The Seldom Seen

AN: Guess what? :D I was actually going to make you guys wait a bit longer for a certain someone to pop online... But I decided that was boring. Pff.
Another three parter! *ominous music plays*
I have all three parts written already. Aren't you guys excited? *crack-a-THOOM!*

17: Every Do-…Cat Has Its Day (p1)

Seras flopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling with a blank look on her face. No mission tonight, and Master was off doing … something, she wasn't quite sure. Walter had his duties, and Sir Integra – while nice in her own way – wasn't really the sort to just 'hang out' with. Not to mention the Wild Geese are a bunch of pervs! Therefore the fledgling was bored. Really bored. The girl sighed and allowed her mind to wander aimlessly… blood, death, the terror of Master feeling 'playful', more blood… Ugh, her mind was really working against her here. But then, a thought occurred to her.

She recalled, rather fondly despite the circumstances around it, her time as a kitten. Being a cat was pretty awesome, their minds worked in a different way, allowing her to get a new perspective on things, and they were more easily amused by shiny things. Maybe she could try to do that herself?

Closing her eyes and taking deep unnecessary breaths, Seras drifted into her own mind, seeking the dark well of her powers; a place she tended to avoid to keep hold of her precious humanity. Tentatively she sent a question to the other self lurking in the shadow, asking it how to transform herself the way her Master did. The other replied through sensations and vague images that she didn't have the blood or the power to do it the same as her Sire, but she'd inherited enough of his darkness to change her shape – though there was some vague sense of warning that it would hurt.

Frowning a bit at the answer, she wasn't especially fond of pain, she grit her teeth and opened herself to the other regardless. She really wanted to see if she could do this herself, damnit. And… maybe Master would be proud? Brushing the thought away, Seras concentrated on calling her own darkness up; a rather difficult task, but not impossible.

As though a bubble popped, her powers swelled outward and turned back on her to consume her body in waves of fire. She would have screamed had her throat not locked up with the agony. Bones made sickening crunching noises, grinding against each other and her innards made disturbing squelching noises as they shifted around. Her skin tingled as fur sprouted in a rippling wave, muscles burned and cried out as they stretched into new shapes and lengths. God it hurt! Coming damned close to passing out from the overload on her senses, the final things to change were her skull shape and her spine elongating and broadening to support her new form. Ugh…

Her vision seemed to bubble at the end, and flattened, colors dimming as her eyes shifted position in her head. Groaning, the sound echoed low in her chest, and her ears swiveled to catch the echoes of it bouncing off her walls.

'I never want to do that again!' She thought, shivering and curling her tail up between her legs from the mere thought of having her entire body break down and reassemble a second time. But… huh… the room looked the same. When she was a kitten, everything looked huge. And she could think clearly, unaffected by her feline side, but maybe that was because she was trying to think like her original self? Ugh, complicated.

Lifting a paw, she canted her head to the right and compared it to her pillow, blinking in shock at the realization that she wasn't just a cat, she was a big cat, like a lion or something. Cool.

The other whispered something along the lines of needing to retain her approximate size for it to work, so a house cat would be impossible until she gained enough power to defy the laws of physics as blatantly as her Master. The thought amused her, and she made a laughing noise that sounded a bit like a rumbling cough.

Rolling to her feet easily, Seras hopped off the bed in one fluid motion, padding over to her mirror to inspect her new body curiously. Oh… She couldn't see the exact colors the same way she was accustomed, but her reflection told of a light colored coat with dark stripes lining her back melting into rosettes down her hind legs, her fore legs had only a hint of the stripes in the form of subtle mottling, matching the pattern on her face. It looked like she had a white belly, too. Grinning at herself, she rather admired the dagger teeth lining her muzzle, her incisors looked longer than Master's!

Idly she wondered what happened to her clothes before shrugging it off and prowling out of her room in search of entertainment. As she stalked the underground halls, her mind settled and she felt a distinctly feline edge to it now, the predator in her pointing out all the niches she could use to hide in and wait for prey to come along. But not many people dared enter the lower levels unless performing their duties, so that was a wash.

'Hmmm…'

Seras padded up the stairs and stared at the door leading to the main floors of Hellsing Manor. Not having hands would make this tricky. Sitting on her haunches and tapping her tail restlessly, the golden tigress (with unusual additional patterning) experimentally slid her paw along the edge of the sliding glass door to try and tug it open that way. Fortunately it worked.

Purring smugly she slid through and prowled down the painting lined hallway towards the back stairs, inclined to visit Sir Integra and amuse herself with the woman's reaction. However, mid way through, her ears pricked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and she shifted closer to the wall. One of the newer recruits, a rather nervous and trigger happy brunette appeared, stared blankly at the hulking great cat loose in the halls, came close to pissing himself, and screamed like a little girl while spraying bullets at the monster. Idiot!

Roaring in pain as blessed silver rends her pelt, Seras' other self screams at her to melt into the walls. Not questioning if she could or not, she turned tail and bolted away from the hysterical man and the still flying ammunition, leaving red spatters all over Sir Integra's nice carpets. Wheezing, and still dripping blood, Seras collapsed behind an ornate couch in one of the deeper rooms, licking gingerly at the wounds on her legs. 'Holy fuck that smarts!'

Voicing another low groan, Seras shuddered and laid her head wearily down on her paws, too weak to move from the still slowly spreading pool of crimson. 'Master?'She called. mental voice trembling.

No answer came immediately.

Just about ready to try pestering her Sire again, she tensed as she heard approaching footsteps, wary of more trigger happy soldiers. Instead, she smelled something familiar that tugged at her pain hazed mind until she recognized it as Walter. Thank god. Peering around the sofa cautiously, Seras observed Walter, her new feline eyes catching the shimmer of razor wire around the butler. Furling her ears back, she whined lowly, coming close to coughing up blood for her effort.

Fortunately for the transformed fledgling, Walter is smarter, more experienced, and calmer than the moron who tried to kill her. The butler gasped quietly at the sight of the bleeding wild cat, taking note of the sunshine gold color of the coat and the familiar blue eyes, "Miss Victoria?" At her nod his lips tightened and he glanced over her wounds critically, "Can you change back, Miss Victoria?" Shuddering, she quickly shook her head. Hell no, she wasn't going to try that when injured! "As I thought…" The butler murmured under his breath, "I will return shortly, please do not move, Miss Victoria." Heh, no problem, Walter.

The Angel of Death returned minutes later with a bucket and her Master in tow. The pail was the sole focus of her gaze; she could smell something so delicious inside. Licking her chops, feral hungry eyes followed Walter's progress across the room, muscles tensing as though to get up and pounce on her meal. A large hand settled on the back of her neck and she jumped in surprise at her Sire's presence behind her. The hand squeezed warningly and she whined, ears furled flat to her skull. The bucket was set down carefully and nudged closer to her massive head cautiously by the butler before he took a step back, performed one of his half bows, and swiftly exited the room.

The weight lifted, and she lunged forward to shove her muzzle into the blood filled container, lapping greedily at the crimson substance. It didn't take long for her to empty it, and she whined in longing for more, realizing after a moment that while her wounds healed the spilled blood around her had vanished as well. There was a clinking sound as she got to her feet, and she looked down to see a spattering of flattened bullets hit the floor.

"I'm impressed you managed this yourself, so early in your development." Her Master commented off handedly, the praise sending chills down her spine in delight. Purring and head butting his hand affectionately, Seras twined herself about his legs, nearly shoving him off balance with the sheer bulk of her new form. He chuckled and rested a hand on her head, scratching obligingly behind her ear when she leaned into the touch, "What a lovely pelt you have, Seras. It suits you." He crooned, running his fingers through the silky fur on her forehead.

Her Master chuckled again, "You know," he began conversationally, "I always fancied owning a pet tiger." With a snap of his fingers, shadows oozed around her neck to form a collar and leash. He tugged experimentally on the lead and she growled, taking a grudging step forward. Cats liked their freedom.

His amusement rolled off him in waves as the red clad man led his new pet out of the room and towards her initial destination of Sir Integra's study. The domestic staff took one look at the pair and fled to safer hallways.

"Why is Seras a tiger?" Integra demanded, staring hard at her Servant and his own transformed servant. Seras shook her head and prowled forward casually, the shadow leash snapping, but the collar remained about her neck in a glistening ring. The wild cat made her way around Sir Integra's desk and proceeded to roll on her back with her paws splayed to expose her tummy enticingly, her tail tapping slowly. The Hellsing heiress turned her head to stare at the displaying feline, then smirked and used her foot to rub the tiger's belly instead of her hand.

Seras gave another rumbling cough like chuckle as she lightly captured the woman's ankle between her massive paws.

"She did it herself, my Master." Alucard answered with a smug lift to his chin.

"Regardless, I'm not sure if I should be worried she's a saber tooth." Integra continued, scrutinizing the lovely figure the tigress made, "Can she turn back?"

"Possibly." He snapped his fingers and Seras looked up at him, before releasing her hold of Integra and rolling to her feet to plod over to her Sire and sit at his, her head reaching his waist. "If there are no missions, my Master, then we will retire." The leash reformed and – at Integra's shaking head to the negative that there were no missions – he melted through the floor, taking Seras with him this time. When they rematerialized in the lowest level containing Alucard's rooms, he strolled over to the far wall and draped himself across the settee, patting his leg in summons. Deciding to accept the invitation, Seras stalked forward and braced her front paws on the cushion before hopping up and flopping down on top of her Master in one fluid motion. Sprawling out across his entire length with a smug purr, Seras rested her chin on his chest to stare him right in the face with wild blue eyes. He chuckled and began to pet her, scratching behind her whiskers and tugging playfully on her ears. "You feel so warm like this, Seras." He murmured approvingly, tapping her blood teeth consideringly, "I wonder If you can suck blood through those?" He laughed at the thought.

Seras rumbled her answering amusement and tapped her tail against his ankle. Being a tiger was awesome. Allowing her consciousness to drift into the recesses of her mind, the great cat began to groom her Sire's cheek with a purr. Marking her territory in a much more refined manner than males who pissed on everything in sight.

Her Master was hers after all.

His delighted laughter echoed through his massive chambers as he petted her and she accepted his easy worship. Of course he was pleased with her, she's awesome.