— Aster —

I jumped at the loud noise, and confetti letting out an unintelligible, “Wha”

“So which room did you get to? Third right?” Jane had a huge grin, but I could only wonder when she put up the banner.

I nodded. “Yeah. How’d you know.”

“About a quarter make it to that room, but most screw up in the second hall or drop the key when they get scratched.” She saw the claw marks on my hands. “Well, you don’t have to worry about those.” Pointing to the marks on my hands. She gestured toward the crystal by the bed. It was a large blood-red crystal, oddly I didn’t feel any fear, only a sense of comfort. When did they bring that in? The scratches on my hands slowly closed until a few little lines of pink skin were visible. It didn’t feel like mana healing, where it was like a fire beneath your skin. Just kind of itched a little.

“So how many tries does it normally take?” Curious about the answer.

“Hard to say…” Jane seemed to think on this before answering. “I’d say between ten and forty”

“Ten to forty? Seriously?”

“Yeah. It’s because you have to figure out how to get the key before scaring the cat.” With a smug expression, she spoke. “I only took twenty-three times. Don’t get discouraged no matter how many tries it takes.”

My face fell.

She caught the look on my face and smiled. “It will be over before you know it. So get back out there and good luck.” She then pushed me back into the hall.

Stepping back into the first room, I threw caution to the wind. Casually walking up to the “Cat” easily grabbing the key. In the second hall I was a little more cautious but still ended up pulling the key over its head, trying not to get scratched, with mixed results.

I made it back to the third room in no time at all. This time I looked up. It took a moment for me to see the "Cats" tail swinging across one of the shelves. Its odd puppet-like motion was slightly unsettling.

Now, how do I get up there? Searching the room, I found a small stool just tall enough to get me to the shelf. I poked my head overlooking up onto the shelf when I noticed it was awake and scanning the room. I must have barely missed its notice. I ducked down under the shelf as its gaze drifted over to me.

I waited a few seconds before I popped my head back up and saw its gaze in the other direction. Seeing my chance, I pounced catching it off guard. It did not like me, but I was able to grab the key without losing too much skin. Slightly bloody, I made my way to the next room.

This time instead of a hall, I was in a dining room. Plates, vases filled with water, and flowers were everywhere. It looked fancy, at least by my own standards. I stayed at the entrance scanning the room. The sound of breaking glass made me jump. Another crash could be heard in the room. At the third crash, I finally located the source I saw the "Cat" walking and knocking over plates.

The "Cat" jumped to the lower table, causing the table cloth to slide knocking over the glassware shattering all over the ground. The "Cat' straightened itself as though nothing happened, then went back to prowling around the room with no real purpose.

Seeing the "Cat" didn’t seem to mind the loud noises, I casually moved into the room, with a crunch under my foot. The "Cat" looked up at the sound. Then bolted from the room. “Rot!

With nothing else to do, I walked over to the door to read the plaque.

Rule No. 4

Cats are curious.

“I would say that was more destruction than curiosity.” I was now alone in the room surrounded by shattered glass. I wondered why it was just destroying everything. There had to be a reason, it looked like it was following something. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement from something green. I couldn’t tell what it was but it was moving erratically around the room like a butterfly. Was that what it was chasing?

Not being able to do anything else, I made my way back to start.

Entering the starting room Jane excitedly asked. “What room? What room?”

“Fourth” Why is she so obsessed with my progress?

“Ah. So you didn’t fall for the ladder then?” Jane sounded slightly disappointed.

There was it a ladder? “Kind of.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just try to get farther this time. Don’t forget, you have what it takes to make it through all of them.”

“Yeah?” Did I look like I was going to give up?

To avoid the awkward situation, I went back out to the hall easily passing the first three rooms without any issues. In the fourth room, I sat at the door to observe. The “Cat” had started in a different place but had the same pattern knocking everything down. Since I knew where to look, it only took a few moments to locate the green... A moth, is that a moth?’

After observing its movements for a while, I had a promising idea of what to do. Being careful of the broken glass and ceramics, I crept up to the cat. I thought I had a good plan, but then the "Cat" suddenly changed directions noticing me. As soon as it saw me it panicked and ran. This happened four separate times.

On one run-through, I was so frustrated I screwed up in the first room. Grabbing the cat wrong, there were a few scratches.

Finally, on the fifth try, a light-bulb went off. This time I hid behind a box in the corner of the room and grabbed one of the flowers. I moved it around to get its attention.

It did not take long, soon the crashing sounds stopped, and I could almost feel the “Cats” gaze on the flower. Slowly, the “Cat” approached my little lure. I lunged grabbing the key, breaking the string holding it around its neck. In its panicked run, the "Cat" broke even more glass.

Taking my victory, I made my way to the next room. Opening the door to the next room I froze. What was in front of me was a forest, trees, and even a small stream. The air had even changed to a humid jungle. It was like I was teleported to the middle of a small forest. I could just barely see the other side of the room about a hundred yards from the entrance. I could see the plaque but couldn't quite make it out. I wonder. I pushed more mana through my eye circuit, bringing the plaque into focus. Even with the enhanced vision, I was just barely able to make it out. Reading it gave me chills.

Rule No. 5

Cats are Predators

A low growl came from my left. Instinctively, I rolled into the bushes. I felt the air swoosh above my head. I rolled deeper into the bush trying to get away, from whatever it was. Coming to a stop, I did my best impression of a bush. I listened as something padded by.

When it was all quiet, I finally worked up the courage to search for...whatever that was.

Cautiously, I made my way out of the bush trying to find it, but even with intense searching, I couldn’t even spot a trace of the source. That was until the “Cat” moved in front of me. I was terrified by the enormous creature. A massive black panther with a key around its neck. How in blighted lands am I supposed to get that?

The panther was prowling through the bushes, looking for me.

I had to force myself to calm down and assess the situation. The panther was between me and the door. No way to get past without being seen. All I could do was wait.

After what felt like forever, the panther seemed to give up and went to sleep in a tree.

Why would it give up? Then I remembered. ‘Cats are lazy’ and that is just a big cat. I needed to use this opportunity. I crept toward the panther, making no sound, except for the war drum of my heart. Instead of climbing the tree to risk alerting it, I climbed the adjacent tree.

The key was attached slightly differently to this “Cat”. Instead of being fully attached to the collar, it was on a hook attached to the stone panther's neck.

My head dropped when I noticed I was just a few feet short of the collar. I was already precariously perched on a branch that I didn’t fully trust. Risking breaking the branch, I moved forward until I could just barely reach the key. I wasn’t even breathing for fear the panther would wake up. Stretching ever closer my fingers brushed against the key. That push was just enough to knock it off the hook, falling toward the ground.

The world stilled, moving only when the key landed blade side down. Making no sound. “Si…” An audible sigh almost left my mouth before I caught it. That would not have been good.

I shimmied back down the tree, being careful not to ruffle the leaves, or make any sounds. My foot touched the ground, and I heard a snap that made my heart drop. What was worse was that it wasn’t from me. It was from behind me. I only had one thought, I was upwind, wasn’t I?

The thought of hiding downwind didn’t even occur to me. Cutting my losses I jumped toward the key, grabbed it, and ran to the door. Without thought I opened the door faster than I thought possible, slamming the door behind me. The door bowed inward but held, as the panther crashed into it. I feel to my butt just trying to breathe.