"There's got to be a river around here somewhere!" Lina moaned. "I'm starving!"
"Miss Lina! I think I see something!" Amelia called, running back to rejoin the group.
"A river? Finally! Food!" Lina cried, running off the path and through the trees. The others quickly ran after her.
Lina skidded to a halt. "What the-"
She was staring into, not a river, but a swirling vortex. In the center of the vortex she thought she could see a tiny image of a town, but she wasn't quite sure. She started backing up.
By that time, Zelgadis and Amelia had arrived, and were staring at the portal. "What is that?" Zelgadis murmured, backing up a step. Just as the three started back toward the path, Gourry ran into them - literally - and knocked all four into the portal.
"What's the matter, can't keep up?" A woman in a black cloak taunted as she leaped over a passing cart. "Getting to old for this?"
The woman was wearing a gray tunic, gloves, and knee-high boots. The hood of her cloak had fallen back, revealing a cat-like face with cat-ears poking up from beneath her short blond hair, three tiger-like stripes along each cheek, arm, and leg, orange fur, and green eyes with slitted pupils.
A few feet behind her, a troop of guards were struggling to keep up, shouting "Stop! Thief!"
The woman laughed as she dived between the legs of a horse. The startled horse reared up, blocking the guards' path for a moment.
The thief laughed again. As she glanced back at the guards, she crashed into someone who hadn't been there a moment before.
"Hey, watch it!" she cried, getting back to her feet and reaching down to help the other person up. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the other person's face.
The man she had crashed into was dressed similarly to herself, but in a lighter color. Nearly every part of his body was covered by the light cloth, but the skin that wasn't covered was made of stone.
Another Transformation? she thought, startled. But that's impossible! The Philopher's Stone has been destroyed; there's no way Jason has enough power to cast the spell without help! After a few seconds, she realized that this person probably hadn't been Transformed by Jason. Jason turned people into half-human, half-animal creatures, not people with stone skin. And the men that he Transformed usually didn't end up looking half as good as this one did.
"Stop! Thief!"
The woman swore under her breath. She had forgotten about the guards. She started to dart down an alleyway, only to find a second troop of guards coming from that direction. She swore again, loudly this time, and sat down, waiting for them to arrest her.
The guards stopped, puzzled.
"Which one's the thief?" one asked.
"I dunno. Orders said the thief was a freak."
"They're both freaks!"
"I know that, stupid! And who're these other people?"
"Accomplices, probably."
"Let's take 'em all!"
The thief sighed as the guards dragged her to her feet.
"Look," the woman in the black cloak apologized, "I'm really sorry about getting you thrown in jail like this. Those guards are such idiots; can't even tell a Black Cloak from a civilian. Not even when she's wearing a black cloak!" She sighed.
Gourry frowned. "Shouldn't we be trying to break out right now?" he asked.
Amelia shook her head. "That would be bad."
The woman in the black cloak nodded. "She's right. Break out, and all the guards in town will be after you."
"Just us? What about you?" Lina asked.
The thief grinned. "They're already after me. I'm Catsai." She paused, waiting for a reaction, and frowned when she didn't recieve one. "Catsai," she repeated. "Leader of the Black Cloaks? You know, the one who's wanted posters are on every building? In every town?" She raised an eyebrow at the group. "Geez, what planet did you come from?"
"Not this one, apparently," Zelgadis said quietly.
"Huh?" Everyone turned toward him.
"The vortex. It must have taken us to another world," he explained.
Catsai and Gourry still looked confused. "Run that by me one more time," Catsai said slowly. "Vortex? You're from another world?"
Zelgadis quickly explained what had happened. Gourry still looked confused, but Catsai only looked skeptical. The thief shrugged, realizing that it didn't matter if they were crazy or just lousy liars. "Whatever," she said finally. "Hey, is that stone skin a fashion statement or something in your world?"
Zelgadis frowned. "I was transformed by Rezo the Red Priest," he said quietly. "And you're not exactly normal yourself."
Catsai grinned. "Yeah, basically the same thing happened to me. Except it was my boyfriend - make that ex-boyfried - and he had just gone insane." She glanced out the barred window, judging the time. "Where is Anna?" she muttered. "She should have been here by now."
"Anna?" Gourry asked. "Who's that?"
"Another one of the Black Cloaks," Catsai explained. "She's not a thief, though; I tried to teach her, but she just wound up in jail."
"So did you," Lina pointed out.
Catsai shrugged. "Only because I ran into you people. If I hadn't tripped over you, than I would have been able to make it back to headquarters." She paused, sitting down in a corner of the jail cell. "Well, since Anna hasn't arrived with the bail money yet, she probably won't get here until tomorrow. While we're waiting, why don't you tell me your names? It gets a little annoying having to call people 'hey, you.'"
Lina quickly introduced everyone, and Catsai's eyes widened when she heard Amelia and Zelgadis's names.
"That's strange," Catsai murmured.
"What?" Gourry asked.
"Anna's full name is Anna Wil Tesla Seyruun," Catsai explained, "just like Amelia. And my last name was Greywers, before the Transformation."
"Maybe we have doubles in this world," Lina guessed.
Catsai nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it." She lay down and shut her eyes. "Try to get some sleep. If you're awake at sundown, it's almost impossible to get any sleep all night."
"Why?" Gourry asked.
"The cold," Catsai explained shortly, and then rolled over on her side and ignored them.
The next morning, all five of them were released, and their weapons were returned. Outside, a tall girl with long brown hair was waiting. Her face looked a little like Amelia's, but the rest of her looked more like Naga.
"Catsai!" she called, racing forward. "You're all right!"
"Of course I'm all right," Catsai hissed, disentangling herself from the younger Black Cloak's embrace. "And can you keep it down? Jason might already be here!"
Anna sighed and stepped back reluctantly. "You're all buisness," she scolded. "It's not good for you." She brightened when she saw Lina and the others emerge from the jail. "And who are they?" she asked, interested. "New recruits?"
Catsai shook her head. "Their civilians, and we're going to leave them alone," she said firmly.
Anna sighed again, watching Gourry. "Too bad," she murmured. "That one's real cute."
Catsai followed Anna's gaze. "Gourry?" she snorted. "Yeah, he's cute, but gods he's dense! Actually," she added after a moment, "you two would probably get along. Well, since they're from another world, they'll need a place to stay..." She glanced back at them as Zelgadis left the jail building. "Sure, they can stay at headquarters for a while, and join if they want."
Anna grinned happily and ran off to flirt with Gourry.