Chapter Six

In the next morning, Pyrrha woke up from sleeping. She stretched her limbs as she yawned, then Nero came over handing her blanket. "Hey, um…" he said, "thanks."

"Oh. No problem."

"Feels like wool. Is it?"

"Oh, yeah, it is. My mother made it."

"Oh, she knits?"

"Crochets."

"Crochets? Nice."

"Thanks."

The two of them didn't make eye contact or go face to face with each other in their moment together. They were just walking away for a little while while frogs at the pond near them were croaking.

Breaking the silent moment, Nero said "So, Pyrrha…. I was thinking that when I got back to the city, we'd, uh…I mean, there's lots of cliffs, and maybe I might, you know…I- I might…"

"Are you saying…you've changed your mind?" asked Pyrrha. "Because you know that means you're doing something nice for someone else."

"No, I know that."

"And you're all right with that?"

"Yes."

Pyrrha looked hard at him then held out her hand. Nere held out his paw, but the peasant girl pull her hand back. "Don't shake unless you swear." After a moment, they shook their hands and Pyrrha finally smiled. "Alrighty. Let's get you back to Rome."

Getting up from the floor, the two ventured to Rome.

Back in Pyrrha's village, morning slowly creeped into the sparse but sparkling oasis of the open courtyard. The idyll was broken be the yelling of Helius, his voice echoing throughout the homestead.

"Pyrrha? Pyrrha? Pyrrha? Where in Vesta's name could she be?"

Inside the house, the interior of the kitchen was a worm glow as Scuma prepared the breakfast.

Helius entered in a huff and asked "Have you seen Pyrrha this morning?"

"She's gone back to Rome."

"What?! She's back there-"

"It's okay, Helius, calm down, she's fine. I had a talk with her last night. She told me she's going back to see the emperor for you."

"Alone?"

Back with Nero and Pyrrha, they've found themselves near an old bridge across a ravine. They begin to cross it while Pyrrha said "Once we cross this bridge, it's only an hour to Rome."

"Good," said Nero, "because believe it or not, I think I need a bath."

"I believe it."

"What's that?"

"Nothing." Suddenly, Pyrrha fell through a rotting board and got caught in the vines under the bridge. "Whoa! Nero! Nero!"

However, with a smugly face for whatever reason, Nero nonchalantly asked "Yeah?"

"Quick, help me up!"

"No, I don't think I will."

"Wait. You're gonna leave me here?"

"Well, I was going to have you thrown to the dungeon, but this looks better."

"I thought you changed?"

"Oh, come on, I had to say something to get you to take me back to the city."

"So everything was a lie?"

"Well, yeah. No, wait. Uh, yeah, yeah, it was all a lie."

"We made a deal; we shook hands!"

"You know, the funny thing about shaking hands is…you need hands. And I have paws. Ha-ha-ha! Toodle-oo!" Nero was about to walk away, but even he fell through boards and also got caught in the vines.

"Are you okay?" asked Pyrrha. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm all right."

"Good!" growled Pyrrha before she punched him on the snout. "That's for the double crossing!

Nero hit her back and said "Yeah, and that's for kidnapping me and taking me to your village…which I'm still gonna destroy, by the way. Ah ha ha ha! No touchy." Then Pyrrha kicked him farther to the wall of the ravine.

In a pretty upset mood, Pyrrha scowled "Why did I risk my life for a selfish rich boy like you? I was always taught that there was some good in everyone, but you? Oh, you proved me wrong."

"Oh, boo-hoo." Acted Nero in a sarcastic tone. "Now I feel really bad. Bad kitty."

"I could've let you die out there in those woods, and then all my problems would be over."

"Well, that makes you ugly and stupid."

"Let's end this."

"Ladies first."

They flew at each other and began fighting. But once they've heard a cracking sound, they stopped.

"Was that your back?" asked Nero to Pyrrha who shook her head.

They looked up, seeing that the sound came from the bridge holding them up. With all this weight, the vines broke and they fell down into a crevice. Nero used his claws to hang on to the wall and Pyrrha grabbed the fur on his back. Down below there was a river and snakes emerge from underneath, hissing and opening their jaws. If they fell anymore, they would fall into the river and be eaten by snakes.

"Oh, Jupiter!" panicked Nero. "We're gonna die! We're gonna die in the mouths of snakes! Why couldn't it be wild boars?!"

Still grabbing onto Nero's back, Pyrrha discovered a rope by a little tree on the ravine wall. "Calm down, calm down." said Pyrrha. "Okay, here's the deal. Climb up this wall and I'll grab the rope."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Listen to me. You've got claws, I don't. I've got opposable thumbs, you don't. If we want to stay alive, we have to work together to get out of this."

"How do I know you won't let me fall after you grab the rope?"

"You're just gonna have to trust me!"

Without any options, Nero did so, climbing up the wall one baby-step at a time while Pyrrha tried reaching for the rope with on hand reaching up. Nero climbed a little farther and moaned in agony with the peasant girl still grabbing onto his fur "You know, it's a good thing you're not a big, fat girl, or this would be really painful."

"Almost." Pyrrha was an inch to it, and she finally caught it. "Got it!" But when she gave it a tug, there was a problem. "It's stuck."

"Take your time. No hurry here." Then scorpions from the hanging tree on the wall where rope was started falling into his mane. "Scorpions!"

Nero scrambled, but Nero caught his tail and he got his mouth stuck in an opening in the wall. The scorpions made their way to Pyrrha who slammed her back against the wall to kill them. The banging woke up the bats that live in the cave. Since Nero's mouth was blocking the entrance, they all flew into his mouth until he's pushed back from the opening and they can fly out. The momentum made Nero fly up the rest of the way to the top of the canyon wall, pulling Pyrrha with him. They both look at each other in a silent moment and began chuckling together.

But then, Pyrrha was going to fall from a crumbling part of the canyon. "Pyrrha!" cried Nero while he pulled her back just before a piece of the wall would fall apart. "Ba-da-bing, baby! Did you see that?! I snatched you right outta the air! Oh, that was so epic! I gotta write this down."

While Nero shuffled to dance, the stunned Pyrrha said "You just saved my life."

Ceasing to dance, Nero tried to look deadpan and said "So what?"

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That there's some good in you after all."

"Nuh-uh."

"You could've let me fall."

"C'mon, what's the big deal? Nobody's that heartless!" All a sudden, Nero paused in shock, realizing that he repeated Pyrrha's words. "Eh, don't put too much into it. It was a one-time thing."

"Yeah, sure. Well, we better get going. With that bridge out, it's a two-day walk to Rome."

Surprised, Nero asked "What? You mean you're still taking me back?"

"I shook on it, didn't I?"

"Yeah. But don't you get the wrong idea. I'm still building Nerolympus when I get back."

"Who knows? In two days you might change your mind."

They start to walk another way to Rome, and Nero said "Well… I'd be better off sticking with you for a moment. Cause I wouldn't survive in the wilderness."

"Really?" asked Pyrrha thinking he's joking. "You're a lion, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm a lousy lion. I can't even scare a wolf with a roar. I know how it works, but nothing."

"That's because you just became one. It takes learning to do a roar like that."

The two continue their journey to Rome, now getting along with each other and willing to go anything to get there.