Nen Feaster; Part 2: The Cat's Journey

Chapter 5: Blu

The three Chimera Ants were a fair distance from the village now; the mountain almost disappearing from view. The closely packed trees were starting to separate and thin as they moved closer to the desert. Soon, the forest turned into a savannah, with completely different trees littering the landscape. "You feel more at home, Cheetu?" Misha asked as a joke.

"Even though that was a joke, I do. I don't like enclosed spaces; I can't run with as much freedom as I could in a place like this." Cheetu said.

"Is that your ability? Your speed?" Misha asked.

"No, that just comes naturally."

"Then what is your ability?"

Cheetu sighed. "Well, it used to be I could tag someone, and we'd be taken to a secured, enclosed area. They'd have a limited time to catch me, and if they didn't, they'd vanish."

"Used to be?" Misha inquired.

"Yeah... I made a rule that if I ever got caught, I'd never be able to use the ability again, and... I did get caught."

"So, you don't have an ability?"

"Well... I have this." Cheetu said as he rose his hand. A crossbow appeared. It was a wrist-mounted crossbow with several blades sticking out of the end like claws.

"What's wrong with that?" Misha asked.

"Well... the guy who caught me and made me lose my first ability said, 'Why the hell would you create an ability that's slower than you are?'" Cheetu said while making up a raspy voice to mock the man.

"You're going to let someone under your skin like that? Come on, your ego is way too big for that." Misha said.

"It's big enough as it is." Nef said, entering herself into the conversation.

"Well... I don't know. The ability seems kind of useless." Cheetu said.

"It doesn't have to be." Misha said.

"What do you mean?" Cheetu asked.

"Why don't you add to it? Make it a little less useless, you know?"

"I don't know..."

"She's right, Cheetu. Pouf isn't around anymore, so we can't give you new abilities. You'll have to come up with one on your own." Nef said.

"Yeah, I know... I'll think about it."

"Misha, when we read Eli's journal, we learned that your ability was to phase through solid objects." Nef said.

"Yeah, that's right." Misha said.

"What's it called?" Nef asked her.

"I call it Juliette's Dance."

"Why that?" Cheetu asked.

"I don't know actually. The name just stuck out to me. I think it might have something to do with my time as a human, but I can't quite remember."

"I see... does it have any limitations?" Nef asked.

"Well, I can't phase through living things, plants being an exception. So, I wouldn't be able to phase through either of you. I also can't phase through something that's made out of nen."

"Anything else? Any rules?" Cheetu asked.

"Well, I can only stay inside of an object for ten seconds before my ability deactivates."

"What happens if you're in something when your ability deactivates?" Cheetu asked.

"I get launched out. Matter can't overlap, so I'm sent out of the object."