He decided to rest, turning his head into the cave for comfort. This shift in posture allowed him to catch sight of an eerie anomaly—the glint of twin orbs buried in the shadowed recesses of the cave.
These eyes did not belong to man and instead bore similarities to that of a reptilian: blood-red, vertical, and slit-shaped pupils bearing unknown intent.
Additionally, the shadowy owner of these orbs could hardly be seen, its form so dark that it effortlessly blended with the surroundings of the cave, a notion that chilled Mr. Edward yet was insufficient to provoke outright panic.
In a second, with its eyes as the focal point, the rest of its body gradually materialized from the gloom, a curious silhouette coalescing into view.
It bore the slender yet sinewy musculature of a predator honed for both stealth and speed. Its long, webbed tail hinting at amphibious origins, a creature born of primordial waters.
Overall, it was about the size of your common house cat, and it looked similar too, but its long and back slanted ears, paired with its brandished razor-sharp claws, warned Mr. Edward of its wild nature.
"How did this thing even get here?" Mr. Edward mused in shock, his imagination conjuring a montage of eldritch possibilities, much of which could only be termed as false and bizarre.
The purpose of this animal's visit was clear, for at its feet was the rotten maggot-infested meat, which Mr. Edward had poorly discarded in the absence of a credible method of disposition.
Mr. Edward was enthralled and felt compelled to lean in closer to observe this creature, despite the subliminal and dread-laden awareness of the danger such audacity might provoke.
The beast, perceiving the shift in his posture, did something astonishing.
From its side came two membranous wings, shimmering faintly like the translucent fins of a deep-sea fish.
It had obviously extended these wings to appear larger, possibly warding off potential predators who in this case was Mr. Edward.
"I want to study this creature," Mr. Edward mused excitedly but calmed himself and instead tried to slowly scoot towards the beast.
"Shi!"
At the first sign of motion, the creature hissed shortly before taking off with the slab of rotten meat squeezing into one of the much larger cracks on the cave walls as though it had no bones in its form.
Mr. Edward sighed heavily, reminiscing about the conveniences of modern technology—the camera in particular—which would have immortalized this peculiar encounter
With the absence of his newfound subject of interest, Mr. Edward was forced to commit to a more tedious and unremarkable pastime—continuing his observation of the guards.
He did this for hours and slept when he could not continue, vying to get as much rest as possible while he still could as he knew not when he would need the energy.
Water was not a problem, so he was able to stay clean and hydrated, additionally, the cold from the cave also posed minimal threat. To his continual discovery, this body of his seemed accustomed to cold, damp environments.
For now, his condition was not good but optimal, sufficient to survive, and—to at least maintain this state, he needed to find a way out of there.
The merciless passage of time ran slow, and with it, Mr. Edward's patience.
He was certain that twenty-four hours had elapsed. At the same time, he was unsure, as his repeated bouts of sleep constantly reset his perception of time.
Worth emphasis was the fact that Mr. Edward was beginning to get a vague read on the man, a fragmentary profile of the guard's demeanor and habits.
Slowly but surely, he was compiling a mental profile that was not much of one without the input of additional information; luckily, time was all he had in this death trap.
The sound of footsteps was quickly noticed in the ethereal hall that was the cave, and Mr. Edward, to his alarm, noted that another guard had appeared before them.
He was not the aggressive guard, nor did he look similar to the bulky guard in any way; instead, this red-eyed young man seemed to be in his youth.
"He looks like a lad of fifteen to twenty," Mr. Edward thought as he observed.
Unlike the others, this young man had no helmet, making his expressions visible both to his companions and to Mr. Edward, who noted with satisfaction that the youth appeared distinctly uncomfortable, even jittery.
Seeing this, the bulky guard chuckles whilst placing a hand on his shoulder.
"T⍥ņ ϞȞ⍥ņᒻꓓ Ȟ⩃٧Ԑ ϞԐጥጥᒻԐꓓ /ռ ѦT ռ⍥⩤ ꓓ⍥ռጥ ᒻԐጥ ጥȞ/Ϟ թᒻ⩃ጰԐ 𐑮⩃ጥጥᒻԐ T⍥ņ ņթ ጥȞԐ𐑮ԐϞ ռ⍥ ꓓ⩃ռᏵԐ𐑮 ᒻ/&Ԑ ጥȞԐ Ϟጥ⍥𐑮/ԐϞ T⍥ņ ϞȞ⍥ņᒻꓓ ѦԐ /ռį⍥𐑮⩯Ԑꓓ ጥȞ⍥ņᏵȞ ጥȞ⩃ጥ ⩤Ԑ Ȟ⩃٧Ԑ ⩃ ռԐ⩤ թ𐑮/Ϟ⍥ռԐ𐑮 ጥȞ⩃ጥ Ѧ⍥T ⍥٧Ԑ𐑮 ጥȞԐ𐑮Ԑ."
Mr. Edward observed as the bulky guard interacted with the jumpy guard and noted the use of the word "Ѧ⍥T" a familiar sound which seemed to have been used when addressing him and other children of his apparent gender.
It appears that the word meant boy or child, but Mr. Edward was not quite sure.
"Why does reincarnation have to be so difficult? Couldn't it have come with a language pack or more preparation?" he lamented, internally, of course.
Shortly after, the burley guard left the jumpy guard, who, as his name stated, appeared agitated.
"ȞԐT, ⩃𐑮Ԑ G⍥ռռ⩃ įԐԐꓓ Ϟ⍥𐑮 ռ⍥ጥ?"
An unknown male voice abruptly echoed throughout the cave.
"TԐ⩃Ȟ, ⩤Ԑ𐑮Ԑ' Ϟጥ⩃𐑮٧/ռᏵ ȞԐ𐑮Ԑ!"
A different male voice with a higher pitch followed, its presence and the presence of the previous voice rousing Mr. Edward's interest, but unfortunately, he could not speak.
The outcome of speaking English could be disastrous, with the most likely scenario being him getting socially outcasted and viewed as a madman, making establishing rapport many times more difficult.
Still, Mr. Edward noted a small victory: two of the prisoners here were clearly men, their voices confirming what little he could deduce about his fellow captives.
Mr. Edward accosted their decision to speak with the new guard's balanced fear and jumpy nature, which failed to show the required amount of authority to deter the prisoners, and he did not blame them; it was unlikely that a man like this would result to disciplinary action or else he had to.
As Mr. Edward was lost in thought, the jumpy guard moved unknown to him, somehow using the gap in his attentiveness to get close to his cave.
Now it had become a pattern, and an urgent one at that, as from Mr. Edward's point of view, these three men appeared to be teleporting.
Mr. Edward stiffened, his every muscle tense as the guard approached. He was reminded, once again, that he was the weakling in this place.
Luckily, the guard did not wish to harm him and instead dropped a slab of rotten meat and the same unknown mushroom from before.
Mr. Edward, who had consumed this flora before, was sure that it posed no immediate health issues and was happy to consume it, but as for the slab of maggot-infested meat, he once again tossed it aside.
He took great pleasure in watching this guard, gaining a flood of profile information in just a few hours.
This had everything to do with the fortunate fact that the jumpy guard was very expressive, and without a helmet on, said expressions were all for Mr. Edward's observation.
He would slightly shake at the slightest noise and he went out a lot, his frequent trips beyond the cell suggesting that he was either overly cautious or chronically unwell.
Additionally, the two men who Mr. Edward had profiled before were especially chatty. Unfortunately, Mr. Edward could only listen though he did not understand.
"Ϟ⍥ T⍥ņ'𐑮Ԑ Ϟ⩃T/ռᏵ T⍥ņ'٧Ԑ įņጰ&Ԑꓓ ⩃ ጥ𐑮ԐԐ," one said.
"/ጥ ⩤⩃Ϟ ⍥ռԐ ጥ/⩯Ԑ, /⩤⩃ռጥԐꓓ ጥ⍥ &ռ⍥⩤ Ȟ⍥⩤ /ጥ įԐᒻጥ ⩃ռꓓ / ⩤⩃Ϟ ϞጥņįįԐꓓ ⩤/ጥȞ 𐑮ņ⩯!"
"Ha ha T⍥ņ įņጰ&/ռᏵ ⩯⍥𐑮⩃ռ!"
The conversation seemed jovial, the sound of laughter soothing in this alien environment.
Deprived of action and answers, Mr. Edward leaned back, resting his head against the cold stone; feeling uncomfortable, he closed his eyes, turning his head for a better position to rest when a familiar situation played out.
Red reptilian eyes, or, in this case, the eyes of a feline-like creature, stared straight at him, obviously agitated by his sudden movement.
Sure enough, it was the bastard from earlier who had run off the first time with his meat, not that he planned to eat it anyway.
Weary and yet more relaxed by the lessened threat of a violent guard, Mr. Edward found himself rising slowly, his movements deliberate as he sought to bridge the gap between them. His newfound height, however, made the process awkward, his balance precarious.
He planned to lunge toward the creature, but unfortunately, his plans were halted as the feline in question bolted away at the first sight of movement.
Once more, Mr. Edward had failed to catch the odd cat.
From somewhere nearby, the guard chuckled, and for a moment, Mr. Edward froze, watching his actions.
"Haha!"
The sound was brief but unmistakable—a mocking acknowledgment of Edward's futile attempts to catch the beast.
Fortunately, apart from laughing at him, the guard had taken no further action.
Yet.