Today was definitely a crappy day. Waking up with a gun to your head? Not nearly as fun as it sounds. Being locked up in a cell while telling someone your tragic life story? Also not fun. Running at top speed through a crowded town while being chased by armed guards who think you're a demon and having a cat sitting on your shoulder the whole time trying to back seat drive? Probably the worst of it all. After the talking cat showed up the rest was a bit of a blur. Hatori and the cat made a run for it, Mitsu and I tumbled after them and we almost killed ourselves in the process. Apparently running away is a skill that those two have spent way more time honing than us as where they scampered up a ladder and leaped from the stone roofs we clumsily made attempted to follow them. Our escape wasn't a graceful one, it ended with us stealing horses and hi-tailing it out of there, but it gave us time to find a main road and start on our way to a new place to live. As we made our way along the road I noticed a dark ribbon of smoke rising from the forest in the distance.
"It's our house. They burnt it so we wouldn't have anything to go back for" The talking cat who had been pushed to the back of my mind until right about now. Of the two horses we had obtained he and Hatori had taken the lead on a chestnut mare, whose coat was remarkably similar to that of the cat's.
"I suppose your wondering about our feline friend over here?" Hatori glanced back to us.
"Yea just a bit." I lied. It was way more than a bit.
"If it makes you feel better he's not actually a talking cat." Hatori paused. "He's an old friend of mine who can change his form at will."
"You have friends?" I couldn't resist. I probably should have tried harder as shortly after she leaned down and picked up a decent sized rock from the path, then proceeded to throw it at my face. Now since becoming a demon I've gained a great deal of physical strength, speed and reflexes, but that rock came really fast.
"I guess I probably deserved that." I admitted. I heard Mitsu giggle behind me. I smiled, she was so quiet it could be worrying and it if it was my antics made her laugh then I was OK with that.
"What's it's name?" I asked Hatori. This time it was her turn to laugh. The cat glared at her.
"My name is Loki and I'll have you know that I only keep this form to be less conspicuous." The cat stretched now mildly annoyed. "As soon as I get some clothes I'll be back in a human form."
"So you can change forms? What are you?" I asked him.
"I'm a god." He grinned, well as much as a cat could.
Under most circumstances this would have seemed odd to me, but I was a dead kid traveling with the spawn of Satan. This was within the realm of normality.
"If you're a god then what are you doing here and how do you know Hatori?" Mitsu asked him. Loki gave Hatori a look and seemed to think out loud.
"Really, you haven't told them that story yet? It's been like 5 years!" He seemed genuinely shocked.
"What? What happened?" I asked realizing that this could be my only chance to get some answers.
"Well about a hundred years ago I showed up and Hatori-" Loki started.
"How about we save story time for later" Hatori interrupted him by knocking him off the horse. He let out a yelp of surprise before plummeting into the ground. I guess she wasn't I a hurry to share this story.
"Oh and by the way as soon as we find a new town we all have to get jobs" Hatori left Loki running to catch up to the horses.
I asked her why.
"Well my money was in the house and now it's burned to the ground" I thought for a second before realizing how much sense that made.
"I have a question" Loki's voice came from right beside me. I whipped my head around just in time to see some small insect turn back into a tawny cat. "How do you know how to ride a horse?" I looked at him for a second before realizing that he had asked me a question.
"Well I didn't, I'm just winging it right now." I admitted.
"Look ahead guys! It's the next place to stir up some trouble in." Hatori grinned.
