A Cat Lost to the Realm
 

Whether it was pure chance that brought Mimi Tsuna into the Realm of Punishment & Mischief, or her wicked attitude was unknown. At one point, she was carrying her drawings to her room, planning to set them together and begin construction for a nasty little prank. However. As she flopped them onto her bed, the scenery changed. The lighting shifted, and now, her art was on a bench, and the bench was on a train depot.

Looking around, it was in the middle of a Great Plains, with a train track nearby. It spanned to the horizon both left and right, although there was smoke coming from the right, slowly billowing closer.

From a short distance, right around the depot she stood at, a few voice could be heard getting closer. An assortment of people all sounding very different and odd in their own ways.

As if all of this wasn’t enough weirdness at once, Mimi could see that instead of a sun, a glowing ring hovered straight above in the sky, casting shadows on everything like normal, but with occasional shadows going the wrong way. Wherever she was, it was nothing like the place she’d just left.

Mimi blinked as her surrounding changed and she was no longer in her bedroom. The girl didn’t have time to think as she heard voices and quickly looked around for a place to hide. She didn’t know where she was, but she was certain she wouldn’t like anyone who happened fo show up. After a while of searching she decided to head for the smoke, hoping whoever had made the fire was gone by now.

As Mimi head towards the smoke, she could slowly hear the chugging of a train’s engine. The fire was actually from within it’s furnace, and rapidly approaching.

“Hey, the train’s stoppin’ here, pinhead!” Somebody called out to her, laughing a bunch. Looking back, Mimi could see a small group gathered. Most of them around her age, some completely human, some, with more animal than her. They waved her over to join them, even if they all seemed to be teasing her for running off the depot.

The young neko was confused when she saw kids her age, but she was able to trust them quicker than she would anyone else as kids were her friends. Mimi quickly made her way over to the group and looked over at one of the kids, a wolf girl a little taller than her. “Where’s the train taking us? Are we going back home?”

“Home?” She asked curiously, cocking her head. “Oh…wait, did you just get here?” She asked, looking a bit awkward. “Uh…home isn’t really something you’re gonna want to worry about here.”

As the wolf explained it, one of the others behind Mimi suddenly pantsed her, then jumped back into the group. It was impossible to tell who in specific did it, but it definitely got most of the group laughing loudly.

“Really, why not?” she asked. About several seconds after her question a rush of cold air touched her lower half and she blushed as she realized her leggings were around her leggings. “Hey! Which one of you did that?” she questioned while covering herself up again.

Each person said a different name, and pointed at a different person. As the train started to arrive, the wolf made her way over, and pulled Mimi’s pants up for her.

“Look, I’ll explain things as we go. Right now, we’ve just got to get through this ride. It’ll take us to a nice place where things are more calm, and there’s plenty of nice stuff.” She explained all of this hastily, as the train finally hissed to a stop.

Mimi wasn’t getting anywhere with the other kids so she ignored them for now. She’d probably just end up pranking all of them later anyway, so for now she forgot about what happened and followed after the wolf instead.

“Can you tell me anything about the place we’re going to?” she asked.

“Better food and houses than anywhere else. Only problem is the train ride to get there is…” the wolf girl paused, glancing past Mimi. “…well, there’s a toll to get on, and it involves the guys who run the train earning mischief’s favor. Just take what they dish out, and we’ll be done with this before you know it.”

Behind her, some others had gotten out of the train. Before any of the kids on the depot could get on, they were handed a ticket, then made to put their hands against the side of the boxcar, while the ones who were seemingly running the train would come over with paddles, getting read for what was next to come.

“But I already had all the food I wanted at home, and my house was perfect,” Mimi said, not really understanding why she had been brought there. She raised an eyebrow at the mention of the roll and followed her gaze to the other kids.

When she saw the kids about to get paddled her eyes widened. “Wait we have to get paddled to her on? That’s not fair, I didn’t even ask to be sent here,” she pouted. “Can’t we just find a way to sneak on when no one’s looking?”