. . .

"Oh, I, uh, should mention that it's still illegal, though." I said. "S-so you should probably stop doing it." 

"Not happening."

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

. . .

"How long are we gonna keep doing this for? Can we get this over with?" Sis said irritatedly. Irritatedly? Is that a word? It should be. She seemed rather irritated. 

Well, I've said basically all I wanted to say. I think. Probably.

Still, "W-well, we at least should wait for S to wake up. Or at least go somewhere safe with him." 

"Why? Either he dies or he wakes up. Whether or not you watch him isn't gonna change anything."  

"He's not gonna die." Catface said before I could. "I made sure of that."

"Then there's even less reason to be here." 

"Oh, don't be so cold. It's not like you lot have anything better to do." 

What? C'mon, I'm a cool adventure guy! I have goals! I'm trying to find words related to soda flavors! And finding a name for Sis, that's a goal! Oh, and I guess learning more and figuring out what the deal is with dark magic, too. But that can wait, I'm in no hurry. 

"I can think of a few things. Fishing, reading, not being anywhere near you."

"H-hey, Catface isn't that bad. Probably." I said.

"They've literally said to your face that they intend to harm you."

"Guilty as charged." Catface said, not really being very helpful.

"Y-yeah, but they... Uh... Taught me about magic." I pointed out. "Though, nothing really came of that... Uh..."

"Seriously? You've learned nothing?"

"Oh, uh, wait, no. I did modify one of my magic-y things. That's new. That's good." Still have no idea how or why it works, but it's different! 

"That was over 120 c-" Sis began.

"That's all? That's disappointing. Though, I suppose in your case, you'd be quite alright regardless." Catface interrupted. Wait, what was Sis saying? "Still, be better or I'll make you better myself. Actually, scratch that, do both."

"Is that a threat?" Sis asked, threateningly. Shouldn't I be the one saying that?

"100%, absolutely, unequivocally. I'd call it a promise, but I'm not very good at keeping those." 

Sis just scowled in response.

"Anyways, the girl brought up a good point earlier. You're oddly forgiving, aren't you? When we first started this whole thing, I figured you'd be acting more like how she is." 

"Grudges are a lot of effort. I don't like thinking about people all that much." I explained.

"Oh. Huh. Alright."

"Seriously, bro?" 

I shrugged. It is what it is.

"Anyways, the girl brought up another good point even earlier. We've all got things to do, so I'm gonna move us right along!" Catface said. You didn't seem to think it was all that great a point when she first brought it up. Also, wasn't it you that specifically said we didn't have things to do? "First things first, I've got a question for you, little person!" 

"You talkin' to me?" Sis said.

"Yes! One thing! Earlier, you referred to me as a 'dude' and 'he'! I'm just curious about that!" 

"I mean... You are, aren't you?"

"Doesn't matter! How did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"Well, you're aggressive and annoying, plus you look like one. Y'know, you've got no-"

Catface predictably interrupted her with roaring laughter.

"What's so funny, freak?" Sis said.

"Nothin'." Catface said. Do they just like how their laugh sounds, or something? I suppose it is nice. It'd be rather infectious, if it didn't seem so condescending all the time. "Anyways, back to you, guy. I've only got one thing to say. I'm disappointed in you."

"Oh. Okay." Well, that's not very nice. Also, that's definitely not the only thing you have to say. 

"Where do you get off saying that?" Sis said.

"Wherever I want. That's what I do." Catface explained. "Anyways, I set all of this up so that you'd have a convenient excuse to fight someone who deserved it, only for me to reveal that it was me, and that you've been poetically duped. It would've been great. But you ran away just as things were getting good! You just ended up hiding behind that S guy like a scared kitten."

Was that a cat joke or are they just being mean? "W-well, S asked me to. He didn't explain anything at the time, but I think he knew you were here... Somehow." 

"That so? I guess he did immediately see through my disguise. Still, why would he want that?"

"I think..." I don't really know if I should say this... Still, they kind of deserve to know, don't they? "I think they held some sort of grudge against you. W-well, not a grudge, really, but you know how he is. Likes fighting all the time. I-I think he just wanted to pay you back a bit for what happened that night, or something. Yeah..." 

"Really? I figured he'd be better than that."

. . . 

Catface chuckled. This time, it strangely felt almost somber. "That's not the whole truth, is it?"

I couldn't help but sigh. "No. It isn't."

"Yeah... I realized it way back then, too, when we were up in the air. I probably went a bit far. Suppose I deserved that punch, mess and all. If I were the apologizing type, I think I'd tell him I'm sorry."

What?

That's... That's all?

"Why... Why can't you? Would it really be so hard? Just to say?"

"No. But I think he'd be able to tell I wouldn't be sincere."

Oh.

Alright.

After that, after all that... 

After everything he... 

. . .

I had nothing to say. Or perhaps I just didn't want to say anything.

I just looked over at S.

And, just for a moment, I felt someone was watching me, too. 

"Still, if he was willing to go that far..." Catface began with a chuckle. "He's far too smart and stupid for his own good."

. . .

"The hell does that even mean?" Sis asked.

"Not all that much, in the grand scheme of things. Anyways, I have one last question."

Got a lot of lasts, don't you?

"Shoot." I said.

"Just curious, do you think I did it? Do you think I killed that one guy?"

"The bandit guy?"

"Yeah. Do you think I did it? Or do you think I lied?"

I couldn't help but wonder what the point of asking that was. Why did they want to know? Is it... Is it all just some joke about cats being curious? Is that it?

I felt a gentle tug on my pant leg.

"Answer it." Sis subtly whispered. I guess I was hesitating for a while.

Why? Why her, too? That makes even less sense.

Well, I guess I have no reason not to answer. 

"I guess I'd prefer to believe that you didn't." I said. Even after everything they said, I didn't want my opinion to change. That's how I choose to think.

"Really? Don't think I could do it?" 

"I don't deny that you could. Heck, I think that it's probable that you did do it. But I don't want to believe you did. That's how I choose to think."

"That's surprising. You didn't seem to mind when I said it, yet... Do you think it was wrong of me to kill him?"

"I haven't thought about it that much. If everything you said about him was true, maybe not. Even so, I'd rather believe that you didn't."  

. . .

"Oh, I guess you can't tell, but I just shrugged and made an 'eh, alright' face." Said the still-invisible Catface. 

"Uh... Okay." 

. . .

Huh?

Sis just fidgeted. Is she sitting awkwardly? Wait, could she even feel a muscle cramp? I guess even if she didn't, she might still feel some effects of sitting weird, right? Probably. 

"I don't understand why you even want to fight this guy." Sis said. "Can't you two just bro it out, or something?"

What? That's a bit weird for her to say, isn't it? Actually, that line was weird for most people to say. 

Predictably, Catface once again started l-

"Now." Sis said, resolute as she leapt up from the ground, and in a single fluid motion pulled out her fishing rod and swung it powerfully at the spot where Catface's laughter was coming from.

"W-wait, Sis, stop-" 

The laughter stopped almost immediately.

. . .

The line was empty.

Laughter returned. This time, not from the spot, but seemingly from every direction around us. 

"WOW! You are one consistently surprising little girl!" Catface said. "And here I was thinking you might've finally come around!"

"Where the hell-"

Catface continued. "But seriously, I thought you were smarter than that, little sister! Comeeee on! What good would invisibility be if I was just sitting in the same place the whole time!?"

Sis moved in front of me and swinging wildly in every direction. 

"Wait, Sis, stop, you don't need to-"

"Stay down." She said sternly.

"Please, you don't-"

"I SAID STAY THE HELL DOWN. I'M GOING TO TEAR THEIR-"

"W-wait, you don't-" I said, getting up to try to stop her somehow. Man, everybody wants to mess Catface up, don't they? They probably deserve it, but I'd still rather they not figh-

"-Ow."

Ah, her lure biffed me right in the cheek as I stood up.

"Whoops." I said as I put my hand to my face. I guess I should've been more careful standing up. At least the worst of it was just the hook pricking my cheek a little bit. That could've been a lot worse, if I had gotten seriously scratched that'd have probably stung for a while. "S-sorry, but uh-"

Oh, she stopped. 

"Oh, uh, that's good-"

Her head slowly turned over to me. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was slightly agape. She looked mortified. And I got the feeling that I messed up.

"O-oh, it was just a pric-"

She slammed her pole back into the scabbard and leapt at me, practically tackling me.

"Uh-wuh-eh-" I stumbled backwards awkwardly and tripped on my own feet. That was probably a lot more potentially harmful than the fishing rod, honestly.

Anyways, I was effectively tackled by an 8-year-old girl. Way to go, me. At least I landed on the grass. 

"S-Sis, it's fin-" I began, moving my hand away from my face, showing that I'm totally unharmed.

Her face told me she wasn't going to listen to reason, assuming she could hear anything at all. And I got the feeling I reallllly messed up. 

She shoved her hand onto my face, pressing it into the ground. And then her hand started to glow, and my face was suddenly stinging and shocking something fierce. 

Gotta say, that hurt a lot more than the actual hit from the fishing rod. I guess the lesson here is that I really need to be more careful when I'm trying to stop people from murdering Catface. Or it's that the universe wants me to let nature run its course. Maybe the universe is right.

 "S-sis, I-I'm good." I said as I tried to push her off of me while also keeping my face off of the ground.  

"Just so you know, I would be laughing at this right now if I wasn't concerned my throat would get sore from overuse." Catface said, hovering up above us. 

"Great." 

"Anyways," They said as they pulled Sis away from me. Y'know, Catface is deceptively strong, being able to lift a whole girl like that. 

"H-hey, be careful."

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

For what it's worth, they were marginally more careful with her this time. Still worryingly ready to just drop her on the floor, but they at least moved a little slower this time. 

Sis said nothing. Her face looked utterly full of hate, yet equally terrified. It's what I imagine a rabid dog would look like, though I haven't ever actually seen one, now that I'm thinking about it.

... I should probably lay off the casual remarks for a bit.

She turned to face Catface, who was no longer invisible, instead just hanging out way up high in the sky. They were upside down, like someone casually hanging off a playset with their legs. I couldn't tell if that was an attempt at mockery or a genuine reflection of their current feelings. 

"I was gonna say 'had enough' all menacing like, but from the looks of things, that's not the case. " They said. "This one's kind of scary, isn't she?" 

"Y-yeah, kinda."

Sis swung her pole at Catface again. It looked like she was aiming for their leg. An attempt to pull them down, perhaps? 

Regardless, Catface simply kicked their foot away. 

"So you can make it longer." They said. Did she? I didn't notice. How the heck did they?

Sis jigged the rod, and the line followed. 

Catface just moved to the left. 

"Still, a bit too much travel time to be useful in the 3rd dimension." They said, rising higher and higher.

Seemingly in response, Sis tore one of her hands from the pole and pushed it forward as a thin, jagged and rough bolt of pure light flew out of her hand. 

Huh. Well, that came out of nowhere. Pretty cool though. Thumbs up for sure. 

Crap, I went casual again, didn't I? 

Catface simply moved down, though the attack was a bit closer this time, I think.

"Better, but- Bah, you're not listening, are you? Hmm... Ah, I have an idea!" They said as they dodged another bolt. "Looks like I'm heading out, Beyes! Talk to you later!"

"Oh, uh, eh, goodbye?" I said. 

With that, Catface flew up into the sky at breathtaking speeds.

Sis continued shooting, though it was clear they couldn't keep up with Catface. Thus, they flew off towards the open plains, far away from the forest.

Running away was a good choice, I think. There's no sense in anyone else getting hurt over here. 

Y'know, Catface sure does fly away a lot, don't they? Like a friggin cartoon character-

Whyyyyyy are the falling. 

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy are they on fire.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat are they doing.

. . . . . . . 

I think everything went quiet for a moment. Perfectly still, too. Like some part of me had sort of figured out what was about to happen, so it slowed everything slowed down for a while so that my brain had a moment to prepare. 

'Course, time itself wasn't actually slowed or anything, so it's not like I could do anything. But if it was, I'd have liked to have covered my ears. 

Because, y'know,

Kaboom. 

. . . 

. . .

. . .

. . .

"I really don't like that guy."