Chapter Three

Chapter Three

            Then she jolted awake once again beneath the giant tree. This time, no time was wasted lying in shock at another rebirth. Terra jumped to her feet, tripping over root and stone to reach the tunnel. Carrie was scooped up somewhere in the darkness. It was a race against time.
            “So, we’ve learned what not fighting gets you,” Carrie reasoned, annoyingly because she was right, but how could she expect her to hurt someone like that? They were still the trespassers and Norve’s first reaction had always been kindness, but when she voiced this opinion Carrie’s retort was “Yeah, until she kills you. We’re never going to get through the house that way.”
            For a moment Terra felt guilty, but then realized that two out of these three runs it had been Carrie’s urging that had gotten them killed.
            “You’re not the one who has to suffer for it. It’s my turn now,” Terra said with sudden ferocity that made Carrie start. “Sorry,” she added almost immediately.
            “No, it’s fine. I…I trust you.” The little rat shifted uncomfortably. “And Norve does--er--did, too. I just…hope you know what you’re doing,” the little rat finally gave in before turning to the problem at hand. “Anyways, she came out of that mole dig-site last time. I think it’s a short cut we should try.” With a nod they veered to the left.
            “Hey, hey, hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?” The angry lead mole shouted at them when they entered.
            “Second tier of the construction, all the way to the house,” Carrie said with a big sniff. “Her home is that way!”
            Agitated shouts started up around them as they darted for the tunnel that was wider than all of the others, dark and abandoned. Thankfully, the lazy workers stayed resentful but didn’t follow the intruders running amuck in their dig site.
            The tunnels wound around in a series of directions that a human could never hope to follow, but Carrie’s nose stayed true to course. They came out unscathed--if a little damp from the clinging mud--on the other side, right in front of Norve’s quaint little house carved into the cave.
            “We made it. Where do you think she is?” Carrie breathed, creeping up to the house. The rat stood on her shoulder and sniffed intently.
            “There’s so much rat scent here I can’t tell, but I believe she’s out right now--looking for you, probably.” Carrie sounded relieved. “We beat her here, so let’s get to Slag Town.”
            After some resolve they reached the front door and turned the knob. It opened with a creak, and the little rat and girl were met with hundreds of beady eyes from all around.
            “Um…” Carrie whispered, sensing that they were about to attack. “Stairs. Now,” was the only command that sent the girl sprinting to the back of the room as a torrent of rodents streamed from the walls. Their squeals sounded like one continuous scream.
            Getting down the stairs almost twisted her ankles multiple times, but she pushed on. The long halls made it easy for the two to leave the growing horde behind, at least momentarily before they reached the final room with the doors leading elsewhere. That is where their heroic attempt failed, because Norve was there, waiting.
            She came to a skidding halt so hard that Carrie almost flipped off, and the three were left staring at each other while the other rats gathered around.
            “These caves have ears. In fact, their ears rule this domain.” Norve was facing the two giant stone doors, but her twitching ears gave away that she knew her victims had arrived. “And do you know what I heard?” The rat woman turned to face them fully, and the girl’s heart-rate sparked.
            “I heard of a lost little kit, who spoke of the kindness of Norve. They tell me that this kit knows our whereabouts and moves as if they are already master of The Wastelands. My territory. Care to explain that, darling?”
            In the short amount of time this child had gotten to know this woman, she knew that the truth would either take too long or fail to convince the rat-mother. Lying would not do, but if this was truly her chance to do things her way, she would have to put her faith in Norve. Then maybe Norve would put her faith in a lost kitten.
            “Please, I know you don’t want to fight me,” she began, triggering nothing but a snarkily raised eyebrow.
            “Hmph, this should be interesting, do explain,” Norve stated. Carrie inched closer uncomfortably, wondering what this crazy human was trying to do but not brave enough to ask aloud.
            “I’m no threat to your paradise,” Terra promised, looking up with a genuine cry for help flashing in her eyes. “I didn’t hurt any of your children. I am one of you! Broken and hated, and you are the mother of broken things. But this isn’t my home, and right now I need your help to get back to it.”
            It was such a simply request, and the desperation in the child’s gentle voice brought a flash of concern across the rat-woman’s face before she could hide it.
            “Well, what do you think I could do for you?” Norve asked, trying to sound remote. There was no anger, so the girl took that as a good sign. Norve’s opinion could sway for the better.
            “You can be kind,” Terra said as a fact, and could almost feel the shift in the atmosphere as Norve quite certainly fell in love with this little girl all over again. This was one that needed to be protected.
            “You truly are special, little kit. No one has ever believed in my way of life as you do,” Norve began, almost in defeat as she realized that there was no way she could ever harm this girl. All Terra had to do now was ask.
            “Please,” she took her bravery out on a limb--a thin, shaking, dying limb--and stepped towards Norve. She left her arms down by her sides, completely ready to be sliced from shoulder to hip or to be accepted at the same time.
            “Let me go?”
            The question hung in the air. Neither Carrie, Terra, nor Norve dared to breath while tense mental battles wracked their brains.
            The universe was on Terra’s side. Norve didn’t move away as the child approached her, in fact was rather enthusiastic to pull her into a powerful embrace and press the small human’s face into her own. It brought something almost motherly out of the predator.
            “…Oh, my precious soul.” The rat-mother’s warm voice quivered as she wrapped her protective arms around the child. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You must know that will happen if you leave here. You can stay with me and be well cared for! I would never hurt you!” she assured, and despite Carrie’s shiver of anger, Terra knew that in this moment Norve truly believed that. That was all that mattered.
            “I know, I’m sorry,” Terra whispered to her rat-mother, then decided, “but I don’t think I belong here.”
            When the two pulled apart, there were tears in Norve’s eyes.
            “You are right, of course little kit. Having such blind faith in me, I cannot keep you from trying to find the place you’re looking for,” Norve reasoned. Carrie almost went limp with relief, or disbelief as Norve stepped aside.
            “You may pass through these lands. On the other side of this door lies Slag Town.” With rippling muscles, Norve ground the huge stone doors along the floor. Cold air poured from the other side, which was no longer a network of cave systems but instead a massive cavern with no end. A town could easily be hidden somewhere in the misty distance.
            “Please don’t come back, I hope you understand,” Norve requested, and though Terra opened her mouth to reply she couldn’t find a response. This was how things needed to be--they both realized that. She passed through the archway, Norve avoiding her gaze.
            “Goodbye, my flower,” the woman said suddenly, almost randomly. After a gentle pat from the rat-mother, Terra turned to say goodbye. The doors were already being dragged quickly shut and there was a sudden, saddening silence, sans the sound of Norve’s receding footsteps.

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            “I…cannot. Believe. That worked,” was all Carrie could say while staring at the closed stone door. All Terra could think of was how Norve hadn’t even known her name.
            Did Norve love her? The thought came to mind as she ran a hand over where she had last been touched. Something felt oddly out of place, more solid and peeking from her hair. Petals…it felt like petals, which at this point didn’t surprise her.
            “Okay, okay. You actually did really well back there,” Carrie admitted, “I would have never been able to trick her into letting us by.”
            “There weren’t any tricks,” Terra muttered under her breath, then spoke loudly to declare: “Everyone has some good.”
            The majority of their trek was kept up in a silent, black atmosphere with nothing but boring grey surroundings. Occasionally, she would ask Carrie a question.
            “Are their humans there?”
            “Humans? I think you’re the only one to ever exist here.”
            “What should I expect?”
            “Well, we’re still in The Wastelands, so expect things that live where most others would die; rats, moles, nicely dressed skeletons, worms,”
             “Will the people there help me?”
            “Nope, still monstrous abominations to the moral code.”
            “Then, why do we need to go there?”
            “I’m not sure, but I think…” Carrie went quiet in thought for a moment as they walked.
            “I want to meet a worm,” the girl continued in an attempt to combat the ringing silence.
            “Maybe you will, because look.” They approached the settlement, almost missing the little rat’s next omniscient hint: “There’s someone here we’re supposed to meet.”
            Carrie’s introduction ended right as they paused to take in the view, mouths slightly ajar. Their rambling had carried them to a rural town with a tall cliff of purple-hued stone ringing the back perimeter. Small shacks, stores, and buildings were crumpled about the small area of smooth ground, and sitting atop the backdrop cliff was a massive, aging mansion. Everything was poorly lit by scattered lamps and torches. She thought it very rustic.
            “What a trash-hole.” Carrie warily eyed the town, ruining the moment of glamour. Now Terra began to notice the less finer things about it. There was a decaying sign that read ‘Slag’, because the ‘Town’ part had fallen to the ground to rot. At the edges of the houses were disgusting piles of garbage, and the close proximity of all the buildings made for dangerous-looking, dark alleyways.  But still, it had such a close-knit atmosphere about it.
            “I’d say let’s wait until it’s lighter out, but…” Carrie scanned the signs of the rickety buildings for anything resembling a hotel. “Let’s just find a place to stay; I have no clue where this person we’re supposed to meet is, and though most everything I get a notion for tends to happen on its own it could take a while. We’ll meet them before we pass out of Slag Town,” the rat finished matter-of-factly.
            With a shrug the two began to walk between the buildings of the main road.

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            “It’d be a shame to carve up such a pretty face…” Terra’s attacker hissed in her face. There’d been nothing more than a blur before something had slammed her to the side and pinned her with a shard of glass pressed against her throat. Her attacker’s appearance shocked her.
            It was a human-sized tabby--that is, a cat--almost like Norve’s anatomy in a strange, anthro-morphic kind of way. Golden fur, angry green eyes, paws, and a tail. Two lackeys stood on either side, a human-fox twitching its flowing tail, and another black cat marauder. Their dress was scrappy but intimidating, and only amplified the presence of the blade at her throat.
            “But you just look ripe for the takin’,” he drawled. He sounded young, but not innocent.
            “Look at her scared little eyes!” the fox yelped in a surprisingly magnificent voice. It was strange--her breathing was frantic, heart racing, and yet--she didn’t feel as afraid as she should. These three could do anything they wanted to her and that scared her, but she could always restart, right? So, it wasn’t so bad.
            “You got anything you can offer us, little girl?” the tabby questioned, leaning on the glass in excitement. She felt as if her pulse would cut the veins pounding into the glass as the tabby carried on in disgust.
            “What even are you?” He wrapped a hand around one of her laurel sprigs and tugging, causing a pain so fierce that fireworks blinded her vision. They laughed over her whimpering.
            “That’s in there good,” the tabby chuckled, “What else is going on with your body?”
            Her chest was tight and anxious. Carrie stirred in her pocket, gathering the courage to act. Terra didn’t blame her for not being able to do anything, being that their foe was three big felines.
            “Ah, there’s what we need.” The black cat calmly leaned down and grabbed her pocket, triggering a spasmodic response that had to be held back while she prayed for her rat-friend to be kept hidden.

            “Bits. Why’d you sew ‘em onto your clothes?” The tabby was just as confused as she was, but she stayed silent as he ripped the buttons right off.

            “This isn’t much though…not enough for us to show everyone how good you can sing,” he continued, pushing around the bits in his palm like he was counting currency. The caring comment caught her off guard while she looked to the fox, who swished his tail and looked off into the distance moodily. If they were trying to help their friend, they probably could have just asked and she would have given them what they wanted.
            “You boys want to use her for anything else?”  the tabby offered, but the black cat digressed.
            “Eh, carve her up anyways so she remembers the toll for those who decide to prance around our streets.”
            At this, the tabby who had been watching his friends turned back with a wicked grin, whiskers twitching eagerly as he pulled the glass teasingly across her skin.
            “I’ve never done this before,” he breathed in excitement, but before he could bring down the blade and do any damage, Carrie burst from her pocket in a flurry of squealing. The battle-scream continued as the rat sprinted down the street and suddenly Terra was sitting alone, watching the gang of felines disappear around the corner after her rat.
            “Oh, Carrie,” she managed to utter before her lungs collapsed in relief. Cat and mouse. She hoped that little rat hadn’t given its life for her.
            A door banged open beside her, saving her from having to decide to go after the robbers or not. An older girl, the most humanoid one she’d seen so far, was standing in the doorway.
            “That was just sad,” was all she said while extending her hand.

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            A few minutes later, Terra was frozen to a barstool with a cacophony of different species surround her. They were all so random--dirty and short but insanely muscled dwarves, more of those construction moles, even a Norve-sized rat man lounging in the corner. Some took hearty swigs of strange smelling liquids or crunched down on unknown substances. A giant cockroach on her right conversed with a smooth, scaly lizard. Their strange array of voices filled the pub with an…interesting din.
            Her skin crawled nervously without her omniscient partner by her side, but the young lady who had invited her inside was now leaning on the other side of the bar to speak to her.
            “Take it easy, Newbie. Don’t want everyone in here knowing you’re an easy target,” she began with a flip of her hair. The strands clacked together loudly, revealing that they were actually stone spikes that imitated dreads. It was kind of cool; her skin was stone save for the eyes and clothes, yet her limbs moved as seamlessly as any other living thing.
            “What’s your name, creature? Where do you come from?” the girl asked.
            “My…my friend calls me Terra,” she replied shyly, “and, I don’t know how I got here.”
            “Right, well ya had to come from somewhere ‘round here!” A strong accent came flaring out with her fiery passion. “I mean, you can’t have come from outside the barrier...” the stone girl let the thought linger for a moment, hoping for a response and huffing in annoyance at the blank face that greeted her.
            “Right, well anyways. Regardless of where you came from, being around you seems to be dampenin’ my reputation. You gotta buy a room or get outta my mom’s inn, dude.” The command was present and abrupt. Terra panicked for a second, frantically patting her pockets despite having no possessions save for the collection of junk that Carrie had gathered for her. The pile of scraps stared as glumly at her as she did at it.
            “That looks ‘bout enough for one night,” Stally said exuberantly, snagging the coins and pocketing them with vigor while she scanned the room. “Hm…this guy’s stay should be just about up,” she mumbled, slinking expertly across the room to where a giant lizard was slumped drunkenly over a table, key hook in hand. A simple snag and she was back before Terra in a second, placing the keys down and laughing at her shocked expression.
            “What? I don’t own this place. If anybody asks, I just did you and my mom a favor. I saw him stealing off the laundry cart the other day, so now he’s gonna have to pay if he wants to stay another night,” she said proudly.
            “Stally!” the stone-girl’s mother snapped, right on cue, “help me get this drunken b*****d outta here!”
            With a frown Stally turned to go, but not before pausing.
            “Actually, don’t tell anyone I did that for you. If no one’s told you, being kind isn’t really the way to be around here. Oh, don’t tell my mom either--” The last part was rushed as she was shouted at again and prepared to rush off.
            “Thanks, Stally,” she called, and it was enough to make her pause.
            “Huh?” Stally struggled for words with an embarrassed look on her face.
            “Um…whatever you say, newbie, lock your door tonight,” she said loudly as she walked away to shake off any possible speculations of this random act of kindness. Was it a threat or a warning? Either way, Terra looked down and smiled at the dirty metal key.
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            The next few minutes, maybe hours, passed uneventfully. She cracked the window, just in case a little rodent wanted to come scurrying in. After a while, she slept, but spent most of the time staring at her hands or stroking the laurels at her temples, feeling useless while she thought of Carrie sprinting frantically through the streets, trapped somewhere alone and afraid, or already cold and split open.
             With a sudden intake of breath she got to her feet. There was no real goal right now with Carrie gone and no clue as to where she needed to go. Her only hint was Carrie’s words “There’s someone here we’re supposed to meet.” If she was the newbie in town, might as well begin exploring and meeting people. Maybe getting a lay of the land could advance her quest. Maybe she could even find Carrie.
            Feeling a bit more street savvy from Stally’s coaching, she put on a hard face and braved the town.
            The whole place had transformed. As if under some unspoken code of night, people all around the settlement had blown out their porch lanterns, quenched the streetlamps, and put out the torches that lit up the town. As a newbie, the sight that now greeted her was even more spectacular than the warm lighting of before. One could not help but stare up at the sky in awe--no, not sky. There was no sky, only darkness that seemed to hover over everything--but there was definitely something up there.
            Bright blue pinpricks of light. They woke up slowly, like winking eyes into existence where there was previously nothing. It reminded her of dusk, when the stars began to appear one by one. She used to sit for hours waiting for them all to appear, marveling in awe at the first bright layers, squinting into the white dust beyond that spattered the navy sky. It was a beauty that could never fail…
            This wasn’t quite as magnificent, but still, it would do. In fact, it did so well that she jumped with the realization that she’d wandered far from town and out into the darkness of the flat expanse that encompassed Slag Town. The only way out of the strange rocky region seemed to be a narrow passage through a looming wall of mountains that stretched towards the dark void overhead. She wondered if that was the way out--out of this cavern encased in a dark bubble, or just out of Slag Town. The curiosity slowly pulled her forward, still enraptured by the view of the glowing ceiling that was even more magnificent in this landscape.
            For a brief moment everything was silent, save for the cavernous winds intertwining the peace that settled over everything.
            “Glowworms.” A voice sent her into a spastic flinch, triggering an easy laugh of the one who had spoken. She turned towards them, slowly.
            A stranger leaned against a small stand, like something a kid would sell crafts from. Her first thought was a tollbooth, like a price to pay to pass out of Slag Town. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d been approaching it, nor anyone occupying it.
            This person wasn’t like anyone she’d ever seen--at least, not a human person. Human-ish--and that had stopped being such a shocking thing.
            It must’ve been some sort of demon.
            His skin was the biggest give away. It wasn’t red and scaly like the movies made you think, but instead was a fair navy, smooth, and flesh-like. He wore a red flannel, dark pants and brown boots.
            Continuing upwards led her to a smile of sharp, bright teeth and burning yellow eyes shaded by messy hair only a few hues darker than the blue of his skin. Two short horns sprouted from his forehead, interrupting the shaggy locks where they fell.
            She continued to stare, but he didn’t seem to care.
            “They’re glowworms, sweetheart,” he said with a slightly condescending tone to her stupefied expression, gesturing upward. Still a bit out of sorts, she followed his finger with an open mouth.
            “Oh,” was all that came out before she cleared her mind of the initial shock of this demon-creature. “They’re amazing.”
            “You like them, yeah?” he asked in a gentle voice. It was very relaxing.
            “Yeah, they’re amazing,” she repeated before realizing she was repeating herself. “Um, what’s through that pass?” Terra added instead, pointing to the dark crag that was cut by one long corridor out of Slag Town. What were the chances that it led out of this strange underground place?
            “Do you wanna get closer?” he offered slyly, ignoring her question about the pass and gesturing back up to the pretty scene. He offered his hand. It was so unexpected, she didn’t want to refuse and risk offending him.
            “Sure,” Terra replied with almost a smile. The reply couldn’t have even registered on his pointed ears before he’d swept her into the air, and not the kind of sweeping of a groom to his bride, this was a body jerking, shoulder wrenching, screaming in terror kind of sweeping activated when two velvety wings unfurled from behind and cannoned them upwards.
            The whole town must’ve been woken at her screaming, but she couldn’t even orient herself enough against the dragging torrent of wind to tell. Slag Town spiraled into nothingness until the dizzying ascension finally came to a halt and she found herself dangling by the wrists in the demon-monster’s grasp. The claws puncturing her wrists were the only things keeping her hammering heart from stopping if he let go.
            “Please! Please don’t!” she begged through the panic, wincing at every stroke of his wings that jerked her separated shoulder.
            “Please! Please!” he mocked, laughing viciously at his position of power. “Come on, sweetheart! Aren’t the stars beautiful from up here?” he sounded even more enthused than before, not even acknowledging her presence as he gazed at the black surface that the worms dangled from.
            “My shoulder--please let me go! Please!” she continued to wail in pain, blinded by burning tears and nauseating fear.
            “Didn’t anyone ever tell you?” he switched both of her wrists to one hand and held her at eye level, turning her streaming face towards his with unfriendly claws. Time slowed and fell silent--she could watch the expression on his face grow from anticipation to pure, seething anger, almost hatred.
            “Tinder, that’s all you are,” he whispered through closed teeth. “Now burn.”
            It had been such an easy act for him--the opening of his hand. The pain in her shoulder lessened and she fell backwards in slow motion, hearing nothing and seeing only the steady figure of the blue demon hovering in a glowworm sky.
            And then there had been a wet sound of the rest of her body dislocating all…over…the rocks.