S.H.H.A.

Unfindable Base (2)

"Who's not very likable?"

Her voice sounded just above a whisper, but it was one you could hear from the other end of a chattering room. Like a flute playing a gentle, but clear, melody. The sound of a light breeze over a field of spring grass.

Once again, I spun around to see the new arrival. Her to my right corner and Miss Tuxedo —Ninja— to my left. Purple first caught my attention. Sunlight illuminated the sways and ripples of her sleek cape where it puddled at her white feet. Two holes in her mask revealed olive-green eyes.

Her tail, white on the bottom but light grey and striped on top, curled around her rear legs. Her front legs were also white. Her back legs had only a dash of the bright color at the joint over her tabby markings and cloud paws.

The mystery tabby, I thought. An anchor sank from my chest straight through the stone down to the dark caves thousands of feet below. Rooted in spot, I gawked at the cat who I admittedly considered a figment of my imagination a time or two or three.

Ninja took the initiative to speak for me, "Nice of you to drop in. Did you catch the gist? Little Miss Hero's been looking for you. She says something about helping you take down Gear's fishy. What's that all about?"

The tabby sent Ninja a long look then turned back to me. At a loss for where to start, we stared at one another. Boss never told me how to explain these things. She rarely taught me things through lectures like Daisy. She'd found time and time again that nothing taught me better than first-hand experience.

I only half paid attention to the few occasions we found new recruits. As an apprentice, all I did was sit to the side with Ilene while Jade or Daisy comforted the confused semi-human. I didn't think that I'd ever have to talk someone through the process.

"So," said Ninja with the expression of an outsider to an inside joke or shared memory. "From the sounds of it, or should I say, lack of sounds, the two of you don't know one another well. This is my sister, Marshmallow."

"I'm Misha," I relented. If they were siblings, then there was no point keeping the secret from Ninja. Powers weren't genetic. Even so, Maxima often gifted relatives of the same litter and children of powered couples. Even if Ninja didn't have a power —which I doubted considering her entrance—, she deserved to know about S.H.H.A. I couldn't imagine hiding my hero duties from not only my mom, but also my sister.

Marshmallow didn't make a move to respond. Green eyes stared at my polished ruby cape. They were far-off, and dazed not actually seeing me anymore. If she were Ilene, I would've waved a paw in her face. Not that Ilene lost herself in thought often. She was more likely to lose herself reading emails, scrolling through member and team profiles to find the perfect match for a mission, or searching the web.

A vibration jolted through my paw, respiking my fur. At my reaction, Ninja and Marshmallow both tensed. The former widened her eyes at the surprise and latter stepped back into a defensive crouch. I glanced down at the red watch, tapping it with my other paw.

Message Sent From: Ilene I7412 Faith [Ilene] (she/her)

Sent To: Misha M121 Fonsesca [Misha] (she/her)

[Read Message]

What is it now? Ilene treated my watch like a phone, seeing as how I made little use of the human device. We couldn't send sensitive information over the phone, including anything about S.H.H.A.'s existence. Pudding and Ilene had no problem making meaningless chit-chat about school or sending stupid photos of dandelions —don't ask. Those weren't my cup of hot cocoa.

When I looked back up, Ninja had repositioned herself to where she was before. Marshmallow, who was still crouched, stared at the watch like it'd lifted from my paw and sprouted a pair of wings.