Chapter 2 Morning arrived on the surface of the world and Yliakum\'s caverns were slowly filling with light. Moogie watched the thin strips of sunshine that penetrated the room through the gap in the curtains as they travelled across the opposite wall and down, gradually, towards the floor. The young feline sat up, carefully swung her legs to the edge of the bed and sat for a second, listening to the quietness of the room. She lifted herself silently onto her feet and made her way towards the window, where she gingerly opened the curtains and let the light flood the room freely. The brightness overwhelmed her for a second and she turned away, shielding her eyes from it. However, she soon adjusted, and turned to gaze out of the window.
The view from the bedroom was uninspiring, to say the least. It seemed to overlook some kind of alley between two brick buildings. It was dark and very dirty down there, with old muddy newspapers fluttering in the wind and overflowing garbage bins lining either building wall. At the end of the alley, Moogie could see a small piece of the cobble road that ran alongside the houses and the occasional citizen who could be seen passing the alley. The grey sky above promised a day of drizzly rain. Unimpressed, she turned from the window and was startled to see a tall figure standing in the doorway of the room. She squealed and jumped back in fright; she had not heard him enter at all! However, the stranger did not react like she, instead he stood in place with a somewhat suprised expression on his face. He was an Enkidukai like herself, with short, well-groomed fur. He was a dazzling mix of white and brown, with streaks of black hair something akin to the patterns of a tiger. He was half-dressed in some sort of uniform; heavy black boots, a chestplate with a strange runic symbol in its center and large black pauldrons weighing down on his shoulders. Behind him, a thick black cloak reached towards his feet. His hands and lower arms were gloved in black leather. Moogie suddenly noticed his keen blue eyes fixed on hers, silently apologetic for startling her so. He bowed his head respectfully.
\"Oh, I am deeply sorry, my lady. I had no idea you were awake already.\" His voice was deep, but smooth. He glanced her over, as if gauging her condition, as he pulled at each heavy glove in turn and removed his paws from them. Moogie stood with her weight against the wall, one arm propping her up and keeping her balanced. She wore very little- a thin silk nightdress that reached just past her ankles, hanging by two delicate straps over her shoulders. She became aware of this as she followed his eyes down her body and grabbed the quilt from the bed, holding it up to her neck. \"Are you feeling okay? You were in a terrible state when I found you.\"
\"Who are y-you?\" Moogie demanded. She appeared flustered for having been caught with so little dressing infront of a stranger. \"Where am I? What happened? I don\'t remember anything, I-\"
\"Shh, calm down... it\'s okay.\" The male intervened. He walked forward a couple of steps, but stopped as he saw the distress in the girl\'s eyes. \"...It must have been four days ago now. I was on my routine patroll of the woodlands just north of here and...\"
\"North of here? Where is here?\" She questioned. \"Wait... tell me who you are first. What\'s your name?\" The feline raised his hands in submission.
\"Okay, okay.\" He took a deep breath to slow her down. Moogie fixed her eyes on the Enkidukai, begging impatiently for answers. \"Firstly, my name\'s Draklar. We\'re currently in the city of Hydlaa, capital of the Taladian empire. To the north there\'s a large area of forest- that\'s where I found you. Man, you were almost dead... infact, when I first saw you lying there I feared the worse.\" He explained solemnly. His eyes showed genuine concern, which eased the female somewhat, however she was still burning with questions. Before she could ask, though, a sudden wave of giddiness overcame her and she nearly toppled over, had Draklar not been there to dash forward, as he did, and grab the young Enkidukai\'s arms. He guided her to the bedside and released her gently as she sat herself down.
\"I\'m sorry... I guess I did get up a little too quickly...\" Moogie sighed.
\"It\'s okay,\" the male replied. \"You just lay yourself down here for a while and I\'ll go fetch you something to drink.\" He peered at her one last time before he stood up and made his way to the door.
\"Draklar?\" Her voice caught him just in time and he looked over his shoulder towards the bed. \"Thank you...\" She smiled weakly. He returned a warm-hearted grin before exiting the room and pulling the door shut gently.
It was only a few minutes before the feline returned with a tall glass of milk for his unwell guest. Moogie, who had been resting as instructed, sat up again at his arrival. Draklar carefully sat down on the edge of the bed and handed her the glass. She took it from him with a quiet \'thank you\' and began sipping.
\"Tell me,\" She spoke, resting the drink on her lap for a second. \"That symbol on your chest... I think I\'ve seen it somewhere before. What is this uniform...?\" Moogie looked at him questioningly. The tigerstriped male looked down proudly at his armour and touched the symbol with a hand, tracing it\'s perimeter with his paw.
\"It\'s the crest of my guild,\" He explained, a keen sparkle in his eyes. \"The Defenders. I\'m its founder, its leader. We keep trouble off the streets and assist businesses and organisations in defending themselves from attacks. We also keep the monsters out of the cities for as long as the authorities keep us paid.\" Draklar winked at the girl and smiled. Hearing this eased Moogie\'s mind further. She was in good company, if nothing else. But there was something she still did not understand. Staring at the bed, she tried to remember what had happened to her before this day, but nothing came but that same pain and flash of light that she had seen in her dream. Her worry showed on her face as she began speaking.
\"You say you found me in that forest... had I been attacked? I don\'t remember anything before this day...\" She frowned. The male leaned towards her a little, a worried expression crossing his face.
\"You remember nothing at all?\"
\"Nothing. I... I don\'t know who I am, or where I live, much less how I got to be attacked in a forest and nearly...\" Tears began welling in her eyes and she closed them, embarrassed by her weakness. She took a deep breath and sighed.
\"It\'s probably just amnesia, I\'m sure it\'ll clear up soon...\" Draklar placed a paw on Moogie\'s shoulder to comfort her. \"Don\'t let it worry you. What\'s important now is, you\'re alive, and you\'re recovering pretty quickly. Listen,\" He said, glancing at the clock. \"I have to get going, I\'ve got an important guild meeting to attend and... well you know... it\'s bad etiquette for a leader to be late for his own meetings.\" Moogie smiled at him.
\"Of course, you should go now. I think I\'ll be fine.\" Draklar bowed his head once more before getting up. He began putting his gloves on again as he left the room.
\"I\'ll be back in about two hours. I\'ll bring you some food and a change of clothes... feel free to go downstairs if you wish, I live alone here so nobody\'ll get in your way. Bye!\" He called over his shoulder. Moogie nodded to herself absently. More questions were now floating around in her head than before she had talked to this male. What was she doing in the forest alone? What had attacked her, and why did it leave her to die? Where did she even come from? No answers would come on their own and Moogie sighed again defeatedly.
The feline finished her glass of milk and held the empty container in her paws. Outside, she could hear the rain begin to fall, splashing against the windowpane.
[Edited: \"Bad etiquette\" sentence altered, didn\'t actually say
what was bad etiquette for a leader.
]
[Edited #2: Draklar\'s eyes are blue, not green!]
