[Kyarra]

His book! As the Slynx asked him why he had come here he noticed that he was missing his leathery book. He must have let it fall as Cir'nuah suddenly appeared and scared him almost to death. Shin jumped back to his previous position and scanned the floor.

"There you are!"

He lifted the huge heavy book and trotted back to the Slynx. Shin opened up the book very carefully, otherwise some of the dried plants would have fall out of it. Inside the book were paintings of plants and comments.

"That's why I'm here for! The vegetation! I'm very interested in plants and small animals!"

Shin kept the book up so that the Slynx could have a look at it.

"I examined the vegetation outside the Cathedral, as I accidentally entered it."


{8/8}

[Mandraiga]

'Vegetation...', the Slynx mumbled. 'Back in the mountains, where I grew up, there weren't many plants... Only a few herbs, some with healing powers.'
Cir'nuah leaped silently down the heap and walked slowly in circles around the Kuhna after having a quick glance in Shins book.
'What's the point of collecting plants? The useful ones are already well known since I don't know how many years.'
He stopped moving and sat down behind the Kuhna
'So you only came here, to this forsaken place, to examine... Plants? I think you can imagine that I do not believe this.'

[Kyarra]

Shin shook his head as Cir'nuah mentioned the already known plants.
"That's not correct! There are so many undiscovered plants out there. No one knows how powerful some of them are. But that's not the point!"
Angrily he shut the book and placed it on the ground.
"The point is, that I want to learn everything about the flora and fauna! I want to become a biologist one day. That's why I gather rare plant samples and study them."
The Kuhna lowered his head, feeling misunderstood by the Slynx.
"I'm telling no lies! That's the reason why I've come here. There is no other reason!"


{9/9}

[Mandraiga]

The Slynx noticed immediately that the Kuhna started to feel uneasy when he mentioned the worldwide known plants.
'Looks like I'll better stop talking about this topic. It'll only make the situation worse', he thought.

'So you're risking your life to get new specimen of unknown plants? I'll tell you, you're kinda... weird. But being so passionate will be rewarded in the end. I'm sure you'll become a great biologist one day!

But, well... How do you want to get out of here again? I can still hear the beasts sneaking around the ruins, waiting for their prey to come by. I mean no harm, but you don't look like you could defend yourself. And I highly doubt anything more than mould is growing inside of the Cathedral.'

[Kyarra]

"That's a good point!"
There was no way around spending the night inside the Cathedral. And at the second this thought came through his mind, Shin recognized that for the first time he was glad that he had met the Slynx. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to help Cir'nuah to find what ever he was looking for.
"I guess I can't go outside this building without getting hurt! Seems like I'm able to help you to get through this rubble!"
Immediately he began to search for a narrow passage, where he could get through. Suddenly he stopped searching.
"Hey, Cir'nuah! I've found a small passage! If you still want me to help you, I could crawl through it and search for an access for you on the other side!"


{10/10}

[Mandraiga]

'You will? That would be amazing...'

Cir'nuah examined the passage and peeked through it. The moonlight did not lit this room. He couldn't see a thing, not even with his darkness-adapted eyes. All of a sudden he wasn't so sure about this hunt anymore.

'You looked through it, didn't you? Can you see anything in there? If not, it maybe isn't worth the danger. Who knowns what lurks inside this dense darkness...'

[Kyarra]

"Of course I did!" Shin said a bit annoyed. Was Cir'nuah assuming that he was stupid? After all he came from a feline species, and in Shin's opinion even the Slynx should be able to see without any source of light. He wasn't absolutely sure which origin the Slynx had.

"It may be dark on the other side, but I have no problems with darkness! Descending from a feline species I am very well able to see in the dark. There's always some kind of low light!"

By saying this the little one crawled through the passage. After a few seconds a cough was heard from the other side, followed by a

"Everything is okay with me! It's just all dusty in here!"


{11/11}

[Mandraiga]

Unseen by the Kuhna, Cir'nuah nervously paced up and down. He couldn't stop Shin from going in there, and he had a baaad feeling about what could happen next.
He wanted to find his unknown target, but if something would happen to the Kuhna, because of him... He would most definately not able to forgive himself.

'Everything alright?', he shouted, only half a minute after Shin entered the second room.

'Don't do something frivolous now, small one...'

[Kyarra]

"Yeah, yeah! Everything alright!" he shouted through the small passage towards the Slynx. The Kuhna turned away from the whole which he had crawled through to observe the area. Behind the rubble of stone was huge dark room. It was even larger then the entrance hall of the building, where he came from and where Cir'nuah was still waiting for him to return with good news.

*BUMP*

"OUTCH!"
He must have overlooked something lying on the ground and accidentally bumped into it. He rubbed his forepaw and tried to get an idea of what was lying there in front of him. He blinked a few times and after some seconds he was able so make out the silhouette of an......
"WOAH!"



{12/12}

[Mandraiga]

'Hey! HEY? Everything okay?', Cir'nuah shouted with a worried undertone.
'ANSWER!'

The Slynx nervously pricked his ears while trying hard to suppress the urge to move around in the room as he always does when he feels uncomfortable.

'What could have happened? He... He's done for!'

[Kyarra]

"Eeeeeh......"
The little Kuhna had to regain his composure before he cold even speak a word to the one on the other side. Shin took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes.
"Erm......Everything is okay with me! I just bumped into......a......corpse! A man.....buried under a huge rock!" shin shouted to the other side.
He opened up his eyes again and looked down to the dead body. There was no reason the be afraid of a dead man, he thought. At least this guy couldn't do him any harm. Obviously this poor guy has been stroke dead by the huge rock, which was now lying on him. Only the head and his limbs were visible. On a closer inspection Shin saw something in one hand of the dead man.

"HA! Guess what I have found over here! The dead guy is holding a pocket lamp!"


{13/13}

[Mandraiga]

'Oh... great. If this adventure starts with dead people, I'm not so sure about the usual happy end.'

'Buried under a rock? Watch out, I don't want to clean up the mess if the same thing happens to you!'

Feeling not even a bit relieved but even more nervous than before, Cir'nuah started to circle around the heap of rubble. His silent steps echoed barely hearable in the room. But all of a sudden, he heard something else.

'Sh... Shin? Is... Is it you?'

[Kyarra]

"Don't worry! I'll be careful! I just need to wrench that lamp from the dead one!"

The dead fingers clasped the lamp tight and Shin struggled to wrench the lamp from them. It took him a few minutes but finally he was able to snag the lamp. He surveyed the shimmering silver lamp and tried to switch it on.

"Hey Cir'nuah! The lamp is still functioning properly! I will continue searching for a proper access for you!" he shouted through the other side of the rubble and went away.

With the lamp in his mouth he tried to find the perfect access for the Slynx. Shin didn't care about the rest of the room, he just wanted to get Cir'nuah on his side of the stone rubble. There was alway enough time to investigate the rest of the room, when Cir'nuah was with him. After a several minutes of searching, he found something that looked like a secret door in the wall. He braced himself against the stone door. It was a very heavy stone door, but he pushed it with all of his strength and the door opened slowly.

He could hear Cir'nuah saying something on the other side, but the walls were too thick to hear it clearly. Just a few more centimeters and the door would be open for the Slynx.


{14/14}

[Mandraiga]

Cir'nuah looked around, his pupils widened as he tried to spot the source of this sound he heard. The Kuhna didn't answer when he cried for him, so this was most definately something else - and if it tries to hide from him, it is either dangerous and ready to attack or weak and extremely scared.
The Slynx didn't dare to move at all, as there was the danger to move right into the strangers direction. Friend or foe? Doesn't matter for Cir'nuah, as long as it stays far enough away from him.

Then suddenly he heard a loud rumbling-scratching sound.
'Sounds like something heavy is being pushed over the floor.'
He looked around and saw the wall moving.
Cir'nuah didn't wait for something to happen, he just cowered on the floor and waited.

[Kyarra]

Once more the little Kuhna braced himself against the heavy stone door and then it stood ajar. The slit was just large enough for a Slynx to pass it. Shin slipped through the slit, the pocket lamp still in his mouth.

"Chir'gnuah! Opfher here!I Phoundck a goor!Wheeree arr you?"

Shin couldn't see his companion. The first thing that came through his mind was, that the Slynx must have left him behind. He sat down and took the lamp out of his mouth, his ears hung down sadly.

"Cir'nuah?"


{15/15}