Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 25

The song for this chapter is "Would It Matter" by Skillet. Warning: this is not a cheerful chapter. It's a slightly shorter chapter too. I have a question for y'all at the end of the chapter. 

*Waglington's POV*

My eyes fluttered open as I became aware of a horribly bitter taste filling my mouth. I threw a disoriented fit, trying to get away from whatever it was. Blurry colors started to fill my vision, slowly resolving into actual shapes as I gagged on the healing potion that still trailed down my throat, making me nauseous. I stopped thrashing and took in my surroundings as I caught my breath. I was tangled in a plant of some sort against the wall of a small wooden structure, and a figure in familiar dark robes stood watching me. Ianite?

Then I saw the figure's glasses catch the sunlight. Jordan found me. That was fortunate. My mind swam with memories of the Taint and the desert. I had been dreaming—no, remembering—while I was unconscious. Jordan interrupted my jumbled thoughts when he knelt in front of me and held a hand out to me. What am I supposed to do with that? I can't shake hands. Apparently the cat part of my brain had a bit more influence just then than I'd thought, because I leaned forward and sniffed his hand without deciding to. I then rubbed the side of my face on his hand to return his greeting. I think my mind broke down more while I was out. This is worrying.

"Kitty, I'm going to have to take care of a few of your injuries; please, don't bite me." Jordan said as he gently scratched behind my right ear and lifted my head. I watched with narrowed eyes as he brought an open potion bottle towards me. Thankfully he poured it on my neck rather than force-feeding it to me again. The potion stung as it found its way into the open wound there. I concentrated on restraining the cat part of my mind that really wanted to scratch Jordan's arm. It took a surprising amount of effort, which worried me even more.

When Jordan moved from the injury on my neck to the one on my leg, I lost my grip. Some of the taint insect venom must have still been in there, because my whole leg and tail were screaming bloody murder at the slightest touch. I almost wanted to kill Jordan myself for lightly brushing the fur back from one of the stings. I started growling and trying to escape the tangled plant I was still caught in. Jordan ended up pouring the last of the healing potion over those wounds without touching me again.

I finally regained control over my defensive cat self and started trying to think of a way to tell my friend who I was, looking up at him hopefully. Why isn't he untangling me? And why did he rescue a strange cat in the first place? He returned my stare, thinking who knows what, until he got a message from someone on his communicator and turned to walk away as he answered.

Okay, think James. There has to be some way out of this. Wait, when did I start acknowledging my old name again? I shook my head and tried to get a look at the plant I was caught in. I wasn't tangled after all; the plant had coiled around me. Oh great; what witchery has Sparklez cooked up now? Sentient plants, really? I tried to bite into one of the vines to free myself, only to discover they tasted even worse than the healing potion had, and my teeth hadn't even broken the plant's tough cuticle. I folded my ears back in frustration as I looked around for something else I might be able to reach: nothing except a few other unnatural-looking plants. I could just see the corner of what looked to be an altar of some sort. I could see a wither skeleton skull and the dragon egg I'd given Jordan months ago sitting on the flat surface, along with a few items I did not recognize. Oh, we must be at his witchery setup by his reactor, I concluded. I looked down at the ground beneath me and the snare of a plant that held me. Maybe I can write something? I shrugged and tried using one claw to scratch words into the soft dirt; this area had not dried out yet.