That's Why This Is Just Plain Weird!
That's Why This Is Just Plain Weird!
Hao Ren did not sleep well the previous night. He was still thinking about the missing cat. Rollie had a history of leaving the house and going crazy for a night or two. Also, for a former stray cat, not coming home was a normal thing, but there was something rather off about this. Hao Ren was disturbed by the information Lily had given him. Plus, their recent encounter with the First Born still weighed heavily on him. He had all sorts of dreams during his slumber; first was an invasion by a bunch of alien cats; the next scene was of the goddess in the Plane of Dreams sowing seeds of life; and the last was of him being dragged into the deep and drowned. The moisture on his nose and lips were almost too real. As he woke up in shock, he realized that it was real. Lil Pea had leaped onto his face and fell asleep. The moisture was from her wet tail...
The MDT lay lazily by the head of the bed as it explained how Lil Pea ended up on him. "She leaped onto your face herself. It was pointless even if I had kept an eye on her. Sides, you're her father, it's only right if she decides to trouble you."
The little rascal was still revising her lessons while she was asleep. Between breaths she mumbled what Nangong Sanba had thought her during the day. "Fooohhh... kusss... Koonn... truu... ll... gulugulugu... telly.. .poottt..."
As she mumbled, the little mermaid activated her teleportation ability and slammed right into Hao Ren's jaw. Lil Pea immediately woke up before slapping her tail happily and waving at Hao Ren. "Daddy! Awake!"
No wonder Nangong Sanba kept reminding him not to have anything sharp nearby when Lil Pea was practicing her teleportation. Not to mention, he had to keep the windows and any holes, which she may go through sealed. Apparently the demon hunter's ability could be activated even when the user was asleep!
Hao Ren brought the mermaid downstairs and saw Vivian sitting on the sofa meditating. He knew what the vampire was doing. "Have you found it?"
"I've searched all across the area, even the urban area of the Southern Suburbs and part of the town area. I even sent a few bats into the town, but a cat shouldn't have ran that far away." Vivian said as she slowly opened her eyes and massaged her temple. "I did feel some blood scent, but the trail's broken, almost as if something happened to the person who's masking the scent... I may have lost it altogether."
As Vivian spoke, the window in the guest hall suddenly opened by itself. A part of the bat swarm had completed their reconnoiter and they were back. Each of the bats had some vegetable in their claws. Vivian stood up to stretch. "That cat aside... I got some of the bats to bring home some vegetables. Let me make you some vegetable stew. You've been having a lot on your mind these few days, time to have something hearty."
Hao Ren nodded, and was slightly touched by Vivian's thoughfulness. At that very moment, a crash rang from the second floor. It sounded like a window was forced open and the pots by the windowsill had toppled over.
Vivian let out a swarm of bats. "Let me see what's going on."
The bats quickly went upstairs. Just as Hao Ren was about to ask what was going on, he saw Vivian's expression changed drastically as the latter stormed upstairs as well.
Seeing Vivian's reaction, it was natural for Hao Ren to instictively follow her. However, he was stopped at the staircase by Vivian. "Stand back Mr. Landlord, let me check things.... Doggie! Doggie, get over here! And bring two pieces of your old clothes!"
Lily poked her head out of her room in a daze. "Huh?"
"The one in your hands will do!" Vivian said as she ordered her bats to snatch the set of casual wear off Lily's hands. The husky immediately leaped up, "Hey, what are you doing Battie! I was just about to wash those!"
"I'll explain later!" Vivian took the clothes and dashed up the second floor without turning back. "You're pretty hygenic..."
Hao Ren could only look on in absolute confusion as the events progressed. He did not know what Vivian was up to. It was not until he heard sounds of crashing and shrills that he yelled, "Vivian! What's going on?!"
"Don't ask me! I'm confused myself!" Vivian replied. In between her words were sounds of bare feet stomping on the wooden floor. Things finally came to a rest after a crack of thunder, and it sounded like Vivian had struck somebody down...
A moment later, Vivian's head popped out of the stairwell. "It's done... I'll bring her down. She's still in a daze.."
As Hao Ren looked on curiously, Vivian carried a person down the stairs.
It was a petite young lady, about a good head smaller than Lily. She had black hair and very refined features. Even from a distance she was a pretty looker, but it was rather difficult to discern anything with her face covered in soot and part of her hair bristling due to static electricity. So, she was the one who ate Vivian's lightning bolt earlier...
This lass of unknown origin was still stunned as she was brought downstairs by Vivian. Everyone in the house was also drawn in by the commotion and they got out of their rooms to see what happened. Hao Ren joined the crowd as he asked, "Who is she?"
The stranger looked up as she heard Hao Ren's voice and she put on a silly smile. She started to wag the tail behind her.
"...A tail?" Hao Ren exclaimed.
He just realized that the person had a black bushy tail at the back, and on her head were a pair of pointed, bushy cat ears! He thought they were merely accessories...
Lily blinked. "What does this ear shape look so familiar?"
Hao Ren went and poke the girl's ears. He immediately pulled his hands back in shock. "It's real!"
Lily's ears popped up at the same time too. "Of course! You can tell it just by a glance. My ears are out and about almost every day, yet you still can't tell a fake apart?"
"What's this?" Hao Ren looked at the girl in bewilderment. He looked on as she slowly recovered from her daze and numbness. She then went about nonchalantly towards the cushion by the stairwell and rolled up into a ball. He looked at her struggling with her clothes—it seemed like she was not used to it. A rough guess soon took hold in his heart.
"That can't be Rollie, can't it?"
The cat girl, who was just about to curl up and sleep quickly perked up. It was as though she had heard an important keyword. Her eyes were fixed on Hao Ren, and she let out a lazy, nonchalant "Meowwww..."
Seeing the cat girl like this, Hao Ren had no doubts about her identity.
"She jumped in from the window on the second floor. That's Rollie's usual route home," Vivian explained what she saw upstairs. "It's probably because she had become so big that she knocked everything on the windowsill down. Putting the clothes on her was a chore too. She even scratched me a few times."
Vivian showed Hao Ren the white claw marks on the back of her arm. "Then, I gave her a shock."
Nangong Sanba looked on, too stunned to speak. It was only after a while that he mumbled to himself, "...Is this a case of sudden gene mutation? It's just too... unreal!"
Hao Ren massaged his temple. "Don't ask me. I'm just as confused."
Y'zaks arms were crossed as he stood on the outer circle of the crowd. "Hmm.. her aura is similar, but the change is huge. No wonder Vivian couldn't locate her. But the key is... how did she turn out like this?"
As everyone around discussed and hypothesized what happened to Rollie, the cat girl opened her eyes. It looked like she could not sleep under such an enviroment. Her slit-eyes looked around for a bit before landing on Hao Ren again. After a few mewlings, Hao Ren's pet cat finally spoke her first words.
"Poop scooper, where's my food?"
Yes, that was it. Anything that lived under this roof, even if it was only a cat would have to be weird to pass off as normal!