[OOC For Jaden and DeeCee.]

[Copied over from PM thread]

Jayden

Jayden never particularly cared for cats or dogs or pets of any kind, but he had accepted a commission from a nationwide chain of pet groomers to amp up their web sites. Working on the premise of maybe working up some before and after type images, he decided to look for some "before" shots at the local animal shelter.

That's where he met her (saw her, he kept telling himself, but it felt more like he met her, like she was talking to him). It was those blue eyes, maybe, he decided and then firmly put her out of his mind as he left the shelter with a series of digital pictures.

Unfortunately, she only stayed out of his mind for about 37 seconds or thereabout and, the next day, he found himself making a ridiculous excuse to revisit the animal shelter.

No one could have been more surprised than himself when he left with her.

[Then later at Jayden's apartment]

Jayden leaned back in his desk chair and looked ceilingward for a long moment and shook his head. For the life of him he couldn't get a feel for this damned pet grooming job. As far as he was concerned, the cats looked exactly the same before and after.

"Damn cats," he muttered and, almost immediately felt a prickle on the back of his neck. He swiveled in his chair and there it was, the blue eyed kitten looking up at him, its head cocked to one side, a disapproving look on its face.

Cat's can't have approving or disapproving looks he thought. Cat's don't do expressions.

"Nothing personal, cat," he said and turned back to the laptop. He picked up a small steno pad and read through some of his notes, and them read them again and then realized he had no idea what he'd just read.

Again that feeling on the back of his neck. Jayden turned slowly and it was staring up at him again.

"What do you want?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the kitten turned and skittered into the kitchen. Muttering, Jayden got up and followed the cat, finding it standing beside the aluminum foil litter tray.

"Oh... that." He scooped out a couple of slightly noisome clumps and added a little fresh litter to the tray.

"There now, you happy?"

He could swear the kitten smiled at him and he rolled his eyes again. I'm losing my f****** mind, he thought and headed for his recliner, sat and leaned it back all the way.

Jayden had no idea why he'd bought the little cat. Seventy-eight dollars it had cost him and he wasn't at all flush at the moment. Then he'd bought cat food at which the cat immediately turned up its little pink nose (he'd bought two more brands before little-miss-princess would deign to eat from her little pink bowl). Then he arranged a little cat door in one of the windows (he raised the window about twelve inches, taped heavy cardboard on either side of the opening and then tacked a piece of leather between the two sideguards so she could leave and return when she wanted). Even with the cat door, however, she'd only do her business outside when the weather was perfect.

"Damn cat," he muttered and nodded off, only to wake up about an hour later to find her coiled high on his chest, eyes closed, buzzing contentedly.

Jayden reached for her, planning to grab her by the scruff of the neck and throw her out into the middle of the room but, just as he moved his hand, she opened her big blue eyes and he found himself rubbing her fur between her ears, back and down to her shoulder blades.

"Damn cat," he said softly, thinking he really should come up with a name to replace damn cat.

Tiger-Lily

Having finally captured his attention and persuaded him to clean the litter tray, though that was a border-line clean in her opinion, she realises that this burden probably requires an intense training regime and starts to work out what she might do.

As always she takes time and trouble with her toilet, making sure she covers every trace, then daintly shakes eat of her paws as she steps off the tray. A final inspection with her nose and she is happy, sitting down to wash and groom herself.

Then she wanders back into the main room to look for her trainee.

He is asleep.

Well she needs to be around for when he wakes, meanwhile she might as well be warm and comfortable. With an easy grace, she lightly jumps up onto the chair and then daintily walks to the warmest comfort spot, pads the surface smooth and settles down with a light purr, content with the easy rise and fall of her surface, lulling her to sleep.

A little while later she comes back to consciousness with him pleasantly scratching her and back. In order to encourage her trainee, she rubs her head on his hand and purrs her approval but also angling her head so that he can rub the sides of her face also, a favourite spot.

Jayden

"So that's what you want, DeeCee," he grumbled, but softly, and began stroking the sides of her face, stroking back from her mouth toward her ears, one side and then the other and, when she lifted her chin slightly, also lightly rubbing her throat, down from chin to her upper chest.

"Well, hell, I'd probably like it if someone did it for me, too," he said and chuckled.

Tiger-Lily/DC

She puts extra effort into her purrs and her head butting to give positive feedback to her young trainee. And after all he is doing quite a good job. Now she has to see how long he can sustain it for.

It generally takes a while she understands to train a burden in his duties and older ones seem to learn more quickly and have more patience.

Time will tell.

Jayden


"Well, that's enough for the moment," he said, taking his hand from her neck, putting it under her chest and giving a tentative little lift.

"You need to get down now. I've got to get some work done some time today."

She didn't move though, merely arching her back in response to his gesture.

"Okay, DC, I'll give you a couple minutes more and that's all."

Jayden resumed rubbing her cheeks with thumb and forefinger.

Tiger-Lily/DC

She feels a small amount of satisfaction. He is responding to training. That is good.. and the stroking is good too.

She understands that he wants to move but it is also important that he understands that moving is her choice. So after another minute, she rises, stretches gracefully and jumps down, heading for that sun spot in the window.

Jayden


He cocked his head to one side and shook his head as he watched her bottle brush of a tail waggling back and forth as she went to sun herself.

Jayden snorted sardonically and got to his feet, stretching side to side a couple of times and then making his way to his desk where he opened his laptop and powered it up.

While it was booting up, he swiveled in his office chair and looked at the little cat, again shaking his head.

"Damn cat..."

The laptop boots with a string of news headlines rolling across the top as he is delivered his digital dose. The one that floats to the top talks about the upcoming celebrations for Halloween. Warnings about razor blades in apples, arsenic in candy that sort of fear mongering.

The next discusses the history of the commercialized pagan ritual. From its origins to modern day interpretations. Right down to the thinking of the borders between the realms of the living and the dead. One pundit even notes how in history certain rituals were favored on such a night because of the ability of these powers to interact.

Then it got more normal talking about the different stock markets. How on the Japanese market Wang was up again.

Jayden


Turning back from the cat - his cat! - to the laptop as it beeped a couple of times, Jayden frowned at some of the headlines that streamed across the screen. Was this news?

He checked to make sure it was his normal news feed source and it was... or appeared to be but it didn't seem like news or not like real news to him.

Pagan rituals? Realms of living and dead? Jayden leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes briefly ceilingward. The whole world was going crazy. He leaned back forward in his seat and looked at the cat.

"Yeah, you, too," he muttered and turned back to his laptop as the stock highlights flowed past.

Tiger-Lily/DC

She has found a sun spot on the ledge and is sitting in the middle of it, warming nicely and washing her face. She enjoys the ritual and always likes to keep her whiskers clean.

As he speaks, she instictively knows that he is talking to her and looks up, pausing for a moment, before resuming her wash.

Burdens did make such strange sounds.

Jayden


Excepting when she was asleep, it seemed that every time he looked at her, she was looking at him and this bothered Jayden. Well, almost every thing about her bothered him.

Was she always looking at him or only when he was looking at her.

And what difference did it make? Why was he wasting his time worrying about a damn cat when he was so behind on his work.

"Damn cat," he muttered as he opened his favorite graphics program and started back to work on the pet groomer web site.

Tiger-Lily/DC

And there is that sound again. Soft. She doesn't understand it but it must be a term of endearment. She purrs contentedly and moves around in a circle to find the exact position, whereupon she settles down facing him, her eyes closing but one staying partially open.

She is on guard after all.

Jayden


Glancing at her from time to time and never catching her not glancing back, he went back to work and, after thirty or so minutes, he ended up with a graphics arrangement he didn't hate too bad.

"Not bad, Cat," he murmured. "I've seen better, but not too bad."

Tiger-Lily/DC

In response to his words, she stands, stretches front her front paws, through her back to the tip of her tail. And then settles down again in almost the exact same position.

Jayden


"Oh, you think so, too?" he said with a brief laugh.

"You've got better taste than I thought, Cat," he continued, then stood and stretched (much like she had although he didn't realize it) and went to the kitchen where he poured a little milk in a saucer and took it back to her where she lay in the sunlight.

"I suppose you deserve a reward for... well, for something."

Jayden went back to his desk chair and contemplated his work.

In the corner of his screen the news ticker flashed by. "Boy missing in the woods. Town rallies for search. " Another rolls by "wild kennel escape. All the animals escaped from the SPCA kennel last night." So much for local news.

Jayden


The news banner caught his attention and he frowned as he concentrated on the screen, tapping the eraser end of his pencil on his desk.

"That's weird. Bad about the boy," he mumbled to himself, "but [I]all the animals?"

Jayden glanced over at the cat and shrugged.

"Your friends arrange a remake of The Great Escape?"

Tiger-Lily/DC

At the moment she is more interested in her treat and with her usual caution she moves to it, sniffs, walks around it, sniffs again and then dips her tongue once. Hmmm.. she remembers this from when she was a kitten with Miss Amy.

Settling down in a crouch, she laps contentedly, watching her burden from time to time as he is making noises again.

Jayden


He watched her take her tiny laps of the milk from the saucer, then chuckled when she apparently got a little up her nose and sneezed. Then he turned back to his laptop and tried to track down more information about the missing boy and escaping animals.

[OOC: What is the time difference between the two threads the damn cat is in?]

[OOC Not sure Ex.. maybe Pande can enlighten us? ]

[OOC: Figure the animal escape was last night, but a few nights after DC was brought into the house. As far as the boy, was about a week ago. And further research says he hasn't been located yet.]

[OOC: If the animal escape was last night, now you've got me wondering what DC did with her little camp follower. ]

Jayden


Wondering if he should volunteer to help with the search for the missing boy, Jayden did some background checking on his circumstances.

The boy who's name is actually difficult to locate, went missing just about eight days ago. It was a night of a full moon. That of course got bandied about. Heck in a few weeks All Hallow's Eve would fall on yet another full moon.

The boy who's first name was Peter had been playing out in the woods by a stream with his younger sister. The sister remembered falling asleep by the brook but when she woke later he was gone.

Jayden


Relatively new to the area, Jayden was not all that familiar with the woods in the area. He did a little deeper search to try and find out about the little stream and that area of the woods and how far it might be from where he and the damn cat lived.

[OOC: There is a map of Silver Ford in the gallery. Just outside of town, up hill a bit. Blue Moon Woods.]

Jayden


Once he'd picked up a few details from various news reports, Jayden pulled up a map of the area and quickly spotted Blue Moon Woods.

"Not all that far... east, maybe northeast of here," he mused and then turned to face the damn cat.

"You want to go exploring, Dizzy?"

Damn Cat... DC... Dizzy - it seemed to make sense to him.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Her burden is trying to communicate again with those odd sounds. Still he is making an effort. The catnip and the water hose. Both have their uses but a little catnip might be applied here.

She raises her head and makes an agreeable chirruping noise.

Jayden


He stood, stretched and then went to get the cat carrier but then paused and stared at his feline burden for a long moment.

"You don't like going in this cage, do you?"

Curious, he picked up his keys and headed for the door, gesturing for her to follow, wondering if she would.

"C'mon, let's go for a ride."

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

As her burden leaves the room, curiosity gets the better of her and she jumps down from the window ledge, taking a moment to stretch and then sharpen her claws on the carpet. She heads for the door and then backs off as he arrives with the cage, her back arching.

So many concerns flip through her head. Is he giving her away? Sending her back to that place? Oh no, not to the man that looks at her teeth, sticks needles in her? And she had thought they were making progress.

But then he puts in down and heads for the door, encouraging her to go with him?

She is very confused now. Perhaps some dark magic has affected him? But she is curious to find out what he is up to and to protect him if she can.. and whilst she is not in that cage, she at least has a chance to escape if things go wrong.

Carefully skirting around the cage and giving it a look of disdain as she does so, she follows him to the door, wondering what will happen next.

Maybe her burden is like Soot's burden? Maybe he intends to spend time with her outdoors, rather than inside? That would be good.

Jayden


He opened the door and held it for her and then closed and locked it behind them.

Jayden walked along the walkway between his apartment building and the adjacent one, making his way to the complex parking lot, double clicking a button on the base of his Ford car key. A couple of answering clicks and the headlights briefly lit on a rather dinged, older tan Ford Fusion.

He opened the car door and gestured for her to enter.

"Up and at 'em, Dizzy."

[OOC See pics in Gallery, you live in a house! ]

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She follows him out, strolling down the path, her tail waving as she does. When they reach the car and he opens the door, she looks up at him as if to ask if this is a trick.

Then she jumps in, makes her way to the front passenger seat and curls up, a little unsure of what is going down.

Of course he doesn't know everything she can do...

[OOC: Oh well... I guess I slipped up there, but it shouldn't hurt anything.]

Jayden

Jayden slid into the front seat, fastened his seat belt and started the car.

"I hope you like walking in the woods," he said as he reached over and lightly scratched between her ears.

Then he pulled out into the street and headed out toward the woods where the boy was supposed to have disappeared.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

As the vehicle moves forward she digs her claws into the upholstery to steady herself but the ride does get smoother and she starts to relax. She feels better too as he scratches her head, maybe he is not going to put her in that place again. It would be ironic though as she was helping all of those other animals to escape yesterday.

She smells the air, which seems to be gushing in through a series of holes off to one side. Doesn't smell like town. Fresher.

This might be interesting..

Jayden


A few minutes later, they arrived near the woods and Jayden took a turn to the right on a small road which headed into the forest. He'd decided to park at one of the picnic sites (middle-east of the wood unless there's one closer to the suspected spot of the boy's disappearance) and walk a bit from there.

Close on to the picnic spot, he saw two police cars parked alongside the road and stopped to speak with the officers. He opened his car door, reached over to pick up the cat and put her on his left forearm which he held crooked along his waist, with her head at his hand.

He walked up to the policemen, left fingers scratching at Dizzy's chin.

"Hello, officers. Any word on the missing boy?"

The younger man eyed the cat on Jayden's arm and a small frown crosses his features. It is gone in a second as if it had never been there. The older man with grey hair and a paunch says "nothing no. Like the boy never existed, which of course is darn suspicious. We will find something, some sign of where he got off to, but so far we haven't. You out for a stroll?"

Jayden


"Yeah, me'n the cat here," he said. "Thought it couldn't hurt, ya know, one more person wandering the woods, looking out for the boy."

"Whereabouts was he last seen?"

The officer nodded in understanding. He and his little sister were playing down near a creek over there." He pointed slightly north and west down slope. "The woods pretty much extend north, south, and we'd of here. Not like it is a wilderness, yet there is a lot of open ground and critters. You keep going west up the hills and you run out of trees but it is even less hospitable up there. Definitely more than a day's hike." The other officer remained noncommittal.

Jayden


He nodded slowly, chewing lightly at the inside of his left cheek as he thought and continued to stroke Dizzy's chin.

"Yep, can't hurt to have one - or two," he said chin gesturing toward the little cat, "out looking for him."

Jayden smiled at the two policemen and headed off just west of north.

"You let me know," he said to the cat, "if you want to get down and walk."

Tiger-Lily

She is quite content to be carried. Jayden is supporting her well and she feels safe and secure. And it is interesting. The woods are a place of special interest to her and she is very much at home in this domain. She had intended to scout out the area at some point and her burden is helping her do that. Perhaps he is more intuitive than she had thought.

So she looks around with interest, looking for anything out of place, any sign of any dark magic. If she sees anything of interest she will wriggle and then jump down but until then it was safe and warm where she is.

The walk was pleasant for awhile. Downhill, flat ground, however uneven, it still was pretty nice. Eventually they come to a small stream. It is obviously a run off from the larger river off in the woods that they saw on the map. Here it is quite small and meanders rather than runs over the rocks. Perfect place for a boy and his sister to play. In fact they spot one little bit of mud where a partial track of a child's sneaker might have been. But no obvious sign of any children here. Also no sign of where he might have gone. The sister as they know was discovered and is home safe.

Jayden


Jayden enjoyed the walk and paused to rest and look around when they reached the stream. When he spotted the possible track, he squatted on his haunches close beside it and peered down at the displaced mud.

"What do you think of that, Dizzy?"

Tiger-Lily

Although scent is much better developed in the canine species, she has a better nose than humans.. and better eyes.. and well, the list is endless. So she jumps dow to take a better look and to scent the area.

She has no idea what Jayden has said but he does seem interested in the print in the mud. Maybe they are working together.. in a way...

Her nose can tell the boy was here as suspected. But the scent is mixed with men, dogs, and days past.

It is her keen eyes that spot something over by a tree. She spots a few bleached bones of a prey animal.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She sniffs at the print and around it. There were others here. Were they looking for the boy or did they take him. She sniffs again at the print so as to commit the scent to memory.

Looking around, she spots something over by a tree. Tail waving daintily in the air, she saunters over to see what it is.

The bones of prey laid out in a ritualistic fashion. Exactly why wasn't clear. It wasn't a ward as near as she could tell. But it was a larger prey, a wood rat which would provide some strength to whatever working was used. It was relatively near the tree where the girl was supposed to have napped when her brother disappeared.

Jayden


Jayden arose from where he'd been squatting on his haunches, grunting as his left knee popped, and followed Dizzy over to the tree where she seemed to be inspecting something.

"You find something there, Dizzy?"

Tiger-Lily

She is clearly concerned and wary about the bones she has found, circling them so she can view all the angles.. but also keeping her distance.

She isn't sure what they are. Perhaps they were the basis for some sort of magic?

She doesn't want to leave them like they are and she doesn't want Jayden touching them as he doesn't know what he is doing and it is her job to protect him. So she suddenly pounces, landing close to them and smacking down a paw on them to disrupt them whilst leaping away again, watching to see if anything happens.

Jayden


He cocked his head slightly to one side as he watched the cat and tried to determine just what she was doing but, when she suddenly pounced, he was startled enough to take a step back.

"You okay there, girl?"

The bones spin apart flashing in the dappled light. But nothing obvious happens. It would seem whatever magic they had been used in, had expired.

The forest as if responding to whatever it is the cat is doing becomes completely silent.

Tiger-Lily

She looks up as he speaks to her wishing that humans could communicate properly, all this guesswork makes her head hurt.

Then she becomes aware of the quiet and head up, she looks around sniffing the air, worried in case there is a threat. She should be more careful when she has her burden here.

Jayden


Responding to the cat's actions, Jayden looked around, unconsciously copying Dizzy's motions.

"Got quiet all of a sudden, didn't it."

The shadows became longer and the dark colder. The forest seemed to grow closer together. The silence grew quieter if that could be said.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She doesn't like this. There is something going on here, and maybe more than she can tackle on her own. She considers her options. She can protect herself with magic but do nothing for her burden.. and that was the big issue. She could not lose another one.

Would wards work on him? Did she have time to create any?

Maybe she should just try to herd him back to the metal thing? Or run away, would he follow?

Jayden


Suddenly the woods began to grow dark and cooler and Jayden looked up, tilting his head right and left to see if it was getting cloudy, that perhaps a storm was approaching, but he couldn't get a clear sight line through the trees.

He looked back down at the cat and again settled onto his haunches. It occurred to him that the cat suddenly looked taut, perhaps nervous or scared.

"You okay, Dizzy?" He reached a hand out toward her.

"Want me to hold you?"

She suspects that a ward would protect them both if she has time to create it, and if she can keep her burden inside of it.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She doesn't know how much time she has or how quickly this thing can move. She has to protect her burden first and foremost but she wants to survive too to report back to the others.

Suddenly she darts out of sight into the undergrowth and once in cover goes invisible. Then she emerges and starts to work her magic as quickly as she can hoping that her burden will stay still or she can entice him to her just as she finishes the circle.

Jayden


And then she was gone, darting so quickly into the underbrush that he'd barely caught a glimpse of the movement.

"Dizzy! Hold up there!" Jayden called out and took a couple of steps in the direction in which she'd disappeared, pushing some limbs aside and leaning over to get a better sightline underneath the low hanging tree limbs.

"You damn cat! Come back here!"

The little car had obviously gotten spooked. She was no where to be seen in the undergrowth.

Tiger-Lily begins her working.

Jayden


Thrashing about in the undergrowth wouldn't help, he decided after a moment. She was too little, too fast; he'd never find her that way.

After a few moments worry, Jayden squatted back down on his haunches and began to call her in what he hoped was a compelling voice.

"Dizzy, come back, little girl."

Tiger-Lily is able to complete a ward. Though she still needed prey to solidify it. For some strange reason the prey seem to have become scarce. Her magic will help a little, but to really work it needed sacrifice.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

No prey. Not good.

She has another look and scents around in the undergrowth but if she doesn't find something quickly she will have to become visible and move back to her burden who seems to be needing her. Understandable really.

Jayden


He almost yelled at her, but even he knew you don't do that with a cat, so he continued to call out her name softly.

It bothered Jayden somehow that he cared so much about a pet he didn't even like.

Just as quickly as it had started, the clouds that they couldn't see, must have moved on. The dark forest got lighter, and warmer. It was as if whatever had just happened, hadn't.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She feels the change almost before the clouds start to move away. Not sure if it was anything she had done, unlikely, but it has gone which is the main thing. Back in the undergrowth, she becomes visible and then appears looking tentative, moving towards her burden.

He had behaved pretty well considering, She rewards him by rubbing around him. Her mother always said you should reward good behaviour. It is the only way burden's learn.

Jayden


Jayden found himself relieved, still somewhat surprisingly, when the little cat reappeared and started circling him and head bumping his ankles. He reached down and rubbed between her ears.

"You feel better now, Dizzy?"

The returning of the sun and warmth didn't completely erase the feelings of oddness. Yet the pair seemed alone in the little clearing next to a burbling brook. It also indicated that time was passing and they had learned precious little.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

It seems like he has accepted the reward and accepts his caress in return. She isn't sure what to do next. There is something here as that did seem to be a warning. Venturing on could put her burden at risk. This might be better handled by the others cats. She isn't sure though that her burden is well enough trained to behave yet.

She can try.

She heads off towards the large noisy metal object (car) to see if he will follow.

Jayden


He levered himself to an upright position, grunting as his left knee popped with the movement and turned to let his eyes follow her.

She was heading for the car.

Jayden shook his head and frowned, then shrugged and followed her, stopping alongside his car and cocking his head to one side to look down at her.

"So what now, Dizzy?"

The parking lot was even more deserted now that some time had passed. There was still a lone police car and the two officers who were sitting and talking. They gave him a nod, but didn't get out of the vehicle.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Why is he waiting? He must know she cannot open the doors. But at least he has followed her which is definite progress. She decides to talk to him even though she knows he won't understand the meaning. Maybe the tone?

**Need to go home. Open the door.**

Of course this is a series of small meows.

Jayden


He tossed the cops a quick wave and looked down, frowning, at the cat.

"I thought we were going to look for the boy," he grumped and then opened the car door.

Jayden wasn't sure why he knew she wanted to go home, but somehow he knew that he knew.

Once the cat was in the car, he climbed in himself, hooked his seatbelt and started the engine.

"Home... right?"

Once the doors were shut, even before it had started out of the parking lot the weird feelings started to get even better. They had improved with every step away from that clearing. Yet in the car isolated away from whatever it was, it seemed better, almost as if it had never even happened.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She settles down on the seat, curling up and closing her eyes. She is pleased with her burden and also very pleased to have removed him from danger. Now she is thinking.

She must go and report this.

Then.. how did her burden know to go there..?

She opens one eye and looks at him.

Jayden


He glanced over at the cat just as she opened an eye and looked at him.

"Ah... caught you peeking there," he said as he reached out and stroked her head, dividing his attention between the road and his companion.

"What we gonna do when we get home, Dizzy? I thought we were going to go look for the kid?"

Or that he was going to look for the young boy. Jayden couldn't decide just who was making the decisions on what they were doing.

"Damn cat," he muttered.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy


She rubs her head against his hand, enjoying the caress.

Of course she has no idea what he is saying. But she is thinking.

Thinking that maybe there is magic for understanding human noises? That maybe there is a way she can put a ward ON her burden but he wears so many different outer layers and they are always changing? Thinking that once she has her burden back in his den, she needs to ward the place to keep him safe. Thinking that she needs to go tell the others.

A cat's life is just so full of responsibilities..

Jayden


A few minutes later, they arrived back at his modest domicile and Jayden got out and held the door for the cat, then made his way inside.

"So... what next, Dizzy?" he asked after checking and filling her water bowl.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is pleased to see that her burden's first thought is for her welfare. He is responding well and she is beginning to feel comfortable here.

In encouragement, she moves over to her bowl and laps at the water. Then she heads over to the door and meows. She has things to do, wards to set and cats to inform.

Jayden


One eyebrow quirked upward and he stood there, hands on hips for a long moment as he looked at the big-eyed little cat.

"Just got back inside and now you want out again?" He rolled his eyes briefly ceilingward and then shrugged, walked to the door and opened it.

"Yes, your majesty," he said, gesturing for her to do as she pleased, "who am I to argue with you?"

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Unaware of her new royal title, she stalks our regally in the manner of all cats, tail high and swaying in time with her graceful walk, head up, her eyes straight ahead.

He is doing well. Now she has to protect him.

There is a scruffy area to the rear of the garden which can hopefully supply vermin for her wards. First things first. She reckons that she will need to place them around the house but not in obvious places. Burdens have a penchant for stupidly removing wards. These need to be longer term protection. She will need at least three, probably four.

Jayden


Shaking his head and scowling slightly, Jayden watched her out of sight, then closed the door and went back to his desk, his laptop and the persistently unimpressive web site for which he was responsible.

A few hours pass. Outside, Tiger-Lily accomplishes her arrangement of wards. The burden is as protected as she is capable of making him. In the process she had to fight off one threatening Tom who thought he should own the entire building of small burden homes. She informed him correctly, that was not the case.

There was nothing outside to indicate anything amiss, like there had been in the woods.

Inside the website continued to plague him as did the news ticker. Another day and no credible information about the missing boy. He had been missing over a week now. Hope was trending to a low point. No one honestly thought they could find him alive after all this time. But finding him was still the goal.

Jayden


He drummed on his desk with the eraser end of a pencil, not quite understanding why this one unknown child had become so important to him.

"Probably the damn cat's fault," he grumbled and then realized just how much time had elapsed since he'd let her out.

Jayden made his way to the door, opened it and looked around.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is not in sight and unaware of her burden's concern. She must report in all that she has seen so that others are aware and maybe they can do something about it.

She is planning on doing this fairly quickly and then going home to check on her burden. She has put protections in place but that does not mean her burden would stay within them!

The cat doesn't come when called, but that is not all that odd. Cats are notoriously fickle.

Where is Tiger going to make her report? Jezzabella's?

Jayden


Muttering under his breath, Jayden closed the door and went into his kitchen where he looked through the cabinets and the refrigerator. After a few moments of consideration, he made himself a sliced turkey and cheese sandwich with mayo on whole wheat bread, took a beer from the refrigerator and sat at the table.

"Damn cat," he muttered as he took his first bite.

[OOC Yes Jezzabella's unless she meets one of the group en route ]

[OOC: We will do it here, to give Ex something to read. :)]

The trip across the dozen or so streets and four or five other cat's territories goes well. Most are dealing with other incursions and don't notice her. Soon she finds herself at the door of Jezzabella's burden's home. The old cat is lying in the window looking like she is asleep as Tiger-Lily approaches.

Tiger-Lily

She meows softly in respect, a little like a burden's clearing of the throat to get attention.

Whilst waiting she considers what she has come to say.

Jezzabella

Before she has a chance to meow the old cat says "what brings you hero of the animals?"

Tiger-Lily

She blinks twice.

Hero?

Perhaps she is referring to the escape she helped with? Either way she is not taking on another name or titled just now. She has too many already.

"Leader, I come with news. My burden took me on a journey which ended at the woods not far from here. There were other burdens there all wearing the same clothes. My burden and I walked a little further in. My burden seems to have been looking for something so I decided to scout the area too. I came across some bones. My nose told me they had been used in magic but didn't seem to be active. I disrupted them just to be sure. Just after than, the day started to turn to night far too early, a chill was in the air suddenly and it felt like a power was gathering. My duty was to my burden and so I ran into undergrowth and managed to make a ward. Whether that had an effect or something else occurred but the bad effects went away. I lead my burden back to his metal thing and left him safe where we live whilst I came here to report."

She waits whilst Jezzabella thinks it through.

Jezzabella

The old cat's eyes flash open at the description but she doesn't move. A little tremor occurs in her tail as she considers the words. "That bares further investigation. Could you tell if there were other workings nearby the one you found?" She looked like she knew the answer to that question, but she had asked in any case.

"We must find out what was wrought. Can you arrange for another trip to that location? I should go myself to investigate. I may do so tonight. But I will need further description so that I can find it."

Tiger-Lily

She hesitates, not yet sure enough of herself to make quick suggestions.

"Perhaps I could take you, maybe some of the others also, tonight?"

Jezzabella

"I think just myself for now. This sounds too important to take too many till we learn more. Meet me here after sundown?"

TIGER-LILY

She reasons that JessaBella is their leader and therefore knows what she is talking about. That, and it is a privilege to accompany her.

"Yes, of course, I'll return then."

She hopes she doesn't sound too eager.

Time agreed upon, and meeting set, Tiger is on her own for a few hours. Just past dark she is to meet the old cat for her excursion.

Tiger-Lily

She returns home, accessing via the small window and goes to find her burden to make sure he is OK. Once reassured she will find a comfortable spot and get some sleep in preparation for the woodland escapade tonight.

The occasional half-open eye allows her to judge the light so that she is ready to return to Jezzabella at the appointed time.

Jayden


Somewhat reassured now that the cat was back, Jayden stretched out on the sofa and was soon snoring lightly.

Time passed.

Jayden spent much of the time running through dark sinister woods with fear clutching at his heart. Almost as if he were a little boy again.

One dream was trying to wake his sister over and over again, to no avail.

Dizzy noted her burden's sweaty brow and tossing from the evil dreams.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is concerned about her burden's state of mind and doesn't want to leave him unprotected. She heads out to create another ward or fetch one of the others inside, her intention to hide it under the sofa.

Jayden


He suddenly sat bolt upright on the sofa and looked wild-eyed around the room, but it wasn't clear whether he was awake.

"Sis! Wake up! Sis!"

Then Jayden slumped back down on the sofa.

[OOC Nice.]

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is just heading back with a mouse in her mouth, creeping along in super-stealthy mode so as not to wake her burden when he suddenly yells. Back arched, she leaps backwards startled, side on to him, ready to defend herself. When all subsides moments later she shakes herself and heads around the back of the sofa to cast her ward.

The working was easy enough. Soon the evil sofa was protected.

Jayden woke from his nap nit feeling refreshed. In fact he felt like he had just finished a long run.

Outside the window the afternoon crept into evening.

Jayden


Groaning, he rolled to his side, stretched, grimaced and got to his feet.

"Geezly Christmas, I feel worse than I did before the nap."

Jayden wiped his face, expecting to find it sweaty but it wasn't and he frowned at his hands and shook his head. He half-remembered something about a very bad dream, but the details slipped rapidly away from his conscious mind before he could grasp them.

"Feel like I've been rode hard and put up wet."

As if the computer heard his words, the little screen saver clears itself, and flashing at the bottom of the screen is yet another message about the hunt for the boy.

AP News Wire - Missing boy's left shoe has been found covered in blood. Hounds are out in force searching the area with volunteers.

Jayden


Concentrating on the flashing alert on the computer screen, Jayden almost missed his chair seat as he sat down. He lurched to the left, moving with the rolling chair and managed to catch the arms and pull the office chair back in front of his desk.

"Damn... that doesn't sound good."

Jayden looked around the room.

"Hey, Dizzy... where are you, cat?"

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Oblivious to the looming dog treat, she is making her way to Jezzabella's.

Dizzy didn't seem to be in the room.


<Tiger-Lily's walk>
The walk across the territories went well. Soon she approached the old cat's house.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She heads up the path looking for Jezzabella.

The old cat is in the same place, apparently sleeping. Does she ever move? The leader of this little town was certainly old, maybe that was the reason.

One eye opened as Tiger approached. The old cat lifted her hind quarters and stretched from the front shoulders, through an arch and all the way out to the tip of her tail. A quick flick of her head wiggled her ears and whiskers.

She slinked off of the pillow on the window sill and squiggled under the sash of the open window. A light thump as she landed on the porch ready to go.

Tiger-Lily

"I presume you know the way to the woods? I travelled there in the metal box and do not have scents to guide me but I can show you where I found the remnants of the casting when we get there."

She assumes they will travel direct so hopefully it is not as far as it seemed travelling with her burden.

The old cat nods agreeing. The long trek over many different territories begins. The moon travels it's arc in the night as they pad along. Somewhere near it's apex they near where the boy had gone missing. The whole place smells of burdens as they have tromped all over the place since she had been here last.

Jayden


He was seldom beset with uneasy nerves, but now Jayden thought... well something was wrong. Of course a missing kid was wrong, but that wasn't it.

Problem was, he didn't know what it was or even what it might be.

Jayden rocked forward and back several times in the swivel office chair and then, without conscious volition he found himself going into the bedroom where he stood on tiptoes and barely reached a box on the top shelf of his closet and almost all the way to the back. Using the tips of his fingers he managed to tip and then slide the box forward until he could get both hands on it.

He took the box back to his desk and opened it. There, inside, was an old looking Charter Arms .44 Special revolver, the bluing scratched and the walnut grips worn.

Jayden would have thrown it away long ago except for the fact that it had been his grandfather's and, after that, his father's. Also in the box were a cleaning kit and a half box of shells. He looked down into the box for several long moments, thinking of his father and of his grandfather.

Then he slowly took the revolver from the box, checked to make sure it was unloaded (he knew it was unloaded, but his father and grandfather had pounded range and gun safety into his head from the time he was about twelve), disassembled the piece and cleaned and oiled it, enjoying the precise little click-click-click of the cylinder as he turned it.

Jayden wiped the gun down and loaded it with six cartridges.

And wondered why...

The old piece of metal offered comfort in its own way. Heavy and cold it reminded him of its age, though not without offering other feelings as well.

Jayden


His eyes misted over and his focus grew distant as the old memories beset him, but he did not quite cry. There was something behind those memories, edging around them, nagging at him, feelings of a sort which had nothing to do with his male antecedents... everything to do with now and not then.

Or perhaps a different then.

Thinking about it did not seem to help at all.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She scents the air and looks around getting her bearings, then cautiously moves forward to where she found the bones. Before she gets there though she warns Jezzabella that it was just ahead and that was where the strange feelings started.

Then she moves forward carefully and slowly. She will also look to see if her ward is still intact.

Jayden lovingly works the metal till they barely click as they smoothly turn. The weapon will be in the best condition it has been in for years.

The news ticker on his computer notes that nothing more has been found about the boy and the search has been suspended on account of darkness.



Out in the forest Tiger finds her ward still intact. Jezzabella wanders around flicking her tail. "Ward is satisfactory," she offers very nearly a compliment.

She stops near the place the old working had been. Her tail flicks faster and she hunker down. "This is an interesting magic. The little girl burden was kept asleep by this."

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is listening to the sounds of the woods, alert to any changes that might signify danger approaching. She is pleased that Jezzabella approves her ward. She wants to be useful and to play her part in this new society.

"So the boy burden was singled out, maybe taken to be part of a dark magic working?"

That thought is a frightening one. First because a child burden is involved and secondly because it must be a powerful and dire magic to require such.

"Do we look further in? Or go back to discuss with the others?"

Jezzabella

"We see what else we can learn. The night is still new and I am getting older by the nap." Though her words said one thing, she clearly looked at Tiger to pick a direction to go.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Presumably the right direction would be the way they were heading last time as that seemed to trigger a reaction. She looks around to determine which way that was and starts off in that direction, eyes bright in the darkness and nose scenting.

The forest is dark and full of all the usual smells. Much of the feelings she had noticed during the day were not present. Maybe she had imagined them?

Soon the two cats had made their way across the stream and up the side of a small hill. Many burdens had made their way through the underbrush over the last few days.

Yet her sensitive nose led her towards a hollow in a tree. There she noticed something that the burdens and their baying dogs had missed. A small piece of string. It was wrapped around a small leaf as if tying it up for hanging.

====================
Back in the apartment the pistol has been returned to a perfect state of cleanliness. The cat however had not returned nor scratched on the window asking to be let in.

The computer beckoned with unfinished work that he had ignored when he took a nap earlier. The news ticker continued to taunt him with irrelevant pieces of news that didn't seem to matter.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is a little on edge as they move through the forest. She remembers what she had felt earlier but she also has a responsibility to keep their leader safe which makes it more scary.

Yet nothing happens. Maybe because Jezzabella is here?

Anyway, following the faint scent leads her to find a leaf with string attached. She fights a feeling to jump on it and toss it in the air. Why does string have that effect?

"The scent is stronger here."

She points daintily with her paw.

Jezzabella

The old cat stiffly stalks around the leaf and wiggles her whiskers in a frown. "I do not know this magic, yet it stinks of something untoward. This is a taunt of some kind, can you feel it? The urge to grab it and take it down? I believe this drew the small burden here, though I can not say for what purpose."

That was when Tiger-Lily smelled it. Blood.

Jayden


Jayden put the revolver back in the closet and turned to walk back to his work desk, but something held him and, after a long moment, he retrieved the pistol and took it with him and placed it beside his laptop on the desk.

Somehow he felt better with it close to him.

For thirty minutes or so, he did some rather desultory work on the website whose deadline was rapidly approaching, but, there to, something was drawing him back to the news ticker and simultaneously disappointing him with its repetitive banality.

Jayden was worried about the missing boy he did not know and about the cat which he did not understand.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She watches Jezzabella examine the leaf, respectful of her wisdom.

"Yes I felt it."

She is relieved to find it a compulsion magic, rather than her inner kitten spontaneously erupting! Then she catches a new scent, not a pleasant one. Her back arches and her hackles rise.

"I smell blood."

She immediately tries to identify its source.

Her keen senses lead her towards a small bowl in the roots of a tree. No burden, no dogs have been any where near here. Yet, without a doubt, she is able to discover its source. The crumpled body of a burden. It was the little boy. Looking over the form she notes claw marks all over it. Something cat like wounded the boy and took him down. What killed him was something different, something powerful. The body was twisted by great force.

Jezzabella looked over the scene and his whiskers twitched angrily. Clearly this isn't what she had hoped to find. She gives voice to a question that plagued them both. "Why didn't the other burdens and their dogs find this? Possibly the magic you warded? It might have been a shield that you broke when you did your ward?"

==================================================
The news ticker turned from mundane to Halloween themed news. The local museum was going to have a celebration of all things related, docents dressed in costume, candy for the kids. Anything to get people to come to the little used building.

It talked about a school Halloween party the night before so that the kids can enjoy both nights of festivities.

A local pub was offering a free drink if one came in costume the night of All Hallows Eve.

Jayden


Never a fan of Halloween, at least not in the years since adolescence, Jayden at first paid little attention to the Halloween themed news. Something, however, kept drawing his attention back to the scrolling news ticker.

And it wasn't just that he could use a drink.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is shaken. Even though she has seen death before, never has she seen it in one so young and innocent.

"I don't know. It is possible. What do we do now? We can't just leave him here. Some sort of dark magic, do you think?"

She forces herself to peer a little closer.

The old cat whips its tail back and forth while it prowls. "It is something foul and evil. Nothing like what I know, but I can sense, something. I think," she howls in pain as she is struck by something and flung up and away.

=========================
Jayden knows that the actual Halloween night is still two nights away, but most bars would offer some kind of a special, if he were so inclined. Happy hours were that way for such a reason.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is startled as Jezzabella seems to have been attacked. Her backs arches and she looks around quickly to try to determine the threat and then goes to check on the old leader if she seems nothing.

Jayden


He thought long about a drink or three, but finally decided to wait for the return of the damn cat.

The old cat is lying on her side breathing hard. With a strain she meowed "spirit".

No visible attacker ad far as Tiger can see.

==========
DC doesn't return immediately even though Jayden was definitely trying to think her home.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

With that warning still echoing in her eyes, she immediately goes on the defensive, casting her invisibility by chasing her tail in a full circle and then bunching all her muscles to add protective armour.

Feeling a little braver now, she extends her preternatural senses to see if she can tell what is around.

Ideally she would like to ward Jezzabella but she needs to stay guard for the moment.

Jayden


Grumbling to himself, Jayden made his way to the kitchen to get a beer from the refrigerator.

Whatever it was that attacked the old cat doesn't show itself to Tiger's senses. Although an eerie calm comes over this area of the forest as if something odd was occurring.

=========
The beer was cold and waiting. But if he had more than three, he would need to resupply this evening.

The news ticker flashed as he reentered the room. Talk of reduced patrols for the missing boy. Officials state they are not giving up, but...

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Her senses, even her preternatural awareness, tell her nothing. She doesn't know what to do. Maybe she should try to get Jezzabella to a safer place?

"What should I do? Can you walk at all?"

She wishes the others were here. Even her burden..

Jayden


Only three? I thought... but then again, nothing that Jayden had thought lately had made much sense to him in retrospect.

He sipped the beer slowly and walked back into the room where he read the news stream sliding across the bottom of his monitor. The boy again... he wondered and turned toward the outside door.

And stopped, returned, picked up the revolver and some spare cartridges. Jayden went to his bedroom, got a light jacket and put it on with the gun and extra bullets in the jacket pocket. It made the jacket swag to one side, but he somehow felt more comfortable armed.

Funny, he'd never felt that way before.

As he got closer to his car outside, the odd, compelling thought from moments past came to him again. What if that damned cat had made its way back to that spot in the woods where they'd gone looking for the lost boy.

Why would she? He shrugged, got in the car and headed out, following the way they'd gone before, his beer between his legs, convenient for the occasional sip.

The car rattled and bounced it's way out of town. Soon he was at the spot he parked at before. The afternoon light was waning.


Tiger heard the familiar sound of her burden's conveyance.

In town Shadow was patrolling his territory and noticed yet another burdens car head through. The odd thing that his senses notice is a spirit gathered in it near the burden. The burden is completely unaware.

Jayden


Sitting in the car, he finished the beer and tossed the can into the backseat floorboard. He sat there for a long moment, trying to recover or remember the what had brought him back out here.

After all, he didn't even know the boy. Jayden shrugged and grunted to himself.

He didn't even like cats.

Finally he got out of the car and locked it. He zipped up his jacket so the weight of the gun wouldn't cause it to drag too far to one side and headed into the woods in the direction he and the cat had gone earlier.

He wondered to himself why he hadn't thought to bring a flashlight.

Shadow

The wiry ginger tom looked sharply at the mobile burden-container. It and its occupant were grudgingly permitted as were they all, but a spirit trying to sneak along with them? That was an insult to his territorial integrity.

Silently, he bounded after the vehicle, keeping it in sight.

Tiger-Lily

It is almost as if she had summoned him. Surely that was the metal thing they used to come here earlier? But how had he known to come here? It is all too much. As soon as she hears the door open, she yowls at him to hurry up.

Jayden


Jayden's head jerked in the direction of the feline-sounding yowl? Could that be the damned cat?

He shook his head... what would the odds be of that?

Nevertheless, he didn't know what else to do so he headed in the direction the sound seemed to be coming from.

Shadow bounds up and hears Tiger-Lily's call. He sees the burden head in the appropriate direction.

A few steps and Jayden nears where Jezzabella lay sprawled.

To Shadow's senses and that of Tiger they are abke to detect the presence of a spirit hovering near the right hand side of the burdwn. It doesn't seem agressive but one never knew with spirits.

Shadow

He paced around, taking in all before him like lapping up a pawful of water. Tiger-Lily, besides Jezzabella. The old matriarch sprawled on the ground, not looking her best. The Burden from the container apparently heeding Tiger-Lily's bidding. The Spirit along beside him.

The ginger tom kept to the outskirts but crept near. This seemed important, perhaps more so than an oblivious spirit crossing into his borders. If it wasn't oblivious, that was another matter...

Tiger-Lily

She feels a strange sense of relief as her burden comes into view. At least he can carry Jezzabella to safety if nothing else and she doesn't feel quite so alone now. Then she perks up even further as she spots Shadow coming in behind her burden. Maybe now she can salvage something from this?

She meows a greeting to those coming to help.

Jayden


"Dizzy?" Jayden paused and sighted in on the direction of her meow as he made his way carefully through the gathering twilight, barely avoiding the form on the ground.

"Are you hurt?" he asked as he went down on a knee but, even as he asked the question, he knew the feline sprawled out on the ground was too big and not even the same color as his cat. He carefully touched the cat. It seemed alive and he looked around for his cat.

His cat was off to one side near the roots of a large tree. And there was something else. Tip of a little boy's shoe tinged with some dull brown staining.

Shadow

He padded forward to glower at the spirit accompanying the burden. Sotto voce, he hissed,

"Identify yourself, little spirit. Why have you attached yourself to this one?"

The spirit turned its hunched amorphous form to the cat and hissed. "Leave him be, he is protected."

Jayden


Without quite getting to his feet, Jayden half duck-walked, half scrambled toward what looked to be the cat and the small shoe.

Shadow

He growled low in response to the spirit,

"He is not yet Mine and I make no claim upon him here. His kind are permitted to pass through. You, on the other hand, broached my territory in his company. I claim my due in answers and truth. By whom is he protected, and from what?"

Tiger-Lily

She sits there waiting for him, her senses still alert to any dangers around them. Now she has to protect him as well. She is glad Shadow is here.

The spirit seems physically attached to the burden as he moves closer to his cat. The boy lay near the DC. But he wasn't against all hope, alive. No Jayden could see the boy was a corpse now.

The spirit ssid"you have no authority. But I will entertain you with answers. I claim him and protect him."

Jayden


Somehow Dizzy had found the boy, but too late. The child was dead.

Jayden went down on both knees. He reached out and lightly stroked the cat behind its ears.

"We were too late, huh, Dizzy?" he murmured as he looked more closely at the child's corpse, trying to determine the cause of his death. Briefly he glanced from the boy's body to the other cat and then back to DC before returning his attention to the dead boy.

"Is this one a friend of yours, Dizzy?"

[OOC: Sure, why not? Shadow is meowing at him. :)]

[OOC: I just thought Shadow was communicating with 'the spirit' and wasn't sure about Jayden... I'll edit the post above and will delete this one as soon as someone else posts.]

Shadow

He did not spare the burden the slightest bit of notice, and made sure that that was plain to see in the arch of his posture. It was not something he considered Mine, nor a threat, thus it was not his problem. The spirit was another matter. He purred at it,

"Authority ultimately grows from the point of a claw: I've battled more dangerous spirits than you. I do not threaten the burden, I have no reason to and would not stand to gain from it. But you deny me respect for my territory and its inviolability: To let that pass unchallenged is to lose ground. Who are you, that you would claim this one, and to what purpose do you intend to use him?"

The spirit laughed. " He is my progeny. He called and I came."


The boy is cold like that of a night in the forest. He has been dead some time.

[OOC Not sure if she can see Jayden's spirit? Or hear Shadow's conversation?]

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She watches as her burden looks at the little burden. She is satisfied now that someone knows he is there. But she is also concerned about Jezzabella. She needs her burden to pay the old cat some attention, so she wanders over to her and rubs herself against the torso.

Jayden


There was obviously nothing he could do for the child, but he did not want to leave the body unattended and at the mercy of forest prowlers. Jayden reached to pick the child up, but caught Dizzy's movement peripherally and moved to join her at the prone cat's side.

"What do you want me to do, Dizzy?" he asked and reached out to touch his cat and then to stroke the fur of the older, unconscious feline.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Good. She seems to have his attention. Now how to get him to take Jezzabella out of here.

She crouches down, tail and butt high in the air and pushes Jezzabella with her delicate nose as if she is trying to move her. Then she looks up at her burden to see if he understands.

[OOC Cats have enough of the magical gift, that unless the spirit is doing something that would cloud her sight, she can see it. In this instance she is aware of it all. Sorry I wasn't clearer.]

Jayden


Kneeling between the unconscious cat and the child's corpse, Jayden tried to make sense of the little cat's - his little cat's - actions. I was almost as if she was trying to tell him something.

Something about the unconscious cat?

Surely the dead boy was more important than a cat, he thought.

But maybe not more important to another cat.

Cats weren't like dogs, though, who were... pack animals, he supposed you would call it. Cats always seemed more solitary... more aloof.

"What is it you want, Dizzy?"

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Is he really this dense?

Doesn't he understand that he needs to save Jezzabella? And why does he keep making those noises that she doesn't understand?

She sits there beside the old cat staring at her burden. She is aware of the spirit hovering close to him. Where had that come from? She talks to Shadow. Of course to Jayden this is just meowing.

"Where did you find the spirit?"

Shadow

Off-pawedly, he replied,

"It came with the burden prior to passing through My territory, claims to be the progenitor and protector of it, called by it. What happened here?"

Jayden


She obviously seemed more concerned with the unconscious, older looking cat than with the boy. He supposed it made sense from her point of view...

"Stupid cat," he muttered.

Jayden shook his head briefly, eyes closed, not at all accustomed to thinking of cats having points of view.

"And I called it Stupid."

Finally, he reached both hands underneath the cat and lifted it carefully. He duck-walked with it over to the child's body, lay it upon the boy's stomach and carefully lifted both, grunting as his knees popped with the movement.

"Let's get back to the car and just hope the cops don't charge me for messing up a crime scene or something similar."

Jayden headed back toward the place he'd parked his car.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Finally he gets the message and lifts Jezzabella gently. She rubs against his legs giving her approval and then talks to Shadow whilst he goes over to the boy.

"He called a spirit?"

She is more than surprised.

"It wasn't around earlier. I think we are going to go back to town in the metal thing. Do you want a lift? It isn't too bad, especially if you lie down."

Then she turns her attention to the spirit.

"How did he call you? And are you here to protect him?"

Shadow

He looked contemptuously at the Burden-container, then back at the neophyte cat. He grumbled,

"I will trust to my paws. Now, what happened here?"

Jayden


Reaching the car, Jayden placed the two bodies - on deceased, one apparently comatose - on the ground, unlocked the doors with the button on his key fob and opened the back door. After a few moments of lifting and tugging, he was able to get the boy's corpse spread out on the back seat and the cat sort of curled up on the rear floorboard.

Then he opened the front door and turned to the other two cats, frowning a little that the other cat he didn't know was still with them.

"You ready, Dizzy?" he said, gesturing toward the door.

The spirit stayed attached and hovering near the burden.

The unconscious Jezzabella is now lying on the floorboard of the car.

[OOC Did the spirit ignore her questions? Thanks! ]

[OOC: No the GM did. Oops.]

The spirit answered "I protect him," but didn't seem to address the calling question.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Well not all spirits are bad.. or so she was lead to believe.. and if true well extra help is very welcome.

"I'll see you back in town Shadow. Not sure exactly where we are going."

With that she jumps into the metal thing and settles herself down on the seat, claws ready to grab on if needed. She needs her burden to do something to help Jezzabella but what she doesn't know - even if she could communicate it!

Jayden


Jayden closed the door behind Dizzy, got inside himself and started the car, pausing to think a moment before pulling off. The police station... that had to be his first stop.

But if he did go to the police station with the corpse, they would raise hell at him... why had he moved the body, messed up the crime scene - if crime it had been - instead of just calling the cops?

Suddenly it occurred to Jayden that he had not been thinking clearly... not in a long time, it seemed. He pulled his cell phone out.

No signal...

Police station or the hospital? The hospital now seemed to make more sense to him.

Jayden pulled away and headed toward the hospital and toward the emergency room entrance.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Despite her own anxiety - the strange arrival of the spirit, the state of Jezzabella, the worry over the woods and what might be coming - she can also sense that her burden is not his usual relaxed happy self either.

But the metal thing wakes up and starts taking them towards town. Nothing she can do now but wait.. or talk to the spirit.

"What can you do to protect him?"

The more she can find out the better.

Shadow

He began his return path. Jezzabella potentially out of contention meant there may well be a power vacuum: For an ambitious cat, several naps' worth of foreknowledge before the information spread could be as delicious as the scent of catnip. It was time to shore up his position, see if he could make a jump for the highest point...

Shadow would know that Jezzabella had been grooming the cat Sable for her position. So potentially there isn't a vacuum, but there could be contention. His return to his territory is uneventful.

Jayden travels to the hospital, turning into the Emergency Room entrance.

Jayden


He put the car into park, got out and advised the emergency room attendants that he'd found the body of the missing boy and that it was in his car.

The nurse gave him a look that was a cross between sympathy and sorrow. Death was never easy, a child made it much worse. She indicated a gurney for him to lay the boy down.

She did say "we will need more information in the softest voice she could.

Jayden


He nodded, his throat tight, and glanced back at the car where Dizzy seemed to be prancing about nervously.

"I know you will," he said to the nurse. Jayden grimaced and continued.

"The police probably will, too."

He gave her his address and cell phone number.

"Right now, though, I need to find a veterinarian. Do you know of one in town?"

The nurse was completely surprised by his question. She looked at him for a moment before saying "could you repeat that please?" At least she hadn't made some flippant comment.

Once repeated she said "well there is Doc Abrams, down the street. He is kind of a mixed bag doc. I know he does a lot of big animal stuff, but he also handles your domestics. Did a search and rescue dog get hurt out there or something? I don't mean to be..." her voice trailed off. "I mean I feel like I am prying, when really I just want to know what the heck happened."

Jayden


"No, uh... it's a cat," he said gesturing slightly toward the door and his car outside.

He started to say a friend of my cat, but left it unsaid as he realized how it might sound. Jayden gave the nurse a brief smile and headed for the door.

"If you need me, I'll be at Doc Abrams' place," he said and walked outside.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She is standing on her hind legs, paws against the window watching for him. Surely he has his priorities mixed up? The small burden is dead, Jezzabella their leader needs help now!

Ah! Here he comes.

She meows at him to hurry.

Jayden


Having gotten a more accurate address for the veterinarian, Jayden walked with a brisk pace back to the car, got in and drove about six blocks down the street and then stopped when he saw the small white sign he'd been told to look for.

"Okay, Dizzy, let's see what we can do about your friend," he said as he carefully picked up the comatose cat and carried her to the door where he rang the doorbell.

"I hope the vet's here."

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

As her burden is lifting Jezzabella out of the car, she jumps over the seat and out of the door. She is not sure what exactly her burden has in mind but she is not about to desert their leader.

She sniffs.

The scent brings back some memories for her, not particularly pleasant one but she thinks this might be the right place. She pads her way softly to the door and sits beside her burden.

The door is unlocked and allows them entry. Inside it smells more like the unnatural place it is. Yet behind the desk is a teenage girl in a white coat. She looks up and offers him a small smile. Standing she leads him to a room where an examination table waits. "Set your animal here and let's get some paperwork started. You can tell me what happened. The doctor will be here in a moment."

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She doesn't like this place. The smells sting her eyes and make her nose twitch. But she is not leaving Jezzabella! She stays very close to her burden, a bit like a dog at heel, though she would not see or acknowledge that analogy.

Jayden


Jayden nodded and followed the young girl's directions, placing the older, comatose cat on the examining table. Glancing down, he noticed his cat crowding his ankles and glancing frequently upwards at him.

"We'll see your friend's taken care of, Dizzy," he murmured and then turned to the girl.

"This cat is..." he grimaced, suddenly realizing how this might sound, but then he shrugged. Couldn't be helped.

"The older cat here is a friend of my cat," he said, gesturing at the two felines respectively as he spoke.

"I don't know what's wrong with it."

The young woman nodded. "Found her like this? Near something she might have ingested?"

Shadow

Having had a brief while to consider matters, the wiry ginger tom decided that now would be a good time to seek out Sable.

Jayden


"In the woods," he said and stopped himself before adding anything that would overly complicate the situation. He'd have enough trouble explaining everything to the police when they caught up with him.

Jayden went on to explain in general where he'd found the older, unconscious cat.

"I didn't notice anything nearby that she might have eaten."

Tiger-Lily

She stays close to her burden, alternating her attention between the other burden(s) present, Jezzabella and her burden's new spirit. She stays quiet though, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

The young woman nodded. "Ok. Be right back with the doctor and forms." She left him and the two cats alone in the room.

[OOC New thread for the visit to Sable.]

Jayden


Not sure what to do and, in fact, not sure why he'd done what he'd already done, Jayden looked around the room and then down to the small feline at his feet.

He squatted and stroked Dizzy's head and behind his ears.

"I wish I knew what the hell was going on, Dizzy."

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She accepts the petting with good grace, actually finding it reassuring, not that she would admit that. And besides, her burden does seem to be doing the right thing and responding well to training.. but it would be so much easier if he could understand her.

She looks to his side and meows to the spirit.

"Can you communicate with him? Does he know you are here?"

The spirit answered "he feels comfort that I am near. That is enough," after a moment it finished with "for now."

The trio waited. Jayden thought an odd thought, or was it his? "Death is coming, human. You must save the little ones."

Jayden


Death is coming?

Where the hell did that come from? Jayden jerked upright, blinking several times and glancing around.

Something was very wrong.

Save the little ones?

Little ones? Cats?

Jayden felt shaky, uncertain, and he moved a few feet across the room and sat on a padded stool on casters. He shuddered slightly and held his arms crossed over his chest, feeling a sudden chill.

"Am I'm losing my f****** mind?"

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Sensitive, she knows the atmosphere has changed and it comes from her burden.. but she doesn't know why. One minute he is stroking her, now he seems almost scared.

She looks up at the spirit suspiciously.

"Was that you?" she meows.

Then she heads over to her burden and curls up at his feet, her head rubbing on his shoe, bringing him comfort.

Jayden


Feeling the insistent, but gentle motion against his feet, Jayden reached down and carefully lifted the little cat into his left arm, with her rear against his elbow and her head extended toward his left palm. He lightly rubbed behind her ears.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Whoa! Suddenly her equilibrium is lost as she rises into the air and she freezes, hoping nothing awful is going to happen. But her burden settles her down into a warm and comfortable position where she can still see everything. Excellent!

She purrs contentedly, still watching the spirit for an answer.

The spirit said "I sense nothing. I am just watching."

The warm cat in his arms helped, it took away the goosebumps that had formed.

A moment later the door opened and a portly older gentleman walked in offering Jayden a smile. "What seems to be the problem," he starts and notes the other unconscious cat.

The doc moved to Jezzabella's side and prodded her lightly with skilled plump stubby fingers. "She took a fall or was kicked. You found her this way?" It was't so much a question as a statement the doc had guessed.

Jayden


"Yes, or you might say that my cat," he said, gesturing toward Dizzy with his chin, "found her."

"She looked to be in pretty bad shape so we brought her here."

The old doc said "well you found her at a good time. She has a couple of broken ribs. But nothing too life threatening. She will have to be cast and kept calm. But she should make a full recovery, even a cat as old as this one." He pulled up her lips and looked at her fangs. "She is an old one. Probably over seventeen years. Good long life for a domestic."

Jayden


"How long before I can take her with me," he asked, the question coming unbidden and without conscious volition.

Now why the hell had he said that? He didn't really want the one cat, much less two.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

She finds the spirit irritating. It never gives her a straight answer but maybe that is the nature of spirits. Well so far it has not proved itself hostile and it might prove useful.. but she intends to keep an eye on it.

As the two men discuss matters, she looks from one to the other wishing she could understand.

And she considers that maybe they should check on Jezzabella's burden. Could she get her burden there? Her eyes close as she ponders the problem.

Jayden


A question suddenly nagged at him and it felt somehow that he hadn't come up with the question himself... more like someone else was asking him.

"I didn't think to look," he said to the vet.

"But does the cat have a nametag on that collar?"

The doc who had been completely absorbed with carefully examining the old cat. He gingerly slipped his fingers in and around her fragile bones to check for any unexpected movement.

Stopping his examination, he slipped his hands upward. "Yes, looks like there is a rabies tag here. If nothing else we can look her up."

He raised his voice "Ella, can you look up a rabies vaccination record for us?"

The young woman answered "yes, what is the number."

"8675309," the man called back through the closed door.

"Ok looking it up. I will print out the record when I find it."

Jayden


"We'll know something about your friend in a few minutes," Jayden murmured, leaning down close to the little cat's ear as he continued to stroke her gently.

"Thanks, Doc."

A few minutes pass and the doc says "I am going to have to cast these breaks. She has at least two or three ribs broken. That way we can keep her from moving too much. The owner will have to keep her calm as he or she can."

The young woman opened the door and brought in a single sheet of paper. "Looks like an older lady here in town is registered as the owner. Miss McNally."

Jayden


"If you'll tell me how to get in touch with her, I'd be glad to let her know what happened to... does the information give the name of her cat?"

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

If the circumstances had been better, she would have been content to stay there... except Jezzabella was hurt.. except that it was in that awful place that smelled so bad.. except that strange things were happening in the woods.. except that a strange spirit seems to have attached itself to her burden.

Still.. she purrs.

The doctor said "no we can notify her. I would rather we got a bit more information on what happened. I don't want to say I doubt your story, I don't. But from the damage, it really looks like she was kicked. That kind of abuse shouldn't be allowed to happen."

Jayden


He thinks I did it...

Jayden slowly shook his head.

"I've told you all I know. I found her like... the way she is and have no idea how it happened."

He paused a long moment.

"I did not hurt the cat. If I had, do you think I would have brought her here to you?"

The doc shook his head. "No. I am sure you wouldn't have brought her to me, unless you had a pang of guilt. But I don't sense that. Don't take my words for anything directed against you. I just hate to see things like this. They happen too often, even in a small town like this. All of us are on edge since the boy went missing." It wasn't exactly a request for forgiveness, but it was close.

Jayden


Jayden almost said that he had found the young boy's body, but he couldn't see where that could help anything.

"Sorry, Doc. Didn't meant to jump to conclusions about what you meant." He smiled a wan sort of smile as he continued to stroke the little cat purring on his left arm.

"I've been a little bit on edge myself."

The man started to use the plaster paris mix the young woman had been mixing from a bucket and some water. He slathered it onto a dense mesh wrap that he had put around the cat's middle. His movements were sure, yet gentle.

"I didn't mean anything either. Like I said. I am sure the boy's mother is just out of her mind. I know how tough it is on me when one of my cats wanders off for a day. A child, I just don't know what that would do to me."

Jayden


His hand stopped suddenly, perhaps quickly enough to startle the little cat.

"You know the boy's mother?"

It was threatening to get all too personal.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

Now what?

She opens her eyes just a s;it to see what is happening. Nothing. Perhaps he has just forgotten to keep stroking. She nudges his hand with her head.

Jayden


Stimulated by the nudge, Jayden resumed his stroking of the feline's head, not really noticing the stopping or the restarting of the motion.

The doc said "yes, I know the whole family. It is a small town after all and I am the only vet. You have a pet, I have seen you at some time or another.

"Take you for example. I know you are new in town because I have never seen your cat. Your cat is well cared for, but she has had a scare in her past. She seeks your attentions and you give them, both wonderful things, but not that common a behavior. If I were to guess I would say you got her from a shelter." He smiled at Jayden.

Tiger-Lily/Dizzy

That's better.

She settles down again.

Jayden


One eyebrow quirked upward and he smiled a quick, small smile.

"And I would say you are a good guesser, Doc."

Jayden frowned, looked down at the cat and then back up at the vet. He knew he should leave the older cat in the veterinarian's care, but something made him reluctant to do so.

"Take good care of her, Doc," he said, gesturing at the unconscious feline. "Let her owner know how to get in touch with me if she wants to."

He turned to leave but paused at the door in case the vet had something else to say.