A Nightmare

"And how do you propose to keep her locked in case the effect wears off?"

"S'pose a collar would do the trick. Nothing wrong with a magic collar."

"She isn't an animal-"

"What's wrong, feeling empathy for those things? They're monsters, less you forget it is your duty to execute them. Or do you find yourself unable to fulfill your duty? I would find it most troubling if a hunter was too shy to hunt, what good would he be then."

"... I understand. However, I am merely voicing my concern that the cat-"

"Would never have been here were it not for you, you are just as much at play here as I am. Perhaps your silly ruse paid off, this gives me quite the idea. Now be gone, I shall call upon you when you are required. All of this bumbling aside, I have an objective I must fulfill, and this kitty here will help me achieve it. Won't you, little beastie?"

"Nityri."

"..."

"Her name is Nityri." The voice said before fading away.

Nityri opened her eyes and gasped, raising her paw to shade her eyes from the sun. Looking around, she had been resting her head on Na'Vi's lap in the midst of a group of Nekomata's gossiping and sharing stories. Na'Vi looked down and gave a sweet smile before stroking her hair, massaging her temples as the girls around them giggled.

"Looks like sleepyhead is finally awake. What took you so long?"

"Must have stayed up late playing again, huh?"

"Playing with who, I wonder." The surrounding girls gave a knowing smirk with Na'Vi shaking her head. She leaned in and gave a peck to Nityri's forehead before sitting back up.

"Lay off you guys, don't try so hard to mask your envy. We know some of you mess around under tree and shrub when no one is around. Almost." One of the Nekomata's blushed, her face matching her beautifully bright hair in reddish color. This caused the following Nekomata's to burst out laughing and mocking each other in return as Nityri sat up and felt her cheek.

No pain or sting.

Inspecting her body, she saw no cuts or bruises and that the brown spots on her skin still remained, causing her to frown.

"Hey, still on about those marks? I told you they're cute." Her girlfriend remarked, causing a fit of giggles from their spectators.

"Oh, Nityri! I love those brown marks on your body, they look so beautiful!"

"Oh, Na'Vi! I love those freakish yellow-gold eyes of yours, they look so beautiful!"

They chuckled before puckering their lips and imitating kissing noises. "Mwah-Mwah-Mwah-Mwah!"

They giggled and ran off with Na'Vi hissing at them. Shaking her head, she turned back and noticed Nityri rubbing her head and looking around. "Something on your mind?"

"N-No... I don't know. I need a minute." She said, keeping her paws close to her chest as her heart began to pick up. What's going on, where am I?

"Hey, hold up!" Na'Vi shouted, walking besides her and keeping an eye on her friend. "Are you okay? I guess you didn't wake up fully yet, huh?"

"No, I'm not awake. Gosh I hope not, this isn't real." She began to hyperventilate, glancing around at the fertile green landscape they lived in. So many trees and wildlife, plenty of happy cat girls running around and playing, it was a beautiful sight but her fears began to choke her. "Where is Felix, where are we?"

"We're home, who's Felix? Should I get Mom?" She shook her head, leaving Na'Vi clueless to what to do. So many new memories were creeping up to her, who Na'Vi is, images of where she lived, her friends, her family, Nityri... my name.

"I-I need to wake up, I need to find him!"

"Hey, not so loud! I thought we agreed to keep that a secret." Na'Vi whispered back, ushering her away as more girls were beginning to look at their direction. "C'mon. You're not doing well."

"Please, let go of me. I need to help him, I need to save him."

"Help who, save him from what?"

"I need to save him from me, let me go!"

"No, we're going to find Mom."

"Let me go!" She shouted, swiping at Na'Vi's tail coiled around her arm. Na'Vi winced and pulled away, staring at her with scared, worried eyes. "No, I didn't mean-"

"Monster!"

"Monster!"

"Over there, seize her!"

KuliKuli looked around, realizing her friends had gone and suddenly tall men wearing shiny metal on their bodies moved up to her, grabbing her arms and subduing her to her knees.

"Wait, no! Let go! I need him, Felix!"

She looked up to find one of the men hold up a strange, wiry mask as suddenly a hand grabbed her hair and pulled her head up. Tears began to roll down her face as the mask drew closer to her, and suddenly peasants and travelers nearby were shouting filthy words and cursing at her existence. The word monster kept ringing into her head, the last thing she saw was a young man with a silver top looking at her with sad eyes before looking away as the mask covered her sight in darkness.

"FELIX!"

... Out of the darkness, the hands relieved from her body, and the dozens of people surrounding her were gone, their presence now absent. KuliKuli found herself standing in complete darkness.

"Felix?"

She sat down and hugged her knees, weeping, crying, scared and lost.

"Please, I don't want to forget. Please, where is my Felix?"

From within the darkness, she felt the comfort of silk surrounding her aching body. A slit of light broke through, and as she approached it, the light became brighter and stronger.

"Felix?"

---

"Felix."

Felix smiled, know fully relieved at the sight of his cat waking up innocently and looking at him.

"Hey, welcome back."