Of Cats and Men

[Miaou]

Merlin pulled back his ears at the device on the table, but seeing as it was going to be helpful to his goals, he sat back in a normal position. He licked his paw while thinking how to go about this. ‘My whole life story?’,’ he thought. It wasn't actually that long, though much happened in it. His robotic translation unit sat beside him on the table, and he nudged next to it, popping out a small connection link. It expanded, bent, and burrowed itself into Merlin’s fur, connecting to a data port hidden under his tuffs of fur.

“There,” the digital translation announced, “I’ve connected myself to my little companion here. While connected, I won’t be able to do much so please don’t try anything.” Merlin lowered his head once the words were broadcasted out. “Not that I would expect you to…”

Merlin lifted his head and looked at the recording machine. While devices like those kept him alive, he loathed them as they always end up failing on him one way or another.

“Well, it started off on New Paris…”

New Paris is a grand city. Massive city-hives, factories that covered small continents, chains of moving vessels taking people and goods here and there, enough gold to make my litter twinkle with magic that no poop of mine could ever do. The people were generally nice, the smells wonderful and the food excellent. The best part was I was treated as royalty. I was Sire Merlin of Rouillac, one of the few trusted to be around those of his King’s blood and guardian of their lives. I was to watch them while they slept or while they ate, though mostly I watch children when they played.

I’m going to have to state at this point that I was not the same Merlin you see now. This was before I was… enhanced. Before I became what I am now. I was three years of birth, standard, 21 in cat years. I’m not going to lie; it was generally a joke when I was given my title. I was a companion to the dear Miss DeMatha, a young bright girl who simply loved me. We had splendid times together, running about the courtyards near the King’s palace, stealing bites of food from the kitchens, watching the laser jousts tourneys, stoning the rapists and murderers. It was wonderful.

Now Miss DeMatha was of noble birth, one of the many cousins of the King and as such was a part of the Royal Family. I was the only living thing allowed near her or allowed to sleep in the same room, not counting other family members of course. I later figured out, as at the time I could hardly remember my own name, I was told to guard her with my life. Now of course I was just a simple cat at the time that was completely ignoring the human above me telling me these orders while purring my heart out, but it was something that started a chain of events later on. The person who told me that was Miss DeMatha’s mother. She loved her daughter so and seeing as I gave the little Miss happiness, Lady DeMatha loved me as well.

Things were good. I was loved, groomed, fed. Though, everything changed when the palace was raided. Now the palace is quite large and where we were was more towards the outskirts. When the raid happened, caused by some Council extremist or Maquis, it was on the other side of the palace so we had nothing to fear. We were still told to go to our personal rooms to wait this out, so I walked with the Miss as I normally did. I had no clue what was going on at the time so I didn’t notice how extreme things might be somewhere else.

I spotted a little crack in the wall while passing one of the many halls of our living quarters. Taking interest, I watched it as we walked past it, and saw something flash out of the crack. It was a mouse! A fat gray mouse just decided to waddle out of its home and into my lap. I reacted at once, charging the poor thing. I pounced, overshooting the juicy meal, and hit the wall. The Miss started calling for me, but the mouse is too much to resist. I follow it as it speeds down the corridor, taking a left turn leading towards one of the exits. That’s when things went horribly bad.

At this point, Merlin drops his ears and looks down, not wanting to continue but fears he must.

The little Miss followed me as I chased that plump mouse down a hallway or more until we got to the exit. The rat was ramming itself into the doorway, and I took the time to stalk up, gloating-like. Miss DeMatha, well out of breath, rounded the corner to see me creeping up on the mouse. I believe she smiled at this point, but it was soon removed.

I was almost upon the mouse, not 10 meters away. I was getting ready to pounce, it still ramming itself into the exit door when the door opened.

The mouse stopped moving completely and a man walked in. He was in a dirty suit, face covered in a mask that resembled a rat. His hands were gloved in black and he held a gun that resembled a rodent in one of them.

I stood with my back arched high, fur on end, and hissed. Looking back, my Miss was pale and scared. I found this somehow horrifying, so clearly this rat man is causing distress onto her. I hiss once more then charge the man. I go straight for the thigh, biting and scratching him as best as I could. Clearly not expecting this, the rat man actually squeaks and falls over…

At this point, Merlin looks at the Captain before him. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to skip this part. Some things I have to keep for myself, and it isn’t actually that important. I’ll summarize though.”

Merlin lifts his ears and continues.

To put it simply, it ended up the raiders were fleeing and ran right into us. While I attacked him I was… injured. I began to bleed quite a lot until the guards showed up and took the… raider away.

I could hardly move, so I was picked up by someone and given to the Miss. She cried over me during the night, and the next day I was pronounced dead.

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Characters & Stories