Everyone was holding their breaths. The park seemed to have stood still as Deidra and Roxy's eyes met. Deidra's tiny cut ears lowered and her body tightened as she gazed at the gigantic Rottweiler towering over her, panting so hard that Deidra could feel her hot breath coming down on her face.
"Hello little kitty!" Roxy excitedly greeted in a fairly loud tone.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" Deidra shrieked, and immediately made a bolt.
The sudden and surprisingly loud scream coming from the small kitten made Roxy recoil back in surprise and confusion. Elvira immediately jumped from the hill towards the scene in a hurry.
"Deidra wait, just calm down!" Deepak attempted to reassure.
But his calls fell on deaf ears as Deidra looked for an escape route, running away from the hill in a panic. Roxy after overcoming the shock from Deidra's screams, seemed to understand the situation and chased after Deidra.
"Wait, where are you going!? It's ok!" Roxy exclaims, as she followed after her.
Deepak also attempted to follow, watching Deidra try to run off, but her tiny legs that were trying to trip on themselves and obviously struggling against Roxy's powerful legs, and claws. Before Roxy could catch up, she hit her one of her front legs in a small hole, and stumbled. Roxy stopped herself briefly to regain balance, with Deidra taking the opportunity to find a place to hide.
Very difficult when you were out in wide open grass.
Roxy was again steady on her feet and continued after Deidra, with Deepak attempting to call out to her.
"Roxy please, you're making Deid-"
Before he could finish, Elvira ran past him in an attempt to get to Deidra first. It was the most horrified she ever looked.
"Roxy! Please stop!" Elvira shouted
Dante eventually ran after her to help. Dolly tried to follow, however she was stopped by Dylan grabbing hold of her back leg tightly and giving her a seriously stern look to warn her not to get involved.
"No, you've done enough." Dylan said angrily.
Dolly was so take aback by his glare that she actually heeded his warning, and make no further attempt to move.
Deidra kept running but she was unstable on her feet and growing tired, this time she to tripped and stumbled across the grass, almost falling face first in the ground and in front a large rock. Shakily she pulled herself up, trying to catch her breath and groaning, and felt a huge presence rising above her. Looking up, her eyes widen at Roxy who looked down at her. Deidra's heart pounded hard.
"P-Ple.....Please." Deidra tried pleading, but her fear and exhaustion meant she could get no more words out. She shook hard.
Roxy made a sudden transition into a playful posture, lowering her head further down to Deidra's level. The sudden movement made Deidra crouch down in fear, her fur fluffing up. Elvira, Deepak and Dante eventually caught up to the two. Elvira tried to slowly approach, hoping to calm the situation down and not cause any more stress by suddenly trying to pull Deidra away, fearing it might cause tension.
"Roxy can you please relax." Elvira asked, her tone trying to be calm, but still hinted worry.
But Roxy was so overexcited and fixated on Deidra in a eager attempt to befriend her that she didn't hear her. She seemed to understand Deidra's fear, but failed to understand that her overly friendly nature was giving Deidra the wrong idea.
"Hey, nothing to worry about, I just wanna play, that's all." Roxy said a bit loudly while smilingly widely at Deidra.
But Deidra's mind was elsewhere and was focused on the sight of Roxy's large fangs on full display, tongue sticking out, and eyes zoomed in on her, only able to focus on a few of her words.
Just wanna play. Just wanna play
She could feel her mind transition to a dark little area, with only a narrow, but still wide opening where some light could be seen, but was cut off mostly by two large figures that tried to reach her with they giant paws, claws forward, all while she was up against a dark wall, their sinister red eyes piercing at her as she cried in fear.
"Come on, we just wanna play." A low gravely voice said from the figure on her right.
"Yeah, come on. Ha ha ha haha." They other on the left said.
"Grrrrrrrr.......GRRRRrrrrr."
Memories...........unfortunate recollection plagued her mind, and when she could see Roxy forming drool that rained down on the ground in front of her, she felt her legs grow weak.
Plop
She collapsed, with Roxy sitting back up, gasping a bit in worry.
"Uh oh." Roxy said concerned.
Before she could try to wake Deidra, a frustrated Elvira rushed in.
"Roxy, that's enough!" Elvira said sternly, her frustration and worry leaking through her tone.
Roxy was taken aback in surprise from hearing Elvira upset and seeing her shield Deidra's collapsed figure on the ground. She lowered her head and ears in shame and did as she was told. Dolly rushed to her side, with Deepak and Dante looking on at Elvira and Deidra with great concern and horror, especially Deepak.
"Deidra.....are you ok? Deidra?" Elvira called out to her in a gentle tone, gently nudging her.
Deepak walked a bit around slowly and cautiously around Elvira to get a closer view of Deidra. He felt his stomach in knots, fearing for her. After a what felt like the longest couple minutes ever, movement inch back to Deidra.
It gave Deepak momentary relief, but not for long.
Dylan and Dolly eventually walked over when things seemed quiet. Dante came over slowly to Elvira to check in.
"Is she ok?" Dante asked.
Elvira was up on her hind legs, holding Deidra up a bit with her paw. Though Deidra was awake, she was completely silent, looking like she was stuck in trance while shaking uncontrollably. Elvira was rubbing her back gently to try to relax her, and let out a sigh.
"Dante I'm sorry, but I think we are just gonna have to do this another time. I need to take Deidra home." Elvira said.
Dante nodded, disappointed but understanding.
"Yeah......probably best. I'm sorry Elvira." He said.
Elvira gently picked up Deidra by her scruff with her teeth and began to make her way to the park's entrance. Dante and Dylan both glared at Dolly, who was trying to comfort a sadden Roxy, who was feeling guilty. Her brother's glares didn't escape her notice. She felt bad herself, but felt trying to apologize now would do no good and make things possibly worse.
"Way to go, Dolly." Dylan said sarcastically and angrily.
Deepak's heart sank as he watched Elvira leaving with Deidra, disappointed as well that everything had gone so wrong, but more importantly due to the distressing sight of Deidra being so horrified out of her wits. Her terrified entrance expression, it was too much to look at seeing her in such a state. He felt so guilty, wishing he hadn't invited her out into the flower bed. Maybe then this wouldn't have happened. She was such a delicate soul, who's mental state had just been severely threatened just as she was coming out of her shell.
He couldn't just stand and do nothing. Guru Miaow forbid it.
"Wait Elvira, please hold on!" Deepak called out, running up to her.
Elvira stopped in her tracks and turned to look down at him as he came to her side.
"Please let me help Deidra. I know of ways to help her mind feel at ease." Deepak offered.
Elvira looked down at Deidra in her jaws, who was still shaking. Elvira didn't really wanna risk keeping her around the park any longer, and was keen to get her home. She gently removed Deidra from her mouth to speak.
"Listen Deepak, I don't think right now this is a good-"
"Please......just trust me. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think I could do it. I beg of you Elvira, allow me to try. I've done this kind of thing with my family all the time, and it's been helpful for them." Deepak insisted.
Elvira still felt pretty unsure, but she could see the determination in Deepak's eyes. She looked at Dante, who gave her a nod to both reassure her and to demonstrate his trust in Deepak, urging her to allow him to try. After a final look at Deidra, Elvira sighed and put Deidra down gently on the ground.
Putting her faith in Deepak:
Deepak slowly approach Deidra, taking great care not to accidentally startle her while she was stuck in a trance.
"Deidra, can you hear me? Can you give me a sign you are listening?" Deepak soothingly asked.
She didn't say anything, but one of her ears did twitch.
"I'm gonna put my paws on your head, is that ok with you?" Deepak kept asking.
Again she was still silent, but her ear did twitch again. Deepak felt confident enough that she was somewhat aware or her surroundings and was listening; her shaking easing up. He gently placed his paws on her temples, causing her to slightly flinch. Elvira had her paw at her mouth in worry, but felt slightly at ease when Dante came up and put his chin above her head.
"Miaow ow ow ow ow ow." Deepak began chanting, as he started to massage Deidra's head.
She was very tense. Though she was laying down, her body was now stiff like it was frozen. But as Deepak's paws started to make their way down to her shoulders, her limbs felt like they were melting. Deidra's dilated pupils started to shrink and she blinked more.
"It's.....it's working." Elvira said, both amazed and relieved.
Deepak felt the same relief as well.
"Guru Miaow. Bless you." Deepak thought to himself.
As he continued, Dolly and Roxy slowly approached Elvira, Roxy being especially cautious, her body posture expressing shame. Her eyes glistening a bit from tears forming.
"Elvira....I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten her so badly. I shouldn't have come." Roxy apologized.
Elvira smiled a bit at her, while also feeling a bit guilty.
"Roxy listen, I'm not mad at you and I'm sorry for getting a bit frustrated with you. Right now it's Dolly I need to talk to at the moment." Elvira said. Her expression became more serious when she eyed Dolly.
Dolly was rubbing her shoulders in a awkward manner, clearly feeling guilty as well. She could see Elvira walking away from the group while also looking at her, indicating she wanted to talk in private with her. Dolly followed her until they were a fair distance away. Elvira stood up on her hind legs, arms crossed while glaring at Dolly. It really made Dolly feel uneasy.
"Uh listen Elvira I'm sorry, I just though-"Dolly tried to explain
"Thought what? That bringing Roxy was a good idea?" Elvira questioned, cutting Dolly off. "Why on earth did you bring her? Dylan told you that Deidra was afraid of strange dogs?"
"But Roxy would never hurt her, plus she was wanting to hang out and I didn't want to say no to her. She gets lonely easily." Dolly tried to explain.
"I KNOW she would never hurt her, Dolly. It's not because I don't trust Roxy, it's because I know how Deidra is, which is very shy and easily spooked. And Roxy is all energy. If I thought it was a good idea to introduce them to each other, I would have asked Roxy to come. Now you see why I didn't." Elvira explained.
"I...I just thought it was the typical cat being afraid of dogs, or like how Dylan can be afraid of bugs or the pups with thunderstorms." Dolly admitted.
Elvira smacked her paw on her forehead.
"Sigh.....Dolly you have no idea. Deidra isn't your siblings. You know nothing of what she went through before I met her. Her first few encounters with dogs, were ones where she was fighting for her life. The day I found her, if I hadn't been there, she wouldn't be here now." Elvira continued.
Dolly's eyes widen, knowing what Elvira was referring to. She turned her head to look at Deidra. Though she was more relaxed thanks to Deepak, the fear was still evidently there. It was the fear of someone who looked like their life was flashing before their eyes, one who held a dark past behind them. Dolly hung her head in shame as well.
"I'm....I'm sorry." Dolly said again.
"Fear like that takes time to heal. It's a process. Trust me, in the months she's been with us, I've come to learn that. I know your family hasn't had the most pleasant experience with cats from what I've heard, but those aren't experiences you will have with Deidra. She may be a cat, but she's my sister. And I love her the same as my other siblings. I'm sure as a sister, you understand that." Elvira finished.
Dolly sighed while giving a little nod. She to loved her siblings all the same, and she would protect them with her life. In trying to be considerate to one friend, she broke the trust of another.
"Yeah....I do." Dolly agreed.
She looked up back at Elvira, who's expression had soften. Seeing that Dolly understood and had apologized, Elvira pulled her into a hug, indicating no hard feelings.
With the discussion over, the girls walked back to check on Deidra, with Deepak now doing acupuncture on her back. Deidra was slowly coming back to her senses and was much more relaxed, though her ears constantly twitching and the occasional look around indicated she was still a bit alert. Roxy continued to stay distant.
After a few more minutes, Deidra steadily stood up. Elvira came in and hugged her, relieved she was ok. Deepak himself felt relief and honored he could help Deidra in a distressing moment, especially when she turned back to face him.
"T-Thanks D-Deepak." She said.
"Please, thank Guru Miaow. I'm but his servant," Deepak said humbly.
Dolly walked in a bit closer slowly, nervous to say anything. She to was glad Deidra was ok, but she knew the situation was her fault in the end. She wouldn't blame Deidra if she didn't want to be friends at this point. She considered leaving with Roxy, but then could see that Deidra was staring at her. Dolly looked around awkwardly. She didn't feel she could look Deidra in the eye.
"H-Hey uh Deidra.....nice to uh...meet you." Dolly said, feeling awkward.
Deidra just kept staring, looking unsure herself.
"IIII......sigh.....I'm sorry this is my fault. I'm the one let Roxy come without asking you or Elvira. Please don't be upset at Roxy, I promise she wasn't trying to hurt you. She really did just wanna be friends and play, but she got....carried away. Please if you could forgive her.........and me." Dolly pleaded.
Dante, Dylan, and Deepak looked on, feeling proud that Dolly was at least owning up her mistake, but none of them would ever pressure Deidra to forgive her. Whatever Deidra's decision was, they would respect it; as to would Elvira.
But in spite of being a bit shaken still, a tiny smile could be seen forming on Deidra's face. She didn't say anything, but she did give a single nod to express she would hold no grudges. It really made Dolly feel both relieved, but more happy and excited now about becoming potential friends with her.
"Hey Dolly." Roxy said.
Dolly turned around to see Roxy behind her, still keeping a respectful distance
"I better go, I don't wanna cause more problems. We can hang out another time ok." Roxy said sadly.
"Yeah......I think that's best. Dolly admitted. "I'm sorry Roxy, don't blame yourself."
Though Deidra still felt fear, seeing Roxy showing sincere guilt and disappointment was heartbreaking. She was still Elvira's friend and she trusted Elvira.
"W-W-WWait." Deidra said.
Roxy managed to hear Deidra's tiny voice as she was walking away and turned around. Deidra breathed a bit heavily, but calmed down when Elvira put a paw on her.
"Please.....s-stay." Deidra said.
It was quite a surprise to everyone around her, but nobody argued. Roxy was stunned and it took a moment for the words to sink in, but she smiled softly at Deidra's invitation. Elvira smiled proudly at her little sister.
A few hours had later passed, and everyone was still hanging at the park, all in good spirits with no more drama. Roxy and Dolly were both being chill when talking to Deidra and treating her kindly. Deepak felt especially thankful after thinking the day was almost ruined earlier. Deidra was such an inspiration, like she was almost the embodiment of peace and love themselves.
But thinking about Deidra's fragile mind, and whatever trauma she clearly was still haunted with; Deepak could not ignore such things. Though her experiences are likely different from his, she was so much like him in many ways, easily distressed and anxious of difficult situations. He got an idea, but he would wait tomorrow to talk to her about it. He just wanted to let the peace currently going on to be as it was, but he was determined that no matter what.
He would help Deidra, to feel peace in her mind.