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It’s a chilly autumn day. Classes have ended and Garreg Mach students retreat into cozy alcoves warmed by blazing fireplaces. They read books, take cat naps, or discuss the latest news in murmuring whisperers over tea. Immense silence dins through every corridor.
Hubert von Vestra loves gloomy afternoons like these. Gray skies. The leaves colored blood-reds, fiery-oranges, and mottled brown-gold. The crisp wind brings an eerie whistle that quivers one’s bones.
Hubert loves his solitude and quickly seals himself up, cozy as a freshly buried corpse in a coffin, and studies books he borrowed from the library. One can’t be lazy or lethargic now, not when Byleth pledged support for Edelgard’s invasion. Everything must go smoothly, for it’ll be an uphill battle. Hubert will wait until Lady Edelgard’s signal to attack.
Rain patters softly upon glass windows. Crystal beads, sharp and cold to the touch. The sound enhances Hubert’s focus and his mind calculates strategies for the invasion. The man won’t let the empire fail. Not when they are fighting for so much…
Meee-oow!
Hearing something outside, Hubert stands to investigate. Always wary of would-be assassins he draws a knife from his jacket and checks the window. It’s no human but a cat. Its frantically clawing the window, its fur matted and glossy from rain.
A twinge of needle-sized sympathy stabs Hubert. Unlike mankind, creatures don’t harbor any evil in their hearts. If the cat stays outside it’ll surely catch a cold. Hubert maybe a callous and bloodthirsty man but he is no monster.
With a flick of his wrist he opens the window and the cat leaps inside. Whiskers and fur drenched with rain it hisses at Hubert, fangs agleam in the light, before finding a rug by the fireplace and lying down. The mage quirks a smile at his angry guest. So much for a thank-you.
The poor kitten is clearly starving. Rib bones poke out from gaunt flesh and muscles. His eyes are wild, violent. And he’s got some scars from fights in the streets. Cats are very independent beasts but this one was driven to seek aid from suffering. Hubert won’t ignore this.
“It’s about time for a snack break anyway. Stay there, I will return with food for you.”
The cat snores in reply.
He returns and offers a bowl of cubed fish and a bowl of water. The cat eyes Hubert skeptically before chomping hungrily away at his meal.
“For such a small terror you sure are cute. I suppose I can take care of you until you get better. But the others will surely ridicule and mock me for extending some kindness to an animal.”
The dark-haired man quivered. He can see it now. Dorthea’s glossy lips curved into a mischievous smile. She wouldn’t miss an opportunity to tease the taciturn Hubert von Vestra! And what about Lady Edelgard? Hubert needs to be in tip-top shape to serve her as her second-in-command. He’s known throughout Garreg Mach as the cold blade to her passionate vision. And people wouldn’t stop annoying him and asking about where he got such a cute pet.
“It seems I have a serious conundrum at hand,” Vestra sighed. If the kitten is discovered, the whole invasion could be jeopardized! But Hubert can’t abandon the kitten to his gruesome life back in the streets. No animal deserved such a fate.
“You’ve survived a hard and cruel life, haven’t you?” Hubert kneeled down to observe the sleeping cat. “You and I are alike. No matter what dangers are ahead of us, no matter how many times we fall, we refuse to give in. I suppose we both wish for brighter futures. I’m fighting for one right now. And I wish for you to see it too.”
The next morning, Hubert searches his dorm for the kitten. He’s missing. The black ball of fur isn’t by the fireplace either. Where could he have wandered off to?
Vestra decides to look in the gathering room for the Black Eagle house. The mage masks his urgency by speed walking and wearing his usual cold frown.
Bernadetta is busy with a needlepoint project. The others of her house are either on a mission with Byleth or out in the courtyard to spar. She curled up on this comfy armchair and hauled her bag of yarn to get to work. The only other person here is Edelgard, whose busy crafting pottery for her club.
One of her vases is out on display on a stone pillar. The house leader said something about brightening up the house hall, showing pride for being part of the Adrestian Empire, or something like that. But what’s the point of a vase if there’s nothing inside it?
Bernadetta is startled by a loud crash. She looks up from her needlepoint and sees a shadow flash by and the vase in a million pieces on the ground. Hubert appeared looking pale and horrified.
The purple-haired archer narrows her eyes curiously.
It’s funny seeing the stone-faced Hubert so shocked. But if he’s shocked then-
“My vase!” Edelgard runs in, her school uniform splattered with clay and paint. When she sees the broken vase at her feet she gasped. “What happened?!”
Hubert stammered but quickly collected himself. “The vase is absolutely ugly and unsophisticated. Such a hideous creation shouldn’t be on display. Not here. Not in our house hall. It’s unthinkable!”
Varley was as flabbergasted as Edelgard. But the white-haired woman didn’t scream and her face didn’t turn red from anger. No. Her graceful face is calm and she even smiles. “You’re right, Hubert.”
“I am?”
He is?!
Edelgard grabbed a flake of her broken vase and said, “The colors weren’t baked in correctly and look all washed-out. And the shape is poor quality. I can’t let an inadequate vase represent our house. I shall make another, one that’s even better than the last! Thank you, Hubert. You always know what to say to cheer me up. To help me see my flaws that I must work on like a smithy to his weapons. I can’t settle for mediocracy!” Then she left for the art room by the hall to start again on a better vase.
Hubert and Bernadetta’s jaws hang wide open in shock.
“Where did that demon cat go?” Vestra whispered. He’s been causing Hubert trouble all over the monastery. From uprooting all of Dedue’s plants in the garden to shredding Byleth’s paperwork, and knocking over all of Mercedes’ and Lysithea’s tea. Hubert was left embarrassed, having to make quick excuses for said seemingly-magical cat that would vanish instantly.
After a tiring search, Hubert finally found the kitten in the library. Golden eyes see the black cat skipping from top shelf to top shelf.
His teeth flash into a taunting smile and his long tail waves at the glowering Hubert.
Ferdinand and Linhardt are studying at a table (Linhardt loudly snoring) and the noble knight waves at Vestra. “Afternoon, my sullen friend! Care to study with us? Not only should a knight be handsome and kind, he should be smart too.” The soldier sighed. “Linhardt fell asleep and now I, Ferdinand von Aegir, am out of study buddies.”
Vestra kept his attention split between Ferdinand and the shelves. The cat has blended into the shadows.
“Sorry. I can’t. I have somewhere to be…”
There! He’s between some volumes, and one heavy book is wobbling dangerously on the shelf. A paw threatens to tip it over, right above Ferdinand’s table!
Herbert’s eyes narrow into a glare. Don’t you dare!
Aegir smiled. “You have been acting strange all day, Hubert. Has one of the many elegant noblewomen caught your eye? I never thought I’d see the day! Hubert von Vestra in love!”
Hubert’s face curdled at that. “Don’t be a fool. I don’t have time for such nonsense.”
“Then why else have you been acting so strange? I, Ferdinand von Aegir, shall help you in winning your beloved’s heart! I will-”
WHAM! The book falls and strikes Ferdinand on the head. The man’s eyes go blank as he falls back, knocked out cold. Linhardt doesn’t stir. Once again the library is soundless.
The cat leaps into Hubert’s arms. Vestra scratches the cat between his ears. “What a crafty devil you are. I must thank you for saving me from Ferdinand’s loquacious speech. He’s a good man but his lung capacity is quite astounding.”
Back in his room, Hubert made a collar for the small kitten. It’s studded with fake teeth. The cat sniffs at the new collar, and his muzzle twists in distain for it, but then shrugs and leaves the dorms again. The dark-haired man looks up from refilling the bowls when he sees the cat chasing after a ball of yarn. Frantic footsteps follow.
Varley runs into the room and tackles the cat, scooping him up in her arms. “Aha! I found you, you thief. Give me back my yarn!”
“Bernadetta?”
She stares at Hubert and her whole body goes numb with fear. Like a mouse who dumbly ran into a cat’s open jaws.
The archer is about to make a run for it when she looks down at the squirming cat in her arms, and then up at Hubert. “Oh my gosh! Hubert. Is this your cat?”
Hubert von Vestra goes pale. Deathly pale.
Bernadetta smiles. “He’s soooo cute! Look at him!” She ignores the kitten’s sharp claws and squeezes him. The cat complains but begrudgingly accepts his fate. “He looks just like you!”
Hubert gives her a death glare.
Said cat gives her a similar death glare.
“You…you’re not going to make fun of me?” He asked.
“What? No! I think it’s cool you adopted a cat. Have you given him a name yet?”
Hubert’s posture relaxed. He’s happy that he wasn’t made fun of. And though extremely clumsy, Varley is a kind-hearted person. If he had to be absent thanks to his duties, Hubert wouldn’t mind letting her babysit the cat. “I was just thinking on what to name him.”
The cat doesn’t hiss or claw at Bernadetta when she scratches his chin. He starts to purr. “How about Scourge? This tiny guy is a rogue, isn’t he? Did you break Edelgard’s vase?”
The cat meowed.
“Who has a cute face full of whiskers? You do.”
“He has been causing me trouble all day.” Vestra said. “But Scourge? That is a terrifying name but…”
“Then Darkstripe? But he doesn’t have any stripes. Pluto? That’s a cat from-”
“Edgar Allen Poe, yes. I did not know you liked the works of literary geniuses.”
Bernadetta smiled. “I do. It’s easier to read and see new worlds than talk to people.”
Vestra laughed. “I wholeheartedly agree on that.”
The archer paced, listing potential names for Hubert’s cat. “Hades? Hawk? Phobos?”
“Phobos?”
Bernadetta clasped her hands behind her back. “Adrestian scholars found two moons by mars. One is called Phobos. A god of fear.”
Hubert knew that the Adrestian Empire’s ancestors created a huge pantheon of gods, but they’ve now turned into inspiring fairytales. Seiros wiped out most of the other territories’ mythology and traded them with their own. This god though, he’s never heard of.
The man smiled. “Phobos. I like it. Adrestian strength shines through and I like the name’s symbolism. Thank you, Bernadetta.”
She too, smiled. “Do you think he’ll be added to the Empire’s mythos? You don’t see many animals honored along with the ancient gods.”
“Huh, that’s not a bad idea.” When the invasion was over, and the war won, he’d talk to Edelgard in making that a reality.
“I shall go to the market to get him a nameplate made. Care to go with me?”
“It’ll be fun! And I should buy more yarn too.”
Hubert nodded. “We might as well buy Phobos other essentials. But I’ve no idea what a cat needs.”
The archer dragged him out of the dorms and towards the market. “Have no fear, Bernie is here to help!”