Story is Co-Authored by Dreamy-Chan and Omicron The IceQueen

Queen's notes: Okay, quick note, Cassidy is something I made up, a Paper-Witch, a modern caster that evolved within the last 200 years from wood\frost type casters, so 'new' but in their field strong. Though all things considering even being a white-witch ['good'] their not all that strong in comparison to other casters and mages.

This has an AU story based on it, that DC and I did called, 'Phontom gets a Cupcake' that's out. Please enjoy the read. the first few chapters are very long

Cassidy, Claws, Isis and The Kar are my characters. And I think it's pretty clear we don't own the franchise this is based on XD I'd be in a house if I even had a share.

DC's notes: First off, Jafar and Simon are my creations, though the Dark Magician is -obviously- a Yu-Gi-Oh! creature.

As for other notes, there's not a lot to say, other than enjoy the read, and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did working on it with Omicron.

Isis, This Isn't Egypt

"Ack!"

Oh yes, glorious first words back home... He shook his head as he pushed himself up off his face, spitting out some dirt as he stood and brushed himself off before looking around, his cheeks flushed slightly red as he checked to see if anyone had seen his spectacular re-entry to Earth. Wait... was this Earth? It certainly didn't look like any Earth he'd seen before.

His hawk yellow eyes held utter confusion as he picked his dusty red and gold hat up off the ground, brushing it off before putting it back on as he stared around himself with alarm. Where was all the sand? What were all these funny structures he could see? He sighed quietly as he shook his head, trying to figure out just where he'd ended up, deep down thankful that one of his associates from the Shadow Realm hadn't seen his spectacular re-entry to what he had expected to be Earth. He'd have never heard the end of it...

A hiss came from the right, low and threatening, but strangely light. The reason being it was no Monster, but a normal feline that arched its back at the sudden new comer after shaking off shock. The pale feline was both strange and akin to something he'd know, looking like a cross of an Egyptian Mau in body, yet the pale coloration of the exotic Siamese and the size of something else.

The old feline queen arched her back, fur standing on end and her tail lashed as the feline glowered at the... non-man with all the authority of her Mau blood, those tomb and temple guardians. She wasn't about to leave though, not with small squeaking, blind kittens behind her.

The man jumped slightly, turning quickly as he drew his staff, but he relaxed himself as he looked at the cat with confused interest. He'd never seen a cat quite like this one before. Putting his staff away, he took a step back away from the cat, taking his hat off again and fumbling absently with it as he eyed the feline with curiosity and traces of respect. Yes, he definitely wasn't going to mess with this cat. He knew all too well that messing with cats rarely ended well.

He had one of his associates to blame for that little encounter... damn sphinx...

"NeeeOOOW!" The feline queen shrieked, using her Siamese voice. Loud was an understatement, this was a true queen that had been forgotten and insulted by being left out side. Pregnant no less!

Yet her Mau blood held the possibility of communication, of a sorts, and information of where this stranger was.

The being flinched slightly as he took a few more steps back, muttering an apology in what he thought was the normal language to speak. After all, he'd spoken ancient Egyptian all his life; he had no idea just how much the world had changed.

It was odd, really, apologizing to a cat, and anyone who could see and understand him would probably think he was crazy, but at the moment he was more worried about the cat attacking him than he was what people would think. After all, he'd made a fool of himself already, who really gave a rip if he made himself look even more strange?

The feline queen flicked her ears, her back starting to lower and bright pale eyes stared intently at this odd person that fell out of space and darkness. Her fur didn't smooth but she backed up and sat; sitting as if she were on the arm of a throne of a Pharaoh, or Emperor, instead of a bunch of stacked cardboard boxes. She had however responded, somewhat, to his words and showed a little more interest in him, though still leery as any mother would be.

The being seemed to relax a little when the cat stopped hissing at him, and he looked her over with confusion before glancing around, clearly trying to figure out why such a beautiful creature was out here instead of somewhere cleaner and more suiting her status, and needs. Frowning a little, he looked around for any sign of someone who could explain to him just what was going on. None of what he was seeing was making any sense to him in the slightest.

"Meerrow?" The feline asked, waiting. She could feel his magic, and it was strong enough that he should be able to cast a simple translation spell. The queen could do so herself, but honestly that was below her dignity. She had kittens to dedicate her energies to after all, as a mother the feline queen had to give her priority to her kittens.

It took a few moments for the being to figure this out, with a cat glaring at him the whole time, though it soon came to him and muttering something else in untranslatable words, the spell was cast. The first words out of his mouth were rather undignified. "What in the name of Ra is going on here?" He didn't sound cranky, which was probably a good thing, but his confusion was definitely obvious.

"Raaaa?" A heavily feline accented voice asked, the pale queen's inner voice sounding strong and also with a strong dose of feline assuredness. Yet there was a purring undertone of a mother, "Who is Raaa? You are not one of my mistress' grown kittens."

The being blinked slowly at her response, "...Are you jesting?" He asked, seeming rather confused. "...your mistress? I do not really understand what you are talking about." That was an understatement. How could she not know who Ra was? Everyone knew who Ra was! At least as far as he had been aware.

"My mistress was the shaman, the witch of witches," The feline queen complained, her tone taking an insulted edge as she showed her delicate fangs to the ally in general as well as her current predicament, "The elder caster of this region! I sat on her high chair, I watched over her coooovvven...! I sat at her side in the end," her tone changed again this time to morning, "I protected her spirit from the bad things, until she crossed over like I'm supposed to."

This was the thing about cats, you had to wait and listen with patience to get the answers to your asked questions. At the same time this was some interesting information, as this was a holy cat.

Her tail flicked and she mewed in a softer, plaintive voice, "I found a suitable king to father my young- to give them to the grieving two-legs in my mistress' passing... and those evil men kicked me out of the shriiiiine I was guarding!" She gave another protesting scream at that.

The being listened to this all with renewed intrigue. Sure, this wasn't really an answer to his question, but it was at least somewhat informative. His confusion really hit though when he heard that the cat was thrown out of the shrine. Things were never like that before, from what he could recall. Anyone who abused a cat was likely to get thrashed, holy cat or not.

The pale eyes, like moon disks regarded the tall being for a long moment before, "I do not jest about spirits odd, dark one," Her ears were slowly starting to fold back again as she curled her lips at his shadows, "It's my duty to know them in this region, and I know of no Raaa... Who is he? I may not have my shrine, and kittens but I will claw anyone that wants to hurt my people- two legged and four."

The being hesitated, grimacing as he thought over what the cat told him, "I am surprised you have not heard of him. He is the sun god, after all... unless..." He frowned a little as he considered the situation. "...where is this? Is this... is this not Egypt?"

One ear tipped up and then other flattened to the side, "What? The sun was a gift from Raven, and Egypt's sands run only in the blood of my veins and those of my kits." She gave the spell caster a level look. "You are a caster, but you stink of darkness- but you're not like those demons... or like the wild ones..." She flicked her tail again thoughtfully, trying to figure out what this odd person was.

The being seemed highly confused about that, "...who is 'Raven'? And what are you talking about? I am from Egypt, and I know my parents are not of your kind." He hesitated to consider the rest of what the cat said. "Wild ones? Demons? You are confusing me even further than I was previously."

The queen gave him a flat look, and sighed with a sympathetic purr, before saying bluntly, like a fast swipe of a paw, "Egypt is on the other side of the world lost, Dark One. We are beyond the great seas." She licked her left paw and glanced up to see the next reaction.

The being looked incredibly alarmed to hear this. For a while he didn't even manage to find any words that could string together a sentence. Eventually he just shook his head, seeming highly uneasy. "This... does not make any sense at all." He finally said, sounding utterly lost, "I suppose I will have to find a way back." He concluded. "Though that may prove difficult... That or I will have to find a way back to the Shadow Realm, and I would rather not go back to just be scoffed at for returning so quickly... no, that would never do."

This was turning into some entertainment for her, but cats were like that- even to Pharaohs, but her soft heart was bending sympathy to him. "You're a server spirit, Dark One." She noted aloud, head tilting and tail tip twitching. "You're not a wild one, you need a person like I do."

He thought that over a bit. Now that she mentioned it, it did sound like a good plan to at least find someone he could help, or keep an eye on, for the time being. "I see." He replied. "And a wild one, I assume, is one that's just out for personal gain?"

"They are wild," She looked to the side, not seeing the wall but beyond to a forest, "Wolves and coyotes, big cats and Raven's brothers." the feline queen hunkered low and looked back alarmed to make sure each of her kittens were still there. "You should find a clean witch, Dark One."

"A... Clean witch?" He inquired, "What exactly is a 'clean witch'?"

"A good one," The feline tried again, "Clean, no bad smell, a white witch. The daughters and mothers that help others... a shaman may try to banish you Dark One- I can smell no evil on you, but humans can't smell that good." she added in warning, tail flicking.

"I think we both knew that part..." He muttered under his breath as he followed after her, glancing around a bit as he did. After all, the surroundings were far from understandable to him at the present; there was no knowing when danger could jump out at them.

With the grace of her Siamese blood, and also of the Mau who used to bound between shrines and priests with the glee of blessed beings that knew they were. The feline queen dropped down off her boxes then up and to the top of a six foot fence with no trouble. Down again the feline ran down the rest of the ally before stopping as if seeing a hidden mirror wall, and looked back again. The dark being kept up quite easily, his gaze mostly focused on his guide, though he still glanced around a bit with uncertainty. None of this looked like anything he had seen before, after all. By now he had put his hat back on, holding his staff in one of his hands and seeming ready to blast any hostile being that tried to cause trouble. He wasn't about to let anyone or anything get the jump on him; that had happened far too many times for him to want to risk it happening here.

The feline rubbed against the caster's closer ankle, rewarding him in the feline way for doing as he was told before she paced to the edge of a pool of light. She glanced at the street light before looking to the right down the street, "That way... there's trouble... and I smell a paper witch. I would help but I have kittens, so you go. Paper witches are nice." She gave her last advice.

The caster smiled faintly at the cat's affection, though his attention was quickly averted to what the cat told him. He wasn't really sure what a paper witch was, but given the fact that his feline companion had helped him out this much at least, he saw no reason to consider this to be a trap. Giving a faint nod, he murmured a quiet thank you before he set off to find out what the trouble was. If someone was getting beat up who shouldn't be, he wouldn't hesitate to stop whoever was doing the beating.

"Don't let the normal two legs see you!" The feline queen's voice drifted to him as she turned to return to her helpless offspring. It might have been good to have a holy cat around, but in this case it meant having to juggle a mother and kits. Not such a good thing to do with a passable battle on hand.

The being gave a quick nod as he slipped into the shadows, muttering a quick spell to conceal himself as he proceeded towards the source of disturbance. He would have preferred to have the cat stay, but he knew trying to watch over a family of cats while potentially fighting was a bad situation. It meant his attention would be divided, and that wasn't something he was going to risk.

The queen may not approve anyways.

The buildings were so different, carved not from stone or Nile made bricks, but something else. It wasn't the smooth flowing lines the nobles and Pharaohs favored, but a bit harsher with straight lines, and yet had a strange mix of noble quality and yet the warmth that the lower classes had (as sometimes that's all they had). Indeed, the odd pattern of the buildings around him made the dark one quite confused, if not slightly dizzy. The colors were all wrong, the patterns quite a bewilderment, and the general appearance rather unfamiliar. Shaking his head a little at this, he sped up and continued onward, his eyes searching for any signs of danger, though briefly straying to marvel in wonderment at a street light as he passed by.

Then he hit it.

A barrier, not a shield exactly to deflect attacks or magic; it was a buzzing, twitching feeling of alien, foreign magic. It was a buffer to keep out 'normal,' or rather non-magical citizens away from a hazardous zone where spells could be flung. Though different, the barrier was still hastily made.

He blinked at this, expression one of mild surprise. He hadn't expected to hit something like that. Hesitating a moment, he moved to proceed past the barrier, his expression showing that his interest was growing stronger.

"Shield!" The word that was said, shouted, was in the universal Old Words of magic as the girl spun around pulling out a handful of white sheets from the bag on her hip, they almost leapt out of her hands to form a shield between her and the nearest creatures. The first impacted the sheets as if a wall, and was torn up by the claws and fangs of the fellows. She said something else with a questioning edge, speaking in modern English, peeking around the corner of the white shield, and yelped seeing the surviving creatures.

The dark one hurled another magic attack at the creatures that were attacking the girl. He recognized the Old Words that the girl said, though his confusion was rekindled at the modern English. He'd never heard anything quite like that before. Shaking it from his mind for the moment, however, he returned his focus to the creatures attacking the odd-speaking girl.

She had formed a shield around her, big enough to keep the monsters out of her little pocket. She would collapse a window in the white wall to be able to fling out sharp edged... arrow?

The thing was, this local caster clearly was far better at defense then attacking, or offence at anything really. She wasn't a warrior by any means as each time a monster noticed a window and lunged, she squeaked before hurriedly closing it.

The dark one kept up his attack, each blast stronger whenever he heard the girl squeak and shut her window. He wasn't about to let these creatures tear apart a girl who - as far as he could see - wasn't really good at fighting back.

All things considering, it wasn't really a long battle, if it could be called a battle at all. The dog creatures had been focused only on the shield wall and the one inside, and hadn't even bothered to turn against the dark one. It was prime target practice for him basically, so it wasn't long before the last one dissolved into a soupy and tar like sludge before evaporated.

After a moment, in the space of a gap of the shield, wide brown eyes peeked out, trying to see if it was clear.

The dark one took a quick look around for more attackers before he put his staff away and looked back at the barrier of paper, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the girl, expression showing curiosity and confusion. He didn't say anything at first, not even sure if she could presently see him or not. Sure he'd cast a concealment spell, but who knew if she could see through it or not.

Although, it may also help to test if she could see him by being in the line of sight. The girl was moving from one side to the other, only able to peek out of ripped little edges. The wall was a good seven feet tall, to keep the beats out, but it wasn't so big that the dark one couldn't look over the top. And thus, with no other grand ideas, he moved closer and looked down over the top, seeming incredibly curious as he peered down at the girl with interest and, as he seemed to have for the past however long he'd been in this world, confusion.

What he saw looked like a true girl, but really a petite young woman not taller than five feet. Her skin though a copper-tan wasn't the same as Egyptian, or the features, her hair was quiet long, hanging down on a braid down her back with feathers attached. Dressed in what was for her time, normal blue jeans and a black sweater.

It took a moment before she realized something was amiss, and she looked up. Her eyes widen as she started at the very tall, very big, very scary looking (and was big mentioned?) person there... looking down at her.

The young magic user squeaked, her control over the shield wall failing in shock, the paper shredding and flittering down to the street as so much confetti.

Well, that certainly explained his situation. The being raised an eyebrow as he looked her over as he took a step back, just observing her with curiosity and wonderment. After a little while, he spoke, though there was no way on Earth she'd know what he was saying. After all, he was still speaking ancient Egyptian.

"Umm, umm... shield!" The girl stumbled and then said again, using the Old Word to trigger the same defensive spell. After a moment she realized nothing happened and looked down, where only a single paper floated, crinkling a little but was... only one. In a hurry she looked into her bag, coming up with only a twittering paper crane made from a post-it note.

The bright pink paper crane took one look and the dark one, and fluttered off to hide behind its mistress, and in her braid. The girl's shoulders slumped a little after an awkward moment.

The dark being raised an eyebrow before moving back a little before speaking again. "I... take it you do not understand me?" He asked, not really figuring out that she didn't understand him.

He got another squeak, the girl trying her very best to hide behind the second and failed paper shield. By her wide eyes and general expression she was rather confused, and frightened, herself.

The dark one just looked incredibly bewildered by now, and as such he moved back a bit and, after checking for danger, sat down, taking his hat off and just watching the girl with confusion and curiosity. "...you haven't a clue what I'm saying at all."

It was a few moments before the girl shook her head, only guessing what he was saying. After a moment she peered a bit closer at him, with the dark one sitting and his size less intimidating she was more incline to at least see who and what he was before running away.

The being just watched her with curiosity before fully realizing that she was a great deal smaller than him, and as such used a bit of magic to make him a little shorter, around eight feet, he figured. That should be reasonable... well, so he thought anyway. "...Name?" He asked, hoping she'd at least understand he wanted to know what he could call her.

Her eyes had unfocused a little, feeling the magic before seeing the difference. The girl still kept her paper between them as a flimsy form of security. The dark one wasn't as imposing, but still being so much shorter than him (and everyone), she was hesitant to come closer. Tilting her head she considered the just as strange word he used, and asked something in return, looking over his frame again while the little post-it crane peeked out from under a feather.

He raised an eyebrow. "It seems we are at a verbal stalemate." He concluded, though he blinked and facepalmed. "Stupid..." He cast a translation spell and tried again. "Can you understand me now?"

"Sooou...?" the half word was asked, and the girl gave him a baffled look. Her eyes ticked to just the side of him and her expression became relieved as she spotted something. That something hopped up onto the dark one's shoulder guard and bright vivid green cat eyes stared at the male caster.

The dark being just about had heart failure. Jumping and turning to look at the cat with alarm, he just blinked several times. "..." He then looked back at the girl, though he eventually looked at the cat again. "... hi?" Oh yes, definitely the champion of social interactions...

The big cat- a tom much bigger than the queen from before, invited his personal space, having no trouble hanging onto the moving armor with his rather large claws. He was, in local terms an over sided cross of an orange tabby and mane coon, but could easily be called a mini lion. After so completely scaring the scrap out of the dark one and getting a good sniff, he hopped down to his lap then paced to the young witch, tail waving like a flag.

"You're speaking cat monster, not two-legged," the feline informed the dark one as he jumped up to the girl's shoulders and sprawled over them possessively, but purring deeply in reassurance.

The dark being blinked at this news before groaning and mumbling something under his breath about being a nincompoop. Just shaking his head, he tried to figure out just what part of his spell went wrong, though he wasn't fully sure how it'd happened. Frustrated, he ended up just looking at the girl and the cat with an expression of lost and tired seeming confusion. If expressions could speak words, it'd be easy to say that this expression was saying he was very much new to everything around him.

"...klaow?" the soft voice asked, but it was a mew that came from the human, it would translate into a hesitant half greeting, half question of intent.

The being seemed confused a bit, "...pardon?"

"Neow...ow..." the paper witch tried again, and looked at the big cat she was supporting.

The green eyed feline gave her a sympatric lick and rolled his eyes at the dark one, "She said hello," his long tail flicked from his person's middle to neck and back down, "It's the accent... she's from a wolf clan, not a feline one, so I forgive my charge."

The dark one gave a small nod. "Ah... well at least there is a way to converse now... hello back."

"What do you waaant," the guardian cat demand, his claws pricking out to keep the witch back, "You smell like darkness..."

The dark one sighed. "I want to find my way back home, to Egypt. It's... a very long story. I'm not here to cause trouble though, of that you can be certain."

"The place of sand... not a good place to be," the tom said, a bit more aware of the world of humans in the greater world then the queen had been. He considered and purred, retracting his claws as his human slowly moved forward.

For all the strangeness, at least the cats seemed to still know their duties in this odd land.

"Have things grown worse?" He asked with concern. "Because they were bad when I left to become what I am now." He thought a while on the situation. "... what year is it?"

The cat blinked, staring until the dark one would ether realize or remember that cats didn't keep track of years like humans, having three to four years of their own within a single one of the human's.

The girl reached up with one hand to rub her guardian's ears before taking a deep breath at stepping closer to the shadow realm denizen. she extending a open hand, the other hanging onto her last paper, and murmuring a 'soft' spell under her breath.

The being raised an eyebrow, watching with curiosity. He wasn't fully sure what the girl was doing, but he'd figured out that talking to the cat about years wasn't really going to work that well. He wasn't really sure what she was trying to do at the present.

She held out her hand, keeping it up before twitching her fingers and looking at his own closer hand.

He followed her gaze, lifting his own hand in curiosity before glancing at the girl and, not fully seeming sure of what he was doing, reached out and gently took hold of her hand. "... like this?" He asked, really not sure if he did it right.

She stared for a moment, as even in his slightly smaller form the dark one's hand completely covered hers. Blinking, the young witch carefully put her other hand on top of the bigger one, focusing her energies as much as getting a feeling for his. She whispered softly, and then a carefully spoken, "Hello?" was said and understood as the girl struggled with holding a connection to his translation spell.

The being blinked a few times before seeming to smile a little, "Hello. Nice to actually understand you."

"You're speaking...very old." she said looking up at his eyes, still with a nervous air to her, but more shy than scared

The dark one seemed a little confused. "... I don't follow what you mean... what do you mean 'I'm speaking very old'?" He didn't sound bothered, merely confused.

She considered, "Dead. Dead tongue... dead language, that's no more?" the paper witch tried again in a few different ways to see if that helped..

That seemed to help a little bit. "... what year is this anyway?" He couldn't really remember how long he'd been in the Shadow Realm, other than a lot longer than he felt his sanity could have probably handled without being a little damaged.

"2012," was the answer, "But that's that newest age... it feels like you're from a much older one."

The dark one just about had heart failure at that. "2012?" He repeated with alarm. "But, that's... that's at least three thousand years in the future, isn't it?" Well, that certainly explained why he was speaking a dead language.

It seemed the translation spell helped with numbers and dates as much as words, or maybe that was from her side?

Mentioning that, the witch gasped and had to break contact, rubbing her hands as the two alien magics finally rubbed against each other a little too much for her already lowered stamina.

The dark one just stared at the ground in front of him in horror for a few moments as he let his hand just drop limply to his lap. He then quickly looked around a bit, his eyes showing confusion and what almost looked to be fear. "No wonder everything is so odd... but... if it's been that long..." A new horror dawned on him. Everyone he had ever cared about before was now gone, most likely forgotten in the ages that had gone past.

Shy fingers touched his closer knee, just using the tips but still trying to offer some comfort. The younger caster was tired, exhausted and may pass out in the next little bit from her adventures with those dog creatures and by still holding up the attention barrier... but she was also still willing to offer kindness to the dark one.

The dark one blinked when she touched him, looking at her almost nervously as he took in her expression. A great sadness had settled on his well tanned face, his eyes holding heavy sorrow. "... what do I do now?" He asked weakly.

"Find a warm place to nap, then ask that question," The tom cat offered his advice, watching the dark one with interest.

The dark one glanced at the cat now, sighing faintly as he responded. "Any recommendations? I haven't been in this... this new world, for very long."

His answer came as the dark one's hand was taken again, and the girl pulled physically this time. Of course she would never be able to move him without a hefty dose of magic- that wasn't there, but it was an order none the less to get up.

The dark one blinked as she did this, but gave a faint nod as he stood up, though he remained quiet. He didn't really know what else to say, though that was understandable. Finding out he was at least 3,000 years away from everyone he used to love and know was a rather big blow.

Taking a deep breath, the girl spoke and the Old Words were perfectly understandable, "Barrier to hold back the tide of curiosity, you are dismissed until the next time the land and people need you. I, a Wolfpaw child command you." She opened one eye as the feeling of the attention barrier flickered before dissolving and sliding away.

The dark one remained quiet, just thinking over everything he had learned in the short time he'd been here so far. Was there a point in being here? As he thought about it, he decided rather quickly that, even if this new world was far more strange than anything he'd seen before, it was probably safer than the Shadow Realm had ever been, and that was reason enough to stay, at least for a little bit

"Oy!" a female voice drew his attention back down where the witch was looking over her shoulder at him. Somewhat miffed, but for good reason as she had both hands wrapped around his fingers and was leaning her whole body weight against his hand that was partly braced on his shoulder. The young human caster was miffed as even using all her physical strength [i.e. not a not] the dark one had failed to notice her effort at all.

The dark one blinked several times as he shook himself from his thoughts and looked at the girl, his face going very faintly red as he started walking. "...my apologies." He commented quietly, "Lost in thought."

She seemed to understand the gist of his words, and tugged again to get him to move. The girl stumbled when he did as she had her balance braced against his unmovable weight and strength, but she regained her footing and led the eventual monster. The paper witch struggled against her low, faded reserves in attempt to make a smaller attention barrier so the oddly dressed 'man' wasn't noticed, but after gasping and nearly face-planting... it proved to be a bad idea.

The dark one blinked at the girl's falling over, his expression turning to one of faint concern. One eyebrow raised, he reached down and carefully steadied her and looking her over as though checking to see if she was hurt. He then withdrew and, after glancing around a bit, shrunk his height by two more feet, leaving him at six feet, give or take a few inches. At least he was a more normal height now...

"Stop thaaaaat!" the cat complained from the ground, "It itches in the furrrr!" he mewled as his charge failed to comfort him after the protest, as she was rubbing her arms in her own reaction.

The paper witch shook her head at her cat before taking the dark one's hand, "Cassidy." she said.

The dark one glanced at the cat with faint confusion before looking back at the girl. At first, he wasn't sure what 'Cassidy' meant, though after giving it some thought he clued in. "Jafar." Was what he said in response. Well, at least he had a name to call her now other than 'small one'. The last person he'd called that had promptly tried beating him up with a stick. Sure it didn't work very well, but still, he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

"Jafar..." Cassidy sounded out the name as she led the way, almost the same way Jafar had come. The big tom slinked ahead of them as if scouting, getting over his pout for now in favor of doing his duty of stirring up trouble before it got to his mistress.

He nodded as she repeated his name. "Jafar." He said again, as though confirming it solidly. He paused before pointing at her with his hat-holding hand. "Cassidy?" He wanted to make sure he'd got it right, after all. Names were important, and making more of an idiot of himself wasn't really high on his to-do list.

She grinned and nodded, winced and finished the nod at a slower pace. "Ya, Casidy."

"NeeeEEAAOOW!"

The unexpected Siamese feline voice screaming as they passed an ally had the girl reflexively clutching at Jafar's middle, eyes wide and magics flickering but unable to form any defense as she had no paper and nor spare energy left. Her guardian had leaped a good four feet and was staring just as wide eyed down the alley were all three were being glowered at by the queen on the other side of the chain link fence. Even from that distance her demand for help and attention clear.

Jafar smiled a little as Cassidy confirmed her name, though he blinked and turned his head quickly, gaze staring at the female cat. Hesitating a moment, he let go of Cassidy's hand, quietly proceeding toward the queen, though he was going to keep his distance at first, just in case something really bad was going to happen.

"I want a hoooome!" The feline was calling when he got closer, "Serrrverrr! Take me and my kits to the little witch's coven!" The queen bounded back and forth along the fence before leaping up to where her five little sightless kittens were stashed.

Jafar blinked at what she said before thinking it over and moving closer. After all, she had helped him out at first, it was only fair if he returned the gesture. "Alright. I just hope she'll be understanding of the situation..."

"Hooome!" the pale cat demanded from within her box inside a box. her accent slipping to deeper feline but her demands were clear. Then the queen yelled and bounded out of her hiding place to challenge the tom, as they were hissing and cursing in cat to each other, it would give the spell caster a chance to just neatly lift the smaller box that had the kittens in it.

And this was a chance that Jafar took, sighing quietly as he carefully and gently lifted the kitten box. "Must you two curse that way? Is it really something children this young should hear?" He was clearly referring to the kittens.

Two pairs of cat eyes, one pale the other green regarded the dark one. They looked at each other as if asking in the unspoken feline way of, "did he just ask that?" and just like that they were calmed down, the queen poking her nose into the bigger male's ear to clean it. They knew each other after all.

The dark one raised an eyebrow at this, though he decided not to comment on it. Instead, his gaze turned to the box in his hands, a faint smile crossing his face before he glanced at the two cats again. He then, without a word, returned to Cassidy, deciding the two adult cats would follow when they were done, though he had no intentions of going any further than Cassidy. He didn't want to make the queen angry at him.

She was waiting, leaning against the wall of the building watching everything- too tired to climb fences let alone hop over one as gracefully as Jafar just did- twice. But watching him, she seem to suddenly trust the caster more... after all, someone that just saved kittens and their mother couldn't be all bad right?

Jafar smiled faintly at Cassidy, holding the kitten box with just as much care as he had when he first picked it up. He seemed to be a little pleased with himself, though he didn't really voice it as he glanced back towards where the two cats were.

The queen had followed at Jafar's heals, hovering as the tom sat at his charge's feet. The tired girl said something in her own language, the last word slipping into Old Words, so the phrase was somewhat understandable as, "Time to go home...more family."

Jafar glanced at the girl with faint curiosity, clearly still trying to figure out what her own language was, though he nodded a bit. "...which way?"

It was the tom that translated, making a demanding mew for food. That was more than enough to get and eye roll and the paper witch pushed herself up as she pointed. She really hoped that her [hopefully] new friend didn't have anything against cars.

Jafar turned his gaze towards where she was pointing, his expression turning to a highly confused one as he eyed the vehicle. "...what is that?"

The black TransAM sat, looking oddly...dark. It had its own personality as only cars could, enhanced by constantly being close to a magic user. As Cassidy walked right up to it, the car's door clicked and opened into her hand before she could touch it, making the girl smile (and be thankful her car liked her). Holding the driver's side door open, Cassidy picked up the pale feline while the tom hopped right in and then into the back were the queen was put. After that she reached for the kittens to put in the back. At the same time watching Jafar to see if he would... well, spazz.

Jafar just watched this all happen with the look of someone who was slapped for no reason at all. "... what is this strange being?" He asked with utter bewilderment, turning his gaze to Cassidy.

"It's a caaar," came a feline voice, unclear who said it, "He's okay, as long as the witch is driving."

Jafar seemed highly uncertain. "A... car." He repeated. "...what does that mean?" He seemed to be having an issue with figuring out what one did with a car. By now he had let Cassidy take the box of kittens from him, his focus so much on the vehicle that he might not have even noticed the box wasn't in his hands any more.

The girl was half inside, arranging the box to be safe, and getting an ear full by the mother, she popped out, adjusted the seat and looked up. Eyeing the dank one, and his staff before deciding to start the car first. Before trying to convince him to get it.

The dark one just watched with curiosity and uncertainty, jumping rather violently and staring at the vehicle with an almost 'deer in the headlights' sort of look as he blinked. "...monster?" He questioned, seeming highly leery of this new development. "... but..." He shook his head a little, every bit of his being trying - and failing - to figure out what this new beast in front of him was doing

Cassidy, despite herself was giggling to herself, even the wolf spirits in the forests knew perfectly well what cars were. Raven's clever children even used cars to crack nuts and clams. It explained in her tired mind how...old? New? He was, and with a sigh she pulled herself out of the driver's seat. Cassidy reached out to take one of Jafar's hands and pressed it against the reassuring hard, metal of the hood, it was cool to the touch yet starting to warm from mechanics, not flesh.

Jafar let her move his hand, his expression relaxing faintly when he realized what it was. "Oh." He said quietly, thinking it over a bit as his mind strayed back to the Shadow Realm. He remembered seeing a few mechanical sort of things there, not many but still some. Relaxing a little, he looked at Cassidy with an awkward expression. "So... it's safe?"

Cassidy tilted her head at his words, and gave a reassuring smile before pointing to were her cat guardian was sprawled his full impressive length on the dash, looking bored while the queen was curled up and nursing her kits. Both the holy cat and the guard were perfectly relaxed in this metal contraption.

Jafar's gaze followed Cassidy's fingers, and he relaxed a bit more as he nodded. "Okay." If the queen was okay with this bizarre contraption, he figured he may as well relax a little as well.

Wanting to reassure more but with the speaking barrier between them still there, the paper witch did the only thing she could think of.

The dark one would find himself receiving his first true hug in a long while, as Cassidy wrapped her arms around his middle.

Jafar blinked, gasping faintly as Cassidy hugged him. He didn't do much but stare ahead of himself with surprise for a little while, though he quirked a small smile and, seeming a bit unsure, hugged her back, careful that he didn't hurt her. He remembered how hard she'd tried to make him move before, only to get little more than frustration.

The girl looked up, partly hidden in his robes but also feeling the armor hidden under them. This was not someone she wanted to be on the bad side of. She let go to curl her fingers around one of his hands, still trying to put an air of reassurance out.

Jafar gave the faintest smile as he relaxed a little more, his hawk yellow eyes looking Cassidy's features over as he did so. After a moment of silence, he gave a small nod, as though to say he was willing to give the mechanical 'monster' a try, though he probably wasn't sure quite what was going to happen once he was in. Someone would probably have to tell him that the car actually moved...

Although considering it did have wheels, and Cassidy toed one as she guided the dark one around to the passenger side.

Jafar blinked, looking down and seeing the wheel as he followed Cassidy to the passenger side. "...so it's like a chariot?" He asked before remembering she probably had no idea what he just asked. He came to another realization too, and took his hat off. After all, it probably wouldn't fit very well if he was wearing it in the car.

Cassidy glanced up at him and back to open the door. Only it didn't open, "Karr..." The girl said warningly, poking the lock until the door opened like on the other side. She wasn't even going to bother with the seatbelt, since she didn't trust her car wouldn't lock it up.

Jafar raised an eyebrow when the girl spoke, watching this with curiosity. "...so your car... creature... is living?"

"Not in the way we are," the tom cat said from where he was watching upside-down his human push and coax the monster into the passenger seat. "He's okay... runs good and is warm."

Jafar nodded to the cat with the sort of air that a person has when they only somewhat understand before glancing at Cassidy. "... you only have to ask me to, you know." He said quietly as he cautiously, tentatively, got in the car, sitting on the passenger seat and looking around the inside of the car with curiosity.

Used to blankets, Cassidy flipped Jafar's robes up into the car in replay before gently closing the door. Normally she'd slide over the hood but not right now, the paper witch was fairly sure if she did...she would use up what energy she had and fall asleep on the windshield.

Jafar blinked a bit before shifting his robes a little and glancing around a bit more. "... so many buttons." He finally observed, his gaze looking at the vehicle radio. Going by his tone, he'd had a few unpleasant run-ins with buttons in the past. A good thing though was that he was less likely to mess with them because of it.

Cassidy plopped in rather then sat, and the door closed behind her of its own accord. She didn't seem to notice that as she fumbled around to check on the mother cat and her kits in the back, glanced at the dark one and then rolled her eyes at the tom that was staying put. Something like, "Fluffybutt," made it thought the translation as she shifted into gear.

That strange word made Jafar give a faint snort, sounding almost like a faint laugh. He didn't comment on it though, merely resorting to trying to figure out what the tom cat had done to earn such a nickname. As far as he was aware, the cat hadn't done anything wrong.

The guardian was trying to take up as much space as he could on the front dash, unbothered by the movement of the car slowly pulling out, not from the name. In fact he started to purr deeply, taking it as a compliment as the paper witch tried to stay awake to make it home. The odd magic (to her) of the dark one so close was doing a pretty good job of that.

Jafar jumped slightly when the car started moving without anything pulling it, but he relaxed himself a little again when he reminded himself that machines didn't always need something to pull them in order to move. Turning his gaze to the window, he stared out of it in interest and curiosity, just watching the various things they passed by for the brief moments he could actually see them.

Cassidy looked over at him, pretty sure that going on the highway was a bad idea. But thankfully her home town wasn't really that big, and being on the right edge of it already it only took about ten minutes to reach her home. There was a large three story building that dominated the clearing, very large with more behind such as barns and pens. But rising up were carved poles, and Cassidy all but stopped, looking between the two poles framing the drive and the dark one beside her a few times. She was worried, so there must be another barrier in front of them, and she wasn't sure if Jafar could pass.

Jafar was eyeing the poles with curiosity now, his expression showing a lack of understanding for what they meant. He didn't speak, though his thoughts were focused on the poles designs, and the fact that he could feel the presence of another barrier. He decided this was why Cassidy had stopped the car, and he eventually looked at her. "Want me to get out?" He asked, once again forgetting that she probably couldn't understand what he said.

The pale form of the holy cat hopped up and paced onto Jafar's shoulders, before sprawling over them between his armor. She sniffed at his jaw line before extending her claws delicately to hook them on the red robes while her tail curled around his throat.

"Well... that's approval..." Cassidy muttered in English watching with wide eyes.

Jafar blinked as the queen did this, looking curiously at her before looking back at Cassidy. He seemed a bit awkward, having probably never had a cat do this to him before. He did nothing to try and move the holy cat though. After all, who was he to argue with a sacred creature when she chose where she wanted to put herself?

"She's approving of you server," the tom said from the dash, "The queen has sand blood in her like you, and she's repaying you for helping, and you saved my mistress." he gave another demand for food to get the car moving again, and Cassidy after a moment edged it forward.

"Ah." The dark one said quietly, thinking it over a little before giving a slight nod. "That makes sense." He then glanced at Cassidy again briefly before he looked back out at the two poles in silence. He seemed fairly relaxed now, though he was still probably going to be a bit tense for a while. Who could blame him though? It was a massive culture shock to go through.

Add to that fact, that there were spirit forms that were coming alive outside the car as they passed into the protected land. Perhaps a temple of this modern world? The creatures though were very different from the monster earlier, and the wild dogs that Jafar would know from Egypt. These were true old wolves, protectors of a different class from the two felines, with the slightly smaller coyote cozens running between their legs. Above were the winged forms of raven and crow, all the old spirits were ready to pounce to defend and gleefully so...

The queen hissed as one wolf moved as if getting ready to drag the dark one out. It took some rapid speaking between the holy cat and the lead spirit before they backed up, and then vanished into mist that curled into the carvings of the poles. All without Cassidy seeing them, she was able but only if they wanted.

Jafar was given a chance by the protectors, though they would undoubtedly be watching.

Jafar had notably grown uneasy when he saw the spirits ready to tie a beating on him, though he didn't move, unwilling to provide any reason to give the creatures a reason to try and knock the stuffing out of him. Swallowing quietly, he muttered something that sounded like a prayer for mercy in ancient Egyptian, though he was speaking too quietly to really be heard. The truth was, it really was a prayer. He really didn't want to get killed just yet. Sure he was ages old, but still, ages old felt like too young to die as far as he saw it.

Small fingers touched the dark one's knee, Cassidy had pulled into the inside of the car port of her smaller home off the side of her father's place and vet business. there was enough room that Jafar could stretch out or stand at his full size in here.

The dark one jumped slightly when Cassidy touched him, but he tried to get over it before he got too embarrassed about being startled by a 'little girl'. He looked out the windows again now, seeming a little curious, though perhaps a bit nervous to leave the car now that he knew there were spirits around that were quite possibly waiting for him to screw up so they could have a bit of 'fun'. Even still though, he would get out and just hope he didn't do something stupid enough to warrant a grade-A thrashing.

Cassidy slipped out, gave the car's tire a kick to be sure it would let Jafar out again before closing the car port large door and tracking down the cat food. She put far more than normal in, as she knew her pet and guardian would leave enough for the queen, and then she stumbled through the door to the small apartment like house. Because of her 'adventures' of the last day, Cassidy tilted and fell onto the couch before passing out right there, energy drained.

Jafar cautiously followed Cassidy in silence before blinking as she fell over on the couch. "... ehm... rest well?" He then looked around the room with uncertainty, now seeming a bit more on edge as he sat down on the floor and fumbled a bit with his hat, his hawk yellow eyes looking over everything that was around him.