4 Chapter 4
I cautiously jump up onto the lip of the tunnel. My limbs are awkwardly splayed outwards so that none of them are touching the water. I don't want to touch it, especially when considering that there's glowing mushrooms and fungus growing from it. But it has to happen eventually, so...
I dip my front right paw into the water, kind of expecting it to burn or to cause an electric shock or something. Instead, all that happens is that my paw becomes wet and tingles slightly. Huh...
Alright, so it probably isn't dangerous to be in it. Drinking it may be another story, though. I'll probably wind up having to drink from it later, since I'll need water eventually. I guess I'll find out then.
For now though, I continue walking silently through the tunnel. It continues on for a long way, though it's a little hard to see with my black and white vision and with how the water and plants are glowing. I remember someone telling me once that cats can only see things clearly up to about twenty feet. I don't know if that's quite true, since I can see a bit further, but my vision definitely isn't as good as when I was a human.
As I walk, I can't help but think about what it means that I'm in the body of a four or five month old kitten. Does that mean I took over its body? Or did I just appear out of nowhere as a kitten? And furthermore, why do I have cat instincts at all? Are they a part of this body, or is something else happening that I don't know about?
There's another question I'm not addressing, one that's a much larger issue than any concern over my body and existence. It has to do with the relation between this sewer, the mana, the glowing water and plants, and the large animals that infest this place. The sewers in particular though... they look like the one's on Earth. But if that's the case...
I'll admit it. I'm scared to continue that train of thought, and of what I might find when I come to the surface. Before my imagination can run wild, I spot movement coming from the tunnel up ahead.
I shrink down as best I can to the side of the tunnel. It's awkward because I'm trying not to get wet as I do that. It's not cold here, but it definitely isn't comfortable having wet fur.
There's some kind of ugly insect, longer and wider than me, crawling on the ceiling of the tunnel and advancing slowly in my direction. Its antennae are twitching and scanning the walls and ground frantically.
The insect has two powerful looking back legs, possibly for leaping, and four skinny arms. There are two large chitinous mandibles at the front of its face with several wicked looking spikes. It has a smaller set of mandibles on either side of its tiny mouth with vicious-looking teeth. The insect has eyes, but there's an angry looking puffy cut across them, maybe from one of the rats?
Judging from the cut and its frantic use of its antennae, I'd say that it's blind. If I can avoid fighting it, I would like to, especially because I don't know if it can use mana or if there's more of them. More than anything though, I really just don't want to touch it.
Alright, I'll try to pass it from underneath as it comes by. I creep forward carefully, not making any noise. After a tense few minutes later, it's directly above me, chewing on a glowing mushroom. I wonder if I could eat those mushrooms, not that I intend on finding out. This is a perfect chance for me to slip by though, while it's distracted. I press myself to the side of the tunnel, doing my best to avoid its wandering antennae.
As it scans the side of the tunnel across from me, I leap through the gap between the wall and its antennae. I quietly move a few steps away before I turn around to look at the insect to make sure I wasn't detected.
As I do I notice something odd. There's some kind of a thread connected to my head and coming from the insect's backside. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach as I swat at the thread with my claws, but nothing happens to it.
Don't tell me... is that mana? The insect turns around and faces me as I start to use my mana in an attempt to cut the thread. But before I can cut it...
HISSSSS!
An endless hissing sound erupts in my brain, obliterating all of my thoughts and interrupting my attempt to use mana.
I hiss and scream wildly, not caring about how much noise I make now that I've been discovered. My head feels like it's going to explode and the world starts spinning. It's as if every headache I've ever had in my life attacked at once. I outstretch my claws and dash clumsily towards the insect, off-balance but ready to shred it to bits.
HISSSSS!
HISSSSS!
HISSSSS!
I lose my sense of balance and fall on my side, unable to get back up. I roll on the ground helplessly as the insect assaults my mind with sound over and over again.
I feel something warm and wet pouring out of my ears and down my face from my eyes. Bile rises from my throat, covering the ground in front of me and getting into my fur. From the corner of my eye I see the insect approaching me, its mandibles clacking together menacingly.
My vision starts to go dark, and I'm about to sink into a peaceful oblivion, somewhere far away from the pain. I can distantly feel its antennae probing my body, but I don't have the strength to resist.
As the world fades away, a memory comes back to me. No, not a memory. A nightmare. I remember that when I was a human, I used to have nightmares nearly every night. I've been chased, shot, stabbed, sliced, eviscerated, dismembered, and beheaded in hundreds of nightmares. In every single one of them, there's always been this sense of helplessness, like my limbs were made of jelly, just as they feel right now. But even among those nightmares, there's always been one that stands out against the rest, one that has been with me for as long as I can remember.
My instinctual blood-lust surges forth in a last-ditch attempt to save my life. My mana bursts to life in response to it, guided only by the vivid image of my childhood nightmare and depleting rapidly.
A dozen thin tendrils of darkness erupt from my shadow and rocket into the insect, puncturing through it entirely and even slightly into the concrete walls beyond it. Blood pours out of my shoulder from where it was trying to bite my neck. The insect tries to squirm free, but the tendrils keep it pinned in place. It squeals inside my mind, but this time out of pain and anger.
A deep sense of vindictiveness wells up inside me. The tendrils respond to my emotion, delicately puncturing and slicing through the insect over and over again, dismembering its limbs and tearing apart its body. Blackish blood pours out of its wounds, mixing with the flowing water.
The tendrils hold the insect over the water as it gives out a final cry of misery and despair. I can feel its regret through the thread that connects our minds together, and I can't help but feel satisfied. Indifferent to its suffering, the tendrils pull outwards all at once, ripping the insect into tiny bits that rain down onto the tunnel around me.
I lay there, covered in blood and vomit, surrounded by a familiar and haunting darkness. I want so much to let go of the pain and nausea and to sink into unconsciousness. But I can't. It's not safe here, I have to keep moving, I have to find safety.
I drag my tired body upright, but I stumble and fall into the water. It enters into my ear and trickles into my mouth, and I swallow some of it unconsciously. It alleviates the pain slightly and calms my head and stomach, so I drink a little more, as much as I can without vomiting again.
My almost depleted mana replenishes a bit, enough to maintain three of the dark, shadowy tendrils for a time. I let the rest dissipate and focus on my feelings of wanting to find safety. The remaining three tendrils help keep my body upright as I stumble down the tunnel.
I don't pass by any other living creatures on the way. Time seems to blend together as I manage to barely stumble along. Two words ring out in my mind whenever I feel like giving up.
Find safety.
After what feels like forever, the tunnel opens up into a small intersection. The tunnel continues on ahead of me, but is interrupted by a ladder to my right that leads up to a thick circular metal plate that glows slightly, similar to the water.
What draws my attention is that there is a space behind the ladder, and occupying that space is a wooden crate with a skewed lid on top. I drag my tired body over to it and use two of my tendrils to lift the lid up.
The crate is filled with old, dust covered flashlights, batteries, and chewing bars. I use my third tendril to empty the crate, scattering all of its contents onto the floor. I collapse inside the crate and curl into a ball, lowering the lid after me.
The tendrils recede into my shadow as if they were never there. Despite the terror they inflicted onto me as a child... I comfort myself as I allow myself to fall asleep, sinking gratefully into the darkness.
