ONE CAT JUST LEADS TO ANOTHER

"It's precisely because he is human that you have to protect him." Peri told the white cat firmly.

The white cat looked extremely disinterested in what Peri was saying. It stretched and then curled itself comfortably back on the white pillow. The moment it shut its eyes, it completely disappeared. It wasn't even a white-on-white camouflage thing, the cat seriously just vanished into thin air... at least visibly. It was purring loudly and the pillow had all the indents to prove that the large and heavy cat was still very present.

"Tsk." Peri took offense at the other cat's decision to shut its eyes in the middle of a conversation. He hopped off the bed and sat itself on Dan's desk, "Edel is annoying, but he is the most powerful so I have to rely on him."

"Is there any particular reason I would need protection?" Dan was a little concerned. He tried hard not to remember any of the horror stories he had heard about the Green Packlands.

Peri licked its paws, "It's just a precaution."

Dan wondered if it would be considered rude if he settled down in his bed and shut his eyes too. Should these two cats be considered formal company? As a diplomat, he always made it a point to treat everyone with courtesy and respect, from the king to the lowest slave, because he was once one too.

"You never know," he had half-joked when asked by his King why he would bother, "He might be the next Prime Minister."

Could a cat become a Prime Minister though? Was that even the point? Dan was seriously losing his mind. He hadn't had a sound sleep for weeks - at first because they had been traveling through the grey lands, and then because he spent last night at the Langston drinking with Wilhelm. That was his bad. Now he was stuck here in a perfectly comfortable private room with a lovely clean warm bed, but had to put up with the company of talking cats.

Dan sighed a little. Well, one must roll with the punches, so he sat down at the chair next to his desk. Might as well make use of this opportunity with his feline guest, "Can you tell me more about your Alpha Henri?"

He remembered that the cat had said he would convey Lord Wolfgang's message to the Alpha. Could the cats mindlink too? He knew the wolves could, but talking cats were really a first for him. There had been some really wild tales about what went on in the forbidden forests behind Gate City, and both his human and lycan friends seemed to feel it would be most appropriate to regal him with every farfetched crazy story they had ever heard when they found out he was attempting to cross the boundary, but no one had ever told him about talking cats.

"Oh, are you perhaps interested in our Alpha Henri?" Peri asked somewhat coyly. He had to be mistaken though. Could cats be coy? It was difficult for Dan to say, he knew from his experience that some gestures and expressions can mean quite different things in a different cultural setting.

They were interrupted by a third cat entering the room. This one was a sleek black cat, and it wasn't that Dan was superstitious, but he jumped up on his feet at the black cat's entry with a shout.

"Ori, indoor size please." Peri reprimanded the full size black panther. How the black cat got through his window, Dan really couldn't tell.

The black cat looked up as if surprised he was noticed, and then wordlessly shrank to the size of a house cat and decided to duck under the bed.

Dan felt his jaw fall slack… again. It had been doing it a lot.

"That's Ori." Peri informed Dan, "He's not annoying because most of the time, you won't even know he's there, but he's the best assassin around.

"That's reassuring." Dan muttered. He hadn't meant to use sarcasm, but he had a long day and was really at the end of his patience now.

Peri narrowed his eyes at Dan as a fourth cat entered through the opened window. Dan should've never opened it.

"How many of you are there?" He asked warily as the fourth cat eyed him up and down. The fourth cat was… Dan wished he knew more about cats to describe it. It was an orange striped cat, would that make it a tabby? It also had the longest fluffiest fur Dan had ever seen on a cat.

"Why is everyone here?" The orange cat asked.

"I found HIM." Peri said.

"Him?" The orange cat did not look convinced, nor was it very impressed with Dan either, "He doesn't look like much. I can't even sense his wolf."

"He's a human, Peony." Peri said. Dan nodded, almost apologetic.

"What?" Peony arched its back a little and stepped back, "How did a human get here? How did he become a human? He's not even a very magical human! Whatever will we do?"

The orange cat started pacing on Dan's clean bed because a cat cannot be expected to do anything as mundane as pace the floor, "Alright, don't panic. There must be something we can do to fix this… wait, Peri, you must have a plan right?

Peri looked very smug, "As a matter of fact, I do."

Peony stopped pacing and hopped over onto Dan's lap. It wasn't out of any kind of affection, more like it wanted to get closer to Peri and Dan happened to be seated on that exact chair.

Dan leaned back away from Peony's twitching and very fluffy orange and white tail. It reminded him of a feather duster, and when Peony's tail actually whipped him in the face, he felt quite surprised that under all the fluff, was some real muscle - at least enough to feel like he was slapped.

"Be careful Peony! Don't break him." Peri scolded, "We will need him alive, you know."

"I cannot say how glad I am to know this," Dan smiled wryly, "but can someone please explain what is going on?"

"Not now, Human." Peri told him, "Don't interrupt when your elders are talking."

Who were his elders?

"Actually, don't talk at all." Peri decided, "Your strength is in your good looks. If you want Alpha Henri to like you, you should just sit tight and look pretty."

"I don't know, Peri," Peony had his doubts, "He's just a human you know."

"Yes, but if we trained him properly, he might be quite useful." Peri said, "See, he's somewhat intelligent and can follow instructions."

Dan wasn't following anyone's instruction. He was just at a lost for words atm. What was he supposed to say anyway? Why would he even need to feel insulted or argue with a cat?

Maybe, he was already sleeping and this was all a dream.

A knock on the door heralded yet another guest.

"Come in." Dan called, because he was unable to stand up with the large orange cat sitting on his lap. At least in this position, the fluffy tail would only whip his arm periodically. Peony had calmed down somewhat.

"Hello!" An elder wolf greeted cheerily as he let himself in, "I'm Delta O, the healer…"

"Good morning." Dan answered politely, did Neil and Jax call a healer for his headache? "I'm Dan Lion. Thank you for coming."

"No problem. I would have been up sooner except I was setting a bone, and you can't rush a bone to set…." Delta O took a double take at the two cats in the room, "Ah, why are the cats here?"

Dan smiled wryly, "I have no idea. Do you know how to get them out?"

Peri glared at him and then tossed his head and turned his back to Dan. He sat in the middle of Dan's desk and turned his head to glare at Dan again just to make sure that Dan knew he was offended. But other than the grand show of displeasure, the big grey cat didn't say a word.

Peony remained on Dan's lap, his tail flicking a little more so that Dan knew he was upset.

Delta O looked helplessly at the cats and shook his head, "Sorry, I came to help with your headache…"

"They are my biggest headache right now." Dan joked.

He felt rewarded when the elder healer laughed.

"Well, the Night Leaf wolves have a saying," Delta O seemed to have relaxed enough to let Dan in on this local wisdom, "Let the cats go where they go, and be where they be."

"You're not a Night Leaf wolf, Delta?" Dan asked. Actually, he suspected as much. Delta O was wearing a full suit, very much like what Dan was wearing himself. He had not seen a single Night Leaf wolf in a suit yet.

"I'm a Lorent wolf." Delta O answered, "My real name is Dr Harrison Oran, but I'm just a retired Delta here. I'm here Monday to Thursday mornings, just a week every month for old time's sake."

Dr Harrison Oran… the name sounded familiar but Dan couldn't place it. At any rate, he should have guessed since the Lorent Town was also known as the Healer Town.

"I have a lot of old friends here." Delta O said with a small smile, "Now, please excuse me, this wouldn't hurt at all, and is only just for a moment."

He touched Dan's head and immediately, Dan realized how bad his migraine had been simply because it completely vanished. He blinked and touched his own head, "Thank… thank you, Delta."

"You're a little dehydrated and fatigued though." Delta O retracted his hand, "But nothing a young man like you can't overcome by drinking more fluids and getting sleep."

"Ah, yes. Thank you." Dan nodded again.

"Well, we're done for now. When you are recovered and feel more settled, come down to the medical center for me to do a full exam." Delta O continued, "It could be just the stress of traveling, but your blood pressure is a little on the high side, and I'm not familiar with human medication, so I cannot identify exactly the foreign chemicals in your blood stream."

"I've got hypertension." Dan admitted, "I ran out of medication for that, but I took some aspirin and a sports drink earlier."

Delta O nodded, "Well, that's easy enough to fix. Drop by tomorrow and I'll have it adjusted for you."

Dan could only nod back in return. Could hypertension be simply "adjusted"? But he was currently in a world where he believed that four talking cats were plotting to train him so Dan wasn't too certain of his own grasp of reality to make any judgement.

Delta O made a move to leave. Dan tried to stand and see him out, but Delta O held out a hand to stop him, "Its alright. Don't disturb the cat on my account."

"Ah, yes. Thank you." Dan said from his seat.

Delta O opened the door and then stopped, his hand still on the knob, "Oh, and I might just be overthinking this, but there is another thing they say about the cats here - Don't follow a cat into the woods."

Dan could sense the worry behind Delta O's caution, he nodded a bow from where he sat, "Don't worry. I don't think a human like me should be entering the woods here in the first place."

Delta O nodded, "Yes, I believe that's for the best. Have a good rest."

And he was gone.

Dan looked at the orange cat on his lap, and then at the grey cat who was refusing to look at Dan (but also refusing to leave Dan alone in his own room). Dan sighed, "Alright, Peri. Tell me what I need to do for you to leave me alone."