The Lord of Cats Short Story

A/N: I just realized we can write flash fiction or at least short stories here, so fancy that. I’d first put the story under flash fiction, although the genre seems to be dwindling into the ridiculous. Pretty soon we’ll just be Tweeting our stories. Then moved it to short stories to allow room for later chapters. But the tale is based on an original character I’ve been batting around a bit on Deviant Art and another who is his companion of sorts.

I wanted to try and polish him up a bit and although the Lord of Cats is named his companion in this series isn’t. I wanted her to be more of a backdrop to his story, as the story really is all about him. Seriously, it is.

As always all writing is my original work as is all the photography. If “borrowing” for Interwebs use a link back and credit where credit is due is appreciated. The video below is not mine but is provided as a soundtrack. If you own the copyright and wish to have it removed, please let me know.

The Lord of Cats stretched lithely as he considered his options then shifted into his human form. He was standing in the darkness, not far away from where his quarry waited. Companion. He corrected himself silently. He had no wish to harm her per se, but he wasn’t known for being light and sunshine either unless you listened to some of his modern day worshipers. The Lord of Cats snorted in contempt, his breath pluming in the cold air. People had had better sense in ancient times, they’d known better than to say my name. And now they attend fan conventions in my honor. He thought dryly.

Still, worship was worship and he’d tried with this particular companion before. All would go well until something happened. And he was fairly sure it had never been his fault, though he’d learned the hard way getting into shouting matches with her didn’t work.

He was starting to believe he was cursed, that one of the family or pantheon he lived in had cursed him and conveniently forgot to tell him. That he’d probably richly deserved it he paid no heed to. Nobody can take a joke, that’s their problem. Besides, it is’t like I did anything wrong. Appearing as another god and starting rumors of a new and glorious age? They should thank me, that’s what they should do.

He laughed, unable to help it and his harsh face softened. He’d been called handsome once, a long time ago. And he didn’t look half bad when he smiled. Not that he looked like a god with much of a sense of humor lately. Now he had stern, sharp features, and an unsmiling face. The god tended to dress all in black that he felt accentuated his lean build and he had eyes that went jade or yellow depending on his mood, but always with those tell-a-tale slits for pupils.

Still, he’d never had problems attracting lovers of any gender and as he rubbed his wrists, still scarred from his lengthy incarceration he did smile, becoming briefly handsome, but it wasn’t a nice sight to behold.

Might as well get this over with. He though and he shifted form again, all that human form somehow compacting down into a powerful tom cat. He'd chosen the form of a male with a tuxedo pattern and he knew he'd be just the sort of companion a lonely witch would welcome. Grinning into his whiskers, he padded towards the house.

Inside her house the witch had a sense of foreboding. She felt a presence, possibly divine, nearby, watching her. And the gaze felt predatory. No, not predatory, angry. She began shifting through her mind, trying to figure out if she owed any god anywhere a debt but she couldn’t think of one. “Hello?” She tried, setting down the book she’d been reading as she rose. “I can feel you here.”

Nothing. Not a knock not a sound not a vision, nothing. The feeling of being watched seemed to fade and she went back to her book. That’s when she heard it. The faint wail of a cat from outside. She ignored it at first, she could hardly feed herself and she remembered all too well that some cats were eating machines.

Then it started to rain and the meow grew into the wail of a wet animal and she shook her head. “You turn on that light or open the door to see and you might as well have adopted him.” She reminded herself, but still, she rose. She didn’t like seeing any animal suffer needlessly.

Opening the inner door she beheld a wet and sodden tom and he wailed again, his eyes pleading with her for salvation. She had her hands on the latch of the outside door when she recognized those eyes. The one thing that never changed about the Lord of Cats and she quickly went to shut it, but he wailed again. The witch sighed. Trouble danced in his wake she knew that. And she also knew he was in trouble if he was there and opened the door again with a sigh. “Hello, Lorcan, what did you do this time?” She asked.

He gave her that charming smile of his, congratulating himself on never having given her his real name and bowed his head in polite greeting. “Me? Want something? Well, if you want to feed me that would be a simply lovely gesture.” He said as she opened the door to let him in.

“And?” She asked.

“A home would be nice. I’ll be stuck this way for the duration. The family isn’t happy with me.” He said it as if he couldn’t possible imagine why then proceeded to wash himself, getting the rain out of his luxurious coat.

“You want me to stand between you and all the rest of your family? Are you insane?” She asked and he looked up from his task with a smug look.

“You’re one of mine. I could make you. Besides, we’re married.” He fairly sang the last words and the witch resisted the urge to grab the first thing she could to brain him with. He couldn’t be killed and if she tried she’d get to see his dark side.

“I’m spitting in your food.” She said darkly and he laughed.

The Lord of Cats, or Lorcan as the witch called him had eaten well and was now stretched contentedly in front of the fireplace. He was up against it this time. He could either prove he was a new god or it was back to that dark place he never wanted to see again. His tail thumped slowly as he considered his choice of companion.

The witch wasn’t bad as mortals went. She would let him come and go as he pleased and he knew how to handle her. She also truly did love him, she just didn’t want to admit it. Maybe I shouldn’t have tricked her into marrying me. He thought as he washed one paw. But then again, that’s what I’m known for.

In her room the witch was restless. “If I had any common sense I’d throw him out.” She grumbled to herself and it was true, she would have. But the truth was, she loved him. She was in love with him, though she’d built up enough defenses that she could detatch from him emotionally at will. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it?” She asked the empty room. “Either I’m all in or all out. It isn’t fair to either one of us to not choose. I have to stand by or make him go away.” She sighed. She wanted to stand by him, she wanted to be a good wife even if he had duped her into marrying him.

But she sensed darkness on the horizon. If the pantheon had set up another punishment he’d done something really wrong this time. And just because one set of gods agreed to a punishment they didn’t all agree. All they don’t all play fair. She thought grimly.

So there you have it, the first of what will hopefully be many installments. But seriously, your feedback helps. I can’t read minds so if you want more please comment below. Also feel free to Pin, Tweet and Facebook this Hub to your heart’s content and let me know what you want more of.