Sons of Mau

Mirage

Katrin got Miu and the others up at the crack of dawn, like a true member of the military. And not very pleasantly too, either. She had resorted to smacking them awake. Claws unsheathed. Miu had figured by now that Katrin was rather violence happy.

Jako was very persistent in having Miu lead the charge, to which he was hesitant. He wasn't even entirely sure where he was going. And despite Jako's supposed hospitality, Miu learned very quickly that he was very impatient.

The red tom paced in front of an anxious Miu. They were about ten miles out of Toothcliff, in what was hopefully the correct direction.

"Well? Which way is it?"

"Give me a minute, will ya? This map is hard to read from this direction." Miu's natural compass wasn't great. He kept getting turned around. He passed the map to Tally. "See if you can make sense of it."

She spread the map out on the ground and examined it, tongue between her teeth.

"Right; if we continue east we should come in contact with a river, from there we move upstream. There should be a bamboo forest several miles north. The Ruins won't be too far off from there."

Jako pushed his way toward the map. "And where from the forest are the Ruins?"

Tally looked slightly annoyed. "I don't really know. The Ruins are in the bakeneko realm. We might spend a few days walking around in circles before finding the entrance."

Jako held back a mutter. "Best we get a move on then. You're up Van," he said, nodding at Miu.

Miu and Tally hesistantly moved forward, making some much desired distance between them and the others.

Miu kept his head down and whispered in Tally's direction, "The hell did he mean by Van? Did the idiot already forget my name?"

Tally sighed. "If I remember correctly, I've explained this to you a few times before. You're a Turkish Van. Your markings are indisputably that breed. It's the one thing we actually know about your past."

Miu's eyes returned to the ground. "Right. I think I remember now. I just keep forgetting the name of it, that's all."

They continued in silence, leave the occasional shout from Christopher, who held a compass. It was almost noon. Miu's stomach growled irritably, but even he thought it'd be a bad move to complain to the soldiers behind him. Truth be told, he and Tally felt a lot more like prisoners than honored guests. Christopher apparently was getting the same vibe. His smug expression was gradually waning from being shepherded by Katrin.

The trees were getting a lot denser, and Tally was having difficulty picking her paws up over the roots. Miu was grateful for the sun. It wouldn't be easy to navigate in the dark. And then, Tally's drooping ears suddenly perked up. Miu halted.

"What?"

"Listen!" Her eyes had brightened.

Sure enough, there was the unmistakable babble of a river off in the distance. Miu felt his body sigh with relief.

"River's not to far off!" He yelled.

If Miu had seen right, some of the soldiers feigned a smile for a moment. They reached the riverbank no more than ten minutes afterward. Jako seemed more placid upon having made measurable progress.