“grrararwwwoolll.”

The stomach in question started to growl and pang in protest as she realized that she only managed to eat breakfast earlier and completely skipped lunch to chase after Maomao. Coupled with pushing her stamina and endurance to the limit, she had to coincide with her bodily functions and force herself to eat.

Kai soon found a spot that looked dry and decent and chose to sit on a smooth rock that looked like a primitive chair and coincidentally had an adjacent rock that would assume the position of a table.

It didn’t take long for the packed food to come out and a small feast began. The flashlight was placed on its side and set up to face into a plastic water bottle which helped to refract the light and further illuminate the space.

“I’m glad I remembered to bring this,” Kai mused to hetself, lightly tapping the cat food tin to see if Maomao heard his favorite dinner bell in the distance. After a few light hits, the can was put down and a Tupperware took its place in her hand.

Inside the Tupperware was a delicious looking arugula salad, topped with thinly sliced pieces of ham, sliced tomatoes, a pickle, and a hardboiled egg that was already peeled. The dressing was in another tiny container and was poured on top of that. The metallic cutlery clinked against each other as the knife assisted in slicing up the egg and pickle, causing the salad to look like a chaotic mess. Kai took the fork in hand, grabbed up a mountain of mixed salad, and shoved it quickly in her mouth, avoiding any morsels to fall out and wastefully fall to the ground. A satisfying crunch could be heard from the pickle, dressing lightly caressing the edges of her tongue, and sharp peppery arugula erupted on her taste buds.

“MMmmmmmm that hits the spot” she said in between mouthfuls.

Just as she was halfway nomming on her food, lo and behold a mischievous orange mister appeared from the opposite side of the darkness.

“where were you, you little brat?” Kai hissed at Maomao, who seemed to want to partake in the lunch.

“Miaoo~” Maomao chimed as he peered over his shoulder, seeming to say I came from over there, human.

“No shit, sherlock” Kai replied as she smoothly placed the food on her lap and began to prep his lunch with a quarter of the remaining can from this morning.

With Maomao’s lunch settled on a little cat dish, he crept up cautiously towards Kai, almost in an apologetic manner.

Kai lightly scoffed at the cat, rotating her body towards her lunch assemble. She then proceeded to fish out a small ensamble of ziolock baggies with various other snackable materials. In another container, she mixed some loose granola, fruits, and a sprinkling of some trail mix, producing a little crunchy and juicy desert. She salivated at the delictable little crunchy dish she managed to create from her snack supplies. Kai finally took the first addictive bite out of this mix which was irrisistable after each bite, polishing off in a matter of seconds.

The two ate quietly while the water bottle and flashlight assemble was the only source of light fighting against the darkness.

Kai was aware of the cat who stood next to her that was binging on the food ravenously. That same cat that got her into this mess was blissfully ignorant of her devious plans to forcefully capture and drag the feline back kicking and protesting her in his futile attempts in this extreme escapade.

His little smacking sounds he made while eating started to annoy Kai, which she always felt was cute at home. He is soooo not cute right now she thought, pissed at him at this moment from the bottom of her heart.

As most pet owners, when their furry companions do something evil, they usually want to wring their necks. Kai was in tune with that type of thinking as she plotted away on methods to drag the cat out of the cave. What she knew deep down that crab walking back would pose difficult with a struggling cat for the duration of the trip back. He might even run back in after fighting him to get back out!

Ugh she thought, and figured the easy way was to quench his curiosity and delve deeper into the cave. Only then when he was fully satisfied would he go back out. She knew her cat well and figured as much. Kai was already in this mess, why not just follow it through. Why not consider it if it would make her job easier in exiting the cave. Additionally, her own curiosity would be satisfied, and she could feel like she no longer needed to go in ever again moving forward.

Her fear for the unknown cave grew dull and she made up her mind as she finished the last bits of her salad. After they both hoovered their meals respectfully, Kai tidied up while Maomao hung around the edge of the light impatiently, waiting for Kai to follow him.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming. We got all day so don’t push me, cat,” Kai said mindlessly to the cat as she made a mental note to munch on the fruit assemble later as a snack. She did not forget about her foraged food for dinner however she wanted to prepare the delicious delectable morsels in the own comfort of her home with the spices at her disposal.

Soon enough she chugged a little bit of water to cleanse her palette and continued the journey into the tunnel with her furry sidekick.