A Slayer and Her Hamster
The second entry for The Algerina Memorial Summer Fan Creative Writing Contest is....
A Slayer and Her Hamster
Author: Christopher Marlowe
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Author's notes: This story is set in the future; all characters are OC.
A Slayer and Her Hamster
Liam sniffed the cold night air, trying to detect if any one or anything was approaching. A waggle of his whiskers failed to detect anything. Liam relaxed a bit, snuggling down a bit in the soft, but strong pouch at the waist of his Slayer. He mentally sent up 'all clear' thoughts to Astrid, who was just as tense as he was. Astrid nodded briefly, Liam's senses confirming what she already knew, that there were no monsters or rogue humans this night.
Nevertheless, Astrid walked with caution back to their underground cubbyhole at the edge of town. There Astrid could spend some time on her weapons cache. She had been very busy lately and hadn't had time to make sure all her bows, arrows and knives were all in good condition. She might even have time to sharpen a few stakes while she was at it. A post-apocalyptic girl's best friend, aside from a telepathic hamster She looked down at Liam peeking out from the edge of the bag and smiled.
Astrid remembered when she picked Liam, who was the scrawniest hamster in his litter. Feeling that no one else would take him, she was able to persuade her mom and the pet shop owner that he was perfect. Her mom just shrugged and said it was ok. The pet shop owner had assured Astrid and her mother than hamsters were very easy to care for since they were meticulously clean. That they were fun to play and made good first pets. With life span of only a couple years, it wasn't a big time or energy commitment to caring for a hamster.
Astrid remembered how soft and tiny Liam felt in her hands and never regretted pestering her mother. Liam brought many days of enjoyment into her life. She realized with a start that Liam had already lived beyond his normal life span and she mused that it was probably due to the sudden empowerment she gained a few years ago.
She was playing with Liam that lazy Sunday afternoon, when she suddenly felt massive power flow into her, along with an image of a woman with long blond hair tied into a ponytail.
Astrid did not know who she was, but her and images of many other slayers had showed up in her dreams ever since. Many speaking strangely or wearing period clothing. It didn't take long for Astrid to figure out how to handle herself. Her mom had always said she was such an adaptable child, although Astrid didn't know exactly what 'adaptable' was at the time. She learned to be extra careful with Liam, so that he wasn't squished or crushed by her new super strength.
Not longer after she learned how to manage her strength, she discovered other, less dramatic abilities. She was able to somehow communicate with Liam. At first it was just thoughts of food, toys or bedding. Later as the telepathic bond grew stronger, Liam was able to glean enough from her mind to be able to communicate more sophisticated thoughts, although he hadn't quite yet mastered speaking in words.
That was all before everything went to hell in a hand-basket.
It wasn't a bomb or war or anything as expected as that. For some reason the world shifted, somehow. And that caused cataclysmic changes. It was like something moved reality one inch and reality shattered as a result. Then things shifted back as suddenly and Astrid and Liam found themselves in the midst of a blighted downtown. Rubble was strewn about everywhere. Buildings were fragmented, streets were warped and cracked. The people seemed to have suffered warping and cracking themselves too, at least in their minds. Many became wild-eyed and feral. The first week Astrid had barely kept herself and Liam alive from the attacks by deranged people. Once in a while they would meet sane individuals, and formed brief alliances, but it was pretty much a dog-eat-literal-dog world.
Astrid, shook such thoughts from her head and adjusted the belt at her waist slightly, making the bag containing Liam sit a bit more comfortably as she settled into a more measured and steady pace back to their home.
Liam, satisfied that everything was alright, ducked under the opening of the bag and eased himself into the rhythm of Astrid's gait. Liam formed himself into a ball, keeping a paw on the fragment of stone that he kept with him to gnaw on. No matter how much he chewed it, it never seem to get damaged.
As he fell asleep, he started dreaming, feeling that he was the only hamster in the world who could. He sensed that Astrid was remembering the same day he was, when he suddenly had the ability to see beyond himself. It was overwhelming at first, like a vast chasm that no one could go across. But the chasm grew smaller every day and eventually Liam was able to 'meet' Astrid for the very first time. And none too soon as the world radically shifted almost as suddenly as when he first became aware.
If the people turned animal-like, the animals themselves appeared to behave more human like, walking upright whenever possible and communicating in human ways.
Liam had never ran across another mammal that was as self-aware as he was, but he noticed that many animals who were once loners, had banded together and searched for scraps. Liam remembered falling out of Astrid's pocket one day. He scrambled into an alley to hide and suddenly faced a rat gang. He tried to send calming thoughts to the rats, who now walked upright. and communicated by sign language to the others. How they managed that Liam didn't know. While Liam couldn't communicate with the rats, he was able to glean enough from their thoughts o he could behave submissively enough to that the rat just treated him as another rat, albeit more unusual than the others. He was able to run with them in safety until he found his way back to Astrid.
*****
Astrid went down the steps to the underground lair she had found. It was mostly hidden from view from above, so random passerbys couldn't see the entrance. She also kept a good array of rubble at the entrance, further discouraging prying eyes. Only once inside, could she fully relaxed like Liam was. Who sounded like he was purring or rumbling something. Astrid thought she might just do some light polishing and sharpening, so she carefully removed the bag from her waist and settled Liam on a depression on a sack of rice against the wall. Liam would be comfortable there and safe from any danger of rolling off.
Astrid turned back to her weapons. Keeping them in shape was a soothing activity and she wondered about earlier today. She fended off the usual monsters, feral humans and too-mart cats. But she noticed that a particular spot seem to feel weird or odd. She couldn't see anything, but she felt an emptiness in her gut when she walked by the spot. And it seemed to be getting bigger each time she walked past it. Astrid thought that tomorrow she would go out and investigate more clearly, perhaps with some of the more magical tinged item she possessed, to see if they would react in any way.
Liam continued to dream, hardly noticing being moved to the rice sack. Liam suddenly saw an image in his mind of another hamster who appeared to be looking at him directly. Along with this image, came a message calling out to him. 'not alone'.
Liam twitched a whisker in shock. He had never encountered another hamster like himself, so he assumed he was the only one in existence. This hamster was female with black fur, that was all Liam could tell. Liam didn't know what to do and agitated wildly around in the sack until he managed to escape from it. He scuttled up to Astrid and pawed her ankle, trying to get her attention.
Astrid paused from sharpening one of her lesser knives and looked down in surprise to see Liam looking like he was in a kind of hamster frenzy. She put the knives and cuttlestone down and gently picked Liam up, feeling the trembling in her palm. She held him up close and concentrated. Normally she didn't have to focus to hard to understand what Liam was communicating, but she felt a whirlwind of images coming from him. She stroked Liam and made soothing sounds, and Liam gradually calmed down and was able to repeat the image he himself received and the 'not alon' message.
Astrid was as surprised as Liam. She had thought he was rather unique and felt a bit puzzled at the sudden appearance of a new one when they have never run across another hamster, let alone a telepathic one. She mentally asked if Liam could find out where this other hamster was, so they could both meet her.
Liam squeaked ecstatically and was able to gather an image of where she wanted to meet, which was near that odd rip in reality that they had often passed, noticing that it has grown over the time they first realize it existed. They hadn't see or felt anything come through this portal and Liam thought that perhaps this other came from it, although why there couldn't be another like him in this reality, he wasn't sure.
Astrid rooted through a chest of odds and ends. Anything that couldn't hack and slash she put in this box, figuring that it might prove useful some how later. She sorted through them, extending her senses a little bit to until she came across an item that felt 'right. One of them might react to the portal, and that would help her figure out if it was a real problem and maybe solve it.
It was midnight as they approached the site of the rip and of the mysterious female hamster. No time was a good time to be out, but midnight was especially dangerous with nocturnal animals of higher intelligence being far more difficult to deal with.
Liam was the first to notice Anne, who was partially hidden behind a trash can. Astrid took Liam out of her pocket and put him close to Anne. She left them there while she investigated the portal a bit more closely, rooting through her satchel to figure out what she should use first. She pulled out a crystal ball that supposed to react to any kind of magic. The intensity of the glow was linked to the amount of magic detected.
She noticed it gave off a faint glow and attempted to identify how large a space the magic occupied. She was able to figure out that it was roughly spherical and about waist high to her, which meant that she and anyone else should be able to go through it quite easily. She picked up a pebble and held it close to the portal and it was sucked out of her hand and disappeared.
After Astrid put him down, Liam edged closer to Anne, who was still huddled behind the trash can. Liam sent out soothing thoughts and felt thoughts come back. Anne crept out from behind, and Liam got a better look at her. She was as he 'saw' earlier. About his size and had shiny black fur to his yellowish/white fur. Liam thought she was the most amazing creature he had ever seen and Anne responded with pleased squeak. Anne seemed to be more sophisticated than Liam and being able to communicate more sensibly was something of a challenge.
But Liam was able to gather that Anne got her abilities only recently. She was with a male owner, some sort of breeder with many like her. He was from a long way from here and was looking to sell her and her sisters. How she got her telepathy she didn't know, only that it was sudden. Like she had grown from baby to adult overnight. She ran away from her owner and struggled to make her way here. Liam was the first being she had been able to 'talk' to. As they continued to 'talk', Liam could feel that Astrid was checking in every now and then.
Astrid felt that she had learned all she could tonight. This portal was magical, it was large enough to go through and things actually could go through it. But what was on the other side, Astrid couldn't tell and wasn't going to check out personally. She did have a niggling sense that she knew what this was, some stray mention in one of the few books she had managed to scare up that helped her deal with the stuff she encountered from time to time. She turned around and saw Liam and Anne in close contact, she couldn't hear anything but they appeared to be chittering away at each other. She refrained from tuning in mentally and approached them.
Liam and Anne looked up and with Astrid's questioning look, Liam nodded and communicated to Anne not to be frightened by what happens. Astrid picked both of them up and then traveled back to the lair.
Once back, Astrid put them both down and left them to their own devices while she looked stuff up. It didn't take her long to find the page on the Acaltha. Which was a demon who could create a vortex that could suck the world in to hell. The portal she spotted didn't seem to be that, but she had found related entries to such vortexes and realized if th is particular one got large enough, it could suck in more than just a pebble.
There wasn't a clear way to close the portal, but if it was made of magic, then magic is the solution. She checked out a different book on spells and found one that appeared to be able to close any portal or vortex, but it required a sacrifice of a life. Astrid hated magic requirements like that. She had never run across a spell that didnt' require a sacrifice of some kind, which is why she avoided magic as much as possible and relied on trusty steel weapons. She decided to pay a visit to someone she knew, but that mean leaving Anne and Liam, as where she was going would be far too dangerous for them. She turned back to Liam and Anne and saw them cuddled up together. She bent down and called out to Liam.
Liam looked up at Astrid and stood still for a moment, he had understood what Astrid was doing and let her know that. Since Anne was only able to communicate with Liam, Liam translated as much as he could to her about the portal, the danger and what Astrid would be doing. Anne nodded and they both watched Astrid leave.
Liam was curious himself and he went to look at the book himself. He couldn't read, but he wondered if there wasn't something he could do himself. Anne joined him in pawing through the same book that Astrid did. Anne was quicker on picking up what the spells meant and realized something. There were other letters that appeared between the lines of the spells. So small and tiny that only eyes like her and Liam's could see it. Anne pointed towards a particular spell with her paw, and translated the spell visually as much as she could.
It seemed an easy enough thing for both of them to do and Liam was excited. To be able to solve a problem himself without Astrid's help is something he had wanted to do since he became sentient. The ingredients were mostly on hand and they were agile enough to gather them in the bag that Liam used to travel with Astrid.
Liam held the bag strings in his mouth and was eager to get going, as dawn was now breaking and he wanted to get it done before the day animals stirred and prowled about.
Anne saw Liam bounce eagerly towards him, and an her heart was filled with love and longing. She found being with Liam gave her happiness she had never experienced before, but she also longed to be back to being a normal hamster. Anne felt that she was wrong, that she was never meant to be this way. She had this feeling almost from the moment she became aware, but she buried it in herself, overwhelmed with the newess of her existence.
Just as sure that she was wrong, she believed Liam had a greater purpose in him and it also was with his human partner, Astrid. She did not reveal to Liam that one aspect of the spell required that the combined ingredients be brought through the portal by a living being. Her happiness and not only finding love, but also finding a way to serve a greater purpose was strong enough to be felt by Liam and she quickly followed him out the door and their long journey to the vortex.
Liam looked at himself in the street puddle with as deep a sadness as an animal like him could experience. He couldn't allow Anne to do this, but he also knew Anne's mind was made up. Liam grabbed the piece of food in his mouth and scampered back to Anne, who was waiting for him in the alley. Liam broke the food in half and gave Anne one half, feeling her warm paw. Anne and Liam touched noses before they went back to the portal, which was now more active, attracting more debris that disappeared into the air. Anne turned around, gave one last thought to him to close his eyes.
Liam closed his eyes and curled up in a ball, unwilling to move, refusing to see the empty space that took away the love of his life. After a long while, he felt a shadow over him, a comforting one. He felt himself being picked and stroked. He still had his eyes closed, but he could see what Astrid was seeing and felt what Astrid was feeling and he realized something, a profound difference between him and Anne.
Liam wouldn't have traded what he had with Astrid for the world. A Hamster and his Slayer.
A Slayer and Her Hamster
Author: Christopher Marlowe
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Author's notes: This story is set in the future; all characters are OC.
A Slayer and Her Hamster
Liam sniffed the cold night air, trying to detect if any one or anything was approaching. A waggle of his whiskers failed to detect anything. Liam relaxed a bit, snuggling down a bit in the soft, but strong pouch at the waist of his Slayer. He mentally sent up 'all clear' thoughts to Astrid, who was just as tense as he was. Astrid nodded briefly, Liam's senses confirming what she already knew, that there were no monsters or rogue humans this night.
Nevertheless, Astrid walked with caution back to their underground cubbyhole at the edge of town. There Astrid could spend some time on her weapons cache. She had been very busy lately and hadn't had time to make sure all her bows, arrows and knives were all in good condition. She might even have time to sharpen a few stakes while she was at it. A post-apocalyptic girl's best friend, aside from a telepathic hamster She looked down at Liam peeking out from the edge of the bag and smiled.
Astrid remembered when she picked Liam, who was the scrawniest hamster in his litter. Feeling that no one else would take him, she was able to persuade her mom and the pet shop owner that he was perfect. Her mom just shrugged and said it was ok. The pet shop owner had assured Astrid and her mother than hamsters were very easy to care for since they were meticulously clean. That they were fun to play and made good first pets. With life span of only a couple years, it wasn't a big time or energy commitment to caring for a hamster.
Astrid remembered how soft and tiny Liam felt in her hands and never regretted pestering her mother. Liam brought many days of enjoyment into her life. She realized with a start that Liam had already lived beyond his normal life span and she mused that it was probably due to the sudden empowerment she gained a few years ago.
She was playing with Liam that lazy Sunday afternoon, when she suddenly felt massive power flow into her, along with an image of a woman with long blond hair tied into a ponytail.
Astrid did not know who she was, but her and images of many other slayers had showed up in her dreams ever since. Many speaking strangely or wearing period clothing. It didn't take long for Astrid to figure out how to handle herself. Her mom had always said she was such an adaptable child, although Astrid didn't know exactly what 'adaptable' was at the time. She learned to be extra careful with Liam, so that he wasn't squished or crushed by her new super strength.
Not longer after she learned how to manage her strength, she discovered other, less dramatic abilities. She was able to somehow communicate with Liam. At first it was just thoughts of food, toys or bedding. Later as the telepathic bond grew stronger, Liam was able to glean enough from her mind to be able to communicate more sophisticated thoughts, although he hadn't quite yet mastered speaking in words.
That was all before everything went to hell in a hand-basket.
It wasn't a bomb or war or anything as expected as that. For some reason the world shifted, somehow. And that caused cataclysmic changes. It was like something moved reality one inch and reality shattered as a result. Then things shifted back as suddenly and Astrid and Liam found themselves in the midst of a blighted downtown. Rubble was strewn about everywhere. Buildings were fragmented, streets were warped and cracked. The people seemed to have suffered warping and cracking themselves too, at least in their minds. Many became wild-eyed and feral. The first week Astrid had barely kept herself and Liam alive from the attacks by deranged people. Once in a while they would meet sane individuals, and formed brief alliances, but it was pretty much a dog-eat-literal-dog world.
Astrid, shook such thoughts from her head and adjusted the belt at her waist slightly, making the bag containing Liam sit a bit more comfortably as she settled into a more measured and steady pace back to their home.
Liam, satisfied that everything was alright, ducked under the opening of the bag and eased himself into the rhythm of Astrid's gait. Liam formed himself into a ball, keeping a paw on the fragment of stone that he kept with him to gnaw on. No matter how much he chewed it, it never seem to get damaged.
As he fell asleep, he started dreaming, feeling that he was the only hamster in the world who could. He sensed that Astrid was remembering the same day he was, when he suddenly had the ability to see beyond himself. It was overwhelming at first, like a vast chasm that no one could go across. But the chasm grew smaller every day and eventually Liam was able to 'meet' Astrid for the very first time. And none too soon as the world radically shifted almost as suddenly as when he first became aware.
If the people turned animal-like, the animals themselves appeared to behave more human like, walking upright whenever possible and communicating in human ways.
Liam had never ran across another mammal that was as self-aware as he was, but he noticed that many animals who were once loners, had banded together and searched for scraps. Liam remembered falling out of Astrid's pocket one day. He scrambled into an alley to hide and suddenly faced a rat gang. He tried to send calming thoughts to the rats, who now walked upright. and communicated by sign language to the others. How they managed that Liam didn't know. While Liam couldn't communicate with the rats, he was able to glean enough from their thoughts o he could behave submissively enough to that the rat just treated him as another rat, albeit more unusual than the others. He was able to run with them in safety until he found his way back to Astrid.
*****
Astrid went down the steps to the underground lair she had found. It was mostly hidden from view from above, so random passerbys couldn't see the entrance. She also kept a good array of rubble at the entrance, further discouraging prying eyes. Only once inside, could she fully relaxed like Liam was. Who sounded like he was purring or rumbling something. Astrid thought she might just do some light polishing and sharpening, so she carefully removed the bag from her waist and settled Liam on a depression on a sack of rice against the wall. Liam would be comfortable there and safe from any danger of rolling off.
Astrid turned back to her weapons. Keeping them in shape was a soothing activity and she wondered about earlier today. She fended off the usual monsters, feral humans and too-mart cats. But she noticed that a particular spot seem to feel weird or odd. She couldn't see anything, but she felt an emptiness in her gut when she walked by the spot. And it seemed to be getting bigger each time she walked past it. Astrid thought that tomorrow she would go out and investigate more clearly, perhaps with some of the more magical tinged item she possessed, to see if they would react in any way.
Liam continued to dream, hardly noticing being moved to the rice sack. Liam suddenly saw an image in his mind of another hamster who appeared to be looking at him directly. Along with this image, came a message calling out to him. 'not alone'.
Liam twitched a whisker in shock. He had never encountered another hamster like himself, so he assumed he was the only one in existence. This hamster was female with black fur, that was all Liam could tell. Liam didn't know what to do and agitated wildly around in the sack until he managed to escape from it. He scuttled up to Astrid and pawed her ankle, trying to get her attention.
Astrid paused from sharpening one of her lesser knives and looked down in surprise to see Liam looking like he was in a kind of hamster frenzy. She put the knives and cuttlestone down and gently picked Liam up, feeling the trembling in her palm. She held him up close and concentrated. Normally she didn't have to focus to hard to understand what Liam was communicating, but she felt a whirlwind of images coming from him. She stroked Liam and made soothing sounds, and Liam gradually calmed down and was able to repeat the image he himself received and the 'not alon' message.
Astrid was as surprised as Liam. She had thought he was rather unique and felt a bit puzzled at the sudden appearance of a new one when they have never run across another hamster, let alone a telepathic one. She mentally asked if Liam could find out where this other hamster was, so they could both meet her.
Liam squeaked ecstatically and was able to gather an image of where she wanted to meet, which was near that odd rip in reality that they had often passed, noticing that it has grown over the time they first realize it existed. They hadn't see or felt anything come through this portal and Liam thought that perhaps this other came from it, although why there couldn't be another like him in this reality, he wasn't sure.
Astrid rooted through a chest of odds and ends. Anything that couldn't hack and slash she put in this box, figuring that it might prove useful some how later. She sorted through them, extending her senses a little bit to until she came across an item that felt 'right. One of them might react to the portal, and that would help her figure out if it was a real problem and maybe solve it.
It was midnight as they approached the site of the rip and of the mysterious female hamster. No time was a good time to be out, but midnight was especially dangerous with nocturnal animals of higher intelligence being far more difficult to deal with.
Liam was the first to notice Anne, who was partially hidden behind a trash can. Astrid took Liam out of her pocket and put him close to Anne. She left them there while she investigated the portal a bit more closely, rooting through her satchel to figure out what she should use first. She pulled out a crystal ball that supposed to react to any kind of magic. The intensity of the glow was linked to the amount of magic detected.
She noticed it gave off a faint glow and attempted to identify how large a space the magic occupied. She was able to figure out that it was roughly spherical and about waist high to her, which meant that she and anyone else should be able to go through it quite easily. She picked up a pebble and held it close to the portal and it was sucked out of her hand and disappeared.
After Astrid put him down, Liam edged closer to Anne, who was still huddled behind the trash can. Liam sent out soothing thoughts and felt thoughts come back. Anne crept out from behind, and Liam got a better look at her. She was as he 'saw' earlier. About his size and had shiny black fur to his yellowish/white fur. Liam thought she was the most amazing creature he had ever seen and Anne responded with pleased squeak. Anne seemed to be more sophisticated than Liam and being able to communicate more sensibly was something of a challenge.
But Liam was able to gather that Anne got her abilities only recently. She was with a male owner, some sort of breeder with many like her. He was from a long way from here and was looking to sell her and her sisters. How she got her telepathy she didn't know, only that it was sudden. Like she had grown from baby to adult overnight. She ran away from her owner and struggled to make her way here. Liam was the first being she had been able to 'talk' to. As they continued to 'talk', Liam could feel that Astrid was checking in every now and then.
Astrid felt that she had learned all she could tonight. This portal was magical, it was large enough to go through and things actually could go through it. But what was on the other side, Astrid couldn't tell and wasn't going to check out personally. She did have a niggling sense that she knew what this was, some stray mention in one of the few books she had managed to scare up that helped her deal with the stuff she encountered from time to time. She turned around and saw Liam and Anne in close contact, she couldn't hear anything but they appeared to be chittering away at each other. She refrained from tuning in mentally and approached them.
Liam and Anne looked up and with Astrid's questioning look, Liam nodded and communicated to Anne not to be frightened by what happens. Astrid picked both of them up and then traveled back to the lair.
Once back, Astrid put them both down and left them to their own devices while she looked stuff up. It didn't take her long to find the page on the Acaltha. Which was a demon who could create a vortex that could suck the world in to hell. The portal she spotted didn't seem to be that, but she had found related entries to such vortexes and realized if th is particular one got large enough, it could suck in more than just a pebble.
There wasn't a clear way to close the portal, but if it was made of magic, then magic is the solution. She checked out a different book on spells and found one that appeared to be able to close any portal or vortex, but it required a sacrifice of a life. Astrid hated magic requirements like that. She had never run across a spell that didnt' require a sacrifice of some kind, which is why she avoided magic as much as possible and relied on trusty steel weapons. She decided to pay a visit to someone she knew, but that mean leaving Anne and Liam, as where she was going would be far too dangerous for them. She turned back to Liam and Anne and saw them cuddled up together. She bent down and called out to Liam.
Liam looked up at Astrid and stood still for a moment, he had understood what Astrid was doing and let her know that. Since Anne was only able to communicate with Liam, Liam translated as much as he could to her about the portal, the danger and what Astrid would be doing. Anne nodded and they both watched Astrid leave.
Liam was curious himself and he went to look at the book himself. He couldn't read, but he wondered if there wasn't something he could do himself. Anne joined him in pawing through the same book that Astrid did. Anne was quicker on picking up what the spells meant and realized something. There were other letters that appeared between the lines of the spells. So small and tiny that only eyes like her and Liam's could see it. Anne pointed towards a particular spell with her paw, and translated the spell visually as much as she could.
It seemed an easy enough thing for both of them to do and Liam was excited. To be able to solve a problem himself without Astrid's help is something he had wanted to do since he became sentient. The ingredients were mostly on hand and they were agile enough to gather them in the bag that Liam used to travel with Astrid.
Liam held the bag strings in his mouth and was eager to get going, as dawn was now breaking and he wanted to get it done before the day animals stirred and prowled about.
Anne saw Liam bounce eagerly towards him, and an her heart was filled with love and longing. She found being with Liam gave her happiness she had never experienced before, but she also longed to be back to being a normal hamster. Anne felt that she was wrong, that she was never meant to be this way. She had this feeling almost from the moment she became aware, but she buried it in herself, overwhelmed with the newess of her existence.
Just as sure that she was wrong, she believed Liam had a greater purpose in him and it also was with his human partner, Astrid. She did not reveal to Liam that one aspect of the spell required that the combined ingredients be brought through the portal by a living being. Her happiness and not only finding love, but also finding a way to serve a greater purpose was strong enough to be felt by Liam and she quickly followed him out the door and their long journey to the vortex.
Liam looked at himself in the street puddle with as deep a sadness as an animal like him could experience. He couldn't allow Anne to do this, but he also knew Anne's mind was made up. Liam grabbed the piece of food in his mouth and scampered back to Anne, who was waiting for him in the alley. Liam broke the food in half and gave Anne one half, feeling her warm paw. Anne and Liam touched noses before they went back to the portal, which was now more active, attracting more debris that disappeared into the air. Anne turned around, gave one last thought to him to close his eyes.
Liam closed his eyes and curled up in a ball, unwilling to move, refusing to see the empty space that took away the love of his life. After a long while, he felt a shadow over him, a comforting one. He felt himself being picked and stroked. He still had his eyes closed, but he could see what Astrid was seeing and felt what Astrid was feeling and he realized something, a profound difference between him and Anne.
Liam wouldn't have traded what he had with Astrid for the world. A Hamster and his Slayer.