"Master… I thought you mentioned - were you not aware after all?"

"Aware of what?"

I thought back to what I've read, to what I've seen. Neplims… Neplims... guardians of the realm, omen of fortune and health, extremely rare creatures, and affectionate when approached. I remembered my party spending a good ten minutes doing nothing but stroking their fuzzy coats, all with tears glistening in their eyes.

Which is it among those descriptors could warrant such a show of apprehension? I honestly don't get it.

"They aren't going to hurt you, Ash."

"Master, Neplims are… they... " She tried shifting her gaze onto one of them and instead shuddered at the sight. "They are beings of extreme divinity, purity, kindness… goodness..."

"Niceness?"

"Master, I do not jest," said Ash quietly, her expression painfully strained.

I heard the thunder rumble, the wind whistle, and the leaves rustle. The sky as grey as could be. No jesting… got it.

"Sorry."

Another pained face. No apologies either. Ash didn't like those.

"Neplims brim benevolence," She continued. "As such, they can sense it in others too. The innate goodness in all beings, it's what draws them to others… it's what draws them to you."

Affirming her claims, were Mr. Black and Mrs. White on either side of me, curled in a ball, peacefully in slumber.

"Cat things," I told her. "It's normal for cats. They trust you, they come to you. I'm sure even in Asteria they - "

"They do not," Ash interjected. "Not for all."

I found that hard to believe. My party members were a diverse cast of hooligans and outcast. I had an Orc with me. A big, burly orc with an even bigger reputation. People know to flee at the very sight of him.

If a cat could climb atop his shoulder and rubbed its face against his…

"Who's the exception, then?" I asked. "You?"

"They can sense the good in others," Ash muttered. "Likewise, for the impure and evil… they can sense that too."

Oh no… I didn't like how she said that, I didn't like how she could even imply of such a thing.

"Don't tell me you really think that. Ash, don't. That's just being silly."

Ash shook her head. "I don't have to think anything, Master. They already know."

"You're not evil, Ash," I said. "You think you are? Why? Because the other races hate your kind? That's - it's not… Ash, that doesn't make you evil! It just makes them blind! They wanna see what they wanna see, let them. Just don't go looking to where they look and accepting that's the way things are, because it isn't. You aren't… a bad person."

I tried my best there. Mustering all I had, stressing all I had, trying to assure her of the fact. I would have gone on and on rambling to eternity and beyond if it meant convincing her, if only just a smidgen slight.

There was a smile on her face after hearing what I had to say. It wasn't a nice smile though.

'I like to believe that I'm not," She said. "I try my utmost not to be, but Master, it's imperative that you understand that the animosity against my kind is not unwarranted. Everything has a reason for being… even hatred."

"Hatred's unfounded."

"No, it isn't."

"Why? Because the cats here deemed it so? How can they even prove that?"

"They already have, Master," Ash lowered her gaze. "At first sight."

I thought I knew how this would all play out. I thought I had all this planned. I saw those cats bring joy and laughter to my members, and I thought I could do the same for Ash.

It was definitely going that way up until this point… how did things go so awry?

'First sight?" I asked.

"The Neplims are capable of eliciting an emotional response out of those fortunate enough to have sighted them," Ash explained. "Most... those inherently good… would be overcome by tears, as the purity deep within them start to overwhelm themselves. They'll feel blessed, grateful… and happy. Just by sight alone."

That… that actually makes sense. My party members being reduced to a sobbing mess… now it makes sense.

Those inherently good would feel good. It made sense, but I didn't want to, because then I'd have to believe that the exact opposite is true too.

"And you?" I said, nudging over to Mrs. White laying by my side. "When you see them now… right here, what are you feeling?"

A short stare, a fleeting stare, before she broke away.

"Shame," muttered Ash. "Only shame."

"Ash, don't - you only feel that way because you want to - "

"Master…" Ash interrupted, her voice heavy and worn. "You believe... shame is what I really desire to feel?"

"Of course not, Ash. I just - "

I was becoming desperate, impulsive, even I was aware of it. I just wanted to prove her wrong, make her understand that she was more than she claimed to be…

These cats aren't Neplims anyway, they're just cats! Maybe I can get her to understand that. Neplims might be god-like in her world, but here on this normal mundane planet their just normal mundane cats.

Right?

Eshwlyn came to mind. Eshwlyn, with her sword gleaming red, her twisted lips baring wide.

"Pet one," I said, placing Mrs. White, the friendlier of the two, onto the ground in front of Ash. "We'll see for sure this way."

"Master, I don't think - "

"Just indulge me," I pleaded. "If she lets you pet her… then yeah, you're wrong, and you're not bad… you're just… misinformed."

Ash, with uncertainty in her gaze, stared silently at Mrs. White, who had begun sniffing the chilly air with eyes every curious.

"And if I'm right?" She asked.

I simply nudged my head forward. "Pet the cat, Ash."

She complied. Reluctantly, hesitantly complied. Bending down, leveling with Mrs. White. Just like Ash's, Mrs. White's ears had perked upwards in attention, sensing the presence of another nearby and slowly inched her way towards Ash.

It was almost a mirror reflection. Both had white hair, both had glistening emerald eyes, and both came to me at my time of desperate need. There was never a more likely match for one another than the two of them across from each other.

I wanted so much to be right.

Was I?

Ash stretched out her hand and Mrs. White crept closer. Will she be accepted? Would she feel accepted? Barely there, fingertips barely grazing at her fur… one more step, and then -

A shriek. A swipe. The sudden show of aggression baring her fangs wide.

I didn't want to believe it. Then it happened again.

Mr. Black beside me hollered and yowled, his sharp claws extending from his paws, his pupils forming into narrow slits.

What the hell…

"There's your answer," Ash said, standing back up, her gaze averted to the ground. "As is mine…"

"Cats… they… y'know, they don't," I sputtered. I kept sputtering. "Sometimes they don't trust people and they just - "

"You claimed they do."

"I was just generalizing," I said, springing off from the bench. "It's… argh, it's just complicated, alright?"

"Not really," She said. "I am what I am and what I am is far from just. Asteria's hatred for my kind is not unfounded."

I shook my head. "Asteria isn't…"

Asteria isn't what? Isn't real? She doesn't know that. She doesn't need to know that.

"You aren't in Asteria."

"Perhaps not," A sigh. "Still, it does change what I am."

'You can't believe - "

"Kindness. Kindness again," she muttered. "The same kindness that had sheltered me, the same kindness that had clothed me. The same kindness… that ultimately had led us here."

"I was trying to help."

Ash smiled sadly. "And you have."

"Not like this, come on."

"My eagerness to meet the Neplims was not simply prompted by wonder alone. Surely you must have known that by now. I had a reason… a question, a question I longed for resolution for years and years now, a question that only they hold the answer to. An answer I so desperately sought out, and I found it. Thanks to you."

A light drizzle pouring down at our feet. The rain had finally come.

"You don't want that answer," I said, still fighting, still trying.

"Want?" A chuckle, a shake of the head. Ash clicked open the umbrella and raised it up high. "Master… a servant does not want, remember?"

The thunder rumbled. The sky cried. How could this get any worse than it already has?

"And you," Ash continued, leading us away to the park's exit. "You finally have a justified reason to be afraid."

That caught me off guard. That had me turning towards her. That, I breathlessly inquired, "You think I'm afraid of you?"

Ash continued to walk. The rain continued to pour. Everything continued to get even worse.

"Master, sometimes… you mutter in your sleep."