That night, the girl had to sleep in a kennel.

The cage was placed in Karth’s room and had a few layers of blankets along the bottom.

Leina still refused to have the catilyss near her room, and neither of the humans were comfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with the monster.

When Karth woke, he found the monster curled up in the corner furthest from him.

At first, she appeared to still be asleep, but at a certain angle, light reflected off of an open eye.

She watches the human warily, while still resting.

‘Wyrrm Bait and I are forced to share a room, but he’s allowed free rein. What a sell-out. How far does his limited freedom stretch?’

Karth yawns and waves at the little monster.

“Good morning.”

She opens her eyes and glares at the human.

After a moment of realization, he tears his eyes away from the creature.

She removed her nightie.

The garment lies just outside of the cage.

Karth picks it up and sighs in relief when he sees that it’s undamaged, then drops it back into the cage.

“Put it on.”

He looks the catilyss in the eyes and imitates a gesture as if putting on clothes.

The small creature watches the human, then looks at the article of clothing.

‘He wants me to wear it, but… if I start wearing clothing again…’

She crawls closer to get a better look at the human.

*sniff* *sniff*

He showered recently, smells like the kind of non-combatant person that wanders a dungeon with mercenaries.

‘My previously bleary vision couldn’t make out the details very well before, but he doesn’t look half bad. All I needed was some sleep.’

The human’s hair is ashen brown in color, short but shaggy and roguish in style.

He has a short goatee that looks neat and maintained.

His eyes resemble a greenish murky lake, shining with a warrior’s experience, but his facial expressions show nervous anxiety.

‘What is causing him to feel this way?’

He quickly turns away, not wanting to see the girl undressed.

Her attention is drawn towards her own body. It feels much lighter than before, sore and weary, but different in many ways.

She no longer had the thick fur that smelled of death and decay, it was a good odor that kept other predators far from her.

Instead, she also smelled like a non-combatant, a civilian.

‘How long did they spend cleaning me? Preparing me for some sort of auction, no doubt.’

The peoples loved their clean smells.

‘Even if I wanted to, I could no longer return to the dungeon until I at least grow out my fur again.’

The long hairs not only carried a pungent odor, but they also helped serve to aid in slipping out of an enemy’s grip, or a slight buffer to claws and swords.

It wasn’t armor, but it did serve as protection to some extent.

‘I refuse to abide by these peoples’ will.’

The catilyss slinks to the back of the kennel, shoving the nightie underneath the blankets.

She gives Karth a defiant look, clearly not wanting to play nicely.

He watches, keeping his eyes away from her body, and sighs in defeat.

“I get it, you don’t like clothes.”

He walks out of the room and finds Leina in the kitchen making breakfast.

“She doesn’t want to wear clothing.”

His sister flips several eggs, sausage links, and hash browns, sizzling on a few skillets, then turns to greet Karth.

“Good morning. What did she do with my nightie?”

“I found it outside the kennel, don’t worry, it’s not damaged. I gave it back to her and tried telling her to wear it, but she just shoved it under the blankets.”

“Give her time to adjust, you can’t expect a monster to act like a normal girl by putting clothes on her.”

“You’re right.”

Karth hovers over the still cooking breakfast, taking in a deep whiff of the smells together.

His stomach growls in anticipation, which reminds him of their starved ‘guest’.

“Is Daeda– the girl, eating some of this too?”

“She can have some, but I don’t know what a catilyss normal eats, so I did a little shopping. There’s a bag over there with different foods, try feeding her some of it. Oh, and here’s a bowl for drinking water.”

“The blankets are going to get dirty – she’s going to get dirty.”

“Do you want to try letting her out, but keeping the door closed?”

“I think we would need a leash and collar, or something.”

“I’ll have to look for something like that later.”

“Alright, thanks.”

Karth picks up a leather bag containing meats, vegetables, and even some pet store kibble.

He’s heard of it before, some sort of food baked specifically for pets, though, this was his first time seeing it.

It was hard, round, and kind of looked like tiny biscuits.

He places the bag next to the sink and fills a wooden bowl with clean water.

There’s knocking at the front door to the apartment.

“I’ll get it.”

Leina washes her hands clean, then quickly strides over to the door.

Karth carries the food and water into his room and places them onto the smooth, oak wood floor, next to a wall.

He retrieves a bundle of rope from his exploration gear and approaches the kennel slowly.

“Hey there girl, I got some food for you.”

The catilyss watches the human’s movements. At the sight of the rope, her ears flatten against her head and her tail droops with fear.

Usually, when a catilyss feels threatened or intimidated, they would raise their hackles and attempt to make themselves appear bigger, but this one just shrank back into the corner, as if not wanting to be seen.

‘She’s terrified of me…’

The human persists, inching closer to the kennel, trying his best to appear friendly.

He unlatches the bars that lock her in and pulls the door open.

She flinches with every sound, bracing herself for the worst.

Karth points towards the bowl of water and food next to the wall, giving her enough space to move about on her own.

She eyes him suspiciously but doesn’t find any deceit or tricks. Still, she refuses to play his game.

Keeping her attention focused on the man, she pretends to trust him crawling out of the cage.

As soon as she’s out, she darts at full speed towards the open door of his room.

Karth feels like he should slap himself right now for being so stupid.

He spins around and finds the monster skidding to a stop, before being grabbed rather roughly by a dwarf man standing in the doorway.

“Hahah! You could use some help!”

“Dedicantus, Stone’s Throw. It’s so good to see you.”

“We’re taking the day off, Karth. Relax.”

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“Right, sorry Hendrick.”

“Daedalus looks pretty energetic.”

“Uh, Hendrick, be careful where you’re grabbing.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s a girl.”

The man’s eyes widen with embarrassment. He turns around and shoves the flailing catilyss into Reyah’s arms.

The red-haired dwarf scrambles to get a hold of the panicked monster.

“Why the hell is she naked?”

“Wasn’t she always naked?”

Her companion chuckled to himself.

“Yeah, but I thought your sister kept some of her older clothing.”

“She doesn’t want to wear it, I’ve tried.”

Leina interjects from somewhere in the kitchen,

“No you haven’t, you just tossed it at her and told her to put it on.”

*sigh*

“You’re not good with women, are you, Karth?”

“Shut up…”

Hendrick picks up the rope at Karth’s feet.

Reyah enters his room and closes the door behind her.

The catilyss tenses up, fear and anxiety fill her heart, and her breathing becomes labored.

“She’s scared… Where’s the clothing?”

“There’s a nightie underneath the blankets in the kennel.”

“There’s some panties outside the kennel too.”

“Huh? I must have missed that.”

Hendrick begins to make an adjustable knot with the rope, while Karth goes to retrieve the clothes.

Leina enters the room and quickly closes the door behind her.

“Here. Can’t have her getting her nightie messy.”

She approaches the catilyss cautiously, carrying a clean set of child’s clothing.

There’s a dark green shirt with frills at the hem, a long, wavy, tan skirt, and a matching pair of white undergarments.

Karth looks at the clothing and asks,

“How old were you when you wore that?”

“Probably around 5… or maybe 9 years old?”

Leina braces herself for some sort of backlash as she dresses the terrified monster, but the girl numbly allows the human to move about her stiff limbs and dress her.

Tears well up in the catilyss’s eyes.

“So sad… it’s almost like a scared beastborn child.”

Leina steps away, taking the nightie with her and allowing Hendrick to place the rope around the girl’s neck.

“Breakfast should be done any moment now. Please, come join me when you’re done here.”

After making sure the rope is secure and not too tight, Reyah releases the girl. Her gaze drops to the floor, followed by the sound of falling tears.

“This is really depressing. If she had normal looking eyes, hands, and feet, she could easily pass as a young beastborn.”

“I agree with Reyah on this. It feels like we’re holding a child against her will.”

“That’s exactly what this is.”

Karth grumbled under his breath. A frown deepens in his face as he watches the girl.

Hendrick tries his best to change the mood,

“She only looks like this because that’s what we’ve done to her. We’ve treated her like a monster, but she’s more than just a monster, right?”

“I guess…?”

“Let’s try to treat her more like a person.”

“A person that would claw your throat out in your sleep.”

Reyah said darkly, while looking at the kennel placed far from Karth’s bed.

“Let’s do something about those claws after she’s eaten.”

“Before that, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Hendrick, if it’s not too much, can you heal her?”

He looks over the girl’s obvious wounds, scars, and infections, then gives a solemn nod.

“I can cleanse the infected areas and close wounds with my magic, but removing the infections completely or altering scarred tissue is beyond my knowledge. I recommend a life mage.”

“Please, do what you can.”

The dwarf crouches next to the crying monster and places a hand on her back.

She flinches but does not move away.

Magical energy flows from Hendrick’s hand and into the girl’s body. It circulates throughout her entire system, erasing dirt, grime, and filth from underneath her infected flesh and bringing about physical relief.

The magic power continues to ebb and flow, causing bruised tissue, scabs, and open wounds to close and heal over.

There were several fractures to bones that were not visible or easily noticeable, but those were knitted back together as well.

Hendrick removes his hand and looks at Karth.

“She should feel better now.”

True to his word, the girl was feeling a lot better, not quite perfect in health, but time should allow her to fully recover just fine.

‘Daedalus: the bounty hunter organization truly had some of the greatest healers. It only makes sense that they wouldn’t want to auction off damaged goods.’

“She should eat now.”

Reyah says, while nudging the healer beside her.

The two dwarves back away, leaving Karth with the monster.

She slowly looks up, glancing back and forth between the dwarves and the human.

The girl’s yellow eyes almost seem to sparkle from the moisture building up and running down the dampened fur on her face.

‘They’re backing away…?’

Likewise, Karth looks between his friends and the girl.

“What?”

“You’ve been with her the longest, she’ll trust you more than us.”

Karth sighs.

The catilyss’s breathing seems to relax slightly.

‘They’re not going to torment me, are they making the human do it in their stead?’

Through teary eyes, the girl watches the human, seemingly bracing for whatever may come.

‘She looks like she’s on the verge of crying again… I should be careful how I approach her.’

Karth moves around the monster, giving her plenty of space, as he reaches for the leather bag filled with food.

He almost wants to hand feed her the food, but she’s probably more thirsty than hungry right now.

As the human looks at the bowl of water, he wonders if it’s insulting to make the girl drink from a bowl, after having stated that the group wanted to treat her more like a person than a pet.

He looks at her hands and tries to imagine her holding a cup with her padded paw and humanoid-like fingers.

On second thought, just giving her the bowl was the better option.

Slowly, Karth pushes the bowl towards her until it is only a tail-length away.

She lowers her head and sniffs the bowl.

‘I’ve had plenty of experiences with peoples, monsters, and their poisons. I can’t smell anything dangerous; it seems safe.’

The monster laps at the water slowly, still eyeing the people with fear and suspicion.

‘I must not show any desperation or else they’ll take advantage of that and demand more from me.’

There was plenty of water before her, enough to finally quench her thirst, but she resisted the urge and only drank a small amount, as if she were just parched.

Neither the human nor the dwarves were convinced, yet she pushed aside the water like it was in her way.

Next, Karth brought her a bag filled with delicious smells that she had been trying her best to ignore the whole time.

Eating anything at all was the same as admitting defeat and resigning her fate to these bounty hunters. However, she had no other choice if she was going to survive.

Escape is impossible.

Regardless of how these cruel peoples imprisoned her and their methods of torture, she refused to hurt anyone.

Part of her also wanted to help Karth escape, but she knew little to nothing about this world.

Karth withdraws a piece of the kibble, then cuts off a bit of the raw meat and celery.

He holds the three before the catilyss, tensing up, afraid that the monster might bite him.

His nervous curiosity is made known to the girl.

‘They must be testing not only my appetite, but also my preferences. If I eat the meat, they’ll assume I’m just a blood-thirsty carnivore. If I eat the celery, that’s all they will ever feed me and I’ll miss out on protein. If I eat the kibble, they’ll really treat me like a pet cat and I’ll never eat anything tasty again.’

In one swift motion, the girl scoops up all three in her mouth and barely chews or gives it much thought, before swallowing.

‘It’s so fresh and good! I really wanted to savor it all slowly, but I had to make my point. Having eaten it all like that, should tell them I’m a glutton and not picky in the slightest.’

Karth, Hendrick, and Reyah all stare wide-eyed at the monster, surprised by her decision.

“So…”

“Yeah…”

“She wants a balanced meal.”

“I could ask Leina to cook up something for her later, but she’s already finished making breakfast and is waiting for us.”

“Don’t bother. I think it’s safe to just give her a blend of the three and see how she likes it.”

Karth retrieves another bowl from the kitchen and dishes out the raw meat, veggies, and kibble into the bowl.

He stirs the food together, hoping that he served a good amount of each, and that she will enjoy it.

“Hendrick, have you tied the rope to something yet?”

“No, I don’t trust the girl to be alone and I’m sure she would prefer eating with us, even if it’s not the same food.”

The group move together towards the living room, leading the catilyss on a leash.

‘What am I doing, this feels so inhumane.’

“I’m… not hungry, she can have my food.”

“Karth, she may look like a girl, but she’s still a monster.”

“Didn’t we agree to treat her more like a person?”

“Yeah, when she can finally communicate what she wants.”

Karth wanted to interrupt, but Reyah held out a hand signaling she wasn’t finished speaking.

“Look.”

She gestures to the monster.

“She has legs, catilyss can walk like we do, but she’s perfectly comfortable with being on all-fours. I get that you want her to be treated like an equal, but I think we should take things slowly. You can’t expect her to dress up and eat normal food like she isn’t a monster.”

“That’s what I told him.”

Leina adds.

“Right. Listen to your sister and eat what she made for you already. Let the little monster eat what she’s comfortable with for now, we can try feeding her some normal food another time.”

Karth rubs the back of his neck and sighs, he can’t deny that they’re right, but he still feels guilty about subjecting his savior to such a shameful display.

Surely, she will remember this day, even after she’s learned their language.

* * *

Karth felt better after having eaten breakfast, especially because the catilyss seems to have consumed all of the food and water before her.

The fur on her face that was previously wet with tears, has dried up, sticking to her face or clumped together.

Karth considered cleaning it off for her, but he knows that catilyss usually clean themselves like cats. Maybe there was a reason why she wasn't cleaning face right away.

The girl lies curled up in a corner with both of her eyes closed this time.

‘Maybe she’s starting to trust us more?’

Feeling a pair of eyes watching her, she opens her own eyes slightly, staring back blankly.

‘I’m probably disturbing her.’

The human walks away, giving her some space to go and talk with his friends.

There’s a knock at the front door.

“I’ll get it.”

He tells the others and moves to open it without thinking.

Hendrick and Reyah rush towards the catilyss in an attempt to block her from line-of-sight, in case this new guest decides to come in.

The girl tenses up, cowering into the corner even further.

Karth feels like he could slap himself right now.

*sigh*

Outside of the door is Silver Lining, Red Mountain, and another person, one Karth has never seen before.

“Hello..?”

“Hey buddy, good to see you–“

The dragonborn says nonchalantly trying to push his way inside, but Karth blocks his path with an arm.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re back to check up on the little fur ball.”

“Who is this?”

Karth points towards the third person, a female dragonborn, one who looks to be about the age of Silver Lining’s mother.

She smiles and waves casually.

“Oh, don’t worry about her, hehe…”

Silver Lining takes a deep breath, and his eyes look serious now.

“Let’s not make a big deal out in public. Let. Us. In.”