Seeker has been utilizing his magic to protect Burdens for quite some time. It isn't only his own Burden but even other at the behest of the Parliament. Tonight is not different. He has been asked by Jezzabella to investigate activity in and around Silver Ford using his gift for Astral Projection. It is a routine request as it is the month of October and so much happens in that month especially but it carries an air of something different to his whiskers. It is a simple patrol really, hit the high lights in the town and see if anything is amiss.

>Seeker-On-High<

Though he knew, deep down, that he simply napped on the top of the second-best shelf in the room, which was second best because the sun lingered there later so it stayed warm longer, but otherwise was inferior to the taller and more cluttered best shelf, Seeker lept higher and above the house entirely. It was a matter of forgetting as much as doing, forgetting how bodies weighed you down in place, how place mattered, how heavy and plain things were. Basic forgetting tricks he'd mastered as a young Seer.

Now that he'd forgotten his way up, he needed to start looking and remembering. Remembering while forgetting was a trickier bit. Most cats could get to the Astral, but too many forgot it afterwards and so couldn't be real Seers.

Seeker bounced upwards on a bit of significant nothing and then sat up sharply, ears alert, looking around for what might be seen just around his house. Then he'd let the chilly wind chase him about town a bit.

His home was clear of any oddities. As his circle expanded though he saw little things here and there. Beneath a tree he saw an extra shadow. Over by a pond in a yard an extra pool of water, nay a few pools going towards that house.

>Seeker-On-High<

An extra shadow? That could be... well, almost anything. A trick of the moon or the tree or something sitting in or by the tree or... just countless possibilities. It almost drew his focus.

But the pools of water were more definite and threatening. They gave the impression of something going toward that house, and nothing watery was ever good outside of a drinking bowl. Watery things became rain (which was cold and unpleasant) or baths (the less said the better). But he should check first. Which house? Was it someone's particular territory that he should pass word to, or was this an uncovered matter, thus falling to the Parliament?

It was Old man McGee's house. He was a octogenarian Burden who had recently had his familiar killed by an accident. Now that Seeker looks at those puddles in a row, it occurs to him that the accident involved a bath and the death of the cat in question when no human was present. It had been decidedly odd but accidents did happen even to the best of cats.

>Seeker-On-High<

Well, that was not good at all. It seemed less accidental now than perhaps it had, given these odd pools. Could odd pools harm a cat? An incautious one, perhaps. One who did not look before leaping.

Now was, he thought, a very good time to look. No one was likely to notice, at least. He swooped downward, first toward the series of pools, getting close enough to better judge the distances between them and any patterns.

The pools could have been water sogged foot prints if the creature's stride were that of a large Burden. But more importantly as Seeker got closer he noted that the pools glowed with Astral light.

>Seeker-On-High<

Oh, that isn't good... These are special pools. And tall-walking footsteps. Ghost-prints? Maybe. But also, maybe not. Certainly nothing that belonged here.

It would be wise to fly back to himself, then take word to others and return in force. But wisdom and caution could be mistaken for cowardice, and Seeker was cautious, not cowardly. He could prove it by seeing what was here first. Or at least investigating further. Investigation was his first duty!

He followed the pool-prints, first away from the house to see where they... Went? Came from? He would only know upon seeing.

The pool prints came from a dark pool of water on the property. It was perfect for drowning little birds in, though that thought never crossed his mind.

Seeker knows that while a formidable opponent, in his Astral form a spirit if that is what made those prints, could easily attack and harm him.

>Seeker-On-High<

He paused to sniff at the water, knowing from here on the Astral it would hint at the truth of it. This was certainly nothing good, though.

It wouldn't spot him. Though he felt slower here on the ground. It wouldn't take long to get the scent, though.

Seeker knew that the water was not visible on the normal plane. It is clearly a function of whatever it was that crossed that place. He is able to catch a pungent sea smell that leads towards the house.

>Seeker-On-High<

Tracks of the sea, or of the spirits of the sea... This grew worse and worse at each hint. At ill enough now that he knew not to enter the house. The teasing of the others was not worth the sort of risk that might come of being spotted by such a thing as this.

No! That wasn't so. He was quick and sharp-witted, he could get at least a glimpse of this thing before it could possibly spot him, and then he would have clear word of what was faced to share. He would simply need to be smart.

He let himself flit to the rough of the house, where he settled his paws as if they were solid, just to give him the certainty of the place. He did not quite know what inside would look like, but he could poke his head down and, from safe, higher place from which he could quickly flee, snoop around.

The top space where things were stored and held all kinds of interesting cubbyholes was empty of anything on the same plane as Seeker. In fact it was dark and dusty like it hadn't been disturbed in a long time.

>Seeker-On-High<

He never quite understood why the highest places of houses were so often filled with neglected things and dust. Some behavior made little sense.

But he wasn't here to explore the clutter and the interesting paths and tunnels thru it. He had a mission, a mystery to examine.

And so he settled to another floor silently, paused to make certain he was ready to leap back and away if need be, then pushed his head down thru the floor to see what was below.

The room was one of those painful places with lots of different sources of water. It is here that Seeker spots the spirit. Lying in a long high depression like the places that fish swim in. She if a spirit can have a sex is laying back as if she were in pain or pleasure, it is so difficult to tell with a Burden never mind a spirit, as they don't purr.

>Seeker-On-High<

What a place. It seemed every house had them, but understanding the behavior of Burdens and why they lived where they did was beyond anyone Seeker had ever met. But the odd spirit lying down made it too easy for it to just glance up and see him here, so Seeker got a good idea what the form in the over-large water dish looked and smelled like to his astral senses, then backed off up and away.

Fast enough, surely.

Seeker is sure that he wasn't spotted. That is until he hears the horrible gurgling how. The spirit noticed something.

>Seeker-On-High<

Being noticed was worse than not getting a good sighting to report. Being noticed came just before being attacked, and Seeker did not like being attacked. Which meant now was the right time to leave.

He bounded up, thru the roof and back out under the stars. If that thing liked to walk and leave tracks, perhaps he could avoid it by flying away.

The howl for the creature was burbly like a brook splashing against rocks. Yet it didn't follow him. Perhaps it wasn't sure were the clever Seeker had gone.

>Seeker-On-High<

Water was heavy, maybe that was it. A heavy water spirit couldn't chase an astral cat quickly. Slow and heavy.

Or was that just a guess? Maybe best to tell whoever followed up on this that was just a guess. Because if it wasn't slow in the physical world, things might get messy. Wet and messy.

The excess shadow forgotten in the excitement of the not-quite-chase, Seeker zipped back toward his own him, his own body on the second best shelf, and settled back into connection. One he shifted his paw just so and let his tail twitch right into place, he could wake up, get a good stretch, and go report.

[OOC: Lets have the report at the Parliament. Gosh we should have a thread for that shouldn't we... Well how about in of course an appropriately named Parliament of the New Moon... :)]

[OOC: I think that seems eminently reasonable.]