*EDIT 3/22/2016* A guest has pointed out a fairly major typo on my part that I'm a little ashamed I somehow missed. Regardless, the error has been fixed. Thank you for both your help and the awesome review, guest! I'm glad you enjoy the stories so much; it's really heartening to hear! :3

Title: NoLegs

Summary: A cute little first meeting for NoLegs and Matt.
Rating: K
Genre: Friendship


Matt grumbled as he shoved his way through another thicket. He was sick of being in this forest where everything was super overgrown. He wanted to get back out into a wide space where he could use his sword easily and comfortably. Unfortunately, he had no idea which way to go to get out. He slashed his way through another patch of plants and sighed, wiping a hand across his brow.

Suddenly, he heard a sudden explosion of noise nearby. The swordsman cocked his head and glanced around, searching for the source. He could hear yowling and snarling, but nothing was in sight. He cautiously drew his sword and began to make his way towards the noise. Maybe whatever was there could be eaten; it had been a long time since lunch, after all. The sounds abruptly died, and Matt pouted until he heard a series of excited yaps.

Matt grinned as he realized they were right on the other side of the bushes in front of him. He lunged out with his sword drawn to see a pair of wolfdogs standing over a dead cat. The two monsters took one look at him, snatched up their kill, and fled. Matt frowned and sheathed his weapon with a sigh, resigning himself to another night of rations. He turned away and was about to leave when he heard a pathetic mewing sound and stopped.

The swordsman scanned the small clearing for whatever had made the noise, but only saw the bloodstain from the fight. Then, he heard the mewing sound again and a patch of ferns rustled. Matt stepped forwards and knelt down to push the ferns aside. His eyes fell on a tiny kitten with blue fur, big blue eyes, and a head that was almost comically too large for its body. The kitten let out another pathetic mew and cowered down into a shivering ball, obviously expecting to be eaten.

Matt carefully reached forwards and gently scooped up the tiny animal, barely bigger than his hand. The kitten let out a piteous wail and writhed in his hands. Matt gently rubbed a finger across its forehead and down its back, but when he brought the finger back up, the kitten sank its tiny fangs into it. Matt winced at the pricking sensation, but he let the cat bite him, knowing that jerking away or yelping would scare the poor animal. Instead, he brought the shivering kitten closer to his chest and spoke to it gently.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," Matt murmured. The kitten looked up at him with big eyes and his finger in its mouth. Slowly, it let go of his finger and gave the mark a few licks with a tiny pink tongue. Matt smiled and said softly, "You're a good kitty, aren't you?" The small animal didn't reply, of course, but it did relax ever so slightly.

Matt looked back at the patch of blood on the ground and realized the cat that was killed earlier was probably this kitten's mother. He bit his lower lip and looked back down at the kitten in his hands. He couldn't just leave the poor orphaned cat to starve, freeze, or be eaten. Finally, he nodded to himself and moved one hand to his jacket pocket. He carefully transferred everything in it to his Adventure Pouch before depositing the kitten in his coat pocket.

Matt hushed the kitten softly when it cried and said, "It's okay. I'll take care of you." To his surprise, the kitten quieted down and quit squirming. Matt smiled and started walking again, occasionally running a finger over his new pet's head until it fell asleep.

The swordsman made his way through the trees and undergrowth with extra care as he didn't want to accidentally squish the kitten in his pocket. He still hadn't made it out of the forest when the sun finally set, and Matt sighed, deciding to just camp where he was. Even as he made the decision, he heard the kitten in his pocket begin to fuss. Matt carefully drew the kitten out of his pocket and sat down, setting the kitten down on his lap to gently pet it.

Still, the kitten fussed. It mewled at him constantly, revealing a tiny pink mouth and tongue with equally tiny white fangs. Matt stared down at the kitten, wondering what was wrong. It didn't feel cold, and he doubted his lap was all that uncomfortable for a cat. And then he mentally smacked himself as the answer came to him: the kitten was probably hungry. Matt frowned, wondering what to feed the cat. He mused that it was so young it probably needed milk still.

Matt chewed on his lip and dug out a carton of milk form his Adventure Pouch. The object was cold to the touch, kept that way by magic. He warmed the carton in his hand with a little fire magic, and then fished out a scrap of cloth. He twisted the cloth and dipped it into the milk before lowering it for the kitten. To his relief, the kitten smelled the cloth, licked it once, and then began trying to suck the milk off of it. Matt periodically dipped the cloth in the milk and when the kitten finally finished, it let out a small burp that made Matt grin.

"That was good, huh?" Matt asked. His smile widened when the kitten curled in his lap with a small, tired purr. He finished off the carton of milk and dug out a handful of jerky for his own dinner. When he'd finished eating, he gently cupped his hand around the tiny kitten to keep it warm, leaned back against the trunk of the tree, and shut his eyes.

The next morning, Matt awoke and sat up straight with a yawn. He glanced down at his lap and froze when he realized the kitten was missing. His eyes widened and darted around, searching for the small creature. He doubted that a predator had gotten the kitten while he was sleeping, unless the kitten had moved off of his lap. The swordsman looked around again and sighed with slumped shoulders. There was no way he'd find it again in this forest. The kitten was gone.

Still, Matt tried calling, "Kitty? Where'd you go?" Nothing answered him, and he stood up with a sad sigh. The kitten had been cute, and he wished he'd been able to raise it. But it was likely the animal had gotten eaten already, which, while perfectly natural, was still sad.

And then, Matt felt a shifting in his pocket as he stood straight. His eyes widened and he looked down in time to see the kitten poke its head out and mew. The swordsman's eyes widened and he beamed. Apparently, the kitten had merely shifted to his pocket during the night. Matt gently stroked the kitten's head with one finger.

"There you are. I was worried about you," Matt murmured. He listened to the responding mew and grinned, "What do you say we get out of this stupid jungle?"

Progress was slow as the undergrowth was still a problem, and Matt needed to take frequent breaks to let the kitten do its business and to feed it. Still, by the time the sun was setting, they'd reached the edge of the forest. Matt heaved a sigh of relief and glanced down at his companion as it sniffed the open breeze, and then sneezed at all the smells.

"Well, what do you think? Am I good enough to keep around?" Matt asked with a grin. The kitten mewed at him and purred. Matt laughed, "Good to know. Let's head to a town and see about getting some more milk: I'm almost out."

Then, with his new pet in his pocket, he set off for the nearest place he knew of.

OOOOOO

Matt loved his new pet. The cat was playful, loved to cuddle, and was so cute and soft. It bounced around, constantly losing balance and toppling over only to bounce back up again. Over the course of just a couple of weeks, it was nearly double its original size, though. This meant that it barely fit in his pocket, and wouldn't fit at all before too much longer. On top of that, it was still only eating milk, which meant Matt needed to stay near towns. He'd taken the kitten to local pet store owner who'd guessed the cat was about three to four weeks old and confirmed its gender to be male. The man had offered to take the cat off his hands, but Matt had refused. He was attached to the little guy, so the store owner had supplied a formula to feed it, and directed him to be sure to keep the kitten clean, warm and fed, but past that, Matt was on his own.

Taking care of the kitten was time consuming. Matt did his best, but he had little idea of what actually needed to be done. But each time he even considered getting rid of the kitten he couldn't bring himself to do it. The creature obviously had complete trust in him, sleeping on his chest and rubbing against him with rumbling purrs that shook his tiny body. Clearly, the kitten had bonded with him, so Matt resigned himself to caring for him.

"Well, this is a problem," Matt mused when they discovered the kitten wouldn't fit in his pocket anymore. The kitten was eight weeks old and had been weaned off of the formula. The swordsman blinked down at the cat, which blinked back up at him with impossibly large blue eyes. Matt sighed and asked, "I don't suppose you'd consent to walking?" He snorted when the cat shook his furry head, "Didn't think so."

Matt was stumped. He couldn't fit the kitten in his pocket, but he didn't want to haul a carrier around, either; besides, he'd need his hands to fight. Suddenly, he felt a furry body pressing against his cheek and blinked in surprise when the cat was suddenly on his shoulder. The swordsman grinned at the animal, "That works, I guess. Can you stay there?" The kitten nodded, and Matt's grin widened, "Sweet. Let's go, then!"

As they walked, Matt suddenly realized he hadn't named his kitten yet. He glanced at the animal perched on his shoulder, but had no clue what to call it. Fluffy, Whiskers, or Pudding were typical, but stupid cat names. He still hadn't come up with a name when they stopped for lunch. Matt chewed on a travel biscuit, watching the kitten bounce around, pouncing on lines of ants in the grass. He grinned as he watched a blade of grass brush the kitten's back, and the animal jumped back, and whirled to pounce on the offending plant, rolling on top of it. Finally, Matt nodded to himself. He'd go with a name that was probably equally dumb as the earlier ones, but suited the cat.

"Hey, kitty, how does NoLegs sound for a name for you?" Matt asked. The kitten sat up and cocked his head at him. It cheerfully mewed and bounced over to rub against Matt's knee with a purr. The swordsman grinned and said, "NoLegs it is, then."

NoLegs seemed pleased with his new name and purred even more loudly. Matt ran a hand over the cat's silky fur and tilted his head to enjoy the sunshine. He flopped back and felt NoLegs move to curl on his chest for a midday nap. The gentle rumbling of the cat's purr coupled with the familiar weight and warmth lulled Matt into a light doze.

Several hours later, and Matt cracked an eye open as he felt NoLegs roll off his chest. The cat was back to bouncing around and the swordsman smiled, shutting his eye again. He jolted upright when NoLegs suddenly hissed, however. He twisted to see a pair of blackbirds had landed nearby and were eyeing the cat with hungry gleams in their eyes. Matt stood up and placed a hand on his sword hilt, drawing the birds' attention. The monsters squawked at him and took off, arrowing for his face.

Matt unsheathed and swung Heaven's Gate in a smooth arc, slicing one of the birds in half. The second bird swooped lower, diving for NoLegs. Matt's eyes widened and he let out a shout, only to gasp as a nearby stick floated off the ground to smack at the bird, warding it away. The swordsman blinked in shock at what seemed to be a possessed stick, but shook it off to kill the second bird. As soon as the monster was dead, he turned his attention to NoLegs. He stared as the floating stick hovered next to the cat, who cheerfully looked back at the swordsman.

"Uh, are you making the branch float, NoLegs?" Matt asked hesitantly. His mouth spread in a bemused smile when the cat nodded and swung the stick a few times. "Well, I don't know how you're doing that, but it's awesome," the swordsman said with a grin.

NoLegs seemed to agree with him as he bounced around, waving his new weapon at the blades of grass. Matt chuckled and turned his attention to the two dead birds. He shrugged and cleared a space for a fire, thinking it would be a waste to not eat the fresh meat. Soon, one bird was roasting on the fire, while the other was being carefully sliced into small chunks for NoLegs to eat. The cat purred his thanks and began chowing down on the meat. Once both had eaten their fill, Matt covered the fire and left the remains for whatever scavenger might want them. He crouched down to let NoLegs jump onto his shoulder and grinned when he realized the cat still had the stick floating at the ready. The swordsman chuckled and simply warned NoLegs not to hit him before starting to walk.

That evening, Matt got another surprise. NoLegs had begun making the stick vanish, and then summoning it again. The swordsman blinked in at the magic, thinking it looked similar to his own summoning spells. He eyed NoLegs thoughtfully as the cat began whacking at the grass again. Obviously, NoLegs was able to wield small weapons, and Matt wondered if the cat could be trained to fight. He shrugged, and decided it couldn't hurt to try.

"Hey, NoLegs, want to learn to fight?" Matt offered. He grinned when NoLegs froze mid swing and stared at him with wide eyes. The cat meowed and bounced over, staring up at Matt with an eager expression. And so began the strangest tutoring Matt had ever heard of.

NoLegs was a quick pupil. The cat picked up basic slashes and stabs with his stick in little time. Matt wondered if maybe cats were supposed to learn how to fight, and it was an engraved instinct. He'd never really had much contact with them before, and most pet stores didn't sell cats as pets because they were difficult to tame. But NoLegs had bonded with him, so Matt didn't think he needed to worry about the cat running off or attacking him. By the time they were settling to sleep, NoLegs had grasped a number of different attacks, and was yawning.

Matt ran a hand across the cat's back as they lay in the grass. "You're an awesome friend, NoLegs," Matt mumbled tiredly. He smiled as the cat purred in response. Tomorrow, he'd see about getting a dagger for the cat to use. If NoLegs could summon an actual blade in combat, then the cat was a viable partner, though Matt would still keep him out of trouble. While the cat was no longer drinking milk he was still just a kitten, and Matt didn't want to get his friend hurt. Still, he really believed that NoLegs would be an awesome fighter someday.


A/N: Okay, so I know that canonically NoLegs is a part member only to replace Mog for copyright reasons, and only after he helps Matt and Natalie beat down his fellow cats in EBF2, and I know that Matt's relationship with NoLegs is much more antagonistic than this, but I REALLY wanted to write cute little kitten NoLegs. So there you go. :3 I hope you all enjoyed it!

Also, do not ever feed your kittens human milk. It isn't good for them and does not provide the nutrients they need to be healthy; same thing goes for older cats, only then they can just get sick. Just want to put that out there. ;P