“Good evening, Taint.”
Taint opened his eyes to find himself in a moonlit clearing, the leaves turned to silver. Roulette was sitting a few feet away with his tail curled over his paws, his white fur seemingly glowing in the moonlight. Taint pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around in bewilderment with wide blue eyes.
“Where am I?”
“This place doesn’t really have a name, but I guess you could call it the Realm of the Dead,” Roulette explained
“So, when I die, I’ll come here?” Taint asked, gazing around in awe.
“Most likely, unless you really mess up your life,” Roulette mewed.
“What happens if I do?”
“Don’t ask,” Roulette growled, tail twitching.
“So, what am I going to learn tonight?” Taint inquired, changing the subject. Something about it upset Roulette, and Taint didn’t want to end up on this spirit cat’s bad side.
“I’m going to teach you to spirit walk,” the white tom explained, looking a bit happier.
“Spirit walk?” Taint echoed. Something about it sounded fantastic, as if there was nothing in the world he couldn’t do.
Roulette nodded with an amused purr. “First though, you need to listen to some rules. When you spirit walk, you must always, always remember where your body is. If you can’t find your body, your spirit will wander around for eternity, detached and lost. Also, you must make sure your body is somewhere safe. If something harms your body, you aren’t there to defend yourself and you really will become a spirit.”
“Anything else?” Taint asked, impatiently kneading the ground with his paws.
Roulette chuckled and shook his head. “Close your eyes, a focus on separating yourself from your body. You must feel detached from it before we continue.”
Taint closed his eyes as his spirit guide had instructed, and then began pulling himself from his body.
“Now picture yourself outside of the confines of your body. Imagine what it would look like,” Roulette whispered, his breath stirring the fur around Taint’s ear.
The forest suddenly began to morph and bleed into itself, the image swirling in front Taint’s eyes. He closed his eyes and sank his claws into the ground to balance himself, growing dizzy.
“You can open your eyes now,” Roulette purred. Taint opened his eyes cautiously, and found himself back in the abandoned human den. Beside him, Taint saw his sleeping body, curled up exactly where he’d fallen asleep. “Oh, one more thing. Any injury you receive while spirit walking will carry over to your body. You must be careful,” Roulette warned.
“I’ll be careful,” Taint promised solemnly. “But didn’t I do this earlier?”
“No.” Roulette shook his furry white head. “That was a dream. This, right now, is the real world.”
“Oh.” Taint acted as if he understood, but something about it still confused him.
“Good, now off you go. Start experimenting, but don’t wander off too far and don’t be gone long.” Roulette’s imaged quivered as if he was a reflection in a pool of water that was disturbed, and then he was gone.
Taint’s whiskers twitched with excitement as he bounded out of the den and down the steps, his tail streaming behind him as he ran. Dew glittered on every leaf and twig as he brushed past. Taint made his way towards the old mill and barn. He slipped through a gap in the wood and into the barn. He paused a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dark.
Taint could just make out the silhouette of another cat in the darkness. His hackles bristled defensively, but at the cat padded into a swathe of moonlight that shone through a hole in the roof, he relaxed. “Petal! You scared the fur off of me!” Taint exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief.
Petal purred, her eyes bright with mischief. “I brought a few friends. Since you can contact spirits, I thought you’d like to get to know some.”
Three other cats padded out of the shadows, their pelts shimmering as if a thousand raindrops had alighted on them.
“This is Tawny,” Petal introduced, her tail flicking towards a sleek calico she-cat. “That’s Shesae.” A white she-cat with grey patches nodded at the sound of her name. “And that’s Mouse,” Petal concluded, motioning towards a black tom with a white chest and paws.
Taint dipped his head in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Tawny left Petal’s side and padded up to Taint where she proceeded to pace around him in a circle, examining him. Taint followed her with his eyes, taking in her image as well. Shesae looked as though she were about to burst with energy and she bounded away and clawed her way up the barn wall and into the rafters. Mouse simply sat in silence beside Petal, his fur brushing hers.
“You should probably be getting back,” Petal said gently, pointing upwards with her tail. Taint looked up and saw through a hole in the roof that the sky was turning milky pale with dawn. “Roulette will be waiting to show you how to get back into your body.”
Taint reluctantly brushed his cheek against Petal’s in farewell, and flicked his tail to the others. “I hope to see you again. Take good care of my sister,” Taint added with a meaningful glance at Mouse who was sitting a little too close to Petal for his liking.
Taint ducked out through the gap and bounded back to the den. He caught glimpses of the rising sun through the trees, but he didn’t stop to watch. He scrambled up the steps and into the den, panting as he skidded to a halt next to his body. Roulette was sitting there patiently awaiting his charge’s return.
“I take it you had a good time,” the white tom remarked. Taint nodded, catching his breath. “Good, well, now you need to learn how to get back into your body. Go lay down next to it.”
Taint did as Roulette said. He padded over to his sleeping form and curled up beside it. “Now what?”
“Slow your breathing to match that of your body’s, and then let yourself drift off,” Roulette instructed Taint.
“Okay,” Taint mumbled, his eyes narrowing as he concentrated on slowing his breathing. He felt as if he were falling into a deep sleep. And then, out of nowhere, he felt as if his body were being stretched and pulled, torn apart. As suddenly as the feeling came on, it vanished and Taint was blinking awake in his body once more.
Roulette was gone, but his scent still lingered around Taint as he got up and arched his back in a luxurious stretch, tail quivering with the effort. His paws were sore as if he had trekked through the forest all night. He remembered Roulette’s warning that injuries would carry over from the spirit world; the sore paws must have counted as an injury.
The sun was just coming up from behind the trees, its brilliant rays surrounding Taint in a halo of white light as it shone through the broken glass. Taint gave his sleep-rumpled fur a shake before padding over to Soul and prodded him in the shoulder.
“Huh, what? Get off, I’m sleeping,” Soul muttered irritably, flailing a paw to bat Taint away without opening his eyes.
“Come on, Soul. Up, up, up. It’s morning,” Taint purred in Soul’s ear, giving him yet another jab.
“Youngsters. Don’t know the meaning of sleeping in,” Soul hissed, though his voice was light with humor. Soul curled up even tighter, wrapping his tail over his nose before mumbling around the fur, “Come back later.”
“I’m going exploring, Soul. I’ll be back around noon.” Taint turned and trotted away towards the den entrance, just barely catching Soul’s mumbled reply of, what ever gets you out of my fur.
Taint trilled in amusement and bounced down the stone steps and headed away from the creek, interested to see what lay beyond the moss clearing. He weaved his way along the well-worn trail and bounded right past the moss patch. There was no path after that, so Taint weaved his way among the fern fronds and bracken. Here, the stunted bushes were closer together, and at times their branches were interwoven, creating a challenge for Taint to overcome.
Then soon enough, the undergrowth was gone all together, leaving nothing but a bramble-choked forest of prickly branches. Something caught Taint’s eye, and he crawled forwards cautiously to investigate. A few strands of fur were caught on one of the thorns, a mixture of tawny and black hairs. Taint stretched his neck forwards to sniff at it.
In the same instant, a black shape flew from the depths of the thorn bush, bowling Taint clear off his paws. Taint rolled with the momentum, flinging his hinds up and throwing his attacker off. He leapt to his paws and spun around to come nose to nose with a small, but muscular, black tom. His hackles were raised to make him look twice his normal size and his lips were drawn back to expose pointed fangs.
Taint unsheathed his claws, tail lashing as he faced his opposed. “What are you doing on my territory?” Taint demanded furiously. In truth, he didn’t know if Soul had actually laid claim to the mill and surrounding forest. For now, he just assumed he had.
The black tom didn’t answer. He lashed out, swiping his claws at Taint’s face. Taint ducked, but he felt the stinging pain as the claws nicked one of his ears. Driven mad with rage, Taint launched himself at the other tom, knocking the smaller cat off his paws and pinning him with one paw over his throat and the other on his haunches, claws unsheathed.
“No!” another voice shrieked. Taint looked just in time to see yet another cat fly out of the brambles, barreling right into him and carrying him off the black tom. Taint quickly rolled, reversing the pin to find himself holding down a tortoiseshell she-cat. Her green eyes were wide with fear, but her lips were drawn back in a defiant snarl.
Don’t. She’s one of you, Roulette’s voice whispered in Taint’s ear. He caught a glimpse of the white spirit on the edge of the woods, his outline barely visible.
While Taint was distracted, the she-cat wriggled from his grasp and darted over the black tom, cowering beside him. “Who are you?” Taint demanded, stalking menacingly over to the two cats.
“I’m Reago. This is my sister Laeta,” the black tom said warily, nodding towards the tortoiseshell.
Taint let his hackles lie flat and slid his claws back into their sheaths. “I’m Taint,” he introduced himself, reclining onto his haunches in a sit to assume a nonthreatening pose. “Sorry for attacking you. You just startled me is all.”
Laeta sat a little straighter, her ears perked. “We scared you?” she squeaked, her green eyes wide. “I was about to jump out of my skin!”
“Laeta!” the black tom, Reago, hissed. “We’re sorry for trespassing. We’ll be on our way.”
Don’t let them go, Roulette hissed in Taint’s ear. She’s one of you!
“No, wait!” Reago and Laeta stopped and looked back at Taint. “Um, why don’t you stay for a while? Soul and I would love some more company,” Taint lied. He wasn’t sure the blind tom would enjoy more cats coming to live in the human den, but he couldn’t just blurt out that Laeta was special and needed to stay.
“Why would you want more cats around?” Reago asked suspiciously.
“Soul and I live in the old mill house. It’s big enough for more cats, and I can’t deal with Soul on my own.” Taint meant the last part as a joke, but Reago didn’t seem to be taking it that way. “Besides,” Taint added hastily, “it’s dangerous out here on your own. At least stay for a few days.”
“Well, I don’t know…”
“Aw, come on Reago. He’s right. It is dangerous out here on our own. If he wanted us dead, he’d have killed us by now,” Laeta cut in, looking at her brother pleadingly.
“Alright,” Reago sighed, giving in to his sister. “Lead the way, Taint.”
Taint flicked his ears excitedly. Laeta supposedly had powers like him and Soul. He didn’t feel as different now. Taint led them back towards the mill house. He felt Roulette’s presence beside him, even though he couldn’t see the ghostly tom.
You must tell her of her powers, Roulette whispered, and then his scent faded, leaving Taint alone with the siblings once more.
“Soul!” Taint called loudly as he padded into the den with Reago and Laeta in tow.
“What?” Soul growled, stepping out of the shadows. “I thought you said you weren’t going to be back until noon,” he grumbled.
“Soul, I’d like you to meet Reago and his sister Laeta,” Taint introduced the two, though Soul had undoubtedly already smelled their presence.
“He’s blind,” Laeta hissed to her brother.
Soul caught what she said and turned his clouded green gaze on her. “So I am,” he stated calmly.
Laeta shrank away from him, pressing closer to her brother’s side. Taint intervened before anything else could go wrong. “Laeta, Reago, you can have my nest. It’s big enough for both of you to share. I’ll collect more moss and make another.”
Soul bristled slightly at Taint’s obvious invitation for them to stay, but he didn’t say anything. Laeta led the way over the clump of moss where Taint usually slept. She crouched there with Reago sitting next to her.
“Soul, can you come help me gather some more moss?” Taint requested, then quietly added, “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Soul nodded and followed Taint out into the forest once more. Once they were out of earshot of the siblings, Soul demanded in a gruff voice, “Who are they?”
“Laeta has powers, Soul. Like us.” Taint stopped and sat down on a large root. Soul was still glaring up at him with sightless eyes. The look was so intense that for a moment, Taint thought Soul might actually be able to see him.
“How do you know?”
“My spirit guide told me. I was going to drive them away, but then he told me that Laeta is one of us,” Taint explained patiently.
“Well,” Soul grunted. “First things first, we need to find out what her powers are.”
“Maybe we should tell her she has powers first,” Taint offered. “Then maybe she, like me, will be able to fit that in with something about herself that’s puzzling.”
“No,” Soul meowed, rejecting Taint’s idea. “That might only scare her, or make her think we’re insane. If we scare her away, we’ll have a powerful cat wandering around with no idea how to use her powers. Someone might get hurt.”
Taint nodded his assent. What Soul said was true. She very well might have harmless powers like Soul, but at the same time her powers could be something far more lethal.
“We should get the moss and hurry back. I sense a storm brewing,” Soul huffed, stalking past Taint and towards the moss clearing. Taint looked up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but he knew the blind cat’s senses were far greater than his own to compensate for the lack of sight. Taint bounded after Soul, his tail kinked over his back as he hurried to catch up.
