The Chaos Cats' Story

Later turned out to be that evening; with a goal in mind, Cyr could settle at last, and the four chaos cats and their four non-demonic friends spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon lounging lazily in the sun. One or another of the group would wander off now and then, but he or she or it invariably returned not long after, seeking only to stretch his or her or its legs, get a drink of water, and maybe talk to someone on the way. Once the sun set, though, and the mainly nocturnal Sanctum started stirring, the restlessness returned and soon all four cats were on their paws and ready to seek out the chaos god to ask for her advice.

Looking for Aki and finding her, however, were too very different things. The four-- or eight, counting the non-felines-- spent the entire evening and half the night poking around the Sanctum and surrounding forest and came up with no red and black chaos cat, no copper-furred feline Mardusian, not even an ojee who thought they had seen her recently. They searched the numberless, cultivated clearings where the ojee lived, the separate brove where the less intelligent ferojilon were kept-- and then had to wait for As'vor to reacquaint himself with the rest of his pack-- even the thickets where mated pairs might hide or expectant mothers might wait. Nowhere was the chaos cat deity.

"I just know she knows we're looking for her," Oco grumbled as they followed the path back towards the river.

"It's certainly something she'd do, to just hide from us out of mischief," Axa admitted.

"She'll show eventually," Cyr said confidently. "We'll just have to look again. Not even she can be so cruel as to let us look forever."

"Of course not," Tef chuckled, "she knows we'd give up before forever."

"Looking for Aki, kittens?" Exa's voice drifted from where she sat nearby, half-buried in young ojee and smiling serenely at her.

"Oh, yes, ma'am," Axa hurried to agree. "Have you seen her?"

"She just went off thataway," the elderly Earth said, pointing with the leading tine of her wing into the trees.

"Thanks!" Cyr exclaimed, bounding off in the direction indicated.

"Yes, thank you," Axa added with a polite dip of a feline curtsey and a fanning of wings before trotting after him. Oco and Tef, less interested and more lazy, respectively, drifted after them. Chill scrambled to catch up, and Naikoi was already on her friend's heels; As'vor bounded ahead, scrambled back with excited yips for Oco to hurry up, then bounded ahead again, and Pulsar, who never hurried, waddled along contentedly beside Tef.

Sure enough, there was the chaos cat god herself, pausing along the path to set down one of the Sanctum's other terisen inhabitants. She was "in disguise" today, copper-furred and bipedal, after a fashion-- even wearing clothes! Red, of course, was her favorite color, and just about all she wore. Sensing, hearing, or catching peripheral sight of the small pack racing towards her, she turned and grinned at them. Something in her expression suggested that she knew exactly who was coming, what they wanted, and, as Oco had surmised, exactly how long they had been looking for her. Cyr skid to a stop in front of her, Naikoi bumping into his haunches with a squeak, Axa only barely keeping from doing the same by cupping her wings, and Chill bumped into her with a yip of her own. As'vor bounced around them, somehow not tangling up his many legs, then bounded around Aki, who patted him on the head with a laugh. Tef, Oco, and Pulsar caught up, looking expectantly between their god and their spokesperson, Cyr.

Before Cyr could do more than open his mouth excitedly, though, Aki held up a finger to forestall him. "Looking for adventure, are we?" she grinned.

"How'd you guess?" Cyr asked wryly.

"Well, I am all-knowing, you know," Aki said, waving a hand casually. Axa couldn't help a giggle, but Oco behind her just sighed a little.

"Got any ideas as to what kind of adventure you want?" Aki asked. "There's a big ole world out there, ya know. Lots of things to do."

"Oh, I don't know," Cyr began, suddenly shy before the god, now that he actually wanted to talk to her.

"There's a lot of cats out in that world, though, isn't there?" Tef drawled, instead.

"Wreaking havoc on the poor Mardusians," Axa added, not unsympathetically.

"Doing the same things every other chaos cat has ever done for all of time," Oco mourned.

"What? Are my faithful running low on creativity?" Aki laughed. "Impossible!"

"Well-- no--" Oco stammered, blinking. As'vor licked her face, and she fell back into her habitual scowl to swat half-heartedly at him.

Cyr finally found his voice again. It wasn't what they'd intended to say, but it was how he felt! "It's just boring, you know? We wanna do something different!"

"And we wanted to be able to do it with our friends," Axa interjected, hugging Chill to her with a wing, even though the ojee was more than twice her size. Chill nuzzled her neck then gave Aki a mournful look, which the chaos god mimicked playfully.

"And we thought you might have some ideas," Cyr finished with a grin and a firm nod.

"You thought I might have some ideas, hmm?" Aki folded one arm across her chest, tapping her chin with the other hand. All four cats bobbed their heads with varying levels of excitement, hope, confidence, and boredom. For a long few moments, nothing happened except Aki rolling her eyes up to the canopy and tapping her muzzle. Tef rolled his own eyes; Oco sighed heavily, unsurprised; Cyr shifted and bounced in place, impatient; Axa glared at them all to be patient.

It was Naikoi who broke the silence, as impatient as Cyr-- though for reasons of her own, as she probably didn't understand why they were even waiting. She let out a loud trill, ending with a demanding chirp. Aki laughed. "All right, all right. I'll spill! So you don't wanna make your way in the world like most chaos cats, you want something new and different and exciting." Cyr and Tef nodded enthusiastically, Axa with reservations, and Oco warily. "How 'bout this?" Aki suggested. "If Mardusion isn't enough for ya, how 'bout some other world?"

"Whatcha mean?" Cyr asked, blinking.

"Well, Mardusion isn't the only world out there!"

"Well, yeah, but we can't--"

"Ah, but you can," Aki interrupted, holding up a finger again and grinning like a loon. "Here." She was suddenly holding a book, offering it to the little group. Where it had come from, no one could quite guess. "A list of aaaaaall the worlds I know of. Well, maybe not all, but certainly some! Pick a few! Each of you pick a favorite. I'll send you. Not for long, mind, but enough to satisfy you, I think."

"All of us?" Axa breathed.

"Of course, all of you!" Aki exclaimed, ruffling the Earth cat's headfur and grinning still. "As if any of you'd do anything without the rest! I ought to know that by now. I'm all-knowing, remember?"

Smiling to herself, the chaos god left the group pouring over the book, skipping down the path. Not a one interpreted her words the way she'd meant them-- but then, they just made things more fun!