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The witch cackled, flinging another potion bottle in the general direction of the group of players amassed on her.
Grian launched himself skyward, dodging a skeleton arrow and diving down to land a hit on the witch, only to have to backwing at the last second to avoid Scar, who had stopped to pick up a flower mid-battle.
“SCAR!”
He looked up, blinking innocently. “Hi Grian!”
“There is a battle ,” Grian hissed. “Happening! Stop picking flowers!”
Cleo threw a potion of regen down to negate a poison cloud the witch had created, snickering. “You’re fine Scar, it’s almost dead anyways.”
“Yay!” Scar reached for another blue orchid hidden underneath the long fronds of some grass, humming some disney song tune.
Grian facepalmed. ‘Don’t encourage him, Cleo!”
The witch finally died, slashed apart by Pearl from behind. “Scar picking flowers again?”
Cleo nodded, sifting through the loot with a sigh. “Nothing good, guys.”
They were clearing out a swamp for a new farm Impulse needed; he’d paid handsomely for someone to go light up the already-cleared area and get rid of all the mobs spawning so he wouldn’t have to. Cleo, Pearl, Grian, and Scar had taken the job (Scar mostly because he wanted to get the flowers and some swamp mobs for his zoo), and here they were, killing witches and chasing Scar around before he got himself killed.
A frog hopped into view, and Grian preemptively facepalmed as Scar immediately dropped his armful of flowers to chase it.
Pearl nudged Cleo. “I bet you five diamonds he’s gonna fall in a hole and die chasing that frog.”
Cleo shook their head. “No, no, he’s going to walk into a creeper and get blown up, for sure.”
“Come here little fella!” Scar called, already several dozen blocks away with Grian hovering near him. Pearl and Cleo hurried to catch up– how would they know the results of their bet with Scar out of view?
The frog was having none of it, hopping distances that seemed greater than what a frog could normally jump to get away from Scar.
Cleo hissed at a zombie that came too close, startling it long enough to slice it apart and collect the carrot that dropped without breaking stride.
“It’s always weird to see you act zombie-ish,” Pearl commented. “Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.”
Cleo shrugged. “If I gotta be a zombie, I’m gonna take advantage of it.”
A ways ahead, Scar stumbled, barely dodging a hole in the ground. “Woah there! Be careful, froggy!”
Pearl sighed. “ Almost .”
“I see plenty of creepers,” Cleo said smugly, shooting one down and leaving another to wander closer and closer to the oblivious Scar.
Grian shot a glare towards Cleo and Pearl. “Could you guys stop betting on how Scar’s gonna die and help me keep him from dying instead?”
“But it’s so fun!” Pearl teased. Nevertheless, she sped up and dropped by Scar’s side, pulling him away from a zombie and throwing a potion of slowness at the frog he was so determined to catch. “There you go, buddy.”
Scar grinned. “Why thank you, Pearl!”
Grian landed with a hop a ways ahead of them, blocking off the frog’s escape as Cleo went around the side to surround it. “Something’s not right about this frog, guys,” Grian warned. “Normal frogs don’t run from players.”
“Even better! The most specialest frog for the most specialest zoo!” Scar cooed, hands already reaching out to grab the frog and slip a lead on it.
The frog croaked indignantly, and Grian’s head snapped to face it, purple eyes opening along his skin as he yelled, “Scar, no –”
But it was too late, and skin met frog as a cloud of vibrant green smoke poofed into existence, surrounding Scar and the frog near-instantly.
“...Huh.” Cleo said. “Well, that’s a new Scar death.”
“Never seen that one before,” Pearl agreed.
Grian growled. His various Watcher eyes were all open, flicking here and there in obvious concern. His wings were still the warm browns and whites of the kingfisher bird whose plumage he had chosen to imitate for the season, so he wasn’t completely aggrieved yet, but close.
The cloud took only moments to dissipate, thankfully, although no one expected what would be within the area that had once held Scar and the weird frog.
The frog was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Scar. But a kitten sat there, green eyes befuddled and confused at its surroundings.
It was a near identical copy of Jellie. Gray and white fur, even a little bow around his neck done in warm orange ribbon. But it wasn’t Jellie; this cat was far too young and didn’t have the spark of intelligence that lingered within Jellie’s eyes whenever anyone made eye contact with her.
“...Where did Scar go?” Cleo asked, staring at the cat. “And where did the kitty come from?”
Grian face planted into the dirt. The Watcher eyes were still open, but they all sported looks of pure annoyance and resignation at whatever knowledge Grian had come across. “Screw my entire life,” he groaned.
“Uh- you good, mate?” Pearl said slowly, nudging him with a foot.
Grian propped himself up on his elbows, not bothering to brush off the dirt stuck to his face. “Scar’s the cat.”
“Sorry, what?” Cleo asked, frowning. “I could swear you just said Scar is a cat.”
Pearl put it together before Cleo did. “ That’s Scar ?”
Grian nodded, a dismal lack of hope in his expression. “At least he’s cute, I guess.”
“He looks just like Jellie,” Cleo mused. “So the frog turned him into a baby Jellie?”
He shrugged. “All I know is that frog wasn’t a frog, and whatever it was doing it did to Scar, and now Scar’s a cat.”
“Mrow?” The cat– Scar– said.
They all exchanged looks.
“Soooo, anyone speak cat?” Pearl said.
Grian looked close to tears.
Cleo already had her communicator out, taking pictures of Scar and posting them to the hermit chat. Clearly, she was the only one with their priorities straight.
“Lets get him to spawn, and we can figure out how to turn him back from there?” Pearl suggested, giving Grian a sympathetic pat on the head. “I’m sure it's not permanent, Gri.”
Grian nodded, getting off the ground. “If it isn’t fixable, I’m throwing myself into the void. Scar is crazy enough as a human, imagine as a kitten!”
He shuddered. “With zoomies .”
“Well, that’s your problem, not mine!” Cleo said cheerfully. “Come on, let’s go. X is already at spawn, maybe he can admin-whatever this.”
Grian scooped up the tiny Scar, who cheeped and promptly began licking Grian’s arm. “Ew, no, stop that!”
“...You guys think he retained any of his intelligence, or is he a cat cat?” Pearl asked slowly.
Cleo snorted. “Is there a difference?”
The nether portal wasn’t too far away, but they immediately ran into trouble when Scar freaked out in Grian’s arms, wriggling out and sprinting away from the portal with a hiss.
“Scar no!” Grian cried, trying and failing to catch the slippery kitten before he launched himself into the air to chase Scar down.
Cleo and Pearl exchanged looks.
“You wanna…” Pearl gestured vaguely at the direction Grian and Scar had vanished into.
“Absolutely not.”
She sighed. “Yeah, me neither.”