Chapter 221: Forgotten Foolishness

Author’s note: Hey guys.

Enjoy!

Chapter 221: Forgotten Foolishness - link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/123840638

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Chapter 221: Forgotten Foolishness

"Shame you don't remember," Mrs. Scoresby said, a chuckle in her throat. "You showed up at my door with two lads in uniforms under each arm and a third one wrapped up tight in that tail of yours."

'She must be messing with me. No way I would...'

"Oh, oh, Sage. Can I hug her?" Ria’s voice rose with excitement, her eyes all soft and hopeful just as heat flared across my face, making my headache pound even harder.

"Hold on, I’ll check," I said, pulling my tail from under the blankets and giving it a sniff.

• You were poisoned

Not surprisingly, with my mind in sleep oblivion, I didn't hold back my poison. Sage's hair was full of it. 

'Shit! Did I...?' 

My breath caught in my throat at the thought of losing control during the night. 

‘No, that couldn't be.’

If I did, I wouldn't have come here flanked by city guards, and no chains biting my wrists.

'Who brought me here, anyway? Was it Deckard? Blaine? Both were strong.'

With the heat assaulting my cheeks again, I shook it off, looking at little Kitare.

"C-can you open the window, Ria?"

The little girl sprang to her feet. "So, it is stuffy here. I thought I was the only one who thought so," she said, dragging a chair to the window. With quick movements, she climbed up and reached for the handle. 

The heavy, stale air? I didn't have to put my hand to my mouth and smell my breath to know the source of it. My mouth tasted like an outhouse floor, and the tavern reek clung to my skin, my hair, everything. I needed a rinse, wash off that stink - and sort out the mess my hair had become - not to have Ria and Mrs. Scoresby barging. Too much, too fast, with my skull still pounding and my wits barely crawling out of sleep.

‘First things first.’

Slow and careful, I got to my feet, half-expecting the ground to tilt under me. It didn’t. The poison - or whatever passed for drink here - had worn off, though my legs hadn’t quite caught up. Each step felt like walking through half-dried mud, but I reached the window and let the air fill my lungs. Despite being in a busy city, the air was incredibly fresh, nothing like the filth of Earth’s cities - or that of the cellar that held me prisoner for far too long. In fact, the air here felt fresher, even compared to the heavy, humid air of Esulmor.

Speaking of, recalling the fight with that young mossbear, I mustered what little concentration I was capable of and threw it at my tail. It took a few breaths, but eventually, the poison in Sage's hair budged. Like a light haze of orange mist, it lifted off my tail and drifted past the open window until it scattered into the wind.

"That was awesome, Sage," Ria squealed, lunging for my tail.

"Not so fast," I swerved Sage out of her reach just in time, giving my tail a checking sniff. No poison. Sure I won't kill the little Kitare, I let Sage teased her with a soft tickle. That earned a burst of bright laughter before the tiny menace pounced on my tail.

"Was that...?"

"Yes, Mrs. Scoresby. Poison." It was pointless to keep it from her. When I first met her and her husband, I thought if they knew, it would make them afraid of me. But instead, it just made me feel bad about it. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I’ll understand if..."

"Seeing the little one, I believe you were careful enough with it," she cut me off, her warm smile sharpening at the edges, fox-like again. "Unlike last night. Between singing your heart out about how one day you'll open a flower shop - a fine dream, if I do say so - you were busy daring half the lads to sniff your tail."

"I didn't, did I?"

"At first I thought it was some kind of Terr'den mating thing," Mrs. Scoresby went on, not minding little Kitare playing with Sage and Lia, her tail. And as for the little munchkin, she might have seemed lost in her games, but those twitching ears knew better. "Turns out, down at that guard tavern, you dared anyone to sniff your tail and survive the poison - among other foolishness."

'I let people smell my tail? And that wasn't all? Shit! Shit, shit, shit!' Might as well find a hole and die in it. 

"No one died, did they?"

"Don't think so. Those lads looked sturdy enough - they even joked about it."

»You killed no one,« Alley meowed behind me, landing on the windowsill with a smug stretch. »Hello, Lady.« 

The yelp shot out before I could swallow it, and her whiskers twitched with delight.

"H-hello to you too, Alley."

"Yours?" Mrs. Scoresby’s brows climbed high.

"You have a cat, Korra?" Ria peeked out from Sage’s hair, her eyes locked on Alley, who stared right back at her.

"No. She’s the one from the alley - the mugging," I said, though that hardly explained much. "Name’s Alley. She’s Lieutenant Blaine’s cat."

»I belong to no one,« the cat meowed, tail flicking. »Letting the human take care of me.«

"S-sorry," I said, hearing clear as day the warmth in her voice when she spoke about the human. "She's with Lieutenant Blaine."

"Good. If she was yours, you’d be the one looking after her, not me. Already had to part with a bowl of milk, thanks to her."

»Good milk.«

"She liked it."

"She'd better.” Mrs. Scoresby’s sharp gaze landed on me, eyes narrowing. "And speaking of care - you should take better care of yourself. You look like you crawled out of some beast’s den." Her finger shifted to Ria. "And you, young lady - didn’t you say you were only here to see if Korra was awake? You best be going before your mother comes down on my head."

"She wouldn't do that," Ria whimpered. "It's still early. I'll just say I've been late at city hall."

"I appreciate you being honest with me, but you need to be honest with your mother, too. Got it?"

"Yes. Yes, I'll go..." she said, slinking away from Sage’s embrace.

"But I guess you're right," Mrs. Scoresby added. "It ain't that late. How about some pie? I’ve still got some from yesterday. Korra can join us once she’s cleaned up. Though, a warm broth might be better for her hangover. Come on, little one. Let’s give her some space."

And just like that, I was left alone. Well, almost. Alley, the cat, was sprawled on the windowsill.

"Glad to see you're okay," I said, flopping back onto the bed. A little reckless, as the sudden movement and impact on the bed only made my headache worse. Apparently another thing, besides sore ass, that my regeneration was short on.

»Was not hurt. Human was.«

"I know. Met him. Did he send you?"

»No.«

That made me breathe a little easier. Whenever Blaine sent Alley, it meant I had to run or go somewhere I didn't want to.

»The other human did. The strong one.«

I shot up, the bed creaking under me. "What? Deckard did?"

»They call him that, yes. Here,« Alley meowed, and a small scroll appeared on the windowsill. I had to clamp my mouth shut, my teeth digging into my lip, stopping the words on the tip of my tongue. 'A cat with a spatial tool - and knows how to use it?'

»Why pinching yourself, Lady? Fleas?«

"No, just making sure I’m not dreaming."

»Silly. Dream when you asleep.«

"I know, I just..." This was definitely not the conversation I had imagined having upon waking up to - ever. "Forget it. So this is a message from Deckard, the strong human?"

»Yes. Read the human writing.«

Once more stunned by how much more animals knew about the human ways, I watched as Alley meowed and darted off to a rooftop.

|Always full of surprises, aren’t you, girl?
|Didn’t think you had it in you. But damn, last night proved me wrong.
|Take the day, you’ll need it - unless you have another surprise in your fur.

|As for your training, I’ve got some thinking to do on that front.
|Regardless, tomorrow after dawn, be at the barracks. No excuses."

|Deckard

A small groan slipped from my lips. There went my wish to wallow for a week. 

Yet, I couldn't stop grinning.

In a way, it had been a damn awful morning. My head felt like it was about to split open, I smelled like a tavern, my mouth was dry and bitter, and I looked like a wild beast - it could be even argued that I partly was. Yet here I was, in my own bed, in my own room, after a night that clearly went far too well. What's more, I had been called silly by a cat, tackled by the little munchkin I thought of as my sister, and scolded by a woman who reminded me of my grandmother, worry hidden behind sharp eyes. And then there was Deckard, my mentor.

For so long, I had longed to escape this world and return to my family. Never did I think I could find my place here, but somehow, I did - and it felt incredible. So incredible, I couldn’t stop the urge to shout it to the world. And so I did.

Walking to the open window, I took a long breath, then let my roar spill into the streets of Castiana - my new home.

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Author’s note: Okay, guys, this is it. This is the end of the epilogue, the end of book one. I'm so happy with it. Sure, there are many other things I'd like to mention in the story before the start of the second book, but that would just stretch it out further and not move the story anywhere.

Those are things I'll have to deal with in book two and I'm looking forward to it. And I hope you do too. We begin the next arc of the story on Monday with a chapter bearing the fine number 222.

See you after the weekend.

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                                                     Glossary

                                                   Korra’s Grid

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