Lord of Cages - Vessel

Chapter 3 - Aurora

Chapter Three

Aurora

"Oh, there you are!"

Nayara turned at the sound of the joyful voice, only to find the girl who had saved her – Kayla – running to her, a sweet smile on her lips and bright eyes shining with the kind of excitement one wouldn't expect to find at a time like that.

Kayla stopped next to her and took a moment to catch her breath, a look of relief spreading through her pretty features.

"So glad you're okay," she said, between heavy breaths. "I was afraid I'd lost you."

Naya had to physically look around her so as to make sure the human girl was really talking to her. Finding no one else nearby, she nevertheless had to point at herself and ask, confused, "Me?"

"Yes, of course," Kayla replied, bearing a huge smile. "You were so shaken, I can't let you go out there on your own like that, I'd be worried about you."

"Really? You would?" Nayara couldn't help the mix of disbelief and pleasant surprise she felt at that. She wasn't much used to the kindness of a stranger. The Fallen Keeper couldn't help but share a smile of her own with the sweet girl. "Oh, but you don't have to. Really, I'm fine."

"Let me at least help you find your family-"

"I already did!" Naya replied, cheerfully pointing at Lucian.

"Oh, really?" Kayla looked at the serene black cat, obviously not expecting that. "It's... yours?"

Naya nodded and the human girl shrugged and giggled. "Well then I'm glad you found him." She then offered her hand. "I'm Kayla."

"I'm... Naya," the Keeper replied, choosing not to share her full name for fear that it might be too... not human, Elias' advice still echoing through her mind.

They will kill you.

She then smiled, trying not to look too nervous and took Kayla's hand. As soon as her skin touched Kayla's though, most of her fears seemed to suddenly vanish. For some reason, the girl seemed to emanate such a warm and gentle aura, such a soothing and kind energy, that Naya felt it impossible not to trust or feel safe with her.

"And who is this little guy?" Kayla playfully asked, as Lucian climbed Naya's body until he was shamelessly perched on her shoulder.

"He's, uh, Luke," Naya quickly replied, following the same logic she did with her own name.

With confidence and sweetness, Kayla gently caressed Lucian's head and, to Naya's relief, the panther, now turned cat, gleefully accepted the gesture. Lucian was usually very distrustful of others and very rarely appreciated physical contact from anyone but Naya, even including most of her brothers and sisters, so his acceptance of Kayla only further confirmed Naya's feelings that the girl was trustworthy.

"So, where do you live?"

"Erm..." Naya was speechless, completely blank on what to say. She hadn't thought about it. In fact, she hadn't much thought about anything, to be completely honest. Kayla just stared at her, her smile slowly disappearing, as Naya tried not to go into a full panic mode, desperately searching for some kind of answer that didn't resemble "somewhere".

"Uhh..." She looked around frantically. "Not... here?"

"Oh, so you're not from Aurora?"

"Aurora?"

Kayla giggled again, although her expression was more of sadness and understanding than joy. "Yes, the city. Aurora is this city's name."

"Okay..." Naya nodded, feeling pretty sure that she looked really stupid.