Unknown Imprisonment
Prologue:
“Hello Pearl, what brings you in today?” Gem asked eagerly as her best friend and her younger brother ducked inside the animal shelter. Pearl was quick to walk over to Gem, leaning back on the counter with a defeated sigh, while Joel ran towards the back where the animals were.
“Joel and Jimmy had the genius idea to get Grian a pet for his birthday, and while I fully supported the idea I never expected to be the one being dragged around from shelter to shelter looking for ‘the one’ as Joel calls it while Jimmy distracts Grian.” Pearl explained. “We’ve been at this for hours now. This is the fourth shelter we’ve visited and Joel won’t even tell me what qualities ‘the one’ is meant to have so I can help him look for it.”
“I’ll know it when I see it!” Joel shouted back, not even turning to face them. Gem giggled, only suppressing her amusement when Pearl shot an annoyed look back at her (though an ever prevalent smile still stretched across her face, and Pearl couldn’t help but sigh and smile back).
“You know, we’ve had this one cat back here for about a week now, he has to wear this collar at all times because he’s sick, we had one of Etho’s veterinarian friends stop in and look at him before we started showing him to people, and we had to move him because he kept biting people, sounds like the type of cat that would be perfect for Grian.” Gem explained. Behind the counter, Pearl watched as Gem’s older brother Etho spun around to face the two of them.
“Gem I’m not sure that’s the best idea…” He began to protest, only to be cut off by Gem waving her hand directly in his face. “They’re looking for a birthday present Gem, a sick kitten may be too much work for them.”
“Nonsense,” She assured him, “Bbubs! Go get the baby!”
“Yes ma’am!” The shorter employee did a joking salute before dashing off into the back room. When he returned Joel had made his way over to Pearl and Gem to get a better look at the kitten, and when he saw it he gasped.
“That’s it! That’s the one!” Joel reached out his arms and Bdubs passed the kitten over. The kitten had no protests, and actively began to purr when Joel held him close to his chest. Pearl just sighed in relief.
“I guess we’ll take him, does he have a name?” Pearl asked.
“Nope, Etho found the little guy on the side of the road with no collar or tags, we’ve just been calling him: baby.” Gem explained with a shrug as she started preparing the paperwork. Pearl kept her eyes on Gem, refusing to look at her brother who was now holding the cat at arm’s length and seemingly having a staring contest with the poor thing.
“Scar.” Joel firmly stated with no explanation.
“What?” Etho asked, spinning around at a speed that was absurdly too fast. “Uhh… is he okay?”
“He’s fine, his name is Scar.” Joel explained calmly.
“How did you decide on a name like that?” Pearl asked
“I’m not sure, it just came to me.” Joel shrugged as he pulled the kitten back towards his chest, where it promptly snuggled back up to him.
“Scar it is then,” Gem nodded, “So I’m gonna assume that you’re looking for some cat care essentials?”
“Yes.” Pearl groaned, to which Gem laughed.
“We have some stuff here, like one of those fancy collar engraving tools, though we only have a few options for tags and collars, but for most of the stuff you’re gonna have to go to an actual pet supply store. I’ll print you out a list of the brands I recommend for first time cat owners.” She offered.
“You’re an angel Gem.” Pearl said as Gem handed her the list. Gem’s face flushed red and Joel seemed to be the only one to notice. “We should hang out sometime soon, I owe you one.” Pearl insisted.
“Of course… I mean of course I would love to hang out with you, you don’t owe me anything.” Gem rambled nervously, to which Joel and Bdubs started giggling in the corner. “Make sure to give me a call after you introduce the little guy to Grian alright? I’ve gotten a little attached to him during his time here so I would like to make sure he’s doing alright.” Pearl nodded.
“Of course… Well, we should get going, Joel and I have a lot of things to pick up before tonight. See you later.” Pearl waved and Gem waved back as the duo left the shelter.
“I hope that little guy is happy with them.” Gem sighed.
“Me too.”
~~~
“Okay, collar, name tag, litter boxes, litter, cat food, small starter cat tree, the catnip you insisted on buying because you thought it would be funny, and a variety of toys, are we missing anything?” Pearl asked, turning to Joel who was entirely fixated on the kitten now sleeping in his lap.
“Nope, I’ve got some baby blankets at home so I think that’s all for now,” Joel assured her, “How’s Jimmy doing?”
“Good enough, last he told me: Grian was trying to leave and he tricked him into staying by getting him talking about Watcher’s Gathering, and I doubt they’ve stopped playing since then, those games go on for hours.” Pearl explained.
“Aww dammit, I love Watcher’s Gathering.” Joel sighed.
“Yeah, well I didn’t need Jimmy crying over every cat we saw and trying to take them all home. Not that you were much better.” Pearl sighed. “Jimmy is handling dinner for the two of them so we need to get something real quick, then the cake I ordered should be ready for pickup.”
“What theme did you pick for him?” Joel asked.
“He’s seventeen he doesn’t need a themed cake…” Joel just stared at his older sister until she became uneasy. “It’s a ghost hunter themed cake.” Joel just laughed.
“I knew it.”
~~~
“We’re back!” Pearl shouted as she pushed open the door, leaving Jimmy to drop his head onto the table and sigh in relief. “You two had dinner right?” She asked as she carried the cake box into the kitchen.
“Yeah, Jim made chicken.” Grian said, prying his older brother’s head off of their ongoing card game. “Gods Jim, you’ve scrambled it.” He groaned annoyedly.
“Please don’t say we’re gonna have to start over.” Jimmy groaned and Pearl could be heard laughing through the wall.
“We’re gonna have to start over.” Jimmy groaned again, this time much louder, and Grian just stared at him with a shit eating grin on his face.
“I’ll play a game with you later, G, give him a break.” Joel assured him, despite everything but his head facing the complete opposite direction.
“Joel, what are you doing?” Grian asked as Jimmy started hurriedly cleaning the cards and dice off the table.
“Nothing~” Jimmy flicked off the lights and Pearl carried the cake back in, now topped with two flickering candles. They did their whole song and dance while Joel crept behind Grian, and when Pearl moved the cake to cut it, Joel placed the kitten in his younger brother’s lap.
“Happy birthday G!” He announced enthusiastically.
The cat was quick to snuggle up into Grian, while the youngest Watts siblings checked the name on the collar.
“Scar?” He asked. “That name seems familiar.”
“Scar’s the guy who moved away a few years back right?” Jimmy offered enthusiastically, “You two were best friends before he moved away, I wonder how he’s doing.”
“Oh! I didn’t even think of that, I was just going based on vibes.” Joel shrugged. “What do you think?”
“Well he’s really sweet, that’s for sure.” Grian gave a light chuckle and all three of his siblings beamed. It may have not been the most expressive reaction, but Grian was not typically that expressive to begin with, and to his siblings it spoke volumes. The kitten fell asleep in his lap almost instantly, and Pearl handed him a slice of cake.
“Happy birthday G.”
“Thanks guys.”
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Chapter 1:
Etho was walking up to Joel and Lizzy’s ‘manor’ of sorts when he heard the sound of glass shattering. He wasn’t going to bother knocking at that point so he just grabbed the spare key from inside their porch railing, and forced his way inside, coming face to face with Cleo, who had thrown Joel to the ground and pointed a knife at his neck.
“Where is my brother?” They demanded. Etho didn’t really know what to do so he just stood frozen on the spot.
“That’s a nice knife, did you steal it from the people who were keeping you? They were a very nice old couple, it’s a shame, the next people we find for you won’t be so nice.” Joel was being cocky despite the clearly deadly situation which put Etho’s nerves even more on edge.
“Answer my damn question!” Cleo ordered again.
“Maybe you should ask Etho. Exotic technicolor snakes sell a lot better than runts of the litter, so I had to hand Scar off to someone a bit more suited to the task.” Joel explained.
“Hey!” Etho snapped as he stumbled backwards. “Don’t pin this on me Joel! This entire thing is still your fa…” Etho was cut off as Cleo tackled him to the ground, the wind was knocked out of him and he watched his vision get spotty.
“Where is Scar?” Up close Etho could see all the small things that had happened to Cleo. Rashes on her neck from the collar, tear tracks on her cheeks, she was thinner than before, disturbingly so, scales dotted her skin, and fangs still poked from her mouth for having been in her other form too long.
“Cleo… agh.” Etho tried to be calm when talking to her but the knee on his ribs was making that painfully hard. “I wish I could tell you! But it’s for Scar’s own safety I can’t!”
“Why not?!” Joel was standing up and brushing himself off now, looking towards the stairwell at something Etho couldn’t see but something he doubted was good.
“If I tell you you’ll try to save him and you’ll just perpetuate their stupid idea that hybrids are monsters!” Etho explained desperately. “You have to calm down Cleo! Please!”
“And why are you working for them if they’re so cruel?!” Cleo asked, only to be interrupted by her own screams as a dart struck her in the small of her back. She started clawing for it but it remained just out of reach. Etho was able to scramble away as Lizzy walked down the stairs, grinning smugly with a dart gun in one hand and a camera in the other. “Goddamnit Etho?! Why are you doing this?!”
“Maybe I can answer that one for you,” Joel offered, “You see, our studies concluded that Etho was very different from you and Scar. While you two were wild and unpredictable it was like Etho was already… domesticated. So we made a little deal, as long as he helped me, I wouldn’t lay a hand on his little ‘found family.’ So long as they behaved of course.”
“You, my pretty serpentine friend, are coming with me, you just got us some very valuable footage for our project.” Lizzy said as she slipped a new collar around Cleo’s neck, forcing her back into her snake form. Etho felt the phantom feeling of a collar tightening around his own neck as she did so. “I also don’t trust you enough to send you out to a new home, not after you cost us so much with the last one, so you will be staying here for the time being. Don’t worry, I already have a nice enclosure set up for you, one that I think you’ll find much harder to get out of.” Lizzy giggled like a damn child who had just been given a piece of candy while Joel stuck out a hand and helped Etho to his feet.
“Fortunate timing, for us that is,” Joel sighed, “If you’re here I assume Scar has finally been passed off? I trust that you’re still the only one to know of his origins?”
“Yep, Gem, Bdubs, and Ren were none the wiser. The family that took him seemed sweet, I doubt that Scar will be causing you any trouble.” Etho took a chance leaving out the fact that he was all too familiar with the Watts family, it was the least he could do for all he had done to Cleo.
“Good. I’m going to go watch the footage that Lizzy got. If all goes well the two of us will be sitting pretty in a few days time.” Joel said, leading him towards the door. “Maybe if all goes well, we’ll even give you a cut of the profits.”
“I would appreciate that greatly.” Etho said. They shook hands one last time, and suddenly he was back on the porch, and it was raining proverbial cats and dogs outside. Etho scratched at the undershirt that stretched up to fuse with the mask that covered his mouth and nose. The moisture in the air was making the fabric stick to his gills, and making it substantially harder to breathe.
He would have to walk home quickly.
~~~
Okay, so being forced into hiding for years, being captured by shapeshifter salesmen, torn away from his sister, forced into his cat form, and sold to a seemingly random family was not an ideal situation, but Scar had put all of that behind him the moment he was face to face with his childhood best friend once more. Sure being a cat was less than ideal by a long shot but when Scar saw Grian again he almost cried. He hadn’t felt safe since what happened to him and Cleo, but at that moment he felt like he could just melt into the embrace of his old friend and sleep there for eternity.
He was scared for his sister, sure, but surely she wouldn’t blame Scar for resting in the safety of warm and familiar arms for just one night…
Surely.