I'm a big fan of hydrology. The study of water.
I have textbooks on it but honestly, I don't truly understand something unless I process it myself, words on a page won't do justice for me.
A lot of my job especially during the spring, is dealing with water. So through simple observations and trial and error I have become very, very good at what I do, by better understanding water.
In the spring each year, the frozen ground begins to catch wonderful slices of sunshine that is most appreciated during those first days of spring. After the cold and dark winters of this northern Canadaian climate. In catching those sunbeams the frozen ground, the snow and the ice all begin to bring forth water. Now my job is simple, I move the snow and ice from as much surface area as I can and to clear off and build retaining piles of dirt to hold the water, that slowly seeps from the frozen ground.
This is how it's done, this was how I was taught but it was a tedious process of clearing the leaking soil, over and over again. Taking solid dirt with each pass of my dozers blade. Meaning we'd have to bring in more dirt to fill in the loss after awhile. This new dirt had to be dry, which as you may not know? It's hard to find dry dirt without digging in the spring. Dirt that could be useful in any number of other places at the same time and so is valued quite highly.
So now you see why, understanding the water is important.
Everyone understands, of course that water flows down, always down, whenever it is able. The cascading waterfall and the torrents of the mountain streams. Water is a creature of gravity. Even the tides, as the moon rotates around the earth, are altered by the variations of gravity across it's vastness based on the location of moon on it's course.
So it made sense to offer the water a place to flow downward. Now the unfortunate thing about where this frozen ground lays, that melts itself into pools in the course of a spring day. Is that the ground I work on needs to be flat. At least flat enough that vechicles in mud or on ice, will not slide sideways when crossing it. So if I was to work with a flat surface and alter the flow of the water downward I'd need to puzzle out an option besides building a treacherous slope.
I thought first "what if I just poke, a lot of holes in the ground? Won't the water coming from the ice just flow into those?" As I had already put together, that the reason the water didn't just simply sink into the soil, was because it laid on top of a layer of ice which melts from the top down. Unable to penetrate the ice, the water pooled.
So I tested my theory by using the large "ripper" on my dozer, to poke many, many holes in low areas, small dips and potholes. Hoping that all the surrounding water would seep out at those low points.
Which did in fact work.. sort of. You see the soil within those holes can only absorb or drain so much and so quickly. So rather than a dry area, I now had man made pools of water, in each place I had poked a hole.
Not quite ideal, as it left the area covered in growing pools of water, everywhere. Instead of just needing to be cleared off every few hours.
So I altered my plan. Surrendering to the reality that water must pool if it can't be absorbed, drained or evaporated. I had another idea. Create pathways all across the area that would lead to a single pool. And so I created a reverse irrigation system. One that could be passed over by vehicles without any issues as it remained flat but as I had removed the ice that kept the water above ground and replaced it with soil that the water could flow through or small open runs for greater flow rates. It in fact, became dry, flat, ground. Far more quickly than it ever had before. Even though the sun hadn't been bright or all that warm. The pool of water was left to slowly evaporate but itself or be removed by special "vacuum trucks" that can suction up the water by hose, into a large tank and carry it off somewhere less problematic later on.
All because I didn't like that I had to clean up puddles while trying to do the rest of my job.
I tell you all this not to just talk about one of my favorite things.
But because I want to explain how I believe love is like water.
You can't convince love to flow uphill. You can't force it to your will. You can only guide it. Offer it a pathway forward. Love like water, naturally pools, which means it can grow with time. Rapidly or slowly, based on how much goes into it. Though, like water, Love can be set free by losing what holds it there, it can overflow and escape, it can be evaporated, drained or absorbed until nothing remains.
Water can also stagnate when it has no growth.
But all water is part of a much larger cycle. The lowest point, water is a creature of gravity. The lowest point on the surface of earth is within the ocean. Becoming part of the salty tides themselves. But the cycle, then plucks the water from the vastness of the ocean and carries it back onto land, in the form of clouds. There it may fall as snow on high mountain tops? It may fall as rain on the forests and be absorbed into the plants, it may even evaporate further and create humidity, that can be felt on skin, promising its return in a torrent of thunder and lightning.
Love I believe is exactly like water. A vast majority of it, a bit too salty. I would call the ocean the love we have for other humans. Those who we do not know. It is water, yet it is not water that can sustain human life when swallowed.
But love like water is part of the greater cycle. Plucked from that ocean of salty love. It evaporates, transitions into something else.
As love is carried in the cycle it may grow cold and as it falls it might end up sitting in one place for long periods as snow. But when it is warmed, even from the highest mountain top or the glaciers of Antarctica. The water seeks to find its place.
Maybe our love is like the rainfall on the forest? Giving itself to a greater purpose.
Maybe our love stagnates within a tiny pool. Unable to escape until it eventually is evaporated? Escaping to return to the cycle once more.
But maybe, just maybe.. our love finds its way to a quiet pond or lake? Where it will be fed and feed.
Where it will have high years and low years, where it will sustain life and give of itself to all that is around it.
Maybe, just maybe.. our love is like that lake? And we just haven't reached it yet. Just caught in transition, between states.
So as the spring comes and the ice of my love thaws, i hope anew that when next we find one another, it is not within the stagnant pool and not the ocean deep but in the quiet pond where birdsong fills the air and flowers fill the meadows along our shore. Where the deer come to drink in the shade of the pine trees. That is where I'll wait for you.
Even if you never come? It is the most wonderful place I have ever known.

Hi! I am finally brave enough to post here. It is currently 5 am where I live and please excuse my English, it is not my first language.
So, my family adopted a puppy from a shelter almost 2 months ago. He is 6 months old today. My dog trainer believes he's a border collie mix or something like that. I've wanted a dog for almost 18 years (22 years old now) but now I feel like I have made the biggest mistake of my life. I am (almost) the only one to train him and take care of him, sometimes my mom and my sister go on walks with us.
Before we got him I have read a lot, watched so many videos and like just informed myself because I wanted to be prepared the best I could. It is nothing like I ever imagined. It feels like I forgot EVERYTHING and I don't know what I am even doing.
The main reason I am posting now is because he just DOES NOT sleep at night. We went to bed at around 11:30 pm, he peed and pooped before and I took his water away at around 9:30pm. But he again woke me up at 2am, 3am, 4am, and now at 5am. He is constantly wandering around, or shifting his weight. He sleeps in my room because I am the only one who takes him out at night.
I ignored him for 3 hours and now took him outside and he peed and pooped again, and now he whined at my door because he wanted out of my room. (Update 6:22, he seems to sleep outside of my room now :))
My trainer told me that maybe he is not tired enough, and that I should put him on a long leash and let him run for an hour (we live in an apartment), but he eats everything so now I've bought him a muzzle which I am trying to get him used to. But he always pulls it down, so we take about 3 walks totaling 1h 45mins for now in the daytime where I can see what he takes.
We do have a crate, and he sometimes went inside to nap, but never longer than 10 minutes. I tried to put him inside to sleep two times, but he always woke up after 20 minutes and demanded to get outside with barking, pawing and whining.
So now I've put the crate into the livingroom and when we are eating he gets a kong and he is getting better at being calm inside.
But I am just so tired and exhausted. I don't sleep more than 3-4 hours a night, have headaches constantly, can't focus and concentrate which means I don't have the power to train him properly.
I want to make this work, but right now it just seems like a lot and I don't know where to start. We have so many problems like leash pulling, eating everything (including dog poo, and now he's being treated for giardia and worms, thanks), following me EVERYWHERE, biting us and our clothes when frustrated, and many more.
I had my dog trainer here and after 85 Euros it still doesn't feel like I know what to do. She told me why he does some things, and that maybe we should train impulse control and things like that. But didn't really tell me HOW. I feel like that's one of my biggest problems. I don't know how to do things. She also said that he is a really exhausting puppy.
However, she said we are the best at puppy school, because I already showed him things at home like "look at me", "touch" and introduced him to a marker word and the clicker. But when we are at puppy school he is soo distracted and wants to go to the other puppys and I always feel so frustrated because the other dogs are so well behaved. They are also a lot smaller than him (maltipoo, dachshund, pomeranian) because he was really shy when we got him so my trainer put him in the small group. He got more confident and bigger and now none of the puppys wants to play with him anymore.
He is also really afraid of strangers and barks at them A LOT. When someone unexpectedly comes around the corner he barks and growls and I am just standing there trying to pick up his poo while he goes crazy. Even my grandparents, who we visited almost 3 times a week before his treatment for giardia begun, he still barks at.
Ok, so this got a lot longer than I wanted it to be, but I think I just needed to let it out. I feel like crying everyday and nobody really understands me. I always get told "you wanted this". I wanted a dog, yes. But I would have never imagined it to be like this.
If anyone has any tips or just anything to say, I would be so grateful. Thank you and have a great day!

Thanks all for reading! Sorry this chapter took longer than expected, but I didn't know where to stop, so this chapter is a little bit bigger than usual, I hope you all enjoy it!
Thanks to u/Frame_Late for my new profile picture, sadly the mods deleted the image from the main sub because they thought that it was a random image, but you can see it in his profile
Also, sorry for any mistakes, Im not an english speaker
And of course this is a fanfic from a story from u/SpacePaladin15, and the story is The Nature of Predator
Also, here is the whole NoP universe
(First) (Prev) (Next)
Memory transcription subject: Halai, ex-cattle prisoner N° 240524
Date [standardized human time]: November 13, 2136
As the demon ordered, I stood up and once again began pushing myself up the tube, and same as before, once I was probably halfway in there, every wall around me began pushing me upwards
Soon I felt how I entered his mouth once again, but unlike last time where I stopped there, I now passed through the terrifying saw-like teeth to get to the exterior
Cold
It was very cold, very different from the inside of the demon. Now I was cold and somewhat wet from the saliva of the demon, fortunately I heard the cracking of fire and I felt his warmth
But now, I was scared, not of dying of hypothermia, but from what was behind me
Something pushed himself around me, for some moments I thought that the demon had pounced me, but fortunately it seemed that it was only a blanket of some kind
"Well, I think you are dry" The demon said removing the blanket, then another blanket surrounded me, but unlike the one before that was white with dark spots, this one was silvery "That's a thermal blanket, it will keep you warm"
After that I heard footsteps from behind me, they were heavier than any creature that I had heard… Well, considering that he could eat me whole and without problem that would mean that he was huge
I fearfully closed my eyes as I heard the demon pass beside me. Then it sat down probably in front of me besides the fire
'Growl'
My muscles tense at the noise, my mind accelerates and my body began to pump even more fear chemicals through my veins
Fortunately, it wasn't the growl of the demon, but my own stomach
"Oh yeah, you will be hungry, tell me, you eat plants, like, any kind?" The demon asks such a stupid question, of course I can! Normal people eat plants
"Y-Yes"
"Well, the only thing here is either frozen grass or leaves from the trees. If you can't eat those, I can create some pastes"
"L-leaves?" I ask mentally kicking myself, after all, I just asked a preda-
"Okay, wait a moment" Eh?
I can hear the demon standing up and then giving some steps. Then I heard the crack of branches being torn apart
"Here, take" The demon said
Without much else to do I opened my eyes slowly while looking at the ground, I could then see the sharp claws of the demon under a white cloth of some kind
I wanted to scream and run, but unlike before where the walls were visible, now they were invisible
Without fur or a warmth source I would die in minutes, so I had to bite my own tongue if I wanted to live
I looked a bit higher finding a whole branch being offered by sharp metal claws
My paws slowly grabbed the branch hoping not to trigger the instincts of the demon, then after his claws were free he grabbed another branch and sat down relatively far away from the fire
I didn't dare to look at his eyes, last time I looked at a predator's eyes I almost lost mine. Apparently that was supposed to be a defining gesture and the gray that I had looked at didn't like it. The only reason that I survived was because the demon feasted on someone else's corpse recently
The noise of branches being broken caught my attention. Not having a death wish I began eating slowly my own leaves
They were decently, especially after eating that tasteless kibble that the grays gave us for so long
Still curiosity got the better of me, and discreetly I stole a small glance at the demon in front of me
And to be honest, it wasn't what I expected
If my blurry memories served me well, the demon was supposed to be black as the night with red glowing eyes
But now? He was dressed in some kind of white clothes with a white mask that looked like a skull. I guess it made sense, after all, a black mass in a white forest stood out
But what caught my attention was what he was doing
Confused, I looked at him. He was bigger than even the gray that was about to eat me not so long ago. But the interesting part was what was eating
Despite being a predator, he was eating the branch. Not only the leaves, but the whole branch, wood included, and it was doing it with those sharp teeth designed to eat meat with surprisingly ease
But something else that I noticed was that it was a machine
A predatory machine
The nightmare only found in movies that didn't wanted to use the grays as antagonist, or direct antagonists was now sitting just before me
The thing ate in relative silence being the noise of the branches breaking under the power of those jaws,
the only noise
"You aren't eating" It said once again without moving his mouth "You can't eat it?" It asked turning his head to a side "Oh, wait, I didn't saw the tag" The thing stood up once again and began walking towards me
I froze as he passed me to be in my back, during that moment a sharp-flat tail passed by me at eye level
"Let me just…" The thing spoke softly behind my ear. I just stood there waiting for the blow
Clink
A metallic noise broke through the silence and with my side vision I could see the tag of my prisoner number that was connected to my ear through a metallic ring was now gone
The familiar weigh of my ear was now gone
"This is yours, you can toss it if you want" It said, giving me the tag in my paw "... So… Can you eat that or..?" It spoke softly, he then sighed and sat down "You should really eat"
I couldn't respond, I was frozen in fear by just looking at him
The thing eyed me through the tinted dark glasses that his mask had. But after some moments where we both looked at each other, he sighed once again before standing up
"Eat, if you didn't finish that once I return, I will be mad" The voice wasn't no longer trying to be gentle, but now it released his true form
Fortunately it left walking to the frozen forest and soon enough I lost complete visual of him, and to be honest, I didn't know if it was more terrifying to see the monster than not seeing it but knowing it was close
​
​
Memory transcription subject: Leon, UN "Jackal" special forces
Date [standardized human time]: November 13, 2136
​
​
After I left Halai behind, I dropped to the ground mentally exhausted
"What even am I doing?" I asked to no one
My mind wanted just to go to sleep, but I knew I couldn't. I had to watch out for Halai, even though he's terrified of me…And I thought that the camouflage clothes would help… Well in that case I don't this much clothes to cover me
I took off the hood that covered the back of my head and my antennas. Now I had a new camera available, I also let my colorful antennas to the exterior, and finally the fox tail that I had hooked under the camera so it didn't stood in the way, was now once again free
I began eating the branch that I took from the tree. It's leaves looked very similar to the pine trees that were in earth, but they were different, I couldn't pinpoint what, but it was
The reason that I was eating not only the leaves, but the wood too was because it gave me some biomass fuel, not nearly half as much as meat would, but it would be enough as long as I didn't do much moving or doing stuff in general
But now with the problem where I have an alien who's life dependeds of me, and at the same time, it's completely terrified of me…
I could try getting his trust… But how? Hmmm, well for starters I should patch the wound on the back of his head, the poor bastard had a very deep and nasty wound
I didn't do it before because I was scared that he wouldn't trust me, and I didn't want to sedate him
Well, he has no other choice, either he trusts me with that nasty wound, or he's getting into forced coma with sedatives
I could definitely keep him in my medbay unconscious while I feed him through his veins or with a tube going directly to his stomach
But that was something that I didn't want to do… But if it was something that I had to, then so be it
…
Now, it's going to be 3 months in this frozen hell hole, 3 months that I have to take care of him… Why did I even brought him with me anyway? Wasn't his species going to be rescued soon anyway?
…
Bah, what's done is done. Now I have to make sure he doesn't die
Food it's easy, if he's able to eat leaves then that's covered, if not, I will have to feed him through tubes from my medbay… Still, don't know if I have that much supply anyway
Then the next problem is water… We are surrounded by fucking snow, well, I will have to melt it, it's bad to eat a lot of raw snow if I remember well
Hmmm, my torch still has some ammo, so for now fire isn't a problem… The problem would be 'Where?' Where could I melt it?
I don't have a canteen nor somewhere to boil things… Yeah, he will have to get it through me, but how?
Hmm…
Well, my saliva is basically lube, it's something that can be eaten, and because it's a majority of water, he could get water from it… But I won't be spitting in his mouth anytime soon… So that's a last resort
Oh! I have 2 systems to refrigerate my internal components, the first one is the standard one, and the second one is the liquid one
I use a special liquid through a system of tubes through my whole body in case that I can't use air to cool myself down, for example this would be used in space where there isn't air, or in dust storms where sand gets everywhere. And as a bonus, it practically renders the federation flamethrowers as nothing more than 'bright smoke'
The liquid obviously isn't drinkable, but I don't think that I would be using this system anytime soon, so a good option is to replace the cooling liquid with snow, then use the little heat that I have to melt it down
Fortunately because this wasn't supposed to be used like that, the entry and exit point of the liquid was my tail, so every time Halai needs to drink, he won't need to enter my medbay, unfortunately because it isn't supposed to work like that, fill it with snow will be a pain in the ass
Also, because it's water, I will have to keep the system 'on' constantly so it doesn't becomes ice
Oh, I finished eating, well, let's check how Halai is doing
After walking the way back, I could see him eating the leaves of the branch that I gave him, but I could see and hear him sob uncontrollably, silent sobs that I could hear clear as day
He also looked all around constantly in every bite
That might be my fault, after all, I've just recently threatened him with me 'getting mad'. Obviously I wouldn't be, I've just used that so he ate. But I didn't took on account that despite how adorable he looks, he isn't a child, and I'm a Jackal
God dammit, well… I will wait a little so he finishes. In the meantime I will check what I have on me
>Clothes
>Arm bandages
>Survival kit
>Tracker
>Twin plasma pistols
>Repair kit
>1 Jackal MRE
>Four extra plasma cells
>Shoulder armor
Hmmm, well, I've got something at least…
The Jackal MRE it's something that only jackals can eat, that's because of the high amount of stuff that's in there, some of them are even poisons, but thanks to my robotic body I'm able to eat it without problems. And yes, it tastes like shit. I thought that there wasn't any worse food than the one the school gave us in 4th grade. But whoever created this piece of shit had done it
Congratulations asshole
Now, my survival kit has a manual flashlight, pen and notebook, watch, compass, Whistler, knife and a long rope
Meanwhile my repair kit has my torch and a few tools. Something very simple but that can help me do some emergency repairs. Okay, now how do I deal with putting water in my tail?
…
Oh, I've got an idea!
I open my med bay and with the knife I take a plastic tube that’s used in case I need to exchange the ones that I have equipped
With a small and quick bite I cut a small part, then I placed it in the relatively small hole from where the liquid is inserted. Fits like a glove. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to put much snow through that tube, but it will help Halai to drink like it was a bottle
Now, I take another tube part and this time bigger, this time with some heat and my hands I would expand the tube until it becomes a cone where I can stuff more snow more easily
Sadly the fire is with Halai and I don’t want to use my torch, so without much else to do, I grab my things and I walk towards him
He immediately after noticing me begins eating faster than before
“Relax, I won’t do anything” I say walking past him
I sat down by the fire and I immediately began heating the tube and with my claws i began expanding it slowly so it doesn't break, from time to time I stop this process so my claws don’t stuck with the hot plastic
Once I finish I get something that resembles an cone, it’s very crude, but it will help
“Come” I say to Halai who has been looking at me the whole time unblinking “I said come” I order while extending my clawed hand to him
As much as I don’t want to be like this, talking like my drill sergeant is the only thing that can take him out of his trance
Shaking from fear he stands up and slowly walks to me
"I won't do any harm, I'm going to check that wound"
Halai hesitates, but after some moments he finally grabs my clawed hand. As gentle as I can, I close my hand while I pull Halai towards me
Eventually he's right in front of me, even though I'm sitting, I still tower over him a little, still, I don't want to have him standing all the time, so I retract my legs until I'm sitting with my left leg over the right one
"Sit down" I say, he's in the space in between my legs, so I wait until he sits in on-
"Sit on my leg" I say as I see Halai began sitting on the cold ground, he once again hesitates, but eventually he sits "Turn around" I say
Once Halai turned I began evaluating the wound
And for 'evaluating' I mean let one of the AI do all the work
The wound is closed thanks to a thin string, but whoever did it, did an awful… Well, he was supposed to become a snack, so as long as he didn't bleed at the moment would work
Obviously I wasn't planning on eating him too… Well, in a lethal way at least. So to prevent any infection nor any more bleeding I would have to cut the string and sew back
Without much else to do, I grabbed Halai through the arms so he doesn't move with my lower arms
"W-Wha-"
"Don't move, I need to sew"
"S-sew?!"
"Your wound will infect with this awful sews" That seems to silence Halai, and because he isn't struggling I open my medbay. For something so simple I wouldn't have to get him fully inside, even though it's the best way to heal him
Halai's heart goes up quickly, but surprisingly he isn't resisting my grasp, so to end this quickly and not stress him more I began by the most important part of all, anesthesia
From my medbay several small arms that are connected to all kinds of medical equipment appear, and from one of them, the anesthesia one injects its contents in Halai's neck
…
Okay, let's do this

I need some advice before i get done for assault on a minor. My daughter is 11yo, turning 12 in May and is being bullied by an older girl in her school.
Just for some context, My daughter started seniohigh school last Sept 22. She is very petite for her age. She takes after me physically, I'm only 5ft on a good day lol, My daughter comes to my nose. She is the shortest in the whole school..No joke. Also, she is the most gentle, caring little lady ever and very sensitive also.
So far this is like the 3rd/4th instance and i am ready to switch on the little b'tch who keeps targetting mine at this point. I know i can't physically do anything to defend my daughter and would rather not put my hands on a child anyway but mama bear mode activated! Bully is honestly about my height. I just don't know what to do at this point.
The girl is in the the Year above my daughter, So a year older and obviously much bigger than mine. And they were initially friends. First instance, was mainly teasing on and off, rough play that my daughter found uncomfortable.
Second instance, the girl took my daughters coat. She grabbed it from my daughters hands and when my daughter clung on..She kicked my daughter in the legs and then ran with the coat. This happened whilst i was conveniently at the school reception area, waiting for my daughter to come out (Which i don't often do). I saw the girl rush past me holding my daughters coat, i looked back and saw the distress on my daughters face and instinctively bolted after the girl out of the school entrance, and confronted hetook the coat back. I went back into the school where my daughter was waiting and the school receptionists were behaving all shocked. They saw it all. I was told the head of Yr7 and the parents of the girl would be getting an email regarding the situation. I called the school the next day for a follow up. I was told it was being dealt with. I thought OK, She'll be held accountable then.
Seems not.
A week or two later the girl is teasing my daughter again. Name calling, taking her property, hitting her on the head with gloves etc. Apparently bully does all this often with others..As if it is just Banter. So no one complains. No..She is a strait up Bully! I urge my daughter to report it but she doesn't get round to it and then the school closes due to bad weather and then School staff strikes back to back.
Iv'e encouraged my daughter to defend herself. I told her to punch bully in the nose next time she bothers her again, because she needs to show she can defend herself but my daughter hates violence. She has no temper and It's just not in her to fight. She dropped out of 2mnths kick boxing lessons for the same reason.
School opens again, Weeks go by, I am asking my daughter daily if the girl has bothered her again..No, no all is calm. Thankfully they don't share classes since the bully is in the year above.
Last instance was today, The school had a half day to break up for the Easter holidays. Daughter and her friend had planned to go swimming afterwards (The swimming facility is next door and in partnership with the school.)
My daughter came back and told me the bully was literally trying to drown her in the pool. Pushing her under water, throwing her about in the pool, dragging her to the Deep end etc. My daughter told me she was screaming for help, none of the staff/life gaurds showed concern or asked if she was OK. She can't even swim properly yet, she is still learning. Why did they not intervene whilst this was happening. My daughter even said she saw one of the life gaurds watching, yet they did nothing. I can understand it may have seemed as if they were playing about, as kids do but my daughter was screaming 'Help' out of distress!
I called the swimming baths to make a complaint but was told I won't hear anything back until Monday now. I couldn't call the school since they were now closed and will be for 2 weeks during the holidays.
Where do i go from here? I can't make a report/meeting with the school since it is not open for another 2 weeks. I can wait but what else could i do? I just want to protect my little girl and feel so angry right now.

Somewhere near the Forest of Magic a store referred to as “Kourindou” was located. Not much is known about the store save for the few who regularly visit; whether it’s to buy/sell something worthwhile, or to simply bother the store owner, Rinnosuke Morichika.
Rinnosuke was enjoying his day, relaxing with a fresh beverage to his right, a newspaper telling him about the daily events that occurred the other day, and most importantly: nothing else. A day where no Marisa would barge in to steal stuff, no Reimu to come in to ask for tea supplies. There weren’t any maids or swordswomen to bother him, nor any rabbits or living gods to do the same. It was perfect.
“Ahhhh…Such a nice day.” Rinnosuke said, taking a glance out the store window to admire the beauty of the sunlight outside, the sight of the grass and trees that led into the forest, the viewing of the two fairies who had came earlier…wait.
Crashing through his store like a speeding bullet, Sunny and Luna had both flown in, breaking down anything that was in their way before coming right to a halt by the store counter. He watched the statue of a man carrying the globe he found the other day topple over, the globe fell off and rolled over to a nearby table with a flower vase, causing said vase to hit the floor and shatter, leaving only the flowers and water in its trace.
He was shocked, but at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to lament either since it happened so often he would consider himself naive to believe a moment of peace would ever have been possible.
“Hey! Store Owner!” Sunny slammed her tiny hands on the counter. “We need Star’s stuff back!”
“...What?” Rinnosuke was a little confused by what the fairy was talking about.
“Y’know, all the stuff we sold to you! Her bed, her clothes, that mushroom bonsai tree she loves, we need all of it back!” Sunny counted the items with her hand.
“Our friend is really mad at us because we sold all her belongings.” Luna clarified.
“Ah…Well sorry, I can’t just give everything back.” Rinnosuke said.
“What!? How come!?” Sunny shouted.
“I’m a store owner, I can’t keep giving stuff away. Even if a certain someone keeps taking my stuff regardless.”
“But…But Star’s mad! Like, really really mad! She even kicked us out of our own house!” Sunny said. “I don’t wanna be a homeless fairy like Cirno!”
Elsewhere, a certain idiot sneezed.
“Look. I said I can’t just give it back. But I’ll sell it back to you if you pay me back the money.” Rinnosuke said.
Sunny and Luna quickly turned quiet. Sunny started to whistle, while Luna pressed her index fingers together.
“Um…The problem is we already spent it all on the funeral we had earlier for Star.” Luna said.
“A funeral?” Rinnosuke was now more confused. “What kind of nonsense had these girls been doing?” He thought.
His thought process quickly became interrupted, when out of the blue, a large shark came crashing out of the roof of the store and landed amongst all the trinkets and collectables.
“What the!?” Sunny looked back, seeing the shark flopping up and down in the center of the store, trying to move itself towards her and Luna. Rinnosuke was shocked, but the fairies were more or less curious.
“Woah…Is that a shark?” Luna said.” I heard about them in one of my books, but I never saw one up close.” She walked over to the shark, reaching her hand out.
The shark attempted to bite her hand out with its ferocious set of teeth, had it not been for Rinnosuke who pulled her back before the shark could feast on the fairy. He took her and Sunny out of the store, understanding the dangers of sharks.
—
Elsewhere, Wakasagihime was floating in the middle of Misty Lake, admiring one of the shiny rocks she had found beneath the lake’s floor.
“So pretty~” Wakasagihime said.
She used the sun’s light to reflect off the rock so she could admire it more. But the sun suddenly was obscured by a large figure that blocked its light. She looked up, wondering what it could be.
“Huh? Did it get cloudy all of a sudden?” She asked. And not even a moment after the figure crashed right into the lake, sending the mermaid princess flying up and twirling like a propeller.
“Aaaaaahhhhh!!! Why am I flying!?” She asked.
But now she was no longer flying. She started to fall down and once again she screamed. But then she stopped falling, instead the tornado which had formed right in the center of the lake started to suck her in like a vortex, and now she’s being spun round and round, unable to escape. And she could do nothing but scream.
Yet not even that she was allowed to do. She didn’t even have a moment to react before she saw the swarm of sharks coming right at her, bearing their large open mouths.
“AAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
The famous last words of the Mermaid Princess of Misty Lake, right before the sharks all gathered up and tore her limb from limb, devouring her in a feeding frenzy, leaving nothing but the precious rock she had admired.
…
The Scarlet Devil Mansion was right by Misty Lake when the Sharknado suddenly appeared. The residents quickly turned to panic.
“What the!?” Meiling said, snapping out of her drowsy trance. She stood, facing the humongous combination of tornado and shark, her mind filled with a mix of paralyzed fear and genuine confusion. But her thoughts were interrupted when a shark came flying right at her.
She punched the shark before it could bite at her, sending her flying up into the stratosphere.
“Ha!!! You’re facing the master martial artist Hong Meiling! I won’t let something like a tornado of sharks come and barge into the Scarlet Devil Mansion!” She said it loud and clear.
And then a bunch of more sharks came flying right at Meiling, easily overwhelming her and tearing her to shreds. The Sharknado struck the mansion, quickly tearing it apart and sucking up all its residents. Many of the hobgoblins and fairy maids were sucked into the vortex, along with Patchouli, Koakuma, Remilia and even Flandre.
“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” Koakuma screamed.
“Mukyuu!!!!” Patchouli Mykyuu’d.
“W-What is going on!?!?” Remilia shouted. “Where’s Sakuya when you need her!?”
“Wheeeeee!!!” Flandre said, enjoying the thrill.
A few of them had been devoured by the sharks in no time, while others
And they were only but a handful of the many soon-to-be victims of the lethal Sharknado.

Meatball grunted under the strain, and was able to finish the squat. He set the bar in the rack and sagged, breathing hard and stretching his legs.
It was the last rep of the last set. Of squats, anyway. He was a devotee of Gahree and Frekhee, the great war-wargs who ripped and tore. They had tested him, and he had sins to atone for. More sins.
More family dead, more family hurt, and it was his fault again.
He dropped into an unweighted squat and stayed there, stretching. He'd gotten complacent.
He used the surrounding exercise equipment to lever himself back up to standing. Today was leg day, and leg day was a fine way to atone.
Once his legs felt steady enough he walked over to the stationary bikes and climbed onto one, strapping his feet into the pedals so he could pull the pedals up as well as push them down. He had sinned by letting himself become weaker than he should have been. Slower than he should have been. His cardio was sinful too. Gahree and Frekhee didn't demand perfection, just excellence. They would rip and tear everyone who was devoted to them eventually, but they tended to eat the weak faster. The lazy, the complacent, the comfortable.
The sinful.
Gratorf, dead. Skeethrow, dead.
Charge, Keelath, Tippery, Kuutho the skink, his chief Rosco, his blood brother Wiggles, wounded.
He pedaled at a good pace, and increased the resistance. He'd been slow. He couldn't have saved them all, he knew that. But he could have, should have, been better.
He grinned when Rosco came into the gym. Rosco seemed to feel the need to atone too, he had made a deal with the Sskritith Cartel and they were the ones who had attacked. Who'd hurt his pack. He didn't blame his chief though, scum was scum and the Sskritith had at least seemed merely be criminal dirtbags who honored their profitable business agreements.
Rosco had been shot through the right forearm. Both the bones had been broken, the jagged ends sticking out of what had nearly been a stump halfway down from the elbow, but the chief had healed freakishly fast. Humans seemed to do that, for some reason. Meatball had heard that their homeworld, Soil, was a hostile deathworld where evolution ruthlessly culled the weak. The few humans Meatball had met gave that rumor credence.
Rosco was technically healed. The bone and soft tissue regrown and the physical therapy concluded, but he kept working on his forearm strength. Well, he worked everything in the gym like a demon, but he was extra intensive with his forearms. Meatball had tried to match his routine, but struggled. Mostly because climbing and tool using had played a larger part in human evolution than in wulfen evolution, and human hands (and forearms) were just more capable as a result. Meatball had asked his chief once in the mess hall why he was so focused on forearm and grip strength. By way of answer Rosco had picked up the large, heavy femur from the roast Meatball had eaten, and snapped it in half like a pencil before sucking the marrow from each half and setting them back on Meatball's plate. Meatball understood. The concept was too complex and primitive for words. Rosco might not be a devotee of Gahree and Frekhee, the great war-wargs who ripped and tore (or he might be, and not know it), but they certainly wouldn't be able rend him easily.
Meatball pedaled until he couldn't pedal any more and sat on the bike until he could walk, then shuffled over to the cold water baths. He splashed in as his abused legs gave way and turned what should have been a slow submersion into a graceless and flailing dunking, culminating in him struggling to breathe from the shocking cold. The near-frozen water would help draw out the immense buildup of lactic acid from his leg muscles into his core, reducing the incredible soreness he'd need to stretch out tomorrow.
He looked over to see if Rosco was done with own workout and was startled to see that his chief had slipped into the bath next to his. Meatball was "primitive" in his level of appreciation for individual prowess in a chief, but Rosco's ability to move in utter silence and in the brief moments your vision was occupied elsewhere had always unnerved him. It was godsdammed unnatural almost.
"We're absorbing what's left of the Spear Security Group," he told Meatball without preamble. "On paper, we're buying them out. In practice, we're adding them to the payroll and promising a sign-on bonus once we get paid for another op. If you haven't heard, Seetriq died when they got hit. His number two, a human by the name of Alan Fredericks, is almost healed up. We negotiated with him. We're getting their ship too, it's a convoluted mess of accounting fuckery where we end up owing ourselves money because the Spear Group is financing us via a payment plan, but we own the Spear Group, so we have to pay ourselves, but that's irrelevant. They're joining us, and it's going to at least double our numbers. Unless a bunch of them quit."
"Point is," he continued, "we're going to have to have some real organization now. There's going to be too many of us, and too many new people, to run ad hoc teams thrown together based on the task at hand any more. Maybe once everyone gets settled in and we all get to know everyone, but even then we still need some organization. Me, Rex, and Alan talked it over and we want you in charge of our heavy weapons group. We might need to attach one of your people to a specific team, but other than that you'll have default tactical command of heavy weapons. You'll be under me, Rex, and Alan. Wiggles will be your second in command, unless either of you object, which you are welcome to do. You'll also be responsible for training, maintenance, upkeep, and consumables inventory for things like ammo and rails."
"You got it, boss." Meatball beamed inside. This wasn't just an honor, it was proof that his chief had faith in him despite his sins!
Rosco laughed. "No, take a few days and think about it. It's a lot to take on, if you have thoughts or questions I want to hear them. And if you decide you don't want to do it, it's zero problem. None."
Meatball was going to do it. By the gods, how could he not!? He was apprehensive about the managerial aspect, but it was another path to atonement.
"Now, another thing..."
Meatball's heart sank. He would acknowledge the enumeration of his failures, and bear the shame as he should.
"We've noticed your physical training, and the nutritional changes and discipline, and the amount of study you've put into each. I'd say it's impressive, but that's too much of an understatement. It's damn inspirational. Everyone, even if they're still just doing therapy, is following your example. I'm trying my hardest just to keep up, and you've got me beat. We, me and Rex, think you'd be good in the role of a company fitness officer. You obviously know how to do the research required and know how to apply it, you'd just need to do the same for other species and probably tailor plans for a few individuals. We're going to need physical standards and ways to test them too. If you only want to fill one role but not the other, that's fine. If you want to do both, that's fine. If you want to do neither, that's fine too. But you've put in the time and you've proven yourself capable. We're growing enough that there's room to advance, and you've earned the chance to move up if you want to."
Meatball was overwhelmed. Nobody who'd done what he'd done, whose dreams were so tortured by his actions, was offered the chance to be a subchief. The honor was a great weight, and it demanded great strength. He had sins to atone for.
"But we aren't done planetside. Army Group Commander Leegriit was working with the Sskritith Cartel after the Grekthitch compound op and tried to pull off a coup against the regional government. They captured him, so there's nothing we can do to him. But the remnants of his loyal forces have joined the Sskritith, and they're doing a good job of taking control of the region. Once everyone is healed up and trained up, we're getting back down there. We have work to do."

Respect The Chief

You're home now. We could finally make an officer of you. You'd have Admiral without much of an argument from anyone.
No offense, sir, but "The Admiral" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is the most important figure of the human race in the mid-26th century. Abducted at the age of six by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), he was conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program. The initiative was originally designed to crush human rebellion against the Unified Earth Government as the human Insurrection movement neared its tipping point. John endured harsh physical and mental training, survived the physical augmentations required by the program, and was later matched with state-of-the-art Mjolnir battle armor.
Throughout his training and early career, John emerged as a clear leader among the Spartans and was set to lead a successful UNSC campaign to stop a brewing human civil war. Though through circumstance, he became the sole savior of the human race several times over. First, in the face of an alien hegemony called the Covenant--an advanced alien empire bent on the complete destruction of humanity. Later, against an eldritch parasite known as the Flood which toppled both the Ancient Human and Forerunner empires of the past. Most recently, John defended humanity against the efforts of an ancient Forerunner general called the Didact, who returned to take his revenge against humanity for wars fought a hundred millennia in the past.
Notes

• Feats are shown in chronological order in-universe
• Feats showing relevant scaling or context will be indented
• Hover over a feat to see the source.

Height: 6'10" // 7'2" (In armor)
Weight: 130 kg // 451.3 kg (In armor)

General Info (Augmentations / Mjolnir Armor)

Pre-Augmentation / Training
Spartans were heavily trained almost daily since they were kidnapped at the age of 6, leading them to become physically and mentally prime by the young age of 14 even before receiving their augmentations.

Dr. Halsey marveled at what a spectacular physical specimen he had grown into. Fourteen years old and he had the body of an eighteen-year-old Olympic athlete, and a mind the equal of any Naval Academy honors graduate.

Description of an unaugmented 14 year old John; The Fall of Reach Ch 6

Augmentations
Codenamed Project: ASTER, the Spartan candidates were augmented to drastically increase their physiology and physical capabilities. Their bones were laced with powerful material to make them 'virtually unbreakable', their muscle tissue density was increased and lactase recovery time was decreased, they were given hormones to boost skeletal and muscle growth, increased eyesight, and had their nerves altered to drastically increase reaction time.

• At the age of 14, Spartans could sprint at bursts of 55 kph (~34 mph) and had estimated reaction times of 20 milliseconds, though they would likely be significantly higher in combat due to adrenaline. They could lift three times their body weight and they have night vision.

MJOLNIR Armor / Stat boosts

The feats in this RT will sorted by which armor John is wearing, as each iteration of Mjolnir armor increases his abilities further.
Unarmored - These feats occur after John receives his augmentation, but without any Mjolnir armor. They also all happen to occur when he is 14 years old and still recovering from his augmentations.
MJOLNIR Mark IV - The Mk IV was the first iteration of armor given to John and the rest of Spartan II's at the age of 15.

• General description, it doubles it's wearers strength and increases reaction times by a factor of five.
  • Their reaction times were previously given to be a low end of 20 milliseconds, meaning with Mk IV it is at a low end of 5 milliseconds.
• The suit is so reactive and powerful that normal humans would be torn apart trying to use it.
• The suit can operate in vacuum by recycling air for 90 minutes. It is also shielded against radiation and EMP.
• The armor possesses motion sensors and thermal imaging to detect enemy troops.
• The armor is almost immediately given additional prototype upgrades, such as thrusters, surveillance drones, wrist-blades and active camouflage.
  • The active camo allows Spartans to walk right in the middle of a group of soldiers without them noticing.

Neural interface / Onboard Computer
Mjolnir armor is linked to Spartans with a neural interface, which means they simply have to think and the armor would perform an action. Combined with the onboard computer, it allows Spartans to do things such as place Waypoint markers, or targets on their HUDs with a thought.

• An example of its use during a fight, John can move his limbs with a thought to overwhelm attackers.
• The suit 'knows what John is thinking before he does', it's able to control the suit functions and John can control the suits thrusters with his thoughts.
• The onboard computer can predict where artillery shots would land during an artillery barrage, and guide them to safer locations.
• Spartans can share targeting data.
• Mjolnir's onboard computer can place HUD markers at designated targets.
• The onboard computer can calculate probable landing zones for enemy dropships.
• Mjolnir predicting the optimal time to dodge plasma cannon fire from Banshees.

MJOLNIR Mark V - Deployed almost two and a half decades after the previous iteration of MJOLNIR, the Mk V now possessed recharging energy shields but retained the same double strength multiplier as the Mk IV.

• General description, it includes two major improvements being the addition of rechargeable energy shields and the ability to house an AI (See previous Cortana section).
• The suit has sound receivers that can hear a whisper a hundred meters away.
• Energy shields begin regenerating 5 seconds after last being hit and take 4 seconds to fully recharge from a total drain (Gameplay).

Cortana - Cortana is the AI that was paired with Master Chief for Operation: REDFLAG, she is present for the feats that occur while John is wearing MJOLNIR Mk V and most while wearing Mk VI.

• Cortana provides tactical and strategic information to John in the field, is able to infiltrate computer and communication systems and greatly improves John's reaction time.

Hacking

• Cortana was loaded with ONI's best insurgency/hacking software in preparation for Operation: RED FLAG.
• While put to work checking the ssytems of a UNSC warship, Cortana runs through ONIs computesecurity systems on the planet Reach for fun, easily overwhelming other ONI AIs.
• She hacks a Covenant carrier, first from the outside disabling it's weapons and communications systems for a short while, allowing her squad to board it. Then when aboard the ship she develops a path for her ground team, gives false tracking info to the Covenant hunter-killer teams and ultimately vents the ships atmosphere killing most of the thousands of Covenant aboard.
  • Outside of Cortana, the Covenant were generally far above the UNSC in terms of network security, with Dr. Halsey comparing the Covenants understanding of human systems within a few weeks of first contact to the UNSCs understanding of the Covenants after several decades.

MJOLNIR Mark VI - Due to the UNSCs rapid advances in technology, the Mk VI was deployed less than two months after the Mk V rendering it obsolete, containing major improvements in both shielding and stat multipliers.

• The Mk VI increases the wearers strength by a factor of 5, making them 2.5x stronger than in previous Suits. The Suit also has self contained biofoam injectors, pumping Spartans full of the UNSCs miracle drug in case they are ever injured.
  • Biofoam stabilizes most wounds and allows limited combat ability even in the event of limb loss.
  • A Spartan suffering from a gruesome headshot has his wound filled with biofoam and is back in combat within a relatively short time.
• The Mk VI's energy shields are much more powerful and recharge a lot faster.
• Energy shields begin regenerating 4.25 seconds after last being hit, and take 1.75 seconds to fully recharge from a total drain (Gameplay).

MJOLNIR GEN 2 - The second generation of MJOLNIR armor developed after the Human-Covenant war ended. Every aspect of the armor has been improved upon and thrusters are now built into each set of armor, drastically increasing maneuverability.

• Every suit now comes with built in thrusters.
  • Spartans can use their thrusters to effectively fly.
• The armor expects when combat is coming and optimizes it's systems automatically.
• GEN 2 armor has 360 degree vision that sees far into the EM spectrum.
• Magnet Boots - Allows Spartans to fight while walking vertically down the side of a skyscraper sized ship.
• The armor has self repair systems in case the shielding and suit is ever pierced.

Skill

Unarmored

• At the age of 14, John kills/cripples four ODSTs easily. - literature version
• John alongside three other Spartans capture a bunker from guards wearing the Mjolnir Mark I armor, which would have taken 2 to 3 platoons of Marines to capture. - Mjolnir Mark I info/picture.
• Spartans have been trained to fight in zero gravity.
• Spartan IV candidates are trained in several martial arts such as Aikido, Jiu-Jitsu and Krav Maga. Presumably the Spartan IIs are heavily trained with them.

Mk IV

• At the age of 15, John alongside Kelly, Fred and Linda wiped an army of well over 100 Covenant, including several Elite Ultras, Zealots and a Field Marshall.
• John and his Spartans are trained to identify high value targets based off subtle visual cues, making it easy to snipe enemy commanders.
• While defending a planet over the course of a few days, John alongside the rest of Blue team destroyed over 100 Wraith tanks.
• Speedruns through a Covenant carrier alongside Fred and Kelly.
• Both Dr. Halsey and Cortana conclude John is overall the best Spartan.
• He has been awarded every major service medal except the Prisoner of War Medallion.

Mk V

• During Johns testing for the Mk V armor, he faces off against a fighter jet that is so fast it regularly travels in and out of visible range. John tanks it's 50mm autocannons, then deflects and tanks an anti tank missile, afterwards sprinting away at 66 mph though he tears his Achilles tendon doing so.
• While fighting a particularly massive (10 ft+ tall) Sangheilli in low gravity, John uses his skill to beat the Elite even though they were evenly matched in strength.

Mk VI

• John escapes deadly situations so often that he almost believes that death is optional for him.
• He's confident he can wipe out an entire Covenant unit of 50 infantry and 4 Wraith tanks without any heavy weapons, but he chooses to save a group of soldiers instead.
• Merks 40+ Brutes by himself.
• Each Spartan II has 'the equivalent combat power of an entire Sector Fleet'.
• John is proficient in all aspects of infantry tactics, as well as low gravity combat. He is able to effectively lead detachments the size of battalions, and UNSC personnel of all ranks generally defer to his leadership.
  • John was offered to be made an Admiral by the UNSCs Fleet Admiral and head of their Security Council, but he refused.

GEN 2

• Alongside Blue team, John fights through a massive army of Prometheans.
• Spartans are able to punch out the Warden Eternal while evading his sword swings.

Strength

Unarmored

• During John's first time working out while recovering from receiving his augmentations, he notes that 1 G of gravity feels too light and 2 G's feels more normal.
• 14 year old John breaks the bones of ODST's and disfigures them with his strikes.
• At 14 years old, Spartans could not train against normal humans anymore due to repeatedly killing them by accident, so their trainers had to be placed in Mjolnir Mark I armor.
• At the age of 14, John kicks a man wearing a MJOLNIR Mark I exoskeleton eight meters away.
  • Another child Spartan could dent the heavy metal plates of the armor with his punches, the armor is impervious to light weapons.
• At the age of 14, John wrenches and rips a 30 millimeter minigun off a MJOLNIR Mark I exoskeleton with his bare hands.
• Shortly after receiving their augmentations, Spartans could lift three times their body weight.

Mk IV

• The Mk IV doubles it's wearers strength.
• During Johns first test of MJOLNIR he could shatter concrete targets with a punch
• John lifts a Spec Ops Elite overhead and folds him on his own energy sword.
• 15 year old John lifts and throws a cargo sled that was large enough to haul an entire platoon alongside a couple of pieces of artillery, and long enough to hold two Spartans lying end-to-end.
• John buckles the leg of a Special-Forces/Bloodstar Elite sideways with a stomp.
• John beats the arm of a Silent Shadow Elite until it's wrist is snapped sideways.
• Effortlessly punches through a weapons locker that was undamaged by a man bashing it with a large gas canister.
• John can effectively wield 110 kg Gauss cannons and use them for hit and run attacks against a column of 50 Covenant tanks.
• At the age of 16, John is able to withstand 12 metric tons of force on his legs.
• While 16 years old, John gets pinned down by an alien spider-like vehicle that was larger than a Warthog but it doesn't crush him, he is able to partially lift it. He also implies he has pushed Warthogs off of him before.
• Rips a steel and bullet-proof glass security door off of its steel reinforcing on a wall.
• An Insurrectionist general believes John can rip him in half.
• Crushes a Jackal's skull with a kick.
• John, alongside three other Spartans (one of whom was injured and missing an arm) push a 3x3x6 meter quartz monolith, an object that would weigh over 125 metric tons.
• John travels while carrying a half-ton Spartan over his shoulder.
• The Franchise Development Director of Halo, Frank O'Connor, states that Spartans can flip and bench press tanks, which correlates with their in game ability to flip tanks.
  • Halo CE's manual states that flipping vehicles is accomplished by his strength.
  • While flipping tanks is a high end / outlier for Spartans wearing earlier armor, GEN 2 wearing Spartans have been shown flipping tanks with only the shock wave of their strikes.

Mk V

• The Mk V possesses the same 2x strength multiplier as the Mk IV, so he should be able to replicate these feats in the previous Mk IV section.
• Runs through a field of razor wire, snapping them effortlessly.
• While specifically holding back to not kill them, John cripples many ODST's who are trying to kill him. Notably John breaks alot of bones, pulls a gun that is being held by an ODST so hard his shoulder dislocates, and bends the barrel of an assault rifle rendering it useless.
• A trio of Grunts landing on him and attempting to take off his armor is laughable to him.
• Caves in the skull of a Grunt with a pistol-whip.
• A melee attack breaks a Jackals energy shield gauntlet and launches him off of a cliff.
• Flips a Warthog.
• Flips a Warthog again but this time from grabbing it by the bumpers.
• Cracks the spines of a pair of elites with his strikes.
• Punches through a human skull inside a Flood Proto-Gravemind
• Crushes the skull of an elite with a punch and again reiterates he is strong enough to flip Warthogs.
• Crushes the skull of a Grunt with the butt of his assault rifle.
• Spartans are able to punch though tank armor.
  • Wraith armor is completely impervious to .50 caliber AA rounds.
  • Wraiths are durable enough to tank shots from their own mortars, which vaporize titanium battle plate, concrete and flesh within a twenty meter radius.
  • Spartans wearing Mk IV are shown in official artwork to be able to rip open tanks and toss armored Brutes (>1 metric ton) away with one arm.
  • A random Spartan wearing Mk V is able to destroy Covenant tanks in H2H, and several Spartans hold off a Covenant army of 30000.

Mk VI

• The Mk VI increases the wearers strength by a factor of 5, making them 2.5x stronger than in the previous Mk IV and Mk V Suits.
• Punches through the head of a Jackal.
• Tosses a Brute behind him.
  • Armored Brutes weigh over a metric ton.
• John can punch through UNSC ship metal.
• Tanks a melee attack from a Promethean Knight, then punches it off of him.
• John can rip off the arms of Promethean Knights and impale them with it.
  • Promethean Knights are strong enough to toss around Warthogs which weigh 3 metric tons.
• John stabs into the hull of a Lich (Covenant ultra heavy siege platform) while free falling with no leverage.
• John can overcome an Elites energy shielding with a single punch.
• Pushes and kicks a missile hammer several meters. (A 2x3x1.5m block of Titanium which is roughly the dimensions of the missile hammer would weigh over 40 metric tons.)

GEN 2

• Lifting Warthogs (3 metric tons), bending steel and shattering concrete is a baseline feat for all Spartans, not indicative of their limits.
• John shatters a Battle Rifle by hitting Spartan Locke with it.
• Overpowers Spartan Locke.
  • Locke is strong enough to flip over a 42.3 tonne tank with the shock-wave of his attack, effortlessly fly and run through walls as well as tackle aircraft out of the air, and boost through the bulk of a massive stone statue.
• Spartans can snap the necks of Elites.
• Spartans can instantly kill an Elite with a two-handed strike.
• Spartans can rip through Forerunner Armigers.
  • Forerunner Armigers are strong enough to throw humans dozens of meters away.
• Spartans can kill a Forerunner Armiger with a stomp.
• Spartans can punch out the legs of the Warden Eternal.

Durability

Mk IV

• The Mk IV doesn't possess energy shields, it relies entirely on the armor plating for protection.
• The armor has a refractive coating to help disperse incoming energy attacks.
• During Johns first test of MJOLNIR, bullets were harmlessly deflecting off his armor.
• The Mk IV can tank numerous Covenant Carbine shots, though they come close to penetrating the armor. Covenant Carbines fire 8x60mm projectiles at hypersonic (mach 5+) velocities making them far more powerful than almost any modern small arms.
• A .50 caliber depleted uranium round fired from an AA gun glances off John's armor.
  • [Limit] A young Kelly states that sustained fire from that weapon would penetrate the Mk IV.
• Tanks fire from hundreds of skilled marksmen with their rounds only 'dinging' his armor.
• Tanks plasma fire from a Covenant Ghost.
  • Ghost plasma is stated to be 5000 degrees.
• Tanks the nearby detonation of 1 MT nuke (John was at ground zero and had only 30 seconds to sprint away before it detonated).
  • Nukemap stats - Because the event was on a moon with minimal atmosphere and gravity, the heat and radiation figures are much more important.
• Tanks Covenant Needle and Spike rounds that can separate an ODST into pieces.
  • In the same novel it's stated that ODST's wear bullet proof armor that is effective at tanking armor piercing rounds, and someone wearing that armor harmlessly tanks small arms fire from several shooters.
• Tanks several Needle Rifle shots, with the needles shattering off his armor.
• Shrugs off being directly hit by a Hunters 2 ton shield.
• Spartans can tank anything short of a direct hit by a Wraiths plasma mortar, which vaporize everything within a 20 meter radius.
• Tanks Plasma Rifle fire from a hundred Drones who were chasing after him.
• Harmlessly tanks a nearby grenade detonation that spatters his faceplate with shrapnel.
• Spartans in Mark IV have similar durability's to light tanks.
• Covenant Needler shots bounce off his armor.

Mk V

• The Mk V is the first armor to possess energy shields, with each further iteration of armor gaining much more durable energy shields.
• A three round burst from an MA5B assault rifle drops his energy shields a 'hairbreadth'.
• Tanks shots from 30mm chainguns without even noticing he was being hit and without his energy shields breaking.
• Tanks 50mm autocannon fire from a jet without his energy shields breaking.
• Tanks the detonation of a nearby Scorpion missile designed to take out tanks. He was launched six meters and the missile itself created a two meter deep crater, though his energy shields did break.
• Covenant Needler shots bounce off his energy shields.
• Tanks a lifeboat crash that ripped open the craft and mangled everyone else aboard.
• Tanks a shot from a Hunters fuel rod cannon without his energy shields breaking and can tank direct hits even when his shields are low on charge.
• Tanks a melee hit from a Hunter while his shields are already low from tanking a fuel rod shot.
• Tanks an explosion from crashing a Banshee into a wall without any injuries.

Mk VI

• Tanks crashing into the Titanium hull of a warship at an extremely high velocity.
• Unharmed by a nearby Wraith's plasma shot which killed three other soldiers who were further away from it than him.
• Unfazed by a massive explosion.
• Tanks plasma fire from 6 Hunters.
• Tanks the detonation of a point blank plasma grenade that vaporizes a Brute Chieftain and scorches close to a dozen nearby Grunts.
• [Tanks a fall from orbit onto the Earth, and while his armor locks up automatically due to the impact, John himself is uninjured.]( "Halo 3")
  • Official artwork shows John falling from orbit.
• John tanks the laser blasts of 343 Guilty Spark, a Forerunner Monitor.
  • Another Spartan wearing slightly worse armor tanks more Forerunner monitor attacks, which are powerful enough to vaporize Hunters who weigh 5 metric tons and are covered in starship armor.
• Tanks being hit by a Warthog at very high speeds.
• Tanks a fall from orbit onto the planet Requiem completely unharmed, crashing into a lot of debris along the way.
• Tanks a melee attack from a Promethean Knight and punches it off of him afterwards.
  • Promethean Knights are strong enough to knock around Warthogs which weigh 3 metric tons.
• Unharmed after being thrown into a wall extremely hard by the Didact.
• Tanks a slipspace rupture crash that creates a massive crater from his impact (Ghost for scale).
• John had his evolution accelerated by the Forerunner known as the Librarian, giving him an immunity to the Composer which digitizes living creatures.

GEN 2

• Survives getting his head crushed by the Didact, then being thrown into Fred extremely hard.
• Tanks an extremely deep fall without any problem.

Speed

Unarmored

• John notes how objects appear to move in slow motion to him shortly after receiving his augmentations
• Special Forces appear similarly slow to John.
• John could move in blurs and was able to dodge point blank stun rounds from a 30mm cannon.
  • Another child Spartan dodges the stun rounds in mid air.
  • 14 year old Kelly dodges fire from several shooters and is too fast for the self-targeting system to track.
• At the age of 14, Spartans could sprint at bursts of 55 kph (~34 mph) and had estimated reaction times of 20 milliseconds, though they would likely be significantly higher in combat due to adrenaline. This is shortly after they received their augmentations and is expected to increase as their bodies adjust to the changes, and likely as they age as well.
  • Spartans experiencing the world in slow motion due to adrenaline is something they refer to as 'Spartan time'.
• [Limit] John is unable to completely dodge close range fire from three shooters, getting hit by three bullets.

Mk IV

• The Mk IV increases it's wearers reaction times by a factor of five. Their reaction times were previously given to be a low end of 20 milliseconds, meaning with Mk IV it is at a low end of 5 milliseconds.
• The first thing John does in MJOLNIR is move his arm almost FTE to his already augmented self.
• During Johns first test of MJOLNIR at the age of 14 he was fast enough to dodge bullets.
• Evades fire from hundreds of skilled marksmen while he was in a low gravity environment that limited his maneuverability.
• Moves to block a Needle Rifle shot after it was fired.
• Moves out of sight of several people faster than they could see.
• Jogs at 25mph for 10 kilometers alongside other Spartans.

Mk V

• ODST's move in slow motion to John.
• Dodges bullets after they are fired by an ODST, and again but after they are fired by three ODST's and again.
• With the help of Cortana, John deflects a Scorpion anti-tank missile that was tracking him.
• Immediately after tanking an anti-tank missile, John sprints ~66 mph across a half-kilometer distance though he tears his Achilles tendon doing so.
• He's able to dodge the laser weapons of Forerunner Aggressor sentinels.

Mk VI

• Immediately sprints at a speed of ~45 mph from rest.
• Intercepts and blocks a Covenant Beam Rifle shot after it's fired from roughly 30 meters away, which is a weapon that fires at ~Mach 10.7.
  • Another Spartan wearing the same armor dodges beam rifle shots twice including once from point blank. It's also being fired by a specialized Spartan Sniper if there are any doubts on it's accuracy.
• Maneuvers in mid-air to dodge gunfire from numerous Brutes.

GEN 2

• Spartans can avoid a sword swing from the Warden Eternal without even looking.

Marksmanship

• While running, John scores several headshots on Jackal snipers with his pistol.
• While Sprinting at around 45 mph, Chief is able to land multiple head and neck shots on several Jackal snipers who are around 30 meters away from him, shooting fast enough that his Magnum shots bleed together.
• Spartans can routinely land accurate sniper shots over a kilometer away while they are on the move.

Mobility

• John could balance atop and leap across ten meter tall wooden poles 10 centimeters in diameter even though he weighs half a ton in his armor.
• Spartans can jump ~25+ meters vertically onto a moving vehicle using his thrusters. (Mammoths are 27.1 meters tall.)
• Without using thrusters, Spartans can leap into the air 'like crickets' and engage aircraft.
• Spartans can easily scale cliffs.
• Spartans in GEN 2 armor can use their thrusters to effectively fly.

Endurance

• At 15 years old John is capable of sprinting 7 kilometers while expecting to do combat immediately after.
• 16 year old Blue Team covers 19 kilometers in 33 minutes, stopping twice to do weapon checks, running on rough terrain with support equipment, and running with their weapons in their hands. Roughly 24 mph sustained over 19km, with no intended rest before initiating combat.

Other Spartan Feats / Additional Scaling

Weapons / Equipment

Enemies / Additional Scaling

The four Spartans that composed Blue Team covered his back, standing absolutely silent and immobile in their MJOLNIR combat armor. Someone had once commented that they looked like Greek war gods in the armor … but his Spartans were far more effective and ruthless than Homer’s gods had ever been.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

Appalachian Grandpa- Cat tales

The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

​
The fire crackled merrily as Glimmer lay stretched out before it. The dancing flames made her skin twinkle, which was how she had gotten her name from Grandpa, and the dazzle sent diamonds onto the ceiling. I had stopped in the doorway to the living room to watch her as she sparkled, and she grinned impishly when she noticed me.
"Is that milk water for me, handsome?" She asked, and it occurred to me then how young she seemed. She was like a girl in her early twenties in both appearance and mannerisms. I wondered not for the first time if she would be that way when I was grandpa's age?
She patted the fireplace as she sat up, inviting me to sit with her, and I brought the hot cocoa to her as I leaned back against the rough stone fireplace. Grandpa was sitting in his favorite chair, watching the two of us with a knowing smile. I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. It would've been easy for him to be hurt, but he always seemed to take the closeness of Glimmer and I as just one of life's little blessings.
The widow had been very happy to have her cat back, and she thanked us all for finding him so quickly.
"He's a silly old thing, but he's all I've got left, and I'm quite fond of him. I'm glad he didn't wander off in the snow and get himself frozen to death."
She had excused herself pretty quickly, telling grandpa it looked like he was entertaining. She gave me a wink that I'm not sure I understood, and as she drove carefully down the driveway, grandpa waved at her from the porch. The three of us settled in and got ready for Glimmer to begin her story, the fire the only light in the room.
Glimmer took a sip of her hot cocoa and made an appreciative noise as the warmth fell over her.
"That's good. We don't have anything quite that good in the woods."
"Are you telling me that your civilization has existed since before settlers came from England, but you haven't figured out hot cocoa yet?" I asked with a little laugh.
Glimmer gave me a withering look but spoiled it by winking at me, "We have sweets, of course. Just nothing quite this frivolous exists in our world. We have more immediate concerns, like survival."
"And cats, apparently," I added.
Glimmer nodded, taking another sip of her cocoa, "Yes, and cats."
"Wait," grandpa said, "when I made you the wooden cat, you didn't seem so surprised."
"Well, I had seen wild cats before," Glimmer said a little tartly, "They run everywhere in the forest. But this cat was different. He was so strange that I didn't immediately realize he was akin to the felines I knew."
She closed her eyes, and as the smoke wafted into her face, I could tell she was time-traveling back to her girlhood days. Grandpa got that same look when he thought about the past, and I suppose it was universal. Glimmer was content to let the steam caress her for a few moments, beginning her story without much warning.
This was the time after Fisher's leaving. He had come to see me before he left and told me that he was going to fight in a war. I knew of wars, though I had never fought in one. He said he would be gone for a long time but that he hoped he would see me again. I didn't really understand, but I was upset at the thought of losing him. We had become close, and I didn't want to say goodbye. He told me this was something he had to do, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him to just go, that I didn't care if he came back or not, and turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears I was trying to hold back.
When he said nothing, I turned back to find that I wasn't the only one failing to hold in my sorrow.
I was used to seeing Fisher sad, but he had seemed different after his encounter with The Bone Collector. He told me this was a thing he had to do and that getting away from the mountains for a while would be good for him. He wanted to see the world and grow into someone who could protect others. I refused to listen to his excuses, though. I was young and spirited, and if he was going to leave, I told him to just go ahead and go.
So we parted ways.
I never knew if his sadness was as deep as mine, but it was several days before I was fit for much beyond moody turns.
Life went on, though, despite his absence, and many weeks later, I found myself in the woods again.
Now, you may find it odd that I had never seen a cat before, but my people usually stay in the deep woods. I am considered an oddity because I will go so close to human places. In those days, I would not even go that far. Fisher had always come to visit me near the borders of my world and his, and without him to visit, I hadn't been anywhere near the humans in ages. On this particular day, I was supposed to be gathering herbs for medicine, so my mother could cure some of our people who had become ill. I had collected quite a few herbs, but when I found that I was close to the border again, I got a bit reminiscent of the times I had spent with Fisher.
So I decided to go and have a look at some of the other people that lived in the area.
I didn't know any of them, but Fisher had talked about some of them. His parents, his grandmother that had passed on, some of his neighbors, and of the friends he often went out with who I knew had been killed by the Strange Lights. I wasn't afraid of being seen by any of them. I could move as gracefully through the woods as any deer, and I had hidden from humans before. So I took my sack and bow and decided to see what I could see.
I was hopeful at the start, but it was not the grand adventure I thought it would. I saw human signs, old fires, and the waste they sometimes leave behind, but I encountered no people. I followed a trail to Fisher's old house, but I couldn't bring myself to get close. I missed him terribly, and the thought of seeing something that would remind me of him made me sad. I had turned around, preparing to head home again, when the strangest little creature stood in my path.
His fur was the color of a campfire, interspersed with dark browns and dots of gray. His ears had a distinctly chewed look, and his paws were large and very furry. He held a magnificent tail behind him, and he had come up on me without a sound. I was startled at first, drawing my bow and challenging him, but he meowed good-naturedly and cocked his head as if to ask what I was doing?
We stood there for several seconds, but when it became apparent that he meant me no harm, I put my weapon away and bent down to touch him. He was very soft, not bristly, like some of the other cats in the woods. He was a little muddy, but it was clear that someone was taking great care of him. He was well-fed, fatter than any cat I had ever seen, and he showed none of the hesitancy around me that many of the forest creatures did. I sat and let him butt his head against my hand. My other hand glided along his silky fur, and when he came to sit in my lap, I giggled as he rumbled against my stomach.
When I heard the sound of people returning to Fisher's old house, I realized I had been sitting there for a while.
I had become enchanted with this little beastie, and as he walked back into the woods, I followed him eagerly.
We spent the night in the forest, hunting mice and playing with the leaves and sticks that caught his attention. As the night went on, I became quite enamored with the little animal, and the more time we spent together, the better I felt about Fisher leaving. We were cuddling in the bows of a tree when the first fingers of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. I realized I had been out all night with him, and when I picked him up and headed for home, I had every intention of taking him with me.
As we walked back through the woods, I was confident that no one in my enclave would've seen anything like this before. Some of them had cats, but nothing as grand as this one. One of my cousins had a beautiful spotted cat, and my older sister had a white one with red eyes, but their hair was short and coarse and nowhere near as luxurious as this fellow. I smiled to myself as I thought of the jealousy on their faces when they saw him. Once mother had touched his silky fur, there would be no way she could turn it away. He would sleep next to my head at night, and I would drift off listening to the deep rumble of his purr.
I was so involved with my daydream that I almost missed when he wiggled out of my arms.
He had been riding along calmly until that point, purring against my side as the two of us walked. He looked back the way we could come and made that strange meow sound again. I was perplexed. Did he have a mate he needed to get back to? He started to walk away, but I picked him up again and tried to continue walking home. He wiggled out of my hands again, though, and glanced back at me with remorse as he shook his little head.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't you want to come home with me?"
In response, he started to walk off again.
I took a step towards him but stopped myself before I could grab him up again. I turned around instead and headed for home, a little angry as I crunched through the underbrush. If he didn't want to come back with me, then so be it. I wouldn't force him, and the farther I got, the madder I became. Who cared if he didn't want to come back with me? I didn't need him. I had been fine before him, and I would be fine again.
Let him wander off into the woods if that's what he wanted to do.
Let him run afoul of a big mean coyote or a hungry owl or…or one of the bigger wild cats….or a snake…or….or
I wiped my eyes as they started to leak.
The anger leaked out with them, and soon I was making my way back the way I had come.
In my mind, I could already see him at the mercy of one of the coyote packs in the area or carried away by a hawk. He was a big fella but wouldn't stand a chance against a pack of dogs. I wouldn't find him in time, I thought, or I would find him too late, or I would find nothing but a smear of blood and some of that gorgeous fur stuck in the pool. I swiped at my eyes as the tears kept coming, already sure he was lost.
The sky was pinkening, true dawn still hours away, and when I heard him meow, I turned to find him cocking his head at me again.
I laughed, scooping him into my arms and hugging him, and he wiggled and meowed in confusion.
When I put him down again, he started walking the way we had come, and this time I followed him.
I could see the light beginning to intrude on the dark world, but I didn't mind. Some members of my race cannot stand the light, but I have learned to love it. It stings my eyes and makes my skin burn a little, but I try to spend some time each day in the sun, knowing that my friends are part of that lighted world. That thin line on the horizon would have been enough to send both my parents scuttling back to the depths of the enclave, but I followed my new friend evenly as he made his way. I expected I would find a little burrow of beasties like him, perhaps even some little ones with a mate who would be worried, but as we got closer to the edges of humanity, I realized where he was heading.
When we came to the edge of his home, the lights already on in the big house, he looked back at me much the same way I had looked at him on the border to my world.
"What? Don't you want to come home with me?" that look said, but I shook my head at him.
"No, this is where we must part ways, little friend."
He came back, butting up against my leg and giving me another rub of his silky fur, and then he trotted off for home, bounding up the back porch steps as he sat patiently at the door.
I had turned to leave, the dawn very close now, when a high and excited voice found its way to my ear.
"Clarence! You came back!"
I peeked through the trees and saw a little girl pulling him into her arms. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and as she rubbed her face against the cats, I realized this had been where he was returning to. She was his family, she was the one he had been trying to get back to, and I felt a little guilty for trying to keep him. He had a home already, and my ownership of him had been an act of theft.
"I told mommy you would come back. I'm sorry I put you outside yesterday while I was trying to nap. I won't do it again. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. Then we can brush you and get you," but their plans were cut off by the closing door, and as the day began, I slipped back into the woods and made my way home as well.
The fire crackled as she finished, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered that day.
"I think, in a way, that was how I said goodbye to you as well, Fisher."
Grandpa smiled, "To me?"
Glimmer nodded, "You were never mine to keep, either. I felt hurt when you left, though I didn't admit it. You were gone, and I thought I could simply exist without you. Watching that cat go, realizing that it might get hurt and feeling hurt that it wouldn't stay, made me remember how you had left as well. I needed to come to terms with that, which helped a lot."
We all sat silently for a while, Glimmer putting her head on my shoulder as the fire crackled merrily behind us.
When Grandpa chuckled suddenly, I looked up and saw Glimmer cock a sardonic eye at him, "I had to get a cat out of the widow's house once. She didn't know it was a cat, of course. She thought it was a haint that had taken up residence in her attic. So there I am, prepared to do battle with a dark spirit, and when I step into the attic, I find myself face to face with a highly upset bobcat."
Glimmer's hand slipped into mine as the two of us listened and laughed as Grandpa unfurled his tale of a spirited wild animal and a surprised Grandpa. We sat by the fire as the snow came down, and the fire warmed our bones. I could feel Glimmer's warm, comfortable weight as she leaned against me, and as Grandpa unveiled his tale, I smiled, enjoying these small blessings as they came.

Like many others i did some digging here and on youtube and I wanted to make a log of my experience - its only day 1 - and its long, but I think people like lots of details to ease the anxiety, and I appreciated the long ones as well because yeah, no one is like yeah cool lets go get surgery it will be fun
AGE : 52 - Reasonable shape, 6'1'' 190 - not a gym guy but active enough - developed Henira appx 4 months ago - Got to the point where I couldn't stand for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.
No Nerve block, but so far about 18 hours past the surgery it has only gotten better - Also I'm still only on Advil and Tylenol - about 4 each every 4 hours.
​
DAY 1 : i hate surgery, not so much the thought of going under, but I HATE the way I feel when I wake up - and yeah it sucked waking up - not from a pain perspective, but from a I'm doped up to hell headache groggy way.
​
Going in no real issues, staff nice, docs came in reviewed, the surgeon put his initial on the side he was working on - yeah that's encouraging, but yeah makes sense. They roll you in, my doc is on the younger side, maybe 40, he seems good, but it was nice to see a senior doc to assist and the anesthesiologist had to be pushing 60, and had great bedside They had me under in like 5 minutes, and then you wake up and your done - no issues there - took them a little longer than expected I'll ask the doc on my followup why -
​
And as expected felt like crap when I woke up - not in pain, just the dizzy weak post anesthesia way
They had an issue with me breathing before I officially woke up, which, well is kind of normal for me, I kind of go into a coma when I sleep, weird I know, but it is what it is- my O2 levels where very low, they seemed concerned, I could hear them talking, but I'm like yah, I'm not ready to situp yet - again normal for me, when I go into a deep sleep I'm aware , but just don't move. Anyway, when i was ready to sit-up, I sat up and they gave me that blow device, no clue of the name, but you blow into it so they can check your lung capacity, 1st few trys like 500, but then I rolled it up to 3000 and they where happy. They do this to kind of get your lungs moving from the anesthesia - and when I was blowing i had my 1st cough, fuck that hurt - but it went away fast
Told the doc I had issues with nausea post surgery, anesthesiologist seemed component and she did a good job, also expressed my concern about c02 levees being pumped in to me as some people indicated that was an issue for them - so I told them my concern, and whatever they did, yeah barely bloated and no nausea when I woke up
About 40 minutes later wife came into the room, she asked why I only had one sock, I told her the nurses where checking my o2 levels because they where low, nurses surprised I knew they did that :) Also heard them complaining about some lady complaining about the tv channel - nurses where surprised for as knocked out as I appeared I was actually alert.
about 30 minutes later I'm in a chair and out the door, nurse was nice brought me at least a half dozen cracker packs which I really needed - again I asked for more - I also asked for a second ice bag - one for the groin and 1 for the stiches
Got home and yeah, pretty much everything is "manageable" Had a little back pain I think from the Co, almost zero pain at the stiches, but yeah SORE AS SHIT in the groin. However one piece of advice I took from my doc and from many others here and on youtbe, WALK AROUND - Every hour I got up and walked around, at 1st you don't want to , but I think it actually helps - and my pain dropped, well pretty quick after walking.
​
Homes treatment Hacks so far - again a mix of advice from reddit, youtube, etc, etc, and my own thoughts
ICE : For this surgery you have stiches in your belly and the groin - don't ice one, ice both areas - get some BIG ice packs - I think my are 18x15'' soft gel ice packs, get 2, 3, 4, and get them in the freezer before you go - Ok now I'm home, ok how the F do I keep these ice packs in place and move around - Ahh, I have some compression underwear - I put those on over the jock they give you, and well I jsut put the ice packs down my compression shorts - I can even walk around with the ice still in place - Btw its not hardcode compression underwear, basically jsut kind of tight 9'' boxer briefs.
FOOD : Everyone says proteins, I agree, having had surgery before its a must - I get Boost - HIGH PROTEIN shakes - they actually taste decent. Load in a case ahead of time.
Later in the day I did some peanut butter and toast, I didn't toast the bread al the way, basically jsut warmed up the toast, and did a thin later of PB - don't do chunky, do smooth - I'm doing a kind of hearty rye bread - any high fiver bread would work
Also Bob Evans Mashed potato - Again had surgery before ( not hernia a tooth that went horribly bad ) where i wasnt allowed any real food, and well BE mashed potato are good and I lived on Ensure , mashed potatoes and apple sauce for like a month
Probiotics : You stomach will be a mess, again previous surgical crap, and I found those little probiotic drinks help with nausea
**COUGH DROPS :**Get some, no get some, they minimize the antesia cough and that is the thing that really hurt's
Liquids, I'm doing a mix of Orange Juice, Water and Prune Juice ( not mixed together, but that's my rotation ) OJ, Water, Prune Juice, repeat - to me prune juice sucks, but yeah just drink it, its not really horrible, it kind of tastes like Raisins but in liquid form - and you need the fiber
Drink ALL the TIME - so far I've peed 3 times reasonable flow -
Your body is injured and needs nutrients, I'm kind of stressing this because when I first got home I jsut wanted to sleep, but then yeah I remembered many pepo here , the docs and nurses al saying walk around, even if it only for 5 minutes
SITTING : I tired the recline, but yeah I noticed I would need WAY TOO MUCH core strength to get out - called my wife and had she push the chair back up for me - So If I sit in a chair, I just sit like its an office chair -
BED : Unlike others, I'm kind of doing better in a bed than a chair, Our bed is a 4 poster, so I can basically slid me legs the edge, then use my arms to kind of get myself up - but i can see if you don't have anything to get leverage on yeah a bed would suck. If I didn't have this type of bed the only way up without pulling on things would be for someone to help you up. So I can see why the sofa makes sense for a lot of people
HAVE SOMEONE WITH YOU : If I didn't have someone with me, I't would be far more difficult. You don't really need someone strong , don't have a significant other, ask a family member , a buddy, anyone the first few hours you need actual help . Frist time I took the stairs it was nice to have someone there just in case, when I kind of got stuck int he chair, it was nice to have someone to help, when I was trying to figure out how to get in and out of bed, it was nice to have someone to help. But then once you figure shit out, you don't need as much help
PAIN : Ok it does hurt, but legit manageable maybe a 2 or 3 out of ten - kind of a dull I yanked my back a little way. EXCEPT when you cough or try to use your core in ANY WAY - then it rolls up to an 7, 8, 9
Now, yes this sucks - but not really - you see you figure out real fast what hurts, and you don't do that again - so far the only annoying thing on pain is a cough -but the pain stops the second you stop coughing - SO just take it easy and dont cough and yeah its kind of just annoying
MEDICATION :So far jsut ibuprofen and Tylenol - Ask your doc for the right mix - so far avoided the Norco, codeine makes me sick - but if it gets bad, I'll take it.
Ok, now I know everyone says day 2 or 3 can be the worst cuz you don't have all the pain meds still in your system - I'll post again end of day 2 to let you know what I find
​
And THANK YOU to all of you have posted here before me - Positive or negative it was of great help for me preparing for this surgery.

Here's a majority of the crash log: [31Mar2023 20:07:23.633] [main/INFO] [mixin/]: Compatibility level set to JAVA_17
[31Mar2023 20:07:23.771] [main/INFO] [cpw.mods.modlauncher.LaunchServiceHandleMODLAUNCHER]: Launching target 'forgeclient' with arguments [--version, 1.18.2-forge-40.2.1, --gameDir, C:\Users\logan_\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft, --assetsDir, C:\Users\logan_\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\assets, --uuid, 38b9060488144cf080758226b024774a, --username, Pixelshark40004, --assetIndex, 1.18, --accessToken, ????????, --clientId, YjEyNTRjNmQtZWRlNC00NmFiLTlmYjUtMTY0NDJkNzAxNzA2, --xuid, 2535440442357350, --userType, msa, --versionType, release]
[31Mar2023 20:07:23.981] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Reference map 'createdeco.refmap.json' for createdeco.mixins.json could not be read. If this is a development environment you can ignore this message
[31Mar2023 20:07:24.005] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Reference map 'eureka-forge-refmap.json' for vs_eureka.mixins.json could not be read. If this is a development environment you can ignore this message
[31Mar2023 20:07:24.105] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Reference map 'idas.refmap.json' for idas.mixins.json could not be read. If this is a development environment you can ignore this message
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.110] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: dev/ftb/mods/ftbchunks/data/ClaimedChunkManager (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: dev.ftb.mods.ftbchunks.data.ClaimedChunkManager)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.379] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: com/sonicethesoundphysics/SoundPhysics (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.sonicether.soundphysics.SoundPhysics)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.395] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: dan200/computercraft/shared/peripheral/speakeSpeakerPosition (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: dan200.computercraft.shared.peripheral.speaker.SpeakerPosition)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.395] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: dan200/computercraft/shared/turtle/core/TurtleBrain (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: dan200.computercraft.shared.turtle.core.TurtleBrain)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.395] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: dan200/computercraft/shared/turtle/core/TurtleMoveCommand (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: dan200.computercraft.shared.turtle.core.TurtleMoveCommand)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.396] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: dan200/computercraft/shared/peripheral/modem/wireless/WirelessNetwork (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: dan200.computercraft.shared.peripheral.modem.wireless.WirelessNetwork)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.410] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: blusunrize/immersiveengineering/common/gui/BlockEntityInventory (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: blusunrize.immersiveengineering.common.gui.BlockEntityInventory)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.410] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: cofh/core/block/entity/TileCoFH (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: cofh.core.block.entity.TileCoFH)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.420] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: me/jellysquid/mods/sodium/client/rendechunk/RenderSectionManager (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: me.jellysquid.mods.sodium.client.render.chunk.RenderSectionManager)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.420] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: u/Mixin target me.jellysquid.mods.sodium.client.render.chunk.RenderSectionManager was not found valkyrienskies-forge.mixins.json:compat.sodium.MixinRenderSectionManager
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.423] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: dev/latvian/mods/kubejs/recipe/RecipeEventJS (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: dev.latvian.mods.kubejs.recipe.RecipeEventJS)
[31Mar2023 20:07:26.423] [main/WARN] [mixin/]: u/Mixin target dev.latvian.mods.kubejs.recipe.RecipeEventJS was not found sliceanddice.mixins.json:RecipeEventJSMixin
[31Mar2023 20:07:29.747] [pool-3-thread-1/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: net/mehvahdjukaaselene/blocks/WaterBlock (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: net.mehvahdjukaar.selene.blocks.WaterBlock)
[31Mar2023 20:07:34.933] [pool-3-thread-1/WARN] [mixin/]: Error loading class: kotlin/jvm/functions/Function0 (java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kotlin.jvm.functions.Function0)
[31Mar2023 20:07:34.935] [pool-3-thread-1/INFO] [mixin/]: Instancing error handler class org.valkyrienskies.mod.mixin.ValkyrienMixinErrorHandler
[31Mar2023 20:07:34.936] [pool-3-thread-1/FATAL] [mixin/]: Mixin apply failed valkyrienskies-common.mixins.json:feature.block_placement_orientation.MixinBlockPlaceContext -> net.minecraft.world.item.context.BlockPlaceContext: org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.throwables.InvalidMixinException Unexpecteded ClassMetadataNotFoundException whilst transforming the mixin class: [MAIN Applicator Phase -> valkyrienskies-common.mixins.json:feature.block_placement_orientation.MixinBlockPlaceContext -> Apply Methods -> (Lnet/minecraft/world/entity/Entity;Lcom/llamalad7/mixinextras/injectowrapoperation/Operation;)[Lnet/minecraft/core/Direction;:wrapOperation$zjk000$transformPlayerBeforeGettingNearest -> Transform Instructions -> INVOKEDYNAMIC invoke (Lcom/llamalad7/mixinextras/injectowrapoperation/Operation;Lnet/minecraft/world/entity/Entity;)Lkotlin/jvm/functions/Function0; -> desc=Lkotlin/jvm/functions/Function0;]
org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.throwables.InvalidMixinException: Unexpecteded ClassMetadataNotFoundException whilst transforming the mixin class: [MAIN Applicator Phase -> valkyrienskies-common.mixins.json:feature.block_placement_orientation.MixinBlockPlaceContext -> Apply Methods -> (Lnet/minecraft/world/entity/Entity;Lcom/llamalad7/mixinextras/injectowrapoperation/Operation;)[Lnet/minecraft/core/Direction;:wrapOperation$zjk000$transformPlayerBeforeGettingNearest -> Transform Instructions -> INVOKEDYNAMIC invoke (Lcom/llamalad7/mixinextras/injectowrapoperation/Operation;Lnet/minecraft/world/entity/Entity;)Lkotlin/jvm/functions/Function0; -> desc=Lkotlin/jvm/functions/Function0;]

at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTargetContext.transformMethod([MixinTargetContext.java:491](https://MixinTargetContext.java:491)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinApplicatorStandard.applyNormalMethod([MixinApplicatorStandard.java:532](https://MixinApplicatorStandard.java:532)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinApplicatorStandard.applyMethods([MixinApplicatorStandard.java:518](https://MixinApplicatorStandard.java:518)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinApplicatorStandard.applyMixin([MixinApplicatorStandard.java:386](https://MixinApplicatorStandard.java:386)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinApplicatorStandard.apply([MixinApplicatorStandard.java:325](https://MixinApplicatorStandard.java:325)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.TargetClassContext.apply([TargetClassContext.java:383](https://TargetClassContext.java:383)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.TargetClassContext.applyMixins([TargetClassContext.java:365](https://TargetClassContext.java:365)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinProcessor.applyMixins([MixinProcessor.java:363](https://MixinProcessor.java:363)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTransformer.transformClass([MixinTransformer.java:250](https://MixinTransformer.java:250)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.service.modlauncher.MixinTransformationHandler.processClass([MixinTransformationHandler.java:131](https://MixinTransformationHandler.java:131)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.launch.MixinLaunchPluginLegacy.processClass([MixinLaunchPluginLegacy.java:131](https://MixinLaunchPluginLegacy.java:131)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at cpw.mods.modlauncher.serviceapi.ILaunchPluginService.processClassWithFlags([ILaunchPluginService.java:156](https://ILaunchPluginService.java:156)) \~\[modlauncher-9.1.3.jar:9.1.3+9.1.3+main.9b69c82a\] at cpw.mods.modlauncher.LaunchPluginHandler.offerClassNodeToPlugins([LaunchPluginHandler.java:88](https://LaunchPluginHandler.java:88)) \~\[modlauncher-9.1.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.modlauncher.ClassTransformer.transform([ClassTransformer.java:120](https://ClassTransformer.java:120)) \~\[modlauncher-9.1.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.modlauncher.TransformingClassLoader.maybeTransformClassBytes([TransformingClassLoader.java:50](https://TransformingClassLoader.java:50)) \~\[modlauncher-9.1.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.cl.ModuleClassLoader.readerToClass([ModuleClassLoader.java:110](https://ModuleClassLoader.java:110)) \~\[securejarhandler-1.0.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.cl.ModuleClassLoader.lambda$findClass$16([ModuleClassLoader.java:216](https://ModuleClassLoader.java:216)) \~\[securejarhandler-1.0.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.cl.ModuleClassLoader.loadFromModule([ModuleClassLoader.java:226](https://ModuleClassLoader.java:226)) \~\[securejarhandler-1.0.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.cl.ModuleClassLoader.findClass([ModuleClassLoader.java:216](https://ModuleClassLoader.java:216)) \~\[securejarhandler-1.0.3.jar:?\] at cpw.mods.cl.ModuleClassLoader.loadClass([ModuleClassLoader.java:132](https://ModuleClassLoader.java:132)) \~\[securejarhandler-1.0.3.jar:?\] at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass([ClassLoader.java:520](https://ClassLoader.java:520)) \~\[?:?\] at net.minecraft.world.entity.EntityType.([EntityType.java:183](https://EntityType.java:183)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.world.level.levelgen.feature.MonsterRoomFeature.([MonsterRoomFeature.java:26](https://MonsterRoomFeature.java:26)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.world.level.levelgen.feature.Feature.([Feature.java:80](https://Feature.java:80)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.data.worldgen.features.AquaticFeatures.([AquaticFeatures.java:20](https://AquaticFeatures.java:20)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.data.worldgen.features.FeatureUtils.m\_206469\_([FeatureUtils.java:23](https://FeatureUtils.java:23)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.data.BuiltinRegistries.m\_206392\_([BuiltinRegistries.java:101](https://BuiltinRegistries.java:101)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at java.util.LinkedHashMap.forEach([LinkedHashMap.java:721](https://LinkedHashMap.java:721)) \~\[?:?\] at net.minecraft.data.BuiltinRegistries.([BuiltinRegistries.java:100](https://BuiltinRegistries.java:100)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.core.Registry.([Registry.java:633](https://Registry.java:633)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.server.Bootstrap.m\_135870\_([Bootstrap.java:44](https://Bootstrap.java:44)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at net.minecraft.client.main.Main.lambda$main$0([Main.java:138](https://Main.java:138)) \~\[client-1.18.2-20220404.173914-srg.jar%2380!/:?\] at [java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call](https://java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call)([Executors.java:539](https://Executors.java:539)) \[?:?\] at [java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run](https://java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run)([FutureTask.java:264](https://FutureTask.java:264)) \[?:?\] at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker([ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1136](https://ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1136)) \[?:?\] at [java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run](https://java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run)([ThreadPoolExecutor.java:635](https://ThreadPoolExecutor.java:635)) \[?:?\] at [java.lang.Thread.run](https://java.lang.Thread.run)([Thread.java:833](https://Thread.java:833)) \[?:?\] 

Caused by: org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.throwables.ClassMetadataNotFoundException: kotlin.jvm.functions.Function0

at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTargetContext.transformSingleDescriptor([MixinTargetContext.java:983](https://MixinTargetContext.java:983)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTargetContext.transformSingleDescriptor([MixinTargetContext.java:943](https://MixinTargetContext.java:943)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTargetContext.transformMethodDescriptor([MixinTargetContext.java:1000](https://MixinTargetContext.java:1000)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTargetContext.transformInvokeDynamicNode([MixinTargetContext.java:709](https://MixinTargetContext.java:709)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] at org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.transformer.MixinTargetContext.transformMethod([MixinTargetContext.java:480](https://MixinTargetContext.java:480)) \~\[mixin-0.8.5.jar:0.8.5+Jenkins-b310.git-155314e6e91465dad727e621a569906a410cd6f4\] ... 36 more 

What's wrong? I assume it's a mod incompatiblity, but I don't know which.