My Calling
Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs
Chapter 7: Decision
As the effects of the catnip wore off after an hour or so, the Elbacky seemed perfectly content to settle down for a catnap, leaving Nelius enough time to recuperate from her "playfullness". He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for the peace from her playing. Sitting a good distance from her, he began to think on what he was planning to do next. He already knew that he had to get rid of most of the junk in his bag, but from what she'd told him, the city was crawling with more Felynn, and they might not be as open-minded as this one was.
Looking outside, he noticed that the rain was still falling, but in a lesser amount than a few hours ago, turning into a light mist.
'Not the nicest weather, but I'll take my chances." Getting to his feet, Nelius grabbed his bag and exited the cave, retracing his steps back toward the greenhouse. He figured that he could use the building as a marker point while he made his way through the deep expanses of trees. Close to an hour later, when he found the greenhouse, he saw something rising out from the trees; going to check on what it was, he deadpanned at the sight.
"You've got to be kidding me." Just a short distance from the greenhouse was the city the Elbacky had told him about. As he walked into the city limits, he took notice of the general layout. Many of the older buildings had similarities to old 5th to 6th century structures, while the recently made ones had a more modern feel. Standing right in the middle of the city was a large, towerlike structure; the Overlord's keep, no doubt. "Now, where's that dumpsite at?" As he turned to go in one direction, he found himself in a very familiar predicament, involving his headlong stroll into a place only the most bold would ever attempt to enter.
"I'm disappointed in you." For those who guessed that he ran into the Elbacky from earlier; more specifically, her chest, you'd be correct. "I treat you to a home, and you run off without even saying goodbye?" She peered down at him. "Well, I can certainly see what it is you're planning, but you'll be lost without me to guide you."
"How do you figure that?" He asked, looking up at her.
"This city's rather big. Unless you know where it is you're going, you'll end up running around in circles. Believe me, it took me a while to remember the layout of this place." She winked at him. "So, still planning on heading for that sealed off site?"
"Unless I want to walk around with a bag of discarded wrappers, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Being released from her grip, he followed her through an intricate part of the city, passing old structures marked for demolition. She was explaining about much of the history behind the ruins before Brad ressurected them and began expanding, but his mind was elsewhere; more importantly, on what he would do from this point on. 'As far as I know, I'm probably some type of wanted man here now. This is going to make getting any future supplies difficult.'
"Hey, we're here." She called to him, pointing at the large brick structure. It appeared to have no windows, being thickly built for holding in whatever was in there, and looked as though it couldn't be entered.
"OK, how do I get in?" He had to ask.
"From the roof." She answered as though it was the most obvious thing.
MAKAI!
On top of the structure, the Elbacky was holding open the hatch for Nelius so he could dump out all of the wrappers and other trash. Sifting through the bag, he extracted his Journal, pillow, sheet and what remained of his salvageable food before dumping everything else into the old structure, then placing the aformentioned items back into his bag and slinging it over his back.
"Finally, that's the end of that. Let's get out of here." With his statement, she closed the hatch and used one arm to grab him around the waist before jumping down and setting him on the ground. "Next time, do warn me before you do that!" His voice was a bit shaky.
"Well, most of this place was created with the idea of us Felynn in mind." She reminded him. "You're going to need some serious training if you want to be able to keep up with us."
"You've got a point. Well, hell, most of the reason I'm here is to train myself. Question is, where to start?"
"You can start by answering to me." Turning around, they came to face a large jaguar; the Overlord, Brad.
"O-overlord Brad?!" She squeaked. This had been the first time she'd seen him in person.
"You've caused quite a good amount of trouble here, young man." He eyed Nelius. "Though no normal humanoid has stepped foot here in about three years, you've actually caught me in a bit of a dilemma, so I'm feeling... generous."
"Huh?" If there's one thing Nelius didn't like, it was the look on Brad's face.
"Come with me. We shall have much to discuss." He began walking toward the center of town.
MAKAI!
Inside of the Overlord's keep, many thoughts were running through Nelius' mind, ranging from "What's going to happen now?" to "I'm so screwed!". As he walked down the hall, following Brad, he tried to take his mind off of the current situation by glancing around at the sides of the hall, seeing several other Felynn, along with a minute number of other monsters, working on things inside of the other rooms. They paused for a moment to take a look at Nelius, then went back to work.
"Enter through this door." Brad paused at a door. "I'll see you on the other side."
Shrugging, Nelius opened the door and stepped in, revealing a room filled to the brim with nothing but Felynn, apparently acting as some form of jury.
'Oh, great. My fate is left in the paws of these cats. Go figure.' He thought.
True to his word earlier, Brad entered into the room from the opposite set of doors, seating himself immediately.
"Now, then. Mind explaining as to why you stowed away upon my ship?" His question was straight to the point.
"It was either play stow away or return to a life of forced labor. Take a pick." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but the answer was mostly to the point.
"And just what was meant by that?"
"About three years ago, the Overlord of my home Netherworld started to become a real bitch-- no offense toward anyone who might take that personally." Brad's expression changed to one of curiousity. "I decided to head to another Netherworld and train myself so I could head back and give her a long overdue ass-kicking." At this point, many of the other cat demons began to talk amongst themselves in light of this new information.
"So, you propose to stay here for a length of time until you can defeat the Overlord of your Netherworld?"
"Exactly. When I know the time is right, I'll head back and beat her."
From the almagation of Felynn, one of them, a Bastet, stood up from her seat and walked up to Brad, handing him a slip of paper with their verdict. He took it, looking it over, then nodding.
"Well, despite the events of the last two days, you will be permitted to stay on this world--" Nelius looked at him. "--but, you will have to fulfill a request."
"What would that be?" He felt apprehensive.
"Simple. As you know, most feline species have a rather intense dislike for water."
"And just how does that relate to me?"
"Beneath this city, there is a great energy source, with four entrances into an underground realm. Unfortunately, three of these entrances are underwater, with the fourth only openable from the other side."
"Oh, I get it. You want me to swim through one of those three entrances and open up the fourth so you can start extracting the energy source?"
"You catch on quick. Any other questions?"
"Only one. When do I begin?"
"You will begin tomorrow morning."
MAKAI!
Nelius Journal Log August 23, 33XX
Well, this place isn't as bad as I would've initially imagined. Despite having mostly Felynn, they're actually good-natured, if not a little teasing at times.
My new mission as of tomorow is to swim through one of three submerged entrances so I can open the only other way in that isn't waterlogged. To this day, I never did find out why cats can't stand getting wet; I guess it's just something they can't explain.
Strangely, I felt as though I once knew the Overlord of this world... maybe in a past life? As if.
Now that I think about it, I should've asked that Elbacky for her name so I could properly thank her for allowing me to crash in her cave for the night. Eh, I'll probably end up meeting her along the way.
MAKAI!
Nelius closed his Journal, sliding it back into his bag.
The room Brad had allowed him to use for the night felt more like a hotel suite. With a full bedroom, bathroom, satellite TV, and kitchen, there wasn't anything he could complain about... scratch that. He had one question earlier:
"Why the heck is the bed round?"
"It's because we cats curl up at night as we sleep." Brad pointed this out before he left to attend other matters.
'Well, it made sense, so I shouldn't make too much of a deal out of it.' He flopped backward onto the mattress. 'Even if it's only for tonight, this place beats out the old cot I had back at Sirea's.' He took a deep breath, noticing the cleanliness of the night air. 'But, what was it that caused her to change all of a sudden? No matter, once I start training, I'll head back and give her one long overdue ass-kicking. That should bring her to her senses.'
This was his last thought as he drifted off to sleep.
MAKAI!
So ends another chapter. By the way, I'm extending last chapter's offer until chapter 8 or 9: if anyone who can come up with a good name for the Elbacky, feel free to send it in. If it's used, you will be given credit.
Until next chapter,
Cornell Valentine Gainsborough