Padding through the thick grass outlined just beyond Miss Gertrude’s home, satchel securely strapped around my torso, something didn’t feel right about leaving Mistress behind. Alas, I am bound by contract to do as the Miss commands. Begrudgingly I follow the northern path along the river side that leads to the village.

It’s about mid-day and the thick canopy of the forest trees block out the sun quite well, however there are some beams of light that manage to pierce the sky covering. “Perhaps Mistress would be happy if I picked up other ingredients along the way…” my mind ponders as I spot some Amanita mushrooms by the base of a thick tree trunk. They are quite toxic to the mortals, but Mistress is able to create antidotes for it’s poison. Villagers often come in with children who eat them and get sick. I guess I can imagine why some silly mortal child would think they are edible, their bright red tops can certainly be mistaken as sweet candy, or fruit...well to a child anyways. A red thread snakes forth from the marvelous floof of my tail, and slithers its way to the mushroom, coiling around the stem of it. With a flick of my tail, the fungus is plucked cleanly from the ground. I manipulate the mana thread to store the mushroom into my satchel, and continue on my path to the village.

In the distance I can hear the rapid splashing of the short waterfall, meaning I’m not far from the mortal’s settlement now. My pads are covered in dirt from this trek, maybe the farmer will give me a treat and wipe my paws for me when I get there. Generally the mortal colony is quite welcoming to me, though I suppose this form is pleasing to the mortals, and they respect my Mistress. I pick up the pace and scamper towards the sound of the waterfall at a considerably fast rate, certainly faster then any normal cat of this realm.

Reaching the edge of the Village’s territory line, the clear water of the river crashing down from the waterfall, and the sweet smell of baking bread mixed with the rancid scent of manure fills the air. These certainly weren’t considered wealthy villagers, however they were a happy bunch, and enjoyed their pocket of peace. I believe this is why my Mistress moved to this corner of land. Her home town was not accepting of the practice of magic, when it was discovered she was one of the ‘touched’ as the mortals call it, even her own parents were ready to burn her. It was on the very night before her so-called ‘trial’ that Miss Gertrude summoned me, and I swore my life to her, quite literally.

The Farm was a short distance to the north-west of the village, really I just need to follow the scent of maure, that place certainly held the strongest stench. Closing my eyes for a moment, letting out a low melodic growl, I shoot my eyes back open a hollowed darkness replacing my otherwise orange eyes. With this sight I'm able to follow scent lines and quickly spot the brown scent tendril that held a slight green hue. Following the track of the scent line, I pass a few of the village folk out on their mid-day stroll. I can’t see who they are that well with this sight, but I do see their outline like an aura, I guess you could call it their scent aura. For example, the flower lady, clearly out gathering flowers and seeds to sell, her basket looking like a bundle of; blue, pink, purple, orange whisps clumped together. Her own aura mostly holds red, and pink.

I could tell a few of the villagers were startled by me as I could hear their hushed gasps and “whoas” as they passed me. Which I can’t blame them really, mortal minds are simple, many can’t fathom the complexity of magic and my nature. But they avoid my path and do not disturb me, because again, they know who I am, they know who I protect.

Finally arriving at the Farm house, I close my eyes and let out a sigh, bringing back this form’s orange cat eyes and park my butt outside the house’s door. Scratching at the bottom left corner of the wooden door I let out a loud “Meeerow!” and seconds later I hear the steps of the farmer who resides here. I’ve heard Mistress call him Benjamin, or Ben. He is an older gentleman, something happened to his wife long ago but neither the Mistress or I know what as it happened before we arrived. Ben opens the door, and looks down at me, he has a kind, though wrinkled, smile on his face.

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“Oh, Topaz, Ms. Gertrude sent you for something?” His voice is raspy with age, but deep and kind.

I give him a nod and stand up, turning to look out at his cornfield, I gesture to the field with my right paw “Mow…”

“Alright, alright just let me get my tools, what is it I’ll be needing?”

Looking around his yard, Ben has several pots laid out specifically for me to show him the general type of ingredient I come for. Ranging from a flower, to various vegetables, fruits, and root type plants. I wander over to the pot with the flower, and sit in front of it “Prrft.” Mortals are certainly ingenious, they find ways to communicate with animals without magic, it's quite fascinating.

“A flower in the cornfield eh?” Ben scratches at the bald spot atop his head. “Oh! You’re here for some Centaurea Flowers then?”

I give him a nod, and Ben slips on his shoes and heads to his tool shed just to the side of his house.

Once equipped with his digging tools, we head to the cornfield and begin looking around for some Centaurea flowers. These aren’t really things he plants, they’re a type of plant mortals call weeds. So we have to do some foraging to find them. It’s not hard to spot them as they are a bright blue flower, which contrasts against the thick green cane of the corn stalks.It doesn’t take long for Ben and I to find a decent bushel of Centaurea, and Ben stores them carefully into my satchel.

“Well, now that's done. Did you want your paws cleaned or some treats before you head back to Ms. Gertrude?”

I really should be heading back to the Mistress, there's that sick mortal child and that lingering darkness, time is of the essence. But...my paws are so filthy, and it’s quite a long walk in this form I could certainly use the energy from a bite of food. Plus, Ben makes the best chicken roast in the village. On one hand it is my duty to protect my Mistress, my very essence depends on that. On the other hand, if I were to fall asleep due to lack of energy, or even be slowed down by the filth on my paws, I would fail my Mistress.

“Topaz? Are you hungry?” Clearly confused by my lack of response. I give him a nod, I suppose a short break before heading out isn’t a bad idea.

Inside the mortal’s home, Ben starts with wiping my paws for me. I don’t generally care much for the other mortals in this realm, but his old man certainly gets what the humans call brownie points, with me. We then head to his kitchen, and I sit patiently on the floor as he begins preparing some chicken for me. One thing I noticed about farmers is they know how to care for the creatures here. To my understanding, cats are lactose intolerant, and can’t digest mercury very well. So it's best to feed them poultry foods like chicken, fowls, and other bird-like critters. I of course am not really a cat, but I’ll never say no to a nice roasted chicken.

My mouth begins to salivate as the scent of the cooked chicken hits my nose. Ben serves the chicken to me on a tiny brown clay bowl, placing it on the floor in front of me, and I chow down on it.

“There has been a strange presence in the town as of late..” Ben talks to me while I munch on the chicken, half listening to him.

He walks over to a window in the kitchen, gazing outside as he continues “It seems our pocket of peace might not last.”

His words almost sound like a warning, but this mortal man is old. I know with time mortals tend to become suspicious of things for no reason.

After finishing my chicken Ben pats my head, he seemed to have a sad smile this time,and I picked up a distinct change in his emotions as he sends me off. Maybe he’s just lonely and sad to see me go, surely that’s it, why else would his demeanor change like that?

I retrace my steps back to the forest river. As soon as I enter the forest, the air seems to feel dense. “I must have eaten too much..” I think, and my movements are becoming lethargic, and I start to feel sleepy. “No...now's not the time for a nap...I must...get…” my inner thoughts get interrupted by some inaudible whispers around me. “Mistress!” is the last gasping word in my mind before a terrible tearing sensation writhes through my whole body. Pain courses through my every nerve before I collapse onto the forest floor and pass out.