Chapter 7: Esther and Tim

A few days later, Esther snuggled up against Tim. "This is how you show affection," Esther said to the new dragon cats. They were on the second floor of the cat barn with a lot of hay scattered everywhere, but there were no mice here or eyes since Avery was busy taking care of the other animals right now. Tim would listen carefully if he was needed to defend Avery, but this was also very important too.

Tim pawed at Esther's face, "And this is a sign of taking in that affection. Do not do this to people. This is exclusively for cats. You will blend in with the creatures here called cats. No one human, cat, or any other animal will ever know you were not a cat."

Esther purred, "You'll find this is an easy noise to make to express happiness or contentment."

Tim smelled Esther's fur. He licked her fur. "This is how you bathe. I do not want to see any of you jumping into a pool of water. That is very unfeline-like behavior to jump anywhere near water. You avoid water at all costs except to drink. Even then be picky about it. Avery was kind enough to let us use this spare barn. Do not ever attack any of the people. It is our sacred duty to protect people."

Esther put her head down for a few seconds in shame. 'I thought I smelled good' she thought to herself. The other dragon cats laughed. She just blinked a few times forgetting that dragons were telepathic and heard her thoughts.

"You smelled perfect. I had to show them how to bathe," Tom said only to Esther mentally, "I didn't realize that it was mean to do so without explaining myself. Thank you Esther for being a good example to these newcomers." Tim placed his paw on Esther's face and gave her a quick lick on her cheek. Then, he paced up and down inspecting the new recruits to his cat barn. "You, in the back, come forward." A slim white cat came forward. "You look a lot like Esther. Show me how you bathe. Show me how you walk around like a cat."

The slim white cat smirked, "I am Francine. I look nothing like Esther! Can't you see my coat is whiter and better kept up?" She looked down at Esther. "I mean no offense, Elder." She bowed her head to Esther.

Esther couldn't help but laugh, "I'm not the Elder. Tim is the Elder. That's why he's doing these lessons. If it were up to me, I'd just put you all to work catching mice and rodents while staying in cat form. It should teach you plenty about being what these people call cats."

"Calm down, Esther. Francine apologized for insulting your coat. Can we leave it at that?" a random member said. Esther tried to figure out who it was but was too lost in the moment to be able to recognize which male cat had said it. Of course it was a male dragon because a female would understand that you just don't insult another dragon's coat not even in another form.

"Okay. Francine. Don't forget, we are all counting on you to have got these lessons right." Tim said.

Francine swayed her way to the front of the pack of dragons. She licked her fur twice, "That is so disgusting!" She couldn't stop her thoughts. "Sorry, it will take some time to adjust to being in this form." She licked her fur on her paws to perfect cleanliness. Tim gave a nod of approval.

"Excellent." He said. "Now show us all how you walk like a cat."

Francine struggled to keep her limbs in motion and fell down after a few steps. "I'm so sorry, Elder."

"Anyone think they can do better? I'm going through you one by one to make sure you can all act perfect as cats. We cannot be discovered. Please do not refer to me as Elder. I have been named Tim by the boys." The cats all nodded in agreement.

Francine was flush red from embarrassment from falling. Esther ran to her side, "It's okay. It will take some time to adjust to being in this form. Think of yourself as a younger dragon learning to walk again. Do not think down on yourself too much. Tim will give you a hard time, but remember that's why he's doing these lessons."

Tim came around to Francine, "I expected better of you. You cleaned your paw so well, but you can't walk?"

Francine tried to remember what Esther had told her and tried walking again. She couldn't quite get her front leg to work right. Had she injured it when she fell the first time?

Tim looked down at a struggling Francine. "You stay out of sight until you learn to walk. Next?"

Another cat walked up and down the little area on the second floor of the barn. Then, he licked at his paw. "Francine was right. This is disgusting, but I have to be a cat now."

This continued for quite some time. Tim inspected every cat that came forward and only about three didn't meet Tim's idea of a perfect feline creature; however, he knew he would know have to apologize to Esther after all the cats disappeared to go catch mice and rodents like she had suggested to teach them all about how to be a cat. Why hadn't he thought about that? It would teach them to walk, how to hunt, and they'd all learned how to bathe themselves. Plus, this hunting would take place at night away from human eyes.

Esther was annoyed with Tim for not even considering her idea until after so many cats had trouble walking. "It's okay, you know. It's how I taught myself to be a cat. I caught at least 15 mice and a few snakes." Esther told Tim. "There's a lot of mice around here. You just have to know where to look. I'm sure the newcomers will do fine after they catch some mice."

"I'm sorry I cleaned your coat without your permission." Tim said.

"It's okay. We've known each other so long. I should consider you like a brother to me." Esther said and saw Tim's face grow red. "I mean that you're more like a mate, but I don't know if I can say that since my original mate was killed. Do dragons get a second chance at mating?"

Tim shrugged, "I don't know. I've gotten so close to you over the years though. It's only been like a hundred years."