As the dawn light paints everything pink and gold, I’ve torn this bed apart and searched the bedroom. Grumpily, Lightning has helped , despite her displeasure at being awakened so early. It’s an ergency. Kaline is missing!
[Where is she? Gussie! Demos! Lobo!]
All I get is (a) grumpy sleepiness (Gussie), (b) silence (Demos), and (c) dreaminess (Lobo). This is an ergency! What are they thinking?
[STOP IT.]
Lightning’s sharp words don’t penetrate, because I’m too busy poking my nose in the wrecked bed. Kaline has to be here.
[I said STOP! You are making crazy.]
WHAM.
Lightning slams into . A bus would be less forceful. It’s the pressure formula. Pressure is greater when it’s more concentrated. It’s why the pressure of the heel of Kaline’s boot is greater than the pressure of an elephant’s foot. It’s simple physics.
[What was that for?]
I sprawl underneath Lightning, flat on my back with my back feet and tail in the air.
[Because you are unbelievable.] Lightning is sulky. [She’s probably gone down to breakfast.]
[Without ? Impossible.]
I reach out through the bond to feel Kaline. Is she in danger?
No.
Her emotions wash over . And it’s the most shocking thing.
She’s deliriously happy. Almost as if she’s in LOVE. Or at least in like. A tween crush.
[She’s with Hans!]
Lightning huffs. [Caught on, did you? I was trying to tell you.]
The penny drops. I lean back, letting the cool rumpled sheets comfort in my humiliation.
[You can feel Hans’ emotions.]
Lightning gives a pitying lick, her tongue wet against my fur. [More than that, I can hear snatches of his thoughts.]
Oh. Do I want to know?
[And what is he thinking?]
She sniffs. [You’re not ready for that.]
[LIGHTNING!]
She prowls around , her eyes serious, focused on like a target lock. [You know, I’m a little bored with you being so obsessed with your tar.]
[Shouldn’t I be? Our fates are linked. She’d worry about . Like when I was kidnapped. And the ex-Lady Rosabel is still at large, along with Stinkor.]
[STINKOR?]
Lightning’s mood shifts in a second, and she rolls on the bed laughing hysterically.
[It’s a na I heard sowhere. The na of a horribly stinky skunk beast. A an skunk that legends warn about.]
[I never heard that legend. STINKOR. I love it. So, the forr mistress would be Lady Stinkor?]
Now I get an attack of laughter, rolling around on the bed beside Lightning. [She’s no lady.]
[High Elf or not, she never was!]
The laughter after all the tension is welco. It’s a warm sunny morning after days of rain. It’s the first taste of sumr fruit, in this case crunchy exotic fruits in Tanglewood. It’s a fun afternoon, or morning, with a friend.
By now, Lightning is definitely a friend.
We laugh until we can’t laugh any more, until we’re wheezing and need to calm down. [No more.] I recline on the bed, staring up at the blue and white painted ceiling. [No more.]
[You started it. STINKOR. That’s going to beco famous. You mark my words.]
I let out a "mrrrp." [I want credit.]
[You’re a beast. You won’t get it, no matter how much the humans value you.]
Before, I was dazzled by this she-tiger. Now that we’re spending more ti together, I’m starting to notice things. Her attitude towards humans, for example.
I test the waters. [They really do act like they discovered everything, don’t they? Still, Hans is a decent sort.]
[DECENT!] Her fur puffs out and seems to glow golden.
Wait, does mine do that, too?
Lightning continues, not noticing my distracted state of mind. [Young Master is more than decent, or your Young Miss would not be spending ti with him.]
I now know what people an when they talk about butterflies in their stomach, because I have them. Just thinking about Young Master Hans with Kaline makes feel lost. For god’s sake, why? Maybe I’m being protective?
Young Master Hans is a good guy. He’s what I think of when I think of the ideal elf. He’s like Legolas or Elrond from J.R.R. Tolkien. Which would make Niall Frodo or Bilbo or any of the other hobbits. And as for , well, they really didn’t have any animals around. Oh, they had horses. And eagles. And the orcs/goblins rode on wolves. There was Smaug...I’m getting distracted again, aren’t I?
[I suppose he is more than decent.]
Lightning snorts and sniffs . I notice she slls fresh this morning, and she also slls of the bedsheets. Fresh but comfortable and familiar.
[You sll of jealousy. Your human is paying attention to soone other than you or her parents or sister.]
I scoff. [I am not jealous.]
Am I? I think I am. Not in the romantic sense, but in the sense that Kaline is like a best friend whose ti and energy I want to keep for myself.
[My nose does not lie.]
I pivot, sniffing her. [You sll good.]
Her ears wiggle, and if tigers can blush, she does. [Go on with you.]
[My nose does not lie.] I can’t resist.
She preens, acting like I’ve paid her the biggest complint in the world. I guess for animals it is. Co to think of it, humans generally like to hear that they sll pleasant. But for animals, it’s a way of life, really. I once read that humans are the only creatures that want to remove or mask their own scent on a daily basis. Every other creature is proud of how they sll. Oh, sure, so want to be sweet slling or stinky or mask their scent or stay upwind so no one can detect them. But in general, animals and birds and insects like going au naturel in terms of scent.
[You think I sll good?]
[I do.]
Is that a tiger pickup line? But no, we’re still tiger cubs, we’re not thinking about things like that. On the other hand, animals mature faster than humans. And Damon used to say...
Damon.
I can’t believe he is playing Lobo. All this ti I thought it was Demos because of the similar na and the fact that we were in the sa house. But now, Lobo and I are part of the sa house and family. But it doesn’t matter. I can’t randomly start calling him "Damon" or talk about our human lives. He’d either laugh it off or think I was cursed. Worst case scenario, I’d be taken away. And then I’d really fail. And then maybe I’d have to start the ga all over again.
How does that work?
System. If my tars think I’m dangerous, do they just trade ? Or do they send back to the forest and I have to restart?
I don’t even want to think about any other alternatives.
The System responds. [It is very, very important that you not be considered a nace. To be untamable is one of the worst things a beast can be.]
The System doesn’t offer much comfort, but then, I didn’t ask for any. I needed to know the truth. That’s not true, on second thought. I was hoping that the answer had changed.
So, no contacting Damon, right, System?
[That is your old life. What good does it do to cling to it?]
None that I can see. And in the present, Lightning is nuzzling , bumping her nose against mine. Remind to give her complints more often.
[Give Lightning more complints.]
Thank you, System.
[So, you like the way I sll, Lightning?]
Her nose wrinkles. [Actually, no.]
WHAT? My heart just sank into the floor.
[I sll bad? Like Stinkor?]
Lightning responds swiftly. [Well, sothing does. Almost like old dirty caves...Oh no!]
She growls, her teeth flashing white and dazzling, and recoils as if she’s going to pounce. Whatever she’s discovered, she doesn’t like it.
Then my ears and nose pick up the bad news.
The dank, musty cave sll. Inhuman grunts and groans, and high-pitched cackling like in a cartoon. Then the footsteps. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Lots of footsteps
I broadcast my panic and "red alert" feelings to Kaline. [Lightning, Hans needs to know...]
Her growl rings out. [Way ahead of you.]
Naturally, her growl is contagious, and I growl too, warning whatever is approaching us to be on its guard. If it wants to ss with us, it better think again.
But the intruders either don’t hear us or don’t want to listen. The footsteps draw closer, and grow louder. My eardrums rattle. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
I leap off the bed, and like cats everywhere, land on my feet. A soft PLOP and Lightning lands beside . We creep across the floor toward the open bedroom door.
When I was human, I never gave much thought to how big a room was or how long it took to walk from the bed to the door in my old bedroom. But now every room seems as vast as crossing a desert.
Finally, we reach the door and glance out, peeping around the corner. What I see in the hallway makes freeze in shock. It can’t be.
GOBLINS??
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