A/N Comments are always appreciated!
Chapter 1
The shop smelt like incense with coos and murmurs Emma wasn't sure she could even identify echoing softly in every corner. Different candles and books covered the walls as the animals wandered from one place to another on their own cages and boxes. All of them seemed to stare at the group of three that had entered the little place while trying to be as silent as possible, the light from the street at the other side of the thick wooden door dimming considerably once inside.
Emma twisted the cord that circled her right wrist as she eyed her surroundings, her mind going back to the potion she had left brewing on her apartment before the tall brunette woman that was preceding her had decided to ally with her son in order to make her peer outside the little flat. Who the heck still thought that familiars were needed? The idea made her groan and think back on her days as an apprentice in the system. Cats or birds, even snakes or rodents, were considered a good choice for a familiar but she had never got one and after years of being on her own an animal now seemed… pointless.
"What do you think of cats?" The voice of her son reached her from some place at her left. The shop, albeit tiny outside, was definetely enchanted to look bigger on the inside and the blonde needed to narrow her eyes in order to distinguish the boy between the books and rags that floated over their heads. The atmosphere was eerie and old-looking and the blonde found herself wincing at it, the magic of the place thick and heavy on her tongue.
"Yes, your mother seems like a cat person" Ruby said now at Emma's back, making the blonde witch roll her eyes as both her best friend and son pushed her towards the cages that stood at one corner of one of the alleys that seemed to be the only system the shop had to keep everything in place. Some of the inhabitants of the cages looked at her intently while others stared at their pawns seeming not invested at all on the three humans that were now eyeing them.
"Well, is an easy choice" The boy added. Emma hid a tired mutter and returned to her annoyed mood when she realized that she was indeed about to buy a familiar like some starred-eyed teen.
"I don't know why I should pick up one. You don't have a familiar." She had tried to argue when Ruby had talked with her about it. The lanky woman had just stared back at her with one arched brow as Henry had prepared the portal for them to appear on the magical market. It had been a meek try, Emma had known that, but she really hadn't think on anything else.
"Because I'm a werewolf" Ruby had explained like it wasn't the hundredth time they were having such conversation "And you know that familiars are supposed to enhance the magic of a normal witch, or sorcerer. I don't need it"
"Me neither"
Which, albeit stubborn, was partially true. There were potions now that helped the witch or magician in order to achieve greater powers. The use of familiars after those had been invented had definetely dwindled and familiars were now not considered as important as they had been back in the Middle Ages. Still, and Emma knew that Ruby was right on that one, familiars were loyal, a true companion through the witcher's live. They were catalyzers of not only power but hexes and depending what branch of magic the sorcerer or mage were keen on they could channel energy way faster than any other potion or object ever could. Not owning a familiar had become more common but that didn't mean they were considered to be obsolete.
Emma already had had a conversation with both Ruby and her own mother about refusing to accept a familiar back when she had reached adulthood almost 15 years ago. She hadn't wanted that kind of responsibility in that moment. Which had proven to be an ill-timed thought a few months after that when Henry had been conceived. Either way she had started a family without a familiar to protect the house and that had been in itself something apparently worrisome enough for her mother to step in and start meddling in her life once she had reappeared on it almost a decade ago.
Sighing and returning to the present Emma kneeled and stared at the five felines that were in the boxes, different set of eyes returning the stare intelligently. Familiars were supposed to be cunning, resourceful. That was why cats were preferred over any other animal; they were considered wise and many famous magicians and witches had had cats as companions. Nibbling on her bottom lip the blonde witch shook her head in defeat and moved her hand towards the boxes.
The cats didn't move a muscle as she approached them and just the one nearer to the box wall seemed to breathe as she rested her fingertips on the surface of the box, the copper that protected the object from hexes feeling cold and almost thrumming under her touch.
A white cat hissed warningly.
"I don't know if this is going to work…" Emma started, looking at Ruby who had taken a step away from the box. Werewolves hated cats almost as much as felines loathed them. The smell of both species repelled the other and the lanky brunette had her nose buried deeply on a handkerchief, Henry standing at her side with his eyes wide open, apparently keen on seeing what his mother was about to do.
He could be a teen but the child-like wonder was still there, something Emma would have find adorable if it hadn't been for… well, everything.
"Hen…" She started, only to yelp in pain as she felt something biting on her fingers. Brownish eyes looked back at her innocently when she turned towards the cage, her hand curled close to her chest- Four of the five cats were now sitting on the far end of the cage and only a black feline was left near Emma's fingers had been, one of them now sporting a minuscule wound. "You little shit" The blonde witch murmured under her breath, trying to distinguish something else about the cat apart from its eyes and fur color. The long, lean tail of the feline seemed to move and sway and when Emma's eyes followed the movement she found a haphazardly written note at her right in where the warning of "Do not touch the animal's cages" was displayed.
Uh, strange.
The cat seemed to lose interest on her as fast as she finally moved away from the cage and turned its back towards her, moving to the other four that immediately left a space for it, seeming to respect its presence. Curious, Emma followed the movement with her gaze, the sudden pain she had felt momentarily forgotten.
"Fascinating creatures, aren't they?" An elderly voice startled her.
Standing up as quick as she was able and strangely feeling like a kid who had been caught on the cookie jar Emma found herself staring to the cold, calculating eyes of who she guessed would be the owner of the shop, Mr. Gold himself for what it was displayed on the front of the wooden door. The man, slightly shorter than her, had the kind of aura Emma always hated- sleazy and cold- The telepath on Emma shuddered as she found her inner thoughts seeming to be stared at from the other side of the man's pupils.
"H… Hi" She stammered, looking towards Ruby and Henry in help only to discover them pretending to be deeply interested on some rats at the other side of the alley. Little traitors. Nervous, she closed her injured hand at her back and motioned towards the cats, the felines seeming now to be moving as Gold approached them slowly, a limp dragging his steps. Emma realized that the clothes he wore seemed to divert any light that could be inside the shop and frowned at the detail, the magic the fabric expelled clouding her mind for a second "Are you talking about the cats?" She finally stammered.
"Of course" The man promptly answered, smirking lopsidedly as if Emma had made a joke instead of a question. "Cats are always the best kind of companion. I've always found their intelligence to be quite enchanting"
"I guess" Emma replied, the pain on her finger seeming to grow as Gold turned his gaze back at her, the cold feeling she felt grazing the back of her neck making her shudder. The man was definetely not on his right mind. "I was only watching though…"
"She is searching for a familiar" Came Ruby's voice, a sudden grip on her shoulder making her remember who she had actually come with. "We were hoping for her to pick one of those"
The old man arched a brow at such information, his eyes turning from calculating to distant as he took notice on the slightly glowing eyes of Ruby, the ones that betrayed her nature. Emma felt the grip on her shoulder tighten as they both waited for the men to speak.
"You are certainly older than what I normally receive here for that" He finally said, his focus changing to Emma once more and prompting a sigh from the blonde.
"I know, that's why…" She tried to explain herself once more, this time being cut out by Henry himself, the boy smiling from the side of the black rats.
"She is here. We've been told that you own quite a selection, right?"
Sometimes Emma wondered if the manipulative strike of her son was from his father's side of the family. Certainly it wasn't hers. Seeing how the demeanor of the men changed from coldly interested to sincerely amused Emma swallowed her pride and allowed a little victory to both Ruby and Henry; they certainly didn't seem ready to take a "no" for an answer.
"A cat is certainly an easy companion; they can be unpredictable of course" The man admitted with a dismissive nod, as if such information wasn't interesting or worth any more explanations. "But they are also loyal. Owning the trust of a familiar like them is quite profitable for the mage in question at the end."
Emma eyed the felines from the corner of her eyes, her eyes falling on the black one, its sleek form and intelligent eyes seeming to beckon her. Licking her bottom lip, she considered her options knowing full well that she wasn't going to be able to escape without a cat at her side. Which, being completely honest, was it that bad to have a familiar? They certainly were helpful and the constant refusal of having one certainly didn't help her in the long run. How many times she had wished for being able to spend a little more magic? Potions only helped her until one point.
Nodding to herself the blonde eyes the man and shivered, the same feeling of coldness and strangeness than before seeming to take hold inside of her as the man nodded alongside with her.
"I will get ready the papers for you then Miss…?"
"Swan" Emma replied, the surname rolling out of her tongue easily.
"Very well, pick up the one you like most then Miss Swan"
At the end it was the black cat the one the blonde picked up, her eyes -since she learnt from Gold that the cat was indeed female- seeming to bore on her when Emma had tried to pick up the white one that had hissed at her the first time she had come closer to the boxes. The animal, slender and strong as for what she could distinguish between the well-cared fur she sported, seeming to not like one bit being picked up and transported from the box to one slightly smaller. The black feline seemed difficult and -as Ruby pointed out, nose safely returned to her handkerchief- slightly odd with the way her pupils seemed to focus intently on everything around her but Emma surmised that if she indeed was going to have a familiar the black cat seemed as good as any other and she kinda enjoyed the idea of having one slightly complicated and not like the fat one her mother owned; far too placid to even do anything by itself anymore. She wasn't a placid person and enjoyed the rush and danger her job brought with her, having a cat as mercurial as her didn't seem like a bad idea.
The transaction had been made quickly and without any other odd comments from Mr. Gold. The man seemed pleased enough when she had paid for the cat. "She is quite an interesting one" He had said with a smirk and something that seemed to be a wink, his eyes looking as if they were glowing very much like Ruby's but with a mauve glow on them. The glow was gone as soon as Emma had tried to focus on them though so the blonde had let that one go; "Remember though to keep the collar on her as it's the only way to know where she is all the time. Cats like to wander after all"
It was precisely that leather collar that was almost covered by the strong thick black fur of the cat -still without a name since Emma didn't know what she could call her- the one Emma was eyeing. The travel back home had been quickly and easy and Henry had disappeared on his room as soon as the three had arrived to the apartment just in time to see how the tracking potion Emma had spent almost all the previous night on disappear in a cloud of smoke and acid. Ruby had winced and the cat had mewled from inside her box as the smell of the burnt potion had reached her nostrils. Emma had sighed deeply before closing her eyes, letting her body relax before she casted a charm with a wave of her hand, the telling grey color of her magic already swirling of her fingers as she did so. Tracking potions and spells were complicated and volatile, at least it hadn't destroyed the entire apartment.
Now, sitting at her kitchen table and eyeing warily her new companion her eyes came once and again to the collar; heavy and old-looking the newcomer seemed uncomfortable with it, the brown eyes of the feline eyeing everything from inside her box, apparently not wanting to move a millimeter as long as Ruby was on the near vicinity for the way she mewled every time the lanky brunette came close to her.
"She is as temperamental as you are at least" Ruby was saying, a cup of tea between her hands, the flask she had poured whiskey to it still on the table between them. "You both will get along"
Emma raised a brow, her hands nervously playing with the cord at her wrist, restlessly. "I still don't understand why you have insisted so much on this. I've been perfectly well without a familiar before"
From the corner of her eyes she saw how the cat's ears seemed to perk but thought nothing to it.
"Because" Ruby said while taking a sip from her tea and wincing at the already cold beverage. "We both know that you will get lonely once Henry goes to the Academy"
"This is not the first year he is going, and the previous ones I was fine"
"Not as fine as you would want to be." Ruby declared patiently, the cup dinging as she put it back on the table's surface. "Your magic is emotion-based; you need to stay focused. Do I need to remind you all the times you appeared on my house injured because some mage or other had managed to hurt you? You aren't focused when Henry is out of your sight, you know that"
Emma narrowed her eyes; it was true though. Henry was a topic even now she didn't like to discuss and her love for the kid was almost overruled by her fear of not being the mother almost everyone had thought she wouldn't be able to be That, however, wasn't a strong enough reason for her friend to push the whole familiar thing.
"Besides" Ruby added as if sensing that she was going to be fought back. "Having a familiar is not something as worse as you make it to be. I know you have your reserve on using magic but, Emma, magic is part of who you are, not using a familiar in your line of work…"
"I know, it's only something that goes against myself" Emma finished her friend's sentence as she hunched forward, elbows on the table. It was another truth after all and Ruby knew that all too well.
The brunette smiled as she stood, moving closer to her friend and giving the blonde a one-arm-sided hug that lasted a few seconds. "Just try it, yes? Henry will be gone in a week after all. You already have her, you just need a name"
"You know how much I suck at this" The blonde joked halfheartedly "If it hadn't been for you Henry would probably be called after that pastry I loved eating during the pregnancy"
They both chuckled at the memory as a hiss was heard. At that Ruby gave a few steps backwards and tilted her head towards the rumbling box "Seems that she is already protective of you. I will be out for a few days; Mulan wants me to help her with an object. Will you behave?"
"I will try. And tell Mulan to keep an eye on you, will you? Is not easy to find a curse-breaking werewolf to keep me company"
"You are forgetting sexy."
And with that and a final glow Ruby was gone, the remains of her magic, far more rich on smell and taste, filling the kitchen.
At Emma's feet the cat growled eliciting a small smile from the blonde's.
"Well… seems that we have been left alone, right buddy?"
Her words were met with silence and when she looked at the box she found herself being stared by the cat's intense stare. Shuddering at that and feeling somewhat scolded by the feline she tried to pick her up with no avail. The cat refused to be lifted from her box and Emma gave up after being bitten a total of six more times as she tried to grab the feline's lean body.
"Fine, suit yourself" The blonde finally mumbled while flexing her fingers, new red marks now marrying them. "You are a royal bitch uh? Perhaps I should call you that"
The cat threw a nasty stare on her direction and, with an elegant leap, jumped out of the box, her paws doing a soft sound against the floor that almost got swallowed by the tiles. Arching an eyebrow at the sudden movement Emma shrugged and eyed the collar once again just like she had been doing before. It seemed constricted and even if she still doubted that the whole thing with a familiar was going to work the leather strip was something that indeed put her nervous.
"Ok…" She whispered to herself as she crouched in front of the cat, eyes focused on the quick paws of the animal that had already inflicted on her enough damage. "I will do something before we get to decide your name, all right?"
"Now I'm talking with a cat, just great"
Her mother would probably be jumping excited and happy to see her daughter following her steps but that was something for another time and Emma didn't exactly want to think about her in that moment.
"Easy there…" She mumbled, her hands coming closer to the cat's neck whose tail seemed to move warningly for a second before white fangs were shown on the feline's cat. "Hey! I just want to take your collar off okay? I never enjoyed the whole thing of being spied on and I won't have a familiar with one of those. So just let me take it off and don't bite my fingers for it. How about that?"
The cat's eyes narrowed as if she was weighing her options and Emma felt herself strangely being stared back by an angry and very human-like animal. Swallowing and waiting for something that didn't seem to be a warning she got a small and slow movement from the feline that seemed to be something eerily close to a reluctant nod.
"Okay, just… be still" She murmured, rolling her eyes at herself for keeping with the chat. Yup, she was going to definetely end up like her mother.
At the daunting perspective she focused herself back on the collar, the worn out surface now below her fingers, the satin touch of the cat's fur a strike contrast on her skin. The clasp for the collar was easy to take off and in no time the leather strip was resting on her lap, the cat still eyeing her, still as ever as if she was still thinking about something.
"See?" Emma reacted after a few seconds of silence "Told you I was just going to do that. Now I need a name for you… I will try to not call you Whiskers."
The cat's growl was strong enough for being a pretty good indicative of what she didn't want. Almost smiling to herself the blonde bite the corner of her lip, her green eyes taking on her surroundings as if she suddenly realized how late in fact it was. Goodbye to her options to actually make a decent tracker before the next day and she needed the money a fugitive from magic justice could give her. Shaking her head and glancing one more time to the unnamed cat she decided that, for now, she would go without a proper name. A better decision, she said to herself, her hands already going back the cord on her wrist, since an unnamed familiar didn't link themselves as strongly with the ones they were supposed to protect than ones that already had a name.
Not that Emma was already thinking on abandoning the cat, not after getting her collar off, but she always wondered.
Or that's what she thought at least.
Scratching the nape of her neck, blonde tresses getting tangled on her fingers, she decided to let the whole thing pass, for now.
"Henry!" She called raising her voice and almost chuckling at the startled expression the eyes of the cat got, almost like a human jumping out due to a sound. "Kid, come here and help me with the dinner!"
A grumbling response came a few seconds before and the far too tall if anyone wanted to ask Emma teen came out of his room, small stains of ink on his fingers, ones he quickly proceeded to clean with the ragged cloth the blonde threw at him.
"I was practicing" He defended himself quickly before looking at the cat and smiling at himself. "Got a name?"
"Not yet" Emma deadpanned turning towards the fridge and peering inside. Other mages and sorceress preferred to create their meals with the only aid of magic. Emma preferred the mortal, usual and far slower way. Henry hummed once, his eyes taking on the now abandoned collar on top of the kitchen, and moved towards the blonde, a cocky brow raising on top of her left eye.
"You know that you need to name her, right?" He asked as Emma started to chop the vegetables they were going to eat. Having a sweet-tooth herself she had needed to actively train herself for cooking something that didn't include far too much sugar on the diet. The pay-off had certainly overruled the first few burnt meals.
"I know" She said with a sigh already escaping her lips before she eyed the feline. The cat seemed to have taken into exploring the kitchen, her long tail moving swiftly as she walked through the kitchen a few times, the deep brown eyes she had seeming to bore on every detail. "I just want to pick up one that doesn't suck"
It was a feeble excuse but Henry hummed, apparently deciding to believe it.
"How about a name of a Sorceress?" The boy finally said as Emma started to get ready the pieces of the yet uncooked meat she had found inside the fridge. "Those are quite popular, and it suits your line of magic"
The kid, of course, was right. Emma didn't use objects in order to achieve her potential -not exactly- but the line of magic she work with was deeply tangled with the ones of a Sorceress. All illusion and raw magic.
"I don't know if she is a Morgana kid…" Emma answered with finality, the first smells of the meal reaching her nostrils as she talked. Apparently either their voices or the smell seemed to have picked the cat's interest because she stopped seeming to judge Emma's kitchen state and turned, walking as regally as a member of royalty, towards the source of both food and sound; Emma.
"I think that at least she already likes you" The boy replied with an obvious satisfied smile plastered on his face. "She isn't biting you anymore"
Emma frowned at that, indeed curious for the change on the cat's behavior.
"No, she isn't" Conceded at the end wondering if the collar had had something to do with it. Perhaps it did, she considered; Gold hadn't seemed to be a man that actually cared a lot of his animals, the collar may as well have been bothering the cat for a while now and thus her grumpy state. "But stop with it kiddo, once I find the name for her I will name her, promise"
The boy grumbled something that seemed to be how unfair that was and turned, setting the table for two and a small cup of water and another for food Gold had given them as long with the box and the strange feline at the foot of the table. Familiars were known for being able to feed themselves but it wasn't a bad idea to encourage them to eat, especially after being new on a witch or mage house. The cat, however, sniffed the food and growled, the moment seeming so close of a person wrenching their nose that Emma bite down a laugh. The cat was certainly a diva.
Dinner was spent with both mother and son talking about the Academy and the year the boy was going to attend to on it. Being an almost full-time schools Academies were many and diverse not only across the country but in the whole globe as well and it was usual for new magicians to learn there the basics of magic for four years straight before deciding on taking higher education on the specifics they either wanted or needed. A Necromancer of course would never be able to do the same thing as a Healer after all. Henry was passionately discussing his interest on starting a few of the new lessons he was going to take when the cat -Emma was starting to seriously wonder Morgana on her head- jumped into the table in two powerful jumps and purred contently as it took a dainty bite of the rests of the meal that both mother and son hadn't touched.
"Well, she is hooked" Henry exclaimed while giggling, the cat's ears trembling to the sound but the feline overall not flinching like she had done before. "She is eating your food!"
"Don't be a smartass" Emma proclaimed while trying herself not to gloat. "But yeah, she seems to like it, doesn't she?"
Henry smirked at that and shrugged. "You sure you haven't hexed her or something?"
The blonde rolled her eyes at that before smacking her son's right arm over the kitchen table, moving it close enough of the cat for it to jump mildly, still somewhat skittish.
"I'm thinking on naming her like a place" She finally said, not entirely too bothered by the familiar's antics and more amused than puzzled anymore. Henry was looking at the cat as well, his eyes possibly taking notice on more things like Emma's like they usually did. The boy's raised brow, however, made the blonde witch to bit her lower lip, unsure of her idea. "No?"
"I don't know" Henry replied while focusing on the cat, his right hand moving ever so slowly towards the feline's neck. "She doesn't seem like a cat that can be called Arizona"
"I was thinking Tallahassee" Emma replied with a pout clearly visible on her lips. The movement alone made Henry chuckle before he shook his head.
"I don't know…" The car had turned her eyes towards Emma and the blonde felt once again being judged by the feline. "She doesn't seem to like it" The boy pointed out with something close to a laugh escaping his lips as Emma shuddered and nodded, admitting defeat.
"No Tallahassee" She surmised while standing and picking the plates and glasses. Old habits died hard and cleaning without magic, or at least these kind of things, were details she still did. Henry stood as well and helped her as quick as possible, names still coming out of his mouth from time to time, all of them being dismissed either by Emma or by the cat whose hiss was something Emma was slowly starting to think was the only real sound the feline could produce.
Finally, after talking some more with Henry about the upcoming classes the blonde left the teen and went to her own bedroom, the space almost being taken by dozens of trinkets and objects, both mortal and magical in nature. The only place in the apartment where she actually let magic come freely to her.
Throwing the collar on top of several books of spellings and one of how you could trace a person over the internet the blonde turned towards the books she had left half-opened that morning, before Ruby had entered and practically obliged to follow her in that man's shop. The books were still displaying the tracker potion she had been trying to re-create and the thought of needing yet another day for the potion made her sigh. Perhaps with the aid of the cat… the still unnamed cat…
Biting her bottom lip Emma picked up the dark-rimmed glasses she had left on top of the pillow and bite on them for a second before putting them at their place over her nose, her eyes blinking slowly as she became accustomed once again at the lenses. She really didn't have any more days, not at least for her to lose her time with a potion. Perhaps if she used a fairy ring…
"Mew"
The gentle sound, something far softer than what Emma had heard over the entire evening, made her pause and look at her feet where the cat, as regal looking as ever, was looking at one of the many books she had open at the floor, her eyes seeming to follow the words that covered the pages, her tail moving contently as she did so.
"You are really strange" Emma muttered as she seated at the bed, her right hand scratching her neck as the cat kept… reading? the book, her eyes never leaving the pages. "I guess I will need to decide your name tomorrow…"
The cat mewled and scooted closer to the book, her paws almost touching the pages now, as if wanting to read further. Frowning and not entirely convinced that this was how familiars worked Emma picked up the book and put it over her legs, the cat mewling at the movement and jumping to the woman's bed in one quick movement.
"Okay, okay" The blonde said once before focusing back on the book, her brow quirking as she saw the transfiguration techniques that were displayed there. "Interested on this?"
The cat blinked twice before focusing on the pages once again, her tail swooping from one side to the other slowly as she did so, apparently waiting for Emma to keep reading with her. Or perhaps not.
Frowning, the blonde decided to let the cat rest on her mattress, her eyes already half-way dropped and her intent of finding something in order to help her search for her new job all but forgotten.
