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Jellie was missing.
Well, that’s what they said.
If you asked Jellie, she was having a lovely afternoon outing, thank you very much.
The crew was currently docked in an open air market on the planet Lush. While everyone scattered about taking care of their tasks, Jellie decided to get a bit of a stretch in. Thankfully everyone was too busy to notice the little cat sneaking out of the open hanger door.
As always on Lush, the weather was sublime. It was warm out but not sweltering. The kind of sunlight that made one want to flop down and take a nap. A pleasant breeze ruffled her fur, temporarily alleviating her of any drowsy feelings. A perfect mix, not too hot, not too cold. Though Jellie supposed taking a nap a little later couldn't hurt.
But not now, now was a time for adventure!
Jellie trotted along the makeshift dirt pathways of the market stalls, occasionally leaping delicately over crates or weaving through many legs. Sights and smells of the market enveloped her as she went along. Someone was frying dough in a stall a few aisles down, while a competing street cook roasted meat somewhere else. Jellie went after that smell. Turns out being adorable will get you free samples of almost anything. Further down, she brushed against the leg of a weaver with many thin insectoid limbs and intelligent eyes. She took a break from showing off her collection of vibrant hand-woven banners to give Jellie a pat on the head.
Everyone seemed absolutely taken with her, which she enjoyed immensely. While she got plenty of attention on that odd flying machine, she was always happy to be the center of attention elsewhere. She just hoped that no trouble was caused by her little excursion.
Scar was veritably distraught.
At first he thought Jellie was just late to her afternoon lunch! But Jellie was never late to that. So he searched in all of her favorite spots.
Her bed, cold and empty. The old fruit box she couldn’t seem to part with, uninhabited. That one place in the vents where she hung out (sometimes Martyn was there too), desolate.
It was only when Grumbot, the ship’s AI, mentioned that he observed her leaving that he thought to look outside. But not before nearly throttling the control panel, berating the poor Bot for not telling him sooner.
(He only calculated a 98% chance of danger, he pleaded. But it fell on deaf ears as Scar rolled away in a hurry.)
Presently, Scar was bulldozing his way through the marketplace, making pedestrians leap to the side, fly up, or even cling to nearby stalls to avoid being steamrolled. The wheels on his wheelchair made an almost comedic braking effect as he stopped in front of a Sundrii street chef selling freshly smoked meats.
“Hello there! Have you seen a small furry quadrupedal creature? About yay high, white and grey-”
The chef laughed, “Oh, yeah! Cute little thing. Gave it a scrap of meat and sent ‘em on their way. Are you looking for them?”
A lead! Yes! Scar nodded so hard his head might just fall off, “Yes! That’s my cat! Did you see where she scampered off to? I am SO worried about her!”
“Hey, when I saw her she seemed happy as a spark. Little thing hurried on that way,” He gestured further down the row and to a little path between stall aisles, “Turned the corner there and carried on. Saw her playin’ with two kids before she left. They had a piece of string, you should have seen her go! She could surely jump. Good luck in finding your friend!”
Scar nodded and thanked them, immediately speeding down the directed route. He briefly questioned the two kids, a small Mazliophyta kid with cherry blossom buds and swirling branch horns and a lanky Vex kid with pale skin, four arms, and small red-tipped horns. Scar tried to ask where Jellie went, but only received a plethora of questions from them. All of which he answered, of course.
After Scar said goodbye to the two kids, he continued on his search. Oh, he hoped Jellie was ok… Poor thing must be so lost and confused…
-☪-
On the contrary, Jellie was having the time of her life.
After successfully swindling herself a fancy new trinket, (again, when you’re adorable like her, people seem to simply hand things over.) Jellie was back on the move. Her venture took her to the outskirts of the market, near the forest. Closest to where the forest began was a rickshaw of a market stall who’s owner barely fit inside of it. It looked like it was made from scrap wood and old bark, fitted together only because they were shoved together so hard they stuck. Something was smeared in messy red paint on the front, probably an advertisement for whatever this giant was selling.
But Jellie couldn’t read. She was a cat. Duh.
Jellie simply trotted over and hopped up onto the stall and brushed against one of the shopkeeper’s pawed hands. They jerked out of the little daze they were in and made the same cooing sound everyone made when they saw her. She flicked her ears in approval. Jellie, 102, the greater universe, 0.
The giant’s wide horns flashed blue as they produced what Jellie recognized as a loaf of bread. They pushed it towards her expectantly. Jellie contemplated it for a moment before attempting to bite it. Which did not work out well as her mouth was very small and the loaf of bread was very big.
The shopkeeper laughed and gave her a pat on the head. They broke a bitesized piece off and offered it once more. She took it and chomped on it, trying to mash down the food with her teeth.
As far as non-meat or fish products went, it was pretty good!
Jellie meowed her approval and circled the shopkeeper’s hand again, purring, before leaping back down onto the ground. As she trotted away the odd shopkeep waved enthusiastically, to which she gave a flick of the tail and disappeared into the market once more.
-☪-
“For the last time, this is a solid deal, yeah? Buy one, get one half off. And I'll tell you where your friend went! C’mon, even your little four legged guy would approve!”
In front of a portable wagon, two scammers engaged in the swindler’s version of a Texas standoff. It was nearly identical, besides the tumbleweed. There was never a tumbleweed when you needed one.
Scar narrowed his eyes, folding his hands in front of his face, “Buy one.. Get one free.”
The opposing side, an albino Enderian with swirling blue tattoos, gasped in shock. A bold move.
“Jellie already has the other,” Scar leaned forwards in his chair, “And that’s the nature of these kinda matching deals, yeah? Besides, are you really gonna try and charge a cat?”
The Enderian crossed their arms and huffed out pale blue particles, “Of course not!” A pause, “... Cute little bugger, though. Fell right into her trap, charmed me right out of a pretty blue necklace.”
They paused again, and they smirked. They extended one long arm towards Scar, “I can respect a duo of like minded individuals when I see them. Deal.”
Scar grinned, meeting their hand and shaking it firmly, “Deal.”
Scar paid for the remaining necklace and the Enderian directed him to where they last saw Jellie. Over and around the weaver’s stall, like she was making a big loop through the market.
As Scar peeled off in the aforementioned direction, he knew one thing was for certain, he’d tear this whole marketplace up if he had to.
-☪-
As always, Jellie once again found herself at the center of attention. The sun beckoned her to a nap, in which she obviously obliged. She found herself the perfect spot, smack dab in the middle of a table out in front of a pop-up cafe. It’s not like she was trying to interrupt, the sunlight was just better here. And the small group currently patting her didn’t seem to mind.
One of the folks, an Enderian with a yellow and purple scarf, seemed more curious than anything. The shorter of the group, a young Starsprite with purple skin and white freckles that matched their starry wings, tried to explain the concept of what they thought cats were (they basically described the lion king) to them. The Enderian listened closely as a third member, a Human with long pink hair and a pale blue blouse, tried very hard to not start cackling. But the Enderian didn’t notice, they simply nodded and looked at Jellie with awe. Which made the pink-haired Human almost lose it.
Jellie didn’t have the heart to tell them that she was sadly not a giant king of the savannah. But she couldn’t anyways with the whole “being a cat” thing..
Besides, the attention was nice.
-☪-
Scar had no idea how long he’d been searching for. Minutes? Hours? Days? No, he was being dramatic. There was no way he’d lose Jellie for more than a day. Judging by the position of the sun (that he looked directly at and temporarily blinded himself) he had no idea how long he’d been out.
He didn’t know how to tell time by the sun.
Scar lamented on his misfortune and his poor attention span during boy scouts as he rolled into a pop up cafe. All this searching made him pretty famished. He attempted to order coffee, to which the barista reminded him that it wasn’t served due to being a lethal toxin for many other forms of life. Scar ordered the sweet tea instead, which was definitely a more refreshing option.
As he rolled back out of the cafe, he scanned over the other customers. An android typing busily on a tablet, a Sundrii with pink-ish fur sipping as they doodled, a few Mantodia chittering busily to themselves, and a small group of assorted folk petting a cat.
Scar smiled at the all before his brain processed that last bit. He zeroed in on the small group. They were petting a cat!
His cat!
“JELLIE!” He peeled over to them, immediately forgoing his sweet tea to the ground in favor of skidding to a stop at the group’s table.
“Oh thank goodness, I’ve been looking all over for you!”
The Starsprite pointed to themselves in confusion before the Human smacked their hand down. Scar was too preoccupied with lifting a sleeping Jellie from the table and cradling her in his arms. He took a second to scold her on running away and followed it up by planting a big kiss between her little ears.
Jellie only purred louder.
Finally, Scar turned his attention back to the slightly confused group. Well, two were confused. The pink haired Human less so.
“Hello there! Sorry for the sudden roll up, I’ve been looking for this stinker all day!” He patted Jellie on the head, “Did you guys find her? Oh, thank you so much! I hope she wasn’t any trouble!”
The Human spoke up first, “Nah, she just crashed our lunch. But don’t worry about it, she was a doll!”
The Enderian nodded their agreement, “Yes, she was wonderful company! An honor, really,” They lowered their voice just a bit, “I can’t believe Humans live with such powerful and regal creatures… So amazing…”
“Powerful? Well-”
The young Starsprite butted in, “YEAH! Look at those claws, man! Claws of a killer!”
They pointed to Jellie who was currently making biscuits in Scar’s arms.
“Truly ferocious!” He laughed, “But really, thank you for keeping her occupied. I’ve heard she’s had quite the adventure today. And she seems pretty tuckered out from it, so I should head on back to my ship. Have a lovely day, you three!”
“Bye, tell her she’s free to nap on my sandwich anytime!”
“Goodbye, pat her highness again for me!”
“See yah! Here, I’ll give you a farewell fanfare!”
As Scar rolled off, he swore that the kid started to play the kazoo.
-☪-
Back in the safety of Scar’s arms and the ship’s humming walls, Jellie napped off a day well spent.
She was already dreaming of her next day at the market.