“People who never had to fight with the elves of Alfheim and Great Emerald Forest were never properly wary of random animals. Only when you had dealt with a master shapeshifter would you know the horror of being unable to let your guard down on every single living being that crossed your sights.” - Testimony by former General Harriz Olfeim of the Clangeddin Empire, after a disastrous defeat against the elves of Alfheim.

”Meow.”

“Huh? What’s this cat doing here? Shoo! Shoo! Get lost!” said a soldier on patrol in the Imperial army camp when he spotted a small wildcat kitten meowing by the camp’s perimeter. The kitten tilted its head to the side and eyed the soldier questioningly with its big eyes and didn’t move, at least not until the soldier made a gesture to make it look like he was about to throw something at it.

Only after it saw the gesture did the kitten leap aside, again looking questioningly when it noticed that nothing seemed to have fallen near where it used to be. The look clearly annoyed the soldier as he walked over closer and threatened to kick at the kitten, at which point it fled into the distance at last. The soldiers cursed once more but then returned to his patrol, no longer paying any mind to the incident.

******************************

“Hm? A kitten?” muttered a different patrolling soldier later that same morning, on a different side of the camp. The soldier had noticed some movement from the camp’s perimeter and went over only to find a tiny, mewling palm-sized kitten with white-gray fur hidden in the tall grass of the plains. The kitten looked up at the soldier with its big eyes pleadingly, which was a sight that was apparently enough to melt the man’s heart.

“Aww, come here, you little cute thing… Are you hungry? Want this?” said the soldier placatingly as he fished out a small shard of dried meat out of one of the pouches hanging from his belt. The man offered the bit of meat over with an outstretched hand while remaining steady while the wary kitten came closer and eventually nibbled at the meat he held out.

“You like that, didn’t you? Want another?” said the man in a gentle tone as he brought out another piece of dried meat for the kitten to munch on. While keeping wild animals in the Imperial military camp was frowned upon, as long as they were not problematic animals, the commanders usually allowed it to slide and often even adopted said animals as mascots, as they knew that it was a cheap way to boost morale.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Of course, not every soldier happened to be animal lovers, so it also depended on which soldier the animals in question ran into.

“Want to come with m-” before the soldier could finish his question or reach out for the kitten, it leapt away and quickly vanished into the tall grass, leaving the soldier behind with a rather forlorn expression on his face as he watched the tiny thing swiftly disappear in the plains.

******************************

“So you were late on finishing your patrol because you ran into a kitten and were feeding it for a while, soldier?” asked a stern-looking Imperial hundred-man commander as he walked over with the chastised-looking soldier to the spot where the soldier fed the kitten earlier. “You are aware that you could be disciplined for having neglected your duty for this, are you not?”

“Yes, Sir, Commander. I apologize, Sir, Commander,” said the soldier with a somewhat worried tone, though in his heart he was already resigned to extra guard shifts or worse, which was the common punishment for minor offenses like his. “It was around here, if I remember right, though the kitten ran off after I fed it-”

“Mew.”

“Meow!”

Both the officer and the soldier stood still when they heard the gentle meowing noises, and sure enough, the kitten the soldier fed earlier walked over from the tall grass moments later. Except it was not alone, as a second kitten with the same coloration and pattern on its fur followed behind it shortly afterwards and similarly approached the two while meowing gently.

“Hoh, is this the kitten you fed earlier?” asked the Imperial commander as he squatted down and took a closer look at the kittens, which didn’t seem to be afraid of him. Instead, the two little creatures approached him and started to sniff at him with curiosity. They did not even attempt to escape when the commander slowly and gently picked them up by the scruff of their necks to take a closer look. “Oho… A pair of kittens with the same coloring but opposite patterns… Those are symbols of good luck in Shan-Hu where I’m from…”

“Do you mean…?” asked the soldier with hope and trepidation both present in his voice.

“Soldier An, I hereby announce your punishment. From today onwards and for the duration of the campaign, you will be responsible for taking care of our hundred-man unit’s mascots. You are to keep them fed properly, clean, and presentable at all times, is that understood?” said the hundred-man commander with an amused smirk on his face.”

“Yes, Sir, Commander! I accept the punishment gladly!” replied the soldier as he saluted smartly on the spot, glad that he had just avoided a more unpleasant punishment thanks to the kitten returning with a second one.

The hundred-man commander then gently handed over the two kittens to the soldier, who carefully cradled them in his hands. The two kittens were so small that they easily fit on the palm of his hand, and it didn’t take long before the two of them curled up and took a nap right in his hands while he was walking back towards where his unit was camped.

Apparently Nature affinity users skilled in shapeshifting were a rarity where the Imperial army came from, as otherwise they would not have brushed off the incident as a mere lucky coincidence and would have at least subjected the kittens to some magical probing to make sure that they were truly what they appeared to be. Alas, such was not the case, and so Lili and Rózsa smoothly infiltrated the Imperial Army camp.