Things you need to have read to understand this chapter: Crimson (general background), In the Shadows (again, general background)
Really lazy disclaimer of Doom:
No own ToS I do.
(Told you it was lazy)
And I dun own Phantom Brave either, but it doesn't show up here. I'm just clarifying, since I talk about it a lot.
Shadow paced around the campus, trying to lose herself in the many halls. The only problem with that is that she'd done that so many times she'd memorized all the passages.
She sighed, sitting on one of the statues that stood in the courtyard. How boring it was to be here.
It must have been kinda like when Colette was in that soul room, she thought while batting at some dust particles in the air. It's just I'm not lonely. There's plenty of people here to annoy and all are willing to make me a lap to sit in. I'm just impossibly bored. There's nothing to do, nothing to think about I haven't thought about already. Being a cat is fun, no responsibilities, but I wish I could go and be in danger one more time, get the blood flowing. But no, I'm sitting here, getting fat. If I wasn't so cute there'd be jokes about my belly.
Shadow clawed at the statue's head, which she was currently sitting on. Nothing to do, but she couldn't leave this place. She hated to admit it, but she depended on the people here.
"Shadow? Shadow, where are you?"
It must be one of my caretakers. Can't they see I'm brooding and being bored here?
Shadow heaved another sigh and leaped down, flapping her wings for balance.
"Hello there, Shadow," the red-haired one said, kneeling. "You lazy bum, where've you been?"
Places. Where else?
"Will you do me a favor?" she sighed, petting Shadow's head. "I think Azure's kinda down, and you know how cats make people feel better, right? Will you go and cheer her up a bit?"
Shadow slinked off to where their room was. That girl might annoy her by trying to get her to do tricks, but she was a good person at heart. She meowed into the room, announcing her presence.
"Heya, kitty," Azure got out her food bowl. "Lemme guess...you're hungry."
The food did look appetizing, and Shadow was hungry, but that wasn't what she was here for.
Azure sat down on the ground, watching her. "What's wrong? Not hungry?"
In response Shadow climbed onto her lap and purred reassuringly.
"Silly, pretty kitty," Azure sighed, petting her. "And a pretty silly kitty."
Shadow looked up at her, mewling.
"Do you ever have those days when you just feel really lousy?" Azure said distantly, scratching at Shadow's favorite spots.
Every day here is lousy. You're at a university! You live at a school, food's not that good (for humans anyway) and you study your arse off.
Azure sighed. "I must be nuts. I'm asking a cat things I should be asking a human. And all you do is sleep anyway."
Hey. I used to be human. And I sleep because there's nothing else to do.
Azure sighed again and looked into Shadow's eyes, as if she'd find something there.
"You're not a normal cat, are you?" she frowned.
Shadow twitched her whiskers nervously. Could it be she had guessed?
"Oh course you aren't," Azure chuckled. "You'se a Chimaeracore. My widdle wild monster kitty, who won't do any tricks." She gave the kitten a little noogie.
Shadow let out a little sigh, enduring the humiliation. She was afraid that Azure had found out about her.
"But seriously...you're no ordinary kitty," Azure frowned again. "I don't know how, but..."
She placed Shadow on the floor, deep in thought. Shadow, taking advantage that the girl was busy thinking, wolfed down the food in her bowl.
"You don't act like a cat," Azure mused. "Cats have too much pride. And..." she held her breath.
Shadow looked up.
"You like baths!" Azure waved her hands like a madman.
Hey. I don't want to do the whole tongue thing. So bath it is.
She picked her up, looking for that something in her eyes again. "Will you do one last trick for me? Last one, I promise."
As long as it's not humiliating and it's the last one.
Azure walked over to the window and held her out.
"Fly away, kitty. Fly away."
"So, mew, I sorta get how we got here, but how do we get back?" Byruu meowed.
"You'll see," Sam pulled the door open. "After you."
"What's this?" Ruby wondered, getting into the room. "It's really dark."
"Oh dear," Byruu groaned. "It's the 'dark-room-before-the-floor-vanishes-room', right?"
"No...the floor can't vanish. We fell here, we can't fall back. We have to rise, see," Sam explained, pulling a lever. A dim light went on.
"Oh no," Byruu groaned again as the floor shook. "Nonononononononono...please, PLEASE don't be what I think it'll be, mew..." she was on her knees, begging to some god.
"Be what?" Ruby asked. She was about to say something else but the floor suddenly started to lurch upwards, slamming the trio on to the floor.
"Oh, woe," Byruu sobbed.
Somewhere out there Genis yelled, "Hey! That's my line!"
After several traumatizing minutes (to Byruu, at least) they arrived back at the Flanoir region. Sam opened the door and the two part-Katz tumbled out.
"I think I'm gonna hurl," Byruu whimpered.
"Please don't," Ruby said softly, being under her.
"Yes, I don't think the janitors would be too pleased in having to clean up after you," Sam cautioned, waving a flipper in what would have been the equivalent to someone shaking their finger at someone, but Penguinists don't have fingers or digits, so, uh, yeah.
"Saaaaaaam!" a Penguinist voice, female, called out. "Sam, Sam, come quickly!"
"What is it?" Sam called back, going toward the sound.
A purple Penguinist leaned against the wall, panting.
"You're needed at front. Katz are attacking!"
Dragon's tail lashed, indicating either he was thinking or pleased with something.
"Sire," one of his lieutenants said. Even thought it wasn't phrased as a question, it was one. "Why are we attacking the Penguinists here? It would be more advantageous to fight in a warmer area, meow."
"Are you questioning me, Auburn?" Dragon hissed, tail whipping threateningly close to the other Katz' body.
"No," Auburn backed away from the tail that earned Dragon his name. "You came here for a reason. You hate the cold."
"That reason I will keep to myself, meow," Dragon growled. "Where's our sabotage crew?"
"Over there," Auburn pointed, indicating a few lanky Katz sneaking into the ice mountain that served as the Penguinist's fort. "What are you planning to do with them?"
"Why don't you sit and wait like a good Katz and find out when the others do?" Dragon leaned very close to his face and nearly spat every word.
"Yes, sire," Auburn gulped.
"What's going on?" Ruby said dumbly after Sam and the purple Penguinist had left.
Byruu looked around for something that looked like a fish or bird pot. "I dunno. I'm just as clueless as you are, mew."
"What'cha lookin' for?" Ruby chewed on a claw.
"A way home," Byruu answered, peering into a pot that looked vaguely like a fish. "Darnit! This one's not fish enough, mew."
"Where do you live?" Ruby asked, as the other part-Katz looked like someone she'd like to know.
"The inn. At Flanoir. The world, the galaxy, the universe. Mew."
"You live in an inn? I thought inns were temporary houses."
"Pshaw. I'm an exception."
Ruby followed Byruu on her quest to find an appropriately-shaped pot or jar.
"No...no...almost...not quite...gah, I'm gonna be stuck here forever, mew!" she pulled her ears over her head and groaned.
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Ruby smiled.
"Well, just a tad bit nippy, I'd say," Byruu agreed. "If Sam's right, the food's good. But I'd like to go to my home and be somewhere I recognize."
"You must like your home very much," Ruby nodded.
"Of course," Byruu turned to her companion. "It's a place to hide when you're sad, to share with those in need...it's home."
"Lucky," Ruby frowned, crossing her arms.
"Why would that be, mew?"
"You have a home that you like. I used to be somewhere where people didn't care about me. Yeah, they made sure I was alive, but they didn't do anything else. I was really lonely," Ruby explained.
"Huh," Byruu thought aloud. She hadn't really thought of anyone being treated like that, growing up alone. "Well, that's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't change the fact I still need to get home."
Lloyd yawned and stretched, wondering what time it was.
He nuzzled Colette, trying to get her to wake up. She eventually did, yawned, frowned a bit,and curled back up again.
"Tired?" Lloyd asked.
"Feel sick," Colette answered, voice muffled.
"Do you want me to get you something to eat?" he worried, running a hand over her wings, something she found soothing.
"No. Won't keep down, I think," Colette grumbled.
"I'll be in the kitchen, be right back, okay?"
Colette flapped her wings in an "alright" way.
Lloyd dressed quickly and made his way to the kitchen to grab something to eat and noticed some movement at the corner of his eye.
A fuzzy, dirty shape was poking around the living room, flipping through a scrapbook with its nose and nibbling on a few pages.
"Don't touch thaaaat!" he yelled at it, grabbing the book.
The thing, whatever it was, stared at Lloyd for a few seconds, trying to decide whether or not it was in any danger.
"Shoo!" Lloyd gently pushed it with a hand.
The whatever-it-was dashed off into the house, frightened. It turned a corner and hid itself in the bedroom.
"Colette!" Lloyd panted, poking in. "There's something...in the house...don't know what it is."
"I know," she said softly. "It's right here."
The whachamacallit was on the bed, whimpering softly.
"It's a dog, see?" Colette smiled, petting it.
"I couldn't tell," Lloyd sighed, seating himself on it. (the bed, fool.) "It's so muddy and scruffy I thought it was a monster."
"It's a dog," Colette repeated, beaming as it barked and wagged its tail.
"It needs a bath," Lloyd sighed.
Colette scratched at some trademark dog-scratching spots but stopped at the canine's belly.
"Puppies!" she squealed.
"Aha!" Byruu cried triumphantly, climbing into a bird jar. "I can go home now."
"I thought you lived in an inn," Ruby said dumbly, tipping her head.
"Yes, but this is my way home, mew," Byruu clarified. "Don't ask."
"Come back soon?" Ruby said hopefully.
"I dunno. This place is a bit too cold for my tastes. You should be fine-you're part Penguinist."
In a puff of mana "smoke" the half-Katz was gone.
Ruby peered down the jar, but there was no trace of Byruu, not even a hair.
"She vanished!" she exclaimed, scratching her head in amazement.
"Heh, and so will you, meow," a voice cackled.
The next thing Ruby knew, an all-too-sweet smelling rag was shoved over her nose and all was dark.
"There's too many of them," Sam panted, batting away a Katz with a fishing spear, the weapon she had picked up before charging outside.
"I know," her companion, Raptor, sighed, kicking a corpse aside. "For every one, there's a zillion more or something."
"We won't last much longer at this rate..." Sam gasped, kneeling to rest.
"You think?" Raptor spat.
"I don't think so, doods!" a voice yelled.
A small, round, pebble-like object landed among the crowd of Katz charging at the two Penguinists and their comrades. It exploded when it landed, disrupting the group.
"Up, up, and away, you filthy Katz!" the Head Penguiner yelled. "Myn, you know what to do!"
"Yes, sir!" a female Penguiner saluted, stepping in front of the small militia of her kind. "First row, load slings!"
A few, well, think around ten, Penguiners placed some of the pebble things on their slings.
"Now loose!"
The row of Penguiners threw the bomb things, scattering many Katz.
"Second row!"
More bomb-pebbles, more kaboom. ((I'm so descriptive heehee.))
"Yummy, fireworks," Raptor grinned.
"Sire," Auburn shouted over the explosions, "We have to retreat! We're losing too many troops!"
"No!" Dragon roared, covering his ears to shelter them from the din. "Not yet!"
"Yet, meow!?" Auburn shrieked."If not now, when?"
"When the sabotage team comes back," Dragon hissed.
"You called, sire?" a mud-brown Katz piped.
"Ah, faster than I thought, meow," Dragon wagged his tail in approval. "Do you have it?"
The brown Katz held up a bag.
"Alright. Call the troops back, Auburn."