I was in an awkward position when I woke up. Slowly, I opened my eyes and the half blurred visage of an angel's face came int- oh wait no it's Hannah and she looks pretty annoyed.

Almost immediately I felt the urge to get off the bed. I wasn't just lying on the blanket of her bed, I was on her lap. Someone had taken me here and placed me on Hannah's lap. I had no clue how I ended up here otherwise.

I thought I didn't remember much but the moment I tried tracing back over the events of the day before, bitterness bubbled to the surface of my mind, jolting it awake.

Quietly, possibly somewhat ashamed, I got up on all fours and dragged myself over to the bedside table to sit. Rules were rules. Hannah didn't break her hard judging stare even for a moment. I felt like my turn to be questioned had now come. I could practically hear the cogs whirring, printing questions to be asked in Hannah's head.

The room was nice and cool. Morning light graced us through the window. And yet as fresh as the day felt, I felt like total crap. I probably looked it as well.

If memory served me right, I went on a quest for food, got beaten into a bad shape, and then... I came back to the Triolo? It was reasonable to assume I collapsed somewhere nearby. An otherwise uneventful return journey must have happened for me to end up here.

“Your cat is awake.” The Nurse stood nearby with his hands resting in his white coat pockets. “I'm going to get some breakfast and check on Professor Riker. I'll be gone for half an hour. Your arms are healing well so I won't carry through with my threat of keeping you here over the weekend.”

If Hannah felt relief she certainly didn't show it. She pulled up her satchel which had been lying close against the side of her bed and gave a very half-hearted check to make sure everything was still there. Head full of thoughts, she stared at her satchel pensively. Any second now, those thoughts would start slipping out of her mouth.

“And of course I'll tell Professor Mathers we won't be running any tests on you. I don't know how the painkiller would react to my enhancements. Who knows? Maybe if I tried your head would explode next.” He motioned with his hands. “Anyway, if you're gonna leave then check in first thing on Monday.”

“Shouldn't I go to a hospital?” Hannah replied doubtfully.

“I mean, you could.” The Nurse paused. “I have a feeling they'd be useless for this. This city is, in appearance at least, backwards.” He expressed his warning and then left.

We were left in near total silence. Hannah quietly sifted through her satchel but it was more fidgeting than anything. It was keeping an appearance. Much like I do when I lick the back of paws unconcerned to try appear prim.

Painfully, I was aware the mood was the exact same as yesterday when Hannah woke up after burning her arms. It had only been a day and now it was my turn on the pedestal of stupidity.

As I sat on the bedside table seemingly unconcerned, I felt paranoid. She knows. I thought over and over. I didn't know what she knew but I was certain she knew enough to judge me.

“I know what you're thinking.” With a tinge of humiliation I let the words slip. It was the exact words which started the conversation the day before.

“Really?” She replied airily in a tone of voice that sounded all too like it was mimicking mine.

“I know. You think I'm stupid.”

“I think the condition you are in proves you are stupid.” She shot me a glare so weighted it nearly pushed me off the table on its own. And that was merciless might I add. There was no hesitation. This was no shadow of a doubt that this was what she believed.

“You know, I wanted to say that yesterday but I held back.” I hissed.

“Well you didn't need to say anything back then.” She lifted her hand and wagged her finger in front of me. “You are a transparent and stupid black cat.” She tapped my nose.

I fought a very serious urge to bite. The corners of her lips lifted subtly at my reaction.

Nonetheless, she didn't know the specifics of what happened, only that what I had done was admittedly rather stupid and whimsical. Unnecessary even. I could have hung around the academy if I wanted food. Strolling through the canteen alone would have brought hordes of stressed students to me in need of a soft fluffy cat to de-stress to.

“The Nurse threatened to amputate your front left leg.” Hannah added. Hopefully she was lying. My legs were felt okay. It was my broken ribs which were the problem. It was pain just to sit up right and breathe. “Must have been scary, huh?” Her words were soft and gentle. They almost made me forget how to breathe.

Scared? The thought sat uncomfortably in my head. Those kids? No. I wouldn't have died to those kids. There's no way I was scared.

And yet my claws dug into the wood and my tail swung anxiously, telling a tale far different from the one I wanted to feed myself. When I noticed these, I felt my heartbeat rise. And for a moment, I felt like blackness was going to ink out of every shadow, every crack, and consume the room.

Hannah's eyes smouldered with an angry fire. “Tell me who did this to you.”

I snapped back to reality. “Who did this?” My thoughts wove their way back to the faces of the children. “You want revenge?”

“No no, it's not revenge. I'm just going to beat the shit out of the people who hurt you. That's not revenge.” Her visage darkened. “This is violence. This is war.”

This was surely the stuff of which started wars. When one attracts the unadulterated ire of determined people, She was already getting up. Checking she had everything. She threw on her satchel and cloak and stepped closer to me.

I would be lying if I said I didn't feel the tightness around my chest get a little lighter. The numbness receded a little. A gnawing anxiety in the back of my head wondered whether such actions would be acceptable.

Still, the sight of the Kali in particular getting a hard slap wasn't particularly unwelcome to me. After the beatdown they gave me, surely they deserve something in the like. It was a stupid thing for Hannah to be caught doing, but if she was offering revenge then I'd take it.

“It was a group of six. All siblings. All probably between seven and fourteen years old-”

“Hrrk.” Hannah clicked her tongue in frustration.

“Are you getting second thoughts now you realise you're fighting children?!”

Hannah took her time to respond. I should have mentioned they were children earlier. “I guess I've got to hold back. A lot.” Go figure. I wasn't expecting her to mount their heads on pikes. She'd probably yell at them a lot. Probably glare at them with such intense hatred they'd burst out crying on the spot. Hopefully, she'd emanate such malice they'd name a constellation after her called 'The Witch of Wrath'. As long as they suffered in some shape or form then I would feel some form of justice.

“Not all of them are bad.” Even my roulette wheel of a moral compass wouldn't let me do this without at least the token defence of Mili.

“They beat you within half an inch of your life!”

“Well...” I did vaguely recall that at one point I might not have been breathing.

“Nobody messes with a witch and her black cat.” She glowered. “Now get in the bag.” Her cool opening was somewhat spoiled by her follow-up. “You're taking me to where it happened.” Commanded the witch.

It was easy to get swept away with indignation. It was called 'righteous anger' for a reason. My treatment was entirely unfair and even Mili who had fought against it had accomplished relatively little. A failure was a failure. I didn't believe in coddling people just for trying. Having hopped from one human to another, it seemed an incredibly stupid practice.

None the less, was that just my 'righteous anger' speaking? Anger was still anger. I probably just wanted to lash out at something, anything, over what had happened. Even Hannah insisting on getting revenge was gradually wearing down my patience. Everything was grinding on my nerves.

“No but seriously, there's a girl called Mili and she shared food with me. It wasn't her, it was her siblings. She's the youngest.” I stood my ground and sternly spoke the words. I wasn't entering the bag until that was made clear. I took a deep breath and shook my head of those troublesome thoughts. “Man you should have seen her. She reminded me a lot of you when you were little.”

This wasn't like me. Life used to pass by in a monotonous blur as I waited for the curse to eventually crumble. When did my days grow so full of frustration that now it felt like every second seem to drag by slowly?

Hannah nodded. “Fine. Don't murder the youngest.” She said in a tone that very much suggested like she was just compromising.

“Maybe don't murder any of them please?” I'd have to find a new caretaker then. “Also, can we have breakfast first this time?”

Hannah heaved a sigh. “Fine.”

I hopped into her satchel and tried to make myself comfortable. As comfortable as one could be among papery devices of destruction.

We exited the Nurse's office. The building itself was till empty despite the probable influx of students this morning. The main compass where the lecture halls were was probably teeming with life about now.

It had had begun to cloud over. Hanging over the ground was the grey hue of muted sunlight through filtered sky. My intuition told me it would start to rain at some point today.

Preparations for the Harvest festival had started early. Even though the date was some distance off, there was an undeniable buzz in the streets. The fields around Kasper rarely produced a great bounty. Despite the great river providing ample flood plains, the harvest was usually mediocre at best.

Where the city made its profits was taxation on imported goods coming from the western archipelago. And plenty of the money then was invested into winter preparations. Despite mediocre conditions, Kasper continued to prosper.

That's what I'm told at least.

Talking about these things was difficult. I was well aware I was wearing blinkers when it came to my perspective. The facts I knew were always limited when I didn't actively seek out information. And well, I was a cat so there wasn't much chance of me strolling into the tavern and asking the local farmers their opinion on VAT and the efficiency of state-owned granaries.

With the weather overcast, I became convinced the children wouldn't be outside again.

Still there was a dense crowd on the main street. Nobody would really notice a cloaked girl talking to her satchel.

“You aren't missing lectures are you?”

Hannah kept scanning the crowd. I'd given her a general description of the children but so far there hadn't been any luck. I was touched that she felt the need to do this however half an hour into our manhunt and my mind had begun drifting to the previous promises of breakfast. Just the fact that somebody could get so angry at someone for hurting me was good enough for me, especially when I had an empty stomach.

“Nah, my usual morning lecturer, Professor Riker, is off sick.”

“The Nurse mentioned her before. Who is she?”

“She runs lectures every Friday morning on physical patent production. You've never heard of her because I leave you at home on Fridays. She is definitely one of my favourite lecturers. I'd bee really annoyed if anything bad has happened to her.”

Every Friday Hannah turned up to the academy to do more than just study. Not many people had been identified to be magically lame. She was an interesting specimen and a part of her deal of being allowed to study here at the Triolo was to undergo tests and experimentation on her condition every Friday. She'd always lose a weekend to weakness after. I could only imagine the tests they ran on her.

According to the Nurse, it had something to do with 'enhancements'. That meant practically nothing to me. A catalyst wasn't an idea so hard to grasp. Of course a spell would need an object of attention for it to work. Enhancements probably had a less road definition or use in magic.

Riker's wasn't the only name that was brought up so I might as well have asked about the other one whilst we were there. “What about Professor Mathers?”

“It's not so like you to be this talkative.” Hannah's hands tightened around her satchel strap. I must have touched upon a sore spot. “It's thanks to Professor Mathers I can study at the Triolo despite being of 'lower class'. He thinks up whatever poisonous crap I have to swallow or be injected with by the Nurse. That's all.” The tone that settled beneath the words was frightening. Hannah had tensed up at even the mention of Professor Mathers.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

If she hated it so much I couldn't understand why she didn't just abandon her stay at the academy. Magic didn't seem worth it considering the impossibility of achievement and the road of quiet suffering she had to walk.

Familiar cries cut short further conversation. Their voices were ones I hadn't forgotten.

Kali and his gang ran across the main street and down a side alley. “Was that them?”

“Yeah.” Mili was missing. I got the feeling she didn't get lost so much as she got abandoned.

Hannah gave chase, breaking into a sprint. Nimbly she ducked between pedestrians and into the side alley where the gang were engaged in a pitch battle against an imaginary dragon. When she sped up, I hunkered down in the satchel for a rough short journey.

She drew to a halt, crouched down and set her satchel near the ground.

“Get out.” Hannah ordered.

I did so, but not very confidently. This could go many different ways.

Straightening her back, she took two steps forward and all eyes turned to her before she even said anything. It was simply as though she exuded a hard to ignore presence.

“Are you the brats who messed with my cat?” She glared. I should mention, there were other people in the alleyway. This was hardly a private place.

The children all fell silent. They looked up at her confused, for what on earth could this ominous cloaked women want with them?

“Didn't you learn, black cats bring misfortune.” Hannah cracked her knuckles with a fiendish grin. “You should've stayed away.”

“I-its a witch!” One of the boys next to Kali stammered, his imagination quick to come up with a scary fantasy.

“No way! Witches aren't real!” Despite Kali's brave collapsing protests, he took a few steps back.

“That's right. I'm a witch and you shouldn't have messed with my cat!” As the kids scattered in a hurry, Hannah gave chase.

I sat watching from afar. When I thought of sweet revenge in the Nurse's office, when my indignation got its hopes up at what Hannah appeared to be offering, I had expected the real thing to be... well... Less lame. Honestly I felt embarrassed to even be watching as Hannah seemed to be having waaay too much fun scaring these kids.

~Break~

So assaulting children in a public place went just about as well as anybody could expect it to go. Touched as I was to see my attackers so terrified, I, a two-faced magic talking cat, felt it was now a colossal waste of time.

Not to mention just an all round stupid idea. How could I have bought into this? Damn you righteous anger!

“They tortured my cat.” Hannah replied to knight’s questioning with steely unrepentant indignation. “I wasn’t just going to let them get away with it.”

The knight which had come to rescue the children questioned Hannah with sharp yet tired eyes. A second soldier stood not too far away keeping watch of the streets. The children were someway down the path looking on with vindication.

The knight nodded, more trying to placate Hannah than actually agreeing with her “Is that the cat in question?” He gestured towards me, sitting at Hannah’s feet. “He looks healthy. How long ago did this happen?”

“Yesterday.”

“He’s healed well.” The knight commented. “You cannot chase someone else's children around in public.

“I didn’t hurt any of them.” Hannah retorted. “In fact they got off far lighter than they should have.”

At her words the knight shook their head. “You cannot chase after children whilst claiming to be a witch. Such poor sense of humour. This sort of behaviour does not befit a lady of your age.” The lightly armoured knight gestured with his free hand whilst his other rested on the pommel to his sheathed sword. “Marquis Heartwell, lord of Kasper, has deigned it in his good grace that punishing petty troublemaking like this to be against the spirit of festivity for the upcoming harvest festival. However,” the knights added, “Do not cause a disturbance like this again. I’m sure you would not like to be confined to your home or a guard post’s cell for a weekend.”

Hannah clicked her tongue in frustration. Despite the disrespect, the knight, ever patient, didn’t react. “And what about my cat.”

The knight eyes me sitting at Hannah’s feet. “You should find better company than that of a black cat. Maybe a dog, or a tabby. Also, don’t go around masquerading as a witch. People will be ill at ease and that’ll just invite further trouble on yourself.”

The lecture went on for a while longer. A fierce glint entered Hannah’s eyes everytime the knight mentioned pretending to be a witch.

I took a moment to memorise the knight’s face. The designs of his armour was different from that of his partner. Of the two, the knight doing the talking had much more gravitas lent to him by the superiority of his armour and arms.

Hannah watched them leave and turned her renewed scowl on the onlookers. For a moment I thought she was going to pick right up where she left off.

The children who’d been eavesdropping didn’t scatter at the sight of the scowl. On the contrary they stared at her with fascination.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I thought it was finally over. And then Hannah began marching in the direction of the children again and I felt my heart attempt to escape through my throat.

Kali bravely stood forward. He seemed no longer scared or had lost his sense of self-preservation. Indignation and humiliation all returned to me at once at the sight of his fearless expression. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be too bad to slap him.

If I had discovered anything about myself today, it was that I was quite fickle.

“Is it true you’re a witch?” Kali asked.

“Yes.”

“But the knights said you were pretending.”

The corners of Hannah’s lips spread into a thin smile. “Because any other witch would never have let you off as light as I did.”

Instead of fear, Kali shook with awe. He turned that same sentiment towards me as well. “Then that cat is like a familiar?!”

“Yes. That’s how I knew you kicked him.” She lied half-heartedly, feeding into Kali's own conjured fantasy. Hannah looked to each of the five remaining children and noticed there was one absent. “Where’s Mili?”

“You even know our names?!”

“We’re really sorry miss. We thought the cat was stealing from our little sister. Black cats bring bad luck. Little monsters of misfortune, mam calls them. We was scared a witch was gonna come and take our Mili.”

The apologies practically went in one ear and out the next. “So you thought you’d kill it. You thought you’d try and kill a witch’s black cat.” Hannah raised a brow at the boy and he retreated quickly under the weight of her scrutinising stare.

Kali shook his head. “I didn’t mean to hit it as hard as I did. I just wanted to scare it.”

Scare me? I was already running away. They’d accomplished that before they even gave chase. This kid was asking for a lot more than a slap right now.

Hannah glanced down at me. When I met her eyes I wanted to will her chop that boy really really hard on the top of his head. I wanted to be able to do it myself. However in respect of the trouble that caused, I subdued my anger.

“My familiar probably doesn’t forgive you.” She nodded towards me. “I won’t either. But I did want to speak with Mili.”

“Why?” The children asked defensively. It was only a moment ago they expressed their fears of Mili being stolen away.

Surprisingly, the one who seemed most belligerent at the thought was Kali. He voiced no opinion but his eyes sparked with more concern and anger than any of the others.

It was fruitless concern though. Mili soon made an appearance, holding hands with a person I at first didn’t recognise.

Mili looked over at her siblings, and then at Hannah and her black cat. Upon recognising me, she decided to hide behind her adult without a moment of hesitation. Not gonna lie, that stung much more than I wanted to admit.

“Hannah. What are you doing here? Aren’t you recovering?” The adult’s voice was filled more with confusion than concern.

“Professor Riker.” Hannah was just as surprised to her professor. There was a certain amount of resemblance between Riker and Mili. Just enough to hypothesise a family bond.

“Ah.” The Professor froze on the spot. “A black cat.”

Oh for goodness sake, there was only so many times I could be given those looks in the span of two days without getting really annoyed.

“Thanks for finding him this morning. His name is Adam, he’s my familiar.” Being called a familiar was a white lie at worst. I was a little shocked to realise it was Riker who found me and not the Nurse or Hannah. The Professor was hardly holding back her glare. “I’m sorry if he caused any trouble to you. I couldn’t find anyone to look after him whilst I was recovering.”

The professor was as frozen to the spot like I was. I recognised her from somewhere. Memories scratched at the corner of my mind. She was the one who opened the door, candle in hand. The door? What door? When? It must have been recently.

No matter, she was just another human. They came in seemingly limitless supply. Forgetting one or two here and there could hardly be faulted.

Hannah continued. “Thank you so much for finding my familiar.” She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly before turning her attention towards the little girl behind her. “And you’re the girl who fed my cat when it was looking for food right?”

Mili shrunk further behind the professors silhouette. She peeked out only occasionally.

Professor Riker seemed to find the courage to move. “I think I get it now.” She muttered quietly under her breath. “Wow Hannah, do you know how much of a fright your cat gave me?” She exclaimed with puffed out cheeks. “I was puling an all nighter, I heard voices, I look outside my office and there it was, a little monster of misfortune staring at me with glowing eyes! I got so scared I holed up in my office. I thought I was going insane! When I went to see the nurse, there your cat was again! Right in front of the door taking a nap. I nearly feinted on the spot. I thought the world was hell-bent on cursing me for the sins of my past life.”

Hannah shifted awkwardly under Professor Riker’s rapid-fire rant. “It’s uh… It’s just a cat y’know?” She let the words tumble out with a strained chuckle. Normally I'd take offence, but considering all of the other evil things people seemed to think I embodied, being called 'just a cat' wasn't too demeaning.

Professor Riker just held her forehead in her hands. “I just can’t escape, can I?” She dropped her shoulders in defeat. The gesture brought the children flocking to her feet trying to cheer her up. “It's been a rough few days.”

It was clear she was under some sort of pressure. Professor Riker had a withered look to her. Although she appeared quite young, the black bags under her eyes suggested she was using up her lifespan at a rate of one year a day.

Kali and his gang who’d largely been ignored rushed to the side of ‘auntie Riker’. They were loud and rambunctious at her return which probably didn’t help the headache she seemed to be suffering under.

Hannah crouched down infront of me and opened up her satchel. “You little nieces and nephews are evil by the way.” I hopped into her scrolls-of-death-and-egg-rolling filled bag. “Except for the little one, they all cased my cat. That’s why he was lying wounded outside the Nurse’s office.”

Professor Riker looked to the children who looked up at her with gleaming eyes. They didn't retreat in the slightest. “They did that, did they?” She didn’t look especially angry or disappointed. As expected, nobody stands up for the black cats except witches.

“Well, I’m told the little girl behind you fed my cat when he was hungry.” I was planning on stealing from her but that was besides the point. “My familiar had nothing but glowing things to say about that little girl. She must be a very good person.” The words were spoken in that awkward half-patronsing tone that can only be aimed towards children.

Professor Riker narrowed her eyes at Hannah for a moment. “Hey... Aren't you supposed to be in one of my lectures right now?”

“Well you clearly aren't running it so why would I?”

Mili peaked a glance from behind her aunt. She remained mute. She hadn't even smiled after Hannah had tried to thank her. What if she had been taught lie the other that black cats are bad? With ever passing day a little respect and hope died within me. This week was especially bad. I was beginning to feel like that dead eyed Nurse.

I was resigned to the unfairness of the world but my pointed ears swivelled as they caught faint mutters carried on the breeze. It was barely even quiet, helped only by the fact I could see her lips move very slightly.

“Bye Mr kitty.”

Life wasn't all bad and perhaps this hadn't been a complete waste of time.

Hannah bid her professor goodbye politely. Riker stared hard at Hannah’s back as she left the alley.

When we entered back onto the busy street again, oddly enough we could begin talking to eachother again. Nobody was paying much attention to us in a crowd so noisy.

“What did you make of that?” Hannah asked.

“Not all children are evil. Judging by the look on your face, that's not what's on your mind. Your professor sure looked stressed, didn't she?” She looked spaced-out at times and very nervous at others. “I think you might have given your favourite lecturer a greater headache. We probably shouldn't have done that.”

“Oh c’mon, you enjoyed watching me chase them.”

“Ah yes, my favourite bit was when you tried to stare down an armed knight.”

Hannah shrugged. “Well, it wasn't entirely bad. I got something out of it.”

“How so?” I asked. Her alien logic perplexed me.

Her reply didn’t come instantly. We weren’t on our way back to the academy just yet either. With every passing day, the inns got busier and the streets filled up furthermore with visitors.

It was a celebration of a size I found nauseating to even imagine.

We entered the west plaza of Kasper. The rough cobble road evened out. Here on wheeled platforms massive wooden effigies were being constructed of woven willow on hazel frames.

Cats, knights, horses, wolves. Credit to their creativity, the likeness of the animals was captured well and stylishly in the giant woven constructions. The labourers worked away with calloused hands. They split into competing groups as they worked up a sweat over their creations.

“Barduck won’t be the losers this time!”

“You’re scrawny little village can’t hope to compete with the wolf of Hartrein!”

I wasn’t sure what had them worked up in their rivalry or what they were fighting for. Their works were being constructed as tall as the surrounding buildings. This was nothing to scoff at. Whatever game they were playing, they sure were dedicated.

“Curious?” Hannah grinned at me.

“More confused.”

“Ah well you’re about to be even more confused knowing you.” I took that as a challenge. Surely, even among all of the stupidity of the people around me, there was some sort of logic. I just had not found it yet. I prepared the cogs of my brain to turn at full speed. “Labourers from nearby villages and towns come here to build those. A lot of work goes into it and they parade them through the streets during the festival. It gets a lot of attention and it's pretty fun to watch.”

“Watch? Is that all? That's a lot of work for pretty things to look at.”

“I'm not about to explain the psychology of looking at pretty things to you. You could stand to be a bit less disdainful if you really want to understand.” She paused and smiled ruefully. “Of course, that's not the best bit. During the last night of the festival they set the statues alight under hopefully a clear and starry night sky and then ram them against eachother. Last one standing wins.”

I paused to digest all of this and came to only one conclusion. “You’re right, this only confuses me further. Are you suggesting everyone here is a pyromaniac?”

“Well… Fire is fun.” She had clearly not learnt her lesson. “Saying that, I think I’ll stay away from paper arts to do with heat for at least a day.” Only a day?! What is wrong with this woman! “Back to the wooden statues though, it’s really simple. The last one competitor standing is clearly in for good fortune.”

“You people and your obsession with ‘luck’. It’s just a wooden statue. It’s hardly good luck if it wins through all of that fighting only to be burned to the ground.” Doesn’t that also pose a fire risk? Maybe bad luck from the Triolo wasn’t behind the burning of Kasper harbour after all. “And you really are shameless. How are your arms?”

“Still can’t feel them. What a pain-or lack thereof-. This has helped take my mind off things though.” She cracked the joints in her neck. “Lying in bed thinking the same thing over and over just means I’ll fall into a depressing pattern and a downward spiral.”

So in the end that's what she got out of chasing those children down. When I thought back on it, she did seem a little too insistent on getting revenge.

“So what are you going to do now?” Given her condition, she couldn’t work away on her scrolls. Even holding a brush firmly would be a trial. If it was the only thing she felt she could do though, she’d probably try none the less.

For the first time in a while, she might have to take her time to consider other options. I felt almost proud of her.

“I might just go back home and try working on practising my paper arts.” And thus, as though struck by a hammer blow to the head, my hope died. “I’ve got a free weekend ahead of me for the first time in a while. Imagine all the things I could do?” I personally was planning on sleeping away this madness. “There's still a few things I have to do today. I’ll see if Jean is in. Damn, I forgot to ask Riker whether she left any handouts for her lecture”

“Whatever you want to do, could you make it quick? It’s about to start raining.” Small grey patches began appearing on the stone’s surface as the cloudy sky began to stutter out droplets of rain.

Hannah turned in the direction of the Triolo. “I’ll see if Linth is still around. She'll know about any handouts.” Hannah began muttering to herself. To avoid the damp I retreated further inside the satchel and decided to let her be.

I had by this point largely given up on ever seeing a breakfast.