Now that I had Gabe and Olivia on my side, I decided it was high time I took action. I'd spent far too long sleeping outside, resigned to my fate. And sure, Olivia had graciously offered to sneak me back into her room tonight— which was an unequivocal step up, and one I would definitely be taking advantage of— but it still wasn't my own room. I wanted that back; I wanted my life back. All of this had to end, and the first step was to find the stupid cat who'd done this to me in the first place.

While I went to track him down, Gabe and Olivia figured they'd grab a quick bite to eat. We agreed to meet up after. Even better, they promised to sneak something out for me.

"Any requests?" Gabe wheezed, wiping his eye on his sleeve. "Pizza?"

Olivia wordlessly handed him a tissue.

I shook my head at him. Since I'd been outside, almost fifty percent of my meals had been pizza. And to be honest, it was starting to get to me; I was pretty sure it was even worse for my digestive system now than it normally was. What I really wanted was some actual food— something that had never seen the inside of a microwave.

Chicken? Apple? I typed. A thought occurred to me, and I quickly turned back to the computer. Not nuggets. Real food.

"Consider it done," Gabe nodded before dissolving into a fit of coughs.

I hopped off the bench, trying to give him some space. I hadn't gone within about three feet of him, but he was clearly starting to be affected by whatever cat hair was in the air.

"Thanks," he mumbled hoarsely. "Sorry."

I shrugged; it wasn't his fault. Actually, I was probably the one who should be sorry since it was literally me he was allergic to.

"So, see you at the bookstore in an hour?" Oliva asked. We'd agreed to meet up there since I didn't have a phone— or any other way to tell time. But there was a giant clock tower that rose from its side, so I'd be able to use that.

I nodded. "Bye," I mewed.

"See ya," Olivia said.

Gabe waved, smothering a cough as he did.

When they'd first figured out who I was, I'd been a little embarrassed about trying to talk to them. But I'd managed to get over that somewhat early on, especially since it was either meowing occasionally or saying nothing at all. And with context, I was even pretty sure they understood some of what I'd said.

After saying our goodbyes, I took off. It was good to finally have a purpose other than scrounging for food. First, I decided to check the pathway behind the English building— where I'd been cursed in the first place. There'd been a ton of cats the last time I'd been there, so I figured it was a pretty safe bet that there'd be someone there this time, too. I hadn't been all that fond of the place, but what could they really do to me? It wasn't like they could curse me again.

Unfortunately, Neither Comet nor Rain were there. Fortunately, there was an orange tabby cat walking gingerly on the top of the dumpster.

"Hey!" I called up to it. The cat lazily turned to stare down at me.

"...Yes?" it asked, dragging the word out and sounding annoyed that I'd interrupted whatever it had been doing.

"I'm looking for someone. Do you know Comet?"

"Who?"

"Comet. Black cat, pinkish eyes."

The tabby stared down at me, expressionless.

"About this tall?" I sat down and pulled my paw up about as high as I could reach without rearing up on my back feet— about two inches above my head. 

"I know Comet," the tabby said finally. "What do you want with him?"

"He...wanted to see me," I said, not really wanting to get into it with a stranger.

The cat went silent again, and I was afraid it wasn't going to answer. Finally, it asked, "New recruit?"

I shrugged, then nodded.

"He's usually down at the duck pond about now."

My ears perked up automatically and a jolt of adrenaline washed through me at the idea of the duck pond; I'd almost forgotten about that place. It would be a great spot for hunting. I quickly squashed those thoughts down, trying to remain focused on the matter at hand.

"Thanks," I called over my shoulder as I hurried to the pond.

I was a little worried when I got there and saw it was almost completely deserted. There were a few students lounging lazily across the way from me, but no cats anywhere as far as I could see. Had that tabby tricked me?

"Comet?" I called out, looking from side to side. "Comet!"

I walked a few steps towards the water but didn't see anyone. I even looked up into a few of the trees. I saw a small group of magpies in the branches of one, squawking away to themselves. But when I stood up on my back legs and put my front paw on the trunk to get a better look, they all went silent.

"And just what do we have here?" One of the birds sneered down at me. It was kind of a surreal experience, and even though I kept my paw on the tree, I did hunch back a little. At least this wasn't my first time being yelled at by birds.

"It's a child," another said, sounding amused.

I opened my mouth to snap that I wasn't a child, but I stopped myself. It was exactly the kind of whiny thing a child would say. Besides, having that amount of angry eyes narrowed at me from behind sharp beaks made me rethink just how antagonistic I wanted to be right now.

"I remember him," I heard one of the birds cackle.

My ears twitched, and I saw a jay sitting up in the branches, just above the magpies.

"He's just some dumb stray," the jay said confidently.

Was that...Fluffy? I couldn't tell, but it sure looked like him. I wondered vaguely what his real name was. Probably not worth knowing, I told myself.

"Saw him across campus just this morning," the bird continued.

"How do you know he's a stray?" one of Fluffy's friends spoke up.

"I mean, just look at him."

I resisted the urge to look down at myself. I knew I was covered in mud, and I didn't need some ridiculous bird to remind me.

I sneered, remembering how I'd almost fallen out of the tree because of him. Or was it his friend? It was almost impossible to tell these birds apart. Still, I stopped even trying right about the time the first acorn hit my head.

At first, I couldn't figure out what had happened— it was just a sharp pain blossoming between my ears. Then, I saw the thing land on the ground next to me. When the second one hit me, I knew it was time to go.

I pulled my paws off the tree and landed back on the ground, deciding not to antagonize them any further. They were clearly hostile to cats, and there was almost no way Comet was up there with them.

I sauntered through the grass, trying to make a show of just how little those birds bothered me. The taunting was pretty hard to ignore, but I managed. I walked along the water's edge for a few feet, until I was hidden behind a bush. Then, I waded into the water.

I knew cats didn't like water, but I'd never minded it personally. So I was a little surprised at just how violent my gut reaction was to being half-submerged in it. My stomach clenched, my hackles raised, and it was just about all I could do to keep from leaping out with a scream.

But I didn't. As much as I hated those birds, I knew they were right. Besides, I was going to be sleeping at Olivia's tonight, and there was no way I could sit in her room being as dirty as I was. And how else was I supposed to get clean? There was no way I'd ever stoop to using my tongue.

Once I was confident I'd managed to get all the mud off of my fur, I padded back onto dry land, aware of the water that was positively dripping off me. I felt like I weighed twice as much as I had when I'd gone in.

As soon as all four feet were on the grass, I tried shaking myself to get some of the water out. It worked ok, I guessed. Mostly, it got the water out of my ears, which in the end was probably the worst part of my whole experience.

Now that I hopefully looked somewhat more presentable, I glanced around. Still no sign of Comet. I opened my mouth, ready to call out for him again, when I heard a familiar voice.

"Don't," he hissed so quietly, I'd almost missed it.

I turned from side to side. The noise seemed to be coming from the bushes off to the right. Slowly, I made my way over.

"Get in here, you fool," I heard from inside.

Clearly, Comet was less than pleased to see me. Still, I hopped in anyway, knowing this conversation was long overdue.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at me, like somehow I'd done something wrong.

"Looking for you," I snapped. I didn't really see what the attitude was for. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Reconnaissance work. At least, I was until you decided to try climbing up that tree while the Corvidae Leadership was having their meeting!"