Behind the Mystery of the Kougra's Paw: Part Four

     "Hali," he said one day. "How is it that the Desert Wind found me?"

     The Ixi blushed at his words; she had grown to be ashamed of her part in the investigation. "Well… I was the one who figured out that it was you who had done it. I reasoned that you would have wanted to return to where you had been raised, and the Airax had departed unusually early."

     Fire Paw's eyes widened and his brow furrowed. "You found me? How?"

     "It was a twist of luck, really. I had collected all the evidence I could when I found the trading card that had been made for you. After that, it all clicked into place."

     Fire Paw batted his face miserably, placing his paw over his eye. "Why did I let them turn me into a trading card?"

     Hali couldn't suppress a laugh at the Kougra's comical pose. He looked up in response to her giggle and growled playfully, jumping to the bars of his cell as if eager to play.

     Fire Paw was on edge the morning they arrived in the Lost Desert harbor, hardly able to pause his endless pacing. Hali couldn't slip away from the others before it was time to take the prisoner from his cell. Though he put on an air of stubborn ferocity, Hali could see the worry in Fire Paw's golden eyes and the resignation in his step.

     Suta was eager to go straight home and forget all about Fire Paw, but Hali obstinately insisted that they see him through the trial.

     Fire Paw was taken into the throne room, where Queen Vyssa and her entire court awaited him. The Ember was brought before the Queen, carefully held with a blacksmith's pincers.

     "I see you have returned successfully, Captain Reaqk. Not only have you brought the Ember, but its robber as well." She turned her attention to Fire Paw, who had flopped onto the floor in a guise of calm serenity, his tail waving languorously.

     "Do you have an explanation for your actions, thief?" Queen Vyssa asked.

     Fire Paw fixed his gaze on her, tilting his head slightly. "You want the truth?"

     She nodded solemnly.

     "I don't know, I did it for a kick I suppose. I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of it."

     Queen Vyssa looked momentarily puzzled. "You risked so much just because you wanted to see if you could do it?"

     "You would never understand," Fire Paw said without bothering to try further explaining himself.

     Hali heaved an exasperated sigh and took a step forward, parting from the mass of onlookers. "Your Majesty, if I may speak for him?" she asked with a curtsy.

     Queen Vyssa gestured for her to continue.

     "In order to clarify his reasoning, I should tell you of his past, as well as my interpretation of how he must have felt. As a kit, Fire Paw was abandoned in the hot crags of Tyrannia. His owner had not the decency to leave him in the care of the Adoption Center. Fortunately, he was saved by a group of native Scorchios. However, from my understanding, the Scorchios never trusted him with the simplest of tasks. Fire Paw grew to feel worthless, as if he could do nothing. He could not fly, and he could not breathe fire. Eventually he grew rebellious and he ran away, learning to fend for himself instead. He has never known a truly compassionate figure. Though it is not an excuse for his choice of actions, it is an explanation."

     Fire Paw listened to her speech quietly, his ears flicking back every now and again as she revealed his weaknesses.

     Queen Vyssa studied Fire Paw for a long while, lost in thought. Eventually she spoke, "Fire Paw, do you regret your actions?"

     "Yes… I will take my punishment as it comes," the Kougra said compliantly.

     "Ordinarily, a thief such as you would be locked up for years, perhaps even for life. I will spare you because of your youth, however. You will be held in the dungeons for six months, after that time, you will begin training as a palace guard. If you do well, you may someday serve me personally. If being a guard does not suit you, you may leave after serving for two years."

     Fire Paw stared at Queen Vyssa incredulously. She smiled slightly. "You did expect some consequences, I assume."

     Hali was beaming, satisfied with the queen's verdict and overjoyed that she would be able to see Fire Paw for at least another two and a half years. Plans to help him settle in were already taking shape, and she had hundreds of ideas of how to bide the time he would be spending in the dungeon.

     Realizing that he had been let off with a relatively light sentence, Fire Paw fairly bounded alongside the guards to his cell. Hali considered following, but Suta was anxious to get her washed, rested, and dressed in clean garments. The Ixi relented after a moment. She did want to get the gritty salt and sand out of her coat.

     Over the next few months, Hali dutifully visited Fire Paw. She received an eager welcome every time she entered. Unlike many fables, the dungeons of the Sakhmet Palace were not dark and filled with unpleasant critters. The area was well lighted with high windows, and the light tan sandstone gave the dungeon a more cheery aspect.

     Fire Paw's cell was simple but practical, containing all that was necessary. Hali often asked if he wanted anything, but he insisted he was better off with what he had in the cell then he ever had been.

     "What do you want to do today?" Hali asked as she sat down on a bench close to the door.

     "I don't know, do you know of any games we haven't played yet?"

     Hali bit her lip as she searched her mind for a new game. "I know," she said at last. "We can take turns telling a story. I'll say one sentence and you say the next and so on."

     "Sure," Fire Paw said lightly, settling down near his cell door.

     "Okay, once there was a Blumaroo named Radley and he loved to spend his time exploring the Lost City of Geraptiku."

     As the two invented their separate parts, the story grew more and more wacky, ending when they were both laughing too hard to continue. Hali caught her breath and they sat in a contented silence.

     "Fire Paw," she said softly.

     He looked up, "Yes?"

     "Do you think you'll stay in the Lost Desert even after the two years have passed?"

     "It's hard to say," Fire Paw admitted. "I don't know if I really want to settle down and make a usual living. It seems to me that there's so much more to do and to see."

     Hali frowned, suddenly wishing she had never brought it up.

     As if sensing her distress, Fire Paw remedied it quickly. "Wherever I go and whatever I choose to do, I'll always come back to see you sometimes. I know that mine is not a spirit to be tied to one place. But it has already been tied to one friend."

     Hali smiled gratefully. No matter the outcome, he would not leave her forever.

     On the exact day after two and a half years had passed, Fire Paw vanished. He had remained long enough to carry out his sentence, but not a moment longer. A small note addressed to Lady Hali was found laid on the pillow of his immaculately made bed. The note was delivered to Hali in short order. When she received it, she wasted no time in reading the message:

     'Dear Hali,

     It has been wonderful, the times we have spent. I must admit, the years spent working as a soldier have given me wondrous fighting techniques and I am now fit as ever for my adventures. I will visit when I can, to tell you of my excursions. Until we meet again.

     Your friend,

      Fire Paw'

     Hali smiled as she lowered the note, her emotions bittersweet. She had always privately hoped that somehow he might change his mind and stay on as a soldier.

     Suta read the note over her shoulder and gave a derisive snort. "I knew he wouldn't settle down and work for an honest living; he loves being on the edge of danger."

     "Oh Suta," Hali groaned. "Can't you give him a little credit? Fire Paw has come a long way since I first met him in the brig of the Desert Wind. He just can't get rid of his lust for exploration."

     Hali laid the note to rest in her nightstand, where she would frequently re-read it over and over again, wondering just when he would visit again.

The End