(no subject)
Boysenberry #21. In Sheep's Clothing and Lemon Meringue Pie #10. Old
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : G
Timeframe : somewhere nearer the end
Word Count : ~600
This is another one of those pieces where I don't really know where or even if it fits, but it's where the prompt took me.
Rune swallowed a sigh as Mara turned again to investigate another rustling in the brush alongside the trail. At this rate it would be well past dark by the time they reached camp.
“It’s following us,” she insisted.
“Nothing is following us,” said Rune in a tone he hoped she would take as final this time.
The boy glanced nervously between them and out into the woods. “What if it’s a demon?” he barely more than whispered.
“It’s not a demon,” they both said at once. Then each shot the other a look that dared them to explain how they’d known.
“Well, if it’s not a demon,” said Sham, a bit more firmly, “what is it?”
“I don’t know.” Mara drew to a halt to peer into the trees where now nothing moved. “I just can’t shake the feeling that we’re being watched. And every time- ”
“What’s that?” said Sham, drawing up beside her and pointing to the shadowy undergrowth.
Rune did sigh then and kept walking. Let the two of them poke the bushes; he was growing tired of babysitting them.
“It’s… But it can’t be,” Mara continued. “Millie?”
Rune paused, convinced he couldn’t really have just heard a meow.
“Millie?” he said, doubtfully.
“My cat,” said Mara, and when he turned he could see her clutching the thing, a sleek, lanky calico much like her apparent namesake. “But I don’t know how she got here. I mean, there’s just no way she could have followed… What?”
“Millie,” he said, shaking his head as he turned back to the road.
“What?” Mara scurried to catch him, the cat dangling from her arms.
“Your aunt’s even more sentimental than I thought. What is that, Millie the third, fourth?”
“I don’t understand,” said Mara.
Sham had reached them now as well, and he laid a hand on her shoulder to steer her away from Rune, but she shrugged it off.
“It’s just Millie.” She held the cat up as if this proved something. It had the same spots as its predecessor, an orange patch over its right eye, a black one on the left. “There hasn’t been another one. I’ve had her my whole life.”
Rune stopped cold at that. Cats simply did not live that long. Nor did they follow people hundreds of miles, or stare at them the way this one was looking at him now, as close to grinning as a cat could get, as if this whole episode were terribly amusing. “Let me see.”
Mara hoisted the cat higher and Rune bent down to give it a closer look. There wasn’t a patch on this Millie’s body that didn’t match the other’s.
“You’re telling me you were followed halfway across the country by a thirty year old cat?”
Now it was Mara’s turn to look at him with doubt. “What do you mean thir-” Then her eyes grew wide. “You know Millie?”
Anticipating another bout of assumptions and questions about adventures before her time, he made a point of ignoring her look. He didn’t miss the scowl this earned him from the boy but he dismissed that as well. “How is a cat still alive and following us after thirty years?”
“Easy.”
They all spun to face the new arrival, even the cat, who let out a questioning meow as she continued to sway in Mara’s grasp.
“She’s not thirty,” Reida continued, sauntering down the path to meet them. Millie’s eyes followed her every step as she drew near. “She’s three hundred. And she’s not a cat.” Mara shifted uncomfortably as Reida reached out a hand, but the cat angled her head to meet it. “She’s a god.”
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : G
Timeframe : somewhere nearer the end
Word Count : ~600
This is another one of those pieces where I don't really know where or even if it fits, but it's where the prompt took me.
Rune swallowed a sigh as Mara turned again to investigate another rustling in the brush alongside the trail. At this rate it would be well past dark by the time they reached camp.
“It’s following us,” she insisted.
“Nothing is following us,” said Rune in a tone he hoped she would take as final this time.
The boy glanced nervously between them and out into the woods. “What if it’s a demon?” he barely more than whispered.
“It’s not a demon,” they both said at once. Then each shot the other a look that dared them to explain how they’d known.
“Well, if it’s not a demon,” said Sham, a bit more firmly, “what is it?”
“I don’t know.” Mara drew to a halt to peer into the trees where now nothing moved. “I just can’t shake the feeling that we’re being watched. And every time- ”
“What’s that?” said Sham, drawing up beside her and pointing to the shadowy undergrowth.
Rune did sigh then and kept walking. Let the two of them poke the bushes; he was growing tired of babysitting them.
“It’s… But it can’t be,” Mara continued. “Millie?”
Rune paused, convinced he couldn’t really have just heard a meow.
“Millie?” he said, doubtfully.
“My cat,” said Mara, and when he turned he could see her clutching the thing, a sleek, lanky calico much like her apparent namesake. “But I don’t know how she got here. I mean, there’s just no way she could have followed… What?”
“Millie,” he said, shaking his head as he turned back to the road.
“What?” Mara scurried to catch him, the cat dangling from her arms.
“Your aunt’s even more sentimental than I thought. What is that, Millie the third, fourth?”
“I don’t understand,” said Mara.
Sham had reached them now as well, and he laid a hand on her shoulder to steer her away from Rune, but she shrugged it off.
“It’s just Millie.” She held the cat up as if this proved something. It had the same spots as its predecessor, an orange patch over its right eye, a black one on the left. “There hasn’t been another one. I’ve had her my whole life.”
Rune stopped cold at that. Cats simply did not live that long. Nor did they follow people hundreds of miles, or stare at them the way this one was looking at him now, as close to grinning as a cat could get, as if this whole episode were terribly amusing. “Let me see.”
Mara hoisted the cat higher and Rune bent down to give it a closer look. There wasn’t a patch on this Millie’s body that didn’t match the other’s.
“You’re telling me you were followed halfway across the country by a thirty year old cat?”
Now it was Mara’s turn to look at him with doubt. “What do you mean thir-” Then her eyes grew wide. “You know Millie?”
Anticipating another bout of assumptions and questions about adventures before her time, he made a point of ignoring her look. He didn’t miss the scowl this earned him from the boy but he dismissed that as well. “How is a cat still alive and following us after thirty years?”
“Easy.”
They all spun to face the new arrival, even the cat, who let out a questioning meow as she continued to sway in Mara’s grasp.
“She’s not thirty,” Reida continued, sauntering down the path to meet them. Millie’s eyes followed her every step as she drew near. “She’s three hundred. And she’s not a cat.” Mara shifted uncomfortably as Reida reached out a hand, but the cat angled her head to meet it. “She’s a god.”