Chapter 6: Cat to the Rescue

Chapter 6 A Cat to the Rescue

The beauty of Lomisc was everything we could remember after 5 years apart from the grand city. The trip was longer than I remembered, but that could be due to Alysin, I mean Van, and I taking a moment to hunt for breakfast. She had held onto the knife she  held aimed at her father when she disappeared in front of him. To her, it was a token of how she conquered the man whom oppressed her for so long and a reminder not to go back.

So with our stomachs satisfied we walked into town taking in the sights that seemed so familiar from that distance memory of years before. Van’s head was filled with excitement, but not the same excitement that was full of wonder and curiosity when she was 8. Instead it was full of business plans. She observed the performers, mentally noting what their tricks were. The same note danced across her mind  about how they had to use magic words to perform their magic.

As the day came to a  close, Van then began to search for a place for us to be for the night. She knew there was no way we would be able to rent a room, so the first night we ended up both being invisible and finding a warm corner in a tavern loft above the fireplace.

This will be temporary Jiji. I have plans to earn a living and therefore we won’t have to sneak about like this,Van said, easing my thoughts of having to sneak once more in a place that should be more welcoming.

What do you plan on doing? I asked.

I already told you. I want to perform. Did you notice anyone out there my age? Nope. I have to wonder if that’ll give me an edge.

What new thing will you show them that they don’t already do?

They make things appear and disappear using props. No distracting props would be needed since I wouldn’t have anything to hide. I suppose I could sport the magic I know how to control. I can make anything disappear and reappear. I can levitate light items, like you. And I suppose I could bring a touch of fire into the act as well as my knife skills. I just need to figure out a routine, practice it, and find a spot to stand and perform, Van elaborated.  It did seem like a good idea. She wouldn’t need any props and her youth would be a great difference among the adults of various ages.

Her mind began to play ideas of how she would go about putting on her show. She had a solid strategy and the game plan was to practice for a while to work out kinks before taking it to the stage. As her mind continued to race, I soon drifted to sleep to the hum of her thoughts.

The next morning was relieving to find that we hadn’t been discovered. It was truly difficult to honestly leave the comfort of the warm tavern. The smell of meat being cooked was mouth water to our hungry bellies, but somehow we managed to escape temptation and go off to hunt for the morning.

While hunting I noted once more Alysin was back. She still thought about what she would do performance wise though now there was a sense of nervousness and giddy excitement.

The days rushed on in a continual need to hunt and practice her performance. We would also go observe the other performers continually just to make sure Alysin wasn’t copying spell for spell nor move for move. It was tempting to do such a thing since neither of us had any experience putting on a show.

She didn’t go unnoticed in town. Many saw us eating what we were able to hunt and the tavern at which we had been staying for a few month too long unpaid, offered us a room if we would help provide them with fresh game. Alysin took it as an honor and was excited to finally be able to make an honest work and not have to sneak invisibly into homes for a warm place to sleep (especially since it was now winter and the icy weather was quite unbearable).

Though winter hunting always proved more difficult,  Alysin would practice her fire making more on top of her other tricks. Hunting was hard work. She knew she still wanted to perform, but she also didn’t want to go sneaking around until she felt in control enough to perform her act. She also improved on her levitating  items , especially when she began to hunt bigger game like deer. It was almost impossible for her to drag the first deer home but she barely managed as she worked on bringing it home with the help of levitation.  

It wasn’t unknown that she was some kind of spell caster, but there was some suspicion when they would find out she was half elf, half  human. Humans rarely were gifted to be able to handle or channel magic. Her being a sorceress was fascinating and unnerving, but being a young teenage girl, rapidly approaching her 14th’s birthday, no one felt threatened by her abilities. Teachers would come to inquire of her and once they realized she was on her own with no family and no money, they would go away, not bothering to train and teach her proper usage of her abilities.

There was also an odd rush of excitement... actually, I think it was more of fear. There was some kind of evil leaving it’s mark on people, possessing them to where they were subject to the will of the controller’s choosing. At the time, it was unknown to us that this evil was human, but that is the reason behind hesistance when it came to humans, especially humans who could work magic.

It didn’t help much either with the sense of suspicion when in late summer, Alysin now being 14, to witness a full out brawl of folk taking a subject into custody. The fellow was odd and didn’t seem all there, but as the guards laid hands on him to take him away, the He folk began to scream and plead exclaiming he wasn’t marked. The town was in a buzz of gossip, rumors, and suspicions for months. The fear that the mark has made it’s way north into Lomisc was scary for everyone, friends and neighbors now being on edge.

Alysin was now an incredible hunter. Each week she would come into town with a deer and plenty of other small, wild game. A few months back she was gifted a set of throwing knives. Not the best by any means, but worlds better than the random, kitchen styled knives she was use to using, though she still held the one from home close to her as a reminder. But with the gift of the proper knives, it was incredible how effective they were in killing her prey. How the design and weight of them really made for quick throws and longer distances.

Luckily Alysin hadn’t shifted into her other personalities in a long time. I had worried that if Sin came out that would put people on edge that suddenly this happy and optimistic girl was suddenly depressed and moody. It really had been so long that by the time spring came back again I found myself surprised this certain day.

With Lomisc still in a somewhat cautionary mood, Alysin felt today was a day to go put on her show to lighten the mood. The usual excitement that had been around many months ago, but dampered with the recent events of possibly markings in the great city, left few performers keeping their act up. With no knowledge or learned fear of this strange magic, unlike the other performers, she felt perfectly safe going out into the midst of strangers to try and bring some joy.

She found a spot and placed near her a bowl. It was standard for a performer to put some means of device out to hold any tips they might earn. Nervously Alysin looked out amidst the folk walking around. I could see between the folk passing some of the performers. Alysin already had caught their eye as they looked seeing what it was she would do, knowing that familiar stance and looking about. Alysin caught my thoughts on that and sent a quick look in their directions. I could already feel the nerves kick in.

No harm in trying Alysin. The worst that could happen is we continue to hunt for the rest of our life, I told her, trying to soothe her nerves with a touch of humor. But what was holding her back was her lack for words. What should she say? Then it came to me, that’s it Alysin!

What’s it?

Don’t say a thing! I’m sure these people are tired of being badgered by entertainers vying for their attention with flashy words year in and year out. Why not just entertain yourself and see who happens to stop and enjoy?

Alysin thought about it and seemed to agree that that would be the easiest way to start her little act, except her act was based off explaining everything she was about to do.... so what now?

Alysin created a small fire ball in her hand. She let the small orb hover over her hand. Soon she began to move it, playing with it as though it were a ball. This caught a few eyes. There wasn’t anything grand about her juggling a small, flaming sphere, but those who saw it appear from nowhere paused for a moment to watch. Alysin then tried to maneuver the fire into shapes around her, arching from one hand to the other, but she lost focus all of a sudden and before I knew it, a fire ball crashed before me. I puffed up and gave a yowl of surprise. This was received with laughter and scoffs from the other performers. They obviously found her to be no threat seeing she was just a newcomer.

As the embarrassment tried to set in I felt the shift in her head. I looked at her fearing the worst, that she burned herself when the fireball fell to my feet. That Sin was back. But her calm mind and no agonizing curses, I eased somewhat when it was Van who came back. She held her head up high and this time ignited a larger fireball. Van liked the idea of not having to speak. Instead it was her intention now to show how great she was over silly tricks the performers would do.

Van began to have almost a dance, unchoreographed, with the fireball. She whizzed it left and right, in circles all around he. She would pretend she was about to go out of control and even scare a few onlookers by sending the fireball toward them. And after 5 or so minutes of just playing with fire, she sent the fireball high into the sky and let it combust with a bang.

The crowd clapped enthusiastically. It was the excitement they needed. Some even seemed disappointed the show was so short. Van wiped the sweat from her face and as she sat down next to me to catch her breath, we began to hear the clinking sounds of coins falling into our little bowl. It wasn’t a lot, but we had enough for a few days worth of eating. Yet the day was still young and with the town being as large as it was, there was bound to be more people mid afternoon and evening.

Van continued to entertain the crowd and it would seem that  more and more folk came out from hiding. There truly hadn’t been this many folk out since the commotion, many months ago, of the  mark.  

With the large crowd setting in, the other performers quickly went out among the folk to set up their stations and to see what money they could generate. It wasn’t hard to see the town was fascinated by Van’s performance, something new and very different from the performers who had been in the town for a year too long.

Even Van knew it was a profession of continual change. Either you find something new and exciting to out do yourself with or you scope out a new and city to dazzle with your same act. Van made it a goal that as the time goes on, that every month she would change her act.

By the next day, Alysin was back once more and with the confidence of the day before found herself in control entertaining the crowd of folk with her fire dance. She began plotting next month. She began experimenting changing the color of the fire. Pink, white, yellow, blue, green, purple and more. Each day she would alternate the color she would channel. Then the big bang at the end she began to work on turning into an explosion of sparks that would rain down but before touching anything would burn out

The success of Alysin’s act was huge. Bigger than I could have anticipated. She paid the tavern back for the few months of unpaid stay when we were hiding. She still would go hunt once a week  on her ‘day off’ so as to not let down the tavern who seemed to really benefit from her steady delivery of game. She was adored by all, that is except the other performers who felt threatened by her greatness. Though they were still received warmly by many onlookers, they still loathed this young girl who was a natural at what she did.

Attempts were made to take her spot of performance, seeing if maybe that would help them catch the eye of the folk passing by better. Yet it didn’t matter where Alysin performed. All any folk had to do was keep an ear or eye open for the finally and go over to watch the next show in 10 minutes.

As I took in all of the attempts to thwart Alysin’s success, I began to keep tabs of the performers. I noticed as summer set in that the group began to sit together, in a tight group trying to look engrossed by their own business, but their business was what to do with Alysin since their eyes always seemed to drift in our direction.

Then one fine day after performing, one of the performers came up to Alysin. Alysin being polite and always seeing the good in people smiled warmly to her peer.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“I just wanted to thank you for your performance. It is astounding what you have done fire and ice this month,” he praised. Alysin blushed and looked down trying to seem humble and as though her magic wasn’t something to be praised for.

“I’m just having fun.”

“I can see,” with that, he held out his hand and Alysin took it and gave it a polite shake. Unexpectedly I felt a shift happen and felt the hair on my back raise up. I could hear Sin questioning why there was a sharp pain in her wrist. She jerked her hand back and glared at the man.

“What was that for!” She almost half yelled. The man smiled and carefully placed the object he used to stab her back in his pocket.

“Hardly a prick my dear. No need to get so hostile over an accident,” he sneered.

“Well, the jokes on you. If that was an attempt to harm me and prevent my hands from performing, trying again,” Sin bated. I was cringing inside. I worried her sudden change in personality would be cause for alarm among the folk who took any odd behavior for a sign of the mark. Fortunately the performer took no notice of it

“I’m not here to prevent you from performing. I just wanted to let you know of a new trick I have involving savgch (save-gech [the ‘ch’ pronounced in the German pronunciation]).” I did not what he said but Sin was appalled even more by the performer.

“Take your cheap, dark magic elsewhere. Go terrorize some other naive soul with it,” with that, Sin gathered up her  money and with me close behind her went back to our room.

Careful Sin, I warned.

He’s the one who ought to be watching himself. I could terrorize him with my eyes closed if I wanted.

I’m sure you can, but just keep in mind that tension is still high here in Lomisc. Let us not draw attention to ourselves.

They know who I am, Sin attempted to defend.

They know who Alysin is, I corrected.

Still look the same don’t I? They can all burn if they are stupid enough to believe I’m any different.

I was too exasperated to try and continue to reason with Sin. I just didn’t want her to be taken away from me. All I could do was hope she’d go keep to herself, that no one would want to talk with her the rest of the day and that the next day would come soon after.

There were some folk she had to communicate with, but luckily it was small talk and with Sin’s noticeable wound, they seemed to deem the dampered mood on being hurt. Sin even went to bed early lending me some moments of peace.

In the morning, a few weeks before Alysin’s 15th birthday, the day seemed to start off normally. The wound really wasn’t all that bad. The performer much have struck a vein, making the puncture seem worse than it was.

Alysin, as usual, was back. She made her way down stairs and ordered some breakfast. She thought how fortunate she was to have the means to eat 3 square meals a day and nibble on snacks here and there. Almost 2 years now she had been away from her family and it has proven so far to be more healthy for her. She keeps getting taller and her hair's still curly and thick as every.

However,  the day was not to remain peaceful and collected. If I thought yesterday’s appearance of Sin was scary, I was in for a new surprise once Alysin walked out the front door of the tavern.

The very performer who shook Alysin’s hand was set up right outside the Tavern. He was in the middle of his performance, but as soon as he caught sight of Alysin, he smiled an evil smile. He quickly ended the trick he was showing only to tell the audience he had a new trick he wanted to show them. He proceeded to unveil a large cage with 20 different birds all perched and waiting. Alysin knew some of them were ravens and crows. Even an eagle was in the midst, but the rest were a bit foreign to her knowledge.

It was about a second of looking at the birds before the first one gave a squawk. A jolt of fear swept through Alysin. I knew something was up and as the performer proceeded to open his cage of bird, they all seemed to target Alysin and bursted out of the cage. The performer tried to act surprised wondering why it was his birds were now flying out of control away from him and toward some unknown source.

While the performer looked flustered and embarrassed, in Alysin’s head I could see the fear distorting the birds into something more sinister and frightening. Alysin began to sprint from the birds that made way toward her. She swatted and did her best to dodge the talons, beaks and wings battering her. Any moment I knew Sin would emerge, but also knew how silly it was for Alysin to suddenly be running for an animal. I would fight, but I have reasons to be scared of an eagle, that beast could eat whole.

Fight back! I ordered.

I can’t! I can’t, I- she babbled over and over in her head.

Alysin! Just reach into your satchel, grab your knives, and throw! This should all be instinctual!

Unlike you, I’m not a cat! Yet just like that Alysin shifted. The crying stopped, the fear subsided and her pace quickened even faster. I watched her sprint for her life, then 40 more yards later stop suddenly watching the swarm of birds sail over her. Before I knew it, her knives were in her hand and she began taking each bird down one by one. The ones that made it back to her she would reach out and snatch them by the neck and before they knew what had hit them, their neck was snapped.

There she stood in the midst of 20 dead birds. She began to gather them up when the guards caught up to us. My heart sank as they approached cautiously. It was evident that she was to go with them. I carefully walked up to Alysin’s leg and immediately became invisible.

“Alysin,” the guard said, “we need you to come with us. We have some questions that need to be asked in private.” Alysin’s eyes were wide and I could feel her heart race. Run and hide kept replaying as well in her head. Her whole thought process had a very familiar feel to it. It seemed very familiar, but not in the way I knew her, Van and Sin... she was personifying a cat personality! It was baffling how she was able to pull something like that off in such a random moment of fear.

Realizing how she was thinking, I began to explain to her the best way I would explain something to a cat. It’s safe. Go with them and answer their questions honestly.

But the guards never come after me. I’ve seen how people react around them!

Trust me. They can’t hurt you.

Alysin willing went with them into custody. I managed to keep up to be a source of comfort. As we walked back through the main source of town, Van manifested as the embarrassment swept over her. This was a perfect moment for Van. As long as she didn’t get too caught up into trying to prove she’s better, at least Van had a better chance on charming her way out of this.

Sure enough, the commotion that was made had the guards alerted at once. The performer exclaimed that he was just doing his act when suddenly his birds went crazy and flew off. Upon hearing that is was poor Alysin they were attacking, the performer planted into one of the guards ears that he’s heard rumors of animals attacking those who are marked.

Van did very well defending herself.  She thought about using me as an example but I warned her that since I was a familiar that the circumstances are different and therefore she shouldn’t bring me up.

Eventually, just to make absolutely sure, Van was forced to a search. After examining every inch of her body, they then examined her puncture wound. Sure enough there was some kind of poison that when linked with a dark language word, that it would put fear into the person whenever they heard or saw the word. It could now be assumed that birds was the word imprinted on the poison and that the new trick was just birds trained to attack, but Van didn’t mention the possibility of the birds being trained.

That evening the guards escorted Van back to the tavern. She kept her head held high knowing that she was guilty of nothing though the folk there seemed to have heard the rumor the performer was passing around. Before leaving one of the guards handed her a bundle and mentioned how he gathered her knives up for her and that she could have them back.

As Van headed to the stairs, I caught site of the performer, surrounded by the other entertainers. I jumped off Van’s back telling her I’d catch up in a little bit. I carefully worked my way over to the entertainers and began to sit and listen.

“How did she work her way out of that!?”

“She must have charmed her way out of it.”

“No way, charm or not, a mark is a mark and death is the only way out of it!”

“How did she escape this?

“I don’t know,” the performer spoke, “I was sure that the lie of animals attacking those marked would have been a done deal. Let alone I’m out 20 bird now. Curse that girl!” All of the men around the table grew silent. Then all at once seemed to jump on the same key word that was unintentionally said, yet seemed like the exact solution for their problem.

“We'll curse her somehow. Let her be trapped somewhere mentally for the rest of her existence, in a state that will prevent her from wanting to perform and to be susceptible to the will of everyone around her,” the men continued to muse over their new strategy. If only they knew I was there listening in and giving every detail to the very person they were plotting against.

Seeming to sense my thoughts, the entertainers all realized how when Van came home that she was unaccompanied by me. A few curses left their mouth as they all discontinued their meeting until another time, in another tavern now that they saw with their own eyes that she was still around.
But the damage was done. Van and I now knew we still had to be cautious and that none of the entertainers could be viewed as allies. Once more we may be fighting to stay alive.