Chapter 9 Meet Me in Elsewhere…

An excerpt from The White Lion Unicorn Series Book 1: A Colony of Tiny Nekos

Wilhelm was pleased that the nekos were quiet and not challenging Him now. He made some notes into his computer. He didn’t notice an elf or a werewolf quietly approach him. Then it was too late.

The wolf knocked him over. The elf drew her other light sword. Wilhelm drew his blaster, but it was no use. The elf was much faster with both of her light swords in hand. He was soon disarmed. He jumped up and ran towards his room. There he found his knife.

The nekos were on the move again. White Lion and Claira Jaen stood with those who didn’t have kittens to take care of. Claire Rose and Myadin ran with the other nekos to go after the scientist. He fought back with his knife and many nekos were injured. Myadin had to stay back. He tried to take as many nekos as he could with him.

She was too quick for Wilhelm to stab her. Just when he thought he had her, he’d only find air. He was growling and screaming colorful metaphors at everyone present. But White Lion got a little too close.

“You need to let us all go!” White Lion pushed Wilhelm.

The geneticist fell backwards. He jumped back up and stabbed White Lion. “You dare tell me what to do? Ungrateful son!”

“Ow!”

Claira Jaen grabbed White Lion and pulled him out of the way. Claire Rose jumped in front of the nekos.

“That’s enough, Wilhelm! I can get you for child abuse! That one is your own son and he may die now because you.”

“Well, he shouldn’t disobey me!”

“Enough!” Claire Rose went on the attack and soon Wilhelm couldn’t fight back anymore. He was out of breath.

A few nekos came to guard Him. Claire Rose called for help to transport all the nekos to Elsewhere. She made sure to request medical help quickly. There were several nekos who could die if they didn’t hurry.

A ship was dispatched immediately. It had a complete medical staff who quickly reviewed the nekos’ biology from Wilhelm’s notes and from known biology of other nekos. They were ready for the injured. Fortunately for the nekos, it didn’t take the ship long to reach them.

Claira Jaen stayed close to White Lion as they carried him to the ship. The medical staff took him and other injured nekos straight to the sickbay.

“Can you save my brother?”

“Yes, dear. Here’s a chair for you. Just stay there so we can do what we need to.”

“Okay.” She climbed on the chair and sat as still as she could.

Other nekos were led to the observation deck to wait. Geneticist Wilhelm was handcuffed and taken to the brig. He frowned the whole way.

In the sickbay, the medical staff stitched up White Lion’s wound, but discovered he was in desperate need of blood. They quickly consulted the computer for possible donors. They found one.

“Who is Claira Jaen? How are we to find her now?”

“I’m Claira Jaen!” She stood up on the chair. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh! Goodness. Your brother needs a blood transfusion and you’re the only suitable donor for him.”

“Okay. What do I need to do?”

“Well, first of all, sit back down. Good. We will have to stick a needle in you to get the blood.”

“Will it hurt?”

“A little. We’ll try to be careful.” The medical staff prepared and did what they needed do.

It did hurt, but she didn’t cry. She bit her lip and tried to be quiet and still as she squeezed a ball in her right hand. They gathered the blood. Then took the needle out. They covered her wound and gave the blood to her brother.

Claira Jaen wouldn’t leave her brother. She held his hand. She kept biting her lip and sighed. The staff kept an eye on her and her brother. There was nothing more they could do but wait.

While they waited, they scanned Claira Jaen for injuries. They could see the most recent bruise on her face.

“How did you get that bruise?”

“He hit me.”

“Who?”

“The Creator.”

The medical staff stared at the neko. They checked the notes again and found out who the Creator was. “Oh, I see. There isn’t anything we can do for the bruise, but let it heal up on its own. You seem fine other than that.”

Claira Jaen said nothing as she continued to hold her brother’s hand.

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Black Wolf didn’t keep track of how long he had been running, but soon found himself in front of the labyrinth. He was puzzled. He didn’t expect to find it. He had thought he would have missed it on his way back to his home. But yet, here he was. There was no way around it now.

So, he walked inside. He was still a wolf, but he had no sense of direction inside the labyrinth. He was dizzy and confused. It seemed to go on for hours. He felt more lost than he had in a long time. But then he found himself inside a room. He looked around, but he saw nothing at all.

Until he saw Silver Moon Unicorn form in front of him. She was ghostlike, but still very beautiful. Overwhelmingly so. He howled. But something was wrong. She looked sad. She turned away from him. He tried to ask her to come back, but she faded. Then another woman appeared in front of him. She was more solid. Her smile was wicked, and she held a baby.

“That’s right, Na’athan, you come back to me now. We have a child and you have to help me raise him. It is your son.”

The wolf stopped in his tracks. It hit him all at once. What had he done to Silver Moon? Was he not serious enough about her? Was that why she never felt comfortable enough to sleep with him? He stared at the other woman. Sure he liked to play, but what was it about Silver Moon that he thought he had wanted to be with her?

He shook his head. The other woman faded. He walked out of the room. He knew then he would never be able to get back together with Silver Moon Unicorn. He would have to live without her for the rest of his life. However long that would be.

He didn’t know how long it took him to get out of the labyrinth, but as soon as he was he ran as fast as he could to get home. He didn’t worry about the trolley because he knew someone would get it for him. But where would Silver Moon go? He tried not to think about it.

It was too late to help her now. He had already made a decision which ended up separating them forever. He knew he would never see her again. There was no way he could even apologize for how things turned out. Now he had no choice. He knew the child could be his and he didn’t have the strength to contest that fact.

The other woman had won. He had no other options left anymore. He had run away and now he had to go back. Running away hadn’t solved anything. Instead, it had only made things worse for him and for other people. He wondered if he would be able to get a job once he got back home. He hoped so if the other woman expected him to take care of their son and her.

She wouldn’t exactly be cheap. That he knew without calculating anything. There probably wasn’t going to be any money left over for him. He didn’t care. At least he had a son and a woman who was willing to tend to his needs. Inwardly he smiled. He was going to play again.

At least the other woman didn’t seem to care if he played with someone who wasn’t her. So much the better. He tried to forget the elf he saw dancing in the clearing with her neko son. But it wasn’t working and he knew it.

Soon he would be home where he wouldn’t have to even think about the two he was leaving behind.

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Leon had been rowing the traghetto with an older elf. He had offered her a ride across the Grand Canal, but she had shook her head no. He wasn’t sure why she, an elf named Silver Moon Unicorn, was shaking her head. He wasn’t going to push her. There had to be a reason.

He had been rowing the traghetto another day when he had seen her again. She had gotten in the ferry this time. She had reached out for his hand to steady herself and tried to look in his eyes. At the last minute, she had lowered her eyes. She had sat down behind him. When the short ride was over, she had waited for the other passengers to get out before she had stood up.

He had offered his hand to help steady her, but she had reached out for a pole lodged in the water as she had given him a coin to pay for her fare. He had watched her walk away.

The younger gondoliers had teased him about her. He had kept turning his head to try to get another glimpse of her. But she was gone and he didn’t know when he would see her again.

He sighed at the memory. He saw her again. She was standing on the opposite of the Grand Canal as he was. He wasn’t rowing the ferry this time, but had just given some tourists a ride in his gondola. She had seen him.

His gondola was different than the others. It had silver decorations. A pair of silver winged lions, a symbol for the city of Elsewhere, and the Goddess of Victory leading him to victory. She had seen it and knew it was his.

She looked at him and asked him with her mind— there was no way he would have heard her if she had spoken— “Were you the one who summoned me here? Please give me a sign.”

He looked to her across the canal. He had heard her question even though he wasn’t as good with the common language as she was. It wasn’t his first language. He went to the front of his gondola and turned the Goddess of Victory to face left instead of forward. Then he proceeded to cover of the rest of the gondola.

He hoped she would see it. He also hoped he would see her again soon.