Disclaimer: Anne and all her friends/enemies (i.e. h.e.l.p.!) belong to the CFWOWW. You can't have them, so don't bother asking. Nyah.
Demonstrations Tile #1: Premonition She hadn't been in the area for very long – no more than a week or so – when she felt it. A strange feeling that felt like spiders were running down her spine, and pins were pricking the ends of all her digits – fingers and toes alike. For a moment it was all she could do to just stand there, her hand frozen in air, fingers spread apart. Roger felt put out by the pause, and attempted to make contact with her hovering hand. He was unsuccessful. Her name was Anne, and she had just moved to the area with her family and their menagerie of cats, birds, and rats. Before this they'd all lived in a cramped house in upstate Oregon. Now they lived in a cramped house in southern California. The only thing she liked about the move was the improved weather. Otherwise... ick. It wasn't that she especially disliked the city – it was cute in a sort of suburb-hanging-on-the-coattails-of-LA sort of way. Most of her distemperment stemmed from the fact that she was starting high school this week, turning 15 in about five months... and she didn't know anyone other who wasn't family within a hundred miles of her "home". Or two hundred for that matter. So, anyway, she was kind of on edge and more than a bit grumpy when the feeling hit her, urging her to turn her head towards the sky. There weren't many clouds, and the sun was shining down brilliantly. ::Ach. Disgustingly happy atmosphere,:: a part of her mind grumbled, even though every sense in her body was screaming at her that they were Not Happy and why hadn't she picked up her feet and run away yet?! And even though she didn't see anything unusual in the sky, and no ominous voice spoke in her head, she knew. The world was changing around just as she was changing, new senses awakening in the brisk breeze of late summer. All of those senses told her one clear fact: this was most definitely not the cute, peaceful little city it appeared to be. Beside her, Roger meowed --- Tile #2: Introductions "You're new here, right?" She didn't hear it the first time, she was too busy trying to get her textbooks to fit in her locker. It wasn't until the second or third time that she actually heard the other student. "Helooo– hey, you all there?" "Huh?" "It speaks! It lives! It's alive – IT'S ALIVE!!!" The girl standing next to Anne trailed off in a stream of maniacal laughter. Confused, Anne blinked. "Umm... are you talking to me?" Regaining her composure, the other girl flung back her light brown pigtails and grinned. "Yeah. You're the new kid, aren't you? Well, one of them at least. I think we have Geometry together first period. Anne, right?" Scratching her head, the girl looked like she was waiting for something. Anne shifted from foot to foot, pondering. The bouncy exuberance of the other girl was a bit shocking, and her brain was having a hard time processing. "Uh... hi?" "I'm Mandy. Actually, that's not my real name, but people call me that. Well, most people call me that. Nekoi usually calls me 'hyperactive idiot,' but then, he's a bit biased." "Do you want something?" Anne asked, still slightly high strung, and currently of the opinion that Nekoi, whoever he was, had the right idea about Mandy. "Actually, yes. Are you done yet? You're standing in front of Dudley," Mandy said, making a vague gesture towards Anne's feet. Surprised, Anne quickly glanced about herself, searching for Dudley. "Who? There's no one here," said Anne. Sighing, Mandy rolled her eyes at the taller girl, mumbling something about "normals." By this point, Anne was thoroughly freaked out. She shoved her books into her locker, slammed the door shut, locked it, and, grabbing her backpack, quickly stumbled backwards, gasping out a faint goodbye before racing down the hall. She was almost around the corner when she heard Mandy's voice call out behind her, echoing slightly in the empty hall. For the first time, the other girl's voice had a serious tone to it. "Anne, do you want a job?" Freezing at the corner, Anne tried to figure out why Mandy was asking her about jobs when they'd only just met. It was... well, weird. Behind her, Mandy closed her locker and smiled as she picked up her backpack. "Just... think about it, okay?" --- Tile #3: Interruption It was a half-past four when Anne finally made it through the door of the house. It had not yet become "home" to her, remaining in her mind as "the house" whenever she thought of it. Though the house was in walking distance of the local high school, it wasn't necessarily close, and even though she had over a half-an-hour to get to the house, she was very tired. Her back ached from the weight of the books in her pack, and her feet felt sore. Dropping the pack on the floor and toeing off her shoes, she sighed and pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, urging the pain that had been steadily growing all day to go away. It had started at her temple, then slowly worked its way backwards until it had settled above her ears. God, it felt like her head was making some strange attempt to explode. The fact that it continued to hurt at the base of her tailbone certainly didn't help. Giving up as all the pain caught up with her, she collapsed onto the couch, sinking down into the cushions. Eventually she decided to give up and just lie down on the couch, letting her eyelids droop shut. The first thing she was aware of when she woke up was that some*thing* was attempting to sand the skin off her arm, which could only mean one thing: she had been catted. Yes, there is nothing quite as terrible as being catted – the act of being attacked by an overly-friendly house cat (i.e. they sleep on you and won't let you get up, no matter what the circumstances are... unless said circumstances involve them partaking in food). Except, perhaps, being attacked by multiple cats. Which was, of course, what had happened to Anne, as evidenced by the fact that four bundles of fur had taken up residence on her person and were currently demonstrating their happiness in a strangely harmonic "thrum". This last observation proved to be enough to shock Anne completely into the real world. Though she might not have a degree in cat behavior, she was quite sure one thing: cats do not purr in harmony. So, of course, they couldn't be doing that... unfortunately, they continued. "Umm... Roger, honey? Guys? You're really freaking me out here." Roger, a charcoal grey tom, stopped licking her arm, and began chewing on her hair. Next to him, Bob was nuzzling her. Now Anne was completely freaked out. Bob did most certainly not nuzzle. Well, actually, he would nuzzle Anne's mom, but that was it. In short, the world has she knew it had gone wacko. Springing to her feet and dumping the furry ones off, she glared. "Okay, that's it! I don't care why you're doing this or who put you up to it, but I want you all to stop it right now." Bob and Rusty glared at her, as did Smokey, then wandered off for places unknown. Roger, however, mewed and rubbed up against her ankle. Sighing, Anne bent over and picked him up, scratching him behind his ears. "Oh, I'm sorry, baby... everything is so strange. I'm always tired or hungry these days, and now I'm getting these damned headaches..." Roger purred softly, nuzzling her neck. Anne smiled at him. Though he was as dumb as a mud, Roger was a sweetheart, and her favorite of all her family's cats. "C'mon, Roge – let's see if there's any leftover mac and cheese in the fridge." --- Tile #4: Question Bells clanged as hoots and shouts rang out from the doors that were open to the halls. Anne waited as the other kids raced to make it out the door and into the already crammed hall. That was one thing that hadn't changed since middle school – the halls were still a mess right after school. She waited patiently until the last student left, and hefted her backpack onto a shoulder, carefully making sure not to snag any of her waist-length hair on the zippers. After one last glance at the teacher, she made her way through the classroom and out the door. Outside it was a madhouse. Gritting her teeth, she navigated her way through the chaos, headed towards her locker. If she got her books now, and then went straight home instead of going to the library to finish her homework... maybe she wouldn't have to deal with Mandy. The other girl rubbed the wrong way – it just seemed like there was something not quite right with the perky brunette. No such luck. Kneeling on the floor in front of Anne's locker was Mandy, carefully stowing away books in the open bottom locker. Glancing up, she spotted Anne and smiled, waving furiously. Rolling her eyes, Anne sighed and decided to just get the torture over with. Walking over to Mandy, she managed to bite out a greeting as she neared. Still smiling, Mandy zipped up her backpack and closed her locker. Snapping her lock in place, she leaned backwards and flung out her hand towards her locker. "Anne, meet Dudley. Dudley, Anne." Silence. "You named your locker?!" "Sure, why not?" said Mandy as she rummaged in her backpack. Finally she extracted a striped eraser and a small blue shark. "This is Ralph," Mandy held up the shark, "and this is Bob," she gestured to the eraser. "So, you name inanimate objects? That's very strange," said Anne. Mandy looked down at the objects in her hands and frowned. "No, not strange," she said slowly as she returned them to her pack, "weird. Not strange, weird." "Sure, whatever you say. There's not much difference between the two," Anne grumbled as she stepped forward to open her locker. Standing up, pack in hand, Mandy shook her head, "There is a difference. A very big one, in fact. You'll learn that soon enough. Bye, I've got to go now, my ride is probably waiting for me. And, knowing Nekoi, he'll probably greet me with a great deal of yelling, waving of arms, and tortured sighs." As the other girl walked away, Anne asked, "Who is Nekoi...? Is he..." But Mandy was gone, around the corner before Anne could complete the rest of her question, "...is he your boyfriend?" --- Tile #5: Dedication Stomping away from the library, Anne glared at the pavement in front of her. ::"Closed for Testing" indeed! School is out – who could they possibly be testing anyway?:: she wondered as she trudged along. ::Guess I'll have to do my homework somewhere else... I really don't want to carry all of these books home.:: As she exited the school campus, she spotted a small coffee shop across the street. ::"FredbeaN," eh? I guess that's good enough.:: Passing the other students, she crossed the street and entered the shop. Inside there was a pervading odor of coffee grounds and chocolate. Noting that the one worker behind the counter was already speaking to a customer, Anne carefully chose a seat in the corner of the shop at the counter. There she pulled out her English book, determined to get her reading done while she waited for the cashier to come and take her order. "English, eh? My friend swears up and down that both it and Geometry are evil incarnate," said a voice in front of her. Glancing upwards, Anne froze as she took in the man before her. Storm grey eyes peered out from a handsome face framed by medium-length black hair. He smiled at her, "Are you ready to order, or do you more time to think about it?" Blinking, Anne shook her head, "I'm ready now. I'd like a medium hot chocolate, please." "Not a coffee drinker, hm? Totally understandable – personally, I stick to tea," the young man said as he turned away and busied himself with preparing her order. Anne watched as he moved about, noting the almost feline grace with which he went about his business. ::He's gorgeous,:: a part of her mind whispered, ::and not just his face either – look at that body! Especially that nice, tight, little–:: Anne abruptly cut off the voice, blushing furiously. Well, apparently her teenage hormones had decided to finally catch up with her! Clearing her throat, she started to speak as the man turned back towards her, "Unusual name for a coffee shop, FredbeaN. Are you Fred?" Setting a cup down in front of Anne, he shook his head and pointed to the name tag pinned securely to his apron. "Nope, I'm Hikaru. Fred is the one who owns this place – I just do all the work." Anne smiled shyly at him, then said, "Hikaru? Sounds foreign." Glancing at his features, she chanced a guess, "Is it Chinese?" Hikaru laughed and shook his head, "Naw. Close, though – it's Japanese. It means 'shining'." Someone called out to him, a girl wearing glasses and a long skirt. He placed a hand on Anne's and smiled. "The drink is on me – I guess I feel like I should do something to encourage pretty young women to come by more often. Now, if you'll excuse me..." he trailed off, and walked away to deal with his other customer. Her face still flushed, Anne looked down at her hand where he had touched it, then shook her head firmly, and went back to concentrating on the words in her textbook. She really did need to get this done. --- Tile #6: Intrusion Once again, Anne walked into the house. Luckily, this time her backpack wasn't nearly as heavy as previous times, since she had managed to finish at least two-thirds of her work in the café. Anne smiled a bit dreamily, remembering how Hikaru had helped her whenever she got stuck... not that that was often enough to suit her tastes... She growled and hit her head gently against a wall, ::Darn it, I do not have a crush on Hikaru – I just met the guy, I barely know him!:: But still... there was something about him... something that set him apart from and made him different from other guys that she knew. She just couldn't put her finger on what it was. Suddenly she doubled over, wincing as a sharp pain lanced her lower back that didn't have anything to do with the backpack that she was carrying. Moaning, she slumped sideways until she hit the wall, then slid down to the floor, where she curled up in a ball, urging the pain to stop. ::W...w...what's happening... to me...?:: Relief was a long time coming. --- Tile #7: Calculation A large folder thumped down on the desk to Anne's right. Looking up, she was surprised to see Mandy sitting herself down in the desk that was supposed to belong to a girl named Valerie. "What do you think you're doing," Anne hissed, "that's Valerie's desk! What will you do when she comes in and wants to sit down?" Demented as it might seem, Anne was sure that Mandy delighted in tormenting her. Perhaps this was just another one of the other girl's many complex and enigmatic plans to wreak havoc on Anne's life. Anne still had nightmares involving clovers... "Look, this is not my fault. Well, not really... Anyway, as for Valerie, she's sitting over there in my old desk. Mr. Marshmallow switched our seats because, according to him, I was talking to Fred way too much," said Mandy. Anne stared over at the group where Mandy had previously sat. Around Valerie where other girls... so who could Mandy be talking about...? "Fred?" queried Anne. "Yeah, you know – Fred." Mandy gestured to a girl with brown hair and glasses. ::Wait... wasn't she the girl who came to school as a penguin for Halloween?:: wondered Anne. "What? I thought her name was Win–" she was cut off by a harsh noise from Mandy. "Sss!! Do not curse her by daring to utter her sacred name," growled Mandy, her blue eyes fierce with anger. Glancing around, she added quietly, "There's always someone listening. Some of them can even here our very thoughts." ::Sure... Like that will ever happen,:: thought Anne as she rolled her eyes and concentrated on correcting her homework from the night before. Beside her, Mandy sat staring with a great deal of concentration at both her notebook and the answer sheet, her tongue clenched between her teeth. Her paper was a confusing network of orange lines from the pen she was using to correct it with. Growling, Mandy slammed her fists on the desk in frustration. "It's hopeless! Geometry is evil incarnate, I'll never understand it! Argh!" "I have a friend who knows someone who says the exact same thing all the time," said Anne, remembering her first conversation with Hikaru. Then she blinked, a bit confused. Why had she said that Hikaru was her friend? Was he? ::I guess... I guess he is, I've just never really thought about it before...:: Since her first visit to the café, she'd been back many times, and she had also met the young cashier elsewhere, out and about the city. She'd even conceded to the nagging idea that she had a crush on him. Turning her attention back to the present, she put aside her own paper, and turned to look at Mandy's. "What are you having a problem with?" Mandy sighed. "I understand the idea here, of using the angle and the height to find the distance to the base, but I can't figure out where the number for the length of the wire between the picket and the top of the flag pole came from..." Grinning, Anne settled down to explain to Mandy a2=b2+c2. The rest of the morning rolled by without incidence. --- Tile #8: Suppression Anne walked into the coffee shop with an air of familiarity, letting her pack down on the floor next to the counter and sat down on one of the tall stools. She flashed a grin at Hikaru, and then began to hunker down on her geometry homework. For once she'd been unable to get very much done in class because she had been so busy explaining to Mandy many of the concepts they were supposed to have learned already. "Hey, Rapunzel – what? Geometry? Didn't you finish that in class today?" Hikaru stepped into her field of vision and tapped her book lightly. "Well... I usually do, but today there was this new girl in my team, and she really didn't understand some of the basic concepts, so..." "So you felt obligated to help her out? Good girl! The good Samaritan act wins you a free hot chocolate with – ta da! Marshmallow!" He smirked and shoved said drink towards her. Chuckling, Anne shook her head, "Really Hikaru, sometimes I swear you're psychic." She poked viciously at the marshmallow with her spoon, "Ah, good old sympathetic magic. My geometry teacher's name is Mr. Marshmallow." When she went back to her homework, she was still smiling. In front of her, unnoticed, Hikaru stared at her with a great deal of concentration. "Anne... are you... well I guess it's silly, but you almost feel like a... not that it's possible, of course..." Anne fixed him in place with a Look, "Am I a what? Why don't you stop stumbling about and ask me, so that I can answer?" Hikaru's eyes widened and stared off at some point behind Anne. "I...I have to ask you to leave. I need to go pick up someone." "What, a friend?" asked Anne, smiling at his panicked deer look. "Sort of. She's actually my ex-girlfriend." --- Tile #9: Consideration Nothing. No matter how she looked at it, there was nothing in the fridge that she could eat. Not to say there was no food – no, there was plenty of food, it was just that it hadn't been prepared... Anne didn't feel exactly up to gnawing on a stick of butter. That left the last resort– box macaroni and cheese. As she gathered together the ingredients (box, butter, milk) and started the water boiling, she was distracted by a noise from the other room. Glancing into the dining room she immediately spotted the source, "Dodo, you idiot – shut up." The pigeon ignored her, however, and continued to coo at her, trying to fool her into thinking he was actually a very nice bird. Anne stopped part way in her turn back to the kitchen, staring at the pigeon. ::...very nice bird...:: As she looked at the bird, she couldn't help but wonder what he would taste like, could almost feel the feathers tickling the top of her mouth as her sharp teeth crunched down through the bones at the back of the neck... Her eyes widened as she realized her thoughts. Eat Dodo?! ::I must be losing my mind – Dodo has got to be one of the most unappetizing things I've ever laid eyes on.:: Behind her the pot had begun to boil over, and she rushed to its rescue, hoping to hurry up and complete the meal's preparation, eager to ease the overwhelming ache in her stomach. --- Tile #10: Intermission "...I swear, he looks just like him!" "I don't know, Fred – I really doubt that your dad is Benjamin Franklin reincarnated," said Mandy, looking skeptically at her friend. "I do have experience with this sort of thing, you realize." Having just arrived, Anne set her pack down on the floor and walked over to join the conversation. Not knowing anyone else anyone else, she had resorted to clinging to Mandy in order to have at least some social interaction. Because of this, she had ended up being adopted into the group of people that Mandy hung out with – "Fred", Chris, Adrienne, Mary, and others... Mandy constantly assured her that she would "love Jean", who "isn't here right now because she has to take care of some family business", whatever that meant. "What are you talking about now?" she asked as she reached the other two girls. The girls glanced at each other nervously, then back at Anne. "Just, you know, stuff," said Mandy. Anne raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Oh, really? I distinctly heard the word 'reincarnated'." Cocking her head to the side, Fred answered mysteriously, "Maybe you did, maybe you didn't." The bell rang and all the girls rushed to their seats before the teacher noticed them and decided to mark them tardy, just to be nasty. In her seat, Anne shook her head – she had no idea why Mandy and her friends insisted on acting as they had some kind of great secret. Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Anne tried to blink away the head and back aches she'd had all morning. --- Tile #11: Connection Locking away the last of her books, Anne turned away from her locker, then stepped to the side to make room so that Mandy could have access "Dudley". "Hurry up, I have to get home early today," Anne said from where she stood leaning against some lockers. She really did need to get home early – her mom wanted her to bake brownies for some function she was going to attend. "Hey, don't get all upset! I have to hurry too, or else Nekoi will drive off without me. He can be such a jerk when he wants to. I swear, I should tell his sister on him or something." Anne smiled down at her friend. So, the mysterious Nekoi had a sister? "What's his sister like?" she asked. "Well, actually, she's not really his sister – she's his second cousin. He's supposed to be her legal guardian, but she hasn't been around recently anyway." Mandy zipped up her backpack and slung it onto her back. Then she turned and began to walk towards the front of the school. There, Mandy sat down and proceeded to wait for her ride. Anne had already turned to start walking home, when Mandy called out to her, "Hey, since you're in such a hurry anyway, why don't you wait with me? I'm sure Nekoi will give you a ride home – he's actually a very nice guy – really! I'm not kidding," she added as she saw Anne's skeptical look. "Well, alright then," sighed Anne, leaning against a post, getting ready to wait for this...Nekoi. She didn't have to wait very long. Soon a red convertible with the top down pulled up, and Mandy ran towards it. "Hey Nekoi, you sure took your sweet time." Though her words came out harsh, she was smiling as she said it. She scrambled into the front passenger seat, then leaned over and gave the driver a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I really do appreciate you doing this all the time, 'karu." As Mandy released the driver, Anne got her first view of the unknown "Nekoi". And froze. A part of her registered Mandy's voice as she asked whether it would be okay to give a friend a ride home, but all of the rest of her was focused on one thing – Nekoi was Hikaru. ::Why does he give Mandy rides home? Is he her brother...? No, that doesn't make sense,:: thought Anne as she remembered what Mandy had said about Hikaru's "sister"... ::So he's a friend,:: which didn't make sense, he was probably at least five years older than Mandy. Anne recalled Mandy's "greeting", ::Oh, he must be–:: "Hey, are you coming or not, Anne?" called out Mandy from the car. "I... I just remembered I have to pick something up on my way home. I'll walk – see you Monday." The other girl gave Anne a strange look. "No you won't – remember? Winter break starts Monday." "Oh... yeah. Well, see you around, then." Anne began to walk away. "Well, if you're sure you don't want a ride..." Mandy trailed off. Trudging along, Anne looked at her feet. The walk home wouldn't help the pain in either her head or her back. And she was quite sure that nothing would help the pain in her heart. ::So then... Hikaru is Mandy's boyfriend...:: --- Tile #12: Altercation She really had forgotten about winter break, which was strange, because she had been completely aware of the fact that the brownies she was currently making were for a Christmas party. Oops. ::They say that the second thing to go is your memory,:: she thought, ::I guess number one is your common sense.:: Anne shoved the pan of brownies into the oven and shut the door, sighing and shaking her head. ::It would appear that Hikaru is in the "not available" category,:: thought Anne as she passed into the living room. The ache in her chest which had subsided earlier returned in full force. This time, however, it was different. Anne grimaced as the ache sunk downwards, settling in the pit of her stomach. ::Gods... it feels like... like someone's trying to tie my uterus in knots.:: An especially hard twist had her running to the bathroom, hand clamped firmly over her mouth, ::I think I'm going to be sick!:: Slamming the bathroom door behind herself, Anne fell to her knees and crawled over to the toilet, pushing the seat up. Leaning over, she waited for her body to reject her lunch. Nothing happened. Rocking backwards onto her toes, Anne rolled her eyes. ::Well that was anticlimactic,:: she thought to herself as she leaned against the bathtub, hoping to ride out the wave of pain that she could feel rising inside. It suddenly broke, filling her mind and almost overflowing out onto the tiled floor. Glancing down, she saw the red staining her pants. Her last thought before the blackness overtook her was a simple one. ::Oh. So this is what it's like to die.:: --- Tile #13: Meditation Blackness. Everywhere. And somewhere... Voices. "Isn't she ready yet?" Stern. Commanding. Almost... familiar? "No! I've told you before – it hasn't happened yet." Also familiar. Can't place it, though. A new voice. Older. And male. "Are you sure? The other day, I could've sworn–" "No. It hasn't happened. We would have felt it." Number two again. The Naysayer. The Commander, "Does she even know what she is?" "I... I don't think so," says Naysayer, "and she doesn't know what's happening." "When will she be ready," asks Commander. "In a couple of weeks – next year." "All right then. I'll see you then, okay." A pause. Then – "Okay." Emptiness where Commander's presence was before. Now only Naysayer and the male remain. "You should get some rest." "I can't – I'm worried. Will she be all right?" asks the male. "She'll be fine once she's with us. Well, if she lives that long." Falling again. They slip away. Alone now. Alone in the blackness. --- Tile #14: Transformation When she woke up, her butt hurt, as did her head to a certain extent. And her pants were a mess – soaked through with what looked like blood. Sighing, she stripped them off, standing there in just her socks, shirt, bra, and underwear. Almost immediately, the pain in her butt subside some with the removal of her pants. The blood on her pants and underwear – as well as the earlier aches – were easy to explain. She wasn't an idiot, and she'd had "family life" (a.k.a. sex ed.) in school since fourth grade. ::Well, I guess my body finally decided to get on the puberty bandwagon. Damn – I was hoping for at least another year before my periods started.:: Anne picked up her pants and started towards the door, determined to get some clean clothes from her room before either of her parents came home. ::Doh. I bet the brownies are charcoal by now,:: she thought. However, all thoughts of clothes and brownies flew from her head as she glanced at the mirror and saw her ears. Her green, furry cat ears. Behind her, her tail stood out straight, every green hair sticking out in panicked surprise. ::There... there has to be a logical explanation for this,:: Anne thought as she stared at her new body parts. ::In a moment I'll remember how I got bitten by a radioactive and/or genetically altered cat last week. That's what happens in the movies.:: No such thoughts occurred. ::Okay then – an alien baby from a dying planet? Rescued and raised by humans?:: That didn't work either – she looked like her older sister, who was too human to be an alien. ::Hallucinogenic in the school cafeteria food? Actually, that one makes a lot of sense...:: But no, the ears and tail were too solid to be creations of a drug-fogged mind. She pinched an ear and yelped in pain. She stared at her reflection in wonder, tears starting to make their way down her cheeks, ::What... what am I? Am I even human...?:: --- Tile #15: Contemplation Clothed again, Anne sat on her bed, the door to her room shut firmly. Now that she thought about it, her transformation made sense in a way. It explained her constant head and lower back aches in recent months – these were obviously from the pressure caused by the ears and tail. The knawing hunger that consistently plagued her, as well as her need constantly get more sleep made sense as well, both were common traits in cats. Not that any of it made any sense in either a scientific or logical context. ::How am I going to hide this? I'm almost positive this isn't a normal part of puberty.:: The tail was easy, she would just have to start wearing long skirts... something she wasn't looking forward to. For the ears? A hat maybe, or a very wide headband... maybe a bandana. ::Hmmm... I wonder if I can lay them back the way cats sometimes do.:: She tried it, and was happy to see that yes, it did work. ::Headband then. Though what really gets me is where my regular ears went. There's nothing left of them.:: Sighing, Anne went about trying to find the necessary items, trying hard not to think about her parents' reaction to their younger daughter deciding to suddenly wear skirts and headbands all the time. --- Tile #16: Irritation Something was tugging at her, keeping her from going forward. Turning around, Anne glared at the door, daring it to keep its grip on her skirt. Relenting, the door released the skirt, much to Anne's delight. ::Bloody hell, I swear it's like Ren Faire all year long,:: she grumbled to herself. "Cheerio! So how was your winter break, Annie ol' chap? Guess what I did!" Oh no. Mandy. ::Any and all existing deities, save me from hyperactive freaks.:: "Don't tell me – you went to England." "I wish! Nah, I just slept on a volcano," said Mandy nonchalantly. "Nothing special." "Right." Anne opened her mouth to ask Mandy to explain herself, then stopped. Mandy had never told her that she was dating Hikaru. Closing her eyes, Anne turned and walked away, determined to ignore the other girl. "Hey, wait up! You never answered my question – how was your winter break?" Mandy asked as she ran to catch up with her friend. "Did anything... unusual happen?" "You mean other than the aliens that tried to abduct me? No, not really," grumbled Anne "Wait. They tried to abduct you?! Those bastards! I already told them that I get first shot. Back stabbing Xorklings... See if I keep on giving them information on how to best take over the ear-" Mandy trailed off as she noticed the look Anne was giving her, "Uh, not that I have any connections what-so-ever with extra terrestrials. Nope." "Bugger off, Hunter. I'm really not in the mood for your little games today." Anne passed away in a swirl of skirt. --- Tile #17: Frustration As she sat down for math, Anne tried hard to ignore Mandy's enthusiastic tapping, sound effects, and generally annoying activities. Finally giving up, Anne decided to momentarily forget that she wasn't speaking to the other girl. "Mandy, you need to get your parents to have you tested for Attention Deficit Disorder." Mandy grinned and leaned back in her chair, "They're way ahead of you, Annie bananie, they did that when I was nine. Tested positive. I now take meds every morning." She stretched out her arms. "You should see me when I haven't had my pill. I throw things. Tantrums, pliers, chairs, typewriters – you name it." Mandy started singing a modified version of "the Spam song", which seemed to mainly consist of the word "sausage". "Enough already! I give up! What do you want from me?" said Anne, in desperation. Blinking, Mandy stopped singing and stared at Anne. "Want? What do I want? Do you really want to know?" "Yes!" "Right then! I can't figure out question number fifteen and Ralph here doesn't know it either. Help me? Please?" Later, at the end of the period Mandy grabbed the sleeve of Anne's sweatshirt as she went out the door. "Anne... it's Tuesday – come to the meeting at lunch today, okay? Please?" --- Tile #18: Initiation The club met every Tuesday, at lunch, in room 106. It never participated in the club get-togethers that occurred twice a year, where other clubs desperately tried to rake in both members and funds. Anne knew that Mandy was a member, as well as many of her friends, however, she herself had never attended. Truthfully, very few people actually knew what the club did. In fact, most people believed the Ni Club to be about on par with the school's mysterious Cheese Club, which was said to meet in the light of the full moon. So it was with great trepidation that Anne pushed open the door to room 106. She wasn't sure why she was doing this – officially, she still wasn't on speaking terms with Mandy and her cronies, and she was still nervous about someone discovering that she wasn't – exactly – human. Beneath the skirt, the tail twitched with annoyance. As soon as she entered the room her eyes widened and her nose twitched. Something smelled wrong in the room. Not necessarily bad, just wrong, out of place. Under her headband, the ears made an attempt at twitching, ::The wrongness... it permeates the room. It's not even coming from any specific place. If it's always like this in here, how can they have meetings? Let alone class.:: The other students had formed a circle out of the desks and were currently involved in an intense discussion. "– and I'm saying she isn't ready yet! If we push too early, we might hurt her – possibly permanently." Voices cried out in protest. A girl yelled at Mandy that she had promised results with the new year, another person asked whether Mandy was sure that "she" didn't know. Her temper rising, Anne finally decided that she had had enough. "Stop it! You've all been over this before. There's no need to keep on talking about things you already know." She paused considering what she'd just said. Strangely enough, she was sure that she'd heard a similar conversation before, though she couldn't remember where or when. Everyone had fallen silent when she'd started speaking, and was now staring at her in the doorway, shock plainly visible in their eyes. Finally, one person (she believed it was Adrienne) spoke up, slowly. "Anne...? What are you doing here? More importantly, why are you here?" Anne pressed a hand to her forehead. "I'm here because Mandy asked me in first period to come. And as to why I'm here – I think it's because I was stupid enough to ask Mandy what she wanted from me." "Fred" stood up, catching Anne's eye with her own. "You're not being entirely truthful, dear. There's another reason too – isn't there?" Normally Anne would have been irked by the other girl calling her "dear", but now – for some reason beyond human understanding – it seemed absolutely appropriate. "I don't know what you're talking about, and –" she stopped, screwing up her eyes and pinching her nose. "Gods! How can you stand it in here?! I'm about to go insane from the wrongness!" "It's unsane, not insane," said Mandy softly. "And it's not wrongness, it's weirdness. Welcome to the weird side, my friend." --- Tile #19: Relation Anne stared at Mandy in disbelief. "What?!" "You know, the weird side. It's halfway between the dark side and the light side. Sorta like how unsane is neither sane nor insane." "The way all of you people speak – it's like you're from another world." Fred pulled nervously at the neck of her shirt, "Well, actually... I wasn't going to tell you until you were ready, but since someone," she glared at Mandy, "decided to give the go-ahead without asking me first, I guess I don't really have a choice. Anne, you are, in a way, correct. We are all from another world." Anne stared at her, then began to laugh. If it hadn't been for the skirt and tail, she would have been rolling around on the floor as well. "Sure, and you're all from the planet Skyron in the galaxy of Andromeda. Right." "Actually, we're interdimensional travelers who gained the power to walk through worlds by first walking the Pattern in the one true world, Weird World," Mandy said, gazing steadily at Anne. "Mandy, you're getting Weird World mixed up with Amber again." "Oh, hey, you're right! Sorry, Fred. But the interdimensional travelers part is true." "Sure. And you all have fantastic powers, but for some reason I'm the only one who can save your world because only I have the special magic stone. Ha ha." Mandy clasped her hands together enthusiastically, "What, you've seen that movie too?! This is so cool, we can talk about it and try to figure out what was actually going on and –" "Ahem." "Sorry, Fred." "Anne, we're not joking or playing a game here. We are completely serious. We can travel between worlds and we all have... unusual...powers," said Fred, calmly. "Right. So now you want me to believe in magic, huh? Everyone knows that magic isn't real, no matter how much you want it to be." "You know you don't believe that," said a quiet voice from the shadows. Anne stiffened as she recognized the voice. She didn't wonder about his presence there for any more than a second. ::He's going out with Mandy... And FredbeaN – I should have realized sooner.:: "If you did believe it, then how would you explain what happened to you over winter break," continued Hikaru as he stepped into the light, next to Fred. "How do you— I mean, what are you talking about? I stayed home the entire time during break and nothing happened. Well, I got my period, but that's all," Anne said. Walking towards her, Hikaru remained solemn, "We're not trying to hurt you, Anne. We also can't say that we know exactly what you're going through – well, except for Adrienne maybe." He was right up in front of her now, and he was smiling. "You see," said Fred, "you had a couple of unusual ancestors. One each on both your maternal and paternal sides. And it didn't really mean anything, at first. Both families just had an strange affinity for cats... and a great interest in birds and small rodents. That is, until you came along." "...cats...?" echoed Anne softly, starring off into space. "What happened was that the genes of both these ancestors bred true in you, causing you to be, well, different from other most people," concluded Fred. "...what do you mean...?" "She means," said Hikaru as he leaned forward to slip her headband off, "welcome to the family." Horror growing inside her, Anne looked up at Hikaru, seeing for the first time the cat ears sticking up from his mane of black hair. "Oh," she said weakly, then fainted dead away. --- Tile #20: Confusion ::"...silly, but you almost feel like a...":: ::"...strange affinity for cats...":: ::"...welcome to the family.":: ::Family? Do I even have a family any more? I'm not even human, I think. Am I? And all of them – they're all nutcases who think that they're from some place called the "Weird World".:: ::I think "Fred" is their leader...:: Sighing, she blinked her eyes open, ::Where am I?:: The room was unfamiliar, and definitely not the classroom she had expected. The white walls were bare of any form of decoration, and a soft tan carpet covered the floor. She saw that she was lying on a low bed of some sort as well. ::What is this? A futon?:: "...didn't think she'd faint like that." "Um, hellooo, Fred. Of course she fainted. Who wouldn't faint when they found out that the guy they like isn't even human?" "Hey, it's not like she's human herself exactly." "...she... she likes me?" "Duh. I mean, why else would she have kept on going to the café? Asking for math help, of all things. 'Karu, the girl helps me with my geometry homework practically every day." "That's not saying much." "She likes me?" "Great, now if we count your cousin, you have a fanclub of – yes, count them – two! Gosh darn, I think I might just faint from the excitement." The voices faded as the people talking in the other room (she assumed them to be Mandy, Fred, and Hikaru) walked away from her. But it didn't matter. Not really. ::"...not like she's human...":: ::Not even human. Gods, what am I?:: --- Tile #21: Conversation "Hey. How are you feeling?" Anne stared at Hikaru as he walked into the room. "Your... your ears are gone." He smiled at her, then tugged at the ears on the sides on his head, "No they're not – see?" "But they're all pinky-peach and normal." ::Did I dream it all?:: She raised her hand to where her jaw connected to her head. Nothing. "Normal, unlike mine," she added. "Why don't you just retract yours?" asked Hikaru as he pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down. "It's not that hard. I learned how when I was six. I pulled mine in because Fred said that they might freak you out again. Mandy and I said they wouldn't, but since Fred's the boss..." He shrugged. "Boss? Boss of what?" "Us. Well, not you, but the rest of us. And this place too." "What is this place? Where am I?" "You are in the House of Fred, in Weird World. We brought you here after you fainted at the meeting. Mandy got a friend of hers to fill in for you for the rest of the school day. Nice guy, has these amazing purple eyes –" "Why am I here anyway?" "Because Fred wants you to work for her. And Mandy's sick and tired of having to hang out with me all the time. You also test high on the Ni scale, so it was only a matter of time before you ended up here anyway." "...what am I? A freak?" "No! You're a cat demon. Like me. And you're not a freak – you're very, very beautiful." Anne stared at him, her eyes wide. He was blushing, and looking away. "You shouldn't say stuff like that, it'll go to my head. And I am a freak; whoever heard of a green can?" "I like the green, it brings out your eyes. Do you... doyoureallylikeme?" It was Anne's turn to blush, and she nodded. "You're very kind. And sweet. You have a nice voice, you're intelligent, and you know how to listen." She sighed, shaking her head, "But you have Mandy, so it's not like all that matters." Hikaru was staring at her. "Mandy? Geez, the two of us haven't been involved for at least one hundred years – possibly two. So you do like me? Mandy wasn't lying? Wow, this is so amazing! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find someone of the same species who is not only interested in you, but also likes to pun? Do you?" He leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. "Um... Anne?" "Yes?" "When this is all straightened out – do you want to go out sometime?" "I... I think I'd like that." --- Tile #22: Explanation "So, let me see if I've got this straight: Adrienne is, like me, the descendent of a couple of demons who mated with humans, only she's a fox demon. Mandy was born human, but she has actually been reincarnated several times before and she ended up asking Fred to make her a carrot demon. Hikaru is a cat demon who was actually born in the demon world, but ended up in the human world because of his (second) cousin, Jean, who's father was an alien and who's mother was an alien-sorceress. Fred was made goddess of Weird World by some group of god-like entities called the Endless. And Stephanie..." Anne trailed off, "what is Stephanie again?" "Evil," replied Mandy, spitting in the grass. "Technically she's a fairy of some sort, but no one actually knows where she came from." Anne continued, "And the purpose of Weird World is to fight against the forces of normalcy, which are headed by..." "The evil Bordem Hoggie." "...who just happens to go to our school and is also our class president. And you, Fred, want me to help fight Bordem by becoming a Weird no Guide, like Mandy. In return for this I'll receive a flying spatula, a kimono, and minimum wage." Nodding, Fred applauded, "Well yes, that's basically the gist of it." "Cool. When can I start?" --- Author Notes: Right, not much to say here... There is a Cheese Club, but no Ni Club – instead, Animé Club meets on Tuesdays in Room 81 (not 106). Um, also random references here and there:
Though all of the people in this story (with the exception of Hikaru Nekoi) are based on real people (yes, even Dudley, Ralph, and Bob, though they aren't exactly "people", per se), not all of the events mentioned here actually took place. I am not, however, going to tell you what is true and what isn't, so there. Nyah. --- |
