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Chapter Text

It was beginning to get a lot easier for Kitty to hold a match. With her claws gone, it was never easy to hold it and light it, but with practice, it became second hand nature.

Not to mention, just straight up living out on the run has begun to become an easy task. Finding the right places to set up camp, finding food, and everything in general was not difficult in the slightest, but she did not know if that was a good thing or not.

After a successful heist given to her by a random pie factory owner, she was feeling rejuvenated and was ready to celebrate. Kitty could not just yet though, she still had to successfully get it to him. She was still extremely happy it went well, especially with all the security.

The heist that was requested of her was stealing the noble phoenix from Arizstador, a small town on the outskirts of Far Far Away. She had been able to sneakily steal it and run quietly into the forest of Far Far Away, nobody saw her and no one seemed to follow her, which is a good sign. She still doesn’t know how she managed to get the cage out without anyone noticing, but it worked, thankfully.

Kitty had decided to start a fire and hopefully sleep the night away, but not before feeding the bird some of the seeds left for the bird. She opened up the small bag and pored some seeds into a small little bowl attached to its cage. “Here you go, big guy.” She pushed the bowl into the inside of the cage, and the bird immediately began downing every single seed, one by one. Poor guy must have been hungry, it made it seem like he was barely fed at all.

She had hid the cage behind some bushes only a few of steps away from where she set up camp, but still hid the bird out of view. Kitty had also heard that the bird breathed fire, so hopefully no forest fire when she wakes up. Her paws reached into the small bag she kept with her during heists, and pulled out a small bag of raw salmon that she could cook in the fire, but not before she found a clean stick she could cook them on.

Kitty walked a small distance away from her spot, and used the fire to light up a bit of the forest. It made it a lot easier to find sticks on the ground. A couple of seconds of searching was met to an end when she found this perfectly straight and clean stick, and it looked to have no wood sticking out, so no chance of any splinters or anything.

Kitty’s success was cut of as the fire she had lit suddenly went out, and she was left in the dark. There was no wind, and it didn’t look like it was raining at all, and even if it was, she had specifically looked for a spot that was covered overhead by some trees. There was no explanation to why the fire was randomly blown out, but she wasn’t too worried about it.

She quickly got back to her camping spot and reached into her bag, looking for another match, but was quickly met with nothing. That meant no food for her tonight, which was fine, but a little underwhelming…

…Unless she used her new pet.

The idea crossed her to use the phoenix as a torch for the fire, but could she control it? There was no point in not trying. Kitty found herself walking over to the bush where she had left the bird, hoping it was still awake. She reached the spot and found the opening. She looked in and saw…

Nothing.

The bird was gone, and she was shocked. Not only was her only chance of getting some gold taken from her, but that must mean that someone had followed her and stolen the bird back.

“You didn’t hide it very well.” Kitty jumped at the sound of a voice, and immediately grabbed her sword out from her belt, raising it up next to her. “Aw, the cat’s scared.” The voice said, mockingly.

“Oh, please.” Kitty said back, rolling her eyes at them if they could see her. “You think I’m scared of someone who won’t even show their face?” She readied her stance again.

The voice cackled, not really seeming to get scared or stressed about her confidence. “Really? Did you forget that the best thieves are the ones that never get caught?”

“That’s quite ironic, considering I caught you red-handed.” She responded.

“Oh, I’m not here for the bird. Although it is a nice trinket to have.” There was rustling behind her as she heard him speak. After a few seconds, they revealed themselves out of the darkness. “I’m here for your life.”

It was a women dressed in dark blue cloak, with a brown pair of khakis and two huge daggers on the sides. “Well.” She spoke again. “One of your lives, at least.”

Kitty chuckled to herself. “You know, I like your confidence. But do all of you always have to have the cloak? It’s boring.”

The woman cackled again. “That’s your main priority right now? Not the fact that I’m threatening you?”

“You really think I care? I deal with people like you daily, it’s not very interesting.”

“Well…” The woman pulled out the dagger from her right side, and pointed it towards the cat. “I’ll be sure to make it interesting for you.” The woman also pulled out a small bag that had been hidden from view under her cloak, and opened it.

“Nice purse.” Kitty mocked.

“Oh, it’s not a purse, sweetie.” She said this, as she pulled out a bottle of a mysterious substance, and in one moment, she opened the bottle and drank it.

It was a potion.

Kitty immediately realized and ran at the woman full speed, not wanting to figure out what the potion did. She jumped up towards the woman and span in front of her, trying to make it harder to hit her.

But all of this came to end as soon as she landed on her two feet and the woman was gone. So it was a speed potion, what an amateur. Of all the potions to choose, she chose one of the easiest to deal with (well, except for any of the bad effect ones). “Ha, a speed potion. Really?” Kitty yelled loudly, not knowing where the woman was.

There was silence. She wasn’t revealing her position. Kitty knew this all too well as a way to flank her, so she kept her ground and looked all around her. That was until nothing happened, so she decided to close her eyes and focus in on the noise. All she could here is the sound of trees and bushes blowing in the wind.

That was until the sound of a footstep behind her.

Kitty slashed her dagger behind her and was met with the sound of two metals colliding. She opened her eyes to see the noble phoenix in its cage in front of her, with its head turned on its side.

Her thoughts were cut short as a small sword was pushed through her side, and as she stood there, a loud and painful scream came out of her mouth for a few seconds. She was pulled away from in front of the cage and pushed down to the ground, which made the sword sink in further into her side.

What she saw above in her tear-filled eyes was the woman looking at her, grinning. “That was quick.” She said, hatred filling her voice. “Does that make it interesting? Oh, how you mocked me at the start. And look at you now.” She chuckled to herself. “So hopeless and… broken.”

She took her hand holding Kitty down and placed it around the cat’s neck, and her other arm reached for her other dagger. The woman pulled it up out of her holster and raised it above her head. “Hopefully this’ll make your death a bit quicker.” Kitty closed her eyes.

The sound of fire and the woman’s scream caused Kitty to open her eyes. Her sight made out the dagger falling to the side of her on the ground, but the woman’s hold on her neck did not loosen. “Stupid bird!” She screamed.

The sounds of faint voices could be heard further into the woods, and the woman looked over to her side, in fear. As she let go of Kitty and grabbed her dagger from the ground, she stood up and looked down at the cat, and then proceeded to spit down at Kitty. “So long, gato.” She then reached down and pulled the dagger out of the cat, which caused another wretched scream.

Kitty watched as the woman fled the scene with the bird in hand, and before she left, she marked the tree with a symbol of some sort. But Kitty couldn’t see with her vision clouding up, and the tears falling from her eyes. She laid there for a few more second as the voices became more prominent, but her consciousness started to fade from the blood loss she was experiencing.

The last thing she saw before she passed out was a few gray and black figures, and a pair of green hands.

Chapter Text

The softness of the fabric above Kitty was the first thing she noticed when she woke up. That’s weird. The last thing she remembered was being in the woods, on the grass, with that hellish murderer on the loose. Her vision began to clear up and all she could see was a light gray ceiling. No sky to be seen. Kitty was inside, which probably meant she was inside of a jail cell.

Great. Just what she wanted.

After rustling under the blanket for a second, trying to break free from its grip, she was met with a sharp pain in her side, causing her to lift up the blanket calmly and look down at where the pain had resonated. All she saw was a would, stitched up. This means that she did not die in the woods. Whenever you die, the cat would be healed by some form of magic, and another live would take its place. That means one of her lives was spared, but by who?

Kitty decided to pay closer attention to her surroundings, and the realization set in that she was not in a jail cell. Instead, it looked as though it was a normal room, with a bed in the middle, a dresser on the side and a mirror on top of it, there was a small desk area with paper with ink and a quill, and there was a small window that looked to be locked, with the window showing the night sky. It was just a normal room.

A normal room with a door.

The door was located on the other side of the room, and by the looks of it, the handle could reached by her. She pushed the covers off of her, and proceeded to get on her feet. Each step towards the door took a bit of effort, considering her side was not in the best shape, but it was manageable. The door was right in front of her as she tried to reach for the handle, but was struck with a sharp pain. She tried again, and was met with the same result.

With the state she was in, she was not sure if it was smart to try and escape if she could not even reach a door handle, but she did not know what the people who placed her in this room would do if she stayed. Either way, she was screwed, which was not a good outlook.

As her final attempt of reaching for the handle failed, she noticed that some of her stuff was off to the side of the bed. Her small bag of stuff was there, and even her belt was too, but she saw no signs of her sword. They were smart enough not to give her a weapon, but thankfully, she had a backup plan.

Fortunately for her, it looked as though they hadn’t confiscated any of her stuff from inside of her bag, which meant that she still had something to protect herself with. Kitty reached her paws into the bag and pulled out a holder for her gatito blade. A form of protection was good to have in a situation like this, where she had no idea who she’s dealing with. But then again, they saved her life. She did not know what to think of it, but it was at least good to take precautions.

Kitty climbed up onto the bed and laid back under the covers, the gatito blade in her right paw, and she thought about whether she should stay awake, or go back to sleep. Either be possibly too tired to deal with any threat, or to leave her vulnerable in sleep to anyone who visits her. It seems like this whole situation is a lose-lose for the cat.

She thought about it some more and thought that going to sleep would be the best option, considering the fact that the people behind her kidnapping have not done anything violent to her. In fact, they have mostly helped her, by stitching her up and keeping her alive, which must mean something at least. Her decision was final.

Kitty closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

***

It was a bit later when Kitty was suddenly woken up by the sound of the door creaking, and the light from the outside lighting up her room. She heard two pairs of footsteps walk into the room. They were trying to be quiet, but her cat-like hearing was able to pick up everything they did. She decided to pretend to sleep, and attack only if absolutely necessary.

The footsteps could be heard walking over to what she remembered to be the desk area, and a quiet clacking noise could be heard, as if they set something down with a few crackles of glass. After that, she could hear them head back over to the door, but randomly stopped in the middle of the room.

Then right after, one of the pair of footsteps started to get closer to her spot on the bed. Kitty started to get anxious, tightening her hold on her gatito blade. As the footsteps got even closer, she readied herself to attack, and to get out of this place. She heard them stop right off to the side, and…

“What are you doing?” A woman’s voice could be heard whispering on the other side of the room.

“The cat has a weapon.” The person from right beside the bed whispered back. It was a man with a Scottish accent, which was weird. She was not anywhere near Scotland. Right? “I don’t want it to attack any of our guards.”

The woman could be heard walking up right next to the man. “Don’t take it. The poor thing is probably scared for its life. Could you imagine waking up in a place you’ve never been before? I think I’d be scared to.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” The two pairs of footsteps could be heard walking towards the room. “But we should at least try and interact with the cat in the morning. For all we know, the way it’s acting, it could be another… y’know.”

The woman chuckled quietly to herself. “True. That’d be interesting, wouldn’t it?” The door to the room closed as soon as she said that. Kitty opened her eyes and looked over at the door, seeing the two shadows from under it walk away.

So, they were friendly? Unless they wanted her for something. But right now, Kitty had never been so unsure in her life about something. Should she trust them? No, she could not. Every time she has trusted someone, she has been betrayed. She is not going to have another Puss situation on her hands.

But they seem so nice.

Kitty decided to get out of the bed and walk over to what they had placed on her desk. She climbed up onto the chair with some minor pain from her side, and gazed upon a small tray of food. Some bread, some butter, and a small cup of water with a big refill cup on the side. The cat did not hesitate to check for any poison and began to dig into it, since she had not eaten anything since before the heist, which may have been two days ago. Maybe three days? She did not know.

Despite the food being extremely simple, it was a breath of fresh air from the same salmon every night. She enjoyed every bit of it, and this made her think a bit more about the people she was dealing with. They had given her food, they did not take her blade from her, and they had helped her heal from an injury.

As the cat took a sip from the water, she took a vow for herself to at least consider these people as friendly.

And most importantly, trustworthy.

Chapter Text

It was not long until the black and white cat woke up again. The sun was shining into the room right in the eyes of Kitty, so it made sense why she woke up, but she wanted to sleep as long as she could, just so she could avoid confrontation with the people who were taking care of her.

She knew that it would not work in her favor, but she at least hoped she could sleep in.

The reaction she had to the current situation pointed towards the fact that was she scared to death about meeting them; never had she really trusted anyone before much like this, and she did not plan on falling so easily for any manipulation they planned on doing. She did not even know if they were even like that, but it was a possibility.

There were a lot of possibilities about the current state of her life, so she decided to try her best to be ready for them.

Kitty pushed the blanket off of herself and decided to try her best to get ready for whatever she would have to deal with today; getting off the bed and putting on her equipment. The boots, the belt, and her gloves all were placed onto her. During this, the cat realized that it was a little bit easier to move, so it seemed that her side was healing. It was not fully healed because she still had some difficulty and a small bit of pain reaching up and down, but it was a lot more manageable then yesterday.

She looked back over to the desk where the food was, and she realized that there was a new stack of bread and butter waiting for her. They must have come back into the room while she was still sleeping, and realized the food was eaten. Yet, she does not recall waking up that time, so she must have slept through it, which was abnormal. Usually, whenever there was any bit of noise, she would wake up, it is just how the cat’s brain worked after being an outlaw for so long.

After a few moments, Kitty found herself walking back over to the desk and climbing back on top of it. With a bit of resistance, she was standing up on the desk and looking down at the food. The cat was not used to eating so much in one day, but it was a welcome change to her routine. She took the butter knife in hand and slathered some of the butter on the bread.

Suddenly, just as she was about to take a bite, the door to the room opened, and she immediately dropped the bread and made her way under the desk. It was not the best hiding spot, considering she was hiding in a brightly lit room, but it was the best she could do in her current state. She looked over and saw two people walk in, making their way into the room silently and slowly. One was a guard with barely any gear, maybe to make sure that the other person was protected if she decided to attack.

Because behind him was a giant female ogre with a nice green dress, and a crown on top of their head. “Where is she?” The guard asked the ogre.

“I don’t know, she was just in here an hour ago, when I refilled the food.” The ogre looked over to the window and realized that it was closed. “Maybe she secretly escaped. That’s not good at all, considering her condition.”

She looked over to under the desk and saw the cat there. Kitty tried her best to hide further below it, but it was already to late. The female ogre had already found where she was hiding, and turned to the guard. She was gonna rat the cat out, she knew it.

“Go out by yourself and search, we can’t have too big of a mob searching for her. Who knows how scared she is right now.” She was not wrong. “I’m going to stay here and maybe find some clues as to where she could have escaped.”

The guard saluted the ogre. “Yes, your highness.” The man quickly left the room and the ogre shut the door as soon as he left. She stood there a second, but slowly turned towards the desk and looked under the desk. Kitty had not moved at all, she missed the opportunity to, but she really had nowhere to go.

The ogre began to walk slowly forwards toward the desk and stopped in the middle of the room as soon as Kitty began get a bit cautious. It’s like she knew when the cat was getting a bit anxious. The ogre slowly kneeled to the floor and held out her hand.

“Hey.” She spoke softly, not like when she whispered inside of her room during the night, but with a more comforting and relaxing tone. “You’re okay. I sent that guard away for a reason.” The ogre said, trying to convince Kitty. But it will take a lot more to convince her then a few comforting words.

“And do not worry, I know you can talk.” She still spoke very calmly, and this caught Kitty’s attention. “You said a few things when we first found you.” Kitty was still scared out of her mind, this was not helping.

“Okay, not much of a talker, are you?” She said. “Well, my name is Fiona. I’m the Queen of Far Far Away, and you are in my castle. You are also in my care until your side heals. I was the one who stitched you up.” Kitty looked down at her side to see the stitches, perfectly stitched onto her body. Fiona had a really good hand, and seemed to be very good at medical care. “You know, you remind me of another cat I know.”

Kitty’s right ear raised at this, and Fiona took note of this. “He was sweet, but I remember when we first met, he was very cautious because of me being a…” She held up her hands in quotes, “Princess. I always thought that cat was very weird. Classic Puss In Boots.” She said to herself.

Kitty could not stay quiet any longer. “You know Puss In Boots.” She spoke very quietly, but Fiona heard her.

Instead of trying to capitalize on this, the ogre just aimed to keep the conversation going. “Yeah. He can be a bit of a handful sometimes. But we are friends. How about you?” Kitty looked down, a bit nervous and weirdly, with sadness. “Too personal?” The cat nodded. “I get it, I get that it’s hard to trust a stranger.” Kitty looked at the ogre, just one more time. She could not help but feel a bit more confident around the ogre.

“But, you can trust me. I promise.” Fiona held out her hand a little bit further for Kitty.

It was a big decision for Kitty, to have to trust a complete stranger. I mean, they had similar friends to each other, but it was not much of a incentive for trusting Fiona. All Kitty was worried about was being betrayed again, but for once, she did not feel all that far from believing her. Everything that had been done for her up to this point had been good. They had saved her life, they gave her a nice place to stay, and had even given her food. And all that considering, it really did not seem like the ogre was lying. The cat may regret her choice but…

Kitty walked out from under the desk very cautiously, and slowly walked up to Fiona. The ogre retracted her arm and tried to stay very still as the cat approached her. A small bit of pain was evident as she walked, but she walked it off.

As soon as the cat was a lot closer then she had ever thought she would be, she raised her paw (with gloves on, of course) and tried to offer a handshake to the ogre. After a few seconds, Fiona reached out and shook the cats paw very softly.

“I’m Kitty. Kitty Softpaws.” It was very hard for her to say thank you, especially after everything that happened to her. But for once, even after how much of a struggle her side has been for her, she had the strength to say it.

“Thank you, for everything.”

Chapter Text

It was a much nicer rest of the week for Kitty as she healed, which luckily, was faster for cats like her. And in that time of recovery, she learned a lot more about Queen Fiona.

Most of it was good, explaining how she became Queen of Far Far Away and how it’s benefited her and her family’s life. She talked about how her children were lucky to be living in such luxury, but thankfully, she did not really use her source of power for gloating.

“You know.” During one of the first few days of recovery, Fiona spoke about it as both her and Kitty were working on a puzzle together. “Being Queen does not just mean being presentable and cocky, I mean, just look at me.” She gestured towards herself, probably trying to signify that she is an ogre. “It means doing what’s best for your kingdom, and for your people. Which means, trying to help out as best you can.”

“Hmm.” Kitty responded to her, quite content with her stance on things, but she was curious. “How exactly do you trust that your people will do the right thing, though?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t really be certain that someone will use what I give them to the best of their ability.” Fiona placed a piece of the puzzle down into place. “But I do know, that for every person that does something wrong, there is always another person who does something right.” Kitty nodded, and put another piece of the puzzle in place.

But with some of the good stories about Fiona the cat learned about, there were some… not so great stories. Like the time she was trapped in a tower for half of her life.

The day after the previous in her healing, Kitty learned about this, and her face dropped. “Really?” She was taken aback by this. “Why? Did your family not trust you?”

“No, no, far from it.” Fiona shook her hands in front of her. “It was this stupid deal with someone I knew. Thankfully, she’s gone now, but she placed me in the tower because I was supposed to be found and saved by this Prince. It was pretty much a set destiny.”

“And you were?” Kitty asked.

“No.” Fiona responded, politely. “Instead, Shrek rescued me.” Kitty nodded, although she had not really met him yet, she had not had the confidence to meet the others. “And I could not have it any other way.”

Another few days passed and Kitty was finally feeling confident enough to meet the others. Fiona had been speaking a lot about her friends and family and the cat was still very nervous about it, but now she was at least able to think about them without getting a shiver.

Fiona led her out of the room after getting confirmation from the cat that she was ready, although, Kitty’s stance was not really one of confidence, but more fearful.

“Hey.” The ogre kneeled down and met Kitty at head level. “You alright?”

Kitty stared at Queen Fiona and inhaled very slowly. “Yeah. I’m just… really scared.” The cat fidgeted with her paws a small bit.

Fiona smiled and pet the cat very gently on the head. In the time that Kitty knew the ogre, she’d gotten a lot more comfortable with letting her touch the cat. “You’ll be alright. These guys are the some of the sweetest people I know, and I promise, you all are gonna get along extremely well.”

Kitty looked at her, and smiled. “Thanks.” She finally walked herself out of the room she had spent the last four days in, and followed Fiona through the castle. She was still very nervous, of course, considering she was fidgeting with her paws for the entire walk, but she felt safe.

Fiona led her into a dining room, and there were a bunch of different people and animals sitting at the table. “Hey guys!” She softly yelled out to the group, and they all turned their heads towards the two, but mainly to the cat that stood there. And just like that, the small bit of confidence she had in herself left immediately as Kitty quickly hid behind the ogre.

Fiona looked down and quickly placed her hand on the cat’s shoulder, and despite the fact that her hand is almost half her size, it felt comforting. “It’s okay. These guys don’t bite.” Kitty looked up at her, and gulped. Fiona looked back up at the group, and Kitty looked down at the ground behind her, not facing the group. “Let’s try not to crowd her, so we’ll do it slowly and one at a time. Shrek.”

“Why me first? I’m like the worst first impression.” Kitty heard the Scottish accent from the first night she spent in the castle.

“Shrek! Come on, first is the worst.”

The chair quietly moved, and Kitty could feel the footsteps start. “Hehe, okay, you got me there.” She felt the footsteps get closer, and she slowly curled up in her own embrace.

“Kitty, I promise.” The cat looked up at Fiona, and she saw the ogre smiling down at her. “I’ll be with you the entire time.” Kitty nodded, and finally took her eyes off of either Fiona and the ground, and finally looked off towards the person.

Actually, it was not a person, it was another Ogre, and he was kneeling down at her. “Hey there, Kitty.” Shrek spoke very softly, and held out his hand, much like when she first met Fiona. “You know, Fiona told me a lot about you. You seem like a nice cat.”

Kitty slowly got out from behind Fiona and approached Shrek with caution, but was slowly warming up to him. He was just another version of Fiona, but more Scottish, and a little more un-dressed. She slowly reached out to the ogre, and finally took his hand in her paw. “Hi.” Kitty waved very nervously.

Shrek smiled very softly, and it made her feel very proud of herself. “It’s nice to meet you. I am King Shrek, although you can just call me Shrek.”

The others were all very nice as well. There was a Donkey who was extremely energetic, maybe a little bit too energetic for her liking at the moment, speaking a lot about himself and telling Kitty to call him “Prince Donkey”, and Fiona must have seen that she was a bit uncomfortable, because she asked for him to go and retrieve the food for the family. Though, she could not lie that it was a fun interaction.

And then last, she met the three kids of the ogres. They were all very kind and extremely well behaved despite the fact that they were all probably still in their single digits of age. Meeting all of these people, Kitty seemed like she was welcomed into the castle instead of being a burden on any of them, and Fiona asking her if she wanted to stay for dinner proved that even more to her.

And now, we see Kitty in the present, eating a bowl of gazpacho she requested, because Fiona said that the chef would cook her anything she wanted. One quick sip of it told her that she was lucky to meet Fiona, and everyone else at the table.

Kitty was going to make the most of the rest of her stay in Far Far Away.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you need to leave?”

It had been a good few weeks of recovery for Kitty Softpaws. Queen Fiona and her family had been very kind to her during her stay in Far Far Away. They offered to give her a room in the castle, but she kindly refused, mainly because she did not want to stay at this place forever, mainly because she was a solo act, but she was also worried about putting the family and the people in danger. Her outlaw status unfortunately would not just disappear in their protection.

Now, Kitty and Fiona were both standing right in front of the gate of Far Far Away, saying their goodbyes.

Kitty looked up at Fiona, face happily nodding. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I need to.” The cat rubbed her head with an open paw. “There are a lot of things I need to fix, including my… lack of appearance with Jack Horner.”

Fiona clicked her tongue. “You know, I’ve heard a lot of bad things about that man. There are a lot of rumors about him not being the nicest person to work for, and even some about his…” Fiona raised her hands in front of her like claws. “deepest desires.” Fiona said, sarcastically.

This caused Kitty to laugh. “Well, they’re not wrong.” She responded. “But I’m gonna try my best and not get on his bad side.” She smiled, and lifted her paw up towards Fiona. “It was very nice to meet you, Queen Fiona.”

The ogre gladly accepted the handshake. “Ugh, don’t call me that. I know it’s what I am, but it makes me feel old.” Fiona chuckled to herself, staring at Kitty. “Just know one thing: you are welcome back here at any time. Just find the people at the gate, and tell them who you are. They’ll know you.”

Kitty happily nodded. “It’ll be sooner than you think.” Fiona smiled. “But goodbye for now, Fiona.” The cat turned and started to walk away to the outside of the gate, but not before turning and waving at Fiona. The ogre waved back.

This was a once and a lifetime experience, and Kitty was never going to forget it.

***

Kitty had been walking for around 45 minutes now, and she could not stop thinking about the issues she had been putting off during her recovery. Sure, she was extremely happy to be rescued and taken care of after her first injury experience that had gotten her bedridden for two days, but the cat had so many problems in the real world that had been unsolved for three weeks. It was not a good time.

It was not a good thing to think about to the point that she needed to take a moment to rest.

Thankfully, Kitty was in a forest. An interaction with someone was currently a very improbable occurrence, so the cat decided to sit down on a nearby log and eat something. Fiona has insisted on giving her a lot of food for the trip, which meant she was happy to treat herself to as much as she needed at that point instead of rationing her food.

Taking a second to relax a small bit, she pulled out a bag of raw salmon (her favorite), and she noticed that there was a note attached to the bag. Kitty set down the bag and took the note off of it, opening it up. There was small written text, but she read the text:

‘When I first found you, I saw a bag of salmon at your spot in the forest. And now, I can’t forget that spot in the forest because of my time with you. Thank you, Kitty, and I hope you enjoy this.’

Fiona. Kitty finished reading, and smiled down at the note.

“Aw, that’s cute.”

Kitty jumped at the sound of a familiar voice. The one that has haunted her dreams for three weeks. She turned around to face the woman that she had been attacked by before meeting Fiona. “The cat made a friend.” She mocked the cat as she backed away from her spot, bag in hand.

Kitty tried to speak. “How- how did you…” But her words came out fast and unintelligible.

The woman laughed, mocking the cat even further. “Oh, Kitty.” She pulled out one of the daggers from her right side. “You never left my sight.”

The cat was almost speechless. Almost. “I saw you run, before I was saved… How-”

“Gato. I never ran away.” The hunter pointed her dagger towards the cat, which made her hair point up towards the sky. “I just got away.” The woman smiled, and as this happened, there was a small voice in the back of Kitty’s mind telling her to do one thing.

Run.

And with that, Kitty turned and started to take off back towards Far Far Away. She did not know how long it would take her to get back to that kingdom, or even if she could run all the way there, but she did not care. All she had on her mind was run.

The hunter called after her as she ran after Kitty. “You do all this talk, about me running away, and yet you do it yourself.” She laughed and stopped in her spot. “Jokes on you, I thrive for the hunt.”

***

Kitty had been running for around 20 minutes now. She did not know how, but the adrenaline rush the cat got from the interaction drove her to be able to push through, and thankfully, she would not have to run farther.

In the distance, she saw the front gate to Far Far Away, and she immediately got relieved when she saw two guards standing outside of it. It took the two guards a second to spot the black and white cat running towards them, but they did not know what to think of it, so they raised up their swords and shields and pointed it towards the cat. Kitty stopped in her tracks, out of breath.

“Gato. State your name and reason for coming here.” The guards said.

Kitty took no time to wait and explained. “I’m Kitty Softpaws, I just left but I’m being chased by someone.”

The guards lowered their weapons and gestured to her to come through the gate. “Sorry, Mrs. Softpaws. I will recognize you the next time, but come in.” Kitty quickly got behind the guards and took a second to relax herself. The guards turned around and met the cat at eye level. “We will keep watch for any suspicious people, but in the meantime, do you need me to get Queen Fiona?”

Kitty was still trying to situate her racing heart and breathing that felt like it was at a million miles per hour. “Yeah- yes please, that would- I would like that.” They both stood up in front of her.

“Alright, give me a second to-”

His sentence was cut off as both of the guards were stabbed through the stomach, right in between the plates of armor that were supposed to protect, by the two daggers that the cat knew well. “I’m glad I get to do something other than chase you for once, Kitty.” The hunter pulled the two daggers out from their stomachs, and both guards fell down onto the ground, groaning in pain. “I was getting bored.”

Kitty backed away just like in the forest. “How- how are…” She was speechless.

“What? How did I catch up with you?” The woman laughed to herself. “You know, it really helps to have your own carriage. Makes stuff like this super easy for me.” She devilishly smiled. “You should try it some time.” She began to run after the cat.

Kitty turned around and booked it with all of the energy she had left in her into the town. It was still broad daylight, so there would be people roaming the streets, which made it less likely that this hunter would just leave her be. Even more adrenaline from Kitty’s thrill to live was present as she felt like she could run for hours, but all that was on her mind was to get away from this lunatic of a person.

It was around five minutes of running until she finally got to the middle of town, and everyone around the cat looked over to her in confusion. It did not seem like the hunter was chasing her anymore, which is probably why they were confused, but Kitty did not care. She just kept running, and did not plan on stopping until she knew she was safe.

And in the distance, she saw a familiar green face talking to a citizen in front of the giant castle.

Unfortunately, the cat was so focused on running at this point that she could not make out any words to alert Fiona, but it only took a second for the ogre to turn and saw Kitty in the distance, running. And her face turned to one of confusion, much like the other citizens. “Kitty?” She called out to the black and white cat as she continued to run at full sprint. This caught more of Fiona’s attention.

Kitty finally reached the ogre after a painfully long few seconds, and Fiona was already kneeling down at eye level for the black and white cat as she stopped and took short and hard breaths. “Kitty.” Fiona was trying to get her attention, but she was so out of breath from running that it was near impossible for her to understand what she was saying.

That was until the ogre placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused Kitty to look up at her. Fiona looked worried, very worried. “Kitty, what’s wrong?”

The cat tried to get in a few breaths, but her heart was racing, and her lungs were burning from constant oxygen. It took a few seconds for her to finally find her voice. “There’s-” Another quick breath. “Someone’s—” Inhale, exhale. “Chasing me. There’s— somebody’s chasing me.” Kitty finally got out what she had been trying to say for the past few minutes.

Fiona looked even more worried now. “Who? Who’s chasing you?”

“I think she may be talking about me.” In the distance, the hunter was standing there. One dagger was in her pocket, and the other was taken out, and held onto with one of the citizens of Far Far Away in between. “You both should be happy I’m showing myself. It makes for more of a show.”

“What do you want?” Fiona wasted no time.

She laughed. “I want what I rightfully deserve.” The hunter held the person in her arms as she pointed the dagger towards Kitty. “I’ll make an exchange for you: I’ll give you your citizen back, if you give me the life I earned.” Kitty hid herself behind the Queen.

Fiona blocked the cat. “I’m sorry.” It was at this point that both Fiona and Kitty saw the multiple lines of guards that were sneaking up behind the hunter. They both tried not to pay too much attention to it, as to not reveal them to this person. “But why do you even want one of her lives? What did she do to deserve it?!”

“Oh, she know’s EXACTLY-” She pulled the dagger back to the citizen’s neck, “what she did. What a great time it must be to have nine lives, while we are all stuck here, forced to live the same life in fear of losing it. Well, I want to give her a death she’ll never forget.”

Fiona lightly shook her head. “That’s terrible.” The guards were just about to attack. “But I know it won’t be able to do what you want to.”

“Oh yeah? And why is that?”

Fiona chuckled. “Because I’m one step ahead.”

At that moment, all of guards took that as the signal and ganged up on the hunter, which surprisingly was not expecting to be ambushed. In a matter of seconds, the highly trained guards managed to kick both of the daggers away from her, get the citizen out of her grasp, and got her to surrender. That was an anticlimactic ending to that. It almost felt too easy to Fiona.

The ogre finally turned away from the scene and finally focused on the cat, who seemed in shock more that anything. “Kitty, are you hurt or anything? Did that person get you at all?” At this point, Fiona noticed that Kitty was sweating… She was sweating a lot.

Kitty shook her head. “No- no, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Is there anything you need? Do you need any water?”

Kitty stood there in disbelief for a second, and she finally nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, some water— would be great.” After this, the ogre signaled to some guards for some water, and Kitty began to get lightheaded. It seemed that her adrenaline rush was running out, and that caused her to become extremely exhausted in only a few moments. “Fiona.” She said, desperately, and immediately fell down in her spot.

The ogre was able to catch her, and called out her name a few times, and even called for a wet rag and a doctor, but Kitty could barely hear anything in her muffled ears. The cat’s eyes began to slowly close, and her consciousness was lost.

***

Waking up in the same bed for the second time after losing consciousness should not be as weird as it is, but it still was weird for Kitty. Waking up, it took her a second to realize where she was, but she instantly recognized that the cat was in the same room she was familiar with for the last three weeks of her life.

She remembered pretty much everything up to this point, including passing out from fatigue on the spot after running for what felt like hours, and she also recalls the hunter being taken away by multiple guards. Thank goodness, that lunatic deserves a place in prison.

Kitty also thought about the two guards at the gate. The two that were brutally murdered in front of her, but she could not help but feel terrible about it.

In the middle of her thinking, the door to the room opened with that creaky noise she was all too familiar with, and in came the one and only Fiona. She was carrying a tray of food, and as she walked in, she saw Kitty’s bright blue eyes shining in the room, looking towards the door.

“Kitty!” Fiona exclaimed, dropping the tray down on the small table in the middle of the room, and quickly walked up to the side of the bed. “Are you feeling better?”

The cat was feeling better, but she could not help the feeling of dryness in her throat. “Yeah, yeah. I’m just thirsty.” Kitty said, and in a second, there was a glass of water being held by Fiona right in front of the cat. Kitty quickly, but softly, grabbed the glass with both paws and drank the water in three large gulps. She wiped her mouth, and placed the cup down on the side desk. “Thanks.” The cat smiled up at Fiona, who smiled back.

“Do you need anything else?” Fiona asked.

Kitty thought about the offer, but respectfully declined. “No, no. I’m fine.” Kitty threw the blanket off of her and began to get up. “Besides, I should probably leave.”

Fiona got worried a small bit. “Woah, you’re just gonna leave after what just happened?” Fiona did not try and stop the cat to respect her privacy, but her voice sounded a small bit nervous. “Don’t you want to just stay here for the night? It’s almost dark out, you’ve been out for a while.”

“No, I have to leave. I’ve already been in your hair for too long.” Kitty got up and began to put on her boots and belt that seemed to be taken off of her and put to the side of the bed.

Fiona backed up a bit and got back at eye level with Kitty. “You haven’t been a problem at all, you’ve been a joy to be around.” Fiona spoke. “At least stay for a bit longer so that we can have a doctor check o-”

“NO!” Kitty yelled, and didn’t expect her voice to startle Fiona, but it did. “No. I’m sorry, but no doctor.” The cat put her gloved hands up to her face and began to rub her cheek, a pretty bad habit for her. She looked down in shame.

Fiona took her hand and pulled her paw away from her face very calmly, as not to scare Kitty. They both stared at each other for a moment. “Is there something wrong, that you aren’t telling me about?” Fiona asked very nicely and quietly, and it sounded so calm. Kitty did not deserve this type of treatment, especially after everything that happened.

“I- I just don’t like Doctor’s.” Kitty looked down at her paw, and fidgeted with the top of her finger, where her claws should be.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Fiona saw through the cat like a piece of glass.

Kitty looked back down at the ground and took a second to try and find the right wording for her issue. “I just-” She stuttered a small bit. “I hugely appreciate all the help you’ve given me, but I-” She paused. “I don’t want to put anymore of your family or people in danger.”

“Woah, Kitty.” Fiona spoke in a way that made Kitty look back up at her eyes. “You aren’t putting anyone in danger.”

Kitty was confused. “What?” Kitty backed away, and looked back down. “But I am… I- That person that just chased me, she just- she killed two of your guards. She almost killed one of your citizens, all because she wanted to kill me. After everything you do for me, I just go around and cause this. I- I don’t—”

“Kitty.” Fiona put her hands on Kitty’s shoulders, and they made eye contact. The cat did not even realize that she was crying at this point, something that the ogre had never seen her do. “That was not your fault.”

“Wh- Yes it was! I led her here, and I got your people killed-”

“That. Was not. Your fault.” Fiona interrupted her and Kitty stayed silent this time as tears fell down her face. “The only person at fault for killing my people, was the hunter I put in jail.” She said, direct and straight to the point. “Not you.”

Kitty could not speak, but instead, she felt the tears start to spill out more. She made a couple whimpers and noises that she was not very proud of, but she could not help it. She had never been treated so nicely by anyone in her life, and she did not know how to feel, other than thankful.

“Hey, you’re okay.” Fiona slowly pulled the cat into a hug, which she accepted with open arms. “You’re okay.” Fiona said, and Kitty was openly sobbing at this point, but she did not care anymore.

She was going to be okay. And Kitty knew it.

Chapter Text

Kitty knew that the doctor was not going to do anything to her, but unfortunately, bad habits die hard. Of course she knew that he was there to help her, to check on her, to make sure that she was alright, but she could not help but be frightened by him. Her past was a main source of that fear, and she would be lying if she said that it was not scary.

The doctor was very inviting, and first impressions as he walked into the room, he seemed like a nice person. But there was always that impulse; that thought in her mind that she was going to be hurt by anyone she trust, that scared Kitty. He had a bag, a bag of stuff that was full of things that were going to be used on her. It was stuff that was going to help her, but Kitty still watched every movement of his to make sure he would not just pull out a knife and strike her. She was not going to fall for that, not in a million years.

The doctor placed the bag down onto the table next to her bed, he placed it down pretty softly. Not too soft for her to be thrown off by it, not too hard for her to jump. The man stared at her with a welcoming smile. “Hi there, Miss Softpaws. My name is Doctor Pendragon. I’m just here to make sure you are feeling alright.” He was very well spoken, and had a tone that was calming for Kitty. But she still could not help but feel terrified about him, so she did not speak.

“Hey. I can practically hear you thinking, Kitty.” Fiona spoke softly, and the cat looked over to the other side of the bed, where she was kneeling. The ogre was smiling, which made the cat feel more at home. “It’s okay. I’m gonna be here with you the entire time, you have nothing to be afraid of.”

Kitty seemed to become a little less stiff and stressed, but she of course was not fully recovered from her shaky form.

The doctor was really nice. Of course, he asked if certain things were okay, and she would very rarely say no. Only one time did that happen.

“Do you mind if I take a look at your paws for any bruises or blisters-”

“No!” Kitty blurted out suddenly, fear in her eyes as her hair stood up on their ends. “No. Not the paws.” She clasped her paws together in front of her chest and slowly began to calm herself down. Never had Fiona heard the cat raise her voice like that, not even when the cat felt guilty just the day before. The cat looked over at the ogre, and the ogre looked back, confused.

“Alright, your business is not mine. I will respect your wishes.” The doctor responded.

“Wait.” The cat blurted out, and the room silenced for a few moments, except for the few droplets of rain that had started to fall down onto the window. “I’m sorry, I’m just not…” she sighed. “I had a really bad experience earlier in my life with a veterinarian, with my paws.”

Kitty opened up her paws to show both Fiona and the doctor. “I was heartbroken when they declawed me, and I’ve been very cautious of who touches them in the past.” She looked up at Fiona, and a look of surprise was seen from the green figure. “Just… please, be careful with them.” She retracted her paws just in front of the doctor.

“Miss Softpaws, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart…” He paused for a few seconds as he waited for the cat to make eye contact with him, which she did. “I will be as careful as possible.” He smiled, which made Kitty calm down just a smidge. The fear was still there, but she needed to get over it.

She watched as the doctor slowly grabbed onto her paws, and opened them. The touch was soft, much like her fur, and the feeling was not as bad as she thought it would be. Adrenaline started to drift away, as the doctor examined both of her paws now. “Ah, you have a few blisters on your paws.” He calmly let go of both of her paws and grabbed a medical box from his right. “Would you mind if I rubbed a bit of alcohol on them, and bandaged them up for you? Whatever you request, I will respect your decision.”

Kitty took a deep breath. “That’s fine. Just tell me whenever I’ll feel… whatever you put on.”

The doctor chuckled a little to himself. I guess he was amused by her lack on knowledge to rubbing alcohol. To be fair, she did usually just stitch herself without it. Cats tend to be a lot better healers than humans.

“I will.” The doctor began to pour a little bit of liquid out of this weird wooden bottle onto a cotton ball. He placed down the bottle, and looked towards the cat. “This will sting just a little bit.” He grabbed the cat’s paw just as gently as the first time, and was close to putting the cotton ball onto the paw. “In 3, 2, 1…”

Kitty hissed at the sting of the alcohol, but she was proud of herself for sticking through with it. As he did both paws, she sat there on the bed calmly letting the doctor touch her paws. Just last week, she most likely would have said no to everything, but she seemed a lot more lenient after everything. After all, Fiona did save her life.

Well, one of them. It does not seem that important, but she would like to have the title of not being dumb with her lives.

As the doctor bandaged up her paws, she looked over at Fiona. The ogre had a giant smile that could not be missed from a mile away, and that made Kitty smile as well.

Maybe she did not have to leave.

———

“Has she said anything yet?” Fiona asked two guards some questions about the bounty hunter who had chased Kitty for a good half hour. Said bounty hunter had been through an interrogation about their reasoning of going after the cat. Kitty listened in from right beside her.

“Nothing, Fiona.” One of the guards said, sounding very defeated over this. “We even tried to ol’ good cop, bad cop tactic. You know, the one where one of us is the good cop, and one of us…”

“Is the bad cop.” Fiona answered for him. “I know.”

“Yeah, we tried that. But nothing. Usually it works.” The other guard said, defeated as well.

“Hey.” Fiona spoke to both of them. They stared at the queen. “I appreciate the effort, both of you. Go get some rest, I’m going to try and handle it myself.”

The two guards rose up their arms and saluted the ogre. “Alright, Ma’am. Please be careful.” The first one said, and they both left the building.

The two waited a second until there was a few moments of dead air. “Those guys are kind of weird.” Kitty spoke, as soon as there was a chance to speak.

The ogre sighed. “Yeah, but to be fair, they have never failed at interrogation up until this point. They are professionals.”

“Really?” Kitty blurted out, surprised.

“Yeah.”

“Wow, I would have never guessed, but I’m not one to judge.”

“Yeah? You sure about that?” Fiona looked down at the cat, and Kitty looked flushed.

“Hey” the cat punched the ogre right in the leg, and Fiona jumped back, laughing. “I’m trying to get better at that.” The cat started laughing with her as well.

The laughter died down as the task at hand began to become more apparent to both of them. If the interrogators failed at… interrogating, then they would need to try their hardest to get this hunter to talk. “Come on…” the ogre started off, as the silence filled the room. “We both got this.”

The door creaked open to a small room with a table in the middle, and two chairs. One on each side of the table, and one of the chairs sat the bounty hunter that supposedly had stayed shut about anything and everything that had to do with Kitty and her mission. Thankfully, her hand were tied up behind her back, with no visible way of her cutting the rope.

Kitty had always heard stories about what these rooms looked like, and she would have never guessed that those generic interrogation stories would have been accurate with how the rooms looked. She always thought it was just a trope, but her assumption was wrong.

The woman stayed in her spot, eying down both newcomers in the room, but her lips stayed completely shut, as if she would die if she spoke a single word. It didn’t help that Kitty had been chased by this person for however long it was, and her nerves were acting up like crazy.

“Okay.” Fiona spoke very confidently and walked over to the other chair, sitting down quickly, and the cat just walked over next to her and got up on top of the table, far enough away from the bounty hunter to feel comfortable. “My friends told me that you weren’t being very talkative.” Fiona spoke, but the woman just stared at the ogre, face unchanged.

The ogre stared back, and her glare was ended as she looked over at the cat. She gestured to the cat to come to her. As Kitty slowly moved towards the ogre, Fiona took her hands and made her mouth not visible to the woman, whispering in the cat’s ear. “I’ve never done this before.”

The cat’s eyes perked. “You mean, you’ve never interrogated someone before?” She whispered back. “You are the queen, yet you-”

“I know, I know. I’ve just…” Fiona paused for a second. “I’ve never had to do this before.”

Kitty took a second to collect her thoughts. “How about you let me do the talking? I’ve done this a lot before… don’t ask why.” Fiona gestured her lips being zipped shut, and then gestured to the woman, telling Kitty to start.

“Okay.” Kitty said out loud, to make it clear that she is going to start talking to the woman. “So, I know you aren’t being very talkative right now-”

“I’ll only talk if she leaves the room.” The woman stared at the cat as she spoke.

This left the two frozen in their tracks, or in this case, in their seats. Kitty pointed up to herself. “Me?” The woman said nothing and eyed down the cat. Kitty had never been so uncomfortable with a look until now, it was almost unbearable.

Almost.

“I think she means me.” Fiona spoke quietly and got up from her seat. The ogre began walking over to the door to the interrogation room. Just as she was about to open it…

“Wait.” The cat jumped down from the table, and quickly moved towards Fiona. “I don’t know if… I can handle doing this alone.”

“Kitty, we don’t have a choice right now. But…” The ogre gestured again to come to her, and she began to whisper in Kitty’s ear again. “I know you can do this.”

“I don’t want to mess this up.” Kitty spoke seriously to Fiona.

It took a second for the ogre to say anything. “You won’t, I trust you will do the right thing. And if anything happens, I will be right outside waiting for you, alright?”

Kitty stood there for a moment as if she was readying herself, and softly nodded to Fiona. The door to the room was opened, and soon the door closed with no one else in the room except for the cat, and the woman. Her so-called worst nightmare.

And it was seeming to be more and more like a nightmare.

“I was wondering when I’d get a moment with you.” The woman immediately started as soon as the two were alone in the room. “I didn’t think it’d take so long, though.”

“Oh, cut the bullshit.” Kitty already raised her voice, as she walked over to the chair and sat up on top of it. “You better start talking.” The cat took her dagger and stabbed it into the table. “Or this small little sword will go straight through your heart.”

“It’s funny, how you’re threatening me.” The woman chuckled to herself. “After everything that I did, it seems you don’t understand my abilities.”

“Does the ‘hands tied up in a rope’ count as one of those ‘abilities’?” Kitty remarked, sarcastically. The woman shut up at this, and looked down at the ground, as if she was embarrassed. “That shut you up, didn’t it?” The cat smirked to herself. “Now talk.”

“What is there to talk about? You got me, you captured me, done, boom, problem solved.”

“It seems too easy. You don’t seem like the type of person to take a leadership position. And even if you are a leader, then what was that symbol you carved into the trees?” Kitty pointed towards the woman, and the woman eyed down the cat. “What, that cat symbol with the X going through it doesn’t mean anything? Are you just obsessed with me?”

“Why do you care?” The woman said.

“What, do you want my autograph or something? I don’t think stabbing someone with sword right through the side is a way of doing that.” Kitty’s eyes were as thin as glass at the moment, and her anger had peaked, but she needed to calm down. Getting mad wouldn’t solve anything. “Now speak, asshole.”

“None of this matters.” The woman spoke. “My leader is just going to keep sending more people, and you are going to be in danger for the rest of your life. This entire interrogation doesn’t matter, because you’re going to suffer until all of your lives are gone.” The woman smirked. “Every magic cat on the planet is going to be hunted, and killed at every waking moment, and there is nothing you can do about it.” She laughed to herself. “Not even your precious lover is safe.”

Kitty sat there in shock. This time, she was the one eying down the woman. “What do you mean, ‘my precious lover’?” She spoke, voice shaking.

“The legendary Puss In Boots. Oh yeah, we know him, and we are going to kill him too.” The bounty hunter laughed.

“Me and Puss, we don’t talk anymore. He is not my lover.”

“Whatever happened in Santa Coloma then?”

Silence filled the room. Kitty eyed down the woman until the cat knew there was no more comfort in this room. “How do you know about that?” Kitty’s voice got louder as she spoke, anger filling her eyes.

The bounty hunter simply chuckled to herself. “Oh, I was there, sweetie.” Kitty only felt rage inside of her, as the room began to close in on just the table. “And I watched as you cried for hours and hours, just because your so-called husband didn’t show up.” She smiled at the cat. “Soak it up, pussycat, you were the problem, not him.”

Kitty’s anger got ahold of her, as she hissed and pounced from the chair into the face of the woman. The chair quickly fell over to the side as the woman fell down with it, hitting her head on the solid rock ground. Although Kitty did not have claws, she could still throw punches. As the woman laid there, motionless and seemingly unconscious, the cat kept throwing punches as her face began to bleed and bruise from the attacks.

It seemed as though she sat there throwing these punches for an hour, as two hands pulled her back from the chair and the world began to clear up around her as she was dragged away from the woman. “Kitty!”

The ogre held Kitty in her hands as her anger was turned into sadness, as tears began filling her eyes, she realized her mistake, and the enclosed room began to fill with sorrow. “I’m sorry.” Kitty hugged the ogre in comfort. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

Fiona quietly shushed her. “Hey, just calm down okay.” She patted the cat on the back, as she began to try and calm herself down. “Just take a second, and breathe. In and out.” The cat did just that, and after a few minutes, instead of the deep sobs filling the room, it was just sniffles and heavy breathing. “Now please tell me, what happened.”

The bounty hunter began to stir in her spot and groaned in pain. “What happened?” She woke up and spoke, and tried to get up from her spot, but was still tied to the chair. “What is this?” She began to twist and turn in visible distress. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

The ogre put down the cat on the ground, and pet her very softly. “Take a few moments to calm down, okay? I’ll deal with this.” She retracted her arms and walked over to the woman. “Hey, are you alright?” She pulled the woman up and straightened her out in front of the table.

The woman glanced at her for a second, and screamed. “An ogre!! Get away from me, don’t eat me.” She curled up in her seat and looked away.

“Hey, just because I’m an ogre, doesn’t mean I’m gonna eat you, okay? And plus, you just saw me a few moments ago.”

“I’ve never seen you in my life.”

“I am the Queen of Far Far Away? Ring a bell?”

She paused for a second. “They let an ogre be the queen?”

“Oh, for goodness sake.” Fiona visibly groaned and face palmed. “So you just magically lost your memories and don’t remember me, killing two of my men, and chasing a cat for an hour?!”

The woman’s eyes grew wide. “I did that?” She stared at the ogre. “What day is it?”

“Friday.” Fiona said.

“Not the day of the week. What month and what day?”

“August 21st.”

The woman had a double take. “It was the 12th when I last remembered. Where am I?”

The cat was listening in on the conversation, and jumped in. “Wait, wait, wait, so you just magically don’t remember anything. Nothing at all?”

“No. Last I remember, I was working as a janitor in Las Maledor, for some guy. He was this weird cult leader. Had some sort of symbol.”

The cat stared up at the ogre. “Did this symbol just so happen to be a drawn cat head with an X going through it.”

The woman thought for a second. “Now that you mention it…. Yeah.”

The cat and the ogre both eyed each other, and had this look that even the writer of this could not explain. The cat looked back over at the woman. “Can you please tell me everything you know?”

“Why should I? I don’t even know you.” The woman turned away.

“Please. My…” Kitty tried to think of the best way to word what she was about to say. “One of my old partners is in trouble if you don’t tell me what you know.”

The woman took a second to come up with a verdict, and slowly turned back to the cat. “I know there was these two plans of some sort, with different people in each plan. It was weird.”

“Yeah?” The ogre tried to continue the story on.

“There was one for the outside of Arizstador.” Kitty gestured to herself for the ogre. “And then there was another one.”

The cat waited a second to hear something specific. When nothing was said, “Do you know the location for that one?” She asked.

The woman thought for a second. “Well…”

“It was a plan set at the outside of Del Mar.”