Snippet #1874311

With every crevice of their cell explored there wasn't much for Kivan and Retha to do. In their explorations they had found: tally marks on a wall amounting to 22, A pile of empty crates in a corner, and a pile of excretement in another corner. At this discovery they had wrinkled there noses. I'm glad we have no sense of smell in this case, Kivan thought. That dung pile is on the larger size.

The trapdoor above them opened and a package was dropped on the dirty ground. Kivan cautiously ripped apart the clean white paper and found some food. Two apples, two small dried fish, and two buns were inside the container along with a water bottle made at of a strange, flexible material that was see through. "Retha, we got food!" Kivan announced to his creature. She came over and they each took their share of food. The water they tried to conserve for they didn't know when they would be receiving more.

They quickly got bored again. Or at least Kivan did. Retha seemed to be entertaining herself by scratching out weird symbols on the wall. "What are those for?" the human inquired.

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There was nothing to do, no source of entertainment in this cell. So what did Rethat do? She made her own fun. With her claws she began to scratch out a story in her written language. The walls were made of a strange substance that looked like rock. Retha didn't think that was the true nature of the walls though, for they seemed to have smaller stones in them and had a gritty texture.

"What are those for?" Kivan asked. Retha finished her sentence and looked at her human. "These tell a story. They... speak a language your eyes can learn."

"You can make speaking symbols?" he asked, intrest plainly showing in his voice. "I don't hear any noise from them, though." Retha grimaced and said, "Do you hear with your eyes? No. You see with your eyes. With these you see them and they mean something in your head. When you see a fish you know it is a fish, right? The word 'fish' pops up in your mind. With these if you see the right combination of symbols that means fish and the word pops up in your mind just like when you see a fish swimming."

Kivan closed his eyes. Retha could tell he was thinking about this new information. "Show me this thing that means fish," he demanded. She scratched out on the floor. "But it looks nothing like a fish. How does it make sense?" Retha could see he wasn't going to be convinced about this. "Never mind, it is probably something you won't need to know anyways."

The trapdoor lifted and someone shoved their face in. "Quiet down or there isn't going to be anymore food for you." the person said. After this Kivan said, "I'm going to try to sleep." Retha shrugged and resumed her writing on the wall.

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"Where are we headed? Where do you and your wife live?" the lion asked. Seboro's mind flickered to his home island. There were real lions there, not just creatures. Of course, they were somewhat scarce, but he and Marred had been lucky enough to see one. It would of been an awesome experience if Marred had not, well, marred it. Seboro gave an internal grimace at the memory. His creature had tried to steal the lion's kill, even though that was by far unnecessary. Marred ended up losing the fight, which made him dislike lions. Seboro hoped his creature wouldn't react negatively to the girl's creature.

"We have to take a boat to my home island. It is about a week's worth of sailing to get there from here. There's the boat we are taking," Seboro said as he led the pair up to it. Of course the island wasn't his real home island, but they didn't need to know that. Now we just have to hope she doesn't find out about the captured pair below decks. Marred was waiting for them, a expression that looked like an angry glare on his face. At first Seboro thought it was accidental but then he noticed his creature's eyes were focused on the lion creature. Making a coughing noise to attract Marred's attention Seboro gave a minute shake of his head. Marred wiped off the expression.

"Heya, Seb. You got them? I am pleased to meet you both. Seb and Milena have been so sad since their daughter died, I am glad they found someone who can fill the empty niche." Marred said in a way that seemed a trace sarcastic. Seboro shot Marred a glare. The creature's ears cocked down a notch. His body language read, fine, I'll do as you say, that doesn't mean I like it for a moment. Then Marred was acting happy and kinder, much to Seboro's relief.

With Marred beside him Seboro led the girl and her creature to a cabin. "This is where you will be staying, if it is all right with you," he said, opening the door. Inside was a large bed with a thick mattress and various blankets ranging from heavy to sheet-light, a cushion on the floor for the creature sleep on if he so wished, a mirror, and a dresser with some clothes in it. Marred squirmed beside him, obviously not wanting to give such a luxurious room to a girl with a lion for a creature. He didn't say anything, but his eyes were shooting daggers into the lion's back. Seboro kicked his creature, trying to tell him to knock it off, and waited for the girl's response.