TSK Chapter Two: Arising Suspicions
Woohoo! Two chapters in two days! I hope you all are enjoying the story. Normally, I should have a lot more to say, but I'm afraid I'd rather let you guys read than read my boring color speech text *laughs*
"Malley! Malley! Blast, where is that mouse?" The tall blue phoenix cursed under her breath as she fumbled with the lock on her door, trying to keep two shields, three swords, and a box of paperwork that were stacked in her arms from falling onto the floor. She fumbled for her keys, her wings folding in and out unconsciously. Thankfully, her bleach white hair was tied back into that standard "warrior's ponytail" to keep it out of her face while she struggled. Sometimes I wish I was a chimera, She grumbled in her mind as she nearly lost her stack. Then I'd have four arms and could-
"Need some help, General?" A rough and deep voice to her right caused her to glance over her shoulders to see a tall dragon walking towards her.The male dragon was taller than the phoenix, who was around seven feet high. His scales were dark orchid, and he had sky blue eyes that reflected the torchlight in the hallway. The armor he wore was thick and plated, built for a colossal dragon like himself, with chainmail under it. The armor covered his neck, down his arms to his wrists, all the way down to his ankles, and it even covered most of his tail. Down his back were his spikes that protruded out from the armor, looking like large shards of amethyst.
"This is new, Suumau," The phoenix General mumbled, rolling her orange eyes as she shifted her weight to stay balanced. "You've never offered me help before, especially when I was supposed to be training with you when I became General. What's different about now?"
Suumau chuckled softly and spread his arms like he admitted his guilt. "Change of heart, my lovely fellow comrade?"
The General laughed at that. "Right, Suumau. Well, if you insist..." She shifted her balance, staying stable, and moved her right hip out to him. "It's on the hip armor in my side pouch. Thank you, I guess."
Suumau reached under her armor, and she tensed when his claws grazed her thigh. He found the pouch, and pulled the key out. "Y'know, it'd be a lot easier if you'd just get a necklace for this." He unlocked the door for her
She rolled her eyes, and as Suumau turned, his tail collided with the backs of her ankles, and she let out a squawk as she fell backwards, all of her belongings scattering everywhere, including the box full of papers. "What the Inanis is wrong-?!"
"Relax, Sentra." Suumau said calmly, his amethyst eyes peering into hers. "Sometimes my tail has a mind of it's own, i apologize." His tail wrapped around the General's wrist to help her up, but she shook him off.
"Screw off. The last thing I need is you bothering me while I'm trying to work." But Suumau didn't leave. He walked forward to grab her scattered papers, but she slapped his hand away, giving him a bird screech to scare him off. "I said I'm fine! Odjebi!" Her dark orange eyes narrowed as anger built in her chest.
He chuckled slightly and said, "Alright, miss. Whatever you say." He turned around - not before slowly dragging his tail across her face - and went down the hallway.
The General glared after him, but as soon as he was gone, a smirk of confirmation crawled onto her lips. She jumped up and gathered her materials into her arms, then looked around to make sure nobody was nearby. She then extended her hand out towards the scattered papers as the palm began glowing a dark purple. The papers soon began to flutter around as if moving on their own, and her fingers began dancing as the papers reorganized themselves into the box she carried. The box then lifted up with the motion of her hand, and she made a beckoning motion as she quickly went into her room.
Her room was big, but not big as a royalty, and scattered with books, papers, and diagrams. She had two tables, both at the foot of her medium-sized bed, and a large dresser to the right of her door she just entered from. The right side of the room held two desks, which were also scattered with papers and books. On the left wall was a giant bulletin board that had sketches of animals tacked to it with string tied to each animal. In the center of the board was a detailed bust sketch of Suumau, with a few strings from the other sketched animals tied to his. Other concerns were written on the board, but the General's focus was to relax until her Assistant General came.
Sentra stripped her armor off, shedding her the uniform that weighted her down, threw it on her bed, and began shedding her under armor clothing. Her black doublet came off and was tossed on her bed, and her black linen pants came off and discarded onto the back of her chair that sat at her desk. Just in her undergarments, the phoenix sighed softly as cool air washed over her. Two things Sentra hated about being General: Suumau and wearing armor all day. She pulled her chair back and sat in it, placing her head in her hands and sighed again. She stood back up, and walked over to her dresser to put on some decent clothing than her undergarments. After she slipped on her garments, she slowly walked out in front of the large bulletin board, looking over her notes.
The suspicion began just over a year ago... Sentra thought, thinking deeply. Her subconscious mind locked the door to her room on instinct. It was a way of showing that she was here in this room and in her mind with her own thoughts. When I was called and accepted, General Suumau seemed normal. It wasn't until that incident last year that made me be suspicious of him... Last summer, one of Suumau's servants, a lean silver fox who looked like he could've been picked on easy, was accused of stealing something of Suumau's. At first, Sentra had thought it nothing of it, considering foxes weren't very well trusted in Highreach's society, but later that night she had witnessed Suumau visibly beating one of his subordinates, who just so happened to be a fox. Of course, the next day, he had mysteriously adopted a new Assistant, which rose suspicion in her.
For the next two months after that, Sentra consciously and subconsciously wondered about that, and when she was given an Assistant General, or a Lt. Captain - a black female mouse - her curiosity only became worse. Within two weeks, her Assistant General and herself had become really close, and Sentra spilled what happened that night to the mouse. After that, it was both of their goals to figure out the truth of what Sentra saw. They tried tracking the ex-assistant down, but that provided zero results. They secretly expanded their search to ex-guards, ex-assistants, and others related to Suumau. Malley even dared to question his sister, but that was dejected immediately. When other information proved to be fallacious...
They resorted to personal information to the General's archive. Sentra was no longer concerned whether the servants were alive or not, she just wanted information. She had a tugging feeling in her gut; General Suumau was hiding something much more important than she'd like to know.
Sentra's focused was ripped from her as she heard her door unlock. She looked over to watched as a smaller flustered mouse scrambled in and shut the door tightly. "F-Forgive me, ma'am! I-I was-"
Sentra turned to the mouse and bent down - she was about six and a half feet and the mouse was only five feet two inches - placing her hands on the mouse's shoulders. "Malley, did anybody see you?"
The mouse was wearing light metal armor that covered her torso, calves, and forearms. She wore a sky blue beretta which made the mouse look a bit cuter, but had no hair on her head. Her black fur looked like a charcoal black, and had soft pin patches of fur on her snout, ears, over her right eye, and down between her bosoms onto her stomach. Her soft emerald eyes were darting with worry as she was clutching a box. "You sure General Suumau won't notice this missing?"
"This is the box of recorded people he's either arrested or employed, yes? Which years are these?" They walked over to the desk, and Sentra used her magic to organized all the cluttered paper onto a stack on the other desk. Malley set the box on the desk, and Sentra checked to make sure the door was locked. After that, she waved her palm around the room, casting a thick soundproof spell for any wandering ears.
"Uhm...these are from about 600-500 years ago. Most are almost destroyed." Malley said, her ears slowly sinking.
Sentra smiled at the mouse and patted her head. "It's alright, pasija, he won't notice these old paperworks missing. You did wonderful."
"You bet I did! I was in and out like a fo-" She cut herself off and unconsciously wrapped her tail around her wrist, realizing her almost racist remark.
"Don't worry about it, Maleey. Good thing Suumau's focused on me. Ran into me just a few moments ago, so you got the clear." Sentra chuckled softly.
"General? Ma'am?" Malley squeaked softly, her nose twitching. "Do you really think something's up with General Suumau?"
She sighed softly, placing her hands on the desk and leaning into them, and yawned. "Hey, go get some rest, okay? You can assist me in the morning when you rise." Malley brightened, but then her face filled with worry.
"A-Are you sure, ma'am? I'm sure I can-"
Sentra raised a hand, silencing her. "No, Malley. Get some rest. No objections." The mouse's ears sank slowly but she smiled and nodded, then left the room. Sentra turned back to the box, contemplating whether she should start tomorrow. She shook her head and said, "Tomorrow, prijatel. I'll find out your secrets." She shoved her armor off of her bed, crawled into it, and fell softly asleep.
***
After he had walked away, Suumau's usual grin faded away and turned into a snarl. He exited the building, which resided in the middle of a small fort east of a major prison. He walked down the steps and over to the carriage that was drawn by tall feral-looking dragons called Delks. He took off his helmet and stepped inside. As he sat down, a soft voice asked, "General, what was our new 'prijatel' up to?"
Suumau grunted. "Dunno. She had some swords and shields and a box of paperwork. Never got the chance to get closer to see what it was before she shooed me away." He looked at the figure sitting across from him as the carriage pulled away.
She was a dark grey female wolf with white fur patches on both sky blue eyes. She had no hair, but wore a three-point steel tiara decorated with rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Attached to the crown was similar to a native headdress, decorated with feathers of various species, but most feathers were black, dark blue, or gold. She wore a dark black and blue robe fit for royalty, with hidden silver armor underneath for protection. "That's unfortunate. Was she acting different?"
"Not that I could tell. She still acts hot-headedly towards me, so I'm not sure if that's suspicious or anything." He scratched his chin. "Her Lt. Captain isn't a problem. If we ever wanted to interrogate her, the little mouse could only tell us what we already know about Sentra." He grunted.
"Your sister? Is she out of the way?" The wolf asked. "I know I had ordered Sentra to send her on that special assignment, but I could only rely on you to finish that part of the plan." Her paws were clasped together, folded calmly in her lap.
"Fret not, my dear Queen." Suumau said. "Quarah resides in Hirlen prison, never to return for another hundred years."
"Good. The last thing we need for her to do is to get in the way. We wouldn't want her to spoil our plans would we?"
Suumau nodded. "'Course not. I'd do anything to make sure Highreach's future is safe." He looked out the window. "Any news on Chiryo? I heard they ran into a problem."
The Queen nodded and handed Suumau a folder. "Just got intel while you were investigating. Apparently they've been having issues with 'creatures of darkness', like they have had before in their history."
"The Baciti? I thought they were eradicated years ago." Suumau said.
"Of course not. Baciti are never really 'eradicated'. They are everywhere around us, that we know of." The wolfess sighed and looked out of the carriage window. "If we don't assist them, the Baciti will move onto us, and that would be unfortunate."
Suumau nodded. "I'll look at the military, view statistics, and discuss with Sentra about troop movement." He looked at the Queen and smirked. "And I'll see what the blue jay's up to. Try to get some information out of her."
"Good dragon. Don't fail your Queen, General."
***
Pax looked over at the sleeping dragoness. He never really slept since he could remember. Sleep only brought empty dreams, which brought empty nightmares. Worlds of white where he walked forever until he decided to "wake up". He paced the cell, feeling his paw against the stone wall that was old and decrepit. He sighed softly, and went over to where Quarah was resting. The conversation earlier played back in his mind of the information she had shared with him.
"The Primarch? Sounds like a lame title."
The dragoness had sighed. "I don't care what it sounds like. He was a really powerful Monarch that attempted to overthrow Highreach with dark magic. I need to get to Queen Nira and tell her of this importance! But now I'm stuck in this damn cell for a life sentence of 99 years!" She had groaned and thumped her head into the wall. "If he comes back and we're not prepared..."
"Quarah, let's worry about this towmorrow. You're obviously tired and need rest. Since I've been sleeping all day, you can take the bunk." Pax lied to her.
"Really? Thanks, Pax. I think you're the first stereotype I've trusted." She laughed softly.
Pax got up to let her lay down. She had laid down on the bunk, even though her hindclaws hung over the edge, and soon fallen asleep. He now stood over her, looking at her peaceful state. Her smooth fur, her tall body, her soft, breathing-
Thm-thmp
Pax gripped his chest and sunk to his knees. Gasping for breath as his chest suddenly tightened, he nearly sunk all the way to the floor, but kept himself up with his hand. He felt his chest again, and the beat became fainter, then stopped. Coughing and gasping, Pax did something he hadn't done in a while; he regurgitated the food that was just given to him a few hours prior. His eyes were wide with...with what? He usually didn't feel anything. What was this indescribable feeling? His stomach was in knots and he was sweating, and he finally crumpled to the floor.
It lasted for only a minute, but it felt like eons to Pax. When it was over, his breathing returned, and he shook of the feeling again. He didn't like that feeling, so he decided to walk away from Quarah for a bit. He walked over to the wall opposite of the bunk, and knocked around the wall a few times with his knuckle until he heard the stone shift. He then stuck his claw into the stone and pulled out a small rectangular piece of it. Inside the hole in the wall, a ring of keys laid at the back. Smiling softly, he pulled them out and looked back to the door.
Breathing softly, Pax tiptoed over to the door and silently found the right key. It was three hours past moonhigh, and everyone was asleep in the prison. A plan formed in his head, and he knew exactly how to perfect it. The only problem was a back-up plan, which he was getting to now. He reached out of the small window of the concrete door, reached down with the key, and quietly inserted and unlocked the door. He already knew the layout of the prison, since his almost did this every night since he got the keys. Pax never really wanted to escape, nor did he have the desire to.
Until he met Quarah.
Now he was determined to get her out. He knew the prison like the back of his paw, and began to quietly sneak down the hallway. Prisoners were asleep in their cells, not a single one hearing or smelling Pax as he sneaked past them. He explored a bit on the eighth level, remembering it's basic grid pattern, and began searching for possible routes. The cell blocks looked the same, so he began to head towards the showers. The best thing about level eight was the lighting was poor here, so blending into the shadows was easy for the dark fox. He only had to hide a few times as a guard here and there passed by. Soon he found himself in the shower.
It was as basic as any shower room went: open space, no dividers, benches in the middle of the room. Except for some odd reason there was a giant grate bolted down into the middle of the floor. He went over there and gave the grate an experimental tug. It didn't budge.
Smiling softly, Pax went back to his cell block and scanned the sleeping inmates until his eyes laid on a male hyena with punkish hair. He walked over to the cage and tapped his claws on the bars. The hyena's ear flicked and he groggily raised his head. When the hyena saw a fellow prisoner outside his cell freely, his eyes snapped open and he opened his mouth to speak, but Pax raised a finger to his mouth, motioning for him to be quiet. The hyena climbed out of his bunk and went over the to the fox.
"How in the the Inanis did you get outta your cell, mate?" The hyena asked.
Pax shook his head. "Unimportant. Do you wanna be let out?" The hyena nodded, hesitantly. "Good. Now, listen. You have friends, right? If you tell them that you happen to have master keys to their blocks, do you think they'll start a riot?"
The hyena nodded. "'Course they would, mate. But crikey, how am I suppos'd to believe ya?" He question was answered when Pax pulled out a ring full of keys. "A'ight mate. I'll see what I can do. Meet back here tomorrow nigh'?"
"Yeah. But only tell those who'd love to pick a fight with some lazy guards, 'kay?" The hyena nodded, and Paxenal went back to his cell silently. Inside, he put his back against the door and smiled a real smiled. He felt his chest start to tighten again , so he immediately wiped his mind of that thought. But he couldn't help but think about it:
I have a reason to get out of here...
***
The following morning was rough. Malley had arrived on time, awaiting to assist the General in their secret project. She was greeted with the General rushing out strapping armor links. "G-General, something the matter?"
Sentra looked at Malley for a brief moment before cursing to herself, and replying, "Deepest apologies, Assistant General. I had forgotten about 103rd Division's inspection today!" She slapped her hand across her face, groaning silently as Malley shifted from paw to paw. "Do...do you think you can take over for today? I'll try to be back by lunch, okay?" Sentra asked of her Assistant, slowly inching away from her.
"O-Of course, ma'am! B-But what am I looking for?" Malley slightly whimpered.
Sentra was already bolting down the hall. "Anything! I'll leave it to your judgement!" She called, turned a corner, and then was gone.
Malley looked around, made eye contact with a passing guard and laughed nervously as if saying, "Yup, that's General Sentra for you! Crazy as always, am I right?" Malley then unlocked the door and slipped inside.
Sighing, Malley set her sword and shield down, then walked over to the table that held the unopened box of paperwork. "Yay, paperwork. Every officer's nightmare." She sat down at the desk, and began sorting through the paperwork. Previous employers were dead, obviously, but she didn't care. She needed information, and looking through these names could strike up something interesting. Perhaps evidence against Suumau somehow.
Half an hour into reading, sorting through nearly over a hundred-and-fifty, Malley leaned back and looked at the clock on the wall: two hours past sunhigh. Standing up and yawning, it dawned that she'd been through four hours of paperwork. Grunting, she buckled her sword and shield to her, then quietly stepped outside the room. She locked and relocked the door three times for safe-keeping, and quickly went through the east wing of the castle to go to the guard's break room for a fresh cup of coffee
She walked in and immediately two guards stood up and saluted her. One was a brown wolf with blue eyes, and the other was a blue jay with sea mist eyes. Both wore the standard regal armor of Highreach, branded with the Highreach symbol on their right shoulder pads - a white phoenix in mid-flight with a white vertical halo behind it. Malley blinked before returning the salute, her right hand up and slanted against her eyebrow. She still wasn't used to being saluted at. "As you were, gentlemen."
"Yes sir!" They immediately sat down and continued to talk quietly while Malley helped herself to brewing coffee. Malley approached the two, who looked up at her curiously. The Assistant General sat down and yawned, looking at the two. The blue jaw looked at Malley and coughed nervously. "Lt. Captain, if I may ask, what's it like being Assistant General?"
Malley shrugged slightly. "It's...interesting. General Sentra is lively and serious at the same time. There's a lot more paperwork involved, but at least she doesn't use me like a slave." The two guards nodded. "So what's new at the castle?"
The wolf shrugged. "Dunno. Not one famous for rumors and gossip. If I see it, I believe it."
The blue jay snorted. "Yeah right, Malx. You looooove gossip. Like the two guards who were caught in the armory, that one guard who bragged he arrested an ex-Royal Scientist, the other guard who has that strange fetish, and-"
"I think that's enough, Jael!" Malx barked at Jael, his blush really red.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Malley said, interrupting the two. "What was that you just said?" Her face becoming serious as she asked Jael.
The blue jaw gulped, sitting nervously. "T-The guard who has the fe-"
"Not that! The...the other thing. The one about the ex-Royal Scientist? I haven't heard of a Royal Scientist being arrested."
Malx waved his paw dismissively. "Just a rumor, Lt. Captain. Some guy bragged that he had arrested a Royal Scientist who's now rotting in jail."
Malley narrowed her eyes. "How much do you know? Who is it, and where are they?" It was rather strange: she would've heard of a major thing like that.
Malx swallowed nervously and stammered. "I-I don't know the n-name...but they said she was a d-dragon, s-sir! U-Uhmmmm...T-The guard said it was t-the nearest prison...? W-Why do you ask?"
Keeping her calm, Malley got up and poured her coffee while stating, "Just curious. I have a friend who was a Royal Scientist, but who you described doesn't sound familiar." She got her coffee, turned around and smiled at the guards. "You two have a great day. Be sure to not fall asleep at your posts!"
"Yes sir!"
As Malley went back to the General's room, her mind stirred. She knew exactly who that dragon was, but why was she in there? None of this makes sense... Malley's confused thoughts rang in her head. Why would she be arrested? She is a Royal Scientist after all, and is greatly trusted by the Queen herself! Malley's eyes widened and she gasped sharply. "Suumau, perhaps...?"
Her pace quickened as she rushed to the room, but as she neared the corner that rounded to the room, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her nose twitched along with her ears, smelling the thick scent of a dragon. Her eyes glaring, she rounded the corner, pretending to look as if she was just returning from a normal coffee break. She looked up to see Suumau bent next to the door, trying to unlock it. He looked at her and faster than light he stood up and pretended he was doing nothing.
"General Suumau! It's...uhm, unexpected to see you here. What are you doing here?" Malley asked, her voice sounding like true obliviousness.
Suumau laughed, a slight red on his cheek. "Sorry, Lt. Captain! I came here to get Sentra for a military reason, but when she didn't answer, I assumed it was her normal 'I'm going to ignore Suumau' reaction." He laughed like she did it all the time. "So I was trying to look through the keyhole to see if she was in there."
Fat chance. There's no keyhole to peek through. Malley laughed too, playing her "innocent mouse" role too good. "Well, Sentra left this morning for military inspection. She hasn't gotten back since then."
Suumau nodded. "Well, that's unfortunate." He grinned softly. "Uhm, tell her I came by? I don't need her immediately, but I also don't want her to take too long." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You know how she gets." He began walking away and waved his hand. "Just let her know I need to see her over at Fort Shenga."
"Yes sir!"
It had been three hours later, in which Malley refused to leave until Sentra got back. She went through the entire box, found a few interesting profiles, and sketched their faces. When the door started to unlock, Malley gripped her sword, ready to strike, but relaxed when Sentra came in. Sentra looked at Malley, and set down her helmet.
"You alright, Malley? You look like you're ready to slice and dice an army." Sentra chuckled slightly, ruffling the mouse's fur on her head.
"Y-yeah....Actually, no. I'm not." The mouse breathed, the let out a loud groan of frustration. "Nothing! A box of over three hundred papers and nothing!" She sighed. "And on top of that, Suumau was here, acting fishy!"
Sentra froze in mid-stripping of armor. "He...what? What was unusual?"
"Peeking through the keyhole..." Malley looked up at Sentra. "I...I apologize for doubting you. Animals only act suspicious when something slips." Malley's hands were shaking. "Suumau has never called me 'Lt. Captain'. He's the kind who refers animals to by rank, and my rank is now Assistant General."
Sentra finished undressing and sighed. "This only adds more suspicion to that General." She groaned as she paced the room, thinking. "And we have no other leads that can point to Suumau?"
Malley fidgeted. "Well...there is something else. It could be a good start." Sentra looked at Malley, gesturing for her to continue. "According to rumors, I'm not saying they're true, but one of the Royal Scientists had been arrested a couple of days ago."
Sentra tilted her head. "Who, exactly? I would've been the first to know." She tsked, knowing Suumau was hiding things again.
"Quarah. Quarah Ceranii."