Abbernathy and the Cat Kingdom

(12) -Sebastian, Second of His Kin-

Sebastian Night, second of his kin, was not a cat of long journeys or crowded streets. He despised the cramped nature of most cities and the way strange smells always wrinkled his nose. He much preferred the vast grounds of the Tells' Estate where trees grew gnarled and fat—their trunks perfect for scratching—and animals were abundant- perfect prey for when he craved a hunt.

But today, Sebbi had decided he would venture to Laos. Not because of the living shadows that had chased him and Lucy from the forest's edge, or because of the Treestump maid and her understanding of cat speech. He didn't go because of his brother's promise of fish- though what kind of cat would he be if he said the promise hadn't enticed him the slightest? It had, of course.

No, for all the reasons Sebbi'd been given to journey into Laos, what had propelled him into the sweat-soaked plush seat of Ritz's back car was his determination to figure out his place among the world. For the longest time, Sebbi knew he and his brother weren't typical felines. They could understand human speech in a way no other animals seemed to possess.

Now, that quiet and lonesome world Sebbi had grown accustomed to was changing. The shadows stalked the ground and chased him and his brother from the forest. A strange maid understood them. Deep in the cat's heart, he knew, sometime soon, the world he had known would be gone forever.

So he'd made the drive with the horrible rodent children, endured one of Ritz's mightiest blizzards, and had found his answer sitting in front of him, smoothing out the folds of her dress. His place in the world, it just so happened, was beside his brother and at Abby's side. And though Sebbi would be remiss to speak this truth out loud, deep down, he hoped that when his world did change, his place beside Abby would not; it seemed that nothing would ever fit him better.

Exhausted, Sebbi laid out on the backseat of Ritz, his sore bones feeling the bumps as the AI carriage sputtered its way home. He sat across from Abby paws tucked under his chest and stomach in what Abby called his kinds' loaf state. Lucy sprawled out on her lap, his belly full of fish stew. He purred in an annoyingly sweet way.

Scoffing, Sebbi closed his eyes, seeking a quick nap before they returned home. Every time he closed his eyes though, the strange man with the blood-colored eyes drifted into his mind. The man had smelled off and it made his hindhairs stand on edge.

"Psst." Lucy whimpered, low, not wanting to interrupt the silence. "You smelled him, too?"

Sebbi peeled his eyes open to look at his brother. He nodded. "Of course I did. We have a similar nose."

"Abby didn't seem to notice. Do you think Lumps did?"

"Considering she seems to be more than just a hired hand, certainly."

"We need to talk to her. We can't let this opportunity pass us by."

Sebbi nodded toward his brother, a pang of longing in his chest as he watched Lucy adjust himself on Abby's lap.

The rest of the ride back home in Ritz was quiet. Abby was preoccupied with her stone, inspecting it over and over again in her palm, placing it to her ear to hear the stone's faint song. That horrible boy, Crum, tried to pry it from Abby's fingers but Abby was quick to swat his curious fingers away. It was moments like this that made Sebbi think Abby might be part cat, or maybe have been a cat in another life.

Occasionally, Ritz's monotonous voice would crackle over the speaker, alerting all to monuments and weather changes. No blizzards, however, erupted in the back car.

The old AI hobbled up the winding driveway of the estate and squealed to a stop in front of the AI docking port. The whiny human, who seemed to always be wet and scowling, and who'd flashed them all her underwear, released a sigh as the door slid open.