"You never told me you knew one of the council members personally." KuliKuli asked, keeping up with the others as they hurried down the hall in a fast pace.

  Nihja's hair bounced lightly as her heels clicked repeatedly with each hurried step, facing forward as she replied in short. "It's not something I share so lightly, less I become the topic behind every wife's morning gossip."

  "But you could have had him call the whole thing off, no?" She frowned. "We could have avoided all of this if you asked him for a favor."

  "A rather big favor to ask, princess." Nihja scoffed, the corner of her lip twitching as she picked up the pace. "Be grateful that I helped you at all in such short notice."

  KuliKuli growled when she felt Felix grab her paw.

  "Kuli." Felix said, leaning in close as the halls seemed narrower with every turn they took. "It's fine-"

  "But this could have been avoided if you asked him first, we wouldn't know his answer until then." She continued pressing on the topic, ignoring her partner's concern.

  Emyri noticed the commotion occurring behind her, slowing down and letting her daughters pass her by until she could run alongside KuliKuli. "It's fine. Things might have gone a bit messy but we're making good progress."

  "Mother, she could have said something-"

  "I understand! But don't you think such a sensitive topic would be reason enough for her not to share it so? Let's not forget, we are but strangers to each other." She paused, noticing her daughters look. Emyri's gaze fell down to her feet as she felt remorseful herself. "It's not so easy to reveal secrets, especially if it means protecting someone close to you."

  Dimyri's ear twitched upon hearing that, her brows coming together in a light scowl. She shook her head and feigned ignorance, choosing to continue moving along.

  A few more turns and the group found themselves arriving toward a dder, climbing up toward an open manhole. The cat girls changed into smaller forms, clinging into the shoulders of each individual as they made their way up the dder individually.

  Syri handed Tootsie over to Janette before it was her turn to change. Janette looked down, scanning the fairy carefully.

  "How are you feeling?"

  Tootsie opened her pitch-bck eyes and gazed up at her, unravelling herself from being in the fetal position. "Heh, feeling like I've been hit by a horse, I sure am."

  "Oh my gods." Janette's heart skipped as Tootsie spread her wings, only to find her left two wings clipped and unable to fly.

  But the fairy picked up her torn wings by pinching them between her thumb and finger, gently bouncing it for amusement. "Ha, no big deal this is. Wings will grow back, only a matter of weeks it should be!"

  She gave her a toothy smile, reassuring Janette. She patted her little fairy head with a few gentle taps of her finger, much to the fairy's delight. When it was her turn to go up the dder, she let Tootsie climb up on her shoulder to free both her hands.

  The group were finally back on the surface. The dder led to the back of the courtyard building beyond the walls, where two carriages sat waiting. From around the corner of the street came a whistling old man pushing a cart full of hay in front of him. He fshed a smile and nodded at the group, with Nihja responding with a thumbs up and a sigh of relief.

  "Good, you're on time." She mentioned, looking at Felix. "Here's the pn, we hide the girls into the haystack and have them keep their heads down for now. You're coming with us in the carriage."

  "We're splitting up?" He looked surprised.

  With a nod, she raised her index finger to argue her point. "Keeping you split makes it easier to escape, they'll be looking out for a pack of cat girls on the run."

  "I believe they're called a clutter." Janette leaned in with the correction.

  "I believe I didn't ask." Nihja stuck out her tongue in return before addressing Felix. "Look, your girlfriend and I already worked out the details. We'll be meeting back in the Hub for the night."

  Janette was about to step into the carriage when she pulled away in shock. "Wait! Aren't we getting out tonight? That was the agreement."

  "It was." Nihja closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, exhaling loudly. "Until the little matter of your furry friend sprung up by surprise."

  Felix looked behind them, seeing Reta's unconscious body lifted up by the rge orc woman and being escorted into the rear carriage. "What's that mean?"

  "We are taking a biiiiig risk by picking up a werewolf so boldly. Had we been warned, there might have been some precautionary protection to prevent any curse-inflicting bites. Well, that or more realistically I would have declined." Nihja calmly expined, kicking a pebble down the road. She took notice of his concern, blowing raspberries to ease the tension, but it left him puzzled instead. "Look, we're taking her with us too but we may need to make a detour and grab a few things first."

  "What things?"

  "Oh, some chains and cuffs would help. It's not easy taming a wolf after all. It might come at a cost now."

  "What?" Janette sputtered out, hopping back out of the carriage.

  "Oh don't protest as if money is an issue, I know you've plenty to spare love." Nihja sneered back. "Coin is rather scarce in this type of work, you know."

  "Those chains might not be necessary." Felix sheepishly answered, digging into his waist and fishing out a small bottle.

  Nihja's eyes lit up with recognition, stepping back with her hands raised. "Wh-What exactly are you doing w-with that?"

  Some of her men turned in her direction, exchanging worried looks as everyone seemed rather tense, excluding Felix.

  He pulled the bottle away when seeing her reaction. "Something Reta gave me, in case of this. She was worried that something like this would happen, about her transformation coming. We wouldn't know if she could control herself or not, so she gave us this bottle. We made a promise to feed it to her in case she..."

  His words faded as he noticed Nihja lower her guard, steadily pointing at the container in his hand. "That potion doesn't carry the brightest of implications."

  Janette stomped in between them, carefully snatching the potion from his hands and waving it to her friend. "I am well aware of what it's used for, I procured it for her."

  "Why would you do that!?" Nihja excimed. "Why would you even have that?"

  "If you had seen her ask, you would know she was serious!" She shouted back, "And I offered the idea in case of emergencies. This fits for an emergency, don't you think?"

  The pair exchanged scowls, neither one looking away from the other. It was Zena who stepped out from the back carriage to call out to them.

  "Must go, now!" She shouted, snapping her fingers.

  Nihja sighed and stepped back, rubbing her temples. "She's right, we're wasting time. We're going into the front carriage."

  "I'll go in with Reta." Felix stated, arming both women. "We're close and I made her a promise. Let me do this, it'll help just in case she stirs in her sleep."

  Nihja smacked her lips and flicked her hand, dismissing him as she moved toward her carriage. Janette gave Felix a small nod before climbing behind her.

  Upon climbing inside, Felix adjusted himself as best as he could. Reta was curled up into a ball, sleeping peacefully despite the bruise on her forehead. Facing him was the rge orc named Zena, eyeing him suspiciously. He shuffled under her gaze, lifting his arm and checking to see if he smelled. When he moved his hair back and out from his eyes, he rolled up his sweaty hands and mustered the courage to face the green orc as well. He breathed in, closed his eyes, and breathed out before turning his head up to look her in the eyes.

  "Can I help you?" He asked, grateful that his voice didn't crack just then.

  Zena cocked her head, extending her hand out. He stared at it, wondering if she was offering him something. It wasn't a handshake gesture, she had her hand against her knee with her palm up as if revealing some invisible prize in her hand.

  His eyes darted from her open hand to her curious gaze. "I-I'm sorry, I don't understand this custom of yours."

  Zena snorted, her nostrils fring up as her bottom lip around her protruding lower tusk-like teeth curled up in a sneer. She slowly reached for his hand, her rge fingers grasping his forearm with gentle care before she herself leaned forward. She inched close enough that he could feel her exhale touch against his neck, sweating amidst the discomfort he felt. Closing her eyes, the green-skinned orc buried her nose into his air and drew in a deep sniff, quickly recoiling back and rubbing her little nose.

  Now it was his turn to stare at her with a look of familiarity, her awkward actions triggering a memory from his past when he was a newly purchased sve boy. He sat against a cold, dark room, scooting his knees against his chest as he hugged his legs for a tiny sembnce of warmth. The loose tunic he wore was stained badly enough that it had lost its original pasty white coloring, and the edges were badly torn and ripped apart while one sleeve was completely absent. He wept silently to himself, burying his head into his knees, trembling as he hoped to some outside divine source of faith for a turn of fate.

  He was alone, tossed into some basement, celr, or perhaps it was a dungeon of sorts? He could not have known, only that it had been weeks since he had st been out in the sun. The sound of chains dragging along the stone floor made him gasp and press his body as far into the corner as he could, his little eyes staring into the surrounding darkness that he had yet to grow accustomed to despite its familiarity. Out of the shadows came a pair of eyes staring back, belonging to a tiny girl around his size and age. All he could do was stare helplessly, grinding his teeth as the girl crawled her way toward him until the chains snapped and pulled her back.

  Felix raised his head, noticing that she was shackled by her ankle trapping her into the neighboring cell next to him. She tugged and pulled and grimaced in pain, reluctantly letting the chains slip from her green fingers as she sulked and dropped her head. He watched her sniff as her fingers danced around the metal cuff on her leg, feeling for some sort of weakness, or perhaps just toying with the thing out of sheer boredom. The two were close in proximity, two lost souls locked up in this basement that overtime they would come to address as their home.

  It had been so long since he met someone of his size, it was enough for Felix to gather the courage and crawl to her in turn until his leg was pulled back. He turned around, seeing the chain holding his cuff in pce dangling in the air. Looking back, he found that she was staring as well, the pair locking eyes for what felt like ages to them. She was wearing some loose-fitted brown dress around her body, wrapped by a rope around her waistline. Her eyes lit up as an idea came to mind, she turned around presenting her back to him as he watched her dig around into her own cell, tossing little pebbles aside. He recoiled as her hand shot up suddenly with a strange toy, watched as she gently waved it to him. He nodded back, cupping his own hands and catching the toy when tossed to him.

  Now he could feel around it, squinting his eyes and realizing this was a project of twigs wrapped firmly with string and hair, and decorated with what he hoped was cy. It was her own work, a marvel of a childish masterpiece as he held her toy doll in his palm. He looked at her, wondering what this meant or what she expected of him. But she said nothing in return, leaning on her tummy and resting her chin on her hands as she watched the toy in his hand. He waved it around, pretending it was walking along the floor which brought amusement to the pair. He froze when she giggled, cpping her hands to get his attention. She would ball up her hand into a fist, then use her index and middle finger to walk it across the floor while waving at him with her thumb. He waved the stick doll in return, feeling a sense of joy that seemed so alien to him then. He liked this feeling, he liked this thing he was pying with, and he was starting to like this girl.

  It was then that the hatch was pulled open and a servant descended down the stairs, calling to them by numerical code. It was a man with a ntern in his hand, the sound of keys jingling in his pocket was enough to alert them of his presence. He would arrive and unlock their cuffs, freeing them every morning along with several other children locked in the far side of this celr. She was freed first, rubbing her ankle and keeping her head down by the servant's instruction, waiting patiently as the servant turned around to address Felix.

  "New kid, behave yourself." He said, waving the ntern over him. "You two are needed in Lady Alice's private quarters. Wait for me here."

  The servant would not be alone, accompanied by three others. They would enter in the morning and free up each of the kids one by one, instructing them of where they would be for the day. As he left them to tend to the others, the girl fshed him a smile and carefully inched toward him. He stepped back, keeping his hands to his chest by reflex as he prepared for the worst. He was not ready for her delicate hands to hold his head, watching her stand on her toes as she leaned in to get a sniff of his hair. She smiled and whispered something in a nguage he was unfamiliar with, then offered her own hair for him to sniff. He did so rather awkwardly, watching her beam and jump with excitement.

  Now in the present, Felix raised his head and looked at her with awe. Unbeknownst to him, the memory of his first friend left him with tears rolling down his face as she offered to wipe them with a brush of her thumb. "You?"

  Zena smiled sweetly, taking his hand in hers and moving it up and down slowly. "Zena ask to help friend, not know she would find old friend."

  "I-I didn't know if you made it, I tried looking for you-"

  Zena waved away his concern. "Rocks flying, Zena scared too. So happy, friend name Felix!"

  "And you're Zena!" He sniffed, wiping his nose. "I-I-I thought... I never would have thought I would see you again. Not here, when we're so far away."

  The carriage rocked and swayed lightly, the orc hardly feeling any of the bumps affect her posture as she was rge enough to take up a bench meant for two. She snorted as her face blushed, tapping his knee. "Now you have mate! Felix strong, Felix protect! Have strong cat fight for you. If known she with you, would have went in too!"

  "Just seeing you again is enough to give me some sembnce of joy tonight." He chuckled, his attention falling back on his sleeping friend as he rubbed the bck bottle in his hand.

  Zena nodded back. "Felix hurt? In trouble?"

  "Lots of it, I-I can't seem to get out of trouble these days."

  "Why so? Mate KuliKuli says people looking for her, find you instead?"

  "I got, well we got captured so that KuliKuli could escape."

  "Is freed now! Not happy?"

  He said nothing in return, staring down at Norowa Reta.

  Zena's mouth twisted and her lips puckered up, her eyes looking down at her old friend. "Felix still same, still protect friends even if get hurt. Not change."

  He seemed defeated by her words, fingers clenching around the bottle as he hunched over until his forehead pressed against his hands. "I tried so hard to be different, here I am repeating the same mistakes. I'm such a bonehead."

  He felt her pat his head gently, her fingers ruffling his brown hair to comfort him.

  "Why different? What wrong with old Felix?"

  "I feel like I'm in over my head, it's like the more I try to stay hidden, the louder the noise I make."

  "Not happy for..." Zena's brows squeezed together as she focused on what the correct words she was looking to say were. "Felix, why sad after being free?"

  He shook his head, sitting up with a pained look. "I just, I feel so helpless sometimes. I'm afraid that I can't protect her, that I'll fail somehow. These people, they're so many people and they-they don't give up so easily. They have a hunter coming for us. I can't beat them, I can't run from them, I feel so stuck! And what's worse, they're not even all of the problems we're facing. What about KuliKuli and her memory problems? What about Reta and her curse? How will we get back to the way things were before with Farmer's Den? Oh no, and I just remembered Janette's shop as well."

  Zena sat and watched, waiting patiently for him to finish as she collected her thoughts, grasping at what he just excimed. "Zena not know all things you say."

  "I know, I know." He looked up as she pced her hand over his knee, giving him a serious look.

  "But we orcs must stay strong. Orc is fierce, orc is mighty! Zena was scared too, many times. Even now, big arms does not mean Zena not scared."

  Felix rubbed his eyes, "Even now? You look like you could fold a tree in half!"

  She chuckled and shrugged. "Don't know, tree not upset Zena. Zena not know much, only what's here."

  She pressed her hand against his chest, pced over his heart. "People always scared because they need strength. But strength not from arms, they from here. Felix not strong when little, Felix strong here. Always here. Helps Zena, makes Zena proud and strong. Just like Felix made Zena strong."

  "I..." He sighed, pcing his hand over hers as he closed his eyes. He breathed in deep, feeling his heart throb amidst the emotions he was having. He was terrified over what the future might bring, but despite her broken English he understood what her words meant. He looked up at her and nodded, receiving a nod from her in return, holding each other up at that moment when the carriage came to a stop and the passenger door was abruptly opened.

  Nihja stood there with KuliKuli beside her, the Nekomata inspecting her wolf friend at first before noticing the bonding moment the man and orc were having, Her cat ears twitched as she felt a sembnce of pain in her heart upon seeing the orcs hand on his chest. "Uh, do you two know each other?"

  Felix and Zena shared a dumb look before smiling at the situation they were caught in, pulling back from each other and ughing it off. "KuliKuli, Zena and I are old friends."

  "Oh!" She blushed out of embarrassment over her reaction. "I'm sorry, you had friends? You two were friends?"

  Nihja too made a curious face as she raised her brow and crossed her arms. "Zena? You know this man?"

  She waited for Felix to climb out of the carriage first, following behind. "Old friends." She responded with a smile.