Dépaysement (indefinite hiatus)

~6~

Magna let out a sigh, hoisting the bucket of meat a little higher as he made his way down the hallway. He was sick of having to be the ones to feed Yami's pets. If you can even call em that. He grumbled internally. They were more like freaks of nature than that. Manga continued walking down the hallway. Man, I really hope we get some new recruits this year so I can relax a bit. Magna was more often than not stuck with most of the dirty work for the squad for some reason. All of a sudden, he felt...afraid.

Magma froze, the bucket slipping from his grip and clattering to the floor. W-Why do I feel so..scared? There was an ominous, murderous presence just down the hallway. Was it the beasts? No, it couldn't be. Magna had no idea what the hell it was, but it was dangerous. And he needed to get away from it. But he couldn't. Magna couldn't force his body to move an inch. Like the fear had gripped him straight to the core, squeezing all his muscles, constricting them. Then abruptly, it disappeared. Magna let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in, breath heaving.

What in the fresh hell was that? It took a few minutes for him to shake off his nerves enough to start moving again, and once he did he didn't hesitate in the slightest. Manga quickly ripped his grimoire out of its satchel and opened it, slowly creeping down the hallway. You're a magic knight dammit, this is your job. It was probably just the beasts getting restless because I was late with mealtime. Magna gathered his courage, then peeked into the room where the beasts were caged. Magna couldn't believe his eyes.

Damn mutt got slobber all over me!

Killua felt so gross, the saliva starting to dry and harden in his fur and making a disgusting crunching noise when he moved Killua was sitting in front of a cage, the creatures inside cowering against the wall still. Killua had unleashed a great amount of bloodlust right before the wolf looking one bit down on his torso, he thought it would do good to teach him where his place was. Killua let out one last hiss before turning away, his eyes glaring daggers into theirs. Killua finally broke eye contact, turning away from the creatures. That's right, cower. However as he turned away from the beasts, he noticed Magna was peering in the room.

Killua realized from the look on his face that the poor guy had probably been on the receiving end of some of that bloodlust. Shit, I don't want to ruin the solid relationship I was building. I gotta act friendly. The last thing he wanted was to get kicked out of the squad. Killua padded forward slowly, looking up at Magma and letting out the cutest meow he could muster. Magna gulped, staring down at him nervously. "You're not a normal cat are you...?" he said, slowly. Killua padded forward, this could be bad. Killua swallowed his pride and rubbed his head against Magna's leg, that was how cats showed affection right?

Magna seemed to relax a little, then reached a hand down to stroke his head. Killua for once did not fight it, he wanted to seem friendly. "You some kinda...magic cat then?" Killua tilted his head. Wait a minute, I wonder if I can still use my Nen in this state. He thought. Killua activated Ren, and to his surprise it worked. He looked up at Magna to see if he noticed. Magna just kept stroking his head for a minute, obviously oblivious. Damn, I can't activate my electricity. I need to either get struck by lightning or... Killua got an idea, and bolted back into the hallway. "The hell? Get back here!" Killua darted around the base, trying to locate a specific person.

Eventually, he came upon Luck and Charmy conversing in one of the hallways. Killua ran up to luck and leapt onto his lap with a demanding meow. If I can just get him to electrocute me, then I could have more of a fighting chance in this form. His body was weak in this feline state, but with his Nen he could finally be able to fend for himself. If only he could get Luck to continue to shock him. "Awe what a cutie." Charmy gushed, reaching out to pet him. Killua made sure to keep his eyes on luck. "Hey there kitty." Luck said, with a wide smile. "You want pets?" Killua's tail lashed a little, they were getting the wrong message. Killua bit Luck's hand as he reached out to pet him. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to hurt.

Charmy gasped. "That's mean! Bad kitty!" She scolded, swatting Killua. He hissed, starting to get frustrated. Luck huffed. "That's not very ni- ow! Hey!" Killua kept nipping at him, trying to annoy him and possibly provoke him into attacking. He grabbed onto Luck's arms with his paws and pummeled with his hind legs as he kawed on Luck's fingers. Luck's eye twitched, although the smile on his face didn't change. "I did nothing to you!" He tried to pry Killua off his arm to no avail. Just zap me! Please? Just a little? "What the hell? Get off him!" Magna shouted, grabbing Killua by the scruff to try to tug him off.

"Why is he biting me?"

"How the hell should I know? Cats are weird!"

Killua eventually gave up, allowing Magna to yank him back. Killua blinked, surprised as he dangled from Magna's grip on his scruff. He was expecting it to be painful, or at least uncomfortable. But he didn't feel much in that portion of his neck. "Behave yourself, Corrie." Magna said to him, in a tone in which one would speak to a child in. Killua hissed, pawing at his hand with an irritated meow. Put me down already. "I thought we named him Corleonis." Luck piped up, rubbing his arm. Magna shrugged, setting the feline down. "It's a nickname, Corleonis is kind of a mouthful you know?" Killua walked away from the group of chattering humans, feeling extremely disgruntled. Why is this so hard? He thought. Maybe next time Magna and him fought, he'd try to get himself in the crossfire. He hoped he could get this resolved soon, so he could go back home.

I'll find my way back home, no matter how long it takes.

1083 words

To Be Continued...