“Jayce?” Satara squinted at the animal on the other side of the road.

“Hm?” She waited until he looked up from his phone. “What?”

“Isn't that cat making a weird noise?” She nodded in its direction.

“Well, it is spring now so …” He trailed off with an awkward laugh.

“It's walking funny too though.” She moved closer to the edge of the road.

“I hate to tell you this, Tara, but when a mummy cat looks for a daddy cat they – Okay, okay.” He withheld a bark of laughter that turned his face red as she looked at him and held up his hands, joining her at the roadside. “Looks like there's something wrong with its leg.”

“That's what I thought.” The road was clear on both sides. “How long did Sin say he was going to be?”

“He's already on his way.” He glanced at his phone again. “So probably about five minutes.”

He should be able to do something even if we can't. She crossed the road and realised at once that the cat had probably been hit by a car but had somehow managed to survive. Blood caked its lower back and its right hind leg trailed behind as it crept into she shadow of an industrial bin and cowered there, almost completely camouflaged by its tortoiseshell coat. It hissed as she crouched down opposite it, green eyes fierce but dull. Oh yeah. I'm not the one who's good at this.

“Is it okay?” asked Jason as he appeared beside her. She shook her head. “It didn't die, did it?”

“It's alive,” she reassured him. For now. If it stays under there with open wounds like that, it probably won't be for too long. “But we need to get it out of there.”

“Okay.” He dropped into a crouch and held his hand out to it. “Here, catty. Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?”

The cat hissed at him too but he persisted, dragging out word at the end of each sentence.

“Don't be like that. We're gonna help you, okay? Even this scary girl here.” He jerked a thumb at her, then rubbed it against his forefinger repeatedly. “You just need to come out so we can help. Come on. Pspspspspsps!”

Satara covered her mouth as the cat hissed louder and flattened its ears. “I don't think it's working, Jayce.”

“It's just scared. If you talk to it nicely enough –” He edged forward but the cat swiped furiously at his extended hand. “Whoa!”

It missed but she caught his arm before he could tumble back onto the pavement. She shook her head as his alarmed eyes turned to her and he sighed.

“Think we should call the vets?” He stood up again and examined his hand before wiggling his mobile phone meaningfully. “Wait, can we do that? It's not even our cat. Who're you supposed call for animal emergencies?”

“Sin.”

“I don't think that's what everyone does.”

She tried not to smile as Sinastar's voice made him jump.

“Did you lose something under there?” he asked, tilting his head to follow her gaze.

“Holy cra – Sin!” Jason spun around to face him. “How the hell did you get here so fast?”

“I told you it wasn't far.” He brushed his palm against the other's brow and did the same to Satara as she stood up. “What's wrong?”

“There's a cat under there,” She pointed at the glaring animal. “I think it got hit by a car.”

Sinastar sank down into a crouch between them and breathed out in relief. “It's still alive.”

“Can you heal with zai?” she asked.

“I think so.” He reached out to it with his fingers uncurled and didn't make any weird noises. Instead, he leaned forward on one knee and spoke softly. “This way, little one.”

“Ah you might not wanna do that, Sin,” said Jason quickly, placing a hand on the other's shoulder. “It's quite angr-”

The cat stopped hissing and Sinastar blinked slowly at it with a faint smile. He waited until it stretched its head out towards him before shifting closer and letting it smell his fingers.

“That's right,” he murmured, stroking its head several times and gradually shifting his hand closer to its lower back. “You're safe now.”

A minimal amount of Blue Fire flickered around his fingers and the cat started to purr. The blood on its back and leg melted into nothing and, though it turned sharply at one point when Sinstar laid a hand on its leg, it didn't bite him. In a matter of minutes, he finished healing the animal and smiled as it crept out from beneath the bin and rubbed itself against his thigh.

“All done,” he said, looking up at them as he tickled the cat's chin.

Was he studying to be a vet back home? Satara glanced at Jason who shook his head with a semi impressed, semi-frustated expression and groaned under his breath.

“Why does everything hate me and like him?”

She tilted her head and smirked. “Does that include yourself?”