Fowlhunter [GL]

In Jemi’s defence, it had started with one cat.

It was the stray cat that had been yawning by the garbage can on the busy street a while ago. Apparently, it had followed Jemi here, and now, shortly after emerging from the Olde Chocolate Shoppe, it came from around the corner padded behind her, meowing at her heels insistently.

“Don’t follow me,” the goldhaired woman told the cat.

“Mrrooooow?” the cat answered. It was a ginger with large amber eyes. You didn’t have to be an animal whisperer to know what it was asking for.

“I don’t have cat food on me,” Jemi said patiently. She spread her hands and shook them out. “See? Empty.”

“Mroooow.” The cat’s whiskers drooped sadly.

Jemi would not be swayed by even such acute adorableness. With a swish of her cloak, she marched onward for several blocks. When she turned around, the cat was still there.

“.......” She finally stopped, turning to stare down at it. In return, the cat plopped on its haunches and licked its paws. Innocently, it blinked its eyes at her.

…Its persistence reminded her of a certain other annoying person.

She stared… stared… then relented. She took a turn into the nearest general store, bought a can of sardines, and headed back out. Cracking it open, she squatted down and dropped one of the slivery fish into the cat’s waiting mouth. “There you go. Happy now?”

“Nyaaaa,” the cat purred, danced happily around Jemi’s feet, then turned and darted down another street. Jemi breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help the smile that rose to her face and she watched it go. She continued on her way. But then, she began to hear the sounds of more meowing. The gold-haired woman’s brows scrunched in confusion as she glanced around. Cats were solitary creatures; they weren’t the exactly type of animal to congregate. Had she passed by some old cat lady’s home? A pet seller? A cat shelter?

And then she felt fur brushing past her boots. It was then she realised that the ginger cat was back—and had brought four others with it. Their meows were a chorus.

Jemi shook her head in exasperation. “I didn’t ask you to bring all your friends, too!”

“Meeerroooow…” A symphony of plaintive meows.

Well, I guess I could use up this can of sardines, Jemi thought. Bending down, she began to feed each of the cats. Each feline yowled happily, swishing their tails back and forth as they chowed. The ginger cat was the most greedy. It was a slow and lazy-looking cat, but it just about tried to jump on her every time she held her hand out. Jemi couldn’t help the amused giggle that escaped from her—she caught the cat in both hands and lifted it off her her lap. She reached out and stroked its side, which caused it to thin its eyes and purr contentedly.

It was then that another cat slunk from around the corner. This was a tortoiseshell cat, its coat speckled with patches of gold, brown and black. Its tail was held high in the air as it stalked towards where Jemi was. When Jemi reached for it, it hissed at her, but it happily accepted a sardine. Licking its paw thoughtfully, it blinked blue eyes at her, then swung its tail.

Moments later, about twenty cats emerged from the sidestreets. They swarmed towards her.

“Hoboy,” Jemi muttered.

Jemi proceeded to spend the rest of her time convincing them to leave, but just because the cats could understand her didn’t mean that they were inclined to listen. They stuck around, demanding headpats and bellyrubs. The first ginger cat eventually left her alone, turning to play with the tortoiseshell cat, who it seemed to like even when the other swatted it away. One noticed that these two cats were noticeably plumper than the rest, as if they were more well-fed than the others.

Meanwhile, Jemi found herself stuck in quite the absurd situation—the woman stood in the middle of a pool of purring cats, helpless to move anywhere without trodding on a paw or tail, her can of sardines empty so she could not distract them. She could’ve used Lunaki to jump out, but she didn’t want to risk getting caught sparkling-silver in the middle of an open street.

Just then, a warm gold beam blossomed in the back of her mind. She recognised the shape of it: it was Ennanis. Jemi found herself for the first time relieved by an incoming charm from her, instead of her usual irritation. She accepted the charm. Soon, the rose-haired angel appeared from around the corner.

Ennanis was carrying a huge bag of chocolate on her shoulder. When she caught sight of Jemi, her footsteps slowed in wonderment. She stared at Jemi, then at the clowder of cats meowing at her feet, tugging at the hem of her cloak and pawing at the tail of her scarf.

“Help?” Jemi suggested weakly.

Instead of moving, the angel stood there. Slowly, a smile broke out across her face.

“You seem to be in a predi-cat-ment,” the angel said.

The woman groaned. “You are so not funny.”

“Really? I think there’s no opportunity more purr-fect than this,” Ennanis continued. “I was paw-sitive that you’d be hiss-terical.”

“Stop,” Jemi covered her ears. “Stop, Medusa’s sake. Those are horrible.”

“I think you mispronounced meowrvellous.”

“If you make one more pun, I’m going to kill you.”

Nonplussed, Ennanis cast a glance at the wall of cats between them. “Good luck getting over here to do that.”

“Grrrrrr,” Jemi bristled, but Ennanis knew it was without any real threat. She opened her mouth to torment the human some more, but she was interrupted by the sound of running feet, and a child’s shout:

“Fireball! Galaxy!”

At first Ennanis thought it was children playing witches and wizards, casting imaginary magic spells. But then a boy came bolting from around the corner. He looked around twelve years old. At his call, two of the cats appeared to perk up: a ginger cat and a tortoiseshell one. The ginger loped over immediately. The tortoiseshell curled its tail in contemplation. Its blue eyes flicked over to see the ginger cat getting cuddled by the boy. Then, feigning reluctance, the tortoiseshell slunk over to join them.

The boy petted the tortoiseshell. But it was not long before he looked up and noticed the ring of cats around Jemi.

“Kitties! Kitties!” the boy roared excitedly. He barged straight into the clutter of them, sending the cats scattering in all directions. This also released Jemi from her cage, who stumbled out in a daze, staring after the boy. “Mama, come look! There’s so many kitties!”

Next, a middle-aged woman was the last to round to corner. She was huffing and panting. “Don’t run so fast, Josie, your mama’s too old for this.” She looked in her early forties, with chestnut-brown hair wrapped in a topknot and a simple yellow dress. She was pushing a pram piled with blankets in the front, packed with groceries in the back. She stopped short. “Oh, that is a lot of kitties. The last time I saw that many kitties in one place was when that girl…”

Then she caught sight of the gold-haired woman trying to sneak away from the scene.

“...Jemi?” the mother put a hand over her mouth.

Jemi froze in her tracks. With a noticeably sweaty grin, she turned around. “…Mrs Tionn,” she said awkwardly. She looked over at the boy hugging the cats. “Hi, too.”

Ennanis looked between them, seeking explanation.

“So…” Jemi laughed nervously. “Have I ever mentioned that I lived in this town, once?”