Cat's and Dog's

Final chapter. (Seriously, trust me. Have I ever lied to you?)

(... dont answer that.)

I was wandering around the house, looking for Cassia. We were playing hide and seek, and I'd gotten picked to be the seeker. Of course, as a witch, she was better at hiding than me. She had a knack for bending the rules of reality in her favor. I didn't really mind all that much. It made her happy, and that was what mattered. As I padded around the place, I felt content, at peace. Home.

In a flash, Amber was there. She glanced around in confusion. "I thought I warned you not to pick a place with people! Shade, humans are not... cannot be your friends. If they find out your secret, you are done for. Us witches have an easier time hiding. Now let me take you somewhere you can actually call home." She reached for me, but I hissed, backing away. She huffed, standing up and grabbing a vial from her jacket pocket. "Shade, come here now or I'll be forced to use this." I was about to make a run for it when Raena slid down the banister and hopped over to Amber, snatching the vial and inspecting it. "You realize this is only useful for controlling alphas, right? You made shade a Luna. You need to teach me the spell you used, by the way. I must say, it was brilliant." She tossed the vial into the air, walking away without a backward glance. Amber barely caught the vial, holding it in a death grip.

She looked pale. "Shade. You found a witch. I should've expected this wasn't an ordinary home." Cassia stepped out from behind a picture, folding out of the crack between it and the wall. "Who the He-e-eck, are you?" I was proud of her, she had caught herself before swearing. I was teaching her well. Amber looked between the two witches, her expression calculating. "I see. How did you meet Shade? I only ever heard of one friend who lived in Texas." She ignored Cassia's question, a customary tradition between witches who might have to duel. I knew this from my many years of witch experience. In other words Cassie told me. Raena narrowed her eyes, moving her foot in an awkward, slithering motion. "You named him, didn't you?" Amber took a breath, then she smiled.

"Yes, I did. I named shade. As you have guessed, I triggered his first shift. I named him when he came to me, and I sent him to find a territory of his own. Now, I think we've..." she trailed off as Raena's fairies flew out of her pockets, circling her head. "You..." Raena smiled. "Yes, quite. I'm glad we understand one another. Now, how about you leave? Shade chose Cassia; my apprentice." Cassia had been reaching for her phone, but she pulled her hand back at the time in Raena's voice. Something about the phone caught my eye, a flicker of light that vanished as soon as it appeared. I looked up at Amber, a question on my mind. I shifted to my larger form, a silver-grey tiger, and stalked close to her. I caught her eye, obviously. A giant cat suddenly appearing tends to catch ones attention.

I looked her in the eye, pushing my question as hard as I could. My eyes burned, parts of it glowing while other parts stayed dark. Amber stiffened, her eyes widening. "You're..." she grew pale for a moment before she shook her head. "That explains a very, very, large amount of surprising things. I figured out why you're a girl, Shade. Oh, that is funny. I wonder if she told your father." She gained a queasy smile. Cassia spoke up. "What the... heck are you talking about? Why is that so special. He can do a trick with his eyes, so what?" Raena glanced at my eyes, staring when she caught sight of them. "Oh... Shade. You are... so much more than I thought." I let the glow fade, watching Raena and Amber warily. They both had a strange fascination in their eyes; he didn't like it. He shifted back into a cat and dodged around them to stand behind cassia.

I didn't like the look in their eyes. It was a shifty look, the kind of shifty shiftiness I'd only ever seen from shifty shifters like Alec while they were being... Shifty. I shifted my position, uncomfortable with their gazes. Luckily, Rae spoke first. Unluckily, she didn't speak English. As she whispered the words, Amber glanced at her before beginning her own chant, I felt tingles along my body. Raena's fairies made a musical chant that filled the air and gave the world a heavy, oppressive feel of what I assumed was magic. It felt uncomfortably like being covered in warm sourkraut and cottage cheese. I shivered violently and shook myself to get the feeling off, but it only grew worse. I grew more and more desperate in my attempts to shake off the feeling until I began writhing on the floor in a panicked, panting mess. I was mewling and whining, and making general noises of distress. Then I heard Cassia's voice. It was slow, unsteady, and very unsure of the words; but they had an effect.