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Sayeru, the Bear King, was rather familiar with beast people as he was also part of such a tribe and interacted with many. That being said, no matter how he looked at this pathetic creature in front of him…
Meow
“…”
Meowww
…this was just a cat.
A wet, dirty, unruly looking, exceptionally grumpy and annoyed cat.
“...”
“MEOWWW"
Yeah, fuck this, he's leaving it here to rot. No way he's ever going to be seen caring for that pathetic creature.
***
Half an hour later Sayeru found himself trying to scrub dirt from the said kitten's dark fur.
Five more minutes proved that the supposed ‘dark fur' was actually way lighter than he'd imagined. Who would have known? The power warm water holds really is unmatched for dirt.
Now freshly bathed, the little guy could not be less appreciative of Sayeru's efforts. If anything, it looked ready to jump back in the water then drown rather than be dried off by the towel Sayeru had wrapped around it.
Yes, he was using a regular towel for it but sue him, not everyone has drying magic at hand. Bears can just shake the water out of their furs, it's not his fault that cats didn't evolve to follow their great example.
Mind you, cats did come to posses sharp claws and said kitten he picked up not long ago? Definitely not an exemption. The motherfucker just scratched him!?
To the Bear King of course this was a pathetically futile effort in causing any semblance of harm but to Sayeru this meant war.
He'll make sure it spends an extra five more minutes bundled in the towels for its troubles.
Meowwww
The kitten just continued scratching, now combined with meowing. It took a good while to get the menace's fur dry.
One might come to question at this point why the Bear King would bother taking care of such an ugly furred creature.
Did he take pity on it? Does he have too much free time on his hands? Was he bored?
The answer he'd give to all those inquiries were the same.
Mind your own fucking business.
***
For being found on the side of the road, it sure turned out to be a picky eater.
No matter the quality of the food, the kitten looked at it with such purely hidden disgust you'd think it personally offended the little guy or something.
Last time Sayeru saw such a display of annoyance regarding high quality food, he was watching that guy, Cale Barrow, dine.
Now that he thought about it, they did share some resemblance.
Both were annoying, absolutely full of themselves and showing up at the most random times to make him, however reluctantly, occupied with something.
Heh.
He didn't see the dude since his last reincarnation. Sayeru did not miss him one bit!
He didn't.
Really, why would he?
He couldn't care less. He was busy enough as it is and his days were as splendid as ever with or without that guy's presence.
Cale Barrow is a weirdo to begin with, that would be clear to pretty much anyone who ever interacted with him.
So why would Sayeru care when he'd show up?
Well… If Cale Barrow can't deliver on his promise on making a place for the Bear Tribe to live at, then as Bear King, Sayeru might as well hunt the guy down himself, especially if it's taking this long.
As a beast person, he has a longer lifespan than most humans but it still seems to take an awful lot for Barrow's current reincarnation to appear.
He had the guy around two human lifetime ago and even then he didn't seem to be right in the head. But an agreement was made. The bear would provide manpower when needed in exchange for territories to permanently call theirs. It was simple really.
Someone who had literally lived multiple lifetimes would be still more trustworthy than the average puny human.
He had promised a place for the Bear tribe, so it's not like he's completely useless.
The problem is just the idiot thinks he's superior to him, to THE Bear King Sayeru!!
He isn't inferior to anyone, much less that guy.
The guy made them matching uniforms for fucks sake, Sayeru still couldn't decide how to feel about that.
…He did get an Ancient Power from him though, so it's not as if he was completely ungrateful. It's just been a while since that guy shown up so he felt justified in his annoyance.
At least show your face if you want to take over the world, right? Right.
Well, the guy always wore a mask so Sayeru supposed that's asking way too much already.
***
"…What's that?" Dorph asked at their next meeting.
"Isn't it pathetic looking?" Sayeru proudly showed off to the Lion King the grumpy creature he had picked up about a day ago. "The fucker wouldn't stop meowing all the way here." He said with grimace that could be mistaken for a grin just as easily.
As if to prove a point, the small cat let out a dragged out sound at seeing eyes focused on its form. It sounded pretty much done with everything, not quite fighting its fate but being very clear about its dissatisfaction.
"…" Dorph lost interest surprisingly quick. "Why would you even bring it here? Want me to throw it off from a high place?"
"The guy is suicidal enough as it is, hell nah." Came Sayeru's immediate response as he snatched back the cat into a firm hold. It doubled as a kitty cage since through the last day and night Sayeru has learned that the kitten was weirdly set on disposing of itself.
It's not like it clawing on him hurts as much as the little shit would hope, so keeping it locked in his arms worked wonders.
This however shifted its focus and as it became weirdly set on disposing of Sayeru himself.
"Anyway, any news from Cale Barrow's current reincarnation?" Sayeru asked as held onto the grumpy little guy in his hold.
Their forces were currently laying low, waiting for signs of the White Star, Cale Barrow, having reincarnated somewhere. Usually they needed to wait a little until they'd be contacted by him but it's been a while already. He should be showing up anytime now.
"Bet he'd love you calling him that." Dorph stated unimpressed at Sayeru using the guy's name instead of title. "And no, nothing new."
Sayeru huffed at that response and played with the kitten's fur in his hold. It was way softer after getting washed and it almost looked half decent once groomed.
"What should I call him then, White Shit? Hey-!"
The little fucker bit him AGAIN.
"…If you get gutted for this by a cat before he could do so, I'll happily laugh at your downfall."
"Sure sure, whatever." Sayeru replied, holding the cat's mouth closed. It was akin to holding a snake's mouth locked.
Sayeru knew the cat tribe was all about assassination but he'd rather not experience death by a regular cat.
The two beast people continued to chat casually together as the cat seemed very set on escaping the situation or taking them down with it.
The kings didn't like each other much but they've been working together for a while and were some of the oldest allies of the White Star as of present.
They were also the ones to usually get notified first when the White Star changed bodies. However, they've not heard of his current whereabouts and although Dorph was taking that quite alright, Sayeru was growing a little restless.
Unbeknownst to either of them, the White Star was closer than one could have expected.
As in…
Meoww
"Ha. Do you ever stop complaining about something?"
…the White Star was the very cat Sayeru was currently chiding.
How did the leader of a secret organization end up in this predicament? It's been an unfortunate mistake, really.
Cale Barrow, also known as the White Star, was a reincarnator. He used his multiple lifetimes to work towards a greater plan and he jumped from body to body to carry out said plan.
Those bodies were that of humans, at least it was supposed to be.
…There just happened to be a miscalculation in his latest body switch.
Instead of assuming a new human form… Cale Barrow woke up as a kitten.
And to make matters worse, turns out his people weren't only inadequate at understanding what happened but also insolent.
You'd think bestowing ancient powers on them would make them watch their mouths but alas.
Cale Barrow hated death. It was awful no matter how many times he'd to go through it but at one point he decided it might just be preferable to being stuck in the Bear King's hold. Actually, most things would be preferable to this.
He tried communicating what happened but all was ignored or not understood. What little hope he had for the Lion King to have more sense was immediately shot down too.
As for the feeble looking bear, his grip and determination to hold the White Star's cat body hostage was becoming quite troublesome.
No matter how much White Star would complain though, they didn't seem to get it.
The cat grumbled again as if to drive a point across but the Bear King just held him closer.
This was madness. Utter madness.
And the worse part of all this? That Sayeru's hold was warm, sickeningly so.