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Wemmbu soared through the air as quickly as he could with his half-broken elytra. He’d decided to take the risk of someone recognizing his wings in favour of getting to Jaden faster. He needed to get there before the imposter could get there and trick Jaden into revealing his identity.
He was panting hard, igniting a rocket every few chunks to propel himself even faster, the wind whipping his hair around his face and sending rushing through his ears. He was used to the cold up here, the way the air froze in his lungs when he tried to inhale, but it didn’t make it any easier to bear.
He was close, though, less than a hundred blocks away from where Ranger Point used to be. He could almost see it, glimmering on the horizon.
He swallowed hard, and forced himself to fly faster, ignoring the burning in his wing muscles. He just needed to get there, then he could rest. He was close, so close that he could almost feel it.
He flew higher, gasping for air as the oxygen grew thinner and thinner. He couldn’t risk anyone seeing his elytra and recognizing him. Jaden might already know (he didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t want to think about how Jaden would react to him coming back, either) but the rest of his pirates didn’t, and he was going to keep his identity as secret as possible.
It started raining, freezing cold droplets splattering over Wemmbu’s face and clothes, soaking him to the bone. He cursed, blinking water out of his eyes. In less than five minutes, the rain fell faster until he could barely see anything.
Wemmbu hated it. He didn’t like getting cold and wet, and even less so while he was flying. It felt like he was drowning in ice. The sky darkened rapidly, and Wemmbu grimaced. Great, of course a freak storm came out of nowhere right when he was trying to get somewhere as quickly as possible.
He was almost right above Ranger Point by now, standing out large and dark in the choppy waves. Wemmbu swung into a large circle around it, trying to judge where the best place to land would be. He shook his head, squinting through the rain at the building below him. It was bigger than it had been when he left, large and imposing. Jaden was a good builder, and Wemmbu was impressed even if he wouldn’t admit it to his face.
Lightning struck suddenly, barely a foot to his left, and Wemmbu nearly dropped out of the sky in fright, tucking his wings in and rolling away from it. His heart hammered in his chest, and the crack of the lightning made him wince.
He frowned, unsettled. He should probably just drop down now before he was actually struck by lightning. The lightning didn’t even look like normal lighting, less jagged and more focused, like a bolt of beacon light shot down from the heavens. Wemmbu wasn’t going to risk it.
Just as he took off his elytra and reequipped his chestplate, the lightning struck again. He barely registered the flash of light before he heard the crack of sound, rattling through his bones and making his teeth clack together. He squeezed his burning eyes shut.
And then he registered the burning on his back and realized belatedly that he’d been struck. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream. The burning spread to his arms and legs, and he gasped with pain. It felt like he was being boiled alive. It felt like his body was turning into molten lava, squishing together into globs of hot liquid. His vision blurred, his sense of direction twisted, and his lungs refused to work. Black spots dotted the blurry world around him, and then he passed out.
“Jaden! A dead cat fell out of the sky!”
Wemmbu woke up with a gasp, and inhaled a mouthful of water. He gagged, thrashing around. Everything felt wrong. It was like the world had been twisted like taffy around him. His limbs weren’t in the right places, and his mouth wasn’t working properly.
He didn’t dare open his eyes – opening them underwater always made them sting – so he just floundered around, panicked and drowning.
Something warm and large wrapped around his middle and scooped him out of the water. Wemmbu went limp, coughing and hacking out seawater. “Got him. He’s not dead, I don't think.”
Wemmbu’s ears twitched. Jaden! That was Jaden who was talking, so oddly close to him and loud in his ears. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking the water out of them. He tried to wipe them away and flinched as a dark blurry lump reached for his face. What the fuck?!
His arms didn’t seem to be working right now anyway. The lightning must’ve fucked him up pretty bad, although for some reason he couldn’t feel any pain right now. Maybe it was shock or something.
“Yep, definitely not dead!” Who the hell was Jaden talking about? Him? Jaden wouldn’t sound so happy about him being alive, though.
Wemmbu twisted his head, noted the bluish brownish blob overhead that must’ve been Jaden, and tried to focus his eyes. Why the fuck was Jaden so big? What?
Also! Was a giant holding him or something? Why the hell was the warm thing wrapped around him so handlike?
“What the fuck?!” Wemmbu tried to say. He only heard soft meows, although he could feel his vocal cords vibrating.
Jaden looked down at him, and laughed. “Maybe we should keep him, actually. He’s meowing now.”
HELLO? What?! Wemmbu bristled. There was no way Jaden was actually talking to him like this. It must be a stupid, lightning induced dream or something. This wasn’t real, or Jaden was on drugs, or he was hallucinating, or- something! Anything!
Jaden shifted Wemmbu around to his other arm, warm fingers wrapped around his middle and keeping him held tightly against Jaden’s chest. “Let’s get you inside and warmed up, okay?”
Wemmbu gagged at the softness in Jaden’s voice. Was this a joke? A prank? It had to be, there was no way Jaden actually thought he was a cat.
Wemmbu felt a sudden lurch in his stomach. He was small, judging from the size of Jaden clutching him to his chest. He tried to speak again, and only heard petulant mews. He tried to push Jaden away, and paws that were attached to him poked uselessly at Jaden’s chest. What. The. Fuck.
He was a cat?!
“Shh, stop struggling!” Jaden wrapped his other arm around him as well, restraining him further. “You’re safe, it’s okay.”
Uh, no, it was not okay! Wemmbu was a freaking cat! He thrashed, trying to free himself. “I’m not a cat! Jaden, let me go!”
Jaden laughed. “You’re a talkative one, huh? Let’s get you inside and get you something warm. Bet that was scary.”
“Jaden!” Wemmbu whined, “Come on, this isn’t funny! Stop! What the fuck did you do to me?!”
“He fell from the sky, did you say?” Jaden was ignoring him now! Wemmbu hissed.
“Uh, yeah.”
“That’s really strange,” Jaden said, frowning. He looked down at Wemmbu, and oh Void, Wemmbu despised being looked down on. Jaden was so big that his face filled his vision, and it was terrifying. Wemmbu was the one who was taller! He looked down on Jaden, not the other way around!
He lunged at Jaden’s face, trying to bite his nose off. Jaden held him back, frowning even deeper. “Well, I guess that explains why you’re so upset. And you’re shaking all over, too. How the hell did you fall out of the sky?”
Wemmbu screamed in frustration, a yowl coming out of his mouth. Jaden shushed him again, and his face - fur, now - burned with embarrassment. Okay, so he was being shushed now. Great.
He struggled all the way back into Ranger Point, hissing and spitting and yelling at Jaden. Nothing worked. Wemmbu was dumped unceremoniously onto a towel, wrapped so tightly that he could barely breath, picked up again, and set down next to a fire. Okay, so he was being manhandled as well now. Great!
“Let me go!” Wemmbu screeched, clawing – hey, actually, he kinda liked how sharp his claws were – at the towel. “I’m not a cat, Jaden, I swear!”
“Go get him some food. I’m honestly not sure where the hell he came from, or how he survived such a drop, even into water. He’s pretty shaken up.” Jaden was talking to one of his pirates.
“He looks like he’s possessed,” the pirate mumbled, backing away slowly and carefully. “You sure he’s not going to tear my face off if I try to feed him?”
“He’s cute! He wouldn’t hurt us,” Jaden said, holding out a hand to an extremely disgruntled Wemmbu. He hissed, and swiped at him with his hand- sorry, paw now – as best as he could still wrapped in the towel.
“I’m keeping him,” he decided, and Wemmbu gasped. No! Jaden was not keeping him as a pet, thank you very much! He was gonna run away and fix whatever the heck had happened to him the moment he got the chance.
The pirate made a sound of pain and walked away, probably to find some cat food (ick) for him. Jaden started searching through his inventory, humming happily. “I’ve been kind of looking for a companion, anyway. The other pirates are nice, but they don’t understand everything. Animals just sit there and listen. And you seem like you’ve got a fun personality, so maybe you can be my listener.”
Wemmbu rolled his eyes. Why was Jaden literally spilling his heart out to him? Just because he thought he was a cat? Did he regularly tell random cats his every secret?
“You have burns on your back,” Jaden said, more loudly.
He crouched down next to Wemmbu and unwrapped him from his towel prison, gently prodding his back. He’d refrained from biting him the moment he’d been freed, but when Jaden’s poking sent pain jolting down his spine, Wemmbu whipped around and sank his teeth into his hand.
Jaden gasped, wincing. Wemmbu bit harder, channeling all his pent up rage into his bite. How dare Jaden treat him like a cat, how dare he get turned into a cat in the first place? He’d kill everything that even looked at him condescendingly, starting with Jaden’s hands poking him in all the wrong places.
“Shhh, it’s okay.” Jaden soothed, reaching up with his other hand to pet Wemmbu on the head.
Wemmbu tried to dodge it, but there was only so much he could do with a mouthful of hand. He snarled when Jaden’s warm hand rested on his head, his thumb gently rubbing his ears. Wemmbu tried to toss him off, but actually… It kinda felt nice? Maybe just a little bit?
Jaden scratched behind his ears, and Wemmbu instinctively arched up into his hand, trying to get him to scratch more. He quickly snapped himself out of it, tightening his jaws around Jaden’s hand and hissing at him. Jaden yelped with pain. No, Wemmbu would not be tricked into letting go through ear scratches! He was not a cat, and he would not cave to cat instincts!
But Jaden’s hand was warm, and he was a cold, sopping wet cat. Plust, Jaden was just good at petting, gentle, rhythmic, and calming. Wemmbu barely realized he was closing his eyes until they were already mostly closed. He quickly snapped them open again and glared at Jaden, who was looking more and more pleased with himself, despite the bite.
“Will you let me go now?” Jaden asked, “I'm just trying to help you. I know you can’t understand me, but-” Wemmbu gave him a look. “Okay, see, when you do that kind of thing, it makes me think you actually might. I know you can’t, but you seem oddly smart for a cat.”
Wemmbu could tear his own hair out, if he had hair. Maybe he was smart for a cat because he wasn’t a cat, Jaden! Maybe he should stop treating him like a pet now!
But still, he let go of Jaden’s hand, and suffered through his poking and prodding. Jaden was careful, but it still hurt when he touched the burns on his back. He’d barely noticed them through the weirdness of being a cat.
“It’s not too bad, thankfully,” Jaden breathed out a sigh of relief, and moved to pet Wemmbu’s head again.
Wemmbu bared his teeth, furious, but he relaxed the moment that he started scratching behind his ears again. Fuck, he was pathetic. A low rumble built up in his chest, and no matter how hard he tried to swallow it down, it kept trying to burst out of his throat.
“You know I can feel you purring, right?” Jaden was grinning at him. “You don’t have to keep pretending to be annoyed.”
Wemmbu gave him the most disgusted look he could manage with this stupid cat face, and pointedly turned away from him.
“Don’t be like that, dude! It’s cute! You’re not losing aura, I swear.” Okay, now Wemmbu knew Jaden wasn’t taking his pouting seriously.
Something dark and fluffy flicked his nose out of literally nowhere, and Wemmbu jumped backward, yelping and hissing. His heart pounded, and his nose twitched.
There was something trying to kill him, and they’d barely missed by an inch! Wemmbu scanned the room, but there was no sign of the dark furred creature that had attacked him. Was it a mouse? A tiny dog? What the hell would even attack a cat?
Loud laughing made Wemmbu glare over at Jaden. “I’ve never seen a cat get jump scared by their own tail before! That’s fucking hilarious! Yo-“ he turned to his door. “Hey, guys, you’ll never believe what the cat just did!”
Wemmbu could just about die from embarrassment. His fur prickled, and he subtly checked behind himself to see his tail hanging there innocently. Of course. He got flicked in the face by his own tail and had a panic attack, of fucking course.
The pirate stepped in apprehensively, holding a bowl of raw cod. “Uh, what’d he do? He didn’t attack you, right?”
Wemmbu lunged at Jaden, digging his claws into his shoulders and looking up at him pleadingly. “Jaden. Please. Let me keep at least some of my dignity, okay? Dude, I’ll literally pay you, just don’t tell him what happened.”
“Wow, you’re really loud when you want to be!” Jaden smiled at him, picking him up in his arms — careful to avoid his burns — and turned him toward the pirate. “He’s just a little derpy, that’s all. I think he’d bite me if I told you what he did. Nothing bad though.”
Derpy?! Wemmbu?! Derpy?! He would never recover from this. Never. He fumed silently.
“You’re really cute,” Jaden leaned uncomfortably close to Wemmbu’s face. He hissed. “Do you like cod? I can get you salmon if you like that better,”
Wemmbu rolled his eyes. Who knew Jaden would be such a doting cat owner? He’d rather be left alone. And no, he wasn’t going to eat raw fish! He wasn’t a fucking cat!
Jaden stood up, cradling Wemmbu carefully in his arms. His paws floundered around for a second before he was able to sink his claws into his shirt and anchor himself, his heart hammering.
“I wouldn’t drop you!” Jaden sounded scandalized.
He knelt down in front of the fire, nodding at the guy with the cod bowl. “Set it down here.”
The pirate advanced slowly, like he expected Wemmbu to jump at him and shred his face off. Wemmbu smirked, baring his teeth playfully at the guy, who turned white as a sheet. He quickly set down the bowl and bolted away. Wemmbu pulled himself half over Jaden’s shoulder so he could hiss at the terrified pirate.
Jaden pulled him back down, setting him in his lap, moved the food in front of him, and patted his head. “You look hungry. That wasn’t very nice, by the way.”
Wemmbu sniffed, turning away from the fish. But, actually… it smelled kinda good? It must’ve been the cat instincts fucking with his head, because his mouth was watering and his stomach was growling. Reluctantly, he sidled over to the bowl and poked it with his nose. He grimaced. Yuck, slimy and cold and fishy. Still, he was starting to get really, really hungry, so he gulped it down as quickly as he could. Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
Jaden smiled lovingly at him. “You’re just so cute. I’m totally keeping you. I bet I can find you a collar somewhere.”
A piece of fish fell out of Wemmbu’s mouth. “What. Uh, hell no.”
Jaden petted his head affectionately. “You know what they say, every ship needs a captain’s cat! You’re gonna be a great cat, you just need a name.”
Wemmbu froze, slowly opening his eyes to stare at Jaden with horror. Jaden was planning to name him? This could only go badly.
“See, I'm not the greatest at naming things…” Jaden mused. Wemmbu shook his head frantically. No. No! This would be horrible, no doubt about it! He’d end up with a name like… Chaosbringer. Or Fluffington III.
“I think the name Cat would do great!”
He should’ve known. Of course the guy who never names his weapons would name a cat Cat. Well, it could’ve been worse, at least. He’d choose the name Cat over Fluffington III.
The moment he finished off the fish, Jaden picked him up again. Wemmbu groaned with annoyance, but Jaden still carried him over to his bed and set him down there. “Jaden. I have legs, you know? I can walk.”
“You should sleep now,” Jaden said blithely, gently scratching under his chin. “Want a blanket or something?”
Wemmbu nodded, his eyes already sliding closed without his permission, a rumbly purr filling the air between them. Jaden was just really good at giving scratches, apparently. He felt a blanket settle over him, warm and comforting.
“You really act almost like a human,” Jaden said thoughtfully. “I feel like you understand every word that comes out of my mouth.”
Wemmbu managed to open one eye to give him a look, but he was too tired and full to say anything. It wasn’t like Jaden would’ve understood him anyway. A hand settled on his shoulder, careful to avoid his burns. Wemmbu was asleep in less than a minute.
When he woke up, Jaden was curled around him, snoring with his arm tucked under his head and his other arm still wrapped around Wemmbu. Except now he was human again. He nearly cried when he realized he didn’t have a tail any more, and he wasn’t covered in fur. He was sort of sad to see the sharp teeth and claws go, but everything else he could do without.
He rolled out of bed. If anyone had come in while they were sleeping and seen them cuddling, he would’ve spontaneously combusted through sheer embarrassment. The whole situation was a mess, and he still didn’t know why or how he’d been turned into a cat for a day.
Still, he stretched to his full height and grinned down at Jaden, who was just waking up. Back to being taller than the stupid pirate captain, exactly as he should.
“Cat? Where’d you go?” Jaden was still half asleep.
“If you call me Cat one more time, I’ll mace you!” Wemmbu yelled, “I’m not a fucking cat!”
“Wemmbu?!”