When Durandal and Elysia showed up at the vet clinic with a whole troop of stray cats to wash and check over, the staff's first answer was no. But the two stunning girls offered far too much money to turn down!
The whole clinic sprang into action. They even called in staff who'd been enjoying a day off, with several people tending to each cat.
By the time they finished, they'd almost run through the clinic's entire stock of shampoo and used several metric tons of water—enough to make the water department wonder if a pipe had burst. Noon had turned to dusk before all the cats had been washed, examined, and vaccinated.
As strays, each cat had a few minor health issues, but none were serious. Those could wait until they reached Schicksal headquarters, where Mobius could take care of them.
Still, when Durandal saw the freshly washed, unrecognizable "black" cat, she gave the staff member a doubtful look. She pointed at the big orange tabby he held out to her, her mouth twitching.
"Are you sure that's the cat I gave you?"
The man looked just as thrown. This wasn't something he saw every day, but he soon found a way to prove his innocence.
"Miss, if you don't believe me, we've got security cameras. You can watch the whole thing, from the moment I started washing it. Besides... cats this old aren't exactly common. Even if I'd wanted to swap it for another one, where would I find one its age on such short notice?"
Between his explanation and the familiar spark in the tabby's eyes, Durandal had no choice but to accept the truth. Her black cat had been an orange tabby all along.
That thought made her chest tighten. Holding it earlier hadn't bothered her, but now that she knew it'd been so filthy its orange fur had turned black, she felt grimy all over. Her inner clean freak had finally woken up.
So, much as she loved cats, Durandal didn't hold or pet a single one on the way back to the inn. She left all of that to Elysia.
It wasn't that she thought the cats were dirty. They'd just had baths and smelled lovely.
No, Durandal thought she was dirty, and until she'd gone back to the inn and scrubbed herself raw, she wouldn't touch a single hair on those cats—or even the hem of Elysia's clothes!
Of course, taking a whole herd of cats into the inn wasn't an option. Durandal asked Elysia to wait outside with them while she went up to her room for a thorough wash. Once she felt as clean as ever, she came back down and led Elysia and all eleven cats on a grand march toward the sanatorium.
She also sent Eden a message, asking her to bring Pardofelis there. She had a surprise ready for her.
--+--
Eden guessed what the surprise was at once, but she gave nothing away. Instead, she coaxed Pardofelis out by telling her that Durandal would be telling the children more stories at the sanatorium that night.
After all, Journey to the West was hard to resist. Even Eden had been so caught up in it that she'd started to think about bringing it to television or the big screen.
As it happened, her film and television company needed a major hit to make a name for itself. Journey to the West couldn't have been a better fit.
She'd already decided to have Aponia make a guest appearance as Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Her whole air suited the role to perfection!
As for Eden herself... Chang'e, the moon goddess, seemed like a good fit. They both worked in the arts, after all. She even wanted to find spots for Durandal and the others to appear on screen.
Hmm... She certainly wasn't doing this to save a fortune on a cast of handsome men and beautiful women. Absolutely not!
As someone who worked in the arts, she simply felt a duty to put all that talent around her to good use. Leaving it untapped would be such a waste. The cast's pay was a minor detail.
Yes, that was it. Eden had almost convinced herself.
With a pitch like that, how could the rest of Schicksal turn her down?
--+--
Durandal and Elysia caused quite a stir when they arrived at the sanatorium with their troop of cats. The children first crowded around Durandal, eager for more of Journey to the West. They were dying to know what would happen now that Sun Wukong had been trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain.
Then they spotted the cats. They came in all sorts of breeds, with just one thing in common: they were adorable. The children soon turned their attention to their new guests.
Durandal let them play with the other cats, but she kept the elderly orange tabby in her arms. It now had to stop for breath after just a few steps. She feared it might pass away in the middle of a game, so she kept it close.
"Aponia."
Durandal stroked the cat in her arms as she turned to the tall nun, whose face held its usual look of compassion.
"These cats will be staying at the sanatorium for a while. Schicksal will send food, litter, and cat beds, along with a few dedicated poop scoopers... Ahem, I mean, cat carers. You won't have to do much. Just set aside a patch of the yard for their beds."
She glanced toward the cats before she went on. "The carers will stay at the inn with me and take shifts looking after them here."
"All right."
Aponia let out a sigh of relief. She'd never cared for cats before, and though she could learn, she only had so much time and strength. Caring for the children already wore her out at times, even without a whole group of cats added to the mix.
Once they'd settled that, Durandal passed the orange tabby to Elysia. "I'm going to tell the children more of Journey to the West. Ellie, when Pardo gets here, take it over to her."
"No problem~!"
Elysia nodded and took the cat. Her petting wasn't quite as skilled as Durandal's, and her technique was a little different, but the tabby still looked blissfully content.
After all, curling up in the arms of a pretty girl who smelled sweet was a fine way to spend the day. The tabby had learned enough about humans to tell beauty when it saw it. Moving from one lovely girl's arms to another left it rather pleased with itself.
What could one say? It hadn't taken this stray long to start thinking of itself as a pampered house cat.
Meanwhile, Durandal had just finished setting up for story time again. Right on cue, Eden arrived at the sanatorium with Pardofelis.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL