I considered trying again, but given how he responded the first time, I had doubts that a second try would yield any better results. As long as the horses were moving, he wouldn’t be able to hear me, at least not to the extent I was hoping for. And even if he could hear me, given how quickly he tried to grab me before, I had doubts that he would listen to me either.
After all, who would listen to what a rock has to say?
And with all this in mind, I thought about what to do. I turned toward the nearby ‘straps’ connecting the top and bottom of the carriage. Maybe I should just get this over with: Just break the straps and go down with the ship when it sinks. After all, there wasn’t much else I could do while I was still like this. I thought about the catgirl. Should I try to get her out before I do this? Perhaps not. If she was as nimble as an actual cat, then she should be fine regardless.
I focused on the strap closest to me. Interestingly, rather than being hooked or bolted into it, the straps looked like they were physically fused to the rest of the carriage. It was weird, but it didn’t seem to be making much of an impact on things, so I put it aside for the time being.
So instead, I leaped toward the strap. But when I impacted it, all of my momentum was halted, and I was immediately ejected back onto the bar. I looked up at it again. Maybe I aimed at the wrong spot. I looked and saw a thinner area. I leaped at it, only to once again be flung back to the bar. I tried again several more times, but the result remained the same. In the end, the strap looked to be too elastic to break, and it was probably the same for the others too.
So what could I do? I looked towards the curtains, which remained still even as the carriage moved. Should I just go in and confront them myself? It would be a suicide mission, but it’s not like I was intending for this to be anything else. Additionally, even if I wasn’t able to do something substantial with my final moments, perhaps I could at least make them quick.
And with that, I began to leap over to the curtains, ready to accept my fate. But once I reached the ledge where the curtains were, I stopped. For a moment, I wondered whether or not I should proceed. Did I really want to do this? Well, there wasn’t much else I could accomplish here—certainly not like this. With that in mind, I began to scoot my way inside.
But as soon as I went through the curtain, I bumped into a white mass, with toes peeking above it—a sandal. I looked up and saw the catgirl staring down at me. And strangely, I also noticed some bandages on her forehead. I did not recall seeing them on her when I last saw that group, so it must have happened after. In any case, it looked like—whether by accident or not—that this group had gotten that child into harm's way. And before I met my end, I still wanted to get her out of here and somewhere safe. So as I continued looking up at her, I began to ‘speak’, for lack of a better word.
“Young girl, For your own safety, please get out of here now.”
The catgirl’s cat ears twitched as I said this, and there was a moment of silence. But then she suddenly began to cry, and loudly at that.
“Nooo!” She bawled, gigantic fountains of tears streaming from her face. “Don’t take me away!”
I paused. Did I come across too strongly?
“My apologies,” I began to say. “But—”
“Is something wrong, Kit-chan?” The boy interjected before I could continue.
The catgirl turned away from me and leaped onto the boy’s lap.
“I don’t wanna go!” she sobbed. “I don't wanna go! I wanna stay here with you!”
“Who said anything about you leaving?” the boy asked.
“Down there!” She cried, pointing down at me. “That meanie wants to take me from yooz!”
I saw the boy looking down toward me. Was this it? Was my time in this world finally coming to an end?
However, the boy turned his attention back to the catgirl.
“Kit-chan,” The boy began to say. “That’s just a rock,”
Following this, I noticed one of the catgirl’s fists clench.
“Make it go away, master-sama!” She began to shout, getting even closer to his face. “Pweeeease?”
There was a pause.
“Aww, Kit-chan,” he chuckled. “You know that I can’t resist when you make a face like that!” I couldn’t see what kind of face he was referring to, but I digress.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” the catgirl squealed in response to the boy before laying on his lap, staring directly at me, as her pupils narrowed and a smile appeared on her face.
This whole situation was strange, to say the least. But at the same time, this is what I wanted, right? To die a meaningful death. But for some reason, as the boy aimed his finger toward me, I panicked and quickly backed out of the carriage amidst a blinding flash of light.
For a moment, everything remained bright. Was it all over? But after a few seconds, my vision began to return, and I began to make out the outside world. And from that, it appeared that I was back on the step again.
Though my vision was still brightened, I looked up to the ledge of the carriage, from which I was able to make out a tiny bit of smoke. If I had waited just a split second longer, I would have bit the dust. But then, I saw the curtains begin to move. Once again overtaken by panic, I rolled down to the ground, quickly darting underneath the middle of the carriage, where I would likely not be seen.
However, I quickly realized that I would probably be visible after the carriage finished passing over me. With this in mind, I continued moving forward, heading toward the grass. But as I was about to reach it, I was interrupted by one of the back wheels passing by me. Fortunately, this interruption only lasted momentarily, and as soon as the wheel passed me, I leaped into the grass. Once I did, I remained still, simply looking back as the carriage slowly disappeared from view.
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