Chapter Ten
POV: Rabbitfoot
Okay, fine. I'll admit, a lot of weird things have happened in the county lately. The least of which being fictional characters dropping from the sky. Dragons maybe being one step up from that.
But all of us turning into freaking CATS?
Someone had jacked the weirdness meter.
I chased myself in a circle, trying to see if I had also sprouted a tail. Hey, the situation couldn't get much stupider. "What the heck just happened?"
I whirled around again, catching sight of myself in the side of a nearby metallic garbage can. I. Was. A. Cat. I stared at my reflection, as if it might change back into a human if I stared hard enough. The image of a cream-coloured cat stared back at me, green eyes wide. This couldn't be happening.
I swung away from my reflection, looking for the others. There wasn't a single Wandie left in sight. No, okay, that was a lie. Where moments before there had been the members of Wands and Worlds County, now the school grounds were just filled with cats.
I repeat: What the heck is going on?
"Fun-Bun, is that you?" I heard someone ask, and I recognized Starsight's voice. I turned around to look for her, and nearly burst out laughing despite our situation. A white and silver cat was perched on Fai's shoulder; no doubt that was Starsight. She shot me a furious look, one that clearly said, 'comment-and-I-will-rip-you-to-shreds-right-here-and-now.' "I'm not blind, you know."
"Unfortunately," I chuckled. Her cat persona, as I figured we Wandies had all turned into, was blind. I would have wondered as to why Starsight herself hadn't been rendered blind, but I was too busy trying to figure out what was going on—not to mention trying not to laugh.
A loud caterwaul suddenly rang out over the school grounds, and I turned around to look. I spotted a black cat perched on Shardas' back; obviously she was the one who had called for attention. My first thought was that the cat was Hollyleaf, who had been the only black cat to come in the ThunderClan patrol, but the cat's eyes were a bright golden yellow, not leaf green. Slowly, everyone fell silent and looked up at her.
"Guys, we all need to stay calm," the cat called, and I recognized Sheila's voice. "I know this is probably frightening beyond description—"
"Eh, I don't mind so much," chimed a light gray tabby near the back in Wildtail's voice.
Laughter rippled through the crowd, which, after a moment, sounded like a mass of purring cats. After another moment, we all realized that that's exactly what it was.
That shut everybody up.
"Does anyone know exactly how this could have happened?" Sheila asked.
An uneasy silence descended on the grounds. Then I heard Lilacheart speak. "I saw what looked like a woman right before that light hit."
Several Wandies nodded/mewed in agreement. Well, there were more nods than mews. I glanced around in the direction of her voice, quickly spotting two cats, one black with a lilac tucked behind her ear, the other gray with a single bluish stripe running down her back from nose to tail. For being twins, Lilacheart and Soundstorm were rather easy to tell apart as cats.
"Did anyone manage to see who it was?"
"Not from down here," a voice croaked, and I swung around in surprise. At first I couldn't see who had spoken, then I saw a toad—yes, a toad—hop up onto what remained of the bench next to Shardas. I nearly laughed out loud again; was that Magicyop? It made sense, though; I don't think he even had a cat persona. He constantly tried to pass himself off as a toad online.
"I have a guess..." Starsight whispered quietly.
"Like what?" I asked, glancing up at her again.
She fidgeted slightly, waving her tail. "I'm not sure if I'm right or not...and I really hope I'm wrong..."
"What is it, Starry-chan?" Fai questioned softly.
Starsight took a deep breath. "My guess was that that was the Dark Sorceress."
I froze. I didn't really know anything about the Dark Sorceress (I hadn't read the Avalon series), but I'd heard far more than enough, not to mention fought in a battle against her the other day. This could be bad.
Before I even got a chance to reply a loud howl suddenly echoed across the school grounds. Everyone froze, all of us simultaneously looking for the source of the sound. There was a long pause, then without warning an entire pack of Erasers leapt at us, howling for blood.
I felt the fur on my back rise as adrenaline flooded my veins. Where had they come from? Hadn't all the remaining Erasers been killed at the battle at Starsight's house the other day?
An Eraser suddenly charged at the three of us, snarling as it bared inch-long fangs. Fai leapt in front of it, blasting it with a jolt of magic. I bunched my muscles and sprang at the Eraser, claws unsheathed. Well, I couldn't exactly just stand by and hide or something. The others were all fighting too, even though as cats we couldn't do much damage against wolf-people.
I sank my claws into the Eraser's leg, feeling blood well up from the wound. Above my head Starsight let out a yowl as she launched herself straight at the Eraser's head. Her Kudan suddenly materialized beside her, joining in the attack. I nearly fell over in shock, except my claws were in too deep.
The Eraser howled with pain as we attacked, clawing furiously in an attempt to reach one of us. The Kudan hovered just out of reach, lashing out at its head with its tail blade. I scrambled up the Eraser's back, ducking out of the way of its flailing claws. Only Starsight wasn't fast enough; the Eraser managed to grab her by the scruff and yank her off its face. She let out a furious yowl, her paws flailing as she tried to land a blow somewhere. I sank my teeth into the Eraser's neck, trying not to gag at the taste of its fur. It gave a snarl of fury, violently throwing Starsight aside and whirling around in an attempt to throw me off. I saw her slam into the side of the garbage can I had been using to check my reflection earlier before the world around me dissolved into a blur of colour. I clung on desperately, afraid to let go and be sent flying through the air like Starsight had. Claws grazed the fur on my back, but the Eraser couldn't reach me.
Suddenly a clawed hand did reach me, grabbing me roughly by the scruff and yanking me off. I think I actually broke a claw, for I felt a sharp pain in my paw, but I ignored it as I tried to swing around and gain a hold. Darkness surrounded me as I was stuffed into some kind of sack, and I let out an indignant yowl. Then I shut up, half-shocked half-fuming over the fact that I had just yowled.
Whatever sack I was in swung wildly, and I almost felt sick to my stomach. I curled up at the bottom of the bag, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. From what I could gather, the Erasers had launched an attack against us, though if it had been a lucky guess that they had picked the time we had all been transformed into cats or not I didn't know. Wait a—I let out a low groan. I did know. The Erasers were working with the Dark Sorceress; of course they had known the right time to attack. They must've been planning it all along.
The sack I was in bounced roughly against something, and I gave a hiss of annoyance. I didn't have a single clue as to where I was being taken, but I could feel in my gut that it was nowhere good. I realized that the sounds of battle were much fainter than they were before, and I guessed that we were leaving the school grounds. I shifted around, opening my eyes wide in an attempt to gather as much light as possibly. It kind of felt like I was bouncing against something; probably an Eraser's back. I sank my claws angrily into the side of the sack, trying to rip it open. My claws pricked something on the other side of the burlap, and someone swore loudly and delivered a vicious punch to the side of my bag. The air left my lungs in an undignified oof, and the sack spun wildly. Wisely I decided not to try that again.
I settled back at the bottom of the bag, deciding to just wait it out. Yes, me, the most impatient person in the world, decided to wait. Guess how much that killed my soul.
I was just trying to decide whether I should try to get out again or curl up and die when I noticed something. I'm not sure how I was able to tell, but suddenly I was just aware that there were walls around us. Had we gone inside a building?
One of the Erasers snarled something close by, but I wasn't paying attention and hence missed it entirely. Claws clicked against stone floor, and I wrinkled my nose as the smell of something nasty washed over me. The sewers?
"We have one of them," a voice growled. I pinpointed it to be whoever was carrying me.
"Excellent," a second voice hissed, and a chill ran down my spine. "Show me."
The top of the sack opened, and light flooded in. Even though it was dim wherever we the light still partially blinded me after such complete darkness, making me blink in confusing. A claw grabbed me by the scruff and hauled me out, casting the sack aside. I let out two furious yowls, one as an act of defiance and the second for the fact that I had just yowled again. I quickly looked around, spying large curving tunnel walls and a canal of filthy water sliding past on the narrow ledge we were standing on. Definitely the sewers.
A woman with alabaster skin leaned forward and peered closely at me; I shuddered as I saw her animal eyes. No doubt this was the Dark Sorceress. I lashed out at that perfect pretty face of hers, claws fully unsheathed. She pulled back, just out of reach. "Naughty pussy," she taunted. She took a couple steps back and spread her arms, shaking back the long sleeves of her cloak. "Hold it still."
I nearly burst out angrily at her for calling me an 'it', but I had barely opened my mouth before one of the Erasers clapped a paw over my muzzle. I growled uneasily as she raised her arms, poisonous-looking sparks dripping from her fingers.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Everyone froze. The Dark Sorceress looked livid, while the Erasers glanced about nervously, searching for the source of the voice. A spark suddenly lit in the tunnel behind the Dark Sorceress, and a girl dressed completely in black stepped into view, flanked by two wolves. The larger wolf was a blend of silver and white, while the other was jet-black with banded white paws and laughing green eyes. The source of the light came from a jewel on the girl's wrist, which was blazing with a golden light.
"The Warrior!" the Dark Sorceress spat. "So it's you."
"Let the cat go," the girl demanded.
"And why would I do that?" the Dark Sorceress said smoothly, giving the girl a savage grin, "after I went through so much trouble to turn them all into cats to harvest their magical energy?"
The girl looked surprised for a moment, then she scoffed loudly. "Just how stupid are you?" she laughed. "There's no magical energy whatsoever in that cat!"
Yeah, if you want magic I suggest you kidnap someone else, I thought furiously. The Dark Sorceress stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief. "...If that is so...then I'll just kill it."
That was the final straw for me. I shoved the stunned Eraser's paw away from my mouth and shouted, "I'm not an it, I'm a girl! Get that through your head already!"
Yes. I had completely ignored the death threat and gone straight to sorting out my gender. Did you expect something else?
However strange it may seem, I think that outburst was one of the factors that saved my life. The girl and the Dark Sorceress were wearing identical looks of shock, and the Erasers were no exception. Seizing the moment, the silver wolf suddenly sprang across the canal, leaping straight towards the Eraser holding me. It bowled it over, knocking me out of its grip. I clamped my jaws shut on yet another embarrassing yowl as I flew through the air, landing headfirst in the sewer water.
Several things wrong with this situation. The obvious one: I'm a cat. I've just been dunked in a river. A river of sewer water, no less. There is also the widely known fact that cats aren't exactly Michael Phelps. They don't swim.
I struggled in the murky water, unable to tell up from down. Inside my brain I was cursing anything I could think of, the Dark Sorceress for turning us all into cats, the wolf for making the Eraser throw me in the sewer, that stupid rose Roy had pulled out of my bouquet. Wait, you didn't hear me say that.
Teeth suddenly fastened in my scruff, and I felt myself being tugged through the water. My head broke the surface and I gasped for air, shaking filthy water out of my eyes. I craned my head back as far as I could, realizing that the black wolf had dived in to get me.
"Dreamer!" a voice shouted, and the wolf pricked up his ears. He turned and struck out for the bank—or at least, the narrow concrete path running beside the canal that passed for a bank. He hefted himself out of the water, dropping me on the ledge before shaking himself dry. I hissed in protest as water droplets splashed all over me. I didn't need to be any wetter than I already was, thank you very much.
The girl was racing down the tunnel towards us, the silver wolf by her side. She skidded to a stop and bent down. "Are you okay?" she asked me.
"Fine, if you consider beaten, bruised, and nearly drowned to be 'okay'. Can we go home now?"
The girl actually chuckled, despite this entire sticky mess we were in. "Do you want me to carry you? We'll probably have to go through the water again."
I was going to protest and say I could walk just fine on my own, but at the mention of water I thought twice. "Fine," I grumbled, leaping up onto her shoulder and digging my claws into her jacket for a secure hold. "Just don't dunk me in the water again."
"I won't," she promised. She shot a glance at the silver wolf. "Storm, can you cloak us?"
The wolf nodded and began to dissolve into mist. I tried to keep my mouth from dropping open in shock. Seconds later the silver wolf was gone; in her place hung a shimmering mist. The mist settled over us, hovering in the tunnel.
The girl signalled to Dreamer, and silently they began to creep along the tunnel, the mist sliding after us. Footsteps echoed down the tunnel, not our own. I flinched as the Dark Sorceress suddenly loomed out of the gloom on the other side of the canal, the Erasers right behind her.
"Search for them," she hissed. "There's only one way for them to go. Those mistwolves, they'll be covering them, hiding them from sight."
Mistwolves... I shot a glance at the girl, who gave a short nod. So this mist that Storm had dissolved into made us invisible. Clever.
We crept down the tunnel, following the canal upstream. I kept shooting glances behind us, watching the Erasers stalk after us without knowing where we were. One slip-up and they would find us for sure.
Speaking of slip-ups.
Dreamer suddenly let out a yelp as one of his paws slipped off the edge, scrabbling to regain his balance and not fall into the canal for a second dunking.
"There!" one of the Erasers shouted, and in a heartbeat the entire pack was after us. The girl muttered something angrily under her breath, breaking out into a sprint with Dreamer hard on her heels. Storm rematerialized next to us, quickly matching pace. I dug my claws in deeper, rising a glance behind me at our pursuers. I let out a shocked yelp as I realized that the Dark Sorceress was literally right behind us.
"Duck!" I shouted as she lashed out at us with deadly-long claws. The girl ducked, and that's when I figured out that I had chosen the wrong spot to cling to. The Dark Sorceress' claws slashed into my shoulder, leaving a long but shallow wound. I gasped with pain, my claws suddenly loosening until I thought I was going to fall off.
The girl spun around, golden fire whipping out from the stone on her wrist. The Dark Sorceress retreated several paces, grinning maliciously. Her troop of Erasers suddenly appeared behind her, racing towards us. The girl whipped the fire into a shield, warding off their attack. Storm and Dreamer leapt forward together, lashing out at the Erasers with sharp fangs.
My grip on her shoulder suddenly wasn't enough, and I slipped and landed hard on the concrete floor. It felt like my shoulder was on fire, spreading throughout my body. I tried to struggle to my feet; at the very least I could get out of her way and try to run.
Without warning, I heard the distinct sound of someone snapping their fingers. The next second a wave of fire jolted over our heads, striking the lead Eraser straight on and reducing it to a pile of ash. I jerkily craned my head around, already knowing who I would see.
Roy Mustang was racing towards us on the other side of the tunnel, his fingers poised to let loose another torrent of flame. "Is everyone all right?" he called.
"Fine as we'll ever be," the girl grunted, taking several steps back and signalling to the two wolves. Storm and Dreamer retreated, but the Erasers didn't follow. They were nervously eyeing Roy's gloves; they had already seen how much damage they could do and probably didn't fancy taking him on.
"Surrender!" Roy shouted, raising his hand. "Surrender or I'll do to you like I did your comrade!"
Apparently this was it for the Erasers. They all turned tail and fled, pushing and shoving each other to try and escape Roy's gloves. In moments the tunnel was empty except for the five of us. Roy looked rather pleased with himself as he splashed across the canal—which apparently was much shallower than it seemed. He stepped up onto the ledge, then kneeled down and picked me up. Inwardly I groaned, praying that he wouldn't recognize me as the girl who had proposed to him yesterday. Probably the only time I had ever been grateful to be a cat.
"Let's get out of here," he said, standing up straight again. "You aren't injured, are you, Miss...?"
"Chardáy," the girl supplied. "Adriane Chardáy. And no, I'm fine."
Roy gave a brief nod. "Roy Mustang," he said as an introduction. "We should start moving; the faster we get back the faster we can treat her."
'Her' being me, I take it, I thought, but I didn't speak out loud. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I might start screaming with pain and be unable to stop. I settled for being grateful that at least he hadn't called me an 'it'.
I'm not sure how long we had been walking, since I was concentrating on staying conscious. That blasted Dark Sorceress' claws must've been tipped with poison or something; I could feel it slowly seeping through my body, freezing my limbs.
Speaking of freezing, a blast of cold air suddenly slapped me across the face, and I realized that we were outside. I struggled to open my eyes and look around to try and find out where we were, but I couldn't move. It was all I could do to let out a low moan.
"We can't wait until we get back," Roy said suddenly. "She'll die before we get there. Was that poison or something?"
"It wasn't poison." Adriane's voice shook ever so slightly. "She's infected with the Black Fire."
Black Fire? For a moment there I almost thought I'd prefer the poison.
"Is there anything to be done?"
"I'm not Emily," Adriane protested, and I guessed that she and the two wolves were also from the Avalon series. 'I can't heal..." Her voice trailed off.
Roy gave her an inquiring glance. "What is it?"
"Once Emily and I were caught in a twister...It switched our powers, making me the Healer and her the Warrior. We switched back eventually, but I still have a trace of Emily's magic inside the wolf stone."
"Will it be enough?"
"We'll just have to hope, Adriane muttered. I felt her place a hand on my fur, and I tried to focus my sight on her. The jewel on her wrist, presumably the wolf stone, was pulsing softly. Instead of the golden fire from earlier, this light was a faint healing blue. Like Emily's jewel.
Slowly at first, then faster and more confidently I felt the fire leaving my body, shrivelling away in the presence of the healing light. I gave one paw an experimental twitch and sat up.
"How're you feeling?" Adriane asked quietly.
I flicked my tail back and forth, stretched, then leapt up into a slightly more dignified place on Roy's shoulder. Oh forget it, nothing about my life is dignified anymore. "Fine enough," I responded. "At least I'm not dying from the inside anymore or anything."
Adriane gave a small smile. "I'm glad. I don't think I ever asked your name though..."
"Rabbitfoot, but you can just call me Rabbit," I answered. "Nearly everyone else in the county does. Oh, speaking of the county, Emily's here with us too. She got here several days ago."
"That's great to hear," Adriane said with a smile. "I assume you already know my name, but these two here are Stormbringer and Dreamer. I'm bonded to both of them."
I gave the wolves a nod, which Stormbringer copied while Dreamer answered with a puppyish yip. Right then I almost wished that the Dark Sorceress had turned me into a dog instead, for more reasons than one. "We should start back, before the others get worried about us."
Roy nodded shortly and began to lead the way down the street, with me clinging to his shoulder and Adriane and the two wolves following closely behind. I knew where we were, not too far from the school, so it wasn't that far of a walk. We were just rounding the corner onto the school's street when something black swooped overhead. I ducked instinctively, but whatever it was only shouted, "Rabbit!"
Tentatively I raised my head, catching sight of a black cat with tawny wings hovering overhead. I recognized her instantly from the flower behind her ear. "Hey, Lilac."
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "We saw the Erasers taking you away, but they were too fast to follow, plus they kept holding us back, and—"
"Whoa, calm down," I said. "I'm just fine, quit worrying so much."
Lilacheart paused to take a breath, then she caught sight of Adriane. Her eyes went wide. "Adriane?"
The Warrior flinched. "How do you know...?"
"It's a long story, trust me," I sighed. "Emily can explain everything later; right now we need to get back."
"I'll fly on ahead, let them all know you're okay," Lilacheart offered, winging away in the direction she had come. We followed her shadow until the school came into sight. A black cat was standing by the gates.
"I'm so glad you're all right," Sheila said, her words betraying her anxiety. "Are you injured?"
"Was earlier, but Adriane managed to help me."
Adriane gave a shake of her head. "I only got rid of the Black Fire. Those scratches are still there."
I twisted my head around to inspect my shoulder. She was right; I could still see the scratches the Dark Sorceress had given me, a tiny bit of blood still oozing from them. The cold winter air had numbed it to the point that I hadn't immediately noticed it.
Sheila flicked her tail. "Come on, let's all go inside. Emily, Leafpool, and Jayfeather have already set up a healing station of sorts. One of them will be able to help you."
I nodded, leaping off Roy's shoulder to the ground with a wince. There was no way I'd make an entrance like that, no matter how badly my shoulder was hurt. Sheila led the way inside the school, padding down to the chemistry room. I stopped, staring around at the classroom. Instead of the usual bottles of chemicals one might regularly find in the chemistry room, everyone was gathered around—and on—the counters where Emily, Leafpool, and Jayfeather stood. Emily was using her jewel to help heal several people, while Leafpool and Jayfeather were running back and forth with cobwebs and other herbs carried in their jaws. I was just about to wonder where they had managed to get all those herbs from when there was a sudden cry of delight and a silver and white shape bowled me over.
"Fun-Bun!" Starsight cried. "You're okay!"
"Oof!" I complained. "I won't be if you continue to squash me to death!"
She jumped off me and let me have enough space to climb to my feet. She looked rather battered from the battle, but otherwise okay. Sitting back on her hind legs she wrapped her forepaws around me in a hug. "I'm so glad you're all right."
I let out a little cough. "I'm fine enough," I muttered. "Sheila suggested I get someone to look at my shoulder though."
"Come on, then," Starsight said, getting to all four paws. She padded over to the counter and leapt up onto it with a single bound, flicking her tail as a gesture for me to follow. Glancing around, I spotted a chair standing next to the counter, and used that to scramble up. A lot of the Wandies were up there too, pressing cobwebs against their own wounds and checking up on each other. I swear, it was literally like a medical station.
"Leafpool?" Starsight called as she padded down the counter towards the tabby she-cat.
Leafpool looked up from the poultice she was making. "What is it, Starsight?"
"Do you have any more cobwebs? Fun-Bun injured her shoulder."
"Hey, it wasn't my fault," I hissed at her. "Adriane didn't duck far enough."
Leafpool flicked an ear. "Yes, there are some cobwebs stored over there. You sure do have a lot of cobwebs in this Twoleg nest of yours."
Starsight chuckled as she padded over to the pile and wound some cobwebs around her paw. "Honestly, I'm not surprised the school's full of them. If that makes any sense at all."
I sat down where I was, wincing as Starsight pressed the cobwebs against my shoulder to stem the bleeding. "I don't think it's too bad. The scratches are really shallow."
"It was worse earlier," I grunted. "Apparently I had something called 'Black Fire' in me."
Starsight flinched. "You got poisoned with the Black Fire?"
"Yeah, but it's all fine now. Adriane managed to get it out."
"You should still double-check with Emily..." Her voice trailed off.
I cocked my head. "What is it?"
Starsight sighed softly. "Come on," she said, rising and padding away down the counter. Curious, I followed her. She paused next to a thick group of cats. I craned my head to see around them, then flinched back.
A black and brown cat was lying motionless on the countertop, sharp tooth marks clearly visible on its back despite the fact that its fur was matted with blood. Involuntarily I sucked in a breath, trying not to do something stupid like faint at the sight of the cat's wounds. Emily's hand was resting on the cat's side, her jewel pulsing with a cool blue light. Stormbringer and Dreamer flanked the Healer on either side, pressing close.
"What happened?" I whispered.
"One of the Erasers bit her," growled a light gray tabby on my left in Thunder's voice. "It mauled her pretty bad..." Her claws scraped along the black countertop, leaving little white marks.
I turned back to Emily and the injured cat, hoping that she'd be all right. The blue glow was slowly removing the wounds, but it seemed to be taking so long. Or maybe that was my famed impatience again.
After what seemed like an age Emily let out a sigh and opened her eyes. "She'll live," she said wearily.
I realized that I had been holding my breath, and gently let it out. The other Wandies murmured gratefully to Emily as the group began to disperse.
I leaned towards the Siamese sitting on my right. "This is probably a stupid question," I whispered, "but who's that cat?"
The Siamese swished her tail, replying in a voice that was clearly Brightsky's. "You mean the one who was injured? Icestar, of course."
"Icestar?" I wrinkled my nose. "I thought she would be white with blue eyes."
At this Icestar's eyes suddenly snapped open, glaring at me with a sharp amber gaze. "Call me white with blue eyes again, and I swear I will shoot you," she snarled, struggling up to her paws.
I gave her a cheeky grin, or at least as close to a grin as I could make as a cat, which probably looked rather threatening. "How're you feeling?"
"Pretty okay," she responded, experimentally arching her back. "That darned Eraser probably would've snapped my spine in two if Soundy hadn't managed to distract it. How about you? Any major injuries?"
"Just a few scratches," I answered, deciding not to mention the Black Fire. I growled softly and muttered, "I hate being a cat. I feel too useless."
"I know what you mean," Icestar grunted. "I would've much preferred it if I had been turned into a wolf. At least then I could've given that Eraser a piece of my mind."
Still sitting nearby, Starsight cleared her throat. We both turned to look curiously at her. "There...there might be a way for us to transform back," she said slowly.
If I had been paying attention to myself I think I might've noticed that my mouth dropped open. "How?"
She swished her tail across the countertop. "Sheila told me to wait behind since apparently she thought I was more injured than I am, so while she was sending out search parties for you I talked about it with Fai. He said he might be able to change us all back."
I leapt to my paws. "Seriously?" I swung my head around, looking for the magician. There he was, standing by the counter next to ours. "Fai!"
He turned, looking a little puzzled, and came over to us. "What is it?"
"Starry says you can change us back, right?" I asked excitedly.
Fai looked somewhat taken aback. "Well, yes, I could probably weave a spell—"
I spun away again, scanning the room. "Where's Sheila?"
"Over there," Starsight said, signalling to the far corner where she was talking with Firestar. The ginger tom seemed slightly uncomfortable to be inside a building, but that was nothing compared to the rest of the patrol. The ThunderClan cats were incredibly jumpy, as if they expected an attack any second. I guessed that the only reason Leafpool and Jayfeather weren't as twitchy was because they were keeping themselves busy looking after the Wandies.
"I'll go get her," Icestar said, leaping to the floor. I instantly followed her; with a grumble I heard Starsight hit the linoleum behind us and take off in hot pursuit.
"Sheila!" Icestar called, skidding to a stop in front of her. Firestar gave Sheila a respectful nod before gathering his patrol with a wave of his tail and leading the way out. I dug my paws into the smooth floor, barely avoiding crashing into Icestar.
"What is it?" Sheila asked, curiously glancing between us.
"Starry says that Fai can turn us back into humans again!" I exclaimed breathlessly, leaping forward suddenly as Starsight crashed into me from behind.
Sheila let out a low gasp. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" she asked of Starsight.
"I was going to, but there hasn't been time!" she gasped. "Everyone's been busy worrying about these two." She gave a slight flick of her ears, no doubt meaning me and Icestar.
Sheila raced back to the counter where Fai was waiting, the rest of us hard on her heels. Sheila took the counter in one bound, while the rest of us used the chair again to scramble up. "Fai, I've heard that you may be able to reverse our transformation. Do you think you can do it?"
Fai gave a hesitant nod. "It would take a lot of energy, and I don't think I could do everyone at once."
"I wouldn't expect you to," Sheila purred. "There's over a hundred Wandies here who were transformed. Are you good to try it now?"
"I think so."
Sheila turned and let out a loud caterwaul to attract everyone's attention. The multiple conversations slowly died away as everyone turned to look up at her.
"We think we've found a way to reverse the spell the Dark Sorceress placed on us," Sheila announced. "It might be possible for Fai to create a counter-spell that will turn us back into humans."
An outbreak of excited murmuring spread throughout the room. "When can we try it out?" I heard Mistsong call, and I spotted a black she-cat on the other side of the room, her blue eyes filled with hope and excitement.
Sheila exchanged a quick glance with Fai, who nodded. "Right now, if we're all ready."
I leapt to my paws. "I volunteer to be first!" I said. I couldn't wait to be rid of this cat body I was stuck in.
Sheila hesitated for a moment before giving me a nod of approval. Fai gave his wrist a little shake before raising his arms. "This is going to take a lot of energy, so—"
"Storm and Dreamer can help," Adriane offered, and the two wolves nodded in agreement. "They can both lend you the strength of a mistwolf."
Fai gave them a grateful nod. "That will help a lot, thanks," he said as the two wolves stepped up on either side. "Ready, Rabbit-chan?"
"Yep," I said, "but don't ever call me '-chan' again. Say...I dunno, '-kun' or something, anything but the '-chan'."
He chuckled. "If you say so," he said, as pale blue magic as soft and thick as snow began piling up in his cupped hands. For a moment he let it build, then blew it out over me. It settled in my fur, sparkling like snowflakes in the sunlight.
Suddenly I shot up, and I quickly slid off the counter to the floor to avoid whacking my head against the ceiling. The fur was shrivelling away (to reveal the clothes I had been wearing earlier, to my great relief), my paws turned into hands and feet, the whiskers shot in again. I could see the others were staring at me, in shock and awe.
Moments later the transformation was complete. I was human again. I breathed out in a sigh of relief as I took a long stretch. "Man, it's great to be back."
I heard a slight snorting sound, and I glanced towards Starsight. She had one paw up in front of her muzzle, and I got the feeling she was laughing at me. "What?"
"Y...you..." She snorted again and crouched down, putting both paws over her muzzle in an attempt to hold in her laughter.
"What?" I demanded.
"You've still got a tail!" Icestar burst out, and nearly everyone dissolved in a fit of the giggles.
"...Say WHAT?" I yelped, whirling around. Sure enough, I still had a long cat tail poking out from beneath my shirt. I moaned and shot a glare at Fai.
"S-sorry," he apologized, looking like he was trying not to laugh himself. "Let me try the spell again."
He cupped his hands a second time and repeated the spell. This time I felt the tail get sucked back into my spine, to my infinite relief. I shakily walked back to the counter and leaned against it with a sigh as Icestar leapt down to be next.
"It's hard to decide which was better, that or your proposal," Starsight laughed.
"Ugh, believe me, this one was far worse."
—
POV: Starsight
I hefted the pile of books into my arms with a grunt and turned down the next aisle. It had been several days since Fai had managed to change the last of us back into humans again; I had been among the last to be 'de-spelled'. I had to admit though, I would have loved it if Rabbitfoot had kept that tail.
Kidding. Maybe.
I checked the number on the spine of the first book: 761.39. It was a non-fiction book, one about the Romantic era. I myself had checked it out a few weeks ago for a Music project. I didn't exactly have a job at the county library; I just liked to help out a lot. We had a rather modest collection of books, though one probably wouldn't guess it at first glance. The library always seemed so much bigger than it was. It might have been the massive windows that stretched from one side of the building to the other, or it might have been the wide aisle down the middle that housed several tables to work at and was lined with towering bookshelves on either side. I didn't know for sure, but I did know that it was one of my favourite places in the entire county.
I turned down the next aisle, scanning the shelves until I found the 760's. I replaced the book on the shelf, suddenly noticing that I was bobbing my head to Brightdown again. I always kept my iPod on a low volume so I could hear the world around me, but I still pulled it out of my pocket to notch the volume down a bit more. Humming under my breath, I shuffled the books around in my arms to check the number on the next spine.
"What are you doing?"
The question was so unexpected (I had thought I was alone in the library right now) that I let out a yelp and dropped a couple of the books I was carrying. Whipping around I realized that Fai was standing behind me, and probably had been for a while. He wasn't alone; behind him I spotted Watanuki, the Dog, Halt, and Jayfeather. Watanuki and Halt were browsing among the books; I could see that Watanuki was struggling to read them, which was understandable seeing as he had lived in Japan for all his life. The Dog was trotting over to us, and I spotted Jayfeather walking tentatively along an unused shelf. Goes to show you that we really don't have that many books here.
"Uh, I'm re-shelving some books," I stammered, trying to shuffle the books I still held around again so I could retrieve the ones I had dropped.
"Here, I'll get them," Fai offered, bending down to pick up the fallen books. "Do you need some help in finishing?"
"Um, sure" I accepted. "The numbers on the spine show you where to...Wait, can you read them?"
"Not really," he said with a light chuckle.
"Oh, oops," I muttered, feeling my face go red. I had forgotten for a moment that he was from a completely different dimension, and a fictional one at that. It was only thanks to Mokona that we could all understand each other at all. "I'll just point out to you where they go, then."
We continued down the aisle, the Dog trotting behind us. Jayfeather followed more slowly, leaping back down to the floor at one point so he wouldn't accidentally walk off the end of the shelf. The pile of books seemed to shrink a lot faster with Fai's help. Soon we had finished with the non-fiction books, and I began to wave my way through the shelves towards the fiction section.
Predictably, the fiction section was the largest section in the library, taking up nearly twice the shelf space of all the other books, etc. in the library combined. Every kind of genre one could imagine sat on the shelves; romance, action, horror. Though personally I tended to steer clear of the horror shelf.
I headed over to the manga books, tipping my stack on a nearby table before pulling my iPod out of my pocket to turn it off. The Dog crawled beneath the table, curling up beneath it for a nap. I picked up the first three books, one FullMetal Alchemist, one +Anima, and one Tsubasa. The FullMetal Alchemist and +Anima volumes were easy enough to replace, but the Tsubasa collection was located on a higher shelf. I stretched up to reach it, wondering why on earth they had been shelved so high. Pain shot through my right side, and I dropped my arm with a wince, instinctively pressing my hand against the spot. The sword wound that Shaoran had given me was still painful, even though I had constantly tried to ignore it.
"Here, let me," Fai offered, taking the book from my hand and reaching up to place it on the shelf. He hesitated for a moment, then brought the book down again and began to flip through it. I craned my head to check the volume number: book 17.
"So this is how you know all about us, hmm?" he asked, his voice almost sounding sad.
"Yes," I responded, wincing slightly as I realized the significance of that book. It wasn't the best book for him to have picked to flip through, not by a long shot.
I walked back over to the table, looking down at the next book that needed shelving. Only about five books remained; the one sitting on top was Long Shadows. I don't know why, but I flipped the book open, scanned down the page, and began to read aloud.
"He settled himself on the edge of the pool and stretched forward to lap the water. Around him he could hear the other medicine cats doing the same, then making themselves comfortable to sleep and receive the dreams StarClan would send them. Jayfeather curled up, too, closing his eyes and wrapping his tail over his nose.
"He woke, blinking in the unaccustomed light, half prepared to find himself on the bleak mountaintop where he encountered Rock. Instead, he found himself in the lush forest clearing where Brightspirit had come to speak to him. A warm breeze, full of the green scents of growing herbs, caressed his pelt; his anxieties melted away like ice in newleaf.
"At first Jayfeather thought he was alone, but as the breeze stirred the leaves he saw two cats crouched on a branch at the other side of the clearing; Shiningheart and Braveheart were looking down at him with gleaming eyes. At the same moment the bracken underneath their tree parted, and Brightspirit stepped into the open.
"The beautiful silver tabby padded across the clearing until she could touch noses with him; her sweet scent mingled with the smell of herbs."
I paused and looked up. The others had gathered closer while I had been reading; even Halt and Watanuki had come back. Fai had sat down in a chair at my table, chin in his hands, while Jayfeather was sitting on the tabletop next to him. Even the Dog had pricked up her ears.
There was a long silence, then Jayfeather swished his tail. "You really do know all about us," he whispered.
I nodded. "Mm," I said, closing Long Shadows and gathering the rest of the books in my arms. "For every person who arrives in the county, there'll be a Wandie who knows them. All the tales are kept here, on these shelves."
I turned and started towards the rest of the fiction collection re-shelve the rest of the books. Halt stood aside to let me pass, but not a single one of them followed. I didn't know if I should be glad that they weren't there staring at their own books or not. I let out a sigh and went back to work.
—
Someone shook me roughly by the shoulder. "Hey, wake up."
"Huh?" I muttered, sleepily raising my head and trying to force my eyes open. I had only paused for a few seconds to put my head down, but I must've fallen asleep. It was kind of understandable though; I had been losing more and more sleep since fiction characters had first started arriving in the county.
Kurogane stood over me, looking like he was just about to shake me again. "Do you know what time it is?" he demanded.
I sat up straight, lifting my head from the short stack of books I had been using as a pillow. "Uh, no?" I yawned.
"Past sunset. You should be back at your house instead of sleeping the night away in here."
"Sorry," I apologized, getting to my feet. I glanced at the pile of books I hadn't finished shelving. I'll finish them tomorrow, I decided. I led the way to the front of the library, grabbing my coat from behind the front desk on my way out. Kurogane had gone on ahead, and was waiting for me by the door with his arms crossed.
"Come on," he said, pulling open the heavy library door.
"One second," I said, fishing the library key out of my pocket. We stepped outside, and I locked the door tight behind me. Pacing to the left of the doors I opened the mailbox, dropping the key inside with a clatter. The key was always kept here in the mailbox, if any Wandies needed to get inside. Sheila kept the other copy.
"Let's go," Kurogane said, starting down the steps. "Your friends asked me to walk you home."
I nodded, following him down the steps. The winter night was bitterly cold, and I couldn't help but shiver. I glanced back at the library again as we trudge through the snow. The building loomed dark, almost forbidding. I shuddered involuntarily, whether from the cold night air or not I couldn't tell you. It was true what I had said earlier, about the characters who were falling into the county every day. I just hoped that we wouldn't play host to a new villain next.
—
POV: Spirithunter
"Come on, let's go out for a walk," I said. "It's a great day out, if you ignore the cold."
Amaterasu lifted her head from where she was lying by the door. This county here is warmer than Kamui, she stated. I wouldn't mind the cold.
I nodded. I seemed to be the only one who could understand her. I don't know how I was able to, since Amaterasu shouldn't be able to talk, but it was definitely useful. Perhaps it was Mokona's doing again.
I went over to the closet and grabbed my coat, shrugging it on. "Any suggestions on where to go?"
Amaterasu yawned slightly and got to her feet. I thought you knew.
"No, I didn't have a place in mind." I paused for a moment, thinking. "Why don't we go down by the lake? I want to practice using Waterspout more, and on something other than a sink filled with water. The lake would be a good place to start."
The sun goddess barked in answer. I pushed the door open, taking care to lock it behind me, then followed Amaterasu in a northeast-ish direction. My house was closer to the edge of the county, so it didn't take long to reach the forest. The lake, however, was a bit of a longer walk. It took us a while to get there—I didn't bother keeping track of the time. The trees parted in front of us, and stones crunched under my feet as we emerged on the rocky bank of the lake.
It wasn't a large lake; I could easily see the opposite shore from where I was standing. A lot of the Wandies came down here in the summer to swim in its cool waters. Right now, however, the lake would be freezing cold; the thin layer of ice that stretched across it was a dead giveaway.
I pulled out the brush Amaterasu had lent me. Raising it, I carefully drew a small infinity symbol just above the surface of the ice. The brush stroke erupted into a blazing Inferno, easily melting away a large patch of ice nearly ten feet in diameter. Steam rose off the water from the heat of the flames as the Fireburst vanished. Time to practice.
I pointed the brush at the water, drawing a long curving line that arced into the air. The water followed my movements, dancing like a snake. Like Nuregami, really. Nuregami was one of the 13 brush gods, and master of the Waterspout technique that I was using now.
I hesitated for a moment, letting the water fall back into the lake. There wasn't a power spring here, but I wanted to know if I could create a fountain that could be ridden. Placing the tip of the brush on the water again, I drew a line straight up into the air. Slowly, a platform of water rose upwards, supported by a thick column of rushing water.
Amaterasu, who was sitting down by the bank, nodded approvingly. Try a Deluge, she challenged.
I let the platform drop back into the lake before pulling up my hood and raising the brush again. This time I drew two vertical lines in the air, one beside the other. A torrent of rain appeared out of nowhere, causing a downpour that lasted for several seconds. The rain ended, and I was glad that I had had the foresight to shelter myself before using Deluge. The snow around me was pockmarked with little holes from the raindrops.
Good job, Amaterasu said approvingly. You are skilled enough with the Celestial Brush for me to almost call you equal.
I admit, I felt so proud when she said that. I had been compared to a god! There really isn't much that can top that.
Without warning Amaterasu rose to her paws, her nose to the wind. Her entire body had gone rigid, and from the depths of her throat rumbled a low growl.
"Ammy...?" I asked slowly, glancing around and half-expecting a pack of Erasers to leap from the forest.
The sun goddess suddenly took off, racing across the pebbled beach. "Ammy, wait!" I called, stumbling to catch up to her. She was so fleet that I almost instantly lost sight of her, but fortunately I could follow the trail of flowers that had sprung up beneath her paws as she ran.
I finally managed to catch up to her, gasping for breath. Amaterasu was hunkered down behind a tumble of boulders, peering out over the top at something on the other side.
"Am...my...what...?" I panted, doubling over with my hands on my knees as I tried to regain my breath.
She didn't reply; instead she just flicked her ears as an invitation to join her. I took several deep breaths to stop my head from spinning before I clambered up onto the rocks beside her. I peeked out over the top—and had to stifle a gasp.
Seven-foot-tall reptilian creatures covered the area like ants around their nest, each of them with deadly-looking blades growing naturally all over their bodies. Hork-Bajir, I remembered Starsight had called them. They were running back and forth around a gigantic sludge-like pool, which was actually just a cove in the lake. The Hork-Bajir had submerged a barrier at the mouth of the cove, which kept the sludge-like contents of the cove from mixing with the lake water. Tucked among the rocks on the far side I spied something silver, only slightly smaller than Amaterasu. Not silver—it was closer to chrome, and even from all the way over here I could sense the electrical power it gave off.
"This can't be good," I whispered, ducking down a bit lower as one of the Hork-Bajir marched past carrying a large box in its arms. "What are they doing?"
Amaterasu shook her head, as much at a loss as I was. I stared at the lead-coloured water, wondering what on earth they were up to. Then, without warning, my heart stopped.
There was a ripple on the surface of the sludgy water, a ripple where moments before I had spied something small and slimy flicking to the surface before diving again.
My head was spinning, and I realized I had forgotten to breathe. Shakily I sucked in a breath. "Ammy, we have to go. Now. We have to warn the other Wandies about these Hork-Bajir."
The sun goddess nodded and leapt down to the ground, signalling for me to follow. I took another deep breath and started to shimmy down the rocks to the waiting wolf. I was barely a foot from the bottom when my foot slipped on a slick stone, and I literally fell on top of Amaterasu. This wouldn't have been a problem at all, had I not let out an involuntary yelp of surprise and Amaterasu hadn't grunted heavily beneath my weight.
One of the Hork-Bajir shouted something on the other side of the rock pile, and I could already see the forehead blades of one of them peeking over. Move! Amaterasu shouted, helping to shove me to my feet before taking off across the rocky beach. I raced after her, trying to keep my balance on the rocks.
A shout of alarm went up behind us, but I didn't risk looking back. Amaterasu dropped back so she ran by my side, occasionally casting a glance over her shoulder. They're catching up, she remarked grimly.
I hardly heard her; the blood was pounding in my ears and my lungs ached for air. I couldn't keep up a chase like this for much longer. Skidding to a stop I turned around, trying to regain my breath.
What are you doing? Amaterasu demanded, halting and turning back to face me. We have to keep moving!
"I'm...not going...to be able to...keep running," I panted. "There's only...one option: stand and...fight."
Even though she was a wolf, I could clearly see that the sun goddess didn't agree with me one bit. But she didn't get a chance to argue with me further. The Hork-Bajir were catching up, and would be on us in seconds. With a growl Amaterasu suddenly pulled out a slip of blue paper, shoving it into my hands. A Vengeance slip. Use it, she growled before leaping past me, the Tundra Beads lashing out from around her neck so she could strike them before they got close enough to attack.
I clenched my fist around the exorcism slip, and it exploded in swirling white symbols that surrounded me, a magical barrier that would protect me from harm, if only for a while. My head shot up as I heard the Hork-Bajir howled in pain, some of them stumbling back from the force of the sun goddess' attack. Their charge broke off, and Amaterasu immediately switched weapons, exchanging the rosary for a glaive, Thunder Edge. She leapt among them, dealing massive damage while forcing them back.
She couldn't hold them all back though. I used the Celestial Brush to attack from afar, mainly using Power Slash to slice at them. I won't go into details. Pointing the brush at Thunder Edge, I drew a line from the weapon towards several of the Hork-Bajir who had broken through Amaterasu's guard and were rushing at me. A bolt of lightning emanated from the glaive, shocking the Hork-Bajir with thousands of volts of electricity.
Two more were coming at me from the left; way too fast. Instinctively I ducked, but I needn't have worried. As soon as the first Hork-Bajir's blades struck the shield a fountain of white sparks erupted from the swirling symbols, and the Vengeance slip forced it back again. Swiftly I yanked the brush through the air, drawing two horizontal lines. Thick purple mist materialized out of nowhere, and the Hork-Bajir's movements slowed to a crawl. I dodged to the side, drawing a snowflake pattern on top of the two of them. Instantly they were encased in ice, their frozen, shocked expressions almost making me laugh.
I paused for a moment, glancing at how Amaterasu was fairing as the mist faded away around us and time sped up again. Apparently when I used the Celestial Brush it drew upon her power, or so she had told me when I had first started. The sun goddess didn't seem fazed yet, but I figured I should try to hold off on more powerful attacks for the time being.
One of the Hork-Bajir lunged at her from the side, and I gave a shout of alarm. Amaterasu crouched down, tucked the glaive away, and pulled up her mirror in one smooth motion. There was a burst of green light as the alien froze, then the sun goddess sprang into the air, dragging the Hork-Bajir after her before slamming it into the ground, trails of fire spinning around her. I took aim and slashed at the fallen Hork-Bajir, ending it.
I suddenly realized that the white symbols were disappearing around me, melting into thin air. Amaterasu leapt back to my side as the Vengeance slip wore off completely, leaving me vulnerable to attack. This isn't good, she growled, pulling out the Tundra Beads again. Several of them left while I was fighting; they'll be back with reinforcements.
No sooner had she said it than about twenty Hork-Bajir suddenly erupted from the forest, completely encircling us. I took several steps back, reaching out until I felt the comfort of Amaterasu's fur beneath my hand. They had us surrounded, pinned against the lake. I glanced out over the water, wondering if we could use it to escape. But the water was frozen over; I couldn't simply draw lily pads to escape on. If I tried to make the ice thicker, they would just follow us. We were stuck.
At my side Amaterasu let out a low growl. I won't let them get us, she snarled, fur bristling. I'll distract them, then you make a break for it. Run back to the county, gather some of our own reinforcements.
"No!" I hissed back. "There's too many of them, even for you to take on! There's more of these Hork-Bajir here than a whole whack of demons from a Demon Gate Challenge! I'd never make it."
There must be a way! Amaterasu snapped, eyeing the Hork-Bajir as they slowly advanced, tightening the circle. Many of them were eyeing the sun goddess warily; no doubt they weren't too keen on taking the sun goddess on. Even so, I could tell that they realized they had us cornered.
Or maybe not quite.
An idea flashed into my mind, and I raised the brush. "How much ink do you have left?" I whispered.
Not much, but I can use an Inkfinity Pot.
"Use it now." In a swift motion I drew one, two, three Cherry Bombs, just outside the circle of Hork-Bajir. Not a single one of them noticed; they seemed to think I had meant to attack them and failed. One of them shouted a command, and half of them leapt towards us.
Amaterasu darted out in front, lashing out with her rosary to buy me more time. I glanced frantically at the bombs; why weren't they going off? That's when my heart stopped with horror. I had drawn them too far apart; they weren't activating because they weren't close enough. I had to make them go off! I couldn't Power Slash them, that would only make them disappear. But there had to be something!
A flicker of an old conversation flashed into the back of my mind. Someone had asked me once how to set Cherry Bombs off early. After experimenting in the game I had found a way. But what had I done?
Then I remembered. "Inferno!" I breathed. Amaterasu wasn't using Solar Flare, so I would have to manage on my own. Hurriedly I raised the brush again, drawing a wobbly infinity symbol in mid-air. For a heartbeat I thought I hadn't drawn it properly—then the symbol exploded in a raging Fireburst, sending a massive wave of heat over the entire battle area.
Three explosions went off, so loud that I was momentarily deafened. Around me the Hork-Bajir were screaming in pain, and then the shock wave of the Cherry Bombs travelled over us. I was blown backwards; inwardly I cursed myself. I wasn't a god, I couldn't stand up to celestial power like that!
I caught a flash of white in the corner of my eye as a furry body broke my fall. Then my head cracked against the stones and I blacked out.