The outside of the Iron Graveyard was a mess; the inside, more so. Piles of mud where there wasn’t any broken concrete. It slushed under my boots, threatening to crawl under the leather if I wasn’t paying attention. Beyond what I considered repairable.

  The catboy looked around for any semblance of normalcy. Donovan disappeared not long ago. The beastkin’s tail turned as his ears swirled, round and round.

  “That 1st class of yours is gone, catboy,” I responded. I watched as he stomped his feet around.

  Oh, why aren't Nya~ such an expert in observation?” He said. “That snivelling, sleight-of-hand carlatin!” He screamed. His tail swayed, “No, I shouldn’t be insulting him.”

  I didn’t have time to humour the catboy’s frivolities, “Are you done?”

  “Yeah, yes, I am,” he stopped pacing around. “Lyle, I am asking you again now that Donovan is not here. Are you sure that you are going to be okay?”

  “Of course I’m fine,” I almost scoffed. “I’m standing here, aren’t I?”

  The catboy’s ears twitched, “You do you. But now that we are out of the… car,” I heard the beastkin sigh, “we can go just about anywhere. How about you sit this one out, or at least go a little slower next time?”

  “Here you go with your rhetoric again. So, you’re telling me that I’m not capable enough?”

  “Whatever, Lyle,” just like that, he dismissed me yet again. “I’m not looking to argue with you. Only to state how I feel.”

  A sense of indignity welled up inside me, “How about you mind your own business for once?” I held back my voice. I stepped up to a challenge, yet the catboy stared me down. The sloshing through the muck was audible.

  “How about I don’t?” He challenged back, “take a look at Mud Magoo over here, lecturing when they are having enough,” he pointed at me. “Do I have to spell out what happened to you, or am I going to have to do this whole song and dance for you?”

  Mud Magoo is what I am now? From one single mishap, I went from a mad dog to a punchline in a joke.

  I tugged the collar around my neck. I scoffed at the piece of cloth during the fall. Donovan and Dolores told me about all the styles of collars that I could wear. Now that the time—

  “Back at the area with the warehouse, you remember right?” The catboy interrupted my thinking.

  “You are going to say it? Because you don’t have to,” we both knew, “I admit that I should’ve told you, but I had a duty to fulfil, and that was being by your side. The only reason why I did what I did was because… I felt off that day. Haven’t got a drop of water in me for hours. The rats exhausted me more than I was expecting.”

  “That was always a reason for pride, and how people act the way they do; isn’t there?” The catboy asked, which caught me by surprise. He looked far beyond, loomed at the wreckage of broken buildings, “I can assure you that you will find none here.”

  “If you got something to say, then spit it out,” I said, yet there wasn’t a single ear twitch from him.

  “Lyle, always quick on your quips, or lack thereof — What I meant to say is that pride is a fickle thing. Self-worth that you gain from other people, do you understand what I’m getting at?”

  I looked at him with more interest, “Don’t say that I do.

  Mekiko mentioned our feelings for each other. His statement came as no surprise. He then talked about Donovan’s outlook on me. “Fail or succeed, our opinion of you won’t change. Let go of the charade — there’s nothing for you here.”

  I scoffed, “you want me to stop because I have nothing if I succeed? This was never about that 1st class, or you in any case. I’m not letting them define me, unlike what you let them do to you, catboy. And if nobody believes in me, then why quit?” I asked him. “I’m going out on my own terms,” and make Donovan regret that he ever underestimated me.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “So, you are going through Donovan’s—”

  “I am aware of what he is planning,” I interrupted the beastkin. “I’m not changing my mind based upon the prattle he made about me in his mind. Showing him up is more than that.”

  “Doing this for revenge? Yes, I agree, from your own self pity and jealousy. That’s not how anyone gets better!”

  “Are you going to stop me if I try?” I interrupted him.

  “No, in fact, I won’t even be that upset if you do. All I will ever be is a little more annoyed for the day. Donovan would be more,” The catboy stopped. He stepped over the mud, “There will be no huge victory, big revolution, or humiliation. For all that I see is a man who asked what they could do rather than what they couldn’t.”

  The beastkin's ears twitched from the sound. A pop, like a gunshot that echoed in the sky, raging through the clouds and paradise.

  The sky turned a shade of red. A single flair soared through the sky before landing far away, leaving a pile of similarly red collared smoke.

  “That must be Donovan’s signal,” the catboy replied. “We should follow.”

  More like a call to the ever ending abyss, “yeah, let’s,” I replied while looking over the buildings. “The 1st class of yours probably killed off most of the bloody cretins, and if there’s no queens, then there’s no harm.

  We started off moving between the broken buildings, navigating under the rubble. The catboy crawled through the cracks, while I compressed my stomach to do the same. The whole section from the Iron Graveyard was a jungle made of concrete. All that guided me was the red smoke signal that loomed over the distance.

  The rubble we stood on sank from under our boots. I heard the metal creak from the pillars above, like raging giants.

  “This isn’t working,” the nyancan said.

  “What nonsense are you talking about?” I asked. “We are making progress.”

  The catboy shook his head, “Do you feel the softness of the ground? You see all those obstacles in the way? Yes, we can be there at some point, but before midnight? No, that isn’t Donovan’s intent.”

  A realization struck me, but I had to be sure, “You’re suggesting that there’s no other way?”

  The beastkin pointed to the sky. Above the towering buildings and unfinished skyscrapers, “there’s nowhere to go but up. That's how we navigate if we need to be far more agile.”

  My head swivelled up, above the buildings, twisted, like a metal canopy of trees. Nothing was initially easy. I hate how right I was.

  "You don’t have any problems with that, do you, Lyle?” he asked me out of a sense of mercy.

  I tightened my head, “There was never a problem.”

  “Of course you were going to say that… Alright, fine, do you see that fire escape over there?” He pointed at the steel ladder on the side of a brick building. “We can go up there to scout the area out.”

  I nodded. The ladder hovered above the building complex. The piece of climbable steel was the same as all the other metals, rusted and dilapidated from decades of abandonment. The easiest way was to boost the catboy up.

  “Hold on, let me lower the ladder for you,” he said.

  He crouched down before jumping. He kicked the wall while high up. The wall fluttered him further up. The beastkin’s claws punctured the bars while he supported his full weight up.

  Our eyes met, he looked down from so high up. The catboy strolled through the scaffolding. He kicked the ladder. It tumbled down, as well as the way up. He gestured for me to climb up.

  I kept myself from glaring too hard. Show off, I climbed the ladder regardless. That didn't stop me from grumbling the whole way.

  The odour of corroding metal, along with the cold touch that assaulted my senses. I pulled my full weight at the bottom to test the ladder. It creaked, but what didn't? The metal was sturdy enough. I climbed up the metal scaffolding, as well as the catboy. We went up the stairs.

  The wind whistled through my ears. I covered the constant breeze. The beastkin in front of me lowered his ears. He used his head for cover as well, but far above his head.

  Why does he get to go ahead? I’m the one who should be leading.

  My hands gripped onto the catboy’s back. I felt the primordial reaction when he flinched. I was gripping too hard. The hold in my palm lessened to more of a delicate touch. I placed both my palms on him.

  He squeaked when I made contact with the catboy, almost like he was going to meow. Even if that happened, well, that proves him right for messing with my pride.

  I resisted the urge to flick his forehead, to see if he would make the noise.

  I mustered up all the courage allotted with all the trouble he caused. “I’ll be taking the lead now. You shouldn’t cause any trouble,” I said with the gentlest voice.

  The beastkin’s face turned into various shades of red. This was normal for him. I’ve seen him act the same way before around other people, but backing away from a touch?

  Further proof that I needed to be in the lead. The catboy couldn’t handle himself overwise.

  I nodded to myself, hid the part of my face that wasn’t covered in mud. The path loomed into a single cloud of coloured smoke. Traversing across wouldn’t be too hard. Less could be said below, too much debris and obstacles.

  I’ll show them, even when the catboy, or Donovan wouldn’t respect me in the end.