A Foot In Both Realms

by OnihumoExplosionsInc

Sometimes, a lifelong companion is all that is needed to keep the mind from despair. Because a friend or companion, even if they are almost not a separate entity, can help the cure loneliness. And loyalty, once given, is a powerful force.

This is the other Seven Deadly Sins story I got inspired to write. And why, you ask? Simple, Hawk, Oslo, and Arthur's cat are pretty much the only animal companions in the entire series, and Hawk is the only one actually ever around with Oslo acting as a glorified plot device. So, Ban get's an animal companion along with an explanation for some of his non human physical attributes, mainly the fangs and the fact his pupil keeps changing from slitted to round.

Also, the whole intelligent cat clan thing was inspired by The Auronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. There are major differences, mainly in the nine lives and magic stuff, but that is where original inspiration comes from. Check it out if you haven't already, a really good book with some fascinating ideas and characters.

:Also, I do not own the Seven Deadly Sins. Or any other material inspired from other places. However, as I am basing the cat off of my cat, The Great and Destructive Dark Lord Murphilonius, He Who Bites The Infidels And Scratches The Unbelievers(and yes, that is his full name, he get's salty if you don't use it), the cat is mine.

"There is something about the presence of a cat... that seems to take the bite out of being alone."

Louis J. Camuti

In the filthiest, most crime ridden slum town in all of Britannia, life goes on. What livestock exists there tends toward skinny and diseased, and it's people towards dishonest and dirty. The only thing this town has an overabundance of, besides criminals, is rats.

And, well, is it really any surprise that where there are many rats, there also exists a clowder of cats?

That is where I come in to this story. As the fifth kit of the second litter of Maul and Gloom, leaders of the Shadow Fang Clowder in the human town of Ravens, I knew this fact intimately.

Only where humans dwelled in abundance, could a true cat clowder be sustained.

Of course, being the youngest was not a walk in the park by any means. I was always smaller than my siblings back then, the runt of the litter. It's a miracle that I didn't lose my first life before I met him, to be honest. I think they were all expecting it, but I was much craftier than my siblings and even after a moon had come and gone I was still on my first life.

Most of my litter siblings were on their second, and a particularly dumb brother of mine was already on his third.

Cats were expected to lose their first few lives quickly, because kittens had zero survival instincts coupled with the natural curiosity that all cats felt.

It was… trying. As soon as I could stumble around a little, I had to always be watching. Watching for a way to get enough food to survive, that none of my larger siblings hurt me, or that any of the other dangers caught me off guard.

This could mean anything from rats going after the ones to young or weak to fight against them, or humans. Humans were an… interesting case.

As soon as I could stumble outside of the den, I would watch them and learn. So massive, and many seeming to enjoy watching the suffering of others. I once watched a group of human kits pull the wings off a bird, and then leave it lying there in pain as they left.

Death is a part of the cycle, but as any true predator knows death should come swiftly and silently to prey. Anything less, was just showing how insecure of your status as a predator you are.

And cats are always superior predators.

Fighting with other predators was an entirely different situation though, I soon found. It was status, a show of how well you could protect your clowder, how far you were willing to go to stake your claim.

Most cats lose most of their lives in fights against other predators.

And that's where I thought I'd lose my first one at three moons old, from a group of human kits wanting to know what my insides looked like. Actually, if they'd of succeeded, it likely would have cost me more than one life. Maybe even all of them.

But then he came. My human.

He was a kit like the others, but with an edge of predatory survival to him, a hunger that ran bone deep. He scared most of them off with a stick, scent of grief surrounding him the entire time.

And after they'd all gone, he gently picked me up. I'll admit, I hissed at him a bit when he squeezed me too tight, and dug in my claws at the fast change in height, but that didn't stop him from holding me close.

"You're not injured, are you?" He whispered. I mewled back at him that of course I wasn't, but as a human he couldn't understand cat tongue. Oh well, give him a few years, he'd probably eventually get it.

"I'm not as good at this as her," The human kit said gently with tears running down his dirty face, "I'm sorry."

For what? You saved me at least one life, probably more? Why would you feel sorry?

"I miss my sister," He admitted in a nearly silent voice into my warm and soft kitten fur.

Ah. He missed his litter sibling. Humans only had one life, and not the nine that we cats enjoyed so that makes sense. Well, I did owe him a debt. And Gloom had declared me old enough to leave, even though I hadn't earned a name yet(actually, most of the clowder probably wanted me to leave anyway. I was rather strange for a kit).

So, when the human tried to put me down, I clung. I used every trick in the book available to cat kind. I even nuzzled his fingers and purred a little, and that got him to scratch me. Which… yes. That is in fact very enjoyable. Humans have clever digits highly suited to giving very good scratches.

Eventually, the human kit said, "If I take you with me, they'll kill you."

Hmmm. How to get across the fact that I could just wait outside for this one. As a cat, I would only really need to take shelter if a storm occurred. As I pondered this, he set me down, and began walking away.

Well fine, if this is what it takes. You'd think he'd realize that I felt indebted to the one that had saved me from quite a bit of pain and suffering. I followed him to a place reeking with a rancid and sour adult human scent. And waited for him to get thrown out come morning(which, oh, one day I'd show them how unwise that was), and hopped down onto his shoulder.

"Aaahhhhhh," Came the startled shout, before the kit abruptly realized that we had met before.

"You're the cat that I saved yesterday… the red and grey one," He said slowly, "You followed me?"

Well of course I followed him. Honestly. I needed to repay a debt between us.

"Why?" he sounded so… lonely. I looked into his eyes, feeling great satisfaction when he didn't blink, and gave off a gentle mrrrp.

He didn't understand what I said, but in the long run that didn't matter. Because he understood the meaning behind it. This for that. He saved my life… so I would stay with him.

"Well then, if you're that determined, you can stay," As though there was ever any doubt, "My name's Ban, and I suppose I should give you a name if you're going to be sticking around."

Well, I suppose that would be fine.

"Now, are you a boy cat or a girl cat," Ban wondered softly.

A girl, obviously.

"Ah, I can't really tell," My Human rubbed the hair on the back of his head, "I suppose it'll have to be something that could be either."

So long as it isn't dumb, I don't care.

"You look kinda like the red and grey stripes the sunset paints on stone when the day is turning into night. The twilight hour. Can I call you Twilight?" Well, it was a fairly decent name, all things considering. So I inclined my head for Ban, in the manner I'd noticed humans doing when agreeing with others.

Ban froze, "Can you understand me?" I gave him my best unimpressed look but inclined my head again. "Are all cats this smart?" He wondered.

Well no. I mean sure, plenty of us were smart, but there were always those few idiots. And, beyond that, I am a step above the average.

He smiled, and I realized that this must be how humans usually purred, before saying, "Thank you."

Well, I am only returning the favor.

And we stood there, Ban's hands warm around me, until he finally said, "So are you a boy or a girl?"

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

After that, every time those humans kicked Ban out of the house to steal for them, I was there by his side. We were partners, and though he wouldn't let me help him with them that didn't mean that we couldn't help each other.

I taught him how to understand cat tongue(slowly. Very slowly. So far he could only understand really simple words that were easy to convey what they meant without using a common language. Because I might be able to mostly understand him, but I could only really convey yes, no, and physical objects), and he furthered my understanding of the human tongue and showed me how to read a humans general intentions from their body(well, we only really could tell when they wanted to attack us in some manner and why, but it's not like the people in Ravens wanted to do anything else). I showed him how to move silently and stalk through the shadows, as all cats learned from a young age, and he built fire that warmed the fur and could make cold meat taste nearly as good as fresh meat.

I warned him of incoming people, and he protected me from the bigger predators and humans.

I wish he'd let me stay with him, or at least leave those humans. If I were with him during the night, then I could warn him of when the male was creeping up on him, and if we lived together elsewhere then I could make sure that he knew when threats were coming.

But sadly, Ban couldn't just up and leave. Apparently, humans were more susceptible to the cold, and easier to harm with the weather and so needed more shelter. So, at nights when my human had to go into the fake den, I searched for a place that we could both fit in to shelter at.

I'd never succeed, but in the end it all worked out anyway. Zhivago gave us a den to rest in, and for that I will always respect him.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

A couple moons had passed since I'd met Ban, and we regularly wandered around together. Sometimes I'd curl up around his neck and shoulders, or sit on one shoulder, and other times I'd walk beside him and rub up next to his legs. Ban had even carried me in his arms a couple of times.

On the lazy afternoons when we had nothing to do, we'd lie down together in the sun and I'd purr from my spot on his lap or chest. When we craved adventure together, we'd run across rooftops as silently and swiftly as we could. When we were hungry, I'd show him how to properly stalk the birds and rodents, and how to tell if they were tainted with disease.

Ban had difficulty sometimes, because his smell and sight weren't as good as mine. But so long as we're together, we're stronger for it.

Of course, the one failing with that is that of the two of us, Ban was the only one who could fight against humans very well. And he was only a human kit, so the fully grown ones were all stronger than him.

And there was nothing that I could do. Because, when those humans commanded him to steal them food, he had to do it even though I could tell he hated it. Hated doing anything for them.

And when a food stall owner caught him, and beat him into unconsciousness, there was nothing I could do. Not to stop him from getting hurt, not from them dragging him off without me, not from them throwing him in a cell. I could only follow to the best of my abilities, and sneak in behind him and through the bars.

Even then, I had to slink in the shadows, because there was another person in the cell.

But, that man… I had to forgive him for keeping me away from my human. He gave Ban some food, and helped him break out, and was kind to us. He even took it in stride when I jumped up to curl around Ban's shoulders as we left.

"It's not very often that a human earns the loyalty of a cat," Zhivago said kindly, "You two must be very important to each other."

I decided that I really like Zhivago that night by the fire. He treated me like I was another intelligent being, and didn't talk down at Ban or me like most people did. So when he asked us to keep his little hideout a secret, how could we do otherwise? It was the least we could do(though I marked the place as mine before we left, it mingled nicely with the oddly comforting smell of foxes that Zhivago exuded).

The meat he gave us was delicious, that night.

It was too bad we had to return there.

Those people hurt Ban again.

I don't like to see him in pain.

Ban is my human, just like I am his. Seeing him hurt over and over, unable to rush to his aid, it made me feel insignificant. This must be one of those human things that I don't understand though, because he just wouldn't leave not matter what I tried. Being a cat is far more simple, if someone hurts you, you run or fight back.

But Ban wouldn't leave, and so the only thing I could do was give him whatever comfort that I could. Purring to comfort the most important person to me was the least that I could do.

(But sometimes I wish that Ban could purr back to me, also).

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

If Ban were my size, we wouldn't get into so many bad situations. Because, in deference to his greater size requiring more food, I regularly brought him kills of mine. At first he'd been a little hesitant, but after I showed him how to go around the fur and feathers he was pretty enthusiastic even if it had made him a little ill the first several times.

It still wasn't enough though, only on those days when we went hunting together would he manage to eat his fill. And those days always ended with more trouble from them.

But it was hunger that got us into so many situations, even when we should have been good for the week because of Zhivago. Ban didn't get to digest much of that meal, though, before he was forced to throw it up.

Which got us into the situation where humans had captured Ban and were planning on giving him to a human predator, and all I could do was hide in the wagon listening to Ban's frantic attempts to get out.

And… Zhivago saved us again.

Zhivago even protected Ban at night with words that I could not convey. I'm grateful, especially for what happened when I awoke the next morning. Ban stayed, didn't go back to them, and now I could finally stay with him as a clowder was supposed to.

Though, even counting Zhivago and his son, we weren't really big enough to make a proper clowder and didn't have enough positions filled. Well, that, and Zhivago was the only one grown enough to fulfill the role of protector and teacher.

It wouldn't be very long before the folly of that was realized.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

"Zhivago's the best," Ban whispered to me one night.

Of course he was. He was an amazing teacher and protector, able to teach Ban far more about human stealth and sneakiness than me, and helping us learn how to work together while stealing. It was a lot of fun, and they let me play with the sparkly things.

"I wish we could go with him to meet Therion, though," Ban said, "Maybe once I'm good enough with stealth and I get better at stealing things, he'll let me come with him."

Yeah, because as a member of this little clowder, we needed to meet with him and form a bond.

A smile drifted across Ban's face, "I'm really glad I met you, Twilight. I don't know what it'd be like if I didn't have a friend like you beside me every step of the way, I think I'd be really lonely."

I'm really glad I met you too, Ban. I feel closer to you… than I ever did to my litter mates or first clowder.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

The sun rose early the next morning, and with it the two of us. Today, Zhivago was going to walk them through a heist on some wealthy noble's house. We headed to the wall outside it, excited, and waited for Zhivago to show up.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But he never came. We'd never see Zhivago again for a very long time. Eventually, in our foolishness, we decided to try to do it ourselves. Ban was caught almost immediately and those guards started to hit and kick him, laughing like it was all a game. They threw me into the side of one of the stone walls when I attempted to attack them, trying to get them to stop.

Eventually, my human's screaming stopped, the whimpers of pain ended, and the guards started to drag his broken form off. Still disoriented, I just managed to follow them to a small wooded area outside the walls where they dropped Ban and began walking away.

"Did you really have to hit him so hard?" One of the guards asked, "If we'd have brought him to the Lady, then she would have rewarded us greatly. You know how she is about kids."

One of the others shrugged, "I wasn't trying to, but he turned his head at the wrong moment when I threw that cat. Oh well, there's always plenty of brats that can be overlooked for her to play with."

They left, not even looking back, and as soon as they were out of sight I rushed to Ban's side and nudged my nose against his face. It wasn't… pretty. In fact, judging by the slowing of his breath and heartbeat, and the pained sound to his breathing, Ban was close to death.

I don't want him to die.

Please don't let Ban die.

Without him… I wouldn't be able to survive.

Without him, there'd be no me.

We were partners, a clowder together even when no one else wanted us.

Please…

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

Every cat possessed three pieces of inherent magic, unrelated to any separate magical powers they might one day awaken. They are as follows…

Every cat can see spirits, those who have passed but have not yet gone from this world.

Every cat can fade into the shadows when necessary.

And…

Every cat has exactly nine lives.

This last one is the most important, because of what goes along with it. A cat can give someone a life in times when another's life is threatened.

It is, however, extremely rare for this to happen because of the requirements that must happen before a cat can bestow a life upon another.

First, the cat must care about the other as much as they care about themselves. Secondly, the cat must be on one of their first three lives. Third, the one they are sacrificing their life for must be on their last or only life. And lastly, the one they are giving the life to, must care about the cat as much as the cat cares about them.

This phenomena is exceedingly rare, with only insubstantial rumors backing it up. And, it is not without consequences.

The cat and the one it has given it's life to are bound together for the rest of their mutual lives. Each time one of them dies, they pull from the same pool of lives, living for only as long as the other.

There are even rumors of physical traits being shared, mental communication, and use of each other's magical powers.

However, the lore has it that…

(Here the pages get blotted out)

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

I gave him one of my lives. I don't regret it, not when I can see Ban rapidly healing as his breathing evens out into a rest.

But that didn't make me any less scared.

What I had done, it might have saved his life, but it would end up making Ban more like me. Physically and mentally, is what Gloom had warned when she had cautioned all of us kits. Another cat, wouldn't really have any side effects, but with any other species there would be side effects.

I don't really know what will happen, but I could already smell a difference in Ban's scent. It was shifting to be more cat-like.

As a matter of fact, as he healed there was a small shifting I could feel in his body from my position leaned up next to him.

I put my head down on my paws, trying to stay awake enough to ensure nothing was coming, but eventually I succumbed to sleep.

I hope that Ban forgives me.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

We woke at the same time, me jumping to my feet and Ban sitting up. Our eyes stared at each others, his more feral and wild than I'd ever seen. And, like my eyes, his shared the slitted pupil of a cat.

For a moment we just looked at each other, before Ban said, "I thought I was dead."

'You almost were.'

"Since when can you speak?"

'I wasn't… oh. I get it now, this is one of those consequences.'

"Twilight… what happened? Why do I feel so…" Ban struggled with the word.

'To save your life, I gave you one of mine. It had consequences… I'm sorry, but I'm not entirely sure what has changed between us beyond two things.'

"You saved me?"

'Of course I did. We are partners, I don't know what I'd do without you.'

He then smirked tiredly, showing off newly pointed canines, "Then whatever happened, whatever it was that you did that caused this, it doesn't matter. I'm alive, thanks to you."

'So, beyond the mental projection, what else has changed about us? I know that we will share the rest of my nine lives between us, but other than that… '

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

We had both gained things that day. Things that were important because they gave us that much more of an edge.

Ban gained my senses, and some of my instincts, along with the teeth. He could understand the world as I did, and so become better at stalking through the shadows. His sense of balance had also improved drastically, making it much easier for us to run over the roofs.

And sense his scenting skill had improved, he could join me in marking out our territory to make sure people were properly warned off of it.

My absolute most favorite thing, however, was that Ban could now purr together with me.

I, on the other hand gained a nifty mental projection ability that enabled me to project human speech into the minds of others. Admittedly, this is mostly for Ban, but I can choose to talk to others and freak them out. My physical strength also seemed to get a big boost, because like it or not cats just were not very physically strong compared to humans.

Of course, one of the more useful abilities it would grant us would only become apparent further on down the line.

We could share our magical abilities with each other.

Ban gained the ability of Snatch, which was extremely useful in our line of work, and was pretty useful during a fight(even though many people didn't seem to realize that and classified it as a strictly non combative ability).

Mine however, was the ability Shadow Step, which gave us an easy way out in case we ever got caught, step into a shadow and travel to any connecting shadow or into the shadow realm for instantaneous or near instantaneous travel and stealth.

And so, life went on, with Ban and I only having each other to turn to, stealing for fun and excitement instead of just survival, until eventually.

Eventually we remembered Zhivago's old stories. We considered our lives, and how we were lonely. Because, even though we had each other, we were practically the same person. And, I'd already lost one life in a fight because of the age affecting me quicker than Ban, resetting me back to my prime.

It had made my partner feel the loneliness and time passing by even more than before. So, he decided that we were going to steal the Fountain of Youth, so that maybe one day we would be able to live out lives long enough to get rid of that loneliness.

Cat lives are short, only 15 years at the oldest, and most die young. Only nine chances between the two of us… and then both Ban and I would die at the same moment. It's one of the bad things about my decision to share my lives with him, We'd both feel each others pain at the moment of death every time one of us died until the very last life.

And then we'd cross over together.

So, we left on the four day journey to the Fairy King's Forest. It would be the start… of a true adventure.

:And next chapter, I get to try my hand at building a relationship between Ban and Elaine. Who, thus far, are my only OTP. Ever. In any fandom. I don't even really like romance, yet somehow I became totally invested.