Taming the Familiar

Chapter 5- Back in my day

Amy was surprised when Pitch sat perfectly still for the entire forty five minute drive home. When they arrived back at their three bedroom townhouse it felt positively tiny after spending two days in the mansion. Alexa carried Pitch into the house and plopped him on her bed, after closing her bedroom door to make sure he didn't go missing.

"Home sweet home." She announced and the cat meowed sadly. She sighed, she missed the massive rooms of the mansion already. She dug the magic books out of her bag and laid them on the bed. She wanted to learn as much as she could about the magic world now that she knew for sure it existed. She found a short chapter on familiars in the basics book. Apparently they rarely took on humanesque forms. Only the most powerful could, usually not until their fifth or sixth generation. She silently wondered how many generations of mages had summoned Kaleth. Once their normal form started taking up more mana than a human form they were able to take on human form and speak. Alexa remembered the massive shape in the sky. Of course something so ridiculously huge would take a lot of magic. She looked down at her hands and wondered if she was really that strong. Pitch nudged his way onto her lap, at least he seemed to think so she thought with a smile.

"Do you think my magic is strong?" She asked. He snuggled onto her lap and started to purr. She turned a few more pages and learned why he seemed to stick so close. The closer the familiar was to it's master the stronger the magical connection. Like soaking up sun it helped them grow stronger. She petted Pitch's head thinking it sure didn't feel like he was sucking up her power. Then again if Kaleth had been sucking power too then little Pitch would be nothing in comparison. She scratched behind his ears and smiled to herself. She'd never had a pet, but this one was definitely growing on her. He looked a lot better than when she had first brought him in. His coat was fluffier and she couldn't see his bones sticking out. Alexa giggled to herself wondering if it was magic or bacon. She was leaning towards bacon. She stood up and sat him down on the bed.

"I guess I'll have to spend some money on you for food." She said wondering what to feed him. She left him in her room and waved to her parents as she headed out. They had a convenience store right around the corner but she figured she'd go the extra couple blocks to the pet store in the mall. As she turned a corner and caught sight of the mall she stopped and stared. Sitting under a bench near the building was her cat. He walked up to her and rubbed against her leg.

"How in the hell?" She asked. He looked up at her and meowed. She sighed and picked him up. Hopefully the pet store would be understanding. A bell chimed as she opened the door and Pitch stiffened as a dog approached to sniff. It decided they weren't anything to worry about and went back to it's bed in the corner. Alexa walked up to the cash.

"Hi, I just inherited this cat and I couldn't find what he's been eating in the house so I'm not sure what to feed him." She said. The clerk shrugged, obviously not too concerned.

"Cat food is in isle two. He looks young enough he shouldn't need any specialty food." He said, pointing to the specified isle. Alexa followed his directions and found herself staring at a wall of different cat foods. She stared for a minute before checking prices. That narrowed down about half her choices. She didn't know cat food could be so expensive. After staring for a few minutes pitch squirmed out of her grasp and walked over to paw at a bag on the lower shelf. Alexa was relieved when she saw the price of this bag.

"That's the one you want?" She asked and Pitch made a noise somewhere between a meow and a purr. She took that as a yes and grabbed the bag. As she turned around she noticed something else she might need. Collars and leashes. She looked over the shelf before picking the cheapest set there. They were blue and matched his eyes. The collar even had a cute little bell. She walked to the cash and made her purchase. Before leaving she took the tags off of the collar and leash and put them on Pitch.