Insomnia Wake #Wattys2016

Chapter 23 - Always Take At Least One Look At Yourself In The Mirror Daily

The fibrous giant that had been cut fell to the ground, stirring up swarms of dust into the air. The large cat that had been entangled into the plant's grasp fluttered to the ground and landed on its feet. It breathed heavily, but still was on high alert for any intruders. The three nails that were left on the animal retracted back to a normal length.

"Did we win?" Buddy asked, looking through our small peep holes in the unbreakable container.

"Not yet," Rin answered. She looked like she was in pain just from seeing the cat's presence. "Catherine is still suffering in that form."

"Let us out so that we can figure out how to get her back then."

"If I did that we'd all end up killed anyways. Look," she said, apparating a black disk in front of the cat's face. The cat scratched furiously at the impenetrable disk, but acted as if it was in the heat of battle still. "She wouldn't think twice about taking us down with her when she's like that. Not even us."

An injured Ren hobbled back into the area. She looked at the beast in front of her and quaked. "C-catherine?! Is that you?!"

The large cat saw the movement and pounced at her without hesitation.

Ren screamed and leapt out of the way. "Catherine, stop! It's me! Ren!"

The monster that Catherine had become didn't hear her plea, and instead kept lunging at her, swiping its only remaining front leg at her. It was struggling to not fall down at every step of the attacks, and was waving its tail frantically to keep balance.

Rin made a hole in her barrier and jumped out of it. Her mother was in trouble, and her entire being pushed her to try to fight back.

"Aw, screw it!" yelled Buddy, jumping out after her. The rest followed suit, rushing headfirst into danger from supposed friendly fire.

The cat panted, now simply trying to stay on guard while losing energy fast.

Ren attempted to step forward, but the cat leapt slightly into the air with its hind legs to give it a small, quick slash at the air. Ren had an idea.

She cautiously bent down and touched the ground below her. Out from the earth rose a dirt humanoid, which stood at attention. Its features changed and morphed until it resembled a familiar face.

"See! This is what you are, Catherine!" Ren said, pointing at the dirt sculpture that now wore the girl's resemblance.

The cat growled and looked at the new opponent, which stood at attention unmoving.

The rest of the crew encircled the beast, making sure not to step any closer than Ren already had.

"Come on! Come to your senses!" beckoned Rin.

Looking at itself as if by mirror, the monster saw something that pierced its conscious. In that instant, it leapt over all of their heads and ran as fast as it possibly could into the forest.

"Catherine! Where are you going?!"

-----

Off in a distant laboratory, Sid's voice crackled over the speakers of Urbain's scanner, which was actually a pair of glasses that he held up to his ears.

"I'm sure you're aware that Havel's life force faded just now..."

Urbain pressed the side of the glasses and saw the numbers fly across the lenses. "No sir, but I see it now."

"Yes... He was in the middle of a mission when that happened, so now I must ask you to carry on that mission instead. Drop whatever one you're doing right now and find and kill Catherine. She's reached maturity so it is time for the harvest."