Policeman and the cat

7 - On Dustbuns

It took Ian a while to find the shelf. The library was huge! Yet, as he did, he noticed that the book he was looking for was a popular one with more than thirty copies occupying the bottom row of a shelf. He reached down and picked it up, then sat down on the floor cross-legged, placing the book on his knees.

"Illustrated Encyclopedia of Common Astrals" was a thick book, leather-bound and heavy. Ian wasn't a reader by any means, so the book felt daunting. Even so, he opened it and started reading the introduction.

One important note on astrals was that - they gain intelligence from aether in the air, even if they are not taught they pick up knowledge about the world, the society they live around, language and other details. The older the astral is the more they know. Other than that Astrals were far more peculiar and varied than physical lifeforms and this book was meant to give a basic introduction to those starting to learn about astrals, listing the most common ones first and Dustbuns was the very first entry.

<Dustbuns are the most common household pet in Ahea and most common household astral in Urea. As they are freely born in both places and suffer no consequences if smuggled over dimensions they are classified as both native astrals and 'Contra' class travelers.>

Holy--- Ian let out a breath. Ok. This wouldn't work. He doubted Chilli would know, but just in case he asked. "Chilli, what is Ahea?"

"Planet in another dimension," the dustbun replied.

Oh! No, this might actually work. The part of picking up intelligence just by living might be more amazing than he thought. "What is Urea?"

"This planet."

Ian let out a relieved breath feeling incredibly lucky all of a sudden and resumed reading.

<Dustbuns are born when a dust particle of some sort binds with an aether particle and while they can consume any kind of dust, they have a strong preference towards the type of dust they formed from.>

"What is aether?" Ian asked.

Chilli crossed her arms. "...Energy?" She didn't seem sure.

A form of energy, huh?

<Dustbuns are useful creatures as they tend to protect their dwelling place. If there are seven or more dustbuns in a house they can form a powerful barrier that keeps out astrals from entering.>

Oh. His ceiling had more than that, so that seemed good?

<Normies tend to accidentally vacuum them or sweep them away while cleaning so they seldom benefit from Dustbun protection.>

Ian made a wry smile recalling August's question earlier in the morning. Seemed like it was a common issue to throw them out.

<Dustbuns are also grateful beings and will protect inhabitants of the house from harm by warning them of upcoming danger. Dustbuns possess some amount of prophetic ability - if one screeches and self-destructs in fire on the bed of some house inhabitant, then it is recommended to either visit an oracle for a divination on the type of danger that comes, or follow the basic steps of - health examination and doing something unlikely in an unlikely place. 

Example, taking a month-long vacation at a distant relative's place. Dustbuns normally warn of the incoming danger that would come to pass in a range between two weeks up to a month. Extreme caution should be taken if, after two weeks from the first warning, another warning comes on the same bed.>

Oh... Looked like Oracles were a real thing, but that said the fact that dustbuns could predict future was something. "Can you see into the future?" He asked just to check.