Through the eyes of a cat. (multiple chars welcome)

[Seragil]

The sun had almost set. Its orange and crimson fingers streaked across the sky, offering what little hope it could to the soon to be night clasped city below. Not that Naoise was impressed with the suns evening aubade, for he knew it didn’t offer any real hope, not to this city or anywhere else for that matter. Legends might state that vampires and creatures of darkness only appear at full dark, but he knew better. He looked up to the crimson kissed, bruised, coloured sky and hissed. Oh yes, it was plenty dark enough for the undead and dark souled alike to walk about.

He arched his back and stretched out his forelegs, the hated collar clasped around his neck glittered and shone for a moment in the dying light as he dug his claws into the wooden boards of the jetty, sharpening them. He had been haunting the boardwalk all week and was beginning to make himself at home; he kept the rats away and the shopkeepers kept him fed. All in all not a bad deal, considering the fact that keeping the rats out took very little effort on his part, a simply scratched mark of warding usually did the trick quite nicely. He narrowed his eyes as he once again gazed at the sky. Yes, it was definitely time to get moving. For some reason the song of the evening called to him, whispered to him, tonight would be full of possibilities for those who were searching; and he was searching.

He had been in the city for a little while now, keeping to the shadows and casing the place out and boy did this city have some sights. A human city ran by all kinds of non-humans all working together, or so it seemed on the surface, who knew what lay under the murky depths of supernatural politics though. Not that any of that was his problem or business; no he had an altogether personal problem to solve. He was lonely. Looking like a cat didn’t make him one and trying to converse with a normal kitty was just plain bloody boring, surely in a city like this he could find someone who he could bond with, connect with. Hell right now he’d settle for fight with. It had been far too long since he touched minds with another person.

He ran down the jetty, looking almost like a shadow moving swiftly across the boards. He stopped once he touched the main boardwalk and sniffed the air.  Hmmmm what shall I have? Pasta…seafood…steak? Oh my…red wine! A merlot if I’m not mistaken. Prospects, prospects… he strolled slowly down the boardwalk confidence and arrogance oozing from him with every step, his tail a perfect question mark as it swayed in the air above him. The collar with its dangling doubly hated nametag, lay comfortably on his chest

He stopped as he passed the small Italian eatery and watched as a fork was slowly spun into the plate of spaghetti. The aroma of tomatoes, garlic, oregano and perfectly cooked bolognaise meatballs wafted to his nose making his stomach grumble and clench.

Guess its pasta tonight he thought with a very contented smile. He sat and wrapped his tail around his haunches as he settled down and watched with his emerald eyes, waiting for the perfect moment.

[MementoMori]

"Arutha..." A female voice whined as the other twirled his fork in his plate of spaghetti. "You know that this cannot continue forever. You moping around all day. I know that it hurts but Micah wouldn\'t want you to live this way. I mean you\'re losing weight and you\'re getting pale. He loved you so much." Kevla Brooks said as she looked across the table at her twin brother. "He would have wanted you to get on with your life and be happy." she said gently.
 
Her brother, Aruta, had been seriously involved with a young man named Micah Cunningham about a year ago. It was the point that Micah had asked Arutha to marry him and her brother had said yes. And for all her protectiveness, she approved of the match just because for the first time in his life her brother was genuinely happy without having to try to fake it. Though sadly it did not last, but it was not for the normal reasons, like breaking up or cheating or anything like that. Micah had just went out one day on an errand and did not return. It was like he he had vanished into thin air.
 
"I know. I know." Arutha said with a long sigh. For a moment there he had been about to put the forkful in his mouth but his often overprotective twin sister wouldn\'t have it that way. "But at least I\'m out now and as you can see I\'m trying to eat." he said, gesturing at his plate before finally putting the forkful of the aromatic spaghetti in his mouth. Part of it was to eat the delectable food, but also part of it was to spare himself having to answer his sister for just a few minutes.
 
Arutha would have to be deaf and blind not to know that he worried his sister, but he couldn\'t help it. Micah\'s disappearance still pained him alot. He could still remember the happy look on his face when he had left that fateful morning as well as the months that both he and his twin had spent searching for him. What made it hurt even more was when he looked for the few friends that he had in the darker realm of the city for help they had vanished as well.
 
"Arutha damn it! Listen to me!" Kevla swore, pointing her fork at him in a angry sort of frustrated fashion. "I know that you\'re eating now but you\'ll just go back to how you were acting earlier." she said. "You\'ve got to try and get out more. And not with me forcing you too!" she snapped as her brother quickly shoved another bite into his mouth as to avoid speaking again.
 
Both were completely obilivious to the presence of the cat that was watching them eat.

[Seragil]

He smiled to himself as the poor male sibling tried to eat his food with his sister harping in his ear. He blinked slowly, long and long had it been since anyone had cared about him and apparently this poor human had suffered some recent loss, he watched the male as he raised his fork to his mouth and ate the delicious smelling pasta, in an obvious attempt to keep from talking,. It was now or never.

Naoise slowly sauntered over to the table, the evening shadows shifting and sliding over him as he approached the table and meowed softly as he sat down by Arutha’s chair, sending a small mental push to drop him a meatball. *Poor kitty, so hungry, you should feed him and doing so might just annoy your sister*

[MementoMori]

((I\'m sorry about the delay. I\'ve been busy at work.))
 
Hearing a soft meow come from somewhere near his chair, Arutha blinked a little and looked down to see what kind of cat it was as he swallowed his current mouthful. It was only to end up gazing at the feline\'s combination of a velvet black furred face and bottle cap green eyes briefly. "Oh you poor thing..." he murmured as he picked up one of the meatballs from off of his plate.
 
"Here eat up and when you\'re done with this one I\'ll give you another." he said as he set it down on the ground. "Arutha! What the hell are you doing?! I\'m trying to talk to you here." Kevla demanded as she peered down over the side of the table. It was only to pause when she saw what it was. "A cat...it looks so healthy. I wonder where it came from." she said softly, calming down a little.

[Seragil]

Naoise smiled to himself as Arutha laowered his hand to place a meatball on the ground before him, purring happily he bumped Arutha’s hand in appreciation before tackling the oh so tasty treat.

He lifted his head up and blinked at Kevla as she lifted the table cloth to check him out. He stretched languidly for her and purred softly before bumping his head against Arutha’s leg. *mmm that was very tasty, thank you* he circled around Arutha’s foot, his tail shamelessly trailing over his lower leg as he nudged against his mind again.  * You know, a pat wouldn’t go astray with the next meatball, and you can tell your sister I am homeless and non diseased *  

Feeling happy with himself and content with the way things were going, he layed down and rested his head against Arutha’s foot, it was then that Loki’s Collar decided to strike, it constricted around Naoise’s neck, strangling him as it sent small shock waves of electricity to course through the cats body. It loved to torment the creature it trapped; the creature that had trapped it. It hurt him simply because it could. Naoise jerked as the collar strangled and tormented him, the sudden pain causing him to yowl slightly. The last time the collar had done this, the pain had frozen him in the middle of a road just as he was about to dodge a car. He couldn’t help but think that at least this time it was under a table, dieing was such a pain in the arse. He collapsed against Arutha’s foot as the collar released him, the last of the electric shock making him whimper slightly. “Gods” He thought to himself as he lay slumped on the ground, filling his  burning lungs with air “How I hate this damned collar!”

[MementoMori]

((Sorry about the wait again, but here it is. *huggles*))
 
Arutha actually smiled down at the cat as it nudged his hand with it\'s head before swiftly eating the savory meatball. And who could really blame him for doing so, the cat was completely adorable. "You\'re welcome, little one." he said as he reached down with one hand to lightly scratch behind his ears as the other nudged his mind once more. "He\'s just homeless, Kevla, but he looks like he\'s clean" he said softly just before he moved to sneak Naoise down another meatball.
 
"He\'s got to be a male. I would know that move anywhere." Kevla remarked with a small smile as she watched Naoise stretch his velvet looking body languidly. Even though she at first had been annoyed, this cat was proving to be a good distraction from their latest one-sided arguement.
 
"I think that you might be right because he\'s certainly made himself at home." her twin added as he observed the cat lay down and rest his head again his right foot. It was only to jump slightly himself as the black cat jerked as if in pain and then yowl loudly. What on earth had just happened had just happened?
 
"Oh my god....are you okay? Did you choke on the meatball, kitty?" he said concernedly when the shock wore off a little, moving his chair back a little so that he could more easily touch him.

[Seragil]

Naoise staggered to his feet and shook himself in an attempt to shake off the last remnants of the collars attack from his mind and body, before he carefully approached Arutha and rubbed his head against his leg in reassurance. Then overwhelmed with sudden weakness he leaned against him for support, the collar had drained him more then he had realized and had left him reeling and slightly disorientated. He meowed softly and looked up at Arutha, his brilliantly green eyes filled with sorrow and desperation.

*Sweet Goddess, please do not let this human be too put off from me. I am tired, so very tired and soul weary. One is not meant to live like this *

He closed his eyes and bowed his head; He could sense no psychic ability in Arutha, no latent telepathic gifts, but still. There were other ways of communicating, if Arutha and his sister weren’t too easily freaked out. He sniffed the air and shuddered; before he was starving, now the mere scent of food made him sick. Damn Loki, damn the collar. Damn Fate.

[MementoMori]

As the cat staggered to his feet, Arutha had crouched nearby out of concern for the pour feline."You sure, you\'re alright, kitty?" he asked as the cat rubbed his head against his leg in an obvious attempt to reassure it\'s human. At the same time he reached out to gently scratch his ears. Even though he had no idea what had just happened, he still wanted to try help him. What could he say, he\'d always had a soft spot for animals ever since he was a child."You aren\'t are you?" he said just as the cat suddenly leaned against him and meowed plaintively as he looked at him.
 
"Come on, Arutha. He looks like he\'ll be fine. He\'s just tired from whatever happened." Kevla said only to be plainly ignored by her twin, much to her annoyance.
 
"You can come home with me, kitty. There you can be safe and you can rest a bit." Arutha said softly, continuing to gently pet him. "Does that sound alright to you?" he asked, keeping his attention focused on the cat.
 
It was sometime around then that the pepper shaker started to rise up a few inches off the the table and on the other side of the table there was Kevla with a look of concentration on her face. From the looks of things, this was an attempt by her in order to garner her brother\'s attention forcibly.

[Seragil]

Naoise butted his head against Arutha’s hand, enjoying the pet and the comfort offered. It wasn’t often a person took a shine to him, most found him slightly…off, automatically sensing he wasn’t exactly normal and steered clear. Which is why Arutha’s concern and interest in him came as such a surprise, since usually those drawn to him had a telepathic or empathic talent of some sort and as far as he could tell Arutha didn’t show any obvious signs, not that Naoise had checked that deeply.

Aruthas offer of taking him home stunned him so completely he went still in shock. Hope and fear bloomed in him in equal measure, to have someone, be near someone again, to bond with someone, even a human was something he had not dared hope for, not so soon on arrival. He looked up at Arutha and scanned his face, would the offer still stand if he knew how strange, how different he really was, when he realised he wasn’t a real cat after all? Well, there was really only one way to find out.

It was then he felt Arutha stiffen slightly, his fingers curled, forgotten in Naoise’s fur Curious and a little tense Naoise stepped into the shadows and turned around to see what had caught Aruthas attention, the shadow shifting took only a mere second hardly noticeable, except Arutha’s hand had been on him when he did it and was now in an entirely different position then it was a second ago. Still Naoise paid it no mind, intent on finding out what the possible threat was. Slowly, once he realised there was no immanent attack what it was he was looking at sunk in and couldn’t help it when he hissed slightly, widening his eyes in shock at the pepper shaker floating above the table top, not that he could see it properly, just the silver lid, floating where it shouldn’t be.. He turned his now amused green eyes to Arutha and quickly probed his mind, hissing in satisfaction as he felt the tingle of psychic talent. Stupid, stupid fool he thought to himself, obsessing on telepathic abilities he never thought about other abilities, and where there was one talent, pathways to others were always a possibility. He sat and wrapped his tail around Arutha’s ankle and waited to see what he would do and what if anything he had noticed.

[MementoMori]

Arutha had pretty much been a pretty accepting person all of his life. At first it was just part of his nature, but when he got older he though that he should stay this way given his own gay and telekinetic status. His mind set was who was he to judge anyone else for being the way they were when he was the way that he was.
 
Back to the present.Arutha had seen more than his fair share of odd things when he had gotten to this city with his twin. First and foremost was the fact that he had known a werewolf as well as a thief. Both ended up being friends with him for at least awhile until they lost touch with each other. He had even lost the person who he had planned on marrying.So he could definitely relate to the other\'s loneliness and tiredness.
 
Arutha gazed back down at the cat kindly when it looked up at him so hopefully. "I mean it, little one." he said with a warm smile as he continued to stroke the cat\'s silken fur. "You can come and live with me if you want." he said with a nod before stiffening lightly as he saw out of the corner of his eyes the pepper shaker rise up."Kevla!" he hissed angrily."You know better the rule, Never in public." he scolded firmly as he felt his twin relinquish control of the shaker and let him return it to it\'s proper spot with his own twin ability.
 
"Yes I know but it seemed like the only way that I could get your attention at the time." Kevla whined petulantly.
 
"Be that as it may, never do it again unless you are in danger." Arutha said firmly as his sister huffed at him exasperatedly before he shifted his gaze back to the cat. "You alright, kitty? I hope that we didn\'t scare you too much."

[Seragil]

Naoise watched the proceedings with amused interest; he could understand Arutha’s warning and admonition to his sister. Being different was a dangerous thing, having power was an extremely dangerous thing, not as dangerous as being powerless but having power attracted those that wanted its use for themselves. Still having powers but never using them for fun and only at need was a waste and foolish. Now was the perfect time to see how much difference Arutha could handle.

Looking up at Arutha and grinning to himself he melded with the shadows and teleported to the chair Arutha had vacated to crouch beside him earlier. The chair gave him a perfect view of the table, raising on his hind legs he stretched his rather large body and placed his front paws on the table edge looking almost like a strange child trying to peer over the table. The peppershaker now in plain sight, he raised it off the table with ease. It hovered above the table spinning gently around and around. He then tipped it upside down and with the removal of the cap he took control of the pepper itself and made it float to the table in a strange looking black and grey stream, the shaker settling down gently beside it.  Once the pepper was on the table he turned his head and looking at Arutha he let out a soft yet highly amused meow the tone matching that of someone asking “Well?”

He kept his green eyes on Arutha as the pepper started to form words on the table top. “Hello Arutha, Kevla. A pleasure to meet you both.” he let the words sit as he watched Arutha wondering how he would react, if he\'d run.

[MementoMori]

Arutha glanced down at his feet as his fingers suddenly met air when they had met fur. He stood back up to find said cat stretched out with his front paws on the table edge. "How the heck did you get up there?" he said in a bewildered tone of voice, scratching his head a little. He could have sworn that he had just been petting him and now was up on his chair. It was only to gasp as he watched the peppershaker once again rise up from the table and begin to lightly spin around and around.Instantly he glanced at his twin to see if she was doing it.
 
Kevla just slowly shook her head with her eyes at the question in her brother\'s eyes before looking back at the now stream of pepper that was floating to the table.
 
"Then who?" Arutha said confusedly before finding his eyes landing on the cat. Even though this was a crazy thought, there was no other person or being around that he could tell that was responsible for it. "Kitty?" he asked just as the feline meowed in a oddly particular tone.
 
His eyes only ended up widening even further as he watched as words suddenly began to form on top of the table. "Whoa...." he breathed as he read them, putting his left hand on the back of his chair in order to steady himself a bit as he tried to take it all in, "Is this your doing, kitty? Or am I...er...we going crazy?"
 
Meanwhile his sister just at there and gaped at the scene before her. Unlike her brother, she hadn\'t seen what little he had so this strangeness was a first for her.

[Seragil]

Naoise’s heart sank as he watched the expressions on Arutha’s face and the pure shock on Kevla’s. Scaring them was not his attention, maybe he should have waited, played it safe, but then patience had never been one of his strong points. He sighed heavily to himself, unsure as to where to take this now. Should he just go, fade into the shadows and just become one more strange thing in the city for these two. He turned his eyes to Arutha and studied him. No, this one was not afraid only startled. Flocking his tail he wrapped it around himself and tried again, he looked at the pepper and wiped the words out before forming new ones.

“ I’m sorry I did not mean to startle either of you” He hissed in frustration as the pepper on the table ran out. Telepathy was so much simpler. He concentrated again and clearing the words started again. “ Yes I am doing this, my name is.” At this he stopped before he called his name into his awareness, his name, his history and the mystical properties of the collar were thing he could not talk about. The damn collar made sure of that. It had been so long since he had heard or said his name he doubted he could really recall it anyway. Narrowing his eyes in frustration and anger he wiped out the last sentence, his ire causing the pepper to billow slightly across the table before he reformed it into a sentence. “ You may call me whatever name you wish, just not Alex” at the mention of the collars old master it shimmered and constricted around Naoise’s throat strangling him slightly in warning before returning to normal causing Naoise to growl and cough a little at the rough treatment. Shaking his head slightly he looked up at Arutha, his eyes narrowing in worry at the mans expression, peppery words quickly formed, cleared and reformed on the tabletop. “ Arutha, you look like you need your seat”  “Take this one back and if you do not mind”  “I will sit in your lap, that way” “ I can still see the table and you lessen  the” “risk of falling on your face” He turned and looking at Kevla he winked at her, his eyes alight with amusement and devilment.

[MementoMori]

Arutha slowly nodded as he read the words on the table before looking back at the suddenly smart cat. He had agree with him there. It didn\'t seem like he had all meant to scare them, but to make contact. He didn\'t know exactly why, but if he had to make a guess it would likely be something to do with the offer that he had given him a few minutes earlier. He frowned a bit as he watched the cat hiss a bit out of frustration as the pepper ran out when he wanted to communicate something. "Okay..." he said slowly after the feline had told them that he wanted to be called by anything but Alex. It was still obvious that he was a bit confused as well as shocked by things that were happening.
 
"What....why don\'t you like to be called Alex?" Kevla asked after a moment or so when her shock started to fade a little. She found that it was easier to focus on the little things instead of that large odd fact that there was this large cat now semi-talking to her brother and herself.
 
"Thanks, kitty." he said, not knowing what else to call him at the moment. He really did need to sit after everything so that he wouldn\'t fall on his face like the feline had just "You can...sit in my lap and then can...you please tell us what you are?" he asked as he started to move as if he were going to take back his seat. As he did so he glanced over at his twin.
 
From the looks of things, Kevla was taking things miraculously well. She could have ran by now. So hearted by this, he looked back at the cat.
 
"Anything you can tell us will help us to understand." he said with a nod. "And just....so you know my earlier offer will still stand no matter what...you say." Arutha said impulsively. Even though it was an implusive action, it felt right to do at the time.

[Seragil]

Naoise purred in contentment as he settled himself in Arutha’s lap, all in all it wasn’t turning out so bad he looked up at Arutha and rubbed his head against his chest in reassurance and gratitude before turning to look at the table. How was he meant to tell them about himself when it was one of the things he couldn’t talk about. Well he thought to himself as he concentrated on the pepper once more, here goes nothing.

“ My name, like my past, is lost in antiquity. It can be uncovered, but never freely given.” The collar started to shimmer and glow slightly as it awoke causing Naoise to stop what he was about to say. He was now walking a fine line, one slip and the collar would strike. “Alex…” he stopped again as the collar started to constrict and choke him in warning, but he could do nothing less then go on and give these two people what he could. “was my slave name” He yowled as the collar sent  bolts of pain through out his body, making him convulse till he passed out in Arutha’s lap