The Cat and The Ringmaster
By Mark Nicholson, inspired by Alina Blaine's following work: Moonlit Deal
Steel titans speckled with portals of light loomed overhead, reaching far into the blackened sky where only the glistening stars above challenged their height. A gray, silky furred paw stretched out towards them, spreading its toes as if to embrace one of the night's glowing lights within its pads. The white burning embers reflected just as vibrantly in the tiny beast's shimmering eyes, stretched wide with dilated pupils that absorbed the majesty of the evening firmament. Many other colors spastically entwined with their soft glimmer from the artificial signs and decor that blared off in the creature' peripheral vision.
The animal's tapered, triangular ears twitched at all the sounds going on around it. Sounds of voices, both real and simulated, called out to passersby with advertisements of various wares; the great number of said passersby was known by the subtle drone of intermixed conversation amongst the announcements, and the wave of innumerous footsteps echoing in all directions. The critter's nose twitched upon its short, round muzzle, taking in the scents of the varying foods, herbage, and craftship that streamed throughout the vast, bustling area.
The head that held the eyes rolled back, taking in its inverted surroundings. Everything appeared as it's senses had suggested, though the subtle beast's dark hazel iris' steadly constricted as they continued to scan the dense, vendor packed square that fractured the crowd.
A jeweled elven mother of a disciplined, visible three younglings passed a flawless felt pouch that jingled with coin to the Orcan vendor from which she procured her canvas bag of produce; the massive, work hardened Orc passing it to her with an appreciative smile. A few stands over, a dwarf bellowed a tutorial about a metal plate in his hand from which flowed a blue, architectural holograph of many great machines and structural blueprints of the company Lummamri TriCorp.; a corporate dressed female human formally shaking hands, soothing concerns, and getting signatures on contracts within his listening crowd.
More corporate suits stood in a bunch off to the other side of the square. Two in particular stood out within them as they openly bickered in a passive manner; a stout, uptight gnome that was making sure that every one of his long list of complaints of the square's poorly kept condition would be heard, and a silver Dragonborn growling her displeasantries at the gnome's attitude through steam that poured out her facial cavities.
A small squad of royal guards surrounded their little squabble, seeming disinterested as their steel heads lazily scanned the plaza, their fully plated bodies lax and their humming rifles held low.
The critter seemed equally unconcerned as its eyes drifted on; its skyward, fluffy belly rising and falling with each slow breath. Then its ears swiveled to the right as fresh words came; their velvety tone dark and suggestive.
"Shall we make a deal?"
The tiny beast's cranium slid along the crate as it's short neck pivoted it toward the sound; the head's eyes spotting vibrant, undesecrated blood red deep amongst the square.
The suit the man wore was the color's bearer, shuffling a deck of glowing cards in his white gloved hands as he peered down at three kids before him; his shaded eyes and inviting white smile beneath a top hat of the same shade of blood combining to match the tone of his voice.
The kids, the very three the critter had seen with the now missing elven mother, gazed up at the man; cautiously intrigued by his act as he sent the whole deck into the air, swirling them around in a dance like display with an unseen force; pulling a dark wooden cane from his coat to tap and twirl with them. Then as abruptly as he began he called the cards back to his hand, proceeding to flick three more into the air one by one, each card finding its place above its own respective younglings; holding fast in mid air and shimmering bright as gold.
"A simple secret for your desires." The man led on, making his tone innocent as a puppy as he bent down to be at eye level with the children. "Nothing hurtful, nothing tricky. It can be fun or funny, but it has to be true. And remember," he began to whisper, "the bigger the secret," he motioned up at the cards, his smile brightening. "the greater the reward."
The children glanced at each other in growing enthusiasm and wonder, a feeling no other passerby shared as any who noticed the exchange would keep walking; regardless of their concern or disgust at the performance.
The critter's eyes never strayed, it's pupils thinning to slits as only it's ears kept tabs on the rest of the surroundings.
"If we are agreed?" The man in red asked, his eyes flicking from one child to another as his face played joyous anticipation.
The children finished exchanging uncertain glances and swiftly nodded, all three biting their own lips in excitement.
"Come forth, little one." The man smiled warmly, beckoning the one left of the three.
The exchange was uneventful as the child came forward and whispered his secret. The man in red appeared obviously disappointed while his head was turned.
The small beast's eyes flashed as it caught a spark of rage in the man's eyes; a black fire burning in them that contrasted the short white hair peeking out beneath his top hat. The man remained disciplined however, as he leaned away and smirked dully at the lad.
"Though the secret beith true." He snapped his fingers and the card floated down into the elven boy's hands, dissipating within his fingers as soon as he touched it. "Not much shall be returned to you."
The lad appeared infuriated and went to retaliate, though a wrathful glare from the man in red made the boy instantaneously hold his tongue.
The elven girl beside him rolled her eyes as she approached, leaning right in to proudly whisper her secret into the man's ear.
The man's eyes closed as a look of pure bliss befell him; inhaling deeply as, accompanied by an inward wave of his hand, the girl lurched forward subtly and an astral form of her seemed to begin to separate from her flesh.
The elven sister's gaze was hypnotic, as if she were unaware it was happening. Her kin to each side of her stood frozen with a mix of amazement and terror on their soft faces.
The little beast's long fur suddenly flattened against the smooth crate surface upon which it lay as a single occupant hovering craft tore over the surrounding space at a close height; drawing a number of loud, aggressive curses from the surrounding crowd as it bolted off; it's rider openly satisfied with the ruckus.
The critter's dark, hazel eyes narrowed as it watched the craft disappear into the isles of the colossal structures and river of other various hovering crafts that remained peacefully distant above the square.
With a vexed twitch of its long, thick furred tail, the little beast chirped and chattered subtly; its whiskered jowls curling to flash its set of glistening, white fangs. With a few licks of its chest fur, the feline rolled the back of its skull back upon the crate, relaxing its spine flat against the surface as it looked back out at the crowd.
None of the royal guards had mobilized, almost seeming to ignore it as the officials bickered harder.
The cat growled a deep growl of annoyance as it looked next for the man in red. Its hunt came up empty, though the children did remain.
The young girl and the third shared their experience excitedly as the first elven boy pouted grudgingly beside them. Then the mother came stepping out of the crowd in a subtle rage at their disappearance from her side, scolding them curtly and verbally falling them back in line behind her.
The feline's fur spiked as a soft collection of thuds went off from behind. The cat rolled to its paws and whirled around to see the blood red top hat teeter from tip to tip until it came to a silent rest on the crate's surface space centimeters away.
"Deepest of pardons, my fine furred fellow."
In sync with the tall, slender shadow that fell over the crate, the gray cat's head whipped back to the plaza; finding the man in red towering above itself.
The man's sharp, woodland green iris' were no less vibrant than his soft, inviting, glinting white grin as he stared down at the feline. "I had no wish to frighten you," He soothed, stretching out his white gloved hand that was as pristine as his hair. "I had a fright myself as the speeder whisked so close overhead; which is what sent my tophat your way."
The feline gave the hand a cautious sniff, shrinking away a moment, before letting its own eyelids rest easy over pupils expanding from their bladelike rage. The cat stepped forward and pressed its head into the hand, giving a slight purr.
The man's smile widened; stretching almost impossibly far up his otherwise smooth, pale, unblemished skin. "Ah… good kitty, pretty fellow." He cooed, rubbing the feline's ears before his hand began to travel down its spine; stopping just before the tail to repeat the process. "So glad you don't scare easy; I take it the city prepares you for surprises."
The feline tucked its paws underneath itself as it lay back down; purring even louder as it let its eyelids fall further. It gazed lazily at the man in red as he massaged its fur.
"Ho, ho! Attention lover are we? Indeed, I am too; us gentlemen just can't help ourselves, can we?" He chuckled, closing his lips to a mischievous smirk as he gave the cat's chin a scratch. "You know another thing we have in common?"
The feline's eyes remained nonchalantly rested, though they flicked upward to meet the man in red's; who's own eyes held a sinister mischief that his smirk had not betrayed before.
"And yes, you do know.." His honey tone turned venomous as it quieted to a whisper. "We are both far more than we seem."
The gray tom's demeanor did not shift, though the pupils in his irises narrowed back to slits.
As the man in red continued to stare at him, unconvinced, within a blink the cat was on his feet and had the brim of the man's tophat in his mouth; bounding off the crate and along the outskirts of the bustling plaza. It weaved through many legs, perimeter stands, and displays; carrying the top hat effortlessly as its own lengthy, thick furred stature was easily double the accessory's size.
Upon reaching the other end of the square, the feline ducked into an alley; heading deep down its passage. Many travellers still occupied it as he continued to weave through them; tackling boxes, waste vaporizers, and other undesirable obstacles until he reached a dead end that seemed barren of any observers. The feline dropped the hat in the alley's center, then parted his mouth to scent the air; his ears swiveling on his head. He dropped into a crouch and scurried off.
Seconds later, a loud, sharp squeak echoed out, and the tom returned with a squirming mouse that flailed its paws helplessly as its back skin hung from the cat's jaws. The feline tipped the hat just enough with a paw to fling the rodent underneath, then lowered the blood red item and observed. The cat's eyes glinted as the hat intermittently began to shake and tremble ever so slightly, but did not budge.
Then the tom's ears twitched, swiveling to his rear as the loud, steady taps of distinguishable footsteps drew close, and the cat darted off into the shadows just before his blood red dressed pursuer stepped casually into the dark, unkempt cul de sac.
"Pretty kitty… Mischievous fellow…" The man coed with a dark smirk, bringing his cane to the ground with a tap louder than his footsteps. "Not very gentleman like to scurry off with another man's-" He stopped as his eyes met his cap, his smile stretching back to its impossible length as he brought his cane to the ground with another cracking tap.
"Oh, ho ho…. Now this is rich." His smooth, icy voice echoed through the vast, shadow laden space. "My following question, wherever do you wait to spring at me once I approach and reach down to-"
The hat gave a silent, slight twitch before falling still again.
The man in red's grin reduced back to a smirk before his head gave a covert shake and clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Oh, dear anticipation… the cruel, heartless bitch. I would've thought a predator of your skill would already have disciplined himself. Sometimes the best move," He raised his cane steadily off the ground, "is no move at all." With a third sharp, cracking tap of his cane, the hat levitated high off the ground; revealing a desperate, now shrieking and flailing mouse as it hovered in the air beneath it.
Within the same moment, a flash of fur flanked him from above, landing on his shoulder as the sound of a blade being slid from a metal sheath hissed; and a spray of blood burst from the man's neck. The splash of scarlet upon the concrete floor was the last sound to occupy the small courtyard; everything falling still aside the streams of blood flowing from the clean entry and exit wounds of the blade that rested through his windpipe, and the paced, controlled breathing of the gray furred assailant. The blade's hilt end was hidden behind the feline's paw and forelimb that stretched out inline with the polished steel; the tom's eyes wide and alive with intent as he stared coldly at his target, waiting for the man's legs to buckle.
Stillness remained. Nothing budged, nothing gave. Even the top hat remained in the air, the squeaking mouse joining the silence from shock as it dangled beneath the accessory. Second after second ticked by until the man in red's lips twitched, then spread into a smile stretched once more to its impossible length, proceeding even further to tear his cheeks at both ends; exposing his raw flesh, dark gums, and rows of glisening teeth that had become anything but human. "Try again." He growled in sinister amusement, his voice now sharing the petrifying trait of his grin. Another sharp, cracking tap came from his cane.
With a tug at every hair on his pelt, the tom felt his body begin to lift into the air, as if an invisible force were gracefully scooping him up.
In a simultaneous movement, the feline's blade appeared to retract into his forearm, and his claws unsheathed; digging deep into the man's neck as the tom continued to rise into the air.
The man in red's tone was a blood gurgling mess of a growl, yet remained paranormally clear. "Indeed, if slicing the throat doesn't work,"
The feline felt his forelimb draw taught, his ears catching the sound of ripping flesh.
"Tear it out."
The tom's claws tore free, chunks of bloodied flesh and organ sliding off them as they retracted. The cat now struggled unanchored in the air, fighting in vain against his unseen captor until another change caught his eye.
Now below him, the man in red had yet to turn and face him, and ahead of the man, upon the stone floor, his spilled blood was yielding a new development.
The cat's eyes leaked concern as his eyelids narrowed, watching the bright, spilled red fluid churn to blackness darker than the surrounding shadows. The pitch thickened and began to dry up, sending steam from its diminishing puddles as if it were acidic. The feline flashed a glance at the front forelimb he'd attacked with, lifting it to inspect the contraption that was strapped to his leg's posterior just above his paw; concealed by the limb's longer fur. He watched nervously as he saw steam coming from where the blade receded inside, accompanied by the hushed sound of dissolving metal. The observation was instantly accompanied by a sharp burning around his claws and everywhere the blood had defiled his paw.
The cat gave a deep, pained, infuriated growl as he used his other paw to precisely slice through the contraption's nylon straps, the hidden blade dropping freely to the ground with a clamor as the tom began to shake his paw rigorously to rid it of as much of the blackening, hissing fluid as possible.
The sight of the man kneeling took up part of his attention, the inhuman terror reaching out its arm to pickup the contraption, and openly inspect it with the utmost care as he rose back to a stance; the steam pouring from his anterior neck region beginning to lesson. As he turned to finally face the floating cat, the feline witnessed the gaping gore in his throat draw to a close; not leaving a trace of the assault even upon his once again flawless, scarlet suit. The man's smile had even retracted back within human limits, not the faintest hint of a scar present on his fair skin. His expression was now one of keen interest and even amazement, looking at the tom's blade like a youngling during Yule as his tophat finally hovered back to his head; resting on it perfectly as the mouse once beneath it fell back to the floor with a squeak and a thud, wasting not a second more in scurrying off in the darkness.
The close return to normalcy brought the tom's attention back to his paw, realizing it no longer stung. Not a drop of the thick, pitch fluid remained, and all his fur was still ever present with absolutely no sign of scarred tissue.
"Where were you during my last trip to the shelter…?" The man breathed with a dark, gitty amusement; gazing up at his captive.
The tom looked back at him with a hard, murderous glare; still hanging limply in the air as another growl rumbled deep from within himself.
"Ohhh come now my domesticated forest fellow; surely I have proven myself to be no fool. I leave that title to you if you think I still doubt you capable of any form of civil conversation."
The cat remained silent, saying more through narrowed eyes than his closed lips; though after a passing moment, his lips parted, "Methinks because of that, we are quite past civil conversation, don't you?"
The man's smile merely widened; though this time, it remained well within the limits of physical law. "I knew it." He beamed.
The cat's expression was not affected. "Though I'm sure you do not care, I am not one to waste time with such banter. You hold the cards now; so deal."
"Oh, but you're not all in yet." The man pushed his tophat back with the tip of his cane, holding up the tom's contraption with the other hand and waving it openly while his eyes turned almost pleading. "No way in my realm is this the only trick up your sleeve. I beg you for more!"
The tom's eyes remained narrowed. "No." He replied flatly.
The man's smirk returned, seeming almost tickled by the answer as he pulled his hat's brim back down to shade his eyes. "Do I really look like a kind to take no for an-"
"Of course not!" The feline hissed sharply. "It just sounded amusing. Now said, it was not." He tapered with a growl. "You're good at ruining things."
"Oh no, dear furry friend. I do not ruin things; I make them." His grin began to creep back towards its inhuman width as, with a wave of his hand, he sent the contraption floating back towards the furball. "Have you any idea… who, I, am?"
"I believe so, yes." The tom answered, seemingly uninterested. "If you are as they say, your majesty."
The snapped his fingers through his white gloves. "And that is what fascinates me so much about you."
The cat flinched as the tapped his cane three crisp times more on the ground, though nothing resulted other than the tom's hidden blade halting within his reach.
"You are no god hunter. However, though you may not know specifics, you have long acknowledged me as one." He threw his free arm out and took a bow, yet he kept his eyes locked with the feline's.
The tom held the stare a moment longer before glancing at his floating gadget; noticing with bittersweet surprise that its straps were now intact. His expression hardened with uneasy frustration as he slipped his paw back through it.
"And yet…" He continued, his grin holding as his eyes glistened, "You lured me into this alley, made an attempt on my life, and continue on as if you can't be bothered to give me the time of day." He stood straight again, with an unnerving steady grace. "Why?"
"What does it matter?" The cat replied dryly, the straps on his device tightening automatically on his forelimb. "To a god like you?"
"Don't you know?" He asked mockingly, his eyes flashing with a haunting joy. "I want to make a deal…"
"A deal?" The cat asked with equal mockery. "The Silent King. With a cat?"
The shook his head slowly, with more disapproving clicks. "Now you begin to disappoint me." His smirk returned, wisdom burning in his eyes with an infernal pleasure. "We both already know what the cat is, so I ask again; why?"
The little beast's eyes involuntarily fell towards the ground as activity flooded his mind, and a moment later he heard the demon inhale sharply; looking up to see the man in red wearing the same closed eyed expression of pure bliss he had as the elven girl had whispered her secret to him.
"Ah…" He breathed, looking peacefully entranced. "There it is."
The felines wide, emerald eyes flashed with terror, his fur fluffing as he appeared to feel very vulnerable. "I did not welcome you in; you have no real power here!" The tom closed his eyes as his expression hardened into one of sheer focus. "Get out."
"Fear not, my brave sentinel." The inhaled deep and slow, and the cat felt his body begin to lower toward the ground; his expression relaxing as his eyes opened warily. "Your wisdom has kept you alive thus far; but greed's infinity has exhausted that caution."
"Let's skip the part where you narrate that which you robbed from my mind," the feline growled as his paws reached the floor; the tom's eyes locking with the man's. "And pretend I believe you care."
"I'd rather we pretend that I don't." The demon replied with his steady smirk beneath open, golden eyes. "A statement of honesty is a lie itself. If you do indeed know me, you'd take comfort in that I serve only myself."
The cat's eyes narrowed; a deep growl rumbling in his throat.
The explained gently with a wave of his gloved hand. "Those righteous gods stand above you mortal's; all the while sitting back and doing nothing as they cry their statements of honesty." The man in red's face had contorted into a scowl, his hands folding atop his cane before lifting it up to send it right back to the concrete with a ground shaking crack. "You think me greedier than them?"
With a steady onset, the little beast began to howl with laughter; nearly falling to his side. "I cannot believe you are actually trying to convince me of this."
"I devour greed." The man bellowed, his growl rumbling through the courtyard.
The cat suddenly found himself in the air again, coming inches within the returning, bloody, torn cheeked, jagged toothed grin.
"Am I so different from the demon your prey see as the light fades from their eyes; by your blade?"
"I would see the light drain from your eyes!" The feline spat through a hiss.
The man in red's smile tore further, nearly splitting his ears. "My offer would not deny you that opportunity."
The cat's rage spiked in his eyes, throwing his head up in a yowl. "TEL' VAKHA EN' KALINA RACINA LLE!"
The patron's pupils constricted as his hand suddenly went to his chest; releasing the tom once more from his supernatural grip.
The little beast landed readily and jumped back just in time to avoid the man in red falling to his hands and knees; spitting up blood upon the pavement from a once more human mouth.
The cat now held his own mischievous smirk as he lifted a paw and openly displayed his glistening, unsheathed claws. "You may have healed your wound; but you did not purge it."
"I am immune to all poisons! WHAT IS THIS?!" He wheezed wrathfully through a coughing fit.
"You might as well consider it holy water; its properties conjured through the sacred chant."
Through his pain and fear, delight reappeared in the demon's lips as they curved upward.
The tom hissed again as he trotted towards the man, the feline's large, sturdy frame allowing him to meet the eye to eye. "If I still delight you so, Id spent the final seconds you have left wasting your time."
"It is not wasted." The man in red chuckled as blood streamed between his bottom teeth and down his chin. Then his face dissolved into shadow; as the rest of his body had already.
The tom stood motionless, his eyes seeming satisfied; though a strong wariness remained. He turned to leave, padding away with his eyes trained to the ground until he woke to a texture change beneath his paws. They'd sunken into soft carpet, and around him now was the makings of a comfortable, furnished room.
His horrified expression betrayed recognition. Blood stains around him led to three mangled and defiled corpses; a man, a woman, and a boy who shared traits of each other. The cat trembled as his moistening eyes bore into the lad, his mouth falling ajar as if he yearned to speak.
Suddenly a beefy, gruff hand grabbed his scruff and threw him across the room; his body smashing into a wall deep enough to pin him in place.
"Fuckin' puss!" A deep, rumbling voice bellowed; the orc from which it came from turning toward his human and argonian accomplices who urgently tended to his face nearly covered in deep scratches that soaked his entire image in blood. "Little bitch thought himself a nine-lived guardian!"
The rubble gave way and the feline fell to the floor, landing with a hard thud as his limp, broken body rolled toward the boy's corpse. "I…" his voice croaked after the little beast had fallen still, his eyes gazing at the lad. "I did try… If only I was more…"
The boy's lips began to move. "You are now."
The cat's eyes went blank, his head tilting slightly as it raised off the ground. Suddenly he noticed he was draped in a dark grey cloak that matched his fur, and he was rising to his paws as if not a bone had broken.
The lad's expression remained stiff as it had been, his lips as lifeless as the feline remembered, though in the boy's eyes he saw the same calling that the lips had given him moments ago.
The orc groaned miserably through the scarlet soaked cloth his face was buried in, then it cut short as a fresh spray of blood burst from his jugular and coated his partner's upper bodies. They leapt back with shouts of surprise and horror, when the human was silenced by a silver blade flying through the air that landed right between his eyes.
The orc's gurgling body crumpled to the ground, the tom latched to his back as he watched the human fall with him.
The argonian stared at the feline in pure terror, but in his fight or flight; he chose fight.
The cat rolled out of the way as the argonian leaped forward and clamped his snarling jaws on the air where the little beast had been. Before the hulking lizard could straighten, a silent bolt of heat burned into his skull, drawing the third and final thump from the floor.
The tom stood with his hidden blade equipped limb outstretched, a wisp of smoke hissing from an additional port aside the opening for the bloodied steel; his emerald eyes glowing wrathfully beneath the shadow of his hood. The cat's ears twitched back towards the boy, and he whirled around to find his oldest companion on his feet; his cold, lifeless flesh overshadowed by that of the tall, slender man in red.
The tom's eyes flashed wide with dreadful recognition of the voice that had come from the boy's lips.
The demon's face displayed a sympathetic grin as his hand motioned around the lad's frame, transforming him into that of the elven girl from the square. Out of the carpet he conjured the bodies of her two kin, and suddenly the walls surrounding all of them were blown away by a dense wave of black energy; the man in red dissolving with it.
The elven children now cowered and trembled before a shadowed moon elf. Her eyes burned black as the wave of power preceding her. Her soft, tear stained face draped by long, unkempt, free flowing black and gray lochs. Her body was draped in a weathered, shredded dress that looked as if it were made of ash.
The elf's eyes remained cold as she raised her hand that was encased in more of the pitch, swirling magic.
Behind himself the cat heard sudden shuffling, and he turned in horror to witness the three corpses he made leap from the floor and onto the children; devouring them like ravenous wolves as their fragile voices screamed and cried out through the blood bubbling up in their mutilated throats.
The feline took off in a desperate sprint towards the carnage, but the blood elves' eyes shot to him, and with a twitch of her hand the ground beneath him gave away, and he fell into endless shadow.
"They were among her first victims." Breathed the man's soft, echoing voice; as loud as if it came from a giant.
From out of the shadows came a ginormous, white gloved hand that stopped the little beast's fall; gentle enough he might have landed on clouds.
Following the hand came the blood red top hatted face of The Silent King; large enough to swallow the tom whole as if he were an almond. Big as it was, his expression was still gentle and consoling. "A monster of my creation; one meant to destroy the ruthless greed of man, yet she grew careless with her power."
As the god spoke he had begun to shrink, continuing until he was nearly human size again, and the cat slipped off his palm and back upon the alley courtyard's concrete floor.
"I lost my connection to her years ago, and no matter how long and hard I search she eludes me." The patron stood erect, appearing innocently mortal once more. "You fight to end the mortal who abuse their meager power." He went on, folding his hands over his cane. "Agree to help me find my mistake, and you will have the power to kill her, and all other gods who'd do things unimaginable by the minds of your targets made from flesh and bone."
"Thus reconnecting you to her, where instead she would kill me, and continue harvesting souls for you." The tom stated calmly beneath resolute eyes. "I've heard enough. You may not have killed those children, but their souls are yours nonetheless." His eyes narrowed into cold, heartless slits. "I may not be able to kill even your physical form, but I will not continue your blood shed. Now enough mind games, and walk away. I deny you. You have no power over this feline."
"Walk away…?" The man in red stood still for a moment, his expression unreadable; his voice as blank as his demeanor. "No power… over you?" Then he raised his shoulders with an inhale, and dropped them with a soft, drawn out sigh as he looked up to the starless sky. "Fatigue has made you reckless, dear one."
The cat had followed the 's gaze to the empty vastness above the steel city, and upon looking down he witnessed with a shock the man was knelt right in front of him, his head bent low enough to be eye to eye with the tom as he stroked the feline's head.
"'Enough mind games.'" The man in red mocked with a chuckle, his voice lowering to a whisper. "When exactly do you think we started?"
With another pass of his hand along the feline's furred skull, starting low enough to cover the tom's eyes, his hand slid back, and the cat's sight no longer witnessed an empty alley behind the man, but the bustling market. The tom no longer felt concrete beneath his paws, but the steel crate that elevated him off the ground. Before him the man in red was bent over him, still stroking his head as he had when they'd first met.
Silently, the man stood, drawing up his hand to place a finger over his grinning lips, then backed slowly into the crowd of passersby; vanishing completely the moment one of them broke the feline's line of sight. Not a soul in the square reacted, as if the man had never been there from the start.
The little beast's eyes grew wide with terror, darting to where he had seen the man with the elven children before, to see a more ragged, hatless showman in a lesser kept, dull colored suit selling self crafted toys, tech, and other knick knacks to any attentive, needy children. Nearby were the three he'd observed before; three human children with their human mother.
…
The feline burst onto the rooftop, panting after his swift, panicked dash up cans, pipes, walls, signs and other auxiliary units to reach it. He checked for the stars above the remaining looming giants again, ensuring they were still there. He extended his hidden blade, slashing it along his opposing limb to ensure it bled, and stayed bleeding; the stinging pain bringing relief each second it remained.
Try as he might though, nothing completely relaxed his trembling gaze, hardening as he spat in fury, "Damn it!" He began to pace, scanning the ground as if his thoughts were now spread out before him. "I'm just a cat… I've always kept to mortals… why me?! How did he notice me?!" The cat sprung forward and struck a nearby empty can, sending it clattering off the roof. Instant nausea followed as the feline's exertion reminded him of his still bleeding wound. He settled himself steadily onto his belly and began to lick it clean, his eyes still projecting his restless mind.
After a few minutes of care, the bleeding had slowed to a slow seep; drying to a scab as the little critter returned to his paws. "Well… however soon, this day was always due…" His eyes traveled back to the stars. "And you are apparently still out there…. Great Quietus." His calculating eyes narrowed. "What have you not shared… Nerissa."
...
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