3. Bandaged Belief

"…it's just like that... He's scared to death of crossing the line so he stays as far away from it as he can. I mean, at first it was sweet, but these days… … yeah. Ya know? I dunno, thought I made every indication that I was okay with him… … Exactly. Oh Shirley, what am I gonna do with him? … Yeah. I know. … Okay. OK, later! Thanks for calling. Bye."

Fifi hadn't even hung up the phone before a tinge of guilt shot through her spine. It wasn't something she'd planned on discussing with anyone. She hadn't even really thought about it either, but her frustration somehow crept to the surface in the middle of the phone call. It wasn't frustration about his quirks that would drive most others up the walls with prolonged exposure, but rather the way he looked at her. She could feel the eyes of a jungle cat on her every time he turned in her direction. His feelings for her were palpable. But there was that filter, the screen door he used to suppress the emotions from really developing into anything more than a peck on the cheek. It was maddening.

Of course logically, she knew the answer well. It was quite simple, actually. Tell him. Verbally articulating annoyance was the first step in slaying the beast. She had tried in the past, but the opportunity never really presented itself. Why was that?

Koyangi Quest -Episode 02

EXT. Mountain Pass- Dusk

A gentle westerly breeze carries a school of emancipated autumn leaves to yet another location they cannot call home. A blue paw crushes a few of these vagrants, hesitantly at first, but concern for the tree plumage vanishes as fast as the cat realizes what he's smashed.

The leaves were not the only thing the wind has brought to our weather-beaten trotter.

He detects a familiar odor coming from the fork in the road. Eyes narrowing, the cat changes course to follow the scent. Adjusting the hilt of his wakizashi, the traveler makes his way to the top of the hill.

Just as his nose indicated, a group of weary mourners are placing what seem to be bodies in a bonfire. They put in the last body just as the blue cat arrives. A disillusioned, three-tailed fox, TOSHI leaves the circle to greet the new arrival.

TOSHI

No katana. Are you a travelling merchant?

The cat shakes his head once. Walking over to the bonfire, he produces a small vial. The others watch as he unscrews the cap and offers his respects in the form of rice wine. The bonfire gratefully sucks this up.

TOSHI

Thank you, sir. Ever since the army expanded

the western territory, we've been hit more and more

by bandits, highwaymen and soldiers alike!

Furrball turns to leave, wanting to make an exit before the inevitable request of assistance in restoring peace to the region.

TOSHI

Um, sir?

The cat flashes Toshi a menacing glare which slowly dissolves into a defeated sigh. Wasting no time at all. Toshi rolls in for the kill.

TOSHI

It's just that they have scouts

everywhere and even if you

don't join us, they'll attack you on sight

once you leave here…

. . . . . . . . .

Frustration possessed Fifi's hand as she tossed her fountain pen across the room. The ink splattered against the wall in the oddest way. It looked like one of those ink blots the shrinks used to use. She didn't bother to retrieve her pen, writer's block being the cause of her throwing it in the first place. Besides that, her tail was serving as a blanket for a certain one-pawed kitten. The noise of the pen hitting the wall only resulted in him squeezing her bushy tail tighter. Fifi looked down at Sparkz and smiled. She stared at him for a while, studying his face. Furrball had made it clear that she was not to look at him directly when he was conscious. Something about that triggering a challenge of dominance.

For all intents and purposes, he was the expert on the situation, but at the same time, she was the one who had more experience dealing with others. Just because it'd been true for Furrball didn't make it gospel. She suspected that Sparkz had wanted to make a more meaningful connection with her, but she'd always been at somewhat of a distance at her boyfriend's unspoken request.

Fifi noticed things about the kitten she hadn't been privy to before. His fur was shorter and coarser in some places, while it looked like it had a mind of its own in others. She also noticed the lack of animal-produced scrapes and scars that Furrball had. It was as if the young cat's only adversary had been homo-sapiens. The skunk sighed, stroking Sparkz's head. She wondered about their relationships. Sparkz only spoke Catonese, so it was more like he was Furrball's son and Fifi's pet at the same time.

As her eyes shifted focus once more to his face, she noticed he'd awakened, greeting her with a small, but genuine smile. She stopped stroking his head for a moment which negatively affect his expression. Grinning, she scratched him softly behind the ears causing the kitten to purr uncontrollably. Rolling off her tail and sitting up, Sparkz gave Fifi a "What now?" look. She hadn't been expecting this. The routine was usually the kitten going from 0 to 60 in .3 seconds. Seizing the opportunity of temporary tranquility in the kitten, Fifi produced a box from the table. She smirked as Sparkz cocked his head from one side to another, wondering what was inside and if he were somehow involved. It wasn't an invasive curiosity. It was almost subtle.

Carefully opening the small box, Fifi produced a long, silk bandage as white as a dove. The kitten let out a small gasp. He'd have grasped his paws together if he had two. Sparkz offered Fifi his tail, shocked to find her shake her head no. Before he really had time to make heads or tails of this, he felt Fifi take his left arm into hers, an action that would have normally merited an unholy attack. For some reason, however, Sparkz was compliant, more curious than anything else. She placed the end of the bandage near his stub and smiled affectionately.

Trying his level best to hide his limp from a botched stunt at the studio, a habit from the street that he refused to shake, Furrball inched his way up the porch steps, looking up for the first time and stopped. Through the open window, he could see Fifi wrapping a white cloth around his son's wrist. Fearing the kitten had injured himself, Furrball started to rush or the door until he saw the look of elation on Sparkz's face… it was almost alien to him; he'd never seen the kitten so happy. Looking back at Fifi's handiwork, the blue cat put two and two together and was nearly overwhelmed by the significance of the gesture.

A stampede of thoughts rushed through the cat's head. There was even the slightest tinge of jealousy which evaporated when he noticed he'd unconsciously grabbed his own tail. He felt the bandage and tried to think back as far as he could, eventually settling for static in his brain. An inexplicable calmness massaged his soul and Furrball looked up again, delighted. He stood very still, refusing to spoil the moment for the others, but his son's keen eyes spotted him before he could disappear out of sight. Sparkz gave Fifi a humongous hug and pounced out the open window into Furrball's unsuspecting arms. Any other kid would have commenced with chattering excitedly a million words a minute about what just happened and how happy it made him. Sparkz summed it up into two words...

We family.

Furrball squeezed his young charge tightly and looked up at Fifi. Nodded towards Sparkz. She smirked, got out of her seat and hopped out the window herself, joining in the embrace. The three were frozen in time for the moment and Furrball didn't want to let go.

After dinner, Furrball sprawled on the sofaless cushions as Fifi massaged his ankle. He did his best to simultaneously return the favor, rubbing her shoulders, but in his ecstasy, kept slipping and falling on his back. The cat grinned at the skunk, until he read gloom on her face that she was trying to conceal.

"W-wanna t-talk about it?" he mused, sitting up.

Fifi sighed, dreading those words. It felt like the days when she'd bring back a bad grade and her parents wouldn't address until after dinner at their own leisure.

"Yes and no," she began, taking a deep breath. Furrball should have been the last one it would be difficult to talk to. "You know… it's just… you've gotten over your nomad kick, right?"

Furrball raised an eyebrow and stared into Fifi's eyes until she started to feel uncomfortable and turned away.

"Why do you insist on sleeping on the floor?"

The cat sucked in some air and sat up straight, trying to focus his thoughts. He'd been anticipating the question, but was still somewhat unprepared for it.

"L-let me put it this way…" he began, resisting to urge to avoid her face. "What was the best movie you saw in a theatre?"

Fifi wanted nothing more than to inquire the relevance, but decided to trust the cat in the long run, thinking back. "'Ghost'," she finally answered.

Furrball blinked a couple of times, having never seen the film before. "Right, now what would have h-h-happened if you had tickets, but you saw a p-pirated copy the day before on your computer? Do you think you would have ap-p-preciated it as much in the theatre?"

Furrball immediately looked at Fifi's face for a moment. It obviously wasn't the answer she'd been looking forward to. While she contemplated this, Furrball stealthily rose to his feet, disappearing into the bedroom. When Fifi noticed he was gone, her face sunk. Things were going nowhere, as she'd feared. A moment later, her heart skipped a beat. Furrball emerged from the room, violin in paw, an amorous smirk on his lips.

"Replaced that E str-string," was all he said as he tried to stroll to the back door with his limp. Opening the door, the cat gestured for the skunk. "C'mon," was all he said as he disappeared into the night. Although she obviously wasn't in the mood, something in his voice sparked Fifi's curiosity.

Before she was aware of her actions, she was closing the back door behind her. It was almost pitch-black and she couldn't find her cat anywhere. All of a sudden, her ear twitched as the lowest tone from the instrument clued her into to his location. Spinning around and looking up, Fifi found the cat's silhouette in the light of the full moon as he stood tall on the roof.

Despite the obvious, Fifi still felt blanketed in a thin shroud of mystery as she gazed upon the musician on the roof. Suddenly, the figure disappeared into the night sky. Strain her eye as she may, she still couldn't find him. Before she could move, Fifi felt warm breath on her neck and spun around to find Furrball, a solemn look on his face. His eyes were shut tightly and the very second his bow touched a string, his entire body seemed to be possessed. She imagined she could smell the smoke from the friction on the strings and the vibrations literally shook her to the core. At first, she couldn't even hear the music, he was playing so fast and when her ears finally registered the notes, it sounded almost garbled and nonsensical. Her eyes returned to his face and she was afraid he might chip a tooth, he was concentrating so hard. Finally, his body started to relax and the playing softened and slowed to a sweet melody that completely captivated her soul. It was theatrical; as if he'd finally found what he was looking for. With each crescendo, Fifi could feel her body temperature rising until she could almost foretell what he would play next.

Just before he hit the harmonious climax, the cat stopped, exhausted and lowered his bow. He seemed to be in a trance and hovered a few seconds before falling over. Fifi looked down, alarmed when she noticed, he hadn't completely fallen over. He was down on one knee. Realizing this, the skunk felt a rush of blood go straight to her face. Then she noticed the opened ring box balancing on the edge of Furrball's violin. It caught the moonlight at the perfect angle to glitter like the North Star.

"P-please marry me."

Furrball fancied he could hear a choked up 'yes' just before Fifi embraced him. The cat squeezed back and they disappeared into the darkness together, mutual passions requited.

End- Part 3

Seems like this chapter has been twelve months comin'. Sorry for the delay. I guess now that the hard part's over, it's time to start having fun with this piece. =)