Chapter 34 The Hatching

More and more cracks formed on the egg, focused on the right side. A palm sized piece of shell broke off as a silvery white snout poked out. Following the snout was a whiskered head with closed eyes and folded ears atop its head.

It wiggled, pulling out stubby silver white front legs tipped with fluffy paws too big for its body. With its front legs, it freed the rest of its body without trouble, pulling out rear legs just as stubby and tipped with fluffy paws. Next, a sleek silvery tail slipped from the egg, tipped with a webbed translucent purple fork similar to a fish.

Now free, it mewed while blindly stumbling up Elysia’s right thigh, prodding its paw to find a safe path.

Unable to resist any longer, Elysia squealed, scooping up the adorable kitten as the shell fell from her chest, shattering on the concrete. Elysia cradled the silky soft kitten, unaware of her audience. A purr rumbled from the forearm length kitten as it snuggled into her chest.

A familiar pull of electricity caused her to sway, but bolstered by the cords still wrapped around her wrists, she recovered a moment later as warmth once again radiated through her body. Unlike last time, the kitten barely drew anything from the incoming electricity, instead focusing on sucking on her core. The generator fought to keep up, filling the core just as fast as it emptied. Elysia fell into a trance as the cycle left her in a constant state of fuzzy warmth, both weakened and bolstered.

The kitten grew a centimeter per minute as it gorged on Elysia’s lightning before ceasing fifteen minutes later. When the kitten stopped feeding, the electricity filled her core to the brim within seconds, sending her body into spasms as the overflowing electricity coursed through her body. Smoke wafted off her seizing body while the kitten mewed in her arms unharmed.

Thinking quick, Eva who was watching in the crowd dashed to the cable, unplugging it from the generator, as the burly man approached Elysia with a blanket. He averted his eyes as he wrapped her up with the kitten still held to her chest. With a gentle motion, he unwound the bare wires from her wrists before lifting her into a princess carry, giving a glare at the gawking crowd, sending them scattering.

The burly man carried Elysia, who just now snapped back into focus, wiggling to free herself. Her veins lit up violet as she used static shock to electrify her body. His arms locked up from the current, allowing her to escape, dropping to the asphalt with her bare feet clutching the singed white blanket around her body with one hand while clutching the kitten with her other arm.

Elysia spun to the burly man and glared, but only met a warm smile in return. Still, she maintained eye contact, refusing to back down until the man towering two and half meters raised his hands in surrender as he spoke, “Just like my daughter, never willing to accept help.”

“So you carry around your daughter naked?” Elysia shot back.

At first, the burly man stared at her, confused, before her words registered. He waved both his hands as he refuted, “You were already naked. I was just carrying you away from the crowd.”

After searching his face for any signs of falsehood, she sighed as she apologized, “Sorry I shouldn’t have accused you.”

Now understanding her point of view, he said, “No harm done. I would’ve probably reacted the same way in your shoes.”

Elysia glanced at Umbra through the open garage door before turning back to the man. “Well, thank you, mister.”

“Tobias,” interrupted the burly man.

Elysia nodded her head as she continued, “Tobias, but I better get back to my ship and find some clothes.”

Before he could stop her, she strode into the warehouse while doing her best to keep the blanket wrapped around her body. Upon arriving at the ladder, she stopped. Her eyes scanned over the supposedly busy workers sneaking glances at her before grabbing onto the ladder through the blanket with her right hand as her left arm held the contently purring kitten.

After a struggle, grasping on the blanket while climbing the ladder, she speed walked up the stairs to the rear deck, stopping dead, eyes scanning the changes. She made a note to question the overboard work as she trotted inside, finding the control room cleaner but otherwise appearing unchanged. Her amethyst gaze scanned for any eyes before dropping the blanket as she rummaged through her clothing stash, choosing a light blue T-shirt, black hoodie, and gray shorts. With her outfit grasped in her kitten free arm, covering her breasts, she dashed into the bathroom before anyone could see her.

Once inside, the first problem presented itself. The silvery, silky soft bundle of fluff purring nestled into her side looked too adorable to disturb. Still, the desire to put on clothes overpowered the adorable kitten, just barely.

Elysia shifted her arm, silencing the purr, breaking her heart. Unable to bear disturbing the kitten longer than necessary, she gently laid the kitten on the blanket piled in the sink before slipping on her clothes. With the gentleness of handling a newborn baby, she lifted the sleeping kitten off its temporary nest back into the crook of her left arm where it immediately nestled back against her side, purr motor restarted.

Careful not to disturb the snoozing kitten, she walked out of the bathroom, now paying attention to the changes. Unlike her novice cleaning job, the interior practically sparkled. The hardwood floors gleamed, reflecting the LED lights mounted on the ceiling.

A horrifying thought formed, causing her to speed walk into the control room, lifting the couch cushion with her right arm to find her horde right where she left it, though her critical eye spotted the slight difference in positioning. How dare someone touch my treasures! Elysia shook her head, clearing the possessive thoughts. Woah, why am I so attached to my loot? Something to think about later.

After scanning her hoard one more time, she dropped the cushion, turning to leave, coming face-to-face with Eva. Eva’s eyes flicked down to the silver bundle of furry nestled against her side before frowning and walking past Elysia, picking up and manual ignoring Elysia’s existence. What’s with her? Ever since I tried to introduce myself, she acted different. Oh well, it’s not my problem long as she doesn’t sabotage my ship.

With a shrug, she left the control room, wandering downstairs to check the progress, again freezing at the bottom, eyes roving over the pristine open area. All I wanted was a new floor! This is too much. The deal was to fix my boat, not renovate it. How did they do all of this so quick? Did my kitten put me out of commission longer than I thought?

Her kitten shifting broke her from her thoughts, drawing her gaze down to the adorable silky bundle now belly up with its tongue poking out of its mouth. Like the rest of its body, silvery white fur covered its stomach. Unable to resist, she pulled the long fork finned tail away, finding a vertical slit denoting the kitten as a female. With her curiosity sated, she let go of the tail which curled up along its stomach, fin touching the kitten’s nose. Her right hand shot to her mouth, smothering a squeal as she smiled down at her kitten.

Elysia shook her head before focusing back on her surroundings, entering the bedroom, smiling in appreciation when her eyes scanned the room. A scent of pine permeated through the room, reminding her of home, drawing her toward the inviting bed.

Mental and physical exhaustion forced her to lie down, curling up atop the multi-shade gray quilt, nestling her kitten to her chest, eyes drifting closed. The quiet rumble of the kitten’s purr lulled her to sleep.

A shaking woke her from her nap a couple of hours later. With half open unfocused eyes, she sat up and peered out the still open door through the open area that was once a living room. Beyond the living room, she found the open storage room and engine room door gave her a view of the warehouse. The view snapped awake, but a mewing broke her attention, drawing it to the blind and deaf kitten stumbling on the quilt, frantically searching for something.

Elysia positioned herself so she could see through the door as she curled up on her right side, gently pulling the kitten toward her.

A purr immediately fired up as her kitten ran as fast as she could on her stubby legs, curling up in Elysia’s armpit, letting out a long mewed yawn as she fell back to sleep purring contently.

Butterflies fluttered in her chest with the urge to hug her kitten, but with a force of will she held off, focusing her attention out the door. A crane lowered one of the massive diesel engines onto its rebuilt mounts. She cringed as a loud air drill torqued down the bolts, unconsciously covering her kitten with her left arm as she continued to watch.

Unaware of the loud noises, her kitten nestled deeper into her armpit, shifting her tail to cover her face with the fin.

Five minutes later, the second engine dropped into the other engine mounts to the left of the first engine, followed by another loud bolting down. With the engines blocking her view, she relied on her ears, listening to metal sliding, which she assumed was the shaft connecting the engine to the props.

Becoming bored, Elysia absentmindedly pet her kitten with her left hand, lazing on her new bed as they wired in the engines and electric motors barely visible from her positioning. Her kitten leaned into her hand, purring louder. Elysia shivered, pulling her knees upward as she shifted, leaving her kitten wedged between her knees and her chest while continuing to pet her exposed head.

The view of the warehouse beyond the engines closed off, followed by muffled drills. A few minutes later, a barely noticeable vibration followed by a muffled rumbling reached her. After a few more minutes, the rumbling kicked up a notch, but still quieter than the air tools, causing a nod of appreciation from Elysia.

The engines cut a minute later, returning silence to the sound dampened bedroom.

With the new positioning, her kitten awakened, snuggling closer before a suction on her core sent a wave of exhaustion through her body. Elysia’s trembling hand pet the kitten purring happily as it grew several more centimeters before cutting the connection curling up once again.

-50 Charge.

Am I am a mother now? She seems to live off my lightning, but do I need to feed her something else? Kitten’s her age usually needs their mother’s milk. Is my lightning the equivalent? I’m not sure how I feel about that, but if true, at least it’s convenient as long as I keep myself topped off. With her rate of growth, she will hopefully grow out of it soon anyway. Unless she is growing to the size of a tiger. I hope not I don’t have room for a cat that big.

Elysia inspected the fork finned tail as her thoughts continued. Also, what’s with the fin? Aside from that, she looks like a regular kitten, though on the big side for her age if I compare her to a house cat. Do I have a cat fish? At least unlike regular catfish, she’s adorable. If she lives off my lightning, she probably has a lightning element, but who knows, maybe she just lives off of it. All I can do is keep her fed and hope for the best. I’m all for an adorable kitty joining me on my adventures. Though I don’t know if I want to risk her life. Maybe it would be better for her to guard the ship. Yeah, when she grows older she will be my adorable fluffy guard cat! That thought elicited a giggle. Her giggle silenced at the sound of knocking.