Wild

chapter 10

"Alright you mangy cat, get ready to eat shit" Tommy grinned, looking down at the hissing cat far below. He stood on the far end of a roof at the moment, looking down and loudly taunting the tabby that prowled below. Obviously the beast was waiting for him to make the first move, like it did every day. He had been dealing with this cat for a week now and today was his last day with the ratty thing. It would never catch him of course, he was way too fast for the feline to even get close to him, but it did get him some lovely practice.

He had been working on a new invention of his, a brilliant way to cut the hassle of walking by half. A glider! Made out of cloth and leather, the leather made small straps he tied onto different parts of his body and the cloth was attached to the leather. It hung under his arms, comfortably tucked away until he undid the strap hiding it. He had about four main straps keeping the cloth in place and attached to his body on either side of his body; one just below his knees, one hooked onto either side of his belt, one attached to a small hook on his shoulder armor, and the last one wrapped around his hands. The hand one was the one mostly used for steering, and the rest held it in place to catch the wind.

The whole idea he had been working on for months, stalled a bit by the constant moving. But he still managed to keep inventing things, even though he had to pack and unpack his stuff like every week. Four nearly five years now he had lived like this, like a Nomad. All those years ago he had been taken in by a group of borrowers, they called themselves Nomads, who always moved. They lived the opposite way of normal borrowers, choosing to live instead of survive. They always said it was better to live a short life of adventure and foolish decisions than to live stuck in the dark walls, scared of the mere thought of humans. They chose this life, and when the moment came when the many hazards of travel took their life, they were at peace with it.

That's the life Tommy chose to live, one that suited him just fine. He never was one for careful decisions or thought out plans, choosing instead to dive in head first and figure it out as he went. That's why his brother countered him so well, Tubbo was much more thought out then Tommy. He would hesitate before doing something reckless, he would think of a plan to follow when they went out borrowing, and most of all he was much more cautious around humans. But that didn't stop Tommy from influencing his decisions just a bit, like right now for example.

Technically Tommy didn't have to face off with the cat, he could go back to the Nomads and finish packing his stuff. But where would be the fun in that? Plus he had finished his glider just this morning and wouldn't be able to test it very well while carrying his stuff. These buildings provided the perfect terrain to glide from, and the cat was the perfect obstacle.

Tommy looked up towards the road in front of him, the building he was sitting on was built right next to this town's library. Now all the way on the other side of the village was his objective, Tubbo sitting in the tree signaling him. They had learned long ago to use pieces of glass to signal each other, reflecting the light to catch each other's eyes. Right now he could see the glare from a spot on the low branches of the tree, where he knew his brother was waiting.

As far as he knew there was nobody in the village besides the villagers, and villagers rarely cared about anything outside of their jobs and trading. So avoiding them wouldn't be a problem, all he really had to avoid was the cat. The same one that was scratching its claws on the wall with a hungry look aimed at him. Tommy had a shit eating grin looking down at the cat, "awww is little kitty mad? Mad that you'll lose to me for the fifth time this week?" the Nomad jeered at the cat while he carefully prepared his glider. He had designed it to be a quick process to get ready, for emergencies really, so he was ready in no time. He tested the straps a couple times, pulling on the string in his hand to retract the cloth extending from his arms to his knees.