Kasai gulped as she neared the entrance to the lair.  Fear overwhelmed her.  A dark presence hung in the air, sending shivers down her spine with each step she took...as if she wasn't cold enough.

She froze when she saw KitKat guarding the entrance and ran to hide. She slowly peeked out.

"Soooooo what's the point of guarding this place if no one knows where it is anyway?" Kit asked.

"I dunno, but mommy knows what she's doing, so we should listen to her!" Kat mewed, her tail swishing.

Kit nodded happily.  "Yeah!  She'd never steer us wrong!"

The two nekos giggled happily and continued talking.  Kasai stifled a giggle.  They were so cute!

No, she couldn't get distraced.  She had to find Fuego.

But first, she needed to distract the nekos.

She picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could.  It made a thump as it landed, catching the attention of the twins.

"What was that?"

"I dunno!  Maybe it's an intruder!  Halt intruder!"

The two of them raced over.  Kasai smirked and rushed back in, leaving KitKat confused and searching for the source of the noise.

Her jaw immediately dropped when she saw the lair.  It looked more like a fortress or a castle.  It was dark inside, but torches shined enough light to see clearly.

She took a deep breath and tiptoed in, being careful not to make a sound.

The place was mostly made of stones and was rather dull, but there was a pile of gold here and there to sparkle up the place.  It was obvious there was at least one dragon living here.

Kasai flinched away from the gold.  Gold was a phoenix's worst weakness and enemy.  She silently prayed she wouldn't have to come into contact with any.

She froze when she heard voices and hid. Of course the only hiding spot was a pile of gold. She flinched away from it.

"So, how long will it be before we can capture anyone else?"

"I don't know, ask Dokusei! I don't have plans."

"I asked her, and she didn't even bother to give me an answer!"

Kasai peeked out. A male griffon was walking with a male minotaur.

"Oooof course she didn't."

"She just doesn't appreciate how handsome I am." The griffon flexed his muscles proudly, making the minotaur snort.

"Oh, please, Red. We all know I'M the handsome one."

"You!?  You're a minotaur.  No one likes minotaurs, Xander."

"WHY YOU LITTLE!!!" Xander roared, shoving Red into the wall.

"Whoa, hey, chill!  I was just messing with you!" Red shouted, getting up and brushing himself off.

Xander rolled his eyes.  "Whatever.  We've got stuff to do.  Dokusei'll take our heads if we don't get to work."

Red nodded and raced off, followed by Xander.

Kasai sighed with relief and resumed sneaking off again, but hesitated when she heard a scream nearby.

She jumped and looked over, peeking in the room.  She was surprised to see Snow bound up in chains, being stricken by a winged, horned werewolf.

"SNOW!" Kasai accidentally shouted.  Both he and the werewolf snapped their attention over.  Kasai squeaked and hid.

"...hmm." Dokusei growled lowly.  She shrugged it off and turned her attention back to the Spirit.

Kasai slowly peeked over again before racing past.

Snow had been found, but she couldn't rescue him yet.

She continued searching, being extremely quiet now.  She didn't want to draw anyone's attention to herself again.

Her attention, however, was caught by the sound of chains rattling together.  She looked over and slowly creeped into the room.

It was a maze.

The golden cage with Fuego inside was in the very middle.

This was not good.