When Cats go a courting
A few weeks had passed since Eries and Allen's wedding and the 2 were still on their honeymoon. Van, Hitomi and Merle had all safely returned to the Fanelia unscathed and with no sign of Dilandau.
Hitomi's was nervous, really nervous, getting that kinda feeling when you stand up in front of class with a report you only half finished. Today was the day Van was going to announce their engagement to all of Fanelia officially. Hitomi's maids had picked out a beautiful ivory colored dress with gold ribbons but looking the part of the future Queen of Fanelia was half the torture. Hitomi nervously played with her engagement ring. Still awed and touched by it she smiled and knew some how everything would turn out all right. Hitomi looked toward the doorway where soon she'd walk through and the people of Fanelia would meet their new soon-to-be queen. She heard Van talking then suddenly the crowd cheered, the doorway opened and Hitomi started walking forward. Wishing she was able to run the other way but, she just put one foot in front of the other. Soon she would be standing next to Van, that's all that mattered but, what happened from there was another story.
Merle stood among the crowd and watched Hitomi make her entrance and meet the people of Fanelia. When she finally came out the crowd cheered enthusiastically not only because their King was about to get married but, the King and Hitomi's relationship was so much like a fairy tale romance. Merle smiled and walked away, through the gates and to the forest. Merle wanted something more than being mere "cat person" that trailed along with Hitomi, Van, Allen and the rest of the people through the historic war. She wanted to live life on her own for once, and she knew Van-sama well enough that he would not approve. Merle slightly giggled because she knew her Van-sama well enough that within a fortnight a search party of his best trackers would be looking for her, but, they would never find her. By the time they got to her exact location her trail would be cold and the trackers would be forced to abandon their mission.
Merle silently trekked through the woods for many nights and lived on the rations she had collected from the Palace kitchen. Opening her bag she took out a small biscuit and nibbled on it for a while and temporarily sub sided the constant gnawing in her stomach.
As morning's first rays peeked through the trees they awakened Merle. She was suddenly awake and she felt like she was close to her destination. She leaned over and stretched her legs. When she was done she gathered her few belonging and stood up. Suddenly her head felt dizzy and she leaned against a tree for support. Something big was about to happen, something that was going to change everything drastically. She just knew, it resonated deep in her bones and made her feel restless. Her tail twitched quickly and she started walking again as she had for the past week. The birds were unusually silent and that didn't help her nerves at all. Up in the distance she heard the familiar sounds of a town. She ran to the edge of town and hid herself behind a tree to see if it was friendly or not. Many towns since the great war had either sided with Fanelia, become enemies, or remain neutral. She was trying to peer into the town when a sudden tap on her shoulder made her jump, and bristle. Turning around to face her opponent she readied herself for an attack. Her nerves were shot and she felt like was about to stumble on to something big. When she saw her aggressor she nearly fell over with surprise. He was a cat man about her age and a whole head taller than her. He had tan fur/skin coloring and short black hair. When Merle looked into his bottom less silver eyes she felt her stomach drop and all her emotions welled up. She had finally taken the plunge off the cliff. Her vision swayed but, for some reason, she wasn't worried. Before the darkness engulfed her a lingering thought stayed on her mind, I just fell down a cliff, I should be loathing this, instead...I'm quite enjoying it.
Merle woke up and gazed at the ceiling for a bit. Where am I? she wondered. An older cat woman walked beside where she lay, the woman's eyes slowly passed over her.
"Ahh, so the kitten is awake." she stated. Merle glared at the older woman.
"I'm not a kitten." she grumbled. The older cat woman stared at her,
"have you a tom (- name for a male cat)?" she asked.
Merle looked away, "no..." she whispered.
"Then you are still a kitten" the older cat woman said. Merle's eyes watered up.
"It's not fair..." she stuttered. "I've tried but, ..." The older cat woman walked by and put a sympathetic hand on Merle's shoulder.
"Shh" she said "maybe you've been trying a little too hard." Merle looked up at her, the woman winked
"It seems you've got quite a respectable looking tom quite worried about you." Merle looked up at her in confusion. Then searched her memory, she faintly remembered another male cat with tan fur...
"Does he have tan fur?" she asked. The older cat woman stopped for a moment, her eyes widened in surprise,
"Ay, Kitten, that he does. He's been waiting for you ever since you fainted into his arms..." Merle looked down but, felt the blush creep up her face. She stood up,
"Um, I think I'll go thank him." she said quickly and peeked out the door.
The man from her memory was sitting outside the small hut with his eyes closed leaning against a tree. This opportunity gave Merle a chance to look at him. He had a finely sculptured and had clean clothes. He smelled of pine needles and forest creeks and Merle nearly purred while smelling his scent. She softly crept closer, then suddenly his eyes opened. Merle stopped and held her body perfectly still, almost hoping she wouldn't be noticed. He had also equally tensed up but, then visibly relaxed when he saw her. He stood up in one graceful movement and then smiled. Merle's knees nearly turned to jelly when she saw him do this but kept her facial expression neutral. Her mind screamed why can he be doing this to me when we've just met? He walked no, flowed gracefully over to her with almost the skill of an acrobat.
"So the kitten is finally awake." He spoke. Merle immediately stood up straight and glared at him. Her tail lashing side to side.
"Why does everyone insist on calling me a kitten? I'm 18 years old! I passed that stage many years ago!" she turned her back to him and started pacing. The male cat man put a hand (paw?) on her shoulder and she stopped.
"I'm sorry, but the wise woman you've been staying with has been calling you that so I've assumed it was your nickname. Let me start this over, my name is Garr." Merle's tail stopped lashing and curled up in a friendly sort of way. Then she smiled and said
"Nice to meet you Garr, my name is Merle." she looked up in his eyes once more and her knees went weak. Merle started to fall, then Garr caught her and steadied her against himself. He looked at her under a critical eye,
"Should you be out of the sick bed so soon?" Merle nearly giggled, then hesitantly pulled herself away.
"I guess not..." she started walking back to the wise woman's home then turned back to Garr
"... thank you... " she murmured with gratitude then timidly added,
"will I ever see you again?" Garr gave a deep throaty laugh.
"of course, I'll be back to make sure the wise woman is treating you well"
Then he turned his back to her and walked into the woods. Merle slowly turned back to the home. Walked into it and sat on the bed. The wise woman came over and eyed her.
"Kitten" she said "you look like you found your soul mate" Merle looked at her in wonder.
"Soul mate?" she asked.
~~~Hope ya'll liked the story! I've been noticing lately that there are rarely any stories that put Merle in the spotlight. And *trumpets sound* I'm am here to fix such a tremendous misfortune!! *crickets chirp* It's okay everyone don't all thank me at once... Oh well, on the next chapter!