Catpurr 15: Catnapped

Catpurr 15: Catnapped

Walking behind the wagon of nobles, it didn’t take long before Adam was standing before a tall gate, well, hiding in the bushes to be more exact.

There were guards, lots of them, dispersing the crowd of people standing outside of the iron gate for the nobles to pass through.

Adam observed them, watching as the men in steel armor tossed luggage and belongings, shoving people free of the road. It seemed no matter what nation or world, the treatment of the lower class was still the same.

Staring at the wagon disappearing behind the iron gate and masonry, Adam finally decided to step out, falling in line with the rest of the people clamoring to enter the city.

"Lacipyt selbon ta siht etar llew eb etal!" A scrawny sleep deprived looking man in leathers said, carrying what appeared to be a coffin on his back as he kicked the dirt in frustration.

"I dlot ouy ton ot pots dna yrt ot llup eht drows tuo." A heavily endowed woman wearing a bonnet and the skimpy attire of a mage replied, yawning as she scratched at her green hair. "Sa fi ouy dluow eb yhtrow fo a yardnegel ekil Excalibur."

Adam's ears twitched. He didn't know what was being said, but he did recognize the word Excalibur, making him wonder what the pair were talking about and if it had to do with that sword he left behind.

Man… I sure do wish I had my tongue of nations still… Adam lamented, his curiosity piqued as the man seemed to get offended at the woman's words, resulting in a yelling match between the two.

Seeing the line move, Adam attempted to walk pass, only for the couple to immediately stop what they were doing and turn to Adam, eyes wide mid sentence.

"A Imed-dlihc?!" The woman's said in disbelief, eyes shifting left and right before she motioned to the man who quickly pulled out a brown hat, forcing it on Adam's head much to his protest.

"Tahw era uoy gniod tuo ereh?!" The woman hissed, leaning in close with obvious signs of panic in her eyes. "Erew era ruoy stnerap?!

Huh? Adam had zero clue what the woman was saying. But considering the pair's reaction upon seeing him and the subsequent covering of his cat ears, Adam quickly put two and two together.

The city was hostile to demi-humans and these adventurers were trying to protect him. At least, that seemed to be the case as the woman began making shooing gestures and yelling at him in her weird language. It wasn't the first time he'd seen such discrimination but he didn't mind, after all, he didn't need to interact with any of the people, just enter the city and complete his quest.

"I tnod kniht eh sdmatsrednu su." The man replied, grimacing as he noticed a guard patrolling down the line and nearing their location.

Alright. Time to walk away very slowly. Adam thought to himself, already taking a step back from the hysterical woman, only for her slender arm to slap down on his shoulder.

Alright time to run!

Wide eyed, Adam tried to yell and bolt, but the woman clamped her soft hands on his mouth as it opened, muffling his cries.

CAT CLAWS!

Immediately his fingernails grew, revealing claws, yet despite scratching at the woman and flailing about, Adam was pulled in by the lady’s gargantuan strength, stuffing him inside the scrawny man's coffin despite his protests.

"Hey! WHAT THE HELL?!" Adam yelled as the door slammed shut on the wooden coffin, sealing Adam in darkness.

*****

"Is everything ok here?" A guardsman asked upon reaching the pair of adventurers acting suspicious.

"Yup! All good here officer! No smuggling or kidnapping kids here!" Sehn replied nervously, making the guard frown as he stared at the scratch marks on Titania..

Oh great, we’re going to be sent to the gallows for smuggling a demi-child. Titania facepalmed.

"Sir, ma'am, would you two mind stepping out of line for me?"

"Sehn, you idiot." Titania groaned, wondering why she had to be paired with this idiot when she was perfectly fine questing alone.

"Guild ID and passport registration please." The guard said, with the two complying and brandishing their credentials. "Rank C Geomancer, Rank B…?"

The guard stopped, head cocking sideways at Sehn with confusion and doubt.

"Yes! Yup! I know it doesn't look like he's a B ranked Warrior, but he is. You can run our licenses with the local guild if you don't believe us." Titania butted in before Sehn could run his mouth, knowing full well that the soldier wouldn't believe Sehn based on his withered body alone.

"Uh huh." The soldier said, handing them back their passes. "Would you mind showing me what's in the coffin?"

The two shared a look.

When neither moved for a second the guard placed his hand on the pommel of the blade that hung on his waist.

Oh uh. Titania frowned, eyeing the other guards that were approaching.

"Is there a problem?"

"Nope! No problem!" Sehn said, quickly, too quickly, making Titania cringe.

Holding her breath, she watched as Sehn undid the straps of his coffin, setting it down on the paved road where he slowly opened it up to reveal its contents.

"An empty coffin?" The soldier asked, brow raised. "I hope you two aren't planning to leave here with a body in it."

"Haha! No officer! Not at all, this is just a quest item for Lady Velinora." Sehn said, quickly producing a quest writ with the royal's stamp on it from his jacket pocket. The officer raised a brow, leaning over to inspect the writ before gazing down into the empty sarcophagus.

"Don't cause any trouble." The soldier said before going back up the line. "And put in a word for me with the noble eh?"

"Yup! No problem." Titania said, all smiles as the man walked off.

****

After entering through the iron gates with the rest of the crowd, the two walked down the bustling brightly-lit streets of the stately city for some time, before finally, the duo lost their composure.

"Oh God! Why did you throw him in there?! We just kidnapped a demi-child!" Sehn hissed, pulling Titania into an alley and tapping at the magic coffin on his back. Luckily the guard hadn't looked too deeply or put his hand into the coffin, otherwise he would have noticed it was a storage device and not just some plain old sarcophages.

"What else was I supposed to do?! Kick him into the fields?! The guards would have seen him!" Titania shot back. "How much oxygen is in there?"

"Enough. I think? It's not like it was made to store living things." Sehn said worriedly. "What do we do?! We can't keep him in there. And we can't just take him out, the Purists will root him out like a bloodhound!"

Titania's eyes darted over to some pedestrians looking at them, but they quickly averted their sight upon meeting her gaze. She sighed. "See the guild master. She'll know what to do."

Sehn grimaced, his eyes wincing with pain.

"Oh man, I just got back to B class, we're gonna get in SO much trouble!" Sehn whined, pulling at his red hair and letting out a scream.

A/N

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