At first it seemed like she was going to begin heading back to watch Alice but then her ears twitched causing her to stop in place.
Despite her words, the cat remained standing there alone for quite some time, she appeared to almost be waiting for something to happen. As if she was playing a game of chicken with an imaginary friend. Even her shadows trembled to express the confusion of her other selves; wanting to get back to watching that overpowered dragon fumble about like a baby trying to walk with their virgin legs.
Unfortunately for her imaginary friend she was quite forbearing. Those paralel hers also retained that same level of inhuman patience - after all most of their efforts were theoretical and it didn’t matter even if there was some need for practicality. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have their own bodies.
She was clearly in for the long haul as she jabbed her arm again, injecting her “food” every few hours, although that included a wide variety of colourful fluids being pumped into her body. A smirk slowly grew across her face as time flew by. Eventually she seemed very assured in herself as she turned her face to look up to the sky with that ironic cheshire grin.
“I know you are there~.”
“....”
“Should I call you out by your name, the all majestic, A-.”
“Okay, okay, you got me~♪”
It was as if the world itself was covering for the figure as, one second, there was nothing around her but the usual background scenery. The next moment an outrageously handsome androgynous man seemed to just “pop” outside the background into the foreground. He could hardly be called a discrete person either; wearing a set of pearly white armour with green inlining. Looking like a heroic paladin from some fairy tale - having some rather unique looking weapons like one would expect from such a hero.
At his hip was a white and green rapier with an ornate design that fit along with his armour while on his back was an absolutely massive blade. So large that it actually ended up being longer than he was tall with an outrageous guard that ended up making his sword look like a cross. Many other weapons lay across his body (from needles to bastard swords) although none of that was the most unique thing about him nor his appearance.
Strangest of all was his hair which was cut perfectly in half.
One side was a set of straight, long orange hair while the other would be short and somewhat messy indigo. His eyes were the exact same style as his hair. A calm but inviting smile on his face as his eyes gazed over the cat with a feeling of resignation while releasing a sigh. Shaking his head but never letting those eyes turn away.
“You refused to visit me when I tried finding your new incarnation yet here you are now all grown up after leaving that poor human girl…”
“The world is too cruel for me to help every single person; better to focus on treating the cause of the illness rather than the symptoms.”
Cheshire just nodded for a moment then asked the question she was curious about.
“Did you accelerate your growth chehehe~?”
Another note would be their difference in height - there was no changing it - Cheshire was undoubtedly short and nothing short of a midget when one considers her race. There was probably a joke to be had about a bunch of lions acting so harshly towards a little black cat. That “boy” on the other hand towered over her by at least a foot.
None of them seemed to make note of it as the man moved a hand to itch the back of his head with metallic nails.
“You should know best since we worked on it together.”
“Nyahaha~ nice to know that technique works then; what about that precious Body Rearrangement Technique you wanted so much~?.”
“As horrifying as expected when misused… Although still great for disguise jehehe~♪”
Lifting his other hand to reveal flesh, muscle and even bone shifting around in a manner which was horrifying enough. Making one wonder what was meant when he said “misused”. That cat didn’t seem particularly interested in the underlying connotations as she nodded along happily.
“Seems like you also mastered it, as to be expected, but speaking off disguise…”
Her gaze sharpening as she studied him like a lion studying a pack of gazelles to find the one with the most meat for the least effort. A fact that the bi-coloured individual didn’t seem to notice or care about as he just began to stroke his chin with a grin. His heterochromatic eyes narrowed as he looked towards the kitten.
“I’m afraid it’s impossible to teach you that one since it has to do with my own judgement.”
Hearing that made the cat merely shrug as if giving up on his stealth technique.
“Can’t be helped… Then, instead of that, maybe you should share why you have so many weapons chehehe~?”
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“Well you have your courned cat martial art that gets stronger the less weapons you have so I felt it would be good to have the opposite~♪”
The two talking as if they had known each other for ages; not worrying about sharing any of their information as if merely discussing it with someone who had known them all their life. Cheshire did raise an eyebrow at his new martial art. Especially since, as it stood, even the martial arts other people used were based on her own in some form. Hers could be said to be the perfect martial art that used everything in a single moment to achieve the best possible outcome with others merely attempting to recreate its effects.
If one had to raise a problem with her martial art it would be the fact that its requirements for practice were so specific that only she or her children could use it. Yet one glance at her malnourished body revealed she wasn’t going to have any of them any time soon. As a result she had no choice but to design different martial arts for other people.
Eventually this resulted in her having no choice but to generalise however the more open the requirements were the weaker the martial art. In the end it was impossible to make a second martial art as strong as her own. It simply wasn’t feasible due to relying on hers as the basis.
Something that the man’s own would not suffer from due to being created wholy by someone else with a different set of ideals ingrained into it.
Afterall, at the end of the day, martial arts was just the embodiment of a philosophy to give power over the one who practised it. Thinking about the history of the man in front of her being made into a martial art… It made even the terrifying little black cat blanch for a moment - physically trembling as she could foresee the disaster he would wrought on the world in the future.
Unconsciously biting her bottom lip as she looked up at him with her own metal nails piercing the palms of her hands. Something that the man took clear notice of. His head tilted to the side as he simply offered her a kind smile that presented none of the horror held behind it.
“Remember that the enemy of your enemy can be your ally; I believe that it was that very thought that allowed you to get this far with my help~?”
“... Unlike you I believe in nothing but myself~.”
Pausing for a moment to reply with her usual smile plastered on her face even if there was no smile present in those eyes of hers. Leading to it being the man's time to clench his own palms leading to wisps of crimson raising from between her fingers. Still he met her own smile with his own as they simply looked at one another.
“I suppose if you become the Martial Sage I’ll become the Sage of All to challenge you~.”
“On the contrary I plan to become the Martial Saint in order to gain my immortality~.”
“Oh my then maybe I need to be the Saint of All~?”
“Or maybe you can stay in your lane~?”
“Jehehe~!”
“Chehehe~!”
If anyone were to witness them, they would see the scene of a scarred little black cat looking up towards an intimidating wolf in a woollen cloak, both challenging each other.
Once again (just like when she was first suspicious about him sneaking up on her) their own stubbornness caused the two would be allies to be at a standstill. Each well aware that the time they’d been together didn’t matter. One of them desired to preserve while the other desired to purge it all from the sky down to the molten core.
Regardless, through the years, they repeatedly helped one another grow stronger as they needed one another in order to thrive. A small string that they managed to preserve but both being well aware that they very well may be the greatest obstacle for the other to overwhelm. Neither the teacher nor the student. A result of neither having the power to claim to have provided more worth to the other due to a game of careful checks as well as balances.
One that would likely continue until the day where one of them croaks; unfortunately…
Her time was limited.
That did nothing to make the cat fall down to fear as she bravely confronted the man without so much as a flinch in her smile. Thoughts of being unable to protect the future she desired never crossed her mind. Afterall; to fall to such ideas was the same as giving them power.
“We’ll have to see how long that bravery lasts, ciao~♪”
Just as he appeared - he appeared to disappear.
“A bet I’ll take… I’LL PROVE YOUR JUDGEMENT WRONG NYAHAHA~!”