Just so you all know, this IS multiple chapters :3 Remember to Review! It keeps me writing!
Enjoy!
P.S. I hope you like my version of Hikari. I promise she talks more in future chapters!
-PROLOGUE-
Trudging through the thick dark forest, holding a basket carrying a freshly baked blackberry pie, I couldn't help but sigh. "Damn Witch, making me run these pointless errands," I murmur, careful to step around a stray root from a nearby tree.
I couldn't deny that it wasn't all Witch's fault, however. I did have extra time on my hands, and it didn't take long to collect all the ingredients needed for her "present." According to Witch, because we were such good friends, I owed her something she liked. Typical, but over a year of knowing her made me used to, and somewhat immune, to her slightly egotistic and snarky yet cheerful attitude. Besides, whenever she requested something, I always got something in return. So perhaps bringing her one of her favorite treats would reward me with something good.
Breaking through the trees and walking up the messily laid out boards that led to her home, I made sure to knock twice before entering. However, chanting made me still my hand on the doorknob, my thoughts instantly flying back to rather unhappy thoughts. She may call herself the Witch Princess, but she wasn't very good at casting spells. It was obvious by what she was when we had first met – a pink frog. And once we became friends, I'd more than once had to get Wizard's help to reverse the negative effects of what she'd done, most if not all due to failed spells.
So, here was my dilemma: should I walk in now, or wait for the explosion and walk in after it was safe? Pressing my ear against the door, and finding that during my small hesitation the chanting had subsided, I decided to enter, basket first, followed by hand, arm, and the rest of my body.
"Witch, I got yo-"
A crack resounded through the air, the explosion sending shock waves through my body. Dropping my basket and gasping as the vibrations from the explosion hit my body, I took a few steps back, coughing from the sudden smoke filling the house.
"Goddamnit Witch, what did you do this ti-"
"Aaaah, Hikari, is that you? What are you doing here?"
Coughing, but finding the vibration enveloping my body get stronger, my heart quickened in panic. Was something happening to me, or was this just a natural side effect of the failed spell? Having witnessed many a failed spell, I was used to the vibration, but it usually disappeared in a few seconds.
"Heeeeeey!" Hearing Witch cough and stumble, I could only imagine her trying to peer through the smoke in search of me. ""Hikariiii! You okay?"
"I think!" I replied, trying to peer through the smoke as well, bringing a hand up to my mouth, only to stop cold. That didn't feel right…
Hearing Witch slide open a window, the smoke quickly found the open air and cleared the house, revealing open books strewn across her table and a pot beside it, herbs and other ingredients littering the floor. Still coughing, she glanced around for me. "Hikari? Where'd you go?"
Why did she seem so tall? "I'm right here!"
Snapping her head down and her eyes going wide, her hands covering her mouth, she inched towards me. All her body language screamed guilty, but what she was guilty for I was about to find out.
"Uh… Hikari…? Is that… you?"
Again, why did she seem so tall? "Yes, Witch. It's me, with your basket of goodies."
She kneeled down, her eyes still wide. "This… is a problem."
Why was she looking at me like that? Oh Goddess, what did she do to me?
"Hikari… uh…" She fidgets, looking away. "I dunno if you've noticed yet or not, but… you're sort of… a cat."
I couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief. What did she mean, "sort of a cat"? Looking down, I felt my heart almost stop. There were… paws… in place of hands… Turning my head to the side, I found a brownish red twitching tail. A tail… that belonged to me.
I was utterly speechless. This wasn't some discoloring or frizzy hair. I was a cat. At least, I thought, blinking, I'm not a frog.
"So, uh… Hikari." Picking me up and setting me down on her messy table, Witch placed her hands on her hips and gave me a thinking look. "This is no problem! We can totally fix this!"
"Really?" I asked, not quite believing her.
"You meow. I can't understand you," she added quickly before getting back on her train of thought. "Wizard saved me that time I was a frog, disgustingly. Though, it was all thanks to you that he was able to…" I watch as she starts muttering, my new sensitive cat ears being able to pick up her words. "I don't wanna talk to that idiot, though… Man do I hate him…" She stood there, tapping a foot on the floor, eyes cast downward in thought.
While she thought of a way to get me back to normal, I was flipping out. I was a cat! Who was going to take care of the farm? Water the crops? Take care of the livestock? Then my worries sidetracked. Would I ever get back to normal? Would Witch keep me here while she figured out what to do, or would she actually get Wizard's help? What if there was no way to turn me back to normal?
Witch seemed to come to a conclusion. Her tapping stopped, and her eyes lit up. Smiling that mischievous smile of hers, I swallowed nervously. "I'll be honest with you. I have no clue how to get you back. Buuuuuut, I'm sure Wizard does. So! I'll just drop you off at his place!"
Bouncing to a corner of her room, she rummaged around until she produced a small cardboard box and a marker. Pulling the cap off, she wrote something quickly on the box before capping the marker and throwing it back into the corner of junk. Picking me up, she set me down in the herb smelling box and stepped back.
"There we go! That looks nice! I should probably write a small note though… since you can't talk and all."
Foraging for something to write on and with, she cursed here and there. I watched, my eyes a mixture of panic and held back amusement. I knew one day I'd end up in some sort of trouble. That was one of the consequences, or perks depending on how you looked at it, of being Witch's friend, but… a part of me believed it would never happen.
It did. And now I was a cat. And Finn was with the Harvest Goddess, unable to help me.
Sticking a folded up piece of paper next to me, and telling me to make sure it didn't fly off, Witch smiled. "Alright! Time to take you to Wizard's!"
Picking up the box, she happily bounced on her heels out of her house and through the forest. I lay there, watching the trees, now bigger than I ever thought I'd see them, pass by. The smells were extravagant and strange, and I was starting to understand why animals smelled their surroundings so much. My nose twitched excessively as I tried to take in every smell. Mold, slightly wet leaves, herbs, soil, freshly cut trees…
It was nighttime by the time we reached Flute Fields. Taking in a deep breath of the clear air, Witch looked around, seemingly lost. "It was… this way, right?" She pointed to her right, and looked at me for approval. Even as a cat, I could still act as a guide to a naïve little witch.
I'm sure it was well past midnight by the time we reached the town. Witch took in a breath, her eyes wide and her mouth open in silent awe. Had she never been to Harmonica Town before? I knew she lived in the forest and not many people believed she actually existed, but I had never really thought much of it.
"Which house is Wizard's?" she whispers, as if afraid of waking up the town if she talked to loud. I moved my head and nodded up the path, and she followed until we were on Wizard's doorstep. "Alright…" Setting me and the box down, she gave me one last smile. "I hope things work out!" Giving the door a few good knocks, she dropped in a wink my way before taking off, running down the path and out of town.
And thus is how Wizard found a cat on his doorstep, in a box with "TO A GOOD HOME" hastily written on the front, and a small note reading, "This is Hikari. We had a bit of an accident. Good luck!"