Dies irae, dies illa,
solvet saeculum in favilla,
teste David cum Sibylla.
-13th century

Day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
as David and the Sybil say.

TO THE LAIR OF THE PIRATE KING

It was not yet sunrise in that faraway world when cat officers began to quietly rouse the soldiers and off-shift sailors. They didn't have much waking to do, as few had been able to catch five winks with all the tension in them. The bleary-eyed spar monkeys dipped buckets in the sea and washed their faces in the cold salt water before going about their business; few of the soldiers joined them in doing so, since dried salt on skin and fur was hard to get rid of without fresh water, and of course they were on rations.

Up in the bridge of the Matatabi the captain, a yellow longhair named Oh'Sesu, pored over charts and maps with Baron, Gabriel and Toto. The commandos and the Cat Business Office agents would be the first to disembark, to be carried by the crow and his pals to their landing point. Close cooperation would be required; most of the birds couldn't see well enough in the pitch-dark to do the earth-hugging flight that would be necessary to avoid early detection by the pirates, so the cats would have to act as their eyes. There were also so few of them that two trips per avian would be required to transport the whole of the special forces.

"I hope you two have got this whole spaghetti mess memorized," said Oh'Sesu as he glanced in turn at Gabriel and Baron. "I can't do it myself, to be honest."

"Done," the old calico said simply.

Baron looked up from the annotated facsimile spread out on the navigation table. "Same here."

"It's almost zero hour for you people. I suggest you get your affairs in order. You've got–" the captain looked at the ship's chronometer, a round, white-backed, silver-gilded affair with red-lit hands "–an hour."

Baron straightened up and fixed his bow tie. He was in his brown-fronted waistcoat and gray trousers, although he would soon change. "I suppose you're right. See you later, Swordmaster." He nodded to excuse himself and strode out of the bridge through the open hatch in the rear.

------oOo------

"Haru? Sorry, it's time to wake up," the Cat said apologetically as he knelt down beside her on the deck, where she had been lying against a siding along with Muta, her arm thrown around the sleeping fat cat's girth in a friendly display of narcoleptic affection.

Haru yawned. "Oh, Mom, just five minutes more," she mumbled lackadaisically as she got to her feet.

"You'd better get ready," he cautioned her. "We're leaving in an hour."

Rubbing her eyes, the young lady nodded and said, "Ah, Baron, you've got those armored pants of mine in your carpetbag, remember?"

"Oh, quite right. Here, follow me. Let's get them." He led her to the nearby door that went downstairs to the cabins.

Muta heard the trudge of Haru's boots on the metal steps and opened his eyes. He sat up and looked to his right, to where the darkness still hid a figure sitting behind a ventilator horn.

Shizuku peeked out from her concealment at his surreptitious wave. She was wearing a long black cloak with a hood, given to her by Baron some hours earlier, while everyone else was in the middle of catnapping. "I thought you'd really fallen asleep," she whispered oh-so-quietly as she removed her head covering. Her face was composed but somewhat sad.

"Of course not. D'you think I fooled Haru?"

"Neko-kun, you fooled me. I think it's safe to say you hoodwinked her as well."

Muta grunted as he stood up. "How's Seiji?"

"I made him sleep in our cabin. He's alright."

"Good. Come on, let's follow Baron." They headed for the same hatch that Baron and Haru had used. For all his considerable bulk the fat cat made less noise than Shizuku did with her shoes as they descended the stairs.

------oOo------

The Cat rummaged around in his carpetbag, which was on his bunk. "I can't seem to–ah, here it is." He produced the folded garment and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Haru leaned forward and gave Baron a peck on the cheek. "Don't tell me you're bringing that with you," said she as he hefted the bag off the bed.

"I am."

"But why? You know Toto hates carrying heavy things."

"I need it with me."

"Oh really?" Haru's fine brows raised themselves. "Why? What's inside that?"

"I'm not telling you."

"I already peeked, so you don't have anything to hide from me," she confessed, somewhat arrogantly. "It's that cameo and portrait of Louise, isn't it?"

The suddenly cross expression that appeared on Baron's face was something Haru had wished never to be aimed at her. "Little girl, you've just committed a serious error in judgment. Looking inside my bag once was forgivable. Now, you're going to have to pay."

All of a sudden he walked up to Haru and imprisoned her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chuckled. "I didn't mean to pry—ow! Baron, you're hurting me!" In pain, she dropped the pants she was holding to the floor.

The light in the Cat's eyes was anything but friendly as he relaxed the pressure of his arms and looked at Haru. He abruptly kissed her, and, delighted as she was, she began to feel anxious.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked as she pushed him back. The Cat didn't answer her; instead he sought her mouth again and claimed it. As the liplock continued, Haru felt her knees—and insides—turning into jelly.

"I-I don't think this is the right time–" she began tremulously, breaking off from him.

Baron stopped and looked at her intently. "Haru, please. Let's just savor this moment, shall we?" In the air hung the unspoken We might not have this chance again.

Looking up at him, she knew instinctively that he was asking for her permission. For what, she didn't know exactly, but what he was doing so far wasn't really objectionable to her, only coming at a strange time, and whatever he was asking permission for was probably what she wanted anyway, wasn't it?

"I..." Haru lowered her gaze and nodded meekly. She trusted Baron.

The moment she finished the gesture Baron began an amorous assault on her, holding her tight against him as he kissed her ardently. Haru put her arms around him and began to respond to his advances. The sensual fire began to run through her veins, and somehow she was only mildly surprised when his kisses began to roam over her cheeks, her forehead, her closed eyelids, her ears...

The part of her that still thought made Haru attempt to stop him. "Baron, wait, I thought we weren't–"

"Haru," his husky, gravelly voice said, "you're driving me crazy. I can't stop." His attentions suddenly wandered down to her neck, and Haru moaned and closed her eyes as she felt the sweet stings of his playful nipping on her throat. Helpless as she was in the Cat's grip and the deluge of emotions surging through her, she still wondered with alarm whether he was going to do what she thought he was going to do.

With the warmth of his kisses still raining down on her now-heated skin, she felt him undo the top button of her blouse, and it confirmed her worst desires. A thrill ran down her spine.

"Nooo..." She made a last, half-hearted attempt to push him away, to get him to stop by beating on his chest. The feline nobleman was oblivious to her actions, seemingly consumed by the act of ravishing her.

"Baron, please..." she pleaded, not knowing if the appeal from her was for him to cease and desist, or continue.

The Cat kissed the hollow of her neck, and Haru gasped as he raised her arms up high. She felt her breasts strain against her bra, and felt incredibly, sexily, embarrassingly vulnerable. Oh, my, she thought. Is this it? Is he going to make love to me now? Was he about to rip her shirt off, like in those old period romance novels? She swallowed as he continued to smother her with kisses.

Baron forced her back with his ardor, back into the wooden bulkhead behind them. Haru hit the wood with an audible thump, and something cold and metallic encircled her wrists.

Click-click.

The sound made her open her eyes. "W-wha–?"

The Cat looked at her and kissed her. "I'm sorry." Quickly he knelt down and busied himself doing something.

For one dazed moment Haru thought he was stooping to unbutton her blouse or, shockingly, pants, but she looked up and saw what was restraining her hands. Baron had shackled her to two iron fetters dangling from a short chain hanging from one of the cabin's wooden beams.

The Cat straightened up, and the serious expression on his face made Haru discard whatever notions she had of him indulging himself in some fairy-tale bondage using her. He had just locked a chain across her waist. It was fastened by a padlock to a staple in the wall.

Haru looked at him in confusion. "Baron?"

"Forgive me for using such base trickery, Haru," he said as he stepped away. "It's for your own good."

"W-what is? What's the meaning of this?"

Still gazing at her, the Cat put a hand on her cheek. She jerked her head away. "You're not coming with me to the Isles. This is as far as you go." He put his hand down and called. "Muta! Shizuku!"

The door opened to admit the two. Shizuku looked at Haru ruefully, begging for forgiveness with her eyes. Even Muta appeared to be sorry at the unfolding events.

"Come on, we have less than an hour to prepare," the Cat told his colleague, ignoring Haru's dumbfounded expression. "You didn't blacken up?"

"Course not," said Muta. "You think I want to go through all the trouble you did when you impersonated King Lune?"

Baron sighed. "Oh, very well. I knew I couldn't count on you for that." He went back to his carpetbag and produced a thick folded black pile of cloth, giving it to his friend. "You can wear this when we land on shore."

They continued to talk, heedless of Haru, and her mortification and anger built up until she could no longer contain them.

"Excuse me," she shouted, "but I want an explanation! Now!"

Baron looked at her. "I deceived you. You're to stay here until we return. Shizuku will keep you company."

"And I suppose all that sword practice was to humor me too," she snapped, pulling at her manacles. "You intended to do this to me all along."

"Not really, but she convinced me my first stance on this matter was the correct one." Baron inclined his head in Shizuku's direction.

"Sensei?"

Shizuku nodded.

"How could you?" cried Haru. She felt her whole world was crumbling about her. "What right did you have?"

"I just want to see you safe," the elder woman explained. "You'll be the death of him if you come along. He can't worry about you and Louise at the same time."

"How do you know that? Baron, please, you can't do this to me now, not after all we've been through!" The corners of Haru's mouth started to quiver.

"I can and I will. You're too dear to me to expose to danger, Haru."

Haru drew in a deep breath. Shizuku's betrayal and the seeming glibness and disinterest and arrogance of the Cat's tone was all too much for her. "Out!" she screamed with all her might. "Get out! I want to talk to His Lordship the High Cat! Alone!"

Muta and Shizuku looked at the Baron, who nodded. They silently filed out the door, and he turned her furious way. "Well?"

"This is a joke, isn't it?" she asked, trying to calm herself by taking in deep breaths and releasing them slowly. "You're going to free me now?" When the Cat continued to look upon her without moving, she closed her eyes. "Baron, all I wanted was to return the favor you gave me," she whispered brokenly. "All I wanted was to be by your side when you needed me. Instead, I get this... Why does this always happen to me?"

"Haru, I know you don't understand what I'm doing–"

"No, I know what you're doing. It's for my own good. You want to concentrate on the mission. I'm just a want-to-be deadweight who'll be in the way."

Baron removed his top hat and turned it round and round in his hands. "I'm sorry." His tone, in her ears, belied any indication of it. "If this were anything less dangerous I'd have you along. But I won't be the one to answer to your mother and friends if anything happens to you. That's final."

Haru looked up at him, and to the Cat it seemed that the light had gone out of her eyes. "At least you could set me free," she suggested, her voice flat and weary. "This is so embarrassing."

Shaking his head, Baron approached her. "I can't do that. I know you too well. Shizuku will release you when it's too late for you to try and follow us. Haru... Haru," he repeated when she averted her gaze from him. "For what it's worth, little of my passion was feigned a while ago, and all my feelings are with you on this matter, even if my thoughts aren't. Farewell." Baron Humbert von Jikkingen smiled sadly at her—a sight so heartbreaking Haru wanted to cry and kiss him at the same time—took his carpetbag up, and walked quietly out the door.

------oOo------

After he had closed the entrance behind him, Baron heard a feminine clearing of the throat and found Shizuku standing before him, displaying an inquiring countenance on her concerned face. He heaved a great sigh.

"She'll never forgive me now, Shizuku-chan," he said quietly. The hurt in his voice wrung Shizuku's heart. "What at a cad she must think I am, lying to her and making fake love to her like that. Please take good care of her."

The magician nodded. "Yes. For you, Sir Cat, and what you can't share now, I will."

"Breaking her spirit was not the way I wanted to end things," Baron admitted. "If I don't come back..." The Cat left the sentence unfinished as he replaced his top hat on his head and busied himself with his grooming and appearance.

Ever the dapper gentleman he must be, Shizuku thought, watching as he secured his top hat with the elastic hat-securer inside its brim, watching as he preened and fixed his clothing. Ever the dapper gentleman he must be, even if his heart must be bleeding inside. "Don't talk like that. You'll come back. You always do. You told me that a long time ago, remember?"

"That was a platitude for an uncertain teenager, Shizuku. You're all grown up now, and you know better than to trust inanities like that. There's a first time for everything. May I use your room? I can't change with Haru in there."

"Of course. Just don't wake Seiji." Shizuku paused. "Or, if you do, tell him I'm here."

"Yes." To her surprise Baron gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye for now, Shizuku-chan, Tsukishima no more."

The Cat's sometime chronicler watched him walk down the corridor and, with the blush dying on her cheeks, opened the door into the improvised cell and let herself in.

------oOo------

"Haru-chan, will you please stop that already!"

More than an hour had passed, and Shizuku was thoroughly tired of hearing her companion's mournful, singsong chanting of such things as "I should've never trusted a cat," "Baron, he left me, he left me," "My friends aren't really my friends, they're liars and deceivers," and other agonizingly miserable stuff. She really wanted to comfort her, to ask for understanding, if not forgiveness, but knew her speech would only be met by the blank wall Haru had been using against her. Despite the younger woman's malignant hostility, however, she had tried to make her comfortable by giving her a chair to sit on and lengthening her braces enough with magic so she could rest her feet.

Her shout made Haru look up at her. Then she went back to her keening and singing.

"Why should sensei care?" she sang. "She's a selfish person who only thinks of what she wants."

Shizuku frowned in her seat.

"If she loved Baron as much as I did, she wouldn't have left him to face danger alone," Haru continued.

The frown turned into an open glare.

"What does it matter if he doesn't come back, as long as I'm safe heeeree!"

"That's enough!" Shizuku shot up and stamped her foot. "I don't like this any more than you do!"

"I, I, I," Haru chanted. "It's always 'I'. It has to be 'I'."

"Would you like me to make you part of the wall behind you?" threatened Shizuku.

The young lady in the restraints bared her teeth. "Go ahead! I'm of no use sitting here anyway! Maybe when Baron gets back he'll like the new Art Deco painting gracing his cabin! You could call it 'Haru's Blood and Guts'!" No, no, wait, you can call it 'Shizuku's Masterpiece'! Then I'll stop being a burden to everyone! No one will have to waste saliva arguing with me! I won't have to see your ugly, self-centered faces any more, and everybody will be happy all around!"

The chair creaked alarmingly below her, and Haru felt herself rise into the air for a few inches. She recovered from the initial surprise and defiantly faced the woman whom, until an hour or so ago, she had considered her friend.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Come on, sensei! Make me a part of the wall!" The chair moved forward, and as the chain around her waist bit into her abdomen, Haru closed her eyes.

There was a clinking sound. The young woman felt her wrists freed and the chain slacken.

"It's been two hours now," Shizuku said. Her voice was even but her eyes flashed. "You're free to go. And because I know how much you care for Sir Cat, I'm going to let the things you said slide."

The chair landed back on the floor. Haru stood up and rubbed her wrists, grimacing as pins and needles started to invade her hands and upper arms. If Shizuku thought she was going to forgive her for what she'd done and simply walk out of the room with her tail between her legs, she had another thing coming.

Haru walked up to the elder woman and slapped her.

"You had no right," she said evenly as Shizuku put a hand to her cheek. "If you had any love for someone whom you claim is partly a creation of yours, instead of sitting here safe you'd be with him right now, sharing his perils and keeping him from harm." She balled the hand she had used to slap the elder woman. "I'm sorry, sensei. I guess I know what kind of a coward you are, now you've shown your true colors.." She spun on her heel and exited the room.

------oOo------

"Please, Sturmvogel. You've got to take me to the island." Haru clutched at the feathered legs of the gigantic osprey, who loomed large in the twilit darkness on board Matatabi's deck.

The raptor looked down at her out of fierce yellow eyes ringed in black. He was, like Toto, an animated grotesque, hailing from a small college in North Wales, where he had been transplanted in the late 1800s from his native Nuremberg. He was nearly twice the size of a normal, live specimen.

"I cannot, Miss Yoshioka," he replied in his harsh, whistle-accented voice. "Toto will be very angry with me if I do that."

"But you're a big bird of prey. Why're you scared of a mere crow?"

"He is my friend. And I am a bird of my word." The osprey cocked his head at her and blinked.

Haru sighed. Trust Baron to leave no stone unturned in his quest to keep her out of the way. All the avians were against her, because evidently the Cat had told Toto, and Toto had spread the word... He was long gone by now, right smack in the middle of his quest for Louise, and she was being left behind like an unwanted pile of laundry.

"It's so unfair," she moped as she started to turn away from him.

"Pardon, Miss Yoshioka," she heard the huge bird behind her say. "I am no blind follower as well. Tell me why my friend the crow has ordered us not to carry you at all."

A spark of hope ignited in the depths of Haru's charred heart, and she related her tale to him. As she told her story, the osprey would sometimes cock his head at her words, or mutter something Haru was sure was an imprecation. When her narrative ended he stamped a clawed foot down on the wooden deck.

"Base trickery it is," he trilled angrily, spreading his wings in what Haru supposed was a gesture of indignation. "That was not very nice of the nobleman. Not very noble, he was."

Haru clasped her hands together and her eyes lit up. "You'll take me to the Isles, then?"

The osprey nodded as he folded his wings, and the ingénue's heart leapt for joy. But why do you still want to follow him, when he dumped you so ignominiously? asked a small, plaintive voice in her heart.

Haru had only one answer. Because I love him!

------oOo------

"Oh, dear," Shizuku muttered as she helped her ill husband up the steps. "You sure you want to go up on deck?"

"Yeah. Darn this—urk!" Seiji covered his mouth with a hand. His eyes closed and opened as he strained, but he shook his head immediately. "Looks like my stomach's emptied itself."

They came to the above-deck exit just as an irate shout sounded through the air. "Don't let him take off!"

Shizuku looked out at the vaguely-lit deck. The sun was already coming up behind the ship's stern. "What–?"

In the hazy half-light of the coming dawn she saw a large bird with white head and breast and brown body and tail being held on deck by piles of cat soldiers diving at its feet. The raptor screeched and beat its wings furiously.

"Let me go!" it whistle-roared. "I do not want to hurt any of you!"

Sudden movement in the curtains of the sail array above and in front of her caused Shizuku to look up. It was Toto, and he was hopping mad. Literally.

"You Teutonic birdbrain!" he shouted. "Baron's keeping her here for her own safety! What you're doing is delivering her to her death! Don't you understand, Sturmvogel?"

"Good will like hers must not be denied!" insisted the large bird Toto called Stumvogel. "It was very underhanded of Baron to do what he did! You too, my friend!"

The bird of prey got one foot free. He started lunging at the soldiers with his wickedly hooked beak, and they quailed and scattered.

Only then did Shizuku realize that there was someone on the raptor's back. Haru, naturally. Who else would be trying to escape the confines of the ship? She groaned inwardly and asked the absent Sir Cat's forgiveness for being so lax in her vigilance.

Sturmvogel carefully plucked the cats off his other appendage with his free foot. He looked around to be sure he wasn't going to blow anyone off the deck, then conjured up a massive gale by flapping his wings and rose slowly into the sky, large and portentous. As he climbed heavenwards, the beings on the Matatabi saw two cats still hanging on to his toes. With much relief everybody saw him pluck and deposit them on his back as he flew away.

"Stop!" Toto called vainly after him. "You don't know what you're doing! Skyshadow, Mariana, go after him!"

"We will not," said a voice behind Shizuku and Seiji. They turned and saw two of Toto's contingent, one a raven bigger than the Cat Business Office grotesque and the other a red-tailed hawk, sitting on the deck with their wings folded and their feet planted firmly on the ground. "We happen to agree with him. And if you try and rouse the others, rest assured we will prevent them from interfering as well."

Toto clacked his beak in frustration and prepared to go after the recreant himself. As he was about to take off, Shizuku yelled his name.

"I'll help you!" she called up to him. The bird flew down to her and let her clamber onto his back.

As she arranged herself into a comfortable sitting position astride him, Shizuku felt something move behind her. "Seiji? Don't, it's dangerous."

"I'm coming with you, Shicchan, and you can't stop me."

There was no time to argue. Shizuku nodded to him and told the crow they were ready. He took off into the lightening sky after his errant colleague.

------oOo------

Oh'Sesu watched from the bridge as the black bird flew off. His tail twitched in irritation. Gods, these humans. You could never relax when they were around. It was a good thing Lune was on the Conquistador, or heads would be rolling just about now. But why should he blame any of them? These were his and Yuki's guests doing the hell-raising anyway. Turning to his helmsman, he ordered him to set the appropriate course and told the assault coordinator that the first wave should resume its preparations for launch.

------oOo------

"Oh, so that's why you were so set on getting away," yelled Sergeant Jarashi over the noise of the wind.

"Hope yah don't mind us tagging along," Corporal Fisher commented. Haru could just see the ridiculous Cheshire Cat's grin on his face.

"Not really, but I was really hoping I could be alone," she hollered. She didn't want to turn around; the windblast was so strong she felt she'd sprain her neck if she did. "You were too stupid to let go and got included by default."

"Hey, I'm afraid of heights," Fisher shot back.

"I kinda like the idea of going out for love and honor," Jarashi shouted. "It sounds so romantic. My mother used to tell me stories like that when I was little."

"Yeah, well, yah should've told your mama to include our kit," Fisher commented. "We're as naked as jaybirds."

"Not me. I got my derringers handy. You want one?"

"Sure!"

Jarashi carefully plucked one silver-plated four-barrel from his waistband and handed it to him. "Don't lose it," he warned, "or I'm going to take your next six paychecks as payment."

They flew on for several minutes above the turbulent sea. Then Fisher tapped his superior's back. "Hey, we've got company!"

Sturmvogel turned his massive head around. "Toto? Impossible! I can fly much faster than he can!"

Haru risked a look. "Yeah, but it seems he's got help. Magical help."

"Oh, no. I'll never lose to a crow! Hold on, you three!" Haru and the cats held on for dear life as the osprey folded his kinked wings into an M and went into a steep dive. They all screamed.

------oOo------

On board Toto, Shizuku frowned as she watched the dot that was Sturmvogel plummet towards the forbidding water.

"They're going to hit!" she shouted.

"No they're not! He's too good a flyer for that!" Toto shortened his own wings and followed them down. Shizuku's heart leapt into her throat. Seiji was glad he didn't have anything left in his stomach to throw up any more.

------oOo------

Sturmvogel leveled out bare feet above the swells, so close that Haru wanted to reach out and skim her hand in them.

"Hey, buddy," Fisher called, his stomach still having trouble centering itself under his esophagus, "what's the reason for the elevator ride?"

"I am not about to reveal our presence to the sea robbers by flying high. Look, can you see that cloud bank in front of us?"

"Yes," Haru answered.

"That's where their hideout is. The clouds will burn off by the time the assault is scheduled to start, but for now they will hide us from their sight."

"Haru!"

The call made her automatically look to the left. She felt as if the slipstream were trying to wrench her head from her shoulders. There was Toto, coming up alongside Sturmvogel, skimming the water just as low, just as fast. On his back sat Shizuku and Seiji, seemingly unperturbed by the terrific windblast they must be experiencing, judging by their upright posture and the coolness of the expressions on their faces. Their hair was whipping and the edges of Shizuku's black cloak were blowing back and lashing against Seiji's legs. Underneath the wrapping she turned out to be dressed in a long-sleeved red sweater, with the collar of the white blouse underneath poking out through the neck hole, and a short pleated yellow skirt and red pumps, while her spouse was in a thin white shirt and loose jeans and rubber shoes, which clearly showed that they were both caught unprepared by this turn of events. The scary expression on Shizuku's face, though, showed she was determined to rectify it. Her resemblance to a black-caped witch—riding on a crow, a bird of folklore and ill-omen, no less—was not lost on Haru.

"Sensei!"

"Stop this madness now! Turn back!" The elder woman's mouth didn't move, but everyone heard her stern voice.

"Or you'll what?" Somehow, Haru knew she would be heard over the rush of the gale. "Kill me? I've come this far, Shizuku." No sign of respect this time. Just plain 'Shizuku'. "Let me go!"

"I can't do that. I promised Baron." The elder woman raised a hand, palm towards her, and Haru despairingly wondered if there wasn't anything she could do to stop her.

The sudden crack that came from behind her almost made her lose her seat on Sturmvogel.

"Sergeant Jarashi! Don't!"

Toto tumbled and rolled, and the terrified Haru thought the cat had hit him. Down went Seiji and Shizuku, falling into the water like dolls flung by a giant's uncaring hand.

------oOo------

"Ah! Ojou-san! Seiji-kun!" yelled the crow as the couple hit the drink, sending vast columns of spray fountaining up into the air.

It was a case of too low, too late for Toto to save his passengers. He had miraculously avoided the bullet fired at him, but the speed at which he had been traveling was great, and his height low, so it took him some time to slow down, and still more to locate the two in the rolling sea; he hoped both of the humans were all right.

He winged himself over to them, slowing as he approached to a near-stop that was not at all to his liking, nor his forte. "Shizuku! Are you okay?"

Shizuku blinked the stinging from her eyes and spluttered in the windchill induced by his downdraft. "I'm fine! But Seiji's been knocked out!" She was treading water and holding on to her unconscious husband, keeping him afloat. As she looked at the back of his lolling head, she wished once more that she could somehow find it within her to hurt Haru.

"Get out of the water! I can't pick you up from there, or my feathers might get wet!"

The magic came easily to her, anxious as she was about her husband's safety. She floated out of the swells like a pale-skinned, black-wreathed lamia, bearing Seiji's sagging body in her arms, and placed herself astride Toto's back. She draped his cold frame across her front like a limp sack of potatoes. A much-abused limp sack of potatoes, whom she loved dearly.

"What now, Toto-san?" asked she, still trembling with cold and emotion as she stared at the emptiness of the dawning maritime sky. "I can't see them anymore."

"That's alright. I know where he's heading. Give me a boost, like you did before, and we'll catch up to them in no time."

Shizuku looked down at her husband, silently leaning against her. She had warned him not to come along, and now, because of Haru's insistent willfulness and impetuousness, he had been hurt again. She set her mouth in a grim line and ground her teeth. It was time to take the measure of Sir Cat's annoying little lover girl. Seiji appeared safe enough for the moment; she would deal with him later, when they were back on terra firma.

"Take me to them, karasu-san. I will make you fly faster than the North Wind."

Within a minute her anger had Toto speeding through the sky like a feathered bullet, flying faster than he ever had in his life. In fact, it was the fastest he had ever flown in level flight.