It’s been over a year since my black cat Owl passed away and I still miss her every single day. Especially now that the weather is nice and I can go out on my deck to enjoy the view, I miss her appearing from under the swing or running out from the hedgerow to join me up on the deck meowing. Owl was an indoor/outdoor cat and on warm summer days, she’d insist on going out on the deck even if it was too hot for anyone to be comfortable. I would eventually have to physically bring her back inside to get cool, but eventually she’d want to go back outside again.
As perhaps the universe’s or Owl’s spirit’s way of filling the void left by my beloved little shadow, a stray mama cat deposited her kittens under one of my sheds last fall. With that mama cat and kittens I then had outdoor kitties to greet me once more. I gave all of those tabby kittens names. The dark-striped tabby is Neeko, then the mottle-striped is Keeper, then tabby Seeker, and then Poros who was similar to Seeker, but lighter colored. Poros isn’t pictured in the photo below because they hadn’t shown up to eat yet so I didn’t know they existed.
Seeker bravely ran inside my house one cold winter day in January and she refused to go back out, so she’s mine now. I’ve had her spayed and she’s a very happy, and very vocal, indoor cat.
Poros disappeared sometime over the winter but Neeko and Keeper are still around outside and come to my deck for food. Keeper had kittens a few months ago and now she’s started bringing the three fluffballs around and they’re adorable! I can’t afford to “save” them all and get them fixed, but I can provide food, water, and some outdoor shelter for them at least.
So in a way, I do have outdoor kitties, but cute as they are, they’re not Owl. They’re too skittish to be pet, whereas Owl loved to be pet and purred very loudly. Owl also loved being near my youngest daughter when she’d go outside to swing and the current outdoor kitties are too scared to be too close. Seeing the outdoor kitties, especially the newest kittens, makes my youngest daughter very happy but it’s not the same. I am grateful that Seeker has attached herself to my youngest though and sits near her patiently waiting for her to play with her. Owl was my youngest daughter’s cat and they had a special bond. I’m hoping eventually when Seeker mellows out more, she and my daughter can have a similar bond.
Last year shortly before Owl passed away, I made a new character in Final Fantasy 14 based off of my beloved black kitty. She’s a Keeper of the Moon Miqo’te I named Owl Iboo and I played her quite a bit for a while. But then when I moved my main character of D’azri to the new server of Dynamis, I sort of left my Crystal server characters behind. Owl Iboo and the partner I’d created for her, a male Viera named Ijer, were two of those characters.
However, a few months ago, I started missing my kitty Owl and the character of Owl Iboo so much that I decided to transfer her and Ijer to Dynamis so I could play them more in the FC that D’azri and Kibbles are in. I’m very glad I did because I’ve been playing both of them and having a blast. I switched Ijer to Summoner from Dragoon and I made Owl Iboo Black Mage because it just felt like it fit my black kitty better than ninja or warrior.
I managed to level Owl Iboo to level 60 Black Mage finally so she can start Stormblood, but while she was the right level, I wanted to give her a bit of a new look for starting the expansion. Coincidentally, the latest patch for Final Fantasy 14 was released recently and within it was a new variant dungeon that came with new hairstyles, glams, and an emote. Usually I want the new glams and hairstyles for my main characters of D’azri or Kibbles, but this time I wanted them for Owl Iboo. I just felt like the new hairstyle and glams would work really well for my black kitty because they have a comfortable, easy to move in look.
Thus, I began running the variant dungeon nightly on D’azri until I got enough of the currency to buy the hairstyle and the two pieces of the glam I wanted for Owl. I ran the dungeon so many times that I can hear the boss music in my sleep, but it was worth it! Plus, the new dungeon is quite fun and I’ve only been down half the paths so far. I’ve been doing it with random groups because I can’t solo that sort of content and it’s been fun learning about the new paths with people. It’s best to run such content while it’s new because eventually people will get bored of it and not be queueing for it in duty finder. Hopefully I can eventually manage to gather enough friends and FC members to run the dungeon with a full group of people I know, but not quite there yet.
It was only last night that I finally got the two pieces of glam for Owl Iboo, so I’ll be starting Stormblood on her later today with her new look. Now that she’s level 60, I picked up dancer on her too because it’s one of my favorite classes and will suit the character I think.
To keep with the casual vibe of the clothing, I also got Owl the flying chair mount because she’s a cat after all, and chilling on a chair is something all cats love to do!
I did a lot of PVP on Owl Iboo to get her to level 60 and I’ve bought her some of the glam from PVP to spend all the Wolf Marks I’ve accumulated. I also got her the little lantern minion because I feel like it helps shine light in the shadows that often fall upon the World of Eorzea. Playing Owl Iboo and also working to get her the glam has helped me shine light in the shadows of my sadness missing my black kitty Owl and I’m sure my cat’s spirit appreciates how I continue to honor her memory.
Srinity 