Lone Adventurer

She panted, the lower oxygen amount in the cave starting to give her a headache. She was definitely not used to being in caves going lower and lower underground. She shifted pure form, it would be a little easier on her but it still was a bit of a strain. She slowed drastically, nuzzling him gently with a soft whine as the scent dwindled and exhaust settled into her body

He, seeing her exhaustion pulled her aside to keep safe and laid down, keeping her between him and the wall to make sure she was protected. And he let her sleep, they'd continue after some time to rest, they'd get accustomed to the thin air eventually.

She lay her head on him as she closed her eyes for a little bit. She wasn't used to so much traveling. When her owners had traveled she was kept in the wagon, she was treated like one of their kids and not made to walk long distances. She yawned slightly as she nuzzled against him.

"We can't rest long... we have to save her. " she said softly

He shushed her gently. "We will. But we can't do that if we're exhausted. You need your strength."

He kept her close throughout the next couple of hours. And when she woke up they were back on the trail. Until they reached a cavern of gelatinous, glowing green balls, he sniffed one curiously.

"Don't go near those." He advised.

He woke her gently and she smiled faintly, nuzzling him for a moment before they headed off again.. she tilted her head as she looked to the glowing orbs. She stepped back as she looked to him.

"What are they?" She asked curiously

"I think they're eggs." He said to her. "I've heard stories of deep-dwelling monsters made of ooze but I didn't know what to think. If we hurry through, we might be able to get out unharmed. The slime in those egg-sacks are acidic."

"Don't gotta tell me twice... " she said as she moved cautiously around the eggs, taking great care to avoid them as she looked back to him.

"A few nights ago we were exploring each other and now look at us..." she laughed, trying to lighten the mood

He chuckled at her words. "Now we're exploring caves. But all this is making me think, if someone kidnapped Kira and dragged her this far down, they are either hiding for a little while, or they live down here. Which makes me wonder how many there are. Perhaps there's a city down here, wouldn't that be something."

"Something the be afraid of..." she chuckled nervously as she moved to him, wrapping an arm around his neck, hugging him gently.... nervously before letting him go and continuing on. "I'm new to all this craziness.... "she laughed nervously again

"I can tell." He Chuckled. "Don't worry, you have a tiger with you, rawr!"

He couldn't keep himself from grinning at his terrible joke. It would have been funnier if he managed to keep a straight face, but that was impossible to accomplish.

She giggled as she looked at him, laughing. She moved to him and kissed his nose. "A big pussy cat you say?"

She scrunched up her nose with a giggle as she cuddled him, wishing none of this had happened before stepping backwards into a slightly larger room, and right into a trap. Her right leg was yanked from under her and the world lurched and suddenly she was hanging upside down, out of reach. The sudden movement made her extremely dizzy and she hung there dazed for a few moments

He rolled his eyes, tempted to spank her for her tease, but it was funny, so he let her off the hook and instead returned the hug she had offered. He had turned around to keep going when she was suddenly yanked upward by her ankle.

He turned around rapidly to see her predicament. And immediately started looking for a counterweight or something that had provided the for e necessary to pull her up so he could let her down.

She groaned slightly, the yank hadn't felt good, that was for sure and hanging there, the blood flowing to her head didn't help. She slashed at the rope, sharp claws slicing threw it and sending her to the ground with a hard thud. The pain was unbearable but she was able to hold onto her consciousness, just barely.

"That was fun...." she groaned, getting up slowly.

It would have been painful, but seeing what she was doing he put himself directly beneath her with the intent to catch her. And so he did, breaking her fall, and making it significantly less painful.

"You okay?"

She groaned slightly, her leg hurt, the one that had been trapped, at the hip but otherwise she was ok. She shifted to her pure form, she'd be able to keep some weight off the leg that way and She nuzzled him gently .

"I'm ok... let's keep going" she said before shifting, taking better care to watch where she was going this time. Her steely eyes scanned the area as they walked, leaving her hind leg off the ground every once in awhile, walking on 3 legs rather than 4 on occasion.

He looked concerned, and made sure to check if there was anything he could do to help her with her injury, but he was no healer, so there was little he could do, and simply continued to lead the way, sniffing his way forward.

It wasn't long before they entered a frankly massive cavern, littered with spiderwebs with suspended spheres of dim white glow illuminating the area. And it looked like people lived further down, but they still had a long way to go.

He said to her, "stay here and stay hidden, I'm going to see what's going on down there."

He checked on her repeatedly as they walked and she nuzzled him repeatedly everytime letting him know she was ok. It was just a strain, if it were anything sever she wouldn't be able to walk at all most likely. When he told her to stay, in the cave with the webs her heart threatened to vacate the cave all together...

"I don't want you going alone... and I don't know that I can stay here alone... this place is horrifying." She said with an extremely nervous laugh

He came over and lifted her chin to look her in the eyes. "I'm asking you to stay behind for just a little while. I'll come back, and soon, I just don't want you to be in harm's way in case something is down there that we can't handle. Please, stay here while I make sure it's safe."

She looked into his eyes and nodded softly, nuzzling him gently. She was extremely uncomfortable staying here... around these eggs and webs. The idea made her quezy to be honest but she did as she was told, slowly sitting, stretching her injured leg out slightly as she did so.

He smiled and kissed her forehead reassuringly. "I won't be long. I promise."

And so he went down. To scout out the area, coming back a half hour later to deliver his report.

"Okay, so it's a small city of people. They look human, and there appears to be a few thousand of them. It's definitely an established city. I couldn't find Kira, but by the looks of it we won't be attacked if we enter."

She smiled at the kiss, purring softly until he left. She sighed as she sat there, nervously, trying to remain patient. When he returned she jumped up and padded to him, wrapping her limbs around him gently as she buried her head in his fur

"Well. Let's go!" She said softly as he said he thought they were friendly... or at least not Hostile. She nuzzled him gently, ready to go.

He scratched her ears, and lead her forward. Into the city. They were looked upon with caution, but they weren't treated poorly. And in fact, one of the men there offered them a leash for Gaia as a way of advertising his wares, or at least hoping to catch their attention and maybe get them to buy something.

Kronus said he might come back once they were properly settled, and thanked him for the leash, before clipping it to Gaia's collar. "A pet needs a leash after all."

She smiled brightly as he clicked the leash on her collar and she walked with him happily.

"I love being your pet...." she said with a grin as they walked along. There were many interesting things here to buy and enjoy. She was totally engrossed with all the sights and smells, the horror of the spider webs having left her mind for the time being.

He actually stopped to ask about the spiderwebs, and apparently the denizens of this city had tamed giant spiders and used their luminescent silk to light their cavernous homes, and for making clothes and other necessities. In fact, as it turns out, the leash she was on was made of spider silk.

So they traveled, finding the city to be much like those on the surface, with slaves and free folk alike. Women kept as pets and put on display for sale in a very similar fashion to how Gaia had been sold.

Eventually they spied her. Kira, naked and bare, was tied to a column by white rope that could only be spider silk, and a similarly white collar looped her neck, with no real sign of it having a way to open.

"We don't have the money to buy her, we'll have to wait until she's bought, then get her when she's alone."

A growl pressed forth from her mouth as she saw Kira and moved fast to go to her, but Kronus had her leash and it stopped her from going to her. She listened to him, frowning deeper as he said they had to wait to get her.

She pulled against her leash to at least go see her, at least let her know they were there and waiting to free her