November 11

Word Count: 1772

 Malek knew he should have kicked himself. He should have taken himself off his horse, bound himself to a tree and flayed his back to ribbons. Malek could hardly believe that he'd made two such stupid mistakes in as many days.

Now getting locked in a cupboard was one thing. It could happen to any thief. Even the most skilled got themselves into sticky situations. But mistaking his prize for an orange and giving it away, was pure stupidity. So his payment receipt was headed off in a direction that was opposite of the one he'd been headed in for three hours… in a direction where she'd be caught.

It was a horrifying thought, that she would get caught before he could reach her. His horse was tired, but there was no way he was going to slow his pace towards Mitty. She was a slightly nerve racking girl to be around. Her ideas of right and wrong were too well set for him. She lived in an imagined world where everyone did what was best for everyone else.

She was going to find very quickly that if she went home, no one would welcome her. Not one of her friends would acknowledge her and she'd be scorned and shamed and most likely imprisoned. Her sweet little home and family had already disappeared. She just didn't know it yet. Malek had thought to spare her some of that pain. For some strange reason he felt the need to protect her, but she had refused. Malek knew where he was not wanted, and the last thing he needed was a naïve young girl hanging around with him, drawing attention to the two of them. No, he prized his invisibility too much to take on a partner. Even if he took her with him, she'd probably only try to reform him.

Mitty needed to feel the pit of hunger in her stomach and the lash upon her back in order to understand the way the world truly was, and perhaps it was that thought that had Malek determined to reclaim Mitty as well as his little white ball that was of no use to anyone. He couldn't stand the thought of killing something so innocent.

The smell of wood smoke and something a little more acrid rose up around him. Malek reigned his horse to a halt for a moment to inspect the strange scorch marks on the trees. The burn marks were still warm. Malek was in no mood to deal with whatever had caused this. He'd never seen anything to rival the marks, but it had to be fairly nasty. Spurring his horse again, he picked up the pace towards Mitty. He wouldn't want her dealing with this either… and she was alone.

An hour later, when he heard the squeal, his blood ran cold. When he saw Mitty, Malek knew he'd never forgive himself for leaving her alone in the forest.

Mitty and Pylon

When Mitty awoke from her nap, she felt Pylon purring beside her. The morning had caught up with her, and Mitty had begun to feel sick again. She had decided to lean up against a tree and close her eyes for awhile. Mitty was quite sure her nap had only lasted a few minutes, but she was disoriented slightly when she woke up. Something was wrong. She was still leaned up against a tree and Pylon was still purring contentedly at her side. Her whole body reverberated with his happy gurgling. Mitty could feel his warmth running all the way from her waist to her knees. She smiled. He was one happy green cat. When it finally dawned on her, she was almost afraid to open her eyes. It had not been her day for happy awakenings. As if he felt her tension, Pylon licked her hand. Her eyes flew open and she stared at the kitten she'd only hours before held in one hand. He saw that she was awake and rolled over onto his back. She rubbed his tummy and scratched his chin. Pylon purred louder. He was still a kitten, Mitty decided. He was just a forty pound kitten - a green forty pound kitten. Mitty was quite sure he hadn't stopped growing yet either.

What would she feed him? A cat this big would eat several chickens a day. Her father would never let her keep him. It was fairly obvious that Pylon was harmless, but her father would see green cat hair on the sewing, an enormous food bill, and a monstrosity that he couldn't control. She couldn't take Pylon home, but already she'd given him her heart. No matter how big he got, she'd have to keep him, which meant finding a way to live away from her father.

Mitty decided that she'd deliver her father back his fabric, and head off to find her way. Perhaps Malek was right. Working in a tavern wasn't all that bad a job. She could even take in some tailoring on the side, and Pylon could keep her company.

"Really, Pylon. Don't think that because your big, I'm going to spoil you rotten," Mitty said as he tried to scoot further into her lap. She had to use two hands to keep him content. He nudged her chin playfully with her nose. She was caught off balance and giggled and squeaked as she fell sideways and onto her back. Pylon was all too happy to crawl on top of her and let her scratch both his ears at once.

"Don't move," a hushed voiced said from behind her. She tilted her head back to look at the world behind her upside down. Malek was approaching stealthily with a dagger. His eyes were were fixed with deadly intent on Pylon.

"No Malek!"

"Don't worry. I'll get to him before he hurts you. I won't miss." Malek took a few more steps forward, his eyes never leaving the cat.

"Don't you dare hurt him," she said crossly. The tone of her voice made Pylon's head snap up. Malek had just enough time to utter a curse word under his breath, before the cat launched. Pylon hit Malek square in the chest, knocking him backwards. He hit the ground hard and the dagger flew out if his hand and skittered across the forest floor. Mitty scrambled up and stood over the two of them. Pylon stood on top of the prone Malik, glaring into his face.

"Pylon," Mitty called sweetly. "He's really okay. Don't bite his head off, yet." Pylon looked back at her and then padded his way back to Mitty's side. He sat next to her and tucked his green tail around him, staring at Malek.

"You have a cat." Malek stated simply as he sat up.

"Yes, I have a cat." Mitty replied.

"You have a really big green cat."

"His name is Pylon."

"Your big green cat has a name? When did you acquire him?"

"This morning, she said, patting his head."

"Right. And you are sure he's not planning to eat you for lunch?"

"Of course not. He really liked vegetables, believe it or not. He loved those carrots you gave me." Pylon rubbed against Mitty and she stumbled to the right.

"Do you have it?" Malek asked suddenly.

"Have what? You mean the glowing thing?"

"Glowing? It's just a plain white ball."

"Yes, it's a plain white glowing ball." Mitty stated obviously. Malek was beginning to annoy her with all these questions. She reached into the bag and pulled out the white ball. The glow had increased slightly.

"I noticed that it gets brighter, the farther I walk in that direction." She pointed in a direction.

"It's glowing," Malek stated incredulously. She sighed, and put it back into her bag. Perhaps the best thing to do was ignore him. She began walking in the direction she pointed.

"Wait a minute. That's mine. I need it."

"Where'd you get it?" She didn't pause. Pylon followed closely at her heels.

"I… it's mine alright?"

"You gave it to me. Now it's mine," he shouted after her. Malek whistled to his horse and followed her, keeping his distance from Pylon. They formed a parade of woman, cat, man and horse.

"I gave it to you by accident. I need it."

"Well, you can have it back when I figure out where it wants me to go."

"You? Why do you think it wants you to go anywhere?" Malek asked.

"Well, did it glow for you? Obviously it didn't, or you wouldn't have asked me about it."

"And what would happen if I took it from you?"

"I think Pylon wouldn't like that." She knew Malik was sizing up the cat again. Had he gotten even bigger since he'd shown up?

"Fine. So we following the glowing white ball, and then you'll give it back to me?" Mitty considered his proposition. She knew that he was fairly adamant and persistent. To tell the truth, she was almost happy he'd come back. Pylon was a wonderful comfort, but she remembered that Malek had promised connections. He could insure that she would have something to eat and someplace besides the forest floor to sleep.

"Fine. But you stay away from Pylon."

"Far, far away. I promise. Though we might make better time on my… a horse?" The last part of the phrase was a question, actually. A riderless horse was trotting towards them. It was still saddled and bridled. As it neared, the smell of burnt leather and horse hair filled the air. Malek caught the by the bridle and patted him comforting on the nose.

"Oh, the poor thing," Mitty said as she saw that the side of the horse had been scorched. "What happened to you?"

"I think we should also be worried about what happened to his owner. I saw some burn marks on the trees a while back. I'd guess that the same thing attacked this horse. And this is a nobleman's horse."

"So what should we do?"

"Besides the burn mark, he looks pretty steady. I think we should probably mount and ride in the direction of the temporarily yours glowing ball. Come here." Mitty approached him. The horse shied a bit when Pylon followed, but Mitty placed her hands reassuringly on the horse. She ran her hands down his neck and he settled with a snort. She allowed Malek to boost her into the saddle. She was careful not to press against his burned flanks. Malek mounted his own horse and they headed in the direction of the glowing ball's indication.