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[i. snow]
On a bright moonlit night, Mooby went out into the snow. It was cold, but not so cold that she couldn't handle it; there was something calling to her, some siren song out beyond the fence.
Her mother stayed behind, and the humans were asleep inside when Mooby wandered away.
She didn't know the woods outside very well, but when she wanted to go home she should've been able to retrace her scent... but she couldn't.
You're a long way from home, little one, said a violet-eyed black cat. Follow me.
"Meow," said Mooby, and did. The black cat sighed.
[ii. void]
In the shadow between two trees, the forest gave way to darkness. Far away there were sparkling lights; Mooby’s paws landed on a surface that felt solid but was as dark and indiscernible as the rest of her immediate surroundings.
“Meow!” she said, rather urgently; this was not how surfaces were supposed to act. The violet-eyed black cat looked back.
It is harder to leave the Wood Between Worlds than it is to enter it, he said. There is nothing to fear in this place, but you must continue if you wish to leave.
“Meow,” said Mooby, irritably. She continued.
[iii. cobblestone]
On a sultry summer night, a single sleek cat with black and white fur and yellow eyes stepped out of the shadow between two buildings onto a cobblestone street. The cat blinked, then turned in a circle.
“Meow…” said the cat.
Well. This is… unexpected, said a voice in the cat’s mind, which belonged to the violet-eyed black cat.
!!!?!?? said Mooby, also internally.
There was an unvoiced sigh. I suppose we’ll have to make the best of it, the black cat said. Let’s see… where are we now?
<<not home>> said Mooby, wordlessly.
Not for either of us, no.
[iv. alleys]
This world, like the one whence the black cat came, had magic in it, but that was the extent of the obvious similarities. Even the stars in the sky were different.
Mooby was a little more at home. This was not her world, but they were her stars, and she did not notice the constellation that hung in the sky, the one that shouldn’t have with the black cat about in the world.
They learned they were in a place called the Lower Alleys, and slowly, with the black cat’s guidance, settled into its patterns and sought a way home.
[v. star-touched]
The girl from 10 Dogwood Lane smelled like potion ingredients and adrenaline and, underneath that, of the space between stars and electric-green energy.
She smelled like Alanna, Goddess-touched and brightly burning.
<<you know her>> Mooby told the black cat.
No, he said. I knew a girl like her, once.
Mooby swished her tail and flicked her ears. “Meow,” she said aloud, a sound which here meant we should talk to her.
Not yet, said the black cat.
<<why not?>>
I don’t know if we should interfere.
<<just a cat>>
You are. I’m… not quite.
???? asked Mooby.
I’m a constellation.
[vi. meeting]
They shared Mooby’s body; she controlled it more than the black cat. So, they sat on the corner, waiting for the star-touched girl.
When she left her building, the cat trotted up to her, twining around her ankles.
“Oh!” said the girl. She hesitated, then knelt to pet them.
“Meow,” said Mooby, very smugly.
“You’re friendly, aren’t you,” the girl murmured.
Well, she is, the black cat grumbled. The girl paused.
“You… can talk?”
“Meow,” Mooby said again, meaning, he can. I just want pets.
The girl gave a startled laugh. “Very well, then,” she said.
They’d made a friend.
~🐈~