Siblings at the Edge

by Westphalian_Musketeer


Together and Forsaken

Ivan grunted behind Katna. Her ears swivelled back to listen to his bags bouncing around as he shifted his stance on the slick slanted concrete by the highway. Rain pelted the tips of her ears, adding to the haze of noise given by the drizzle.

Looking behind her Katna saw his right duffle bag crumpled in on itself. The duffle bag opposite it, once filled with carrots, zucchini and apples, hung off of him with no heft, empty of anything useful. She tilted her head to look at his chest. The two lines of red that had marked Ivan’s fight with the ravenous dog were hidden under his thick downy coat of winter pony hair.

Ivan panted for a few moments, looking at his hoof as Katna did the same. The swelling that had frustrated their travel over the last few weeks was a distant memory now, just like the apples, as witnessed by the lines of his ribs faintly poked out of his barrel.

“How’s your hoof?” asked Katna.

“It’s fine now…” Ivan panted again. “It’s just that... walking on this angle for so long...”

“We could try the shoulder of the highway.” A deluge of water splattered down into the the incline, soaking their pasterns. Katna sighed. “Nevermind… We’d get soaked.”

They walked along the incline. Katna peered over to the drainage canal and rushing waters. The paved ditch they were in was by far the best terrain they had travelled over in the last few weeks.

They had stayed off roads, away from houses, avoided open spaces and only ever ate at midday to avoid slowing themselves down with other mealtime breaks. Ivan had hobbled along as his hoof healed. It didn’t slow them down for long, only a few days, but when it had finished healing the rains came. Thick voluminous sheets of downpour for the winter season, broken up only when they woke up in the morning to a frosted meadow, culvert or long-abandoned shack. They walked and trotted along the Dnieper River. Wherever they reached a straight stretch of water Katna could swear she saw the faint outline of ice forming far behind them. Looking to put on weight for energy and warmth they rapidly ate through the apples and the rest of their provisions, greatly reducing the weight they carried. That was practically two weeks ago, and since then it was grass and roughage once more.

Katna stuck her tongue out, letting the rain wet it. As she did so she felt he patter of droplets grow stronger as the water splattered onto her back. She looked over her shoulder to see Ivan nodding.

“We have to get out of this!” he yelled over the downpour. He broke into a trot, slowing only to adjust his footing briefly.

Katna followed, eventually making out a storm drain attached to the canal. “There!” She pointed to the pipe that jutted out into the canal.

They walked into the drain and found a patch of concrete that wasn’t submerged. Ivan lay down in front of the rusted grating and Katna beside him.

Katna hunched over as another splash of water from the highway overhead cascaded next to where she and Ivan sat, sprinkling her with a fine mist on top of what had already soaked into her coat. She scooted over to Ivan and he adjusted his wing, sheltering her slightly more from the elements. Katna tucked a hoof closer to her body as a white plastic bag floated past them and down the storm drain. Her eyes trailed upward, looking at the magenta and cyan graffiti sprayed on the low-hanging concrete.

Three feet of makeshift roof was provided courtesy of the hanging lip of the storm drain. The sides were raised up a few inches, which gave the two foals a few square inches of ground not submerged in water from which to observe the rest of Dnipropetrovs'k.

Towering shards of steel and one-way windows jutted out to the sky, many capped off with the intermittent red glow of a signal relay tower. Hundred-feet wide screens spanned the sides of some buildings, displaying newscasters against the backdrop of busy news offices, and bands of numbers and Cyrillic lettering, telling the day's events across the world. The date, plastered onto a little red tag floating next to the Asian newscaster's head, informed Ivan that they hadn't traveled far enough south to keep ahead of winter: November seventh. A year was an incomprehensible length of time for Katna. The time of 2053, and the orphanage, was a distant memory.

She huddled against Ivan. "Two months to ‘55," she said.

He bent over and kissed her at the base of her horn.

A wet lock of mane fell over and landed over Katna’s left nostril as Ivan pulled away. She sneezed as cold rainwater flowed to her lips.

He shrugged and resumed looking past the storm drain grating behind them.

Katna sighed, her eyes panning the cityscape. A transit rail rushed between buildings in the distance. She looked down further and saw a transition clinic, just on the other side of the drainage canal. The rain jetted down to the ground, forming an oppressive wall of wet and cold between them and it.

"I wonder how many ponies are in this city," she said.

Ivan shifted position, dragging Katna closer to him with his wing. "A few hundred, maybe?" Ivan offered, looking over at the transition clinic. "Try to get some sleep, Katna. I'll go in there when the rain dies down, see if I can find a pamphlet or book on unicorn magic."

Katna prodded Ivan in the chest as she lay down her head. "Pegasus flight too."

"Sure thing," he said as he closed his eyes.


Ivan gulped as he stared across the fractal polygonal building sitting across the street. Humans with metal and plastic body parts traipsed across the screen as even more of the same huddled around the building. He scanned for blue jackets with yellow stripes and white letters spelling out 'police' on the shoulder, starting at the left, moving right, and repeating several times. He placed a hoof outside the alley, then pulled it back, eyes darting over the crowd one more time. Just one more time... And another time, just to be certain.

Breathing inwards Ivan puffed out his chest and held his head aloft. He'd walk in and grab some pamphlets. He'd even walk up to the front desk and ask for stuff. He stomped a hoof out of the alley and looked back to Katna, who was hiding behind a dumpster. "I'll be back, be ready to move."

He continued forward, looking both ways along the streets. Seeing no cars he crossed the road, taking the first few steps up the clinic, focusing on the doors. As he reached the top of the first flight of stairs he glanced over at a spherical topiary bush. It was green with absolutely no twigs sticking out of place.

Ivan shook his head looking straight ahead at five men atop the next flight of stairs. He kept walking until one of them, their back facing him, threw off his jacket revealing two cybernetic arms and a metallic spine. Ivan hopped back, the jacket brushing against his hoof.

The man rubbed his forearms. "Check it!" he declared, earning nods from the other men. He spread his arms, entering a slow turn. "JP jus' got an upgrade!" He flexed his arms and stuck out his thumbs to point at himself. "Integrated spinal support! And a reflex booster! Let's see those Flies try to take the piss out of this!"

"Yeah! Now you'll really be able to 'lift with your back', right man?" One of the other men nodded to the topless man.

"Shit! That is what my boss would always holler at me way back!" the augmented man gripped the other man's arm and pulled him into his embrace as he chuckled. "Though I suppose all those guys spew that out like recorder on a pole!"

"Yeah, a pole shoved up their ass!"

Ivan kept walking, his hooves clopping against the concrete, and his ears flinching at each resounding sound of hoof hitting the ground. He breathed out as he looked up to the clinic door, and gulped once more before stepping up to them. The door slid open and he proceeded through a short hall, turned right, then left, and walked into a waiting room. He blinked as he stared at the room. The floors and walls were white with a green-tinged overtone giving the feeling of a sanitized room, while the ceiling was a dark grey except for the fluorescent lights.

Plastic chairs lined up along a glass partition in the middle of the room, and on the left a line of cushioned upholstery sat in front of a few coffee tables, with a television hung from the wall above them, the same newscaster from the massive building-spanning televisions smiling out at her audiences.

A man with a tablet computer sat in a chair below the television. He pressed a button on the device and the contents of the device exploded out in an orange hologram above the screen. He gripped the faded image and swung it around, Ivan recognizing it as the city's skyline

At the end of the partition, a shelf of pamphlets sat on display. Ivan walked to them, keeping an eye on the front desk and on the two women sitting behind the shatterproof glass until he was right at the shelf. He browsed over the pamphlet's titles: 'Augmentations and You', 'Living with Augmentations', 'Anti-rejection Drugs', 'Yaku-Heisenberg Catalogue 2054'. Ivan frowned, the entire shelf was filled with nothing but pamphlets pushing for things he didn't want.

He walked to the service counter, reared up, rested his hooves on the small desk edge, and poked his head up. "Excuse me."

The woman at the desk smiled. "Good evening, young sir, can I help you with anything? Are you lost?"

Ivan shook his head. "No, I was just interested in grabbing some information on ponification..."

The woman raised an eyebrow, her eyes darting to Ivan's hooves.

"I-it is for my mom. W-well, she's not really my mom, she's a woman that my dad is going out with, a-and she's been talking about it. But she's shy, so my dad asked me to pick up some pamphlets and books so she could read about it, see if she really wanted to go through with it." Ivan nodded, smiling.

The woman nodded, and frowned as her hands moved over to her computer. "I'm sorry, but this clinic doesn't carry pamphlets for ponification as we don't offer that program here." Her hand hovered over the keyboard, looking at Ivan as his expression sagged. She bit her lip, then hit the enter key. "But if you have a phone or a tablet or something else, you can easily find that stuff over the internet."

Ivan shook his head. "I... I don't have anything like that... and neither does my d-dad."

The woman's eyes glanced downward. She reached for the mouse and started clicking. "I can print out some things for you here. It won't be the prettiest, but it should help."

Ivan's ears perked up. "That would be most pleasant!"

The woman nodded and worked on her computer some more, then walked to the back office. A minute later she returned. She took her seat and slid the papers underneath the panel partway when the other woman tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at the screen.

"Look! They caught that guy!" she whispered.

Ivan turned around to look at the screen, focusing on the newscaster's voice.

"After a manhunt spanning nearly a month, police have finally apprehended Martin Dolinsky, the man wanted for the murder of police officer Les Miklashevskiy. He was found in an abandoned apartment building in Kharkiv, over 200 kilometers from where he committed the murder outside Kremenchuk. He was found just two hours after his vehicle had gone off the nearby road and into a shallow road-side lake. Police recovered over five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from the vehicle. Police also believe that two ponies were present at the shooting, given tracks that were found at the shooting site leading into the nearby forest. On this basis, police believe that Mr. Dolinsky was involved in trafficking for criminal rings. Mr. Dolinsky's lawyer claims that the allegations are erroneous, with only circumstantial evidence to support it, given that no gun was found on Mr. Dolinsky's person at the time of his arrest. Catherine Fukumi, UBC News."

"Wow, I'm glad they finally caught that guy," commented the woman holding Ivan's papers.

Ivan reached over with a hoof and slid the papers away from the woman, making her flinch. "Thank you," he said, grabbing the papers in his mouth and trotting to the door.

Exiting the building, heading down the stairs and crossing the street with his eyes darting around and his heart racing left him back with his sister in the alley. Her ears perked up and she smiled before looking between his teeth. "That's it?" She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head.

Ivan dropped the papers on the bag, propping them open. "The clinic doesn't offer ponification, but the lady at the front printed out some stuff she thought would be useful."

Katna hoofed through the papers, reading out some of the text. "Ponification for Familial Relations... Relationships with Ponies... Species Transfiguration Explained... Ponification: An Overview. Ivan! This doesn't even begin to talk about magic!"

Smacking his face with a hoof Ivan groaned. "Ugh, I... I said it was for a woman our dad was interested in... She must have thought—Nevermind that, she said we could get that kind of stuff off the Internet and put it on a computer, or phone."

Tossing her head Katna flipped her mane over her horn. "Oh, a phone! Well, that's easy; we'll just go into one of those stores that gives stuff for free! Oh, wait! I'll just magic us some money to pay! Oh, wait! Maybe we can get a job! Oh, wait!" Katna stomped her hooves into the ground, throwing her head upwards and screaming to the sky. "Tiny, can't do magic, and on the run! I just want things to be the way they’re supposed to be!"

"Husheesh!" Ivan pressed a hoof over Katna's mouth. "Quiet down, they caught that man that shot the cop too, and they know two ponies were there."

Katna's eyes widened, then relaxed as she nodded and backed away. "Great... great... so now what do we do?"

Ivan grabbed the papers in his mouth and stuffed them into his bag, smiling at the warmth they would later provide as kindling. "We, uh... we try finding a place we can use a computer for free, try to print out some things, and..." He sagged to the ground, his barrel smacking into the wet pavement. He shook his head. "I don't know... Sevastopol and Crimea is still far away, and..." He looked up at Katna. "I'm beginning to think you're right, that we're going to need to use everything we have to get there." He pounded a hoof into the pavement. "Now... if we're going to do this, we have to put our heads together. Where would we find a computer that we can use to print?"

Katna kicked at the ground, then walked to her bags to begin the process of putting on her impromptu saddlebag, shaking her head all the while. "Think you could sneak into an office? Maybe steal something?"

"A computer?" Ivan looked up. "Steal an entire computer?"

"Or a phone!" Katna pulled on a strap, fastened her bag and stood up. Her ears perked and she gasped. "A library!" she said. "Libraries have computers, and they even have printers... that just leaves the question of... money." She bit her lip and hung her head low, closing her eyes. "Begging?"

Ivan shook his head. "Begging for money won't work. Stuff is so expensive people just use cards these days... It is easier than carrying it." He stood up and began sliding on his own saddlebags. "For now... we need to find shelter before the rain picks up again." He looked to the sky, his ears twitching to track the distant sound of sirens and car horns. Vibrant yellow lights snaked up the side of a skyscraper, contrasting against the grey sky. Ivan blinked back some tears. "Or snow."


Katna dragged her hooves behind her, scraping them against the wet sidewalk, eyes darting to the magenta, cyan, red and cobalt lights that reflected dully off of it. Her stomach growled and she looked up to Ivan's tail. "I miss the countryside, we could stop to eat just about anything, as rough as it was."

"I think we're almost out of the densest part of the city," he answered.

"What about rest?"

"When we find a place to rest, it will be for the night."

Katna hung her head down again. "I wonder what it's like, where ponies come from."

"Equestria? I don't know, but I'm sure they manage well enough wherever it is." Ivan looked behind him. His tail flicked up catching Katna in the face. "Hey, chin up, I'm sure things will get better. I mean, we found that house after..." Ivan licked his lips, looking ahead again. "Nevermind."

The conversation was cut off by a great clanging noise prompting the two foals to fall to the ground and clutch at their ears. The cacophony continued for another minute, the air filling every six seconds with an intermittent boom. Katna sobbed at the assault to her ears. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Painful memories of a gunshot gushed into her mind as she bit her lip. Anything to distract her from the pain, even more pain.

As the ringing subsided she opened her watery eyes and looked to her left.

A massive church with cream-yellow domes and spires sat on the other side of the street. Its ochre red brick planted into the ground like a fat man taking a nap.

Katna blinked, staring at the soft warm glow that filtered out into the night from the windows.

Ivan stumbled in front of her, a hoof still grinding into his left ear. "AAAAAAH!" he screamed, hissing as he sat down and winced. "Why!?" he yelled, pulling his hoof away and starting to huff.

Katna poked his shoulder and Ivan turned to her. "What!?"

She pointed to the church. "Guess it's a pretty late hour."

Looking over to the church Ivan's mouth hung open. "Oh... that's what that noise was." He stood up and kept walking.

"H-hang on, we've hidden in churches before," Katna trotted after him. "I'm sure the bells are quieter on the inside." Ivan turned to look at her and she glanced back. "And it's warm..."

He tapped a hoof to the pavement, pursing his lips and letting his eyes wander for a few seconds. "You know this means going to sleep hungry, right? And that we'll have to walk in the morning before we eat?"

Katna nodded.

Sighing he returned the nod. "Alright, we'll see if there's a corner where we won't be seen."

Katna followed Ivan across the road and up the steps to the church. Reaching the front door he braced a hoof against it and pushed. The door gave way and Katna breathed out.

Past another set of heavy oak doors the two foals managed to look at the interior, their eyes wandering across everything as their mouths hung open.

Cushioned wooden pews spanned the width of the red-carpeted hall ending just shy of the white columns that jutted up the arches and domes overhead, iconography plastered over their interior. Men and women and angels marched forward on the ceiling, ending at the opposite end of the nave with the sun and a glowing cross. Below that an altar stood raised a few feet above the pews, surrounded by a small wall of paintings. Behind that, a wooden screen supported by yet more columns. Light bulbs crowned the tops of every pillar, illuminating the interior as they shone in every direction. To the right of the altar was a set of choir benches and an organ. To the left of the altar another branch of the church jutted out. In the dead center of the pews was a small pool and fountain, trickling water into the pool in an endless stream.

Katna rose up on her hind hooves and spotted only three people sitting among the pews, all of them facing the altar.

Her eyes wandered up again. "It's kinda pretty." She shook out her mane sending out droplets of water onto the carpeting.

"You were right, it is warm in here," said Ivan, prodding Katna in the side with his muzzle. "Let's see if we can find a place to sleep."

They crept along the left side of the of the church and went down the hall that branched off from the main area, walking past a curtain stretching over the entrance. Past it they found a small alcove with a painting of a woman in a blue robe and a white hood holding her right hand in the air and her left hand over her heart. She gazed down at the ground, a soft smile accentuating her features.

Ivan walked into the alcove and unbuckled his bag, letting it fall onto the ground with a light thump as Katna joined him. They each lay their heads on their bags, and he extended a wing over her.

Katna's stomach rumbled and she winced. "Ivan?" she asked, keeping her eyes shut.

"Mmm?"

"Why did that man shoot that police man?"

"The news report said he had drugs in his car. They also think he was trafficking us," answered Ivan.

Katna frowned. "Do you think he was going to take us? He didn't even know we were foals."

"You're... you're right, he didn't. Maybe he really just wanted to give us a ride."

"That's strange, doing that and then doing... the other thing." She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him.

His black brow scrunched up. "Well, I guess we live in a strange world... Katna, can I ask you a question now?"

"Mhmm."

"What did you mean, back in that alley, about wanting things to be the way they’re supposed to be?"

"Oh." Katna's ears wilted as she placed her head on her bag again. "I... I want to learn magic so I can do things, and fully experience being a unicorn. I want to have a place."

Ivan smiled, keeping his eyes closed. "Having a place doesn't make you complete," he said. "That's stuff outside of yourself."

Biting her lip she looked over to him. "Okay..." She shut her eyes again and let herself fall asleep, a frown creasing her forehead.


"Father, I ask for absolution, for I have sinned."

Katna's ears flicked about and her eyes fluttered. Too early to wake. No, Ivan’s wing was comfy and warm. Stay. Just a few more minutes...

"Tell me your sins, child."

She rolled away from Ivan, hooves thumping against the carpet as her stomach renewed its urging to be fed. The carpet was so soft, and the surrounding walls kept any wind outside. There was a pleasant hum of all the little steps and movements echoing into infinity.

Her stomach growled again and Katna frowned at the additional pressure in her midsection. She rolled over once again and sat up, holding her stomach as it made an uproar over her movement. Hunger or going to the bathroom, eating or toilet. Why couldn't her gut just pick one?

Standing up, Katna grunted as she walked to the curtain concealing her. She poked her head out from underneath it and looked around.

A man in robes and a woman in a business suit stood by the altar. The priest had one hand on a cross around his neck and his other hand was on the woman's head. Katna ducked between the pews and weaved her way amongst them, behind the fountain in the middle of the place. The constant trickle of water swam into her ears. She whined, walking a little faster and agitating her stomach further.

Katna walked out to the opposite side of the church, next to the choir seats, and looked around, crossing her hind legs. "Please," she said, biting her lip. "Please be nearby!"

She half hobbled down the space when she saw a glaringly white door set against the rest of the decor. Walking up to it, Katna pushed it open and sighed with relief as she saw the familiar tiles, sink and stalls of a restroom.

"Oh thank God!" she said, pushing open the nearest stall with her head and closing it behind her with a hoof.

She glanced at the toilet and her face sagged into an expression of pain as tears gathered in her eyes. How was she going to balance on this?

Her stomach rumbled again and her eyes bugged out; no time to bemoan how difficult it would be! Do. Business. Now!

She reared up, placing her front hooves on the seat before kicking off the ground and clambering until all four hooves were on the seat. Lift tail, lower bottom.

Katna blinked as one problem took care of itself, leaving only the issue of hunger to contend with. She sighed. After weeks of going in ditches and forests there was a dignity to going in a proper restroom that made the awkward position comfortable.

The bathroom door swung open with a squeak and Katna heard someone step in. She gasped as she heard the hinges to her stall door grind open, swinging her head around to see the woman from the altar, hand braced against the door, blinking rapidly, head shaking.

"Ummm... a little privacy?" asked Katna, raising an eyebrow. The stall door slammed shut and Katna realized what her discovery meant. "Wait!" she yelled, jumping off the toilet and skidding along the tiled floor.

The bathroom door shut and she heard the woman yell on the other side, "Father!"

Katna stood amidst the white tiles; a big pink target set against a glaring backdrop, no longer able to hide. She ran around the room, her head swinging every which way. It was over, she’d been found out! She peered under the sink. Finding no hiding spot she ran to another corner of the room and then another. Please let there be a way out! There has to be!

She skidded to a halt in the middle of the room, her chest heaving in and out as she looked around, pupils shrinking before she collapsed to the ground, closed her eyes and shivered as tears started flowing.

They were coming. There wasn’t any way around it. The muffled conversation came in through the door, over her sobs, and soon the door swung open. Dragged out, kicked from shelter and sent to wander again.

Instead, Katna heard the muted 'frump' of clothing folding in on itself.

Her eyes quivered beneath her lids as more tears streamed out.

Nothing.

She opened her eyes and unfolded her neck, blinking the tears away. She saw the priest crouched down, his goatee stretched around his broad smile.

"Hello? I know you can talk." He extended a hand towards Katna.

"I'm sorry for sneaking in here." She looked down, ears folding forward.

The man exhaled sharply from his nose, his smile broadening. "All are welcome here," he said. "You must have come here very late last night. Where have you been sleeping?"

Katna kept her mouth shut.

The priest sighed. "Why will you not speak to me?"

Staring into his eyes Katna pursed her lips. Ivan said before that their help was no good, like a police officer's, that they would be held, sent off to an orphanage, and maybe even separated. There was still a chance to avoid that, but how? Ivan would know, she just needed to get back to him. Katna sighed and stood up, her head hung low, then walked past the priest and back into the main area of the church.

She walked back to where Ivan and she had slept the night before and sat down in front of the curtain.

"Ivan," she called. "I got caught."

Something tumbled around behind the curtain and Ivan jumped out from behind it, frantically looking around. His eyes settled on the priest and narrowed.

The priest folded his arms into his robe's sleeves.

Ivan's stomach growled, and then Katna's responded in turn.

The priest nodded then reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a cellphone. He dialed in a number, then held it for a moment. "Yes, Sister Klara, could you come to the front please? I have two people in need of assistance, and I'll need someone else to handle any parishioners who come in... Thank you."

He pressed at the screen with a thumb and then looked back to the two foals. "There is a living area in the back, with food. You are welcome to have something if you wish."

Katna looked between Ivan and the priest and bit her lip. "Ivan... we could use the food."

Ivan sagged from his posture, sighing. "One minute." He stepped behind the curtain and dragged out their bags, the straps held in his mouth.

The priest nodded. "Would you allow me to carry them?"

Ivan shrugged, releasing the straps. The priest bent over, grabbed the bags and stood up. He walked back towards the bathrooms, the two foals following him, and through another door which opened to a hall with white painted walls and linoleum flooring, leading to the back of the church.

A woman in a black gown walked up to them in the hallway and nodded to the priest before stopping when she saw Katna and Ivan. She looked back at the priest and smiled before walking on.

They continued down the hall. The priest led them through another door to a small kitchen with an attached dining room, and past that there was another hall with doors leading to other rooms. The kitchen and dining room kept the plain white decor of the hall behind them, but the rest of the home had a light-brown carpet instead of linoleum.

The priest set the bags by the dining room table. He walked over to the kitchen and fetched two bowls, milk and cereal from the cabinets and fridge. He opened up a drawer that tinkled with the sound of silverware, then shook his head, closing it. He brought the items to the table and looked over to Ivan and Katna, still standing in the doorway. He pursed his lips and poured out the cereal and milk before taking a seat at the table, looking over at the two foals.

"I am Father Nazar Gura," he said. "What are two foals doing here, alone?"

"We're not alone," said Ivan.

Father Nazar raised an eyebrow. "Young man, you make it difficult for others to help you when you lie."

Ivan hung his head low. "Our parents abandoned us."

Katna frowned, looking at Ivan. That was incorrect, he'd told her that they had become sick.

"And your parents, they would have to have been born as ponies in order to have children as old, or rather, as young as you are now." Father Nazar placed his hands on the table. "Which begs the question, why would two ponies from Equestria abandon their children? I have gone there myself as part of a mission, and I have to say that everything I saw pointed to ponies being more than happy to take a lost child under their care, even at their own cost. But tell me anyway, what are your names then?"

Ivan's lips turned downward, and Katna looked back to the priest. "It's Katna, and my brother is Ivan."

Father Nazar inclined his head, and lifted an arm towards the two bowls, sweeping his hand across the table. "Well, Ivan, Katna, it would do me well to know that you are not starving. Please, come and eat."

Katna and Ivan shuffled to the table, climbed onto the chairs and looked at the cereal.

Katna's eyes darted upward, looking at Father Nazar. "You'll let us go after we eat, right?"

"You could leave right now if you wanted to, but I implore you to stay."

Katna resumed staring at her bowl. The bowl. A bowl. It had been so long since she actually ate from something. Had it been months? Her stomach quivered and she dived into it, dunking her muzzle, lapping up the sugary lumps of cereal and quaffing down milk. Creamy cool sweetness rolled along her tongue and cheeks; the pleasure was the crab apples all over again!

In an instant she was lapping at the bowl's sides and her own lips, searching for an extra drop. She opened her eyes. The priest was leaning back in his chair, nodding. "Want another one?"

Katna belched, instinctively raising up a hoof to her mouth. She coughed, then nodded. "Yes, please."

Father Nazar reached over and plucked the dish out from in front of Katna. He shot a glance over to Ivan, who had his head dipped in his own bowl but kept eye contact with the priest the whole time.

Walking to the counter Father Nazar set about making another bowl. "So..." He walked to the fridge. "Would you care to tell me where you're from?"

"East," replied Ivan. Katna frowned at him, and he shrugged.

"And where are you going?"

"South," Katna answered.

Father Nazar nodded, twisting off a cap from a milk jug. "Ah, the coast. May I ask why?"

Katna answered, "It doesn't get as cold there." She looked back at Ivan, who was glaring at her. "We'd be able to last the winters there."

"Is that why you've chosen to walk the road you have?" He turned around with the bowl and set it in front of Katna.

"I don't know what you're asking." Katna crunched through some more cereal, keeping her eyes on Nazar as he took his seat once more.

The priest licked his lips and braced his fingers together to form a steeple. "You were human children, yes?"

Katna looked to Ivan, and he sighed. "Yes." Ivan pushed his bowl away.

Father Nazar shut his eyes, bringing his lips to his hands, moving his lips.

"If you don't want us here, just say so." Ivan hopped down from his chair. "Don't try to guilt us into going by being all nice!"

Father Nazar removed his hands, his smile gone. Katna pulled her head away from the bowl, feeling queasy, and Ivan looked away.

"I want what's best for you,” said Nazar. “I'm going to call up the police department, and then they'll be able to find you a home."

"WHERE DO YOU THINK WE CAME FROM!?" Ivan yelled. Father Nazar flinched. "They'd tell us we'd be taken care of, and then the plates get a little smaller, the rooms a little colder, and you hear the TV in one of the front rooms talking about money being in short supply!" Ivan stared up. "A-and then they try taking us apart. No... We're going south, and we'll be able to finally live!" He looked over to Katna. "Like we’re supposed to. Together!"

Ivan walked over to his bag and started buckling it back on. "Katna, come on, we're leaving. Thank you for the food, Nazar."

"Wait!" Father Nazar's right hand shot out towards Ivan and Katna. "If you stay another day I can help you go south."

Ivan shook his head, looking at Father Nazar. "How do I know you won't just call the police when we agree to stay?"

"You don't," said Father Nazar, "it would be a matter of faith."

Ivan looked to Katna, and she looked to the priest. She breathed deeply, expanding her chest, and breathed out through her mouth as she looked at her remaining cereal. She gulped.

Ivan could be right, he had told her all about why they had to hide. Transferring and fleeing from three different orphanages told her this was true, but Nazar...

She looked at Father Nazar. "We need something for traveling south. Can you let us have it... right now?"

Nazar's eyebrows rose. "What is it?"

"I... I don't know how to do magic. There are books online about it, can you let us... use a phone? Or a computer and printer?" Katna stared to the left, down the carpeted hallway.

Father Nazar nodded and stood up from his chair. His eyes glanced over to Katna’s bowl, and he sat back down. "This is something I can and would gladly do. But first, Ivan, would you take a seat while your sister finishes her cereal?”

Ivan looked between Katna and Nazar. His eyes narrowed but he walked back to the table and took a seat.

Nazar smiled. “Do you want some more cereal?”

Ivan shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Nazar leaned back in his chair and started murmuring a prayer. Ivan’s muscles relaxed and he sagged into his own seat. They both glanced to Katna’s progress with her own bowl.