Clank!

“Yes!” Cat cheered as the rope finally got a good hold of the weathered edge of the brick wall. This was her umpteenth time attempting to scale the castle’s side, but this time she was making better progress. Yanking on the rope a few times to insure that it was safe to climb, she put her feet on the cold, rough surface and proceeded to ascend the barrier. Normally, Cat’s weak upper-body strength would have hindered her from this task, but being the crafty little genius she was, she had an ice pick in both hands, chipping depressions into the stone to grab onto. So far so good! She had gone about three-fourths of the way up the wall when she heard a gasp from above her. A scrawny-looking man in a white trench coat with bandages over his face and a tuft of orange hair on his head, was stammering profusely as he pointed at the equally tense youth that had stopped climbing.

“Intruder!” He turned to rush down the tower and alert the rest of the facility of the five-foot, three-inch menace that was attempting to invade the Order. “This is not a drill! Intru-!” He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as the blunt end of an ice pick hurtled into the side of his head. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious, with one nasty head wound.

“Idiot! Shut up!” Cat hissed at him, unaware she had just knocked him out. She hauled the man to his feet and dragged him to the corner of a buttress and halted. Boots were dashing close by! The teen squeaked and looked around for a way out. There were none.

“What’s going on over there?!” A gruff shout echoed across the corridor. The mob of finders rushed over to find the young finder waving and leaning back in a chair. “No worries! It was just a…guy from the science department. He was sneaking around the building and I mistook him for a trespasser. I think he was searching for the Head Officer,” The finder waved dismissively to the griping throng of finders.

“Keep a better eye next time, Toma! Geez, and you call yourself a lookout!” The group disbanded down the stairs. As they did so, they didn’t notice the still waving young man collapse onto the ground. “Dang. I thought they’d never leave!” Cat panted, nervously and shot a glance at the unresponsive, human puppet. “Now…What am I going to do about this guy?”