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Everyone's a Catgirl! Ch. 266: I Knew You Were Trouble
🕑 Added 2024-06-03 04:37:31 +0000 UTCYanni was a capable fighter but weird as hell. Her shifting emotions and slow uptake on conversations gave Ravyn whiplash. But she couldn’t deny that the woman knew her way around a sword, and Perception was a dangerous tool in the right hands.
It still doesn’t beat [Fire Pillar].
The Party had agreed to settle in for the rest of the night. Their research and poison-making had consumed most of the day, and Ravyn wasn’t ready for another one-on-one with Emberlynn or confrontation with any more of Zhuli’s disgruntled populace.
Not that she ever would be ready, but she needed a fucking break.
This was too much, too fast. The onslaught of Zhuli’s citizens on top of her mother’s mind games was tough to stomach, whether it was Yukari’s bitchy tone or Chinatsu’s slap in the face. They didn’t understand why Ravyn had left. They never would understand why she’d left.
Ravyn closed the door of her room behind her and took a seat on the round, plush carpet. Glancing up at Garney, she considered spilling her feelings to the unfeeling gemstone, but Bally hopped on her knee first.
“You held your tongue,” he crooned.
Ravyn nodded. “Chinatsu’s an old roach. Screaming at her wouldn’t help Yanni.”
“That’s not something I would have heard you say a mere year ago.”
She rolled her fingers into a fist, concentrating on the sharp sensation of her nails piercing her palm. Why did such a statement make her so angry? Did she really miss the drunk, unreachable woman she’d become?
“Ravyn…”
“I heard you, okay?” Ravyn snapped, then sighed. “This is… Goddess above, this is so much harder without Matt,” she confessed quickly before the words planted themselves into her tongue. “Sometimes it feels like I have no one to fall back on if shit gets bad.”
“I believe Tristan will continue to support you.” Bally extended one blue wing and preened near the connection to his flank.
“It’s not the same.”
“I know.” He pulled a slender blue feather away from his elbow and let it fall into Ravyn’s lap. He blinked, then hopped forward to her thigh and nuzzled her cheek. “You will always have me, too.”
Ravyn smiled at that, enjoying the warm sensation of his soft face on her cheek. “Even if I threaten to cook you?”
“Especially when you threaten to cook me.”
She laughed and scratched the back of his head. A knock on the door made them both start, and she cleared her throat.
“Come in,” she said as Ball flew to the windowsill.
The door opened, and a pair of tiny ears on a red head poked through the crack. “Sister? May I come in?”
Sophia. Ravyn chewed her lip and glanced at Ball. It was difficult to say if he responded with a nod or a shrug—the afternoon light cloaked his feathers and blurred the soft lines of his form. “Yes,” she relented.
Sophia tiptoed inside and carefully shut the door behind her. The bright pink dress she wore had sleeves down to her wrists, a high collar typical of San Island style, and a skirt that flowered down to her ankles. Her hair was still tied in twin braids that fell over her shoulders, and the golden flecks shimmered like tiny affronts to Ravyn’s lineage.
She didn’t choose her father, Ravyn silently reminded herself. Just like we didn’t choose our mother.
Sophia turned to face Ravyn and clasped her hands together at her waist. “I…um…” she blushed, straightened her skirts, then returned her hands to their former position.
“Sophie, I’m sorry, I don’t have the [Energy] to play right now.” Why was Sophia acting so reticently? They’d played chase just a day before.
“No, no. No play. Um, can we talk?”
Ravyn blinked. Why was a three-year-old approaching her older sister like a business meeting? Emberlynn… “Oh. Sure. What’s on your mind?” Sophia’s face turned a deeper shade of red, and she waffled back and forth between favoring her feet. Ravyn sighed and held her arms open. “Come here.”
A glowing smile surfaced on Sophia’s face and she skipped the few paces between them. She stopped just before Ravyn’s crossed legs, then smoothed her skirt behind her and took a seat in Ravyn’s lap, tucking her tail around Ravyn’s back.
“Thank you,” Sophia hummed, snuggling her head beneath Ravyn’s chin. The fur on her ears tickled and Ravyn laughed. “You’re so warm.”
“So are you.” Ravyn kissed the top of Sophia’s head without thinking. It was a strange feeling, holding her kin so close. The warmth spread through her chest and lifted her spirits. What is this? She tried to push it back down and failed. Instead, she changed her focus. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Hmm.” Sophia picked at the silver embroidery threads on her dress. “Mama says you’re gonna leave again.”
Cold, creeping tendrils much like the roots of the Defiled snaked through the warmth inside Ravyn’s chest. “That’s right.”
“Why? Why are you leaving?”
The cold clenched down on Ravyn’s heart with Sophia’s defeated tone. A tiny part of her fumed at Emberlynn for shifting this burden to a kitten, but it wasn’t Sophia’s fault. “I have to help Tristan.”
“Help him how?”
Ravyn puzzled over how to explain an economic crisis to a toddler. Sophia had likely just learned the value of a Bell coin and its role in society, but Saoirse only knew how much she’d actually retained. “Well, there are a lot of lost Bells on San Island, and I have to help him find them.”
“Like a treasure hunt?” Sophia’s excitement was palpable.
Yeah, sure, why not. “Yes. Like a treasure hunt.”
“But doesn’t he have other catgirls to help him?”
Kittens and their questions. “He does, but they’re from Shi Island. They don’t know many people here,” Ravyn replied.
“Hm? Miss Yanni is from Zhuli!” Sophia retorted. “I saw her with you!”
Ravyn opened her mouth, then closed it again. What was there to say? In their limited interactions with the citizens of Zhuli and the residents of Shulan, Ravyn’s appearance had solicited more ire than companionship. Yanni’s razor-sharp memory and calculating mind had the potential to assist Tristan far more than Ravyn could.
But then, what exactly would I do if I stayed here? “Hey, I’ll come back, Sophie. I promise it’s not forever.”
“No!” Sophia frowned, and her ears flattened against her head. “I want you to stay.”
Ten years ago, there’d been nothing easier than leaving Emberlynn and Zhuli behind. Going on an adventure with her best friend and meeting the man that would change her life forever. When she returned with Tristan just two days before, Ravyn thought her departure would be just as easy. Just one more time leaving her arrogant, game-loving mother to her riches and overseeing her empire. The thought of leaving her little sister behind with an ailing woman who appeared as if she’d crumble to pieces at any moment was terrifying.
Maybe she had her work cut out for her after all.
“Ravyn! The nyannies tell me I have to do Mama’s job. But I can’t do Mama’s job! It’s so conflicated!” Sophia squirmed in Ravyn’s lap.
“You mean ‘complicated,’” Ravyn corrected softly.
“Yeah! I just want to go outside and play. I want friends! I want my sister!” Sophia continued, punctuating each word with a sharp nod of her head.
“Sophia…” The pangs in Ravyn’s chest made it difficult to breathe. She’d grown up with Emberlynn in the prime of her life and still found solace in talking to a garnet. What would Sophia’s life be like? Growing up with a husk of their mother’s former self?
“Some of the nyannies say mean things about you,” Sophia said. “But you’re not mean at all. You play chase, and give snuggles, and,” she sniffled, “and you listen to me.”
Ravyn felt her shoulders tense, “Of course I listen to you. What you think is important to me,” she replied honestly.
“Then stay.” Sophia wrapped her tiny hands around Ravyn’s arm and held her close. “If I’m important. Stay.” Giant tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wiped them on the back of her sleeve. “Please.”
Keeping a contact in Zhuli could help Tristan in his search. Besides, it would give Ravyn a chance to go through Emberlynn’s finances with her accountants and get the estate in order. Sophia needed a guiding hand, and a family member that did more than scold her to use the correct spoon in her soup.
“Okay, Sophie.” Ravyn brushed the tears away from her sister’s cheeks. “I’ll stay.”
Sophia’s face lit up, and her ears shot straight into the air. She clung to Ravyn’s waist in a tight embrace and laughed. “I’m so happy!”
Just for a little while. Ravyn’s time here would be temporary.
Just until Matt was ready to come home.
