Guide & Seek Prompt: Roots
It was a warm summer evening in the City of Lights, and the clearing where Odin had set up his cart had proven to be great for business that day. The seeker looked towards the setting sun at the soft grey-blue clouds and vibrant yellow-pink horizon as though admiring the sight with his unseeing eyes. He appreciated the warmth and got a sense of the glow, even if he couldn't comprehend any of the colors.
But equally as warm was the pot of oden bubbling away in his portable establishment, accompanied by the soft, comfortable sighs of his pebbling Miso stewing in the broth. He had one customer dining in tonight, a small synthetic guide contentedly munching away at the skewered leaves and roots and rocks in his soup bowl.
"Yher a local, ay?" The seeker's cloak rustled with the gentle chime of bells as he sat down at the bench next to its occupant. "Agni? You said yer name was?"
Although he couldn't see them, the guide's brilliantly blue eyes lifted from his meal and a huge grin split his face below the golden half-mask he was wearing. "Correct!" he replied. "And this is Smeef."
Odin couldn't see him motioning to his companion, but he had been able to hear the tiny, snuffling snores coming from the spot next to the guide. If the little hee-hoos of repose meant anything to his old ears, Smeef was definitely a slabster.
"Pleasure t'meet you both." He said pleasantly. "Cart's warm, food's tasty... perfect for a bit of a kip by the sounds of yer friend there. Have yeh heard about the customs of this establishment, Agni?" He patted the oden cart like he might a good dog. "I were an adventurer in me youth, travelled all over the world an past the islands! I like to hear a good story in exchange for th' food, if you have one to spare."
Agni finished the mouthful of mossball he'd been chewing the flavor out of and nodded appreciatively. "I'd heard that were a payment for this place." He chuckled. "There ain't much to tell about me that isn't in the tabloids and gossip-leaves already. You heard my music, pops? They blast it throughout the city often enough."
Odin's face remained pleasant and mild as though the revelation that he was in the presence of a celebrity meant nothing to him. "Ah probably have, probably have! But these old stones don't keep up much with the times." He reached over to the oden pot, gently feeling his way past Miso to snag an oden skewer for himself. "What's the story of this one?" he asked, gesturing towards Smeef.
There was a fond little pause as Agni looked down at his pet catboy and smiled. "Smeef? Oh he's a special lil guy for sure. I can tell you what he's told me about his lineage but... you know how slabsters are." He slyly reached over for another skewer himself.
"Oh aye, I do!" Odin laughed. "But tell me anyway. A story with a big imagination is still a story and I accept tales of all types under this roof."
Smeef let out a long meow like a yawn as he flipped onto his back, tiny legs wiggling in a bid to make himself comfortable. Agni gently tucked him under a corner of a napkin to keep him warm and cozy before recounting his tale.
A long, long time ago there was a creature on the Forgotten Isle. It was big! Big, big, big, towering to the heavens above. And this creature - I suppose it must have been a seeker but Smeef called it a horse... Well anyway, it would roam around the island, visiting others in their temples and domains. It was often restless and it was often lonely, and despite the time it spent with other guides and seekers beyond the veil, it still felt that something was... lacking in its life.
So one day the seeker went for a walk to sit on the shores of the Forgotten Isle, kicking at the shells and pebbles on its banks with its dainty cervabloom hooves. And what should it find sparkling in the sand but a perfectly flat and rounded stone, one that could fit ever-so-comfortably in its gigantic seeker hand.
And it thought Guides are already small but perhaps I need a friend that is smaller still... So it carved a dumb, wonky little face on the pebble and gave it a set of lovely, skittery legs, deciding that the final touch would be a pattern of carved stripes upon its smooth, flat back. A little tuft of beach grass complemented it perfectly and when the seeker was done it dipped its new creation into the waters of life and brought the first cat-slab mewling and murping into the world.
And the seeker was happy to have made a friend, quite literally! And Original Catboy was very happy to exist as the world's first catboy, and the two of them went on many adventures and shared many happy memories together and it was great fun for the both of them.
But you know how slabsters are, every so often they'll have a lil accident here or chip a lil piece of them off there, and of course Original Catboy was not exempt from this condition! But whenever he cracked or parts of him dropped off, a new cat-slab would be born and the seeker and Original Catboy found a new companion to love and care for.
Eventually there were some cat-slabs that decided to explore the world beyond the Forgotten Island's fog and left with the seeker's blessing, and after spending time upon the Guide and Seek isles, they too would break apart to form new cat-slabs and families. And after centuries upon centuries of cat-slab development and colonization... Smeef eventually came into the world.
And Smeef is as wild and confident as the original Catboy and can meow just as loudly and run just as fast! But because he's had time to grow a pedigree, whatever that means, he is far more cuter and has more beautiful eyelashes than original catboy which makes him even better.
Odin was silent as Agni's tale came to a close, chewing thoughtfully on a lump of soup-saturated pumice that sat on the end of his bamboo skewer. The guide was looking fondly down at his sleeping slabster friend once more, reaching a mechanical hand out to gently scritch his belly.
The silence stretched for a moment, warm and comfortable, broken only by the steady bubbling of the oden pot and Smeef's sleep-purring.
"Just like that, eh?" The seeker leaned his elbows on the bench. "No chapter about how he were raised in a loving slab household with 'is mother's litter of kittens?"
Agni laughed, shaking his head. "If he were I don't think he has any memory of it. When I first met Smeef he was just a feral lil guy running wild in the Southern Forest. Took me months to train him to speak in anything other than hisses and meows."
Odin nodded, crunching his way through his now bare bamboo skewer. "A good tale either way, I'd give it a solid 8/10. Do I believe it? Not fer a second but it sure is a tall and interesting beast of a thing." He got to his feet with a rustle of bells, offering his finger for Agni to shake. "Meal's on the house as thanks fer the good story. You and your cat-slab have a pleasant night."
Agni shook it, beaming from ear to ear as he stooped to gather the slabster up in his arms like a dinner plate. "Were a pleasure speakin wit' you." he replied. "Perhaps next time I come by he'll be awake and can tell you some cat tales for himself."
"I think I'd like that." Odin chuckled. "Th' pot's always warm here and Miso and I are always hungerin for new tales." He waved goodbye in the general direction he'd heard Agni and his sleeping slabster flutter off, shaking his head as he turned his sightless eyes back towards the pebbling in his soup pot.
"Strange, isn't it Miso?" He muttered. "It almost sounded like the beginning of a fairy tale there... but of course there's no way slabs could have come into the world like that."
... right?