"You know, Alice... When I said I wanted time with you, I didn't mean with company in tow." Katrina purrs the words while sipping on her hot mug of blood.
"Don't be like that, my love. You will make them feel bad." I hum back in response, then both of our ears lift at your own words.
The cat shows her teeth in a grin and shakes her head. "I'm just messing with you, newbie. I appreciate the offer though, stick around."
The black cat looks to me and gives me a loving smile. "So... they seemed pretty interested in the whole Gloria thing, did you bring them up to speed?"
I nod my head and playfully collect the mug she was using, stealing a sip for myself. "I did, up to the whole point of meeting Toroah and her getting her wings."
Katrina gives a nod. "What do you plan to talk about next?"
I show my teeth in a grin and take a seat next to her, watching you sit in the chair opposite us. "Elias assigned you to go with her during some of her initial visits with the various lords and ladies of our court. Anything of note during that first month or so?"
The cat put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, we spent the month bouncing around from house to house, staying at each for a few days. It was mostly for her to meet our people and understand how each was different. The only real note worth of the trip, was I got in a brawl with Harold and his wife Mino."
I giggle at the words. "That doesn't surprise me in the least."
"I would hope not, you were the first I told about it." Katrina grins at me as she speaks.
You speak out curiously towards us and the cat shrugs. "Well, of course I didn't win, it wasn't a malicious thing. I did put his bitch on her ass though. Harold is just crazy though."
"Ah, poor Mino. I remember the first time we earnestly fought." I hum the words fondly.
I see both you and my cat shift your gaze to me intently. "This is a story you have not told me, Alice." Katrina spoke out to me curiously.
"Oh? I could have sworn I did." I put a finger to my cheek in thought. "It was nothing I meant to hide. That was shortly after the Gloria incident and we had a lot going on that year. I guess it slipped my mind."
"Well now you have a captive audience, so let's hear it. Isn't that right newbie?" She speaks out with a grin and I see you nod your head.
I show a smile and nod before shifting to lay and rest my head in my cat's lap. I felt her hand move to stroke at my large white ears, playing with the ruby rings I had worn today. "So I was happy things worked out with Gloria, but I felt shaken over the encounter. I needed to get stronger, I had to work harder to protect my family... I had two goals in mind upon returning home."
Katrina nods while rubbing my ears and I show my sharp teeth and shift my gaze to you. "One was to go see Kazemde about improving myself against the various magicks of the world, the other was to sharpen my martial skills with Harold..."
#
I asked to see Harold earlier than usual. Usually, we met once per season but recent events left me eager to train. Had Elias not shown up or I had not gotten my words out to call my sheep, the outcome would have been very different.
"You ask too much of yourself, sister." The lion folded his arms while standing across from me in his armory, his ropey tail flicking about, the tuft of fur fluffed out slightly. "Not even a decade with us and you stood against centuries-old celestials and walked away, that in itself is a testament."
"Thank you, brother. However, I can't forget how powerless I was during that. Had I not called upon Lorelai, had my lord not showed himself when he did..." I clenched my fists and shook my head. "I would have lost all of them..."
I clenched my teeth and gave the lion a level gaze. "I have to get stronger, I can't just rely on others. What if the time comes Elias or Lorelai need me instead?"
Harold set me with a stern look. "If the time came that Lorelai needed help, you being helpless would be the least of all of our concerns."
"You damn well know what I mean, Harold." I spat the words with a glare.
"The martial arts of any style, be it with weapons or fists. It is like any other power, Alice. You must spend time cultivating it. You can't just will yourself to be stronger." Harold spoke the words and held his palm out. "You have made remarkable progress in these few years, I dare say you may be one of the most proficient users of a whip the world over. Easily in the top five. You certainly have surpassed me and I see so much skill in you, the same skill I saw in my former master that taught me."
I gave him a nod. "Thank you for the kind words, Harold." I unhooked the whip and tossed it aside on the mat. "Can you teach me more pointers of unarmed combat then? My gun and whip I feel fairly confident in, but as you said, my whip is useless once someone is atop me."
"Of course, my pupil. We will begin right now!" The lion showed his teeth and lowered himself into a stance I didn't recognize. "I have you for a few weeks again. I will make you into a killing machine with your bare hands."
I won't drag things out with the tiny details of the training. Suffice to say we trained like we did my first time with him. Sometimes not leaving the armory for a handful of days, foregoing sleep altogether and just fueling ourselves on blood as well as tenacity. Let's jump ahead to about the mid-portion of my second week there.
I grit my teeth as the lion blurred out of my vision, I didn't even think, my body just reacted. He was behind me grabbing for my shoulder but I sidestepped and leaped straight up and back. The massive cat let out a surprised grunt as my smaller body pushed to his back. I hooked a leg under his knee and sent him face-first to the mat in a loud displacement of air.
"Ha... your ability to adapt and grow never fails to surprise me, Alice!" Harold spoke the words with pride before climbing to his feet.
"I appreciate you humoring me and letting me drop you. I know you could have countered that." I showed a grin and put my hands upon my hips.
"If you don't know how to react to both counters and the falls of your enemy, you won't learn properly. Being ready for the next move is just as important when an attack fails, as when it lands." The lion showed his teeth in a grin, his palm extended as he spoke. His chest was rising and falling in heavy labored breaths, most of his training shirt torn showing his defined muscles beneath.
In the moments of calm, I found myself looking upon him and averted my eyes. It was getting harder to focus, of course, it had been a week and a half since I had any proper energy. He saw my body language and relaxed his stance. "Alice..." He called out in a surprisingly gentle tone to me.
"Yes, teacher?" I folded my arms over my stomach and looked upon him.
"I want to thank you for respecting my wishes. In these last years of training with me, you never used your powers to coax, even when I saw the ravenous hunger in your eyes." He bowed his head while speaking.
"Respecting the boundaries of your marriage and own preferences is hardly something to thank me for, Harold." I showed him a smile and shook my head. "Did you ever speak with Mino over my proposal? I never followed up after I made the offer years ago."
"I considered it, but I ultimately chose not to. I love my wife and she is all I need. The thought is a tantalizing one, but I do not wish to even ask. I do not want her to assume she isn't enough for me." He nodded his head as if telling it to himself as much as me.
I smiled and flicked my ears slowly. "You're a fine mate, Harold. I'm happy to count you as a friend."
