The Willful: Chapter 3

Calling

At 1:45AM most people would expect Haru to be at home asleep, Toto to be resting in statue form atop his limestone perch and Mouta to be sleeping in the white metal chair at the corner cafe. Though very few people would expect to find them all awake, and all together in a cat figure's bedroom. Haru had pulled one of the old armchairs up to Baron's bedside and sat, never taking her eyes of him. Toto was settled on a covered coffee table cleaning his feathers. And Mouta, stood thinking with his arms folded by the door. 'That eye' he thought. Somehow he found that design familiar, he had seen it before, but he just couldn't remember where. Then it hit him. 'I know! That looks sorta like the eye that freaky cat emperor has on his head! I bet he caused Baron to get sick too!' He was so sure of his suspicion he almost blurted it out. He would have, if he wasn't so afraid he would upset Haru, and possibly make her worry more than she needed to. He looked down at her. Her beautiful face had turned red and her eyes looked like they were going to overflow any minute. The last thing Mouta wanted was to see her cry, especially if he were the one responsible. In an attempt to cheer her up he walked up to her and put his large, white paw on her shoulder. "I think I know who can help him." he said. Haru turned to face him. "Really?" she asked. Her eyes focused intently on his. "Yeah. I'm sure he can." he replied. Haru beamed. "Let's go see him then!" "You mean you're going to visit Prince Lune?" Toto asked. "Yeah, why?" The blackbird hopped down from the table. "If you are planning to go see prince Lune, how do you expect to get to the Cat Kingdom uninvited? There are no portals nearby, and we couldn't possible find one big enough to let you in." "I've seen Baron call for one before!" Mouta yelled. "You actually thinkyou can call the port-" "Let's Try it." Haru finally interrupted. "Who knows, maybe we can get it to work. It won't hurt to try." Toto, like Mouta couldn't stand to see Haru upset. "Alright." He consented. "Well, If we wanna get there in time we'd better go." Mouta said, and left the room with Toto not far behind. Haru stayed back with Baron for a second. "We won't be gone long, please hold on Baron." She leaned in to kiss him, something she would never have the courage to do if he was conscious. Still, her heart had longed for the chance, and now that the chance had come her heart was beating so hard she could feel it through her chest. She leaned in closer, and closer, till nothing more than a centimeter stood between her lips and his. Mouta stood impatiently at the front door. "C'mon kid!" he called "We ain't got all day!" Haru jumped one second from kissing Baron. 'I can't believe I almost... I really shouldn't let my emotions get out of hand like that.' Embarrased, she stood and swiftly walked out, shutting the burgundy door behind her.

When she got outside she noticed an unusual silence, having left Mouta and Toto together for over ten minutes, Haru had half expected them to be well into a huge arguement. No, they weren't fighting, though they were acting a bit wierd. Mouta stood facing onward scratching his head, while Toto meandered around his large, sculpted post. "so um, how's the portal going?" They both turned around. "It's not going. I've tried everything!" Mouta exclaimed "I asked for a portal, told them I really needed one, I even said Please, I got nothing." "Of course it wouldn't open for you. Why would the kingdom willingly let in some fat, dumb cat who was well known for eating all their fish?" Toto called from the high point of his column. "Come over here and say that you-" Suddenly, half the area lit up an electric shade of blue. Mouta turned around to find Haru, smiling and motioning for he and Toto to follow her in. "Haru!" he cried,and started to run, but the portal was more than 20 feet away and closing fast. He wouldn't have made it if he wasn't grabbed by Toto's claws and flown in.

Note: I had my sister listen while I read this chapter, and she wanted to know how the portal appeared. If I didn't make it obvious enough, Haru called it while Muta and Toto were arguing. :) Thanks again everyone for the great comments! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!