Off-roading has always been a pleasure of mine, which is why I bought my jeep in the first place. Every weekend my friends and I would get together after it had rained to go mudding. A jeep isn’t clean until it’s been bathed in mud after all. Then we’d all drive to the nearest Shammy Shine and laugh at the expressions the workers there would give us. Thankfully, the ground I was driving on dry, I didn’t expect to find a car wash in this strange world.

I glanced over to my passenger, a small cat girl with white fur kept her head near the window that I had cracked. Her tail swished back and forth, clearly enjoying the wind pushing against her. A grin found its way creep onto my face. ‘Guess that’s not just a dog thing.’ The cultist that was currently tied up in the back of my jeep had awoken earlier in our trip and started rambling and raving about the Lord of Darkness and destroying the world.

After a minute of insane rambling I had had enough and slammed on the breaks after signaling Petal to hold on tight. A loud thump came from the back and silence returned to our journey. Petal looked at me with a curious expression. “Thought I saw a deer.” I said simply. This only seemed to confuse her more but she went back to enjoying the air as we sped along.

The town we were rapidly approaching was built next to a large lake. Wooden walls formed a semi-circle around the outside of the village, ending just inside the lake. It was the picture perfect ideal of a village from the medieval era. Wooden homes with straw roofs. The part I found most interesting were that some houses were built on the water. I made a note to go see one of those up close when I had the chance, I loved being around water. Jet Skiing being my favorite thing to do when my friends and I went to the beach.

That was when reality struck me like a linebacker hitting a quarterback.

Would I be able to go back home? Would I see my friends again? Who’s going to take care of Pit? Questions, questions and yet even more questions piled into my mind as I sped ever-nearer towards this town. Petal must have sensed my increasing duress, for her soft voice broke me out of my spiral of increasingly depressing thought.

“Are…you okay?” she stared at me with worried red eyes.

“Hmm? Me?” she nodded, “Don’t worry about me kid. I'm right as rain!” I gave her a bright smile and patted her head which made her smile in turn before she went back to enjoying her window.

It’s a good thing kids can’t read masked emotions, because right now it felt like a storm was crashing through my mind. I took a calming breath and steeled my resolve. One problem at a time, I ordered myself, one problem at a time. I looked down at my fuel gauge and groaned, one more problem to my list.

“Hmm?” Petal coked her head to the side questioningly as she looked at me.

“We’ll be out of gas soon. Was planning on hitting up the local Hess on the way back but…you don’t understand do you?” She shook her head. “Well you see this gauge?” I pointed and she looked. “Well see, when this line hits the E for empty this thing won’t move on its own anymore.”

Her ears lowered in sorrow, a heart-wrenchingly adorable move if I do say so myself. Watch out future cat bachelors, this girl’s got maneuvers that can kill.

“Don’t worry Petal, like my dad used to say: One problem at a time Mark. No use worrying about more than the most immediate issue at hand. Once you’ve dealt with that problem THEN you can worry about something else! And our first issue is getting you home and putting that loon back there behind bars. I can worry about the jeep after.”

She nodded but still looked concerned. Such a good kid. “Hey, wanna hear something amazing?” This got her curious.

“Yes!” she nodded expectantly. I grinned and turned on the CD player in the center console of my jeep. Shortly after music began to play which made Petal’s ears perk right up. “Magic.” She stated simply as if she had figured it all out. I laughed,

“Nope, technology.”

“Praise the Lord of Darkness for bringing such a glorious sound to this one’s ears!” A voice called from the back. I quickly stepped on the breaks before releasing them. A satisfying thump sounded in the back. Petal stared at me with a curious glance.

“Thought I saw a deer.”

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Short chapter here, decided to post it because writing this story has been really really fun. To the point where I really cant stop. Enjoy!