Toni
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Episode One Hundred and Sixty-Eight: Gatherers
🕑 Added 2025-08-15 14:00:07 +0000 UTCStreaks of golden light danced around me as leaves blew through the area. Laughter, whispered voices, and the smell of something floral distracted me.
Something landed on my feet, and I momentarily ignored the sudden presence of the Cat in my room. The disconnected thought snapped me awake as my stomach growled loudly.
“Cat?” I asked, unsure about what had just happened.
“It’s time to get up…” he mumbled, barely looking at me before he vanished from the end of my bed, then walked out the slightly open door.
The dream made little sense, just bursts of color dancing around leaves of some sort. Still, the more I tried to think about it, the faster it vanished, until I stood up to get ready for the day, the memory of the strange dream having completely faded.
Sunlight streamed in from my skylight, but it wasn’t later than my normal time to get up.
My stomach growled again, and I wondered how much bacon we had in stock as I got ready.
Plenty was the answer, as Betty had everything ready to go before I even made it to the kitchen. Bacon sizzled in the oven and Indigo crouched at the stove, scrambling eggs.
It didn’t take long before the crunch of bacon filled the air from every direction. Indigo snacked on it all daintily, while the Cat chomped away bits, the food going missing as soon as he touched it.
I finished my first slice and licked my fingers before picking up another slice from the giant stack in the middle of the table. I’d woken up hungry and made over a pound of the stuff.
Scrambled eggs sat on my plate dejected, and I turned my attention to them.
Indigo watched out of the corner of her eye, since she’d made them this morning with only a little help at the very end.
“These are tasty, Indigo,” I said as I quickly wolfed them down. “Good job!”
Her purple tail flickered across the island, just like a cat’s would have.
“What’s on the schedule for today?” I asked, as I finished up the eggs and reached for yet another slice of bacon. “Also, I’m really hungry this morning…”
“That’s from the magic practice,” mumbled the Cat as he finished up his eggs.
I nodded slowly, thinking of the practice from the night before. I hadn’t stayed up particularly late, but Indio loved shooting up in the air from my magical force blasts, then gliding around the roof. She’d helped me practice for a couple of hours.
I snorted. “Well, I slept great, probably from using all that energy…”
He hadn’t answered my question about the day, but I waited for him to get around to it instead of pressing.
“Today’s a small client,” answered the Cat. His gaze went to the small dragon. “Indigo will need to be careful not to chase them.”
“Me?” she lifted a claw and pointed it toward her snoot. “I don’t chase people.”
The Cat let out a sigh. “They are an animal, and they are small.”
That made me pause, thinking of mice. The small, tiny creatures were cute as all heck, but I didn’t want them anywhere near my books or plants.
“What type of creature?”
The Cat shifted on the island, almost like a shrug.
“That means more coffee…” I glanced at the remaining bacon. Maybe I had made too much, I thought. Even with how much each of us had eaten, we had some left. I couldn’t eat another bite. “Betty, can you put that away? I think we’re all done for this morning.”
Indigo nodded her head then launched herself in the air before heading over to the sink to wash her claws and face. She’d been on a clean kick lately, and it was cute as heck.
I followed her to wash the bacon from my hands. Then, I snagged my coffee mug as I headed to the front. The warm ceramic felt comforting in my hands as I set it on the counter next to the espresso machine. I’d already downed a latte, and a little more would be perfect.
The Cat’s teacup was next—the new one with paw prints on it.
I added milk to the pitcher and quickly steamed it with a little vanilla. Then I ground the espresso beans and pulled the shots. Last, a sprinkle of cinnamon on top for a little spice.
His little cup looked perfect as I set it in front of him, before doing the same in my mug.
“Alright, so are we ready?”
Indigo launched herself into the air and circled around the upper levels of the shop before flying through the shelves at the far side.
Everything appeared normal, like a visit to Earth with the children’s section to the right side. There were plenty of bigger shelves behind it with genre tags.
The Cat glared at Indigo, and she twisted midair flying toward her hideaway.
“That was a little mean…” I whispered to the Cat.
He didn’t respond as he studied the door, waiting for it to open.
“Let’s do this Betty…”
As soon as I spoke the door twitched, barely opening at all. The bells only tinked, they didn’t ring like usual.
Something flashed along the floor under the large table in the center of the room before it appeared climbing over the edge of the counter.
Large round ears came first, followed by giant eyes and then a furry body. Definitely some sort of rodent, with four paws and a long tail that trailed along on the floor behind it. The bright green fur threw me a little, but I smiled.
“Welcome to the shop. How can I help you?” I resisted the urge to lean down closer to the creature.
The Cat’s tail lowered and curled around his body as he tucked in his paws.
The green creature froze but relaxed as the Cat didn’t move again.
“I have some things for sale…” said the rodent in a deep voice. He pulled a small bag created from leaves out of somewhere and started pulling out piles of seeds.
The first was a deep purple, almost star-shaped and pointy. He stacked the seeds in a pile bigger than he stood, before moving on to a different type. This one was a vivid yellow, and round. This continued until twelve different types were laid out in front of me.
“Tell him, we will take them all,” said the Cat inside my head. “Ask what he is looking for.”
“We will gladly take all of them. What are you looking for in return?”
“Matches, and chocolate.”
I paused, thinking about how the little guy could use a match, but resisted saying anything. He’d pulled more seeds than possible out of the leaf bag, so who was I to question?
I nodded and glanced at the Cat.
“It should be in the storage room,” he replied, not moving from his resting spot.
“Let me get that…” I headed to the storage room, and the shelves were packed. Yet, a bin of white envelopes caught my attention, right next to a container with a pack of matches and a giant bar of dark chocolate.
I pulled the bin out along with the goods for exchange, carrying everything in my arms.
The rodent’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the chocolate bar. He started nodding and held his two front paws out for it.
First I set the bin next to Betty, before I handed over the chocolate bar without a problem.
He paused, sniffed at it, then somehow shoved it into the leaf bag. Next, he took the box of matches, and it also went into the leaf bag.
“Good doing business with you,” he said as he suddenly vanished from the counter. A streak of green headed toward the door just as Indigo exited her hideaway.
The creature froze as she flew overhead, completely oblivious to his hiding place underneath the wooden table.
