A Catboy Appears!

I can't believe she abandoned us as soon as we arrived. She could have at least shown us around a little first. Not like there's much to see. This whole place is a ghost town aside from the soldiers patrolling everywhere.

"Walk closer to me," I told Yahime as a pair of guards nearly shouldered her. "We don't need any trouble with the guards now that we're in town, and it'll be impossible to explain who, what, you are."

Yahime didn't answer but did step closer. Too close, in fact, to the point she was shoving me with each step we took.

"Not that close! Just walk normally and don't bump into anyone."

Another silent response, but it did stop the childish shoving. It was hard to be mad at Yahime, though. She was like a puppy, if you ignored the flesh cleaving claws and black fluid skin. Yahime followed any instruction I gave her to the best of her ability. Sure, she didn't follow them well, but what could I expect when we couldn't even communicate? I could expect a headache.

A loud crash filled the empty street, drawing what little attention there was to draw, as a stall sparsely littered with shriveled grey plants collapsed.

"You better have some way to pay for this!"

An angry, plump woman in her golden years pushed some scraps of wood off of herself and gave her clothes a dusting. Her wrinkled face was puckered so tightly I couldn't even see her eyes and I looked at Yahime who stared dumbly. I wanted to yell at her, scream that I'd just told her to be careful, but the old woman's squinted glare was having none of it.

"Hey! I'm talking to you ladies! I don't know who you are, but you can't just go around bumping and knocking into things. Look at my stall! All the vegetables I grew are ruined now!"

"Vegetables?" Was that what those shriveled plants were? "I'm so sorry, we didn't mean to cause any trouble. My friend is just a bit clumsy and—"

"I don't give a damn if your friend is the emperor himself! All I care about is how you're going to make this right! Take responsibility!"

The familiar weight settled on my shoulders, snaking its tendrils across my skin. It was the same. Was that the lesson I was supposed to learn? Was the reason the old woman reminded me of my manager because no matter what world I found myself in, I'd always be at an unreasonable person's whims?

I shook my head. No. If I was going to avenge Aurelie, that was the first part of myself I'd have to kill off. Submitting to the entitled demands of our "elders" is what killed us to begin with.

"It was an accident, ma'am," I said, mustering every milligram of assertiveness I had. "I'll be happy for you the best I can, but not if you're going to be rude."

I said it! If only I could have stood up to those stupid idiots at work the same way. Who am I kidding. They would have just made my life worse by pushing more tasks and overtime onto me.

"That's no way to talk to your elder, young lady. Who do you think you are?!"

I braced myself as a leathery wrinkled hand swung at me, squeezing my eyes shut like it would negate the pain. But it never came. Peeking, I was greeted by a familiar scene that made my heart freeze.

"Yahime?"

The shadow familiar stood between me and the old woman like an impenetrable wall that, from the looks of it, had bruised the old woman's hand when she hit it.

"Thank you, Yahime," I said. I pulled her behind me by her sleeve just in case the situation escalated. The last thing I needed was for Yahime to misinterpret the situation and kill everyone in Edgeton. "Here."

I pulled the small coin purse Bixey had looted from the slavers and tossed it to the woman. I wasn't familiar with the value of things, but just by the weight of the bag I knew there were more coins inside than the old woman would normally see in a month.

"This is…" The old woman groped the bag of coins, counting it through the fabric. "Well, I suppose mistakes happen. Just watch yourselves."

"Right."

Now what? Bixey disappears and now I'm broke. Are we really going to be able to get past that wall? Maybe we should go over the mountains instead.

"That was a nice thing you did," a warm, younger voice I didn't recognize said from behind me. "I didn't know humans could be so charitable."

"I don't want whatever trouble you're bringing," I said. I wanted to act like I had somewhere to be, but I didn't have anywhere to go. "Whatever you're selling, I'm not buying."

Thin, pointed fingers brushed past my hair and hooked my chin, forcing me to face the stranger. He was younger than I expected, at best seventeen like Aurelie (though I'd thought Bixey was young, too), with messy white hair and a wiry build. But what stood out the most were the two pointed cat ears poking from beneath his hair.

"Kitty?"

The catboy's sapphire eyes narrowed and his hands reached for a pair of polished curved daggers that didn't match his otherwise street urchin appearance. Had he stolen them from a guard?

"Call me that again and I'll make that granny seem like a saint."

"Sorry!" I said, throwing my hands up. "I was just surprised. Let's start over. I'm Aure— Kyomi."

"And your friend?"

I looked at Yahime standing passively beside the fallen stall. Why was she always so oblivious? It was like the lights were on but no one was ever home.

"Her name's Yahime," I answered. "She's… She gets lost in her own world a lot."

"I see."

My explanation proved adequate and the catboy relaxed, pulling a ratty brown cloak tight around himself. I didn't imagine it provided much warmth, but compared to his other clothes —a sleeveless vest that barely covered his stomach and pants torn at the knees— it was better than nothing. Either that or the thin white fur covering his torso was warmer than I thought.

"If that's all then…"

"Actually, if you're not busy, would you…"

My brow cocked as I looked at the pink cheeked boy. Was he about to ask me out? I couldn't say I found the thought unappealing; he was the perfect type of shota catboy you would want to drag around town and dress up in frilly clothes.

"Would you like to eat with me?"

I nearly fell over. He really did ask me out! A heated debate ignited in my mind. Was it really okay for a thirty-one year old woman to say yes? Technically I was seventeen, right? Aurelie was at least and I was in her body. Or would that just make me an older woman using loopholes to prey on a child?!

"I'll have to pass," I sighed. "We're waiting for a friend."

"A friend? In Edgeton?" The boy laughed. "Aside from the guards, you don't even need two hands to count all the people in this town. And not a single one has a traveler as a friend."

"That almost sounds like an accusation."

"If that's how you take a simple observation…"

The hair on the back of my neck bristled and I took in a lungful of thin mountain air. I wished I hadn't left the stick I'd been using as a staff in the woods. Thankfully Yahime finally noticed something was wrong.

"Stop!" I said as soon as I saw the catboy's hands edge towards his daggers again. "I really, really, advise against that."

I used my eyes to point at Yahime. The way she leered at the boy sent a shiver up my spine. They looked the same as always. So why did her gaze feel so hungry?

Hungry? My mouth and throat were dry. Yahime didn't eat, or at least that's what Bixey had said when I'd asked. But how much did Bixey really know about Dusk? What if Yahime just hadn't found anything to her taste?

"It's okay, Yahime," I said. "Let's all just calm down."

"Call your friend off," the catboy said. His voice was trembling and every white hair on his body was puffed. "Now."

I wish it were that easy! You try giving orders to something that can't even understand you!

"It's not that easy. So just—"

The pair were in action in a flash, the catboy drawing his daggers just in time to deflect a swipe that would have filleted him. He countered with a practiced thrust of his offhand coupled with a slash from his main, only to stare dumbfounded when the strikes bounced back.

This is only going to escalate if I don't do something, now!

11:47:10