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Author's Note: This takes place after the events of "Tauli", Chapter Two. If you haven't read that, you probably need to. Might also be worth giving a glance over "Catgirl Cafe", a 750 word short story starring Sana.
I broke my promise about nothing ever happening, sorry.
Don't worry - Bubbles' life is going to be as carefree as ever.
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"What... The fuck... Is a... Bye-kle?" Sana said, kicking a large rock off the the dusty path.
The other neko sighed, shoulders drooping. "Dream, now. Bubbles was designing such a nice one, too! It had a web for a seat. Comfy as fuck on her tail! Her feet wouldn't hurt if she had her bicycle. But instead... Everyone she loves is dead."
The maid went silent, tail dropping.
The two walked in the quiet. Their tears might have dried up, but the horrors of what they had just seen were still fresh in their minds. Bubbles didn't know exactly what Sana had been through, but she didn't want to, either.
She could remember seeing Kaia cut down. Remember seeing Ninaein sprawled out at the top of the overcut. She imagined that Sharhalla was busy dealing with the aftermath, the doctor up to his elbows in gross things as he grunted quietly in disapproval to the soldiers.
She didn't know what to think about her Edric. He was human, and the orders were to go after nekos. However, he also had lived with one. He also had a lot of political opinions, and a huge heart, and the attack might have been enough to make him snap.
He also had made clothes for the royal family, once or twice. Maybe that was enough to set him in front of a target for the new empress.
Bubbles felt her bottom lip trembling, and she wiped at her face, refusing to believe she still had tears left to give. She wasn't crying, and she didn't feel like all she wanted to do was die. Her feet just hurt. That was it. Her feet hurt from walking, and she didn't want to go to the desert.
"Have you been to homeland?" She said hoarsely.
Sana nodded, "Mmm. She was born there. You?"
"Never left the city, before." Bubbles shook her head, "Never been home, before. Sang a lot about it. Her Nina... Her Nina had bracelet. Clan and tribe markings. Bubbles should visit them. Tell them."
Sana sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "She's from the Little Owl tribe, of the Brilliant Star clan. She thinks that they're... Unimportant. Mostly just working class. She left when she was very little. They came to the city to make their fortune, after hearing about empress. Sana became a whore, mostly because she was poor, and she was horny as fuck. Tomcats not interest her. All assholes."
"Nina was Twisted Knife, of the Shadow Keepers." Bubbles said glumly, "Makes sense. For a Coiner. She was raised to protect the weak, the young. Bubbles thinks that Nina was born in city. She might not have family in the homeland."
The maid reached over and squeezed her hand, "What about you?"
"Bubbles didn't know her family. Not really. Her magic is fuck all." She shook her head, and smiled sadly, "But... Nina still managed to find it out. Somehow. The Long Cast, of the Forgotten Cave. Fishermen. Bubbles not have patience to be a fisher. But she would like a feast if family are fishers..."
The maid laughed, "Desert, sweetie. The names don't mean much. They come from thousands of years ago. The memories, too. Most people are just people, doing whatever comes to hand. Just like us."
"Want to meet Nina's family." Bubbles said, her throat constricting, and her hands trembling. "She shouldn't have... She... Nina wanted... To be her wife. Bubbles should have let her be her wife! Bubbles..."
She stopped walking, falling onto the road and bursting completely into tears. The neko lashed out, repeatedly punching the rocky and unyielding soil, until her knuckles were a bloody mess. Then she collapsed and curled into a ball, and bit herself.
Sana knelt beside her, delicately picking a hair from her face, "She didn't lose a love. Only friends. She doesn't know what it's like. But she knows that it hurts. All she can say, is that she won't leave her. Sana will stay by her side. Even to meet family. She stays with Bubbles, through that."
The neko breathed in and out raggedly, staring sightlessly.
She didn't know how to keep going.
Sana stood up, "We'll camp here, then. She'll get it ready. When Bubbles is able, she can come lie beside fire?"
She nodded.
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"Fuck, it's cold." Sana shivered, rubbing her hands together, "Is it getting worse? All she can see are storm clouds... Fuck. If it rains... Does Bubbles know how to make a tent?"
She nodded tiredly, "Mmm... Not these trees, though. Rain go right through. Have to be able to knock down trees, if we wanted that, and Bubbles magic is shit. Sana's?"
"She can disappear." The maid shrugged, "Not for long. Only long enough to... Run. Not helpful."
"Bubbles can make loud noises." She whispered and poked at the still-frozen soil, despite the roaring fire on top of it. "Something wrong with the winter. It not going away. Just like plague. Something wrong with all of it. World is sick. Maybe it knew that Toofy gonna die. Maybe it angry that Toofy die."
"Bubbles worshipped empress?" Sana asked curiously.
The neko gave a quiet shake of her head, "No. No, Bubbles not worship anybody. She used to go to temple, often. Got hurt. She's clumsy. But she not really believe in gods... She wants to, now. Wants to believe her Kaia... And her Nina... That they in special place. Wants to. But doesn't. World not that fucking nice."
Sana pulled a symbol from her bra, it had a rough cord around it. "She worshipped the Green Goddess. Not sure she really believed it, either. But it made sense to her, before. Now, everything sick... She wonders... Maybe the Goddess, is? Maybe the war... Dark gods... Nightmares... They hurt her goddess. Maybe that is why the Toofy allowed to die."
"Met her, once." Bubbles said quietly, "Or saw her. Ran away so fast she dropped a silver tile. Nearly got no nice fish, that day. That was when... When she met her Kaia."
"Did you shit yourself?" Sana said in astonishment.
Bubbles tried to laugh, but it came out more as a kind of sad grunt. "No... But she very nearly pissed herself. The red eyes. They scared her. Toofy was smiling, teasing another kitty. Bubbles still felt like eyes were trying to eat her soul."
"Gods. You actually met Toofy." The catgirl shook her head in amazement, "Most she ever did was see Ink drinking. Princess could get fucking laaaaiid. Had half a dozen, one after another, that night. We made it a drinking game. Had to take a shot of firebrand each time she took another. Never been so hungover, in her life."
"Bunch of whores, drinking whilst princess bedded the bar?" Bubbles managed a smile.
Sana grinned, "Aha. She swears, Ink could have put them all out of business. All the men left looking... Haggard. Smelling like they so well used, they not be getting it back up for weeks."
"Pff." Bubbles rolled her eyes, "Men always able to get it up, for catgirl in heat. Even old men it don't work for. You know how many people try and pinch her ass in a day? Well. Did. Shit. Shit! Everything come back to Nina... She... She scared people who tried to mess with her Bubbles. Fuck it."
She dropped onto her side, staring into the fire, not caring if it was going to rain, anymore. She felt tempted to reach out and grab a hot coal. She didn't know why. She just knew that she wanted the pain. The urge was beginning to frighten her.
She felt guilty for how much Ninaein's loss was hurting her. She hadn't been there to see it. She had actually seen Kaia cut down right in front of her, and all she felt when she thought about it was... Nothing. A big chasm where emotions were meant to be.
She did manage to feel some anxiety for Edric, having not seen him at all, but it was dull. Yet, even that seemed more than she felt for a woman she had shared so many firsts with. A woman who adored her. A woman who had bled for her.
Bubbles looked down at the portcall around her ankle, the only reason that she was still alive. Kaia had given her a way to escape, even if she didn't know it at the time. Her own present to Edric at Halfdark might have served a similar purpose. The cufflinks had been brimstone. They would cause most spells to collapse, unless the will of the mage was ridiculous.
The other presents wouldn't have helped.
Kaia's earrings had just been platinum. A precious metal, maybe, but all the succubus could do was sell them. She would have to still be alive for that to happen. They had no enchantments to help her deal with a wound stretching across her entire torso.
The knife for Ninaein had been special, but it hadn't stopped the woman from falling. The blade would never need to be sharpened. Yet, Bubbles had seen it... Fallen from her girlfriend's hand... She never would have willingly relinquished it. But death never seems to care if someone was willing or not.
Bubbles' tears were interrupted as a white-scaled snake suddenly dashed out of the fire in front of her. She screamed and squealed, tossing up her hands as it flew into her face.
She rolled, throwing it, when she saw the jaws of the tiny creature close around a small black scorpion with a brutal crunch. The stinger jabbed into one of the red eyes, but the snake didn't even react. Slithering off into the undergrowth with its prize still trying to fight back.
The neko sat up shivering. She was pretty sure the scorpion had been about to sting her, when the snake saved her, but she hadn't even noticed it.
Bubbles pouted. She liked scorpions. The way they crunched in her mouth.
"You okay, sweetie?"
She flopped back to the ground, "No. Is the Sana, okay?"
"No." The woman replied hollowly, "Everyone she worked with is dead. Tish... Sana found Tish's head. She didn't find her body. Tish wasn't even neko! She was just... Just our manager... She tried to ask them... Ask them why... Sana just heard the screams. No reasons why."
Bubbles looked at her sympathetically, "It's okay to hate them."
"No, it isn't!" Sana snapped, "Hate begets hate! Just hating people is how this happened! If the humans hadn't hated Toofy, they wouldn't have followed their orders so easily! We were just cats. Just beasts. That's all we were, and so we could die! We have to be... Better! Fucking better!"
She closed her pale yellow eyes, unable to face the earnestness in the golden orbs across from her, "Too tired for that. She's too tired. She doesn't want to be better. She just wants to be left the fuck alone. The humans... They steal everything. And then claim they victim. That nekos forced their beliefs down their throats. They say they the silent majority, hurt by society, whilst holding tails they cut from the dead. Bubbles say they can go fuck themselves."
