Flash Fiction # 628-- Neko's Trip Home/8

 

 I thought I could feel a tiny seed of rage buried in the back of Shosha's head. My initial thought was to tell Colin to take it all away. I don't think he would have, even for me. He had given his word as a Fae. They are not as ambiguous as cats. I really do wonder how they survive so long.

"Can we go back now?" I asked. I was annoyed that he'd picked up Shosha and left me to limp after them. Maybe Luna would hold me.

Then Collin pushed Shosha into a pocket -- much to her dismay -- and picked me up. His hand soothed wounds, but his hug cured more.

"I am sorry I couldn't find you sooner," he admitted. "That was a brilliant solution to yell for me. I didn't think you had that much magic."

Shosha mumbled something from the pocket.

Colin grinned at me, but he patted her head. She might have said something more, but we were transitioning between realms.

I don't know what went wrong.

We did not end up back with Luna and the others. The world seemed to tilt, the colors changed, and I fell.

I landed in mud up to my stomach. Foul-smelling mud overlain with a layer of bugs that immediately started swarming me. Huge birds took to the air, their wings darkening the sky as they screeched in angry protest.

"Colin!"

A shape came toward me, wings draped across the chest, plumes high above the head. The mud world went silent around us as the strange being approached.

Wings unfurled, and the body bowed, green eyes staring down at me.

"Colin," I whispered.

"My, what an odd little creature to find lost in my bog."

I blinked and found myself looking into a perfectly normal human face. The wings were actually a cape made of feathers, and she had more feathers in her hair. She also had the feel of something timeless and untouched by the world through which she walked. While the mud stuck to my fur and the insects buzzed at my eyes and ears, nothing touched her. It annoyed me.

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"I rather think that should be my question since you came to me."

"That was not my intention," I snapped. Her eyes widened and sparkled with uncanny power. That stopped me from saying anything more. I was not in a good mood, and judging this person in my current state was unwise.

How long would it take Colin to find me this time? Did I dare call for him?

"Well, what are you doing here?" she demanded as she stood straighter and looked around. Maybe she expected elephants. "How did you even get here since you have so little magic?"

"Both answers are related. I was traveling with my fae friend. He was trying to get us at least closer to home."

"Fae," she repeated and I wasn't certain she knew what I meant. "Is he here?"

"I am here," Colin said and stepped out of nowhere to stand with me. "I assume you are the keeper of this realm?"

She nodded and looked Colin over as if uncertain what he might be. When Shosha peeked out, the woman only nodded.

"Will you leave now?" she asked, making it not quite a demand. "You have unsettled things here."

I was ready to tell her what I thought of her realm and see how much I could really unsettle things --

Was I influenced by Shosha's rage still? Or was I simply tired and ready to return to any reality where something wasn't trying to bite me?

"I have to make some calculations first," Colin admitted. "I don't know why we came here. Unless? Do you  know a witch named Maude?"

I had expected the same bland retort as the rest of the conversation. Instead, she made such a sound of disgust that the insects fled in fear. I stayed very still.

"I am glad to say that the pretentious, weak woman is no longer among the living. I will never have to deal with her attacks again. What has she got to do with you being here?"

"I suspect we are cleaning up some of her work," Colin answered.

"That's not fair!" I protested. "I tripped her to be done with Maude and be free of her!"


"You killed her."

I looked at the bird woman and wondered if I had done something objectionable despite her dislike of the witch.

There was no use denying it; an obvious lie would not improve the situation. I thought Colin would do or say something to help me, but he stared off into the distance, and even the fluff ball disappeared into her pocket.

"I tripped her," I said.

She stared at me.

Then she laughed.

The sound went out in waves, brushing away mud, dead plants, and noisome insects. Flowers blossomed, but the mud tried to come back.

"Oh no," she said. "Enough of the despair."

With a wave of her arm -- or perhaps a lift of her wing -- she banished the mud and everything dark with it.

"Rage. Despair," Colin spoke at last. "There will be others. Now that she's dead and gone --"

"Dead does not always mean gone," Bird Woman replied.

I winced at that thought, but I should have considered it long before now. The look I gave Colin was one of despair, and I hadn't caught that feeling from the mud, either.

"I have found no sign of her in any form, my friend," Colin said. "I would have told you."

"But you never mentioned --"

"Until our encounter with Shosha, it didn't occur to me that she might have held some string to the world yet."

"Not a string, a web," I replied. "And I think we are caught in it."

Flash Fiction #627 -- Neko's Trip Home/7

 I couldn't move. Or maybe I didn't dare move because I had no idea where Catzilla might be. I was starting to see splotches of color, but given the white from before, I assumed the colors were in my head. That didn't help. Neither did going from stone deaf to hearing everything in three realms. The roar hit me like a wind, and I rolled a few feet and came up hard against something.

Yes, I panicked.

"Easy, Neko!"

Colin swept me up in his arms, but pulling in all my claws still took a difficult act of will. I could hear his heartbeat, the rush of blood in his veins, and the sound of each breath he took.

And the movement of something else nearby.

"White Catzilla," I whispered. "Huge. And speak softly. It hurts. Told her Maude is dead. She wanted the honor."

The cat charged at us, her claws sounding like bullets against whatever flooring we had beneath us. She must have been farther away than I thought. Colin had time to shift me to his shoulder, and I settled in like an excellent furry collar.

It was where I belonged. Not only was I safe here, but I could also help. It occurred to me that this entire place was Maude's magical construction. Now that I had a moment to think, I realized no one alive knew more about her magic than I did.

She made a leap at us but hit the wall of protection he'd put up. She bounced back with a squeal of indignation that sounded like sirens going off all around us. Even Colin winced.

I could see her all too well now. She stood a bit wobbly, and her ears went back while her tail twitched. I wasn't confident even fae magic would stand up to a determined charge.

"Do you want to know how to get out of here or not?" I asked. The words were too loud but stopped her. "If not, my fae friend and I will be on our way."

I hoped.

She started to leap and pulled herself to a stop away from the magical wall. I suspected she took note of Colin for the first time. Maybe she saw me as more than a dreaded enemy, but rather a minion for Maude.

I was never a minion.

I moved to stand on Colin's shoulder rather than cowering behind his head. I stopped acting like prey, and she noted it.

"My name is Neko," I said. It was a dangerous ploy since names convey power --

But this paid off.

"She spoke often of you! You were better than me at everything --"

"She was just toying with you. She locked me away in an old building, and I stayed there for centuries until the fae helped me. Whatever she said I was good at clearly wasn't true."

She sat down. "I am Shosha -- or I was before rage turned me into this creature."

"Do you want to let go of that rage?" Colin asked.

She blinked, her icy-blue eyes narrowing. "What do I have left without it?"

"The chance to be something more and to leave this cage," Colin replied.

She stared at him again, and I wondered what she thought. At least she did so quietly. Unfortunately, Colin was in a talkative mood. My head still wanted to explode, and I would have asked for help, but Colin needed to focus on our companion.

"I want out," she whispered, afraid to admit to it. Afraid it was still one of Maude's tricks. There had been those while Neko traveled with Maude, but not after he had been trapped in the bookstore. Maybe I'd been lucky. Or else she didn't want to draw attention to me and her hidden treasure.

I stopped myself from saying anything. This wasn't about me.

"I can help you release your rage," Colin offered. "Then you can come with us or go anywhere you want."

"But I will be small and helpless again!"

"Cats are never helpless," I replied with more indignation than I had intended. Also louder. I winced, but Colin patted my shoulder.

"We cannot stay," Colin said. Shosha made a soft sound of worry. "I know this isn't an easy choice to make. I can take the rage away and give you a link to call it back again if you change your mind. Just remember that was the rage also comes the prison. I could not allow you to run around wild in that state."

She still paused. This would be a significant change for her, and I felt that she had wiped away all memories of her previous life. I had the feeling I knew someone who would help her, though. Better yet, Luna had no magic except for her ability to see beyond the simple reality the rest of us could view.

"Let me see this other world," she finally said. "It may be that I don't like it."

That sounded sufficiently catlike to me, so I had more hope for her. Colin was already lifting his hands and casting a spell. A moment later, there was a harsh breeze that seemed to tangle into everything and just annoyed me. I finally realized that this was Shosha's rage dissipating into the air.

As the sound died down, I looked over at Shosha and couldn't find her until I saw a small bit of white movement against the white and gray background.

"I am tiny!" An indignant voice shouted from the floor.

"You are adorable," Colin replied and scooped her up.

I decided that she was right -- she was tiny. She was also somewhat adorable if you go in for those short-legged fluffy things.

I could not imagine what Maud wanted with her unless it had been the power of that rage.

Flash Fiction #626 -- Neko's Trip Home/6

 

I don't like to be laughed at, and this creature didn't have a whisper of joy in that sound.  I couldn't see what I faced except for occasional flashes of black teeth. My eyes watered so much I feared I would never be able to see again, and then I wondered why I was trying to locate my enemy by sight. I closed my eyes and listened instead.

Much better.

I could hear the whistle of a breath, so soft it was barely a whistle.  The creature stood to my right.  I heard a shift of fur, a catch of breath -- something hurt --  and then the soft brush of fur against the floor.

Did I hear chains?

"Where are we?" I dared to ask.

"It is Where she put me. But you know that part. You still have her scent upon you. I know she sent you --"

"No one sent me," I protested. "As far as I can tell, you grabbed me away from my friends and brought me here."

I could almost see a face as the creature leaned down closer to look at me. "I only moved before she could since she sent you. I did not want another of her surprises, although I do admit I don't sense her any nearer now."

"You can't mean Luna," I protested.

"Is that what she calls herself now?"

"Not Luna," I said and suddenly understood.  "You mean Maude."

The creature hissed, cat-like, at the name.  "You dare to call her --"

"I can't call her," I replied.  "She's dead."

No sound at all.

I saw a glimpse of black teeth far too close to my face.

"Careful!" I jumped backward, hissing with surprise.

"She can't be dead! If that were true than I --"

"Kept yourself trapped here."

That was not the best way I could have stated it.

In fact, if I had been wise, I would have let her find that answer all on her own. As it was, she moved -- yes, she -- and I jumped a heartbeat too late.

SLAP

I went flying. I had thought there were no walls until I hit one.  Then she hit it and landed on me.  She still growled as I gasped, fighting my way out from under pounds of fur.

I came out gasping, but so was she. Also, the white was fractured by lines of wavering gray. Against that confusing background, I could see the shape of the one who captured me.  She looked like a very big white cat.

Huge.

"You can't know she is dead if I don't!" she shouted.

I waited while the echoes died down.

"I know because I killed her."

"You don't have the magic to have killed her.  I set dozens of traps for her, each one more magically elaborate. You don't have that kind of power."

"I didn't use magic.  I tripped her as she went down the stairs.  She broke her neck."

"Dead."

"I have a Fae friend who can confirm it."

"Dead."

She had a growing look of confusion mixed with anger as she turned to me again.  Her ice blue eyes narrowed as she pulled herself up and stood over me.  I knew that look.

"I am not a mouse," I warned and hoped my voice didn't squeak too much.

"I think you should run, little prey."

"I am not prey!" I replied with outright indignation.  "I am a cat!"

"Nice kitty."

I watched her tail steady as her back leg muscles tightened. When she pounced, I charged straight underneath her. As I had expected, she was out of practice. That didn't make her less dangerous in the long run. I could only dodge her attacks for so long.  It seemed as though the longer we dueled, the more awake she became. I hoped to see some sanity in  her face before I ran out of energy. I also had another hope, of course. My friends were bound to miss me soon.  However, I couldn't know how time worked here or if Colin could even find the path to this strange, white realm.

Maybe I needed to help him.

I didn't have the magic to stop my companion from trying to eat me, but I thought if I threw everything into a call for help, I might get Collins attention. The problem was that I couldn't get enough time to pull the spell together, and every bit of magic I used to stay ahead of this white demon would make my call all the weaker.

I was also aware that I was running in circles. The only way I was going to get out of this would be to do something unexpected. I could charge straight at her again, but I thought she might be a little too alert for that kind of trick twice.  I decided on something a little less blatant, at least at the start. Using a little magic, I fixed the spot along the path I was taking. The tiny little tick of magic  didn't draw her attention at all but allowed me to coordinate everything from there.  

I didn't go near it every time she chased me. When I did, I left another seed of magic.  it took her longer to sense than I had expected, but I still wasn't ready.

When she changed direction and headed for it I knew I had no more time. I threw every bit of magic I had left and added the spell I'd been working out while trying to run for my life. But the loss of the magic sent me to falling on the floor. Then the spell caught the magic and blossomed into a blinding flash of light and a rumble of words that might have been thunder.

"Colin, I need your help!"

That had  been loud enough that they probably heard it in other realms without the magic that sent the message out in eddies.

I stayed fallen on the floor, weak, blind, and deaf.

Flash Fiction #625 -- Neko's Trip Home/5

 

Of course, we stayed for the festival. Who could turn away from bright lights, acrobats, dancing elephants (and their chipmunk friends), music, plays, and small poodles dancing on the backs of horses?

Down through the years, I've noticed that humans will do just about anything to be entertained. Dancing poodles is not the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Cats are lucky since we can find just about anything to keep ourselves entertained, and we will not dance for our dinner.

Mostly.

There was so much going on that people rarely noticed that I was a talking cat.

Or so we thought.

Colin rented us a couple of tents near the central fountain.  It was well after midnight, and only a few people were still up.  The elephants and chipmunks had gone off with a promoter who wanted to take them on tour.  The little army had joined the local guard for the festival's duration, but I had the feeling they wouldn't go on with us, either.

Eliminating one mousie-like temptation.

Not that I would have eaten them.  I don't even like the taste of mice.

"I am going to be in and out tonight, Neko," Collin said.  "I want to go check the gates and see if I can narrow down which one we'll use."

"They are near?" I asked.

"A couple of miles out of town.  Why don't you spend the night with Luna? Both of you get some rest.  I can't guarantee that this will be an easy trip back to where we belong."

"Good idea," I agreed. I thought nicely about going home -- or at least to the reality I best understood.  The bookstore called me tonight.  I looked forward to sleeping in my bed and staying up too late reading odd books.

That's what vacations were about, right?  Seeing other things and appreciating what you have.

There were still noises outside, and some people had gotten rowdy now that they had been told to quiet down for the night.

Sometimes, humans are a lot like cats.

Luna was sitting just inside her tent with some Tarot cards spread out before her. She looked up and smiled as I neared.

"You know, it is remarkably hard to get a reading for the future when you aren't even sure where you are.  Come in."

 I stepped around the cards, Careful not to disturb them. I had enough trouble with the future without messing with tarot readings.

"Colin is gone to check out the gates," I told Luna as I sat beside her. "He wants to find the one that will lead us back home if you can. Otherwise, I think we're going to be bouncing around a bit. Are you still happy to be with us?"

Luna turned to me and smiled. "I was in a bad situation before the two of you came along. And you can't say that we haven't had some adventures together. I hope that everything works out soon, but even if it does, I still want to stay with the two of you. Has Colin asked if you want to leave us? I'm beginning to think that you worry so much about the rest of us that you don't consider what you might want."

Her words surprised me because I had not really considered my future. I was happy enough to be free of the building in which I'd been trapped for so long, and I was having a great time on our road trip, even if it had taken a slight detour. But my future? I had never considered such a thing in all my life.

"As long as I'm not trapped in some building for a couple hundred years, I think I'll be happy. I will even be happy back at the bookstore because I have so much stuff squirreled away that it will take a while for me to sort it out. Besides, I am not there alone anymore. That doesn't mean you have to stay when we get back there. You may not like the bookstore."

"You're joking, right?" Luna gave an unexpected laugh. "I've never met a bookstore I didn't like. You think I'm going to run away from one with pixies, fae, and a talking cat?"

"Not to mention the books," I added. "There are a few so old they were written in Latin."

I feared she would swoon.

Then I thought I was fainting.  Everything went completely still and a dusty gray.  I turned slowly, afraid that everything would turn to dust and blow away if I touched anything or created the slightest breeze by moving.


"Nice kitty," something growled.

Then something grabbed me, and I feared I felt the world dissolved as I went ... Somewhere else.

Everything had gone black. everywhere and so bright that I couldn't see a shadow, even my own.

"What the hell --" I began.

I sensed movement nearby, though I could see nothing. It proved hard to concentrate, and even though I knew some minor magic, I could not recall any of the spells.

"Nice kitty," the voice growled again.

"I'll show you nice kitty," I finally snarled --

Something bit me on my back left leg.  It wasn't a tiny insect, either. I spun and found nothing except a spot of bright pink where my leg bled.

Something laughed.

Flash Fiction #624 -- Neko's Trip Home/4

 

Gone.

More than gone, it was as though they had never been here. There should have been signs of the elephants at the very least.

Maybe I had taken the wrong path back.  Maybe this realm messed with my abilities.  I glanced around, but everything looked too perfectly the same for me to be wrong.

"Colin?" I whispered.  "Luna?"

Nothing.

"Colin! Luna!"

Nothing.

I have had an odd and even dangerous life.  Very little can scare me.  

"Meow," I cried.  I felt like a helpless kitten.  I turned in circles.  Where could they have gone?  Why did they abandon me?  "Meow, meow, meow..."

No.

Why was I panicking?  I knew they hadn't simply forgotten me.  There was magic involved, and that power didn't scare me, even though it was a different type of magic than I had known before.

That realization on its own bothered me. Even before I met Colin the Fae and Luna the Seer, I had known magic. Until now, I hadn't considered how Colin came from another realm, but his magic was mostly the same as the little that I knew.

I could not even feel the magic here.  I could only perceive its effects.  Everyone but me -- and maybe the elephants -- had seemed to be affected by the power. That couldn't be because we were not human.  The chipmunks had seemed touched by the magic.  Or at least they were gone with everyone else.

Where?

They hadn't walked away.  I would have noticed that path. I had noticed where we had walked in or any other spot around --

Up?

I considered it as I looked up into that unchanging -- and obviously magical -- sky. I had gotten used to the never changing daylight until I started thinking about it. Unnatural was the least I could consider it.

Cursed came to mind with a sudden rush of worry. This place was cursed to eternal daylight.  We had seen very little in native life except for plants. I had no time to consider what more it might mean because up appeared to be the right direction.  I could feel magic in the air above me.  Strong magic, moving like a wind into the direction we had been traveling.

I wouldn't have considered  it so important, but I could feel a trace of fae magic, specifically Colin's power, like a thread through it.

I began jumping upward.

I am a Siamese.  I did pretty well, despite fearing I was simply going to fall farther, the higher I jumped.

Then, when that didn't work, I climbed a tree to the highest branch that would hold me, and threw myself off with arms outstretched as though they were wings.

I flew.

It was all about attitude, and any Siamese can handle that, even without magic.  I enjoyed it for about three minutes (I need a watch in this place).

It was at three minutes that I started considering the idea of landing.  What if I saw my friends below me?  Did I just drop out of the sky and hope for the best?  Did I sweep down like a bird of prey and catch someone by the shoulder?

They couldn't be far now.  I could hear Luna calling my name.

By the time I saw them, Luna had hold of one man and shook him like a rag doll.  A man with a lot of power, too, although he looked too shocked to use any of it.

"You lost Neko!" Luna shouted and shook him some more.  "Where is Neko!  You had better find him, or I swear --"

The man --fae -- started to look annoyed.

"Luna, how do you land?" I shouted down at her.

She looked up. Then she released her prey, who stumbled backward.

"Neko!"

"I can't get down."

"How did you get up there?" Colin asked.

"I climbed a tree and jumped."

No one questioned that answer.  There is a reason we get along so well.

Colin reached upward and I could feel tendrils of his magic carefully catching hold of me. He gently pulled me down and into Luna's arms.  She cried and held me tight so that I could hardly breathe at first.

"Now," Colin said, looking at the other tree.  "What is going on here?  Why did you bring us here?"

"We naturally assumed you were part of the carnival," one of them said.  "You showed up in one of the pickup spots, so we grabbed you to get in early."

"What made you think we were part of this carnival?" Colin asked, still confused.

"Quite honestly, it was the elephants."

"He has a point," Luna said.