Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 59

The song for this chapter is "Can't Complain" by Relient K. 

Today we rejoin our our favorite wizard, feline, ex-prince, and nurse out in the middle of nowhere. A quick note about Andor: When Andor returned to tell the heroes about Amniosis, I'm pretty sure his bts person was watching Sparklez's stream, because Andor scolded Jordan for something he said in stream but not in game. XD I'm calling that part of whatever abilities he got from Ianite when she discorporated. Martha gained her goddesshood, Sparklez's arrows became way stronger, and—as I interpret it—Andor gained some degree of telepathy! :D

*Memento's POV*

I yawned and glanced down at the one zombie circling my tree. He had managed to pick up on the scent of my blood. I'd been busily cleaning my paws ever since Wag left, but I obviously hadn't been quick enough. I tucked my feet up under me to minimize the smell. Maybe the zombie was dumb enough to forget and leave. At least its not spiders, I thought as I settled my head on the rough bark in front of me. That's one thing I don't miss about the jungle, at least. I wrinkled my nose as the rotting pile of flesh walked directly under me. If this were a jungle tree, I'd be up high enough to not have to smell him. Seriously, what are these pathetic excuses for trees? They're barely tall enough to get me away from walkers. "Walkers" was my general term for those that only moved on the ground: zombies, skeletons, creepers, pigs, humans. Not dogs though; dogs had several, less innocent names to choose from.

Being treed was nothing new to me. I'd lived in the trees since I was old enough to climb, and that was where I stayed except for the rare occasions when I wanted to sunbathe. The best places for that were in the clearings. Look where that got me. Hahaha. I guess I can't complain. I have magic now, and I'm pretty sure my mind is...expanded? I certainly think more deeply than I did as a plain ole ocelot.

I had started to doze when the zombie made a particularly loud groan. It had probably spotted me in the shadowed branches. Congratulations! You found me! Now would you just shut up?! I snarled. Then I heard more footsteps approaching, though these were more nimble and quiet. It occurred to me that it might be Wag's friend, and I opened my eyes. Before I could look around, I was sent scrambling for a hold on my tree branch. A blast of wind sent the zombie flying into the underbrush before leaving as suddenly as it came. I held back an undignified whimper as I retracted my claws from the rough bark I had clung to. Fresh pain shot through my paws as I stood there shaking. I folded my ears tightly back against my head and tucked my bleeding feet back under me to relieve the pressure.

I was so focused on my renewed pain that I didn't notice the second set of footsteps had stopped under my hiding place. "Memento?" someone asked softly.

"Brrmloo?" I shot my head up and looked down to see a young man watching me. "Mrah-raa," I said in return, politely pointing my ears toward him. That must be Andor. I tapped into Wag's magic to drop a dim mage light at the base of the tree where my human's bag was hidden. If he didn't get the meaning of my meow, that should confirm who I was.

Andor grinned, realizing he'd found the right cat—as if there would be another one insane enough to be out on a blood moon. He picked up Wag's backpack and swung it over his shoulders. He studied me. Frowning, he tilted his head to one side. "Now how are we going to work this?" I realized he must be wondering how to get me down. Wag, being able to fly, hadn't thought about it being a problem that I was on a branch fifteen feet up. Andor probably had not expected me to be quite this big either, to be fair.

I eyed the ground from my perch, wishing my wizard had not been so thoughtful. I doubted Andor could scale a tree in the first place, let alone climb back down while trying to hold me. After a moment's consideration, I knew there were only two realistic ways for me to reach the ground. I could jump down, or I could try to climb down. I tried to flex one of my bleeding paws as I weighed my options, and stabbing pain shot up the limb. I flinched my ears even tighter against my skull than they had been earlier, and I tucked my head down into my ruff. Yeah, no. I think I'll stay here and take my chances with the mobs.