The human had watched her, looked at her as if it could see right through her. It was a little unsettling, but then she had reached out. Luna had let plenty of humans pet her, it was an easy way to earn their affection and gain more food. But... this one, it felt dangerous, as if what was in front of her was not a human but instead some kind of Monster. She was too scared to even move, but then she saw the people creeping up behind her.
She had noticed these sorts before, they were dangerous and she never saw the people they grabbed and pulled away again. One of her favorite humans had disappeared not too long ago due to them. She began to hiss at them, the little human looked confused at her reaction. Stupid human! Look behind you! But it was too late, that weird cloth they had was placed over the tiny human's face and she went limp.
Luna quickly scurried away but only to hide, maybe she could do something... that tiny human seemed different, if she could help them somehow maybe she could find her favorite human?
"What a nice find, this one looks like she'll sell for a lot. Never seen a brat with such smooth skin and nice clothes." A gruff and rough voice spoke. It was the one who was currently holding the tiny human.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Bert? She might be someone important." A sharp and weaselly voice came out of a smaller man near him who kept looking around frantically.
"Don't cha worry about it Willy, the boss will make sure we don't get caught. The more important the better the pay!" Bert said as he hauled the girl's body over his shoulder, "Now use your little skill to make sure we don't get spotted."
"It's not a little skill! [Shadowplay] is a complicated and rare skill!" Willy complained, but activated his skill all the same. At least Luna assumed as suddenly their shadows grew longer both behind them and wrapped up their bodies. However, Luna could still see them, even if it had gotten harder. Her [Enhanced Senses] and [Night Vision] working together to make out a clear image of the two.
She made sure to follow along with them carefully, staying hidden. She doubted they would think twice about seeing her but still, if they realized a cat was following them they might do something to her. She wasn't stupid enough to think all humans were as kind as the ones who fed her. She had seen how ugly human cruelty could be.
It took some time but eventually the two had made their way to a building, it looked completely normal. However they didn't enter right away, they simply knocked twice, waited, knocked three more times, waited again and then knocked once. Only after that did the door open and Luna could see a man wrapped in dark cloth, he looked them up and down before setting to the side, a small amount of light leaked out, which was odd. All of the windows looked as if they weren't producing light.
The two moved in and the door was quickly shut behind them. Luna frowned, she had to find a way in... She began to stalk around the building searching for a way in. That's when she saw it, one of the windows on the second floor was open. A smug smile formed on her as she began to move around, quickly finding a route up to the roof of another building she leaped around until she found a nearby roof to the window, and then she activated [Leaping] and crossed the gap with ease, finding herself deftly landing inside the building.
She made sure to activate [Stealth] and creeped around quietly. The upper levels were completely pitch black but luckily with [Night Vision] she could see clearly. There were odd burnt papers near the open window she had entered through, that had a smell that made her cringe.
Slowly she made her way downstairs where she heard shouting.
"OF ALL THE STUPID, ASININE, IDIOTIC DECISIONS YOU COULD HAVE MADE!" A commanding voice boomed, Luna moved peering into the room where it was coming from to see an older man yelling at Bert and Willy who were looking at the ground. The older man was very well dressed and was pacing as he yelled.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THIS IS? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?!" His voice roared in frustration. "THIS IS LILY FUCKING LIGHTLASH, PRIZED DAUGHTER OF THE LIGHTLASH FAMILY WHICH I SHOULDN'T NEED TO REMIND YOU! OWNS THIS ENTIRE TOWN!"
Luna tilted her head, she had assumed the tiny one was someone important but owning the entire town? That seemed excessive to the street cat who spent her days acting cute for food. She noticed that the tiny one wasn't actually in this room, so she moved away, noting that all of the windows had wooden boxes around them, that was weird.
Luna snooped around a bit more, she found plenty of empty rooms. One contained a plethora of bladed objects and different rope and cloth. As well as strange objects that twisted and turned, she had occasionally smelt blood in her lifetime and this room reeked of it. She moved along until she heard a light voice complaining in a haughty tone. She deftly and silently moved forward, peering into the open doorway she saw the tiny human tied to a chair. The man draped in dark cloth was standing there watching her, a single lantern lit up the room showing the girls disgruntled face.
Lily had awakened it seemed and she was questioning the man to no avail. "Honestly, do you have any idea of what kind of trouble you're in? I'm not going to just disappear, the entire region will be looking for me. Truly you've messed up haven't you? You'll find it much easier to simply let me go and cooperate. I highly doubt you're the only part of this operation correct?"
Despite her confidence the man didn't seem phased, he just watched her with interest. Before speaking in a raspy voice. "Even if they had the whole kingdom search for you... they won't find you. Do you think yourself special? You're the daughter of a count. You'll go for more but it won't get special treatment."
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The tiny human’s eyes narrowed at that. Luna didn't understand all of this, she could understand the words but not their meaning, she had no idea what a kingdom or a count was. She didn't understand the underlying intention in the man's words. It all went over her head but she knew one thing for certain is that the tiny human was not happy.
After some time there was a loud sound, the man groaned as he heard what was very clearly someone impacting the floor. "I'll be back brat, don't get any ideas." He muttered before leaving the room.
Luna moved through the shadows of the room as he left, she moved right in front of Lily looking up at her, Lily locked eyes with her. "You're... that Cat, Luna right? I know you understand me. Are you with these guys?" Luna was shocked a bit, how did this tiny human know her name? Or that she had [Human Language]. It was also weird having a person talk to her like this, they usually made their voices all cutesy when talking to her directly.
Luna shook her head at the question, she was definitely not with these humans. Lily didn't say anything for a second, Luna understood this from when she watched humans, she was thinking about what to say. It was ironic, all Luna did was think but she never had to think of what to say.
"You think you can help get these ropes off me Luna? I can give you a lot of food in exchange. I live in a pretty big house." Lily said after some hesitation. Luna considered it, honestly food wasn't a problem for her. She could easily get it from the humans but her favorite human had disappeared, maybe this human could find her. She gracefully leapt onto the lap of Lily, looking at the ropes she raised up a paw, claws extending out as she began to scratch at them, getting a little frustrated she began to just bite angrily at them.
Her ears flicked as she heard the man enter the room, she turned and hissed before running off. "Well well, how'd you get a cat to help you out?" The man wrapped in black asked. A swift kick suddenly impacted Luna, he moved much faster than humans normally did. She was sent flying across the room, the last thing she saw as her vision darkened was Lily struggling against the ropes as the man approached her.
"Really now? And just what do you think is going to happen if you get those bindings off?" The man asked, Lily wanted to ignore him but keeping him talking was the only way she could get out of this.
"The ropes will stop chaffing for one. Honestly if you're going to kidnap a noble at least use silk ropes." She said, with faux superiority in her voice. The man didn't react, merely crossed his arms as if waiting to see what would happen. That worked for Lily, he was underestimating her. She could use that, the cat had weakened these ropes plenty and while she didn't specialize in it, she was stronger than your normal child and a normal child couldn’t summon fire. She just needed to get her hands free for the spell casting and she’d be able to teach him a lesson!
With some effort the ropes came loose, Lily instantly raised her hand to fire off a [Blaze Bolt], but then her vision was full, as a knee impacted her in the face. "Did you really think I'd let you cast some magic?" The man taunted. "You seem to underestimate me, little girl." he added as he kicked her in the side, her nose was dripping with blood and she was pretty sure she just heard a rib crack.
She tried to roll away from him, but he grabbed her leg and lifted her effortlessly, slamming her into the floor, "What did you think cause we intend to sell you to the first fat fuck with enough coin that I wouldn't rough you up? A [Cure Wounds] goes a long way to ensure merchandise can be shown its place." his words were full of bile, it made Lily sick but also everything hurt, she hadn't felt pain like this yet.
But she wasn't some simple little girl either, he was underestimating her! She utilized [Chantless Casting] turning her body as he approached her once again and raising up her hand, suddenly flames erupted, pillars of flame lit up the room, they were far weaker than what Lily was used to but that was fine. She just needed them to stop him for a moment.
"[Oh great pyre, come forward and consume all before me, let naught dust nor ash survive within the flaming wastes of your passage, bring forth the wrath of the infernal devourer, bring forth destruction and sear out the sickness upon thy world, BLAZE ERUPTION]!"
Lily held out her hand to perform her strongest spell, she was worried about the destruction it would cause but she wanted to never see this man again. An eruption of red flame flowed out, like a ray of fiery light it consumed everything in front of her. The house itself was lit on fire as a clear hole was seared through it as if someone had just erased a section of the house... and the next two after it.
Lily breathed heavily, trying to process everything but her head was pounding, a concussion maybe, blood still dripped from her nose and smoke was starting to make her eyes burn. She turned and scooped up the cat, it may have been a monster but it was also just an animal. Harmless and it had tried to help her, she quickly moved to escape the building, using [Earthen Spike] to rip up the ground near a wall and escape out of it.
A commotion was happening as many people rushed towards the house, she saw some beginning to cast [Water Magic], and then one stopped her.
"Little girl, what's going on? Did you see something?" The older man asked, Lily analyzed him for the smallest of moments, and then she did what made the most sense to her, she began to cry.
"There was a man and he took me and he hurt me and and" Powerful arms wrapped around her, "Alright alright, don't worry you're safe now." He hushed her, raising his head up, "Tira, seems like this girl was kidnapped, no clue who saved her but we better search that house so they can't get away before the guards arrive!"
Jasper clung to his side, what was left of it anyways. What the fuck had he gotten himself into, the Fairhill operation was supposed to be simple, small. A test for Kerric's management skills, he was only here to make sure things ran smoothly and nothing was traced back to the guild. Fuck! That little brat, she was the daughter of the local nobles apparently, he hadn't thought much of it. He had kidnapped plenty of noble children, they were always so sure of their rescue right up until the collar was wrapped around their neck.
He spat out some blood, he had managed to limp through the back alleys and not get caught but there was no way he could seek treatment here. The brats' escape was way too eye-catching for that, he'd need to escape to a nearby town, maybe Ulsten would be safe, small enough and they had a safehouse there.
He winced at the pain, could he make it that far? He'd have to... he made it into the woods nearby, the smell of his blood instantly attracted predators. He groaned, pulling out a sword, a massive bear had already begun to charge him, he slashed open its head like it was nothing, and then a pack of wolves began to howl and circle him, that was fine. A usage [Whirlwind of Blades] cleaved them all in half.
Fuck he shouldn't of done that, the wound was hurting more now. Fuck Kerric and his stupid ideas. He almost hoped he would get caught and squeal, at least that way Jasper would be assigned to kill him. If... if he made it out of here.
Fuck. FUCK! Jasper wanted to scream but he didn't have the energy, he was laying down now, the grass at his side stained red with his blood.
"I swear... I'll come back... as a damn ghost if I have to... Lily Lightlash, your days are numbered...." He grumbled to no one but himself but his eyes widened as he read the message.