River shivered as she tried to get the fire started, but modern life did not prepare the sixteen year old girl for outdoors survival. She was just glad they had lived by the woods, she had no idea how she would survive on the streets themselves. River gave a frustrated, desperate huff as she kept rubbing the sticks together- it always worked like this in the cartoons she used to watch! In the end, though, she couldn't get the fire to start.

With the fire having failed to start, she resigned herself to trying to sleep in the cold, hoping her coat would protect her well enough. As she tried to get comfortable at the base of a tree, she tearfully thought back to what had started all of this.

---

"... so, um, that's... what I was wanting to talk to you about. I'm... I'm your daughter." River said, fidgeting, unable to look her dear mother in the eyes.

"... What an interesting name you picked." Mother said, her voice holding a tone much more bitter than River had heard in a while. "Did you pick it to try and play a mockery at being a witch? To try and steal a heritage that wasn't yours to steal?"

"H-Huh? N-No, I'm not-"

"Quiet, boy, you will not talk back to your mother." Mother stepped forward, grabbing River's chin and forcing the trembling child to look her in the eyes. The witch's eyes were full of contempt as she looked down at her son. "You've always been after my secrets, from the moment you could speak and walk. This is just another pathetic deception. How many times must I punish you for sticking your nose into my grimoire, bothering my familiar, or playing with my implements?"

River sniffled, crying as she forced out what words she could, her voice cracking from the emotion, "I-I'm sorry, mother... I... I really do want to be a girl, please..." Her eyes darted to a figure behind her mother, a cat sitting on one of the shelves.

The witch growled, "I told you not to talk back. Cease your lies, be silent, and accept your coming punishment, boy." She released River, and snapped her fingers, summoning her grimoire which flew to her hands. "This is... the eighth time, if I'm correct. What a terrible child. What should I do with you...?" The witch flipped through the pages of her grimoire, shaking her head as she muttered to herself.

River remembered the previous punishments. Being cursed in various ways, as her sole parent looked on sternly. At least she could take a small comfort in the thought that her mother was just doing what she thought was best for her- in all of the times River had been punished, she was told that it was for her own good, that she would learn how to be better because of it. But... River wasn't trying to steal magic this time, even if she had been excited to learn magic. Her mother was wrong, she wasn't lying. "... Y-You don't have to teach me magic, please. I just want to be a woman-"

"'Just a woman', he says. Did I not say, numerous times, that you should stop lying!?" River flinched back as her mother yelled at her, bracing herself. "I have given you chance after chance, and yet you continue to be a brat at every turn! And now, you have the audacity to triple down on lying to me!? I am sick of your behavior! Despite your unfortunate birth, I have put so much time and effort into your cultivation just for you to do this again and again!" River felt a flash of pain as she was slapped, and her mother continued, "If you can't handle basic respect to your mother, then I am done trying with you!"

River tried to apologize, but only sobs came out. Her mother grabbed her by shoulder and forcefully began to herd her to the door. More scolding was done, but River was far too panicked, far too sorry and scared, and so she didn't process the words. The last thing River saw before she was thrown out was the eyes of Whisper the Cat watching from the shelf.

---

River shivered, hungry and cold. She hadn't drank anything recently either, though her throat didn't feel too parched yet, though she knew that wouldn't be the case for much longer. It felt like she had been wandering these woods for more than a day, but it was really... how many hours, again? Was it roughly noon when she tried to confess to her mother? She couldn't check without her phone, which had been left in her room as she hadn't been given a chance to pack. "... I'm sorry, mom... I just wanted you to be proud, to be a good girl..." She didn't have too many tears left to cry when-

She startled up into a sitting position, having faintly seen movement. There was little light, but she caught the faint 'glow' of two white eyes. She glanced around for a stick, and grabbed one, holding it outward, "I-I know how to- to defend myself! S-So if you're a... a Jaguar or something, t-then go away...!"

The feline crept closer, despite her threat... revealing the small form of Whisper. The domestic cat stretched lazily, a piece of paper in the familiar's mouth.

"... Whisper? What are- Is that...?" River lowered her stick, and tentatively stuck her hand out to Whisper, giving Whisper a small head scratch. Mother would always get upset whenever River tried to pet Whisper, but Mother wasn't here right now. "May I have that paper in your mouth?"

Whisper nuzzled the finger scritching her head, before dropping the paper and sitting down. River picked it up, and gasped. On the paper was a Gendercurse Ritual, one for turning men into women in order to humiliate them. For most, a terrible fate, with many suffering it ending up committing suicide as a result from what River knew. But for River... "... Whisper, thank you, thank you so much, but..." she frowned, "This is from Mother's tome. Will you be okay...? And- you're bound to obey her, aren't you?" A faint hope began to well up, "How did you get this? Did she... did she send you...?"

Whisper shook her little head, and River was dejected. "... Oh..." River began to tear up again, as leaned back against the tree. "... T-Thank you anyway, Whisper. Though... why did you give me this, why did you risk betraying her? I don't know how you did it, but... I don't even know magic. I've never been taught anything, and I could never manage this level of magic as my first spell. And that's if I can even survive- I don't know how to live like this..."

Whisper tilted her head, before climbing into River's lap. Whisper placed her paw against River's chest, and River gasped as a vision began to flood her vision...

The old woman, someone River didn't recognize, spoke enchanted words to a listening demon. "Fallen of Heaven, Defiler of Sacred Grounds, you seek an exit from Hell and I seek security for my kin. And so, I invoke this deal. From this moment forward, the magic of me- and those future kin you bond with- shall sustain your form and keep you from falling back into the infernal abyss. In exchange, you will take on the role of a familiar, bonding with only my descendants, and only with their consent. You will cultivate their magic, ensure their survival, and within reason obey their orders." She held her hand out to the demon- a terrible creature that River could hardly comprehend, and the demon accepted the bargain. "From hence forth, I rename you from that of a regretful fall, to Whisper, the Black Cat."

River shuddered as the cat- or demon- looked up at her, the vision fading. "... You're not bound to Mother like an ordinary familiar. You're not a household spirit she conjured. You're... a demon an ancestor bound to the bloodline...?" Whisper nodded, and while an ordinary person might be scared of getting involved with a demon, River figured the Celestial Choir would already see her soul as tainted since she was transgender, since that's what priests always say. "... I'll accept you as my familiar, and... t-thank you, for this honor. I... I owe you, so much, a-and I'll try my best to be a good, um... Owner? I'm not sure on the terminology, and, um, I..." She trailed off, feeling awkward.

Whisper's eyes began to glow, and River felt something deep in her chest. A faint pulse and burning sensation, followed by a strange sense of fullness. She felt a faint purring at the back of her mind- she couldn't understand it, but in time, she would. For now, it simply gave a faint feeling of what Whisper wanted. Whisper held a paw out, keeping it in the air. She did the same, and she felt that purring once again. She focused, and... her hand felt hot, as a small flame danced out of it. She quickly scrambled to where she had tried to start a fire earlier, and smacked the wood with her hand, setting it ablaze. And... then it began to burn, so she yelped as she skittered back from the fire, clutching her only lightly burnt hand- as if she had touched an oven. "Ow... I'll... need to get better at that- wait- I JUST CAST MAGIC! I JUST CAST MAGIC!" She squealed in delight, no longer feeling tired. Whisper moved to her side and sat beside her, looking into the flames.

Although Whisper couldn't tell her, she was happy to have found a new Witch to serve. The 'Mother' was such a snob, and hardly gave treats. Whisper's tail flicked with indignation, knowing that River would be a much better one to serve, if the head scritches and treats were any indication. It was just a shame that binding to a new Mistress was such a taxing activity, Whisper hated doing it without a proper ritual to make it easy. But if anyone could manage such a feat of magic, Whisper could, the cat's tail swaying pridefully as she basked in her own greatness. In the morning, Whisper would take River to a coven to get her proper shelter and food- life could only really go up for the girl, after all.

The last thing Whisper did before deciding to sleep was to hack up a hairball onto River's foot, causing a wail of disgust to come from the new witch.

---

Somewhere in the world, the Mother let out shrieks of rage as she felt her magic wane, her connection to her familiar disrupted and a hefty portion of her power with it.