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Old 02-05-2004, 10:06 PM   #98
Ealasaide
Shadow of Tyrn Gorthad
 
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: The Fencing Lyst
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Sting

Scarcely a second after Airefalas' hand closed around the back of the intruder's neck, something bizarre happened. The boy disappeared only to be replaced by the hissing and spitting figure of a large, white cat. It twisted in Airefalas' surprised grasp and lashed out with its claws, raking his chest and ripping his clean shirt. Shocked, he let go and watched as the cat bounded away from him and on to the window sill, where it arched its gleaming back and switched its tail. Small florets of blood began to bloom across the front of his shirt. For a long instant, he stared at the cat, perplexed.

The cat, from its perch on the window sill, fixed its golden eyes on Airefalas' green ones.

"Man!" it said very clearly in the common speech. "Go get your friend! I have something to tell you..."

Disbelieving, Airefalas swallowed hard. Then, he shook his head. "No," he said softly. "I am not taking orders from a cat."

Without looking, he threw out a hand and grabbed the nearest thing to a sack that he could find. It turned out to be Mithadan's blue jacket. Before the cat had time to react, he threw the jacket over the top of the feline and bundled it tightly in the heavy fabric. Looking around for somewhere to put it, Airefalas' eyes fell on a large armoire only a few feet away. Opening the front, he shoved the cat inside, jacket and all. Then he sat down against the closed cabinet door. Inside the armoire, the cat began to yowl and scratch like some kind of household demon. Airefalas shook his head and buried his face in his hands.

"I've gone completely mad," he said aloud.

"What's going on?"

Looking up, Airefalas saw that Mithadan had appeared in the doorway to the sleeping quarters. His grey eyes watched Airefalas with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

“Cat?” answered Airefalas rather shakily. Knowing that his voice sounded strained and peculiar to his own ears, he could just imagine what he sounded like to Mithadan. He cleared his throat and tried again. “There was a cat. It’s in the cupboard now.”

“A cat,” echoed Mithadan, moving into the room. “Maybe you should tell me what happened.”

Airefalas nodded. Maybe he should. Maybe he should just get it over with and toss himself headfirst out the window. He took a deep breath. “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I would get up and try to get some work done. But when I opened the door, there was a slave boy standing over your satchel, going through our papers. I assumed it was one of Falasmir’s spies, so I, uh, so I grabbed him.” He hesitated, still trying to wrap his mind around the series of events.

“Only it wasn’t a slave boy or a spy,” he finished lamely. “It was a cat. It’s in the -” he knocked the door of the cabinet twice with the back of his head “- cupboard now.”

“With your blue jacket,” he added before Mithadan could reply. “Sorry. Oh... and it talked to me. It told me to go get you.”

Airefalas knew the story sounded like utter madness. He scarcely breathed as he waited for Mithadan’s reaction and for the sky to finish falling in on his head.
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