I'm not going to push myself to write a super long chapter if I'm not up to it, but I wanted to get this basic idea out that I've had for some time. This shouldn't be a long-fic, but it may take some time to complete. The urge to write since starting my new job took a sudden death route.
Also, FFnet kept removing a bunch of formatting, including bold or italicized. I've tried uploading this file like, seven times. I'm done trying to fix it.
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Throughout their many years, Opera had gained a bit of… infamy, if you will, in certain circles.
They were strong, so they weren't particularly concerned about their enemies. If they cared about such things they wouldn't be able to sleep at night, and they slept quite well, thank you very much.
Still, sometimes one can piss off the wrong person, get pushed into the wrong corner and… trip into an unexpected portal to an entirely different world as the offending dimensional hole closed behind them.
They felt a pop, and their world view changed perspectives as everything became big and they became quite… small.
And furry.
They took a moment to pull themself up off of their side on the ground with four limbs, and shake out their coat with some vague faraway instinct before nonchalantly licking a paw while settling onto their backside.
They hummed with a curious vibration in their throat as they observed the tall buildings around them. The ground was dry, but they were in some sort of back alley, as they stench of motor oil and a garbage collection bin made itself quite known down the way. They wrinkled their nose before standing and taking a few steps.
They felt wobbly, but after a few tries to understand how their present form worked, they swiftly understood how to walk, and made their way out to the sidewalk.
They glanced both ways, watching as individuals made their way towards one destination to another. They tilted their head and blinked slowly before a strange realization struck them.
The individuals walking by weren't demons. There wasn't a single horn, tail, or winged back in sight. It was also quite interesting to see that a majority of individuals had similarly colored dark hair and eyes.
They shifted from the individuals to the storefronts, and found that the writings of possibly two languages simply made no sense to them. As they twitched their ears, the words they heard also didn't make any sense.
They took in a deep breath before sighing with a huff.
Opera checked their surroundings once more and slunk onto the sidewalk, keeping close to the buildings on their left side as they trotted along. They waited at lights with other pedestrians, which seemed to catch the eye of some of the creatures, who couldn't help but giggle and coo at them.
They quickly guessed what the words for "cute," "red," and "cat" might be, with how often they heard it while being cautiously approached, or have their picture taken with what must be their version of a hellphone.
They walked, and they observed, only to walk some more… Walk… and continue walking.
They had no idea of what to do with themself.
The pleasant day slowly turned into early evening as street lamps turned on.
'Lord Sullivan must surely be concerned about my whereabouts by now…'
They frowned at their melancholic thoughts. They were no child, but a full fledged adult of more than just a few decades.
..Still. They clearly weren't in the Netherworld, and it was… upsetting, not knowing if they would ever be found.
(They would not think about Border Patrol locating and arresting them- they hadn't come here on purpose. They'd tripped, which made them want to laugh- before slaughtering the fools that had cornered them.)
Opera lifted their head as they took in their present surroundings. They'd been aimless in their walking, and now found themself within sight of a forest's edge. They contemplated their options, before the shadowy silhouette of a young one rushed into and disappeared onto a worn animal path.
They frowned and unconsciously moved forward, trotting along as they finally caught wind of the boy's scent.
It was heavier than most- a lack of being able to fully clean was apparent, as it was clear he had been working in some form for a long period of time.
They had seen school uniforms throughout the day, but this child seemed to be wearing casual work clothes.
They slunk into the woods after him, easily capable of tracing his scent.
A small fire started in the distance, and the sound of sloshing and a sigh was heard, along with quiet mumbles from the boy.
Opera's ears twitched at his tone- it was pleasant.
They crept near the tree's edge to find a small clearing with a tent, and the boy's apparent fire to cook his meal.
Clumps of grass were already waiting to be added to the pot as he rushed to and fro to collect more greenery for the rickety thing that hung over the fire.
They frowned.
None of the humans they'd seen or observed ate or lived like this… so what was different for this young teenager?
(And they could guess, somewhat accurately, that the boy was about the same age as their average First Year at Babyls. He smelled too young for adulthood, but too old to be a youngling.)
The boy froze before sharply turning and catching their eyes with an intensely wary gaze.
Opera couldn't help but be surprised. Not only did the boy seem to have abnormally naturally bright blue hair, but his eyes were also similarly colored. A unique enigma compared to a majority of those they saw while wandering.
Opera took a few steps out of their hiding spot, but kept themself close to their escape route.
The boy's eyes widened, before concern colored his face with a frown.
Opera noted the dark bags under his eyes, and the lack of youthful softness in his silhouette. He was simply skin and bone, and clearly underweight. His scent also lacked parental contact, so where..?
The boy held a damp cloth as he cautiously touched their face as they'd been a tad too absorbed in their thoughts.
They pulled their head away in annoyance, but the boy was gentle in his refusal to let go of them as he wiped at their fur.
"(Shh, let me try and get this red paint off of you. Stay still, okay?)"
Opera's ears twitched as they took in his sweet and calm tone.
He wasn't rubbing roughly, but every time he pulled the cloth away from them, only to find it clean, he seemed to become more distressed. Opera had no idea why, until they abruptly remembered the appearance of all of the other felines they'd seen throughout the day.
White, black, shades of mixed brown, blueish gray… They glanced at their bright red paw and realized-
The boy believed they'd been unwillingly colored like this.
No wonder so many individuals had taken their picture or noticed them! They weren't a natural color!
Opera pondered if the boy's hair and eyes were natural, but that was a thought for another time.
They shook their head out of his hands and hopped back into the brush with a few swift strides.
"(Ah, wait!)"
There was a paused movement to follow, before the boy sighed softly and went back to his foraging.
Opera stayed still for a long moment before sitting down while closing their eyes.
They examined their Mana and Magic, and found it strangely tangled. Perhaps, if they had been Summoned here normally they wouldn't be so out of sorts, but they had not, and their form had been forcibly changed to adapt.
They took in a deep breath, and released the Transform Magic they used to color their hair.
They waited a moment before opening their eyes while lifting their paw. They smiled wryly to themself as they took in the deep purple-black fur.
This was a bit closer to natural here, and it would be better to not stand out like they had throughout the day.
They picked themself back up and made their way back towards the clearing where the boy was glumly throwing grass into the boiling pot.
He noticed them immediately, clearly sensitive to movement for the sake of survival, and watched as his face lit up in surprise.
He paused, glancing between the pot and them, before Opera simply made the decision to go to him.
They trotted over and pressed themself against his legs like their house hellcats were prone to doing to them, claiming the boy as Theirs, and settled down against his leg heavily as they stared into the nearby woods.
The teenager was still for a long moment, before cautiously petting their head and moving down their back. A rumbling erupted from their throat, and they found his actions suitable and comforting.
They would never admit to being afraid, because they most certainly were not.
But… they could admit to being homesick.
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