New chap for you!
KarToon12: I'm glad you like it. I normally fear to do too much extra lore.
galwidanatitude: Friends stick together.
"Say Kathrin, what do you normally do?"
"What do you mean normally?"
"I mean: what do you do for fun?"
Kathrin thought for a moment. There wasn't much between sleep and guarding the All-Knowing – she was a great story-teller and kept them entertained with riddles and puzzles during duty. In those few free moments she had, she painted patterns on the walls or carved things into the stones.
"There isn't much time for me, but when, then I like to carve things in stone. Or I paint something on the walls."
"Shall we look for some stones?"
Her face brightened up. An hour before they had greeted two new students, so they had to cancel the dimension travel for the day and now were sitting somewhat task-less in the library. Stephen pulled out his smartphone and searched for the nearest abandoned stone quarry to which they went.
Cautious there looked around and picked two stones. To Stephen's wonder Kathrin carried her fist-sized stone in her snout.
"Doesn't it hurt your teeth?"
"N-ow"
He raised a brow, but she didn't seem to be in pain so he didn't comment on it further. On his shoulders Claus pulled him down, forcing Stephen to kneel. He made a protesting sound but the Cloak picked one stone off the floor with one end and flicked playfully his collar in Stephen's face. The trio shared a laugh and went with now three stones back home.
For their work they choose the backyard of the Kamar-Taj, even if it was there late evening. Stephen grabbed hammer and gouge from a toolbox they had found in the basement. Kathrin eyed the tools warily.
"How do you work on stone? Your claws?"
"How else? Can you not use your claws?"
"I only have fingernails, those aren't strong enough."
"How unpractical."
Stephen shrugged with his shoulders. He had the tools and that had to be enough for him. With the unusual trio sitting together it was a comical sight with a cat smashing her claws onto a stone, a human smashing his thumb every once in a while and a flying cloak equipped with gouge and hammer.
For a little more than an hour, the only sound filling the 'yard were the shings of tool meeting stone with a few sounds of pain in-between.
Because of the lack of ideas Stephen, now with wrapped up thumbs, had made a crudely looking cat-face. He looked over to the work of Kathrin and saw a neatly carved feather - she was good, really good.
"Do you have a few colors to paint on the stone?"
They didn't find colors somewhere laying around but the shop in London, where they got Stephen's folders, had some for them. Only later on Stephen noticed, that he had forgotten to change his sorcerer attire into something more normal - boring. It would explain the looks he got.
Together they were now sitting at Stephen's newspaper-plastered desk surrounded by pots of colors. The cloak hovered behind them - away from the paint. Stephen colored his cat-faced stone in same as Kathrin's fur. Silver-grey base, a darker nose and green dots for the eyes. Kathrin made her feather with a blue base-color and a stripe in red and yellow each.
"Kathrin, why those colors? They are quite unusual."
"You see, different colors have different meanings. We normally do not paint things like they look in reality. Blue means peace or calmness, yellow means happiness or friend and red stands for strength and trust. ... This is for you."
Kathrin pushed the still wet stone over to Stephen. With a smile he thanked her and petted her head.
"Tell me more about the colors, why give them meanings?"
"All of my comrades have grey fur like me. A few may wary in shade but their still grey. To distinguish ourselves better and to bring more life into our monoton-colored surroundings, we paint on the walls and to special occasions on our fur. It would be too much work to always clean ourselves and redo it every time, so fur - only special occasions. But those are very big events: You gather your friends and they paint on your fur in the colors they deem fit for you. Most of the times I get red and a bit of blue and lilac. Lilac stands for loyalty and pride."
"So blue, red and yellow are the colors you would give me?"
Kathrin ducked her head: "Yes."
"Thank you."
With a smile like as bright as a search-light Kathrin explained Stephen and Claus the various other colors. Like green which stands for gentleness and caring or brown - sturdiness and resolve. Stephen also learned that white was their mourning-color instead of black. They only used black as a base to bring out other colors.
Stephen had an idea. Carefully he placed the painted stones to the side and made a bit of place on the desk. He picked Kathrin up and sat her down in front of him.
"Close your eyes."
Kathrin did as she was told and felt something brush over her fur. A few times she was asked to stand up and turn and Stephen stood up once and was gone for a few minutes.
As she was allowed to open her eyes again she looked directly into a mirror. Her fur was covered in green and blue swirls with a few accents in yellow and red.
Kathrin was so happy she nearly cried.
For minutes she simply stared in the mirror, admiring herself. Gathering the blue, yellow and red pots, Kathrin wanted to return the favor.
In the end Stephen's face was painted upon. Thick stripes in each color were on the sides of his face, thinning out into his hair. Below his eyes a blue-yellow stripe, which mixed in the middle to green, run down his cheeks and on his forehead he had a red paw.
To the dismay of Claus, the red cloak got a few flecks in brown and lilac. They took a picture together.
Stephen had to thinks about their paint job in New York, sorcerers covered in paint, laughing.
But the wall was white.
A unhappy color for Kathrin but she still painted with them happily. A very crazy idea stuck in his head. Wong would either find it funny or would be very angry.
Time to be a child.
The cloak flew back on Stephen's shoulders and he motioned Kathrin to jump up. He took the pots with the primary colors - red, blue and yellow - and opened a portal to New York. Carefully he looked through and snuck around a corner. Shooing Kathrin off his shoulders he postet Claus as a guard.
He started with blue. At first he dipped his finger in, before shrugging and putting his whole hand in the color. In wide, arcs he smeared over the white wall. Kathrin helped Stephen to make red dots in various sizes.
Steps. Someone was coming.
Fast, the Cloak flew back to him and Kathrin jumped on his shoulder. Last minute Stephen opened the yellow pot and threw the paint against the wall. The sorcerer who came and saw the...art only and the disappearing sparkles from the portal.
The trio stood laughing in the woods. It was the place were Kathrin and Claus had kidnapped Stephen. The rising sun shone through the lush greenery.
It was a feeling at first, an anxious feeling. It grew in Kathrin's chest, giving her a feeling of near suffocating. She inhaled forcefully and the pressure was gone. Stephen who saw her struggle was on his knees beside her.
In front of them was a light. It rotated and started sparkling. Growing in size it formed a portal. A stone wall and a four-legged creature were on the other side. A male voice was calling out:
"The Hunter was gone long. The All-Knowing calls for the Returner."
Kathrin stared in shock to the portal and started to cry.
"Y-You are alive Lance! I thought Mortis g-got you..."
Stephen picked up confused the crying cat, not caring about paint. By the way Kathrin reacted she knew the cat on the other side. It was for Kathrin a portal home.
"Wait for me Lance! Stephen, Stephen! I can go home, I have a way home. Come on, I show you around. You will see the others, the All-Knowing and the paint on the walls."
Stephen didn't really had to think about it. Writing a short message to Wong: Found Kathrin's home. Be back in four days tops.
He stepped with Kathrin on his arms through the portal and ended in a cave. Stephen could stand comfortable upright but he could not jump without hitting his head. Kathrin wiggled out of his arms and greeted the grey cat - Lance - in front of them.
"Lance, this is Supreme Sorcerer Steph- Doctor Stephen Strange from Midgard, part of the Yggdrasil. He helped me a lot and gave me a place to stay-."
"Kathrin I think you are talking to fast."
"The guest is right. Lance does not keep up with the Shields talking pace. Shield adepted to a quite strange pattern. It is better when the Shield and the Guest are going to the All-Knowing telling their story."