The Familiars of the Lost Witch (ONC 2024)

6. Asha

A few days ago

"Would you mind if you kept an eye on Kyrell for me, while I'm gone? I need to do something, but I will only be gone for a few hours at most."

The boy nodded in response and kept sweeping the floor. He didn't ask what she would be doing or where she would be going, he just acklowlegded it.

Just as she wanted to leave the kitchen and wake up Kyrell, he came flying and landed right in front of the flour the boy had swept to a little heap, swirling it up again. "You stupid bird, don't flap your wings here!", she hissed. "He just swept the entire flour off the floor and now you spread it again."

She had finally managed to clean herself up, now her shiny black fur had a layer of white on one side again. The boy had also been nearly finished, now he had to start again. Asha wanted to lecture Kyrell about flying in the house, but he just muttered a "sorry" and turned around. That wasn't like him, normally he would just shrug it off and laugh about it. Something wasn't right.

After making sure that the boy didn't need her anymore, every utensil was already back in his place, he only needed to clean the rest of the flour, she followed Kyrell into the living room. She found him still on the floor with his wings hanging down and as he turned around she could see the sad look in his eyes.

"You don't look so good, is something wrong?", she asked in a soft voice. He probably missed Cybele a lot. She did too, of course, but it was bereable for her.

Like she had suspected he had a bad dream. "And then Cybele dissapeared. What if something happend to her?", he croaked anxiously.

Kyrell was prone to having nightmares and letting his imagination run wild could make him worry senseless. So she tried to reassure him by telling him that he didn't need to worry and that Cybele would be home soon. She couldn't tell him that his dream made her worry too.

"I want you to keep an eye on the boy for a while. I need to take care of something." She didn't want to waste any more time and was more determined than ever to find out something about the boy. Surprisingly she had slept the whole night, only waking up as the sky turned light blue and she didn't want to wait till nightfall.

Asha knew that Kyrell didn't want her to go, but he wouldn't be alone, the human boy would keep him company. Before leaving she warned him not to make a mess in her absence, hopefully he would keep her warning in mind.

She jumped on the windowsill, left through the open window and gracefully landed on the other side. In the daylight the path to town and the town itself seemed very different than in the night. Asha had to stick to the shadows, avoiding the middle of the streets as to not get under hooves, feet or carriage wheels.

The other reason being that most people were quite superstitious and believed black cats to bring bad luck. Why would she even do something like that? Humans could be really dumb sometimes.

After some time she finally reached her destination, a backyard of an abandoned building where a group of cats lived.

"Asha!", welcomed her a familiar voice followed by a purr. A light gray cat appeared behind a bush and walked up to her. "What are you doing here? You normally only visit at night."

"It's nice to see you too, Myra", Asha greeted her old friend with a purr. "Are the others here too?" 

Someone else answered instead of Myra, the voice coming from behind the bush. "No, they wanted to see if they could get any leftovers from the market", a old dark gray cat appeared before them, pointing to the younger one, "Myra didn't want to leave me alone so she stayed behind."

"Selmor, how are you?" He didn't look to good, his bones where visible under his fur and a yawn revealed missing teeth. But he was the oldest and wisest cat Asha knew.

The old cat's tail twitched as he sat down in front of her. "Ah, you know, I'm not getting any younger. It could be worse, ya know. So, what do you need?"

This time she didn't avoid the question. "So, Cybele got that boy to take care of the house while she's gone and I would like to know more about him."

"Go on, describe him. Maybe we can help", Selmor meowed curiously. Myra also shifted her eyes in Asha's direction, she had their full attention.

She tried to describe him the best she could. "Not very tall, but not short either. Not yet an adult, but also not a child anymore. Brown hair and I think he has brown eyes too, or were they green? He's on the thinner side and has probably lived on the streets up until now."

Asha didn't know if her description was enough, humans just looked so similar. But it seemed like it had been enough for Selmor and Myra, after a moment their eyes shined with recognition.

"We know him. The younger ones sometimes play with him and he shares his food with us. He has a kind heart, although he is a strange one, but he won't hurt you." Myra had only confirmed her own thoughts, but couldn't give her any more useful information on him.

"There is one more thing", she added, "I have seen him leaving food or those shiny round things, coins, in front of this one place repeatedly. Maybe you should look there for more information, it's only a few streets away.

Following Myra's directions Asha soon reached her next destionation. It was an orphanage. Why would the boy leave something he needed to survive at their doorstep?

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Wordcount:
chapter: 1001 words
in total: 8034 words

Second milestone, yaaayyyy!!!!!!!!

I made it, I reached the second milestone! :D

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