MEAT FOR THE CAT

A brown-skinned, green-haired young man with a big belly stepped in the cat ring, which got sodding done to it. He was only 170cm tall, yet his stomach and well-stocked limbs made him appear less cute and more aged.

"Kekeke, there's no way this 'beer belly' can win the test. Just look at his juggling assets, ew," one man among the crowd sneered, for the big-bellied young man was shirtless, despite sporting a pregnant woman's belly. "That tattoo on his arm is definitely for show. I wonder which shitty tribe he hails from."

"Hehe, who cares about his tribe? I'm gonna bet against him and earn everything I lost in the last round."

"I'm gonna earn that and much more, haha!"

"It's because of goofs like this that we bettors get to profit a lot at least once in a while."

Most of the audience gave strange and surprised looks to the brown-skinned young man in the ring, which somewhat put the referee Jehez at unease, but given that he knew the identity of the young man in the ring, he could keep his worry under check.

The big-bellied young man labored to settle down on the grassy ground inside the ring, and after he did it well, he began to gobble up the boiled sweetcorn. His eyes, however, gawked at the plate full of cooked meatballs, and the big bowl full of brown soup that rested on the grassy ground before him.

Knowingly or not, his actions provoked the crowd.

"What the heck? Not only did he plonk himself, but he's also wolfing down the sweetcorn. I thought it was for luring the cat! Then that meat and soup—are those also for..."

Everyone, who was on their way to the betting counter to bet in his favor, abruptly came to a standstill and believed to have saved themselves from another disaster.

"I don't know where he got that meat from, but it's such a waste," Lirzod said, his brows raised. "If it were me, I would have surely made the cat meow for the meat." One of his hands, however, was rubbing off the itching spot on his other arm, thanks to the light burnt mark left on his forearm resulted from blocking Aziz's punch only hours ago.

"Sweet corn was one thing, but I thought that the meat and soup were for the cat," Sariyu, who was standing beside Lirzod, opined, and the black cat from the previous round still clung to her and fixedly stared at her face as if it were requesting something.

Just then, the big-bellied young man emptied half the bowl in one lifting, tentatively shutting all the mouths of the crowd.

Moments later, many men placed bets that he'd lose, and only very few people bet on seeing a single gesture from the cat, the latter of which was a rare thing. Jehez was in mixed feelings as he signaled the start of the round with a meow, for he was unsure of the full potential of the contestant.

Soon after Jehez signaled the start, the big-bellied young man picked up four of the boiled meatballs and bounced them in his hands while eyeing the cat with his mouth closed but lips open. " Delicious things... you want?" he spoke without moving his jaws, and only by moving his tongue hidden behind the teeth; however, his voice was surprisingly clear.

Though the white cat intently stared back at the bouncing meatballs in his hands, it still didn't seem like it was about to step in any time soon. More than half a minute passed with the contestant doing nothing but juggling the meatballs.

"No look. Only tell, Lord Cat," the big-bellied young man appealed to the cat. "I... fulfill... request."

His speech mystified the audiences. The crowd had already waited impassively for as long as they could, but now they got something that frustrated them to such an extent that they felt a gnawing sense gorging itself on their hearts.

"The heck, he failed to entice the cat, and now he's trying to chat and make a deal with it?"

"What did he even say? I didn't understand it at all."

"How silly. Just get up and give up already."

The crowd began to mock him mercilessly. "Stop wasting our time and get out of the ring, or do you want our help to get you back on your feet?" Some members of the audience laughed so hard that their intestines twinged.

"I doubt if he can even understand our words fully." A few, however, pitied him a bit.

"Geez, such a mess for us to deal with!" some stayed indifferent to his efforts.

Though the big-bellied young man couldn't clearly understand their language, their laughter almost brought tears in his eyes; however, he held back the tears and put his concentration principally on the cat. "Come, Lord Cat. Please," he begged the cat with an emotional tone that seemed sincere, but his jaws still didn't move. "You... lick—your body—no more. I lick... your body." He wished to give it a meatball, so he casually waved his hand forward and backward and excitedly said, "Only some. Come. Come. Balls! Balls! Feast! Feast!"

The crowd was utterly baffled as his dialect just messed up their minds. "What's that gorilla ranting about?"

"Someone please take him away. I think my headache is growing on me."

At that moment, Lirzod spoke out, "'If you come to me, you'll no longer have to lick yourself. I will do that for you. And this meatball is just an advance. Just come to me, and you'll have the feast of your life.'" He took a slight breath. "I think that's what he meant... in a nutshell."

"Eek!" The crowd was taken back upon hearing Lirzod's words, and some even felt sick to the stomach. "Did he truly say that?"

"It seemed like he did—something along those lines."

The audiences now looked at the big-bellied young man with contempt.

"He's too desperate and hopeless."

"Yeah, as hopeless as a leafless tree hoping for Spring."

"Can't fully blame him, though," Lirzod said. "He's a bit too fat to even hope to catch the cat, so he must have no other choice than to do this."

"Do what?" one man refuted Lirzod's words right away. "There are many better ways than commit to such a stupid tactic, heh, if it even can be called a tactic that is."

Just then, the big-bellied man tossed the meatball ahead, and as the meatball rolled toward the cat, the creature skipped aside, and soon after the meatball went past it, the cat sprang forth and gripped the meatball with its two forelimbs and wasted no time in swallowing it whole as if it were mice.

"A gesture!" most of the audiences were stunned. A black cat going after a meatball wasn't a big deal, but for a white cat to put such a display, most couldn't believe their eyes, and particularly, the minds of some bettors slipped into chaos. The ones, who had bet on witnessing no gestures this round, now fell to their knees, whereas those who had bet on seeing one gesture, now jumped in ecstasy.

However, the very next moment, the referee, Jehez, stated, "Two gestures."

"What?" many people viewed him in puzzlement, especially those who previously bet on one gesture now had their expressions turned ashen.

Nonetheless, because Jehez's whole focus was on the cat, he didn't have the time to explain them.

"How come he said 'two gestures'? I saw only one." Lirzod glanced at Sariyu. "What do you think?"

"I think that cat took a quick sniff before eating," Sariyu replied, "though I'm not entirely sure about that."

The audiences, who heard her words, were pleasantly surprised, and they looked at her as if she was in a different league compared to them in many aspects.

Subsequently, the crowd began to murmur among themselves. "Did you see the cat sniff?"

"No, I didn't."

"I didn't either."

"Maybe, the sniff was so subtle that we missed it?"

"Nah, I was watching the cat all the time with my eyes."

"You can only watch with your eyes, brother. Not with mine or with other people's eyes."

"Hahaha, you caught me, but shut up."

As some sections of the audiences were busy in their respective chats, the white cat in the ring turned toward the big-bellied young man who just finished the remaining soup and burped like a bear. Both their eyes met. "Deal, or no deal, Lord Cat?"

The cat, however, didn't respond but continued to observe him with the utmost attention.

"Half time... gone," the big-bellied young man's pupils dilated more and more by the second. "Patience... also gone," he picked up one meatball after another in quick succession and tossed them into his mouth with one fluid motion of his arm.

Seeing the speed with which he moved the arm and plucked the meatballs from the plate and later juggled them like a professional, the jeering of the crowd stopped, for a coldness crept in their cores, forcing the expressions of many men to freeze as wood frogs in winter do to survive through the chill.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the big-bellied young man put up an eye-pleasing display, for he didn't even chew but simply swallowed the meatballs down his loose throat without the least bit of discomfort. Each of the meatballs was a little larger than an adult human eye, and consuming such meatballs rapidly without choking was something that the audience couldn't accept.

Seeing the meatballs disappear at a great pace, the cat hurriedly approached him, staggering some of the audiences, especially the bettors. Without wasting any time, the cat authoritatively munched on the meatballs and occasionally looked up at the big-bellied young man, who didn't stop stuffing his stomach either. And just as the cat went in for the ultimate meatball, he made sure to snatch the headband and immediately showed it to everyone excitedly, but after remembering how most people had made fun of him, his excitement waned down without him having to control his emotions.

"Meow, meow!" the referee, Jehez, soon signaled the end of the match, and he was a happy man at the moment as he earned quite a bit of money in the last few rounds. He couldn't help but remember how, only just hours ago, he had unintentionally stepped on a fox's tail as it was sleeping not far away from the hall, so maybe that was the reason for all the luck that poured on him in the form of profits for the last few rounds. In his heart, he felt like gifting the fox a good meal the next time he'd see it.

After all, it was uncommon for anyone to step on a fox's tail even if it was sleeping because foxes were highly watchful of their surroundings throughout the clock. So if someone ended up stepping on a fox's tail coincidentally, it was believed that good fortune would follow them for a little while.

Even though Jehez was quite happy, he didn't want to show all of his emotions to others, yet he glanced toward the big-bellied man who was leaving the cat ring. (So young yet so big. Pannu from the Big-Tooth Tribe—you have my thanks.)

Meanwhile, unlike Jehez, most of the audiences were crestfallen. "We've lost our bets again. Who would have imagined that fatty dunce to win, and in his first attempt at that?" the ones who had bet high prices felt like the blood in their hearts was drying up.

"C'mon, you can win all of it back with just one right gain!" Jehez said, trying to lift their moods. After all, the more the number of bettings lessened over the days, the more likely he would lose the referee job, so he had to use all the tricks in his book to keep potential customers interested.

And Jehez's words were more than enough to put their minds back on the track of a traditional bettor, for the experienced ones knew that betting was a chase with an irksome wanting for the gain, thereby putting them in desperation too often. And the irresistible impulses that such a practice generated made it even harder for them to know the right time to play much less quit.

In the meantime, Lirzod was smiling a bit from watching the bettors dance to the changes that took place in the cat ring. "The difference between looking as lively as a tree and as dead as a paper is the same as the difference between winning and losing everything in gambling." He glanced at Sariyu. "Wanna try gambling on me? I assure you, by the end of it, you'll look as lively as a Spring tree."

"Will see when the time comes," Sariyu replied as she was watching Pannu. "I don't recall seeing that type of tattoo before. Which tribe do you think he's from?"

"No idea," Lirzod said, glancing at the cat in her arms. He had tried to scare it away with his harsh look, but it didn't work. At the moment, he was sitting atop a rum barrel that had an acronym 'DPC' clearly carved on it, though it was stricken over. "How long are you going to keep that thing with you? Just toss it away for good."

"You mean the cat?" Sariyu looked at the cat. "What can I do? It clung to me like a leech. It's getting tough for me as well, you see—it has a sandpaper-like tongue, and it tickles whenever it licks."

"So licking was all it took for you to change your impression on cats," Lirzod shook his head in dissatisfaction, and then looked at the cat. "Let me warn you, you little feline, you might suffer from suffocation if you don't let go of her soon."

"If you're that caring, then why don't you try holding it instead?" she asked.

"No thanks," Lirzod blew air through his nose, "my hands are full." After saying that, he hid his hands in his pockets so that she wouldn't be able to tell what his hands were busy with.

Sariyu twitched. "If you had two extra arms, it would have been good. Why weren't you born like that?"

"Go ask my parents."

"No, duh," an exuberant voice escaped her lips, "I blame you for that, so take this cat."

"Blame my parents for that, not me," Lirzod said, pushing the cat away with his shoulder. "Besides, my two arms are enough to do the job of four arms!" Soon after he said that, a thought ran in his mind. (Wait, having four arms doesn't sound that bad. I may look silly, but then I'll have twenty fingers to tickle. Hehe.) He began to laugh within himself.

At that time, a long-nosed, red-haired chubby man hesitantly approached them, gazing at Sariyu, "U-Uh, excuse me, miss, I just want to ask you one thing... how did you tame the cat?" He was wearing a white jacket and a yellow shirt inside. His pants were dark gray like soil. His upper body was as wide as his lower body, but his waist was thin, and as a result, he looked like a boiled egg that was squeezed in the middle.

Sariyu paused for a moment before putting the cat in his arms. "Ask it yourself." Saying that she slackened her arms.

Her actions upset the long-nosed man, and he could only look down amid the irritating giggling a few members of the crowd performed, which further hurt his heart.

"Why isn't the next round starting?" Lirzod looked toward the referee, muttering under his breath. "I still have to wait for another round to finish to participate."

Jehez, at the time, was arguing with a light-blue haired man dressed in fancy winter clothing.

"Who do you think I am?" the light-blue haired man raised his voice, pulsing the veins in his neck. "I'm Gonn Drake. My father owns Port Monai."

Upon hearing his words, everyone in the crowd had their heartbeats spike, and a fluttery feeling took over their bellies. "Wow, h-he's the son of that 'Wet Whale' Rommel?" Sweat formed on many of their foreheads, causing some scars to shine. A very few people even shuffled back a step or two.

"Rommel? Who's that?" Lirzod wanted to know.

"You don't know? He was a fleet admiral of Lots Eels," the long-nosed man to whom Sariyu had given the cat now turned to Lirzod and explained in haste. "He once cheated on a mission and took over Port Monai many years ago."

"Oh, he must have gotten captured by now then," Lirzod contemplated.

"No, Port Monai is considered as impregnable as Haven Roch," the long-nosed man responded and then lowered his voice a bit before continuing, "I don't think anyone will capture the guy anytime soon."

"Hmm," Lirzod nodded and glanced at Sariyu. "Some of our clan's imports come through that Port Monai, right?"

She slightly nodded.

"Miss... Can you now tell me how you tamed the cat?" the long-nosed man with the cat asked again in a voice packed with a bit of desperation.

Sariyu paused for a moment before taking something out of her sleeve and later placed it in Lirzod's hand. "With that."

Lirzod was puzzled by seeing the item in his hand, which was a rattail. The cat in the long-nosed man's hand shook itself out of the man's arms, swiftly landed on the floor and promptly sprang toward Lirzod's hand in an attempt to snatch the tail, but before it could reach the rattail, a quick swing of Lirzod's other hand slapped the cat back to the floor. The cat's tail instantly puffed up and whipped back and forth, thrashing the air with it. The cat then screamed at Lirzod, revealing its razor-sharp teeth. Without a wait, it bent its legs meticulously and leaped once more.

"Shut up," with a modest movement, Lirzod's leg met the cat in midair, under its belly. A thwacking sound erupted as the cat flew over people's heads, its shriek trailing off with every fraction of a second. Lirzod looked at Sariyu as if nothing happened. "What is this? Did you make this by scratching your skin?"

Sariyu pressed her forehead with her fingers. "I shouldn't have given it to you."

"What?" Lirzod knitted his brows a bit. "What is this thing exactly?"

"Nevermind," Sariyu folded her arms and made a blank expression. "Do whatever you want with it."

"I think that's a rattail," the long-nosed man, who stood silent till now, opened his mouth again. Though he didn't reveal much through his voice, his eyes still showed how much he wanted to take that rattail.

"Rat's tail?" Lirzod had a surprised look on his face as observed the thing in his hand. "Wait, now that I took a closer look, it is indeed a rat's tail."

Sariyu squinted her eyes as she stared at Lirzod.

"Ahem," Lirzod, upon taking a swift glance at Sariyu, looked elsewhere. "You must have brought it from the booth."

"Not me. Burton did," she replied casually. "Passing the test shouldn't be a problem with that. From what I can tell, the cats here seem desperate for meat. We are a bit lucky that they aren't fed well recently. Every booth on this deck has nothing but bread, so the cats' reactions are understandable."

"Forget about their reactions, but why aren't they fed properly?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Most of the audiences around them would have loved to even bid for the rattail, but they were too busy listening to the quarrel going on in the cat ring, so most of them didn't pay any mind to Lirzod and Sariyu's conversation.

"Listen, Mr. Gonn," Jehez patiently said, minding what words he brought out of the mouth, "I know that you've bought the ticket. I still remember the time when you bought it, but still, I can't allow you to take the test without the ticket."

"How can you say that?" Gonn frowned as he held the hilt of his long sword resting on his back, and his cerulean eyes that were as clear as the bright summer skies promptly turned into grayish winter skies. "Is it my fault if someone on this ship stole it from me?"

Jehez slightly nodded and slowly tilted his head down, not wanting to maintain eye contact as there was the chance of Gonn taking it the wrong way.

Gonn paused for a moment before letting go of the hilt. "If so, then be it," he turned back and began to walk out of the ring. "I'll agree that it's my fault for thinking that people who are trying to join the Shambala Sect would lack even simple social graces."

Jehez sighed in relief for escaping a touchy incident with prudence. Though as a referee, he could get away with scolding someone like Gonn, he also was aware of the fact that he couldn't stay on Extensive Voyage forever. So, making an enemy out of troublesome characters was the last thing on his mind, for he also wanted to make sure that on the day he'd be leaving the ship, he'd do so, making sure to have accumulated a large mass of coins as many other hollows usually hoped.

Clearing the throat, Jehez told the audience, "Since the ticket number 181818 is lost, we will skip this round and move on to the next round!"

"Yeah!" many people cheered heavily, while some held back on purpose. Nevertheless, the atmosphere turned lively once again.

"Heehaw," just then a distinctive and noisy, bitter bray startled everyone and made many heads turn and look around, though most of them eventually failed to locate the source of the sound. In that time, silence attempted to invade the surroundings, and the lighting in the hall dimmed down to some degree, so little that it went unnoticed by almost all around. The wind in the neighborhood momentarily picked up its speed, forcing dust to find a place in people's eyes, and dried grass and leaves in their hair. A few cats that were playing just outside the cat home ran inside, their tails in shivers. The ants forwent their food and slipped back into the cracks in the walls. Even the rats hiding deep in their holes squeaked as if responding to the call of the donkey, or maybe something else entirely. The half-burnt cigar in a man's hand burned rather quickly and hurt his fingers, forcing him to let go of the cigar, which fell on another man's feet and caused him to jump about in pain, and he ended up pushing a man who was chugging alcohol, resulting in a sleepy fellow's face getting washed with wine. And those four men began to quarrel and fight with each other, dragging in many others around them into the fight as they degraded each other with words sharper than swords. As the weather turned colder, men's emotions escalated. Calmness abandoned many minds. People and their passions were at war. Peace prospered in the hall no longer. Pandemonium was at play.

"Wow, that spiraled quickly." Arms folded, Lirzod tried to stand still as he got pushed around, and different people stepped over his feet. "That hurts! Watch where you are going!" he scolded, but nobody listened let alone cared. "Tch!" Sometime later, after he had come out of the chaotic crowd, his eyes took in the chaos and maybe also the confusion birthing in the locality. "I want to wrestle with a cat and win, but can I go in to take the test with things like this?"

"Heehaw!" the distinctive sound once again got many people's attention, despite them being engaged in fighting.

"Lost are... you people—not the ticket," the sonorous voice that came from the slurring lips of a man reached many ears and especially jerked that of Gonn. On the other hand, all the pleasantness vaporized off Jehez's face pretty damn quick. "I came here after hearing one gets to throw their meat at the pussies, but dang, how wrong I was. I don't want to compete with a wretched cat, hic, but now that I came here anyway, I guess I'll play with you pussies a little."