The royal city slept under a blanket of moonlight. Lanterns had gone dark, the streets quiet save for the rustle of wind.
Teach walked alone toward the inn, his heavy boots echoing faintly on cobblestone.
Far inside the palace, in a shadowed annex of the Snake King's domain, a cage stood like a prison. Within it was no beast, but a girl, small, frail-looking, with ruby-red eyes that reflected the silver light of the moon. A bowl of milk sat on the floor, two fish in a dish beside it, as though she were nothing more than a pet.
She hated it. The bars stole her freedom, kept her from running where she pleased, kept her from the friends she longed for.
She pressed her palms against the iron, teeth gritted. The steel shuddered but did not break. She refused to yield. Blood welled on her hands as her slender arms trembled. Then her nails sharpened, her fingers curling into paws, fur sprouting along her skin. She let out a strained "Meow!" as her muscles surged with power.
The cage groaned. Slowly, painfully, the gap between the bars widened. She forced her body through, shoulders scraping metal, leaving streaks of blood behind.
When at last she slipped free, her heart hammered with wild joy.
The door was locked, guards waiting outside. But the window was open, and it beckoned.
She crouched low, then sprang. Her legs launched her upward like a catapult. Claws dug into the wall, then again, and again, until in three bounding leaps she perched on the ledge, ten meters high.
Beyond stretched a city she had never seen, sprawling and alive. It was a new world. But her heart ached for home.
A gunshot cracked. Stone dust burst beside her head. She flinched, then hurled herself out the window, landing atop the palace wall. In an instant she was gone, racing toward the night.
"...What was that?!" a guard shouted, scanning the courtyard. The gate was sealed. Then his eyes caught the open window, and his face went pale.
"The pet! She's escaping!"
He fired again, not to kill, but to scare her back. It failed. She vanished into the dark.
Chaos erupted. "Sound the alarm! After her! If she's lost, we're finished!"
Dozens of guards poured into the streets, hounds released to track her scent. Inside, others discovered the cage bent wide open, blood still fresh on the bars.
Their captain wasted no time. "I'll report to His Highness. The rest of you, bring her back alive!"
He ran, heart pounding, toward the Snake King's palace. The air grew heavy the closer he drew. Damp, fetid air stank of scales and musk. Carved pillars shaped like coiling serpents loomed over him. Shadows slithered where no shadows should.
He forced himself to bow. "Your Highness, I bring urgent news."
From the gloom, Belinda sat upon a throne of black stone. A serpent thicker than a ship's mast coiled around him, its head nestled at his cheek as his pale hand stroked its scales. His eyes were as cold and pitiless as the reptile's.
"Speak."
"The pet… she escaped. But I've sent men to retrieve her. Soon, surely..."
The Snake King's expression did not shift, yet the room chilled. The captain's legs gave way; he collapsed to his knees, trembling. "Please, Your Highness, grant me another chance! I swear I'll bring her back!"
Belinda's gaze narrowed with faint disgust. His voice came soft, almost gentle. "My pets are hungry. Feed them."
Relief flickered across the captain's face, until the hissing began. From the pillars, the pools, the ceiling itself, snakes poured down. They slid across his body, coiling, biting. Venom seared his veins as he writhed, choking on his own screams, until silence returned to the hall.
Belinda never looked away. "Send more men. She must be captured."
A whisper answered from the shadows, then vanished.
The palace stirred like a nest of vipers. Squads of guards marched into the city, torches blazing. The commotion woke nobles and commoners alike. None dared step outside; doors slammed shut, windows barred.
No one interfered when the royal family hunted.
News traveled swiftly. In the Tiger King's palace, Prince Sabre smiled upon hearing it. "So my little cat slipped free? Belinda… useless, as always."
"Shall we intervene, Your Highness?" his retainer asked.
"No. What's mine will come back to me. Just keep her alive." Sabre leaned back, chuckling.
In the Dragon King's hall, Prince Lemor threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Hah! Belinda loses his precious pet? Pathetic!" His towering frame exuded raw strength, the air itself heavy with his presence.
"Be cautious, Your Highness," his advisor warned. "The Snake King is not without fangs."
But Lemor only grinned. The rivalry of princes amused him more than it concerned him.
The chase raged through the night. Ruby eyes flashed in dark alleys as the girl darted between walls, her wounds already knitting shut. Bullets tore her flesh, but the holes closed in moments. Hounds bayed at her trail, soldiers pressed in from all sides. Her breath came ragged. The net was closing.
Then, in the chaos, she saw a figure. A lone man standing calmly in the street, his presence hidden from all others, yet to her eyes unmistakable. Something stirred deep inside, instinct, trust, or desperation. She couldn't explain it.
But she knew.
He could save her.