Sleep! Rest! Time to do absolutely NOTHING whatsoever! The black Khatta gets plenty of this after his big adventure in that big machine with those big lupines.

But, sleeping a long time means that you're not doing other things. So, out of necessity the Khatta at last wakes up, his stomach grumbling angrily.

He's in a nondescript chamber. Or, that is, nondescript compared to just about any other one. The usual assortment of pipes and unidentifiable vaguely mechanical knick-knacks can be found on every available surface … except for the floor, upon which there is a pile of rags in an alcove which Jynx has made into a bed.

Jynx yawns widely as he rises from the makeshift bed, awakened by the protests of his empty stomach. He tosses a few of the rags he used as a cover, stands, and begins to walk out of the cavern to any possible source of food.

Somewhere in the distance, something explodes. The usual.

The Khatta doesn't even flinch, he must be getting used to it by now.

"AIEEEEE!" A large hairy lupine goes hurtling by, followed by a few pieces of debris, easily ducked. The usual.

Jynx just rubs his eyes and keeps on going. The occasional flying wolf is nothing to be concerned about, he'll be okay as long as he lands on his head.

Finally, there's something different. An aroma. Something is cooking. It smells just like … the way Mom would cook it. In other words, not raw, and not burnt to a crisp, and not tainted with unidentified toxic substances.

Taking a big whiff, the cat seems to go into a trance-like state, ears drooping, eyes closed, and a stupid grin on his face. He follows the scent without bothering to notice where he is going.

Mmmm. Food! And … tiger stripes.

Tiger stripes? That's not right… Jynx comes back to reality, wondering what kind of food is striped…

As the vision focuses, it's more evident that the food is not striped, but rather the person holding the food is striped. There's a very big tigress with a very big grin, wearing a big (stained) apron, holding a big plate heaped high with some sort of baked pastry that involves meat in the mix. (Baked? So, these Titanians use rolling pins for something other than just husband-head-smashers.)

"For you!" growl-purrs the Tiger-Khatta.

Jynx shakes his head to force his mind to cooperate. "Oh, thanks! It smells real good." The small Khatta takes the plate, his arm nearly falling to the floor, then takes a large bite of the food-type… thing…

The Tiger-Khatta sighs dreamily. "You accepted!" she purr-growls happily.

Somewhere across the chamber, there are several shouts and howls, accompanied by some clatters and smashing noises. The usual.

Jynx, mouth full, looks up at the Tiger, "Uhm, yesh… yoo shee I wash very *GULP* hungry."

This stuff is pretty good, actually. Probably murder on one's arteries … but then, Rephidim is not exactly a society where people fret over cholesterol or even know what that is, anyway.

The black Khatta jumps at the noise, which isn't the normal bang-klang type.

The Tiger-Khatta briefly looks past Jynx, possibly at whatever is the source of the noise, but returns her attention to him. "You no regret!" She beams happily, her tail swishing back and forth.

A Vykarin lumbers by, and sniffs at the plate. Before there's time for anyone to react, the Tiger-Khatta bops him on the nose, prompting a whine and a rapid departure.

"I shouldn't think so, this stuff is great!" With that, the clueless cat takes another bite of the pastry.

"Eat! Eat! More eat, more cubs!" the Tiger-Khatta growl-purrs happily.

Somewhere behind, there are more crashing noises, and yet more yelps and howls. Actually, it sounds as if some sort of a fight has broken out. Okay, so not the usual, but not all that unusual, either.

Jynx nods, "Yes, more eat, more cu-… ," Jynx stops mid bite, "more what?"

The Tiger-Khatta nods her head rapidly, causing her frazzled head hair and top-knot to flop violently.

Suddenly, the Khatta gets sick to his stomach, the food also becoming less appetizing. "What exactly do you mean by 'more cubs'?" ( Please say she didn't make this stuff out of cubs… )

The Tiger-Khatta giggles (actually, it's, again, more like a growl), and says, "More wedding-pastry you eat, more cub you have. Old legend."

Jynx feels the pastry rising to the occasion, "Wedding pastry… ?" He stares blankly at the Tigress.

The Tigress looks at Jynx, her eyes positively sparkling. She looks as if she's restraining herself from something.

"BOOK OF WONDER!" someone shouts, followed by more crashing noises.

Jynx keeps his gaze fixed on the Tigress, slowly put the pastry down, and stands, "Well, ma'am… the, uh, food was great… but I think Rendar had some chores for em to do, soooo… Ibettergobye!" The cat turns quickly around and makes a half-walk half-sprint our the entrance.

The Tigress' expression drops. "Wait! You no finish!" She drops everything, and dashes after Jynx, making resounding thuds with each foot-fall. She's nowhere near as fast as Jynx, though.

Jynx darts this way and that, running at near full speed. o O ( One of those walker hatches would be very convenient right now… )

Going around the corner, Jynx catches a glimpse of something about his size, about his proportions, and about his fur color … and almost his speed, heading directly for him. *SLAM*

A thick book goes hurtling through the air.

"OOF!" (Jynx is getting used to saying that) The Khatta falls to the floor, eyes closed and rubbing where he got hit. "Why don't you watch where you're going?!" he says angrily.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" the other black Khatta says angrily.

That voice sounds familiar. Hmm. Maybe if it were muffled by an armored mask, it might be easier to place.

"Hey! I WAS watching wh-… " Recognition dawns, "oh no… I thought I got rid of you!!"

The female black Khatta growls back at Jynx, then clambers about, searching for the spilled book. Meanwhile, some very annoyed-looking Titanians can be seen down the walkway, running at full speed, causing it to shake viciously.

"Undisciplined infidel," the black Khatta hisses, as she grabs the tome, hops up, and resumes her mad dash away, weaving past a panting tigress.

Jynx begins to bounce up and down due to the clumsy clomping. He grabs onto a guard rail, fighting to keep from falling, although he's gotten used to that by now too. "What the-"

"Come back here!" Jynx stands up, about to pursue the ex-knight, only to see the Tigress, and decides that it'd be better to go the opposite way (which he does).

Right now, Jynx seems to be between two converging masses. One would be an enthusiastic-looking Tiger-Khatta. The other would seem to be three big, mad lupines, wielding sledgehammers.

"Black Khatta!" barks one of the lupines.

Mistaken for another black cat? Wasn't Jynx in this position once already? Now deciding that big hairy wolves with big heavy hammers, whose ambition is to smash a black Khatta's skull, might be hazardous to his well-being, the cats darts towards the Tigress, maybe he can dodge around her.

The tigress smiles widely at the sight of Jynx, and spreads her beefy arms out wide. "You come back!"

Jynx avoids the arms all together, and darts between the Tigress' legs, continuing to run. Hey, maybe being small isn't so bad after all.

The Tigress stoops down, anticipating catching Jynx, but this only serves to make her a blocking obstacle on the walkway for the charging lupines. Behind Jynx, he can hear another commotion as the groups meet each other.

Jynx winces, that couldn't have felt good. But then again, remember how these people greet each other. Now clear of his feline obstacle and lupine pursuers, the Khatta looks for the whereabouts of Blossom, but never stopping from running.

Ahead, Jynx can see a running, dark, feline form, dressed in dark garb, sprinting along a catwalk that leads to the mouth of the cavern. She's not going very fast, and Jynx is sure to catch up soon … but she reaches the end of the catwalk first … and drops right off the edge, out of sight!

Jynx skids to a halt right where Blossom goes over, and peers unbelievingly down to her drop.

As Jynx peers over, he's hit in the face with a gust of hot (but not scalding) steam, obscuring his vision. His ears are filled with a loud buzzing sound from below.

Howls and barks emit from all around the cavern, and Jynx can feel several projectiles whistle past his head, nearby, impacting against various hard surfaces beyond.

Whoa! Forget doing THAT. Jynx looks for another way down, but then remembers the wolves. ( Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained… ) The Khatta steps to the side of the catwalk, says a quick prayer, then leaps over the side.

The Khatta doesn't fall far before impacting a solid surface. *THUD* This solid surface vibrates below him, and suddenly he has the sensation of very rapid movement.

Jynx crouches low just in case this thing speeds up. He gazes back up at the catwalk, looking for the wolves, then back down for any sign of Miss Personality.

As the steam clears, Jynx is able to piece together his surroundings … He's on some sort of vibrating contraption that looks like a gigantic insect with extremely rapidly flapping wings – so rapid that they're just a blur. The back of the "bug" serves as some sort of deck, and the "head" contains the helm. Currently, a certain female black Khatta is at the controls.

The catwalk isn't in sight. It's back there, somewhere, in that cavern. The ground is getting more distant, below.

Jynx tries to be unnoticeable, and looks for any sign of the book that these lupines cherish so much. He fight back the urge just to walk up to Blossom and slug her.

The book is plainly visible, right behind the seat where the female black Khatta is currently perched. It's heavy enough that she must not have felt the need to secure it just yet.

With as much stealth as he can muster, Jynx sneaks towards the book. Hopefully this monstrosity is noisy enough that he won't be noticed.

Jynx's stealth is somewhat taxed by the vibrations of the craft, which seem to be coaxing his breakfast to come out for a breath of fresh air, but the noise certainly does wonders for covering his approach. Furthermore, the controls of this craft look particularly complex, and the pilot intent upon them, making constant adjustments as the giant bug darts up and down and changes course.

Jynx bends slowly down towards the book, prepared to snatch it. As for getting off this thing once he's done that, he has yet to ponder.

The book offers no resistance, other than its sheer weight. With some effort, it's in the black Khatta's (that is, the male black Khatta named Feli Kurai, also known as Jynx) possession.

Well, that went without much incident. Now that he has the book, Jynx tip-toes to the back of the ship, looking for a way off (preferably a safe way).

As Jynx looks over … it becomes even more evident just how high the craft is off the ground. Very high. Not that Jynx hasn't been up in the air before, but this machine doesn't have the benefit of a nice hydrogen envelope or hot air balloon to keep it up. And the way it vibrates so … and the way smoke is starting to pour out of one of the hatches, prompting some growling from the pilot … This just isn't all that reassuring.

Jynx hmmms. Nope, he sees no reassurance, nor does he see a way off. The cat decides that he should hide, so at least miss psycho kitty driver here doesn't see him and decide to claw his eyes out. He looks for any possible candidates for hiding places.

That's one thing this craft lacks, among many other things – anywhere to hide. Well, maybe if the Khatta climbed over the tail and dangled precariously from the underside of the craft, he might be able to avoid being seen. Of course, the wisdom of that suggestion could be left as an exercise for the reader…

Jynx grimaces, and reaches the same conclusion most of the readers would probably get. Completely at a loss, the cat just stands there, facing towards the other Khatta.

The female black Khatta wrestles with the controls, sending the craft lurching. STANDING there is probably not a good idea…

Currently, the craft is veering westward, bringing it on a course with the mountains … the mountains that house that weird Forbidden Zone Jynx got a glimpse of earlier. Given how much the pilot is wrestling with the controls, maybe that's not the intended destination.

Jynx nearly stumbles, but regains his balance just in time. Heaving a deep sighs, he yells to the pilot, "Hey Ace! Need any help before we both die a fiery death?"

The pilot lets out a screech as she almost leaps in her seat, then turns around in the seat to look at Jynx. This was not a good move. The whole craft tips to one side.

Jynx urks. No, that's definitely not a destination in his travel plans any time soon. The Khatta runs up to the diver's controls, and tries to get a good look at them.

"Ack!" Jynx claws falls flat, and digs his claws into the floor of the ship.

The ship tips the other way, then back again, then finally rights. More smoke erupts from another hatch in the craft, and the female black Khatta is leaning over the "dash" trying to reach it.

As soon as the world stops spinning, Jynx gets back on to his feet. "Tell me what to do!"

The feline looks back at Jynx, then says, "Open that hatch back there and don't burn yourself! Tighten the valve and … ohhhhh! I HATE machines!"

Jynx blinks, and shrugs. He runs to the indicated hatch, and before opening it, looks for something to shield his paws from being burned.

Unfortunately, this time there are no rags or gloves laying about conveniently.

Jynx frowns, but then gets an idea. He pulls the sleeve of his shirt down aroundhis paw, forming a makeshift covering, and tries to open the hatch.

The hatch pops open, revealing a tube that is spewing out a spray of some sort of foul liquid, which is in turn hitting what looks like a fairly hot piece of metal (!) and causing the smoke. There's a valve handle on the pipe, currently turned parallel to the direction of the pipe.

Jynx gulps, and pulls a bit more fabric down to shield his paw. He grabs the handle, and pulls it as hard as he can.

The mountains are getting much closer. Just over the peaks, a bright pink glow can be seen, peeking past.

The handle turns until it stops, and the spray of fluid stops as well.

Jynx closes the hatch, hoping that was all that needed to be done. He turns back around to see how Blossom is doing at the controls.

The ex-knight must have taken care of the other source of smoke, and is now wrestling with the controls again. They are certainly nothing so simple as, say, a steering wheel. But the craft IS turning…

Jynx suddenly remembers who he's with, and his brow furrows, "So, still up to your cat-burglaring? Where did you plan on going anyway? And you better take me back!!"

"Back?" the cat girl hisses. "Far from it! We're headed for Blitzheim. Now give me back that book!"

"Yes back!!" The cat boy hisses in return. He holds the book out over the side of the craft, "Or say goodbye to this thing!" ( Blitzheim? )

The female Khatta straps herself back into her seat. "How about if I do a barrel roll and dump you off? And then I'll just land and pick up the book. It's very durable, you know, barring explosions. The Temple only makes the best."

Jynx undoes the clasp of the tome, and grabs a few of the pages, "Then on my way down, I'll just have to tear out some of the leaves! It'll give me something to do during the trip!"

Jynx adds a "you know," for emphasis.

"NOOOO!" screams the cat-girl, and she hastily unstraps the harness … and leaps out of the seat, flailing for Jynx and the book.

Jynx jumps back, holding the book up as high above Blossom's reach as he can. He spies the controls, which are no longer manned, er, catted. "Uhh, shouldn't someone be driving?" he yells.

The bug-craft is slowly turning its "nose" downward, building up speed toward the ground. "Hand over that book IMMEDIATELY!" the she-cat shrieks.

"If you don't get back to driving, there won't be a book left to give you! Or much of a hand for that matter!" yells Jynx, fighting to keep balanced.

"Better than to have it fall into the hands of the infidels!" screams the cat-girl, still flailing for the book, her own balance a bit lacking.

Jynx begins to sweat. Finally he just drops the book and runs to the controls, trying to imitate what the ex-knight was doing earlier to keep the craft aloft.

"ACK! No! Don't hit the – " The world flips.

The world then spins a bit for good measure.

After a few more stomach-churning lurches, though, the craft rights itself … just in time for Jynx to see a jumble of scraggly trees ahead.

Jynx holds on to the controls dearly, afraid he may fall out. "Well, if you're so good at it, get over here!!!"

Jynx oh boys… but hasn't a clue on how to steer this thing.

The female Khatta just shrieks – as the insect-craft plows into the trees, its wings not slicing through shrubbery, but breaking apart in the process. Several flips and tumbles follow.

Jynx holds on to the straps, clawing into them, since he forgot to put them on.

Impact. Ouch. Lights out.

…

Lights on. Jynx sees several big smelly lupines peering down at him. "He live!" "Course he live. No smell dead."

Jynx just lays there, trying to prove to himself that he's not dead.

The black Khatta aches all over. But at least nothing feels broken. Maybe. Okay, so it DOES feel like every bone in his body has been turned to powder.

Jynx looks up at the odorous wolves standing around him, "Ugh, where am I?"

"Ohhhhh!" A worried-looking tigress looms in view. "You save him!" She rushes in, grabbing up the "little Khatta" in a grip that surely would break any bones that weren't broken before. Pain.

"URGK!" Jynx feels as though he were just placed inside a giant vice, all the air being pushed from his lungs. He struggles to escape the massive Tigress's embrace.

One of the wolves barks, "You home now. All safe. Bring back Book of Wonder, too. You hero! Have feast in honor."

Jynx would reply, but is somewhat preoccupied. ( No! No more feasts!!! When will I wake up?! This is a nightmare!! )

The wolves roughly heft up the black Khatta, prying him momentarily from the embrace of the Tiger-Khatta, and haul him along, while some others are carrying parts of what used to be that "bug-ship" he was riding in earlier. There's no sign of a certain other black Khatta.

( I feel like a party favor! ) Jynx looks down at the wolf, "You didn't *ouch* see where the other *ACK* Khatta went, did you?"

The wolf says, "Nuh uh. No see thief."

Jynx sighs, and just allows himself to be taken along, too tired to fight back.