Joffery Teeds.
Cyan knew him well, by that meaning he had a run in with him a long time ago though he’d never known his name, and wasn’t upset when he heard of his passing. The rumors of his death were many, but he got the gist of what really happened from Tepic after sharing his story.
Cyan had just gotten to New Babbage. It was a big city but he had been around and explored a lot of Chicago so knew how a city worked. So in order to figure out the city he thought the best idea was to get lost in it. One thing he didn’t realize at the time is that New Babbage is not the type of city to get lost in.
It was getting dark when Cyan walked into an industrial area surrounded by canals. He tried to stay closer to the waters as the smog in the area was very thick. Even with his heightened senses he couldn‘t see very far. He could smell blood though. This peaked his interest a little. Chicago was a huge pig town so the whole south side smelled of blood. Maybe there was a meat packing plant close by?
Hungrily he followed the scent further away from the water and found smaller streets and alleyways in between all the tall industrial buildings. His hair started to stand on end but he still wanted to find the packing plant before going to brighter areas. The smell got stronger as he wound through the alleyways but curiosity got the best of him. Cyan knew at this point that there was no plant, but something was giving off the smell. It lead him to a dead end alley and a small opening that most would not have noticed.
Cyan entered cautiously making sure there was no one inside before fully entering what would be considered a living quarters he supposed. The walls were bare, no pictures or memorabilia of any kind, but there were many carpentry tools such as hammers, saws, chisels, and others which briefly made him think it was a workshop of some sort. That was until he walked further back.
The smell of blood was really strong back here and there were more carpentry tools but these seemed a bit more used than the one in the front. He didn’t have to look closely to tell there was blood and other materials on one of the hammers located next to a bundle propped up against another bare wall. He took a closer look at the bundle and noticed a red pool of liquid underneath it.
Cyan’s fur started to stand on end and a shiver went down his spine as a tinge of fear filled him. Cyan knew he had to leave now. He started heading towards the front and heard some noises outside.
He needed to hide as his fear almost went into full blown panic.
He quickly looked around and saw a closed door he hadn’t noticed before. He opened and went down the stairs to a cellar. Down below he saw more bundles, almost like mummies, in fact he was pretty sure that’s what they were. There was nothing else down there, the only place to hide would be beneath the bodies. As much as he hated the thought of it, the only way to not join them in their mummified form was to hide with them.
—
Joffery Teeds returned home with his needed cleansers and found his door open. He entered his abode and carefully looked around. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, not until he spotted the cellar door.
He knew he had closed that when he left, but it was cracked open. He drew his dagger and took the nearby lamp and walked down the stairs. Someone had wandered into his nest, and they were never going to leave it again.
—
Cyan saw the lantern filling the room with light. ((He held his breath and tried to remain absolutely still underneath the bundled corpses. He could still see the man however, his knife barely reflecting the light it was so dirty. The man appeared to be adjusting his vision to the new light, but once he did he would notice Cyan almost for sure.
Cyan had to think. His tutors had tried to prepare him for the world, and they had always told him that on the streets you had to keep thinking.
As Joffrey got closer, inspecting the dark room the young Cheetah was able to tell that Joffery had the advantage of size, and location blocking the only exit. Cyan had the advantage of speed and better vision…without that lamp Joffrey would be blind in this windowless room.
He needed to get the light out and get past the man. Cyan checked his surroundings and noticed a hammer close by.
Cyan looked back up at the man who was still blinking rapidly, adjusting his eyes, and then quietly reached for the hammer. Joffrey didn’t react until Cyan sat up and threw the hammer hitting the mans hand and smashing the lantern.
Joffery briefly recovered, and though blinded once more, he lunged swinging his blade in the direction he’d seen the child, hitting flesh. He didn’t hear a cry of agony, but he stabbed once more as he got his hands on the body. Feeling the wrappings of one of his victims he cursed as he heard the door slam above him.
If Cyan had been any taller the blade would have hit him, but he ran past the blade before Joffrey discovered that he had only managed to stab one of his corpses.
As soon as Cyan got upstairs he grabbed a chisel at the table nearby and wedged it in the door to give him a few more seconds to get away before bolting out of the killers home. He needed to find the canal. He could at least swim to somewhere much safer than this he was sure. He followed his nose to the scent of fish through the alleys and side streets.
His ears could pick up pursuit, but Cyan was running much faster. Once he saw the edge of the canal he didn’t give a second thought and dived into the cold waters.
Filth was the only way to describe what he felt like while he swam in what passed for water in this city. Filth and terror as just when he reached a pier he saw the most gruesome fish he had ever seen was swimming towards him.
He pulled himself out of the water just as that fish nearly took a bite out of his tail. He breathed in deeply, sitting on the edge of the sewer walls he panted trying to catch his breath and decided it’d be best to get to know the local urchins before exploring the streets by himself again.
Quite an adventure!
Indeed. Just glad I didn’t become one of those bodies in his cellar.