Resistance

Enter the Resistance! - Part 2

From there, their meeting concluded, both Cai and Syrus going their separate ways, heading home.

Everything would begin in the early hours of the following morning.

For Syrus, he waited until he saw the earliest signs of sunlight before carefully creeping out of his room and peeking down the hallway.

Expectedly, it was a bit dark, but Syrus had no problems with seeing in the dark, and so, he crept down the hall quietly, past Taharo's room closest to the stairs, and eventually down them.

To his surprise, his ears perked at the sounds he heard coming from the living room, a slight bit of panic prickling at his chest...Could Taharo have woken up early today? It was unlike him though, and Syrus thought to try and sneak past the living room...But something had him making his way over to the doorway, and he looked inside.

Other than a few personal items, such as pictures placed carefully along the shelves lining the walls, there wasn't much.

A single recliner stood somewhat towards the center of the room, where Taharo seemed to be sitting...And as Syrus crept closer, it soon became apparent that he was asleep, the television not too far away in front of him still flicked on.

There wasn't anything particularly interesting on. Never really was, given their closed off circumstances. No news, no shows...Syrus was certain Taharo just liked the background noise. In fact, Syrus was sure Taharo had probably been watching TV late last night, and just conked out like that after some time passed.

He couldn't suppress the small sigh that escaped him, fetching a blanket before carefully draping it over the sleeping Taharo, and finally taking his leave of the house.

From there, it would be a long, long walk towards his destination well beyond the walls of the city.

No doubt he would get in serious trouble if he was caught, but Syrus wasn't necessarily worried about that.

The sun just rose higher and higher the more Syrus traversed throughout the dense forest beyond the city, but it was difficult to tell what the time was past the thick foliage overhead...However, there came a point where the trees began to thin out, the ground raising ever so slightly, more and more as he continued on, until the forest broke up, revealing a steep, mountainside rock-face.

From where he was now, he could easily make his way up the path, but the more he ascended, the thinner the path became.

Looking down, he was aware the dense forest was below, but it would have been difficult to see any of it past the dense fog that swirled over the forest.

Almost as though you were above the very clouds themselves. If he were to take a tumble here, it wouldn't be a pretty picture.

The scent of moisture, and the sound of rushing water became more and more apparent to Syrus as he pressed on, knowing he was incredibly close, and with good timing too. As he expected, it was just about noon when he reached a point on the incline that went just behind the falls, the heavy sound of rushing water drowning almost everything else out.

Truthfully, he was still hesitant about all of this, worrying that he was exposing his comrades to unneeded danger...But if they could succeed...It would just be one step closer towards helping put a stop to all of this.

One step at a time, no matter how small.

Hardening his resolve, Syrus shook his head to clear it of any further doubts, returning his gaze to the path ahead.

It was difficult to see anything past the fog that accumulated at this point, but if Syrus looked hard enough, he could see the darkened outline of a crevice within the rock-face...However, it was just then, that he realized something was wrong.

The others...Weren't anywhere in sight.

It was the first warning sign, as they always made sure to make their timing with such things impeccable.

Even as he waited another minute or two, they still didn't arrive, and that small sense of worry within Syrus' chest only began to rise more and more.

He brought his attention to the cavern ahead, peeking inside.

Surely they wouldn't have gone ahead, would they...?

No, they never did anything outside of the plan...Syrus was nearly certain of that.

Worst case scenario already forming in his mind, Syrus' fur prickled as he felt as though he heard something, his gaze flicking over his shoulder back to the slim pathway just behind him.

...Surely it wasn't his imagination.

A slight, inconstant sound...Footsteps.

Somehow, Syrus' gut told him it was neither Cai, nor Aaron, yet there wasn't anywhere to hide like this. He was a sitting duck...Or cat, he supposed??

However...Perhaps the fact that he couldn't see well past the fog gave him an advantage, because even if he couldn't see...He could hear, smell. That alone would give him a bit more of an edge compared to whoever was creeping their way up the path.

He crouched down low, body taut, ears swiveled in the direction of the sound as he strained to listen.

Footsteps...They grew louder with each passing moment, and once Syrus felt as though the timing was right, he pounced, pinning the hapless man to the ground.

Bright, red hair, but it wasn't Cai's, and Syrus' pupils immediately narrowed into slits as he plucked out a dagger he kept concealed within his boot, pressing it against the man's throat.

"Don't move or I'll slit your throat faster than you can squeal." He hissed, his fingers digging into the back of the man's head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, dearie." A familiar, feminine voice spoke up, causing Syrus to freeze, his heart immediately dropping.

Having come from within the cavern itself, a group of men lead by a singular, rather fit woman with a sneering expression emerged.

Her hair was ridiculously long, even as it was put up, confident, icy blue eyes fixating on him with a smug grin along her lips.

Even her choice in apparel could hardly be considered feminine as she sported a loose, black tank top, and olive colored cargo's, thick, brown combat boots tapping against the ground ever so slightly. This woman was a she-devil, as Syrus liked to think of her. She was one of the top ranking Diou officers, well known for her outrageous, physical prowess. She hardly needed to rely on whatever magic and wizardry she was capable of.

"...Sydel." The name escaped Syrus with a sharp hiss, ears flattening against his head as his tail lashed against the ground, to which her icy blue eyes narrowed in amusement.

"Is little kitty still playing renegade?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side just so. "You better be careful of what kind of games you play, dearie." She hummed. "Someone could get hurt, after all." She added in, jerking her chin to the side a bit, and in response, two men dragged something out from within the cavern before tossing it to the ground with a dull thud.

Syrus' eyes followed that something, feeling as though it was in slow motion.

...Aaron.

He was pretty banged up, and unconscious, to boot. Even if he tried to run, that would be impossible as more of them came up from the opposite side, further down the pathway in which he came from.

Syrus got the memo, clicking his tongue as he tossed his dagger over the edge of the cliff and stepped away from the solider...But not before at least getting in one good kick to the man's side.

Satisfaction, at the very least, before he was pinned and cuffed in an instant.

The cuffs themselves were made out of a strange material, glowing with peculiar, indecipherable markings. No doubt they were infused with their vile magic.

"That's a good kitty." Sydel grinned, satisfied in how things were going. "Hard to believe you fell into such a trap...Or well, I suppose it was your little friend over here that slipped up first." She grinned, clearly gloating over her little 'victory'. "Bring them."

Syrus would let her live it up, already thinking of what to do next as he was hauled to his feet and shoved forward...Rather, he already noticed something promising about this situation.

Cai didn't appear to have been captured...Unless he was already being kept in their camp below, but if that wasn't the case...There might have still been hope for them yet.

All he could do was bank his hopes on Cai's intervention as the two were hauled into the cavern leading to the camp below.