The Island of Allineko!

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When everything was finally over, when Ged had finally conquered his shadow, he went on another small escapade, one that he had planned to share with those he knew, but after decided he would tell not a soul about.

He had gone on a whim to sail the sea, to search for uncharted islands, undiscovered seacreatures and the like. Of course, the world being as mysterious a place as it is, he soon stumbled upon a completely new place, although it had only been a day of sailing. An island that had been explored by man never before, a place no soul knew of until Ged so happened to find it. Although this may have very well been because no powerful wizard had ever been bothered to search for things so strange as what he would encounter here, on the island of Allineko, he advanced anyway.

As soon as I saw the island, I knew I had to dock there. Something in me just...drew me to it. Yet there was the feeling of foreboding there too. like the poles in magnets. The draw was stronger though, as was also my curiosity, and so I drove my boat up onto the shore, not quite sure what to expect. I could feel some sort of magic there, but I wasn't sure what.

The sand was an unorthodox texture, soft and feathery-no, furry- on my now bare feet, as was the color strange as well, grayish white instead of the usual yellow. The trees, tall and wide with spidery branches from top to bottom, were barely 12 yards up the beach, and the unpresidented thought of how good they were for climbing wormed its way into my head. I frowned and continued observing.

The forest was surprisingly dense for how close it was to the water, with lush plants and growth wherever there were no trees. Tiny ratlike creatures skittered up and down every plant and up and down the beach. They were quite large for rodents, a bit bigger than a full grown guinea pig. Their fur was greenish brown and loose vines and sprouts grew off of them. They had no paws, just talons growing off of fuzzy ankles. These little creatures were funny, but what I saw next was, I'm sure, the strangest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

A young girl, maybe nine years old, jumped out of the top of a tree and landed deftly on her feet. She looked about 4'6" tall, and had bright azure eyes, pale skin, and shiny, thick black hair down to her ankles. In her mass of hair, two twitching, black cat ears poked up, and a tail was held in her black paws, being twisted excitedly. The tip of her nose was slightly pinked and whiskers came up above her eyes and the sides of her cheeks.

"Hi! Hi hi hi! Are you a-" she gasped loudly. "Are you a wizard?"

"I-"

"Oh, my, you ARE a wizard, aren't you? Oh goody! Oh, my, a wizard! I've always wanted to meet a wizard! You're all so wonderful and magical, oh, it's just the best thing! Oh wow, I can't believe it! A wizard! A real, true wizard! Oh, that's just lovely!"

"I-"

"Oh, cat-ness, where are my manners? I'm Ratscratch, and I'm 18 years old, tallest of my age, and the record holder for the most greenrats eaten in one day! Lovely to meet you! What's your name?" She was jumping up and down lightly in jittery excitement, apparently ready to let me finally get a sentence into this one-of-a-kind conversation.

My mouth wouldn't seem to move. There was an eighteen-year-old too-short-for-her-own good catgirl bouncing up and down in front of me. I MUST have been hallucinating. And yet she was right there, hopping around, hyperventalating and swinging her slinky tail like an excited kitten. The whiskers whisping outwards from her cheeks swished and her pink nose twitched slightly. I could deal with dragons and shadows and death-realms, but this was not even frightening. It was just strange. It was also really cute, because who doesn't love cats, but that didn't make it any better.

At last, I found my voice. "Sparrowhawk. I'm...Sparrowhawk, the wizard. Could I ask you..." I gulped. "Ah, where am I, exactly?"

"Oh my cat-ness, Sparrowhawk, are you lost? Why, that's just terrible! You're in Allineko, the island of the feline folk! Welcome welcome welcome!" She gave a small bow and resumed jumping again, starting up her motormouth once more. "There are lots of us here. Nobody else here likes wizards. They said something about wizards imprisoning us here, I think, but I for one don't believe it!" She peeked up at me with an innocent expression on her face. " First of all, our race is hardly violent, we're just a little, ahah, mischievous, is all. Nothing too bad! Second of all, wizards are much to kind and brave and heroic and forgiving and respectable and polite and sweet and..and...and...oh, they're just too WONDERFUL to do that to all of us! I've learned as much as I could about wizards since I was little, even though we weren't supposed to, and you're all just the best people there could ever be!"

Mischievous? That was most definitely my cue to go. "Ah, sorry, uh..."

"Ratscratch!"

"So sorry, Ratscratch, but I really have to go. I have to do...uh, wizardly things." I felt bad lying, but it was obvious that whoever else lived there was NOT friendly, and I didn't want to be in the middle of that.

"L-...leaving?" Her voice was very quiet compared to how it was before.

"Yes, I'm afraid I have to go. Thank you for your help though." I smiled and turned around, walking down the beach to my boat. I had one food inside when I heard her high voice call out shrilly, "Oh, take me WITH you!"

She ran down the beach and grabbed my shoulders. "Please, please, please take me with you, Sparrowhawk! I hate it here! I don't have any friends, and I'm always so alone! I'll do anything if you'd just please take me with you! I'd...I'd tell you my true name!" Her eyes built up with tears on the edges and her ears flatened. "It's Muna. My true name is Muna. Whenever you say it, I'll turn into a black cat, and if you say it again, I'll turn back into me. Now, will you please take me with you, and..." She gulped and shook a little. "And promise to never bring me back?"

I stared at her as she looked up at me, eyes pleading. I made a split-second decision.

"Yes. Get onboard, Muna. We're going on an adventure."

Her face exploded with pure happiness as her small form quickly morphed into a little black cat, just tiny enough to sit comfortably where poor Hoeg had sat once before. Maybe I'd tell her my true name too someday.

"Well, Sparrowhawk? Let's go! I want to ADVENTURE!"

THE END

(Wasn't that adorable?)