Chapter 39: A bit about Cat’s past

Naturally, Kira soon turned left off the road north and headed on a northwest route. This decision soon came under fire. "Why northwest, not just west to get out of Krinestadt quicker?" Aura complained.

He didn't reply as he had been expecting this sort of disobedience from her, and it didn't matter to him anymore anyway, but Cat was curious too, "You can say, can't you?" he pressed.

"Fine," snapped Kira, "We're going northwest because…" and he momentarily stopped realizing again that he didn't know what waited there, "Because there is something there that I must find?"

"Something? You mean like a super-powerful enchanted object?" asked Cat as he danced around Kira, "Or maybe some ancient artefact that has enough historical significance to justify this journey?"

"I don't know exactly what it is, just that it is important."

"How so?"

"I don't know…" stated Kira, trying to end this questioning of his resolve to find the item.

"Then why are we going after it?" wondered Cat.

No reply came, and the mood deteriorated further. Eventually, most likely being bored, Cat took flight again and circled overhead. When he came back down, it was with a bit of good news, or rather suspicious news, as apparently the people following them had all but disappeared. Thinking that this simply meant that their lead was lengthening, Kira pushed onwards.

The landscape now was in no way as extreme as it had been just north of Ostermark. Instead, it maintained the form of gently sloping woodlands, which greatly limited the visibility. They could only see a couple dozen feet in any direction and had to choose their way based on occasional glimpses of where features hung in the sky. Naturally, this could have meant that Cat had simply missed the pursuers, but this felt unlikely as he had always been able to find them on the days before.

Kira had unconsciously started jogging to increase his own speed, and he was confident that he could maintain it after his training as a manipulator. But Aura couldn't. He considered leaving her behind as she would be harder for their opponents to find now, without any marking, and she could probably find some form of shelter in Fern. Maurice, for example, had plenty of space in her house and had only seemed to have a problem with Cat's presence.

But, she did not want to be left behind and managed to keep pace with him until they had to stop for their evening meal when she was too exhausted to continue. Above them, the sky turned orange as they ate, Cat refusing anything, and Kira felt the only thing now keeping him from leaving her was upsetting Cat, who seemed to like her and was important as a manipulator.

Nearby, a twig snapped. Sharply sitting upright, Kira and Cat looked around their clearing, where they were now sitting on a fallen tree, and checked for the auras of any humans around it. They could see none. Directly in front of where they were was a group of deer, and high in the surrounding branches were several small creatures, including a family of squirrels. There looked to be nothing to be concerned about, and Kira thought that the snapping of the twig might have just been caused by one of the larger animals, one of the deer perhaps.

Cat wasn't so sure and complained, when Kira reached this premature conclusion, that the sound had come from the wrong direction to be from the deer. Not bothering to listen to him, Kira sat back and tried to talk to Ghost again about several ideas he had had about what his ability ought to be, so Cat took the investigation into his own hands and ran off into the darkness of the undergrowth. He didn't return for quite some time, and it was dark again when Kira became aware of footsteps behind him and Aura. She hadn't noticed them, and he wasn't too worried about them, confident that it was Cat returning to tell him that he had been right about the noise being nothing of importance.

When the person was right behind him, he finally turned around to receive his praise for being able to tell that they weren't being watched so early on and was met with a sword. It was only a small one and, thankfully pulled to his senses before it struck him, he was able to concentrate his aura before it so that it bounced harmlessly off him and was embedded into the log that he was sat on.

What was odd about the attacker was that he had not noticed them because their aura was so limited and almost invisible, like it wasn't truly there. As he sprung to his feet to combat them (Aura did the same although he doubted her usefulness), one word popped into his head: puppet.

His opponent was a demi-human, just like the other three that were now emerging into the clearing, and, abandoning their wedged blade, they attacked Kira with their claws. The demi-humans all appeared to be from all different walks of life. The nearest to him was a young girl, but further back was a fully grown man and woman, and they both looked as old as Gretyl or Maurice. This was not cause for him to be easy on them, as being puppets meant that their original personalities were long gone and that they were essentially dead already.

Stopping the boy's claws was a trivial matter. Kira simply stepped back and pulled on one of the demi's hands, causing them to fall forwards over the fallen tree. When they landed on the ground, he stamped on their neck with all of the strength that he could muster and easily broke it with assistance from his aura. The others could be dealt with in similar manners as their claws had no effect so long as he saw them coming and could block them with his aura and his punches seemed to have a much-enhanced effect allowing him to break bones and dispatch them quickly.

His months of training were paying off, and he was impressed with himself as he had obviously advanced far on his own and without much tuition. Aura was not so impressed and assumed that he had just killed these people in front of her, and she stared at him accusingly. This was when Cat chose to return, observing the bodies and then walking over them nonchalantly whilst taking care of one still barely clinging to life.

"Quite odd these things are." he said, "They don't feel like people at all…."

"Don't feel like people?" murmured Aura, lost as to what he meant.

"They're puppets," explained Kira, "The manipulator that gave us our marks seemed to be able to make them. He takes demi-human slaves and kills them by warping their aura, making them into more obedient slaves."

"And you know all of this?"

"Sure I do. I fell through a painting." Kira replied mischievously before reverting back, "There's a facility under the palace which holds them."

"Should I even ask what you mean…?"

Given that the day had been spent marching, sometimes running, and then Kira had had to use some manipulations, he couldn't continue any further now, even if he had wanted to. This meant that leaving Aura behind was unnecessary, and he asked Cat about how many puppets he had found. The answer was not comforting because, together, they had killed fewer puppets than Cat had earlier seen following them and the manipulator, or manipulators, himself had not been involved. Given that they were going to be staying in the clearing overnight, Cat offered to keep watch, and they settled down together, with only Cat staying sitting upright and alert.

Kira had expected that the boy wouldn't have been able to stay up all night but, when he got up in the morning, Cat was still awake and looked as though he hadn't slept at all with dark bags under his eyes. If he could have changed his appearance to look less tired or made himself small so that it would be easier for Kira to carry him, like he insisted that he should, Cat did not. Carrying Cat with him meant that Aura could keep up that day as they walked and, given that no one else had attacked them despite their slower progress, it seemed that they had managed to escape from Krinestadt's clutches.

During this day, Kira maintained a conversation with Ghost to keep himself occupied. Ghost told him a simply wonderful story, and he listened intensively and replied with occasional questions. It was a tale about a dragon, a god-like creature, who was turned into a human by some heroes who had gone to try and kill him. The dragon was very particular about his image and liked to set up very fancy dungeons for people to clear as though it was all a game to him. Ghost's story was so funny at times that Kira struggled to stop himself from smiling or chuckling out loud, which never failed to make Aura look at him weirdly, but he didn't bother to explain to her what he was laughing at. She probably wouldn't have understood the high-class of humour anyway.

Cat woke up around midday but still insisted that Kira carry him further. Kira accepted his demand as carrying such a small figure was not particularly difficult for him as a manipulator. When Cat again refused to eat any lunch, and this time did not run off into the wilderness like he often did, Aura began getting a bit concerned at how he wasn't eating at all. On other days he could have been scavenging for food around them, or maybe even hunting animals, becoming a predator himself, but today he definitely wasn't. He was also a little drowsier than on other days and seemed more liable to being pressured into explaining this oddity himself.

After a few failed attempts from Aura, Kira himself was getting a little bit bored with this constant talking that overwhelmed Ghost's voice in his head. The questions all ended in the same way, with Aura asking something and Cat either refusing to speak or rebuking her. Sometimes Kira also joined in but only to rebuke her too when she inferred something wrong about manipulations and how they could have something to do with Cat not needing to eat. Kira himself did not know how Cat did it, and so, with a small bit of interest remaining, he stopped walking and allowed Aura to poke at Cat's side whilst he held him until the boy was forced to give up his secret.

"Alright, fine!" moaned Cat, "I'll tell you but only so that we have something to talk about with him being so quiet." whilst looking up at Kira.

"Go on then." insisted Aura when he took more than a few moments to think about exactly how he should try and put what he wanted to say across.

"I am a yokai," replied Cat, completely giving up trying to find a better way of saying it.

"A yokai?" exclaimed Aura and Kira together, although Aura was a little more enthusiastic and was the one to continue, "You really don't seem like a demon…."

"It's true! How else do you explain me not having to eat then? Anyway, the reason why I don't seem much like a demon is that yokai are a subset of demons just like humans are a subset of animals."

They started walking again because Kira didn't want to waste any more time on this talk, particularly since it had reduced his desire to speak with Cat. This was because of how, if he was a yokai, then he would have been born aware of his aura or even with his ability, and so he couldn't help him find his own.

Aura did not think in the same way, "How so?" she pressed on.

"Yokai are demons that are clever just like humans and demi-humans are clever animals, and there are lots of types of yokai too. There are fox, ram and changelings and…."

"What type are you?"

"I'm a changeling yokai, which is why I'm a shapeshifter."

This time Kira spoke to confirm his suspicion that Cat was essentially useless to him, "Are all yokai changelings shape-shifters?"

"Yup, we all have the same ability, even if we have different auras, but that isn't the case for other yokai species. We still all share similar base forms, but we tend to stay as we feel comfortable. As it happens for me, that's just in my base form."

After this, Kira fell silent, not wanting to waste his time any further being disappointed with Cat. He even considered running ahead, taking just his own food with him, to arrive sooner, but he was unsure if Cat would follow him if he did and thought that the yokai might come in useful in the future.

The land around them was dull and repetitive, and this was made worse by the lack of a view ahead because it felt like they were covering no distance at all. At least, this was what it was like for his companions, but Kira could feel them edging closer and closer to it. It was out there, and it was waiting for him, and Ghost - the best of his friends - would show him the way. Anyone else felt unnecessary, and yet some hidden part of him still wanted to keep them by his side.

Aura had started walking behind him again, not falling back because of his speed but rather because she was being put off by him refusing to talk with her. Seeing this, Cat jumped from his arms and left him too, some friend he was, Kira told himself, and ran back to walk with her. It was up to Kira to lead the way, and he knew exactly where he was going, but the people behind him were less convinced and kept trying to ask him what they were looking for and how far it was. One time they annoyed him to such a degree that he almost snapped back at them that he was following Ghost but shouldn't that have been obvious anyway?

Walking along the ridge of a low hill, they saw, through the trees and far down to their left, a stricken cart that had become firmly stuck in some mud. Even when straining with all of its strength against its harness, the mule responsible for it could not get it free.

Aura pointed out to Cat that he and Kira probably had the strength to help the people down their free, and Cat looked expectantly forwards, but Kira ignored them again. There was no point in helping these useless people who couldn't even free a cart and who might give away his location to Krinestadt. However, Cat seemed to go out of his way to anger him yet again and disappeared off to help the travellers, reappearing only a while later with a tart that he had received as thanks. This was the first thing that he had been seen eating since leaving Ostermark.

Food was steadily becoming a problem for the rest of them, too, as they needed to eat and hadn't known how far they would have to go before leaving Ostermark. This meant that they had only packed enough food for a few days, and it now threatened to run out. Cat attempted to help them by scouting ahead and bringing back berries and occasional dead rabbits to try and tempt them with. However, with the speed that Kira insisted that they continue with, there was no time to settle down and cook anything, meaning that the yokai's efforts mainly were for nought. Walking any distance on an empty stomach was not such an easy task.

To make matters worse, it was still winter too and, although the year had changed, the spring had not yet fully started in which went some way to support Kira's case for continuing on as, if they were to stop, they would quickly become cold. There was less snow on the ground now, but mist hung above them and appeared to float up and away from the sides of hills that they could see. Down, near to them, in their own valley, was a thin road. It was the same one that the previous cart had got stuck on and was very thin, so that two carts could not pass each other if they were to meet one another on it. Its surface consisted of a great mess of mud intersected with deep ruts where wheels had been drawn through it.

At this time, working its own way along the track was a second merchant's cart that was being pulled along by two miserable looking horses stained brown pretty much all the way up until their necks. It was covered over with a cloth, and a man sat at its head to direct the animals with a short whip. There was no way that this person would not have food, and they were now well within Kira's sight whilst he and his company kept hidden off to the left side of the path. Stealing some food from the driver would not be difficult for him as a manipulator, he thought, but his only concern was how his companions might react. Ghost would support him - it always did - but Cat and Aura had only been hindrances since leaving Ostermark.

Turning to them and speaking quietly, he stated, "We could get some more food from him." nodding at the merchant.

"You mean to pay for it?" returned Aura.

This took him by surprise because he had forgotten the money they had brought and topped up with pieces from the bandit encampment. However, even remembering its existence did not waver his determination to steal what he needed to preserve his own wealth for the future, and his manipulations would come in very useful for this. To convey that his decision was final, he just said, "No, I'm going to take some so that we can preserve our finances for later."

Both Cat and Aura looked at him weirdly and then back at each other. It was as though they were planning something and had reached an agreement, or so he thought. But he didn't wait for their reply because there wasn't the slightest chance that it would change his mind, and he went down to stand in the way of the horses.

Their driver made them stop, calling "Whoa there." and pulling at the reins to not run over the boy in front of him. Hesitantly checking the trees, maybe expecting an ambush, the merchant slowly looked back at Kira, seeing that there appeared to be no one else around and evidently deciding that he was no threat. Wordlessly, Kira walked around the horses and approached the man's seat on the cart. "Need something?" asked the driver, smiling down at him, "You're quite a way from any settlement; I could give you a lift if you needed it…" but he fell silent when no reply came.

Kira had wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, but something made him hesitate and wonder if this was the right thing to do. Fortunately, Ghost was there to put him back on the right track. Ghost was now wearing a wide hat covering its top, and a black bandana was drawn over its mouth. The white figure flew around to sit above the man's shoulder whilst looking down at Kira with black slits for eyes, and it hissed, "Oh, this guy looks nasty, so don't worry about stealing from him because I'm sure that he can replace it. You've got to risk it for the biscuit, Kira, and here you could literally get some biscuits!"

Hearing this, Kira was sold. All minor worries were gone, and he focused his aura to push, ever so gently, on the man to show that he was a manipulator and that he was very much in control of the situation. The poor merchant's face was a sight to see as it changed from a welcoming image to the portrait of terror as he realized that he had been stopped by something much worse than a few bandits.

"I need enough food to fill up this," murmured Kira, embarrassed to speak any louder, and he held up his rucksack to the man. Taking it and disappearing into the back of his cart, it didn't take long for him to reappear with the bag now full. Checking that he was satisfied with the contents, Kira quietly left the road and headed back to where Cat and Aura were, leaving his victim behind to breathe a sigh of relief.

From the way that they were looking at him, when he arrived back up, he half expected Cat to try and fight him for the bag so that he could return anything stolen to the merchant. If this happened, Kira was ready to fight back and was determined that he would win, even if he didn't know how, against the monster. The next few days were spent mostly in silence as his companions seemed to feel awkward just being in his presence, and the only words that they exchanged were with each other. Aura made a point of not eating anything stolen, sustaining herself on the food from Ostermark, which was not a pretty sight as it was mostly stale and going mouldy in several places, and on scavenged scraps from Cat.

It was about this time that Ghost got particularly excited because they were soon to arrive at their destination or at least the entrance into it.