OOG: Skimble talks with Leathik

[Daryll]

The kitten mewled and nodded, but then... looked at Skimble. Was he reading his mind or something? He shrugged before padding forwards, sniffing, and sniffing... and then sneezing for about the third time that night. How did the humans put up with all this? Couldn't they smell their perfumes and colognes, along with their shaving stuffs from their luggage bags? Man, they reeked!

[Wolfjet]

Skimble laughed as he saw Leathik's confused expression. "No, I'm not reading your mind. Just your expressions. Bless you," he added as Leathik sneezed again. The Railway Cat placed a friendly paw on the kitten's shoulder. "What you have to do is filter out all the excess smells and concentrate on the one you want to find," he explained. "It's hard at first, but it gets easier. Try it."

[Daryll]

The kitten mewled softly and nodded, focusing on his own scent... on Bomba's scent, on the littermate's scents... There was nothing. His nose twitched very gently before he just smelled himself in there, along with Skimble's scent. Nothing else.

[Wolfjet]

"Nothing?" Skimble asked him. "All right, then, let's try another place." He picked up Leathik by the scruff of his neck and began to pad out of the luggage van, heading for the exit.

[Daryll]

"Mew," he let out in agreeance, but was picked up before he could do anything. Oh well, he had a free ride. There was a smile on his face now.

[Wolfjet]

"Almost there," Skimble would have said, if his mouth wasn't full of fur, before an ominous hissing noise surrounded them and the doors to the train began to shut. Skimble's eyes widened and he bolted for the exit, but it clanged closed and he screeched to a halt in front of it; he had missed the opening by inches. He whirled around, taking in the surroundings: the humans had begun to settle down on their seats (none of them paying much attention to a Railway Cat and an accompanying kitten) and the train was starting to move.

Skimble willed himself not to panic. 'Okay,' he sighed. 'First thing is to find where we're going. Second is to find how to get back to the Jellicles from there.' He looked down at the kitten hanging from his mouth. 'And soon ... he needs his family.'

[Daryll]

The cat was mewling as he heard the hissing, and the clanking of the doors that shut. They were stuck in the train! "Meeew!"

And he had no-where to go, especially since he was still hanging from Skimble's mouth. For a moment, he just sat still before he wiggled. 'Let me down!' he thought as he pawed at the air, his hind legs wiggling while his tail twitched.

[Wolfjet]

Skimble noticed Leathik's struggling and gently lowered him to the floor. "Sorry about that. Now, the most important thing is to stay calm. No good can come from worrying now. Follow me?"

[Daryll]

"Mew!"
"Mew..."
"Mew?"

A mewl of exclamation, a long one, then a short and confused one. The kitten looked up at Skimble. They were stuck on a train and now where were they going? Skimble suggested to calm down and follow him. Leathik nodded.

[Wolfjet]

"All right," Skimble nodded. "Now. There should be a schedule posted at the front of the train. Be careful not to get in the way of passing humans. Shall we?"

[Daryll]

He nodded. 'We shall,' he thought as he flicked his tail up against the cat's nose.

[Wolfjet]

Skimble sneezed, then laughed. "Let's go, then." He picked up Leathik again and the two of them headed for the front of the train. The journey took them back through the luggage van, through another cart packed with humans, and finally to the engine. Casting his eyes upward, Skimble looked up at the schedule. Gently he set Leathik down so that he could fish around in his pocket for his watch. It was exactly noon.

Skimble looked up at the schedule. "Noon to three. Scotland."

'SCOTLAND?'

[Daryll]

...Scotland. What was Scotland? A scotch treat? Leathik twitched his nose when he was put down, and he tried to read the schedule. All he could see was big symbol-thingies that were mumbo-jumbled up in a certain order. His tail twitched before he poked Skimble.

"Meew?"

[Wolfjet]

Skimble's head was still spinning. This was too much. They couldn't have gotten on the train that would take them just one station away, oh no; they had to get on the one that was taking them to a whole different region. 'Figures', he thought darkly, before noticing that Leathik was poking him. "What? You don't know where Scotland is?"

[Daryll]

The kitten shook his head no. "Meeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

His recent mewl was extended for a while, and when it ended, he pounced on the cat's tail. Leathik smiled, and he hugged the tail. At least he was still on the train with Skimble!