Deep within the Park, Cuán Oileán wailed as if her heart had been broken. Huddled up in a miserable little ball, the lykoi kitten’s body shook with emotion as she cried. Who, exactly, she was crying for she wasn’t entirely sure. All she knew was that her senshi, her bonded had left and not said a word to Cuán Oileán or tried to communicate with her since in the weeks following. Chariklo had remembered to get someone to look after that wretched dog, but had forgotten her own Guardian. What had gone wrong with the world?

Sniffling slightly, the lykoi Guardian winced and amended her own mental words. Sanskrit wasn’t wretched. In fact, she quite liked the dog. He was good to curl up for a snooze with and never tried to chase or snap at her. But it didn’t change the fact that her precious Chariklo had gone away without warning and found a sitter for the dog, but not her. In fact, once Cuán Oileán had discovered her loss and gone hunting for Sanskrit, she’d found him fairly quickly. Handy that there really weren’t many people that her senshi would trust with her dog. And once she’d found where Angus lived (and had been gently towel dried thanks to the rain she’d been forced to sit in), she’d made the large man tell her everything. At least he’d had the grace and decency to look embarrassed and dismayed once he’d realized that the kitten hadn’t been seen as a concern.

He apologized for his own oversight in his charmingly accented voice and offered to let her stay with him as well. And at least Sanskrit had been happy to see her.

Fresh sobs burbled up out of Cuán Oileán’s throat. Did Chariklo miss her at all? Didn’t she care that she had left the kitten behind?

Did their bond mean that little to the senshi?

Cuán Oileán had no way of knowing since she wasn’t able to talked directly to Chariklo and ask. And the longer Chariklo was gone, the harder it was fo the Guardian to believe that the senshi cared. What if she decided to never come back? The lykoi had thought Chariklo quite dedicated to the White Moon, but maybe she’d been wrong. What, she thought to herself, is a Guardian cat to do when their bonded abandons them?

In theory, she knew the bond could be broken, either mutually or if corruption happened. She supposed she could even break the bond herself if she truly felt it necessary. Oh, but that would be so faithless on her part! Shivering unhappily, Cuán Oileán uncurled herself and began to trudge back toward the city. Back toward Angus’ home. He’d been very good about not asking her where she went, but always ready with a bit of food and a warm spot for her when she came back. And if he ever heard her crying, he hadn’t said a word. Though, she realized he’d certainly made it a point to offer the gentlest of ear skritchies those nights she hadn’t been able to help herself crying.

With a sigh and a sniff, Cuán Oileán shook the thought away. After all, all she could do was wait and see what happened once Chariklo came back. And in the meantime, she knew Sanskrit would be more than happy to curl up with her and sleep.