Healing Ties (Ties, Book 2) | ✓

Chapter 38

"Cookie!" Fanner shouted as he ran after her, but he couldn't keep up. After just seconds, he'd already lost sight of her.

What was she running from? What was so terrifying that she'd abandoned him without hesitation? Fanner didn't know where Cookie was anymore, but he kept running.

Fanner's boot caught under a tree root and he fell face first onto the ground. He went to push himself up, but found he really, really didn't want to. He heard a sound like a child giggling and something deep and instinctive within him told him not to look. He stayed still, face down in the leaf litter.

He could hear things moving around him, seemingly in one place and then suddenly gone. There was one sound that he could track, though, like a small animal making its way across the ground towards him.

Something soft brushed against his hand and finally Fanner lifted his head.

It was a cat... sort of? Its lime green eyes were much too large and its body was... well, not fat, nor excessively fluffy, but it was almost round and its paws were short and thick, not long and slender like a normal cats'. It was like someone had drawn a picture of an extra cute but unrealistically proportioned cat and it had come to life.

"Um... hi?" Fanner said as he slowly sat up. He couldn't turn around, couldn't even turn his head too far, but he was allowed to look at this cat. These were simply things he knew.

The cat rubbed its face against his hand again and let out a quiet mew. It seemed harmless. Friendly. Was this what Cookie had run away from?

"Can you help me?" Fanner asked as he reached a hand out and tentatively stroked the cat's ear. It lifted up onto its back legs, pressing into the touch enthusiastically. "I'm lost. I've been going around in circles, I think."

The cat gave Fanner's finger a lick. It had a tiny, silly little tongue.

"We had a cat once," Fanner said as he stroked his hand over the cat's head and down its back. "For a little while, anyway. A little kitten. We found it, hungry and alone, hiding under the building our dormitories were in."

The cat rolled on its back and then started playing with a leaf it had stirred up. Something rustled in the branches above Fanner's head and he startled. It felt so odd to have his reflexive glance upwards aborted. He didn't know if he was in danger or if he was being protected. The cat seemed to like him, at least, so he kept talking to it.

"We tried to sneak food to it, but we were found out soon enough, of course. They kept a very close eye on us. Duran, though... He told the wardens that he had visited his master's home once and met his cat. He had tried to make friends with it, but he hadn't known how they liked to be petted or how to read the signs that it was time to leave it alone, and it had taken a swipe at him. His master hadn't liked that. Duran pointed out that cats are a common pet and knowing how to interact with them is a valuable skill. One of the younger boys took the cat with him when he left less than a month later, but even so, I'm glad we got to have a pet for a little while. I like cats."

Fanner gave a nearby leaf a twirl and watched as the cat pounced on it. From behind him he could hear something that sounded like a whispered conversation between children, but he still couldn't turn.

"I miss Duran," Fanner admitted. "I hope he's safe. He's like a brother to me. I don't really know what's going on with this war. I don't know what it will mean for me, or for the others, but I also don't know what it will mean for Duran. Will he be able to just continue living the same life he always has, or is everything going to change now?"

The cat rolled onto its feet and stared up at him with its big, lime eyes. Suddenly, it jumped at Fanner's face. Fanner leant backwards, flinging his arms up and shutting his eyes to protect himself, but the cat never made contact.