Kataryna hastened along the road. She seemed to have a knack of avoiding the other Furrae that bustled about their business. It was not that they moved out of her way, more that their way seemed to be around her. After a time she came to the house number. Twenty-Four Acacia Avenue. The house beside was a rather prim and proper affair, with an odd red light coming from beyond the curtains. Number twenty-four was a rather more elaborate affair, given that the entire property was dominated by an enormous tree. About this, set on a series of platforms, the house had been constructed. The garden, if you could call it a garden, had clearly not seen a lawn mower or a weed eater for many years, and indeed would not require a scythe to clear the way through.
Rather tentatively, she eased open the rusty gate and made her way through the wilderness. Something squeaked beneath her feet and she startled for a moment, only to realize that it was a rubber mouse.
A rubber mouse?
She stepped over it and to the front door. The porch was set at the base of the tree and it was fairly obvious that a staircase weaved its way up the trunk, to the first platform. Set in the middle of the door was a lion-head doorknocker.
Kataryna rapped on the door.
For a long moment there was silence, and then a soft, yet deep voice called out, "come in, its open!"
Well, Anubius had sent her here. Surely it must be fine. She opened the door. The lion-head winked at her, causing her to jump in startlement.
Clearly things here were not quite as they seemed.
She hung her cloak on a hook in the foyer. A spiral staircase lead up from one side and this she followed. The walls were uncomfortably close about her wings. It was odd having wings, she contemplated, she was fairly certain she could use them to fly, but had, as yet, been too nervous to try. They got in the way and tended to bump into things.
The staircase opened up onto a landing. Much of the wall was tinted glass, providing easy view outside, but no view inside. Whomever lived here must like his privacy, although admittedly not enough to answer the door himself.
She tore her gaze away from the view and around the room. A pale ginger feline regarded her from his recumberent position in a padded armchair. He was utterly sprawled, one leg dangling over the side. Not a particularly civilized position - especially giving he wore nothing but a black silk robe. Parts of him, rather personal parts, were visible. He made no effort to stand up, nor to cover himself.
"Hey Babe, what can I do you for?"
"You are Titus?" She asked.
"I believe I am. And who are you, petal?"
"I am Kataryna. I was sent by Anubis."
The change was miraculous. Titus jumped to his feet and hastily retied his robe. "My apologies," he stuttered, "I didn't know you were an angel although," he chuckled dryly, "the wings should have been a dead give away. So you have come at last to claim what is yours."
"Err yes, I guess."
"Come with me." He led her up another flight of stairs and to another landing. "Do you know whom I am?" He asked.
"I was told naught but that you are a friend."
"I am the Guardian of the Gate," he said. "And this is the Door."
She stared at him blankly. It was a door. There was nothing spectacular about it, nothing demanding of the capital letter. The woodwork was a little scratched and the keyhole needed a polish. "The door to what?"
He sighed, "the Door to the Rainbow Lands," he explained, "I see you have truly not been enlightened. Here, I'll show you." He reached out and swung open the door.
Kataryna's jaw dropped and her forehead creased, puzzled.
"Also," he grinned, "the broom closet." He removed a coat from the hanger. "It's all in the way you open it." He swung the door shut and brandished a silver key, hung from the collar about his throat. Crouching down, he unlocked the door and swung it open.
A staircase, weaved through the sky and into luscious forests below. The sky was a myriad of colour, vivid and breath-taking.
"Behold the Rainbow Lands," Titus grinned, and closed the door.