Ivy Strongwill and The Silent Sorcermaster

Chapter Two - Thomas the VIIth of the Meows-A-Lot Dynasty

"Mr. Cat, are you alright?" she asked, as her eyes got wetter by the second.

"Of course, child, I feel nothing but pity for the likes of him, imagine having one single life and wasting it like this. By the way, my name is Thomas the VIIth of the Meows-A-Lot dynasty. Nice to finally meet you." He extended his right paw that he had just finished licking.

"Oh, Tommy, I'm so glad you're not hurt!" Instead of shaking hands and paws, she got on her knees and hugged Thomas VIIth, washing him with tears.

"Alright, I see you do indeed have a very hard life here," he said, and patted her on the shoulder. "If I were not this tough, you would have squeezed me by now, child."

"Sorry!" She let him out of her arms. They both forgot that there was someone crying and unable to stand up behind them, and started walking.

"It's not fair, everyone bullies me every single day. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just want to be like them. I don't even know why they think I'm such a freak."

"Well, maybe the fact that you are speaking to a cat and he is really talking back to you. It is not just your imagination; you are not even a freak. On the contrary, you are quite special. And that makes one even harder to be accepted than truly being crazy."

"You think so?" asked Ivy.

"I am sure of it. Trust me, I can understand the 'weird' part of you better than you do yourself, and anyone else you have ever met so far. I did not expect everyone to be so mean around here though."

"Oh, so that's why you didn't run when you saw those mean children? Cats like you must be used to everyone in the family being so nice to them!"

"No, I knew that much, it is obvious those creatures are bad. I just wanted to help you. It is not that one day I might hide behind you to save my life, or that they were interfering with my desire to speak to you, but helping those weaker and in need is basic courtesy. Although it turned out you more than managed on your own."

"You don't seem that strong?"

"I am fairly powerful, but there are much stronger beings out there." said the cat.

"You're so mysterious, Tommy!"

"I bet other people do not think so."

From a distance someone shouted "Hey, loser, you found a cat and that's your only friend! Who even needs a Halloween costume; you're already a witch, now you have an ugly creature too."

"Sorry for that..." said Ivy, embarrassed. "It's okay if you don't want to be seen with me."

The cat laughed. "No worries. Until they learn to be as kind as you are, their pitiful existence will mean nothing to me, much less their opinion."

"You're so comfortable being yourself around them."

"Well, their meanness comes from not knowing how to deal with their own issues. They cannot even do what is best for themselves, what makes them judges to decide what is pathetic and what is not, how one should live their life?"

"You know, you seem wiser than most of the people I know."

"I lived for more than two centuries and I have had a lot of good...professors throughout my life."

"And you came here to...teach me, too? Wait, what? You must be really old! Do older cats wear crutches?"

"It is good helping you, but my main mission is to take you out of this loony bin. I can see you are a good person with immense potential. Yes we do, but only after 500 years of age, the Meows-A-Lot kind is famous for its longevity."