I've never seen my soul before. But there it was floating just in front of me, but it wasn't my soul anymore. Almost the entirety of it was covered in what looked like a dark black ash, with some faint cracks of blue light poking out of the small black ball…
I looked at it and couldn't help but remember everything that led up to this moment… I don't know exactly how I wound up here, but when I woke up today I wasn't in my soft bed, but on the cold ground surrounded by strange looking trees. I didn't know what to do, so I started walking, which eventually came to a jog. After a few hours my lungs were starting to hurt and I could feel my muscles aching, but I then noticed someone walking beside me. The person was wearing a large beige-colored hoodie with two yellow ear like things on the hood and two big sleeves that swung low and wide. From the bulge in her hoodie at her chest, the long braided hair that came from the hood, and the beige boots that she wore, I would be safe to think she's a girl. A girl with what seems like… a cat tail coming from her backside?
"Um…" I said looking at her "Hello?"
"Hello Meow!" she said enthusiastically, but didn't continue with the conversation
"Who are you?" I asked the strange character
"I'm Taokaka Meow! Nice to meet you Runner Guy!"
"Runner Guy? ~cough~ My names Canyon" I said to her "Um… where are we going?" I said before coughing for a bit
"I thought you knew where you were going! So I decided to follow you Meow!" she turned her head at me and I saw a dark face with red eyes peering out at me, and a large Cheshire grin making her seem even more cat-like than before.
"y-you're kind of scary looking like that, can you take off the hood or something?" I asked her
"Nope!" she said as we continued walking "by the way, do you have any food Meow?" she asked me
"Um… actually I think I do…" I pulled out a bag of chips that was left in my pocket from the previous day "want some?"
"Yes! Right NEOW!" she grabbed them, tore open the bag, and started eating them very quickly
"Alright then… well where are we heading? Do you know where we're even going?"
"I thought you knew Meow?" her ears bending back and her 'face' showed a clear sign of confusion.
"I-~cough~ ugh… sorry, I don't even know where I am" I said as I continued walking, but tripped over as my leg suddenly gave out. "Oof!"
"You OK Meow?" she said as she stood over me
"I think so, I don't know why but I've been feeling horrible…" I got up shakily on my leg, "I coulda sworn my leg was feeling fine earlier though"
"Well don't stop Meow! Tao's getting hungry! I want to get somewhere soon! I need food!"
"Sorry…" I started walking, albeit slower than the pace we were going earlier.
"Hurry up Runner Guy! MeowMeow!" she said getting really impatient.
I started coughing again, but this time I couldn't stop! I coughed so much that I could hardly breathe! At the end of the coughing fit I saw a bunch of blood on the ground...
"Are you ok Meow?" she knelt down to me and put her paw like hoodie sleeve on my back
I finished coughing and was teary eyed from the ordeal "I-I think so…" I felt weak, like I've been sick for months by now. I tried to start walking again but felt too weak to continue.
"Meow Meow…." She grabbed me and lifted me up with her big sleeved arms "Hold on Runner guy…" she started walking off with me in her arms.
My health only deteriorated even more while she carried me to our destination. After a while Tao had carried me to a small village. I could see a lot of smaller cat like things in their own hoodies. Maybe this was Tao's home?
"Taokaka Meow!" a small cat like kid ran up to Tao and climbed on her back "Tao! You're back! Who's that Meow?"
"Sorry little kitten, I'm in a hurry! Meow" she said as she took me farther into the city. Eventually she walked me inside of a building "Elder? Meow? Are you here?"
I couldn't keep focus for long, but I saw a shorter, older looking cat like woman with a skull mask over her face emerge from a door. "Taokaka! Who is this?" she walked up to us
"Elder! I don't know what's wrong with him! Please make him better Meow?" she said as she put me down on a table
"Tao… where did you find this human? He looks like he's about to die" she looked me over a few times "There's really not much we can do, he's gotten too much Seithr in him."
"But… but we can do SOMETHING right Meow?" she said worried "We can't let him die! He gave me food! If he dies then I could die from starvation Meow!"
"Tao…" she looked at her, and I could tell that she was sad for her "I suppose… there's one thing we could do…"
"Really MEOW!? What is it?" she said excited
"I'd be best if I didn't tell you… just wait outside for now Tao"
"Meow? But whyyy?" she crossed her arms "fine Meow! But Tao wants him to get better right Neow!"
"I'll do my best Tao, but for now just go outside and make sure we aren't disturbed"
"Yes Mam!" she said as she walked out the door and sat outside the window to peer in, before the elder closed the blinds.
"Human, what I am about to do will take away your humanity, you will never be able to turn back into yourself again, but you will live… is this alright with you? We don't have much time" she asked before I nodded an OK for her. "Then I will start…"
She put a sleeve of her hoodie over my chest and stomach and I saw a glowing silvery claw emerge from one of three gaps at the edge of the sleeve. It wasn't metal… and it looked like it didn't cut ordinary things… She dragged the claw down my chest and I felt something start to get cut, but not my skin. I couldn't look directly at my chest, but I could see swirls of black and blue specks start to escape. Eventually a small black ball the size of a golf ball had exited and started floating above the cut.
"This is your soul…" the elder said to me "The Seithr that is all around this land has corrupted it and the rest of your body…" I was in amazement at this small black ash covered sphere… it was almost covered completely in black save for a few cracks and specks of light blue shimmering from the small ball. "Now here comes the tough part…"
She pulled my soul away from my body, causing me extreme physical and mental pain. I let out a silent scream, not because my voice was sore, but because it was almost like I didn't have a voice anymore, like taking away my soul has stolen my voice. After a few seconds, I could no longer feel any pain or emotion. I just stared blankly on, aware of everything around me, but no will to react to anything.
"Don't worry, I'll give it back" she said to me as she placed my soul in a glass jar behind her. "the reason I removed your soul is so I can change your body, when your soul comes back into contact with your new body, the Seithr should no longer poison it… and once I close this lid on the jar you will 'fall asleep' because you no longer have any contact with your soul. When you wake up, please try and rest for a while." I looked at her as I saw the lid of the glass bottle hover over the lip for a second. When the lid fastened to the bottle, I blacked out…
/\/\/\/\
As the human had fallen into a sleep, Taokaka had already entered the room again. "Why is he sleeping Meow? What's the hole in his chest? Can I poke it?"
"No Tao!" she said as she swatted away Taokaka's arm. "This is serious"
This time three of the spectral silver claws emerged from her right paw. She quickly pricked the edge of Tao's tail causing her to yelp "OWWIE!" she stuffed the edge of her tail into her mouth as she started sucking on it like a sore thumb. "why woulb you doo nat Meow?"
"You'll see" the elder said as the drop of Tao's blood started to change the elder's claws into a deep red color. Now she lifted her left arm and produced the ethereal claws from them. She swiped her left, still silvery white claws, through the glass jar where the human's soul was kept. The claws didn't break the glass, but glided through it, taking the energies that corrupted the soul. Her claws became charged with power and the blackness around the soul had clung to her claws. Rubbing her claws together, the energies mixed together into a dark red color. She placed the claws right above the human's stomach and then hesitated, as if questioning if she should go through with it. Soon she pushed her claws through the stomach. No blood or harm came from the human, but the claws seem to pass through him, causing the area around the claws to grow dark orange, black-spotted fur. The elder drew the claws down his body and legs, fur growing along with the sliding of the claws. As the sharp blood stained claws passed the lower legs and feet, a spotted tail formed in between his legs. Soon the feet morphed into paw-like structures with four toes instead of five.
"ooooooh…." Tao said "how are you doing that Meow?" she asked
"I'm using the essence in your blood to change him" she said "but it takes a lot of concentration and energy to keep these claws up."
"Elder! Ooh! Elder! I have a question Meow!" Tao said looking at her excited "What all can you change about him?"
"I can just change him into a kaka, as if he was born as one" She told Tao
"Aw… that's no fun!" Tao said a bit sad "Tao hoped you would be able to change him into a girl or something!"
"…" the elder stood there for a second "No Tao… Even if I could, I wouldn't do such a thing" the elder dropped the conversation and walked to the other side of the table. She dragged her claws through other half of the human, letting the orange-spotted fur spread throughout his body and through the arms, giving his hands paw pads. Finally she dragged the claws through his head, giving him a new face, changed his hair to an orange and red color, and large orange cat-like ears at the top of his head.
"There…" the elder withdrew her claws as she grew tired "Tao, please ask for a spirit cloak down in town, it'll give me enough rest to get energy for the last part."
"Yes mam! Tao will get one right Neow!" she said as she bolted out the door.
The Kaka elder peered over to the soul floating in the glass jar. It was no longer covered in the black ash that had corrupted it earlier. The lite-blue light was shimmering, giving the room a blue hue to its walls.
It didn't take Taokaka long to return from her errand, holding a dark-gray colored hoodie, the same shape and style that the other members of the Kaka clan were wearing. "I'm back, Meow!"
The Kaka elder couldn't help but smile at Tao's enthusiasm "Good, will you give me the cloak and take off his shirt so I can put it on him?"
"Suure thing!" she tossed the hoodie like cloak to the elder and cut the shirt off the human with precision use of her claws.
"Good, now lift him off the table." The elder said as Taokaka lifted the leopard-like Kaka member off the table. The Kaka elder put the cloak on the table and unzipped it. Tao had set her new friend down onto the cloak, pulling his tail through the small hole in the back.
"Thank you" the elder said. She then gently guided the kaka's arms into the big sleeves and placed the hood of the cloak over his face. The hood blocked out all light, and a black-shadow had been cast over just like the other members of her clan. The elder walked back and grabbed the young soul still floating in the jar.
"What's that meow?" Taokaka asked curiously about the small floating ball
"It's his soul, I took it out earlier, I'm about to put it back in."
"His soul?" Tao was pondering something "Is that why he's a ginger?"
"Tao!" she scolded her again
"Whaaat? It's an honest question Meow! Is that why he's a ginger? Because he doesn't have his soul?"
The elder ignored her as she unscrewed the lid to the jar. Her spectral claws had come back out and guided the soul out of the jar. She placed her other paw on the still unzipped cloak and focused for a bit. The dark gray cloak had briefly glowed a bright white before returning its normal color.
"This is always the hard part…" the elder said "The other two times I've tried this before… the souls immediately reject the new bodies and they died. Hope for the best Tao" she led the soul closer to the body where it belonged. It was drawn very close to the hole in his chest, and was now hovering a few inches above as the elder had taken her paw away and withdrew her claws once again.
The small soul hesitated there for a while before diving into the chest of the leopard Kaka clan member, as the soul had dived in, the spirit cloak had reacted and zipped itself closed. The cloak had slightly changed size and shape to match that of the young Kaka member. As the changes in the cloak had taken place, the young Kaka member had re-gained consciousness of the world around him and his big red eyes forced themselves open in the shadow of the hood.
/\/\/\/\
"GUUUUUUUUUGH!" I sat up and gasped as much air as I could as I 'woke up' from my sleep. I started panting, as if I haven't been breathing for the past few minutes. I went to feel a strange pain that I felt in my chest with my hand, but soon found not a hand, but a large sleeve of a dark gray hoodie. "what the…?" I noticed a large cloak all around me, but something even crazier was that my legs and feet were now furry and orange with black spots all over them "What's going on Meow!?" I looked at both 'hands' now and saw that I was in one of those hoody looking things that those cat-people were wearing. I was starting to panic. "What happened to Meow!?"
"Don't worry" The elder said "I'll explain everything"
"And Taokaka will help! Meow! I'm just glad you're ok!" she ran up and hugged me
"Thanks… but what happened!? Why am I a cat thing!? Why do I have a tail Meow!?" I said lifting my new appendage, I could feel all the new muscles and nerves move and react inside of it.
They both looked at each other, and then back at me. The elder started to speak "You were dying… there wasn't anything else we could have done."
"No…" I shook my head "Why do I have to be one of you things!? What was even wrong with me!? This CAN'T be real! Wait… I-I can't remember my name!" I was getting scared now "Why can't I remember my own name!?"
"Please, let us try to explain." She seemed to be collecting her thoughts "You as a human, are able to be poisoned by Seithr very easily, especially in the quantities that are down here near the village. We Kaka clan are immune to the poisonous effects of Seithr, and can even thrive on it. I took out your soul and changed your body to be able to accept all the Seithr in the environment. Now, when your soul got back inside your new body, your own soul got rid of the name it had for its old human body. Don't ask me why souls do that, they just do."
"But why not just get rid of all the poison stuff?" I asked
"It is almost impossible to get Seithr out of a human body in the quantities that you had in you, but I'm sure you'll get used to your new body. You need to look over yourself. Tao, would you get a mirror please? And… we need to give you a new name... do you like Rankaka?" Tao ran off into the next room.
"But I like my OLD name! Can't you just tell me what that was and use that?" I said, but I felt that name permanently imbed itself into me 'Rankaka' was now my name.
"I didn't know your old name" she said
I was in disbelieve. She changed me this drastically, and is trying to calm me down from this ordeal… and she doesn't even know my name!?
"YOU HAVE TO KNOW!" I got angry now, "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME AND NOT EVEN KNOW MY NAME, MEOW!?" I got off the table and stood up on my new legs "AAAARGGH!" I smashed the table with my giant sleeved arm, but felt a sharp pain at my chest "oww oww oww…" I landed on my butt and grabbed at the center of my chest in pain.
"Take it easy" the elder said "I know this must be hard for you, but you're still hurt and need to rest." She helped me up "Your wound where your soul was taken out will take a while to heal, the Spirit Cloak you're wearing will make sure that no one will be able to open your cloak until I say so... unless some powerful force forces it open… but it's to make sure your soul stays safe until the wound heals."
"Huh?" I started tugging on the zipper at the top of the hoodie "why can't 'I' take it off?"
"It's just a precaution, in a few weeks I'll see if your wound heals enough to be able to take off your cloak
I tried to pull off the hood as well, but it wasn't budging "What about this!? Am I trapped in this stupid hoodie!?"
"Please, it's just for now, you'll be able to remove your hood later. Just be patient young one."
"I'm baaaack! Meow!" Tao said walking in with a giant bathroom mirror.
"Tao…" the elder said "I meant the small handheld mirror in the cupboard."
"Oh well, Meow!" she said as she placed the mirror on the ground. I saw my entire body for the first time. Starting from the top of my head, I saw the orange ears on the top of the dark grey hood. And my face that was completely shielded from light, no matter how much light shown on it, it must have been one of the magic effects of the cloak. The zipper teeth were dark amber while the zipper puller was purple. The cloak itself seemed to end at my waist, and then the pair of shorts I was wearing seemed to change with the cloak. It had also gained a dark gray color and changed into the same material like the cloak. My sleeves were long and could hang down below my knees. At the end, there were three slots where it looked like claws would come out of. On the underside, large red paws were decaled onto the sleeve, giving them their cat-like appearance. Finally I saw my legs and tail with their orange leopard like pattern, I could only guess that the rest of my body followed it. My feet were now larger paws, and more cat-like than before.
I saw myself frowning with my dark face, my ears were laid back and my tail was limp around my legs. I saw that I looked… to put simply, sad…
"I…isn't there anything you can do Meow?" I turned to the elder "Can't you change me into a human with your magic? You turned me into this; you can change me back right?"
"I'm sorry; changing your body the first time gave you a one in third chance of living it already. Doing it twice… it's too risky. I won't do it."
"Please! Look at me! Meow!" I just noticed the 'meow' in there "What's wrong with this stupid body! Why do I keep saying 'meow' all the time! Meow! UGH!"
"Ho ho ho, don't worry about that. It's just a verbal tick that most of the Kaka clan has. It took me years to get rid of mine."
"Anything!" I slumped to my knees "Just do anything! I don't want to be stuck like this forever meow…"
Tao came up to me and put her arm over my shoulder "Cmon Runner Guy! it's not that bad, Tao likes it Meow!" she said smiling at me
"No… I'm…" I got up and brushed off Tao's arm "I think I'm just going to go for a walk…" I said getting up and walking out of the door. I remember that whenever I had a problem or was feeling down, I'd just walk around for a while and think about things. So I started walking.
"Tao" the elder said "Just let Rankaka be for now; he needs to think things over"
"Alright Meow." Tao responded.
It was always dark in this village. There seems to be something above the city, blocking most of the sunlight from getting down here, but I see some patches of light scattered around the village. A lot of the smaller Kaka kittens seemed to be interested in me. I was new here and they're wondering where I came from. I ignored them and just kept walking around. After a while, I noticed a lot of steel beams. They went high into the sky, maybe they were holding up whatever was blocking the sun. Yet the houses around here didn't seem to be as high tech or built like the steel beams. They looked simpler and… homey. After a while I noticed my lack of footwear. My feet were starting to get sore from walking, but eventually I came to the top of a large dome-like structure. A ray of sunlight was hitting it and grass was growing. As I stepped on the warm grass, I realized how tired I was from all of today, and it has been a long day.
I sat down on the warm grass and yawned. 'I guess… it's alright meow… it'll… ~yawwn~ just… b…" I laid back and fell asleep on the nice warm and comforting patch of grass.
/\/\/\/\
It was a few hours before some Kittens of the Kaka clan had wanted to take a nap at their favorite spot, but something was wrong. Someone else was already taking a cat nap there! Two of the kittens didn't know what to do and ran off to get Tao, but the other three were mad, and they had a mischievous plan for the intruder…
"Tao! Tao!" a small kitten by the name of Cali-kaka had ran into Taokaka in town.
"What's wrong, Meow?" She said picking up Cali and her sister Fluffy-kaka.
"Tao! Someone's sleeping in our favorite spot!" Cali said, Fluffy continued by saying "We never seen him before! What do we do?"
"What did he look like?" Tao asked
"Dark grey cloak and an orange-black fur!"
"Oh him!" Tao said as she started to walk to her spot "He's a little new here, don't worry! Tao was actually wondering where he wound up at, Meow."
Over at the spot, the three kittens had already begun carrying off the sleeping cat. They soon found their way to a large steel beam and began climbing, carefully carrying him up to a crossbeam high in the air. When they were done they laughed all the way back down to their grassy patch.
Tao found three kittens at the spot "Hey, did you happen to see a friend of Tao's? He was last seen here, Meow"
One of the kittens rubbed her eye and answered "He was in our spot ~yawn~, so we carried him up there" the kitten pointed his paw at a crossbeam high into the air; a small grey speck was seen on top of it.
"Oh dear." She put the Kaka twins down and ran towards the beam. She got on top of a house and shouted to her friend "HEEEEY! HEY RUNNER GUY! WAKE UP, MEOW!" Her friend groaned but stayed asleep "RUNNER GUY! WAKE UP! DON'T MAKE TAO COME GET YOU!" she said but with no response "ugh…" Tao grabbed a shingle from the roof and pitched it at her friend, hitting him in the head with it.
/\/\/\/\
I was nice and asleep before I heard someone shouting at me, i tried to ignore it and just go back to bed. I heard the voice again, but after ignoring this one I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head "OW! What's that fo-" I saw the ground hundreds of feet below me "AAAH!" I screamed as I grabbed the metal beam that I was lying down on with my life. The ground was so far away and I didn't want to fall and die!
"Runner Guy! You're scared of heights, Meow!?"
"Why am I up here!?" I noticed my claws came out of my sleeves and were going through the metal, giving me a very hard grip. I was too scared to let go.
"Cmon Runner Guy! Just climb down!" Tao said trying to calm me down
"No!" I said squeezing the crossbeam "Get me down Meow!"
"That didn't make sense Meow!" she said "It's not that hard to climb down these things!"
"I'm going to fall!" I yelled back, starting to put deep cuts into the crossbar
"Oh come on!" Tao said getting a little angry "Just use your claws to climb down! It isn't THAT hard! How can anyone be afraid of heights! You're a Kaka clan member, Meow!"
"Too scared!" I said still holding on tightly "Don't want to move Meow!"
"Ok Runner Guy! Just move across the bar, keep one claw in the metal at all times Meow!"
"O-Ok!" I said starting to crawl to the edge of the bar, getting as close to the large vertical support bar as possible, where I put both sets of claws into it.
"Great! Now just do the same thing! But go down instead of across!"
I tried to, but I was too scared to put my full weight on my claws, fearing I would slip and fall to the ground. "I'm scared Meow!"
"Screw it MEOW!" Taokaka said as she threw her paws into the air "I'm just going to take a cat nap!" she said walking to the patch of grass I was on earlier, and laid down with some kittens there
"Wait! Don't leave me Meow!" I said scared. Eventually I started to put my weight on my claws, but hesitated to climb down. I pulled my left pair of claws out and lowered them down and stuck them back into the steel. I shifted my weight onto those and then did the same with my right. I repeated this until I got to the ground.
"Tao!" I yelled at her as I got back to the grassy patch "Would you mind explaining how I got up there Meow!?" I asked but Tao was still asleep with the kittens. I looked at my claws and wondered how they were doing that. I could feel them, but as if they were a part of me. I couldn't feel my actual hand, but I was able to retract my claws into my sleeve and out and in again, it seemed very natural for me. In fact, I don't feel my arm anymore, but I felt the sleeve as my new arm.
"Tao!" I said one final time, she obviously wasn't waking up "Grr…. Forget it Meow" I stormed off, pissed off that she just left me up there on that beam. I started walking again, hopefully this time I won't end up a hundred feet into the air. This time I walked back into the village instead of away from it, and as I got closer, I could start to smell something… And that something, smelled like food! I couldn't stop sniffing the air, and I just started walking toward the smell instinctively. "Mmmm…." My stomach was growling at me now and I had to get food.
I was in awe of a large cooking pot, and it wasn't just large, it was gigantic! It had a large fire underneath it, a crane that held the pot itself up, and even a warning around it not to go near it. There were a lot of kaka near it though, and I could tell it was almost meal time! I walked up to a guy holding a large wooden spoon turning the stuff in the pot around.
"I haven't seen you here before" the guy said "I usually see every Kaka here by the time they're old enough to walk! Where are you from?" he said with a big smile on his face, just being friendly.
"Oh… I uh…" I didn't really want to say that I wasn't really a Kaka… but then again I guess I am now… but it's just confusing
"That's alright" he said "You don't need to tell me anything you're uncomfortable with" He continued stirring "The meal should be ready in a few minutes"
"Thanks, I'll wait…" I said. I noticed a small group of kaka kittens sitting around the elder; she seemed to be telling a story. I walked up to only catch the tail end of it with some of the kittens asking questions.
"So what is a… Nix Nic…Nictorees?" a little girl asked the Elder
"A Nox Nyctores" she corrected "Is a weapon with magical properties that can be used in battle. They have many strange properties to them."
"Like what kind Mew?" a small kitten asked
"I've heard of a few." She said, thinking things over "I heard that you cannot buy or find them, they find you. If a Nox Nyctores appears to you, then it has chosen you as their owner. All of the weapons have mysterious qualities. One I've heard is a sword that can create ice shards, while another is almost like a person that can fight with its partner. They are very strange things they are… But they are very powerful tools and very dangerous. It's said that they can even change the personality of their masters, by removing unwanted emotions from them."
"Cool…" I said out loud
"Oh Rankaka, I'm glad you're safe" The elder said to me "How are you adjusting?"
"I'm… ok… I guess meow…"
"Don't worry, it'll get better" she said assuring me
"Alright…" I said, but something was wrong. At the corner of my eye I saw a lot of movement. I heard screaming from not too far away, and a lot of kaka kittens running away from something. It was large and black, and looked like it was getting closer really quickly "What's… that?" I wondered
"That thing!" a kitten said hiding behind me "It's the Black Squiggly!" it said very afraid "It's going to eat me!" it ran off screaming
I looked away to see the kid running away, but when I turned my head back, I saw a large black ball of muck standing in front of me, it had a white mask on with an indifferent face on it. The black slob was disgusting! It had bug-like arms everywhere and smelled like it was dead!
It started talking to me, but in a way I couldn't understand it. It was like it couldn't even complete its own words! "Yo , I n d to d our a stro ul. You so , I c fe it's wer re tha any ne els s. Gupupupu… Gi me oul, wi de ur y u!"
"What the?" I said scared "Get away from me-ow!" I extended my claws out of fear.
" f ht is wh ou ant? A me clo e of he or gi al is n tch f r me, I ll gr st ger w h you ul! HAhahahaahah!" It laughed maniacally at me, it sounded like some crazy person! It lashed out at me with what looked like a giant bug claw! I yelped as I quickly stepped away from it, and instinctively lashing back out with my claws.
"Y o ill di ! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Before I knew it, I got into a fight with the sludge thing! It kept attacking me with its bug like arms, going into the ground, and even becoming invisible! Before I knew it, I was being overwhelmed! Soon bugs and his rapid slashing started to cut away at the cloak I was wearing! It didn't take long until it hit me hard in the chest, it not only knocked me a few feet back, but it widened the cut in my chest containing my soul!
"Ack!" I spit out blood as it was walking closer to me, I clutched my chest in pain.
"Yo so s ne!" It screamed as it charged towards me!
I braced for its attack, but soon felt another presence on me. I felt a strong power that was giving me courage and removing my fear from the blob! I stood up quickly and noticed a small white blob the size of an apple floating in front of me and I could feel that it was giving me strength! It went under and inside my cloak, and I could feel it starting to spread around my body, healing the wounds from the battle. I could feel the cold liquid under my cloak; it started to coat the back of my head up to my ears, neck, back, and down my arms. I could feel it doing something at the back of my neck and I gained knowledge on how to use it, as if it was talking to me without words. A large mass of it centered at my chest wound and I could feel it making a strong armor around it, keeping my soul inside, and removing all pain from it.
"Alright you little slug!" I said with new found confidence "Time to taste my new claws!" I unsheathed a new pair of white claws that were much stronger and longer than my old ones. I lunged at it with powerful kaka legs and slashed at it multiple times a second with my new claws and fast arms. It gathered itself back up and screamed at me "Not so fun is it?" I taunted it while jumping at him with another attack. This time I could feel a strong magic energy come from the claws as fire engulfed my claws. They were on fire, yet not causing me harm. They burned on the blob as it screeched, but soon the flames died out. "Time for round two…" I said seriously.
This fight didn't last long, it couldn't keep up with my slashing and had to guard as best as it could. Once I got past its guard, it was on. I slashed rapidly at it and kept getting burned. Eventually I knocked it into the air and felt a strong sensation over me. I gathered a lot of power and felt myself get pumped with a lot of power. I slashed diagonally up, and kept slashing in a giant circular motion twirling around my body. Soon it looked like a tornado of fire had risen from the ground and engulfed me and my foe. I finished and the black blob fell to the ground with a thud.
If I could see myself, I would see a fiery demon. My ears, backside, arms, long claws, and tail had all been set ablaze. I picked up the black slob with my claws and hurled it a good twenty feet away from me, where it gave up and ran away. "And don't come back!" I said as the flames around me died down. I could hear the kittens cheering me on.
"Wait…" I said confused "What just happened Meow!?"
"You destroyed the Squiggly!" A kitten said climbing onto my back "Yea" said another "You got him good!" Another came up "I hope it never comes back!"
"Did… did I really do that?" I knew that I did, but I could hardly believe that it was actually me.
"Runner Guy!" I heard Tao "You fought the Squiggly without me!?" she seemed upset "I wanted to show that Squiggly whose boss! MEOW!"
"Sorry Tao!" I said defensively "I don't know what came over me!"
"Mr…" a little Kitten came up to me "What's your name?" he said
"My name? it's…" I tried to remember my name, but the only one that actually came to mind was 'Rankaka' "It's Rankaka"
"Thanks Rankaka!" he said to me, a lot of the others started to say thanks as well
"Food's ready!" the old man said
"I'm starving!" Tao said practically running circles around the giant pot of food. "FOOD FOOD MEOW MEOW FOOD FOOD MEOW MEOW!"
"Alright Taokaka, you can get first serving" the old guy said with a chuckle
"Thank you food guy!" Tao said as she pulled out a bowl out of seemingly nowhere. She got food and came to me "Doesn't it look delicious Meow!"
I looked at it and was suddenly reminded of how hungry I was. It looked delicious and I could smell it so well… Suddenly I saw the zipper to my cloak open just a few inches and a small white snake-like dragon head came out and grabbed a chunk of meat from Tao's bowl.
"What the!?" Tao screamed "THAT'S MY FOOD MEOW!" She bit the chunk of meat and was starting to have a tug of war with the small white thing that I could feel was the thing that connected to me earlier. I felt that it was hard as metal, yet could be flexible like rubber. Its main body was centered in my chest where the hole to my soul was, but it didn't seem to hurt it. Actually it seemed to be protecting it. The material had spread from my chest and around my ribcage. At my back it spread around and went in different directions. In one direction, it travelled up the back of my spine and onto the back of my head where it finished at the back of my cat-ears. It also spread down my arms and seemed to dissipate into my sleeves, empowering my claws. Finally, it went down my spine and followed my tail for a few inches.
Finally Tao grabbed half of the meat out and the snake-like dragon ate the other half. "Tell that thing not to steal my meat Meow!" Tao said angrily
"I think it's just hungry" I said feeling hungry myself "Can I get some food?" I asked the old cat.
"Sure thing" he said as he scooped a bunch of the soup out "Do you have a bowl?" he asked
"Um…" I didn't, but I was so hungry… A piece of the little dragon came out and formed into a large bowl in my hands, but I could feel the bowl as if it was me… as the dragon… if that made sense… Now I know that it can morph into whatever I want it to. The old kaka poured the warm soup into the bowl and I was starving, before I walked away from the platform I had already eaten much of the soup, only a small scrap and a little broth was left, where a mouth of the dragon came out and finished that off.
"What are you?" I asked curiously, it turned from a bowl into a small floating dragon head with two horns on its head and a small tail. "Do you even have a name?" I asked it, but I could feel it communicating with me, the only spoken word it's ever given me... "Kiri huh? That's a cool name" I could feel that it was happy and it did a small flip in the air, it looked pretty playful "So Kiri, want some more food?" It turned itself into a bowl again "Hehe, I thought so Meow!"
We had eaten and had fun throughout the night, where we ate until the giant bowl of food was emptied by all the Kaka members. After that many kaka's had begun cleaning. I always looked forward to eating from that giant bowl of food, but now I have been traveling around so it hasn't been as easy. I've already met many… strange sorts of people around and have fought with many of them. I have to say that one of the most enthusiastic and fun to meet was a guy called 'Bang Shishigami', but that's a story of another time. As for now, I'm glad to be Rankaka, and to be partnered with my Nox Nyctores, Morph Arma: Kiri. Which is said to have a brother somewhere… I wonder who owns it?
/\/\/\/\
The alternate truth is yet to be found