Cadi, Chapter 6
#7 of Cadi, Volume 1: Origins
It took a little while for things to get back to a relatively normal state within the Transhuman District, but things did steadily improve in the time following the relaxing of the laws governing the residents. Part of that was that the furs were even more eager to engage in community-building activities, having come to realize just how dear the sense of camaraderie and their relationships were, they were determined to cling even more tightly to those.
Cadi was quite busy, between her work around the district to make sure that people had what they needed not only to survive... but to thrive, and her work at Briar's bar in the evenings. However, she was properly tireless in this work and got to spend time with Dawn at work (who truly made an adorable little barmaid, and was well loved by all of the patrons) and after... left her heart absolutely full to the brim. Those evenings together at work even frequently led to some very... cozy nights, especially when one or the other... or both of them had a bit to drink, themselves.
Life within the district continued on, with new furs moving into the district at a steady drip.
But that was a bit of a problem.
The district wasn't big, and as the months went on, it was starting to get a bit crowded. Christine worried just about constantly over the dwindling housing supply, just thankful that Cadi was there to help make sure that there was always enough food to go around.
Cadi was there one day as they had a video call with Senator Parson, who had become quite the advocate for furs since his visit and encounter with Cadi. Even he was visibly exasperated, leaning against his desk. "I'm trying, Christine. I'm trying to expand the boundaries of the district, but no one is budging. The general consensus is that we have given you enough land. And no... yours isn't the only one starting to feel the strain."
Christine was rubbing her temples with her eyes closed. "So... what? Do they expect us to just pack in here like sardines? We're going to have to start setting up tents in the parks if things don't change, and even that will only last so long."
"Trust me... I know... and what's worse, the word is that the rate of people becoming furs is on the rise."
"What about the idea we'd discussed... getting some land to develop into an actual city?"
"That's a non-starter. No one is willing to give up enough land to do that. The federal government is even refusing to give up an inch of land... they make too much money by leasing it to companies," he said with a sigh, "And yeah... I shared your idea about just leaving all of the construction to your residents. That's not the problem, it's the land."
Cadi took a deep breath and looked at Christine, "What about what we'd talked about, ourselves? Finding an island?"
Parson shook his head, "We've looked into it. There are no islands that are just... free for the taking. None that any of us know of, and with satellites to map the surface of the earth... we're pretty confident about that."
Cadi rubbed the bridge of her muzzle and her eyes with her fingers. "Isn't there... parts of the ocean that no country has a claim to? Maybe I could..." she had to take a small breath before she finished, "Maybe I could make an island there..."
The other two were well aware of her magical abilities. Parson spoke first, "That... sounds like it could be dangerous for you... are you sure you've got enough strength to handle that kind of thing?"
Cadi sighed heavily, throwing her hands up in the air, "I don't know, but something has to work. Look, senator, if you can just get me a boat and let me find a place I feel like I can work with, I'll see what I can do."
Parson laughed and sighed. "I think I could manage that. Smuggle you out of the district and get you onto a boat... hell, I'd loan you my personal yacht." He shook his head, "And, heck, if you get something figured out, there's then just the legal battle to let the furs emigrate. I think that a lot of people like having you guys where they know you are and can keep an eye on you."
"We'll get that figured out, too," Cadi said, not exactly feeling the most optimistic about that prospect, but there had to be a way.
It took a week, but Parson managed to pull it off. What was more, Christine had even found a small handful of furs to help crew the boat. When the day came to leave, Cadi, Dawn, and the half-dozen furs that had been recruited for this venture met up at the TOA office. They were certainly a rag-tag group, but they looked like they could handle themselves. In particular, a squirrel who walked confidently up to Cadi, holding out her hand.
"Good morning, Cadi. I'm Kestrel, and I'll effectively be your captain," she said, showing no fear or sense of intimidation toward the tigress.
Cadi very much approved of that, smiling as she shook Kestrel's hand, nodding in approval, "I have no doubt that I'm in competent hands with you. I take it you've got experience?"
Kestrel nodded her head, "I come from a long line of sailors. There's even family stories about a bold pirate in our bloodline... and if the legends are to be believed, he was married to a woman who was like a demon," she said with a laugh. "It was weird when I changed... 'cause I wasn't the only one from my family. It was pretty much the lot of us that changed at once. Honestly, none of us were really fussed... except when we found out that we'd be landlocked..." she said, her tone heavy for a moment before she perked up again, "But hey, if our plan works, there'll be opportunity for sailors again, yeah?" She was smirking as she said that.
Cadi definitely liked her.
It was about then that Christine came into the room through the doors to the garage. "Alright, you lot, your transport is ready. It's not... luxurious, but it's what we can manage." They followed her through into the other room, where there was an armored car parked, the engine idling. "Parson made sure to get sympathizers as the driver today, so everyone climb on inside."
"Sympathizers?" The voice was indignant as the driver came around the side of the truck, and Cadi's face lit up as she saw him. It was Parson's bodyguard that she'd had a good conversation with when she'd confronted the senator. "Brett's here, too, he's just behind the wheel right now. Your message hit home pretty well for him, Cadi, and he's been a lot easier going ever since."
Cadi was grinning broadly, "Wonderful... now I know we're in good hands," she said before she climbed into the truck, helping Dawn and the others up inside before the doors were closed and locked. Being caged like this was... difficult for Cadi. Okay, scratch that, it was difficult for all of them. Just Cadi... had some negative experiences with being held captive, which she was doing her best to just breathe through at the moment.
There were no windows in the compartment, and they were left to just trundle along in the dark chamber as the truck passed through the security checkpoint at the wall. It was a good while before it came to a halt, and the door was opened for them again, Jim giving them a lopsided smile. "I'm happy to inform you that the rest of your trip should be a lot more comfortable," he said as they were in a hangar with a small private jet. "That's the Senator's. And don't worry, he's replaced a lot of his staff for ones who are sympathetic to furs."
Cadi had at least enough restraint to wait for him to move out of the way before she practically pounced out of the truck, breathing just a little heavily as she worked to re-compose herself. No one really made a fuss about it, Dawn just came over to her and stroked Cadi's back once she was out of the truck, which helped Cadi a lot.
Their pilot turned out to be a human woman, who was smiling quite happily at the furs. "Welcome aboard pirate air," she joked as she stood by the stairs up into the jet, "Our next stop will be down on the coast, where the Senator's boat will be waiting for all of you."
The plane was very nice... not the most luxurious plane to be had, but certainly the most luxurious that any of them had ever seen. They all had a bit of fun poking around before they had to sit down and buckle up as the plane took off.
Cadi was... having a really rough time with this trip... and she had to remind herself that this was all for a very good purpose. Even Dorran had no experience flying, so he was really no help with this. The acceleration and the pressure back into her seat... she simply didn't care for. Dawn's hand holding hers was about the only thing that kept her from panicking.
It was better once she was in the air, though. At that point, she was able to relax and actually get to enjoy the view from the window. This might be enough of a reason to get over her initial dislike of flying... might...
The rest of the crew just relaxed once they were able to take their seatbelts off, just kind of having a little bit of a party in the cabin... nothing rowdy, but they were definitely enjoying themselves. Cadi was surprised to see that Parson had stocked his plane with some of the alcohol that Cadi had helped Briar make... and that was something that gave her a nice rush of pride. Moreso when she saw that the others on the crew enjoyed it, too.
A while later, the plane landed at a remote airfield by the ocean, where they wouldn't have to worry about too much scrutiny. The pilot showed them off of the plane and to the dock nearby, where a very nice yacht was waiting for them. Kestrel really took charge at that point, getting everyone organized to check the ship over, making sure to inspect the most important parts, herself. She wasn't about to slack on this part of the job.
When she was satisfied with the yacht (which was, honestly, in amazing condition), they set sail, waving goodbye to the pilot as she stood on the pier before going back to her plane. After a while, Kestrel left one of her crew to man the helm while she went down to the main room to work out where to start their search. Cadi had been looking intently at the map, and when Kestrel arrived, she was so focused on the map that everything around her seemed to have been drowned out.
Kestrel waited a moment before she cut in, "Cadi? We're getting to a point where we'll need to get an idea of where we are going."
The tigress gasped as she came out of it, looking like she'd just returned from a deep dive. Her eyes needed a moment to refocus as she looked at Kestrel. "Sorry, I was... focused," she said, her eyes drifting back to the map as her hand moved to touch the map again, her fingers resting on an area of open ocean. "Can we... head to this area? It... feels right..."
Kestrel had heard about Cadi's magic. Hell, everyone in the district had. She gave Cadi an appraising look before she nodded her head. "It's open water... as good a place to start as any, I suppose," she said, her tone sober. She went to start them on their way to Cadi's destination.
Thankfully, Parson's boat was good and fast and had more than enough fuel to take them that far out into the ocean, even if it was quite a ways to go. It took them the better part of a day to arrive at the area Cadi had indicated, at which point, the tigress made her way up to the deck, standing at the prow, leaning against the railing.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply of the salt air, her ears twitching and flicking, and even turning to track something. Kestrel was at the helm at this point, watching Cadiintently as the tigress seemed to be trying to latch onto something. After a short while, she stretched out her arm, pointing ahead of them and slightly to the right. "That way," she called out, and Kestrel turned the ship to follow Cadi's direction. They sailed along for a time with Cadi acting almost like a compass. Kestrel might not have known what was happening, but she understood that Cadi had a clear path in her mind, and she understood well enough to just trust her.
As they sailed along, the fog grew dense around the ship, and she slowed down a bit, not wanting to risk crashing, but thankfully, the fog cleared, and Kestrel's jaw dropped at what she saw ahead. There was an island ahead, with a tall mountain at its center... tall enough to be snow-capped? But these were the tropics... anyway, it was an island, sure enough. When she pulled herself together, she took a deep breath and called out, "Land ho!"
Everyone rushed up to the deck, pressing against the rail, looking out at the island as they approached. It was... beautiful, and there was no sign of life on it. Even any indigenous tribes or anything like that. The beaches were pristine as they circled around the island to make sure there was no one to be seen. Anyone living there would certainly leave signs of habitation. But when they got to the sandy peninsula on the west end of the island again, it was clear that there was no one there. Not even disturbed sand.
They found a spot to anchor the yacht while they got out a raft for the crew to use to get to shore, but while they were still getting it inflated and preparing some basic supplies to take to shore with them, Cadi simply jumped into the water and swam to shore without them.Dawn called out to her, fussing at her tigress, but it wasn't any use. She shook herself off on the shore and went bounding into the jungle.
Kestrel groaned, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. "Well... you can take a tiger out of the jungle... but you can't take the jungle out of a tiger..." She got the raft set up and loaded as quickly as she could, and it wasn't overly long before they were on the beach, themselves. And the sand... oh, that felt wonderful under their paws. There was a sense of peace here... they could all feel it.
Dawn didn't stand idly by, though, rushing into the woods after Cadi, followed closely by Kestrel. They called Cadi's name as they followed her path since she hadn't been perfectly careful as she'd run. She'd gone out toward the point of the peninsula they'd landed on, which was up a bit of a hill, with a cliff surrounding it. Dawn worried that Cadi could have run off over the edge of the cliff, but she had to trust her love.
They found her, in the end, in front of a large stone. It wasn't carved... but it was a very strangely placed standing stone, with nothing growing around it. The only feature in it was a hole at about eye level, which was very smoothly curved into the hole, both on the side facing inland and the side facing out to sea... and it was entirely too perfectly round.
Cadi was standing there in front of the stone, looking into the hole as though she was in a trance. "This... this place..." she said as they came up behind her, "I'm... yes... this is where we need to bring the furs..." she said, reaching out to touch the stone, laying her palm against the cool rock.
Kestrel's eyebrows were raised. "Okay...? Care to fill us in on what's going on... and why you're so certain?"
Cadi shook her head, as though she was coming out of a trance as she turned to face the others. "My magic... is connected to this place... this was supposed to be a powerful place... but there was no one here... no one to help nurture it... just a hole punched in realities... I can... it needs me... I can... I can feel it..." she took a deep breath, "I can help our people here... we can be safe... not have to worry about humans being scared of us."
Kestrel and Dawn traded looks, shrugging after a moment. "I mean... it's a beautiful island... and there's loads of room for us to grow... I don't think that furs could fill the island up in a hundred years," she said with a little laugh, shaking her head. "And if you say that your magic is connected to this place... maybe that explains why no one has ever found it... it needed the right person to find it."
Cadi nodded her head, "I'm sure of it. Now that it's been found... we really do have to figure out how to get the people here..."
"Ha... more like how to get the governments of the world to let us come here, rather than claiming it for themselves," Kestrel said with an intense frown.
"Oh... it wouldn't let them... but you do have a point. They don't let anyone leave... and I don't think our little armored car trick is going to be enough to evacuate the district... 'cause I'm pretty sure it is going to have to be an evacuation, at this point. They're not going to let us do it much of any other way."
Kestrel took a deep breath, "Look, whatever way we slice it, I should get back to the yacht and call Christine on the sat phone. She's going to need to know about this, and... between her and Parson, we'll be able to get something figured out."
They all crowded around the satellite phone as it crackled to life, the screen on it annoyingly small, but it would just have to do. Christine looked more than a little bit exasperated, rubbing her forehead as she answered the phone. "Please tell me you've got good news..." she said, and it was clear that something had gone wrong.
Cadi was very concerned. Had their escape been discovered. Still, she didn't waste time with questions. "We have good news. We've found an uninhabited island, which is rich with resources."
Christine just about collapsed to the desk, "Ohthankgod..." she said, staying there for a moment before she sat up again, looking into the camera. "And... you're going to tell me that you have a way to get us there, yeah?"
Cadi winced at that, shaking her head, "No. Okay, Christine, tell me what happened."
Christine grimaced, "They've arrested Parson. And everyone who helped you. What's more, the districts are on lockdown. No one in, no one out while they deal with this."
Cadi cursed, scowling at the camera. "They..." she said, shaking her head, "We have to help them... and get everyone out of the districts... I just... how..." she said, taking a deep breath, standing up and storming around for a moment. She'd been trying to help, and she'd made things worse. "I mean... it's not like I can just... open a door in mid-air..."
She mimed doing just that, but when she grabbed at the air and pulled, the others in the cabin gasped as, behind Christine, they saw a bright, shining door open behind her before the light died down, and they saw the backs of their heads. Cadi looked through the door she'd just opened at Christine, who turned around and stared incredulously at the tigress.
"So... that's... solved... I guess..." the wolf said, blinking as she stared at Cadi. "Okay... so... can we... do that on the island itself, not just in the boat... and open up a bigger door in the park?"
Cadi shrugged, "I don't see why not... but, seriously, the fuck..." She said with a heavy sigh, rubbing her eyes. "Get the people moving... get on the horn to the other directors... get them to mobilize... we're getting everyone out tonight. I'm going to see what I can do about Parson."
Parson was sitting in his holding cell, looking properly gutted. He was glad, at least, that Cadi and the others had made it to sea safely. He knew that much. But he also knew that Jim, Bret, and Cassidy had all been arrested for their part in this. "Please, let Cadi succeed..." he muttered, rubbing his forehead with a heavy sigh.
"I don't know. I think there's a decent chance of that," a familiar voice said, causing his head to snap up and stare at the source of the voice. His eyes went wide as he stared at Cadi, his mouth falling open. His people were standing behind her in a doorway to... somewhere else entirely.
He closed his mouth after just a moment, nodding his head slowly. "So... you learned a new trick?" He laughed a little as he asked that, to which Cadi nodded her head.
"I'll tell you more about it later. For right now, I need to get the four of you out of here and somewhere safe. So, get up off your ass, and let's get you through this door," she said, gesturing to the impossible door behind her.
He didn't argue, just stood up and walked over to the door, going through it with her and the others. He was stunned by what he saw on the other side, looking around the beach as many similar, though larger, doors stretched out along the sand, the furs of the districts making their way through, carrying their belongings in a rather orderly fashion.
He looked to Cadi and then at the island, taking in the soaring mountain, the jungle, and the beautiful sand as the moonlight glinted off of it. "So... you found something after all... not that I'm complaining... it's amazing..." he said with a small laugh, shaking his head, "Even if it is going to mean a good bit of work to get it fully up and running, yeah? Though... probably not that long with you to help, I suppose."
Cadi gave him a lopsided smile. "With all of us to help. Even you, former Senator," she said with a little chuckle and a grin, "We're all in this together."