Chapter 620 - 620 Obstacle Course 2, Now With More Cat
Chapter 620 – 620 Obstacle Course 2, Now With More Cat
As her feet touched the ground Lily dashed off towards the start of the obstacle course. It was a simple set of stairs and not really something that counted as an obstacle. With the reduced size it was simple for her to take the stairs three at a time pulling herself up as she went. It was actually how thin the stairs were that proved even a modicum of a challenge but her balance was more than enough to deal with it. Her wings didn't need to get involved at all, though they were always ready.
When she got to the top, Lily saw that the next obstacle was a series of floating platforms angled slightly. It was clear that a normal person would have to run and jump quickly between them to avoid falling off… but the smaller size meant Lily could just about walk across them. The small size made it hard to find purchase but they were much closer together.
*Hmm… this looks a bit easy. I think I'd rather just try the normal sized version of this course. It seems so much more interesting that way. Sure I can do this more normally by running and stepping but with four legs this should be harder. It just so happens that it's all so close together that it doesn't end up that way.*
Testing her theory Lily pounced on the first platform and found it easy to ignore the slant. The platform was small enough for her to grip around the edges while standing on it and simply jumped her way across. It was a little awkward at first but once she realised her back could bend almost in half, it was a simple matter of getting across.
Once that was done, she intentionally jumped off and sprinted back to Nira and Nobody who were watching off to the side. "What's up Lily? Why did you stop?" asked Nira. "It didn't really look too hard… so it should be something else."
*Hmm… how do I want I explain I want it to go back to normal size and use it to practice my jumping ability rather than my absurdly good balance. Oh! That could work.* Lily tapped on the ground a few times to make sure she had their attention before taking of sprinting. First she rounded the entire obstacle course, which still took a while even in its shrunken state, before moving diagonally out towards the furthest corner from the set up. Once there she started to circle the room and Nobody figured it out.
"Oh. You want it to go back to full size?" said Nobody at around normal volume, something Lily could actually still hear quite well. YES. I'm so glad you guessed that the first time. Lily nodded vigorously, something that looked adorable now that she was a cat.
"Cool, well, if you and Nira want to leave the room I can expand it all back to full size. Shouldn't be too hard. It was just the fiddling to get it all to the 'right' size that took so long. I see now though that this sort of thing can't really be scaled easily," said Nobody before making shooing motions for them to leave.
As they exited Nira opened her arms, silently asking Lily if she wanted to be carried again for a bit. Lily was torn. It was actually quite nice, especially with her new instincts. Being wrapped up in warmth like that was quite pleasing. On the other hand, she was practically an adult, wasn't it humiliating? *Then again… Nira is so much older than me I might as well be a child in her eyes.*
With that excuse found Lily easily jumped straight into Nira's waiting arms and snuggled in. Nira had her situated just below her chest, which was awkward not because of the proximity but because Lily had to be careful to avoid poking Nira with her new horns. It happened twice before they left the door and caused Lily to just lay down at accept things. It wasn't quite as nice as when she was looking around but it was still relaxing.
Lily also decided to use the chance to try and get her whiskers to work. She might have succeeded. For a few moments she certainly felt something… but whether that was the beginnings of her electro sense or merely her more refined hearing was a question that would go unanswered.
Nobody pulled open the door, now covered in oil and grease stains for some reason. Closer inspection revealed that these 'stains' were only on her skin and the white coat she was wearing was completely untouched. Nira just huffed at the joke but didn't say anything. Lily couldn't say anything of course and just nodded before jumping off onto the floor to start her second run.
The stairs were no more a challenge then last time once she found her rhythm. Despite the increased height, the increased size meant finding her footing for a light hop was even easier. The floating steps were also easy. She could fit her whole body on them, and the angle wasn't too bad for her feet. With a bit of careful balancing she could rest on them for as long as she liked. The jump was a little difficult to perfect because of the risk of sliding upon landing but two hops was enough to get that down.
The next obstacle was a wall filled with moving bricks. The idea behind it was to avoid being pushed off as you ran… but for Lily it was simple to sprint low to the ground and avoid all but the lowest of blocks which she jumped over with no difficulty.
The next obstacle was a slide down to the rock wall, if the slide could even be called an obstacle. Once at the ground, Lily carefully examined the wall itself. *Do I want to just try and fly up?* Lily flapped her wings experimentally but didn't get too much lift. *Did I not get any lift because I didn't want any or because I'm doing something wrong? Kat's bounce around when she walks but when she actually tries to fly she has no issues.*
Lily paced at the base of the wall. Part of her wanted to challenge in. Find a path upward without resorting to her wings. The other part wanted to learn to fly, and completely blow off this obstacle by essentially 'going around' it instead of using the intended path. In the end, Lily decided to split the difference. She'd start trying to climb it properly, but if she fell her wings were coming out.
The first few steps were easy. The handholds were large. Not large enough to stand comfortably of course, but she could fit three legs on with a little bit of manoeuvring. It made the next jump a little awkward, but her increased strength when compared to normal cats of her size meant it was still very much possible. A few jumps later and she found a big platform a person would need to use to swing. For her, she could settle into the crevice and take a short rest.
Looking up at the wall, Lily found she was only about a third of the way up. Jumping around in a zig zag pattern to reach the easiest handholds was not conducive to speed. That niggling to simply fly up came back but she pushed it down. This wasn't so hard just yet and it would feel a little too much like quitting. So Lily steeled herself and continued the climb.
It was going well until she needed to make sure of one of the indented handholds instead of one that stuck out. She only managed to fit two paws in and started to fall sideways. Her mind slowed, not to the extent of Kat, but still more than she ever could as a human, and analysed the situation. It took less then a second to realise that she needed room to open her wings and kicked off from the wall as hard as she could.
Which was a bit too far in truth, she was most of the way up the slide and the 'ground' was approaching much faster then it would have had she made a weaker jump. Still, now wasn't the time for doubts. Lily flared her wings as wide as she could and tried flapping them. It was an effort. Something Kat had never mentioned, because it wasn't an issue for her, was that flying was hard. She felt her wings pushing hard on the air below her to keep her aloft and her momentum slowed before she ended up just floating in place. Lily knew she'd be cackling right now if she still had the vocal cords for it. Now that her flight had stabilised she couldn't help but want to cut loose. So she did.
Lily dove down before flaring her wings again and swinging around the obstacles she'd already passed before swooping right by the two demons in the room. Lily let herself just enjoy the fact that she could fly now.. Any doubts she had about this form, not that she had many, fell away as she soared through the gym.