Chapter 4 An Outgoing Orientation
The Conniptions Of A Cat
Kraken padded into the cabin. He’d left the duchess chicken strutting around the upper deck. After promising Tam that he wouldn’t tell anyone his secret, Kraken reluctantly decided to keep it. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something about it.
He rounded the end of the bed. On the other side he could smell the new familiar. Leaping onto the bed with a chirp, he noted that Tam had already risen for the day, but his familiar slept.
Kraken’s eyes narrowed. He clambered over her limbs, then up her torso until he could sit on her chest.
He stared down, waiting.
His tail twitched impatiently when she still didn’t wake.
Giving a huff of annoyance, Kraken took matters into his own claws. Lifting a paw, he slapped the familiar woman across the face. He didn’t use his claws, but he rather hoped the powerful blow would be enough to stir her.
Evidently it was not.
He slapped her again. Still nothing. A low rumble sounded in Kraken’s chest. He proceeded to repetitiously slap the familiar’s face until her eyebrows twitched and her eyes fluttered open in confusion.
She stared blankly at Kraken.
“You are far softer than I realized,” she announced bluntly.
Kraken wished he could roll his eyes as dramatically as some humans could.
“ Of course I’m soft. I have the best fluff in all the world. Now, get up. We need to have a chat,” he meowed. He knew she couldn’t understand him in her human form, but he still felt the need to retort.
“Can you please get off me?” Eli requested evenly.
Kraken’s tail twitched again.
Then he raised his paw and slapped her across the cheek once more.
She blinked. “It feels like a fluffy caress when you do that.”
Occasionally, Kraken’s divine softness worked against him. He growled again.
“Is something wrong?” Eli slowly pushed herself to sit up, forcing Kraken to move off and to the side of her.
“Yes, there is a big problem. Your witch is floundering. It’s your job to help him,” Kraken chirped.
Eli raised a confused eyebrow and sighed. “I can see about changing into my other form on the deck if you need to talk.”
Kraken blinked in confirmation.
“I’ll be up in a bit. I have to change and wash up.”
Despite wanting to complain, Kraken knew there was nothing else he could do for the moment to hurry this familiar along, so he moved out of the cabin and headed for the stairs.
In truth, he hated being belowdecks. His balance wasn’t what it should be.
Upon darting up the stairs, Kraken very nearly crashed into the chicken, who also happened to be his witch Finlay’s mate.
“Where have you been?” Duchess Annika clucked.
Kraken sighed. He already missed the days when she couldn’t understand him. “Minding my own business. How are things here?”
The chicken’s beady eyes glared at him.
His chest fluff remained unruffled.
“Fine. It is a sunny day, and the winds are still coming from the south. It is annoying having to avoid being stepped on.”
Kraken chuckled. “Yes, it is a feat cats are better at, to be certain.”
The pair turned and started sidling down the center of the main deck.
“I’ll be having a private discussion with your son’s mate when she eventually comes up,” Kraken announced briskly.
“What about?”
“Did I not say the word ‘private’ loud enough for you to hear through your feathers?” Kraken drawled without a single glance to his right where Annika strutted.
He was not entirely surprised when he felt the peck at his shoulder.
Swinging around, Kraken slowly moved until he sat perfectly straight with his tail wrapped around his feet. “That was a bold move for someone who tastes like dinner.”
The duchess gave an indignant “bok” before adding, “I knew you were difficult even when I didn’t understand you. However, what you will tell me is if everything is alright with Eli.”
Kraken turned and surveyed the bustling ship. His gaze eventually found Tam, who leaned against the ship’s railing nearby, looking out blindly toward the horizon. Even from where he sat, Kraken could see the smudges under his eyes.
“Your son’s mate is fine. Your son, however, needs her assistance.”
“What’s wrong with Tam?” Annika asked in alarm.
Kraken looked back at her with slitted eyes. “That is, again, a private matter. ”
“Does it have anything to do with how she was feeling unwell when she boarded the ship? Gods. Did Tam get her pregnant? Is that why he’s stressed?”
Kraken’s claws flexed into the wooden planks of the deck in irritation. He really wished he could eat the chicken duchess. He’d have to go deal with the witch who could turn her back soon…
“I do not know, nor do I care right now if there are more grandkittens in your future. This is a matter regarding familiars, and I will be saying nothing else on the matter.”
Annika’s head jerked to the side. “That isn’t a no to her being pregnant.”
Kraken could already tell she wasn’t going to let the matter rest, but he was fortunately spared from the duchess’s needling by Eli’s appearance. He turned without bothering to mew another word and sauntered over to Tam’s familiar.
By the time Kraken reached her, she already had the boy Tam called his son latched to her side, while the little girl prattled on about one thing or another.
Kraken meowed up at Eli.
She didn’t look away from the little girl.
Kraken chirped.
Still, nothing.
With his calm turning rapidly to furious indignation, Kraken opened his mouth and let out a long yowl that sent several heads turning in his direction.
Eli looked down at him, sighed wearily, and patted Luca on the back, prompting him to release her. She said something about talking or playing later to the two children, then pulled away.
At last alone, Eli addressed Kraken. “I’ll go ask the captain about changing forms.”
He let out a very long meow. He wanted to go nap, and this was taking far too long!
As Eli climbed up toward the stern of the ship and approached the captain, Kraken watched their exchange. Then, striding past him, making his fluff rustle, he noted Tam ascending the stairs before joining the conversation.
What little patience Kraken possessed disintegrated. Bolting up the steps, Kraken sat directly behind Eli’s legs and proceeded to bat at her calves—with his claws this time.
“Okay! Okay! Ow—Stop that!” she chided.
Kraken glared guiltlessly up at her.
Did she think he wasn’t busy, just because they were aboard a ship in the middle of nowhere? To see her meander and trod around while he, an empurror, waited? The nerve!
“Kraken, don’t do that,” Tam chastised.
Kraken hissed at him.
Tam’s eyebrows rose toward his hairline.
It was rare that Kraken became this annoyed, but it was Tam’s fault that he was so stressed to begin with!
Bending down, Eli scooped Kraken into her arms and stepped away from both the captain and Tam to head back down to the main deck.
“I don’t know that there will be enough room, and it will most likely affect the speed of the ship while I’m in my other state. So this needs to be quick.”
Kraken let out another loud yowl. “DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THE WORD ‘QUICK’ MEANS?”
“Alright! Alright!” Eli finally reached the middle of the deck. “Back up!” she ordered tersely.
Kraken didn’t stop grumbling.
He watched as she shifted into her beast form, noting that just about every sailor on board stumbled back in shock. There was a shout or two of alarm, even though they would have been informed of her abilities beforehand.
As it turned out, the deck was a little more cramped with the familiar named Kasha taking Eli’s place.
“ There! Now, what in the world is it?” Kasha demanded.
“You have been slacking on your familiar duties,” Kraken bit out. “Your witch is in over his head, and it is up to you to manage things better.”
“What are you talking about?” Eli snapped.
“He has sworn me to secrecy, but your witch is toying with a fate bigger than he can fathom! Something even the Gods will most likely take exception to!”
“ And what am I supposed to do?”
Kraken slapped her whiskered snout. “SOMETHING! ARE YOU OR ARE YOU NOT A FAMILIAR?”
“Pardon me.” The cool cluck of Annika Ashowan joining the conversation had Kraken rounding on her.
“I SAID THIS IS PRIVATE, YOU UNDERCOOKED SNACK!” Kraken snarled in the chicken’s face.
The duchess pecked him smartly on the nose. “Gods. I owe my husband a lot of sympathy if this is how you are.”
Kraken lifted a paw, wrapped it around Annika’s neck, and pulled her closer. “ Ask yourself this. If I’m worried, just what has your kitten done?”
“I’d love to know, but you aren’t telling me,” Annika fired back before jerking upward to stare at Kasha. “ Are you pregnant? I don’t know if you know this, but our family is rather susceptible to—”
After overcoming her visible shock of hearing the duchess speak while a chicken, Kasha closed her eyes and dropped her head with a pained moan.
★ ★ ★
Tam stood beside the captain with Luca and Penelope in front of him.
They were all captivated by the very unusual meeting of animals on the ship’s deck.
Kasha looked vexed, Kraken sounded angry, and his mother…
He had no idea.
But she was in a sort of scuffle with Kraken, who kept jabbing her with his paw while she pecked him in retaliation.
“And you say they are having a conversation… ?” the captain asked delicately, his usual primness audibly fragile.
“Allegedly. Eli will tell me more once she turns back.”
The captain nodded. “Ah.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Tam could see the strain between the man’s eyebrows.
“Dad?” Luca peered up at his father.
“Mm-hm?”
“Can we go play now?”
“Nope. Now that Eli’s awake, it’s time we get you both caught up on your studies.”
“Aw!” Luca whined.
Even Penelope’s nose bunched up in dislike at the idea.
“After lunch we can play a game together. Sound good?”
Luca’s eyes sparkled. “What game?”
“I’ll tell you later. I know you’re stalling. Go head down into Eli’s and my cabin, and I’ll meet you there soon.”
Letting out laments, the children gradually dragged their feet over to the stairs, leaving Tam to stare after them with a tired smile.
“They’ll appreciate it when they’re older,” the captain said, his voice full of fondness.
As Tam turned to ask the captain if he had any children of his own, he noticed Kraken slapping Kasha’s face again. This time, he did so over and over while his mother flapped her wings and kept trying to grasp Kraken’s fur as though to pry him away from Kasha.
“Apologies, I’ll be back in a moment.”
Tam darted down the stairs, stalked over to his father’s familiar, waved off his mother, who was still beating her wings, and snatched up Kraken by the scruff.
“Slap Kasha again and I will chuck you overboard,” Tam informed the fluffy cat sternly. “I don’t know what this is about, but I’ve never seen you in such a bad mood in your whole—”
Kraken slapped Tam across the face, silencing him.
Tam gaped at the cat. “That felt oddly nice. But I feel the insult that was behind it.”
Kraken tried to slap him again until Tam changed his grip on the scruff then held Kraken out over the ship’s railing.
The fluffy familiar went perfectly still.
“I know you’re going to take a dump in my bed or shoes for this,” Tam guessed, “and I accept that. But you do not slap Eli—even in her Kasha form—again. Unless she asks you to. Because again… that was strangely pleasant.”
Kraken’s eyes slid sideways. The familiar was unable to move, but Tam caught the brief huff of acceptance, so he set the cat back down on deck. Kraken fluttered his tail upward and sauntered off, giving a spectacular view of his haunches.
“Is the discussion over? Kasha, you haven’t eaten yet.” Tam raised a stern eyebrow in her direction.
A great whoosh of hot breath came out of Tam’s familiar, as though she were as irked by him as the children had been. With a shudder, Eli shifted back into her human form. She remained kneeling on the deck, her eyes lost in thought.
Meanwhile Annika scurried off after Kraken.
“Everything alright?” Tam asked, his brows lowering in worry.
Giving her head a shake, Eli rose to her feet. “Yes, everything is fine. And I don’t need you nagging me to eat.”
“Oh, so you aren’t hungry? I shouldn’t have told the cook to prepare you a plate with some tea?”
Eli scowled at him, evidently unable to disagree. He grinned back at her.
She had no less than three cowlicks in her hair, and she looked adorable.
Which was why Tam decided to spare her nerves a little and instead of teasing her further said, “Come on. The kids are already waiting for us in our cabin, ready to start studying again.” He swung around, hands in his pockets as he headed toward the stairs.
He was only a little surprised when Eli’s arm slipped around his and her head gently rested on his shoulder.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
Tam chuckled. “Not sure why you’re thanking me exactly, but you’re welcome.”
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?” she asked suddenly, tilting her face up to him.
Tam balked. Maybe it had just been too long since he’d been able to relax in any capacity, but he was finding his assistant’s loveliness distracting. “I’m sure I will eventually.”
Her sweet expression dropped, and Tam was forced to laugh as she resumed her more typical grumpy countenance.
She continued to pester him as they went belowdecks, and while Tam had a hunch about why she was suddenly asking him questions, he decided he would delay bringing forward his concerns about taking the devil’s fate for the time being.
He wanted to put off any dark thoughts of the future… if only for a little while.