novelraw Chapter 183: The Doctor
Chapter 183: The Doctor
KuliKuli's ear twitched at the sound of aged doors groaning audibly as a pair of black knights strolled in dragging a cat girl in each arm. One of them reached for the ring of keys hung around his belt, inserted into the lock and twisted to unlatch the cell door. Only the brief sounds of grunts emerged through their thick black helmets as they tossed the cat girl inside. She crumpled on the floor, curled up on her side and moaning weekly. Her yellow eyes watched as the two men inspected their gloves and armor before nodding to each other and locking her in.
KuliKuli crawled forward, pressing her face against the bars. The two men retreated back through the door when another pair entered, snapping their veiled faces directly onto her. KuliKuli leaned back as they approached her and unlocked her cell.
As soon as they pried the door open, she bared her fangs and lashed out diving toward the nearest man. He caught her in his strong arms, keeping a firm grip around her wrists as she kicked at his chest. Dimyri raised her head, alarmed and awake from the sudden commotion. Before she could make a move, the second man drew his sword and aimed it at her. She could only stand back and watch the first knight pin her sister onto the floor and forcing her hands behind her back.
"Let go of me!" KuliKuli screamed in protest, feeling a gloved hand grab behind her head. She hissed as her head wound pulsated from being squeezed. With enough pressure, she yelped and fell limp against the floor as the knight used his weight to pin her down.
"Settle down." A coarse voice echoed through the knight's helmet, "Struggle more and things will get very difficult for you."
KuliKuli panted loudly, closing her heads and heading to the man's words. It took a moment for her to relax with her paws pressed behind her, but it was enough to satisfy the two men. The black knights lifted her back up before escorting her out from the cells while Dimyri leaned back helplessly. Once the door shut behind them, she turned her attention toward the whimpering cat girl locked up ahead.
"Hey," She called out, leaning in close. "How many of us are there here?"
The cat girl looked up at her, tears streaming down her face. Her lips quivered as she squeezed her eyes shut and turned around, presenting her back to her newest neighbor. Dimyri could only sight and rest against the wall, sinking down hoping the best for her sister.
KuliKuli was being dragged by both arms as they descended down a dark spiral staircase with only a few torches keeping the path dimly lit. The knights were breathing loudly under their stuffy helmets, taking care not to hurt Kuli as they squeezed down the narrow stairway. On their way down, they passed by a small arch-top window where sunlight pierced through. She glanced outside, spotting a courtyard where a group of soldiers watched over a row of cat girls in chains digging around clearing the debris around the tower.
KuliKuli looked forward as they entered a new circular room with a strange metal chair contraption lit by small torches hung around four wooden beams. The flooring squeaking with each heavy bootstep as the knights sat her down on the chair and strapped her wrists and ankles. She winced as they wrapped the leather binds tight against her skin, and the icy cold metal pressed against her skin added further discomfort. She gasped as a familiar looking old man appeared from behind her, emerging seemingly from darkness with a pair of scratched goggles over his eyes.
The two knights stood back guarding him as he shuffled over in his hunched posture, his head sunk down and his shoulders pressed against his ears. He carefully wrapped a pair of gloves over his trembling wrinkled pale hands before clutching a candle in hand and returning to her.
"Good morning, Nityri." He grinned, revealing a few gaps through his crooked teeth. "Or is it KuliKuli now?"
KuliKuli scoffed and turned her head away, gagging at the sour smell when he spoke. He scooted around through small steps, reaching over her head and lowering a magnifying glass contraption connected to the chair by a pair of hinges resembling a metal arm. Stepping on a lever attached to the chair, he dropped her seat so that she lay down on her backside. He placed the candle atop a small tray, using the glass to enhance the lighting, shining brightly over her face.
Her pupils constricted into narrow slits before closing her eyes while the Doctor directed the light behind her head, parting away her silver hair to expose her scar. She winced as he traced a metal instrument around the wound.
"Interesting, seems to be healing rather clumsily." He uttered in a low breath. "How did you remove the stitches with those paws of yours?"
"What stitches? What are you doing back there?" She hissed, struggling against the restraints.
The old man jumped back as she tried wiggling around, only to settle looking satisfied as she was held in place. With a smile, he returned to poking and prying at her head wound.
"OW!" She growled, closing her eye.
He set his instrument back on the silver tray then reached for a small container that fit into his palm. "You had abandoned us before I was able to apply the aftercare needed for your procedure. I can only suppose that you removed your stitches after your wound had healed, else you would not be here. Hold still, child."
"What is that?" She demanded, eyeing the container.
"This here is an old remedy, a concoction of healing herbs with slime residue for its gelatinous form. We need to apply this on your wound to ensure that you recover well." He chuckled, coating her scar with the gel. "Remarkable. You're the only one who survived the procedure, I should be thanking you for that. I hadn't known just how special you were before I initiated the surgery. Perdilius came this close to having my head."
"Lucky me." KuliKuli huffed, straining to pull her arms free. "Stupid, why even do this?"
"I needed to learn how your kind function." He explained, setting aside the container and wiping his gloved hands clean with a rag. "For science, you see."
She scoffed. "I thought you practice religion."
"Father Perdilius means well with his teachings, but I've no loyalty to any higher beings."
"So why work for him?"
He hummed, shuffling around before sitting over a stool with a loud sigh. He planted his hands over his knees, soothing them with a rubbing motion. Removing the goggles, he threw them against the tray and put on a pair of wiry lenses that hung loosely against his slanted nose. "Hmmm he helps me and vice versa. Through his mission, I've learned a great many things around Monster Girls. We had you drugged while I took a peek inside that pretty little cranium of yours and imagine my surprise to find that your brain is very much alike to a human's brain. Not a mirror image, and with little in common with a common cat's brain."
"You opened my head just for some twisted experiment?" She asked in disgust. "My old life..."
He merely shrugged. "It served us both. I learned how closely related you are to us, and Perdilius gained an obedient pet. Very surprising how easy it is to alter a man's character with a few snips here and there. Your head was no different, give it the right cuts and it was akin to cutting away the Nityri of old."
He coughed, building up to a chuckle as his body shook with each cough. "Chyah-ha ha-ha! In a way, you owe your second life thanks to me. I granted you this opportunity to begin anew, and so you have. You would be surprised how many people would agree to sacrificing unwanted memories."
"Did you do the same to Perdilius?"
He waved off her accusation. "Don't be ridiculous. I would require a hammer and large nail to crack through that skull. His new form is given by my hand, my creation."
"What?" She looked lost while a wrinkled grin emerged through the old man's face.
"Yesss, that device he wears was crafted by my hands. He told me that it saved his life recently, something about a farmhand slashing from naval to neck with a knife. And would you think that years ago, he had suggested that I craft a second device from a lighter alloy instead? He could handle the weight, and now using metals has paid off." He pushed aside a small cart on squeaky wheels where the silver tray sat on top. It spun behind him as he walked around removing his gloves, the tray inched into KuliKuli's view as she noticed the dry blood staining the rag.
Beneath the rag was a wrinkled page depicting the drawing of a cat girl silhouette displayed in the supine position facing forwards. KuliKuli squinted at the drawing, noticing a few notes scribbled out pointing at the marks circled around her head, forearm and leg. She took the opportunity to scan the room, spotting a poster pinned to the wall depicting the same drawing. Only this one had several more drawings pinned to them revealing images of scarring and burning.
She gasped as a pair of guards emerged through the main doors while carrying a small cat girl in a gurney. The guards were being extremely careful with her, constantly glancing over to see that she was unconscious. This cat girl looked sickly pale, her grayish fur with black stripes was scorched in a few areas around her tail and paws. Parts of her skin including her cheek were covered with black splotches, and she carried this rotting stench around her.
"Ah, another." The Doctor said calmly, pulling on a clean pair of gloves. "Seems our time has concluded for now. Keep the gel on your head and stay hydrated, I'll send someone in to give you and your sibling some water and rations soon. Oh, and don't overexert yourself. Any physical stress could risk opening that wound and put you in an eternal sleep. Wouldn't want that now."
He chuckled at his own words, sitting patiently as the black knights that watched over them stepped in to loosen the restraints on KuliKuli. She kept staring at the sickly young woman, fixated by how gross she looked as if she were infected with some disease. Worse yet, she appeared to be around her age, possibly younger. "What did you do to her?"
"Hm?" The Doctor raised his head before following her gaze. "Ah. Just another of our fallen pets. Note the greenish black discoloration around her body? Those are signs of necrosis on the skin. Before you think foolishly to attempt to rescue her, that condition can spread through bodily fluids be it scratch or biting."
"You're going to save her, right?" She pleaded as the knights picked her up from the chair.
The Doctor cackled lightly. "Chyah! Save her? We've yet to reverse this effect. She belongs to the Valley now, but not before I extract a few samples and run a few tests. Nekomata biology is rather similar to our own, hopefully this one will give me the cure. But even if she did, it won't be for her sake."
He laughed harder seeing her paled face as she began struggling against the two knights.
"Aww, don't fret child. You're more important than this runt. Wouldn't be the first cat we've lost to the Raven chyeh-he-he." His body trembled with each chuckle before bursting into a fit of cackling laughter. "Chyah! Chyah! Chye-che-che-che!"
She froze in horror as she was dragged helplessly away into the spiral staircase, her vision of the dying cat girl fading into darkness. Only the old man's cackling laugh echoed down the narrow passageway as she was taken away.