Super

29 - Felt A Disturbance In The Force, Luke?

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."

– Herman Wouk

"I need bubble tea," I decided, rubbing my temples in frustration.

"Bubble tea?" Ciaran laughed, "not coffee?"

"Nope. Bubble. Tea."

"What kind?" 

"Passion fruit tea, with a little peach flavouring, and mango bubbles."

"Do they even make that?" Mist frowned.

"They do in Greece apparently," I sighed, "that's all I drank when I went last year."

"Passion fruit tea, peach, and mango bubbles. Got it," Ciaran noted with a chuckle before I could so much as blink. He was back within seconds of course, a confused frown on his face. "Um, where exactly is this Greek bubble tea shop?" 

I had to laugh at the adorable puppy eyes he had as I fixed his hair and said, "Santorini, but don't worry about it."

We were currently staring down at White Panther, a woman whose mask did not disguise the chicken feet wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Despite the wrinkles, however, she was one of the friendliest women I'd ever seen. It was cool to finally meet her in person considering she was the centre of all of our jokes relating to Lodestone's sister's cat. The Claw had a few minds for her, mind you, but she shut right up when she saw the way White Panther's lips were set in a thin line as she made a series of buzzing noises and then strained to listen to the wasps humming in the vents.

It made me nervous standing this close, but apparently the wasps were calm enough to not sting us. For now.

Meanwhile, the White Panther sat cross-legged with her back hunched over as she tried to press her ear as close to the vent as possible. Her long brown hair tumbled haphazardly down her back and I noticed that she looked more like she had Mediterranean descent than Caucasian blood. 

So why was she called the White Panther? 

Noticing my stare, The White Panther just smiled and said, "it's how I discovered my powers, dear. I walked in on my dad watching this documentary on white panthers and asked why they would do a voiceover of the poor creatures. My dad looked at me like I was nuts. Over the next few days, I found I could understand all sorts of creatures: squirrels, birds, cats–"

"So you can understand cats," the Claw muttered with narrowed eyes.

The White Panther blushed. "Sorry my dear, I'm not as young as I used to be. By the time I get to the Ladders Residence, nine times out of ten, you've beaten me there."

"Likely story."

The White Panther shrugged and returned to listening for the wasps, wincing every few seconds from whatever they were "saying". 

Ciaran, growing impatient, asked, "so what are they saying?"

"Why don't you listen for yourself?"

"No thanks," Ciaran shuddered. The White Panther raised a greying eyebrow and looked to each member of our little group, stopping on Everglade.

"Don't look at me! I'm still creeped out from the last time you did that little trick!"

"I want to," I piped up. 

While everyone else looked shocked, The White Panther only nodded and ushered me forward. I stepped closer and squatted down behind her.

"I don't exactly know what happens, but I can temporarily 'open your mind' to understand them. You sure you want to?"