Chapter 14 The Sleepy Kitten

Over the next thirty-six hours, Meira kept constant watch over her sleeping kitten, witnessing steady healing progress.

At four AM on the morning of the mage testing day, Meira scanned Evernya’s body one last time to check her healing progress.

To Meira’s amazement, the inflammation reduced significantly. She heals extraordinarily fast while unconscious. It explains why major injuries causes her body to shut down. Meira thought after storing away her scanning wand and tablet.

After confirming her kitten’s healing progress, Meira removed the blue ring keeping her kitten unconscious. Even with the ring removed, the foreign mana took several minutes to dissipate from Evernya’s brain.

Five minutes later, Evernya emerged from her coma as the last of foreign mana absorbed into her body. With unfocused eyes and a dreamy expression, Evernya laid on her back, unmoving. Meira let Evernya adjust for five more minutes before asking, “Evernya, how do you feel?”

After a several-second delay, Evernya slurred, “Sleepy.”

“Can you sit up?” Meira inquired.

“I think I can.” slurred the slightly more alert girl.

Evernya attempted to sit up but failed as her sluggish body gave out halfway. Her second attempt succeeded, but she fell back a moment later. She tried again, but with the same result. After the third fail, Meira scooped up her kitten, transporting her to the bathroom as they couldn’t afford to waste any more time. She set her on the toilet seat, then stripped off her pajamas. She turned on the shower, waiting until it heated before laying the semi-conscious cat girl on the shower floor.

Meira stared in amazement as the scentless grime washed away, only to regain its stench the moment it lost contact with Evernya’s skin. Meira scrunched up her nose as she rubbed her kitten with blueberry scented body wash, only for it to lose its scent immediately upon contact with Evernya’s skin. Meira gave up, realizing the futility of giving her kitten a pleasant scent. Instead, she focused on washing away the remaining grime.

While cleaning her kitten’s ears, a loud purr vibrated in Evernya’s throat. Meira had to stop herself from squealing out loud as she overdosed on cuteness. That’s so adorable! Luckily, she isn’t lucid enough to realize it. Purring while lying on the shower floor naked and vulnerable would horrify her, but I bet even she would agree she looks so cute! Meira squealed in her head as she continued to clean her blissfully purring kitten.

After finishing the thorough cleaning of her kitten, she used air magic to dry her off before scooping her out of the shower. She dumped the limp, blissfully smiling girl onto the bed, naked, before rushing out of the room.

Meira trotted to her own bedroom down the hall. She retrieved a dress from her stash, then returned to her limp kitten. Evernya doesn’t seem to be a dress-wearing girl, but when I saw it, I couldn’t resist. It will look perfect on her! She has to dress up at least a little for her mage test anyway. Besides, by the time she becomes lucid enough to notice, it will be too late. At least I’m not putting any makeup on her. Like she needs it anyway.

Meira slid a pair of clean dark blue panties on her kitten before pulling the dress on over Evernya’s head. She lifted Evernya’s lower back to feed her tail through the built-in hole at the back of the dress before activating the resizing and bra enchantments.

Meira laid her kitten down on the bed to admire the outfit. The dress was a simple elbow-length sleeved sapphire blue dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt flaring out to just above her knees. The color-matched Evernya’s beautiful eyes perfectly, as Meira thought it would the moment she spotted it in a shifter district dress shop.

She looks gorgeous! Now, what should I do about her feet? Walking shoes won’t look right with the dress, and I think she would kill me if I put her in heels, as most shifters hate confining footwear. I might have some plain black flats lying around somewhere that should work.

Meira ran off to search for the black flats, leaving the semi-conscious girl on the bed. The girl continued to lie unmoving on the bed, limp with eyes half-open, unaware of her surroundings.

Ten minutes later, Meira returned with the flats. She slipped them on Evernya’s feet before activating the resizing enchantment. With her kitten’s outfit complete, she materialized a camera to immortalize the moment.

I think this is as much girlifying that I can get away with her. Any more and she might walk into the mage’s test naked out of spite. It wouldn’t be the first time a shifter exposed themselves in public. Thought Meira, chuckling at the reactions the prudish humans would have.

Meira checked the clock and realized over an hour passed already. “We better get going the mage testing doesn’t start until 7 a.m., but I want to account for any delays,” Meira said to the semi-conscious girl.

Meira picked up her kitten, careful to avoid wrinkling the dress while carrying her out of the room. If only she were alert. I could’ve fed her breakfast. Thought Meira as she carried Evernya out to the truck in the garage.

Meira carefully transplanted Evernya into the passenger seat of her truck, making sure Evernya’s tail was in a comfortable position on her lap. She chuckled when Evernya, even in her dazed state, instinctively grabbed onto her tail.

After buckling Evernya into her seat, Meira climbed into the driver’s seat, opening the garage door before backing out. Five minutes later, she pulled out of her dirt driveway on the gravel road bisecting the dense evergreen forest. They passed by numerous creatures roaming the wilderness, some familiar such as deer and bears, double the size of the earth variety.

A mile later, Meira spotted a medium-size red sedan following her. When she stopped at the next intersection, she glanced up at her rearview mirror, finding the driver to be a male catkin who appeared to be in his late teens.

Meira glared at her rear-view mirror with annoyance. Did Alpha Wittke really post someone to watch my property? I didn’t have a tail when I went shopping a few days ago, so why now? Did he catch on to our plan? Just in case, I can’t make it obvious that I want to lose the tail. I don’t want them to be suspicious.

To avoid tipping them off, she used an indirect application of air magic by blowing a sharp scrap metal piece lying on the side of the road under the left front tire of the sedan. With her makeshift tire spike is in place, she continued to drive as if nothing happened.

A few kilometers later, the car tailing her rolled to a stop with a flat tire from a small piece of metal sticking out of it. Once out of sight, Meira took a detour south to curve around to the west entrance of Druth.

As she turned left down a gravel road, Evernya finally became lucid. She observed her new surroundings with a perplexed expression. “Where are we? I thought you were to wake me up before we left.”

With an amused smile, Meira commented, “I did over an hour and a half ago. You don’t remember any of that?”

“Remember what?” Evernya questioned before noticing her outfit.

Evernya glared at the offending elf, demanding, “Why the hell am I wearing a dress!?”

Unmoved by her fuming kitten Meira justified, “Well, you can’t go to the mage testing wearing a T-shirt and skinny jeans, and besides, you look beautiful.”

Evernya continued to glare at Meira as she argued, “Why can’t I go there wearing something I am comfortable with? Isn’t this supposed to be a stress test? Why add an extra layer of unneeded stress? Besides, wearing a dress isn’t who I am. I don’t care if people have an issue with the way I dress.”

“Wearing your preferred style may invite more insults. The mage testing day is a big deal for young mages. Everyone dresses up, think of it as a coming-of-age tradition. The dress isn’t just one of my resized dresses. I bought the dress specifically for you when I was out shopping while you were bedbound last week. Just be glad I didn’t put you in heels or makeup.” Meira countered.

Evernya shuttered at the mention of high heels before proclaiming, “If you ever strap those torture devices on my feet, I will throw them at you and go barefoot! I refuse to wear high heels! I don’t care if I’m short!” Proclaimed Evernya, ears fully erected, tail whipping on her lap, resulting in a widening smirk from the elf.

After receiving a widening smirk from the elf, Evernya huffed before looking out the window, ears flicking in annoyance.

Several minutes later, after she cooled down, Evernya conceded in a quiet, hesitant tone, “I suppose I can deal with wearing a dress as long as this doesn’t become a habit.”

“Well, even if you couldn’t deal with it, you don’t have a choice. We are already halfway there, and I’m not turning around. Besides, as I said, you look beautiful. I’m sure you’re going to attract many gazes from your beauty. You may even find yourself a boyfriend, though he has to be approved by me.” Meira teased to rub it in.

At the mention of a boyfriend, Evernya exclaimed, “I don’t want a boyfriend! Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed under the radar?”

With a teasing smile, Meira continued to prod her kitten. “Interesting. Do you perhaps swing the other way? Either way, it would’ve been impossible for your stay under the radar being shifter among thousands of humans. If you’re going to get noticed anyway, you may as well look good while doing it. Besides, many of the women will wear fancier dresses than yours, though that doesn’t mean they would look better than you, sometimes less is more.”

Evernya’s face reddened as she confessed, “I don’t know what I’m interested in, but I can’t see myself having a boyfriend anytime soon.”

Knowing when to stop, Meira assured, “Personally, I don’t care if you find a partner as long as you’re happy. With your beauty, you will get plenty of attention either way. Hopefully, you don’t have a heat cycle. If you do, you may not have a choice who you have sex with.”

With her point made, Meira changed the subject. “So, have you thought about what family name you will pick? As alpha, you have the right to choose one.”

Evernya took a deep breath to calm down before answering. “I haven’t put much thought into a family name. My primary focus has been to survive the mage’s test and find out my magic class.”

Meira suddenly turned serious as she cautioned, “Whatever name you will choose is magically binding, permanently binding to your soul. So I think it would be best to hold off until you are absolutely sure. It’s easy to take a family name but nearly impossible to remove.”

“I’m horrible at picking names, so it may be years before I think of one.” Stated Evernya while watching the seemingly endless trees fly by through the window.

A second later Evernya inquired, “did you pick a new family name?”

Meira’s hands tensed on the steering will for a split second before responding, “I can’t. When someone has their bloodline severed, they lose the right to take another family name. I’ll forever remain just Meira, but I’m fine with that.”

They fell into silence for several minutes before Evernya worked up the nerve to ask, “So I’m assuming putting me to sleep worked? I feel a little sore, but that’s all.”

“Yes, your little nap sped up the healing process greatly. I ran another scan before I woke you up, and the results were good, with a 90% reduction in inflammation. However, while your mana veins healed, they are still quite fragile, so please avoid using any magic until the test.” Meira replied.

Upon noticing her kitten’s nervous fidgeting, Meira suggested, “you can take a nap. We won’t be there for another thirty minutes. I had to take a detour because Alpha Wittke sent someone to watch my property. We will still arrive on time, but you will have to wait in line longer. I contacted Dr. Fisher, ensuring he will be there to observe your reactions to the shifter stress test. So relax and take a nap. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Without another sleep enchantment, I don’t think I’ll be taking a nap,” Evernya commented.

Unable to stay silent because of nerves, Evernya inquired, “So, will Alpha Wittke give up after I’ve taken this test?”

Meira paused a few seconds to think, debating what she should say before assuring, “Probably not, but once you’re legally an independent alpha and mage, he won’t have any legal standing force you to do anything.”

Evernya scowled in disgust. “I haven’t even met him yet, and I already don’t like the guy. To him, I am just an incubator for his heir.”

Afraid of souring her kitten’s opinion of all shifters, Meira explained, “They don’t think like you. To most shifters, mating with the Alpha is a great honor. To make things worse, alphas are used to getting their way, so when someone refuses them, it infuriates them. I don’t think Alpha Wittke will let this go without a fight. However, once I train you, it won’t take long before you surpass him, so soon it won’t matter what he does.”

“What does being a mage mean? Shouldn’t all magical’s be a mage since they can do magic?” Evernya inquired a few seconds later.

While keeping a lookout for any tails as they neared Druth, Meira explained, “It’s a term humans thought up to make themselves feel more important. A mage is a magical being capable of external magic. External magic is the ability to control mana outside of the body, for example, a fire sorcerer throwing a fireball. Since shifters rarely have the capability of external magic, humans use that as a reason to discriminate them. Many businesses even have signs stating mages only with a lock on the door requiring the use of external magic to open. Coincidentally, the first stage of the mage’s test requires you to open the same type of lock, ensuring all testees can perform external magic.”

Wonderful, I’ll have to deal with racism on top of my uniqueness. I guess being a cute catgirl with magical powers has its costs. Evernya grumbled.