Cat Tales

Chapter 3

The rest of the day was spent with mostly just her and Puss. Fiona had returned into the kitchen to make sure Shrek didn't kill Donkey and his child with a knowing glance exchanged between the three conspirators. Luna sat watching the stars and the moon that she was named after, on the top of a nearby hill, thinking of a time a long time ago…when she'd sat under the same stars, watching the same moon, wondering and dreaming of her own happy-ever-after, whatever that may be…

She sighed, ears drooping slightly as she brought herself back to reality. I certainly never thought I'd be begging for food and shelter…I have no home, no family, and I've been changed into something I'm not meant to be…some fairy-tale… Seeing that Puss was watching her, obviously wondering what had caused such a sad sigh, she straightened, sending one last prayer up to the heavens, then turned, watching Puss for a moment before smiling.

"The time is late, Puss…we should get some rest…" She said quietly, and he cocked his head and nodded, sweeping off his hat with a flourish and bowing to the fair maiden.

"Indeed we should, fair damsel. Good night, sweet Luna, and may no nightmares plague your sleep." He said sweetly, and she smiled, bowing her head slightly before padding silently off to the little basket that Shrek and Fiona had created for her to sleep in. Although they'd originally placed it inside, she, like Puss, preferred the outdoor air, and had pushed it out the door and into the yard, but kept it near to the house. She liked the outdoors, but was a little timid of the other animals that lived out there.

Puss, however, remained up on the hill, and as she curled up into her basket, she could hear him crooning softly in Spanish, silhouetted in the rising moon, his hat perched on his head. Smiling, she closed her tawny eyes, allowing the sultry voice to lull her slowly to peaceful slumber.

Puss, his green eyes glowing softly in the dark, did not fall asleep so easily. His mind tumbled with thoughts of who this Luna really was. He could see that she was no ordinary cat, or even an ordinary fairy-tale cat. There was something about her that he just couldn't put his paw on. And that intrigued him. He finally did make his way to his own bed, and fell asleep with his paw on his sword, as always.

---------------------------------------------The next morning-----------------------------------------

Luna awoke with the sun, it's light reflected beautifully in her bright eyes as she opened them slowly, the first rays of the sun only just poking over the same hill that they had been standing on the night before. She slowly stood up, stretching out her muscles leisurely, then padded over to the hill to greet the sun, not expecting that she already had company that early in the morning.

"What a beautiful morning…a morning in which things should be started…" She said to herself as she rested at the top of the hill, watching the sun rising above her head, but her own mind disagreed with her. A morning in which things should be started…but I'll start it after breakfast…after all, I can't leave on an empty stomach. Besides, I'm not even sure where I'm going…what did that bloody fortune teller say again?

"To find what you seek…
You must follow the setting sun
Go north from the place
Where you first have begun."

"Bloody fortune-tellers and their riddles…" She muttered out loud, trying to figure out how she could follow the setting sun and go north at the same time. Unless she went northwest…but no, that still didn't make sense.

"Fortune-tellers?" Came a familiar Latino voice from the trees above her, and she looked up, startled, to see the orange Puss-in-boots lounging lazily in the branch above her head. He did a graceful summersault down to the ground in front of her, smiling. "Fortune-tellers don't know what they're talking about, they just pretend to with confusing riddles that make them sound mystical."

"No, no, this one knew what she was talking about…" She said, trying to get him to understand. "She knew everything about me before I even said a word…it was…freaky…" Puss nodded, cocking his head. There were some real fortune-tellers in the world, although they were few and far between, perhaps she'd been lucky and she hadn't found a quack.

"Perhaps she was one of the few real fortune-tellers then…why don't you tell me the riddle, perhaps I can help you?" He said, smoothing his fur absently with his paw. She sat back, looking down at her feet, obviously thinking.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt…I gave up on figuring this one out a long time ago, so this quest was never finished." She stretched out her front paws, as if stalling, then cleared her throat and recited the poem, which she had, of course, memorized.

Puss scratched his ear with one of his back paws, considering. "Hmm…a very confusing poem, señorita, for how can you follow the sun and go north at the same time?" He thought about it for a few moments, then made a suggestion. "Perhaps…this is not where you have first begun? Perhaps when she said that she meant somewhere else, such as perhaps where you were born, or where you first realized you needed whatever it is you seek?"

Luna nodded, realizing that this did make sense. "But that could be anywhere...but if I want to start finding her, I'm going to have to start soon…I hope the old hag's still alive…" Realizing she'd said this last bit out loud, she cleared her throat uncomfortably, and of course Puss noticed.

"Old hag? Who do you speak of, Luna?" He asked, cocking his head and she looked down at her feet, trying to figure out whether she should tell him or not…no, she couldn't, at least not all of it.

"Oh…no one…just speaking metaphorically…" She lied smoothly, and thought about it. She couldn't tell them she was leaving, she'd just have to leave…before she got too attached to them. She'd leave as soon as the sun went down. Puss eyed her, a small frown decorating his face.

"If you say so…come on, I can smell breakfast cooking, so Fiona and Shrek must be up…" He said, deciding that he wouldn't address it right at the moment. She nodded and followed him down the slope, obviously glad that he hadn't pressed her. They walked into the kitchen, finding that Donkey had come back at some point, and was now sitting at the table. To Luna's obvious relief, he didn't have his little mutant child tailing behind him, and this time he did notice her.

"Hey, there's another cat around here? Is she fairy-tale? Can she talk? Is she going to hurt me?" He asked Puss, who rolled his eyes and didn't bother answering, but Luna watched him, and winked before leaping down after Puss. "Hey, she just winked at me! Didn't she?" Shrek stared at him.

"What are you talking about, Donkey? She's not a fairy-tale creature, you must be imagining things…as usual…" Shrek said, rolling his eyes and returning to where he was frying more bacon on the stove. Donkey watched Luna suspiciously, as she drank some milk from the little bowl Fiona had put down for her in the corner.

"There's something fishy about that cat and I don't mean her breath…" Donkey said, earning him a glare from Puss, and an eye roll from Shrek. Fiona glanced at Puss and Luna, raising an eyebrow.

Luna continued lapping up her milk with her small pink tongue, pretending to be totally oblivious to what was going on. After all, she was just an ordinary housecat, and she couldn't understand English…After finishing the bit of bacon that she was given, she padded silently out into the yard once again, to give herself some time to think, after all, what would she need?

After looking around to make sure that no one was watching her, she dashed off into the forest, dashing off down the path until she was far enough in to be sure no one would overhear her. She tended to talk to herself when she was stressed and nervous, and it helped her think better.

"Well…I'm going to need a lot of food…after all, the only place I can think of where I might have begun is a long, long way from here…I don't even know for sure where…" Deciding that the rather depressing chain of thought wasn't getting her anywhere, she put that to the back of her mind for the moment. "But I can't take that much food from them, after they gave me shelter and a good meal…I'll just take enough for a week, maybe less, and hope I'll be able to get more along the way." Having made that decision, she turned to another difficulty.

"How am I going to travel? I suppose I'll have to walk…after all, I can't even ride a horse anymore, with these paws…I can't grip the reins…so walking is the answer." She nodded, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "I'll have to leave as soon as the sun sets…tonight…before I get even more attached…" She sighed, massaging her forehead with one paw. "No painful goodbyes…no requests to stay…no, I can't…I can't handle any of that…no, I'm just going to go." With that settled, she felt a lot better and more confident that she actually would leave that night.

So she turned and started back towards the swamp, head held high, padding along, black fur glistening in the sun filtering through the tree-tops. Tonight…tonight would be the start of a huge adventure…but would she both survive the journey and find a way to turn back to her true form?

((Does anybody know what Luna originally was yet? If you haven't figured it out yet, don't worry, you'll find out soon enough…I'm trying to make it a bit of a surprise…but…you'll probably already know by the time I tell you, so no worries everyone! See you all soon!))