"It's simply that I don't see why you refuse to check a few points where we think the lad might have gone..."
"If he settled on a place he's probably safe there. What we need to do is first look on the streets, see if he's been wandering around since last night."
"But if we laid out a plan on where to check-"
"By the time we lay out a plan we could have looked everywhere already. Come on, Gordon, you're the one who said that this is an emergency! We don't have time for plans!"
"Oh, so we're going to roam around aimlessly, possibly looking in the same spots more than once while leaving others out? Is that your plan, Blik?"
"And YOUR plan is to sit there making maps while our brother could be in danger! Yeah, that's a good one!"
"Would you two stop that?" Katilda asked the bickering brothers calmly. "It's giving me a headache and you're probably not keeping a very good lookout if you're just going to yell at each other."
"Squeak," Gomez added.
"Gomez is right, Blik, you need to keep your eyes on the road," Gordon translated for Blik.
"Whatever, mapmaker," Blik sneered, putting his full attention on the road. He had slowed down considerably, partially so he could keep a better watch for Waffle and partially because Katilda had scolded him for putting the car's passengers and the pedestrians surrounding it in danger. Going along with whatever she said seemed the best idea for now; as much of a hit as his pride would take, there were certain things to gain...
He shook his head clear of that and returned to the task at hand. "So, anyway, we've been on the road for about an hour now and there hasn't been any sign of Waffle... I'm starting to get worri-"
"SQUEAK!" Gomez said, possibly meaning "LOOK!" Gordon didn't translate, as his meaning was obvious enough. He jumped up onto the side of the car and squeaked again, trying to catch the attention of the cat just turning the corner and walking onto the block. He had a scrap of chicken in his mouth, likely from a fast food restaurant chain, and was awkwardly making his way on all four paws.
"Waffle!" all three cats called.
Waffle turned his head at the sound of his name. He stared blankly at his brothers, neighbor, and pet, unwilling to let go of his breakfast in order to talk.
"What in the world are you doing?" Blik yelled. "Come on, Waffle, get over here! You're coming home whether you like it or not!"
The gray cat simply shook his head wordlessly and continued along. He turned into an alleyway, scrabbled onto a discarded box, and used it as a boost to jump over the wall and out of sight.
"What... what just happened?" Gordon asked.
"I think Waffle just refused," Katilda answered, although it was very clear to all involved.
"Squeak..." Gomez made a dejected sound and flopped down onto the side of the car.
"But why?" Blik asked. "Why doesn't he want to come home?"
"Because of YOU," Gordon snapped at his brother. "Because you have to keep bossing him around and yelling! You pushed him over the edge! This is all your fault!"
"My fault?!" Blik began to yell back. "My fault that he's so soft he can't take it?! Let me tell you something, Gordon-"
"I thought I asked you two to shut up," Katilda said with a sigh. "You're accusing each other of not accomplishing anything, but look at yourselves! You're not doing much either, you know." She then reached over, pulled the handle of the car door, and hopped down to the ground.
"And where do you think you're going?!" Blik snapped, his crankiness knowing no victim in particular. All he knew was that he was tired, frustrated, and just wanted to go back to bed and wake up to Waffle jumping him and pushing him onto the floor, squealing about breakfast.
"I THINK that I'm allowed to go wherever I want, BLIK," Katilda cracked back, having taken enough from him for the day. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going after Waffle." She walked towards the wall and looked up. "We should probably go over there and figure out what's going on, right?"
"But we don't know what's THERE," Blik pointed out.
"Which is exactly why we should," Gordon said. "We don't know whether Waffle's in danger, and therefore we should run in and look!"
"So says Mr. Let's-Not-Rush-Let's-Make-A-Map," Blik sneered.
"Are you going to argue or are you going to help?!" Katilda yelled, pulling herself up onto the box. "Come ON!"
Gomez was the first to move. He scrambled off of the edge of the car, hit the ground, shook off the impact, and continued on toward where Katilda was.
"Squeak?" he questioned, looking back at Gordon and Blik, who remained in the truck arguing. "Squeak! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"
This last squeak was loud enough to snap the two of them out of their arguing. They turned their heads and watched Katilda, silent.
"I'll ask one more time," Katilda said, arms folded and foot tapping. "Are you coming or not?"
"Aye," Gordon replied, "whether or not BLIK is." With that, he leaped out of Gear without opening the door and walked over to the alley.
"And what about you, Blik? Going to help or going to sit in the truck pouting?" Katilda called over.
Blik grumbled something under his breath which went unheard and hopped out of the truck, actually taking the time to open and shut his door. "So we're doing it, then," he said. "Just let me clarify; so we are actually going into unknown territory without knowing what could possibly be over there, knowing it may get us all killed. We're actually doing this." Although his words were phrased as questions, there was no such inflection in his voice.
"Pretty much, yeah," Katilda answered, pulling herself onto the box. "It's me, a lizard-"
"SQUEAK!" Gomez answered, offended.
"A newt, sorry- a brave 'Scottish' warrior, and the biggest coward in Bakersfield. Interesting party we make." She punched her paw into the air in a stance not unlike Gordon's usual. "For Waffle!" she cried, leaping up and over the wall. Gordon and Blik followed.
"Squeak!" Gomez cried, sitting on the pavement. Blik poked his head up from the other side and stared at the newt.
"Do I seriously have to?" he asked. Gomez simply nodded. With a harsh sigh, Blik climbed back over, scooped Gomez into his paws, and after taking a few seconds to decide how to get Gomez with the others, simply threw him over the wall, not particularly caring what Gomez thought of the plan. He then scrambled back and out of sight.
"How'd it go?"
Waffle had just made it back to his clearing, still clutching his breakfast. He plopped himself down next to Olympia, who apparently had been waiting there since he left, and started tearing into the piece of chicken.
"Purty gud," he answered her, mouth filled with greasy chicken skin. "Ah dun noo whin thish ish frum, but-"
"...swallow please?" Olympia requested, cringing at the sight of crunchy bits flying from Waffle's mouth.
Waffle obliged. "Sorry..." he muttered before returning to eating without a word. Olympia waited for the bone to be picked clean before speaking again. "So, how did it go? You can answer with your mouth empty now," she pointed out, slightly cheekily.
"Good, I guess," Waffle answered with a slight shrug. "I did find food, though I don't know how old it was. I'm just gonna hope someone threw it out last night and not earlier."
"I guess we'll figure out later, depending on whether you begin to puke or not," Olympia joked, poking Waffle in the shoulder. He smiled slightly, but the smile quickly faded as he began to think.
"Lym?" he asked. "Lym, what if I wanted to- to leave here and go back home?"
"NO!" Olympia shouted, perhaps a bit too forcefully. "No, Waffle, you can't leave!"
"Why not?" Waffle asked.
"Well... just... why?" Olympia deflected. "Why leave? I mean, you said things were getting pretty rough at home... are you sure you'd want to go back there?" As she sat she racked her brain for excuses to keep Waffle there. I understand perfectly why you'd want to leave... Olympia thought to herself, words she longed to say but couldn't take the risk to. But I want to leave too... it's you or me, Waffle... I wish we could both escape... I'm so sorry...
"It's just... I ran away before, thinking they didn't want me around, and they came looking for me anyway. I don't see why it would be any different. It's NOT any different. Listen, Lym, while I was out, I ran into-"
"OUT?!"
Waffle and Olympia turned their heads towards the shout. Camilla stepped into the clearing, wearing a look that could have killed if she were so inclined. "OUT?!" she screeched again. "I told you... Lym." she said, an eerie calm coming upon her. "Did I not tell you to keep an eye on dear Waffle here?"
"...yes, Camilla," Olympia responded in a monotone, suddenly sitting up rigid.
"What was Waffle not to do?" Camilla continued the questioning.
"He was not to leave the woods," Olympia answered, still in a monotone.
"And what did you tell me about his whereabouts when we talked earlier?" Camilla's stern questions.
"I told you he was simply exploring the woods." Olympia's dull, lifeless answers.
"But you lied," Camilla said, in a calm voice that was somehow more frightening than if she had yelled. "You lied to me. You allowed him to leave. And do you know who will pay for that?"
"Me, Camilla," Olympia replied, bracing herself for a slash.
"No, Lym. Not you. Not this time. You see, Olympia, if you had not allowed Waffle to leave, he would not have been seen. If he had not been seen, then a certain four people would not have trespassed. And if these four people did not trespass... well, they just may have lived to see tomorrow. MAX! DENNIS!" she turned her head and called. "Lead them in!"
"Watch it, you giant freak, you're messing up my fur!"
"In the name of the Highland Quid clan, you shall pay for this!"
"Let go of me! You can't do this! You'll regret it, I promise you that!"
"SQUEAK!"
Max and Dennis stepped into sight. Dennis was holding Gomez in his mouth by the tail as he squirmed for freedom. "Look what I caught!" he announced proudly, still keeping his grip on the newt. "I just sneaked behind it and pounced it! It didn't stand a chance! Then it started squeaking and then THOSE three came along to figure out what happened to the stupid thing. Max helped with those. You know 'em, Waffle?"
Max was as usual without speech, but also as usual he had no need to utter a word. He had Gordon and Katilda in his paws; both had their arms tied behind their backs by some sort of plant material. Blik was also restrained in a similar manner, only instead of being held in Max's paws, he was being held up in his jaws. Max opened his mouth, allowing Blik to drop to the ground, and threw Gordon and Katilda onto the pile.
"What's going on here?!" Blik shouted. "Waffle, what the hell is going on?! Who ARE these people?!"
"Blik! Gordon! Katilda!" Waffle cried out. "My brothers! And Katilda! Why'd you follow me? You shouldn't have followed me!"
"Brothers?" Camilla's ears perked up. "So my hunch was right..." She laid down in front of the pile, curled her tail around herself, and smirked at her captives. "So I've finally found the Quid cats. And who might you be?" she asked, turning her head to face Katilda. "Blonde fur... brown hair... actual hair, that means there's human blood in you, that's just sick..."
"What?!" Blik stammered. "You mean my girlfriend is- she's- Katilda, why didn't you-"
"Girlfriend? You're DATING this thing?" Camilla answered, rather stunned. "This family has stooped far too low." Her attention once again returned to Katilda. "I'm trying to figure out why you look so... familiar. Does the name 'Brutus' ring any bells?"
"You mean that rapist pig?" Katilda spat, not frightened in the least. "Yeah, I believe I've met him."
"And the RUNT that he had to fend off... YOU," she snapped at Blik. "One of the filthy little Quids! He almost KILLED you! Why the hell did he not KILL you?!" she snarled, but quickly regained composure. "But no matter... I'll simply have to finish what he started." Camilla stood up and unsheathed her claws. "All three of you! The remaining pieces of the Quid bloodline! You're finally finished! This is it! It's time-"
"NO!"
Olympia never could quite figure out what prompted her reaction. If, five minutes before, someone had told her that she would have attacked her own sister, her litter mate, she would have suggested that the said someone was completely mad. But now here she was, hopped up on adrenaline and tackling Camilla down to the dirt.
"They didn't DO anything! LEAVE THEM ALONE, CAM!" Olympia hissed, slicing open the side of Camilla's face with a single swipe of her paw.
Waffle took advantage of everyone else's stunned reaction. As Max, Dennis, and Camilla all stared at Olympia, mouths agape, he slinked over to his family and friend and began pulling at the vines. They gave way with little work from Waffle's claws.
"Great, I'm free, let's go before the big lug here gets what little thought he may possess back!" Blik suggested in a hushed whisper.
"...I can't," Waffle said. "I won't. Not without Olympia. Blik, they'll tear her apart!"
"And why would I care?" Blik asked, walking away.
"I... can't believe... she'd... ESCAPEES!" Dennis suddenly cried, noticing as the final vine fell away from Katilda's wrists. This shout allowed Gomez to drop to the ground; the newt quickly stole the opportunity to run like hell. Dennis neither noticed nor cared. Instead, he shouted, "Max, buddy! C'mon, help me out here!"
And with that command, all-out war broke out. Not knowing what else to do, Waffle went after Dennis, hoping that his age indicated a lack of skill. Upon discovering that this was obviously not the case, he instead went for a dodging tactic, leading Dennis away from the rest of the fight. Blik, Gordon, and Katilda were not facing much better with Max; it took a team of three to leaving any hopes at all of things being somewhat even against the monster, and even then all that could be done was distracting him away from everything else. In the middle of the clearing, Camilla and Olympia duked it out on their own, paying little regard to the fighting around.
"You RAT," Camilla hissed, staring Olympia down. "You treacherous little rat. Picking them over me? Your own sister?"
"Murdering for petty, insignificant things such as heritage? Home life? Associations? I'm not the rat here, Camilla," Olympia retaliated. "I don't care that you're my sister... YOU'RE A MONSTER! YOU'RE A MONSTER AND YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN!" She pounced again, pinning Camilla back onto the ground, and placed her paw on Camilla's throat.
"Would you really?" Camilla asked, her expression blank.
"Do you want to try me?" Olympia asked, pressing her paw down. "I could do it. All I would have to do is unsheathe my claws... and then what?"
"And then I'd die," Camilla said simply. "But do you seriously have the guts? And just remember, I'm only one cat! There's others who would be more than happy to follow my same views, my same goals! You human lovers can't possibly win! You're too soft! You can't win a war! You'll never make it, Olympia! Never!"
"I'm still going to try," Olympia answered, "and you can't stop me... you won't be able to stop me. Not anymore." All was silent as she raised her paw, readied her claws, and raked them across her sister's neck. It happened so quick that Camilla had no time to realize that she was dying. She howled in pain out of pure reflex before her eyes closed and her head flopped to the side. All of the action simply stopped at this sound. Every single cat in the area had stopped dead in their tracks and looked to find the source of this noise.
"What in the world-" Dennis wondered aloud as he looked over. He grinned in sick delight at the sight of the dead calico. "Camilla!" he called out. "You did it! You killed her! You-"
"I'm not Camilla," Olympia responded. "I believe you have things backwards?" She stepped off of her sister and walked over to Dennis, grinning wickedly down at the kitten.
"Since when do YOU kill people?" Dennis asked, mouth agape and eyes wide, realizing just what Olympia had done. "Wimpy little coward Olympia, nice to everyone, never fights back, resident whipping girl... what did you DO?"
"I defended this family here," she responded, waving her paw in the direction of the brothers. "Funny what a rush of adrenaline can do... and I do believe I still have some left."
"Don't bother," Dennis scoffed. "You won, didn't you? Felled the leader and all that. I'm not stupid enough to fight you now, not after that little show, and as for Max..."
"He does seem a bit traumatized," Olympia observed. Indeed, Max had gone completely rigid and was staring at Camilla, his face completely blank.
"He never would do anything without Cam's command," Dennis said, "so he's completely useless. In other words, you took us down in one fell swoop. Jesus, Lym, if you could manage that then what took so long?"
"Guess I just needed a reason," Olympia answered, smiling over at Waffle. If he noticed he felt no need to react.
"Well, congratulations on finding it," Dennis said, his voice laced with insincerity. "If that's all, then I'm gone before you go completely insane on me as well. See ya, Lym."
"But you don't have anyone, do you? Where can you stay?" Olympia asked, suddenly worried. She had, after all, killed Den's one caretaker he had ever known. Guilt and regret washed over her; as misguided as her sister had been, she had taken in Dennis and given him a life. It was more than he had before she found him. And now it was all gone...
"Do you think I'd tell you? This isn't over... I just have to hide out for a little while and figure things out. I'll be back for you and them, Olympia. Don't you fret. Come with me, Max. We can't stay here. Not with HER." The fact that Max actually moved came as a slight surprise to both Olympia and Dennis, but the kitten merely shrugged it off and left with Max in tow. A quiet came over the woods for a few moments...
"...what just happened?" Blik asked, still stunned. "What on EARTH just happened? Am I missing something?!"
"So let me get this straight..."
The cats had not left those woods for hours, and the sun was already beginning to set. Gordon, Waffle, Blik, and Katilda were all sitting around in a circle, listening as Olympia told her story. Even Gomez had returned and taken a place in Waffle's lap, although whether he was actually paying any attention to Olympia could not be determined.
"So our dad found you and your sister when you were all young, allowed you to stay with him, Camilla turned out homicidally insane and killed him because he wasn't, and then she went out to kill US for being his kids?" Blik asked, reiterating Olympia's story in one sentence.
"That's pretty much the gist of it," Olympia said with a nod. "Even I don't fully know the whole story... she seemed incredibly bitter when your mother showed up, but I'm not entirely sure why. Whatever the case, everyone who could have possibly known took the answers to the grave."
"And Brutus..." Katilda asked. "He was involved here?"
Olympia nodded. "She rescued him from some rather rotten humans. He may have died in short order at their hands."
"And THAT'S what happens when you help people," Blik said with a sigh. "They just turn on you."
"Or they save your ungrateful hide," Katilda said, poking Blik in the shoulder, but she no longer sounded angry. Rather, her face held its usual cheeky grin that tended to appear whenever she talked to him. "Don't generalize like that."
"Hey, I was DEFENDING you! Don't tell me you thought Brutus was half-decent!"
"And don't tell me you don't think Olympia had anything to do with the fact that you still have all of your limbs!"
"Are they... always like this?" Olympia asked, slightly stunned.
"Oh, no, no," Gordon said, shaking his head and chuckling. "You should see them when they fight!"
"Um... guys?" Waffle spoke up, his first words since the discussion began. "It's getting late. Don't you think we should be going?"
"He's right," Gordon agreed, standing up. "Thank you so much for protecting our brother, Olympia."
"She actually asked me to... to kill him," Olympia confessed, turning away. "I almost did... she promised me freedom if I did... I'm so sorry..."
"It's all right, lass, really!" Gordon said. "You didn't, after all. All is now well."
"If... you're sure..." Olympia said, her shy demeanor making a prompt return.
"I'm quite sure. It's been a pleasure meeting you. So long!" Gordon waved and then began to walk out of the woods with his brothers and Katilda in tow.
"Sorry I ran away..." Waffle muttered. "I didn't want to worry you guys, I... I just... got scared..."
"And I'm sorry I yelled at you, Waffle. All forgiven?" Blik asked, hoping that Waffle wouldn't get into a funk.
"All forgiven," Waffle said. He then turned and looked behind him. "Do you think we'll ever see her again?" he asked his brothers.
"Oh, yeah, sure we will," Blik responded. "She'll find us and you'll start to hit it off with her and then the kittens will come and-"
"She's as old as dad would be!" Waffle cried in horror, blushing furiously.
"So?" Blik asked, snickering. "My brother finally has a girlfriend... took you long enough, didn't it?"
"Leave him be, Blik," Gordon said. "If it happens, then so be it, but-"
"I didn't like her like that!" Waffle continued to protest. "C'mon, guys..."
"Now, if anything DOES happen, Waffle, perhaps I should help you better under stand us girls and what makes us tick," Katilda said, ignoring Waffle completely. "First of all-"
"Stooop!" Waffle whined, but no one around listened. Blik kept shouting taunts, Gordon went on with reassurances, and Katilda couldn't help but contribute tips.
"Squeak..." Gomez squeaked in resignation. It was annoying, true, but at least it finally meant normalcy had returned...
...at any rate, the closest to normalcy they would ever reach.
"It's over... it's all finally over..."
Olympia sat where she had been, sighing heavily. It was simply astounding to her how much had happened in that day; the day before she was as trapped as ever, and now here she was, sitting next to her sister's dead body.
"And it was my doing, too..." She gave the body a final look, stood, and walked away, unable to be there anymore.
"A walk. That's what I need. A good walk," Olympia muttered to herself, pushing aside a branch and stepping into the trees. She was surprised to see that she was not alone. A small pink cat was sitting on a log and watching her wordlessly.
"Erika...?" Olympia asked. "Erika! I thought... I thought Max..."
"I saw everything," Erika said, as if she didn't hear a word Olympia had said. "Where did you get the guts to do that, Lym?"
"I had to save your nephew," Olympia defended herself. "There was just... no other way..."
"At least it's all over... I'm grateful for that, at least. The Quids can go on in peace." Erika continued.
"I don't think they even knew they COULDN'T until today," Olympia joked, but Erika did not even crack a smile. Instead, she turned her head in the direction that her nephews had taken. "Waffle, was it? I wonder who came up with THAT name... whatever the case, he seemed like a good kid. I'd keep an eye on him if I were you."
"Erika, what are you suggesting?" Olympia asked, but once again did not receive a response. "Why won't you answer me at all?" she asked, reaching her paw over to nudge Erika. It went right through.
"And in case you're wondering, Lym... I can't hear you. Danny asked me to check up on you today... I don't know whether he knew this was going to happen, but knowing him, perhaps he figured on it happening eventually. It was nice talking to you again, although we couldn't really have a conversation. I hate to be so grim, but... perhaps we will one day..." Erika smiled, and then slowly began to fade away.
Olympia was once again alone.