Work Text:
"Merow~!"
My magician looked at me skeptically as they pulled their pointy hat off of the coat rack next to the door, one foot in a boot. "Mallie, you can handle being alone for a few hours." No matter how many times I tried, it seems our familiar connection was never quite fully there. Sure, we get a spattering of each other's emotions, but only when it's intense and we're in the same room.
"Mrrrow!" I tried being a little more forceful and did my best to look fearsome. Sure, a small, seven-pound calico doesn't exactly strike fear in anyone's hearts, but I'm gonna do my damnedest to get my point across! That's not what I mean! I'm worried about you!
Still, no translation got through. "You'll be fine," they said, rubbing my head a little forcefully before slipping on the other boot, slapping on their hat, and bolting out the door. "I'll be back with those ingredients!"
I huffed. Without me, they might forget something! They haven't yet simply because I was there to bat a paw in their face. I licked my paw absentmindedly, wondering what I'll do without them darting back and forth in our little hut. Already I can tell I'm bored. After all, keeping that scatterbrain on track is a full-time job! This coming from a scatterbrain, themselves!
My tail flicked in agitation as I scanned the sight around me. Like many magicians' homes, the front room seemed to double as a living room/workshop. Shelves were lined with a mixture of texts from recreational reading to reference material and decorated with a plethora of bottles and trinkets of all kinda. Most of the bottles held either finished mixtures, or ingredients for other potions, spells, or rituals. A few others were simply empty. I liked finding those and testing the little Shatterproof Charm I figured out at the bottom of the shelves. Both to see if I needed to update the charm due to my magician absentmindedly leaving bottles too close to the edge or because it's funny to see the charm activate. I eyed a particularly fancy bottle.
It was a glorious bottle! It reminded me of the things I loved to collect (or rather, think of collecting) in my previous life as a human! Geometric and cut crystal, it shined and glowed a pretty light blue. Stoppered with a cork made from enchanted wood. Something about keeping sprites in bottles like that just reminds me of the Legend of Zelda games where you can capture and keep a fairy in a jar for health later. Same principle?
My head tilted and my nose twitched, moving my whiskers. I realized I was making that weird clicking noise that cats sometimes make when looking outside and staring at birds. It was fun, so I kept doing it. I suddenly had the strongest urge to test out my charm.
With practiced grace, I lept from the floor by the door to a nearby table. Easily, I stepped around all the ingredients without disturbing a one and trusted my Never Shed Charm held. Simple charms are a must to be learned by familiars! Easy, too, since you don't need thumbs! Once I reached the end, I lept up to a floating shelf on a wall (actually floating, not just a slab of wood hammered into the wall) and strutted across. This one was left blank because I started to love being high up once I realized my new feline joints could handle a fall from the ceiling to floor so long as I crouched just right before I landed. Once I reached the end, the shelf with the bottle on it was just in reach, one small hop away. I crouched and did the whole butt-wiggle thing before I pounced and -
Purr-fect!
What? I got cat puns for days! Don't want to run out of them so fast, though!
I padded to the middle of the shelf and sat down, staring at this glorious, glowing bottle. Was it already full of something? Or was it a protective enchantment that I couldn't perform and my magician already did it? I tilted my head this way and that. How should I knock it over and test the charm? Bat it? Walk past it like a sassy feline? Knock it off just by flicking my tail? Either way, I want to watch this thing fall to the ground.
I ended up choosing the tried and true "bat this sucker to the ground" technique. I lowered myself until I was between crouching and loafing and got my nose a millimeter away from it and gave a tentative sniff. Sniffing things with a feline nose is so much more fun than with a human nose! I can smell so many more things and things that used to smell just terrible now smell bad for whole new different reasons! At least the things that smell alright or great smell better...
Oh boy, did this bottle smell like magic! I can already guess what my prior human self would have asked. "What does magic smell like?" Well, it smells like magic! It's a whole new scent! It doesn't smell like anything else I've ever smelled before! And this bottle? Pure magic! What's in the bottle? Or is it just the pre-emptive enchantments placed on the bottle? Giving a mental shrug, I gingerly reached out my left paw and gave the bottle a little tappy tap.
plink plink
Oh, that sounded lovely. Must have been my little razors in my murder mittens clicking against the vial. I made the ultimate happy cat face complete with dilated eyes. At least, I think they dilated. Could just be my usual over-active imagination. I gave a few more taps and the vial responded audibly with a few more plinks.
It took about a half-minute of sadistic joy, but finally, the vial ever so tipped over the edge and fell to the ground. My charm held strong, suddenly brightening in a bright, soft pink glow. Not my favorite color, but it came standard with the charm.
Suddenly, I noticed something that made my ears slam down on the back of my skull. The cork was loose. I lept down to the ground just as it popped out of place. I could have just been overreacting, though-
Nope. Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope. I wasn't reacting enough!
A handful of sprites suddenly burst out of the bottle and fluttered aimlessly amongst the shelves and walls. Though they didn't actually have wings, they floated a heck of a lot like butterflies. Aw, crap. What do I do?! Of course, I have to get the sprites back into the pretty bottle, but how?! I don't have thumbs! I can't even use magic to replicate them! That's for far more advanced familiars!
My head kept snapping between each of the sprites and I could finally start counting them now that they have settled. One, two, three, six, nine-
Ten. Ten sprites to shove into a bottle.
A singular bottle.
When I don't have thumbs.
I couldn't help but yowl out a sound of agitation and disappointment. How dare these mindless little motes of magic make a mess of things! Also, when the heck did my magician get these!? Did they do it while I wasn't looking?
I huffed and shook my head as the tip of my tail twitched. Not a happy kitty, I pounced on the nearest one, catching it with my paws. Thankfully, magic doesn't care for things like "cross-contamination" and I can easily handle these sprites with ease. Getting them in the bottle...
I picked up the little Navi wannabe in my mouth and padded over to the vial. Using both of my paws and with limited rotation in those limbs, I managed to get the bottle upright and spit the sprite into the neck of the bottle. Thankfully, these things are far too dumb to go straight up and just knocked against the sides of the bottle. The bottle glowed that bright blue, again. I totally didn't notice that it stopped once the sprites were out. I was preoccupied with the sprites! Seems there's a decent charm that prevents these little buggers from jostling the vial around. Good to know.
Totally doesn't work on cats.
I sighed. One down, nine to go.
I crouched down again and lept up to the next one that was hanging on the drapes. The next thing I knew, I was twisting mid-air and barely made it back on my feet on the ground. Yeah, totally missed that jump. Glad no one was there to see it. I tried again, a bit closer to the drapes, this time. I flexed my paws to make use of what nature gave me this time around and clung to the drapes. Looking up, I could see the sprite simply sitting there like the jostling that just happened was a spring breeze.
Hah! Jokes on you, sucker!
I reached forward and gingerly opened my mouth to snag it. It was tricky work since I needed to make sure I didn't try to put too much weight into my paws to where I would start sliding down the drapes. Making cuts along the way, shredding them. Yeah, no. Don't want that.
However, no matter how hard I tried, I seemed to be out of reach. Drat. I gotta climb these drapes. Carefully, I inched my paws up higher. First my right forepaw, then my left, then the same for my hind paws. After every two cycles, I tried to nab the little nuisance. However, it seemed to be just as far away as before. Was... was it also climbing the drapes? That little snot!
Grumpily, I might have jostled the drapes a bit more than normal when I let go. Because once I did, the sprite seemed to wig out and drift closer to the floor. Ah-hah! I launched into the air and clasped it between my paws and brought it to my mouth. Transferring mid-jump, I then held on gently with my jaws as I twisted mid-air and landed on my paws again. Time to pad back over to the vial and make another deposit! One-fifth of the way done! I looked up and around to gather were some of the others landed. Two were on the walls with nothing under them, one was on my shelf, three were on the bookshelf, one was on the workbench, and the final one was on the ceiling.
Oh, no. It was in the middle of the ceiling... How in the heck am I supposed to get that!? I'm just a cat! I don't have thumbs!
Man, I'm really hooked on not having thumbs, today. This problem's really getting to me.
I glared at the two on the walls. There may have been nothing under them to jump from, though they're still within cat-jumping height. How do I know? I used to tangentially own cats when I was a human. My sister-in-law had two of them, and one of them had many muscles. Pretty sure he'd be able to make these jumps, too. The only difference is that I'm perhaps half their size, now. Being a kitten, and all. Also, one was a Maine Coon mix and the other was a chunky creamsicle-colored kitty. I crouched by the one on the opposite wall to the drapes and sprung myself upward. Should be a spring sound effect following me around when I do that. I reach up and slap that sprite right into my mouth before rolling in the air and landing back on my feet, nearly having them slip from under me at the landing. Triumphantly, I strut over to the bottle and spit that little annoyance back in. Three down!
Suddenly, it's as though the sprite knew what was up and they fluttered around the room from their resting places! No, no, no! They raced around the front room and darted out of sight! Aw, jeez. So many things smell like magic in this house. It's tricky to pick out the smell of sprites from raw magical materials. Who knows where my magician stores anything for personal use! I don't keep track of those! It's already a full-time job with keeping track of the work reagents and keeping them on track.
Speaking of keeping on track, I'd better keep to this task. I haven't the slightest clue when they'll be home and I want to get these sprites back in that accursed bottle as soon as possible! I booked it full sprint to the kitchen and started looking around and sniffing for fresh, airborne traces of magic. There was a fair amount. At least one fluttered around here. I scanned every bit I could see. Of course, I couldn't see much of anything. Can't even see the soft glow of the little nuisances.
There was a cabinet slightly open...
I have never hopped into the cabinets just yet, always suppressing the urge to do so. However, this time around, I think I have the viable excuse of hunting for sprites. I lept onto the counter with only a little grace, the rest was panicked flailing because I almost misjudged how much power I needed to get up. I then sat on my haunches and raised my torso as high as I could, raising my little kitten mittens to the cabinet door and nudging it open as best I could.
I miss hands. I miss thumbs.
Sure, it's been a couple of months, but it's only been a couple of months.
At least I don't have to wonder what it's like to have fur, a tail, and rotary ears.
Once I nudged that cabinet door open, I could smell the scent of magic a bit more strongly, here. I could even see a light blue glow from the arcane critter emanating from just a little bit further in. It looked like it was from the second from the top shelf of the four.
Determination flowing through me, I tucked my paws under my chest and crouches a bit more before leaping-
THUNK!
Ow! Ow ow ow! I bonked my head on the shelf above and landed on the counter before suddenly sliding off and thudding onto the floor. I yowled in pain and frustration. How dare this mote of mindless magic get the better of me passively. How dare it. I am from two species of hunters! One of whom are known for their intelligence and tool crafting, the other for their natural instincts and nature-perfected hunting of small creatures! I will capture you!
My determination skyrocketed tenfold as I hopped back onto the counter, my hackles raised. I'm gonna get you, you damned sprite! Putting a little less power into this next hop, I manage to hop into the cabinet on the right shelf and maneuver behind some of the boxes and containers of dry, shelf-stable goods. There! In the back corner! The little thing should be shaking now! Too bad it's too dumb to know that I'm here to pounce! I lurch forward and smack it with my right paw, flexing my kitten fingers and extending my claws so I can grip it to hold it in my razor maw. Content now that the fourth one is secure, I pad my way to the exit and gently hop down from the kitchen and back into the main room to spit it into the bottle. I gaze in an attempt to count them.
Yep. Still four of the annoyances. Good. Still too dumb to fly up.
I scan the room and I can't see any more tell-tale glow of the sprites in the main room anymore. Even the one on the ceiling has relocated itself. Thank goodness. I was worried I was going to have to do some crazy insane parkour skills to get at it. Most of those skills I don't really have and the rest I barely figured out lately in the recent months of being a cat. I eyed the hallway and my ears wilted along with my tail as I realized a few of the doors there were open to some degree. Great... I have to peruse the bathroom, storeroom, and bedroom. Oh, please, let the spare room be closed... That's basically just a haphazard mess of a secondary storeroom...
I padded down the hallway to the first door on my left before glancing to my right. The left door led to the bathroom and the right led to my magician's bedroom. I usually stayed out of the latter and stuck to the former simply because of the litter box. Goodness, that was embarrassing to get used to. It's for the best, though, I suppose...
I opted to go to the bedroom after and hooked a left into the bathroom. The bathroom is usually open, though in case it's closed, my magician installed a lever handle in case I needed to let myself in. I slinked in with ease and eyed the room. The clawfoot bathtub looked amazing and I really wished that my fur didn't retain as much water as it did so I could enjoy baths more. Or that the tub wasn't so big. Nevertheless, it has a ring shower curtain draped around the edge with a cute runic pattern that was both ascetically pleasing and practical, a simple and light enchantment by the crafter to keep water inside the tub. The showerhead was attached by a patterned pipe leading from the ground that allowed the indoor plumbing to be the perfect temperature for the magician inside. It was lower-mid quality, requiring refreshing on the owner's part once a month. I didn't see a problem with it as it caused my magician to constantly practice.
Luckily, I didn't see any sprites in the tub.
The sink was similarly decorated to the tub for the same purposes and didn't hold much interest, especially when I hopped onto the countertop. The mirror doubled as a medicine cabinet and thankfully was closed. At least I didn't have to fight with the plethora of items shoved in there which were mainly toothpaste, makeup, and other toiletries. The cabinet under the sink was closed, too, and the lid to the toilet was down and I doubt there was enough space for a sprite to just wiggle its way in. That left...
The litter box.
Oh, no.
I don't want to go in there and retrieve a potentially stinky sprite! No, no, no! I gingerly took a few tentative steps towards the box of stank and prayed to whatever gods were listening that the sprite was in a clean spot or that it was recently cleaned while I was sleeping earlier today. Another few steps and I took a tentative sniff...
Fresh litter. Soap. Oh, thank goodness, my magician gave this thing a thorough scrub-down today. With more confidence and surety, I walked right into the box and spotted the privacy intruder. I yowled at it in distaste and simply chomped into the creature before stepping out, shaking off my paws on the mat, and strutting out like the cat that got the canary. I mean, I might as well have.
Number five spat into the bottle, I now had to search my magician's bedroom and the storeroom and pray, again, that the spare room was closed. Once in the hallway again, I took a look at the doors at the far end from in front of my magician's bedroom door. I could easily see that the storeroom door was open, but I was thankful that it was mostly organized, so I didn't have to worry too much about weird nooks and crannies. I could not easily tell if the spare room door was cracked open...
Deciding I save that dread for when I checked the storeroom, I waltzed into the bedroom. I was a little sad that I wasn't allowed yet into the bedroom, even with just my own bed, mostly because some of my dreams have been... let's say intense, to put it mildly. I always ended up waking up my magician alongside myself, so currently, my bed was in the living room side of the main room. I stalked over to the bed and decided to nose underneath it. If I were a sprite - or anything, really - I would certainly choose under.
Once I was down there, I was face to face with... well... let's just say if I could blush, I would have done so. I think my ears flushed, anyways. Ignoring the... bedtime recreational toy, I stepped over it and looked up at the frame and underneath of the mattress. Over there in the corner, I saw that same light blue, only towards the ground. Glancing down...
Oh, no. This one was resting on another "toy." Great.
I grimaced as best my facial muscles allowed me to and batted at the sprite, trying desperately not to touch the item it was resting on. I kept grazing the sprite, but the imbecilic thing just would not get the hint!
Groaning (which came out as some weird distraught yowl), I decided to suck it up and just bat the thing down-
It fluttered away last minute.
I touched the thing it was resting on.
Instantly, I yelped and jumped up, thudding against the bottom of the bed and scrambling out in a haste to get away from everything down there. Look, I'm not judging my magician for their use of these items. In fact, I'm glad that they're healthy. I'm just upset that the damnable sprites had to sit on top of them and made me touch one!
I sprinted for the bathroom, batted on the tap for hot water, and did my best to try to get soap on my paws from the bar to wash away the sensation of touching the toy. Like I said, nothing against my magician, but those are just my magician's. I don't wanna be touching them! That's their privacy! Damn these sprites!
I'm not too sure how long I was scrubbing at my paws as best I could, but I think the fur on them was a bit more sparse than what I started with after scrubbing as much of the soap out to where the sensation I could only feel is my pads and claws along my skin. Thank goodness. After that debacle, I hopped down from the sink and stomped back to the bedroom as best I could, and attempted to hunt down that little jerk! I'll make them pay!
Once I arrived, I poked my head under the bed and glared around. The damned thing was there, but this time in an empty corner on the ground. I stalked over to it, batted it a few times to daze the thing, then plucked it up and spat it into the crystal bottle. HA! Halfway done! Feeling triumphant, I strolled back into the bedroom and hopped onto the bed. Now, where would the next one be? Gazing around, I saw this one fluttering on the pillows at the head. Oh, this one was quite active. Might be a bit of a challenge for me to get...
I crouched and did the standard cat butt wiggle as I calibrated how I would need to pounce on this hapless sprite. Its features sharpened in the dim light, brightening a bit as my eyes adjusted properly to where it might as well be midmorning with the sun shining through the windows rather than a summer afternoon. I launched myself at the magical creature right as it started fluttering away, as though sensing my intent. It probably did, since these things only run on basic survival instincts. Sadly, though, it narrowly escaped my grasping paws. Damn you! Come on, Number Six! I need to capture you! Who knows when my magician will be back!
I could feel a creeping sensation crawling down my spine, a mixture of agitation, and that usual strange shudder feeling I get randomly off and on my back when I was a human. Oh, grand. It translated to this new body... My muscles around my spine tensed and relaxed rapidly, making my fur shudder without making my whole body spasm. Better. The sprite fluttered around the room and settled on a post of the headboard. Well, if I fail this pounce, this landing just might hurt a bit. I scrunched up my body into a pouncing position again, ready to launch.
Rather than wait for me to strike, the sprite stupidly flew off of the post right as I tensed up the most and fluttered around the room. I stared at it and waited for the thing to land. After a time, it did land. Right in the same spot that it was in just moments before. Not needing to calibrate again, I launched and captured the thing in my forepaws before shoving it in my mouth. Hah! Take that! Tail and head raised proudly, I strut back to the bottle and spat that sucker in! Three-fifths of the way complete~! On to the seventh!
I dared a glance around, nosing behind the curtains in the bedroom and into the open closet, though I didn't see any more glowing from more sprites in the room, let alone any more traces of their smell. Happy with my inspection, I trotted out of the bedroom and waltzed over to the storeroom, pointedly ignoring the spare room door.
The door to the storeroom was wide open. Inviting for any creature to enter either for a hiding spot or just to explore. There were crates, chests, and barrels everywhere, though every one of them was soundly closed and secured. No sprites were getting in. However, there are some nooks that only my paws can reach in, and with the strength of the smell of magic in the air here, they could easily disguise how many were hiding in here. Resolute in my task, I crept around the perimeter of the room, nosing along each and every one of the storage containers, poking around shelves and getting feel for things with my paw. So far when I "fished," I only pulled out dust bunnies. As I was fishing between two particularly large chests, however, I felt something that was a mix of a dust bunny and a sprite. Flexing my paw, I grasped it and pulled it out to find a particularly dust-covered sprite. Oh, hello. I gingerly bit it to hold like a misbehaving kitten and grimaced at the dusty taste, toddling towards the bottle. Why toddle? Because I was trying to reign myself in and not simply lose my mind over the strange taste of dust and cobwebs on my sandpaper tongue.
Spitting the dusty sprite into the bottle and trying to get the taste out of my mouth, I had a happy mental dance at the realization that I only had to hunt down three more of those little snots. Hopefully, they're all in the storeroom... I returned to the storeroom, marveling at my ability to pointedly ignore if the spare room door was open or not, even at a glance. Usually, I can't do that. Usually, I look anyways and regret it.
Strolling back into the storeroom, I poked around a few more corners and nooks and crannies and found two more sprites in similar positions. Quite boring. Sniff them out, nearly sneeze my head off, fish them from their spot, grimace at the taste of dust a little less because it's coating my mouth, shove them in a bottle, and search.
And search.
And search.
And- well, you get the point.
I looked high and low, but the final sprite - after fishing out three dusty ones prior - was nowhere to be seen in the storeroom. My ears slowly folded to the back of my head as my tail lightly dropped to the floor. I turned my head.
The door to the hallway opens inward. It's only open enough for me to nudge my way in.
I can't see the spare room door from here, even if it's just across the way.
I'm dreading this.
I have no idea what could be in there.
I don't think I've been in there since I was first introduced to my magician and given the tour.
I gathered my wits, which felt like I was metaphorically sweeping up marbles covered in cracks. I slowly stood up and slowly stalked to the door. Why am I acting like I'm in a horror movie? Is this IT? Perhaps The Shining? No, wait, The Exorcist.
Jokes aside, I managed to lighten my mood and pad a little quicker to the exit but I ended up pausing for just a moment.
Or was it- no! No jokes yet! Get to stepping!
A march, two, three! I pad over to the door I had yet to see!
... okay, so I actually stuttered over that rhyme a few times and tried to end up with "thee" instead... Sue me!
You can't because I'm a cat!
Also a figment of my imagination! Ha! Take that times two!
Grinning and full of energy, I slinked out of the door and faced the one to the spare room.
Oh.
Oh my.
How did I manage to find nine sprites everywhere else?
The door is wide open!
My little kitten jaw dropped along with my ears and tail (oh, hey, it was up and happy for a bit, earlier) as I gazed into the terror that was the spare room.
Basically, anyone's and everyone's junk room, ever.
Only... Magic.
There were random bottles of varying qualities lying around. Some open, some stoppered and ... not quite full, but... sort of? Crates and chests were wide open and I'm sure that's an armoire wide open with a variety of cloaks, coats, and hats scattered around the opening as though it animated briefly just to throw up.
The whole setup was basically a maze for human legs! Scarcely a clean path connecting anywhere. Or even a clear path! Papers and chalk on the floor, as well as paints from prior attempts, were long abandoned and smeared across the walls. There were only one or two webs in a corner or two, however that wasn't what concerned me.
What did was the sprite spazzing out in the middle of the room with it smelling like a bottle of pure aether spilled what little contents it had left.
Sprites are normally docile. Tame. Lazy. Get them hopped up in as much or twice their body weight in raw, distilled magic, and they start going nuts.
This one is changing colors and zipping around like a fly on drugs. Hard drugs. Bad drugs. Don't do drugs, kids.
I couldn't help but look in amazement and wonder exactly how much aether this thing ate.
Briefly, I wondered why I didn't notice this before but then I recalled. The windows are all shut and this place is thankfully draft-free. Bye-bye, wintertime chills.
I narrow my eyes as I attempt to stare at this raving sprite hopped up on magic. The sprite version of the Ultimate Sugar Rush. And be jealous. If only I wasn't at risk for feline diabetes for attempting to consume that much sugar. Heck, anyone my weight would.
Jeeze, I've been getting off track a lot, lately. I rub my face with my paws. Determination time! Catch the sprite! Get it!
But how?
Out of options and unsure if I'm out of time or not, I launch myself suddenly into the air and swipe my paws at it. The sprite - I kid you not - spazzes out like nothing I've seen before. I swear this thing went plaid once or twice. I hit a patch of papers and slide around on them for a couple of seconds before regaining my footing.
Oh yeah. Boss fight.
I cycle through a few boss fight songs in my head. Hopes and Dreams, Through Fire and Flames, and a few others. I settle on a song I recall called Impossible. Because that's what this challenge here felt like.
I couldn't help but start feeling amped up.
Sure. I'm a kitten that's a low-grade familiar-in-training. Yeah, so the boss is a wacked out magical mote of dust that thinks it's the Lord of Chaos's laser pointer. Sure, my battlefield is some junk room in someone's three-room, one-bath house. I'm going to make the most of it and this is appropriately scaled!
I make another leap into the air, but this time, I don't aim for the mote. I hop up onto a crate, another one higher up on its edge, and then I take a short running jump at the mote, my right forepaw pulled back far as I take a large swipe in the sprite's direction.
I could almost feel the magical energy pulsing off of this thing as my claws slide right past it. I looked at my landing area and noticed I might end up overshooting where I was aiming for and might hit a wall.
Hang on. I've never done something like this before... Can I do it?
I twist my body as best I can last minute to be parallel with the wall, and my side as well with the floor. Once I felt my paws press against the wall I pushed back-
thud
Okay. I'm on the ground now and my internal music has full-on stopped. That did not work out at all.
I huffed in disappointment as the sprite had the ultimate zoomies in the air. Man. If only I wasn't a cat. Maybe a finch? Sparrow? Oh, no! A bat! It's just one letter behind cat! Come on! Why not, universe!? I rolled from my back to my belly and watched the thing zip around in countless and ever-changing patterns. I could feel my tail twitch in agitation as I saw this thing taunt me without ever having a conscious thought to do anything in its life. I'll show you, ya little snot.
I padded to the center of the room and looked straight up. Suddenly, I saw it.
There was a pattern! It just kept changing elevation! All I have to do is wait for it to be directly over me and I can snag the blasted thing! Then resist attempting to eat it. The sprite is making me mad!
And hungry. I could go for some fish.
I waited for the thing to make a few passes before I suddenly launched myself into the air as though a certain blue hedgehog stepped onto a spring trap.
And now I'm tempted to learn that silly charm if only to use it off and on for silly shenanigans.
Sadly, I missed snagging it in that jump, but I didn't botch the landing, this time around! I'm going to get it! I'll try again!
So I did.
And I sailed into the air.
My mouth was open in a warcry!
...
And the sprite flew right in.
HURK!
Oh, jeez! Is it trying to kill me, now?! I already died once, I don't need to do it again! Especially so soon and in such a lame manner.
Oh, gosh, it feels stuck in my throat. Is this what a hairball feels like? I haven't had one yet, is this what it feels like?!
I start doing the motion and making the sound that gets all cat owners to spring up from their seats as I wonder what to do.
Hold up. I could hork it into the bottle! That will be fine, right?! I staggered as I tried to simultaneously hold the sprite in and hack it out of my throat. Quickly, quickly!
I barely made it to the bottle as I coughed rather violently into it, the technicolor sprite having finally calmed down in coloration and starting to match its friends. I panted by the bottle's neck a few times, feeling like I went a few rounds with a bottle of a particularly spicy adult beverage and made friends with the trash can or toilet. Thankfully, I didn't actually throw up, but goodness gracious, it felt too close to it.
Once I caught my breath. I locate the cork and put it back in as best I could with my teeth. I can't actually get it secure, but with the cork in, I was now able to relocate the bottle from slightly away from the base of the bookshelf to right on the bottom shelf. A final glare and I headed to the couch, curled up, and started to relax.
BAM!
The front door flies open, slamming onto the wall it's attached to, startling me so bad I leap into the air with a yowl and a hiss.
"Whoops! Sorry, Mallie!" My magician was back home and they had one arm laden with a few goods in a tote bag, kicking the door back closed. "Just wanted to make a dramatic entrance. Did you not miss me?"
Yes and no. Nothing against you, my fellow goof. Of course, they can't hear me through my meows, but after that nonsense of the past who knows how long, I just want to relax. I flop back down onto the couch.
"Aw, you bored?" I look at them as they coos to me.
No, actually. I'm tired. Thanks for asking, though.
Of course, the message doesn't go through as I close my eyes.
"Oh, hey! You tested the charm with my surprise present!"
My eyes snapped open. I'm sorry, your what?
Right as I lift my head and open my eyes, my magician looks me dead in the eye with a genuinely happy look on their face as they uncork the bottle I worked so thrice damned hard to refill!
They shook the bottle vigorously and the sprites just scattered. Again. I couldn't help but look up at them darting around and away, probably to new hiding spots. Agast, I look them dead in the eyes as my ears folded down and I could almost feel their confusion.
"What?"
I ignored them and proceeded to take a nap.
Magicians.