Catgirl Isekai Gone Wrong

[HiddenMaster]

Chapter 28: Sasha's Forest

I nibbled my lip a bit as I looked upon my work. Paper would have been so much easier to work with, if less durable, but, well, I'd found out paper was not nearly so plentiful here. There was some, but our host had little to spare, nonetheless any for a random five-year old's silly pointless project. That didn't really bother me, but it was a surprising change from the island where even with us being isolated, there was always another little journal or piece of paper taken from Sandy's cargo or crew effects to be found.

Still, I'd improvised. Using a frame of carved sticks and twigs tied with twine, a discarded cloth stretched over said frame, a strip of leather, more twine, and a little carving knife led me to my creation: a makeshift band with two triangles attached. Tying off one end, I sat up and yawned.

I'd been at this a while, but it at least looked…

Tolerable.

With that, I took my project and padded over to the table stand. On it was a cloth bag. I gently opened it and knocked away a few socks to the side to reveal Sandy's orb.

She was still opaque, almost like quartz crystal with none of her light and only a trace of amethyst in her crystal depths now. I touched the surface of her core, and besides the smooth, cool feel of her crystal, I felt nothing. Well, mostly. She was actually warmer now than when she was awake and glowing. After a moment, I retracted my pointer claw. She didn't respond to my touch any more than the past twenty times I'd poked her.

I stared a bit longer before sighing. I missed Sandy. I'd known her for less than a year, heck only a few months, yet she already felt engraved into my life.

Still, all the better I finished so she could wake up with my gift.

Thus, I placed the set of cat ears over her orb. They were a bit loose, but I fixed that with a bit more twine wrapped around her core. Once I was done, I admired her look with the fake cat ears, patted her orb, and closed the sack back up.

I hopped up and left for downstairs with more than a bit of eagerness to my steps.

The reason why was simple: we were going to with Sasha into the forest to gather herbs and mushrooms!

…

Even thinking that made it seem a lot more boring than it was, but there was a reason for not, say, racing off to see the glories of civilization in Stonetown.

…

It was me. I was the reason.

We'd tried to head to Stonetown with Sasha for one of her routine visits few days ago, but I, uh, hadn't gotten very far. I'd felt much better since first waking up after Sasha cured me, but I wasn't all better. My stamina capped had out at playing tag with Mom for a bit and then sleeping for eighteen hours.

Collapsing face first into a patch of daisies was not the grandest way to discover I needed more rest. But! I'd gotten better over the last few days, and Mom judged me good enough to head out.

Frustratingly, she'd seen the village already, at least once. I tried not to be jealous, but to be fair, I tried and failed at a lot of things in my life so far.

The bottom floor of the cottage consisted of a single 'front' room with a desk and shelves for the rare occasions someone came to Sasha but mostly existed as herbal storage space, another devoted wood lined storage room with tons of herbs and other concoctions hidden away in bottles lining the walls like glittering little secrets, a kitchen area with a devoted fireplace that doubled as a sort of dining/living room, and Sasha's own bedroom she'd kept closed.

It was in this entryway I found Mom tying her boots on while Sasha absently twirled a whicker basket in her claws. .

"Oh Gwen! Good, hope you enjoyed your snooze," Mom said. I glanced to the side. She didn't need to know I hadn't exactly spent all the time upstairs asleep. But cat ears were important!

"How are you feeling? Still up for the for a little foraging today? If you're nervous, it's okay, we can put it off a little while longer."

"Mom! I wanna go!" I said indignantly. I know she worried, but seriously. I was feeling fine and moreover, giddy to see things. I wanted to see the village, but I understood just a short jaunt into the woods instead. "I slept a looooooooot and I wanna see and help!"

"She has you there," Sasha said. I was getting pretty good at catching most of her words now, after a few days of chatter and my earlier practice, but technical stuff still eluded me. Speaking it, however, was a bit more difficult.

Left unsaid was that this was just a trip into the forest and not to the town itself. Mom had put her foot down about going after I collapsed the other day.

I told myself the town wouldn't compare to the memories of my first life or even the pictures she'd shown me, but that didn't take away the fact that I'd never been in even a tiny village before. I hadn't even seen a proper society this life and I don't think the ragtag refugees Zenn and Jonas came with counted.

Hence, my attempts to temper my expectations hit a brick wall and shattered into a million pieces. Part of it was the above, but I also felt a pang as I realized Zenn evidently was still traveling with the refugees. I hoped she was okay, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

Still, it wasn't all bad. I mean, I got to see and go through a living forest without the threat of starvation over my head or being eaten by monsters, so that was really nice.

Mom held her hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine."

"Ah, just got these ready recently. Please, go put this on and then we'll head out," Sasha said, and pushed a bundle of clothes into my arms.

I blinked, looking down at the black wool socks, dark green pants, and white shirt. I looked at Mom. She looked right back. "Your night gown isn't exactly good for walking around a forest, Kitten."

I…

Huh.

I stared at the clothes a bit as I realized this might be one of the first gifts I'd ever gotten from anyone other than Mom. I mean, the refugees shared food, and Zenn shared all sorts of interesting rocks she found with me while traveling before I got sick, but…
I held the clothes close to my chest and nodded; not sure I had words I could speak at the moment.

I hesitated, just a bit, before I darted up to Sasha and gave her a quick hug. She started in surprise, going stiff. I even noticed out of the corner of my eye her long tail bristling, but before she could react further I stepped away and ran up the stairs. I heard Mom and Sasha's voices shortly after, but…

She deserved a hug.

A bit later, I was dressed and ready to go. I descended the stairs.

"Thank you. I know it's just clothes, but, well, she's just had me a long time," Mom said.

"I… I wasn't aware, it really was just—" I heard Sasha saying, but she cut off.

Mom was smiling and noticed me first. Their discussion ended. "Looks good, Gwen," she said, and gave a thumbs up.

Sasha blinked at that, and then awkwardly followed up. I giggled at the entire exchange, but…


"Shall we?" Mom said, offering me her claw. I smiled, and like that, we left for the wider forest around the cottage.

Pretty soon, I was almost able to forget we weren't going to Stonetown today.

Back on the island, I'd known just about every plant by name, but while I saw some things here, I saw a lot I didn't. It ended up becoming a bit of a game.

I'd point at a plant, say a low growing herbaceous plant with pillar like purple flowers on its stems, and Mom or, more often, Sasha would chime in.

"Ah, creeping lousewart. Useful for treating rashes, but its cousin, giant lousewart, will make you puke. Useful if that's needed, but otherwise best to leave it alone. Bees love it, however."

Most plants weren't too remarkable, but it was nice to be learning again, after things had been put on pause for so long.

"Ah, see that moss? It's traveler's aid," Sasha said, pointing out a bit of an green moss growing in patches over a boulder I'd overlooked. "It's sometimes used to stem bleeding, even has a very mild coagulating effect. Good for slow bleeding wounds." She bent over slightly to pull a patch off to put in her basket.

Mom pouted.

Sasha tilted her head. "What?"

"I was going to get that one," she said, sullenly.

Sasha giggled. "Oh dear, seems I beat you to it."

Mom said nothing, but seemed oddly energized afterward.

…

This was nice. We continued a while. Occasionally, Mom or Sasha would harvest a bit of leaf or root from a plant, showing me how to. In under an hour of walking around I had about twenty new plants rumbling about in my head.

I'd thought Mom had known a lot as she'd memorized all the survival books and plant guides she'd had, but Sasha beat her handily, to the point she actually corrected Mom a few times, as well.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at an odd, yellowish mushroom growing on the side of a decaying tree stump.

"Ah! I know that one," Mom said happily. "Pidgrat of the woods. Fry this up and it's almost like fried meat, soaks in other flavors really well too."

Sasha's eyed it and slowly shook her head. "We're a day or two late. See how the yellow flesh looks good? But it's too shiny. If you check the underside…" she said, lifting the edge of the yellow mushroom up, and I saw it was discolored, with brown and black spots. "Grubs and bugs have been eating at it. You wouldn't get sick if you had to eat it, but it'd be nasty," she said.

I stared. I looked at the fungus, and back to her.

"You tried eating one when it was bad, didn't you?"

Sasha scratched her head with a sheepish smile, cherry blond ears low. "Yeah… it was when I was new out here and I had thought I'd found a bit of a delicacy I actually recognized. But, well, it very much wasn't," she said with a grimace as horrid memories I could only imagine went through her head.

We stopped at one point for a little break. I was fine, but Mom insisted and we had bread with smoked fish. Yum. Sasha even brought a skin of tea! Double yum. Still, we eventually resumed and I spotted something notable.

"What's that? Weren't a lot of these around your house?" I asked, pointing at a woody shrub with trailing vines wrapping around nearby trees and bushes, absolutely covered in bunches of tiny pink flowers. It smelled sweet, but what got my attention, what made me ask about it was the fact it smelled more, almost charged, of magic.

My ears perked as I realized the scent shifted with my notice. How interesting!

Mom opened her mouth, but Sasha beat her to it.

"Good eye, Gwen. That's a thorny wysp. Always was fond of them, back home, compared to the roses everyone else liked," Sasha said, happy at first but then her own ears drooped. "This variety's one of my own cultivars, and they do particularly well in woodlands like this."

I didn't miss the sadness in her words. I don't think she was ready to share the reason for it, but I could help, maybe. "They're really pretty, So many flowers…" I said, amping up the 'awe' in my tone a bit.

Mom's tail twitched and I knew she knew I was overacting, but Sasha probably didn't.

…

Probably.

Sasha, at my words, perked. Success!

"Why thank you, Gwen. I've worked very hard on them. Almost like they're my own kittens," she said, a small smile on her face. She patted a vine, claw tips dexterous as she pressed in, avoiding the thorns. Wind rustled the leaves as she did so, making it almost seem like they enjoyed the attention.

The rest of the trip was pleasant, but my ears perked straight up while crossing a stream as I something seemed different.

I looked around. We had been going down a trail, and nothing looked out of the ordinary; just pine with a scattering of bare trees bristling with buds. Yet, I felt like something had changed, almost like leaving a room arranged in a very specific way and coming back to find something ever so slightly off.

I sniffed, following along, holding Mom's hand as she helped me up the stream slope and into the the light crunch of needles beyond. Damp soil, pine needles, and…

This was going to annoy me. Something was missing and it wasn't just the sweet scent of Sasha's cottage…

I paused. Thought it over. I felt a jolt go through me.

The magic was gone. Or, not so much gone as faded.

Which was notable as I hadn't even realized the cottage was magical. I'd known Sasha was, of course, and I'd figured out how to pinpoint her smell within a day or two of being there from all the flowers and herbs, but the cottage? It'd sunk into the background such I hadn't noticed a thing.

The closest equivalent was Sandy when she'd activated on her ship. The whole ship had smelled a bit like her, but not quite, with a distinct twinge of the mint of her meeting oil and machinery. At least, that's how my brain interpreted it.

The difference here, though, is I wasn't even aware that someone could sink their magic into the land. At least, I think that's what Sasha had done? The only difference between her and the land around the cottage was that her scent was stronger while the land's scent was subtler.

This opened a lot of questions I had no answers for, like how had she done this, was this normal, did she learn how to do it from someone like Sandy or was it something else entirely, or what?

Another jolt went through me.

Did Mom know about this? I felt like she had to, but she'd said nothing…

Ugh. This was another 'me being a child' thing again, wasn't it? There's no way she can't know.

So lost in thought, I didn't notice Mom had stopped until I bumped into her. "Mom? Wha—"

She looked at me with a finger to her lips and pointed ahead. Sasha, for her part, had crouched as well as she glanced ahead without getting her dress dirty, but I could see her tail twitching. She gave a smile back at us, her fangs seemingly glinting. Without a word, she pointed further ahead.

The path we'd been following split ahead and the foliage decreased. Standing there, I saw three black furred deer.

I froze as well and found myself crouched without thinking. One of the deer paused and looked in our direction. It had three horns and strangely red eyes. The two smaller deer — the [fawns] — stopped as well, staring our way. Six sets of crimson red eyes trained on us.

This led to a standoff. The deer had to see us, just as we saw them, but…

They didn't break and run. They merely watched, highly observant, but not tense. Finally, the adult bent down to nibble on a low lying dwarf fern.

Just like that, the seeming tension dissipated. Neither mom nor Sasha made a move or sound as we merely watched the deer graze. Every now and then, the adult would stare back at us or bend down to nuzzle or lick one of her fawns who walked in and out from between her legs underneath her body.

It was almost strange. Just a week or two before I'm sure Mom would have slaughtered them. I knew that much fresh meat would have me salivating back at the shack before Zenn's group arrived.

Yet now, I felt almost…

I honestly wasn't sure. It wasn't a physical feeling, but it was almost light, even airy feeling in my chest. In a sense, it very much was. Not counting the things that wanted to kill me, this was the largest living terrestrial animal I'd ever seen. I knew they got much bigger. My old life told me that much, but seeing it here and now, with my own eyes, felt indescribably special, like I had seen something truly precious for the first time.

Eventually, the mom moved on, the fawns bouncing after her.

I watched them fade into the foliage.

"Trihorns, Gwen. Common enough deer. Looked like a young mother, probably had her [elain] with her while grazing," Mom said. It didn't take me long to figure out she meant fawns. Or deer babies, more or less.

I nodded, still staring out. After a moment, a question broke out of my throat. "Do they taste good?"

Mom bent over laughing while Sasha hid her mouth behind her claw tip.

I did not pout at them over my legitimate question!

Indignation aside, we ended up watching the trihorns a while, just enjoying the sight while it lasted.

Chapter 28 Author's Note

Fun fact, this and what is now chapter 29 were originally one monster chapter, but I decided to split them up a bit.



I am more than happy to write big chapters, but they take longer and my goal is 2-3k chapters, outside special chapters that really need the extra words, like a book or arc climax, or moment that needs the time. THis was a case of it working better to split as it means more posting.



Mildly annoying as it does disrupt the releases I'd had on Patreon, but eh, here we are.



Still, had fun with this chapter and turning it into its own thing.

~~~~

​

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[HiddenMaster]

Chapter 29: The Grand Tour​

Chapter 29: The Grand Tour

The first indication we were nearing Stonetown was the smell.

It wasn't what I had expected. I'd had worries about the bad smells of civilization. My first life read enough to know low tech places had trouble with their plumbing. Or didn't have it at all. Movies, books, games, comics, anything to do with history made it clear that towns, for all their wonder, could smell awful if they weren't managed well for a variety of disgusting reasons from harsh fuels to literal poop.

Instead, the first thing I noticed was the scent of spice. This wasn't a super-hot spice like peppers, or perhaps flavorful seasonings like cinnamon, but more felt akin to the scent in a kitchen after a day of rigorous baking whole meal grains. I noticed Mom and Sasha sniffing too, albeit a bit after I had first noticed it.

The next thing I knew, we broke free of the tree line and came to a dead stop. Well, Sasha stopped as Mom and I came to a dead stop.

There, ahead, for what looked like kilometers, were the first, real signs of active and maintained civilization I'd seen. I'd seen ruins, I'd seen abandoned structures, a thousand and one little hints and implications here and there, but not actual civilization. Even Sasha's cottage, for all that it was clearly her home, felt isolated, almost in its own separate, magical world. If I'd been told she never left it and was some sort of mystic cat-elf living in the woods, I wouldn't have questioned it too much.

This? It almost looked like what my first life would think of as golden fields of wheat, but instead the endless stocks of grain I saw were all the color of coals just cooling on the edge of a campfire. Wind swept through thousands of stalks, causing the ember wave to sway gently in waves, the ember heads catching the light as they swayed.

These fields were very clearly not abandoned, as there were lots of cat folk wandering the fields doing farm things, although I wasn't sure what "farm things" entailed, exactly. In the distance, I saw what looked like a great big log wall, but I wasn't sure as it was so far away.

I felt a hand on my head as Mom patted me and answered my question before I could voice it. "Ember wheat, kitten. Can you guess why it's named that?" Mom asked.

I rolled my eyes up at her. "The color," I stated imperiously. I even held my nose up! What a silly question.

"Close. That's part of it, but it's also in how they're processed. See, when they're ready for harvest, the stocks are grabbed up in a big pile and set on fire. What's left behind is just the grain we then grind down."

I stared, mouth open. That…

That couldn't be right? What plant would need to be burned to release its seeds? Like why wouldn't the seeds burn too? "But… how?" I asked, at a loss.

Mom shrugged. "A wizard made it that way a long time ago," she said.

Sash hummed. "Bit more than that, to my knowledge. Old, old books my family had on horticulture mentioned that burning the fields down wouldn't actually damage the grain all that much if armies came by," Sasha said. "Certainly. It is a very advantageous trait."

Huh. That made sense. Mom looked surprised. Which was weird. I felt like she knew everything.

A certain blue rice I hadn't had in what felt like a lifetime came to me, and I felt myself salivating. "Mom? Sasha!? Do they grow blue rice here too?"

Mom paused, uncertain, her ears a little low.

Sasha slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid not. It's a bit too cold here. I know another Spire farther south had grown it, but…" she trailed off with a grimace and looked as if she really wished she hadn't brought it up.

"Oh…" was all I could say. The implications there were… not nice.

"Let's keep moving, right?" Mom interceded. I didn't miss the grateful look Sasha shot Mom's direction.

The tense atmosphere gradually faded as we walked between fields along a path. I even found myself skipping a bit and kept pausing to check little odds and ends I found growing.

"Ah, ash myrtle!" Sasha said, smiling as she poked at the dark stems and leaves of the knee height plant. "Very young, probably a good few years to reach its max height. Likes the edges of ember wheat fields. Helpful plant, good for wind breaks, honey bees, and for containing accidental fires," she said.

That was interesting but just made me have more questions! "Accidental? You mean ember wheat just, catches fire?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around such a weird staple crop, although… Was it weird, or was it only weird compared to what I knew from my first life?

While I was mulling that over, Sasha continued. "Yes," she said with an indulgent smile. "Most of the time it won't, but if it's dry enough on a sunny day they can. Seed bunches fall harmlessly to the ground and can be swept up and sifted from the ash. Better to get them in a pile first so less work, but you get the idea."

Sasha bent down to examine a wheat stalk and gave it a sniff. "Coming along nicely but won't be ready for a few months. Whole village gets together for that," Sasha said with a little smile. "Who knows, maybe you'll get to be the one to set the spark, eh?"

My entire ruminations and thoughts on the weirdness or lack thereof regarding ember wheat came to a screaming halt at Sasha's words.

I…

I could? It just occurred to me that I wouldn't just be visiting a village, but we'd be a part of it. Mom hadn't made any mention of continuing on somewhere else.

My tail twitched violently as the prospect became very, very real and made my chest all fluttery. I gulped. I hoped the people were nice.

We continued along the path, more properly a road now snaking between fields. Not a big road, but it was more than well packed dirt and had gravel across the path. Some people saw us and waved, and Sasha waved back at them, but Mom and I were getting a lot of stares.

I felt a bit shy and sheepish at the looks, even from a distance. They looked like farmers. They wore a combination of pants or skirts in a gamut of colors from browns to yellows and greens with a tunic or practical blouse as they navigated the rows of wheat.

It all looked like very practical clothes for working outside in and around a lot of dirt. A lot carried hoes but some had other tools like shovels, hatchets, etc., as they prowled among the field in small teams doing, er, farm stuff. It'd almost look like something out of my first life's history books if not for the fact that every single person had cat ears and a twitching or waving tail that often stilled when they spotted us before they resumed.

I took a breath. My first life had walked city streets with thousands of people on them. I could manage a few strangers glancing at Mom and me.

The next thing I noticed as we steadily closed in on the village was the sound. My ears twitched and perked up as I picked up the sound of a lot of chimes coming from the village.

It sounded pretty, but it was only when we were close to the walls that I saw the source: hundreds of spiraled shells bound together with twine and rope hung from the walls, even outer structures like the occasional barn or shack I saw. They let out pleasing chimes, even the occasional whistling sound like a fairy's take on the ocean.

I didn't recognize the shells at all. Some were spirals the wheel like spirals the size of my hands, while others were much more conical, with lots of variations in between.

"Mama, what are those from?" I asked, pointing at the distant shells. I don't think I'd seen them on the island.

Mom smiled at me and gave a pat. "Coilfish, Gwen. Also call them ringfish, or shellies for the real small one, or whorls for the real big ones. It's been a while since I saw any, but they swim in the ocean, lots of them, eating up small fish or plankton."

"So many," I said, staring at the variety. Some weren't small, either. While most of the spiral shells mounted on the wall looked to be the size of a fist, I saw a few bigger than my head. Mom mentioned some got real big, but how big was that?

Yet, I did have another question. "Mama, why didn't we see these on the island?" I asked in Illia.

Mom jumped at the language change. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Sasha, but she looked preoccupied with her basket. "I honestly don't know, sweetie. We didn't see lots of things on the island that we should have, shellies one of them. I can make guesses, but lots of things weren't right there…"

A few moments later, Mom slumped slightly. "Um…" Mom started after a moment as if realizing something. "I remember making some wind chimes as a little girl myself with them, and looks like that tradition's still going strong," she said with only vaguely artificial cheer.

I opened my mouth to ask a question.

"Yes, they do taste good. I'm fond of coilfish noodles, myself, maybe we can get some sometime soon now that we're around people," Mom said before I could say anything.

I pouted at her. I didn't think with my stomach!

I also didn't miss how she was trying to be so cheerful and act like things weren't terribly wrong back on the island.

"The spawning season is coming up," Sasha interrupted casually. "You'll probably be able to see a lot of them on the beaches soon."

Mom mildly jumped and stared wide eyed at Sasha. That was weird.

I tilted my head at that but was distracted as we passed by a large depression in the ground. Grass had grown up around a lot of it

I hadn't noticed it quite at first, but up close it was very obvious and looked to be the foundations of some structure and walls, mostly made from brick. Hard to say what it was, but it could have been a home, maybe an old shop, I had no idea, but it seemed isolated. Although, why would it? There were cultivated fields everywhere else, so why wasn't it farmed over? Mom didn't comment on them, nor did Sasha, but…

My ruminations were cut short as we finally got close to the gates. Up close, I saw they were wide open with…

No guards? I blinked, looking around. Some other catfolk were walking to and through the gates occasionally, but there wasn't, like, someone standing there guarding the gate or doing sentry duty. It was just… open.

Huh, maybe the village was too small? Or everyone knew each other. It could also be that it was broad daylight, so why bother with guard duty when people had work to do?

Up close, the musical chimes of the intertwined shells held together in the hundreds along the wall were louder, but not overpoweringly so. It felt pleasant, almost comforting in a sorta orchestral choir sort of way.

It occurred to me I hadn't heard much in the way of music before now. Mom sang me songs, and I remembered tapping on an improvised drum, but the island didn't exactly have much.

It was nice. I don't think I could imagine better sounds to accompany me on my first trip into proper civilization.

I slipped my claw into Mom's and felt her squeeze my hand as Sasha led us through the gates, and for once, I felt excited and hopeful.

~~~~

"Gwen, get down from there! It's okay!"

No, it wasn't!

My teeth were chittering, my hairs were bristled, and my claws were sunk as deep into the tree bark as I could manage.

It'd all been nice at first. Nervous, but excited. So many intact buildings, so many things to sniff from fish to cooking food to wood smoke to salt to… okay, and some bad smells too given it was a village with a few hundred people, but even that wasn't so bad and kept to a minimum.

Then, I'd noticed the stares.

I'd been walking with Mom, gawking at the intact buildings. Most were wood with whitewashed exteriors with tiled roofs made of a blueish material, but some buildings had stripes or altered colors, like the tavern having more vibrant stripes. Also, taverns were a thing. Or bars. Inns? I'm not sure. The word Sasha used and explained was a "place people drink at" which could be a lot of different things.

Mom had looked at it a bit longingly, and I felt bad for her. I guessed she hadn't had a drink in a long time, although I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose a bit. Even from outside the smell was a bit strong to me. Not bad, just strong.

But, about this point, a group had exited the building and they all stared at us. Mom got the bulk, followed by Sasha, and then there was me.

Almost everyone had darker hair than us. Mom and I had red hair, while Sasha was a cherry blonde, but here I could see the vast majority of people had brown or black hair. They also didn't have the facial markings Mom and I had. Their clothes looked normal and practical for daily work, pants, some dresses but nothing overly fancy with a surprising amount of color thrown in.

But they were staring.

I'd gripped Mom's paw tighter but took solace in how I was able to keep going. I then realized that this was only a few people.
More were stepping out. Some from houses, some from buildings. I saw people carrying firewood set their loads aside to stare at us, people with baskets filled with fish stopped and pointed. We'd moved on, passing great pits in the ground, nearly white and filled with salty brine. Their tenders stopped, too.

Not everyone had stopped to look at us, but enough had.

On one hand, this made sense. I knew from my first life that small villages likely didn't get too many outsiders, so a newcomer was sure to attract attention. Our obvious differences, even our manner of dress being in something I now realized was slightly finer than what they wore, made us stand out even more..

On the other claw…

I broke about the time we got in sight of the ocean and what looked like well-established wooden docks, with a few fishing boats tied up nearby. Nearly fifty catfolk with twitching ears turned to look at us, dwarfing the previous crowd. It should be noted that the previous crowd were, while somewhat diminished, still behind us and watching. This meant I couldn't hide behind Mom as we were surrounded.

ToomanytoomanyunknownsdangermomhelpwatchingwatchinghidehidemompleasehelphidehideIHAVETOHIDE—-

Which led me to now:

Clinging to a tree higher up while Mom tried to coax me down.

Truth be told, I'd calmed down a bit ago. But I was absolutely mortified.

I thought knowing how big cities could be would prepare me, that having so much knowledge of my first life would let me stroll about. Then a moderate crowd pausing to glance at us was enough to make me lose it.

The tree was nice, at least. Some sort of pine needles smelled really fresh and vaguely nutty. Not quite a tom-tom tree, but still, nice.

"Gwen!" Mom called out to me.

I knew I only had so long before Mom climbed up to get me. I knew she could. I'd seen her climb way bigger trees.

I breathed deep, in and out, with my eyes closed, just like with those magic exercises. But I wasn't trying to sense magic or channel mana or something, I just wanted to be nice and calm. I opened my eyes, looked down, and promptly had my claws dig in even deeper into the tree.

"Gwen!" Mom called once more. She wasn't frantic, but she was worried and getting louder.

"I'm stuck," I whispered. Mom, predictably, did not hear me. But it was difficult to overcome this as I was very much very high up.

I didn't even know cats could be scared of heights, but here I was. I felt as if loosening my grip or retracting my claws for even a second would see me fall all the way down with a splat.

I gulped and tried to look down again but froze up.

Finally, I managed to gather my strength for one shout that, even if it was in Illia, screamed my mortification to the world. "I'm stuck!"

…

Mom got me down shortly after. Reuniting and clinging to her side was reassuring, but my face was also red hot.

The crowd had dissipated a bit, but I heard a lot of good-natured laughs.

Haha, they took joy in my suffering.

I jumped as I felt a poke.

"Gwen? I believe this would look good in your hair," Sasha said. She was holding a pretty purple flower with a lot of petals on it. Petals which, I realized, had many shades of purple to them varying from the center to the outer edge. I breathed in and if my eyes hadn't been focused on it before, they would now as beneath the deeply floral scent I picked up something else: magic. Faint, but there.

"May I?" Sasha looked to Mom, who nodded. With that, she gently placed the flower in my hair, positioned just beside an ear. This close, it smelled lovely, and the magic I could smell on it just enhanced it. It didn't feel like a different magic, like how Sandy's ship had charged and oily, this felt like the magic just enhanced everything about the flower.

"Amethyst tear," Sasha said. "Don't get too many of these, but I think you'll appreciate it." Sasha stood back to admire her work.

Mom smiled at her and looked back at me. "So pretty, will have to see if we can find a mirror," she said and knelt down. "You know, it's okay if this is a bit overwhelming, right? I know it's the first time we've been around so many people. We can take a break if you want."

I shook my head, hair waving back and forth.. "No, I, I want to try. This, this is normal, right? I want to get used to it."

Mom got an odd expression on her face. "I guess it is. But, you are being very brave so far. Just be sure to hold my paw and stay close, okay? I'm here for you," she said, holding out her paw.

Sasha was smiling at the entire exchange, although pretended she hadn't been listening in when I looked her way.

I looked back to Mom and gripped her paw. A few moments and a deep breath later, we continued our tour.

"This is Fishertom's Wharf," Sasha said with a gesture and a little bit of an eyeroll. "Bit grandiose, but what are you going to do?" she shrugged helplessly. "Around a third of the village works here in some capacity, either in maintaining ships, nets, or working the fishing boats bringing back the daily catch. Without them, I doubt the village could be anywhere near as well fed."

I nodded, studying the ships. They were nothing like Sandy, being small and maybe able to host a dozen people. Several boats were docked, and I saw a few out at sea still in viewing distance. Looked kinda like longships, albeit not quite. They were squatter and fatter. "How far out do they go?" I asked.

Sasha hesitated, ears lowering a tad. "I'm not rightfully sure?" she said, uncertain.

"Probably up to a dozen, two dozen kilometers. Depends on how far out, their journey, supplies, and winds, I imagine," Mom said, gaze fixated on the ships. "Looks similar to some old designs, I think… although if they're being used, I guess not that old?" Mom said to me in Illia as an afterthought.

Sasha frowned. "I would appreciate being kept in on the conversation. My grasp of the old tongue is not as well as yours," she said.

Mom froze, and I stared. She sheepishly rubbed her head and responded in Ciem Illia. "Sorry, just what we're used to it, from back, er, home."

Sasha slowly nodded contemplatively. "I see. I would dearly love to hear more about your background. Sounds like it puts my own sordid past to shame," she said.

Mom nervously smiled while I shuffled my feet, unsure how to proceed.

"Um, can we continue looking around?" I finally tried. That wasn't the smoothest way to move on, but I didn't know else to do it.

"Of course," Sasha smiled down at me. "Shall we, Eliza?"

Mom nodded.

We continued on. The stares were constant but felt less blatant now. Or maybe they were always just curious and now that I'd experienced it, things weren't so bad?

I didn't know.

The wharf's remaining tour was interesting insofar as there were lots and lots of drying fish, some fish being butchered, fish on racks, and a full-on smoke house bellowing smoke as the catch was processed. Most of the buildings along the wharf seemed more focused on holding fish or fishy stuff than anything else. Warehouses?

We also saw what I learned were evaporation pools full of briny water used to get salt, as well as a lot of people busy at work on nets on rocky steps by the wharf. The last thing of note was a huge shell pile, and while some of the pile came from clams and crabs, a lot and I mean a lot a lot were those spiral shells from the walls.

I blinked, and whirled, eyes racing over the docks before I saw what I'd missed: the coilfish!

Specifically, I saw one on a table and it just…

I blinked again. It was like a squid with a shell? Its tentacles were vaguely moving. At least, right up until the teenage cat folk working punctured the shell with a spiked tool, did something with a knife, and scooped out the innards before gutting the rest and tossing the shell aside into a small pile in a smooth and well-practiced motion.

Huh. Neat.

The tour continued.

"And this s Townsquare. Also, the town's marketplace; it's not really setup for that today, but you can usually buy a bit of food. On market day, the whole town sets up and sometimes even traders from out of town show up to sell their wares," Sasha said with a wave of her hands at flattened area. Up close, I realized the stone wasn't carved but looked more like some sort of old and cracked concrete. At the center there was a large stone structure that smelled of water. Hopping over to it with Mom in tow, I saw it went down deep. Some kind of cistern?

"Ahead is the Councilor's manor," Sasha said, pointing to the only three story building I'd seen here. It looked about the same, but with small improvements. I saw more stones worked into it, and actual glass windows, similar to what Sasha had at her cottage. Most houses here just had some wooden blinds or panels they'd close for the windows. The front door was big and ornate, and the walls had some fancy patterns and designs on them that weren't anything distinct but formed mildly mesmerizing spiral patterns in the architecture.

Mom looked at the manor with a complicated expression and signed. "Guess wealth is always the same, huh?" she said idly. Sasha definitely noticed but didn't push her.

My belly rumbled at this time and both Sasha and Mom looked at me, startled. I flushed. Sasha giggled.

"Can I try coilfish?" I asked, looking back at the wharf. Mom briefly reached for a pocket, but stopped, looking actively pained.

"Gwen, I'm not sure—" Mom began but was interrupted by Sasha.

"Oh, it's okay, I can get us a snack. Here, Molly's cookshop," Sasha guided us across the square to a house that had an overhang. There, we found an older cat woman stirring a pot that smelled super fishy and savory and made me drool while a young catboy with droopy ears chopped vegetables.

The older woman had silver hair and was a little hunched, but she brightened on seeing us. "Ah, wonderful. Pleasure to see you, Governess, and guests?" she ventured, tilting her head. "Bit early for the lunch rush, but I can get you something?"

"Coilfish noodle bowl for the little one if you would Molly," Sasha said.

"Certainly," she said.

I held my hands out expectantly. She tilted her head, staring at me just long enough for me to start feeling dumb before she laughed and got out a small wooden bowl. Sasha placed a few colorful shells on the table while Molly scooped up noodles and broth into the bowl. The noodles were a deep brown in color, but the broth was rich and deep, with chunks of chopped up tentacle in there.

I may have started drooling at the smell and possibility of eating something new.

"Tommy, get some extra salt fish for the little dearie, would you?" Molly said. Said 'Tommy' jumped at being addressed and looked over at us, wide eyed, before spotting me. He slowly nodded before he rummaged in a barrel and pulled out a few sardines? I think they were sardines and brought them over and, after a very awkward moment of staring between us, he just dropped the saltfish in my bowl and scurried back under the overhang kitchen.

"Just bring the bowl back when you're done," Molly said.

Part of me wanted to delve into it immediately, but I noticed Mom hadn't gotten any.

"Mom? Are you going to get some?"

Molly smiled. "I don't charge much, Miss. Just two pale shellies."

Mom flushed. "I'm, er, okay. "

Sasha interjected. "It's okay. A bowl for all of us," she said, and gave Molly another four shells.

I stared as Mom fidgeted and only realized, very slowly, that we had no money and were entirely dependent on Sasha for money. Which was a super weird thought.

Everything I'd ever had was foraged, scavenged, or hunted. I stared down at my bowl, disquieted as I thought over this.

Money was weird and I'm not sure I liked it. I knew what it was, my first life told me that much, but without that knowledge I'd be totally lost on why food wasn't just shared as needed. That's how it'd been for all of my life first on the island, then with the refugees, and then with Sasha.

God, this would be so confusing if I didn't have that first life to contextualize even some of what I was seeing.

We eventually sat on a log setup as a bench with a rough table. It was comfortable enough. I raised dug in with my borrowed spoon and…

"Mmm," I sighed happily, slurping noodles.

They were thick and oddly chewy and had that same oddly smoky flavor the bread did. Made from ember wheat? The coilfish was a bit different. It felt a bit less sweet than some of the shellfish I'd tried like crab, a bit meatier, briny with a touch of sweetness. The best part was the smell, in my opinion with how savory it was with hints of roasted garlic underneath it all.

I liked it.

I demolished the bowl in short order and licked it clean. Sasha, by contrast, had also cleared her bowl, but she was impeccable afterward and I felt very self-conscious of how messy I was afterward.

I looked to Mom and saw she was…

Crying? She'd eaten a bit of her soup, but she was staring into the bowl.

Why was she—

Oh.

She liked coilfish noodles. Said she was fond of them earlier.

We'd been living alone on an island for years. Mom had been shipwrecked. This must be the first time she'd eaten this dish since I was born at least.

I felt so, so stupid that I had to piece it together and it took me this long.

I didn't like seeing Mom cry. But I didn't know what else I could do but lean into her side with a hug.

"Mama?" I asked.

Mom jumped. "Gwen, it's—"

"It's okay to cry, Mama," I said, patting her arm.

"I'll—"

"I'll give you two a moment. I have some business with the Smith and with other customers, so how about I come back after a while?" Sasha said, gently. She left her bowl with us and stepped away. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

With that, we were left alone. Mom had her mouth open but said nothing. Movement caught my eye, and I saw Molly walking up. "Here's another bowl. Lass like you needs more weight on your bones," she said, setting down a second bowl for me on the table.

"I don't have—"

"I know. It's a small kindness from me to you, you owe me no debt," Molly said, before limping back to the kitchen with a wave.

This seemed to break what had been holding Mom back, and she started shaking. It was quiet, she wasn't sobbing, something still held her up, but she finally let herself cry. As for me? I simply leaned against her and gave Mom the time she needed to mourn.

Chapter 29 Author's Note

HOLY SHIT.

This and chapter 28 used to be one chapter, a 6k+ monstrocity, but I split them up as the previous chapter really did feel a bit more suitable for its own content, with a bit of additions thrown in.

Of course, the end result is me going back through and editing this and lo and behold it grew to be about 5000 words in edits, so…

I'm wordy and can't help myself.

But I think it is done. I wanted this right, and Gwen's first introduction to society and people needed to be good. I didn't want this to be too generic, I wanted it to be memorable and I hope it works out.

We didn't get to everything I wanted to in this chapter, but that ending felt like a good point to end on.

Also, map! I made this with progen arcana, bit of neat map making software, but I am working on one made in CC3 that will be a fair bit better, although I hit a snag and think I'm going to redo what I've got so far. Still, gives a general idea of things as I see them for Stonetown. :3

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[HiddenMaster]

Chapter 30: Now What?

The tide lapped gently at the shore as the sun set, casting the sands and grit of the beach in golden red hues. It wasn't hot and the water was way too cold for swimming, but the air felt comfortable enough to take my boots off. I sat on the large gray stone, my boots neatly set aside while I sat. I slowly dug my foot claws into the sand, enjoying the feeling as my claws split the sand.

I watched a pointy shelled crab like creature scuttle around on the beach for a bit. I say crab; it looked a bit like one, but its shell was pointier, more conical with just a slight curve at the tip, complimented with a spiraling red stripe tracing up the shell. Its legs were also weird, lacking the shell and being fleshier, even tentacle-y. Maybe crab was entirely wrong for what it was like, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Maybe it was a shelly or coilfish like the ones used to make the chimes? It seemed a lot smaller, though, barely the size of its fist. It stopped to stare at me once, looking me up and down from the side with an odd, rectangular pupil.

Under almost every other situation in my life, I'd have tried to grab it so Mom could cook it up. We'd eaten a lot of crabs and crab-like things on the island when we could find them. As it stood, though, I was full, and, well, even if I did grab it, then what? It was pretty small, and for the first time in my life, it felt like food wasn't a concern. I'd seen fishercats — fishertoms? I needed to ask Mom — pulling in loads of fish and full fields, plus no one seemed hungry here. I didn't see anyone wasting food like in my first life from sheer abundance, but they seemed well supplied, at least.

Idly, I noted a small, black winged beetle alight on the rock near me. The little crab squid creature thing twitched and switched to watching the beetle, but it was way too high up on the rock to get at easily, even if it was willing to get closer to me.

On a whim, more than anything else, I shot my hand out to grab the beetle before it could fly away. The beetle's legs frantically wiggled in my grasp, but I had a firm grip. It was an ugly little thing, with spiny legs and a brown carapace and pointy head. With an almost negligent motion, I tossed the beetle at the crab-squid thing I decided was a shelly.

The shelly was surprisingly fast as it vectored on the disoriented beetle scrambling in the sand. A tentacle arm grabbed said beetle and shoved it into its beak with an audible crunch. It looked back at me, almost appraisingly.

I wonder what it thought of my action. It seemed to not consider me a serious threat even if it was eyeing me this entire time. Did it process me at all, or did it just go, 'see food, consume food'? Or did it have more to it what was in its brain? Was I a mysterious food giver, maybe a strange otherworldly entity foreign to its realm who graced it with a divine gift of nourishment?

I snorted. Silly. Still way better than a rock knocker. Cooler, too.

"I pronounce thee, Sir Shellington, Esquire," I said grandly. The shelly reoriented in the sand, eyeing me further now that I'd said something. After a few moments of no further action from me, it resumes digging through the sand, although it always kept me in sight of its single, large eye.

A bird flying overhead cast its shadow along the beach. This, evidently, spooked the shelly as, in a surprisingly fast motion, it dug itself into the sand and completely out of sight.

Huh. Neat.

I stretched a bit.

I felt tired from the day's trip. We'd gone all over, seeing more of the town, with Sasha pointing out more people and about everyone recognizing her. I saw the muscular smith and his daughters working a sturdy forge, carpenters setting up a new house atop an old concrete foundation, little kittens my age or a bit older herding entire flocks of cooing pidgrats as they dumbly pecked and crawled over anything interesting and showed a surprising voraciousness for any bugs they found. My first life would've found it all quaint, but the spell of a medieval agrarian idyl broke from time to time.

A trio of matrons chatting around an outdoor table preparing some meal and one peeling open a tin with a purple fruit on it with an old, heavy can opener. Granted, this was a mild adjustment, and not too unusual, but it immediately shifted the medieval idyl look. The real difference ended up being the "workstation" outside the councilor's manor.

There they had a bulky, gray steel machine with lots of dials and a glass top setup. Hooked up to it by several bulky, thick cables were several machines being used communally. A bulky powered saw occasionally roared as carpenters brought heavy planks and other pieces of wood to be cut. I'd noticed the blade itself didn't quite fit and compared to what it was hooked up to looked a bit cruder, less elegant with the engraved runes.

On the opposite side of the generator was a big, rumbling machine with green chipped paint. Even from here, a quarter kilometer away, I could smell the charged, oily scent of magic I'd come to associate with magical technology. Heh, magitech. Or thaumatech, technically.

Several farmers with wheelbarrows full of seeds and grain would dump them into the machine, whereupon it would rumble for a bit before sorting the grain into two troughs. I'd only realized what it was after I heard some very distinctive cursing as one trough filled up more than expected and the farmers around immediately got twitchy tails. One even hissed! The machine was a seed sorter.

All of this was overlooked by a stern, older gray furred catfolk with piercing blue eyes in black, suit like clothes as he managed the use of all machines hooked up to the generator.

What's more, the people seemed… curious, about me and Mom, but that's it.

I saw no real hostility, no distrustful stares, or extended claws when they thought we weren't looking. Just curiosity of people going about their day seeing someone new when new people were in short supply.

It was weird, but nice, far better than my worst expectations of them pointing and screaming 'witch!' Granted, it also fell short of my best hope which was being pronounced a princess and fed cake. I knew it existed but hadn't gotten to try any yet.

A few of the catfolk villagers had even approached us as the day wore on, but Sasha had mostly waved people off. I think we were good for conversation, but she'd said we were new and a little shellshocked from things, which wasn't wrong, but…

I sighed and flopped back, staring up at the warm hues of the setting sky.

My ears perked. I heard approaching steps, but they were distinctive. The shoes everyone here wore seemed built differently compared to what Mom and I had, and thus it was pretty easy to tell Mom was approaching. That, and her scent. I wouldn't mistake Mom for anyone. Comfort. Safety. Warmth. Love.

Mom settled next to me on the rock. She said nothing for a bit, although I felt her tail fall on mine with a twitch and I could feel her presence. After a moment, she took off her own boot to sink her claws into the white-gray sands.

"Well, Gwen, what do you think? About living here, that is," Mom asked.

I turned to her. She wasn't looking directly at me. Instead, she was looking out to the sea, idly tapping her furred digits on her thigh, half extending her claw tips as she did so. The evening sun framed her red hair with a golden aura. Idly, a part of my brain hoped I grew up to be as pretty as she was.

"I don't know," I said.

I eyed Mom in my peripheral vision and saw her purse her lips, but she didn't speak up.

It was weird. I knew supposedly what life in society was like, but my context was from stories and from a first life as a different species. I wasn't sure, frankly. Maybe we'd fall under same family but different genus or subspecies as humans, but it was so, so weird being in a place with other people. If I wanted to, I could walk for, like, a minute and likely find someone to talk to. I wouldn't have the language down completely but I think we could talk.

I could not get over that feeling. My whole life was isolated with Mom, and then Mom and Sandy. Even meeting Zenn's group hadn't really expanded that list beyond a few strangers, and now there were so many and it felt overwhelming even if, logically, I knew this is a fraction of a fraction of a percent what a society could be. I wasn't even fully certain what living with other people would be. Was I going to get a job?

The image of working in a massive retail store stocking endless cans of tomato soup struck my brain like lightning and I didn't know whether to be intrigued by the possibility of industrial quantities of soup or horrified by the reminder of minimum wage.

Or maybe I was overthinking it.

I was here now. Still young, still growing. So, what if we weren't foraging every day or doing other stuff? Maybe someone else could cook.

"Mama? Do you like it here?" I asked.

She gave me a sharp look at that, like she hadn't expected it. She pursed her lips. Her ears were still, as was her tail, but the fur remained normal and calm. "I…" she began. "I can't say I dislike it. It's not the Illiana I knew, but I don't think it's bad."

I nodded. Seemed like she echoed my thoughts.

"Then I guess we'll live here," I said, sitting up.

"Oh? Just like that?" Mom said, amusement bleeding into her voice. Her tail twitched left and right.

She's not going to pounce on me, is she?

No, she wouldn't. Not in public, I think. Embarrassment wasn't a fun feeling, as it turned out. 3/10, I would not recommend.

Mildly worried about needing to take evasive maneuvers, I simply nodded at mom with a, "Uh-huh. I said so."

That didn't exactly settle a lot of things I knew needed to be resolved. Honestly, there was a list, such as:

• Where exactly are we going to live? With Sasha? In town? How would we get to know all the towns' people exactly?
• What would Mom do to earn her keep? I doubt they'd feed us indefinitely just because we looked super sad. I didn't think I could do cute kitten eyes that well. Too much competition there.
• Would we pay rent? Would Mom take up fishing? Or would she help with farming? Or wood cutting? Or would she put her technical knowledge to use?
• Oh, gods taxes.
• I decided not to even contemplate this further as taxation systems were a whole mess I was not remotely ready to think about.
• What would growing up here even entail? I, er, didn't really know. The fact that I could ask this was weird as I don't think most five going on six-year-olds would think to ask questions like I am. Or maybe they would, heck if I knew.
• What would I even do? Would they put me in a school? Did this place even have a school? How would I interact with other kids than Zenn?

My mental list crashed off a cliff as I remembered Zenn with a pang.

Despite how new she was, I missed her. My first friend and I hadn't seen her in, well, I thought over a week? I last remembered her being picked up from the refugee hunters' cart when I was getting really sick. She must be worried about me.

For that matter, I missed Sandy. I still didn't know why she was inactive now and sleeping here but not out there. Was something different here affecting her?

"What's on your mind, Gwen?" Mom suddenly asked.

I jerked toward her as I remembered she was, in fact, here. Mostly. I stuttered a bit before slumping. "I miss Sandy and Zenn," I finally admitted.

Mom stroked my hair. I leaned into her touch. "Zenn should be here any day now. As for Sandy, well, I have some ideas to try soon."

"What about Sasha? When are we going to tell her?" I asked.

Mom opened and closed her mouth silently. "I don't know, Gwen. We'll have to at some point," she said, but the way it sounded seemed like almost as much of a question to herself.

Delicate footsteps interrupted us and both Mom and I turned in synchronicity to see Sasha making her way to us. By now the sunset was getting closer to the "set" part of things and it was visibly getting darker. Sasha seemed a bit tired, but I noticed her basket full of herbs and vials was empty. I guess she finished her business?

"We overstayed a bit and would take some time to get back to my cottage. Would you mind staying in town tonight? I could ensure your safety to my home, but it would be quite dark," Sasha said.

I was about to ask why it wouldn't be safe but caught myself as remembered the multiple things that wanted to eat me that were out there.

The world wasn't safe.

The thought made me feel small. I scooted closer to Mom.

Mom was staring at Sasha with an odd expression, as if studying her. "I'm okay with staying here. Do you have a place for us to lodge?"

"Certainly, there's a room at the Tavern we can take. One I've taken before, in fact, but we'll have to share," Sasha said, almost apologetically.

I shrugged. It wasn't like we hadn't camped out with others before. Granted, in a small room it might be a bit different, but still.

Walking back through the town was a different experience. Whereas it was lively and full of people going back and forth, working industriously, now it was clear that with sun down, people were winding down. Yet, unlike with people, I saw activity didn't stop.

I think my human first life would've been near blind with how few lights there were. I saw maybe three light sources, total in the town after it got dark, and those seemed like candles or small lanterns. But me? I could see just fine. Not as well as in the daylight, and the colors seemed much more suppressed, but it was fine. So too, did the people keep going.

I could see eyes glinting as some people still made their way out and about, a few people with simple poles and lines making their way down to the beach. Were they night fishing for something? Or would they be going out on the boats for another haul? I saw a few catfolk heading down roads with baskets as they headed into the trees and wooded areas in town to harvest something near the stream.

I even saw a catboy and a catgirl who seemed to be in their teens sneak off to some secluded bushes like they were invisible and oh dear…

I decided not to focus too much on those pairings. Yuck.

Still, I guessed for catfolk, night life didn't have to end with daylight, or even lackluster lights. Starlight was enough.

Mom noticed all this too and seemed to take it in stride. Which made me curious.

"Mom? Why did we always try to sleep around sundown?" I asked. We had. Not always, particularly if Mom had work to do on Sandy back on the island, but even on reaching the mainland we'd mostly kept to a schedule I think most humans would've recognized.

"Interesting question," Sasha commented. "I have my own experiences, of course, but my own situation is certainly different from yours."

Mom hesitated a moment before saying, "Forage, mostly, Gwen, and just because we can see at night does not mean it's always safe."

"Oh," was all I could say.

I should've thought of that.

The rest of the trip continued in silence. The tavern itself was lit up, if only slightly. Inside it was…

Cleaner than I expected.

I think my first life expected a tavern to be filthy because of all the stuff he read. This one smelled… nice. Vaguely vinegary, which I immediately was able to attribute to the cleaning fluid they used as a cat-matron turned to regard us as we entered from behind a bar, cleaning cloth, and jug in hand. The walls were sturdy and made of tan and white brick, while the furniture all looked practical, with heavy tables and chairs set around for people to sit. A large, sturdy crossbeam dominated the ceiling, while a few tables to the sides had a card game going. A few patrons looked at us curiously but felt more preoccupied with a bowl of soup or bread. Well, mostly. One guy was drooling and purring on a very exasperated gray-haired friend and clearly drunk already this early in the night.

"Sasha! Friends of yours?" the blond tavern keeper said.

"Quite, Megan, just stopping here in town for the night. The little one is tired, you see," she said.

What? How dare she! We'd agreed to all go to sleep in town! I pouted and stomped.

This got the tavern keeper laughing, which in turn had Sasha giggling and my Mom…

Mom was a traitor with how she snickered.

"But yeah, my usual room, please, and a bowl of stew in the morning," she said.

"Of course," Megan commented, before fishing out a small key from behind the bar. It was simple and made of iron. "Last door on the left, breakfast as daybreak, same as always."

And…

That was that. Mom took my hand and guided me up even while I wanted to hiss and glare at everyone in the vicinity, but I was evidently overruled.

The room itself was simple. A small table, and a bed. Almost a literal bedroom.

Of course, the bed was singular.

There was an awkward hesitation on all of our parts as we looked at Sasha and she looked back at us before she shrugged and undressed to her final layer, some sort of gown thing? I didn't know what it was, but she was wearing it underneath.

Mom followed suit, helped me to undress, and before long we were all on the bed. It was, of course, rougher than Sasha's own bedroom we'd been using. In fact, everything felt a little bit… rougher, than what she had. But I'd also gotten used to sleeping bags, so it wasn't so bad.

Part of me wanted to note the weirdness, but that was overruled by the whispering pull of sleep and how I felt safe here, and thus consciousness lost out.

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The next day's start was a bit unceremonious. We got up as daylight peaked. Funnily enough, it was Mom who wanted to sleep in the most.

"Mom?" I gently shook her shoulder as Sasha put on her dress and oh wow she had a lot of layers. I shook my head and focused back on Mom but found her still very much asleep and snoring.

I shook her again, with a more insistent "Mom!" and "Wake up!" but she insisted on ignoring my plea, the meanie.

Tail twitching and feeling a touch mischievous as the possibility of revenge for last night's indignities, I froze as I glanced to Sasha who'd stopped to watch. She gave a gesture, as if a silent "by your leave," and I may have felt a bit of impish glee that left my fangs showing.

Thus, I stuck a finger in my mouth, made sure it was nice and wet, and shoved it past the fuzz and well and truly into Mom's ear with a full-on wet willie The effect was immediate Mom yowled and shot to her feet. Eyes wide, she immediately saw me still outstretched and growled, "Gwen!"

I'd just stuck my tongue out at her. "You wouldn't wake up, so I helped!" I spoke.

Mom tried to keep her glare up, and I think on my own I would've been in trouble, but Sasha letting out a tittering giggle seemed to break Mom as she let out a laugh of her own.

Breakfast saw the tavern relatively empty, although a few people were already in and enjoying breakfast. I didn't think they'd been here last night as there wasn't more than three or four rooms, so maybe they just came in for breakfast? Breakfast was a fishy stew with bread. Not as good as the bouillabaisse, I'd had on first waking up in Sasha's cottage, but something I still ate every bit of and licked clean.

Sasha said her goodbyes, and I even gave Megan a wave after she'd sneaked me a bread roll which I promptly stuffed in my mouth.

This led to me stepping out just in time to see a line of tired, worn out, and scratched but very much alive and familiar faces marching down the street, still pulling their cart while a few other catfolk marched by.

But it was the familiar green eyes and blonde hair that made me freeze. She'd been trudging along, talking animatedly with the older catfolk next to her, but in that moment, she saw me. Her eyes widened, she pointed dramatically, and yelled at the same time I did.

"Ze-gahtga" I tried to yell. This was a mistake, as this only succeeded in making me choke on the bread I was halfway through eating. This left me unprepared as while I succeeded in dislodging the bread I was choking on, I was left entirely defenseless as a kinetic and actively ballistic Zenn reached me in a full-on tackle hug that bowled me over into nearby bushes.

I realized Zenn was full on purring and literally rubbed her cheek against me, and I realized, once more, I was powerless to escape her strong grasp, but this time around? I don't think I really minded it.

Chapter 30 Author Notes

There we go. Fun chapter albeit one that fought me. I think I may need to adjust my posting schedule. Trying to keep up meaningful chapters every week is something I'm clearly struggling with, and having a week off seemed to help a lot.

That said, I hope everyone enjoyed. I wanted to follow up the tour a bit with a bit of insight into Gwen and Eliza's thoughts on actually living here, now that they've started to see the village and, well, the goal here was for the implications to really be sinking in by this point, and that things are different.

Bonus points if over the past few chapters people have been able to identify what's going on with the shelled creatures that keep popping up :3.

Patreon note: this will see a bit more editing in the public release so this is a bit rough, but I wanted to get this out on Friday as an early-ish treat. :3

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[HiddenMaster]

Arc Two - Chapter 30.5 Interlude: Moonlit Discussion

Arc Two - Chapter 30.5 Interlude: Moonlit Discussion

Eliza waited until her daughter's breaths slowed to a contented, steady beat of deep sleep. She gently stood up on the pads of her feet, careful as to not make noise and avoid the creaky floorboards as she dressed.

Gwen had been so good, being back in society. Sure, she did have the episode in the tree, but Eliza had been worried her daughter would go catatonic at so many new people. The fact Gwen had turned around and comforted Eliza herself was just more evidence of how blessed — no, lucky — Eliza was to have had her in her life.

The memory of the coilfish noodles brought a bittersweet smile to her face she couldn't hide even to herself. They'd brought her back to a time in her life when she was new to the city and a kindly café molly had taken pity on her and let her have a bowl of noodle soup every morning for a month when she had no money or home of her own. The sweet, savory scent of coilfish mixed with the herbal mix above the undertones of wheat noodles had soothed her aching stomach so long ago under the shadow of a kind, if tired smile.

Eliza froze as Gwen shifted slightly, but she stilled shortly after. Eliza resumed dressing and pulled a stashed canvas bag from their hiking bag. The poor thing was quite worn out by now, but it'd seen them through the rough terrain of the island she now knew to be Guine, so it'd more than done its job.

She snuck downstairs with minimal sound. Her steps became slower, more careful. Gwen needed her sleep, but she didn't want to wake the cottage's other resident, either.

Sasha was…

Eliza didn't know what to fully think of her. Kind, certainly, knowledgeable on a level with plants that made her own experience with wildlife survival guides and edible plants she'd scoured pale. By the darkest Paths, she'd even corrected some things the survival guides printed in her time had gotten wrong.

She'd taken them in, treated Gwen with medicine she could make very little of and was assuredly expensive, and even fed and clothed them to an extent, given they'd arrived with literally what Eliza could carry with her, staggering in from the wilderness. She'd been in her right to be demanding repayment of some kind at this point, but she simply hadn't.

But the woman wasn't revealing everything to them. That was fine, Eliza wasn't blabbing her own secrets to Sasha, either, but that still left this indiscernible tension, a barrier to full trust she wasn't willing to cross yet.

Eliza navigated the cottage without issue, everything as they'd left it the night before when they'd come back from the trip to Stonetown. She cut through the front room and through the drying room when she froze.

Sasha was sat slumped over at a table in the corner next to shelves and shelves of dried herbs and other plant material. Her red petticoat was on a nearby stand. Eliza held her breath, but the light snore from Sasha made her sigh in relief.

Eliza glanced over her shoulder to see a mortar and pestle, several bundles of odd, pearlescent flowers similar to the one she'd given Gwen the day before. They really were lovely, and Eliza suspected Sasha could have made a killing back in the capital, Salaca.

Eliza hesitated. She was trying to sneak here, but…

Sasha had been good to her, to Gwen. She might get cold, sitting out here with the hearth's fire only a dim ember at this point.

Ever so carefully, Eliza took Sasha's petticoat off the stand to place it upon her shoulders. That should help with the chill, although from experience Eliza knew Sasha would wake with a sore back.

The moment Eliza's claw made contact ever so lightly with Sasha's shoulders her mage sense lit up as with the touch she felt the magic pouring off Sasha.

Eliza swallowed as her mind raced and she slowly backed off.

That…

That was a lot of magic she'd felt. In fact, that was more magic than she had and she had a sigil implanted in her spine encouraging growth of her mana channels.

The only people she knew from Illia in her time before everything went wrong who would have that much would be war mages. Mobile artillery pieces.

It…

It changed nothing, she realized. She'd known Sasha wasn't saying everything, but again, so was she. It did raise questions as to why she had such a developed mana channels when she posed as an herbalist and apothecary in what was a nice, if backwater village that mostly subsistence farmed and sold fish to the Spire in the southeast, creatively named… The Spire, although evidently it had an official designation as "Southeast Spire 04" or something like that.

She'd gotten the basic talk from Sasha, in their first days here, filling in holes Jonas had left her with. Stonetown was on the frontier, a recent-ish resettlement near the edge of the coverage of the Southeast Spire nestled in the Southeast of Illia, largest island of the Illiana archipelago and the de-facto capital of the Illiana Constitutional Monarchy. Or at least it was, Eliza thought with an unhappy thought on her entire civilization. Within the Spire's coverage, the world was livable, even similar to what the old world had. Outside its coverage, well, "hostile to sapient life" was an accurate term.

Eliza had no idea what to think of the Spires themselves: grand artifacts, evidently made in old Illia by her own people in secret. She'd never heard of the things in her service in the navy; bunkers, refuges, contingencies for total war with Corsen Empire or any of its vassal states, but never a Spire that could hold back a hostile world to survive a literal apocalypse. Sure, she wasn't a general or grand admiral or the like, but she had been an officer nonetheless and never got so much as a meow about these things. The fact that some form of aristocracy had taken hold and ruled from them in seeming fiefdoms across Old Illia was even more confusing and concerning, given no one in her time treated the old nobles as anything more than silly titles of a bygone era, and that included her.

Moreover, someone with Sasha's mana and thaumic potential? No sane governance would throw her away, even if they had regressed to aristocratic rule. If Eliza was right, her potential meant she was utterly wasted in a small village like this. Something had gone very wrong in Sasha's life for her to be out here.

Eliza couldn't say for certain given she didn't go around poking the villagers, but she was pretty sure even if they all lined up for her to examine for magic, none would burn so intensely as Sasha did.

Shaking off her ponderings, she crept out of the room, bag in claw.

Outside, the moon was high, and the stars were out. Many of the flowers in the garden around Sasha's cottage had closed for the night, but a few others had opened brilliant white petals under the moonlight while moths flittered to and from them.

Eliza admired the peaceful scene before departing for the forest.

The sense of peace didn't last past the tree line, but she'd faced worse. She'd lived the past five, going on six years of her life in the wilderness. Besides, she had the vicious blade Holly had given her and her survival knife in her boot. She'd be fine in these woods.

She didn't intend to go far. Just out of sight of the cottage with an old stump covered in moss was more than sufficient. She'd have liked to do this indoors, but Sasha's cottage wasn't her workshop and she wanted privacy for tonight. She'd trust Gwen with this, but she needed her sleep and didn't need to worry if it failed.

Here, out of sight, she pulled out her bag. From it she took everything she needed for tonight's experiment: a length of copper wire, plyers, and the mana battery from the golem.

To call her setup primitive was an understatement. Copper wire alone was…

It was kind of shit to work with, when it came to mana. But it was all she had. Same with plyers. Oh, they were fine plyers, but they were what she'd had in her pocket on the Sandcutter when it sunk. She'd like a proper thaum-meter to gauge mana levels exactly and general conductibility of materials for thaumic energy, a heating element, connection nodes, and more, but well, she had none of that right now.

Still, she would make do.

First, ever so delicately, she took Sandy's orb out. It was still opaque, none of the energy or life a Spirit Core should display. The only sign it wasn't a total blank core was a tiny, tiny dot of amethyst. Touching it, Eliza could feel a faint pulse inside, but it was so subtle she might be imagining things.

When installed on a ship with a mana reactor, Sandy's power requirements were easily taken care of. Outside them was a more complicated matter, but the spirit cores were, if nothing else, efficient. Sure, installed in a ship she needed a lot more power to function, but outside it she didn't have nearly the same power draw, either. Sandy had lasted months outside the ship, but shortly after leaving the quarry, she'd gone quiet. She hadn't said a word, just stopped responding as Eliza stubbornly made her way forward step by step. That screamed some sort of error, but what Eliza was unsure of, but she could at least try to figure it out.

Sandy was a friend, an ally, and a comrade. She wouldn't be left behind.

Patting the orb gently and ensuring it was stable on the stump, she pulled the next item out of her bag. The golem battery was bulky, a big robust thing of iron engraved bands wrapped around crystal meant for intense use. The dull crystal refracted what moonlight there was. She wrapped the wire around the crystal, and ever so slowly tapped it with one finger.

Eliza sighed as she felt nothing. It was still very dead. She pulled out one of her three remaining shard thrower batteries and began wrapping them in wire with intent to create a connection across all three leading to the golem batteries.

She didn't want to use her N-23 shard thrower's batteries for the simple reason that weapon was what had saved her life, practically a companion. She also didn't have a great way recharge them, given that the machinery to do it efficiently had also sunk on the Sandcutter, and port facilities probably no longer existed or were buried under tons of rubble hundreds to thousands of kilometers away. She could do that herself, but that'd be inefficient and…

Well, it'd involve submerging the batteries in her own blood. She'd rather not do that. First, it was just inefficient and would take forever using the blood as a pathway to her own life energy converted to thaumic energy to power the batteries. Two, it was uncomfortable as it required a small pool of liquid blood, which required a deeper cut, opening her up to infections. Finally, she just didn't like seeing her own blood. Yet it was a rough way to charge things without equipment she'd learned in her survival training, although that had been more focused on general recharge of mana batteries as a whole. Still, the basics could apply.

With all that in mind, she'd happily use the batteries as a preferred alternative, but the issue was their design. She'd read her history. Early shard throwers were infamous for expending all their energy in a single shot. The newer designs in her N-23 were efficient to a frightening degree, and the batteries reflected that design philosophy in their low but consistent output resistant to wear and tear. Quality made, compact, practical, and really gods damned annoying given she needed a burst of thaumic energy they were designed to literally be resistant to providing.

Wrapping the other end of the wire crisscross around the thrower batteries and the golem battery, she created a connection and focused. Beneath her claw tips she felt the slow but steady pulse of mana in the smaller battery.

It took a bit, especially given she was pushing them to do the opposite of their intended function, but she was gradually able to siphon some mana from the bound N-23's batteries and into the cruder, but more robust golem's battery.

This took nearly forty-five minutes of focus and effort. It was about as tedious as working on formula tables for calculus. But it was done.

A poke with an index claw confirmed the battery faintly thrumbing with power. Nowhere full, but it was enough for her purposes.

Reworking the wire with her pliers, she delicately wrapped it around Sandy's orb and then connected it with the extended length to the battery. Biting her lip, she willed the golem's battery to expend all its energy in one go.

The mana flow was jerky and nearly unresponsive to her will for a long moment before it sluggishly flowed into Sandy much slower than she'd have liked, which she could only blame on doing this in the woods with a piece of wire and pliers and a golem battery that was likely fifty years old before the damn world ended a hundred and fifty years ago. Some dissipated into the air and left her perception, but a bit did seep into the sphere. The amethyst star at her sphere's core flickered, and for a few moments Eliza saw the amethyst expanding before it promptly retracted.

Eliza slumped. Failure.

Eliza had hoped it would be an easy fix and Sandy would wake up with that. With Gwen sick until recently, she'd been too worried her daughter would die on her, she lacked a proper workshop that would make this setup easier, and opportunities just to try were just… rare. She was a guest, Sasha's cottage wasn't hers, and while cozy, it wasn't exactly a grand sprawling complex where she could make use of a room as an impromptu workshop without notice.

"So, this is where you went off to," a voice spoke said softly from behind her.

Eliza whirled in shock and no small amount of panic to see Sasha leaning against a tree behind her on the edge of the clearing, red shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

Eliza willed her beating heart to calm as Sasha arched a delicate brow. "Sasha! I, er, just felt like a, a, um, midnight walk, yes," Eliza stammered and hoped Sasha bought it.

"A midnight walk. Well into the tree line and out of sight of the cottage. Beyond the night lilies marking the border of my cottage I told you signified the safe area," Sasha said, slightly incredulous but with a note of amusement in her voice.

"And you're not buying it, are you?" Eliza slumped.

"Not at all. I think your daughter might be better at lying than you are," Sasha said with a giggle into her hand.

Eliza winced. That wasn't… wrong. She'd lost her first paycheck in the military on gambling after being talked into a card game. It was a poor choice, in retrospect, and a sign of things to come.

"I guess I can't ask you to forget what you saw?" Eliza tried in a vain hope for…

She honestly didn't know at this point.

"No," Sasha sang back.

Eliza sighed. "How much do you know, then?" She might as well gauge how much she had to reveal, then. Or…

Did she? Jonas's words made her wary, but, was there harm in just saying everything to a woman who'd saved her daughter's life and done so much for practically nothing in return?

She thought, and thought, and thought, but in this moment, she…

Didn't know what to say. What should she say. She'd almost rather deal with a monster leaping out at her then trying to talk her way out of this.

Gods she missed Tomas. He'd smooth talk his way out of this without a blink.

"You know, maybe a bit of extended trust is in order? Although I suppose it's nothing you might not learn from the villagers in Stonetown, if you stick around long enough," Sasha mused, stepping closer into the clearing. Eliza didn't miss this, as it let her get a better look at the stump and she interposed herself quickly even while realizing it was useless.

"I used to live in the Spire, you know? Our spire, that is, not the one you came from," she said, looking up at the stars. "I was right up there with all the, what's the phrase Megan used? 'Overwound nip smokers addicted to the smell of their own assholes' type of nobles," she said with a straight face. The unexpected vulgarity made Eliza snort, prompting a smile from Sasha. "Would even say I was from an important family, but…" Sasha sighed.

"I made a mistake I couldn't take back, and by the time I realized I was in too deep… well, it was well too late. One thing led to another, and now I'm here, Stonetown's own, local 'governess'," Sasha said with a sad smile and emphasis on that last word. "As if it has any meaning. A meaningless title, for a meaningless girl. Even the town councilor outranks me at this point," Sasha's sarcasm came through, in that last remark.

"I…" Eliza began, unsure where to begin.

"I know you've been through a lot, Eliza Mor," Sasha said, face twinged with sympathy. "No mother walks in with a nearly dead daughter in her arms from the northern wilderness is necessarily well. But, I do hope I have earned at least a modicum of trust for what I have done for the two of you."

Eliza swallowed. She was right. By the dead gods, she was right. And…

Eliza wanted to trust someone. She was so, so tired of being alone, of being the only one she could truly rely on, of not having people she could confess. She trusted Sandy, but Sandy was gone. Even before they left the island, it'd been years since she had any contact with other catfolk, since she'd even heard a casual Hello that wasn't out of her daughter's mouth. She wanted that contact, someone to just confide in, and more.

Eliza sniffled, just a little. "You're right. Just let me go at my own pace, okay?" she said, to which Sasha nodded. "I'm not sure how much I am prepared to share. It all feels so insane… sometimes, it feels like a nightmare that only occasionally veers back to dreams." Eliza sighed. "You know how I told you we were from the Northern Spire?"

"Yes," Sasha said simply.

Eliza really had to work at the ball in her throat. "It's not exactly that. It's more complicated, but I think it's safe to say we're not from any spire," Eliza said. Sasha's eyes shot open wide and then narrowed to focus on Eliza. "Gwen and I…" she trailed off, taking a seat on the stump now and feeling silly for trying at all to hide Sandy given what Sasha had clearly seen. "We have nowhere to go, at all. I think the old play comes to mind, 'Strangers in a Strange Land'?" Eliza didn't expect Sasha to get it, but surprisingly, she did. It was nice to know one of her favorite plays was still around.

The weight on Eliza's shoulders intensified as she spoke. "But, until recently, we had a third. A good, wonderful friend, a comrade, who helped us survive."

Eliza picked up Sandy's orb and showed it in the moonlight, clearly for the first time. Sasha's nostril's flared and her ears went from horizontal to near vertical in an instant. "You recognize this, I take it?"

"A spirit core…" Sasha said, eyes fixated on it. "I've only ever seen shattered ones, one or two cracked ones long dead. This… it is still alive? Functional?" she asked, a trace of wonder in her voice.

"Her name is Sandy," Eliza nodded. "Functional until recently, but she went dormant before we got to your cottage. I've tried to wake her up a few times since, but I haven't gotten many results with just my mana. Tried tonight with a salvaged golem battery, and it still didn't exactly work. Only thing I know is she is still there, I can feel the thaumaturgic energy that makes her her, faintly, but that's about it."

"I see," Sasha breathed and then shook her head. "Pardon, I was expecting a few different scenarios as to what brought you to my door, but this one is exceeding my expectations. I am a bit overwhelmed," she confessed.

She idly poked at the moss on the ground with her shoe a moment before clasping her claws together, tail twitching excitedly behind her. "Well! I can say with certainty working on your companion in the woods at the dead of night on a tree stump is not the most ideal condition for this sort of work! I'll allow you use of my workshop from now on." She sniffed, pointedly. "Just silly skulking out and about like this when we have my cozy cottage and a perfectly good hearth to use instead."

"What? Excuse me, wait, what?" Eliza said, not keeping up.

Sasha stepped forward and offered her claw, a gentle smile on her face. Eliza was struck by the way the moonlight glinted off her gold, red tinted hair. "I understand you're not ready to trust me just yet, but I see no reason to let your friend stay like that. I have a bit of knowledge here that might be helpful. Plus… I don't know your situation, not fully, but I know what it's like to be alone. I'm more than willing to host you and Gwen until the two of you can figure out what you want to do, okay?"

Eliza worked her jaw as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Thank you," she managed, taking the offered claw to pull herself up.

Arc Two - Chapter 30.5 Author's Notes

Keeping author's note short this time, but I think I'm happy with how this came out. Another case of characters talking and actually communicating, even if they're not exactly giving away their deepest secrets just yet.


Do let me know how this chapter went? I am trying to build up toward a time skip, which I think will be starting soon, maybe one more chapter.

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[HiddenMaster]

Chapter 31: Dreams of a Sunlit future



I reached into the leather bag and pulled out a clawfull of ember grain. The individual seeds fell over each other in my claw as I held it there for a moment before offering my claw out, flat, before me.



The pidgrat eyed my claw curiously, looked up at me and back at the seed, tilting its head every which way as it took in my offering. After a long moment, it…



Pecked my thumb.



I stared.



It did it again and then clamped onto my pinkie claw. It didn't hurt, I don't think it was strong enough to do that, but I could feel my tail bristling and twitching rapidly as I got supremely annoyed.



"Dumb bastard thinks your finger-claws are big worms," Sasha said idly from where she was pruning a large, shrub like plant absolutely covered in thorns and tiny pink flowers. "You'll need to put the seed on the ground for him to eat it." She grunted as she ripped out a small vine that had snuck into the shrubbery.



I looked back at Sasha, only to feel the pidgrat peck my finger claws again, this time in rapid succession. I growled and flung the seeds away in exasperation. The pidgrat looked up at me, tilted its head, and blinked as if I was the one with a problem attitude.



"Are all pidgrats this stupid?" I asked, staring at the offending animal as it finally chose to scratch at the ground and peck at the discarded seed.



"No, just mine," Sasha said, standing up to dust herself off. She was wearing a dress, but unlike her 'on the town' dress or her 'foraging' dress, this one was a more muted brown and mildly stained dress she wore for actual work. As it turned out, maintaining a flowery herbal garden of the near fairy tale grove levels as she did was a lot of effort.



"Does he even have a name?" I asked.



"Not really. Bastard or stupid animal is about as close as I've come," Sasha shrugged.



As I watched, I saw the pidgrat pick up a pebble and swallow it. He coughed three times before settling. He reared back, eyeing Sasha and I as if we were responsible for what he had just done.



"I'm going to name him Seashell," I declared after a moment's thought



"Why Seashell?" Sasha asked, gathering her tools.



"Because if you listen closely, the only thing coming out of his head is the sound of the sea," I said with a smile.



Said smile began to fall as I realized Sasha was just staring at me. The moment stretched on, uncomfortably long as I began to feel my skin itch and tail twitch nervously as my joke landed somewhere in the abyss. Salvation only came when, at last, Sasha gave a little laugh.



"Sure, why not. Seashell is his stupid little name," Sasha said with a smile. "Come, about time for lunch, anyway."



Seashell squawked in alarm as Sasha left and chased after her, not that she seemed to care or respond.



"Where does he go? I've seen him around the house, but…" I began.



"Eh, he has a few bolt holes and roosts he lounges at around the cottage when we're not out and about," Sasha said idly as Seashell crawled into a small, nearly concealed hole at the base of the cottage. He poked its head out to look at us as we passed.



It was really weird to me that this little creature was what saved my life. Sasha and Mom explained it to me before, a couple times now because I'd been getting better with the language. His blood was charged with essence or qualities from a rare medicinal plant called moon root Sasha had been cultivating, which he'd eaten. All of it. This included the roots he'd dug up.



This dumb little moron was the reason I breathed. That was what Mom and Sasha said.



An infinite sea, a gold gouged cat of white and black duality, countless stars, a ravening dark and a feline scream…



I shuddered. I didn't think he actually saved me. Or maybe his blood helped, but…



Without her, my benefactor, I don't think I would have gotten out of there. If I hadn't found her, would I have wandered along that beach forever, looking for a way back out of the tangled mix of dreams and memories? Would my body have stayed here, alive but unoccupied, slowly withering away until even that anchor was gone, slamming the gates shut on any possibility to live leaving me as a lost soul on the beach beneath the stars forever more?



I owed Idir.



In that moment, I felt watched. I froze, looking around, but quickly realized it wasn't anything nearby. At least nothing I could detect. Instead, it was a presence, a feeling that send shivers down my spine and made my tail bristle and ears stand up.



A quote from my old life came to mind, "To speak his name is to know him, and to be known in turn."



That was referring to another entity entirely, but…



I gulped. The presence and the feeling of eyes faded, quickly. I got the sense that felt as if she was tired from even this much. I…



I hadn't made any offerings as of late. I didn't even really know what I could do there? I'd been so caught up with just living and adjusting to society that I was…



I gulped and resolved myself. I needed to be better. We'd made a deal and I hadn't been supplying. She said she wouldn't take, but…



A bit of food here, an item there in a quiet moment…



Maybe that would be enough?



"Gwen? You coming?" Sasha rang out from the cottage door.



I jumped. "Coming!" I called out



I took off my boots quickly, as Sasha did hers, and followed her into the kitchen.



"Hmm… Question. Have you ever had hunter's stew before?" Sasha asked, looking over her kitchen, the pantry, the sunlight streaming in through an open window in beams across her black iron stovetop.



"No? I've had stew, but nothing called hunter's stew," I said, thinking back to the assorted stews Mom and I had on the island. Most of it was from what we'd been able to forage, but some had been this stuff from these cans with a pin you used to peel off the top with a little hiss. They'd been fine over rice but that was about it, about as middling as stew could be if my first life's memories were right. Opening it up was probably more interesting than the actual consumption of it because of the little indents in the can you could tell were meant for claws. Bouillabaisse probably counted, but she was saying hunter's stew specifically, so it was probably something else.



"Well then, you're in for a treat. Old specialty a… a friend, of mine used to make, when I was sick," Sasha said with a faraway look in her eyes before she shook herself. "First, we get the fire going nice and hot…"



With that, we began preparation of 'hunters' stew.'



"Next, the butter," Sasha sang, and plopped in… okay that was a lot of butter in one pot. Wait. Butter.



"Where do you get butter?"



Sasha blinked, ears angling upward. "From town? Dairy corner usually sells some. Cheese too."



I shook my head. "But, like, from what animal?"



"That's a bit odd? Have you never seen a routhe before?" Sasha asked.



"No, what are they?"



"I think you'd like them. Big, four paws, wooly coat, rodent muzzle, two big teeth can eat about anything but usually graze. Girls get real big, usually pack animals but you can milk them, boys get eaten. Are you serious? You've never seen one before?"



"No," I said, feeling a bit uncertain now. Had I said too much? "I didn't see any in town."



"I guess you wouldn't, they're usually kept in their pens so they don't get up to too much trouble, if they're not out grazing… and out of the ember wheat fields, too. Huh, I guess we did avoid them. Will have to show them the next time we're in town."



I nodded, filing the description away.



"Anyway, next step," Sasha threw chopped onions, sausage, cala berries, and…



"Jam?" I pointed out, confused.



Sasha laughed at my look. "Trust me, it's good," she'd said adding a spoonful to the sautéing pot. Once everything was browned, she added clean water from a…



I blinked. Sasha's sink looked like the one I'd seen on Sandy's shipform, but like, that was only part of plumbing. "Sasha? Where does your water come from?" I asked.



Sasha herself blinked, mid pause adding a powder to the pot. "Pardon?"



"I just realized. You live out here in the forest alone, but you have a sink that never seems to run out of water. But everyone in town seems to use water barrels or buckets. Where is your water coming from?" I asked, head tilted and ears perked for her answer.



At this, Sasha laughed. "Good observation. Well, as a little secret between us, that 'sink' is connected to a water source, deep, deep underground. So far down it's hard to reach, but I have my ways," she said, wagging her claw tips. Her ears even twitched in amusement, bouncing a bit!



"Why doesn't Stonetown use it?"



Sasha frowned. "It's difficult. I can do it well enough here, but doing it for everyone would be exhausting, to the point I wouldn't be able to set it up for even half the village," she explained.



I tilted my head at her. "Is this a magic thing? It sounds like a magic thing."



Sasha's eyes went wide and her tail bristled. "How do you know?"



"I can smell you?" I said, confused. "You smell really strongly of magic. But Mom's magic is runes for thaumaturgy. Is that what you do?"



Sasha breathed, closing her eyes. "I… no, Gwen, that is not my magic, at all. But…" she gave me a considering look out of her eyes. "You can really smell magic on me?" she asked.



"Uh huh," I said.



"What do I smell like?"



I frowned, poking my cheek with my tongue to help me think. "It's hard," I said. "It's like it's mixed up with everything here. I smell herbs like rosemary and mint, but like, more, but that's just one layer. There's another layer of flowers and earth, like you got all the flowers together in one big basket but with like an earthy smell beneath like mud, but then…" I sniffed her again, making her quirk an eyebrow. "There's something bitter beneath it, like…" I huffed. "I can't figure it out. Just bitter.



Sasha slowly nodded. "I see, Gwen. That is… accurate. I don't think I've met many who can smell magic like you. That was surprisingly detailed."



I tilted my head, and my ears perked. "How do you feel magic?"



"For me, it's like a taste," Sasha said.



"How does that work?" I blurted out. "Do you have to like, lick something to know it's magic?"



Sasha laughed. "Not quite. When I was younger, I did find myself doing some…er, questionable tasting of the enchanted items in my home, but these days my range has extended a fair bit."



"You can extend your range?" I asked, excited. I could already smell magic pretty well, but like, it didn't feel all that much further than what I could smell up close.



"You can, with training," Sasha admitted. "It's finicky and really takes a while. Most don't really go beyond the base sense because it is troublesome to refine. You seem to be pretty good as it stands, but… why not? I'll see if I can help you, but first, let's finish lunch. Your mom should be back soon, so let's treat her, shall we?"



I nodded rapidly, already excited about the possibility. I wanted to know all the magic things. Sure, Mom was a terrible teacher and had her head up in Cloud Theory, but like, it was still magic. Or Thaumaturgy. Or was there a difference? We hadn't had much chance to do more magic training since the island. Maybe we could pick it back now?



I was also excited about the stew, but that was needless to say. Food!



The door banged open. Mom, in her tank top, came in carrying a load of firewood in her arms. Sweat glistened on her skin and her bangs clung to her forehead. I turned to get Mom some water as I imagined she was thirsty and looked back to see Sasha staring.



Oh…eww.



"Smells good in here. You two finish up outside?" Mom asked, setting the wood in the wood pile bin. She stretched, groaning as she did and wiped the sweat off her brow. Sasha still stared.



"Yes, I helped Sasha weed her garden," I said, handing Mom a cup she gladly gulped from. Sasha jumped and quickly turned back to the stove. "Sasha was showing me how to make hunter's stew and how she tastes magic," I said, hopping on a chair to sit.



Sasha jumped, tail bristling. Mom's ears went straight up. "You know? Wait, how?"



I stared at Mom. I pointed to my nose. Sasha laughed.



Mom sheepishly rubbed her head, ears close to her skull. "Okay, I deserved that. I was going to go over a bit of that over lunch today, but, er…"



"I already knew?" I queried.



"Yeah," Mom said. "I think we need to have a conversation about keeping that nose of yours to yourself, but it works out. Kitten, Sasha and I had a long talk the other night. I shared with her our, er, situation, and she's agreed to help with Sandy."



"Indeed," Sasha said, placing a bowl first before Eliza, and then me. She then took a block of brown cheese and grated it over the bowl of stew with sausage, mushrooms, and onions.



"Well! We have a bit to discuss, but I for one am famished, so food first, then we talk, okay?"



I nodded, grabbed my own spoon, and dug in. The stew was savory and filling as it should be, but the addition of fresh fennel added a touch of anise while the cheese brought a sweet, almost caramel twinge to it that really enhanced the whole thing.



…



I wanted seconds.



~~~~



It felt surreal how life here, at Sasha's cottage, even traveling to Stonetown, became normal, even routine.



Take today, for instance. We were in town again. Sasha had business delivering some medicines to people around town, so Mom had taken us through the town square market on our way to meet with Jonas to see how they were doing while we were here.



It was…



It was just a routine visit. Sasha did this several times a week, and now the village that called itself a town was becoming near familiar, which was so, so utterly weird.



My life was dominated by survival and isolation. But, lately, as in the last six months, that'd shifted. First, it was just me and Mom, but then Sandy woke up, adding her light to my life. Things weren't easier, but a world of two became a world of three. Then, after making our way to the mainland, I met Zenn, Jonas, and the other hunters. I didn't know the others very well, but I knew Zenn, and Zenn knew me, and had pounced on me over twenty times at this point when I wasn't expecting it.



Now, here, civilization!



…



I still didn't really know what that meant.



I had ideas about that from my first life, but that life knew things, felt things differently. My life, my experiences were of being here. For most of the time I'd been alive I'd known just an island and my Mom: no one else.



The first thing that came with civilization were people. Kinda hard to escape, really. There were so many. There were only a few hundred in Stonetown, but compared to what I knew it was overwhelming even if intellectually I knew it was nothing compared to the millions strong cities in my first life. Sometimes, when I felt curious eyes on me, I still felt an urge to freeze, but fortunately I was able to hide behind Mom's legs when that happened.



…



That may have happened more than I liked to admit.



Safety was another thing I knew civilization entailed. At least, I felt safer here than I had in the wilderness. It wasn't so much the lack of threats as the walls of the town were, presumably, there for a reason, and I knew there were things stalking the wilderness. The false seal was example of that, but I'd overheard people talking about other things. This wasn't even to mention normal wild animals that might be food or might be threats. But the presence of so many catfolk in one place, of having others I could, theoretically, go to for help was… reassuring.



Convenience was another. Case in point: I had a little pastry I was nibbling on. Kinda like a meat pie I could hold, but with fish! Yum. Mom had purchased it for me when we came back to town with Sasha. This was just… food, which was there, in exchange for some metal coins I couldn't eat.



Currency and monetary exchange were weird and I don't care how normal it was for societies.



"Gweeeen!" a voice shouted out. A voice that was approaching like a storm.



Reflexes kicked in. I whirled, crouched low. A certain blonde haired catgirl was rapidly closing in. I was nowhere near strong or sturdy enough to withstand her tackle hugs. Experience showed this thoroughly. Escaping in a linear direction via running wasn't an option, either. Zenn was materially much faster than I was thanks to her longer legs.



Zenn arrival was imminent. Her arms pumped, eyes were dilated, and her knees already bent. She was milliseconds from leaping at me. A small cloud of dust struck up as she lifted off.



Solution: I needed to duck and roll out of the way, preferably to the side.



Time moved slowly. I saw her outstretched mid-leap. I moved, thighs tensed to throw myself aside and down, but I was moving so slowly while even in this glacial state she was still fast. I didn't think I was going to make it, but miracle of miracles, Zenn had misjudged. She jumped slightly higher than she intended. She sailed by overhead as I rolled down, letting me skate by a hair's width underneath. I felt the wind of her passing form as she completed her leap.



Realization of what I'd done flooded me as she landed. I'd dodged! I'd actually dodged Zenn for the first—



"Gafk!" I grunted as Zenn had, while I'd been distracted, effortlessly pivoted on the soles of her paws, and jumped back at me in one smooth movement. I was tackled to the ground.



Stunned, I was powerless as Zenn's purring began and she rubbed her cheek against mine.



"Eliza!" Jonas panted as he ran up, ears folded. "Sorry, Zenn got away from me," he said apologetically, leaning on a staff he'd gotten from somewhere. I tried to wiggle out from under Zenn but she just held on tighter!



Eliza laughed at my predicament. "It's not an issue, Jonas. Pouncing's good for the soul." Eliza shook her hair, ears angled forward inquisitively. "What's got you up and about, Jonas? I thought the other refugees were still settling in?"



"Ah, yes," he huffed. "It is... well enough, so far. I imagine there will have to be news spread to the Spire lord of what happened in the north, but everyone is happy to settle in for now even if Grace is acting as a task master. Evidently there's good local game here, so they can continue their professions."



Eliza nodded. "As for you?"



"Eh, there is always business for someone needing an arm set or a document written. Your own sponsor seems to have the medicine side of things cornered here, but I am finding my own means to care for Zenn," he said.



At this point, Zenn stopped purring and looked up. "Jonas! We need to take Gwen and Elzie fishing with us!" she said and then hopped up. I was left mildly dazed and stunned on the ground.



"Fishing?" Eliza looked over Jonas.



"There is good fish to be had in the river, or so I've been told here by the local fishertoms and mollys. I figured I'd take Zenn out for a bit, catch a bit of dinner, and…hopefully, teach her a degree of patience," he grumbled. Zenn just grinned, looking at the two of them idly. I sat up and took a bite of my fish pastry that was miraculously fine and intact through the whole puncing experience.



"What do you say, Gwen? Wanna show Zenn how good you are at fishing?" Mom asked with a little smile.



I knew she was playing me, but I couldn't resist nodding. Rapidly.



Zenn squealed.



…



Actually, getting to fish took a while. We had to procure rods, hooks, and bait. The bait was easy enough given they were worms we dug up on the side of the river, and the hooks were, well, metal hooks, maybe a bit cruder than what I was used to from the island, but the rods were a bit different. Mom had said back on the island the fishing rods Sandy had were "typical survival gear," being collapsible rods with a basic line mechanism and loops. The ones here were a lot simpler, made of tomtom branches carved and modified by knife and claw, and didn't really have a mechanism so much as they had a slight notch at the mid-point to tie the wood, a groove to lay some line, and another notch at the tip to tie the line. The line itself was made of a fine cordage, apparently made from "Silk Weed" which… yeah that didn't make sense to me, but apparently it was something that grew around here and bugged ember wheat? The sinker wasn't lead but was a dense little rock while the bobber was a piece of light sandalwood.



"There," I mumble as I finished tying my line. Mom smiled down at me and gave me a pat on the head, long finished with her own rod. Jonas had his own ready and was still helping with Zenn's own. She looked up and saw my own ready and went dead still. I swear I saw her ears bounce upward and her tail bristle before she tried to rapidly finish tying her line together. This did not work. At all.



"Grrr!" Zenn literally growled as her knot failed at being a knot, hook failed to stay on, and line overall was not bound to the fishing rod at all. She looked over at me. I waved, holding up my tied fishing line. Mom doubled over briefly, shaking with a claw over her mouth before she abruptly straightened with a huff. Zenn looked up at Jonas with pleading eyes.



Jonas sighed. "Once more, from the beginning," he said warily, and began showing her how to tie the line step by step, his gray claws dutifully dancing over the line as illustrated how to tie the line.



Minutes later, Zenn got it with a triumphant cry!



…



I looked up at Mom. She had a grin. I mirrored hers. We both didn't say anything. We'd been done a while ago.



We hadn't fished quite in the village as that was where everyone did their laundry, got their water, and was constantly disturbed by the water mill going steady and strong. All of this was enough that most fish were spooked off. Instead, we went outside Stonetown in the afternoon and followed the river until we came to a promising spot. We found an outcropping that had a little bit of a drop to it made of rock, and setup there. There were several shady spots nearby, even some reeds near the riverbanks, albeit not too many as the water was flowing.



With a spot found, I hefted my fishing pole. Its weight was different to the ones I was used to, a bit heavier than the one on the island and I think even the ones in my first life but still seemed solid. It also required a bit of a different style to throw the line out as you had to throw the weight to make the line go out.



Jonas spun the sinker, hook, baited worm, and bobber end like a sling for a moment before throwing it out to plop a ways into the water. Mom saw him doing this and frowned. She started the slinging motion for a bit but stopped as the spin wobbled awkwardly on her first try. Instead, she grabbed the weighted end and gave it a good throw. It didn't go as far out, but she wasn't far off from Jonas' own technique.



I poked my tongue in my cheek. If Mom couldn't get the spin thing, I doubted I could. On the other claw, I really wanted to try it. So, I did.



It took me a bit to figure out how to spin the line on my claw but eventually I was able to get a wobbly spin going. I let go.



I was confused when I saw nothing in the water. No splish, no splash of a line hitting the water, just the wind and gentle flow of water. I then spotted my line going nowhere near the water.



I felt a sinking feeling inside that turned into a gaping pit as I took in what I'd done. I'd managed to throw my line at a 90-degree angle and wrapped it around Zenn's own fishing pole. Zenn stared, then looked at me. "But Gwen, I'm not a fish?"



There was silence along the river save the gentle yet steady flow of water. Then, Mom betrayed me. It started with an escaped breath she tried to hold in and soon erupted into giggles that had her doubling over. Jonas chuckled. My face heated up. "Mom!" I pouted.



"Sorry Kitten, that…" Mom tried, but ended up giggling all over again.



Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Zenn grinning. But that had to be my imagination as she was back to looking confused by all the giggling.



Much, much later, everyone calmed down, I steadfastly ignored how Mom had betrayed me yet again, and we all had our lines out. I hadn't managed to throw it very far compared to Mom and Jonas, but I had gone further than Zenn, but she hadn't seemed too bothered at that point. Now, we just… lazed.



Oh, we kept an eye on our lines. All of our ears were perked for any sound or movement in the water. But it was a sunny day, the rock was nice and warm, and we were all cozy, or so I presumed. Jonas had his eyes closed, claw tip on his fishing pole. Mom had her eyes half lidded and glanced over at me every so often. Zenn was really intent on her line, near perfectly still, so maybe she wasn't so relaxed.



Still, nothing was biting, and that was fine.



Evidently, thinking that was enough to make a fish angry. Zenn gasped as her bobber went down and she immediately jerked her fishing pole back, starting to draw it in.



"Careful," Jonas said, steadying her. "Slow and steady, just draw the line in, tire him out…"



Zenn bit her lip, fangs glinting as she pulled the line in, wrapping it around her claw. Bit by bit, a struggling shadow was pulled in until, with one final tug, she pulled it onto the bank and snagged it. "I did it!" she shouted, holding a small reddish rustfin up for everyone to see.



"Very good!"

"Way to go!"

"Well done!"



We all cried something different, but she was really happy, practically vibrating in place now that she had a fish. Jonas helped her unhook it and tossed it in a bucket with a bit of water. "I imagine this fellow will be quite good in tonight's meal, right Zenn?"



Zenn nodded excitedly.



Like that, we continued fishing for a while. Mom caught a 'biter' fish, which had an eel like head and teeth like a piranha from my first life and was about half as long as her arm. Its scales were dark, but she said they were great in soup. Jonas caught a few perch as well.



The afternoon wore on. Mom yawned. "I'm going to go pee," Eliza said. "Do you need to pee, Gwen?"



I shook my head. "No, Mama, I'm good," I said, eyes focused on my line. I hadn't even gotten a nibble yet. Zenn knew this and kept looking at me with a grin.



A minute later, I groaned. "When am I going to get a bite?" I whined.



At this point, almost as if called, I felt a nibble on my line. My ears perked back up and tail bristled. I stood up, ready to begin reeling in once it was on firmly.



A shadow rose in the water, nearly the size of Mom's biter fish from earlier. The nibble soon turned into a full chomp, but I was braced and ready, grip strong on the fishing pole. I reeled the line in, ready to tire it out.



…



I was not ready for the much, much larger shadow that rose from the murky water. The fish on my line disappeared deep into the other's gullet and the tug on my pole went from strong but reasonable to monstrous. I was jerked forward. I heard shouts, a scream, and then I was falling.



I broke into the water with a tremendous, unplanned splash. I panicked and inhaled. Murky water flooded my chest, and pain stung inside as I coughed again and again. This was soon compounded by a burning lack of air that began intensifying. After a few moments, I opened my eyes and saw light. I swam upward frantically, almost reaching the surface only for something to latch onto my foot, dragging me deeper into the silty, disturbed water.



No no no no no no no no not again! I thought, visions of a beautiful face, a lovely face, a face I should trust, a voice I should adore, dancing in my thoughts.



Blindly, I flailed, kicking, but it was latched on firmly. It was vague, this deep in the water, but I saw the huge shadow heading for the deepest part of the muddy streambed. It finally let go. I swam up, lungs burning, into the light. I broke the surface and gasped big, beautiful, life-giving lung-fulls of air. "Mama!" I screamed, unable to see clearly from the water in my eyes. I heard someone dive into the water.



My hairs, wet as they were, stood on end. I whirled. In the murk, I saw it.



A gaping mouth, rimmed with thousands of tiny teeth, an all-consuming abyss framed by distinctive whiskers.



It was a freaking catfish. A huge one, at that. Easily twice if not three times my size. It stayed still for a moment, as if orienting itself, then it burst forward. I screamed. Then, I kicked upward, but it didn't matter. My skin crawled like wiggling bugs of ice were beneath it while my heartrate skyrocketed. Time slowed.



Its mouth gaped wider, and I felt what force I had overwhelmed. The currents shifted, and I was dragged into its gaping maw. I tried to scream but couldn't. I was gagged, choking on water air rushing from me in a wordless scream that formed bubbles that raced for the surface. At the last second I held my arms out. This wasn't intentional. I flailed, only.



I was sunk into its mouth up to my waist. It bit down. Hard. It hurt, my flesh compressing beneath it. A bone might have broken.



I panicked. The catfish dove deeper, mouth moving, undulating, gnawing around me. I slipped further into its insides, my tiny claws unable to find purchase on its smooth scales as the light from above faded into a pale dream.



I don't want to be eaten I don't want to be eaten I don't want to die I don't want to die Mama save me please please please please please please—



Golden eyes opened on an endless beach. Impressions rushed through me. Great and mighty cats leaping upon deer, bison, great and strange cats in a thousand landscapes and a thousand situations all on the hunt, some even clashing with scaled Titans.



The message was clear.



You are not prey.



I was not flooded with new energy. The catfish did not release its hold as it kept swimming. Instead, I remembered.



I had claws.



I blindly grasped around the upper part of its head, around the mouth that still gripped me, until I found a little recess. My claws extended. I dug in. Cut.



Blood entered the water.



The catfish thrashed but didn't spit me out. I dug my claws in deeper. I didn't find the left eye, but the right side? Well, I found something soft and squishy parting beneath my claws like jelly as I gouged deeper. If it was going to eat me, it would pay for its meal.



A shadow from above came down. I didn't see clearly, and the lack of air was horrible. My lungs were in agony. I had long since gasped out my last breath of air from the surface. Mama… I thought.



I was pulled but the catfish didn't budge. The shape, the blurry, fuzzy shape, moved, and reached around the catfish's body. Then, claws glinted. Blood was in the water. Now? It flowed as the shape tore at the monstrous fish's left side. The gills.



The catfish had enough. It spat me out and disappeared into the murk. The lack of air was really bad. My vision was went dark.



I felt a tug. Lightening pressure. Light.



Air.



I gasped or tried to. I coughed up water. Then I did it again. I finally, finally, coughed up the last and breathed in. That breath was the sweetest breath of air I'd ever had in this life enter my lungs. Nothing in my first life compared to it. With air came an ability to think. I opened my eyes, expecting Mom. Instead, I saw Zenn.



Her eyes were dilated. She was panicked. I felt her claws poking me. She tried to say something but water splashed in her mouth, leaving her sputtering. I don't think she even had the breadth to say anything as we splashed, weak.



Then another form grabbed us. Mom.



Mom was in the water, with us. She dragged us to the shore.



"Oh, gods my kitten please be okay please be okay please be okay," she chanted, fear deep in her voice.



I wanted to say I was okay, but I was just so tired and the soil bank felt so soft, the sun felt so nice. I closed my eyes, just trying to breathe.



A splash. I heard footsteps. Something shifted near me. I opened my eyes. Jonas hugged Zenn. He was pale, utterly soaked. He'd left tracks on the bank.



"Eliza, I'm—" Jonas began, haggard.



"Not. Now," Eliza growled. Jonas looked down, claws clenched and trembling. In fact, he was trembling all over and breathing heavily. "Gwen, answer me, please, kitten, please please be okay," Mom said, rapidly.



"Mama," I managed, reaching for her. She gasped. She pulled me close to her. I felt her warmth. I tried to embrace her and could only weakly hug her.



"It's going to be okay, Kitten, it's going to be okay," Eliza said, low and in my ear."



"Is… is Gwen okay?" a young, trembling voice asked. Zenn.



Slowly, ever so slowly, I lolled my head to look at Zenn, kneeling while Jonas hugged and looked over her. I waved weakly.



The action started her so much she looked dumbfounded, and then she grinned, bright as the sun.



~~~~



There was a party that night. Why? It was a fair question, I thought. A kitten eating fish was in the waters and no one had suspected a thing.



But that's not how it was seen. Instead, we were celebrated. No one died. No one was hurt. I was bruised, but nothing was broken. Fishertoms prowled the river in droves until they found the catfish in the deepest part of the river.



To call the fish a monster was not inaccurate because its size, I think, beat out anything my first life ever even heard of.



Four meters long. 300kg. They checked. Weighed it.



That wasn't just a kitten eater. It was a cat folk eater at that size. How I'd held onto the edges of its mouth I had no idea.



Under normal circumstances, such a large, monstrous catfish would've or should've been difficult to catch, elusive and strong. But evidently, it wasn't. Ohhhhh no.



Zenn and I, we'd hurt it, badly. I'd gotten one of its eyes and dug in pretty good. Zenn? She'd savaged its left gills beyond repair. It was wrecked and apparently just took a few decently strong catfolk with nets to haul in.



Now? It was dinner. A big dinner. All the older molly matrons bickered as they figured out how to roast it properly for a feast.



Tables had been set up in town square. Matrons came and prepared food left and right, fisher toms brought extra stuff in for the catch as even a monster catfish wouldn't stretch to completely feed every single cat folk.



I was sat at a table, squirming a bit. Mom was with me, claw on my shoulder. She smiled down at me. Zenn and Jonas were there as well. Zenn was oohing and ahhing as people came and went, bringing more dishes out with every passing minute. I saw bottomless greed reflected in her eyes as her stomach growled. I doubt I was much better.



Jonas looked tired, a bit haunted, but kept a small smile on his face when Zenn glanced his way.



A stage was set. A band began playing. Some drums, some pipes, and a stringed instrument. I didn't recognize the style of music, but I felt a primal beat with the drums. Catfolk began stomping to the beat.



"Gwen and Zenn!" was chanted by someone. There was a pause. Then it was repeated. "Gwen and Zenn, River monster slayers!!" someone shouted. I gaped. I hadn't slain it. I'd barely survived. Luck, Zenn, and Idir's advice were the only reason I still breathed. I wasn't a monster slayer. It didn't matter. "Kittens with the strength of heroes!" another voice chanted. I glanced to see the old cookshop woman grinning crookedly at me, her grandson staring wide eyed at her side.



"Mama?" I choked. I felt hundreds of eyes on me.



Mom stroked my hair. "It's okay, Gwen. What you did was amazing. You hurt a monster. Why shouldn't you be commended? Feats deserve recognition," Mom said, but her voice was a little bitter as she glanced aside.



I instantly knew the bitterness wasn't about me. It was at herself. I shouldn't have been in that situation, I knew. But I was.



A small voice in my head asked, What if she's right?



The hundreds of eyes looking to me, that were still chanting, took on a new meaning. They weren't looking at a stranger. They were looking at me.



Is this what community felt like?



My chest felt light and heavy. My eyes were watery. A silence fell over the town. Sasha walked up. She smiled down at us. "Heroes, the both of you," she said. Zenn beamed. I groaned. Sasha laughed. "And now, the best part," she said, and plopped down a tray with a large mass of roast meat.



I immediately knew what it was. The monstrous catfish's heart. Zenn licked her lips. I mirrored her.



We ate, and I knew joy.



~~~~



Later, after the party, I was using a bathroom. Not exactly one and a chamber pot, but I could be on my own. My belly hurt from all the food. As soon as we finished one thing, another would be placed before us. I think I tried every single way catfish could be cooked. Period.



I reached into my mouth. There, on the sides of my gums, was a piece of mostly unchewed heart meat. It'd been there a while, but even so, it was tough. I pulled it out, and held it in the palm of my claws



It wasn't ideal. It really wasn't. But I couldn't share her secret with others, not yet. I owed Idir.



Thinking of her name attracted her attention. It was lagging, tired, even wavering, but I knew she was looking at me.



"It's not much. I couldn't just take the whole heart then and there. But… I saved a piece, for you." I held my claw up higher and closed my eyes.



Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I heard a purr. I opened my eyes and the heart piece was gone.



I breathed out. I wasn't sure she'd take it. But she appreciated it, evidently.



Progress.



That night, I went to sleep. I knew the nightmares were still there. That gaping abyss of a mouth was going to be there. But now, as I drifted off to sleep, the events of the day replaying in my head, I couldn't help but look to the future. Some of it was still scary, still dark, but…



I couldn't help but dream of a sunlit future.



~~~~

Chapter 31 Author's Notes

That is arc 2, people, break out the champagne!



But no seriously, surreal to realize I am this far into my work. It's also a little bittersweet, in a sense, as this is the last chapter with smol Gwen. Oh, we're not done with her by a long shot, but next time we see her she's going to have grown a fair bit.



Now, I did get some new art! YoruAlice did it again and this time we have artwork of Chapter 16, called, "I Wish I Could Have Known You".

We might have a bit of a pause here as I write up some more. I would like have ten more chapters stocked and ready to go, and currently have about five. Progress has been a bit slow, but for a good reason.



So I mentioned losing my teaching job? Still bitter about that, but my writing has actually been taking off. I've gotten a lot of commissions in, and it's getting to the point I can about break even with my writing.



So, I know this is old, but I must reiterate. Every last bit helps, and I would deeply appreciate it if you like my writing to check out my patreon or, hey, maybe want to commission something from me, that would be great and help me keep writing for all of you, my wonderful readers. Ideally this becomes my mainstream, go to thing and I can keep providing wonderful words for you all. Wouldn't that be nice?



https://hiddenmasterarchive.carrd.co/