A Mote Adrift [open to multiple]

[watchesthebeans]

Though he had that strange dream in which he explored a bar, Aglet hasn't really had the experience of meeting another rifty in his dreams. He's not cognizant of that being something that can even happen to him. When he lays down to sleep, therefor, it never enters his head that he might be about to enter someone else's head.

The touch of his mind on that of whomever he encounters will be a small, ticklish thing. From Aglet's perspective, he's exploring the backways in the walls of the shop where his cousins live. It will only slowly dawn on him that things look different to how he remembers them, that he doesn't know where he is or the way back. What seems to be a hidden, twisting passageway, too, might well turn out to deposit him right under the nose of the dreamer -- or might allow him to observe unseen.

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Daine is Scrap.

No, that's not right. Daine's in Scrap. She'd needed a safe way to explore Fief Dunlath - Numair had been adamant that she not put herself in danger - and so Daine had asked the young cat if she could join minds with her. Scrap had liked the idea, and now here they are. Scrap bounds down a hallway, easily distracted in the way young cats are. Daine's already had to gently urge her to not give any and every loose thread on the rug her briefly undivided attention, but there's far more in this hallway to catch a cat's interest than the rug. When Scrap spies a mouse hole near one corner (or a hole that could be used by a mouse, at any rate), Daine has to suppress an internal groan.

Just leave it, the girl pleads as the cat flattens herself to the floor, tail twitching. I don't hear any mice in there, anyway. And if she did, she'd urge them to flee. While she's not in the habit of interfering between predators and prey, she'd rather not have a front-row seat to such proceedings. More to the point, she doesn't want Scrap to get so distracted by mousing that they completely fail to find what it is that they're looking for.

There's something in there, Scrap insists, her eyes trained on the little hole. Just wait; you'll see.

[watchesthebeans]

One really good thing about shops that Aglet had never realized before coming to live in one is that the Beans have Rules about them. A Bean could bring an animal into their house at any time just for the novelty of having it there, but a store with food like the one where his cousins live is off limit to animals. Or to Bean-approved animals, at least; Beans can be incredibly unobservant when it comes to mice and such.

He doesn't realize that he's started taking it for granted that the shop is free of dogs, ferrets, cats, and other terrors. The townhouse he came from was similarly lacking in a four-legged population, but there had always been the understanding that an animal might arrive any day, without warning. Now, Aglet strolls along confident that the only danger is from Beans themselves and that he'd hear a lurking Bean long in advance. He's not prepared for the possibility of anything as quiet as a cat, which is why he comes right up to the edge of the hole before even thinking to listen and watch for danger. He's not stupid enough to stroll right out, but he is stupid enough to come to a stop right inside and poke his head around into the open. The instant he sees what's waiting for him, he starts and leaps backward.

[wildmage_daine]

Through Scrap's eyes, Daine sees the little head poke its way out into the open. If she'd been in control, she would have held perfectly still while she tried to assess the situation, but Scrap is more impulsive - and her reflexes are sharp. Before Daine even has a chance to object, Scrap lets out a triumphant, There! and bounds forward, thrusting a paw into the hole and groping around for her target.

Careful! Daine says sharply, worried that whatever it is, the cat will hurt it before either of them really understand what it is that they're dealing with. Don't kill it!

[watchesthebeans]

The only advantage Aglet has in this moment is that the cat can't see him. He's already running before he even consciously thinks of it, but the creature is just as terrifyingly fast as he's always been told. Its paw lands a blow on his shoulder and sends him reeling; he rebounds off one wall, hits the floor, and unthinkingly scrambles to get away.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine can't do much more than fret as Scrap gropes blindly for the little creature. After a tense beat, she feels Scrap's rush of excitement as one of her claws snags against something that definitely isn't the stone floor. Got it! the cat says, starting to pull out her prize.

[watchesthebeans]

Aglet screams. The claw has snagged on his trousers, tip pricking through to his leg. Were this the waking world, he'd likely be sporting a nasty puncture right now; as it is it doesn't occur to him to wonder why it doesn't really hurt. He's more concerned with flailing and trying to stop it dragging him out.

[wildmage_daine]

That was an awfully human-sounding scream, and if Daine had thought Scrap willing to let go, she might have ordered her to. Instead, her own curiosity piqued, she warns, Be gentle with it; it's no mouse.

I'd guessed as much, Scrap replies as she carefully draws the struggling little thing out of the hole in the wall. Blinking down at the little two-legger, she says, Well, that's different.

[watchesthebeans]

For a second, he almost thinks he can get its claw out of his pants if he twists -- but then he's dragged out into the open, right below the monstrous thing's nose. Aglet can hear his hear thudding in his ears; a cat's one of the worst things to encounter, and he doesn't even have a weapon beyond the small knife in his bag. A half-remembered piece of advice flashes into his mind, and he abruptly goes limp. A cat won't lose interest just like that, but maybe it'll buy him a few seconds.

[wildmage_daine]

I've never seen anything like this before, Daine agrees. There are plenty of immortals that look a bit like two-leggers, even if only in part, but this is the first time she's come across what looks like a regular two-legger, but tiny. She's distracted from her musings by the little fellow's abrupt collapse, and worriedly asks, He hasn't died, has he?

No, Scrap assures her, sniffing the little two-legger curiously. He's just gone still. Should I let him up? There's a hint of feline mischief in her tone as she continues, He'll probably try to run if I do, and Daine correctly guesses that Scrap wouldn't mind having another go at catching him.

Don't play with him, the girl says dryly. Strange as the little fellow might be, she has a hard time believing that he's doing any harm, and she definitely doesn't want Scrap to kill him. Take your claws out of his leg, at least. You might really be hurting him. She can tell Scrap's unimpressed with her game plan, but the cat obediently retracts her claws, leaving a paw just resting on the little fellow's leg.

[watchesthebeans]

Aglet can't help trembling when he feels the cat's breath on his back. It's hard not to tense or to panic and struggle, but he maintains his limp posture, waiting for something to change and suggest a different tactic. Or to die, which seems more likely right now.

He can't help the flinch, either, when he feels the claws retract. The paw still weighs on his leg, nixing any thoughts of leaping up and making a run for it...at least, not without giving the cat something to think about first. The idea that comes to his mind is one he knows almost certainly won't work, but he can hardly lay here and let it eat him at its leisure. He just regrets that he put his knife in his bag today, rather than hanging it properly on his belt.

Nothing for it, though. In a flash, he twists his upper body and plunges a hand into his shoulder bag, groping for the knife. The plan is to slash the cat across the nose with it and run, but instead he finds himself groping blindly for the handle.

[wildmage_daine]

Scrap's response is fairly automatic: she draws back the paw that had been pinning his leg. Then, as he rummages in his little bag, she reaches back to give him a cautious little pat with her paw.

Stop that, Daine says disapprovingly. Just leave him be.

Leave him? Scrap repeats, incredulous. But he's interesting! To the cat's credit, she draws her paw back again. But she's not about to just let the little fellow escape, and she quickly positions herself between the little two-legger and the hole in the wall.

[watchesthebeans]

Aglet's heart leaps into his throat, but the cat flattens him with that pat before he's even quite decided to abandon the search for the knife and just get up and run. As the cat pulls its paw back and moves, though, his fingers finally close around the knife handle. Yanking it out of his bag, he scrambles to his feet and goes with plan A...sort of. The slash he aims at the animal's face is more than a little wild, and he's forced to turn and run away from the hole with it in the way like that.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine and Scrap notice the little blade in the same instant, and Scrap flinches away from the strike, saving her muzzle from getting slashed, but losing a whisker. That hurt! the cat complains with a yowl. Am I supposed to leave him be after that?

Just wait a minute, Daine says, mind racing. It's occurred to her that any little person who apparently lives in the walls might be familiar with the object they're seeking. Trouble is, she's not sure how to communicate with him. If he could talk to the People, surely he would have said something to Scrap by now.

Still, it can't hurt to try. Directing her focus to the retreating figure, she calls, Can you hear me?

[watchesthebeans]

Aglet dares a glance over his shoulder to see if how fast the cat is coming after him. The voice is unexpected, and he can't tell where it comes from -- is it another Borrower offering a way out? There aren't any Beans, so what else could it be?

"Where are you?" he calls back, ducking behind the leg of a table.