Back to Roots-13/11/2024-Mittens Mckittens
Nov 16, 2024 22:02:13 GMT
tomdm, Nic, and 1 more like this
Post by Mittens Mckittens on Nov 16, 2024 22:02:13 GMT
This emotional and heartwarming delight was joyfully written with the one and only đ Tom M
Mittens sits in his old seat by the fire in the old farm house, taking in the familiar scents and sights of the place.
The smell of the wood smoke, the lingering scent of his ma's baked bread still permeating the air even hours later. The scribble that counted as a drawing of three black furred figures still hung on the wall. Done so many years ago now, and before so much he can scarcely believe he did it himself; yet he can still recall sprawled drawing it here on the floor in front of the very fire he's returned to now.
He glances over at his father, Roland, who's not even touched the chocolate biscuit sat next to his mug of tea, and guiltily recalls that look of fear upon his face as he cast that spell upon him earlier this evening.
"A-are you doing okay Fa?" He enquires, ears bowed.
"I-I'm really sorry I cast that spell on ya. On both of ya." He adds, giving his Ma the same apologetic look before he stares down into his milk glass, still not even touched at all.
âMittens, Iâm not gonna encourage you to do it again or aught, but nah, youâve got nothing to apologise for and⌠I understand what you were tryâna do.â Roland says a little sadly before a proud smile crosses his face and he leans across to ruffle Mittensâ hair, âAnd it was a damn good spell.â
Mittensâ mother Beatrice, sat the other side of her son, opens her mouth to argue with this, but instead rolls her eyes and sits back with her arms crossed, gently chuckling at the pair of them.
Mittens can't help but smile weakly enjoying re-experiencing the old comforting gesture before he bites his lip. "I-I've only had that spell work a couple of times...I'm just sorry it had to work on ya...C-can I ask what ya saw?" He breaches tentatively.
Roland takes a long drink of his tea as Mittensâ parents make knowing eye contact.
âI think after your friend Calla showed us what she did there was only going to be one thing either of us were ever gonna see Mittens.â
Mittens gently swirls the milk in his glass as he too recalls Callas'..'theatrics' in the fake-version of this room, still not able to have his eye twitch at a sudden imaginary spot of mould or drop of blood forming on the floor or wall. "Calla's not usually so.."
"Intense." Mittens settled on, "She..meant well but has gone through a lot of shi-s-stuff..."He catches himself with a guilty eye flick to his Ma. "She can be really kind and caring, and funny too...Oh and she's not a black tabaxi either." He added, waiting again for his parents to give one another a shared glance.
The shared glance is an annoyed one from Roland and a smug one from Beatrice as he fishes a coin out of his pocket and throws it to her. Catching it, her expression shifts back to concern, âWell she certainly knows how to get her point across Kitten. And I suppose if we hadnât seen it for ourselves I donât think your pa or I couldâve believed the things youâve been up to.â A tear rolls down her face, âAnd that we werenât there for.â
She looks down at her mug of tea for a long pause before turning back to him, âIâm so sorry Mittens, we both are.â She squeaks out the sentence as Roland wipes his nose and nods his head in agreement.
"W-what are you sorry for?" Mittens asked, the sight of his ma getting emotional completely brushing the sight of the coin toss from his mind, Ma rarely ever cried.
âKitten we let you go to a whole other place with someone who abandoned you for two years and you died. Weâre your parents. Weâre supposed to be there for you and we werenât. Youâve been in harmâs way over and over and over again and we let that happen.â
She holds her sonâs hand tightly in her own as Roland speaks, âMittens weâve missed you so much since youâve been gone, but we always at least thought you were safe and happy and fulfilling your potential in a way we could never do for you and now we learn that we were wrong the whole time.â
Mittens shifts in his chair to reach to take his Pa's hand and looks over at both of them. "N-no. It's n-not your fault." He shakes his head, trying hard to hold back tears he can feel starting to burn at the corner of his eyes.
Putting down his mug of tea Roland positions himself to give his son full eye contact, âMittens. Just because we didnât mean to do it doesnât mean we werenât at fault for it. Weâre your parents and itâs our job to keep you safe. Youâre thirteen and weâre both so proud of how independent you are but you shouldnât have to be.â
He looks across at his wife whoâs nodding furiously as he adds, âIf youâre sure you want to forgive us for it then thatâs wonderful to hear, but weâre going to do our best to make it up to you all the same.â
"B-but I don't need to forgive you for anything!" Mittens says, his voice cracking as he feels his guilt and the worry he's held in for so long starts to seep out.
"If was never your fault. If-If I'd never have stopped at the market that day to watch Miss Kennari's show I'd of never met her. If I'd just come home when she'd disappeared I-I..." Mittens sniffs, a big fat tear trickling down his cheek turning gold in the light of his heart mark tattoo as it follows the line before moving down onto his whisker.
"B-but I was selfish. I-I was selfish and s-stupid, and I-I was scared... I was scared that she had left me because I wasn't what she thought I was. That I-I wasn't good enough for her. T-that everyone was right, and I really was just some dumb stupid child running around in The Feywild and The Dawnlands and everywhere seeing and experiencing and meeting all the amazing folks and things that me new life had to offer...I was just living a lie. I was living a life that shouldn't ever of been mine at all." As he finishes the tear from his whisker begins to fall, dropping slowly to its golden fire lit demise upon the floor.
Roland screws his face up and at first chokes on his words, âYou need to listen to me: today you stood up for our whole town and a bunch of other ones and showed us that our little boy went off and became a hero. You saved hundreds of people today⌠even if you killed someone to do it,â he looks up at Beatrice, who even though sheâs crying, shrugs at this particular detail, âIt hurts my heart to think of you needing to be as strong as you are butâŚyou are that strong Mittens. Your ma and I are so proud of who youâve become and I never want to hear you call yourself dumb or stupid ever again dâyou hear? Because youâre anything but.â
âAnd if you want to stay here with us and never have to worry about anything like the crap youâve had to deal with in the last two years ever again, well⌠your ma and I would love that. But sayinâ it makes me think of something I said to her way back then.â
Mittens sniffs, tears properly trickling down his cheek now."T-to who?"
Beatrice looks away for a second as Roland continues, âTo your ma. She didnât want you to go, and that doesnât mean I did or nothing like that. But what I said that got her to agree was-â
Beatrice looks back at Mittens âHe said âThat kittenâs a little spark of light in the world and weâre being selfish if we keep him here to just shine for us.ââ
Mittensâ eyes are awash with tears, his little cat nose running but he sniffs it all back and squeezes both their hands tightly before he breaks the grip to rub his eyes clearâŚ
"So many folks in the Dawnlands only talk about the darkness in their lives..They only linger on the bad, how unfair their lot in life is...There are others too-others that wanna just use their time and power to just spread more darkness, to cause more pain, and suffering, and maybe that's because somewhere deep inside they're hurting too...And, maybe they think by spreading darkness, it'll balance things out, it'll tip the scales in their favour..I-It'll makeâem feel better..M-make'em feel powerful."
He looks back at his parents, and now his voice doesn't wobble, doesn't tremble with emotion. Because he's confident. Because he knows it. He's known all along, deep inside and coming home now, to place it all started, has made him sure.
"But that's not what I wanna do. I-I wanna make folk happy. I-I wanna s-show'em that amongst all the darkness and pain, there's light. There's light, and smiles, and laughter and friends..and family...and magicâŚMagic that could do so much good in the world if you learn how to let it. Calla showed you the bad results of some of my adventures..But let me show you the good ones too."
At that Mittens turns and faces the pantry door, he raises an arm and reaches out towards it with his paw. His eyes begin to sparkle cyan which ripples out in waves across the fur of his face, picking out the streaks of gold of his heart mark tattoo hovering ever so slightly above it the door appears to change into a portal, similar to which many times now Mittens has walked through in Daring Heights, and now takes the hands of both Beatrice and Roland to pull them to their feet, and lead them both through.
As they do their view is met by the sight of the younger Mittens they knew, his hair and clothes blown askew by the crackling bolts of energy he has conjured anew, a faded almost distant figure stood nearby with a just notable red mass of hair making them recognisable who.
Around and under the McKittensâ feet bright green grass sprouts up fresh and new, all with the right feel, and right the smell and even glistening dew drops too. The spell casting Mittens suddenly then fades from their view before being replaced by another walking on the spot purposely towards them, head turning constantly in wonder as if each sight they are seeing are amazing and new, sights which then suddenly materialise around the three so they can see too. A walled town upon a hilltop, a gate less fort of pinkish hue, floating cities in the sky, a snowy realm of palest blue, a land blooming with streams of magic and plenty a mushrooms too, an ancient temple in a sunny realm rising upwards and becoming new, an orchard in another realm filled with Levkoi like creatures too. A pond of pure gold coloured by the moon. A peaceful clearing in some woods, a cosy apartment room.
As all these images are conjured people past Mittens by, some scoff, some stare, some sneer, some poo-poo. But then some begin to stick by him, even smile at him too. A blue-skinned elf-like girl straightens her glasses, a handsome crimson young man gives a bow, that smiling gent Archie dapper from fine hat to shined shoes, a strong and noble looking minotaur looking concerned but then proud too. Other figures continue to emerge into view, some shaking their heads, giving exasperated sighs but then smiling along with the rest. That enthusiastic woman Ruthenia, a violin player in blue, a sparkling starry horned and hoofed woman, a sleeping goliath sprawled on a sofa askew, a book loving lizard both curious and sweet, a pretty young satyr woman who gives the Kitten's hair a quick tweak.
The 'Mittens' keeps walking, and begins changing too, growing a little bit taller, rougher on the edges but also golden streaked in hue. He stops, meets his parents' eyes and opens his mouth to echo as the real Mittens begins to speak: âThese are just some of the places Iâve been, some held the most amazing sights, but others frights and extremes. Some people didnât think I should be there at all. But folk like these around me, have stuck by me through it all. Itâs all not about trying to become the most powerful or passing academic tests, but experiencing things with others, and helping one another in becoming your best.â
The pair stand in stunned silence at what they see before them, truly awed by the sights that their son has been able to witness.
Wordlessly Roland looks toward Beatrice who meets his gaze and nods before putting a hand on Mittens' shoulder.
"We... can't offer you any of that Kitten. If you were to move back here with us you'd be giving up all of the things you've just shown us and I don't think your Pa or I could live with taking that away from you."
Mittens sniffs, and rubs his eye, and as he does the illusions starts to fade, until he and his parents are left standing in a darkened recreation of his, Ronk's and Yimari's apartment, the window ahead of them giving a small muted view of the pale sunlit street outside, a snoozing Levkoi curled up upon the still.
"You both have given me the best start in life, I know that now more than I ever thought I knew..."
"You love me..and I love both of you."
Roland crouches down next to Mittens "Of course we do."
"Which is why we're selling the farm."
"Wha..?" Mittensâ jaw slacks, and he stares in confusion at them both.
Beatrice hunkers down on Mittens' other shoulder, "If you can't stay here then we've got to come with you Kitten. You don't need your ma and pa following you about on adventures or nothinâ, but I'm sure there's somewhere we can set up a little farm in that Kantas place right?"
"We can pot up some of the silverbark and replant it to keep your friend Archie happy, not to mention the cows."
A brief flash outside the window signals that the cows, with their newfound intelligence, are beginning to discover fire.
"B-but ya sure?" Mittens says, still staring between them both. "You both love it here, and you've worked the land anâ all for so long...and.."
Roland puts his arm around Mittens' shoulders and kisses the top of his head as Beatrice snuggles up next to the pair of them, "Sure we love this place."
"But we love you more."
Mittens sits in his old seat by the fire in the old farm house, taking in the familiar scents and sights of the place.
The smell of the wood smoke, the lingering scent of his ma's baked bread still permeating the air even hours later. The scribble that counted as a drawing of three black furred figures still hung on the wall. Done so many years ago now, and before so much he can scarcely believe he did it himself; yet he can still recall sprawled drawing it here on the floor in front of the very fire he's returned to now.
He glances over at his father, Roland, who's not even touched the chocolate biscuit sat next to his mug of tea, and guiltily recalls that look of fear upon his face as he cast that spell upon him earlier this evening.
"A-are you doing okay Fa?" He enquires, ears bowed.
"I-I'm really sorry I cast that spell on ya. On both of ya." He adds, giving his Ma the same apologetic look before he stares down into his milk glass, still not even touched at all.
âMittens, Iâm not gonna encourage you to do it again or aught, but nah, youâve got nothing to apologise for and⌠I understand what you were tryâna do.â Roland says a little sadly before a proud smile crosses his face and he leans across to ruffle Mittensâ hair, âAnd it was a damn good spell.â
Mittensâ mother Beatrice, sat the other side of her son, opens her mouth to argue with this, but instead rolls her eyes and sits back with her arms crossed, gently chuckling at the pair of them.
Mittens can't help but smile weakly enjoying re-experiencing the old comforting gesture before he bites his lip. "I-I've only had that spell work a couple of times...I'm just sorry it had to work on ya...C-can I ask what ya saw?" He breaches tentatively.
Roland takes a long drink of his tea as Mittensâ parents make knowing eye contact.
âI think after your friend Calla showed us what she did there was only going to be one thing either of us were ever gonna see Mittens.â
Mittens gently swirls the milk in his glass as he too recalls Callas'..'theatrics' in the fake-version of this room, still not able to have his eye twitch at a sudden imaginary spot of mould or drop of blood forming on the floor or wall. "Calla's not usually so.."
"Intense." Mittens settled on, "She..meant well but has gone through a lot of shi-s-stuff..."He catches himself with a guilty eye flick to his Ma. "She can be really kind and caring, and funny too...Oh and she's not a black tabaxi either." He added, waiting again for his parents to give one another a shared glance.
The shared glance is an annoyed one from Roland and a smug one from Beatrice as he fishes a coin out of his pocket and throws it to her. Catching it, her expression shifts back to concern, âWell she certainly knows how to get her point across Kitten. And I suppose if we hadnât seen it for ourselves I donât think your pa or I couldâve believed the things youâve been up to.â A tear rolls down her face, âAnd that we werenât there for.â
She looks down at her mug of tea for a long pause before turning back to him, âIâm so sorry Mittens, we both are.â She squeaks out the sentence as Roland wipes his nose and nods his head in agreement.
"W-what are you sorry for?" Mittens asked, the sight of his ma getting emotional completely brushing the sight of the coin toss from his mind, Ma rarely ever cried.
âKitten we let you go to a whole other place with someone who abandoned you for two years and you died. Weâre your parents. Weâre supposed to be there for you and we werenât. Youâve been in harmâs way over and over and over again and we let that happen.â
She holds her sonâs hand tightly in her own as Roland speaks, âMittens weâve missed you so much since youâve been gone, but we always at least thought you were safe and happy and fulfilling your potential in a way we could never do for you and now we learn that we were wrong the whole time.â
Mittens shifts in his chair to reach to take his Pa's hand and looks over at both of them. "N-no. It's n-not your fault." He shakes his head, trying hard to hold back tears he can feel starting to burn at the corner of his eyes.
Putting down his mug of tea Roland positions himself to give his son full eye contact, âMittens. Just because we didnât mean to do it doesnât mean we werenât at fault for it. Weâre your parents and itâs our job to keep you safe. Youâre thirteen and weâre both so proud of how independent you are but you shouldnât have to be.â
He looks across at his wife whoâs nodding furiously as he adds, âIf youâre sure you want to forgive us for it then thatâs wonderful to hear, but weâre going to do our best to make it up to you all the same.â
"B-but I don't need to forgive you for anything!" Mittens says, his voice cracking as he feels his guilt and the worry he's held in for so long starts to seep out.
"If was never your fault. If-If I'd never have stopped at the market that day to watch Miss Kennari's show I'd of never met her. If I'd just come home when she'd disappeared I-I..." Mittens sniffs, a big fat tear trickling down his cheek turning gold in the light of his heart mark tattoo as it follows the line before moving down onto his whisker.
"B-but I was selfish. I-I was selfish and s-stupid, and I-I was scared... I was scared that she had left me because I wasn't what she thought I was. That I-I wasn't good enough for her. T-that everyone was right, and I really was just some dumb stupid child running around in The Feywild and The Dawnlands and everywhere seeing and experiencing and meeting all the amazing folks and things that me new life had to offer...I was just living a lie. I was living a life that shouldn't ever of been mine at all." As he finishes the tear from his whisker begins to fall, dropping slowly to its golden fire lit demise upon the floor.
Roland screws his face up and at first chokes on his words, âYou need to listen to me: today you stood up for our whole town and a bunch of other ones and showed us that our little boy went off and became a hero. You saved hundreds of people today⌠even if you killed someone to do it,â he looks up at Beatrice, who even though sheâs crying, shrugs at this particular detail, âIt hurts my heart to think of you needing to be as strong as you are butâŚyou are that strong Mittens. Your ma and I are so proud of who youâve become and I never want to hear you call yourself dumb or stupid ever again dâyou hear? Because youâre anything but.â
âAnd if you want to stay here with us and never have to worry about anything like the crap youâve had to deal with in the last two years ever again, well⌠your ma and I would love that. But sayinâ it makes me think of something I said to her way back then.â
Mittens sniffs, tears properly trickling down his cheek now."T-to who?"
Beatrice looks away for a second as Roland continues, âTo your ma. She didnât want you to go, and that doesnât mean I did or nothing like that. But what I said that got her to agree was-â
Beatrice looks back at Mittens âHe said âThat kittenâs a little spark of light in the world and weâre being selfish if we keep him here to just shine for us.ââ
Mittensâ eyes are awash with tears, his little cat nose running but he sniffs it all back and squeezes both their hands tightly before he breaks the grip to rub his eyes clearâŚ
"So many folks in the Dawnlands only talk about the darkness in their lives..They only linger on the bad, how unfair their lot in life is...There are others too-others that wanna just use their time and power to just spread more darkness, to cause more pain, and suffering, and maybe that's because somewhere deep inside they're hurting too...And, maybe they think by spreading darkness, it'll balance things out, it'll tip the scales in their favour..I-It'll makeâem feel better..M-make'em feel powerful."
He looks back at his parents, and now his voice doesn't wobble, doesn't tremble with emotion. Because he's confident. Because he knows it. He's known all along, deep inside and coming home now, to place it all started, has made him sure.
"But that's not what I wanna do. I-I wanna make folk happy. I-I wanna s-show'em that amongst all the darkness and pain, there's light. There's light, and smiles, and laughter and friends..and family...and magicâŚMagic that could do so much good in the world if you learn how to let it. Calla showed you the bad results of some of my adventures..But let me show you the good ones too."
At that Mittens turns and faces the pantry door, he raises an arm and reaches out towards it with his paw. His eyes begin to sparkle cyan which ripples out in waves across the fur of his face, picking out the streaks of gold of his heart mark tattoo hovering ever so slightly above it the door appears to change into a portal, similar to which many times now Mittens has walked through in Daring Heights, and now takes the hands of both Beatrice and Roland to pull them to their feet, and lead them both through.
As they do their view is met by the sight of the younger Mittens they knew, his hair and clothes blown askew by the crackling bolts of energy he has conjured anew, a faded almost distant figure stood nearby with a just notable red mass of hair making them recognisable who.
Around and under the McKittensâ feet bright green grass sprouts up fresh and new, all with the right feel, and right the smell and even glistening dew drops too. The spell casting Mittens suddenly then fades from their view before being replaced by another walking on the spot purposely towards them, head turning constantly in wonder as if each sight they are seeing are amazing and new, sights which then suddenly materialise around the three so they can see too. A walled town upon a hilltop, a gate less fort of pinkish hue, floating cities in the sky, a snowy realm of palest blue, a land blooming with streams of magic and plenty a mushrooms too, an ancient temple in a sunny realm rising upwards and becoming new, an orchard in another realm filled with Levkoi like creatures too. A pond of pure gold coloured by the moon. A peaceful clearing in some woods, a cosy apartment room.
As all these images are conjured people past Mittens by, some scoff, some stare, some sneer, some poo-poo. But then some begin to stick by him, even smile at him too. A blue-skinned elf-like girl straightens her glasses, a handsome crimson young man gives a bow, that smiling gent Archie dapper from fine hat to shined shoes, a strong and noble looking minotaur looking concerned but then proud too. Other figures continue to emerge into view, some shaking their heads, giving exasperated sighs but then smiling along with the rest. That enthusiastic woman Ruthenia, a violin player in blue, a sparkling starry horned and hoofed woman, a sleeping goliath sprawled on a sofa askew, a book loving lizard both curious and sweet, a pretty young satyr woman who gives the Kitten's hair a quick tweak.
The 'Mittens' keeps walking, and begins changing too, growing a little bit taller, rougher on the edges but also golden streaked in hue. He stops, meets his parents' eyes and opens his mouth to echo as the real Mittens begins to speak: âThese are just some of the places Iâve been, some held the most amazing sights, but others frights and extremes. Some people didnât think I should be there at all. But folk like these around me, have stuck by me through it all. Itâs all not about trying to become the most powerful or passing academic tests, but experiencing things with others, and helping one another in becoming your best.â
The pair stand in stunned silence at what they see before them, truly awed by the sights that their son has been able to witness.
Wordlessly Roland looks toward Beatrice who meets his gaze and nods before putting a hand on Mittens' shoulder.
"We... can't offer you any of that Kitten. If you were to move back here with us you'd be giving up all of the things you've just shown us and I don't think your Pa or I could live with taking that away from you."
Mittens sniffs, and rubs his eye, and as he does the illusions starts to fade, until he and his parents are left standing in a darkened recreation of his, Ronk's and Yimari's apartment, the window ahead of them giving a small muted view of the pale sunlit street outside, a snoozing Levkoi curled up upon the still.
"You both have given me the best start in life, I know that now more than I ever thought I knew..."
"You love me..and I love both of you."
Roland crouches down next to Mittens "Of course we do."
"Which is why we're selling the farm."
"Wha..?" Mittensâ jaw slacks, and he stares in confusion at them both.
Beatrice hunkers down on Mittens' other shoulder, "If you can't stay here then we've got to come with you Kitten. You don't need your ma and pa following you about on adventures or nothinâ, but I'm sure there's somewhere we can set up a little farm in that Kantas place right?"
"We can pot up some of the silverbark and replant it to keep your friend Archie happy, not to mention the cows."
A brief flash outside the window signals that the cows, with their newfound intelligence, are beginning to discover fire.
"B-but ya sure?" Mittens says, still staring between them both. "You both love it here, and you've worked the land anâ all for so long...and.."
Roland puts his arm around Mittens' shoulders and kisses the top of his head as Beatrice snuggles up next to the pair of them, "Sure we love this place."
"But we love you more."
Beatrice and Roland Mckittens
(Thank you Tom for portraying them both so wonderfully! đ)
(Thank you Tom for portraying them both so wonderfully! đ)
