The Cat and The Blade (SilverRain and Vena Sera IV)

Locked away in a cage was a catgirl named Kita. She had recently been knocked out and captured by the humans who wanted to either sell her into slavery or the circus. As much that Kita didn't want to get caught she felt that it was worth it because she was able to lead the humans away from her Felinian village. Unfortunately that meant that the humans had taken her away to a far away place...

Kita stirred a little as she started to come to. Her ears swiveled around a bit as she listened to the footsteps and the humans talking. They were going sell her the next morning. Well, that's not going to happen. Kita remained still and waited till she couldn't hear voices. The humans must have gone out to hunt some more. There was a snoring sound coming from the other room - most likely belonging to the one what was supposed to keep watch. Kita opened one eye followed by the other and stretched a little. Her cage had iron bars, but that was no problem. The humans always underestimated things. Dumb hunters.

Kita changed into her housecat and simply slipped through the bars of the cage before she changed back into her catgirl form. She silently rummaged through the piles of junk and was quite relieved to find her dual katana undamaged. She clasped them back onto her waist before she changed into her kitty form again. She carefully padded across the room, past the snoring hunter. Kita looked back once more. The other cages were empty it seemed. That was good. She stepped out into the streets, only to be spotted by another hunter. He hollered and a few of them noticed.

They chased the small black cat around the market. They were determined to catch her because she would be worth quite a lot if sold. As fast as Kita was, she didn't really know this town or where to run. Kita came to what seemed to be the city gates and dashed outside onto the road that lead away from the city. Eventually she came to a house which had high walls and some trees around it. With an extra burst of speed, Kita ran up to it, leapt onto the wall, zoomed across the yard and slipped under an open window, before hiding up on a support beam.

Outside the hunters made a lot of ruckus as they tried to search for the cat hidden amongst the bushes. They startled a snunk which sprayed them and set them running away in the other direction.

Another day, another order to fill and more work to be done. That would have been the case at any rate had the young blacksmith accepted any recent jobs. Guards from the city came to him constantly for weapons and armor, he had little desire to make anything for them however. They were corrupt, abused their power and often times were worse than those they locked up. Why should he waste his talents on bastards like that? For being only 20 years of age Raiden was one of the most accomplished blacksmiths in the kingdom, his steel was valued amongst commoners and nobles alike. Despite his renown he was rather bitter of his reputation, it brought visitors from all over, people he had no desire to speak with. If he felt like working he would work, having someone show up and expect him to do so annoyed him. At least the people of the city seemed to slowly be understanding that, they came less frequently with each passing week, though the guards and king's men were as persistent as ever. If they thought being a pain in his ass would earn them some weapons then they were sorely mistaken.

He certainly wasn't dressed for work at the moment, that much was for certain. Aside from having recently washed up he was wearing a white woolen shirt, rather expensive in that it had buttons, a rare commodity as it was a newly refined idea. Over his woolen shirt was a leather vest, dyed orange with a black trim and high collar. Black trousers were fastened around his legs with a crimson belt, brown leather gloves encased his hands and black boots sat on his feet to complete his outfit. Leaning against the fence to his property he wasn't really doing much of anything, there was no work to be done and he'd no desire to go into the city today. A commotion coming up the street caught his attention, his blue eyes turning beneath the mess of blonde hair to look down the dirt road. A group of guards came running up, at first he thought for another attempt at getting swords made. He was absolutely bewildered why they were running, though as soon as they had shown up they disappeared, stopping for a moment to search bushes before running off again. He wondered if they were drunk, otherwise it was possibly the most idiotic display he'd ever seen.

"Idiots..." he mumbled, pushing himself off of the fence he leaned on. Now might be a good time to eat he decided, noting he was beginning to feel a bit famished. He really had no desire to go into town today, every time he did people pestered him for work. He'd scrounge up whatever was in his home, which he didn't think was very much. Going into the kitchen area he searched the cupboard, finding plenty of bread but not much else. Sighing to himself he grabbed half a loaf, taking a seat at one of his chairs and beginning to eat it slowly, tearing off chunks at a time. He may have to go into town after all it seemed, unless he was going to go hunting. Hunters often sold slabs of meat inside the city, it was easier than catching food yourself but also much more expensive. The bread would do for now he supposed, chewing another piece.

Kita remained still an the support beam as the human entered the house. Luckily humans never thought to look up. Plus she was small and the top of the room was kind of dark. Kita decided against moving as it would give away her position. And so she just watched him from above. The human didn't look too mean and she was thankful that he wasn't a hunter. The scent in the air was of heated metal. That means that this one was a blacksmith. Kita thought about her swords. They were once made by a human and then passed down through generations. Her oldest brother used a longsword, whilst her second brother used illusions. Her own swords were a pair of katana that she wielded - both physically and telekinetically.

She wondered if she should remain here for a moment or till nighttime even. It seemed quite safe here and there were no other territorial animals about. Surely enough the human hunters would give up if they couldn't find her. The humans had very little sense of smell, unlike the foxes or the rats. Kita continued to watch him eat the bread. It didn't look too tasty. And yet as she looked around she noticed this one had some hunting weapons tucked away. This made her bit scared. As long as he hunted things that were not cats it would be fine she supposed.

From her vantage point, Kita noticed a rat scurrying across the side of the room. She had the instincts to catch it, but supressed them for now. As for eating them, no, Kita preferred other food such as fish and delicacies made by humans. And thus Kita made the decision to stay up on the beams till midnight if she could. Kita then somewhat froze as she noticed the man had spotted her perched on the beam.

Dammits.

The bread wasn't all bad, perhaps a bit tough but certainly still edible. Raiden simply stared out the window as he ate, his mind wandering as he considered going hunting. He wasn't much for it if he had to be honest with himself, buying his food was almost completely preferable. Tomorrow maybe he'd go into town and buy some more meat then, something a bit more satisfying than bread. If he was getting low on funds, which he thought he was, then perhaps he'd take a job or two while he was in town. Finishing the last bits of his bread he dusted his hands off, getting to his feet while debating on what to do next. His personal sword, a longsword he'd dubbed Minerva, a name chosen for the wyvern insignia on the hilt of the sword, was getting a bit dull around the edges. Perhaps he'd sharpen it, maybe temper and add a bit of steel to the blade while he was at it. That sounded like a decent afternoon to him.

Settling on that plan he went to the far eastern wall of the room, taking Minerva down from the wall and removing it from the simple leather sheath. The case in which the sword was contained would never hint at it's elegance, he'd intended it to be that way. In the rugged and worn case was a fine steel blade, roughly two feet in length, it being only an eighth inch thick at the most. The hilt had been custom made for his own personal use, a small hand guard built into it. Aside from needing a polish and perhaps some refinement, he used the blade often, one could easily think he'd taken it from a noble's household. To inspect it better he held it up in the light, eyeing it over carefully for nicks and scrapes. In doing this however he noticed a small figure out of the corner of his eye, something perched up on the beams of the roof. Glancing up he narrowed his eyes, frowning when he saw it was a cat. Where on earth had that come from? Rolling his eyes he set the sword in it's home, grabbing a chair and setting it down under the cat. "Right... Time to get you out of my house..." Standing on the chair he reached up for Kita with both hands, trying to grab hold of her in a way he wouldn't harm her. He hated people but was fairly complacent about animals, so long as they didn't mess with his personal belongings.

(For my own reference:
http://s592.photobucket.com/user/Sar...iluve.png.html)

Oh noes... Kita had been discovered. Whilst the human male did not seem mean or anything, he did say she was going to be put outside again. And being outside meant that sooner or later she was going to be caught by the hunters. Kita didn't want to go outside. And since, it was warm in here. Couldn't she stay here longer? Kita bent down and looked at his hands... at least there was no scent of blood or dead animals on it. But as they reached closer, Kita's instincts told her to get away.

Kita moved back on the support beam and meowed gently. She could talk in human speak in her current form, but she chose not to as she didn't know what would happen if she did. Would he hand her over? Or maybe think of her as a monster or something? She pressed herself into the wooden pillar behind her much as possible, not wanting to be caught and dropped outside. Hee... it would be funny if she got the human to move the chair about, only for her to change her spot again. Kita looked behind her and noticed that she could jump to another support beam. And thus she did.

Now of course, Kita couldn't stay up there forever. She would have to come down eventually. But for now she would wait until either the human got bored or he fell asleep. Then she could raid the kitchen for food and set up camp. Oh and if anything she could always poke away the tiles and make holes in his roof. That was another way to escape.

If the human move the chair to underneath her she would walk away along the beam. Though at times she would start a staring game with him. Then again he could always try to throw bread at her, to which she will just jump from beam to beam. But he wouldn't do that now, would he? After all, he did have a lot of expensive things around.

Needless to say, Kita wasn't coming down anytime soon.

Realizing the cat was going to be a tad stubborn Raiden sighed, stepping down from the chair and glancing up at the small animal annoyed. If it wasn't going to come down willingly then he may as well leave it, not like it was doing any harm. Perhaps it would leave on it's own anyways, he doubted it would stay up there for very long, particularly if he left out some food for it. To this end he went out into the back of his house where an ice box lay against the wall of his home. It was relatively empty, but a fish filet still remained inside, tucked away near the bottom and encased in ice. It would need to thaw but he wasn't intending on eating it anyways, may as well use it as bait. Carefully he broke the frozen filet in two, returning to the inside of his home and grabbing two wooden plates. Setting a portion of fish on each he left one on the floor and the other just outside his door, with any luck the cat would come down for them and he could grab it then. It could take a while though, he wasn't keen on waiting. Rather than doing so he decided to work on his sword as he had planned, grabbing it once more and crossing his yard to the workstation.

Before he began working he removed his tunic and vest, trading it for a deep gray blacksmiths tunic. It was made of a heavier wool and coated in a heat resistance solution, what that was exactly he had no clue. It worked though, despite the heavy material it felt as if he was wearing his typical attire. Removing his sword from the sheath he sat himself on a whetstone, carefully angling the blade and placing his foot on the pedal. Once he had it secure in his grip he began to hone the edges, pushing the pedal repeatedly to keep the stone circling. He was no stranger to doing this, not in he least, and actually got some enjoyment out of the process. The dull blade would be once again be capable of cutting through nearly anything, a trait he kept for only his own weapons. Those who hired him received fine work as well, but he reserved some techniques for his own work. After all, it only seemed proper a blacksmith should have a few secrets of the trade.

Kita watched as the human went outside for a moment and came back in with food. He set the fish onto two plates and at first it seemed that one was for her and the other was for him. She soon came to realise that they were meant to lure her out of the house. Kita wasn't exactly the average housecat who would fall for such tricks. Kita then heard the sounds from the backyard, so she assumed it was safe to jump down. Kita landed near the first plate and sniffed at the fish. There was no scent of poison...though it was a tad cold. How was she going to thaw this without fire? Ah but then she would have to wait. Kita picked up the fish in her mouth and hopped onto her beam before setting it down. Next, she darted out the door and back in again, setting the second piece next to the first. Now all she had to do was wait...

the hunters would no doubt come back soon with dogs that could follow her scent. This place was by far the safest. It semed taht Kita would have to conintue pretendin to be a housecat. She would have to earn her keep as well for now. Eyeing a rat on the floor, Kita gave chase and soon caught it. She took the dead rat into her mouth and made her way to the backyard where the human was before plopping it onto the ground before him. He seemed to be taking a rest after sharpening his sword.

"Meow" went Kita as she tried to look as cute as possible.

Raiden smiled approvingly at his handiwork, shy of a chipped bit of steel here and there the blade had been restored. It still needed to be tempered for certain, but for now sharpening it would do. Setting the blade across a wooden bench he took a seat on a stool, glancing over curiously when he heard a cat meowing. Sure enough the very kitten he'd been trying to catch had come up to him with what he assumed to be a peace offering, a rat. Well, not quite something he was delighted to be given, but it showed the cat wasn't entirely useless. With a small smile he reached down, scratching the cat behind it's ears for a moment. "Well... Perhaps getting rid of you would be a bad idea..." he said softly, falling for the cute act. Living out on his own did have it's disadvantages, one of which was being lonely. He despised most people though, thought them selfish, bitter and cruel to the core. Perhaps not the best outlook on humanity, but it's what his experiences had taught him, hence his fairly isolated home.

"I guess you can stay then, for now. If you belong to someone then you'll be going back." He chuckled a bit after saying that, rolling his eyes before getting to his feet and bringing Minerva over to the furnace. Why was he speaking to the cat? It didn't understand, nor could it speak back. Perhaps he needed a trip to town, though he was certain as soon as he did so he'd regret it. Perhaps if those guards returned later he could have a bit of fun, the city's guard weren't quite known for their prowess or intelligence. Shaking his head at the thought he began to carefully pour some pre-molten ore over the worn blade, easing just enough onto it in order to replace the chipped piece. Once the metal was in place he set it in a basket of water, standing back as scalding steam rose into the air. After that he would return to the whetstone, carving down the excess metal to return his blade to it's former shape.

Kita meowed as the human scratched her ears. His hand was warm as she tried to nuzzle her face in it. Kita watched the blacksmith continue his work when she had an idea. Going back inside the house for a moment, she went to get her two pieces of fish and placed them onto the plate. Then she pushed the plate across the floor with her nose. Kita and said plate soon arrived at the bottom of the workbench. No, Kita wasn't looking to burn the plate or the fish, but instead she just wanted to use the heat from the molten stuff to thaw the fish.

But just as that was happening Kita tensed up as she heard barking in the distance. The shouting... it belonged to the human hunters! Kita immeadietly darted inside, not knowing where to hide. She looked at the fireplace. The soot! It would be useful in masking her scent. That and she was small enough to fit up the chimney. Kita leapt into the cold fireplace, smothering herself with as much soot and ash as possible before she hopped up the chimney and rested on a small edge created by a loose brick. Kita waited...

Raiden hadn't even noticed Kita come back outside, too engrossed in his work to see the kitten. However he certainly did notice the unmistakable barking of guard dogs approaching, it seemed like those morons from before were back. Sighing to himself he finished with his sword, it would do for now, changing into his regular attire and sheathing the blade before going into his home. He had intended on returning the cat to it's owner, if that was the case, but she was nowhere to be seen. He'd tell them it ran off then, having little desire to help them in any way. Stepping outside he exited the confines of the fence through the gate, standing in the dirt road with arms crossed. Amused wasn't quite the word for his expression, though to think a group of guards and dogs had been dispatched all for one cat. Smiling faintly at the thought he remained where he was, having no intention of letting the men onto his property.

"You sort are back huh...?" he asked, a small smirk passing to his lips. Those dogs of theirs didn't seem too friendly, if they got into his home they'd probably tear the place up searching. That wasn't going to happen, to hell with the guard as far as he was concerned. Raising an eyebrow expectantly as he waited for one of them to speak their business he relaxed a little, only one hand rested on the hilt of his sword. His snarky attitude had gotten him into confrontations with guards more than once, it was only through many nobles' favor of his works that he was never formally charged for disobedience. A lot of the guards hated him for that, he knew, and he reveled in that fact.