Prompt: What if the cat mentioned in the second chapter of the story Touched at the same time as Cassidy?
Pursued by people who, unknown to the girl (and them, considering they had no idea who she was), worked for her parents, Cassidy Evans fled into an alley in her attempt to escape. Half-blinded by her sobs of terror from the murders she had just witnessed, the girl almost missed the appearance of the small glowing orb on the other side of the dumpster. In the end, she barely noticed it. Yet when she did, her entire focus became devoted to that orb, as it made her forget her pursuit, where she was, why she was afraid, all of it. The only thing that mattered then was reaching out to touch the glowing ball.
Which meant that she did completely miss the second orb that was positioned almost directly next to the first, slightly under the dumpster. But that second orb attracted a very different sort of attention. The attention of a small gray alley cat with wisps of white through her coat. The cat had been sleeping behind a nearby trash can, but was disturbed by the sound of Cassidy’s frantic entrance and went scurrying under the dumpster. Now, she approached the second orb, giving a soft meow even as she reached out with one paw to curiously bat at the thing.
And then she, like the human almost right next to her, was taken into a vision of a very different place.
*******
After using her newfound paint powers to successfully escape and hide from her pursuers (hearing her brother’s voice in the process), Cassidy lay atop the roof she had managed to get herself up to. She could hear the voices of the two Sell-Touched who had been searching for her fading into the distance and let out a breath of relief before straightening up. She had to get out of--
“Meow.”
The sound came from directly in front of Cassidy, and she jolted backwards in shock before staring. There wasn't a cat there. Wait, yes there was. Peering very intently, she could see the faint outline of a cat shape floating in the air. No, it was like the air had turned into a cat. it was a very distinctly cat shaped gust of wind, however impossible that was. “Uhh… what…”
Abruptly, the gray cat became solid and visible once more. She dropped out of the air with a surprised “Mew!” and landed lightly on the roof next to where Cassidy was sitting. Making a noise of annoyance at the sheer audacity of gravity to think it held sway over her, the cat perched there and stared at Cassidy questioningly.
For her part, the girl stared right back. “Wait, you're… Are you a TONI? A--powers, you’re an animal with powers. You’re--do you understand me?”
“Meow!” the cat shot back. As she did so, one of her paws reached out to touch the nearby low brick wall along the edge of the roof. She pushed against it testingly, putting her other paw against it. Then she shoved herself forward. Right in front of Cassidy's eyes, the cat pushed her way into the brick wall. She didn't push through it, didn't knock it down, she literally went into the brick, merging with it. That ‘merging’ term became even more apt a moment later, as the part of the wall that the cat had stepped into pulled away from the rest of it. A distinctly brick-textured and colored cat trotted in a circle around the astonished human girl before perching right in front of her again. The cat had melded with the brick wall to the point of walking around with part of it. She didn't simply take on the characteristics of the wall, she literally merged with it and took part of the bricks with her as she moved away. She was half-brick, half-cat. Or all cat with brick added in. Cassidy wasn’t sure what the right term would be.
What she was certain of was that this was a TONI, an animal who had Touched. “Holy shit,” she gasped. “Holy shit, holy shit. Wait, did you see what happened back there? Did… did you hear all that?” Her voice caught a bit.
There was another meow from the cat, before she gave a violent shake, sending small pieces of shattered brick flying in every direction to leave herself with pristine gray fur once more. Then she meowed again, clearly anxious.
“I’m sorry,” Cassidy whispered, “I can’t understand you. I guess you didn't get the whole ability to speak like some TONI’s do? But you’re obviously intelligent. You can understand me, so maybe we can still communicate. I’ll show you the keyboard on my phone, and you can--wait, what are you doing?” That last bit came as she gave a double-take at the cat, who had lifted her hind quarters off the roof and began to slowly shake it back and forth while the cat stared intently at her. She was clearly in pounce-mode. “Hold on, wait, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but y--aaaahh!”
The cat had sprung forward. Cassidy yelped, falling over backwards as the cat literally leapt into her. Not to jump into her lap, not to land on her shoulder, and not even to slam into her chest. No, just like with the air itself that had made her mostly invisible and allowed her to fly, or the brick wall a moment earlier, the cat jumped into Cassidy.
As she fell backwards, instead of lying flat on her back, the girl rolled dramatically before popping up into a crouched position. And in that moment, she looked very different. She wasn't even recognizable as Cassidy. Her skin was covered with a very light gray fur, her face was a mix of human and cat with actual feline ears atop her head in addition to her human ones, her eyes were vertically slitted with amber color where her whites would have been, and she had a long, luxurious tail.
“Oh!” the new figure gasped. “Oh, oh!” She brought her paws--hands around in front of her face to touch her mouth. “That’s better. Hey I can make people sounds! Soundsuh! Puh puh people people peep-hull-peep hole. Sound sound sound.”
“Wa-wait, what?” she blurted. “What’s better--what? What happened?”
“I can talkuh talk talk tick tock clock! Ticky tocky clocky!” she answered herself. No, not herself. The cat. The cat answered Cassidy.
“You’re inside me?!” Cassidy almost squealed the question.
“We should be quiet,” the cat scolded with her voice. “Quietuh. Quiet. The bad ones are out there. There, there, there.”
Flinching, Cassidy lowered her voice and hissed the same question again, “You're inside me?!”
“In a manner of speaking, I guess. A very literal manner,” her own voice replied. “ I wasn't even sure that would work. Astounding, really! Astound, astound. What a lovely word. How can you stop yourself from saying it all the time? Astound astound. I think that’s my favorite so far. Assssss-tound. Asbound. Bounding tound. I mean, ahem, I should introduce myself.”
“You think?!” Cassidy hiss-whispered, trying to contain herself so they wouldn’t attract attention. She stared down at her fur-covered hands, turning them over before gasping as her fingernails elongated before her eyes into visible claws. “You merged with the air and that’s why you could fly and were invisible. Then you merged with that wall. And now you merged with me!”
“Well duh,” came the response from her own mouth once more. “How else were we going to communicate, exactly? This was the easiest way. Now we can have a proper conversation. And believe me, I quite enjoy the conversation part. Astound.”
“Okay one, this is not what most people would think of when they say ‘proper conversation,” Cassidy insisted. “and two, I’m pretty sure this is the sort of thing you'd usually get permission for before just jumping inside of someone.”
As soon as those words left her mouth, her own face twisted into a scoffing expression. “And why would I need to have permission to follow what was clearly the proper course of action? Oooh, I like that one too. Action. Kuh-shun. Action. Kushun.” Just as quickly, however, the expression fell. “Ah, but fine, fine, perhaps you were correct. I acted hastily in my eagerness. It's a flaw which perhaps led to my very presence in the same alley you found yourself hiding within. I had a home once, but as I was being transported to the vet, I noticed a small rodent and escaped my cage in my eagerness to chase it. My owners gave chase, but I eluded them in my pursuit of the rodent, only to find myself alone and lost out here. No rodent, and no owners. I do not like that word. Owners. Ners. Bad word.”
“So you were in the alley and you saw the orb,” Cassidy slowly managed. “But if you had owners before, you must’ve had a name, right?”
“That is why I said I should introduce myself,” the cat pointed out. “Ahem, I am Bailey. It is truly a pleasure to meet me. You. A pleasure to meet you. Pleasure. Astound. Astounding to meet. And me, I’m quite certain. I’ve never actually met myself, because I’ve never been without myself. But if I had ever experienced a time without myself, I’m quite certain the addition of myself would be a very positive moment. Ment. Mint. Mom-Mint.”
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“Okay, yeah,” Cassidy murmured, “you’re definitely a cat. Hi, Bailey. You’re right, this is the easiest way for us to communicate. I just-- there’s a lot… a lot just happened. I need a minute. Wait, hang on. Can we…” Slowly, she stood up to her full (unimpressive for a human, but gigantic for a cat) height and looked around. “Hey, it’s easier to see now. I think I have--I mean we have your cat vision. This is pretty cool.”
“Enough to make you forget about the bad men who want to kill you?” Bailey spoke through her once more.
Immediately, her face shifted from the cat’s slightly arrogant yet curious expression, to one of chastisement and emotional turmoil. “Right, sorry. I--we need to get out of here. I can explain what's going on, but let's get somewhere safe first.”
“Oh, well if you want to get out of here,” Bailey replied while making their shared body pivot to face the edge of the roof, “you should use that blue paint again.”
There was a brief pause before Cassidy raised their arm and sprayed blue paint that way to make a small puddle. “Okay, but do you really think--”
That was as far as she got before her body was suddenly moving. Her voice became a startled yelp as she ran forward, jumped on the blue puddle, and went flying across the gap between that building and the one nearby. Leg and arms flailing, Cassidy did her best to contain her squeal before reaching the other side. There, she nearly slammed into a chimney, but reflexes kicked in and her hands snapped out to catch hold of it, vaulting over the thing before spinning into a three-turn somersault in the air to land smoothly on the tips of her toes, arms raised for an imaginary audience.
“Oh,” Bailey noted, “I imagine that is another moment where I should have asked--”
“Again, again, again!” Cassidy interrupted. “Let’s do it again!” She--they were jumping up and down excitedly, seemingly forgetting the seriousness of the situation for just a moment. “Come on, we’ve gotta test this, right?” The excitement in her voice broke just a little bit, making it clear that she had not actually forgotten anything, but needed this moment to set it aside so she could think things through a bit more clearly.
Bailey seemed to pick that up, as their shared head tilted sideways thoughtfully, the cat-ears twitching one direction, then the other as though listening for anything. Finally, their head nodded. “Right, I always wanted to be this big. Let’s see what we can do.”
For a moment, they just stood there. Then their left foot raised to step in one direction while their torso turned a different way. There was an audible grunt before they stopped entirely once more. “Uh, right,” Cassidy realized, “maybe this is a little more complicated than I thought. We’ve gotta do this together. Share control.”
Their head tilted the other way as Bailey spoke. “Ahem, well if we are sharing, we need a signal. Can you feel this?”
Another pause came before Cassidy quickly confirmed. “Yeah, I think so. It was like a little thing in my stomach. Our stomach, I guess? You clenched our stomach. I can do it too, see?”
Again, there was silence for a second. Then Bailey agreed. “Yes, good. When one of us sends that signal, it means the other should completely relax control of the body and allow them to take over. We should switch back and forth. I shall go first.”
“Why would--never mind, go for it,” Cassidy started before amending. “I forgot, cat.”
A broad, confident smile came to their shared gray-furred face. “Excellent, so you are already aware of feline superiority. Periority. Priority. Super-priority. That will make our friendship much easier.”
“Oh, I’m aware of something alright,” Cassidy retorted. “But come on, let’s go. Uh, that way.” Their body turned so she could point. “Actually, that’s a good point. I think I need to be the one to use my paint powers, so I’ll need to take control of the hands to do that.”
“We have to share,” Bailey agreed. “The stomach signal works to let us know to let go of the body completely, but if you want to take a single limb that the other is using… hmm, a loose grip perhaps. Here.” Their left hand rose and began to wave back and forth. “Can you stop the paw if you try?”
“Hand,” Cassidy corrected. “And--yup.” The hand stopped waving, then began to open and shut rapidly. “Can you--”
The hand stopped opening and shutting. The pride--or possibly smugness in Bailey’s voice was palpable. “Of course I can. I am astounding--ding-standing-astound. Right, so if you feel the other person take control of a limb--”
Their head bobbed as Cassidy agreed. “Don’t fight it, got it. Be loose, work together, let the other one take control if they need to but don’t just grab it if you don’t need to. We can do this.”
And with that, they started to run together. It wasn't exactly that simple, of course. Whatever their intentions, it was still difficult for both of them to pass control back and forth and to simply spend time as largely a passenger in their own body. And even when they did relax, they couldn't let go too much. They were never really solely a passenger. Running along the rooftops required a lot of Bailey’s instincts for exactly how to move and where to step each time, though Cassidy’s experience moving on two legs proved invaluable as well. And it had to be the latter who used her blue and red paint to move them from building to building. The incredible agility within their combined form allowed for some truly remarkable aerial feats, particularly with the added height they could get through blue and purple paint-assistance.
But to do all that, they had to get better at working together and understanding one another's signals. More than once, they crashed and burned through miscommunication or simply not reacting quickly enough. Thankfully, they learned easily what the orange paint did, and that saved them from a lot of potential injury. Even then, however, there were some bruises. But eventually they managed to get it together enough to make a decent run through the city, bounding from rooftop to rooftop in something close to harmony. Cassidy switched between various paint colors to speed them up, slow their falls, springboard them off surfaces, and pull them from one spot to another. Bailey, meanwhile, contributed her feline vision, agility, and the tail which aided them in so many stunts. Her actual powers came in handy as well. Their combined body was capable of melding with any material, including air. Which not only allowed them to travel much further on a jump (for some unknown reason their combined body couldn’t hover or fly as air the way Bailey’s separate body could, though it did fall very slowly), but also made them mostly invisible. Using green paint for speed to run straight at the edge of a roof, then leaping with purple-assisted strength (once they figured out what that did) to hit a blue puddle before immediately shifting into an air-like form rocketed them almost a hundred yards.
Needless to say, they could move incredibly quickly through the city like that. And they did so, spending over an hour simply running through the city, and completely losing themselves to the joy of it. Cassidy never forgot what she had heard from her brother, or what she had seen back in that motel. But she did let go and enjoyed the moment.
Finally, after a particularly long jump, they came down on a roof and skidded along it before pivoting on one foot just as they ran out of momentum. Bailey jumped out of Cassidy, returning to her smaller cat form, while the human girl fell over on her back, laughing and panting. “Oh my God, that was amazing! Err, sorry, astounding. Totally astounding. Dude, we absolutely nailed it!”
Bailey had merged with air once more, hovering there above the girl before making just her face reappear so she could give a soft, “Mew.”
Reaching up, Cassidy held her arms out until the cat returned to solid form and dropped down into her grasp. “We are so doing that again. Uh, we can merge whenever we really need to communicate too. But let’s work out a system for when we can’t. One meow for yes, two for no. Raise your right front paw for ‘happy/good/positive’ or your left paw for ‘unhappy/bad/negative’, and sit up on your hind legs with both paws for ‘I don’t know.’ Sound okay so far?”
“Meow,” came the response, along with a raised right paw.
“Sweet!” Cassidy gave her a soft high five before giggling. Unfortunately, the giggle quickly faded. “My brother’s a bad guy. And… and my dad too. He said our father would want to know why the witness… me… escaped, just before he shot that guy. Dad--Simon… Mom has to know, right?”
There was another soft meow, a single one of agreement. This time, it was accompanied by a raised left paw. She agreed, but felt negatively about it.
“Yeah, me too,” Cassidy confirmed with a sigh. “If… if my parents and my brother are bad guys, then… then we have to figure something out. I mean I do.”
That time, Bailey meowed twice for no, before putting her right paw against the other girl’s shoulder while perched on top of her where Cassidy had the cat down on her chest.
“You’ll help?” The human girl tilted her head before smiling once more. “Thanks, Bailey. You’ll have to hide in your invisible form a lot. Like the Cheshire cat, I guess. But I think my family might still notice a cat-shaped air thing hanging around a lot.”
Turning, Bailey bounded off of her and jumped off the roof. With a gasp, Cassidy quickly jumped up to scramble that way. “Bailey! What--” She reached the edge of the roof and peered down, only to see the cat use her air form to fly all the way to the ground. Then she began to tear into some of the garbage there. “What are you…”
Shrugging to herself, Cassidy jumped down, using orange and yellow paint to land safely. Then she watched as the cat rummaged through piles of trash. There was a crash, then a loud startled squeak, before a mouse ran out and began to tear off down the alley. But Bailey was faster, leaping on the thing. Or rather, into it. She used her power again, merging with the rodent. Immediately, their joined body came to a halt.
Slowly, Cassidy knelt down to stare as the combined animal turned to face her. It was a bit larger than the mouse had been, with a tail that was more cat-like than rodent, along with more gray fur and the paws of a cat. It was a mouse with some cat-like features.
“Ohhh I get it,” the girl murmured. “You’re small now. So you can hide in my pocket or my bag, right?”
A part-meow, part-squeak came from the tiny animal, before she lifted her right paw.
“You’re pretty smart,” Cassidy noted, before groaning as the tiny combined animal preened visibly. “Ohh I’m gonna regret saying that. But come on, I’ll call an Uber and we can get out of here.” She put a hand down so the cat-mouse could scurry up her arm before dropping into the pocket of her hoody. “You know what, Bailey? I’m glad you’re here. Something tells me I’m really gonna need your help.”
A single, proud-yet-determined squeak made Bailey’s opinion on the subject completely clear.