Completed [The Bronze Wood] The Prince of Rats Meets a Cat [Barn]

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats 55th of Summer, 513 AV Ninus listened to Cricet nibbling quietly next to him, his ears picking up the sound of her skillful teeth gnawing away at an acorn cap. She quite skillfully ripped it off, using her bottom teeth to get at the flesh inside. Loud crunching and grinding followed as she enjoyed her treat, and Ninus sat up from rooting through the grass. "Madam, do you mind?" he asked a bit irritably. Cricet cocked an ear at him and swallowed, picking up another acorn. Ninus was looking for a particular type of fungus, and it seemed the amanita was running away from him. Destroying angels, as they were known, were a small white capped mushroom that was fond of forming parasitical relationships with the roots of large trees. The oak tree that they sat under (which would make a wonderful sickness poison in itself!) seemed like a good candidate. Cricet was supposed to be keeping watch while Ninus rooted around in the grass. Destroying angels were small enough that one could easily crush the poor mushroom and destroy the delicate poison inside. Armed with his herbalism knife, Ninus was determined to find one. His belief was that he could combine it with the poor digestive poison from Novus into a grand poison. It would take some research, and it would require a lot of destroying angels to do so. Hopefully, the weak digestive power of the half-symenestra would break down the chitin of the mushroom and allow for a much better delivery system of the poison. After a few experiments with soft tissues, Ninus had found out that a half-symenestra was practically useless against anything with firmer flesh than an uncooked lobster. Hopefully this would change that. Cricet loudly cracked open an acorn next to him. Ninus sighed. "Madam, thy noises make mine wrist twitch! Art thou determined to sabotage me? Fly from here and take thine noises with thee." he mumbled, frustrated. He reached back with a hand and pushed her off through the grass, scooting the large rat. Cricet sniffed at him and nipped his fingers for his trouble, stuffing her cheeks with acorns and galloping in the odd, leaping way of rats out into the grass to have her lunch to herself. She could still see Ninus, rear up, face down to the ground and searching through the grass as if he was combing someone's hair for lice. He worked too hard. She was happy to play lookout and eat her acorns. While there were bandits in the Bronze Wood, neither rat nor man held any fear for them. Ninus had been raised twenty years in these woods by the self-same band of highwaymen that ran about pushing over caravans to make their living. What Ninus feared were the bears within the forest, who had bad eyesight and a worse temper. Or the knights, who seemed to travel through the Bronze Wood more often than anyone. Cricet snorted as Ninus pulled his poison kit close and began slowly, delicately cutting at something with his knife. They'd been at mushrooms all day. Destroying angels, death caps...they had quite a few of the latter but not so much of the former. Cricet herself had been eating. She still had a small cache out here in the field of horse mushrooms, which made a lovely earthy compliment to the acorns and which she nibbled at with glee. She picked up one of the large, fat white mushroom caps and sunk her teeth into it. She would save some for Ninus to cook when darkness fell. He also had some poison he'd set out in traps for wood pigeons and the like. It was likely she'd add fresh pigeon to her diet before nightfall.

[Barn]

A faint flick of an ear. That's all it took for the squirrel to notice Barn. The cat was grumpy, having missed a nice fat meal because of a blasted fly. She hated flies. She trotted through the forest with the silence that was characteristic to felines. It wasn't too windy, thank the gods, but it was enough to blow a strange scent -- or scents, for there were two of them -- in her direction. Barn raised her head and opened her mouth, inhaling deeply. Another breath, and she could properly identify the smells. They were so out of place, though. A human and a rat? Together? How peculiar. Following the scent, the cat kept to the shadows. Ah, there they were. If she were human, her jaw would've dropped. That was a massive rat, and that was saying something. The human, though, was another story. He looked young, possibly a young adult. Thin limbs, long fingers. Dark eyes and scars in some places. Interesting. What was he doing in the grass, though? Was he looking for something? He had pushed the rat away, and was talking to it. Barn huffed. He must be crazy. No doubt he was, keeping that big of a rat with him. Those things had a nasty bite, which Barn had the misfortune of being on the recieving end of one. She'd killed it soon after and had eaten it, getting her revenge. The cat had absentmindedly wandered out of the shadows, snapping sticks loudly in the process. She cursed herself, hurrying back into the refuge of an oak. The same oak, so it happened, that the man was under. Barn peered out at him warily, eyes shining slightly. He certainly talked strange. There was a kit beside him, which he pulled closer and began cutting something. The rat had produced a mushroom and was now eating it. She hunched her shoulders, hackles rising and tail puffing up. She hated rats. They were just a source of food to her. This one, however, could definitely kill her. It was bigger than she, and those teeth would rend flesh with ease. Her own claws wouldn't stand a chance, even though she had sharpened them earlier. It was bound to smell her eventually, even though the wind was carrying her scent away from them. Either smell or see her, considering the foolish move she had made only a few chimes ago. She hated rats.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Cricet finished off the mushroom and licked her paws, washing her face fur and licking her lips happily. She was full of nutritious acorn meat and mushrooms, not at all a bad day for her. Acorns would put gloss in her coat and fat on her hide, and she had been eyeing a few of Ninus' male rat visitors. They were all so much smaller than she, but she didn't mind a little fun with them every now and then. The large female rat flicked her ear at the snap of a twig, and Ninus paused in his cutting. She recognized a smell that drifted down from the trees and puffed up her own fur, baring her array of fangs and snarling low in her throat. Cat. She'd got in enough fights with scruffy alley cats in Syliras to know that they made formideable opponents...and she'd eaten enough of them to know their flesh was greasy and sweet. Ninus obviously had no idea...the poor man could barely smell (in a rat's point of view). The poisoner gently freed the destroying angel from the root of the oak and settled it in a small linen cloth he used to collect fungus, to keep it somewhat wet but allow it to breathe so it didn't corrupt itself with mold. He frowned at Cricet snarling. She was making small false charges at the tree, a common behavior for very unhappy rats. She had her eyes on something in the trees. Ninus stood up and looked up into the branches to see the cat. He chuckled at Cricet. "My dear woman is that a way to greet such a pretty hunter?" he asked the rat, who only snarled louder and pinned her round ears back against her neck. If someone didn't know her, the effect was terrifying. Her beady eyes were focused on the cat and she snapped her formidable chewing front teeth. Ninus smiled at the cat. "Come, little panther, it is rude of thee to stare so." he offered a hand to her as if helping some lady down from a carriage, clearly amused at the exchange. Cricet wouldn't dare kill the cat while he was there, but she wasn't at all happy at the way her master was so cavalier to the rat-killing beast.

[Barn]

The rat had smelled her. It looked like it was going to attack, making false charges at her. Barn hissed and clawed the air. "My dear woman is that a way to greet such a pretty hunter?" Well, at least the man knew who was the better creature in this situation. The rat was terrifying though, beady eyes staring straight at her and gnashing its -- no, her, the man had said woman -- teeth. Her ears were flat against her skull, as were Barn's. Her own fangs were bared, a rumble running in her throat. She hated rats. The man beckoned her over, but she was wary. The rat didn't look like it was going to attack... She padded over hesitantly, first placing her paws on his leg and sniffing his extended hand and then rubbing her face against it. He was nice, even though he had a rat. The Kelvic relaxed, still rubbing her cheek against his fingers. Barn's scent was released, claiming him. With a defiant hiss at the rat, she rubbed her face against his leg as well, standing between his shoes and looking up at him. The feline arched her back and curled up her tail, meowing gently with large eyes. Might as well take advantage of this situation while it lasted.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Ninus curled his fingers and rubbed against the cat's cheek, kneeling and petting her. Cricet was not at all happy at the marking. She knew what it meant as a fellow animal, even if Ninus just saw it as affection. She wouldn't attack with Ninus there, she knew the Prince of Rats would consider it rude. But she snarled and puffed up her fur even more, approaching and sitting down a few feet away from Ninus. She wasn't pleased at all. Ninus plopped down on the grass and shut the poison kit with a gentle hand, petting the cat. "My lady...please calm thyself. Thine enemies are not mine." Ninus told Cricet, looking to the cat. "I am hers, my dear little huntress. Whilst I pet thee with joy, it is Cricet to whom I will always return. My protector and dearest friend." Cricet caught his tone and puffed herself up a bit with pride.

[Barn]

Blasted rat, always trying to gain her master's attention. Barn's tail flicked, her throat rumbling with a purr. At least the beast wouldn't attack her, not while this man was around. "I am hers, my dear little huntress. Whilst I pet thee with joy, it is Cricet to whom I will always return. My protector and dearest friend." Wha- His friend!? A protector!? Barn fluffed up again, whiskers quivering. She hissed angrily at the rat, who simply puffed herself up with pride. Ohh, how she hated rats! If it wasn't so big, and if her master wasn't around, she would kill it and eat it! Prideful buggers. The cat meowed angrily, a sound that settled into a domestic version of a growl. Her orange eyes seemed to almost flicker as she clawed the air, back hunched and teeth bared. Those eyes were the color of glowing coals, dangerous and burning. Her paws twitched with the need to sink her fangs and claws into the flesh of that monstrous animal. Blasted rats.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Ninus laughed at the cat, rubbing behind her ears with a gentle hand. "Calm thineself, both of you. No blood shall be spilled on this grass today." he said. "Come, we shall eat and drink together, for my work has been arduous and long." Ninus closed up the poison kit and made sure the mushrooms he'd gathered that day were securely inside. In all liklihood they would be a little bruised by the time he got home, but that was the price of running about in the woods. He might try and cultivate the spores at home, but the destroying angels were notoriously picky without a good oak or sycamore to latch onto. Ninus settled down in the field and took a small packet out of his poison kit. A humble sandwich he'd bought for a few copper mizas in the Bazaar. He offered a bit of chicken to the cat, seeing Cricet draw close and put her small, handlike paws on his knee. Ninus chuckled to her and kissed her forehead. He would feed her after his new friend the cat. "A pity neither of thine ears understand mine words." he said quietly to both of them.

[Barn]

Food! Barn perked up at the mention of eating. There was a sandwich he had brought out, after putting the mushrooms away. A piece of chicken was offered. The cat smelled it carefully, taking hold of it in her teeth. She secured one end of it with a paw, pulling the meat away and swallowing it. She hadn't had chicken in a long time. The rat was closer, waiting to be fed, but Barn was preoccupied by the food in front of her. Her ears flicked up at his words. Yes, a pity they couldn't understand him... Wait. Did he really think she couldn't? The rat couldn't, but she was able to. Then again, she looked and acted no different from any other cat. "I can understand you." Barn stared at him with bright eyes, hoping he could somehow know that she was speaking to him.

[Ninus Aurellius]

The Prince of Rats Ninus fed a bigger piece to Cricet. The rat took it in her front paws and settled on her large greyish-brown haunches, nibbling delicately at the treat. Ninus was always good to her, and her hide never dulled with malnourishment nor did her fur become brittle. Cricet was the picture of health, fat and sleek. She eyed the cat as she nibbled her bit of sandwich, unsure as to why Ninus was being so kind. Well...her master was always kind. Ninus was a good-hearted soul, even if he did deal in death and was a bit off in the head. The poisoner chuckled when the cat meowed at him. "I am not versed in your language my lady, but you are free to sit and break bread with me." he offered, smiling good naturedly at her. The cat was a welcome companion, even though Cricet obviously didn't think so.

[Barn]

Barn snorted, dissolving into light and reforming as her human shape. She sat and crossed her legs, propping her head up with a fist. Curious. "I am not one to flee from rats, even oversized ones. Although I give them credit, for some have escaped me before and left their mark." It was true, pale scar tissue marking her shoulders, legs, arms and back. Her orange eyes sparkled, a hint of laughter in their firey depths. Giving him a small smile, she examined the rat from a point of view that was less dangerous to her health. The cat Kelvic continued nibbling what was left of the chicken the man had given her, her tongue sweeping up any stray bits left on her fingers.