Memoirs of a Red Kitten
From the Pen of
The Fan-Girl From Hell
Kurama Hollyanna was bored. There was nothing to do and no one to play with. Daddy was out with Uncle Kurone doing whatever they did. Uncle Hiei was out "patrolling" the area around the house. Auntie Koko was down in the kitchen making...Holly sniffed the air...cookies for later. Holly was supposed to be napping, but she wasn't tired. Just bored, bored, bored. She sighed in exasperation.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, she considered her situation. As the only daughter of Youko Kurama and Muna, Second eldest princess of the Nether Realm, she should have been held in fear and respect by multitudes. However as the demon equivalent of a human four-year-old, she was not even considered old enough to travel out to her very own garden alone. She crossed her arms over her chest with a tiny pout.
Then, Holly got a thought. Holding out one hand in front of her, she watched eagerly as a small ball of yellow, crackling energy appeared in her hand. She tossed up into the air before catching it. With a small giggle, she did it again, throwing it higher this time. Then, she created another ball of lightning, throwing them up into the air.
This time, it did not end as well as she would've liked to have hoped. She caught the first ball of lightning easily, but the second came down fast and at an angle. She dove for it, but it hit the ground. Once the other ball made contact with the floor, it also exploded. Sparks of lightning ran up her arms and back into her body, her little face and the ends of her red hair singed and her clothes blackened with soot.
That wasn't the worst part. A giant hole had been made in the floor just a few inches from where Holly had landed. It was also surrounded by soot, but the hole extended down through the other two floors before there was a large char mark in the middle of the kitchen. Holly winced a little, hopping up into bed and pulling the covers to her chin, pretending to be asleep. After all, she recognized that sound of running feet coming up the stairs and down the hall to her room.
The door flew open and Holly saw through her lashes Auntie Koko. Holly screwed her eyes shut tight and began to snore. "Kurama Hollyanna," Auntie Koko said sternly, "that is not going to fool anyone for a moment. You know you are not supposed to play with lightning balls in your room and when you come up for your nap you are supposed to go to sleep."
Holly sighed and opened her eyes. Sitting up, she said, "But Auntie Koko, I was not tired and there's nothin' to do here."
"Then you should lay there quietly and rest, whether you sleep or not."
"Yes, Auntie Koko," she muttered petulantly.
"Do you want me to go get Uncle Hiei to make sure you rest? Again?"
"No!" Holly squeaked in alarm. Uncle Hiei had "helped" her to sleep a few times and it was not something she wanted to repeat. "I'll be good."
Holly laid back down and closed her eyes again. "You'd better be. I have to find him to fix your floor. Again. If you are not asleep when he gets here, I will have him put you to sleep."
"Yes, Auntie Koko," the child muttered, rolling over with her back to the door. Several words that she was not quite sure of the meanings for, but that she was sure did not fit her guardian's definition of "good" scrolled through her mind and she was glad that Auntie Koko could not pluck her thoughts out of the air like Uncle Hiei did.
Koko glared at the child for a moment and then closed the door softly and went downstairs. She put up the signal flag summoning Hiei to return to the house and pulled the tray of burning cookies from the oven with an oath. There were no further sounds from the room at the top of the hole in the ceiling, so apparently Holly had taken her threats seriously this time.
Holly listened to the sounds drifting up from the kitchen, filing away the obviously naughty words Auntie Koko used for the future. She kept her eyes closed in the vain hope that it would promote sleep. She lasted for all of a minute before rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling in despair. Would no one save her from this boredom?
There was a quiet scratching at her window, but Holly did not notice it, so wrapped was she in her self-pity. The window was open a little and the sound of a quiet "mew" drifted in. Holly remained oblivious. Her attention was captured by the sight of two red paws trying to pry the window open and the sound of a fairly loud "MEW, dammit."
Skirting the hole in the floor carefully, Holly approached the window cautiously. Seeing nothing outside besides a little red kitten, she inched the window open a bit more so that the opening was just large enough for the kitten to squeeze in. "Hello. Ah'll be thankin' ye fer openin' the window and finally lettin' me in."
Holly giggled a little bit. "You talk funny," she whispered. "Did you come to play with me?"
The kitten managed to look slightly offended. "Hrmph! No. Ah didn't come te play wit' ye. I came to take ye to meet yer future husband. He'll be the one playin' wit' ye."
"Oooh," Holly squealed quietly. "Where is he?"
"He's a few miles narth of us. Ah'll take ya there meself, o' course, since yer s'posta be nappin'. Wouldn't do ta have ya stopped at the front door, would it?" The kitten laughed.
"Well, no, but...are you sure it's okay? Auntie Koko said she'd send Uncle Hiei up to put me to sleep if I didn't."
"Well, what Auntie Koko don' know won' hurt her." The kitten shrugged. "C'mon, Mum, it'll be fun!"
"Why you call me 'Mum'? Do I get to change my name!"
"Uh..."
"Kurama Hollyana Mum. I kinda like the sound of that!"
"Hrmph." The kitten huffed a breath and then called forth a small grey cloud. "Open the window and hop on. We'll be back before they know we're gone."
Holly did as she was told and they floated out the window and off to the north. A short time later, Holly saw a huge, beautiful castle ahead of them. They drifted around the building until they reached a huge formal garden at the rear. The kitten brought the cloud to the ground near a fountain and told Holly to wait there. Then the kitten vanished into the undergrowth in the direction of the castle.
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