Catpurr 12: Purrpose

Catpurr 12: Purrpose

With the rope wrapped around a large spruce and one end tied to the fallen beam, Adam gnashed his teeth together as he wrapped the other end around his hands and tried again.

"Uuuuuugh." Adam groaned, the rope immediately digging into his soft skin as he dug his feet into the ashen grass.

"ARGH!"

C'mon! C'mon! Adam screamed internally, his small stature and low strength doing wonders to work against him. "AAAAAAGH!"

Adam fell to the ground, panting heavily as he let go of the rope, eyeing his bloody hands from his busted open rope burns.

Sigh… Why is life so hard…

Not one to sit around moping for too long, Adam got up, gripping the rope once more despite his wounds. However, as he did so he spotted his summon, the little skeleton cat carrying a piece of debris in its rickety clacking mandible.

Heh.

It wasn't much, but at least the skeleton was helping. As a low-level minion, it couldn't do much in the way of well… anything.

Outside of simple commands like attack target, defend, follow, guard, and stop. Low level skeletons were completely dependent on their masters constantly giving them orders. Fortunately, his unique ability Loved by Undead, remained with him, the trait buffing his skele-kitty and all its functions, allowing the monster some autonomy from its master.

He eyed the creature work, the little skeleton having created a tiny helpful pile in the corner.

Noticing its master observing, the skelli-cat stopped, its spooky yellow eyes shifting to spy on the catboy.

"Chitchitchit." It opened its mouth, clacking its mandibles at its master as it pawed at its pile, almost as if to say Look at what I've done.

In a way it was adorable, but it still didn't compare to Schrodinger.

Adam felt a pang in his chest at the thought. He sighed, folding into himself as he hugged his knees close, missing his friend.

"Chitchitchit." The skelli-cat clattered, approaching its master and rubbing its bleach-white skull on Adam's ankles.

He reached out, petting the smooth skull out of reflex, yet the act brought no comfort.

Sitting in the dewy grass, Adam suddenly found himself reminiscing about the day he was given his best friend.

It was a day much like this one, in a charred town that mirrored this settlement in its desolation and ruin. Yet, unlike the wooden carcasses around him that had their flames smothered, the town in his memory had been aflame by green, never-ending fire, that burned despite a heavy downpour of rain moments prior.

A nameless village, one fallen victim to monsters after another "Holy" skirmish had blown through the countryside. Even now he could remember his teacher's words, the sadness in her voice as she looked upon him with her only functional eye.

"Why do you want to be a lich Adam?" The raven-haired woman asked, the green flames reflecting off her bone pale skin as her eye glowed with emerald power. She was six-three, a tall woman even without her golden heels, wearing clothes that revealed nearly every inch of her tattooed skin save for her neck obscured by a spiked choker, her breasts covered by velvet, and the gold waistband that held the sheets of long purple cloth used to obscure her thighs that weren't covered by stockings.

"For immortality of course. I don't want to die, plus undead are cool!" A child Adam had responded absentmindedly, his hands poking at the floating spirits of the deceased as they passed by.

"And then what? What would you do if you obtained eternity? What would be your purpose?" Master Razalia asked, the woman reaching down into rubble to pick up what was a carcass of a soot-covered small animal. She turned her eye upwards, the triangle shaped tattoo beneath her eye twinkling as the air came to life with power.

"Spread your teachings to everyone across the world so that everyone will know how awesome necromancers are!"

A childish answer that made his teacher display a gentle smile as her blackened hands buzzed with heavy power.

"Adam. There will come a day when I'll ask you this question again." The woman said, turning to her protegee and kneeling down to his eye level. Her golden eyepatch opening to reveal her ghostly spiritual eye, a replacement for an eye she had sacrificed for power. "And when that day comes, I hope you've found a purpose that’s for yourself."

Confused, Adam opened his mouth to reply, yet a sudden cough and subsequent cry of a baby kitten stopped him.

Resurrection! A miracle brought forth by his teacher that left Adam awestruck. This, this was the power he wanted, the power to cheat death!

"Meow. Meeeow!" The kitten cried, scared and angry that it was wet and held in some stranger's hand.

"Here." Master Razalia said, handing the little furball to the boy.

"Huh? W-what? What am I supposed to do with this thing?" Adam yelled, reluctantly putting his hands out as his face twisted with visible disgust.

"Nourish it. Take care of it And although it seems as though I've offered you a burden, one day, you'll come to understand this as a gift." Razalia said as she patted the young Adam on his head.

The sound of a creak made Adam's tearful eyes snap open. Unbeknownst to him, he had suddenly fallen asleep, the shifting of wood jolting him to his feet with his heart racing.

Adam looked left, then right, his eyes rapidly dilating and darting across the town in search of possible threats.

Oddly, he found none. Instead what he saw was something that made his eyes widen.

His skele-cat was tugging on the rope, lifting the fallen beam slowly off the hatch using the pulley system Adam had created!

What?!

Without wasting a second, Adam moved, grabbing the shovel and stabbing it underneath the pillar.

"Keep pulling! Keep pulling!" Adam ordered, putting his hand beneath the beam to shift it as the skeleton lifted it.

"That's it! That's it! Come on!" Adam laughed maniacally as he put himself under the pillar, moving it free of the hatch using his body. "Ahahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Suddenly a snap sounded out, the weight of the beam rushing down on the boy.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Adam shrieked.

The pillar began to fall, moments from crushing him, yet thinking quickly he sent a command to his skele-cat, the creature sprinting to its master and headbutting him free from the collapsing column just as his strength gave way.

Adam landed in the dirt, his hand breaking his fall as the pillar kicked up dust and debris. He was safe, however, his summon wasn't so lucky.

Immediately Adam was up, sprinting towards the fallen log as his connection with his companion was severed. A similar feeling to one that was felt during his transformation into this… size.

No no no! Adam pawed through the debris beside the log, grabbing at the lifeless animal skull that was covered in the dirt.

He held the skull in his hand, the vision of Schrodinger's white fluffy face suddenly overlapping over the skull.

Adam tossed it, looking away before he held his head in his hand to collect himself from the rush of emotions flooding his veins.

"Purpose…" Adam sighed.

A/N[Concept Art of Necromage Razalia Des'heart]