Out of Concern

Spencer was about to completely doze off when he heard something familiar.

"This is the place! I am sure of it!"

Cats again… he said to himself while trying to face away from the source of the sound. Okay, just ignore them… Mrs. Matthews is just going to shoo them away when she hears them. It isn't very good for my conscience, but I can't interact with them anymore…

"Uncle Ryne is here?! I want to meet him!"

Spencer's eyes, previously being forced to close, suddenly widened at the loud question.

Uncle Ryne? he thought to himself. Since when…?

He checked his body as if there was a possibility that it had moved on its own without his permission and had somehow given him relations by blood.

But wait, wasn't he supposed to be human? Surely, having children with a feline would be an impossibility.

"We're not sure yet, Fonmi. But it's possible."

That particular sweet voice was familiar to him, but he wanted to deny that he had just heard it. "No, it can't be…" he said in hopes of convincing himself.

The cats kept on making noises, seemingly calling for someone, and this soon got the attention of the landlady, Mrs. Matthews. Her loud voice boomed out of her unit on the lower floor.

"IT'S THOSE PESKY CATS AGAIN! WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN TO STAY OUT?!"

It was then that Spencer thought he should do something. If one of those felines was who he thought it was, then he'd be going against his promise to himself. But then he couldn't make his landlady suspect him even more…

His conflicting thoughts made him move wildly in his bed in frustration, and he finally decided to get up and save the cats from the clutches, or rather, the broom, of the human woman. She was already onto them, but thankfully, due to her age and not-so-fit physique, she had a hard time catching up with the felines.

He couldn't just go out of his unit's doorway as he might get caught himself, so he checked the window at the back to see if they would pass by there. True enough, the three of them were making their way across the window ledges.

"Ah, there he is! The human who has the scent of a cat!"

He had no choice but to whisper to them in cat-speak. "Quiet down and come here. Quickly."

The three of them rushed into the safety of the apartment unit. Spencer then closed the window for good measure, even though there was no chance for Mrs. Matthews to get anywhere near that opening.

As the three cats made an effort to regroup themselves, he asked them, "Now, what are you doing here?"

He knew that he had the right to ask as they were not supposed to be there. But now, considering that it may have sounded too harsh, he almost instantly regretted asking it in that manner.

"Never mind… Just settle down first," he said, taking back the question for now.

"Ahaha, I knew it! You did understand me back then!" said Prauza, who was just grooming himself to tidy his messed-up fur.

"Yes, I did. But please be quiet. Mrs. Matthews might hear you, and she doesn't particularly like cats."

"Oh, you mean the human earlier? She did look like she was going to kill us."

"She won't. She's not that heartless. The worst she could do is throw you out, literally," explained Spencer. "She just has allergies, and what she actually hates is a blocked nose because of it."

"What are allergies?" asked Fonmi, who was being licked by his mother.

"It's when your body doesn't like something, so it does… something bad to you to let you know. In her case, it's sneezing because of cat fur. I've heard that some cats also get it from smelling or touching some human things."

"Oh, I see."

"Thank you for saving us," said Nini, who had just finished grooming Fonmi.

"Y-You're welcome…" said Spencer, blushing slightly. "I-I should get some food ready. We can talk about matters over dinner."

What are you doing? Just talk normally with her… he thought to himself as he started to gather the utensils and ingredients he needed for dinner preparation.

The meal was simple. Spencer took a whole chicken, chopped it up, and began to steam it. He also took some bread and tore it up into smaller pieces. After he was done cooking, he set up some small plates on the floor, including one for himself, and called everyone to eat.

The cats took a look and some sniffs of the food. However simple it may have been to prepare for a human, for a cat, it was something like magic. Spencer put a few pieces on each of the plates for them to eat. He wanted to expect the cats to eat only from the plates, but he didn't want to boss them around, so he let them do what they wanted.

"This looks yummy! Thank you!" said Fonmi, who quickly and playfully bit into one of the chicken pieces.

"This does seem quite nice. Thank you," said Nini. She started slowly chewing on one of the pieces of bread. "I haven't had this in a while."

Prauza, quite unlike his usual talkative self, devoured his food without much to say.

Spencer lay down on the floor on his stomach and took some of the meat and bread himself. He then proceeded to eat it, much like a human would. In between bites, he asked, "So… Nini, how have you been?"

"Fine, for the most part," answered Nini. "I still can't believe I would ever actually see you again, Ryne. You are Ryne, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Spencer, or rather, Ryne, who by this time had transformed into a mostly black cat with white patches. His human clothes draped over him.

Prauza was surprised to see the transformation, so much so that part of the chicken meat he was chewing on fell from his mouth. "Amazing! You can turn into a cat!"

"Correction, he is a cat," said Nini.

"I doubt I truly am anymore, though," noted Ryne, continuing his meal, but as a cat.

"Nonsense. You are still a cat, at least to me." Nini tried to reassure Ryne. "How could I say otherwise when I am seeing the signs right here?"

"I'm not even sure how long this will last… What if one day, I suddenly find that I can't understand you anymore? Or I can't turn back into a cat anymore?"

"Well, what matters is that you are one now, and that you're still the Ryne I know."

Ryne had almost forgotten the power that comforting words had. Especially coming from someone who made the effort to understand him as much as he worked to understand others.

"Thank you," he said.

"Well, I suppose we could do away with these awkward pleasantries," said Nini, seeing Ryne has finally felt at ease. "I would like you to know that we came here in need of help. Your help, to be precise."

"My help?" Ryne asked. Even after all this time of being a respectable and dependable human, he wasn't used to being asked for help, specifically. He didn't know if he should be happy or not. "What for?"

Nini was glad that her childhood friend wasn't completely averse from the start. "I was thinking that you would be able to talk to the humans for us."

A questioning look was on Ryne's face, reflected on his green eyes. "Why would you need to talk to the humans?" it said.

"Yes, you might be questioning that… After all, we have lost real contact with them," started Nini. "We don't even know how we even did before."

"Truly. We've only heard vaguely of a legendary time in the past when we spoke freely with humans somehow," interjected Prauza.

Nini gave a look to Prauza to stop before he got carried away again, then continued with what she was going to say. "There has been an incident, you see. Do you remember Theema?"

"You mean that Theema who often teased us when we were together back then?" Ryne asked. He didn't have any particularly pleasant memories with the female.

"Yes," confirmed Nini. "While Fonmi and I were accompanying her in looking for food, we were suddenly attacked by this human wearing a dark, heavy cloth. My son and I got away, but she wasn't able to. She was killed right then and there."

The last statement was a shock for Ryne, despite not being close with the victim. But he had to make sure… "She… Did she still have all of her lives intact?"

"Yes. I swear, she hadn't died once."

"How… How could that happen?" asked the now-puzzled Ryne.

"I don't know either," answered Nini. "But all I know is that she was intentionally killed, and I have a bad feeling that since it happened once, it can happen again."

"I don't know what that human is thinking, and I have no idea how to stop them if ever they are planning to kill more of us," she continued. "Which is why I thought of looking for you, since it's possible for you to talk to humans, being one yourself."

Ryne must admit, her trust in him is quite a feat that none could match, not even him. But how would I even be able to help? he thought.

The thought of likely being the only one who could do something, and, at the same time, perhaps not being able to do anything despite his ability, made him a little sick inside.

But he couldn't just leave this alone like he did the ghosts of the supermarket. For one, this involved someone he actually cared about. His sense of duty and his lack of confidence waged a small war inside his head and heart. And somehow, it triggered a memory that he had set aside sometime back.

It was when he was still a kitten. His home then had caught on fire, and in the commotion, the debris had separated him and his family. He decided then to get himself out of the wreckage, thinking it was too dangerous to stay and look for the others. He also hoped the others would be able to get out by themselves and reunite with him later.

However, he went back to the site a few times after the incident, but he never got to see his family again. He wasn't even sure if they were still alive or not.

Even now, he felt regret not trying to do anything at the time. Heck, had he been able to turn into a human then, maybe he could have moved some of the pieces. He could have suffered some burns in exchange for making sure that everyone was within his reach.

But he realized that this was his situation now, and this was the challenge being presented to him. If there was a time to make the other choice, it's now.

The others had been waiting patiently for his answer. It was now the time to give it.

"I've decided. I'll be going with you back to the city," he said. "I don't know what I can do, but I might as well try."