Policeman and the cat

38 - Cat ears

The closest a wisp could get them was a ten-minute walk away on the forest road Ian and Nelly had walked to get to the house before. And since there was a bit of a time--

"What are Clestromantis?" Ian asked. That word kept being mentioned.

"Flugmantis mom," Chilli replied. "A huge centipede that lays eggs in high places, then wraps around and protects the eggs. It's bad if it happens to be a human house or if some people go in - then people die."

"And she's smart," Nelly added. "She picks good places to lie eggs, so mostly no humans go in and kids are safely born and she can go do other stuff."

"But if humans go in, they ruin it," Chilli said - "the eggs die and she is very angry and wants to do revenge. She marks the humans, waits for them to go home, then goes and eats their kids."

Holy-- that was one hell of a creature. "Wait, what happens if we eat flugmantis and she sees?" Ian asked.

"Nothing happens," Nelly said. "After they hatch they are their own creatures, it's no longer her business if they live or die."

"Clestromantis and Flugmantis aren't herding astrals," Chilli said. "Dustbuns, Songlies, Whispurs, Menmurs and so on are unhappy if you eat or harm their siblings or kids, but most astrals don't care."

Nelly nodded. "I've seen Menmurs around, but I don't hunt them," she added.

Ian followed Nelly's example on what to hunt, he never touched any 'new' kinds he spotted because his knowledge was too lacking. "How do those look?"

"Cats with long bellies and very long tails," Nelly said. "They wrap around tree branches like snakes."

Ian had not seen one-- "Nelly, point at one when you see it," he asked.

"No." Chilli and Nelly said at the same time.

Eh-- "Why not?" Ian asked. And till they got to the door he got a lecture on why he should never pet a Menmur. They are cute, yes and they are smart - they will figure Ian is a good target to domesticate, they will follow him, get in his home, breed there, eat all Dustbuns, monopolize Ian's petting and it will all be a mess.

"If you pet one, I will eat it," Nelly said. "And then I will eat a hundred others who will come for revenge and you will be sad."

Ah. Okay. "I'll be careful not to," Ian said as he rang the bell.

It was sad he wouldn't be able to pet one, but the result of that did sound to be a disaster in either case. It didn't sound like they were reasonable enough to avoid eating dustbuns and Nelly would be unhappy if he petted others, which--

"Can I pet a regular cat if I meet one in the streets?" Ian asked, but that said-- when had he last seen one? And an ominous feeling appeared in his stomach as Nelly looked at him.

"Ian, animals are afraid of us," she said as Mom opened the door.

"Ian, dear, what happened?" Mom asked looking concerned, speaking volumes of the face Ian was making at the realization he might never pet a cat again--

"Someone died?" Dad asked, as he also walked up.

Nelly hugged Ian, then replied: "No, Ian realized animals were afraid of us only now."

"Ah--" Mom nodded in understanding, as Ian sniffled and brushed his fingers through Nelly's hair. That might be the biggest bummer he had heard lately--

"Mom can see me," Chilli said.

That snapped Ian out of his sadness. "That was fast," he said, surprised.