Chapter Text
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Alfred peers down from the branch he’s lying on. He’d been woken up by the sounds of bickering, which is weird because he hadn’t seen enough cats to overhear bickering in a while. Alfred yawns and stretches his shoulders and spine down through his tail.
There are two of them. Bounty hunter looking tomcats skulking around the tree line opposite of him. Alfred scratches the back of his ear then swivels both around to listen in on their not-so-quiet argument.
“—that village we passed, its one of those, you know? They’re so hard up for food they’re fuckin’ eating each other. They’ll pay us anything!” the shorter one says.
“Look I don't care. I came up here to hunt monsters. The backwater villages around here aren’t going to pay for anything like Achena does for monster parts. I’m not going to waste my time.” The taller one replies.
“I’m telling you its easy money! I can smell him, he’s around here somewhere and we haven’t found any monsters in this area yet. Its the opposite of wasting our time!”
Alfred lifts an eyebrow. The hell are they talking about? There hasn’t been any kind of prey animal around here in ages. He should know, his stomach has told him so every day for the last two years at least.
Alfred watches carefully as the shorter one spots one of his fresh claw markings on a tree.
‘Yes. This is my territory. Now go bother someone else and don’t be the kind of jackass I think you’re gonna be.’ He thinks, his eyes on them steadily.
Aaand he touches it. Yeah ok, its go time. Alfred jumps from his branch into the small clearing and walks toward them.
“Hey, Hi.” Alfred shouts to them. The two tomcats turn to him not looking especially surprised. Well, obviously, they’d been checking out his mark so they knew he was around. “Guys. You’re not going to find monsters or food up here. I take care of the monsters. There aren't many hanging around here right now. And of course the food is mine. You know. Territory.” He gestures to his mark helpfully.
The two trespassers look to each other and back.
“He’s younger than I thought.” The big, gray one says, eyeing Alfred.
“That's because your sense of smell is shit. But forget fresh meat, we could probably make some decent money off of him to the right buyer in Achena.” The short one replies, smirking, and now Alfred is confused again.
“Hey? Guys? The hell are you talking about?” Alfred’s getting irritated. “I know you city cats aren’t super into the whole territory thing but there are rules out here, you know.” He hates being ignored on the best of days, but these guys also sound like they’re up to something and he doesn’t like it.
“I’m not convinced it’ll be worth hauling him all the way back.” The gray one says unsheathing his long sword. “But I am getting bored.”
Well, this is something Alfred understands at least. Maybe they’ll be more willing to comply if he roughs them up a bit. He draws his dagger, lowers his stance and attacks first. No point in beating around the bush.
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Matthew scopes the situation from the cover of some trees just out of view of the clearing. There are two tomcats. Al’s only engaging one of them and he’s running circles around him.
Matthew leans against the tree beside him to watch their progress. Al never needs help in one-on-one battles but the cat hanging out on the sidelines is suspicious so he keeps an eye out.
Sure enough, after a particularly close call, the bigger one fighting Al yells to the smaller one to start Singing. Matthew peels off the tree and watches carefully as the smaller of the two takes out a flute and begins to play. He can see the big one’s whole aspect change and begin to take the advantage over Al.
Yes, he’s a bard. Matthew had thought as much. There’s little reason for another cat to hang around watching his companion get played around with if he’s not being kept in reserve for something like this.
Speaking of which. Al’s not really in trouble yet, but there’s no reason to let this continue. Time for Gilbert’s Rule Number 1 for fighting against synced pairs. Matthew takes a sturdy, crooked branch in hand and runs around the edge of the clearing toward the bard. He whistles a familiar note to alert Al of his plan.
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Alfred isn’t surprised that the short one turned out to be a bard. For some reason, none of the bards he’s encountered have ever entered the fray and he figured that’s what was going on here. He IS sort of surprised that these guys manage to sync at all, even if they’re doing it poorly. They must be strangers who combined recently for convenience.
Enhanced by his bard’s Song, Gray's movements have gotten sharper and he’s finally able to keep up with Alfred’s quick movements.
Alfred thinks that maybe its time to put some muscle into this, when suddenly he hears a familiar whistle. Any stress he might have been feeling melts away immediately. So much so, he starts laughing.
“The hell are you laughing at, kid?” Gray asks calmly, striking again with his big sword. Al catches it with his dagger again, grinning.
“I was just thinking. Your bard should really learn how to fight.” He replies, cheerfully fending off another strike. Gray looks confused, then uncomfortable as he jerks his head up in the direction of his bard. Alfred lets him.
They both watch as Mattie bursts through the tree line directly behind the bard.
He notices, but too late. Before he can even take two steps in retreat, Mattie has laid him flat out cold with a strike to the back of his head.
Gray’s jaw drops and before he can look back again, Alfred slams his fist into his face as hard as he can. He falls to the ground like a bag of rocks. Eh. He’s a tough guy, he can probably handle it.
“Hey Mattie! Thanks!” Alfred looks up at his twin brother with a cheeky grin. Mattie returns it with a smile that’s wryer than his usual one which pings Alfred as bad news. Hmm. He begins to search the gray fighter’s belongings for anything useful.
“Whats up, bro? Something happen?” He asks offhandedly, finding some small polished stones and some nuts and dried fruit in a satchel. “Score!”
The small stones are used as currency among the more transaction-reliant Ribika and have never been all that useful out here, but when they find any, they stash them away just in case as Gilbert had recommended. The food is obviously the real winner here. He pops a small red fruit in his mouth as reward for a job well done. It’s tart and sweet and it makes him really want to eat more…
“Hey Al…” Mattie says, bringing his attention back. Alfred looks up.
“Yeah?”
“I think it might be time to consider getting out of here.” He says looking down and scratching his neck. His ears are lowered and he’s got that worried look again.
They’d been “considering” leaving their home and territory for a while now, making what-if plans and backup strategies, so this topic is nothing new, but the timing is fishy. Alfred leaves the fighter with the rest of his stuff. He’s not totally cruel. An unarmed cat is as good as dead around here now-a-days. He then stands up and walks over to his brother to focus on what it is that’s got him all bothered.
Which could really only be one thing by this point.
“You found the Void nearby?” Alfred asks seriously. Mattie nods and raises his hand, showing off the bloody bandages on his right hand. Well, shit.
“It’s on the north side. I didn’t have time to check the perimeter before I heard your fight and rushed over here but I think its pointless, anyway.” Mattie sighs. “There’s not enough food, the number of monsters is increasing, it’s been a long time since Gilbert or Timo and Sven have stopped by, frankly I’m really worried about them, and now the Void has shown up—”
“Hey Mattie.” Alfred interrupts him. No point getting riled up about it now. “I get it. I agree and I’m worried too.” He claps him on one shoulder and bumps his nose against the other in a show of affection and an attempt to calm him down. It does the trick.
“Lets check the bard for loot and get home. We can prepare to leave after dinner, yeah?”
Mattie lets out a gust of air in conflicted relief.
“Yeah. Yeah, ok.”
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