Chapter 22
Déjà vu.
Panther looked around the interior of the shuttle. It was his second one today, matching the first one from the Onyx in almost every detail. He could almost believe he'd daydreamed the whole adventure through the temple, and the first shuttle never crashed.
However, he knew it wasn't true from looking at things in his line of sight.
It had been morning when they'd left the Onyx, but now the skies were turning to orange, the sun setting over the horizon. A welt festered on Panther's head from where he'd hit his head in the crash, and dirt covered his fine robes, now ripped to shreds. Sable pressed a hand to the wound on her shoulder, bandaged with first aid supplies aboard the shuttle. She glared at Giichi, whose mind appeared to be on another planet, his eyes vacant and unfocused. His jeans and hoodie were shredded and dirtied from the battle, even more so than before. Only Jima and Rihat appeared the same, Jima still keeping an eye on a handcuffed Giichi while Rihat piloted the shuttle. Rihat had taken a bullet earlier, though there was little sign of this aside from him pressing a hand to his side every once in a while.
Also, now there were four Retinue instead of two, with Nidi and Hanzu in their fighters. Outside, an entire Royalist squadron accompanied the shuttle now, with the two silver Retinue craft taking the lead positions.
As they flew, Panther examined the strange fighters. Their thrusters pulsed with orange energy, orange lines glowing along the creases and folds of the fighters' metal, the highlights standing out on their silhouettes. The fighters' metal resembled the material of the Retinue gloves, and like the gloves these fighters could change shape as easily as if they were made of clay. When the spacecraft were in combat before, Panther saw them assume a delta shape close to an equilateral triangle. But while they cruised in a straight line, they took on a more dart-like configuration for better aerodynamics. And the shapeshifting gloves were already impressive…
"There it is." Sable broke the silence, grinning at something outside the window.
Panther turned to look. The first thing he noticed was a huge mountain, dominating most of the horizon ahead of them. A large valley spread out underneath the peak, bordered on three sides by more mountains and on the fourth by a river, with a city filling the basin.
The city puzzled Panther. Since Sable told him they were going to the Royalist capital, he'd spent a long time imagining what a Thaljistani city would look like. Would it be as high tech as the Onyx, or would the architecture appear ancient like the temple from before? Or would it be both? Or something else he'd never seen before? It could have been any of those things, so far as he knew.
Yet the city before him fit none of those descriptions.
White skyscrapers with gleaming glass windows and solar panels rose up into the air, shining in the setting sun like diamonds. Sky roads ran between the buildings, linking all of the structures together into a giant network. They looked like G-Zero tracks from here, the illusion helped by the lights of vehicles buzzing along them. The highways linked up with several white suspension bridges crossing the river. And the green… A surprising amount of green spaces filled the city, between trees, yards, and parks. A forest huddled along one section of the river, small specks visible walking along the trails. Farm fields huddled near the water further outside the city, pipes collecting more of it for irrigation. Sable wasn't kidding about this place being so green despite being amidst the sand and the rocky mountains.
Panther took it all in, eyes wide. "I don't understand."
"What is it?" Sable asked.
"This reminds me of—" He stopped himself.
"Of what?"
Panther hesitated. Sable wouldn't want to hear it.
"It reminds you of Corneria City, right?"
Both Panther and Sable turned to Giichi, the sand cat smirking at the panthress. She returned an annoyed look, but Giichi was undeterred.
"That's not by accident. It was built with Cornerian investment."
"What?!" Panther said.
"Believe it or not Panther," Giichi continued. "Thaljista owes a lot of its progress to Corneria. When they made first contact over two centuries ago, it was one of the best things to happen to this planet."
"No, it wasn't." Sable growled, snarling at Giichi.
"You sure?" Giichi grinned, looking at Sable's dress. "Fancy being the mistress of some big lion instead, Sable?"
She grabbed her armrests as if about jump to her feet, but kept herself seated…for now.
Giichi kept going. "Eight years ago, Lylatian expats filled this city." He didn't seem so sad now. He might have lost the staff to Sable again, but sticking it to her like this reinvigorated him. With every word he said, she got testier while his grin got bigger. "Businessmen, diplomats, tourists, doctors, engineers, all kinds of professionals… We shot ourselves in the foot when we kicked them all out."
"We don't need them." Sable stood up. "All we need is Thaal-Ja!"
The smile vanished from Giichi's face, replaced with a harsh glare. "Thaal-Ja's driven us to war."
"Thaal-Ja will unlock our true potential!" Sable strode over to Giichi, drawing her claws out. "We'll rise far above anything Lylat could hope to achieve!"
Giichi was unimpressed by her display. "Take a swipe, I dare you." His eyes hardened. "I'll make sure you don't get away with it."
Sable raised her hand, drawing it back and holding it there. Giichi watched her, his expression blank. Panther waited for her to make a move, though one never came. Sighing, she withdrew her claws and took her seat again. "Spineless coward, pulling your status…" She muttered.
"That's rich coming from you!" Giichi shot back.
Status? Panther looked between the two. Also what the hell had come over Giichi since they arrived on Thaljista? He was nothing but a quiet, shy computer hacker back on the Retribution, but now he sparred with Sable of all people, both in a verbal and even literal sense, like back in the temple. These two had some bad blood between them, and it had to have been boiling for a long time to reach the temperature it was at now. And there's a lot I don't know about Giichi. We might be friends, sort of, but now I notice he never told me much about himself on the Retribution. What else am I about to find out about him?
The awkward silence from before returned, settling over the cabin as they descended towards a military spaceport on the outskirts of the city. Fighters, frigates, shuttles, freighters, and assorted other military spacecraft filled most of the blacktop. Panther looked towards the spot where Rihat was landing, seeing a small delegation waiting for them: guards, attendants, black limousines and trucks, and a police escort, their cars and hover bikes painted white and green. With a thump, the shuttle touched the ground, Jima unbuckling Giichi from his chair and dragging him to his feet. Rihat took charge of the staff Thaal-Ja's Calling.
Sable smiled at Panther, holding out a hand to him. With reluctance, he accepted her invitation. Coldness pulsed through his hand at her touch, now seeing her smile in a whole new light after the vague threat she'd given him earlier. They walked out of the shuttle and out into the hot desert air again, the tarmac reflecting back the orange light of the setting sun.
Panther felt the presence of two others behind him, one to his left and the other the right. When he looked, a shiver went down his back. Nidi and Hanzu had joined them. They'd landed their fighters alongside the shuttle. With the four Retinue together, they formed a box around himself, Giichi, and Sable, their faces expressionless. The stench of death radiated off the four of them together, overwhelming Panther.
Back when he was in Star Wolf, he thought he, Wolf, and Leon were a deadly trio. They'd joke and laugh as they ripped through target after target, almost without effort so long as they weren't fighting Star Fox.
These four Retinue though… They were ice cold. They had no warmth in their hearts, nothing but that killer instinct and drive to see their orders completed, no matter the cost. If Panther made a wrong move or if Sable ordered it, he knew they would behead him on the spot.
Taking his attention off them, Panther watched as several men in black robes with matching trousers approached them, the cut of their robes shorter for better mobility. All of them were large cats, the dark fabric hiding large, muscular frames. Whenever the wind caught the robes in the right way, he saw automatic blasters holstered underneath the folds of fabric.
The black robes parted ways to reveal a female lynx in their midst, her tall ears and orange fur prominent, though white fur colored the bottom half of her muzzle. The large golden ring in one of her ears was a nice touch too. She wore a dark green dress, more conservative than Sable's choices in clothing, but still giving a nice view in places. Spots adorned her orange fur wherever it could be seen, accentuating the curves…
He sensed someone staring at him, and turned to notice Sable's scowl.
Panther snapped his head back straight. Old habits. He'd been checking out the lynx and didn't even realize. It was reflex for him. That could be deadly with present company. For the first time he could recall in his life, he hoped he didn't meet any other attractive women right now.
The lynx smiled, looking over Panther's party, though she had a momentary flicker of concern upon spotting Giichi and Rihat holding the staff. But it was gone in an instant, back to her regular smile.
"Welcome home Sable." She bowed to her, then glanced over at Giichi. "The same to you, Giichi." Those words sounded a bit forced.
The lynx turned her attention to Panther. "Ah, you must be Panther Caruso…" His last name danced on her tongue, as though she took a particular interest in saying it. "Sable mentioned she'd picked up a Lylatian. I am Miyu Wadi. A pleasure to meet you." She bowed to him.
Even though the gesture looked strange, Panther tilted his head forward. "Likewise." He kept his eyes up as high as he could, trying to not look at her chest.
"I'm an attendant from the Azerian Palace, and I will be escorting all of you back there now." She gestured to one of the waiting limousines, its door open. "Please, if you will."
Someone took a sharp breath behind Panther. Turning around, he saw Giichi staring intently at somebody past the group of black-robed guards. Beyond them were the accompanying police officers, dressed in body armor over khaki uniforms, red berets on their head.
Giichi eyed a yellow cheetah amongst the group of police. The cheetah stared right back, a look of utter hatred and contempt on his face. Based upon his patches and extra badges, he appeared to be a higher ranking member amongst the group of cops. He even had a unique green beret that set him apart from the others.
The cop and Giichi held eye contact, but Giichi soon conceded and looked away. He pushed past Panther, climbing into the limo first. The cheetah's eyes never left Giichi as he entered the blacked out limousine and vanished out of sight.
What was that now? Panther kept glancing back and forth between the cheetah cop and the limo's open door.
"Panther?" Miyu waved a hand towards the door.
Taking one last look at the cheetah, Panther nodded and climbed inside. The interior was richly appointed, smelling as fresh and new as if this limo had just come out of the factory. Soon Sable, Miyu, Jima, Rihat, and Giichi were all strapped in, and the car was on its way. Lights flashed on the police cars as they made their way out of the spaceport, black trucks forming up behind them. Nidi and Hanzu rode on hover bikes, flanking the limousine. Fighters roared overhead, flying cover over the city. They weren't taking any more chances after the incident out in the desert.
Soon, the convoy made its way onto the surface roads through the town, Panther gazing out the window. From afar, this place resembled Corneria City, but Panther soon got a reminder he was a long way from home: the people. Hordes of felines walked the sidewalks. Panther had never, ever been amongst this many of his own kind. Bay cats, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, bobcats, wildcats, ocelots, lynx, servals, caracals, manuls, even some odd house cats… He'd been told over and over again there was a war going on right now, but this place didn't show it. Everyone appeared to be carrying out their business like it was a regular weekday afternoon. However, Sable had mentioned they'd been in a cease fire for a couple of years, right?
Panther sensed something was missing though. No huge cats like lions or tigers… Why? The temple had lions featured as a general motif, so why weren't any of them here?
The raised roads weren't only for more lanes of travel; Panther noticed they served a critical purpose in regards to cooling. Nearly every busy street had an overhead road covering it, and fans mounted to the overpasses sprayed a fine mist of water on those below. Colored flags in a rainbow of colors hung from the undersides of the roads too, swaying in the wind and making a dazzling display for the eyes. Even the tiles of the sidewalk were painted in beautiful patterns of colors.
"See the dew collectors on top of the pylons holding up the roads?" Miyu pointed at the conical-shaped structures high overhead. "The roadways collect dew each morning so we don't have to worry as much about transporting water here." She went on to explain they were made of particular materials which shed the day's heat during the night. Thus during the morning they were below the dew point and collected dew drops in reservoirs at the bottom of each pylon. He supposed it was a necessity, living in a place like this.
Something felt a bit off about the way the streets were laid out too. Hold on… In most of Lylat, streets are laid out in grids. But here…the streets appear to be arranged as hexagons. All the roads intersect at sixty degree angles. How strange.
The motorcade made its way across town, reaching the base of the tall mountain Panther had noticed earlier. A highway twenty lanes wide ran into a tunnel carved out of the base, going straight underneath. A solid stream of cars and trucks surged in both directions; there had to be hundreds of thousands of vehicles passing through this tunnel every day.
"We're going in there?" Panther asked.
Sable laughed. "Of course. We're about to enter Gerrant."
"What?" Panther pointed back the way they came. "B-but the city we went through—"
"That was Sirtta, not Gerrant."
Panther gasped. What's waiting for us on the other side of this tunnel?
"Only cats are allowed in Gerrant, so a separate city was built outside the mountain to accommodate offworlders…when we still allowed them around here." Sable admitted all of this with some reluctance. "Sirtta is a blight next to our capital. Looks too Cornerian, but we'll correct that once we've revived Thaal-Ja."
Orange lights flashed overhead, their vehicles picking up speed as they moved along the highway, traffic being herded to the side by the police cars to let them through.
As they emerged at the other side of the tunnel, Panther's mouth dropped.
"Welcome to Gerrant's Downtown chamber!" Miyu beamed.
A massive underground cave chamber waited on the other side, miles across in any direction, filled to the brim with skyscrapers and buildings, all of them glowing in a variety of neon colors. Some of the skyscrapers even ran all the way up to the ceiling, doubling as support columns, while other skyscrapers hung from the ceiling and descended downwards, like stalactites. Is skyscraper even the right word if it reaches down? Would it be groundscraper? Doesn't have the same ring to it though… Regardless, what a bizarre sensation, to look straight up and see more buildings. Almost felt like looking into a giant mirror. Not to mention he could still see plants, flowers, and grass along the road sides.
Giant pipe-like wires ran all along the ceiling and even stretched downwards, illuminating everything wherever they were.
"Fiber optics. We pipe in the sunlight from the outside," Miyu explained. "Provides both light and warmth in here. It's an adaptation of earlier Thaljistani construction methods to provide natural sunlight underground."
Panther recalled the strange tunnels of light in the main chamber of the temple. She was right. It was the same principle, but modernized.
"Usually we only use natural sunlight, so we follow the same day-night cycle as outside. Helps save energy. But we can change them over to artificial light if needed too. The fiber optics can even be made to twinkle like stars at night. We even have our own weather here." She looked high above the skyscrapers, grinning. "Oh, good timing! Look!"
A rumble filled the chamber, as a cloud appeared in the center of the dome-shaped chamber, a thunder resonating from it. Soon it spread across the entire chamber, and dropped a gentle rain upon the city. Not as light as a drizzle, but heavy enough to water the various plants in the underground chambers. Panther's eyes widened at the display. There were some weather manipulation machines in Lylat was well, but this seemed very sophisticated and focused technology, able to bring about programmed weather within a very confined space.
An entire city inside one room, with its own weather...
"It's an impressive sight, is it not Panther?" Sable giggled next to him. "Such is the technology Thaal-Ja has granted us."
Panther was too shocked to reply, his mind still processing what it was seeing. Following the highway, they passed through another narrow tunnel and emerged into another chamber.
"And here is the Old Quarter chamber, the original city built centuries ago."
Wait, there's more?! Panther was already bamboozled by the first chamber, doing his best to push it out of his head as he observed the next chamber.
The Old Quarter was smaller than the downtown chamber, the buildings more packed together. Their convoy passed through tight streets choked with traffic. An ancient atmosphere colored this place, more in line with the temple they'd seen earlier. Most of the buildings didn't raise more than a few stories high. All of them were constructed out of sandstone of various hues, including yellows, browns, reds, and even a few slightly green hues here and there. Adding more variety was clay-based colorants and dyes, lending more colors like blues and lavenders. Many of the buildings looked like they had been standing and used for centuries.
They passed by alleyways, bazaars, and streets chock full of activity, scooters, bicycles, and rickshaws nudging their way between crowds of cats visiting the various market stalls. The stalls were stocked with all kinds of merchandise. Foods, pottery, rugs, staffs, swords, crafted metallic art objects… Panther noticed a particular emphasis on glassware, spotting stalls packed with mirrors, plates, glasses, vases, and sculptures. A wall of glass lanterns in many colors filled one stall, all of them glowing as if he were looking through a giant kaleidoscope. Some of them were electric, while others had actual wicks burning with the use of oil.
"Look to your left, Panther," Miyu said. "It's the original palace built by the Ibhu dynasty."
Panther turned his head. The contrast with the busy city streets could not be starker. A tall iron fence blocked off an entire section of the chamber, the area eerily dark and quiet compared to its surroundings. A tall mound-like formation rose up towards the darkened ceiling overhead, almost like a small mountain itself reaching towards a dark sky. Ruined stone walls ringed the summit, looking like they would have formed a grand palace back in their heyday, the ceiling collapsed and most of the old carved stones littering the top of the mound and the surrounding slopes.
"The Ibhu dynasty?" Panther asked.
"The lions…" Sable said. "You know, the lions you saw in the temple? They built that temple, plus the original city here centuries ago." Sable clenched her fists. "Or their slaves did, anyway. As in anyone who wasn't a lion or a tiger, like all of us. A thousand years ago, those two species formed a pact together, and set out to enslave all other cat species with their strength, seeking only to enrich themselves upon the backs of all others."
"Remind you of anyone?" Giichi spoke for the first time in a long while, giving a long sideways glance to Sable.
"Silence, kitten." Sable's face scrunched up. "Anyway, we don't need to worry about the Ibhu anymore. We banished them from this place to the desert a hundred and eighty years ago, scattered them to the wind like dust. The hero Azer rose up with Mkango's slaves and overthrew the lion king, driving him out along with the rest of the lions and tigers. The demise of that horrible dynasty is a blessing to us all. We leave the remains of their old palace there as a reminder of our triumph, and the advancement of Thaljista as a planet."
"Too bad the war put a stop to that," Giichi mused.
Sable's eye twitched, her tail flicking behind her. "You have a very smart mouth Giichi, considering you're our prisoner."
"I'm not scared of you." Giichi glared at her. "Without those two over there…" He indicated towards Jima and Rihat. "Or those two out there…" He nodded towards Nidi and Hanzu on the hover bikes outside. "You're nothing."
Jima and Rihat didn't seem to notice they were being talked about, instead keeping their eyes on the outside and scanning for threats. Miyu's eyes widened, clenching the armrests next to her. Panther felt the same way, glancing between Giichi and Sable. The tension was so thick he could taste it.
"Panther…" Sable smiled, turning to him. "You saw the way Giichi looked at that policeman back at the spaceport, right?"
She's going to drag me into this now?! Panther didn't know where she was going with this, but didn't think he would be allowed to stay out of it, so he gave her a nod.
"Why don't you ask him how he knows that officer?"
"Sable, why the hell are you doing this?!" Giichi's face contorted in anger, all of his cool and relaxedness gone.
"Go on, ask." She ignored Giichi, giving Panther a sinister smile. "Ask for his name."
He didn't want to be put into the middle of this, although he didn't see a way to back out…not with the threat Sable had hanging over his head. Panther turned to Giichi. "What is the policeman's name?"
Giichi grimaced, looking away from Panther and out the window.
"Answer!" Sable shouted. "Or I'll do it for you."
Giichi grunted, giving her a sideways glance before looking out the window. "…His name is Omer Dogan."
"And how do you know him?" Sable continued.
The sand cat's ears curled back, as he refused to look Panther in the face, a stony silence filling the air between them.
"I'll tell you how." Sable laughed. "Giichi killed his brother."
Panther's head snapped around, looking Sable in the face.
"He killed Ziryu Dogan." She delighted in broadcasting the news to everyone in the limo.
Giichi kept his eyes on the passing streets outside. His tail wrapped around him, trying to close himself off from everyone else around him. All the enthusiasm he had arguing with Sable earlier was gone, replaced by chilly despair.
Panther stared at the yellow sand cat before him. Though Panther knew Giichi was in his late twenties, right now the cat gave off the vibe of being like a helpless child. He was small for his age after all, adding to that image. Tears ran down the side of Giichi's face, as he did his best to hide them but failed. How could someone like Giichi kill though? He refused to let that vixen back on Fortuna kill me. And he told Nail to spare Ooveh's life. How could someone who shows mercy even to his enemies kill someone?
Panther turned his gaze to Sable, who delighted in what she had reduced Giichi to. She couldn't hurt him physically, but emotionally seemed to still be on the table. No one talked anymore, as they rode on in silence past the old Ibhu palace.
As they approached the other side of the chamber, Panther noticed a large security presence, the police falling back as they approached…only to be replaced by armored vehicles with soldiers inside. They gathered around another tunnel leading even deeper under the mountain. A guard waved them through a gate. It sealed shut behind them, blocking them off from the rest of their security team aside from Nidi and Hanzu. They were trapped in a compact space, with a matching gate on the other side. A scanning device swept a blue beam over their vehicles. The beam changed to green, as the gate on the other side opened.
For the fourth time, it was a new world all over again.
Miyu cleared her throat. "Our destination, the Royal chamber." She seemed hesitant to speak this time, less enthusiastic than before. "The queen and the other noble houses reside here."
Instead of packed buildings, grassy fields and forests filled the interior of this chamber. What a surreal sight. The buildings were one thing, but to have a pleasant countryside underground was something even more bizarre than what had come before. More sandstone buildings sprouted up amongst the trees, except these were far more opulent compared to the Old Quarter, more like mansions and castles with elaborate towers and ornamentation. The road curved amongst the greenery, taking them ever deeper under the mountain as they swept past the estates. High stone walls prevented Panther from looking inside. Like the security gate to get in here wasn't enough…
But towards the end was the biggest palace of them all, built partly into the rock wall on the far side of the chamber and rising high above everything else in the room. The turrets and towers reached up to dizzying heights, nearly touching the ceiling above.
"The Palace of Azer." Miyu smiled. "We have arrived."
Large gates opened as they made it to the end of the road, sending them onto a cobblestone road of various hues of yellow and brown, curving its way through the neatly cut grass and towards a broad courtyard, surrounded by ornate buildings hemming it in on three sides. The car swept its way up towards a long set of stairs leading into the wing on the opposite side of the courtyard's entrance….a robed guard opening the door as soon as the vehicle stopped.
They stepped out of the limousine, Panther taking the palace's majesty in. For the moment, he forgot he was more or less Sable's prisoner, looking over the entire complex with awe. What had brought him to this moment in his life? A couple weeks ago, he would've never dreamed he would be welcomed into a place like this. This palace looked like something out of an old fairytale, and Panther was about to step right into the story and become a character himself.
Grinning, he moved towards the sweeping stairs, but a guard grabbed him around the arm, lurching him to a stop.
He snarled, but Sable's chuckles got him to stop. "Panther…" She pointed at his ruined robe, the shreds still dangling in front of his pants. "You can't go before the queen dressed in those rags." Sable pointed towards a side door. "Come come! We are all going to make ourselves presentable first."
Oh, royalty… In spite of Panther's aspirations to appear cultured and dignified to the women he seduced, he had to admit this was the first time he was meeting with someone of this kind of status. But all the time he spent charming women, presenting himself as someone of higher status than he was in reality… He could put it to good use in a place like this. Sure, he wasn't royalty himself, but he already knew he was good at faking it. This wouldn't be difficult.
A short time later, he emerged from a small room, wearing a fresh new burgundy robe like the one he'd had before.
A few doors down, Jima pushed Giichi out into the hall, the sand cat now wearing a robe similar to Panther's own. However, Giichi's was a scarlet color with golden thread. Curious… It was almost the same hue as Giichi's old hoodie. The sand cat frowned, looking down at his new clothes, feeling the texture and examining the sleeves. He wasn't happy to be out of his street clothes, tail twitching in irritation behind him.
Once they were all ready, Sable and Miyu took the lead, walking down the hallway. Meanwhile, Panther could feel the four Retinue forming a wall behind himself and Giichi, pushing them onwards. He did not like them being at his back like that.
Sable and Miyu were having an animated conversation. Panther caught snippets here and there, Sable idly playing with Thaal-Ja's Calling in her hands.
"Lucky it wasn't worse." Miyu examined the bandage around Sable's arm.
"Panther was there to protect me." She smiled at him.
He blushed underneath his black fur. However, considering he knew who she was now, should he accept the praise or not? The smile appeared genuine at least.
Miyu spared a glance at Panther as well, checking him out. She whispered something back to Sable, who chuckled herself.
They walked through several hallways, all of them lined with massive ornate pillars, plants with large fronds in large jars spaced out at intervals. Scarlet banners hung from the walls as well, contrasting against the yellow-brown polished stone that nearly all of the walls were constructed from. Turning a corner, they entered a huge, elaborate square space…the floor checkered with brown and yellow tiles, huge columns lining the sides with more scarlet fabric between them.
Lining the room were stained glass windows depicting various scenes. Most of them featured…sand cats.
The one in the center, above the throne at the far side of the room, depicted a sand cat who looked strikingly similar to Giichi, leading a huge army towards a mountain, which was probably the battle to take Gerrant as Miyu described earlier. Something about the picture seemed off. Panther gasped when he spotted the inconsistency. In contrast to the old-fashioned way this piece of art had been constructed, and the primitive armor all of the soldiers wore, some of the cats attacking Gerrant wielded blasters and other modern weapons alongside things like spears, swords, and staffs.
Another one showed the arrival of what appeared to be Cornerians in star ships, the same sand cat and his army accepting help from them. One dog dressed in an old fashioned Cornerian general's outfit handed the sand cat a blaster, along with a data pad, and a fusion core. The Cornerians weren't as detailed and looked crude compared to the cats, although that appeared to be more due to the artisans not being used to making pictures of canines rather than malice.
Another one grabbed Panther's attention. He didn't understand it. It depicted a fertile valley at night, stars twinkling overhead. In the foreground, cats filled the grassy plains, their hands raised up towards the starry night sky as if in worship. Colorful nebulae twisted ahead, almost looking alive as they colored the cats below in hues of purple, green, and blue. Where was that valley supposed to be? Was this a religious service in the way of Thaljism?
Someone grabbed his head from behind, jerking it towards someone standing in the center of the room. He'd been so busy looking at the stained glass he did not realize they were there until now.
"That's Queen Kula Azer," Sable whispered into his ear. "You will give her your undivided attention."
In the midst of the checkered floor, a female sand cat in a scarlet dress spoke to someone else, who appeared to be another attendant like Miyu. The queen's back was turned to them, but immediately Panther found himself glancing between Giichi and the mysterious queen.
Finishing her talk, the attendant walked away and the sand cat turned around, surveying their little group. Time froze for Panther as he looked at her face.
She looks almost like Giichi's twin! Maybe a few years older, but otherwise nearly the same. Even their clothes are the same color.
A smile crossed Queen Kula's face as she spotted Giichi. However, it wasn't a cruel smile. Instead it appeared to be one of genuine relief and happiness, as she walked over to him.
Giichi cleared his throat, a shaky grin on his own face, craning his head up to face her.
"…Hey, sis."
~X~
A/N: This chapter was originally going to be like 11K words long, but I decided to cut it into two for easier reading. Hopefully the second one won't be too far behind. I'll try to put it up within a couple weeks, assuming I don't have a Love is Blind chapter up by then. I don't want to wait too long. This chapter and the following one contain scenes I have been looking forward to writing literally for years. I don't want to sit on them too much longer :)