“We’ll get you all patched up, little guy,” the green-haired man whispered to me as we entered a busy marketplace. “I bet they’ll give you a nice bath and all the fish your tummy can hold.”

I hoped so. The dizziness was rapidly turning to nausea, and I just wanted it to stop. I closed my eyes, and purred as best I could. Though Feline Favor washed over me, it didn’t push away the nausea. It seemed this was one ailment that I couldn’t fix.

“Awww, you like me, don’t you?” he reached out and tickled my chin.

I bit his finger.

I am not some kind of pet…the purring had nothing to do with you, I promise. I am a great and terrible warrior…I’m just having a bad day.

He pulled back. “Alright, alright, I can respect that. No chin scritches, even with the purring.”

At least he got the hint.

We navigated through the market, drawing suspicious looks from all sides as we went. However, the presence of the green-haired man dissuaded anyone else from coming after me with a broom. I guess he was useful, in the end.

The man didn’t seem to be from around these parts. Several times he stopped to ask for directions to the Temple of Valencia. Several times, he still managed to take wrong turns down the side alleys and small streets that crisscrossed the town like the threads of a spider web.

Still, he took it all in good spirit, and I was content to just be along for the ride. Even if he was hopelessly lost half the time, it was still faster than my own stumbling towards the Temple. Since I had no other leads on where to find the summoner, sticking with the kind man seemed like a way to go.

Finally, after finding a woman dressed in cleric’s robes who practically held his hand to the Temple, we arrived. He stepped through the grand oak doors which had been painted with pristine white and gold in honor of the goddess who presided there.

The green-haired man found the first acolyte he could and pulled them aside.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for healing services for my friend here,” he asked. “Is there an infirmary or hospital I can seek?”

The acolyte frowned and bit a lip. “Yes, but the matron isn’t fond of cats. She may turn you away.”

“I’ll take that chance.” He smiled down at me. The acolyte pointed and gave more directions I was sure the man would fail to follow, and he set off once more.

This time, he only made one wrong turn, which I thought must be a sign that the goddess here was looking out for us. He pushed open the door to the infirmary.

“What ails you, lad?” called an elderly woman. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.” The green-haired man politely thanked her and sat down on one of the clean beds. Gingerly, he set me on the white sheets. I hunched down, wrapping my tail around my paws.

“You look just like a loaf of bread left in the oven overlong,” he said with a laugh. He held out a finger for me, and I sniffed it. He smelled of a strange combination of things that I’d been trying to decipher ever since he’d picked me up. I couldn’t put my paw on it, but it reminded me of grass, but beneath that there was a poorly covered scent. That hidden scent was more like the smell of cold metal than anything else. There were other things in the mix, but I didn’t know what they were, which only made it more curious.

Taking my lack of hostility as an invitation, which it most certainly was not, he began to stroke the fur of my ears gently. I didn’t bite him this time. I didn’t have the energy.

“Alright, I’m Wilhemina,” she introduced. “What can I do for you, young man?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” he said, “but my friend here is hurt, and I’m not sure what’s the problem.”

She gave me a wary look. “Lad, I tend to those in Valencia’s image, this one is…”

“Just another who would be protected by the Shining Shield, no?” he countered. “Unless you know a temple to her sister that I should go to instead?”

She scowled some at that, but, in the end, she sighed. “Very well, let’s see what the problem might be.”

Wilhemina patted my fur, looked in my ears and eyes, then whispered a few words under her breath. Green magic sparkled from her fingertips as she cast a spell. It was small, but it did make my paws and fur feel good, like being given a nice massage. However, much like Feline Favor, it also did little to push back the nausea and dizziness.

“He’s just tired, looks like,” she said, scratching my ears just as the green-haired man had done. “It’s probably just exhaustion. Maybe some dehydration, as well. I gave him a small pick-me-up, so he should be right as rain in a few hours if he gets some sleep and water.”

I most certainly would not be “right as rain.” If I didn’t find the summoner, I was done for! But, without any way to communicate that to the green-haired man, how would I ever find her?

“Thank you, Matron.”

“Think nothing of it,” she said. “The Shining One protects us all, both tall and small.” She stood. “You may remain as long as you like. The donation box is in the hall, should you feel compelled to use it.”

“Thank you, Matron.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Then she stood and left us alone. The green-haired man scratched my ears again.

“Do you want some water? Or do you want to sleep?”

As I was contemplating how best to communicate my needs, the doors burst open, heralding a screaming woman.

“Matron! Come quickly! There’s been a monster attack outside the walls! There are injured!”

The Matron and several other disciples rushed into a flurry of activity before leaving. The green-haired man looked down at me.

“I need to help them. Will you be alright?” I blinked slowly at him before bowing my head, as I’d seen him do to others. He seemed to understand, giving one last scritch behind the ears, then leaving me alone.

I rose to my paws, stretching my back upward to try and stimulate my thoughts. I should leave. I should move on. I needed to find the summoner.

After padding softly towards the door, I paused. Did it make sense to leave? I was wobbling with dizziness and had no actual leads to follow. I’d be eaten alive…and I gave it even odds that I would be literally eaten alive instead of just metaphorical.

On the other hand…if the summoner was near, then she would likely be just as dizzy as I was. She might seek out healing, just as I had. If I waited here, would she eventually come to me?

I mulled over the thought, hopping back onto a bed and curling up on my side. It didn’t seem any worse than any other plan I could come up with to find a single human in the abysmally large town.

Without any other ideas, I began to purr, knowing full well that it wouldn’t help me at all. The vibrations were comforting all the same.

* * *

“Shoo that thing away, we need the bed space,” ordered the Matron as they returned. I raised my head to see several stretchers being carried between several volunteers from the town, including the green-haired man. He deposited his charge, before coming to pick me up from my spot.

To my surprise, the wave of dizziness that washed over me at the movement was…bearable. It was less than the ones before! Did that mean the summoner was near?

I whipped my head around, swiveling my ears in every direction as I frantically searched among the newcomers to find someone, anyone, that I could feel connected with.

“Hey, little guy, I guess you’re feeling better to be so squirmy,” the green-haired man. I crawled out of his arms, trying to get a better perch to see everything from his shoulder. There were so many people moving about, clerics bringing supplies, volunteers scurrying in and out, I couldn’t keep track of them all.

“We should probably go outside, little guy. We’ll be in the way, here.”

Yeah, you go ahead. I need to find the summoner. She was close, I could feel it.

The green-haired man began to leave. I hopped down from his shoulder, only to find he’d turned around and was lifting me again.

“Come on, the Matron doesn’t want us here.” I struggled and squirmed, lashing out at the man’s forearms with claws, but they didn’t break through the rough cloth that covered his skin. I didn’t want to hurt him, just let him know that I needed to be in that hospital.

As the door closed behind him, I spied a brief glimpse of blond hair, then the door slammed shut and we were left outside.

Frustration overwhelmed me and I hissed at the green-haired man. He put me down, and I rushed back to the door.

“You can’t go back in there, little guy,” he said. “The door is shut.”

Maybe to you. I, however, was not barred by such things. Using just the slightest touch of my mana, I turned the handle and pulled the door just enough to slip inside once again.

I raced down the hall to the hospital, slipping past many moving feet. The stones were cold beneath my paws, cleaned within an inch of their life by the acolytes who worked here. From here, I couldn’t see the people on the beds, but neither was the Matron likely to notice me.

Slipping between the beds, I reared up to put my paws on the first one. This one was a man in metal armor. He was not the summoner. I turned to the next bed behind me. This one was closer, at least being female, but still was clad in metal. She was not the summoner either.

Bed after bed I searched until, finally, I caught a familiar scent among the bitter medicines and soaps in the hospital. It was the smell of herbs and dirt, of smoke and forest. It was the scent from my dream! It was the summoner!

I followed the scent to a bed near the end of the room. Without hesitation, I hopped up. Blond hair shimmered like gold in the sunshine which illuminated her features. She wore a black cloak over a soft cream dress.

There was not a doubt in my heart. This one was the summoner. Sleeping though she was, I could feel her spirit like a flickering flame inside her. It burned low…lower than I would have liked from someone whose fate was so tightly bound to my own.

“Hey! Scram! We don’t need you here! Go!” the Matron hissed at me. I hissed back, crouching protectively beside the summoner.

The green-haired man caught up, looking a bit more disheveled than before from swimming through the sea of people with his large body. “There you are!”

“Get the cat out of here! This is a hall of healing, not a menagerie!”

The green-haired man reached for me again. This time, I swiped at his hand, claws bared, and hissed. I was not going anywhere.

“I don’t think he wants to go,” he answered, drawing back. I settled back onto my haunches, glaring at anyone who dared approach me and the summoner. The green-haired man studied me curiously before drawing his fingers through his minty locks and turning to the Matron again. “I think he likes her. Who is she?”

“Just the source of all my wrinkles.”

“Does she have any family?”

The Matron bowed her head. “Not anymore, no.”

“Then, if I stay with her and promise to keep the cat out of trouble, can he stay?”

She looked at the man, then at me, then at the girl, and finally back to the man. “Fine. But if it does anything to cause a fuss, I’ll call in the guard to take it away.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Finally! I settled myself in between the woman’s arm and her body. She didn’t look injured, not like the armored ones occupying the other beds. They reeked of blood and I spied bite wounds being carefully wrapped by the acolytes under the Matron’s watchful eye.

Still, even if the summoner didn’t have any obvious wounds, I couldn’t afford to take chances. I began to purr, calling forth the healing waves of Feline Favor and bestowing it upon her.

“Did you finally get what you wanted?” the green-hair man asked softly. He reached out again and scratched my ears. I allowed it. He looked at the summoner. “They say she’s the one who was first attacked on the road.” The green-haired man stretched and sat down in a nearby chair, pulling the pole from his back and leaning it against the wall. “Flying snakes from the forest chased her all the way to the walls before she collapsed. Probably got bit by one and the venom took her down. The guard sallied immediately to save her, but they had their fair share of bites for their trouble.”

Why was he still here? It didn’t make any sense. Didn’t he have better things to do than keep me out of trouble? He’d gone so far out of his way to see me safely to the summoner, and now he was just…waiting for her to wake?

He wasn’t so bad. I almost felt bad about the bites and scratches I’d given him today. Almost.

I settled deeper into the nest I’d made against the summoner’s side, making sure she knew that I was here. I’d made it. Through trials and against all odds, I’d made it to her side. Finally.

I fell asleep there, wrapped up in the perfectly natural feeling of being close to the summoner. My aches and pains were gone, and the dizziness faded with every passing moment.

Then, in the middle of the night, I felt a hand stroke my back. I stretched my back, then turned. Brilliant blue eyes stared back at me.

“Hey there, kitty,” she whispered. “You finally made it.” She coughed, and it resonated deep into her chest. “I’m Raina. It’s nice to meet you.”