SaltySiamese chattered as she took up her position, "How can I tell how long this transformation will last? It says I'm still an elf on my character description! I only get sharp ears and night vision? Oh, nope, a claw swipe attack! What does poise do?"
Danika looked up at that last question and wondered if it meant that SaltySiamese had also obtained the subpath of the Way of the Cat.
The elder made his way elegantly along the top of the nearest wall to the cliff face, and then navigated several nearly invisible ledges until he was seated on a wider ledge positioned directly across the courtyard from SaltySiamese. He sat and said disapprovingly, "A cat does not need to speak all of its thoughts. Are you ready?"
"No," SaltySiamese replied bluntly. "First I need to figure out a cool pose!" She adjusted her position several times until she was neatly aligned while staring across the narrow courtyard at the scraggle eared elder. Their positions were closer together than in the previous contests.
"Now?" asked the sarcastic voice of the little cat who had lead them from its position below.
"She still has to remove her gear," reminded the tortoiseshell cat who had given ZipZing her initial instructions.
"My clothes are," SaltySiamese began to object and then stopped. Then she said, "Oh, I see, I'm still wearing my storage band and my rings." She unfolded her claws and delicately removed the magically shrunken rings and the band from her right front leg. "Catch!" she shouted as she shoved them carelessly over the edge after completing her careful motions.
Several of the watching cats twitched as the rings bounced down into the courtyard, and even the elder's gaze followed them briefly. SaltySiamese resumed her 'cool' pose and announced, "Ready!"
The elder met her gaze with the same indifferent stare that he'd used against each of them. A minute later SaltySiamese cursed and demanded, "What is with the difficulty level in this mini-game!?"
"Mini-game? You're on your phone?" Danika replied unthinkingly.
"Yeah," SaltySiamese answered instantly. "You guys seemed to be at a disadvantage on the game systems that can track your eye movements, so I switched!"
Silvam muttered quietly, "I'm kind of impressed she's managed to keep going this long then, the vision lock mini-games are tough."
"She's going to win," Danika predicted with amazement.
Silvam, Kit and the silver cat turned their gazes toward ZipZing incredulously, but Shrubbery had played other games with SaltySiamese like Danika had, and she laughed and agreed, "She might! Go Salty, you can do it!"
At first the intensity and volume of SaltySiamese's curses increased, but as the minutes passed she grew silent. More minutes crept across a silent courtyard with immobile cats who watched intently as the elder gazed across the gap at the small siamese who stared back at him with wide intent eyes. Finally, the elder blinked and looked away.
"Very well, SaltySiamese, I will teach you my ultimate skill," the elder declared simply.
"No way!" protested the little cat doubtfully.
"Yes! I won! Hahaha! I told you I could win!" SaltySiamese exclaimed as though she was dancing around in joy, but her little siamese cat form simply sat there in the same pose it had maintained for the entire contest.
"A true cat knows when they will win," the silver cat said casually to the little cat as his form shimmered and he expanded into his usual leopard form.
Danika, Kit, and Shrubbery all congratulated SaltySiamese, but Silvam asked curiously, "Are you a pro-gamer?"
SaltySiamese finally moved, and she answered as she clumsily hopped down. "Nope, I'm in University right now. Gaming's not really a reliable career, even if ZipZing was kind of making it work."
"Hey, only kind of?" Danika complained as she handed the rings she'd collected back to SaltySiamese.
"Well, I guess you're doing OK now that you're in development," SaltySiamese conceded.
The elder made his way neatly down to the courtyard floor beside them, and landed with a huff. He walked over to SaltySiamese and smacked her in the head with a heavy paw.
"Hey!? Are you trying to kill me!?" SaltySiamese protested as the soft chime of a skill learned sounded to her party members. Her health really did drop another 20% though.
"You can practice now," the elder stated calmly. He turned and glared at the leopard who was nearly three times his size.
"No," the leopard said smugly.
"You are needed!" protested the elder.
The leopard who was and yet still wasn't the King of Cats met his eyes calmly, and said nearly silently in cat, "Not yet."
"Aren't you supposed to save the world according to the sand cats?" Danika asked him dryly.
"You can do it," he replied with an indifferent yawn. Silvam actually giggled, and Danika turned to glare at her. "Probably," he added.
Kit Tay asked SaltySiamese, "What did you learn?"
"Ultimate Cat Nap," SaltySiamese replied. "I guess it's not too bad either. Even at the first level it seems almost as good as a health potion for boosting recovery speed per minute." She closed her eyes and sat quietly for a minute after answering. Her health began to increase noticeably.
"Not too bad?!" protested the elder. "Why that skill has let me survive until I am already 99! I will get my second tail soon!"
The leopard huffed and looked like he was laughing a cat's laugh. The elder turned his back on him and climbed back up to sit on the ledge he'd occupied when they had first arrived.
--
They didn't go back through the cats-only tunnels, they went over the wall, and found themselves in a small private garden within the human capital. Danika turned back and said, "I guess it'll be a lot easier to get there a second time."
"No," the leopard disagreed as they all snuck out the side gate.
"No?" asked SaltySiamese doubtfully? "It looks really easy to find to me."
"Already moved," he stated as he gazed with interest at the ice cream a child was eating, where it sat on a step across the street.
Danika zipped upward and looked back over the wall they'd just crossed. The little courtyard was empty, and the tunnel entrance they'd entered it through had been replaced by a drain grate. When she turned back both SaltySiamese and the leopard were licking the child's ice cream while it giggled and shouted, "Big kitty! Little kitty!"
"Really?" Danika asked them.
"Hey, who knows how long I have as a cat," SaltySiamese protested.
Shrubbery snickered and said, "Come on, I'll buy you each your own bowl."
"How long will it last?" Danika asked Silvam.
"I should know?" she questioned in return.
"Your 'God' won't tell you?" Danika asked teasingly.
"Oh, maybe," Silvam agreed seriously. She walked over to SaltySiamese and bent to place her hand on the little cats head. "Diagnose," she stated as though it were a spell's incantation. A moment later she straightened and then swiped at an invisible menu screen.
"What does it say?!" SaltySiamese demanded.
"It's not really very useful, it just says that it's a skill's effect," Silvam explained.
"None of my skills say that they will turn me into a cat," SaltySiamese objected.
The leopard huffed and said, while gazing at ZipZing, "All paths require practice."
"Hey, I practiced the only skill I can use as a fairy dragon," Danika objected.
"There should always be at least three, because it takes three to advance," Silvam said thoughtfully. "I need to check and see if you just missed something or if the path is broken. See you next time," she declared as she logged out.
"Oh no! I didn't realize it was so late!" Kit vanished a moment later.
"I hope she won't be late for work," Shrubbery commented.
"Ice cream," the leopard reminded her.
Shrubbery laughed.
--
After Danika logged out for the night she didn't go right to sleep, she read Shinichi's abbreviated and tired sounding message about his day and wrote a longer one in reply. She told him about the laziest King of Cats and their experience with the cat elder's quest.