VRDET Op: The Marraketh Connection
 Segment #12: "10 Reasons it Sucks to be a Cat"
 By: Nexxus
 ==============================================
 
 For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to
 (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks.
         -- (Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites)
 
         Nexxus, having only just shifted into feline form, found herself
 running through 'd', towards 'c'.
         "I *know* that can't be a Lyran, it can't, it *just can't*." she
 muttered to herself. "Ow! Watch it! Stupid sponge. There'd better not be
 a bald spot on my tail now..." Nexxus darted her way through the teeming
 masses of sponge castle guards, dodging as many feet as possible. Being
 a small cat, it was easier to get through the crowd and maybe less painful
 than accidentally getting run through with some careless sponges sword.
 She needed to find out what was up with that Lyran, and more importantly,
 if it *was* an actual Lyran. She didn't think it was. After all, she'd
 never heard of one being in Marraketh, and it didn't seem very Lyran-like
 to go blowing up holes in walls when you could simply demand the gates be
 opened for you.
         "*Yeow!!!*," she howled over the clanging of swords and stomping
 of panicked feet. Someone had just trod on her tail again. "This is
 ridiculous." she grumbled to herself. Extending her claws, nexx took her
 revenge and swiped a small gash in the leg of the offending foot. She was
 rewarded with a surprised yelp from above and took advantage of the raised
 foot by dashing forward to the edge of the crowd. With a quick look around,
 she sniffed for the Lyran scent and ran for the corridor it had taken.
 
         She found herself standing in a torch-lit hallway, stone floors,
 slightly damp feeling, echoes...the typical castle corridor. It lead straight
 forward for several feet before breaking off into two directions and after
 a quick sniff or two, Nexx headed left towards the Lyran scent. Something
 about it was familiar though, like she'd smelled it before, but she wasn't
 able to pin-point where she'd come into contact with it. Nexx continued
 along the hall, dodging a sponge here and a rat there, going right and then
 right again. The deeper she stalked into the bowels of the castle, the more
 spongin she found herself trying to dodge. If it wasn't for the scent she
 had to follow, she'd have had no hope of finding the Lyran for all the
 dodging she was having to do. In an attempt to catch up a bit more, nexx
 stalked a bit faster down an empty stretch of hallway and around a corner,
 right smack into a large group of sponge who were probably supposed to be
 heading for the courtyard and looking for any excuse to be delayed. She
 tried to dart back around the corner and found herself being lifted off
 the ground.
         "PRETTY KITTY!" drooled the sponge as it ran it's slightly damp
 hand up the back of nexx's neck.  "Looky, looky! I found something!" it
 exclaimed like a three year old who'd spotted a piece of candy on the
 ground. Naturally, the rest of the sponge thought the 'kitty' was more
 interesting than heading for the courtyard.
         "Eww, carrot breath!" she winced to herself. "This will NOT do."
 Being a cat of little patience, nexx did what any cat would do when faced
 with 50 or so sweaty-handed, drooling, idiots that insisted on petting
 and cuddling like a toddler on pixie stix. She surrendered to feline
 instinct. Her tail puffed to three times it's normal size as she flattened
 her ears, slit her eyes and with a few hisses and growls, clawed and bit
 her way to freedom...if you count being dropped and nearly trampled in an
 attempt to recapture, "freedom".
         As soon as her paws touched the ground she shot through a
 strategically located opening between a sponges legs and into what
 appeared to be the only open space left in the hall. "Well isn't this
 just a fine bag of french fries you've gotten yourself into."
         Nexx cursed to herself as she dodged left and right to avoid the
 increasingly larger parade of would be captors behind her. Spotting an
 open space that might offer her half a chance at a fifty yard dash to
 a safe spot, nexx just managed to squeeze out of grabbing distance of
 a particularly quick sponge only to find herself scooped up once again.
 The difference between this captor and the mob behind her though, was that
 this captor wasn't wearing "Au de Carrot" and waving her around like a
 plushie. Nexx took advantage of the large sleeves and found a place to
 hide just in time to hear her rescuer mumble something about flares and
 arrows, followed by a 'swoosh' and the sound of rapidly departing spoungin.
         About the time Nexx poked her head out to watch the fleeing pests,
 it occurred to nexx that she should perhaps venture a good look at her
 assumed rescuer in case she had just gotten herself into more trouble.
         "You know, Ari-chan," the Lyran said conversationally, "Marraketh
 isn't really a cat-intensive area.  I suggest you transform back to
 normal and follow me.  Kat's down in the dungeons and we don't have too
 much time, if you know what I mean."
         Her first instinct was to puff her tail and dig in her claws, but
 the actual meaning of the words filtered past the fear of being face to muzzle
 with a Lyran. "Meow?" she ventured, shaking her head before trying again. "Mal?"
 She relaxed her grip and told her fur to flatten itself out. "Is...is that
 really you?" she squeaked. "I...set me down...I had to follow your scent. I
 don't know if I can change back yet, it takes a while if you let the instincts
 kick in and I really didn't have a choice...I can keep up in this form."

TBC in: "Would you like a refill?"