Author's Note: Inspiration suddenly struck me yesterday when I was watching a barbie movie with my 2 year old niece. Ever since then I had this idea swirling around in my head and decided to run with it. I tend to start stories without finishing them but I have a good feeling about this since I have it thought all the way through. Anyway enjoy!
Chapter One
Cat Has Your Tongue
Dalaran City
10:37 AM
The feline was in fast pursuit of something, the clicking of it's nails against the purple stones of the streets of Dalaran growing faster in it's urgency to reach it's destination. The black cat rounded the corner, heading down through the large opening that led down into the sewers and moved it's self to crouch down into the shadows. Yellow eyes watched intently on the rodent a few feet away feasting on a morsel of food it had managed to obtain from the kitchens above. Raising it's rear into the air, the feline prepared to pounce, claws ready to strike. The rat lifted it's head, nose twitching before squeaking out as it rushed off once the sound of the heels of shoes came from behind it.
Dishearten, the cat lowered it's self, sitting upright before jumping onto the boxes it had once hidden in the shadows of. Coming to a stop in front of a mushroom that grew among the magic filled waste water, an elven woman knelt down, making a small face as she plucked the fungus from the roots. Wearing the traditional robes Dalaran mages wore, her outfit consisted a lot of purple, even her nails were magically painted the same purple color. With eyes that shown blue and hair that almost mimicked the color of fire, this woman was known as one of the many High Elven mages that inhabited the city.
Her name was Sedisa Flameheart, known for thin patience and a temper as fiery as her name. She looked over the fungus she had plucked from the sewer floor, then with another look of disgust she plopped it into a bag she carried by the handles looped over her arm. As she began to move away the black cat had caught her attention. She stopped, offering a small smile as she moved to the feline and began to pet it from the top of it's head to the tip of it's tail.
"Terribly sorry, I didn't disturb your lunch did I?" She spoke to the cat as if it would answer, instead it simply purred and shoved it's head back into her hand as it's eyes closed. Continuing to pet the cat, Sedisa seemed very content on just standing here with the feline instead of going on with her task of picking mushrooms for that whack job of a cook. Who in their right mind would want to eat a fungus that came from the bottom of a sewer? She shook her head at the thought, eyes closing as she knelt to become eye level with the cat. Affectionately the feline purred and bumped it's head against her own.
The clunking of plate armor soon became evident as the cat became startled, jumping down from the box to hide within the shadows it offered. Sedisa quickly grew annoyed that her new feline friend had been scared off by some lumbering plate wearer somewhere near by. Her annoyance soon showed themselves as a young woman was rushing into the sewers as fast as she could. Black hair that had fallen from the short, quick pony tail behind her head flailed behind her. Plate armor which looked a little big even on her clunked noisily as she ran.
Green eyes set on the elf, the human warrior instantly recognizing Sedisa as a Dalaran mage. Quickly she tried to come to a stop, metal grinding against stone as she slid to the elf's side. The woman leaned forward a little, placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath. When Sedisa went to speak the woman simply held up a finger, panting and signaling for her to wait until she had done so. Eyebrow twitched lightly in annoyance as the elf simply glared down at the woman.
"Ha … alright. Hey! You look like a mage! Is there anyway I can get you to send me to Ironforge? My guild is holding a meeting and I'm already five minutes late!" The warrior finally spoke after catching her breath.
"No." Sedisa responded, stepping away slightly from the flabbergasted woman.
"W-What? Why? All you got to do is wiggle your fingers and presto! Portal!" Wiggling her fingers to mimic what she should do, the female spoke with a still exhausted tone. Running in plate was already a difficult task, even more so when you didn't quite fit right into it.
"Well, because I don't like you." Sedisa spoke with a firm tone, starting to walk away to end the conversation before it even started. The woman looked at her with a confused look before rushing back up to her, flipping her to face her and nearly crushing her hand in an attempt to shake her delicate hand within one of her gauntlets.
"It's rude to say you don't like someone you haven't even met. Here, I'm Rosette Marais. A pleasure to meet you." Rosette said with a genuine smile, not seeming to notice the pain she was causing the elf as she spewed curses and tried to free her hand from the metal death trap it was clamped in. Once her hand was released, Sedisa stepped away, putting a great deal of distance between them.
"S-Sedisa Flameheart, now go away." She managed to stutter out through the pain, clenching her hand and then releasing it to see if any of the bones had been broken. With a grin, Rosette seemed to completely miss the last part of her sentence and held her hand up into the air in a kind of victory pose.
"Awesome! So how about that portal to Ironforge?"
"I said no."
"Come on! How hard is it to mutter some words and send me through?"
Sedisa gritted her teeth as her patience was wearing thin. Glaring at the woman she felt around her robes for her pockets. She hadn't brought her staff with her today, but she did have her wand, which was just as good. What to do with this annoyance though? Sedisa was not a personal taxi service, she never was and never would be.
"Hurry up! I'm already ten minutes late!" Rosette impatiently tapped her foot as she muttered and watched the elf's every move. Sedisa's teeth were almost at a grind, it was a good thing her tongue wasn't in the way or she would have bit it right off, no problem. Her eyes shot to the darkness of the boxes though as from the corner of her eye she saw the black cat run off, in hot pursuit of the rat that had eluded it earlier. Her palm rested on the handle of her wand as a light smirk spread across her lips.
"Ironforge you said? Sure, I got that." The elf growled out, pulling her wand from the pocket of her robes. Rosette clapped her hands together in excitement, causing a metallic ring to go through the sewers from the grind of metal on metal. To put on a show Sedisa lifted the wand in the air, wiggling it around in a circle above her head. Always wondered with the workings of magic, Rosette stared in awe as light sparkles came from the end of the stick. As quickly as she began, it was soon over as the wand was aimed at the warrior's face.
Uttering words of incantation, Sedisa fired a spell at the woman, purple magic flying from the end of the stick and surrounding her in a thick cloud of mist. The sound of plate armor hitting the floor echoed off the walls of the sewer, once the mist cleared all that seemed to be left in the woman's wake was her armor. Sedisa pocketed her wand, smirking as she walked up to the armor and knelt. Shaking her head and making a 'tsk tsk' sound by clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth, the elf leaned in and reached into the armor as if feeling for something. She soon produced a result, in her grasp she held a black cat, gripping it by the scruff of it's neck. The cat looked confused, frightened, fur stood up on it's body. Sedisa laughed, switching her hands so she now held the cat in both her hands, hands fitting under the cat's shoulders.
"What's the matter, dear Rosette? Cat got your tongue?" Sedisa said with a snark remark, the green eyes of the cat locking on her. "It wouldn't be much fun if you couldn't talk, so I'll give you that much. Maybe next time you'll take no for an answer."
"Mreeow?" Rosette meowed out as the elf pulled out the wand again, smacking the cat on the head with it and imbuing it with the power to speak common.
"Oh, and as for that portal you wanted? Here you go. Enjoy your stay … where ever you end up." Sedisa said with a smirk, a portal opening up as from what she could tell there was nothing but gray rock and dead trees. Before Rosette had time to react she was thrown through the portal, getting sucked in like a vacuum. The elf watched before the portal closed, she turning her back to it and snapping her fingers over her shoulder as she walked off.
Deadwind Pass
11:00 AM
Down the path leading into the desolate area known as Deadwind Pass was filled with the light sounds of a horse walking along. A Queldorei steed made it's way along the gray dirt that was the path leading through this place. Deadwind Pass wasn't exactly he most fun place to be. Large spiders hung from the rocks above, Swoops flew the skies and inhabited dark spaces while farther in was the castle known as Karazhan and the ghosts around it. Not to mention the ogres that took residence not too far off either. As long as one stayed on the main road, there wasn't that much to worry about.
Today Audric was heading back to Duskwood from his trip to the Blasted Lands, having made agreement to deliver goods to the keep seeing as the Horde were a constant threat, they couldn't spare the men to get deliveries. Audric was a handsome man, despite being a man of the woods he kept himself clean shaven, that brown hair of his long enough to tie back, but untamed to where it gave the look of a fox tail. He had elven ears, but they were much shorter then normal elves, indicating he was of elven decent, but not entirely. A Half-elf as most people would call him, he had the longevity of most elves, save for the few thousand years he was going to miss out on.
He had eyes of olive green that someone could get lost in, like deep pools of green. Audric stood taller then most human males, but not by much. His body muscular to the point of being built, but not overly powerful. For a hunter, he remained lithe and agile, over bulk of muscle would simply get in the way. Down at the side of the steed walked Audric's companion, a large black fox who he affectionately called Kamp. The fox looked like it had seen quite a few fights, a scar lined the fur under one of his eyes.
As the hunter and his pet walked along, he was suddenly stopped when Kamp gave a growl, large ears flicking around before he darted to the side of the path. Audric watched as the canine ran to the side of the road, guiding his steed to follow to see what was bothering him.
"What's wrong, friend?" Audric knelt next to the fox once he had gotten off his horse, looking at where his eyes were locked. At first he saw nothing, then over a moment's time a swirling of mist began to form. This was nothing new, magic was like a staple in this world, portals popping up out of nowhere wasn't an uncommon thing. He stood upright as he watched the portal open, the background showing the sewers of Dalaran but nothing was coming out. The two looked down at each other before back to the portal.
"RREEWOOOW!" The screech that erupted from the portal caused the two companions to jump, startling Audric's horse in the process. Before he had time to process what that sound could have been he was met with a face of fur. Through the portal a cat flew, flying across the small space between Audric and the portal to smack directly into his face. The sheer force of the cat flying at him and hitting him the face caused him to fly backwards, hitting the ground with a large thud and having Kamp have to jump away to avoid being hit.
The portal closed as quickly as it had opened, leaving the two stunned on the ground of the pass. Audric quickly removed the cat from his face before it had time to lock it's claws into his flesh, he holding the feline arms length away from him. The cat hung limp in his hands, causing him to go into alarm of the well being of the animal. Gently he laid it on the ground before him, checking it over to make sure there wasn't anything broken. The cat still was breathing, so it must have been knocked unconscious from the impact.
"Well, certainly don't see black cats flying out of portals these days." Audric chuckled lightly to himself, the fox walking over and sniffing the cat's body. "Come on then, we'll take..." He glanced down at the cat, slowly lifting it's tail to check the gender. "Er hrm … we'll take her home with us."
Audric lifted the cat, cuddling her in his arms before laying her across the front of the saddle while he proceeded to get on afterwords. Once he was sure she was balanced he began to guide his horse down the path, continuing along to where he was headed to in the first place, his room in Darkshire. He kept his hand over the cat's back, making sure that even though she was well balanced on the horse's neck she wouldn't fall off during travel.
Darkshire, Duskwood
12:30 PM
Audric had arrived at the in once he stabled his horse, the Night Watch seeming relieved to see him as he made his way past the tables of the inn. One had asked if his trip had gone well, he replied with the same "Well enough." as he made his way to the counted, holding the cat in his arms.
"Hey there Audric, got a new pet?" The tavern keeper smirked as he motioned to the cat in his arms. Kamp gave a light grunt as he laid in front of the fireplace, the sound of rain imminent outside as the sky rumbled.
"Not really a pet, it's a funny story actually." Audric gave a nervous chuckle as he tried to think through just how exactly he was going to explain that a cat flew through a portal and smacked him in the face. "I mean, I was headed on my way back here, when this portal just … opened up in front of me and this little girl flew through it."
"A cat flew through a portal? Geez, people are doing crazy stuff to abandon their pets now a days." The tavern keep lowered his glasses, looking down at the cat curled up in Audric's arms. "I suppose you can keep her around since you already keep Kamp around with you at all times."
"Thanks, I do appreciate it. I'd like to nurse her back to health before finding her a home." Audric smiled, moving from the tavern keep to take a seat near the fire. He sat with the cat in his lap, petting her softly while he waited for her to wake up.
Like the rain had threatened to do, it poured outside. The sound of the rain on the wooden roof was soothing enough along with the warmth of the fire before them. Slowly the eyes of the cat opened. She found herself curled in front of a fire, the crackling of the burning wood almost a reminder of home. Slowly she lifted her head, looking around the inn.
What an awful nightmare … I dreamed I got turned into a cat and thrown through a portal! Good thing it was only that... Rosette thought to herself as she sat up, lifting a paw to touch her face. She felt the soft touch of fur and with a confused look she tried wiggling her fingers. They seemed awfully stubby... Rosette slowly lifted her hand to look at it, only she wasn't shown a hand in front of her, rather a paw.
"AHHHH! IT'S NOT A NIGHTMARE! IT'S REAL!" She suddenly screamed out. The sudden outburst caused Audric to jump to a stand, sending Rosette across the room a couple feet and to land on top of Kamp. The startled fox yelped out as the cat landed on his back, he jumping up to shake her off but was only met with claws in his back. He yelped out louder, now running about the main room of the inn while Rosette yowled out in fear on his back. Tables were turned over, chair were thrown about the room as the cat and fox looked like they were at a rodeo. Kamp bucked and twisted his body trying to throw the cat off while Rosette hung on for dear life.
"What in Light's name is going on in here?" Called the Tavern keeper, stumbling over overturned chairs and greeted with the comedic sight. Audric was seen chasing Kamp around, who still had Rosette latched to his back. The man sighed, slapping his palm to his face and slowly dragging his fingers down.
"It's alright! I'll take care of this!" Audric cried out to him, giving a forced smile of confirmation. Once he had done so he leaped forward, grasping Kamp's tail and pulling the fox back to him. Shaking and beyond in pain, the fox fought but gave a yip of relaxation once his master removed the cat from his back. Rosette once again looked scared out of her mind, every inch of her fur stood on end and made her look like a puff of black soot.
The fox collapsed to the floor and soon the cat clung to the man that held her. Audric smiled, gently petting her as she clung around his neck, only giving grunts of discomfort when the claws managed to find flesh in between the armor he wore.
"There there kitty, did that yell startle you too? Wonder who it was..." Audric patted the feline's back as she crawled from his arms and up onto his shoulders in order to hide behind his neck. He let her stay there, as long as she was comfortable it didn't bother him. He began to pick up the chairs and tables, setting them in the right places. He stopped with the final chair when the Night Watch ran in, concerned with the yell.
"We heard a yell come from in here, did something happen?" One of the women on the team peered around him, looking at the cat who stared back at her with dilated pupils, hardly any green in her eyes to be seen.
"Not sure who it was, was just sitting by the fire and all of a sudden if came out of no where." Audric offered what advice he could, the watch going up the stairs of the in to check the rooms for anyone in distress.
Rosette watched them as they passed, then back up to Audric as he reached up, patting her head. For some odd reason these pets he was giving her felt good, and with that good feeling erupted a deep rumble from in her throat. This even startled herself, was she purring? She had no idea how she was even doing it, it came as a natural reaction to her happiness. What was it about this man that made her so comfortable around him? She didn't even know who he was and yet just being near him made her feel like everything would be alright.
"No one upstairs yelled, I guess it was somewhere farther in the woods." The captain of the team nodded his head to Audric in thanks for the information earlier. Audric nodded his head in return, motioning for Kamp to follow him upstairs. As the watch left Rosette watched them from over his shoulder, then looked down at the fox as he stared up at her. Kamp knew something was different, and she wasn't any ordinary feline. She wasn't quite comfortable in talking to anyone yet expect for herself. The fox might figure her out before she was willing to say anything.
"Alright little kitty, stay here while I get something for you and Kamp to eat." Audric smiled, setting Rosette down on the bed. She was reluctant at first, trying to cling to his armor but finally retracted her claws once the growl of her stomach was made apparent. Gently he set her on her feet, giving her head a few pets which resulted in her rumbles of happiness once again. Once he left and his fox followed she let out a sigh, walking back and forth across the bed top.
"This is crazy, too crazy." She muttered to herself. "All I wanted was a dumb portal to Ironforge and instead I get turned into a cat and hurled across the world. I'm a cat and I can't do anything! I'm helpless!"
Rosette whined out as she fell to her side, rolling on her back as her arms crossed around her in an attempt to hug herself while she rolled. Her continued whining, going on about how she was just a cat soon caught the ear of Audric as he stood just outside the doorway with two bowls. Both he and Kamp were staring in disbelief at Rosette from around the corner, the two looking at each other before back at the talking cat. Once they took in a good look they slid back to where they had come from.
"You saw and heard that too right?" Audric asked the fox, not really expecting a response but in this case he wouldn't be surprised if he got one. Kamp stared at him, as if just staring at him gave that response he wanted. They both witnessed a cat talking common, rolling around on the bed while doing it. Audric wasn't sure how to respond to this. Animals didn't talk and normally ones that did were either druids with great control of their gift or jinxed animals. Wait! Jinxed animals, as in Polymorph! Everything started to make sense now. Even her babbling of how she was a cat now was coming into sense.
She was obviously someone who had been the victim of an angry mage. He wanted her to keep her sense of security still, didn't want to barge in on her in a moment of weakness. Silently he backtracked until he was within the hall, and then began to stomp loudly, announcing his presence coming down the hall. Rosette's ears perked at the sound, quickly sitting upright and shutting her mouth. With a final stomp Audric moved into the room, smiling at her with that kind face.
"Here we go, got some left over meat scraps from the kitchen, dig in." He said, giving a pet down her body. He wasn't sure he should, seeing at whatever she was on the inside wasn't used to being petting like a cat, but he couldn't help himself. Audric was an animal person, he couldn't control himself to not pet a cat or cuddle a dog.
Rosette looked down at the plate with raw meat strewn about it, Kamp already digging into his bowl on the other side of the room. I'm a cat, cats eat meat, raw meat, raw … alive earlier today meat. She thought to herself, still staring down at the plate. Audric didn't want her to have to eat it, and slowly began to pull the plate away. He was surprised however when her paw lashed out, holding the plate in place before she began to eat it.
Watching as she greedily ate the pieces of raw meat, Audric shook his head, a light smile on his face as he began to pet her down her back again. That seemed to comfort her enough for her to scarf down the raw meat bits like she was a stray. Even if it was just petting, this man's touch was something she needed. Every bite she took she was forced to swallow, hacking at times to make it seem like she maybe had hairballs, but in reality she was just gagging on the meat.
"I suppose I should introduce myself." Audric began. "My name is Audric Delorme, hunter, if you didn't quite know by Kamp over there." He motioned with his hand to the large black fox, Kamp chomping down some meat as he lifted his head at the mention of his name.
"I'm sure you can tell by my ears that I'm elven, well half elven." He continued. "You see, my father was a high elf, my mother human. Even though I'm from both cultures, the elves don't like to accept me too well. Sometimes humans don't either. I'm kinda stuck in the middle, get what I mean?"
Rosette managed to gag down the last piece of raw meat, looking up at him as he talked. So he was a half-elf. She didn't hear much about them other then neither side of the gene pool liked the idea of half breeds too much.
"Heh, listen to me, talking to a cat like it can talk back." Audric smiled lightly, scratching lightly behind her ears.
"I know, right?" Rosette sighed out, stretching her legs out in front and behind her as she laid on the bed across his lap. She then froze, realizing she blurted out words that he probably shouldn't have heard yet.
"Got ya." He smirked, watching as she scrambled to her feet as she looked up at him with her ears folded back to her head.
"I … um … what I meant was … er..." It was no use, he had already heard her. Her head lowered, only for his hand to gently ruffle the fur of her head.
"I don't have a problem with talking cats if you don't. Now who are you really?"
"Rosette Marais."
"A beautiful name for a beautiful cat." Audric smirked when he got a glare from the feline. "How'd this happen?"
"Ah well … I was late for a guild meeting and was stuck in Dalaran. Ever since they decided to be stingy with their portals, it's been hard to get anywhere. Well I found this mage down in the sewers, I asked her for a portal and she said no and she didn't like me. So I introduced myself and asked again, I guess she was real angry with me cause next thing I knew she hand went and turned me into a cat and threw me through one of her portals."
"I see, what a series of unfortunate events." Audric looked down at her, nodding in understanding.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, all my stuff is gone, I have no idea how to change back." Rosette sighed, her head hanging lower until she simply laid in his lap.
"Well, I don't know about changing you back, but I can take you to Stormwind to see if anyone there can cure you of this. I don't have any of those fancy gryphons like most do around here though. We'll have to ride on land." Offering his help, he pet down her back once more. What was it about his petting that felt so good?
"I would appreciate that." Rosette responded, purring in her voice as her eyes were starting to close while she was being lulled into a sleep by his pets. Audric smiled down at her, leaving her in his lap as he laid back on the bed and placed his hands behind his head. He began to run names through his mind, people he knew that were mages, and easy to anger that were among the High Elves. He couldn't find a lot, and for one reason one name stuck out in his head. Sedisa Flameheart. He knew she was a powerful mage, powerful to a point where she could come up with her own spells, ones that were hard to decipher by any normal mage or even those that could dispel magic effects.
If she was behind Rosette's transformation, it would be difficult to break without the magistrix's help. And if he knew her temper, she wouldn't be so inclined to remove it. Audric let out a silent sigh. Once they found her he could try talking to her himself, being the half breed he was though, he wasn't too sure how that would work out. He would have to ask Rosette in the morning before they headed out to make sure.
