(TFOR) Chapter 4: Arrival of the Fittest

Tane entered the curtains of the tent, assigned by the Leader, after replying with a thankful pose. He was fully stunned upon his first glance into the tent. It was a terrific medium-sized panther with its black dirty fur, painted thin white stripes and a silver collar attached to a tiny bell. It looks to be taking a nap with a loud purr at a steady rate on the huge rough yellowish-grey mattress-like rug under it. In front of it is an empty circular peach-colored bowl titled:

EL MANDREW

The fact that he was strongly allergic to feline-esque animals banned him from trying to interact with Mandrew. When his mother was still alive, she always assisted on most household conundrums, especially expelling creatures from the neighborhood from attacking her little niño.

He felt scared of observing the beast at first, remembering his mother's past warnings of the appropriate distance between him and cat-like beings. Yet, the way it responded wasn't threatening; It was more likely just travelling through its dreams.

As a result of observing the panther and its passive state with a good distance, his eyes wandered to the other parts of the impressively known, Royal Pavilion. He first focused on the astounding carven wooden-framed paintings above the giant cat and its comfortable bedding. One of them portrayed an image of a young boy facing and pointing across the sky at a massive city inside a crystal dome, blasting a beam of light from the tip of his strange glowing index finger. He is standing on a cliff far away from the civilization, looking at the dispersion of rays from the beam which he casted. Although he is facing the other way, Tane could barely see this boy's facial expressions.

To the next of the picture of a mysterious kid and his glowing finger, presented another abnormality of a sketch. It was an illustration of a long chiseled stone table, fit for a substantial amount of intelligent cavemen who are capable of designating an important conference. Tane thought of the odd scenario and would chose to clear it out of his mind otherwise. The table itself looked overgrown with vines, moss and other unwanted herbs, a perfectly understandable reason being in a jungle populated by untamed wildlife as the image set the settings.

Tane has been concentrating at the peculiar drawings, that are hung long enough that he forgot the presence of time and the rest of the furniture in the tent. Meanwhile, a few strangers are literally behind him, some sitting quietly on the visitors' couch. Tane heard an abrasive cough at his rear whilst the panther is still longing through its catnip, purring out loud. He turns around and what he saw was a woman with extremely yellow clothes, attentively reading a thick brown book. It labeled:

QUAZNIK AND HIS STRATEGIES OF WAR

Next to the woman was a man with a scar on one of his ears, drawn with dragon and knight tattoos all over. He was wearing a customized footman uniform, like the casuals but with more contrasting colors. He was seen as incomplete due to the lack of a helmet and an arm piece, showing off the design of the drawings on his skin. Other than the woman, he is also scanning through his own book, resembling a reading competition. It read:

HISTORICAL EVIDENCES OF THE NOBLE SEVEN

The last human in the room is more or less, a little boy, inspecting a metal figurine of a knight on a stallion charging with glory, pointing his sword upwards. It was on a primitive table, like a ruler's desk next to possibly, the Leader's seat.

Suddenly, a familiar alarming sound of the Strike Bell rang, attracting everyone's attention both inside and outside the tent.

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