Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the back room of the bookstore, Pyewacket occupied himself by going through the inventory of books that had just come in to see if there was anything pertinent to his interests. He was always on the lookout for new books on astrology in particular; it was rare to find such a book, as so much had already been written in the field. It was more new interpretations of the planets and stars and their placement in the astrological houses that interested him, rather than simple rundowns of the sun signs. Everybody knew that stuff already.

He was pawing through a book that seemed to hold promise when it struck him that something wasn't right in the main part of the store. His tail twitched as he raised his head and focused on the strange feeling. An aura tickled at the back of his mind, like his but not like his. The sensation was like someone rubbing his fur the wrong way. Most uncomfortable, and most curious.

Leaping down from the stack of books he was perched on, Pyewacket padded across the floor to the door that led out to the shop. The Mauvian nosed it open, concentrating on the strange aura as he slipped like a blue-grey shadow through the shelves toward the front of the shop, the bell on his collar tinkling gently but not loudly enough to be heard over the new-age music being piped through the store. Where were they, whom- or whatever they were?

Pyewacket felt the dark aura move. Stopping in his tracks, he turned down an aisle between shelves and slowly crept forward, sniffing the air and concentrating. He was close to it now, very close; it was making his back ripple and his tail twitch.

A thump nearby startled him suddenly. It sounded like a book! Scrambling, the cat scurried around the corner toward the area of the store the sound had come from. There was indeed a book on the floor, Aleister Crowley's The Book of Lies, trade paperback. He sniffed at it, then reached out a paw to touch it. Of all books to fall, it would have to be one by the Great Beast. But what had caused it to fall?

He scanned around. The source of the aura was very close; he must have nearly been on top of it.. Looking up, he eyed the shelf where the book had fallen from suspiciously. He couldn't get up there to investigate, he was a full-grown cat and would end up knocking everything off the shelves if he jumped to where the book had fallen from. But he was sure the source of the dark aura had knocked it off.

"I know you're up there," he said, his voice low so as not to be overheard by any customers. He felt slightly foolish -- what if there was nothing up there at all?

Pyewacket started at the sound of the voice above him. There it was! Almost as soon as he swung his head to look up, another book tumbled down toward him. Quickly he scrambled out of the way. It was another Crowley, Liber 777, hardcover. A much bigger book than the other that had been pushed off the shelf. It could have hurt him had it managed to hit him.

What was it that was flinging books at him? It had moved too fast for him to get a good look at it, except to note that it was black. Could it be some mischievous sprite that someone had unwittingly unleashed on the store? He wasn't sure, but he supposed such things could happen, especially given some of the books that were kept in stock and some of the store's clientele.

But then why would it say something like "Order sucks"?

Unless… it was some kind of Chaos force! Maybe that was the source of the odd feeling that was making his back ripple.

Dashing around the set of shelves to the other side, Pyewacket stood up on his hind legs, bracing himself against the case with his forepaws as he sniffed, trying to get a scent of whoever -- or whatever -- it was. "I know you're up there. I don't know what you're doing in here, but I would advise that you cease what you're doing immediately and leave."

It was a kitten! A little black kitten with a ruff around his neck and big amber eyes. How did he get into the bookstore? And more important, what was a kitten with a Chaos aura doing in his store?

"Now see here!" he scolded. Old man? Pyewacket wasn't that old a cat! Sure, the pince-nez made him look distinguished, but he didn't think they made him look old! Returning his front paws to the floor, he paced in front of the bookshelf, bright green eyes fixed on the kitten as he pondered the situation. There wasn't room for him to jump up there without knocking more books down, at least he didn't think there was. And he didn't want to disturb the books on the shelves any more than they already had been.

Still, he had to try. Eyeing the shelves on the other side of the aisle, Pye spotted an opening on a shelf a few levels below the one where the kitten was and leapt up into the empty space, then turned around so he could get a better look -- and gauge the possibility of jumping over there.

He glared at the kitten. "Again, I must insist that you get down and leave my store!"