A Cat, a Thief, and a Wizard

"Why am I not bound to the Gracious Lady?" Tom asked. He faced the arena as he settled on the bleacher bench next to me and wrapped his tail around his paws. Below us the wooden potato dude was getting bigger as he tried to stomp a woodchuck looking thing. "A few reasons. First, and most significantly, I'm too old."

I snorted. He might be an old tom cat, but he was still quite spry. "That sounds like a cop out. I'm feeling responsible for that idiot deer. I introduced him to you and this–" I waved a paw at the arena "–wider horizon. Lay it on me straight, Tom. What kind of scam are y'all running here?"

"I thought you were against it," Tom said, giving me a side eye. "Do you really think the collars, the healing, the statues, are all a scam?"

"I have to say I do. At least a little. You not wearing a collar makes me think I'm right. What's the real story here, Tom?"

The black cat shook his head. "I haven't lied at all. As for me, I am too old to be fighting. I'd spend the rest of my days as a statue, and even if I won more fights than I lost, I wouldn't gain much from it."

I waited. I knew the silence would get uncomfortable and he'd tell me more.

"You're still skeptical," Tom said, finally.

"I'm waiting for the truth, Tom. Not platitudes. Not a sales pitch. You did not choose to put on the Lady's collar, when wearing it would practically mean immortality while you were living here. Why?"

In silence, we watched the woodchuck stay just behind the potato dude, effectively running circles around him. A long moment later, Tom finally looked at me. "It felt like replacing my Master. That's not something I could ever do."

Ouch. Not what I was expecting. "I'm sorry." I didn't want to replace my wizard either. That answer alone made me feel more confident in this whole thing. They weren't forcing Tom, so they probably weren't forcing any of the familiars.

Still, there were details that didn't jibe. "Did you know that the Gracious Lady is a statue of the Flower Empress? Do you know who that is?" I asked.

Tom shrugged. "I didn't realize it was a statue of an actual person."

"Not just a person either. Supposedly, she was a demon. You're older than me, did you seriously never hear of her?"

"I have," Tom said, his ears flattening slightly. "It's a magical artifact. Who the statue's of isn't as important as what the statue does."

"Or, it might be very important. That's fine, though," I said and stood up with a stretch. "You can figure out what's up with binding familiars to the statue of a demon known for conquest and control. I gotta head back to the kids."

Tom looked a bit shocked. "It's not controlling anyone," he said a little sharply before getting up. His tail lashed and his claws curled. "Come on, it's this way."

Hmm. This topic was getting a bit hot. Time to cool it a little. "By the way," I said, pointing my chin at the end of the arena, "that fire dog. What's his story and does he have a name?"

"Hmm?" the black cat glanced distractedly at the far end of the arena I'd pointed at. "Oh, him. He's been here a couple of weeks. He doesn't have a name, or at least, hasn't told anyone."

"He mentioned someone named Maximus. Ring any bells?" I asked as we headed to the teleportation wardrobe we arrived in. This one was relatively out in the open. Just casual magic furniture sitting around.

I only had one ear pointed at Tom as I gazed around the area near the wardrobe. I figured most of the familiars here lived at the Menagerie. Long term, it was probably more comfortable to commute and easier to feed them all. The new management probably had a hand in setting all this up.

Convenience was the only reason I could see for this one to be out here like this. They had to have more than the four I'd found. Yet if they filled these stands with humans on fight nights, then it wouldn't matter how many wardrobes they had. There was no way to move that many people through such a small conveyance.

There was more to discover here.

Tom shook his head, clearly still distracted. "I don't think the statue is connected to the demon," he said, reverting the topic back. What I'd said was clearly sticking in his mind. Good. "It heals and protects. That doesn't seem like something a demon would do."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"That would depend on what the demon was getting out of the arrangement. Like, is that demon taking a cut of all the mana in the downlines? Does a demon need mana that way?"

Tom didn't like that line of thinking. His ears were entirely flat now. I was hip to cat body language now, and I rubbed shoulder to shoulder against him as we walked. It was cat for 'I support you, friend.'

"How about those Deer Skull Mask Guys?" I asked. "They're giving me 'faceless minions of evil' vibes."

At this, Tom snorted. "Darryl's not faceless or evil. He can be a bit goofy and stupid, but he's not a bad guy."

That was something at least. If I was going to be visiting here as often as I wanted to, it was nice to know the people were somewhat okay. And the guy in the deer mask did rush the injured weasel to the statue for healing. Maybe there was hope for this place.

We hopped into the wardrobe and I lit my amulet to watch Tom. He glared at me, but activated the wardrobe in plain view.

Once I figured out the aspected mana piece, I was sure I could activate this too. It looked very similar to the formations around the school.

Tom was quiet as he led me back. Once we'd hopped down the hidden hatch in the storage alcove, he stopped and met my gaze.

"I am not a scammer," he said firmly, his tail lashing. "I would not harm the beasts here."

I nodded. "I believe that. That doesn't mean you aren't getting scammed, though. You're alert to it now, and if things are shady or get questionable, you'll do what's right."

Tom rubbed his head on my shoulder before turning around and climbing up and out of sight. And I've just solidified an inside contact.

I heaved a sigh. I still had to collect my listening stone before letting the kids know I was here. I got the feeling we wouldn't be returning to the Menagerie.

"How is this my fault?!" Michael shouted. He stomped his foot on the straw inside the barn and waved his arms aggressively, nearly knocking down a bird perch. He didn't approach the janitor they'd been working with even though he was the target of Michael's tantrum. The janitor was twice the size of Michael and more than a little intimidating. "I put my familiar in your care! I put him right there! In your barn! How did you lose him?"

Seth was ignoring Michael's tantrum as best he could. He was just outside the barn doors scanning the fields around the Menagerie for any sign of movement, and had one hand pressed against his cheek.

Michael had punched him and accused Mau of eating his dikdik.

Mau would never.

It scared Seth that he couldn't sense Mau's direction, or anything about her. But at least he could tell the connection was still there. Michael's connection was gone.

"Knock it off, Michael," Arnold said. "If they wanted to be found, we would have found them. My Asclepius was right where I left him, even though his tank was open."

"Snakes are even more stupid than deer," Michael snapped. "Of course it's not smart enough to wander off."

"I'm done with this," the janitor said, and jabbed his finger at Michael. "You are responsible for your familiar. Use your bond to call it."

"I can't call it!" Michael shouted. "I've been telling you the bond is broken! Something happened to my familiar!"

"Your familiar and your bond are not my problem." The janitor's glance included Seth. "You leave in ten minutes if you found them or not. I will be telling your school that you aren't welcome back."

The janitor stalked to the building that housed the carriages and horses. Seth knew they'd be leaving as soon as the carriage was ready.

Seth glanced at Arnold. His concern for Mau outweighed his concern for his probation, but this was something that affected Arnold too.

Arnold shrugged and shook his head. Seth was surprised by how unbothered he was. Maybe the school would think this isn't their fault?

Michael started flinging hay and overturning every bucket and trough as if the little deer was hiding under them. Seth took a few steps further into the fields away from the tantrum.

In the last hour Seth had tried multiple times to get a direction using the wind. The wind never found her. He tried focusing on the bond, and it felt blocked. A wall had been constructed between them and Seth was really worried it meant that Mau wanted to leave. Seth tried the pain pinches that they usually used to communicate. When that didn't work he'd used his small knife to make cuts in his arm.

There was no response from Mau.

He'd searched every habitat, checked every pen. He'd cast Message. He'd done everything he could think of. With no other ideas and nothing else to try, he was scanning the fields for the third time, silently begging the wind for help.

And just like that, he could feel her again.

"Mau!" he cried and took off running.

Moments later he found her, curled up on the seat of the wagon they'd be taking back to school, soaking wet, and apparently sound asleep.

"Oh, you're not sleeping. Don't you even think you can pretend something like that." Seth scooped the cat up and hugged her tightly. He didn't care how wet he was getting. Mau was all right. He rubbed his face in her wet fur, and maybe her fur wasn't the only reason his face was wet.

When he felt a little calmer, he held her at arms length and examined her.

Her thick coat was soaking wet, and she looked pretty bedraggled. She had nearly doubled in size from the small housecat she'd been when he first found her. She had big ears with tufts, a tail longer than her body, paws that hinted at her future size, and her fangs were just starting to peek out below her chin. The horns that her mother had were still nothing more than tiny bumps under the skin on her skull. The silver gray of her coat was darker while wet, blending with the darker rosettes.

There was no sign of injury and no indication of where she'd gone.

"We are going to have a long talk," Seth growled at his familiar.

Michael came barreling in a moment later. "Where is he? Where's mine?"

Mau chose a very poor time to yawn and lick her lips.

"It ate him! I knew it!" Michael made a dive for Mau.

The ride back was in silence. Arnold was busy healing deep scratches across Michael's face, while Michael sulked. True to his word, the janitor kicked them out before they'd found the dikdik.

Mau had signed to Seth that the dikdik wouldn't be found, and was safe. She also slipped a stone into his pocket.

This time when Mau wanted to ride on his shoulder as they headed back to the dorm room he let her.