RP:Cat Scratch Fever
This is a Mage's Guild RP.
Summary: Meri helps Cal complete his first Mage's Guild mission and it goes... about as well as you'd expect.
Task: An animal companion of one of the entered apprentices has gone missing after an unsanctioned experiment to transfer the owner's consciousness into it! The entered apprentice in question is incapacitated, and when they're awake, they meow like a cat, scratch, lick and bite anyone that gets too close. What has happened!? Find the missing cat companion and restore the entered apprentice's mind to its rightful place!
Valley Of Trees, Between Xalious And The Halfling Burrows
Callum || This task was going to be easy enough, right? Catch a cat… er catch a cat with the mind of a human. Why did Callum pick this when he’s allergic to cats, magically altered or otherwise? Well, he hadn’t had much choice. The other new apprentices of the Mage Guild had nearly picked the mission board clean--even now Callum was muttering about the obnoxious try-hards. “How do they even have time for all of this, Meri?” Clearly, Cal had forgotten what it was like at the mage academy in Catal. It was studying all day and all night and trying to do as many tasks for the professors as you possibly could in order to get high marks and make your way up through the classes. “Do these people not work? Do they not have home-lives? Or am I just way more involved in things than I thought I was?
Callum || There’d been no sighting of the feline on the way to Xalious from Sage Forest. There was no sighting of it in the town of Xalious, nor had it gone back to the Mage Tower. Cal had made it a point to check the Tower to see if the other half of this weird apprentice’s experiment was still there. It was. The poor seemingly human creature was still locked up in the apprentice’s room and was hissing and spitting like the angry, frightened cat that it was on the inside. “I’m glad I didn’t decide to do something stupid and -live- at the Mage Tower or something. I don’t think I could handle living with all those people. They’re just as bad as the ones I had to deal with at home,” the witchy mage said as he and Meri wandered from Xalious’s main square south, and eventually out of the city. While looking, they’d come to the border between Xalious and the halfling burrows, the great valley of trees looming overhead. “If that cat is up in any of those trees, it’s gonna get the same treatment that Orikahn got during my match with him.”
Meri gives Callum a perplexed look when he questions if they even have time for this. "What do you mean? This has been something that you have wanted to do for awhile..." Continuing to further his studies with magic that is. He may not always care for the people who attends this academies, which Meri has convinced herself is a Catalian trait. They are really not the best at being social. "We'll make time for it, because it is important to you." Meri was not entirely sure how much help she would really be able to be on this endeavor, she was definitely not the sort to take much interest in actually learning about that arcane mumbojumbo. It was out of her area of expertise. She did have some knowledge in things like tracking, this knowledge coming in part from being a ranger and in part from being a lycan. "Please maybe don't soak the cat. You're allergic, so who do you think is going to be stuck carrying this wet and cranky cat?" Well...Actually...Callum. Because when they do manage to locate this cat, there is a high probability that it is not going to like interacting with Meri. She smells like a predator you know. There are not many physical signs that a feline of the smaller size might leave behind, so Meri is forced to rely mostly on her sense of smell. The scent...of some sort of animal catches Meri's attention..and soon Meri is pointing in a direction and leading Cal that way.
Callum shrugged, “It -is- important, but sometimes there’s other more important things too.” He meant you, Meri. And Fleur too, of course. “I think I’ve just grown to hate people more. Probably.” Okay, that’s definitely. “Annnnd I think I’m starting to sound like an old person. Oh my god, I’m starting to sound like Brand! Meri, I’m too young and gorgeous to sound like that!” Thankfully, the psion caught the scent of something and led Cal away from where they’d been walking--as well as his thoughts on getting old. Just like Meri had sensed, there was a big white fluffy cat up ahead. It was definitely one of the bigger sort of house cats and this one in particular was completely covered in that fur--and dander--that Cal was so allergic too. The feline was clawing away at a nearby tree, sharpening its claws… or making taking out aggression on it because that apprentice’s magical experiment had failed. It’s hard to say, but either way, it’s got the sort of face that made the cat look pissed all day every day. You know the one--the Resting Cat Face. Cal and Meri managed to spot it before it saw them, but… then Cal stepped on a twig and broke it. Still gotta get him some stealth skills in the near future. “Frak!” said Cal as the cat darted away, intent on hiding in a bush. The Catalian managed to summon up a small wall of electricity in an attempt to stop the cat, but--and much to Cal’s dismay--it did some kitty parkour off a tree and leapt over the wall.
Meri :: Dear Callum. Do you remember that time where we did that job with the Fox? We went deep inside this cave....Yeah, surely you remember what happened. This is payback for that. The cat runs...and Meri's wolfish instincts kick in right about now. She chases! Back when she was a human, some parkour was not something that the woman was known to participate in...but as a lycan? She is faster and stronger and doing things like running part way up a wall, springing off toward a tree, and using that tree trunk as a launch pad to clear the wall? Yeah. No problem. It happens and for a second? Callum is left standing on the other side. He might be thinking like: frakkin' woman is going to turn into a wolf and eat the cat. He's wrong. What happens next is maybe worse. That darling psion of his puts her telekinetic abilities to good use...and Cal gets to go for a quick little flight over the wall. Meri doesn't ask. She just does. It still probably hurts less than what happened at the end of that cave heist, Cal. Far less. At least Meri can promise a gentle landing. "Yeah, you're definitely turning into an old man," Meri teases. "A slow, old man. Can't even clear a wall by yourself." Now where did that cat go...Now that Meri has a clearer idea of what this cat smells like, it is going to be harder for the beasty to lose them. She'll lead the way, tracking the cat again for the second time. Maybe this time Cal won't step on the branch!
Callum || The feeling that he’d done something to deserve this washed over Callum. What? No. Cal’s innocent. As innocent as Brand and Lionel. As innocent as Larket’s Monarchy. As innocent as--okay no. He’s really not. But, he’d firmly deny it, just as he was to himself right now. And he’d continue denying it until Meri had done her werewolf gymnastics, to which he stopped and stared at her, which allowed the psion enough time to pull him over his own wall. “I could’ve just gotten rid of it, you know!” But no. Cal went flying and found himself on the other side of his wall, that disappeared soon after. “I’m gonna go get bit by some flying were-creature and fly you from one side of Lithrydel to the other, woman.” He really shouldn’t have been challenging a lycan, who has already stated that she’s prone to anger and biting. But, thankfully, she’d headed off like a bloodhound after that cat. It’s then that the witchy-mage decided to get creative. Those twin jetstreams he’d used on Orikahn? Yeah, he’s using those to propel himself through the woods. “Byyyyyyyyyyeeeee,” he managed to say after going past Meri, soon after cutting with the literal waterworks and dropping to the ground on the other side of the cat. “End of the line, kitty. It’s time to get you back in your--” Cal hadn’t gotten through his entire smug sentence before the cat leapt at him, claws out, and attempted to shred his body with those aforementioned newly resharpened nails. What the hell is with the cats lately?! “I have had it--” Cal tried to pull the cat from his shirt. “--with these motherfrakking cats--” No less than 5 claws are stuck in various parts of his flesh--at least two of them nearly missing a nipple. No piercings today please, thanks. “--in this motherfrakking place!” Chalk up another win for Lithrydel’s felines, for another of Cal’s shirts was given up as a sacrifice. Out of breath, bleeding, and now very angry, Cal held the cat out at arms length--it was still trying to claw the frak out of him, of course. “I’m trying to help you, you goddamn furry idiot!”
Meri :: Cal's little water jet display has Meri smirking as she calls out to him in a light-hearted voice, "You show off." But honestly it was good to see the ball of anxiety and stress having a bit of fun with his magic. At least for a short few moments. The cat undoubtably puts an end to the enjoyment once it starts clawing and scratching Cal. Were it a larger beast, Meri might have taken more concern and sprung into action. But...this is not anything that, Meri deems this cat to be mostly harmless. It occurs to Meri that maybe she could put her psionic talents to good use, that she could levitate the cat all the way back to wherever they needed to get this furry beast to. This was not her test though and Cal was perfectly capable of solving this puzzle mostly on his own. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Make a plant cage! Or a vine cage! Or something like that. At least the little rat bastard won't be able to claw you up on the way back...And then we won't accidentally lose it either."
Callum || “I could just let her eat you, you know!” Cal wasn’t done shouting at the mage in a cat disguise, but he still heard Meri’s suggestions. “You’re lucky she’s so nice--I was gonna stick you in a bubble of water instead.” The cat hissed, but ultimately calmed down somewhat as the threat of being eaten by a lycan was looming over its head like a storm cloud. It was a good thing he’d remembered his satchel--he was going to need those salves inside it. He was also going to have to concoct something for his allergies because--”Achoo!” Several more sneezes accompanied the first before Cal could even focus his thoughts on the bismuth skull in that bag of his to help summon up those vines. Thankfully, the sneeze attack stopped just as quickly as it’d started. Unfortunately for the cat though, its face was covered in Cal snot and spit. Poor guy couldn’t cover his nose since he was holding the cat! And he certainly didn’t want to anyway, nor did he want to use his shirt. It’s all frakking covered in cat hair. The vines soon make an appearance though once he was good and ready, and a cage formed around the kitty. He even made a handle for it. “Frakking oi. Now I get to figure out how the heck to get them back to normal. Let’s head back to his room and see if there’s anything about the spell he used.”
Mage Tower, Xalious
Callum || They’d head back, with much yowling from the cat to announce their presence to all, and found their way to the apprentice’s room. The caged cat was thrown onto the bed without a care and the apprentice’s ever-hissing and spitting body was pinned to the wall immediately with a net of lightning. The desk in the room was an absolute mess; it was the sort of thing that’d happen when someone was obsessing over something. Meri would know. Her sister does the same thing.
Meri :: Poor Cal with his dang cat allergies. At this point, Meri is nothing more than company for the walk back to the apprentice's room, not that Meri minds. Cal's company was something that she enjoys, even if they have had a bump in the road here or there. "You know, I bet you could learn to do that vine thing without the help of that skull..." Or so Meri thought, but she has always had the utmost faith in Callum's abilities, while he always seems to be his worst critic. Try as Meri might to be tolerant of the skull, well she still had her fears and concerns about it. Even if things seemed quiet on that front as of late. The cat is tossed to the bed and the apprentice is pinned to the wall, an action that causes Meri to go wide-eyed. She has always known that the Catalian has had a feisty side to him, but it never ceases to surprise Meri when it actually manifests itself. She is not entirely sure what they should do from here. Would the apprentice just go back to normal being merely being in the presence of their precious feline once again? Meri's blue eyes dart from the caged cat to the netted apprentice.
Callum sighed heavily, “I sure hope so. I’m assuming one of the other witches has some sort of power like this but…” He gestured in the general direction of the east side of Lithrydel, as if to say ‘but who the frak knows where they are’. “I think the skull is strengthening my herbomancy, so I need to work on that. Maybe I’ll find something here about it. Before that thing fell into my lap, all I could manage was talking pretty to the plants to keep them happy and make them last longer. The vines are a hell of a lot more advanced. I imagine after that it’s growing plants from a seed almost instantly, like a druid does.” The witch rustled around through the papers, giving the mage and cat time to revert back to normal… but they don’t. Each one is definitely still pissed, but Cal wasn’t paying any attention to it. “Aha!” Cal found the thing and thankfully, there was a translation from what seemed to be a much older written form of the spell, in another language entirely. “Speak ‘cat’ to return to normal.” He narrowed his eyes as he thought to himself, looking between Meri, the cat-human, and the not-human-cat. “Hmm.” He paused. “Why the hell can’t any of this be simple? What’s with mages writing in riddles? Speak cat… speak cat…” And then it hit him. “Uh… meow?” There’s a whiff of ozone, like when Cal cast one of his lightning spells, and even a bit of static travelling between that cat and the apprentice mage’s human form. Despite being turned back, there’s still a bit of hissing on the mage’s part until it hit him, “Oh. Oh dear. Uhhhh. Thank you… I think? S-sorry… about your shirt… and the cat… and the, uh, everything.” He looked down at the net he was still pinned with, then looked to Cal again, pleadingly. Clearly he wanted to be let go, but Cal didn’t feel like it just yet.
Meri :: Cal did it! He did the thing! Not that Meri was sitting her doubting that he could, but it was a good feeling to check something off of their to-do list. The mage that is still pinned to the wall apologizes but Cal does not seem to have the mindset to let him go. Meri gives Cal a light nudge in the ribs, "Come on. Let him go, crankybutt. The sooner you let him go, the sooner we can get home and that I can put that yummy smelling plant goop on your injuries and make you all better." Meri smirks as she continues to tease Cal, trying to usher him out the door and away from the mage...who will hopefully be freed thanks to Meri's convincing. Or maybe the she-devil will just manage to annoy the Catalian with her antics. That happens sometimes too. "You'll understand how yummy smelling it is once I actually have a chance to eat you like you thought I should try and eat that cat earlier." The door is probably not closed when Meri makes this statement, the mage probably overhears this...and he is totally Cal's BFF from here on out...Except probably he is not really.