Luky and the Birdmen

A butterfly fluttered in the wind. Its blue wings reflected the sunlight like the sharp end of a blade. Its frantic movements made it hard to trace, but not impossible.

Not impossible for the best hunter in Terra.

This butterfly was the perfect prey for the young boy who chased it. A flaring red mane, eyes of topaz, whiskers gleaming. Luky wasn’t just a regular boy.

Well, as you may have guessed by now, he wasn’t even a boy. He was more of a...fiery humanoid with red fur and pointy ears.

Some may find him resembling a cat, or kitten. Others, and mostly Luky himself, preferred the term boy-lynx. Lynxes were, of course, much cooler than cats.

People considered Luky cute but feisty. Cuddly but scratchy. He was the eleven-year-old sindur cub who would become a master hunter one day.

Sindurs were the men-lynx who lived scattered across the world of Terra. Like nomads, they were always on the move.

After losing their home, sindurs traveled far and wide to find a new one. In some ways, they were still searching.

Sindurs were silent, sneaky, and incredibly agile. They could be in one place a second and be gone in the shadows the next.

It wasn’t surprising that this butterfly had no idea it was being chased, until fluffy white paws came to cover it.

Luky grinned, showing his sharp and shiny teeth. He had caught his prey—today was a great success!

Hesitating at first, he slowly uncovered the poor insect that wanted to break free. The butterfly beat its frail wings, a little bit stunned by what had just happened to it.

Luky looked at it with one big yellow eye wide open and, after a sigh, he let it go. No butterflies were to die today.

The confused insect hovered above the wooden handrail for a bit until it flew out of Luky’s reach. The young boy-lynx kept his eyes on it until the butterfly became one with the blue colors of the sky, no longer in sight.

Luky blinked a few times, his yellow eyes doing their best to get used to the bright light of the sunrise. Because it was morning, and Luky hated mornings. His vision was much better in the dark!

Looking in the distance, Luky searched for that butterfly again, but his eyes drifted away. A glimmer distracted him. It was the sheen of the wavering ocean.

This instantly reminded him that he was on a boat. Actually, Luky was on a ship.

How did that butterfly even get here?

Luky was at sea. Aboard an exploration galley, to be precise.

He was probably miles away from the shore by now. He’d slept each night between crates in the cargo hold, unnoticed and undisturbed.

Three nights on the ship were all he’d needed to make the others think he belonged.

Now, everyone acted as if he was part of the landscape, even that wandering butterfly that had probably squatted the crates with him.

The sun rose above the sea, casting a soft orange light over the water, covering Luky’s face with a veil of gold. There was a breeze tickling his whiskers.

Luky breathed in, relaxing the muscles of his face. He felt happy, like he was right where he needed to be. Until his stomach started growling like an angry lynx.

Luky was hungry.

And everyone who knew Luky knew how bad things could get when he was hungry. Hangry—that’s how his father would describe it.

His father...the word popped in his mind like a loud bubble.

His father was probably looking for him by now, and Luky was hungry.

He couldn’t get the idea of food out of his head. But now, his father was also on his mind.

He had to get food fast, or he’d start getting angry or, worse, sad.

Luky was great at sneaking, so he’d use that to his advantage. Sure, he was part of the landscape, but he shouldn’t push it. He wasn’t exactly the expected thing to see around here.

No sindur was—they were the rare kind of Terran beings! Luky would slip through the hatch to the lower deck. That’s where the food was.

Luky began walking, passing by two men who were sweeping the floor. They ignored him.

After that, it was just a matter of zigzagging between crates and barrels, briefly stepping in and out of the shadows so the armed guards who patrolled the place wouldn’t see him.

Luky knew those men in armor were guards, even if they didn’t look like the Bravan guards from his land, who wore bronze steel armor and shiny helmets.

These guards, less than twenty feet away from him, wore steel breastplates over mail shirts, with light purple shawls that protected their necks. Spikes adorned the helmets that covered their eyes.

One of them even had a red feather sticking out of the spike.

It was kind of strange to see guards here. From his understanding, this was a trade ship that carried clothes and cotton and sold it to the faraway lands.

Even if he didn’t know anything about trading ships, Luky didn’t think merchants needed guards. Maybe they protected and kept an eye on the merchandise. That was probably it.

Luky successfully snuck behind the guards. The pads of his back paws allowed him to be absolutely silent.

Sindurs never wore shoes, and this was the perfect proof that they didn’t need any. Just like that, hopping down the creaky stairs, Luky made his way to the lower deck, where he could breathe the distant scent of flatbread and butter.

He would steal a loaf, smear butter all over it, and if he could find some spiced dried meat somewhere, he would gladly mix it all to make the perfect sandwich.

Luky grabbed flatbread from a basket at the back of the dining area. He got his hands on the last spoon of salted butter and left an empty jar behind him. He then stole a few pieces of dried meat from nearby trays.

The ship’s crewmen did not even hear him. Once the perfect sandwich was made, Luky snuck back through the hatch and disappeared like he’d never even been there.