Felix tugged at the reins, alerting the mares to slow down once his eyes were met with a familiar setting he had come to grow fondly of. Shielding his eyes from the heat, he licked his dried lips and instructed the mares to continue the dirt path leading to the lonely cottage house perched atop a green hill. Upon their arrival, he was met with the moos of the cows waiting for him at the red farm while being careful not to disturb the tiny dozen chicks pacing around behind their mother hen.

  Tootsie poked her green head out, blinking her tiny bck eyes and adjusting her violet hair away from her eyes. "Large white bodies sprinkled with bck spots, and pink udders hanging below."

  "Cows." Felix crified with a sniff, wiping his nose. "Going to need to shovel out some of the manure that's built up."

  "That expins the foul stench." Dimyri snuck in from behind the bnket cover of the carriage. She squealed and covered her nose. "Yuck! Why did you want me here again?"

  "I need an extra set of hands to help around here." He expined, pulling them to a halt by the cottage entrance.

  "Wouldn't KuliKuli have been a better choice? Assuming she helped you here before, it seemed that way."

  "Hang on," He turned around to face her. "I thought you girls were spying on us when we were at Janette's home?"

  Dimyri gave a half-hearted shrug. "We did, but her scent was strongest around here. Left us searching for a bit, but Syri caught a faint whiff of you guys moving along the road. That led us to Janette's house."

  Felix looked concerned, spinning back around and thinking to himself for a second.

  "What?"

  "Our scent, just gives me a bad feeling." He jumped off the driver's seat with Tootsie on his shoulder, extending his hand to help Dimyri down. "If you four could track us down... you don't suppose that Monster Hunter is capable of finding us by scent?"

  She pressed her lips tight, giving his words some thought. "I don't know much about those Hunters, just that he's persistent and often one day behind our trail."

  "Come to think of it, was he following you guys the whole time?"

  She shook her head with certainty. "Absolutely not. We hadn't seen him for months, not until we found you guys. And I made sure he wasn't following, Na'Vi and I took turns staying behind to catch anyone."

  "Did anything come of it?" He asked.

  "No, but it wasn't surprising. After what happened to our clutter, we had to be sure she was safe to be around. You know, that she was in control. Finding you guys was expected, we thought you were with Perdilius at first."

  "So that's why Na'Vi swooped in and attacked us."

  She seemed bothered hearing that, hugging her arm in discomfort. "She wouldn't listen to us. I tried reasoning with her, but she took initiative and went on her own. We were exposed when you caught onto us, she panicked. We're sorry about that, are you upset about that?"

  "It wasn't a pleasant way of meeting her family, I forgive you. That's behind us, besides you made up for it by rescuing me and Reta when we were trapped."

  "You mean taken captive." She corrected him.

  "Right, still learning new words." He smiled, digging into his pocket for the house key.

  Click!

  He turned the key and pulled the door open, taking a step inside. Dimyri entered next, taking small steps as her eyes danced around the interior analyzing every detail.

  "Pce needs cleaning."

  "Must be bad if you think so." He joked, hearing Tootsie giggle in his ear.

  Dimyri grinned. "I'm not the one living in a home surrounded by cow shit and horse poop."

  "That's because I haven't been here for a few days. These animals aren't going to hold it in until I came back." He snorted, stepping around the kitchen and reaching for a rusted old key hanging on a tch. "Gotcha."

  "What's that unlock?"

  "The tools."

  He stepped past her out the door again. Both of them headed into the barn where a wooden shed sat by the corner. Unlocking it revealed some wooden tools piled inside including an aged hammer and a pair of shovels, along with a pair of boots. "You know how to use these?"

  "I'm a fast learner."

  He removed his old shoes and put on the boots, then passed a shovel to her. "Watch me first then. We're going to be taking care of that smell first."

  "You better have some water for me to wash up next." She replied, noting his interest. "What?"

  "Your sister wasn't fond of baths."

  "I'm not my sister."

  "Oh, oh!" Tootsie squealed, sliding down his arm and nding on his hand. "I want to help too!"

  "I don't think you can help due to your size." He shyly remarked, looking around for ideas. "We've got feeding shoveling manure, gardening, weeding, harvesting."

  Dimyri stepped in. "She can use her magic to help!"

  He paused and stared at the pixie in wonder. "Can you?"

  She tapped her foot, hands on her hips. "My magic focuses on illusions and amplifying other sources of magic. I am a Wildlife Pixie, looking after flora and fauna is what I do best. Helping my friends in other ways is extra."

  "You should really consider adding some pnts around the bck district, give that pce some life." Dimyri commented.

  "Okay, can you fly?" He asked.

  Her voice trailed down as she replied, "Well, not yet."

  "How do you pn to help us then?"

  "I still have legs, I can help."

  "Afraid not." He answered back, pcing her against the window. "You can watch here if you'd like but I'd rather not risk you getting into trouble. A lot of these animals would look at you as a toy or food if they catch you."

  "Hmph!" She pouted, sitting with her legs crossed.

  Dimyri looked to have something to say but kept quiet, observing Felix as he stepped into the stable and started shoveling. She copied him, and nearly an hour ter they were wiping the sweat from their heads and using a bucket of water to wash up.

  "I would have offered you boots, but-"

  "They wouldn't fit." She focused on washing up her paws and ankles carefully. "Big paws, I know. We look like you but keep some of our feline features."

  "You have a way with words." He mentioned, "Sometimes you use bigger words than I know. How-"

  "How come my sisters aren't the same way?" She sat back on a stool to rest. "Mother had me live with Aunt Alma for several days a week. She would train me on a lot of things. Language, self-defense, writing and literature."

  "Your aunt taught you all that? Where did she learn it from? Must be one smart cat."

  She ughed. "Heh, she's uh, not a Nekomata like us. More like a friend of the family. She and Mom are close."

  "She lived away?"

  She nodded. "Had her own group to look after."

  "I thought you guys were always moving around."

  "When Mom was younger, yes. Once she met Alma, they came to a sort of truce and worked together. One hand washes the other type of deal. Somewhere along the line they became good friends." She sighed, reminiscing of old memories. "I do miss her a lot. Oh, but back to the topic. You're wondering why she only taught me? It's because I'm the oldest of my sisters. When Mom can't lead the clutter anymore, it would be my turn to take charge."

  Her ears dropped as a wave of sadness washed across her once cheerful face. "Or that was the idea... until Perdilius came along. I don't even know if there is anyone left now."

  Felix sat beside her. "It helps not to think about it. I can't say I know what you're going through, but I survived a pain of my own and couldn't know if anyone I knew survived too."

  "Yea? What did you do to help move on?"

  He clicked his tongue and breathed deep. "Didn't know, I was stupid and simple. Still am, I think. I was hungry, I was scared, and I was homeless. So, I begged for any of the three, and when that didn't work, I looked for a job. This old man found me shivering in the cold, took me in, said I could repay him by helping around the barn. Now here I am, doing a terrible job looking after his pce recently."

  She chuckled hearing that. "Sorry."

  "No, don't. You're KuliKuli's family, I want to help anyway I can."

  "Then you can start by being honest with me." Her expression shifted as she locked eyes with him. "I know I can be as silly as my sisters, but I'm not dense. I saw you brought Janette's book with you. You also brought Tootsie as well despite knowing she wouldn't help as much with her broken wing. So why am I here and not someone else, what did you want to ask from me?"

  He blinked, taken aback by her confrontational tone. This wasn't something he was prepared for, he had hoped to be able to talk to her, learn more about her over time before they had finished. She caught on fast.

  "Wow, I uh... okay then." He spped his hands on his knees, taking a moment to recover. "I guess... a trade would be fair here? I ask you one question, you ask me another?"

  "Works for me." She agreed. "You go first."

  His brow scrunched up close as he leaned in. "Why have you been snooping around Janette's belongings?"

  She blinked. "You knew?"

  He nodded, she didn't need to know that Vardare told him that.

  "I needed to know more about you four, and I was searching for answers."

  "About what?"

  She shook her head. "Nuh-uh, it's my turn to ask."

  He seemed reluctant but waved his hand, urging for her to move on.

  "How did you and my sister meet?"

  "I told you before, I found her during a storm. A toolshed colpsed, I went to investigate and discovered a stray cat under the remains, so I brought her inside. I woke up ter that night and found her in her grown form, she jumped we, we calmed down, and I took her under my care. I didn't lie to you guys when I expined it before."

  Her eyes narrowed but she nodded before leaning back, accepting his word.

  "My turn," He licked his lips. "How did this whole thing with Perdilius happen?"

  Her tails swayed to one angle then stayed frozen in pce behind her. "I don't know. I heard rumors, but nothing certain. I first saw him when he raided our home and his followers started catching my friends."

  "Okay, you go next."

  Dimyri paused, considering her next approach. "Janette keeps that book with her all the time, so why did you bring it with you when you're illiterate?"

  He seemed puzzled by that st word. "Illiter-ate?"

  "You can't read."

  "I can read a few words."

  "Felix!"

  "Fine, I brought it with me to have him talk to you." He noticed her confusion and crified. "Tootsie does this weird thing that brings him out of his book."

  "What?"

  They both jumped when Tootsie sprang up from the ground between them.

  "Did someone say the magic name?" She grinned, enjoying their bewildered expressions. "You really think I would stay on that stinky old barn?"

  "That was the idea." Felix grumbled, watching her climb up his leg and sit on his knee.

  "You have bad ideas." She huffed, "You mentioned Vardare's name, shall we py his little game?"

  "Not yet, I have one more question to ask her." Felix directed his gaze back onto Dimyri. "What is your mother hiding about the Monster Hunter?"

  Dimyri's eyes grew wide, her tails wrapping around her waist and her thighs squeezing together. "I... this is just specution, nothing certain. Do you really want to know?"

  "I'm helping you against them, it's only fair that I know." He leaned in close, noticing her averting his eyes. "Tell me."

  She closed her eyes and exhaled. "I think... I can't be certain, but the details are troubling."

  "What details?"

  "Perdilius didn't find us by luck, it was like he knew where we are. Pointed us out by names, knew exactly who my sisters and I were. He wanted us specifically and-and I don't know why."

  "You think your mother knows?"

  She shook her head. "I wish she did, but she's as clueless as I am."

  "What about your father, where is he? Is he still alive?"

  Dimyri stuttered. "Y-Yes, I think. None of my sisters know this, how could they? I'm the oldest, I remember small things about him. He wasn't a happy man, didn't like holding us. But it wasn't like he hated us, more like he hated himself. He left one day, said it was for the best and he never came back."

  "Well, was he anyone important? If it's not your mother, then it's your father that helps expin this."

  "Expin what?"

  "Vardare told me it has something to do with essence, damn it all." He threw his hands up in frustration, cautiously passing Tootsie to her before walking back toward the wagon. Dimyri and Tootsie exchanged puzzled looks when Felix returned with the book in hand.

  "Tootsie, can you help bring Vardare back, please?" He asked, sitting down with the book on hand.

  "Of course." She hopped onto the cover and tapped her foot twice, giving a little spin as some pixie dust flew out from her and gently floated into the book's cover. "I dare, Vardare, come out and spout! Your voice we need, your wisdom devout!"

  Dimyri snickered at the childish dispy, watching the little fairy dance around like a ballerina. Soon the book began vibrating in his hands, and Tootsie quickly jumped onto Dimyri's p. The novel sprang open, and the ink mixed together in a spiral before shooting out into the air. Dimyri stumbled back, nearly losing bance as she stared wide-eyed at the floating orb of ink begin to take shape. Slowly, the gooey texture molded itself, forming the silhouette of rge wings before shrinking.

  When suddenly, the ink sprang out in the form of a bck owl before its color changed into its earthy brown appearance.

  "HOOOOOO!" Vardare flew several feet in the air, gently floating down before nding atop a fence post. His head turned around completely, twisting his body to face them. He wrinkled his little curved beak in disgust, burying his face under his wing. "Dares bring me to this foul-smelling pce?"

  "What the heck is that!?" Dimyri jumped back onto all fours, hissing and dropping Tootsie incidentally.

  Vardare raised his eye and scowled. "I am the Mage of Mind and Keeper of Knowledge, Dimyri, oldest daughter of Emyri, granddaughter of Cyri. And you are the cat whose curiosity pried open my pages in pursuit of answers."

  "You-you know me? You know my Mom? H-How!?" She snapped her head at Felix. "Felix, why is there a bird talking to me!?"

  He rubbed his face and hunched over, tired. "He already told you. Please calm down, this Owl knows you because you opened the book."

  "My knowledge is bestowed upon the user, and in return I attain their knowledge for my own." He answered clearly, raising his head. "I know all that you know, a price obtained after you took me in secret, madam."

  "Dimyri, I brought him here because he knows what you and I know, that means our memories and secrets. Now, are you going to tell me what your mother is hiding, or do I need to ask him?"

  She looked shocked. "You would really do that?"

  "I don't want to, but if I have to, if it means being able to help you and protect your family then yes." He answered coldly.

  Dimyri's shoulders sunk down in defeat, her eyes swapping between him, Tootsie, and Vardare. "What do you want to know?"

  "There's something bothering me, something KuliKuli didn't want to know. I figured it was best to keep those memories forgotten, and even Vardare couldn't tell. Her memories are that bad that not even he could figure them out. But you were there too, weren't you?" He accused her, csping his hands together with a focused look in his eyes. "I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I am not ignorant either. That wound on KuliKuli's head didn't come from the toolshed colpsing on her, and when she first met Perdilius she had this throbbing pain in her head. I don't want to know what happened, but it looks like I need to."

  Her ears shot up as she looked at him with realization. "You don't know what happened the day when Perdilius found us?"

  He shook his head. "How did he find you, what is your mother hiding, and why did you say you had to wait until KuliKuli was safe to be around. Because this man wants you, her, and Syri, and for what I don't know. But he knows her, and I want to know how and why."

  Dimyri carried this painful look in her eyes. "You're not going to like what you hear."

  "I believe it is in everyone's best interest if you eborate on the missing details, miss." Vardare stated, adjusting his monocle. "Please."

  The Nekomata sighed deeply. "Perdilius didn't find us alone, KuliKuli helped him."