In the Midst of the Lonely Sea of Loneliness 13

Upon Nia's long awaited arrival, the whole Igiby family went to work preparing the home for her stay.

Nia's mother, Wendolyn, went straight away to make a room for her daughter by sectioning a part of the living room off with sheets and using the couch as a temporary bed until Podo could make her one. Podo and Artham helped make the area homey for Nia, understanding she hadn't stayed in a real house for some time. Afterward, Wendolyn began to fiercely sow some new clothing for her, seeing as Nia was practically wearing patched rags.

All while this was happening, Nia was sitting in a rocking chair, sipping a hot cup of tea that her mother made for her with the blanket Leeli gave her on her shoulders. She kept her eyes to the ground except to glance at her three children, who were staring at her from the couch directly across from the rocking chair with wide eyes.

The Igiby children were all glad Nia was home but were also very curious of her condition and the younger two were almost afraid of saying something wrong to upset her. Thankfully, Janner wasn't as afraid since he had been the one that spent the night with her in the tree cottage.

"How's the tea?" Janner asked, wanting to make conversation so it was less awkward.

"S'ti ym etirovaf..." Neet replied, tearing up. "Mom derebmemer ym etirovaf..."

"Is... Is she talking backwards?" Tink asked Janner, whispering into his ear.

Janner just nodded in response to Tink before getting up and found a pencil and some sheets of paper before handing them to his mother to write.

Nia slowly set the cup of tea on the table beside her chair and took the pencil and papers. She began to write her responses. Her children huddled around her to read what she was writing.

"YӨЦЯ GЯΛПDMΛ ЯΣMΣMBΣЯΣD MY FΛVӨЯIƬΣ ƬΣΛ..."

"Ohhh, that tea is your favorite?" Leeli smiled. "I really like it too... Especially when grandma puts a sugar cube in it."

Neet briefly and softly laughed, thinking it very sweet that her daughter liked the same tea as her. "Yllaer? Uoy ekil aet?"

Assuming her mother was asking if she really liked the tea, Leeli nodded. "Yeah! But it needs the sugar..."

"Sooo... Now that we know what you're saying... Is it okay if we see your... paws?" Tink asked curiously, really intrigued with the soft cat-like hands his mother had.

"Tink... Why do you have to be so weird?" Janner sighed, thinking his brother's question was rude to ask.

"S'ti yako." Nia reassured Janner in her own way that she wasn't bothered before holding out one of her paws for them to observe.

Leeli and Tink took a closer look, curiously wondering to themselves how their mother came upon having such appendages. Janner also looked curiously but he didn't get as close out of respect of her space.

Neet's claws were like that of black panther's but the nails were sticking out since she felt safe in the Igiby home. They were black and furry and the fur cut off around her elbows.

"Wow! They're really soft." Leeli remarked once she felt the fur on her mother's paw.

"And huge..." Tink said, lying his hand over the palm of the paw; his hand seemed small in comparison. "Look at the size of these things... Do you have those sharp nails some animals have too?"

"Sey..." Neet replied, beginning to become visibly uncomfortable.

"Can you show us?" Tink asked, figuring her answer sounded more like 'yes' than 'no' in reverse.

Neet shook her head in reply and pulled her hand back. "On..."

"Aw..." Tink sighed.

Neet went back go writing to talk to them.

"I DӨП'Ƭ ЩΛПƬ ƬӨ ΛᄃᄃIDΣПƬΛᄂᄂY ΉЦЯƬ ΛПY ӨF YӨЦ... ƬΉΣY'ЯΣ ƧΉΛЯP."

"Ohhh... I understand." Tink replied but still was a little disappointed he wouldn't get to see them.

Nia readjusted the blanket on her shoulders as Artham came out from behind the sheet he helped hang up.

"Alright, kids. Me and your grandpa are moving the couch into your mom's room. Up, up, up." Artham went to one side of the couch as the children got up.

Podo joined Artham and they both moved the couch behind the hanging sheets. After it was set, they both came out to Nia once more.

"Lass, your room is ready for when you want to use it." Podo looked from his daughter to his grandchildren. "Now, you rascals will need to keep it down in here now that yer mom will be sleeping down here. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The three of them replied in their own way.

"Are you feeling tired, Neet?" Artham asked, noticing she seemed tired to him

"Era uoy?" Neet raised an eyebrow. "Er'uoy eht eno htiw sgab rednu ruoy seye." She began writing again when she remembered they couldn't understand her.

"YӨЦ ƧΣΣM ƬIЯΣD YӨЦЯƧΣᄂF, ΛЯƬΉΛM ЩIПGFΣΛƬΉΣЯ." Neet turned the paper toward them so they could read it.

"'Wingfeather'?" Janner narrowed his eyes, having not heard that name yet.

Artham furrowed his eyebrows in response. "How do you know I'm tired?"

"YӨЦЯ ΣYΣƧ ᄂӨӨK ƬIЯΣD..." Neet wrote and showed him before taking her tea and standing up.

"... I mean, I guess I am..." Artham replied with a half shrug. "But I'm used to it, don't worry."

"ƬΉΣП ЩΉY DӨП'Ƭ YӨЦ GӨ GΣƬ ƧӨMΣ ƧᄂΣΣP? IƬ'Ƨ ƧƬIᄂᄂ ΣΛЯᄂY."

Artham felt his present family all turn and look at him once they read Nia's motherly response. "Well... I suppose I could... If I'm not needed at the moment."

"I think me and Wendy can manage." Podo answered. "Just go sleep, Artham. We'll see ya in a couple hours."

"Um... Alright." Artham replied, feeling a bit awkward that everyone was so concerned about him getting the rest he needed. However, he was very tired anyway so he took the opportunity to go up into his room for a nap.

Nia then turned to her children and wrote, "PЯΛᄃƬIᄃΣ YӨЦЯ Ƭ.Ή

Λ.G.Ƨ. QЦIΣƬᄂY... I ƬΉIПK I'ᄂᄂ FӨᄂᄂӨЩ YӨЦЯ ЦПᄃᄂΣ'Ƨ ΣXΛMPᄂΣ ΛПD ƬΛKΣ Λ ПΛP MYƧΣᄂF."

"She knows about T.H.A.G.S?" Leeli curiously asked as they watched Nia set the paper down on a table and head behind her sheet.

"'Artham Wingfeather'? I thought all of us were Igibys." Janner puzzled, looking over at Podo.

"Igiby is Wendy's family name. We adopted it to stay in hiding..." Podo explained. "And Artham isn't an Igiby and neither am I, we just used the name. Wingfeather is your real surname. Your royal one."

After a little further explanation and discussion about the Wingfeather name and T.H.A.G.S., the children took the first order from their mother seriously.

As usual, Janner read or wrote during his T.H.A.G. time whole Tink sketched and Leeli played her whistleharp but since Nia was sleeping in her makeshift room, Leeli only practiced finger placement.

It was nearly an hour into their T.H.A.G.S that they all began to hear a strange low rumble coming from their mother's room. They all looked at each other with confusion, each wondering what the sound could be.

"What is that...?" Tink asked quietly, nearing Janner like he was afraid but trying to play it off like he wasn't.

"I don't know..." Janner slowly approached the sheet he had previously seen his mother walk through.

"It sounds... like a kitty?" Leeli tilted her head in confusion as Janner peeked through the sheet. "A really... big kitty...?"

With a sigh of relief, Janner looked over his shoulder at his siblings, "I think it's just mom..."

Leeli and Tink joined Janner in peering in at their sleeping mother, wondering if Janner was right.

Sure enough, the sound was coming from Nia as she laid there curled up on the couch. She appeared to be content for the first time they had seen her, which was probably what led to the weird rumbling sound.

"Ohhh..." Leeli whispered and looked at Janner. "She's happy. Kitties make that sound when they're happy."

"That's... really weird..." Tink whispered. "Is she like... a big cat now or something?"

Janner pulled his siblings away from the sheet to have a serious talk with them. He looked both Tink and Leeli in the eyes. "We need to make sure mom is comfortable here... And that means not asking her about what happened to make her... part cat." He cringed at his own sentence, like he thought it was a very strange thing to have to say.