Vhalar 42, immediately following this
With the fish consumed, Charlie and Sprinkles wanted to rest a bit, lazing about in the sunshine. Qit'ria didn't particularly wish to join them, but she had to blend in as a cat proper. So she did. And it did feel nice, belly full, resting in the morning sun. It made her wanna nap.
"So what brings a beauty like you from Desnind? Your human move here or something?"
She saw the cats' tails bouncing up and down while laying on their side, and so, she did the same. "Yes. She here on mission. She good human. She speak cat. Good to me. I want help her."
This caught their attention, "She can speak to you? And not in the baby voice like Sprinkles' human speaks to him? That's amazing. What's the mission?"
"She want find Mantis. Thank them for helping her father."
"I don't know this human word. Mantis? What does that mean?"
"It hard say. But sound like this," she slowly said the word, elongated and aloud in Common, with a bit of a mrowing accent on it. She remembered how Bear had spoken as a fox when they'd first met. "I look for human that say that word. Maybe help my human. She give many fish for help."
Charlie and Sprinkles bobbed their heads. "I've never heard my human say that word, what about you Sprinks?"
Sprinkles nodded, "My human doesn't. But her dad does. Always over dinner when he comes home. Sometimes over breakfast too."
Qit'ria perked up at that. "When is him breakfast?"
"Soon I guess."
"Take me."
Sprinkles wasn't the argumentative type and had nothing better to do, and so, he led the way to his human's house. Once there, the three hopped up on the window sill, peering into a kitchen and dining room. There was a little girl, no older than seven or eight arcs, a spitting image of the mother working the skillet on the hearth, and a slender man reading a scroll while sipping a dark liquid from his mug. That must be the dad, meaning the little girl was Sprinkles' human. She could see the man talking but couldn't quite hear it through the glass, it was muffled.
She touched her head to the glass, her ears twitching in his direction and she could pick out a few words every so often. An Order. Arrest. Burning. Hunting. The man laughed a lot. The little girl though, she was busy watching the three cats, her smile growing by the moment. She was now pointing at them, and saying something to her father. He looked over at them, and Qit'ria could see his eyes for the first time. There was nothing unique or special about them, but she saw not the eyes of a predator like her, nor one of a prey. These were something else. Cruel yet cowardly. He was afraid of something, and wished to punish it. But it was because he was weak, not because they were a true threat.
A despicable man.
He chuckled at the sight of the three cats on the sill, and turned back to the scroll he was reading. Qit couldn't see the words from here, not that she could read them anyways. Was this what her mother meant? Could that scroll hold important information? Before, Qit wouldn't have thought so, but now, now she wasn't so sure. She'd never really needed to know things that were written down, she learned by doing, learned from her own experiences and the teachings of her mother. She'd have to focus on learning to read then. She wondered if Oonah could help.
She watched as the older woman served food for everyone, and how they ate together. It was a strange concept, watching a family eat a meal together. It wasn't how Qit was raised. Her family never shared a meal. Sometimes Yeye would cook for Qit while her mum was away on a hunt, but Qit'ria had become self sufficient pretty early on. She found herself wondering what life would've been with a family that shared meals like this.
She thought back to Caza back in their rented room. She wanted to be different than her own mother. Maybe this would be one of the ways. When Caza was no longer required to suckle from her breast, every meal would be as a family proper. She didn't do the whole... house thing right now, but maybe one day she could. It wouldn't be so bad if she built it herself, out in the wilderness somewhere. A permanent camp. Yeye could be there once she rescued him. Noth too.
But that was a fantasy.
Nothing more. She had to stick to the mission at hand. She needed to learn more about this man. So she watched as the family ate and talked. Then the man got up, pulled on a cloak, and made way for the door. She heard it open on the wall they were upon, and all three cats' heads turned to watch the man leave. He wore a hat now, a floppy brim, and he looked at the three cats once more. He chuckled, "Making friends Sprinkles?" He tipped his hat at the cats, and disappeared down the street.
Qit'ria looked at Sprinkles, and if a cat could shrug without moving, he did. Clearly he'd never bothered to follow the man before. Well totrial was the trial. But she didn't wish to underestimate her prey. If he was a member of a mage hunting group, and if Qit'ria's mother was one of their number, surely he must have some skill in recognizing things that were unusual, such as being followed by a trio of cats. But Qit had no doubts that she was a better hunter than this man.
She leapt down from the window sill, and immediately darted across the road toward the building the man disappeared beyond. She leapt upon a barrel, then up on a crate. Maintaining her momentum, she leapt up at a clay pipe that served as a gutter drain. She got her paws around the width of the pipe, but found her claws were unable to find proper purchase. She began sliding down, scowling in displeasure. Until she came to an abrupt stop. She looked down and saw her claws found grip on a metal fastener that held the pipe in place. Looking up, she saw several of them up the length of it.
She crouched down, the sprung upwards to the next one, getting her claws over the edge. She found it strange that her claws were so small and weak seeming yet could support her full weight without breaking or even pain. She pulled herself up and over the fastener and continued the process until she was atop the two story building. She quickly ran over to the the banister atop the build, and ran along it. Behind her, she could hear her friends joining her, as she ran the length, looking down in the road ahead.
There! She spotted the hat and cloak in the distance, turning right. Normally she'd turn into something that could fly, but she wanted to maintain her cover with the cats. There was a clothes line up ahead. She ran up to it, and turned sharply on it in order to line up her body better. Claws extended gave her some extra grip along the rope, as she scurried across the rope. She found it easier than she expected, she'd never tried this in her self form. After all this Mantis business was done, she'd give it a go.
Clamoring atop the new building, she was once more on a ledge, running along, seeing the man far off in the distance. She watched him enter a building at the far end of the road, but as she ran along, Charlie called out to her, "Wait! This is the King's territory!" She saw the door close ahead, and she wanted to rush over, find a way into that building. "We're in danger!" This brought her to a halt. Danger? King's territory. She stopped, looking back at her friends as they caught up.
She took a moment to stop and think, something she was not in the habit of doing. She realized then that she knew where her target was, and where to find him. And where his family was. They were a weakness. His people had taken her family, she could take his. Make him do what she wanted him to do. That could work. And she could spend time scouting this building, looking for ways in, seeing if other people used it. Gather information. Be smart. Why was her mother's words being so damn helpful when the woman had turned against Qit'ria and her father?
Before she could ask Charlie and Sprinkles what was meant by danger, another voice rang out. "Well, well, well... Charlie my boy. You've returned to me." A large cat appeared from the opposite side of the building, accompanied by several dozen other cats. He was a full half shoulder larger than them, pure muscle, with lots of silver and white fur.
Qit'ria turned to face this invading entourage, stepping out protectively in front of Sprinkles and Charlie. She realized she'd put them in danger now, by being reckless, again. And they'd been nothing but helpful. They were her responsibility now. "And who's this little beauty? Did you find a new mate Charlie? Natasha would be so offended. She still loves you, you know?"
Qit glared as the cats moved in surrounding them, the hair bristling along the length of her spine. Charlie and Sprinkles though, flattened themselves against the roof, their ears tucked against their skulls in submission. "What's your name sweetheart?"
