Minashi-by-the-Sea (What the Iron-Gray Catkin Saw)

#Wss366

Conclution

Kurotsuki Kaibyō awoke the next morning to the sounds of bamboo flutes and lime wood lyres out in the street. Inside the inn, the whining of merchants denied their morning meal could be heard, for its iron-gray owner had already taken a berth on a ship bound for fair hills #unblighted by Kurosuki’s shadow, and the new owner was nowhere to be seen.

Restlessly, the Stealer of Dreams walked the streets. The smells of roasted lamb skewers, chestnuts fresh from the coals, and overflowing drinks of rum, redolent with the scent of lime, cinnamon, and cloves held no appeal for her, for she had heard Nyarlathotep’s piping and it haunted her like nothing had before.

Still, when the people paraded out of the city to frolic in the orchards on the hills, she made her way to the High Citadel. After casting wary glances to see if anyone was watching, she climbed the walls in a spot sheltered from the Toads of Lang’s view. Then, on silent feet, she jumped to the courtyard and swiftly blended into the shadows of the citadel itself.

It took only moments to slip through the moldering gate that none had dared to maintain in centuries.

What happened then no one knows. But the obscene piping that night grew louder, drowning out the bright bells and lutes of the celebration. The iron-gray catkin whose name might mean “She Who Fled a Doom That Did Not Come” reported seeing something drifting amid the lime blossoms festooning the waters of the harbor. Something that should not have been there. What is known is that Kurotsuki Kaibyō, the Stealer of Dreams, was no longer seen walking on silent feet amid the shadows of doomed dreamers.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #Lovecraft #LordDunsany #Pastiche #Cats #Otherkin #Catgirl #Neko

Minashi-by-the-Sea (The Piping that Spoke of Nyarlathotep)

#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #MicroPrompt 9/7 -11

As the moon touched the hazy rim of the ocean, the Cat Who Stole Dreams indulged in one last #meal of the inn’s famed curried prawns, a #mash of almonds and sweet cream, and #distilled lime blossom liqueur. It was just a sip, enough to fend off the night's chill, no more.

Then, as the full dark of night blanketed Minashi-by-the-Sea, she donned her black, dew-spangled cape and her quietest #slippers and went out into the #late night. All was still except for the laughter of the fountains. The chorus of cicadas and revelers had long fallen silent. Not even the few unfortunates stirred by dreams of dark things said to slither from Hypnos Nor Slid’s House heard the soft footsteps of Kurotsuki.

With catlike grace, she climbed the outer walls of the High Citadel of Perpetual Petals. So lithe was her ascent that not a single petal of the trees that ringed that lofty place was disturbed, and thus the #wards that are triggered by their fall remained silent. The silent monitors, without the walls, perhaps saw a shadow flicker, but nothing more.

Thus, Kurotsuki Kaibyō reached a vantage from which she could observe the Toads of Leng cavorting and hear the fateful shrilling of the piping within the tower. The #luminous toads as they danced #round the tower #instilled no fear in her heart, yet a #current of dread set her fur to bristle, hearing the piping that spoke of Nyarlathotep, for it came from far beyond the ken of man.

Woe betide the mortal who, in a dream or drugged state, passes through the portals to that eldritch creature’s dimension. Better to face the nightgaunts or to be torn asunder by the ghouls of Pickman’s ilk than to glimpse the dwellers of that realm.

Shaken but undeterred, the queen of thieves came away that night ready to plunder the heart of Minashi-by-the-Sea.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #Lovecraft #LordDunsany #Pastiche #Cats #Otherkin #Catgirl #Neko

Minashi-by-the-Sea (The Toad-Things of Leng)

#Wss366 #MastoPrompt 9/4 #MicroPrompt 8/27-29

Kurotsuki Kaibyō #yawned over her cup of strong Celedawn tea. The rich scent of #cardamom and cloves tickled her nose. She would need its invigorating properties, for she had a long night ahead of her and an even longer day.

Soon the moon would set, and it would be time to be about her business. Tomorrow would be the Festival of Lime Blossoms on the Water, and all the people of Minashi-by-the-Sea would be celebrating.

Except for the guards of the High Citadel of Perpetual Petals. The #Toads of Leng cared not for blossoms, scents, or even festivals. Their only loves were the repellent offal they were fed and dancing to the thin, insidious piping that emerged from the lofty tower on moonless nights.

Tonight, on cat feet, she would locate where the #Toad-things of Leng performed their hideous, obscene midnight capers. She would not be one of their flayed, #skinned victims that appeared floating in the harbor as dawn broke upon its lime blossom flotilla. And then tomorrow, when the #Toads were at their sleepiest and the citizens of Minashi-by-the-Sea frolicked amid the lime blossoms, she would #zip into the tower and be gone before anyone knew of her pilfering.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #LordDunsany #Pastiche #Cats #Otherkin #Catgirl #Neko

Minashi-by-the-Sea (Kurotsuki Kaibyō 黒月怪猫 )

#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #MicroPrompt

It is said that cats and their kin walk in #forgotten places. One such was Kurotsuki Kaibyō, the dream-stealer. But what can we say of her: dusk gray, midnight black, amber dawn, tawny day; silent as the wind; Buddha still; a voice of mirth or stiletto-steeled death? Who can tell, for none still inhabit Far Karabash, High Mirrus, or Xanadu? They are but whispered tales and empty, dusty streets.

Some proclaim she came from Atlantis, but the fish do not tell, and others say she hails from ----, whose name is #forgotten, along with its plazas and palaces.

The #harbor #drew Kurotsuki-chan with smells of tar; fresh seabream; mussels and shrimp stewed in a thick, sweet sauce, while the singsong of the polyglot people who thronged its byways soothed her ears, and the old sailors, easy prey for such as she, willingly sold their tales and dreams for a drink."

She stopped at a #harbor inn, run by a sly, iron-gray catkin with a name all hisses and nyas. Some said it meant “She who Provides Fresh Fish and Warm Beds.” Others said it was the same as her establishment, “Cat Haven.” Those who stayed there said various things and generally muddled the answer with amusing nonsense.

As Kurotsuki-chan entered, a whisper went round, and those who were wise hastened to secure a berth in some merchantman, outward bound for lands of heather mist, or, if desperation and despair drove them, for the fjord-bound ports of the cold north.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #LordDunsany #Pastiche #Cats #Otherkin #Catgirl #Neko