A Cat’s Tail CH 8

We were happily greeted and sent off to the next district. The bread was tied in a bag and slung over Ace’s shoulder. We exited the barrier, my ears popping from the amount of silence. The noise in Sitamus was drastically different from the walk.

“They seemed friendly in the end!” Ace’s positivity never failed to put me in a cheery mood.

“Not at first though.” Abigail added, “Their change of heart was worth it after all!”

We all needed the rest and the food before heading out, it was essential for the long trip anyways. “So, what are you guys going to do after going to the Earth Viewing Area?” I asked.

I looked at Abigail, seeing her color pop out from the fog, “I’m going to explore some more before heading home!” Abigail spun around, “I met a new group of cats I never knew existed! I just knew the district was full of them.” Abigail danced around us in joy, “I assumed every stray cat was bad too, I knew they could be good! Mommy didn’t.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, what a cute response. She was a barn cat, she had a family with a dozen other cats far from civilization. Abigail looked at me, making me catch her emerald eyes, “I’ll find my mom too!” Abigail smiled brightly.

“Mom?” I asked, “Your human?”

“My actual mom.” The calico genuinely looked forward and smiled. “She was the sweetest mom ever, I never got to see her though. I just know that mommy past away when I was little. I never left the international district, I didn’t know where to look.”

Never left the international district? She was head of authority it seemed, “Why did you never leave?” I asked, “You know, there was a list in the library you could’ve checked out.”

Abigail turned to me, shocked in her steps, “There was a list, I didn’t know about?” She then turned to Ace who nodded in response. She stopped completely, “What?!”

I busted out laughing, “Yea! The Earth Viewing Area shows human and cat families too, but it just adds to the stress.”

“I didn’t know that!” Abigail’s voice rose two octaves, “I could’ve just stayed home then.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I added, “We are starting a new adventure, and for a good cause.”

Abigail rushed back to our sides, “I guess that’s true.” Abigail trotted ahead and turned to face the crowd, “What about you Toby?”

“Me? We are going to the Viewing Area for me to go back home.” I reiterated. “Forgetful and oblivious, huh?”

“Oh, be nice,” Abigail taunted, “Besides, I’ve been here longer than you.”

“And didn’t know the library list?”

“Shut up!” We all started laughing, though it had to be slightly true for her to be forgetting a crucial part of the international district.

“Hey,” I asked, rather seriously, “How long have you both been in Heaven?”

Abigail quieted her laughter, “Time really flies here, I’d say 5 years.”

“5? Earthly years?”

“Mhm!” Abigail trotted forward, “Good for my Heaven age!”

“Wow,” I looked over to Ace who didn’t seem to be smiling as brightly as before, “What about you, Ace?”

Ace looked at me, questionably, “A long time. A few hundred I’d assume.”

“Hundred?!” Abigail yelled out.

“A few hundred?!” I restated.

“Yea, it’s been way too long.” Ace ended with a smile, “Though, I learned the ins and outs rather quickly here! So, time went by so quickly!”

“What did you do for a few hundred years?” I asked. He’d be here for so long, he’s training to be a guardian. Guardian practice must be taking a while to achieve.

“I did a load of things. I met up with several old friends, my family, I helped the library prosper, I even tried to go across Heaven like this! Though, that didn’t go entirely as planned.” Ace chuckled once more. He stopped and perked his ears, staring into the foggy distance.

“Like what?” Abigail interrupted, though everyone ignored here. We were fixated on the subject in the distance. We saw another cat, small sure but it was there.

“Hey!” I yelled out loudly, hoping to catch her attention. The cat in the fog grew only slightly bigger, she fell. She collapsed? What could she have tripped on in this desolate walkway? Though, the figure… it faded away. Her tail then her head, everything vanished. “Whoa.”

“That was weird.” Abigail said, though everyone was distracted by Ace’s panicked rush forward. “Ace?”

Ace started rushing forward, trying to catch up to the vanished figure. I had to catch up to him, he wasn’t running too quickly. “Ace? Is everything okay?” I kept running alongside him, seeing his emotion turn into fear.

“Just fine!” Ace panted, “I just think if we got to Cyris at the pace we originally went, we’d never… we’d never get there in time.” Ace stuttered? I never heard him stutter like that.

“In time?” I questioned, though I shook my head, “We’ll make it definitely now.” Abigail started trotted alongside us, seeing how she was smaller than us two.

“We could go slower!” Abigail called out. Ace bit into the bag of bread and slung it to me. Her picked Abigail up and she climbed onto his back, “This isn’t what I’d imagine.”

I felt more frantic, seeing Ace act like this was new to me. “Ace knows what he’s doing, he’s way older than both of us combined.” I reassured, seeing Abigail smile. I couldn’t see Ace, though I didn’t feel the enjoyment that he had before leaving.

We ended up slowly down as the sun lowered. We were becoming too tired to talk, Abigail fell asleep on Ace’s back. I wanted to sleep, though I didn’t feel like I could have. The fog grew dark, majorly dark. We looked forward to finding another breathing pocket soon, a new city.

A few more hours past, the fog turning a slight greenish color. Dawn? One could only assume. Ace looked up, rushing forward again. I couldn’t call out to him, I felt myself become exhausted to even speak. I walked as fast as I could, seeing what he had seen.

A new blue aura. A new city. Cyris was just up ahead. I rushed ahead, forgetting all of the tiredness I had. “There it is!” I woke Abigail up on accident. “Cyris!”

“Cyris?” Abigail asked. We all looked forward.

We found another district to adventure through!

We found Cyris.