Welcome to the Show!

The applause from the crowd is deafening as he reaches the stage floor and Crow is tempted to cover his ears, but he supposes that would be seen as a poor show of gratitude, among other things. His knees wobble from side to side confessing his nervousness as he walks to the podium to speak. Once there and standing upon it, he feels exposed before the eyes of so many people staring at him, as though they are judging him, so he closes his eyes and takes another hard swallow, reminding himself that this will be over in short order. All he needs to do is speak a few words and perhaps bow to the audience before receiving the medal from the captain of the guards. That won't be so bad, he thinks. It's practically over already. I'll be done and on my way before I know it.

Upon opening his eyes back up and scanning them across the crowd of people, he notices that there are several people he knows standing among them, including Big Friendly and Sonarina. To Crow's surprise, she appears to be allowing Piklok to stand near her, perhaps even engaged in a good-natured conversation with him.

Crow wonders, Why is Piklok here when he promised Cat in the forest that he wouldn't --? Oh, he must have received a proper invitation then, Crow concludes. It was thanks to Piklok that we managed to get the drop on the villains, so I'm actually glad he got to attend as well.

Also, Cat is right there beside him, just as she promised, and Knitten is in his pocket. Although they are not many in number, they are enough to lift his spirits, taking his mind off the sea of eyes staring at him and giving him the confidence he needs to begin speaking.

"Um, ah, h-hello there, everyone. I, um, I am grateful for this award and your cheers to thank me, but, uh, it's true I'm not the only one who helped. My new friend, Cat, who I just met yesterday, is the one who captured the witch making the water disappear."

"Can you speak up?" someone from the back of the audience asks.

"We can barely hear you, Crow. Thanks so much for restoring our water though," says another.

Crow continues on, raising his voice up a bit higher to try appeasing the crowd, "A-and my puppet, Knitten, sh-she helped immensely too. Without her, we couldn't have stopped the witch's spell. You have to believe me that she really did." He turns to look at Cat and she gives him an approving thumbs-up, smiling with encouragement. Turning back to the audience, he speaks with a stern look on his face, "It's not fair. Cat deserves this as much as I do, and she's not just a figment of my imagination!"

Then the thing happens. Cat's ears twitch as she becomes energized with joy and positivity and Crow begins to feel the energizing effect as well. 

"W-What's happeni--? That's it!" Crow exclaims as he has another realization. "That's the key to triggering this. It's whenever I say that word: imagination!"

Cat replies, "It starts with a single word? Ooh, speaking of keys that trigger though, I have an idea now for the key to getting everyone finally seeing me! Go ahead and start us out, Crow. I'll let you open this show!"

This amped-up mode that they switch into gives Crow a burst of intensity and the courage to do whatever would normally make him nervous to attempt. In this case, it is speaking in front of crowds.

 He puffs up his chest and flares out his wings, proclaiming, "How's everyone enjoying the party? Thank you so much for joining us here at Castle Reignith to celebrate King Ploomage's birthday! Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Corvus T. Crow, but most everyone refers to me simply as Crow."

Cat floats up and joins in on the introductions, even though she knows there is slim chance that most anyone will hear her words. "And I'm Cat. Welcome to The Cat and Crow and Knitten Show! We have smarts, we have wit, and we hope to have a good, long run." As she says it, she is suddenly jogging on an electric treadmill.

Crow stares at the machine and asks, "What is that?"

"You mean this thing?" Now she is inside an exercise wheel.

"Yes, that! Waiiit..."

Now she is running figure eight loops in mid-air. 

Knitten laughs in amusement, while Crow is just perplexed. "How is it that you are...? You know what, never mind."

Cat's face lights up with excitement. "Ding, ding, ding! That's today's topic: the mind! Everyone's mind comprehends things differently. Our upbringing and experiences affect every perception and reaction we have, so no two people think exactly alike. As a result, we are all unique; one of a kind! But as another result, only some of you can see me and hear me.

She continues, "We want to keep protecting the castle and the entire kingdom as much as we can, but to do that I'll need greater access to my powers. The more of everyone gathered who believes in my presence and can begin to see me, the stronger my abilities will become."

Crow steps in. "That's right! Who here is with us? Who wants us to keep defending the kingdom?! I mean, as much as the three of us can."

The ones who did not hear Cat are confused by Crow's words, but those who could now shout a cheer in support of Cat, Crow, and Knitten. They turn to those next to them and do their best to explain about Cat. Crow sees that Big Friendly, Sonarina, and even Piklok (with a bit of persuasion from Sonarina) are helping out with explaining to those around them about Cat and Knitten and cheering them all on.

Cat turns to Crow and explains her idea, "It's time for the showing part of the show. We know now that they need to see me in action in order to start seeing me. If we work together on a visual routine that requires both of us, like we did against Treecle, the minds of those here who don't yet perceive me will sense that something is missing and need to fill in the blank. That's when they will begin seeing me, I hope."

Crow nods his head, though not quite sure what she has in mind, and shouts to the crowd, "Let's hear it for Cat! She is truly amazing! Watch as we will now demonstrate some of her abilities for you. Be not afraid by what you are about to witness!"

Cat beams a smile of appreciation at him and says, "Okay, buddy, let's do this. You can juggle, right?"

"I, well, I-I've never tried."

"Then that means you've never failed. There's nothing holding you back! Catch these and follow my lead." 

"You can do it, daddy!" Knitten cheers.

A red, a blue, and a yellow ball pop up into the air from Cat's mouth toward Crow. Instead of freaking out about not knowing how to juggle or that a small fox just spit up brightly-colored balls the size of oranges (with a cloth texture, no less), Cat's words give Crow a calming confidence and he catches the balls one by one, looping them around in the air as though it comes naturally to him. The audience is confused for a moment because they did not see Cat create the balls and thus do not see what Crow is juggling, but they soon react when their minds make the connection and the balls become visible in Crow's hands. There is murmuring throughout the crowd and applause from some.

"It's working! Now for my turn!" Cat says. She leaps upon Crow's head and balances on one back paw. "Toss them up to me!" she tells him.

Crow does as she suggests and she begins juggling them as the audience's attention tilts upwards to follow the balls. Cat knows their eyes are now on her and smiles before launching out three additional balls; green, orange, and purple; and juggling them with her double tails.

Gasps of surprise and delighted applause rise from the audience. Crow can see that many people are now focused upon the action atop his head. This is great news! he thinks. Perhaps, he can help rally the crowd further. He points above himself and declares, "There she is, ladies and gents, the amazing, the astounding, the phenomenal, one and only Cat!"

Knitten exclaims in agreement, "Wow! She is all those things!"

Cat bows to the crowd as she gathers all of the balls in a floating cluster and squooshes them down to form one large glowing ball. The crowd applauds again. She then transforms it into a rainbow-colored ball of yarn and lays down atop Crow's head, kicking the yarn ball up with her legs like a kitten, causing the crowd to laugh and clap even more.

She wraps up her performance by creating fireworks from the paintbrush in her tail. The crowd loves it and does not even appear to be frightened by the outlandish antics they have been observing. Very few people seem to be confused by what is going on, which means that almost everyone can see Cat now.

While the fireworks are still popping and the crowd is going wild, something truly remarkable takes place. At first, Cat does not even notice as she levitates up off of Crow's head and her body begins to radiate light and a bubbling rainbow vapor. Her small fox body grows to twice its size and morphs in form. Then the rainbow ball of yarn unravels and threads its vibrant colors around Cat's glowing torso before knitting itself into a hooded cloak with a stunning rainbow tie-dye pattern. Cat looks down in wonderment at the changes taking place as she floats back to the ground. Her front paws have elongated to resemble hands and she can now stand on two legs, as evidenced when her feet lightly settle upon the ground. With the transformation complete, the glow and vapors fade away.

"Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!" she squeals.

"Whoa, what just happened? What brought this on?" Crow asks, having been mesmerized by what he just witnessed.

Cat is still super excited. "Wow! Oh. Eeeeee! I don't know. I guess this is what happens when I have all my powers, assuming I do now. I feel charged up."

"Oh, wow! Mommy's evolved herself!" Knitten shouts.

"Well, it's a very good look for you," Crow compliments her. "I will say that your face looks surprisingly more like a cat, in my opinion, so now your name fits the look. Your muzzle is much shorter, for starters. And now you're nearly as tall as me. I won't have to look down as far to realize you're next to me."

"I'll always be near you anyhow, so you won't have far to look," she says, jabbing him in the side with her elbow.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"You, teasing me with jokes about how short I was," she grins. "Expect more where that came from if you misbehave, now that I'm tall enough to do it."

While the crowd presses in closer to the stage to get a better look at Cat in her new form, Crow receives a tap on the shoulder. He turns around to see both the king and the queen standing before him.

Her majesty, Queen Lotsospots, tells Crow, "We still have a medal to bestow upon you."

His majesty, King Ploomage, ruffling his wings in reaction to a loud firework explosion, says, "Oh, yes! Verily! I've got it right he--. Well, actually, Ms. Letha has it, but I will be presenting it to you shortly."

Captain Letha approaches with a velvet box and opens it for the king to remove what is inside. He carefully scoops it up with his claws and turns back around to face Crow.

King Ploomage, in his regular voice so as to not draw overwhelming attention toward Crow as before, states, "Crow, in acknowledgement of your dedication to the well-being of this castle and of all the people in this land, we award you with this medal to signify our deep appreciation of the works that you do and your willingness to always lend a helping hand to anyone in need of it. We will always be indebted to you for saving us from the tragedy that could have transpired from Doemane being without its main source of water." He then pins the golden medal with burgundy and gold ribbons to Crow's vest and hugs him before stepping back. Queen Lotsospots kneels down, because she is tall, and repeats the gesture of giving him a hug.

Crow is still overwhelmed as the enormity of everything that has happened sinks in, but it is the best sort of whelming. He has partaken in the most exciting string of incidents that has ever happened in his life and has arisen as a hero to the people. Nothing could have prepared him for the thrilling adventure he took part in over the previous two days. Being awarded with a medal by both the king and queen in person is the cherry on top of the sundae. No, he thinks, gaining Cat and Knitten as my two best friends is the cherry on top of the biggest sundae I could have wished for!

The king clears his throat before announcing to the crowd, "And don't think we have forgotten about the other brave souls who risked their lives to save the kingdom. We have more medals to award!" He turns back to the trio, as the guards who were there at the abandoned mine with them are called to come up on stage. "That includes both of you, my dears," he says, addressing Cat and Knitten. "If I am able to believe that there exists a hodgepodge creature who is a witch, who also cast a spell to swallow up an entire river, then I am more than able to believe that an unusual little fox and a puppet helped to thwart her." He smiles a very genuine smile at them. "You have my heartfelt thanks."

Then, he pins a golden medal on each of them. They are both so happy in that moment, Cat being seen and Knitten being acknowledged, having at last been recognized as individuals in their own right.

"I win! You are all my family now!" Knitten shouts.

Now that Cat and Knitten have been officially accepted as members of the community, and the moniker of 'The Cat, Crow, and Knitten Show' is beginning to stick (with word of them already spreading beyond the castle walls), the three heroes begin to imagine what they should plan for their next great adventure together. The curious thing about adventures though is that, like those of the previous two days, they quite often find ways of creating themselves.

THE END