Cat's and Dog's

Finale

I woke up, and I found myself in a cat bed. I was still a cat, I guess I'd gotten used to the body more than I'd thought. A sharp mew in my head warned me of the real reason. I mewed in confusion and pain. Immediately a woman's hands were on me, gripping my injured thigh somewhat tightly. I yowled in pain, thrashing to get away. She only tightened her grip, and I quickly stopped moving, trying to avoid any pain I could. She grunted in approval and I felt a slight burning sensation from her hand before the pain mostly disappearing. "Finally. Healing spells require that the subject to be awake and at least somewhat willing. Otherwise they will not work. You can throw your soul into your spell, but it will not work unless those two basic needs are met."

I heard a shuffle of skin against skin, and I turned my head to look. I still couldn't open the one eye on their side of the room. So I pulled up my head, wincing at the pain of it, and turned to look at them. One was the woman, girl I know saw, from last night, and the other was... I lurched to my feet and shakily stepped towards her, mewing as I did so. She looked at me in confusion, until I collapsed. My hind leg was numb, I couldn't feel it right, so it was hard to move. I struggled back to my feet, pushing myself until the other woman held me back. I glared at her, but the motion let me notice that I'd been about to fall off of the table. I looked down, staring at the edge. Even when I was right in front of her, it was impossible to reach her.

I let my legs give way, collapsing to the table-top. I stared at the table as I mewed in mourning; I was never going to reach her. I ignored the hands picking me up, pushing the pain to the back of my head and continuing to stare. I couldn't shift, I wasn't wearing anything! I couldn't speak to them, I was no telepath; and they weren't either. And nothing else had worked, I'd tried every method I could think of just to reach here, I was exhausted and done with failure. They might as well just throw me back to the wolves. Someone was holding me, but I ignored them until another girl walked into the room. It was her younger sister. Why was Cassia's younger sister... it hit me. The witch had been teaching cassia, and that meant cassia was a witch. Which meant her sister could be anything.

I pushed away from Ethel, until I noticed the arm I was pushing against. It was Cassia's. I closed my eyes, relaxed, and purred as I felt raw joy flow through me. She was holding me, she was touching me, she accepted me as something worth paying attention to. Ethel was speaking now. "Hey big sis. Dawn wanted you to grab her some merman's scales for her. Some kind of curse-y thingy." She was quiet for a moment. "How's my fellow Luna doing? She seems okay, but I can't hear her. It's like she broke her links. She even smells like a rogue. What do you think happened?" I opened my eye, watching the girl. Fellow Luna? She was a were. The confidence she carried suggested she didn't see herself as a younger sister, but as a leader. Could she have been the one who... no. Last night I was rescued my myself and a pack of weird wolves.

She couldn't... I caught a whiff of her scent. Hers was the same as that wolf from last night. The silver grey one. Was color how they distinguished? It would explain how people know what I was before even scenting me. They were watching me, so I did the reasonable thing. I closed my eye and snuggled closer to cassia, purring at her touch. I heard a snort,  and the witch that was teaching Cassia chuckle. "She likes you, Cass. I wonder why? I mean, you are in looove~." I heard Cassia stiffen, and her voice was tight. "Shut it, Ethel. I... Shut up." She dropped me back in the bed and left the room, grabbing a handful of golden powder and a few purple beads from a jar. The witch and the wolf watched her go, Ethel wincing slightly as the witch sighed.

"Why, Ethel? You know how bad she's hurting. Why would you...?" Ethel sighed, rubbing her face with a hand. "I don't know, I'm sorry Raena. I just... I can't stand seeing her so miserable. It was why I left for pack-life in the first place. She was so sad before he showed up. I only visit every now and then, but she seemed so happy these last few times. Then... this. What happened to that boy? He couldn't have left the earth, he was just kidnapped, right?" Raena sighed, shaking her head. "He's on earth. The power needed to take him to the draconic planes or even the faery realm would be so great that I would have felt it from the opposite side of the planet, even if I'd been only thirteen miles away from the witch, I'd have felt it. I know that's confusing to you, but thirteen is a rather important number in our kinds witchcrafting."