SEARCHING FOR HOME

Chapter 12: Seeking the Way Home

When Feral looked up from finishing his breakfast, he was only moderately surprised to see Razor come in from the hallway leading outside, Alice following behind him. The two went to the kitchen and deposited their plates. She said something to Razor, they both smiled then she took her leave going back outside to one of the cottages on the grounds.

Razor saw him and came to his side. "How are you this morning?" He asked, his eyes automatically scanning him.

Feral had long since gotten over Razor doing that. He'd resented it bitterly at first but as he realized the smaller tom was only doing it to ensure Feral was holding up after his trauma, he began to accept it and even welcome the attention. It showed him the tom truly cared how he felt.

"I'm fine, feeling much better in fact," he murmured.

"Yeah, she's a wonder, isn't she?" Razor smiled knowingly.

Feral blushed a bit, but nodded. "Seems we were truly blessed coming here. Now if they can find us a way home......."

"We intend to explore that today, Commander," a familiar voice interrupted. "I had a vision last night and it has shown me the portal is due to arrive tomorrow. What I propose to do is try and catch a glimpse through it and see if your home is reflected in it, my vision says it should be. If all goes well, you may be going home tomorrow when the portal returns."

Both got up suddenly and looked at Jeffrey with desperate hope in their eyes......well at least they could see hope in Feral's eyes.....they only had Razor's body language to tell them how he felt. There were four other psychics standing beside Jeffrey, all giving them encouraging looks and warm smiles.

"Really? That's great! Anything we can do to help?" Razor asked, feeling his heart leap with hope.

"Actually, yes there is. We need you as a focal point as we probe the magic and psychic energies that swirl around you and is responsible for making your auras so chaotic appearing."

"Our auras?" Feral asked, a confused and skeptical note in his voice.

"Yes. All living things have an aura that certain psychics can see as a nimbus of color surrounding you. Yours are a discordant mess of colors and there is supposed to be only one so your theory that the portal is attached to you, seems to be the best description for what we're seeing," Jeffrey explained.

"Oh, well that's interesting to know. So, when do we do this?"

Jeffrey paused and checked his watch. "In a about an hour and a half. We'll set things up in our work room then call for you. We need you to be stripped down to your t-shirts and pants, take all metal off you and above all be in as relaxed a state of mind as you can manage. I suggest you meditate some thirty minutes before hand. Alright?"

"Uh....." Feral looked to Razor for confirmation.

"Sure, we'll be ready," he said with more certainty than he was actually feeling.

"Good, see you both later," Jeffrey said as he and the others headed off toward the lab areas.

When they were completely gone, Feral muttered, "are you sure about this? It feels really creepy to me."

"What choice do we have? This is the closest we've come to getting some kind of help that might really pull off our returning home," Razor sighed, feeling the same as Feral.

"Alright. So what should we do in the meantime?'

"How about going out into the garden or watching TV?"

Feral thought about it a moment. "We can watch TV later, apparently the more interesting shows are on then. Let's go enjoy this world's really nice weather."

"Good choice," Razor grinned then led the way to the outside door, tapped in the code he had seen Alice use, the light turned green immediately. He looked over his shoulder and gave Feral a smirk. The dark tom rolled his eyes but said nothing as the two of them went outside.

They spent the first hour strolling around the grounds, getting some exercise. It was truly beautiful here and they were enjoying themselves. They kept silent and listened to all the wildlife around them, it soothed their souls and made them feel a little more hopeful that maybe this time they would succeed.

Thirty minutes before they were supposed to meet the others, they sat down on the swing they'd used with Alice and meditated. Dr. Runion came out to get them and smiled, seeing the two of them rocking the swing, eyes closed, paws folded in their laps and a look of peace on their strange faces. She hated to ruin their moment but Jeffrey needed them now.

"Okay you two, it's time!" She said, as she came close to them.

They popped their eyes open at the same time and stared at her a moment while they refocused their attention to the here and now.

"Oh, okay.....let's get stripped, Feral," Razor said quickly, leading the way back into the building then to their assigned room.

They quickly took off what Jeffrey requested then left their room, feeling a bit naked. Dr. Reunion was waiting for them and led them down to the lab area. She stepped through an open door and they followed. This was a small room but they immediately noted it was just the outer area to a much larger one they could see through a large pane of glass with Jeffrey and the others waiting for them inside.....obviously this room where they stood was for monitoring the ones in the larger space.

"Go on in," she instructed while she went to sit at a console.

They eyed each other a moment then opened the door nearby and stepped into the larger room. There were no equipment nor furniture here.....it was completely bare. The walls had been painted a dark blue as well as the ceiling. Everywhere glittered which suggested a glitter had been added to the paint. The floor where Jeffrey's group sat in a large circle, was covered in very plush, thick, black carpet.

"Welcome, please sit in the center, backs to each other, cross-legged, paws laying on each knee, eyes closed," Jeffrey instructed them warmly.

Doing as ordered, the pair of Kats walked into the circle, sat down gracefully, tails wrapped around each of their knees, backs pressed together (Feral towering over Razor), and taking a deep breath to relax themselves, they placed their paws on their knees and closed their eyes.

"Keep your minds relaxed and calm. This will take a while so basically, just meditate some more as you did earlier," Jeffrey told them then the room went silent.

Softly, so softly it could barely be heard, an ethereal music filled the room. It was soothing and easy on the mind so Feral and Razor allowed it to seep into them which aided in keeping them calm and relaxed.

Privately Feral thought this was a lot of hokey nonsense but he couldn't deny how relaxed he felt just meditating, letting his mind drift. Perhaps he should do more of this when they got home.

To Jeffrey and his friends, it was much more than an empty room and soft music. As soon as they dropped into a trance state, Jeffrey linked with his companions. He lead the way as they surrounded the pair sitting before them and began to probe the swirling mass of colors.

"Can you even feel the portal, Jeffrey?" Gina asked, a touch of concern in her voice.

"Just barely, be silent a moment while I push ahead more," Jeffrey muttered.

"Be careful, bro....." Leo warned softly.

"I will, keep me anchored," Jeffrey warned as he pushed his mind into the maelstrom. At first his mind was buffeted violently and it was only Leo's hold on him that kept him from being swept away.

He kept going, narrowing his focus so that the painful stimuli wouldn't harm or disorient him from his task then finally he burst through a barrier and was greeted by silence at first. He blinked his mental eyes and looked around him then sound struck his ears hard, making him wince. It toned down after a minute, only then did he look around himself. He was on a beach somewhere and over behind him rose a huge city, in front of him, where he heard voices, were Kats playing in the water and on the sand. No one saw him since he was only mental energy.

He drank it all in for some minutes. Wow, what a place! The sky was an odd green, the sun a bit more watery, he noted. Suddenly a roar filled the air and a jet rushed swiftly over the bay toward the city, flying rather low. So low in fact, he was able to see clearly that it was black with blue and red markings, had four engines, and was very streamlined. He realized, in a second, this must be the Turbokat. The jet Razor had built and flew with his partner. The jet flew swiftly over him and on toward the city. He assumed Razor's partner, T-Bone, must be on an errand or just doing patrol over the city. Looking around a moment longer, he realized things seemed rather peaceful at the moment for a city that was under near constant attack.

'Okay, so I'm in Megakat City. This means the portal is indeed focused here next,' he thought with pleased relief. 'So now all we have to do is insure it holds this configuration for their leap.'

He began to push his way back through the maelstrom again, pulling on the tether Leo was holding on him.....oddly it felt a little stronger than he remembered going in.

Back in the lab.......

"He's been gone far too long. Leo do you still have him?" Gina asked worriedly.

"Yes, but it's getting really hard to hold him. Increase your energies with mine," Leo called out, urgently.

The rest did as asked, pouring all they could risk without dropping the protection they were holding over the pair of Kats.

It seemed like forever before suddenly they felt Jeffrey's mind return to them with a sharp burst of alien energy which gave them all a bit of a headache. But they ignored the pain as they concentrated on their friend, checking to see if he was alright.

"Jeffrey?"

"I'm okay! It's a bit like being a ball in a pinball machine......a real firestorm of various energies. How long was I gone?"

"Over thirty minutes, we were getting worried and Leo had to call for more energy to keep you tethered," Leticcia reported.

"Hmm, that's not good. To me it felt like only a few minutes. That means we're going to have to hold the portal far longer than I thought and the rest of our friends are going to have to bolster our energies to do this."

"Then it does lead home for them?" Timothy asked hopefully.

"Yes! But the eddy's that control it are in constant movement so it will be up to us to hold it open long enough for them to leap through. It will take a bad toll on our psychic energies, give us terrible headaches and leave us flat on our backs for more than a week. Are you all still willing?" Jeffrey asked seriously.

Berry scoffed, "What's a little pain and discomfort compared to the hardships these two have suffered. I'm willing."

"Me too," Tina said stoutly.

The others chimed in their agreement to do this.

"Okay then, we just have to ask the others, but I have a feeling they will agree as well. Tomorrow is the day, so we better get a lot of rest. Let's drop out of trance and tell them the good news," Jeffrey said, warmly, pleased things had gone well. Dropping back to the here and now, he blinked, yawned and stretched.

Feral felt like he was dreaming, he'd been sitting here so long. But suddenly he felt a change, a ripple of excitement and movement that made him dare to open his eyes to see what was going on.

Razor had felt the same vibrations and was looking around as well. All of the kittens were rubbing their heads and wincing. He suspected they had all gotten headaches doing whatever the heck they were doing.

"Good news, Commander," Jeffrey said, noting the pair were watching them.

"Really?" Feral felt his heart surge with barely restrained excitement at the note in the kitten's voice.

"Yes, the portal is focused on your home. I got to see it for a brief moment, even saw that beautiful jet of yours, Razor, flying overhead. The city looked peaceful at the moment."

"Oh God! Then T-Bone is alright," Razor said in obvious relief.

"When is the portal going to get here?" Feral asked anxiously.

"Tomorrow around two p.m.. Which is a good thing since all of us will have to rest as much as we can. It took a lot of energy to push me through and even more to bring me back. We've already realized that to get you two through at the right point when the portal appears, we will have to hold it here. It runs like a river and that is why every time it appears you end up somewhere else. The moment it appears it is already switching to somewhere else. This time, we must be waiting for it and catching it before it even appears then holding it open to the right place until you can leap through," Jeffrey explain.

"But, won't that harm you? It sounds like it will if holding the portal a short while wore you out, I can well imagine how much more it will take out of you to hold it longer," Razor objected.

"Please, it's our risk to take. The cost will be headaches and being bedridden for a week and that's all, I promise," Jeffrey said easily.

Feral and Razor gave each other looks of concern. No matter how badly they wanted to go home, no way would they risk others to obtain that dream.

"Uh, uh! No way are you two going to play heroes. We know exactly what you are thinking and we'll not stand for it," Gina scolded them, getting to her feet and walking up to the pair still sitting, putting her hands on her hips. "Now hear this! You have to go home. Your people need you and we are willing to risk a little discomfort to see that you get there. Don't snub our offer......it's insulting and demeaning. Everyone in life takes risks. If no one ever did, life would be very boring and not worth living. So are we going to have any trouble with you?" She demanded, authoritatively.

The two Kats blinked in astonishment at this young kitten's temerity to take them to task and shame them into agreeing. They eyed each other and shrugged in unison. Well, what the heck could they do in the face of such obstinacy and sheer boldness.

"Fine, we'll do whatever you want us to. Thank you for making this effort to send us home," Feral said, sincerely.

"You're welcome. Now, we must speak with the rest of our friends then rest.....probably won't see you until dinnertime," Jeffrey said easily as the group got to their feet, the Kats doing the same then they all filed out of the room.

Dr. Runion was concerned about whether Jeffrey could really do this without burning themselves out but she wasn't about to voice her concerns in front of the Kats. She would speak to Jeffrey later tonight.