Chapter Text
Nikki was out of breath, the beautiful and fluffy “angel” fleed faster than a devil in the beautiful yet small garden. Every branch she passed by slapped her right in the face. Lilith kept spitting at her and Nightbane in rage. The grey cat’s ears were drawn on the back and if it wasn’t for the tingling bell’s sound, the pink girl would have lost her sight long ago as she was very keen on blending in with the shadows.
In only an instant, the sophisticated cat switched direction to catch its “prey”. Unfortunately, the princess really got her way with her little paws. The other clients were panicking and Momo kept calling for help in a distant voice. Thankfully, mud wasn’t so much of a problem, the rain miraculously didn’t reach this place.
-ting ting ting ting ting…
She couldn’t take it anymore, a break was necessary. Nikki was tired of running in circles because of a cat thief, she seriously thought about breaking the door open. An idea popped in her mind, she opened her bag and took a cat treat, originally for Momo, out of it. The sound of the plastic bag lured some more felines. All meowing at her feet, she realised a problem: Lilith was looking from the top of the wooden cat house, Nightbane was stuck in a branch below her and now she couldn’t move because of the quicksand of fur at her feet. The youngest one, who was from a vivid blue, started climbing on her leg. Her older brother, also blue, had to grab her quickly as her claws were hurting Nikki.
This gave Nikki an idea. She just had to find a way to lure Lilith in Leonid’s nap house. The last goodbyes were made to the treats sachet and the nanny took half of them, and threw them around. The cats scattered, she only had to be precise. Using all the dexterity she has, not much (which is why she used to be the goalkeeper in her football team), she threw a piece at Lilith, hoping she would leave the key behind.
-Missed…
-grrrrr
-Come on! I’ll give you pets!
(She wasn’t impressed)
-Nice and cute cat?
(She laid down on the branch).
When the sweet girl tried to shoot another treat, she saw a blond and black fierce kitty with yellow eyes jumping and stealing the bag straight out of her hand.
-WHAT IS THEIR PROBLEM???
Nikki started to lose patience. It has barely been half an hour since she arrived and yet, she was already in hell.
The lady warrior ran towards two other cats: a red haired one with a cute light blue hoodie and a bigger, older one in a chocolate coat.
She looked in her palm: there were still two left, she couldn’t miss this one.
Just when she was about to throw, her gaze locked with Nightbane’s. Not far from the tree stood a ladder, implying that wasn’t the first time he got stuck chasing after his daughter (at least that was what Nikki thought, they looked very similar). Still hidden in the bushes, another grey damsel looked distantly…
One step… A second, more careful one… Nikki started to reach the top. The butler drew in the little courage he had left and climbed silently. Without anyone knowing, someone brought a purple feathery toy, Ashley snuck up carefully near her sister.
-Lilith… Look, I’ve got something for you…
-MRAAOOOU she was aggressive
She readied her fluffy paw toward Nikki’s face, holding the tresor in her little mouth.
Lilith’s paw pads were adorable, as well as her nose, they were all pink… And very sharp. Just when she was about to claw the smooth face, Mister monocle jumped, again, to the rescue. The princess was now stuck, and started hissing, which made a really weird noise. A fuzzy white face came out the cabane, a little mad, then went back to its nap.
-Maou, Leonid complained.
-Mraouu… Lilith responded, in a sorry tone.
The cutest sound that she ever heard reached Nikki’s ears.
-Miaou.
It was truly the most beautiful voice. The pink caretaker looked at the ground, but didn’t see anything.
-What?
Nightbane responded
-Miaou.
He had a pretty voice, but it didn’t fit him quite well. It didn’t fit him at all. It was higher than expected
-Ooooh you’re so cute!
As he took it as an insult, he started pouting and tapping with his tail.
A fifth voice surface, it was really soft
-Maouu?
This time, she wanted to see the feline. The surprise was total, it was the same cat from before: huge, black, red eyes of an uncompared elegance. She moved swiftly, brushed against Leonid’s fur like she was trying to sooth him, and disappeared with him. Lilith looked like a brat who got caught by their parents… Which made her think. The huge cat was probably a maine coon, the white one was a ragdoll. The princess seemed like a combination of the two, both in body and colour. But Nikki was at this point pretty sure she was Nightbane’s devilish spawn, so what was it? She thought about sending a message to Angel to clear that up, but Momo screamed again.
-FOR GOD’S SAKE NIKKI, HELP!!! THERE’S A CAT GANG !!!
-Let me guess, a blond and black, a red one and a brown one ?
-YEES ! WHY ARE YOU TAKING SO LONG ?
-She took the key !
-FOR WHAT DO YOU NEED IT??
The pink girl sighed, panic started to really infect his thought process.
Reaching for the last time the monster with her hand, she showed the treat. When she was sniffing it, Nightbane took this as an opportunity to grab her by the neck, but she wouldn’t let go of Nikki’s goal, even when she poke her cheek with the treat.
The gentleman looked at Nikki in despair, obviously asking her to carry them to safety. Carefully, she picked them praying for the princess to stay immobile. Once her feet touched grass, she used the ladder as a seat, she was very tired of running around.
-Miaou.
She turned around. Ashley had long, tangled fur with a large scar on her face. Around her neck, a very simple yet pretty collar with an acorn instead of a bell. She looked exactly like Lilith, if she had been thrown into a fire. Her irises were of the most gorgeous blue one could imagine, her gaze was very gentle. Despite the first impression, she seemed like a nice kitty. Ashley brought Nikki the toy.
Lilith's eyes widened, and Nightbane let go of her. The princess changed into a hunting position and dropped the key.
-Awww you two want to play?
The nanny shook the fishing rod, and they went crazy over their prey. The twins were youthful, energetic and determined. However, Ashley had to abandon the battlefield because.. Someone WANTED blood. Biting, clawing, pulling, Nikki was glad she was very careful with this little devil.
After a while of Lilith hunting and the others sitting there peacefully (which clearly wasn’t expected, she thought chaos would ensue), Nikki took the key and gave a treat to Nightbane, and tried petting Ashley, failing, then giving her the last treat, she headed towards the door.
The sun was starting to set and she definitely needed some sleep. Nikki was really lucky and unlucky at the same time, her current location was this little house. If Angel rented the place and gave a job, paying (more) than the rent at the same time, it was because she was tired of having to do the road every day and moved to another town. The pink girl felt bad for the cats, they were often alone. That would explain their chaos, they were bored.
This time, she unlocked the door, to “save” Momo… who was already sleeping.
Turned out the cat gang was some sort of Robin Hood organisation as they shared their treats to everyone. Most of the inhabitants were sleeping, for the exception of one, a silver-blueish shorthair with a striped beige shirt above a turtleneck. With a lot of caution, Ashley came in. She saw Modric in front of her, and despite them sharing some interests, she ran and hid in the closet.
The house was really cosy, the furniture was either white or of very light wood, the walls were powder pink. It fitted Nikki very well… It was almost scary. On the yellowish couch, she took a pillow and gave it to Ashley. Exploring a little more the house, she found the kitchen. It was spacious, and there were loads of cat food. On the table, there was a list, describing what each kitty liked and needed. Some of them were more capricious than others. The caretaker understood Momo’s confusion at his friend’s quest : there was a backdoor. Open.
Upstairs, her room. It was really comfy, out of pink, white, and yellow. The sheets had a strawberry pattern that reminded Nikki of the first dress she ever made. She was exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately.
Down in deep sleep, she had two visitors. The opposite of the spectrum, the little cat couple was here. They looked like they detained way more knowledge than what their meows were able to translate. Divinities at the window, they had Nikki’s fate in their paws.