She crouched in the bushes peering through the space between the leaves as she watched the pinpricks of torchlight fade into the distance. She sighed and sat back on her heels trying to calm the racing of her heartbeat and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a furry tail brush her arm.

The little black cat huffed at her skittishness, its green eyes blinking at her with a mixture of concern and reproach; she sighed and scratched her familiar underneath the chin. When the creature didn't purr as usual she let out another sigh and pouted at the demon.

"Come on Noir, you know it wasn't my fault right?"

The cat didn't even blink at her and she sighed a third and final time before she pushed herself up from the ground, brushing dirt off of her skirts as she listened to the sound of the mobs footsteps retreating deeper into the woods.

She stood there for a moment longer considering what she should do next.

"I could very well blame you for all of this I know you're supposed to follow me but you could at least do it more carefully. Shifting into a panther was hardly necessary."
The little black cat glared up at her and bared his teeth.
"Yes alright fine, thank you for saving me."
He purred, pleased that she had acknowledged his accomplishment.
"You nearly scared the poor cell guard to death."
Noir bared his teeth, snarling. Marinette giggled. "Yes very intimidating but that works better when you're about six times the size you are now. You wouldn't be able to bite off my toes much less my head when you're a house cat."

He growled and uncurled himself from his sitting position, tail twitching as he pounced on her feet.

She squeaked and fell back to the ground. She burst out laughing and nudged him, pushing him away with with her bare feet, just now realizing that she had lost her shoes during their escape from the townspeople.

"Stop! That tickles, No, seriously stop!" Marinette cast an uneasy glance in the direction that the mob had disappeared.

Picking up on her uncertainty Noir stopped playing with her toes and mewed, trying to draw her attention.

She rubbed his head but kept her eyes on the forest for a moment longer. She turned back to Noir and offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I think we're safe now."

Noir responded to this by stalking closer to the bush so that he could assess the situation for himself.

"See anyone?" Marinette asked, scratching the cat's ears as they twitched trying to pick up any signs of movement from the shadowed trees.

He turned and tilted his head up to lick her fingers. Marinette stifled a giggle and got to her feet again.

"Good, let's go."

She turned on her heel to go the opposite direction of the mob. Noir rushed out in front of her, fur standing on end, tail slashing back and forth as he stared at her; a growl building in his throat.

She frowned at him and rolled her eyes, folding her arms and returning his unblinking glare.

"Fine, you go first."

He huffed and turned his back to her, weaving his way through the trees and looking over his shoulder to make sure she was still following.

Freezing at every little sound that reached his ears out of the gloom of the forest.

Mari winched with every step regretting having lost her shoes. She just prayed that the cottage wasn't too far away. She tilted her head up to the sky trying to find the moon through the branches of the pine trees.

She couldn't see the moon but if the gray of the sky was anything to go by then dawn wasn't far off. She'd spent the majority of her night in a jail cell. She sighed and resigned herself to the fact that she'd lost an entire night of possible progress because of one mistake.


The cottage appeared through the trees and it was all she could do not to run toward the promise of sanctuary. She stopped at the edge of the treeline and Noir paced forward, stalking through the tall grass to the window, he jumped and paced the windowsill looking back at her for a moment before he jumped down and disappeared into the cottage.

She waited; concern growing with every second that the black head didn't pop out of the window.

Marinette edged closer to the little house, her ears straining to hear anything out of place inside.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Noir hoped back onto the window sill and sat down with his tail curled over his paws.

"All clear?" Marinette whispered.

The little black cat didn't respond but he didn't try to stop her when she reached out a hand for the door knob. Exhaling with relief….

No one was inside.

Marinette made her way through the small house, sidestepping the caldron in the middle of the room and crossing to the wall where she flopped down on her bed, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep but she couldn't help feeling anxious about losing another day of progress… she glanced at Noir; the little black cat had placed himself on a window chair and sat looking at the door….

If we don't fix this before the eclipse..he'll be stuck like this forever!

Marinette let out a sigh and glanced around the room at the glass jars lining her shelves almost cringing at her sad lack of supplies. This task couldn't have come at a worse time and to make matters even more complicated...her original familiar Tikki was MIA which meant it would be even more of a challenge if they needed to get more difficult supplies not to mention that Marinette felt vulnerable without Tikki's healing magic and glamour to protect her….she cast another glance at the black cat watching the door….

Everything will be fine! She thought.

Hopefully…

She closed her eyes and fell asleep.


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