I had made my choice, and my new Shadowcats were all I had hoped that they would be. But how would they take my transformation into a cat-creature?
Only one way to find out.
I dropped my human illusion, and a moment later my armored feline form was revealed to my Shadowcat minions.
"Oh, wow!"
"Woah!"
"You're one of us now! I thought you smelled different."
"I was worried about that, Bastet. I can hide my appearance, but I can't change my scent."
"Oh, you still smell like you. But there's some other smell about you that I can't figure out."
"That might be from my new Mistress. We've been working and sleeping together ever since I left. But anyway. We are flying to meet her tonight. She wants to conquer Southern California, and we are going to help her with that. Right now, your job will be watching and guarding us while she and I do the conquering. Got it?"
"Yes, boss."
"Very funny, Kusac. Our Mistress is a black horse called Nightmare Moon. You will call her 'Nightmare Moon' or 'Mistress'. You can take orders from her, even when I'm not around. Just tell me what those orders are when you see me next. If she contradicts one of my orders, just do what she says and tell me later."
"Got it."
"Alright. You know how to use those wings?"
In a blink, Kusac had unfurled his wings. A few quick flaps and he was hovering a few feet up off the ground.
"What do you think?"
"Smartass. Bastet, your turn."
The tortoiseshell took a few timid flaps with her wings, but very quickly gained her confidence. Soon, she was hovering in the air next to Kusac.
"Good job. Isis, your turn."
The chubby Shadowcat stayed on the ground and shook in fear.
"Come on, Isis. Just open your wings and flap. You can do it."
The Shadowcat timidly opened her wings and began to slowly flap them. Her confidence seemed to grow the more she flapped, and in no time she was hovering up off the ground. She tenderly flew up and down the alley several times while I gave her more verbal encouragement. Each time she turned around, she flew a little higher and a little faster until she was zipping up and down some twenty feet above the ground.
"OK, enough playtime Isis. Come here."
The Shadowcat took a sharp turn in the air and made a beeline for me. When she stopped and came to a hover, she had a grin on her muzzle and was purring loudly.
"There you go - good girl!
"Alright. We're supposed to meet our Mistress tonight, but as you can see it's still daylight out. So instead, we're going to go somewhere so you can practice with your new bodies and work on your teamwork."
Besides, if Nighty sees they can't work together she's going to give me a lot of grief.
"Now, I'm going to hide you all behind bird illusions before we take off."
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why', Kusac?"
"Why do you hide us? You hid us on the way down here, and now you're hiding us again. Are you ashamed of our new forms?"
"No, I am not ashamed of you. But my Mistress and I are trying to be sneaky, and flying cats are not sneaky."
"Oh."
"It's a good question Kusac. When it's dark out, we won't need to use illusions because people can't see very well at night. But until the sun does down, we need to be careful.
"Everyone okay?"
Nods all around. So I cast illusion spells on all of us, so we looked like ordinary birds. I had worked on the bird illusion since I last used it out in the desert. None of us looked any bigger than a normal pidgeon or sparrow now; the rest was simply hidden from sight. I took off into the air, then waited above the apartment complex for my Shadowcats to catch up. Once they did, I flew northwest towards the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I was aiming for an area just west of the airport that was marked as a Blue Butterfly sanctuary. Before it became a sanctuary, there were houses and families and animals living there. It's prime real estate, as the ocean is just down the hill from there. While the El Segundo Blue Butterfly does exist and they make their home in the sanctuary, rumor has it that the sanctuary was made just to shut up the people who complained about all the noise from the airport. A little eminent domain to force the people to move out, and place a sanctuary there so no one can ever move back in.
The four of us skirted the southwest corner of LAX, and landed in a part of the sanctuary that couldn't be seen from the street. I removed our illusions, set my banker's box down in a dry spot, then addressed my Shadowcats.
"Okay. We're going to be playing games of tag. One of you will go run off, and after a bit the other two will give chase. The chase is over once the one being chased is tapped with a paw. Tails don't count. No tackling, no biting. I'll give you directions from the air. Got it?"
They did. Kusac was first, and he was great at avoiding Baster and Isis one-on-one. But when I gave them directions to cut him off, he didn't stand a chance. Both Bastet and Isis had the same result, though sometimes Kusac just ran them down. However, during one chase Bastet stopped in her tracks and looked down at the nearby beach.
"What's that, Master?"
I landed next to her and gave her a quick pet.
"That's a beach, Bastet. It's made of soft and warm sand. Beyond the beach is water."
"That's a loooooot of water."
"Yup. But you don't have to go into it, the beach is plenty of fun anyway.
"You want to go check it out?"
"Yes, please."
"You got it."
I shouted over to where I thought Kusac and Isis were.
"GAME OVER! SHADOWCATS, RETURN!"
Within a minute, all three cats were at my feet and waiting expectantly.
"Good job, all of you. We're going to take a break for the rest of the day, and head down to the beach. Now, wait here while I go get my box."
I flew over to my box on the other side of the hill, picked it up then returned to my Shadowcats. I took a look down at the beach, and noticed that it looked kinda empty.
"Alright, here's the plan. We're going to fly down there as birds and land across the road. As soon as you land, change into your smaller cat forms. No one should notice. Got it?"
"Yes, Master."
A splash of illusion magic, and three birds appeared in the grass. We took off, flew over the fence and landed on the sidewalk across the street. In a flash, three cats appeared next to a human wearing a t-shirt and shorts. We trotted down a nearby set of stairs, crossed the parking lot and hit the beach. The cats were fascinated by the sand, and how their paws would sink into it. I let them freely frolic on the beach, as long as they didn't go too far. I walked down close to the water line, then sat down in the sand. I spent some time watching the waves roll in. Eventually, the cats joined me; Kusac played in the surf, Isis curled up on my box and Bastet curled up in my lap.
I heard a familiar jingle not long after the sun began to go down. A fruit vendor was wheeling his cart along the harder sand near the water line. The ringing bell on the man's cart woke up Bastet and Isis, while Kusac stopped playing to watch. When the seller was in front of me, he stopped and looked at me expectantly.
Probably doesn't speak English well, but that's okay.
"Do you have any mixed fruit cups left?"
He nodded and held up two.
"How much for both?"
He held up some fingers, and I felt it was a fair price. I pulled out my jar of change and showed it to him.
"Change okay?"
He nodded. I counted out the right change and handed it over, and he gave me the two plastic cups filled with fruit along with a handful of paper napkins. He then wheeled his cart down the beach, looking for more customers.
I found myself surrounded by three cats, all enticed by the strong smell of fruit.
"What's that, Master?"
"Fruit. It looks like we have..."
I looked inside the two cups, and turned them around to see what fruit was inside them.
"Watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, mango and cucumber.
"Want to try some?"
All three enthusiastically answered, "Yes!"
I fed each cat a piece of fruit, which they first sniffed then ate with gusto. Kusac and Bastet were most fond of the mango, while Isis really liked the watermelon and I loved the cucumber slices. But we all ate some of everything. In no time, the fruit was all gone and the sun had nearly vanished below the horizon.
"It's almost dark, Master."
"Yes Isis, it is. My Mistress should be waking up around now. Once it's fully dark, we can leave."
That moment arrived several minutes later. As there was no one else on the beach that I could see, we changed into our feline forms and took off right from the beach. I pulled out the police iPad from behind my chest plate, turned it on and brought up Google Maps. I corrected my flight slightly so I was heading right to the Manhattan Beach police station.
Kusac was really chatty during the whole flight. His natural feline curiosity combined with his newly acquired sentience meant that he could ask questions and actually understand the answers. I didn't mind, as I had always wanted to talk with my cats about...well, anything. But I swore if he started asking 'why' over and over like three-year-olds tended to do, I would have sprayed him with water from a spray bottle. After I found a spray bottle and filled it with water, of course.
The conversation made the flight go by fast, and in no time we were at the Manhattan Beach police station. I spotted Nightmare Moon on the station's rooftop, so I landed on the blacktop next to her.
"Ah, I see you have created your Shadowbolts."
Kusac replied before I did.
"We prefer to be called 'Shadowcats', Mistress."
Nightmare turned to me, surprise evident on her face.
"You allow them to speak?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Their prattling is so annoying. 'I'm tired and I want to sleep.' 'I'm in pain, help me!' 'I want to visit my family, can I take some time off?' Ugh, who wants to hear it all? It was a simple matter to silence them and compel them to obey."
"Uh, ok. This one is named Kusac, and the other two are named Bastet and Isis. I'll have them guard us while we work tonight."
"As you wish. I realize that your new minions are well, 'new' to you and you wish to spend time with them. But I am dubious as to their usefulness during our conquest."
After the night was done, I had to admit that the Night Mare was right. She and I had our 'tag and bag' routine down pat. That's 'tag', as in give the officer a shadow parasite; and 'bag', meaning we put them in the 'savior' dream. I was able to give the cats tasks to do, like 'watch this person and tell me if they move or wake up', and 'watch this door and tell us if someone is approaching', but these were all things that the ebony mare and I could do ourselves. After a while, I just let them explore the station on their own.
Beyond my Shadowcat's 'training', the night went as smooth as it always did. At least working with my cats kept me from getting too bored. But time still passed and we finished conquering the night shift close to dawn. It was time for us to leave.
A few minutes later, Nightmare Moon and I stood in the parking lot in front of the station with my Shadowcats sitting around my feet. Beyond the glass wall that surrounded the front door of the station, we could see police officers going about their normal business. A nice coastal breeze ruffled my fur and feathers each time it blew by.
"So, how goes your quest to close out your previous life?"
"All done. Turns out that most of my things were disposed of, and all that's left I have in this box."
"I see. And how was your rest?"
"Oh. Um, I haven't slept yet. You?"
"I confess that I have found it difficult to sleep. The room feels so empty without you in our bed."
"That's kinda sweet, in a way. Can't you just will yourself to sleep?"
"Nay, my disquiet has been such that I cannot relax sufficiently to activate the spell."
"I'm sorry to hear that. But at least we'll be together tonight."
"Huzzah! My snuggle buddy hath returned!"
I heard snickers from my cats, but I chose to ignore them.
The flight back to the US Bank Tower was uneventful though it was the first time for my Shadowcats. They had a bit of trouble with the strong winds at the top of the tower, but otherwise did very well. But there was a small surprise waiting for us when we arrived in the Moon Palace on the 71st floor.
"It seems that the building manager is awaiting us in my throne room."
How the HELL does she know that?!
Oh, right. She can sense her minions when they're nearby.
"You should decide what to do with your new feline minions, my Captain. I do not recommend revealing their true natures as of yet."
Fair enough.
Before I could speak, three flashes of light appeared around me. I looked down at the floor to see three normal-sized cats, and they were smugly smiling at me.
"Hmph. Your minions may have some use after all."
Nightmare Moon slid open the shoji door that led to the throne room and strode through. I followed, with my curious cats at my heels. Janice was standing in the middle of the room, and when she heard us approach she turned to smile at us.
"Welcome back, Mistress and Master."
"Good evening. What is the purpose of your visit?"
"I have some urgent business for you Mistress, that can't wait."
When we were close enough to her, Janice looked around and smiled at my cats. They were walking around the throne room, as curious cats will do.
"I see you have a few guests with you. They seem well behaved, may I pet them?"
"Certainly. Kids, this is Janice; come say hello."
My feline companions obediently approached Janice, sniffed her hands for a bit then graciously let her pet them. Of course, my cats were more than willing to take all the attention Janice was willing to give. After several moments of pets and love, Janice stood up and ended the petting session. She brushed some imaginary dust off of her skirt, then spoke to Nightmare Moon.
"May we start our business, Mistress? It will not take long."
"As you wish."
Once my cats had realized Janice wasn't going to pet them any more, they had taken off to explore the large room. I waited until Nightmare Moon and Janice had entered the meeting room and closed the shoji door before I made my next move.
"Shadowcats, attend me!"
Three feline heads popped up from behind different items in the room, and all three looked at me with urgency in their eyes. The heads ducked down, then the cats came running across the room towards me. All three came to a screeching stop in front of my feet and sat down. They all looked up at me and waited for me to speak.
"Okay, this floor is our new home. When we are alone here, you are free to take any form you wish and explore wherever you wish, unless told otherwise. When others are near, stay in your smaller feline forms. Also, you must stay on this floor and are not allowed to leave on your own. Understand?"
All three spoke in unison.
"Yes, Master!"
Kusac and Bastet both flashed bright white for a moment, then reappeared in their larger feline forms. A moment later, Isis also assumed her larger form.
"Good. Now I'm going to bed."
While I didn't feel tired per se, I had been getting a little warning message in my head all afternoon. The warning was from the spells watching my magic capacity - my wellspring, if you will. It was telling me the spells Nightmare Moon gave me were keeping me awake, and were draining a lot of magic to do it. Nighty said I should have been able to stay up for several days, but maybe she was wrong. I had no reason to stay awake anyway, so off to bed I went.
As the conference room was in use, I backtracked to the entrance room then entered the bedroom from there. A quick spell to remove my armor, and I slipped beneath the covers of the cool and soft bed. In moments, I had fallen asleep.
"Ah, it is good to see you lying in my bed again. I am pleased."
Wha...?
The sheets moved on their own, and a warm body slid beneath them.
"Come, cuddle with me. I have missed you."
What a nice idea.
I rolled over in bed, and snuggled up against Luna's barrel like I always did. In response, her forelegs wrapped around my shoulders. She nestled her muzzle between my ears and let out a long sigh.
Ah, I missed this. It was only one day, but it was still too long.
We lay there, cuddled together, until I quickly fell into a deep slumber.