Jīvitaya wakes for what seems to be the tenth time that night, still confused over what happened with Grania. She resigns herself to the sleepless night and sits up to read, grabbing her tablet from its position beside the bed. She starts reading, comforting herself with one of her beloved fictional worlds. There is a tap at the door, and Jīvitaya hesitates before moving to open it. Grania is waiting on the other side, her arms clasped together and her eyes looking past Jīvitaya and into the room.

"Would you allow me to explain the occurrences of last night to you?"

Jīvitaya thinks for a moment, comparing her curiosity and desire to know what happened with the fear she felt when Grania first confronted her. Her curiosity wins, and she steps out of the room.

"Yes, I'll listen to what you have to say."

"Thank you."

Grania leads Jīvitaya outside and to the edge of the woods, where she stops inside the treeline. Jīvitaya plops down to sit in the dirt.

"Talk."

Grania nods. "Last night, when you found me in the hallway, what do you think was happening?"

Jīvitaya huffs. "I was sleepwalking and then woke up in the hallway?"

"That's not what I saw."

Jīvitaya's voice raises slightly. "Then what did you see?"

"You, but you were transparent."

Jīvitaya stands and throws her hands up in the air before turning away from Grania. "What, you're saying I was a ghost?!"

There is silence from behind her, and then in an instant, there is a rush of air and a roar, followed by a scream. Jīvitaya spins around to see Grania with her arm stretched towards Jīvitaya, and what looks to be a black panther's jaws clamped down on her wrist. Grania's hand is splayed in a strange position, almost like she was holding something and was forced to let it go. Jīvitaya's eyes flick down to the ground to see a sparkling knife, presumably dropped by Grania.

"Wha-"

The panther lets go of Grania to prowl closer to Jīvitaya who steps back nervously. The panther twitches its whiskers at her, its eyes sparkling with familiarity. It turns just in front of Jīvitaya and sits on its haunches, staring intently at Grania. She clutches at her bleeding wrist and makes no move to pick up the knife, her eyes wide as she stares at the cat. The panther paws at the knife and picks it up in its jaws, twisting around to drop the knife at Jīvitaya's feet. With a ripple, its form grows smaller and its ears develop pointed tufts on the tips. From the back, and likely from the front as well, it now looks like a lynx, albeit one with pale golden fur instead of silver. Grania starts, and her eyes widen in awe. Jīvitaya grows impatient and speaks, careful not to raise her voice too high. She doesn't want to startle the cat.

"Will you explain what just happened?! As well as what happened last night?!"

Grania takes a deep breath. "Last night, you did something that I think, using a human term, would be astral projecting. That goes against the rules of my planet, where the only magic is shapeshifting," she nods to the panther-lynx, "and our use of nature to maintain the balance. I just tried to kill you for it. I won't apologize, because what you have done is something horrible and wrong, but I won't try again."

Jīvitaya frowns. "Why should I believe you?"

"The Metanmio Cat."

"What?"

Grania points at the panther-lynx thing. "The Metanmio Cat. They are sacred to Gaia, along with all other Metanmio species. While we protect the balance, without them, there is no balance, and the planet dies. If they imprint on a Gaian, that Gaian is protected from harm. You may not be a Gaian, I know that now, but I will still stand by our laws."

"Why me?"

"I cannot say. Who the Metanmios imprint on is for them to decide."

Grania leaves Jīvitaya with the cat, who twists around to look at her. Her legs crumple beneath her, and it looks at her with a worried expression.

"Mrow?"

Jīvitaya places her head in her hands, sobbing. "She just tried to kill me. Grania tried to kill me. What is so messed up with me that everyone tries to kill me?"

The cat bumps her with its head, and she raises her own to look at it. It bumps her again and she slowly scratches its head with her fingertips. It ripples again and becomes a small, fluffy white kitten with some reddish markings on its back. It's the same cat she saw in the forest before.

"You?!"

It meows again and crawls into her lap, nuzzling against her hand until she begins to stroke it. After a while, she begins to hear shouting.

"Jīa! Jīvitaya, where are you?!" They shout again, and she finally registers the person to be Kysanden.

She shouts back weakly, still stroking the cat. "I'm over here!"

She hears running, and Kysanden appears through the trees. Instantly, the cat leaps off her lap and morphs into the panther again. It hisses at him, and she cautiously reaches out a hand to it, positive that it won't hurt her. Her voice is quiet as she speaks just loud enough for the cat to hear her.

"He won't hurt me."

The cat's ears twitch to tell her that it heard. Slowly, the cat backs away from Kysanden and morphs into the lynx-like form before sitting down in front of her, still watching him. Kysanden moves closer, watching the cat warily himself. He stops in front of the cat and waits. Finally, the cat moves aside to allow him past, and he crouches in front of Jīvitaya. Her face crumpled again and she falls against him, crying with renewed vigor. He shifts slightly to get into a more comfortable position and pulls her against him. He strokes her hair as she cries for a few minutes before breaking the silence.

"What happened, Jīa?"

It takes her a while to stop sobbing long enough to respond, and even then, a few sobs break through the words. "Grania tried to kill me."

He leans back slightly to look at her in the eyes. "What?"

"Grania tried to kill me. The cat stopped her."

Her eyes flick down to the knife as she talks, and Kysanden's eyes follow, and they widen slightly with anger when he sees it. As if it knows she is talking about it, the cat meows. Kysanden stands up in a flash, pulling Jīvitaya up with him. He strides off quickly, and Jīvitaya calls after him, confused.

"Kys, where are you going?"

He replies back over his shoulder, not stopping or slowing down, and she can hear the anger in his voice. "I'm going to confront her."

With a huff, Jīvitaya follows after him, the Metanmio cat on her heels. When Kysanden hears her following him, he turns and stops.

"No, don't follow me. If she tried to kill you, I don't want you anywhere near her. Go back to the ship." She hesitates. "Go!"

As much as she wants to leave the knife to be buried in the ground for eternity, she can't leave it there. Besides, the cat won't stop picking the knife up in its jaws to drop it at her feet. Finally, Jīvitaya bends down to pick up the knife, carefully sliding it into her pocket, praying that the fabric is thick enough to not be sliced into shreds during the short walk to the ship. She turns towards the ship and the cat follows her, not straying more than a meter from her. When she enters the ship, she heads into the kitchen so that she can look out of the giant window and wait for Kysanden to return. She sits down on the floor next to the window and settles to wait, the cat morphing back into the smaller form before jumping into her lap. She strokes it, and they wait together.

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Who thought Jīvitaya was Gaian and is disappointed by this?

Now, here is your chapterly image of Jīvitaya! It's not from the sketchbook though, I've shared all of those pictures.

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.