Well, not to insult you, Dauhieh, but you don't really know how to lead a team. Nor a duo for that matter. You're much better at being a gate technician than a leader."
"I'll take that as a compliment. And to prove I deserve that compliment, here is one gate leading to the Old Downside."
"Thanks, where is it?"
"Right in front of my face."
"May I?"
"Be my guest."
Zach jumped at the gate, and fell past to smack his face into the pavement again.
"Sorry," Dauhieh said, the tone of her voice suggesting anything but sorrow, "I must have gotten it wrong. It's actually right here." She jumped through the gate.
Sihm smirked at Zach's stunned expression. "Don't hit your tail on the way through," she advised, jumping through after Dauhieh.
Zach hissed again, then hopped through, making a point of catching the trip wire with his rear claw.
He landed on the other side, the gate closing behind him. He sat down, about to have a nice scratch, but then figured that it might be smarter not to, seeing as his claws were now about three inches longer. Taking a look around, he admired the landscape. The rolling plains, the dense forest, the clear blue sky, and most impressive, the mountain. It was unbelievably tall, and seemed to go on for kilometres. More impressive still was the top of the tree protruding from the summit of the massive natural structure. Its many branches and levels went on to eternity and, when looked at, seemed to have the entire universe in it for a moment, and then all of time the next, and nothing not a moment later. Next, he turned his gaze at his comrades, knowing that this would be even more impressive than the landscape.
Dauhieh's patchy calico coat had taken on a darker shade, giving her a strange dirty camouflage kind of look. Her teeth were nothing impressive, but her claws were a different matter completely. They were long and pearly white, looking incredibly lethal to be on the wrong side of.
Across from her stood Sihm, an elegant lioness with beautiful peach-coloured fur. Much like most other cats, her natural defences were greatly enhanced by this world, with her claws and teeth sharp and jagged enough to mirror the sharpness of her tongue.
Finally, of course, there was Zach, who now looked exactly like a rather strong specimen of a panther; healthy, strong, and fast. The only possible difference between himself and a normal panther were his teeth, with the canines extending roughly an inch beyond the confines of his mouth. Looking at his two partners, and back down at himself again, Zach actually felt that they were worthy of the term 'in-pride'.
Dauhieh smirked. "It never really gets old."
Zach put his much longer than usual whiskers forward around his teeth. "Never."
"Life would have to be pretty exciting in order for this to seem normal," Sihm muttered.
"You'd be surprised how exciting life gets in our business."
"Extremely," said a voice to their left. The cats turned to see a tall reptilian figure with dull green scales shimmering in the sunlight of the plain. There was a strange look of contented wisdom in his eyes, a strange I know more than you and it feels great kind ofair.
Dauhieh inclined her head. "Dai Sitho, cousin."
"Dai," Ressa, fifth wizard of the saurian race, responded, sweeping into an elegant bow.
"I don't doubt that you've already received a message from I'haach about why we're here."
"No, actually, I haven't," said Ressa, his contented expression taking a somewhat confused turn.
"I beg you pardon?" Dauhieh asked, both vocally to Ressa and with her mind to I'haach. Don't you usually cover that?
Meh, usually, I'haach's voice responded, but I can't let you become complacent, now can I? It's not like I'm always going to be here.
You say that as though you're my senior, Dauhieh responded reproachfully.
Well, I wasn't going to say it, but seeing as you brought it up, I have to say that I'm rather disappointed with the maturity level you display…
I'll show you maturity! Dauhieh hissed back down the end of her mental connection, only to find that I'haach had already closed it.
She sighed, then went back to her conversation with Ressa. "I'm sorry, Ress. The kitten wanted to teach me a lesson."
"Understood," Ressa responded, that look of mischief back in his eyes. "But tell me, what is your problem, and why isn't the, um," he cleared his throat, "kitten, going to be coming with us today?"
"I'haach has some issues of his own to work out in New York," Dauhieh informed him as they started walking towards the large mountain on the horizon. "We, on the other hand, found a tiny and pertinent ripple on one of our world gate strings."
"Meaning a small problem," Ressa said. "Why does this concern my people and me?"
"Because the ripple was malicious in nature, and also would have taken an extreme amount of skill to create it. As of yet, we don't know to what purpose this ripple is for."
"So you've come here to…"
"We've come here," interrupted a frustrated Sihm, "to go to the source of this ripple to find out what's going on and why, and, if we ever get to work through all this nonsense, we also plan to deal with said problem."
Dauhieh and Zach sighed at the same time. "That would be the main explanation of why we're here," Zach stated. "We would've used the information from the gate itself, but unfortunately the ripple was far too small."
"Understood," Ressa said. "Come, let me guide you to the gating complex."
They were now near the cave-like entrance to the mountain. They entered it single-file, with Ressa leading. The moment they entered this passage, there was complete darkness, even to their superior eye-sight. Everything was silent but for the rushing of water which had irrigated the cave countless aeons ago.
"You're really annoyed at him," Zach whispered up to her as they walked, "aren't you?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, mainly because you never call him 'kitten', unless of course he gets you mad."
Dauhieh's whiskers went forward slightly. "It's difficult taking orders from someone who's not even a quarter of your age."
"Tell me about it," Zach muttered, then muttered a word in the Speech. Suddenly, a light winked into existence on the tip of his tail.
Dauhieh's whiskers went forward a bit farther, and then she thought a word in the Speech. Her light appeared, and Sihm and Ressa's quickly followed suit.
But for small amounts of scattered conversation every now and again, there was little speaking as they marched onwards from the entrance. For the most part, the entire mountain was empty of any creatures. Ever since the New York Grand Central team had cleared out the Lone Power from the saurian race, said race had chosen on the whole to move to the sunlight. Now the mountain was deserted aside from the occasional gating team that came down to check on something at the source. Such expeditions had become much more common with the new agreeableness of the saurians, seeing as teams didn't have to fight their way to and back through miles of caverns filled with blood-thirsty dinosaurs.
"The section you have asked for isn't directly available from the normal paths. Fortunately, our wizards have managed to alter the kernel and the gates to allow for permanent world gates to such inaccessible regions," Ressa explained. "The gate to your branch is just around this corner."
As they rounded the corner, the gate came into view. It glowed strangely in the darkness, unnatural and hovering there. There was a weird greenness to it and an unsettling way how the strings seemed to just die after a short distance.
"That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Sihm said blatantly, and Dauhieh and Zach could only agree with her.
"Well, it works," Ressa defended. He approached it and stuck a long, delicate claw into the strings. Instantly it opened. "Not to mention," he added, "it's fast. After you, my cousins."
Sihm approached the gate and jumped through without a word, and Zach quickly followed. Dauhieh, however, lingered a moment.
"I must agree, it's a genius idea," she said, genuinely interested. "Would you mind showing me how it works?"
"Of course," Ressa said. "There's nothing I enjoy more than commiserating with a fellow technician."
"Well, it's interesting. I mean, how would you summon and isolate that much power?"
"It's not easy, believe me," Ressa said. "The strings are much more delicate than a standard gate, so anything more than a graceful touch could totally obliterate them and whoever was touching it."
"Definitely, it would also be interesting to figure out–"
A scream ripped the air, followed quickly by a growl of outraged surprise. Dauhieh rounded on the gate.
"Sihm?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Dauhieh leaped through the gate, followed quickly by Ressa. Dauhieh was breathless at the scene before her for a moment, before a massive claw slashed at her gut, and she let loose one scream down her blocked off mental connection with I'haach.