Chapter 26: Theo Visits Dagur
The evening has come. I walk towards the feline district, staring at the card Dagur's given me. Through all of the districts I had to cross, it was an ultimate passage - I had barely taken it out of my pocket when the guards would already open the gates for me, shivering in fear as they did.
How come Dagur has had such a mighty card at hand? I still can't find an answer - even if an old-timer, he's still a prisoner. How come the warden's given him such privileges? As I've said before, only Knut and Bob are in possession of the golden cards, apart from the warden. Bob doesn't really give it to anyone, and Knut would only give me the one when I visited him directly in his chamber. How come Dagur had a golden card given by the warden? And why did he hand it to me so casually, without even the slightest fear for the warden's possible rage?
"Hey, who's passing?"
The guards of the feline district are frowning at me. It's no surprise - it's not a free hour yet. I've been authorized by Rufus to leave my district only after I presented my new card to him and explained that I needed to meet up with the "official" to whom it belonged (of course, I told him nothing about a prisoner's possessing this card because it would sound really bizarre). These guards are probably suspicious of my walking around here when no prisoner is allowed to get out of their cells, at this hour.
Well, might as well show them my trump card.
"Ah, my goodness!" One of the guards - a lion deviant - steps back in fear once he sees my card. "H-How come you have that?"
"I've received it from a feline named Dagur."
Since these are felines, I must tell them the truth. After all, Dagur resides here. These guards must know why he's been in the possession of this card. If he gets in trouble because of me, it'll be purely his fault, not mine. So, either way, I'm not losing anything.
"Dagur? Wait, you don't mean_"
The other guard, who is a cheetah deviant, grabs the lion on the shoulder and shakes his head, giving him a sign to stop. He opens the gates and invites me in:
"Come. I'll escort you to him."
"Wow, okay..."
I follow the cheetah into the district. The lion closes the gates behind us. I still can't figure out why they're escorting me to a mere prisoner. If the old-timers have begun to terrorize even the guards so much, I guess they do have a basis to be so prideful.
As Rufus has once told me, the infected deviants turn out stronger than the inborn ones, so, the old-timers, who are completely-turned, must surely be more powerful than any of these guards. I guess that is the main reason why Dagur's name brings so much terror to these guys.
The cheetah leads me through different corridors up to a metal door. He opens it and conducts me in.
We arrive in a large gym, full of metal posts that reach up to the ceiling and are connected by metal ropes. A lot of feline administrators - overseers, guards, and Bob van Irbisen's retinues - are jumping around those ropes and climbing the posts. Some elementals are even battling each other to hone their skills. Apparently, this is their training ground.
Bob is here too, sitting on one of the ropes like a true panther, exercising with a dumbbell. His muscles and scars are clearly visible on his bare chest now. They make me shudder - they're big cuts, scratches, and even burn-marks. I wonder who's beaten him up so hard, in his past. I guess it should be the same guy who's made him lose his eye.
Once we enter, all the eyes set on us. Bob notices me and snarls so hard that I figure if he had the right he'd devour me right away. He jumps off the ropes, walks up to us, and straightly addresses me:
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"She has the golden card, Sir..." the cheetah answers in the tone of a shivering kitten, and shows him the card I'm holding in my hand, "W-Where's the young lord?"
"The young lord?!"
Bob grabs the card out of my hand and inspects it. His eye sparkles, almost as if he wants to tear me to pieces:
"How the hell do you have this?"
"I... Dagur has given it to me. He's asked me to visit him in his district this evening, to have a conversation."
I give more details to Bob because I don't want to be eaten by these felines today. Not when so little is left for my escape plan to come into motion.
"Dagur?!" Bob puts a hand to his forehead. He seems perturbed and lost, but I can't identify the reason. He then snarls at me again: "Just what game are you playing at?"
"I'm not playing any games."
He's clearly out of his mind. He's always been in a bad mood, but now he's going overboard.
"Sir, it's clearly his card," the cheetah tries to resonate, "Where's the young lord?"
"Ugh, in the cold baths. Where else?" Bob snorts. "Let her wait for him in his private hall. If he's wanted her in, then so be it. I'll send him a message that she's arrived. I don't really understand what he's thinking, though, to let this wench in so easily..."
He tucks the card back into my hands with a snarl and leaves us to resume his exercise. The cheetah beckons me to follow him and crosses the training ground. I walk after him in silence. I have nothing to say - all of these felines are acting really weird. They're eyeing me in stupor and amazement as if I'm some rare phenomenon who's been permitted into forbidden chambers. I don't really understand what's going on. What's so special about an old-timer to have the entire administration under control? I guess Dagur must really be the warden's favourite. Now my feeling gets worse - I am to disclose my entire plan to a person who's so close to the warden? His overhearing our conversation was clearly the worst possible outcome. I'm regretting it even more now.
I am conducted into a separate hall. It is smaller in size, yet more comfortable - with a sofa, two armchairs, and a table in-between. There's a fridge in a corner. There are some training utilities too - dumbbells and such. There's also a white door leading to another chamber, most likely the bathroom where, as Bob's said, the "young lord" (I figure that's how they call Dagur) is now taking "cold baths" (I have heard of hot baths before, but I'm not really sure what cold baths are for).
"Wait here," the cheetah says, "The young lord will finish up soon, and come to see you."
"Okay."
I take a seat on the sofa. The cheetah leaves through the same door we've come from. I remain alone.
I feel relaxed, sitting on this fluffy sofa. I guess the warden's favourites do receive the best of everything in this prison. The faster we escape the better. The injustice in this place really sickens me.
The white door creaks and opens. Dagur, whom I've been expecting, steps out. The freezing air strikes me from the open door of the bathroom (I begin to understand what "cold baths" might've meant). Dagur's dressed in a black bath-robe, which can barely cover his burnt body, and black underwear. Some burn-marks, particularly on his hands and feet, are openly exposed, save for the ones which are thickly covered by his snow leopard fur. His face too is atrocious, with all those burns.
"Oh, who do I see? - The problem girl has arrived."
He shuts the door behind him and walks up to me, with the cold droplets still sprinkling down his muscled chest and the wet hair. He takes a seat beside me and shakes his head to dry up his hair as animals do. Truly, he has such beastly manners...
"Hello," I mutter.
I move somewhat farther from him to the edge of the sofa, so that the droplets from his hair won't reach me. He soon finishes his activity and glances at me with the hair all bushed-up like Knut usually has. However, if the bushy hair renders Knut adorable, on this guy, it looks rather ugly. Or it might just be that I'm more into blondies.
"Did you find your way easily?" He smiles.
Yeah, he's quite knowledgeable in small talks... He hasn't completely lost his human ways, it seems.
"Hmph, they treat you as if you're even more important than Knut."
I hand him his card. He chuckles at my cheeky response and tucks the card into a pocket of his bath-robe.
"Nah, don't ever believe that nonsense. The cub's living like a king, while I'm just shoved into dust."
"The cub?"
"I'm already thirty-six, hun. Knut's only twenty-six. That's a huge difference."
"Not that big of a difference."
"When you live in this prison ever since you can remember, and a two-year-old cub pesters your twelve-year-old self, ten years make a clear difference."
"You've lived in this prison for that long?"
Now that's a surprise - a prisoner ever since he can remember? That's so sad... I wonder if Honorée would begin to feel that way, at his age... I was right - the faster we get out of here, the better it will be for everyone, especially the children prisoners.
"Yup, I'm a veteran."
He takes a bottle of water out of the fridge and uncorks it to drink some. He returns to my side and retakes the seat.
"And... you've never tried to escape?"
"Nah. I was born here, to a prisoner. Nowhere to escape. Nobody wants a monster on the loose."
He was born here? Goodness, that's even worse than I've imagined!
"Ah, I... I'm so sorry! I didn't know, Dagur."
"Nah, no sweat. I've long coped with it."
He places his bare feet on the table and drinks the water from the bottle. I still have pity on him - poor guy, to be locked up in this prison for life, literally! It's truly so sad... No wonder why everyone knows him, then - he's been here ever since his birth. Everyone would begin to respect him as a resident.
"You know, I'd love to disclose my plan to you, Dagur. Maybe, you may change your mind and come with us?"
"Aww, such a kind little maiden!" He chuckles. "It doesn't depend on your wishes, hun. You'll have to spill it unless you want my going to the warden's office. We've had a deal, and I don't break my promises."
I'm having second thoughts now. He's really annoying. But I've no choice indeed. I'll have to disclose my plans to him, or else, he'll denounce us even before we begin. And since I've already seen how respectfully they're treating him here, nobody will doubt his words, not even the warden. He'll bring us a lot of trouble, so I'll have to try my best to convince him. If I fail and he doesn't like my plan, all of us will be in grave danger.
But mostly I. I'll be put to death, as the leader of a break-out which had never even started.
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