The Cat Who Knew How to Cry

2. THE CAT IN THE TREE (part 1)

Lives like a cat in Briaellar!

An Enhiargean saying

Aniallu herself didn't fully understand what had made her rush out of the Serpent's Den. She felt noticeably better after speaking with Irson, as always. But this time everything felt... different somehow. Typically it was the Tanae's words that had a healing effect on her emotional wounds, but this time it was her own resolve that did it, the tenacity with which she had fought for her right to be Alasais' cat. And Alu was afraid of letting it slip away – the state of her soul that had been so hard to catch by the tail.

Her inner Serpent and Cat had been warring for an eternity now, with neither being able to get the upper hand. The war had been tormenting both, draining them, which naturally weakened the sianae. It prevented her from stopping and giving serious thought to a possible solution out of this agonizing situation. She felt that she needed to lay low and wait, and to use the time to scrutinize everything with utmost coldness, to find a way to overcome the second identity that had been forced upon her.

The notion of counterbalance that Irson had spoke of had been bouncing around Aniallu's head for a while now. The difference being that her interpretation of "counterbalance" was closer to "anchor." It wasn't enough to simply balance the Cat's and Serpent's influence on her life, her soul. Her goal was to rid herself of the latter altogether, and then to drop anchor in her "Alaean bay."

Aniallu hoped that her Dirrelejt diploma would open doors to a job completely unrelated to her title. Finally she would have a trade that would engage her to profoundly that she would forget everything except the goal. A goal of her choosing, after her interest. And her hope panned out – the very first offer following her graduation was in total compliance with her demands. Firstly, Aniallu's new place of employment was to become an abandoned dungeon, which meant there wouldn't be anyone around in need of saving, and therefore of waking the Serpent. Secondly, curious cat that she was, she was drawn to one of the past's most notorious mysteries as if it were catmint.

Long story short, Alu had grabbed on to the fortuitous vacancy with four paws, and was going to head out there before sunrise. Unfortunately, due to a silly scheduling mishap she had missed a meeting with her curator from Agadar Academy, who was supposed to supply her with some magical gear that might simplify her investigation quite a bit. Reasoning that, in the absence of information about her destination, the wizard would most likely return to his chambers in the Academy's building, Aniallu decided to look for him there.

The night was too beautiful to deny oneself the pleasure of flying beneath the stars, and so, eschewing teleportation, Alu took to the air, setting course on the Academy. Levitation was never a strong suit the Alae; to fix the matter, Aniallu had long availed herself of a flyboard that had been the craze all over Lindorg back in the last millennium. Called "gleemie," the board was capable of accelerating to such speeds that magic was occasionally needed not to fall off.