It's here, her biggest fear of losing everything had arrived.
It did not matter if she had ran a hundred miles away, or if she decided to run one hundred miles further. They were looking for her because of what she was, because of how special she is to them. When she saw that poster Janette had retrieved from the men who intimidated her under questioning, it sent an icy chill of what felt like tiny little spiders crawling under her skin while those nasty little thoughts crept up in her mind to remind her of their existence. For they will not be ignored any longer, for like an oncoming storm, one can avert their eyes and pretend all is well under the comfort of a roof and fire to keep them dry and warm, but it does not undo mother nature's arrival.
There was so much to think about and not enough time for her to decide anymore. She went to the upstairs balcony to be alone and think, but catching sight of a wild cat in the front yard snagged her attention and focus away. The sight was an all too familiar one for her to ignore, not just because it was the first cat she found since Felix found her long ago. No, there was something in her green eyes that brought about a sudden burst of memories, images, and voices bouncing around in her head under such a quick notice. She hardly even heard Reta calling her name when she had jumped off the balcony and landed on her four paws with ease, transforming into her feline form while in the air before running off in an attempt to catch that white cat she found.
Reta raised her foot onto the balcony rail when she hesitated, contemplating her next course of action before looking back. With a loud groan, she hurried back inside, dashing down the stairs before slamming her hand onto the door frame to grab Felix and Janette's attention.
"KuliKuli just ran after something."
"What!" Felix cried out, alarmed.
"She saw something and jumped out from the second floor after it."
"What did she see?" Janette asked, stepping closely behind Felix as he ran past Reta toward the front double doors.
Reta raised her hand in frustration and shook her head. "I don't know, something small, a-a cat by the looks of it."
Felix paused and gave Janette a look, catching her by surprise before he hurried outside. Reta looked confused, looking back at her hoping for answers when Janette stepped back with her eyes darting toward the empty bowl on the table with milk stains on the floor.
"When did you have a cat?" She asked with a frown.
Janette paused and looked away. "Since yesterday, I found her in my shop but... she's just a cat."
"Really? Were we so lucky for that to be true. Stay here just in case." She stated with a stern tone in her voice, stepping out and running after Felix.
Janette followed her to the front door before leaning against the door frame, rubbing her forehead with a distraught look on her face. Waving her hands in frustration, she slammed the doors shut before making her way back to the kitchen and tossing the empty bowl into the sink. Another glass of wine would help soothe her words, like a medicinal treatment to relieve her of these stressful times as she gladly raised the glass to her lips to take a sip. She licked her lips and pulled back, staring into the purple fruity liquid, before slowly placing her drink away.
"She's just a cat, has to be." She muttered to herself, "It's just a coincidence, an overreaction even."
It had to be, because if it weren't true then it would conflict with the study she read about them.
She sighed and reached for the bottle of wine, stashing it back in the cupboard when a loud squeak emerged from the next room. She paused, looking back with her eyes scanning the kitchen room. "Reta? Did you lose them? I can help, just let me grab a lantern first."
With a worried sigh, Janette rushed upstairs into her room for her warmer clothes, unable to stand idly by while her friends ran out into the night. Glancing around whilst frantically forcing her coat on sloppily, her eyes kept wandering out the window hoping any second now a familiar face would come walking back. The woods around her home were unusually quiet, normally the owls would get annoying at this time and even the crickets seemed shy.
She hurried down the stairs and froze, staring at the wide open door.
'No, she closed both doors so why was one of them wide open still?'
"Hello?" She called out, raising her voice. Her fingers squeezed the lantern with a tight grasp, her head turning left and right.
"Peaceful thoughts, think peaceful thoughts." She whispered under her breath, putting her shoes on before standing up straight.
WHOOSH.
She flinched, stepping back a bit and placing herself against the wall. Something just scurried into the house, something was inside.
"Hello? Felix, Reta?"
Feeling her palms grow sweaty, she took a few careful steps forward nearing the double doors before pulling the door to her, sqeaking loudly before it shut with an audibly click.
She gasped when she spotted a figure in the reflection of the glass on her door.
The beating in her chest grew louder, her face feeling hotter as panic began to set in. Leaning her forehead against the door, she drew one last breath to calm her nerves. A small presence could be felt sneaking up behind her as Janette prayed to a higher power that this was no stranger to her.
Maybe not practicing Genki may have been a mistake, she thought before mustering the courage for one last attempt in the hope that this was just a friend trying to scare her.
"KuliKuli? Please, tell me that's you."
Her hands began to tremble as something growled in her ear, and she embraced herself for the worst.
Felix tripped against a lifted root of a nearby tree, collapsing into the dirt grass before scurrying back onto his feet. He blinked frantically, his feline sight coming in handy. There was no darkness for him, he could see through the shadows yet still, he saw nothing. Calling for her was his first idea, calling both their names would be anyone's reaction. However, he worried that doing so would place himself in equal danger. The feeling was instinct, inexplicable yet he knew for certain there was danger among these woods and his lover and friend were both lost within.
"Hey Baka!" Reta cried out after catching up to him. "Did you lose her?"
"I think so, which direction did you last see her run off to?"
"Over there." She pointed to her left.
He pressed his hand to the side of his head, pacing back and forth. "Damn it, she could be lost. Did she say anything before running off?"
Reta shook her head much to his frustration. "We're not going to find her with you walking around like that. You see well in the dark yes?"
"Yea."
"Good, I see those new eyes of yours have provided you with an advantage. If you are given the sight of a Nekomata, then perhaps you have their sense of smell as well. Do you?"
"Smell, smell..." He repeated it to himself, nodding back as he was beginning to catch on to her advice.
"Good. Then act like one, just like what you have learned with Genki. Close your eyes and let your body take control, use your other senses so that they may not go to waste, and tap into your unexplored potential."
"I, how can I track her, how will I know where to follow?"
"Don't think, just act. Close your eyes now and breathe. Focus on her smell, surely you can remember what she smells like. Focus on my scent first, can you do that?"
He nodded and swallowed deep, balling his hands into fists before lifting his nose as if he were gazing at the stars. Deep breathes, deep breathes...
Sniff, sniff.
It was the same smell of wet dew in the air, followed by a familiar scent of green surrounding them. It was difficult to describe in words, only that with each inhale he would find the same smell of trees surrounding them.
"It's not working." He said with desperation in his voice.
"Just focus on me. You know where I stand, so look in my direction." She replied back, her eyes narrowing with a serious look on her. "You're desperate, but it is important to take control. Just like the meditation from before, only this time you focus on the smell rather than the touch. It's no different from catching a whiff of a good meal or stepping out into a garden of roses as they bloom. Those are easy for anyone to smell, but we are much more. If you seek to protect her, than you must embrace her gift to you."
He nodded back, catching that unique scent of hers that once drove him mad at a time when she relished in teasing him in the first week of her staying with them. That was before, when adjusting to her presence was somewhat troubling for both him and KuliKuli, but in the end they grew closer somehow.
"I've got it, I have your scent."
Reta smiled proudly. "Good, now focus on her. Remember waking up to her in the morning, or sharing meals together with our combined presence."
Her hair, her scent, it was faint and for a moment he was in disbelief. It must be his mind playing tricks on him, but he hoped it was real.
Sniiiiiiiiifff!
"I've got her scent... there!" He dashed forward, running at full speed hoping to find her, and... another? And a third presence as well?
Branches and twigs broke away under his path as he continued sprinting as fast as he was able down the woods, he could hear Reta was tracking behind him close by. He was confused, maybe he needed to practice more but sniffing the air would result in him tracking numerous other scents too, and they all smelled familiar to him, similar yet slightly different.
"KuliKuli!" Felix shouted, arriving to a stop where the scent seemed strongest.
Looking around frantically, he found no sign of anyone else around until Reta arrived. "I don't see her, the smell led me right here. Right here!"
"Felix." She whispered in a calm voice, her eyes staring over his head when a few leaves descended around them. He spun around and was quickly met with a breathtaking sight.
Something soft and fuzzy brushed against a tree branch, under the brief glimpse of moonlight peaking through the thick density of the forest, he spotted a white paw skipping from one tree branch to another. He held his arm out, keeping Reta behind him which she ignored as she stepped to his side instead.
"It would appear that you did well to follow their scent, we just tracked the wrong scent." She explained.
Up at the tree, perched among its branches stared several yellow and green glowing eyes back at them. Their tails coiled around them, staring with curious intent and slight menace despite their small frames. One of them sat up on its four paws, sporting a brown fur coat around its body. As it crawled its way down, its paws grew massive, the fur around its body shrunk before revealing soft skin, and its tail split into two. Stepping forward and facing them stood a woman with fair skin, brown fur and soft yellow eyes that matched Felix's.
It was a Nekomata.
A family of Nekomatas.
Announcement This marks the end of Act 1 in Monster Girl Chronicles Book 1: KuliKuli the Nekomata! The next chapter will be the official start to Act 2. Let me now what are your thoughts about the story so far, and thank you so much for reading this far!
It's here, her biggest fear of losing everything had arrived.
It did not matter if she had ran a hundred miles away, or if she decided to run one hundred miles further. They were looking for her because of what she was, because of how special she is to them. When she saw that poster Janette had retrieved from the men who intimidated her under questioning, it sent an icy chill of what felt like tiny little spiders crawling under her skin while those nasty little thoughts crept up in her mind to remind her of their existence. For they will not be ignored any longer, for like an oncoming storm, one can avert their eyes and pretend all is well under the comfort of a roof and fire to keep them dry and warm, but it does not undo mother nature's arrival.
There was so much to think about and not enough time for her to decide anymore. She went to the upstairs balcony to be alone and think, but catching sight of a wild cat in the front yard snagged her attention and focus away. The sight was an all too familiar one for her to ignore, not just because it was the first cat she found since Felix found her long ago. No, there was something in her green eyes that brought about a sudden burst of memories, images, and voices bouncing around in her head under such a quick notice. She hardly even heard Reta calling her name when she had jumped off the balcony and landed on her four paws with ease, transforming into her feline form while in the air before running off in an attempt to catch that white cat she found.
Reta raised her foot onto the balcony rail when she hesitated, contemplating her next course of action before looking back. With a loud groan, she hurried back inside, dashing down the stairs before slamming her hand onto the door frame to grab Felix and Janette's attention.
"KuliKuli just ran after something."
"What!" Felix cried out, alarmed.
"She saw something and jumped out from the second floor after it."
"What did she see?" Janette asked, stepping closely behind Felix as he ran past Reta toward the front double doors.
Reta raised her hand in frustration and shook her head. "I don't know, something small, a-a cat by the looks of it."
Felix paused and gave Janette a look, catching her by surprise before he hurried outside. Reta looked confused, looking back at her hoping for answers when Janette stepped back with her eyes darting toward the empty bowl on the table with milk stains on the floor.
"When did you have a cat?" She asked with a frown.
Janette paused and looked away. "Since yesterday, I found her in my shop but... she's just a cat."
"Really? Were we so lucky for that to be true. Stay here just in case." She stated with a stern tone in her voice, stepping out and running after Felix.
Janette followed her to the front door before leaning against the door frame, rubbing her forehead with a distraught look on her face. Waving her hands in frustration, she slammed the doors shut before making her way back to the kitchen and tossing the empty bowl into the sink. Another glass of wine would help soothe her words, like a medicinal treatment to relieve her of these stressful times as she gladly raised the glass to her lips to take a sip. She licked her lips and pulled back, staring into the purple fruity liquid, before slowly placing her drink away.
"She's just a cat, has to be." She muttered to herself, "It's just a coincidence, an overreaction even."
It had to be, because if it weren't true then it would conflict with the study she read about them.
She sighed and reached for the bottle of wine, stashing it back in the cupboard when a loud squeak emerged from the next room. She paused, looking back with her eyes scanning the kitchen room. "Reta? Did you lose them? I can help, just let me grab a lantern first."
With a worried sigh, Janette rushed upstairs into her room for her warmer clothes, unable to stand idly by while her friends ran out into the night. Glancing around whilst frantically forcing her coat on sloppily, her eyes kept wandering out the window hoping any second now a familiar face would come walking back. The woods around her home were unusually quiet, normally the owls would get annoying at this time and even the crickets seemed shy.
She hurried down the stairs and froze, staring at the wide open door.
'No, she closed both doors so why was one of them wide open still?'
"Hello?" She called out, raising her voice. Her fingers squeezed the lantern with a tight grasp, her head turning left and right.
"Peaceful thoughts, think peaceful thoughts." She whispered under her breath, putting her shoes on before standing up straight.
WHOOSH.
She flinched, stepping back a bit and placing herself against the wall. Something just scurried into the house, something was inside.
"Hello? Felix, Reta?"
Feeling her palms grow sweaty, she took a few careful steps forward nearing the double doors before pulling the door to her, sqeaking loudly before it shut with an audibly click.
She gasped when she spotted a figure in the reflection of the glass on her door.
The beating in her chest grew louder, her face feeling hotter as panic began to set in. Leaning her forehead against the door, she drew one last breath to calm her nerves. A small presence could be felt sneaking up behind her as Janette prayed to a higher power that this was no stranger to her.
Maybe not practicing Genki may have been a mistake, she thought before mustering the courage for one last attempt in the hope that this was just a friend trying to scare her.
"KuliKuli? Please, tell me that's you."
Her hands began to tremble as something growled in her ear, and she embraced herself for the worst.
Felix tripped against a lifted root of a nearby tree, collapsing into the dirt grass before scurrying back onto his feet. He blinked frantically, his feline sight coming in handy. There was no darkness for him, he could see through the shadows yet still, he saw nothing. Calling for her was his first idea, calling both their names would be anyone's reaction. However, he worried that doing so would place himself in equal danger. The feeling was instinct, inexplicable yet he knew for certain there was danger among these woods and his lover and friend were both lost within.
"Hey Baka!" Reta cried out after catching up to him. "Did you lose her?"
"I think so, which direction did you last see her run off to?"
"Over there." She pointed to her left.
He pressed his hand to the side of his head, pacing back and forth. "Damn it, she could be lost. Did she say anything before running off?"
Reta shook her head much to his frustration. "We're not going to find her with you walking around like that. You see well in the dark yes?"
"Yea."
"Good, I see those new eyes of yours have provided you with an advantage. If you are given the sight of a Nekomata, then perhaps you have their sense of smell as well. Do you?"
"Smell, smell..." He repeated it to himself, nodding back as he was beginning to catch on to her advice.
"Good. Then act like one, just like what you have learned with Genki. Close your eyes and let your body take control, use your other senses so that they may not go to waste, and tap into your unexplored potential."
"I, how can I track her, how will I know where to follow?"
"Don't think, just act. Close your eyes now and breathe. Focus on her smell, surely you can remember what she smells like. Focus on my scent first, can you do that?"
He nodded and swallowed deep, balling his hands into fists before lifting his nose as if he were gazing at the stars. Deep breathes, deep breathes...
Sniff, sniff.
It was the same smell of wet dew in the air, followed by a familiar scent of green surrounding them. It was difficult to describe in words, only that with each inhale he would find the same smell of trees surrounding them.
"It's not working." He said with desperation in his voice.
"Just focus on me. You know where I stand, so look in my direction." She replied back, her eyes narrowing with a serious look on her. "You're desperate, but it is important to take control. Just like the meditation from before, only this time you focus on the smell rather than the touch. It's no different from catching a whiff of a good meal or stepping out into a garden of roses as they bloom. Those are easy for anyone to smell, but we are much more. If you seek to protect her, than you must embrace her gift to you."
He nodded back, catching that unique scent of hers that once drove him mad at a time when she relished in teasing him in the first week of her staying with them. That was before, when adjusting to her presence was somewhat troubling for both him and KuliKuli, but in the end they grew closer somehow.
"I've got it, I have your scent."
Reta smiled proudly. "Good, now focus on her. Remember waking up to her in the morning, or sharing meals together with our combined presence."
Her hair, her scent, it was faint and for a moment he was in disbelief. It must be his mind playing tricks on him, but he hoped it was real.
Sniiiiiiiiifff!
"I've got her scent... there!" He dashed forward, running at full speed hoping to find her, and... another? And a third presence as well?
Branches and twigs broke away under his path as he continued sprinting as fast as he was able down the woods, he could hear Reta was tracking behind him close by. He was confused, maybe he needed to practice more but sniffing the air would result in him tracking numerous other scents too, and they all smelled familiar to him, similar yet slightly different.
"KuliKuli!" Felix shouted, arriving to a stop where the scent seemed strongest.
Looking around frantically, he found no sign of anyone else around until Reta arrived. "I don't see her, the smell led me right here. Right here!"
"Felix." She whispered in a calm voice, her eyes staring over his head when a few leaves descended around them. He spun around and was quickly met with a breathtaking sight.
Something soft and fuzzy brushed against a tree branch, under the brief glimpse of moonlight peaking through the thick density of the forest, he spotted a white paw skipping from one tree branch to another. He held his arm out, keeping Reta behind him which she ignored as she stepped to his side instead.
"It would appear that you did well to follow their scent, we just tracked the wrong scent." She explained.
Up at the tree, perched among its branches stared several yellow and green glowing eyes back at them. Their tails coiled around them, staring with curious intent and slight menace despite their small frames. One of them sat up on its four paws, sporting a brown fur coat around its body. As it crawled its way down, its paws grew massive, the fur around its body shrunk before revealing soft skin, and its tail split into two. Stepping forward and facing them stood a woman with fair skin, brown fur and soft yellow eyes that matched Felix's.
It was a Nekomata.
A family of Nekomatas.
Announcement This marks the end of Act 1 in Monster Girl Chronicles Book 1: KuliKuli the Nekomata! The next chapter will be the official start to Act 2. Let me now what are your thoughts about the story so far, and thank you so much for reading this far!