Mouse smells. Pass through leaves, quiet, quiet. Smell is stronger now. Crackling leaves, warm sun, cool breeze. Brown body in the grass ahead. Mouth waters. Ears back, silent now. Mouse comes closer, closer… POUNCE-
Solembum twitched his ears in annoyance, and stretched out his forelegs. The last pieces of his dream drifted off, replaced by the hard stone underneath him. He licked his lips, imagining - a bit sadly - that he could taste that mouse.
He lazily opened one eye and looked around him, trying to figure out what had woken him. He saw nothing and huffed, annoyed to have nothing to blame his broken-up dream on. He closed his eye again and tried to go back to sleep.
Solembum was tired. He could smell as he lay by the King's throne that the leader was not there. The other throne guard was sleeping, having no job to do when the King was not at his throne. He and Solembum were sworn not to leave their posts, even when they had nothing to protect. In fact, the King was hardly ever there. He needed the throne only when he was to receive visitors, of which there weren't many. The cave was a hidden place, designed for the safety of the Off-Pelts. There were few outside of the Pelts and Off-Pelts who knew where it was, and even fewer who could get in past the traps.
They had been in the cave for moons now. Solembum disliked the place. He could not hunt, for there were no animals. The sun couldn't come in through the stone roof. His paws ached from spending too much time walking on hard stone. This was not a place for him and those of his kind to live, but the King had decided they must. As the most powerful of the Off-Pelts, he knew things of great power, so he must have had good reason. Solembum was not one to argue with the logic of the King, and so did his job as well as he could.
Solembum shifted where he lay, and opened his eyes. Something was not right. Swivelling his ears around, at first he could hear nothing. There were no strange smells, no movement, nothing to indicate the presence of an intruder. But still, he sat on edge. The air was wrong, something strange-
A faint clicking, almost inaudible, snatched Solembum's attention. It was coming from the entrance tunnel, the only way in or out of the cave. His lip curled back and he snarled. He recognised the sound, the unnatural noise of Furless paws, from before they had left the surface. His instincts made his fur stand on end, and he stood, his muscles taut as he debated whether to tell the King about the intruder, or stay at his post.
His choice was made for him as the King emerged from one of the many antechambers. He was in his Furless form, and had draped himself with several colourful Furless pelts. A string of bones hung from around his neck, and a ring of feathers lay atop his head.
Gesturing to Solembum to relax himself, the King took his spot on the throne. The guard cat warily dropped back down to his belly, disconcerted by the King's apparent calmness at the arrival of the intruder. The Furless were monsters, the enemy, capturing Pelts and Off-Pelts and keeping them trapped in their dens. Why was one being allowed to enter the most secret hideaway of the King himself unaccosted?
The clicking sound grew louder, along with a pungent smell that made Solembum's eyes burn.
Disgusting Furless.
His tail twitching with annoyance, he unsheathed his claws and kneaded the stone beneath him. He could see the other guard doing the same, but the King remained unfazed. He pressed his mind lightly onto Solembum's.
Go. Wait amongst the shadows.
Solembum ears dropped flat against his skull. Shock radiated off of the other guard, and he knew the King must have given the two of them the same order.
Abandon the King? The idea was almost unthinkable. To leave the leader when a threat was approaching… but it was an order, and so Solembum was forced to leave his post and go to one of the small holes carved into the shadows of the walls.
The Furless emerged from the tunnel just as Solembum curled his tail underneath him. The King rose as it entered the cave, and stepped forward to meet it. The Furless bent over imperceptibly, and as it rose, it reached into its pelts and pulled from them a small box.
The King returned to his seat, and took the box from the Furless. What was in it, Solembum could not see, but it seemed to be of great interest to the King and Furless alike. They began to talk, in the chattery fluttery Furless way, and Solembum dropped his head to his paws. This Furless did not seem like a threat. In fact, the feelings between it and the King were almost… respectful.
The two talked for a long while, during which the box changed hands many times. Solembum sighed and took to watching the Furless. It seemed to be female, but it was extremely difficult to tell with those creatures. It had a strange air around it, not unlike the air that surrounded the King, and he wondered if it might have some sort of changing power, too. The idea was unpleasant. If the Furless could become that-which-they-are-not, could they not work as spies? He flicked his tail and hissed quietly. If there were Furless spies among them, he must have faith that the King would know it.
Solembum closed his eyes, and sighed. It felt wrong, to not be with the King, but he couldn't do anything about it. Might as well rest.
When Solembum opened his eyes, the King and the Furless had stopped talking. The latter was now walking circles of the cave as the King sat on his throne. It stopped every few steps and peered into the shadows surrounding the walls, occasionally muttering to itself before moving on.
Solembum retreated farther into his hole as the Furless came closer. He didn't want it seeing him, and its stench made his head ache.
All of a sudden, the Furless's muzzle filled the entrance to the hole, and instinctively Solembum hissed and unsheathed his claws. He snarled as a presence began knocking on his mind, making him recoil. For a few disturbing moments, he felt as though something had taken control of his mind and body, and try as hard as he could, he was unable to move, frozen in place by this unseen force.
Then, as quickly as it started, the presence was gone. The edges of the Furless's mouth curled slightly before it turned and walked back to the throne. Solembum could vaguely hear it start talking to the King again.
He was shaken by what had just happened. Cautiously, he extended one forepaw ahead of him, and then the other. Both seemed to be working just fine now.
Slowly, Solembum tested all his limbs, then his body, and then his senses. All seemed to be working properly, and so he carefully made his way back up to the edge of the hole. He could see the Furless now, pointing in his direction, jabbering away like a bird.
Come here, Solembum.
The King's voice echoed softly in his mind. Reluctantly, Solembum left the safety of his hiding place and padded towards the throne. The tapping of his unsheathed claws was the only noise in the room, the Furless having gone quiet. He could feel waves of excitement coming off of it, and his revulsion towards it grew.
There was no doubt in Solembum's mind that the Furless was the one who had taken him over, and the fear of another attack transformed itself into hatred of the disgusting creature.
Solembum stopped in front of the throne and bowed his head in respect. The King layed a furless paw on his head.
Do not be afraid.
Suddenly, two large paws wrapped around Solembum's stomach. He shrieked as he was lifted up into the air and turned around, so he could see into the Furless's glee filled eyes.
He struggled to break free of its grip. His claws, thrashing wildly, caught on skin. With a loud tearing, the smell of blood filled the room, and the Furless let out a low moan. However, its grip still did not weaken, and it carried Solembum to a large block of stone. Dropping him down, it spoke.
His body froze. He snarled wildly and tried to lash out, but his paws refused to do as he told them. He howled in anger and tried to look at the King. Why would he let this happen?
This thought fled as the mind of the Furless wound its way into his head. It began muttering, and laid its paws onto his prone body.
A pain unlike any he had ever experienced before tore through Solembum's mind. Blood filled his mouth, and he screeched in agony. A bright light flashed in front of his eyes.
Everything went dark.
~passage of time~
"He is moving."
"Of course he's moving. Honestly, Grimrr, you'd think you'd have at least some faith in me by now."
"My apologies. It is simply that I have never seen something like this done before."
Solembum licked his dried out lips and groaned. All he could taste was blood. Whether or not it was his own, he didn't know.
His whole body ached. Not just that, but it felt… wrong, too, like he had gotten stretched. Furless voices filled his ears.
"Solembum? Can you hear me? Nod your head, please, and then open your eyes."
Gritting his teeth, Solembum nodded. Delighted clapping sounded from above his head. He realised he was lying on his back.
"See, Grimrr? He's just fine. Now open your eyes, Solembum."
He cracked open one eyelid, and the dullness of the light surprised him. It was dark, extremely dark, and he wondered if the Furless had destroyed the lights of the cave. He turned his head slightly, and it came into his view.
Human. Magic. Angela.
The words flashed into his mind with a glance at the Furless. Solembum's eyes widened. He realised that he had understood the words of the Furless, the… Angela.
The corners of the Angela's mouth lifted. Smile.
"Alright, my boy! You're doing fantastic, now, if you please, look down at yourself. It may be a bit of a shock, but I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't think you could handle it."
Automatically, his mind still reeling from being able to understand Furless speak, Solembum looked down. He shrieked. His fur was gone, replaced with one of the colourful Furless pelts. His paws were bare, pale pink, with long separated segment with pitiful little claws at the end.
Clothing. Hands. Fingers.
Solembum rapidly looked himself over, and moaned with ill-disguised fear.
He was a Furless.
The Angela crouched down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Solembum." Its – her – voice was quiet, soothing. "Today, you have been a part of one of the greatest feats of magic ever attempted. What we have done here today - " The Angela gestured towards the box that lay next to the King's arm. Grimrr. Werecat. "-will guarantee to your species the ability to decide the outcome of any war and to live forever where ever they should choose."
"You will now accompany me on my travels as my apprentice. In exchange for your company, I shall teach you the ways of the world. Perhaps you may even learn a bit of magic."
Solembum knocked the hand off of his shoulder and glared at the Angela with as much venom as he could muster. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The Angela laughed.
"Just because you can understand what I say doesn't mean you can speak the language yourself. It's one of the things I'll be teaching you." The Angela smiled. "Lucky for you, I'm good at guessing what it is people want to know. You want me to tell you what it was that I did to you, isn't that right?"
Solembum snarled. It was, but he wasn't going to tell this Furless that.
It smiled even wider. "My boy, I proved today just how powerful I am, and furthermore, I saved your entire species from being hunted to extinction."
The King Grimrr snarled, but the Angela took no notice. Its face alight with pure elation, it put a paw on Solembum's cheek, and laughed once, quietly.
"My boy, I turned you into a werecat."