I've noticed that the titles of all my chapters so far begin with the letter "S". This was not intentional, nor is it a pattern I intend to continue.
If you're wondering where I'm coming up with all these crazy Egyptian names, Isis is the name of an ancient Egyptain goddess (and one of Catwoman's cats so it's doubly fitting), but Hebbu and Neema I literally just pulled from a name generator. Sorry, no special meaning there.
Chapter 4: Paranoia
Neema sat behind the counter of the inn, tapping her claws absentmindedly on the wooden surface. The young fennec fox shot up straight as the front door opened and she hastily smoothed out her white linen dress, known as a kalasiris, to look more presentable. She smiled warmly at her latest guests, only faltering slightly at their unusual appearance.
This inn had been run by her family for generations and she herself had taken up the job of manning the counter for nearly a decade. As such, she was used to checking in all manner of strange customers, but these two were already among the strangest. They were both dressed normally, but of species she could not identify. There was a tall one that was grey with black markings, and a shorter one that was black with white markings. They had multiple belongings with them, though oddly it was the grey one that seemed to be doing all of the carrying. Neither of them introduced themselves, and it was considered rude to ask for their names unprompted, so she mentally nicknamed them Ring Tail and Stripe Tail based on their physical characteristics.
"We would like to stay here for a few nights," Ring Tail said, slipping a small pile of gold coins over the counter, with one paw in his sack to imply that he could pay more if needed.
Neema quickly counted out the coins. "This will be enough for three nights. Is that acceptable? You can pay more if you need to stay longer."
"Yes, that's fine," he nodded.
"Alright. Then I will take you to your room."
Neema turned around to lead them away, but stopped when she noticed she was not being followed. Ring Tail and Stripe Tail had not moved from their original spots, suddenly looking uncertain. Before she could ask what was wrong, Stripe Tail spoke up first. "Wait...you mean...you're giving us the same room?"
She cocked her head to the side in typical canine fashion. "Well...yes. You are staying together, are you not?"
Had she known the kind of chaos she would unleash by asking that question, she would've been more hesitant to do so. Instantly, Ring Tail and Stripe Tail were at each others' throats, in clear disagreement about the arrangements. Their words were hard to pick up, and some of them made no sense (just what the heck was a "time machine"), but the basic gist was clear: they did not want to be in a room together. So why they were traveling with each other in the first place she didn't understand, but it was not her place to ask.
"Okay, okay!" Neema cut in before they caused too much of a ruckus. "I'll give you separate rooms then. But that's going to cost extra-"
"Deal!" They shouted simultaneously as Ring Tail slammed down a few more coins.
What strange customers indeed.
As the fennec fox led them to their neighboring, but separate rooms, Sly let out a sigh of relief at the disaster they had just averted. If he and Le Paradox could barely stand each when they just traveling through the desert, how would they have ever managed to sleep in the same room together? That kind of arrangement could have only ended with one or both of them dead.
His room was extremely modest, consisting only of a single bed and a window. It was more than enough to suit his purposes. Sly went up to the window and looked through his binocucom, peering out at the town of Hebbu below. He was halfway through doing recon of the town when he remembered that he wasn't on a mission. There were no guards to get around, nothing to pickpocket, nothing that would pose any danger to him. The biggest threat in the vicinity was living right next door.
Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to find out what Le Paradox was up to, Sly stuck his ear tight against the wall and listened. It was made only of a thin layer of stone, so he knew he would be able to listen in on the skunk with his acute hearing. He wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting to hear. Perhaps the sounds of tinkering machinery or, more likely, some conspiracy about how to backstab him. But what he wasn't expecting to hear was absolutely nothing.
Confused, Sly closed his eyes in concentration and listened even harder. Still nothing.
What on Earth is he up to?
What on Earth is he up to?
Unbeknownst to Sly, Le Paradox was leaning directly on the other side of the wall with the exact same intent. Normally, he couldn't care less about what Cooper was doing at any given moment, but now that he had convinced himself the raccoon was plotting against him, he wanted to keep track of his every move. It unnerved him greatly that he couldn't hear anything coming from his room. He knew from experience that Cooper was not this quiet.
Both thieves were completely silent so as not to alert the other to their eavesdropping, which was why neither of them heard a thing from their neighbor. And it was also what caused them both to jump to the same false conclusion.
He's already ditched me!
He's already ditched me!
Sly clenched his teeth, angry at himself for taking so long to listen in on Le Paradox. He should of known he would try to pull something like this. He never should of let him have his own room.
He tore out of his room to enter the neighboring one and confirm his suspicions, unaware that Le Paradox was doing the same. Unaware that is, until they crashed straight into each other in the hallway. The two thieves lied there in a jumbled heap for several moments, neither willing to admit to their mistake. They mutually decided to just pretend this never happened.
"I'm going to work on the time machine now," Le Paradox said, his face buried beneath Sly's tail.
"Good idea," Sly replied, the skunk's foot resting on top of his head.
Le Paradox locked himself back in his room and vowed not to come out again unless it was an emergency.
He looked down at the brown sack he had been entrusted with. He had put this off long enough. His room didn't have any kind of work desk, so he just settled for his bed. He gently dumped the time machine components onto the bed, suddenly seeing a lot more than he remembered collecting.
He took a deep breath to stave off his nervousness. He may not have built the original machine, but he had stared at the blueprints long enough in his obsession with revenge to have memorized them. Sure, it would have to be heavily modified, but it couldn't be that hard, right? He already recognized what piece did what. It would be just like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Except that jigsaw puzzles don't require advanced tools to complete.
He glared back and forth between the primitive Egyptian tool set and the time machine components in sheer determination. If it meant escaping a life trapped with Cooper, he could do anything.
With that, he set to work.
Nighttime in the desert was often unpleasant. The temperature dropped to the point of being freezing cold, and it was even worse if the wind started acting up, as it was now. It was all just salt in the wound for the group of unlucky sand cats trudging across the dunes. Having lost two of their camels to an unexpectedly formidable pair of travelers, those two riders were now forced to buddy up with someone else.
"What are we going to do, Isis?" one of these unfortunate riders cried. "We just lost a whole week's worth of gold! We can't go back empty-handed!"
Isis growled, her violet eyes gleaming dangerously. "We won't. We're going to track those two thieves down and get back what is ours."
"You think they're still around?" another sand cat asked. "If I were them, I would be as far away as possible right now."
Isis smiled. "Did you see their supplies? They were carrying no food or water whatsoever. That means they'll have to stop in town to replenish, and that's where we'll find them." This answer satisfied the other sand cats, who all relished the opportunity as much as she did.
Hebbu came into sight above the horizon and Isis's smile grew into a malicious grin. She wouldn't underestimate them this time. Her twin blades would claim that cocky raccoon's head before the night was out.