Two familiar hands suddenly grasped at my sides.
A sharp jolt ran through my body.
The unexpected touch made my skin crawl, sending a wave of goosebumps across my arms. Without thinking, my instincts took over.
Mana flared from within me like a reflex—an uncontrolled burst of energy surging outward.
"O-Ouch!"
The sudden resistance made the intruding hands retreat, and I quickly turned around—only to see a human-sized cat tumbling backward, rolling in midair like a smoke-wrapped ball of fur.
"Cheshire?"
The familiar entity flickered in and out of his ever-shifting, smoke-like form, floating just above the ground with a mischievous grin plastered across his feline face.
