Guys look, it's a talking cat [OPEN]

Ben sat awkwardly on the bus. His tail curled around the small suitcase his mother had made him, using it and his front paws to read through the dorm registration booklet he had been given for Beata Academy. The people stared awkwardly at him as the bus rolled to a stop in front of the academy. Ben folded up the booklet and slipped it into the tiny suit case, and then he grabbed the handle string an walked off the bus. "Uhm, good luck!" The driver said awkwardly. "Thanks!" Replied Ben as he stepped off the bus. A strange site befell and passer by, as a blonde with slight bits of brown dragged a cat-sized suitcase from a bus, to the gates of beata. He let go of the suitcase and jumped, waving his unity link over the sensor to open the gates. He grabbed his bag, and walked through to the main dorms building. He followed the path, stopping briefly to admire the fountain.

Her attempts at doodling the fountain were, admittedly, not very impressive to begin with, and she had been sitting there for almost an hour, in the cold, drawing, getting rather impatient. But princesses do not get impatient, she reminded herself, princesses have to wait a long time for their prince and for their freedom and all of that stuff. So she could wait until she managed to draw that fountain more beautiful than anyone had ever managed, and then maybe that would impress a prince enough that he'd come as well.

But something did catch her eye, making her heart skip a beat and her fingers curl tighter around her rainbow pencil. How long had it been since she had seen a live kitten? Probably a couple of days at most, but Jinju lost track of time just as often as she found herself going mad over a wandering cat. Plus, the crystal statuette of a cat that she had in her room, while it certainly might have been a live cat at some point, did not move, or meow, or purr. In a couple of seconds, she had abandoned her bench and began racing for what she thought was just an ordinary cat, hands outstretched, kneeling down next to it and beginning to pet its head thoroughly. "Who's a cute kitty? You're a cute kitty! Oh, look, you even have a little kitty suitcase! Meow, meow, meow, do you need direction to your kitty dorm?" the girl chanted, in the voice everybody uses when talking to animals.

"Y'know I was a person before, so this makes the petting weird." He slipped under her and licked his fur down. "I'm Ben, I'm uh kind of stuck like this. Hopefully this... y'know I've yet to say this out loud...beow-tuh? Beata? Sky high, will help me become human again." He looked up at the human with striking blue eyes, what's your name, Miss?"

The girl raised her arms in mute surprise, before delight flooded her face. A magic kitty! All respectable princesses had a magic pet, and while this one certainly wasn't the unicorn she dreamed of, it was still a cat that could talk and that made her happy enough. "I see, Mister Kitty." she nodded gravely at his story, trying to sound empathetic, even though she was much happier that there was a cat on campus. Gracefully, she brushed the folds of her dress and settled her hands in her lap, albeit itching to pet the cat again. "My name is Jinju. You see, I come from a distant kingdom." she introduced herself with an air of formality.

"Ben, Kain. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jinju. What kingdom do you hail from? I may have read of it, I was into history for a brief moment, I was waiting for more physics and mechanics text books." Ben rambled. He had stood the suit case and sat with his tail over his paws, his blue eyes crackled with attentive energy.

A giggle escaped her lips when the cat mentioned reading, her eyes still bright with child-like wonder. This was by far one of the strangest cats that she had ever seen, but she wasn't complaining. At least he didn't scratch. "It is called... Jinju's Kingdom, of course! It's somewhere over a big ocean, filled with monsters... I flew over it when I came here. I had to leave my kingdom to my advisors, you see." she explained with a grand gesture of her hands at the mention of her name. Of course, nobody but her advisors treated her like a princess, in her kingdom, and the completely inaccurate maps she had checked showed no mention of it, but it was there, that she was sure of. It had remained one of the few things she was sure of.

Jinju frowned, as she slowly descended as close to reality as she could be, ripped away from memories of her home. Instead, she poked a finger at the cat's nose. "What about you, Mister Kitty? Where do you hail from?"

"...New York, monsters you said??" He hated having four legs, as he could not subtly inch away from conversations with crazy people. "They flew me and my family here when they tried to reverse, this." He gestured at himself with his tail. "What about you? Why are you here?"

New York... was there an Old York, and this supposed new one was built over the ashes of the former, after it was burned down by a malevolent dragon? The story pleased her mind, so she adopted it as reality, but did not comment. It would be unwise to wrestle such devastating memories. Jinju also refrained from quite eagerly telling him that she much prefers him as a cat, and instead she gave him a thoughtful nod.

"Me? Oh, well, I'm not really sure." she replied, looking over her hands, raising them to her eyes with a frown. "A lady was talking to me once, and she said some mean things... so I grabbed her! And her whole hand turned pretty and sparkly!" she continued, her eyes lighting up. "That's why I have this mark on my neck, too, Mister Kitty. It's my magic mark." Jinju added, trailing the tip of her index finger on a line where the skin of her neck seemed to be pierced by small crystals.

"But enough about this. It's cold, don't you want to go inside and find your kitty room?" she offered, getting up from where she was crouched and taking a couple of dainty steps towards nowhere.

Ben had barely felt the cold, due to his cat fur. The mention of his dorm, albeit in a horribly patronizing way, did cause him to perk up. "Yes! My Dorm," He put emphasis on dorm, "yeah, I need to head to the main dorm building to get sorted into a house. Ya know despite learning that sky high wasn't too far from reality, Harry Potter shenanigans are still weird." He laughed a bit, it was weird seeing a cat. It was like he was yawn but opened his mouth slightly for every chuckle. "So, your power, you cause rapid necrosis? Or is it a special disease that you can make?"

Jinju could not have been more fascinated by the unusual way in which the cat seemed to laugh, and she shyly joined in his chuckling. "It's just a silly paper - the magic starts afterwards." she replied softly, skipping a couple of steps ahead towards the main building. The drawing that she had left on the bench, the one she had worked on for so long, was the last thing on her mind.

"Necrosis? That is an awfully complicate term, Mister Kitty. I don't think it's a disease, because, you see, diseases aren't pretty, are they?" she explained, matter-of-factly. "Her arm, the lady I grabbed, I turned very beautiful, like crystals!" she gesticulated, twirling her fingers in the air, as if she was picturing the moment again, fascinated.

"what happens after the crystals? The crystals are most likely some form of carbon growth, induced by your touch. Rapid necrosis doesn't have to be from a desiese, if the crystals affect all organic matter, and then the crystals and subsequently  the body part those crystals used to be would fall to peices." Ben thought aloud. "The scientific discoveries gifts could provide is astronomical, although I'm more for the physical sciences with some forey into theoretical physics."

When Sophie's mom pulled up in her tan sedan, the fourteen-year-old swung open the door with an eagerness that surprised her. She didn't really want to leave her mother for a whole day, and she would be worried sick about her the whole time, but part of her was ready--almost desperate--to get away. For the past two years, she had felt utterly alone in the world of teenagerdom, and while reentering the social world filled her with trepidation, she was loathe to continue spending all her time at home in the house with the sad, grieving widow who was unlikely ever to move on. This was the new normal. But for a few hours a day, five days a week, she could feel like a kid again. Maybe. After receiving plenty of reassurance that, yes, her mother would be alright, and yes, the woman would let her ride the bus tomorrow, she pulled herself out of the car with her nearly-empty backpack in hand.

The first person she saw was a pretty, joyful girl with long black hair, talking to a cat. She started towards them, then changed directions when she caught sight of a drawing lying abandoned on a nearby bench. Someone's homework, maybe? She detoured to pick up the drawing without taking a close look at it, then resumed her original mission: approach girl and cat. Say hello.

"Is this yours?" She blurted instead, holding the picture out to the girl. "It's very good; I wouldn't want you to lose it." She'd taken another quick glance at it, but hadn't bothered to look at it intently. For all she knew, it was about something very private, and it wasn't polite to pry. Her grey-green eyes snapped quickly to the cat. "Oh my goodness, and is this your cat?! He's so cute! Is he a he? What's his name?" Sophie found herself falling prey to the girlish tendency to love everything fluffy, and she gave into her first instinct, bending down to offer the back of her hand for a sniff.

To be perfectly honest, Jinju was beginning to get lost in the cat's words - she was not very good at school, but mommy and daddy had never been upset with her poor results. Money could get her all the tutors in the world, and money could get her all the perfect grades, and money could get her a strawberry sundae with whipped cream and sprinkles afterwards. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully as Ben talked, nodding away her confusion. "You're very smart, aren't you Mister Kitty?" she pouted, feeling slightly left behind in the conversation. Maybe she did like her crystal cat more, after all. It didn't speak, and it let her pet her, even though it wasn't fluffy.

Surprised to hear a third voice, she half-turned to face the second girl, cracking a small smile as she took the drawing a ran a hand over it. "You think so...?" she whispered under her breath, before folding the paper and pulling open the zipper of her small shoulderbag, from which tiny, animal-shaped charms hung. Putting the drawing inside carefully, she plucked out a candy wrapped in transparent foil and popped it inside her mouth, after taking it out. Minty.

"Oh, well, you see, Mister Kitty says he was a real boy before. Like in fairy tales. Oh my gosh, he's my prince!" Jinju replied, losing her words in a barely audible whisper again, turning slightly red, then clearing her throat. "Mister Kitty says his name is Ben, but I think Mister Kitty sounds cuter." she explained, curious to see whether the cat would let the new girl pet him.

Ben stepped away from the hands. "I can smell you from here Miss." He then realized how rude that sounded. "Not like that! I meant, my nose is plenty strong enough to smell you from here, I don't like being pet, sorry." He chuckled nervously. "I'm Ben Kain, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss!"

"Oh, what a polite kitty," Sophie said, pulling her hand back and standing upright. "The pleasure is all mine, mister Kain! My name is Sophie." Bending once more, she extended her hand to him again, this time for a handshake. It seemed only proper, since he claimed to have been human before. Her unity link chimed on her outstretched wrist and she ignored it, knowing it was a text from her mother; probably nothing but a heart picture to let her know her mother was thinking of her. Of course she was; her mother was always thinking of her.

"And what is your name?" She asked the spritely artist.

Flashing the pair a satisfied smile, she continued toying with the minty candy in her mouth. Meeting new people used to be so hard back at home - most of them were adults in serious suits and with serious faces, who didn't have favorite ice cream flavors or favorite cat breeds. This was different, and it was nice. "You can call me Jinju." the girl beamed. "I'll be guiding you as well, then?" she offered, taking a couple of meek steps towards the academy entrance, pausing, and arching her eyebrow back at Sophie. If anything, she was getting a bit cold, especially since she had decided that, despite the cold, she would still wear a dress outside.

Ben put his paw in her hand. "Thank you, I've been taught well. Jinju is showing me to the dorms and we're discussing gifts. Her's is an interesting reaction based around touch and the rapid growth of crystals on the skin of whomever she touches. Mine's obvious, but I believe my true gift is knack of invention and science. " Ben said matter-of-factly. "What about you Miss Sophie? What's your gift?"

Sophie brightened at the word "guiding." Oh, thank goodness. "I would appreciate the guidance, if it's not too much trouble, Jinju," she said while shaking Ben's soft paw gently. She tried to keep her composure as she squealed internally, now nearly overcome by the desire to melt into a puddle of goo before this soft, adorable creature. Her shining grey-green eyes betrayed her countenance, but at least she managed to resist the urge to pick him up...for the moment, anyway. She released his paw and straightened again. "I can... affect plants, I guess?" She said questioningly, every ounce of insecurity seeping through her thin frame. "Only by technicality, really," she added quickly. "I've, um... I've never done it on purpose." Changing the subject, she directed her attention back to the other two. "I wouldn't be surprised one bit if that were the case, mister Kain. You seem very smart and put-together." Her eyes flicked to Jinju. "What are the crystals like? Do they hurt?"

"Mister Kitty is very smart, yes he is!" she nodded appreciatively, watching the hand shake between the cat and the girl and feeling a tiny bubble of jealously rise in her throat. Her head tilted in surprise when Sophie mentioned affecting plants."Can you make the flowers dance? Can you make them sing?" Jinju began questioning instantly, a light shining in her curious eyes. That was the sort of thing magic princesses did in the books she read.

In turn, she decided to answer the other girl's question. "Well, when I did it, the woman screamed, but... well, she might've been just surprised, you see." the Autumn explained, seemingly unconcerned by the story. To her it was all normal, if not slightly deserved by the woman.