Spirit: The Familiar

A few weeks flew by nearly uneventfully. Carina learned a few new things, and made a few new friends. She was getting better with the control over her magic abilities. Carina was even learning new ways to use her magic, that she had no idea she could do before. But she hadn't seen the cat for a while, and though she knew it was most likely because she had no need of guidance for the time being, the realization still bothered her.

Alex grew closer to her over the weeks, her other friends as well, though Carina noticed Alex was paying special attention to her. Carina would catch him staring often, and raised a brow at the behaviour. He would simply turn pink and look away.

It was another occasion such as this, as the group of friends sat in the cafe for lunch, that the cat appeared. Carina had been chatting away with her friends.

"So, I noticed the two of you are growing ever closer," Angie lilted. The knowing smile on her face caused Carina's eyebrows to knit together.

"So?" Carina said. "We've always been really close. And we'd been separated for years. Of course we're going to catch up. I'm just glad the friendships we have weren't completely crushed by the fact that I ran off."

Angie and Chris nodded, but shared a look. Carina looked over to Alex, who had been staring at her. Alex quickly looked away and out the window, his cheeks turning pink. That was starting to frustrate Carina. What was his problem?

"Of course, our friendships are going to last forever," Angie smiled. She rested her elbows on the table, and then laced her fingers together and rested her chin on top of her hands. Carina turned to her and returned the smile, trying to push past Alex's weird behaviour.

All of their studies were going well. Her friends had started seeing their familiars, all except Alex.

"So, have you seen it yet?" Angie asked, looking over at Alex. Alex looked up at her, the pink fading from his face.

"Seen what?" he asked.

"Your familiar," Chris said for her. Carina turned to Alex, and all attention at the table was on him. Alex brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. He looked down at the table before them.

"No, not yet," he sighed. He went from embarrassed to gloomy just like that. Carina patted his shoulder.

"It'll happen soon," she said. She remembered something then, and pulled her bag up from the floor, dropping it on the table with a loud 'thunk' due to all the books held within. "Guys, we got something in the lecture today!"

Attention shifted from Alex to Carina then. Though Angie and Chris had started seeing their familiars, they were still in Alex's class and hadn't moved on to Carina's.

"What is it?" Angie asked.

"Is it what I think it is?" Chris added.

Carina grinned widely at them, and unzipped the bag. She gave a long look to each of them separately, before looking back at her bag and dipping her hand in. She pulled out a simple pink collar, earning gasps from all three of her friends.

"No way!" Angie said. She reached for it, and Carina allowed her to take it to examine it. "This is one of those special collars?"

"Yep! The professor passed them out to a few of us," Carina nodded her head. She smiled as her friends admired the collar. "I guess I should feel honoured, maybe I'm ready to capture her soon."

"I hope so," Angie said. "You've been so obsessed with that cat."

"Wouldn't you be? Such beautiful eyes," Carina sighed. "And maybe in her human form she can tell me more about this uneasy feeling."

"Are you still having that?" Alex asked. Carina nodded and took the collar back when she was handed it.

"Yeah," Carina said. "It's never really gone away. In fact, it's gotten even more intense these past few days. The Elder still won't say much about it. It's beginning to affect my health- I threw up this morning; scared Adam, the poor kid."

Alex started to say something, but Carina didn't hear any of it. Her gaze had lifted to the window at just the right moment, and green and blue eyes met hers. She stood up immediately from the booth, slamming her hands down on the table and startling everyone within a few feet of their group.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked. Carina pointed, and everyone looked to see the cat.

"Wow!" Angie sighed. "She is beautiful."

"I'm going," Carina said, determination flowing through her. "Can you bring my bag back to my dorm for me?" She said to Alex.

"Of course, no problem," Alex smiled. "Go get her."

Carina took off with that, the simple pink collar clutched tightly in her grasp.