The sharp clack of heels on cobblestone followed Kat through the streets of Auldnoir as she weaved through the flurries of people rushing around her to attend to their own business. Her frenzied footsteps matched theirs in intensity as she hurried across the town square.
The sun was high in the sky above their heads, beating down in an overwhelming heat that made Kat swelter and sweat as she half-jogged through the crowd. It was mid-day, about the time for the lunch rush, one of the worst times to be grounded.
She brushed arms with another gentleman, throwing her apologies over her shoulder with a quick wave before darting back in the direction she was headed, working even harder to dodge and weave through the mass of hungry workers and lackadaisical students who were also out on break from classes. Most people ignored the worried gravity shifter as she pushed past them, pausing to look around only occasionally before running off again, but a few tried their best to offer a smile or a shouted greeting. So busy in her search, Kat would almost respond too late, and even when she did her response was rushed and almost distracted.
Once she had crossed one of the bridges connecting the cap between two of the streets, Kat leaned against the railing overlooking the lower levels of the city. Below her were skimmer crowds of people wandering past apartments and storefronts, lines winding around food carts and smaller children giggling and playing as they chased each other through archways and overhangs. There were merchants lifting large crates and shuffling along back to their stations, working men lounging on benches with their lunch in hand or a cigarette between their lips, women toting along their children and others taking their dogs for a daily walk.
Kat frowned. But not a single black cat in sight.
She heaved a great sigh and deflated against the railing, her hands dangling in the air as she hunched over. "Dusty I swear...no head scratches for a week - two weeks once I find you." She tilted her chin up to the sky, idly thinking of the wind through her hair and the weightlessness of soaring across the city's rooftops, the city and people below passing by in a blur. She also thought of how much easier it would be to search from above, but quickly realized the flaw in that logic given that the object of her search is exactly the source of that power allowed her.
With a frustrated groan that bordered on a shriek, Kat threw herself back to an upright position, stamped her foot on the ground and set off with renewed vigor down the street. "Make it two months you stupid cat!"
In a frightening display of annoyance mixed with desperation, Kat began her search anew, tearing up the city piece by piece, searching inch by inch, and leaving no stone unturned. Yet by the end of her tirade, she sat exhausted on a park bench, no closer to finding Dusty than she was before. She sighed and tossed her head back over the bench, her messy hair falling behind her in golden waves.
"He could be anywhere by now…"
"Who could be anywhere by now?"
Kat jumped and snapped her head back, wide eyes shooting up to the smiling face of her longtime friend.
"Syd!"
And there he stood, decked in his police uniform which was only slightly wrinkled and askew from what must've been a long day of work. His eyes were weary but bright and happy to see her. His chin, which must've been smooth this morning, was already stubbly from a day nearly gone and past. He held a stack of papers encased in a manila folder in his left hand, with his right on his hip just above his walkie.
"You looking for someone?"
Kat huffed and slumped forward. "Dusty's gone missing. I've been looking for him all day but...nothing! That stubborn cat…"
"That makes two stubborn cats that I know then." When Kat shot him a glare he shrunk back, raising his right hand to placate the peeved shifter.
"You haven't seen him around, have you, Syd?"
Syd dropped his hand and shook his head slowly, giving an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, Kat. Not even a glimpse." He brings his hand back to his walkie and pulls it from the clip on his waist and waves it for her. "What are some places you've tried so far?"
Kat threw her hands up before bringing them down on her head, running them through the tangles in her hair. "Everywhere! I've checked Auldnoir, Pleajeune, Vendecentre, Endestria...I've checked in alleyways and underneath food stands and up in trees too! The only places I haven't been able to check are up high and down below because I can't shift down there." She props her elbows on her knees before looking up at him with a sweet smile. "Don't you have that sweet scooter?"
"No," he deadpanned.
Her jaw dropped and she sputtered before slamming her hands on the bench on either side of her lap. "Why not?"
His hand rose to the back of his neck, something that Kat knew was a nervous habit of his. She narrowed her eyes as he stumbled around his answer. "Well, uh...one of the belts snapped and it's not in great working condition. Haven't gotten around to getting it fixed up just yet so I'm trying to avoid using it unless it's an absolute emergency."
"Syd! This is an emergency!"
The look he gave her told Kat that he was nowhere near budging, but she still couldn't help but feel some sense of betrayal for his denial of her using the best means to find her precious companion. She wanted to argue with him further and maybe weasel the scooter out of him, but instead she settled for a pout and averting her gaze in a clear sign that she was upset with him.
(After all, maybe guilting him would work.)
It was a long moment of silence before he heaved a long and great sigh and Kat glanced back at him from the corner of her eye, trying her best to not seem too eager but certainly curious. She watched as he lifted his hat from his head and wiped the sweat collected on his brow before replacing his hat and adjusting the brim so that it sat properly. "But I guess I could try and radio the station and see if I can get some on-duty cops to keep a lookout. Don't know how much good that'll do, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? At least so you know where to find him."
Kat pushed herself off of the bench with a big smile, her mood instantly lifted, and clasped her hands in front of her. "Really? You'd do that?"
Syd blinked, seemingly stunned at the question, before softening into a smile before leaning down and placing a warm hand on Kat's shoulder. "Well yeah. Anything for my queen," he said, accompanied with a wink.
Kat rolled her eyes and poked the hand on her shoulder. "Gravity Queen." Then she stuck out her tongue. "Weirdo."
Syd pulled his hand away - a little quickly Kat noticed - before clearing his throat and turning his palms up in a shrug. "Right. Of course O' Gravity Queen." He chuckled when Kat rolled her eyes again before raising the walkie up to his mouth and pressing down the button.
"Coming in to all stations: We have a missing black cat report and need all eyes on the ground," he paused and looked down at Kat with a frown, "and maybe the air too. The cat responds to 'Dusty,' belongs to our beloved Gravity Queen who misses him dearly. Report in if you spot him with your location and time. Over." Once finished he released the button and looked back down at Kat with a smile. "There. Now you've got eyes all over the city working for you."
A wave of relief rushed through Kat and she gave him another brilliant smile. "Thanks, Syd. Don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure you'd manage just fine without me." Then he outstretches his hand with the walkie in an offering. "Here. Keep it on you in case any of them report in. That way I don't have to chase you down."
Kat tentatively takes the walkie, wrapping it on both of her hands and looking up at Syd with her head tilted to the side. "You aren't coming with me?"
Syd shook his head, shaking the folder in his hand. "Got some paperwork to fill out and file. Was just coming back from a short break. I'll be sure to catch up later and help if you still haven't found him though."
Kat cast a wary glance at the folder. It did look pretty full. "Well okay. I'll be sure to hold onto your radio nice and tight until then."
A weight settled on her head and soon enough her hair was being thrown askew every which way and she tried to duck out of the way. "That's my girl." When Kat was successful in pulling away from the assault he raised in an informal salute, rising a giggle from Kat, before sauntering off in the other direction.
Kat watched as he went, following his movements until he had completely disappeared, before she looked down at the walkie in her hands. She had used one before, back when she had first arrived in Hekseville and befriended Syd when she had helped him with his Alias case (which, admittedly, had gone very awry but everything had worked out in the end anyway). She was mostly familiar with its functions, even if it was just the basic ones, so she was more than sure that she could use it to find Dusty.
With her energy renewed and a new set of resources at her fingertips, she took off back into the park, ready to comb over it again and maybe shake a few more trees in search for her feline guardian.
At least, that had been the plan until she heard the distinct cry of a child just off to her left. Concern spurred her on, guiding her to the source of the cry where she found a child at the base of a tree, fists balled and rubbing at slick eyes. She hurried over to the child, stooping down on a single knee and placed a gentle hand on the crying child's arm.
"Hey," she said soothingly. "What's wrong? Are you hurt or lost? Do you need help?"
Slowly the child pulled away their hands from their face and Kat was subjected to red, wet cheeks and a running nose. She winced at the unsightly appearance but brushed it off to offer the kid a small, reassuring smile.
Eventually a spark of recognition ignited in the child's soft pink eyes and she stared at Kat in a wonderlike innocence for a moment before blurting out, "You're the gravity queen!"
Kat's smile grew at that, a mixture of pride of being recognized with such awe and having gained the child's trust so quickly. "Yep! That's me. Kat, at your service!" She mimicked the playful salute that Syd had given her earlier, much to the little girl's delight.
"My mommy talks about you to my pa. She says you help people when they're in trouble."
Kat nodded. "I do, yeah. Do you need my help too?"
The girl raised her gaze and Kat followed, peering into the tree branches that stretched out above them. The leaves offered a green canopy, casting a brightly colored canopy of shade over them. Branches twisted and protruded in the air as the leaves strung along them rustled in the gentle breeze. In the midst of it all was a splash of bright red and Kat was able to make out the round shape of a balloon. Wedged between two branches with the string wrapped loosely amongst them, it swayed in the breeze with the leaves, wiggling but never coming free.
When Kat looked back down at the girl she saw that she was pointing directly at the balloon as she sniffled with a deep-set pout. "It's stuck."
Kat rose to her full height and placed her fists on her hips, beaming at the little girl. "No problem! I'll get it back down for you in no time!" Instinctively she tried to float upwards but soon realized that she was still without her guardian and, as a result, without a way to reach the balloon with ease. She frowned and scratched her head, looking up at the balloon again. It was pretty high up, too high for her to simply jump up and grab it, but she couldn't shift gravity either…
She looked back down at the little girl who was now looking expectantly at her with a barely contained joy in her eyes. But as Kat continued to stand there that light seemed to dim and she began to grow upset again and Kat could watch as her heart shattered again. No, she couldn't let that happen. She promised she'd get that balloon down and get that balloon down she would! Even if she would have to get a little more creative with it.
Walking over to the base of the tree she clipped the walkie onto one of the bands around her thigh, tugging to make sure it was secure. Once she was convinced it was sturdy, she analyzed the trunk of the tree, looking for a low-lying branch or a handhold of some sort to push her up to start her climb. It took a few circles around the tree, but eventually she settled on a branch that she might be able to reach if she could just get a jump on it. Backing up to give herself a little bit of distance for a headstart, Kat rolled her shoulders and shook out her hands before running at the tree, jumping onto the trunk and pushing off with her foot, putting all of her might into it, and launched herself up to the branch above. She rose and reached up her hand to make a grab for the branch, but fell just short and came crashing back down to the ground unceremoniously. She stumbled and fell to her knees, throwing out her hands just in time so she didn't fall on her face.
Kat coughed and looked back at the girl who was staring at her curiously, if not a bit confused, before offering her another smile. "A bit higher than I thought it was," she laughed nervously, her smile dying off when the girl remained silent.
More determined than ever to prove to this girl that she was worthy of her title and to herself that she could be useful without Dusty, she lifted herself off the ground and brushed off the grass and dirt from her knees and hands. Returning back to her starting point from before then taking a couple of extra steps back in order to gain more momentum, Kat readied herself for another go. She bounced from foot-to-foot, revving herself up before taking off in a sprint towards the tree, pushing off the ground when she was near enough to kick off the tree and reached for the branch again, straining her muscles and arms to make some sort of purchase. Alas, she was still out of reach and fell towards the ground again, this time more painful than the last.
Shoulder jostled from the landing and hip throbbing from its own hit, Kat pushed herself until she was sitting upright and rubbed tenderly at her bruising skin.
"My mommy didn't tell me you were so useless."
Kat turned back to the little girl, eyes wide and a little surprised at how indignant she sounded, before frowning and feeling her own irritation bubbling up. "I'm trying here!"
The little girl crossed her arms and Kat almost walked away from what she was now beginning to see as a very entitled kid. "Trying isn't good enough. You're supposed to be a superhero. If you don't help people, what good are you?"
Kat reeled back, more than surprised at the little girl's words and maybe even a little hurt at the implications. But she refused to be put down by someone so much younger than her, so she stood up and walked back to her original starting point, marching straight past it and the one from last time until she was a fair distance from the tree. Without looking at the kid, she hunkered down into a sprinting stance, running full force at the tree with all the speed she could muster. Upon nearly reaching the tree she pushed off the ground, her heel digging into the soft earth as she launched herself at the tree, using her other foot to ground into the bark and push herself upwards. Using both of her hands this time she reached out for the branch, her fingers spread, her tongue sticking out in concentration and brows furrowed in determination, and she inched closer and closer to the branch to the point she could feel the rough wood brushing against her fingertips…
And then, gravity being a cruel mistress, she was yanked back down to the earth, this time hitting the ground with a much harder impact. She landed on the same shoulder as the time before, jostling it harder and irritating the bruise already forming there. Upon her landing she cried out in pain, cringing as she skidded across the grass with her momentum, only relaxing after she had come to a complete stop.
Behind her she heard the kid groan. "So dumb. What kind of superhero are you anyway?"
Kat whipped around, a fire in her eyes and anger bubbling within her. "I'm just having an off day, okay?"
"Superheroes aren't supposed to have bad days. They're supposed to help people, no matter what." The little girl glared at her as if she had been personally offended by Kat's incompetence (and perhaps she had). "If you can't help anyone then why are you even a superhero?"
Kat opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by a new voice approaching them. She turned to see a man walking towards the tree and in both of his hands he held a ladder. He looked at Kat with a smile, his teeth glinting brightly in the daylight. "Saw you were having a bit of trouble, miss. Thought I'd offer a hand."
Kat stood up and winced at how that alone jarred her shoulder. "I would've gotten it." She looked over to the little girl who didn't look so convinced and Kat realized that she wasn't so sure she believed it herself. "Eventually," she tagged on, still too stubborn to admit she may have been a bit out of her league.
The man chuckled as he set up the ladder against the tree, right by the branch that the balloon was tangled on. As he was testing its sturdiness, Kat walked over and stood in front of the ladder, ready to step up to retrieve the balloon when she was waved away. She looked up in disbelief at the man who only offered another smile.
"You seem pretty banged up there, little lady. Might want to step this one out, yeah? I can handle it from here."
Kat frowned and stood firmly. "I'm okay. I promised I'd get it down for her."
He mirrored her stance, standing steadfastly in his place in front of the ladder and leaning over to grip each side of the ladder and propping his foot on the first rung. "Don't you worry about it. I'll get it down for the little miss in the blink of an eye. Why don't you go get that shoulder checked out?"
She wanted to stay and argue some more and was more than ready to do so, but the man made it clear he was finished with the conversation when he began to climb up the ladder. Both her and the little girl watched as he twisted the balloon free, holding it firmly in his grasp as he lowered himself slowly. Upon touching down on the ground he held his hand with the balloon to the little girl who visibly brightened upon receiving her beloved toy. Kat watched with a smidge of resentment, almost guilty on how annoyed she was at the situation because she should've felt happy that the little girl was reunited with her balloon. Yet there was still a little piece gnawing at her, chewing her raw as she reflected on how helpless she had been in this situation.
It was a new feeling and not one she was sure she liked. With a frown she swiveled on her heel and walked out of the park, away from the little girl and her sharp tongue and the man with his assertiveness over her. Away from her humiliation.
She grumbled to herself as she walked, cursing Dusty's name and her own stubborn self for not knowing when to back down or say 'no'. So caught up in her own musings and wounded pride, she almost missed the crackle of the radio at her hip as it came to life. A static voice listed out a name and location, the audio dipping at places but Kat was able to catch the most important part. They had spotted Dusty, and just over in Vendecentre square too. It was just a hop and a skip to the train station and she'd be over in no time. Hopefully Dusty was still there when she arrived, otherwise she'd have to go on yet another goose chase. And with the day she was having, that was less than ideal. With another tender rub to her bruised shoulder and a new spring to her step, Kat set off in the direction of the train station, eager to be reunited with her guardian again.
She was only about halfway to the train station when she heard someone call out her name. Pausing to search out the person, she finally found an older man near the railing looking in her direction and waving. She waved and walked over when he gestured for her to come closer.
Before she could get a greeting out, he cut her off. "You're that gravity shifter, ain't ya?"
Kat smiled, even though it was a little strained. "That's me."
In his hands was a brown package which he held up higher now for her to see. "I need to get this down to one of the apartments below. I missed postal today, but my grandson needs it soon as he can get it. Would you mind taking it to him? My bones just ain't what they used to be. Can't get up and down them stairs."
On impulse she almost agreed to taking the quick job, but then she remembered the entire fiasco in the park and with a sad smile she shook her head. "Sorry, I'm actually headed to the train station at the moment and I need to hurry if I want to make the train."
The old man's friendly demeanor melted away as he harrumphed, pushing the package more urgently towards her. "I heard you was quick. Can't you just drop down and come back up in a second? It's hardly outta your way."
A deep feeling of guilt ran through her, but she knew that it wasn't as simple without Dusty by her side. "Sorry, but I'm having a bit of an off day and I'm really in a hurry, but maybe I can do it when I come back!"
Her offer fell on deaf ears as the old man yanked the package from her space and harrumphed again, turning away from her without so much as a goodbye. She heard him mutter to himself as he walked away from her and from the tone of his voice the style of which he left, she couldn't imagine anything he was saying was all too pleasant.
She decided to shake off the encounter, trying to not let it bother her as the park incident earlier had. She was on a mission to find Dusty and she was so close now. It wouldn't do her any good to dwell on it and become distracted. With one last look towards the old man she started back towards the train station, a little more vigor to her step this time.
Without any more incidents she managed to make the train on time, walking inside the train car. Once inside she looked around a little lost, realizing that she had never actually gotten to ride inside the car because of Dusty. Well, maybe losing him wasn't completely awful…
Shaking that thought from her head, she shuffled to the first open seat she saw and settled in for the train ride to Vendecentre. It didn't take long for the rest of everyone else on the platform to file into the train car and within just a short minute the doors slid closed and they were off, the train wheels screeching against the rails before the train picked up speed.
The train swayed gently as it carried them over the expanse of sky below them. It was soothing in a way, but Kat soon realized that sitting in a cart full of other people was a lot stuffier than sitting on top of the train with the wind rustling through her hair and fresh air filling her lungs. Following that thought came the uncomfortable itch of being too enclosed and she flinched away when someone else's arm brushed her own. She looked around at the limited room that the car offered and slowly began to recede into herself, tucking her elbows in and crossing her ankles, all while leaning away from the person sitting next to her. At least she had a window seat.
Eventually the train began to slow down and Kat looked out the window to see the beautifully tall buildings of Vendecentre coming into view, the green hue they gave off painting it like an emerald. As the train came to a crawl and the train underground train station began to close in on them, Kat hopped out of her seat and latched onto one of the poles to keep her steady as it came to a full stop. Before the train whistle had a chance to blow she had already made her way to the door and the second they parted open she stepped out into the fresh air again, inhaling deeply and reveling in the sweet uncrowded atmosphere.
Okay, so, maybe the top of the train wasn't exactly the worst place to ride.
After sparing a few seconds to recuperate and shake out all of the jitters of what might have been borderline claustrophobia, Kat jogged over to the steps to exit the train station and took the steps two at a time to get up as fast as she could. Once she surfaced above ground she took a quick glance at her surroundings to orient herself and, once she figured out the shortest path to take to where she needed to go, immediately set off in that direction.
As she trekked towards her destination, there were many more people who recognized her and called out to her, smiling and waving which were gestures she quickly and happily returned. Yet there were a few people out of the bunch that looked at her with what Kat could only describe as disdain, watching her with sharp eyes before turning to whisper to their companions in hushed voices. It wasn't the first time anyone ever expressed discontentment with her, and it certainly wouldn't be the last either, but for some reason Kat couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling as she walked past with watchful and judgmental eyes following.
Hopefully her uneasiness would be quelled when she was reunited with Dusty. She missed him actually, even if he was the reason she was this strung out and miserable in the first place. But even still, he was her cat, and she loved him dearly. And not just for the powers he granted her and the status that brought her, but because ultimately, he was her first friend in this strange place she ended up in without her memories.
Kat frowned and shook her head, trying to dispel the depressing thoughts and walked faster, more eager than ever to be with Dusty again. (And, okay, maybe she'd give him just a few head scratches.)
It didn't take her too long to reach Vendecentre square. Bustling with activity as a long day of work came to a close and people were headed home or enjoying a relaxing stroll around town, there were a lot more people than Kat had originally expected. Admittedly, she was a bit worried that Dusty might have run off with the onslaught of new people crowding the area, but figured that on the flip side maybe he just didn't care so long as he was somewhere secluded enough. Besides, she had intel that he was here and so far it hadn't changed.
She walked into the square, keeping an eye out for the tell-tale police uniform amongst the crowd wearing work clothes or even business suits, but after a few slow scans of the crowd, she realized that there wasn't an officer to be seen. Wishing once more for the ease of searching from the sky, she began walking around the edges of the square, hoping to find the person she was looking for.
Someone bumped into her and almost sent her sprawling. After she regained her balance she looked up to chew out whoever had so rudely run into her when she heard a clatter on the ground beside her. At her feet was the walkie that she had had hooked onto her gold leg band, a little scuffed but no worse for wear and certainly not broken. She had almost completely forgotten she'd had it. Boy, Syd would've been pretty upset if she had lost it.
She bent down to pick it up, brushing off some of the dirt before raising it to her mouth and pressing down the button. "Um, this is Kat...er, the Gravity Queen at Vendecentre square. I'm, uh, following up on a report about the missing black cat?" She let go of the button and pulled it away to listen for a response, but quickly reeled it in to quickly add, "Please let me know your exact location. It's sorta, well, busy here. Hard to see you from the ground." Then she let go of the button again and patiently awaited a response.
It didn't take long to receive one. "Gravity Queen this is Officer Ozlot stationed at Vendecentre Square. I am positioned over by the pretzel stand. Over."
Kat looked up and around, scanning the many food carts precariously placed around the square before singling in on one with a sign depicting a twisted pretzel. Squinting against the late daylight, she finally noticed the colors of the police uniform, the bright blue a beacon in the crowd. She smiled and raised her walkie back to her mouth to respond. "Right. I see you. Headed your way." She lowered the walkie and took a step forward before raising it once more. "Oh, um. Over!"
With that she half-jogged, half-shuffled over to the pretzel stand, making her way through the crowd and doing her best to not tread on any toes. With a humongous amount of effort and the elegance of a ballerina, she managed to get through with incident and walked up to Officer Ozlot with a courteous wave. "Hi! So you said you found Dusty?"
Ozlot returned her wave though his was a bit more stiff, probably still in heavy cop-duty mode. His golden eyes were warm in a friendly greeting, piercing through her with their pure intensity. His hair was a silvery gray, almost matching Syd's color, if only a little darker, and also just a little longer and much more well kept. He nodded once and offered her a grin as stiff as his wave. "I did, yes. Unfortunately just before you radioed in he ran off from his spot," he gesture to an area across the square, "somewhere off in that direction. I was just about to report it when I heard you call in." He bows his head in a short gesture of condolences. "I'm terribly sorry, ma'am. Would've chased after him myself, but I'm under strict orders to stay put."
Kat's shoulders deflated dejectedly and she felt the soreness of her muscles and the throbbing of her bruises kick into full gear with the knowledge that her day wasn't quite over yet. "Great. Now I have to try and find him again."
Ozlot seemed truly sorry now, his formal and official demeanor slipping for a few seconds. "Well, he couldn't have run off too far by now, right? I'm sure you'll find him pretty quick if you start looking now." He raised his own walkie. "I'll radio in with the rest of the force to let them to know to keep looking. Someone will spot him if you don't."
Kat let out a tired sigh but smiled brightly up at him. "Thank you. I better get going now if I want to find him before it gets dark though." With one last wave she took off in the direction he had pointed to, her eyes sweeping the crowd and the area around looking for a familiar coat of dusted black fur.
Her search took her out of Vendecentre Square into the more residential parts of the town. She knew that Dusty wasn't a fan of too crowded places and probably escaped the square once it had begun to fill up for somewhere quieter. She could only hope he was in a place that was easily accessible to her since she couldn't shift currently.
After another hour of searching with no word from any of the other police on Dusty's whereabouts, Kat decided to take another short rest. She picked a spot on the outskirts of the town, plopping down on an edge overlooking the limitless sky surrounding them. She was pretty close to the world pillar itself she knew because it was easily visible from where she sat. Leaning back on her hands and letting her legs dangle over the edge, Kat sighed and rolled her head towards the sky above, watching as the clouds circled the pillar, casting a haze that hid just exactly how high it rose and what was at the end of it (if there was an end).
At this point she wanted nothing more than to just go home and hope that Dusty had the sense to return on his own accord, but at the same time she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from worrying until she found him. It was strange that he was being this elusive; normally he did like his privacy but never for this long or to this extent. It was as if he were purposefully avoiding her.
But she didn't want to dwell on that train of thought and she knew that the search for him kept her mind busy, so she decided to cut her break short to go off and begin her search anew. Pushing herself forward she made to get up, but something below caught her eye. Peering further over the edge, Kat didn't initially notice anything out of the ordinary - no Nevi, no strange ships, nothing. She almost shrugged it off until something changed, drastically, and an icicle of fear pierced her heart.
For the darkness that loomed below them, large and foreboding but distant enough to not be considered a problem, was moving closer. At a very, very rapid rate. Kat watched transfixed as it engulfed the world pillar below, climbing steadily towards her, towards the city. And all those who inhabited it.
She looked behind her to see if anyone else had noticed this strange anomaly, but given the lack of panic or concern, it was safe to bet she was the only one. She looked back down to the darkness billowing below and gasped when she saw how quickly it had risen in just the time she had looked away.
It was gaining speed quickly, climbing faster and faster at an alarming rate. Soon enough it'd be here and...Kat didn't know what would happen, but she knew in her gut that it wouldn't be good. She had to warn someone, do something about it.
She really needed Dusty right now.
Jumping to her feet, Kat took off in a sprint and pried the walkie from her leg band. "Coming into all stations! Everyone please listen! This is Kat and I just saw the darkness below us...it's climbing really fast! We need to get everyone out of here somehow! Please! Hurry! Over!" She let go of the button and listened carefully for a response as she ran back to the square, her eyes desperately searching out Dusty. However, the radio remained silent and around her it seemed as though no one even cared. No action was being taken, there weren't any sort of sirens to warn people like she'd heard during gravity storms.
Just...nothing.
She raised the walkie again. "Please! Everyone! It's getting closer! We can't stay here! We need to move up!" She released the button again and after a few more seconds of silence, she came to a halt and screeched into the intercom, "Someone do something!"
As soon as she released the button, someone ran into her and knocked the walkie from her hand. Kat lunged out for it, her fingers outstretched as she watched in horror as it skidded across the ground, bouncing over stone and brick before finally shooting over the edge and plummeting to the depths below. She cried out and whirled around to face whoever had bumped into her, but was met instead with the red glowing orb of a Nevi.
She rolled out of the way as it used its tail to whip at her and hurriedly stood up as it scuttled after her. Getting into her fighting stance, she waited until it was close enough before bringing her leg around in a swinging kick to knock it back some. However, it seemed as though it anticipated her move because it sidestepped just out of her reach before whipping its tail again, this time catching her midsection and throwing her back a few feet. She rolled and slid across the ground, but turned her momentum so that she was able to flip back to her feet and get back into a fighting crouch.
The Nevi was already running towards her again and this time she jumped as high as she could to deliver an air kick. She was too quick to be dodged this time and her heel made purchase on the glowing red orb, but before she could feel the swell of success, her heel seemed to bounce off the orb completely, without doing any sort of damage at all. In her moment of stunned disbelief, she stumbled on her landing which gave the Nevi the perfect opportunity to knock her off of her feet again, this time sending her further until she hit the wall of a building. She cried out in pain when her head smacked against the unyielding brick, her vision momentarily going black and fading back in slowly. By the time she regained her vision beyond the pounding headache she now possessed, the Nevi was right in front of her, tail poised to strike and it was too late to dodge. She quickly raised her arms, turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut as she braced for impact, but none came. Instead she heard the all-too familiar crack of the orb being broken, soon followed by the wet thud of the Nevi falling to the ground, dead.
Cracking open her eyes and lowering her arms she looked to see who her mysterious savior was. Standing above her with her back to her was a woman with blonde hair slicked back into a spike ponytail and a large lance clutched in her right hand - no, in place of her right hand.
"Yunica?"
The young soldier turned around, confirming that it was indeed Yunica, and shot her an ice cold glare. Out of habit Kat shrunk back at the less-than-friendly stare, but deep down she was relieved that Yunica had arrived when she had to help her out of that situation. She offered a smile of gratitude, one that Yunica did not return which was unsurprising, before she stood up to her feet. Her vision swam when she did and she wobbled in place a little before she was able to steady herself. Her head was throbbing intensely, the pain so great that she honestly felt a little nauseous, but she pushed past it to get to the heart of the matter. With the rising darkness, it seemed that a Nevi ambush had sprung on Hekseville, probably to be soon followed by chaotic gravity storms, and she knew she had to help in some fashion.
Her time came when a group of Nevi began charging their way. Beside her Yunica readied her lance, standing still, the epitome of kinetic energy ready to be unleashed. Kat got down into her own stance, ready to give it another go, when Yunica whipped her head around to face her.
"Stay back," she commanded.
Kat frowned and clenched her fists tighter. "I can help and you know it."
Yunica scoffed and turned her attention back to the Nevi, hardly seeing Kat worth the distraction. "You just got plowed by a single Nevi. You are of no help to me or anyone here. Stay. Back."
The first Nevi leading the charge went straight for Yunica who reeled back her lance and thrust it forward, stabbing the center of the orb precisely and shattered it. As bits of the red orb fell to the ground, she pushed off and lunged forward to stab the next one, kicking another away with a roundhouse as she extracted her lance from the cracked Nevi orb.
Most of the Nevi seemed preoccupied with Yunica who they probably deemed to be the bigger threat, but a few stragglers scuttled towards Kat now, who stood just as ready, if not a little miffed, as before. Taking a deep breath, Kat lept into action, arching her kick high before bringing her heel straight down on top of one of the orbs. To her dismay it hardly dented and she had to jump out of the way of the tail that came hurtling her way. She ran around the Nevi, bringing her knee up on another Nevi that stepped into her path, successfully knocking it back this time but otherwise doing no other damage.
She let out a grunt of frustration but held her ground nonetheless, knowing that she couldn't give up so easily. As the Nevi charged her again, she charged back, vaulting over them with a well-placed hand on top of the orb, using her momentum to flip over them entirely. While they tried to come to a halt and reorient themselves, she used their momentary confusion to swing her leg around and kick at them. She managed to knock two of them back, but the third was just out of her reach and now charging at her. She sidestepped the charge but didn't anticipate the tail that flicked out and knocked her aside, throwing her against the ground. She tumbled once before flipping back to an upright position, her shoes sliding against the sidewalk before she slowed to a stop.
The three Nevi, now entirely focused on her, were charging again and she decided to wait for them to unleash her next attack. Suddenly, a force knocked her over from behind and she toppled to the ground, prone once again. The three Nevi were gaining in fast and when Kat glanced behind her she saw two more behind her ready to lash out. Her eyes darted around quickly, searching for an escape route, but she took too long and now the Nevi had surrounded her completely. The middle one of the three in front of her raised it's tail to strike, but once again, she was saved by Yunica who jumped in just in time with her lance raised to catch it. The tail wrapped around the middle of the lance and Yunica used this to lift the Nevi up and swing it around, knocking away all the Nevi surrounding them. Once they had been pushed back, she lifted the Nevi wrapped around her even higher before quickly whipping it back down, striking the orb against the pavement. It shattered immediately upon impact and Kat watched as the other remaining Nevi grew wary and dancing around them cautiously, probably searching for a weak point.
Kat opened her mouth to thank Yunica again, but grimaced when she saw Yunica's harsh glare. "I thought I told you to stay back!" she growled out.
"I can help!"
"You're just getting in the way! Go be useless somewhere else!"
There was that word again: useless. Hearing it again stung and Kat was knocked off her guard just enough to nearly miss the Nevi coming up behind her. Yunica turned quickly and stabbed the Nevi with her lance, skewering it all the way through before flinging it off into another charging Nevi, killing one and knocking the other off of its feet.
Kat wanted to argue more and insist that she really could help, but given her recent performance and her lack of gravity defying cat, she realized that….maybe Yunica was right. She was useless. With a heavy heart Kat lifted herself up, casting one last look at Yunica before running off back to the square with the hopes that she could find Dusty in time to help or, at the very least, warn people to get out of here.
As she ran she found more Nevi terrorizing the city, stronger and larger than the ones she'd fought before. Knowing it must be the close proximity of the looming darkness below that gave them this advantage, she quickened her pace to the square, hoping to find someone to issue out an order of evacuation.
The sky darkened as she ran and she heard the low rumbling of imminent doom from below, but...surprisingly that was it. She didn't even hear sirens to warn of a Nevi invasion, nor did she hear the panicked screams of the public or the barks of the police officers trying to maintain order. Her pace faltered and she looked around, seeing the abundance of Nevi but also...everyone going about their business as if nothing was even going on.
This realization sent her into a stupor and she stopped running completely, looking around in a confused daze as she watched the Nevi tear up the city and the lack of reaction to it all. No one even batted an eye. It was almost as if the Nevi weren't even here.
The square was now in sight and from this distance she could see the blue uniform of Officer Ozlot, stationed at the pretzel stand just as she had left him over an hour ago. He was calmly overlooking the square and the people within it, but seemingly unaware or just completely ignoring the Nevi infesting it. Kat took off towards the square, making a beeline for Ozlot and waving her hand frantically, calling out his name desperately.
Once she was close enough she began shouting at him, calling his name and telling him to evacuate the area and get everyone somewhere safe, but instead of listening and jumping into action, he looked in her direction blankly. Soon enough she had caught up to him and was standing in front of him, hunched over and breathing heavily from her run. Once she had caught some semblance of a breath, she rasped out, "The Nevi! We need to get everyone out of here! It's dangerous!"
Instead of responding, he continued to stare blankly at her before barking out a laugh. "Silly girl. This is way over your head. Why don't you let people who know what they're doing handle this? Go back to your cushy throne as 'Gravity Queen'." He sneered those last words at her and Kat was so horrified by his response that she snapped up straight to look him straight in the eye.
"You're not doing anything! People could die and you're just standing there! At least I'm trying to do something about it!" With that she lunged for his walkie, pressing the button and stepping out of his reach when he reached for it.
"Coming into all stations! This is Kat and there are Nevi everywhere and the darkness is still getting even higher! Everyone needs to get out of here right this very second! Evacuate the entire city and seek higher ground!" However, before she could further emphasize the urgency of the situation, Ozlot had snatched the device from her hand and held it high up out of her reach. She glared at him but then watched with wide eyes as he brought his arm down, smashing the radio against the ground where it shattered into an array of parts and pieces. When she looked back up at him, a thousand questions dancing on her lips and a million swirling in her eyes, he sneered at her again, leaning down low and getting right in her face.
"A weak queen like yourself has no business making decisions like this."
Kat stepped back to give herself some space before retorting and yelped when her wrist was suddenly encased in a painful grasp. Her arm was yanked up by Ozlot who was now pushing her back, his vice grip on her wrist almost cutting off her circulation. She fought against him, bringing her other hand to claw at him, digging into his fingers in an attempt to pry him off, but she had just about as much luck as a paper bag being carried by the wind.
"What are you doing?" she demanded loudly, doing her best to push against him as fruitless as it was. "Let go of me!"
When he didn't answer, Kat looked around to cry out for help, but her shouts died in her throat when she saw a crowd circled around them, marching forward as she was pushed backwards, staring blankly at her. Many were expressionless, but others had devilish grins on their lips, snickering at her misfortune.
Something was definitely not right.
"What good is a useless queen? That's what my mommy says." Kat looked over to see the little girl from before, red balloon clutched in hand.
"A queen who won't even do a simple task is not a queen I want to have." On the other side of her was the older man, package still clutched in his hand, undelivered.
"She's in the way. She's weak and of no help to any of us. We have no more need of her." Just behind Ozlot stood Yunica, her lance skewered through a still twitching Nevi.
Soon enough the rest of the crowd chimed in, their voices loud and overpowering, shouting at her and laced with such anger that Kat felt herself beginning to shake. Her eyes watered and her chest burned as she heaved for breath. She glanced behind her and noticed that she was being guided to the edge of the town, no railing to separate her from an endless fall down below into the darkness. Her panic kicked into high gear and she struggled even harder, desperately clawing and grinding her heels into the pavement, only for them to drag across the stone as Ozlot continued to push her back.
"What's going on?" she shouted, head whirling around, hair whipping around as tears began to stream down her face. "Why are you all doing this? What did I do wrong?"
Her words threw the world into silence. The people stopped shouting. Their footsteps had halted and the wind whipping around stilled to a gentle breeze that was ice cold and blew right through Kat. She shivered violently and looked back up to Ozlot, his golden eyes, so warm and friendly earlier, now cold and hard, piercing through her like shards of ice. Her hair grew cold and stiff in the sudden chilled atmosphere, the metal wrapped around her bare skin burned.
Ozlot opened his mouth to speak, mouth twisted in a horribly mean way, but when the words left his mouth, it was not his voice. Another voice, deep and harsh, barked out, "A true queen would have her guardian to save her. But you're nothing but a powerless fool."
The voice, albeit new and definitely not belonging to Ozlot, had a touch of familiarity to it that Kat couldn't quite place, especially not in her current state of paralyzed fear. She trembled violently from a mixture of the freezing chill and the fear that consumed her, but before anything else happened she heard another familiar voice, shouting from within the crowd.
"Kat!"
Both her and Ozlot looked over at the same time to see Syd pushing his way through the crowd, the people doing little more than shifting over to allow him through. He had lost his hat at some point and his police jacket was more than a little torn, but Kat honestly couldn't be any happier to see him. Her eyes welled up with tears of relief and she choked out a laugh through her tight throat.
"Syd!"
He finally broke through the crowd and began running over to where she stood precariously on the edge, just one final shove away from plummeting down below. His eyes were wild with concern and a fear to match hers as he rushed forward, arms outstretched to reach for her and push Ozlot away.
And then he halted, his eyes bugged out and a choked gurgle leaving his lips. His knees wobbled dangerously before he collapsed to the ground, Yunica's lance protruding through his back and out of his chest.
Kat stood there mortified, watched the blood collect and spread across the blue uniform jacket, the pink metal of the lance dripping with red. She watched as Syd's stare turned vacant and watched as Yunica brought up her foot to push him off of her lance. He fell forward with a thump as he hit the ground lifelessly and suddenly there was a high pitched ringing in Kat's ears as she registered slowly what had just happened. It was not until she began to cough and sputter for air that she realized she had been screaming the entire time.
And then, without even a proper moment to mourn her friend or figure out just what was going on, she was falling backwards. Above her the faces of people she had come to know and trust became distant as the wind roared past her ears and everything began to darken, slowly turning pitch black until she couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe…
Until there was nothing.
Kat bolted upright in a cold sweat, her chest burning and sore, eyes wild and hazy. She looked around frantically, her loose hair whipping around her head as she took in her surroundings, calming only slightly when she noticed the familiar newspaper clippings on the wall and felt the soft cotton thread of her blanket that was twisted around her legs. Her hands slid over her sheets to the edge of her blanket that she fisted and brought higher on her lap, clenching handfuls of it tightly to steady her hands. She also looked down at her lap, burning into her mind the image of her wrinkled and sweat-soaked sheets, ingraining it into her still half-asleep head that she was in her home, safe in bed with Dusty by her…
Her eyes opened wide and a cold shock of fear froze her when she noticed that Dusty was not on his usual perch at the foot of her bed. She looked around the pipe house, hoping to see her snoozing guardian in some odd place as cats are known to do, yet in the dark it was hard to tell. She pushed herself to her knees to switch on the lamp on her nightstand to give her an advantage in her search, leaning over the bed as she searched for him, but came up empty. The panic within her began to rematerialize and her breath quickened. Her lungs felt tight and her throat closed as her eyes began to burn and whimpers escaped her lips.
"Dusty? Dusty! Dusty, where are you?"
She heard the shifting of cloth and looked eagerly to her right, eyes wide with hope and swimming with tears, expecting to see her feline friend. Her heart fluttered when she saw a movement of black, but soon that hope flickered and died when she noticed it was intermingled with red and didn't shine like Dusty's sleek coat.
A tired mumble escaped the black form before it flipped over to reveal a scrunched up face, nose upturned in displeasure. Soon enough eyelids fluttered open, squinting against the dim light, and blue eyes locked with watery red.
Kat leaned back when Raven sat up, rubbing the back of her head and yawning. Once Raven was done she looked back at Kat, an annoyed expression marring her features which immediately softened when she saw Kat's distraught state.
"Hey," she said, her voice still hoarse with sleep. "What's wrong?"
Kat sniffled and sat back on her haunches, twisting her blankets in her grasp. "It's Dusty. I can't find him."
Raven looked at her without saying anything and then stood up without a sound. As Kat sat whimpering and shaking on her bed, she shuffled around the small pipe house, sharp eyes looking inside every crevice, every nook and cranny that a cat would be able to squeeze into. Her search didn't take long for as she neared the mouth of the pipe house, the curtain acting as a door shifted, revealing the black cat that she was looking for. She bent down to pick him up, surprised at how easily he allowed this without complaint, before carrying up over to the bed where Kat still wept. She dropped him unceremoniously on Kat's lap, watching as Kat looked up confused at the sudden weight before recognition overtook her features and she wrapped her arms around Dusty, crushing him to her chest. He meowed once in what Raven figured must've been discontentment, but made no further complaints.
Raven took a seat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Kat rocked back and forth with Dusty in her arms, petting his head and the length of his back, muttering things about how much she missed him and how much she cared for him. On a normal occasion such things wouldn't be out of the ordinary: Kat was a very emotional person. But it didn't sit well with her that Kat would get so upset about her missing guardian in the middle of the night to the point of tears.
They sat in silence for awhile, Raven allowing Kat to calm down as she cuddled Dusty, before she said anything. "Feel up to talking about it?"
Kat looked up from Dusty, startled as if she had forgotten Raven was still there. She chewed on her bottom lip as she considered Raven's question, looking down at Dusty who was now nuzzled into her chest. Raven waited patiently for her to come to a decision, knowing that pushing her for answers would not go well in her favor. Kat was a pretty open person. She'd talk about it when she was ready to.
"I had this...weird dream," she said quietly, frowning down at the purring Dusty that she continued to pet. "Like, really weird. Dusty was gone and I couldn't find him anywhere." She brought up one of her hands to her eye to wipe away a falling tear. "But...the weirdest part was that...it all felt like it had happened before." She looked up at Raven, her lip set into a thin line and brows furrowed. "It was all so familiar somehow."
Raven scrutinized Kat, watching the gears turning behind those red eyes as she struggled to make sense of her dream. "Well," she began, turning to face Kat full-on and bringing her legs around to cross them, "if you think telling me about it might help you figure it out, I'm here to listen."
She was answered with a grateful smile, strong and true despite the rest of Kat's disheveled state. Kat tucked some of her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath, before devolving into the strange events of her dream, all while Raven listened.
"Dusty seems to be strangely clingy today, doesn't he?"
Raven looked up from her ice cream cone up to Syd who was leaning back against the wall of a building. Both of them stood off to the side and watched as Kat stood in line for another meat skewer, despite the fact that she had already had three and two ice cream cones before that. Perched on her shoulder was Dusty, wrapped around the back of her neck with his tail swishing contently and head laying on her other shoulder.
Raven hummed in response and took another lick of her ice cream. "He's probably worried about her. She woke up a little frazzled that he was gone. He slept right on her chest the entire night and almost tripped her this morning when she got up to get dressed." She leaned against the wall now and watched the merchant and Kat have a conversation as he prepped her skewer.
Syd cast a questioning glance her way and she sighed before taking a bite of her cone. "She had some strange dream last night. It scared her pretty bad." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, eyeing him up and down. "And from what she told me, I don't exactly blame her."
Syd clicked his tongue and turned around so his shoulder was leaning against the wall. "Anything I should know about?"
Raven shrugged and licked her ice cream again, scooping out the cold treat with her tongue. Then she paused and tapped her nail against the outside of the cone. "She said you died. And I think she did too." Blue eyes looked beyond the food carts and out past the edge of the city to the sky. "That part was a little unclear."
A look of discomfort passed over Syd's face and he pushed himself off the wall entirely. "What do you mean by that?"
"She…" Raven lowered her cone and looked back at Kat and her smiling face, so bright and happy it was almost hard to believe that the girl crying in her bed the night before was the same person. "A lot stuff happened. Dusty was missing, she upset some people and they tried to throw her off the city but you came to stop them and…" She gave him a sympathetic look. "You got stabbed through the chest." She looked away again, facing forwards. "After that, they threw Kat off the edge of the city." Raven shivered slightly and took another bite of her cone. "It was pretty awful when she told me. I could only imagine how brutal it was experiencing it."
Syd stood there silently, digesting all of this information pretty grimly. Raven noticed out of the corner of her eye how he rolled his right shoulder and brought up his other hand to massage the shoulder blade tenderly. She quirked an eyebrow in a silent question, something Syd noticed from the corner of his eye before he turned to her with a weak smile.
"Rough day on the job yesterday. Might've strained myself a little." He shrugged and dropped his hand. "No big deal really."
Raven looked at him for only a few seconds longer before turning forward again, taking his response at face value. They stood in silence once again and watched as Kat was handed her meat skewer that she dug into immediately. Raven cracked a smile at the hilariously overdramatic way that Kat reacted upon biting into the freshly hot skewer, fanning her tongue and bouncing in place. As soon as it appeared however, it disappeared.
"She was really shaken last night. Kept saying how familiar it was." She turned her head to face Syd who was also looking at Kat, a smile on his face and distant look in his eyes. "She says it felt like it happened before."
This snapped Syd out of whatever daze he was in and he turned to her in astonishment, blinking as Raven stared him down, awaiting some sort of response. Eventually he regained his bearings and shrugged, offering a wry smile.
"Can't have. I'm standing right in front of you, aren't I?"
Raven took his answer, rolling it around in her head before deciding that, yes, he had a point, before shrugging herself and looking back to Kat who was happily munching on her skewer. Red eyes caught blue and Kat waved enthusiastically, jostling Dusty a little to his obvious displeasure, but he did not hop down from her shoulders.
Raven devoured the last of her cone and brushed her hands of crumbs, raising a hand to wave back as Kat made her way back over to them.
"Yeah. And so is she."