Chapter 15: The Cat’s Out of the Bag

I Strolled into the living room to find Jimbo-no walking up the stairs, carrying Spinemess over his back.

“There you are!” Jimbo-no exclaimed. “Spiney and I were worried for ya after ya wandered off, Grandma. We checked everywhere! Nobody had seen any signs of a crazy, senile, old lady. Isn’t that right, Spiney?”

Jimbo-no tilted Spinemess’s head up and down.

The other skeleton answered back with fiercely blazing eyes and a smack across the back of the skull.

“I was doing whatever Dungeons do.” I nodded to Spinemess, then I smirked at Jimbo-no. “I see you’ve been trying to make friends.”

“What do you expect? Ya left me alone with him in the dark! All I could do was listen to his pathetic scraping noises up the stairs while ya were off playing hooky.”

My smirk widened.

“For fuck’s sake. Ya do that on purpose?” He tossed Spinemess onto the couch. His tailbone popped off and went flying. “Whoops. Sorry, pal. I’ll get it. Anyways, how was your nap? ‘Cuz last I checked we were in the middle of something.”

Still finger knitting Leylines In my hand. I was repeating what I had just done, this time activating my Skill upon the faint Leylines leading from the basement up to my Core.

I redirected the Mana, pulled on it, unraveling whatever bobbin lay beyond, and twisted the threads into a larger size that I knew how to work with better. I then Leyline Knit my Dungeon past the basement door and further beyond that, into the next room.

I then Mana Dusted away some of the wooden frame holding the door’s hinges in place.

There was a loud crash from down below in the basement.

The door could be put back in place and fixed easily enough.

My smirk broke into a grin. “Door's open, by the way,” I said. Using Gardencraft, I grew a rudimentary pick-axe and shovel into place before me.

“Ah, nicely done. Now wipe that shit eating grin off your face, ya old bat.” He walked out back to fetch Jellybee from the garden.

While I waited I inspected part of the cellar. I didn’t know much about building houses, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to accidentally collapse the whole cottage by breaking through one of the foundations. I found a suitable spot and started Dusting away. Growing that equipment had brought my Mana back into the red.

My two other minions returned. Jellybee looked crestfallen as he picked up the shovel. Yet Jimbo-no seemed particularly excited to be making progress. The grumpy Brigand with sailing experience seemed initially like the type that would jump at any opportunity to avoid work and laze around. In actuality, deep down, I knew he loathed feeling useless. Despite all his complaints, I could tell that Jimbo-no had enjoyed keeping himself busy by teaching me. He’d never admit it though.

Jimbo-no hefted the pick-axe over his shoulder. “Don’t go wandering off now, Spinemess. We’ve got a tunnel to dig!” The two able bodied skeletons descended down the creaky steps.

“Sit tight, dear. Once I get topped off I’ll figure out how to get you shipshape.” I told the lounging mute. We’ll need all hands on deck before the night is through.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Spinemess saluted with his one hand.

I smiled, then ended my Stroll to conserve Mana.

Speaking of which, I had the distinct feeling someone else would be joining us by the end of the night. I gave their resting place a thorough Dusting. I permeated the soil and stirred it up like compost, enough to give them a helping hand. I knew better to wake them before they were ready.

****

Tiptap awoke from a very long nap. It was a good nap, by her standards.

Until someone had rudely dumped water on top of her.

Tiptap felt cold. Cramped. Wet. It was a sheer state of misery.

She let out a fierce yawn.

She tried stretching, but found that she couldn’t move.

Clearly she was under a lot of blankets. She tried to poke her way out. But the blankets felt thick. About two feet or three feet thick. And made of loose garden soil.

She now felt very, very cramped.

Tiptap, naturally, panicked.

She didn’t know how she got here or what was happening. All she knew was that she wanted out.

She cried out. She clawed and scraped and wiggled.

She tore through the blankets, dug through the material with tooth and claw, and shoved her way upwards. The further she went, the easier it became, like somebody was helping her dig out from up above.

Then finally, after what felt like an eternity, she crawled her way out of her own grave.

Tiptap emerged into the garden, under the light of the stars, the planetary ring, and the moon. She shook off the dirt and debris as best she could, then finally, took a much needed biiiig stretch.

Busily grooming herself, Tiptap ignored the message. She wiped a paw across her head and then tried to lick the dirt off that paw.

Curious. She discovered she no longer had a tongue.

She cocked her head. That was new. And unfortunate. She liked having a tongue.

She took it in stride though. It was what it was. At least she wasn’t cramped. But she still felt cold.

She wandered through the garden. She normally didn’t nap so far away from home.

As she passed under the shadow of the house, a bolt of black lightning jumped down at her from the roof.

She jumped.

That was Bedknob, wasn’t it? He had grown so much! And so quickly!

She tried nuzzling up to him.

He arched his back and hissed at her. All his fur was on end, sparking with electricity. Did he not recognize her smell?

She cocked her head again. That was also new.

She carried on and entered the home.

Strange. The backdoor was open. Normally she would have had to tap on the door a few times and cry to gain entry, but she waltzed right through.

And it certainly seemed different inside. Most of the furniture was gone. There was even half a corpse laying on the couch. How long had Tiptap been asleep? She sniffed about cautiously. The air smelled heavily of smoke and ashes.

Not everything had changed, though. There was still the fireplace. Surely that would be nice and warm?

Tiptap laid down before the fireplace. Same as she always had.

Except her rug was missing. And she was somehow still cold. Even with the fire burning so intensely.

She hopped up onto the hearth and gingerly tested the green fire with a paw. Fire normally burned too hot this close. But this seemed fine? Inside the fire was a glowing rock with a geode core.

She stepped into the fire. It was pleasantly toasty. Like laying in a sunbeam for a few hours.

Finally, some comfort.

She kneaded upon the embers.

They felt good. Nice and warm. This was a lovely heat to bask in.

“Why hello there, little one. You sure know how to make yourself at home.”

Tiptap looked up to see an elderly woman seated at the edge of the fireplace. She twirled string about in her hands. Which was awfully tempting. But the ends of the string faded away into thin air, out of Tiptap's potential reach.

It was not the same woman that had lived in the home previously. But this one seemed friendly enough. She wasn’t picky when it came to giving her affections to humans. They came and went like sunny days.

“I see you like my fire. I suppose, since you insist, you can stay. As long as you like. Though I must apologize in advance for the racket in the basement.

Tiptap curled up around the rock and purred, just happy to be home again.