Ominous

Janette's eyes grew wide as her hand went to pat her satchel only to feel her thigh. Panic began to surge at first, but a paw on her leg helped soothe her growing concern. Syri shared a smile with her much like how a pat in the back would feel, and added a comforting nod to confirm her thoughts as she took her turn to answer for her.

"The book is back at Auntie Z's tent, what about it?"

Dimyri smirked with a knowing look. "You forgot? She told us it was magic remember?"

"One touch and you share your knowledge with it." Janette explained, "It's a rather interesting book but its knowledge is finite to an extent."

"Unless you touch the right people!" Dimyri cheered, frowning and touching her chin. "Boy that did not sound right."

"But it didn't touch Perdilius, none of his men did except-"

Dimyri grinned as Janette began to comprehend what she insinuated before, snapping her fingers as Syri and Felix began to grow smiles. "Oh, oh you cunning little cat."

"Not I, you're the one who dropped it on his lap." Dimyri giggled, clapping her hands in giddy excitement. Noticing the other puzzled faces around, she cleared her throat and resumed her calm manner. "Um, quite simply we may have knowledge about the Priest from one of his own."

"An informant?" One elder asked.

"Not quite." Janette answered, "But you can call it that. Actually, that's not a bad name for the book."

"It works." Felix nodded, standing up as Nyitzcha hopped off his lap. "You said the book is in your tent?"

"Yea, should be hard to miss. The tent is around the-"

"I know where it is." Felix said, walking away and towards the rest of the camp. Janette sat back down, slowly developing a questioning look with a slight frown and a raised brow. She shrugged and leaned in as the meeting.

---

Felix carefully stepped around the many loose twigs and uplifted roots around the path, walking forward once he caught sight of the many tents ahead. His nose wiggled instinctively as a plethora of new scents began to enter his system. When did it start to smell fresh, fruity, damp and an odd hint of cherry? He could not help but pause in his tracks, closing his eyes and lifting his nose as he sniffed around.

This is new, he recalled a week prior when he was experiencing these new smells around him it was like he had received a brand new nose. The only other time he could recall about his sense of smell was the time he was first introduced to what a dog is, the encounter leaving him with a runny nose and tear-filled eyes. He found it quite difficult to sleep that night, and oddly enough the experience never repeated again in his life just as he had never met another dog again. Perhaps if he had received better education in literature he would be able to describe these scents down to the detail.

Something funny tickled his nose, something odd and powdery, almost out of touch with the jungle. It directed him to his left and right, in fact it almost felt like this scent was running around a large acre of this land and was marking its territory. His eyes blew wide open once he heard rustling above and saw several leaves descending on him, his hair was on edge as he dared looking up. He fell back as a Nekomata pounced on him, growling in a cute amateur fashion lacking any actual sound and seeming more like a gargle in fact. This cat girl immediately turned red and moved away from him, turning around before hiding her face. As Felix looked her direction he could see a clutter of other Nekomata's staring at them both giggling and cheering their friend with squeals and laughter.

"S-Sorry, they dared m-me. Mmm-mm-hurt?" She asked, her brown eyes peaking up from her fluffy gray paws. Felix patted himself down, shaking his head and looking over at her friends. They turned red and ran off, tucking their tails and mewing as they retreated toward the others.

"They dared you to pounce me?"

"Yes... no, they dared me to touch you." She responded, scooting inch by inch as her tail trembled and slowly shook its way to his hip before making contact. "Touch."

"What do you win?"

"Mmmm-mm." She mumbled, looking embarrassed.

"What's wrong, you're acting like you never met a boy before." Felix chuckled, finding her shy behavior rather amusing.

"Mmm, not like y-ou." She said, hugging herself. "Hoo-Hoos here super small or super wrinkly."

"Hoo-Hoos?" Felix began to laugh, what is it with cat girls unable to pronounce the word 'human', at this rate he was beginning to believe it was genetic. "Look, I'd love to stay but I'm sort of on my way to grab a magic book."

"Mm-Magic book?" She asked, following him as they quickly arrived at the camp.

"Yea, it belongs to a friend of mine... hey you, get out of there!" He shouted, running towards the tent Janette slept in. Several Nekomata girls were messing around with Janette's satchel when he yelled, looking up and squealing before running off. Luckily they had dropped all belongings as they scurried off, allowing Felix to pick and scoop any items back inside her bag. "Dang, I hope they didn't break anything."

"N-No break, they were just curious." The cat girl tried to explain, feeling her tongue twist once his eyes met hers. "Mhrm."

"I get that, I'm just a bit tense I guess. Sorry." He sighed, picking up the book and opening to see its blank pages. "This looks like the one."

"Magic?" She asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"Yea, you ask it anything and it tells you if it knows." He explained, catching her curious look. Cat girls really are a curious species. "Look, ask it anything."

"Mmm-mm... are there b-b-boy cats?" She stuttered, fidgeting with her tails. Ink began to appear on the pages, forming words and creating a coherent response.

"You see?" Felix smiled, lifting the book to her eyes.

She squinted. "W-What does it say?"

"I've no clue, I can't read but I know it said something!" Felix beamed.

"W-Why you need it?"

"It touched some guy before and we need to know what he knows. This book will tell us that."

"Ohh, w-where is this guy?" She asked.

Felix swallowed, looking away and closing the book. "That's uh... anyways, I gotta get going. Bye miss uh..."

She tilted her head, staring as he was left stuttering and hoping she would catch on. It took a moment. "Oh! Ummm O-O-Ori'chi."

"Ori'chi, got it. See you around." Felix waved, running back to the meeting.

Syri poked Janette, nudging her to notice Felix walking back and handing her her satchel. Thanking him, she sat the bag next to her feet and pulled out the red covered book, lifting it for Dimyri to see.

"We got it!"

"Oooh! What's that?" Nukka asked, receiving a nudge from Zimi.

Janette opened the book and looked down, raising her eyebrow and looking over her shoulders. Looking back at Felix, he caught on and looked lost, was the book damaged or was it the wrong bag?

"Hey." Syri poked her gently. "Why you looking suspicious, silly?"

Behind You

Janette looked back down as the ominous words on the pages began to fade.

"It's nothing." She responded, observing the page begin to print new words once more.

She's concerned over the previous response and has left her feeling concerned for her safety.

"Shut up." She muttered, closing the book and looking up, feeling rather worried as the meeting continued.