Did We Just Become Cat Parents?

"Character counts most when duty calls."

“Huh.”

Serilda blinked at the object before her. It had been several months since she and Mythal had taken over the Rune Knights, though the vast majority of that time hadn’t even been spent on Earthland. Not long after being placed in charge they had both been asked to help act as security on a scientific task force that had taken them to no less than a completely different planet. They’d traveled for three months through space to reach it, and while the excursion had been… exciting to say the least, she was more than glad to be back home.

Unfortunately, while they’d been gone their work had piled up. There was just so much to do after the chaos left in the wake of the Crimson Fang’s attack, and most of it could only be done by either Serilda, Mythal, or her other general Onida. The sheer amount of paperwork was downright criminal. Her new office was practically a second home at this point given how much time she’d been spending there reading through the former marshall’s reports and trying to catch up on everything he’d had going on. She tried to do most of this herself, as she knew that Mythal would go absolutely bonkers being confined to a desk in an office, but she certainly couldn’t do all of it alone. It had been a grueling process for both of them.

Today was intended to shake things up a bit. An inventory was needing to be performed on the items that the Rune Knights currently had possession of. This included confiscated items from arrests, contraband, weapons and items in their armory, and many other things. Not exactly glorious work, but it was something that would keep them moving and on their feet. Normally it would be a job for a middle tiered officer rather than the marshall or one of the generals, but Serilda felt it was important for her to know and see exactly what all was in their vaults and at their disposal. Most of it was the usual: weapons, drugs, magical items and the like. One thing in particular stood out from the others, however.

In the back of one of the storage rooms, being kept near a heater and sitting on an oversized pillow, was an extremely large egg. It was a lavender hued shell that was covered in large spots of a darker, plum color. Serilda had never seen an egg this size before and was honestly a bit stunned to see one sitting in one of their vaults like it was a totally normal thing to see amidst shelves of confiscated goods. She stared at it for a moment. “What do you think is inside? Clearly whoever put it here believes it’s fertilized, cause they’ve been incubating it with heat…” She carefully put her hand against the side of it to see if she could feel any movement within.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

There was definitely something moving inside. Actually, it felt like there were two things squished inside. She searched the interior of the egg with her Void sense, trying to see if she could get a feel for the shape of whatever was there while Mythal voiced his own curiosity. “It doesn’t feel like a dragon,” she said as he placed one of his own hands on the shell. Serilda took a moment to focuses her senses, narrowing them down to the space within the egg so she could get more details rather than a general shape. “There’s definitely two in here, and it doesn’t feel like it’s covered in scales. Feels more like fur. Paws, tails… pointed ears…”

She was carefully describing the different things she was picking up, on the verge of putting the answer together when a small snap got her attention. The egg was hatching! Serilda took a step back, unsure of what to do. She hadn’t meant to force the thing to wake up. Hopefully this was just all very coincidental timing and not something she’d triggered unintentionally. The Voidwalker had quite a bit of experience raising wolves and other mammals, but nothing that was born from an egg. The woman gasped and reached out instinctively to try and stop the egg from falling when it lost its balance and rolled off the pillow, but she didn’t stop it in time.

Thankfully, the casing didn’t completely shatter and hurt anything inside, but it was enough of an impact to complete the hatching process. What laid within were indeed two creatures: Exceeds. The only exposure Serilda had to such creatures was with Markus and Nessa, who both had Exceed companions of their own. She didn’t know that they were hatched through eggs, so the reality of what laid before them really was a bit of a shock for her. Serilda could only watch with surprised blue eyes as the cuddling twins slowly stirred into wakefulness as though they had merely been taking a very long nap -- which, in all honesty, was probably accurate.

The two were very similar in appearance save for two major distinctions. Most noticeably were their eyes; one had bright emerald ones, while the other’s were a crimson color like Mythal’s. Secondly, they both greeted the world with what at least appeared to be different expressions or outlooks. The one that first met Serilda’s gaze looked almost fascinated with this brand new world she had just been born into, while the other appeared to be more confused and perhaps even a bit wary.

Serilda glanced over to Mythal with what was probably the most dumbfounded expression she’d ever had on her face. What were they supposed to do, she asked him silently?

The Exceeds began to speak, finishing each other’s sentences as they tried to process the change in their surroundings. But the exchange crumbling rather quickly as annoyance kicked in, as was wont to happen with siblings. For a moment all Serilda could do was just stare at them, her mind desperately trying to catch up to the reality of what was happening before instinct finally kicked in.

“That’s quite enough of that, you two,” she said in a kind but stern tone, the kind of tone that expected to be obeyed much like a mother giving a scolding. Serilda herself was not a mother, but she had helped raise several nieces and nephews so she had at least some experience with children. A single expectant brow was raised on her forehead while she waited for the two of them to calm down and stop bickering.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

Well, they were obedient at least. Both of the exceeds stopped their bickering and looked up at Serilda attentively. Shortly after that, they really started to get a better look at her and Mythal, claiming that they had just been dreaming about the two humans. Her brow raised slightly when the red eyed exceed described Mythal of having peach fuzz. The slightest twitch of her lip was the only evidence that she’d found the comment funny and was trying to hide it.

They were an interesting pair. Though they had just been born the two seemed to know each other’s names, though the revelation surprised them. Grappa was taking everything in stride, accepting the surprises as they came and rolling with them without much question. Jellisha, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit more pensive than her twin. The new knowledges and information was chewed over a bit in her mind and thinking things over a bit.

“Perhaps something happened when we touched your egg,” Serilda admitted, shooting Mythal a brief look. Obviously neither of them had intended to cause the egg to hatch, but all signs were pointing toward them being directly responsible for it nonetheless. She returned her gaze back to the inquisitive duo. “Right now you’re in one of the many armories for the Rune Knights. Someone must have found your egg a while back and placed it here for safekeeping.”

There was a brief moment of panic as Grappa seemed particularly interested in the weaponry. Her motherly instincts were going into overdrive with this newly born pair, and the last thing she wanted to do was watch one of them injure themselves. Thankfully, before Grappa could get too curious her attention was already taken by the device that had been keeping them warm for some time. “That heater was placed there to incubate the two of you until you were ready to hatch.”

Keeping an eye on them just to make sure they didn’t wander toward anything dangerous, Serilda quietly leaned closer to Mythal and asked, “What should we do? We can’t just leave them in here, the poor things. I can’t believe they just left them back here without being monitored…” The exceeds were living creatures, not property to be inventoried, stored, and forgotten about! They were going to need homes, food… probably all sorts of care. Unfortunately, Serilda’s only experience with exceeds were those that Markus and Nessa were companions with, and she had no idea what kind of needs and provisions were best for them.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

They certainly were an odd pair. The two exceeds really were nothing alike. So far, Grappa appeared to be very carefree, curious and excitable, eagerly looking about the room at each thing that happened to catch her eye. Jellisha, on the other hand, was more cautious, quiet, and already had a better grip on dry humor than most full grown adults that Serilda knew. As the two flew around, Mythal took the initiative to introduce her and himself. The Voidwalker suppressed the desire to smirk at Jellisha’s sarcastic comment about breaking their egg while trying to care for it. She was more than used to Mythal’s own biting humor by now and was able to keep herself controlled, but there was definitely a twinkle of mirth in her eyes.

As the two of them began to squabble again, the pair of humans had their quick, quiet conversation. Mythal agreed they couldn’t just leave the exceeds unattended. They would need to find a home and either someone to care for them or a way for them to care for themselves. She was so busy keeping an eye on them while he spoke that the implications of his statement didn’t really hit her for a full three seconds. It seemed he was suggesting that exceeds often had a habit of attaching themselves to people, much like how Xiuh and Gren already were to them. Did that mean that the two of them had just accidentally gain two new additions to their lives?

The thought left her a bit shocked, but by then Mythal had already suggested feeding them. Both the airborn cats were so eager for this that they immediately stopped arguing with one another to express their excitement to eat. In fact, they were so overjoyed at the idea that they both sprang at the darkness slayer and clung to him happily, claws included. It was such a comical sight seeing such innocent creatures clamor all over a man that was well known for his dislike of being touched and showing affection. Serilda had to cover her grin with her hand, though that didn’t muffle the small snort that shot from her nostrils.

“Well, this way then. We’ll get you two something special from the mess hall in celebration of your birthday.” She smiled at them then, the first real show of emotion she’d given so far outside of disciplined confusion and shock. The walk to the cafeteria wasn’t a terribly long one, but they did pass by a couple places of interest. Serilda and Mythal would do their best to answer questions as the twins asked them, though a few things they wouldn’t know all the answers to. Along the way, any other knights that they passed took the time to stop and salute the two of them, only moving on after they nodded or saluted in return.

Soon enough they were in the mess hall. It was a very large, plain room with a vaulted ceiling and long rows of tables and benches. It looked as though it could seat several hundred people at one time. To the far side of the room was another row of tables littered with trays full of freshly cooked food, and behind it was an oversized kitchen were cooks were all at work making lunch for the noon wave. There were already a ton of knights present and eating, most of them wearing black uniforms that were trimmed in white.

Serilda lead the way to the buffet line, which was not very long. Those in line nearest them and those serving the food took the time to greet the two humans as “Marshal Sinclair” and “General Ragnos” as they dished out whatever they asked for onto their plates. “Have whatever you’d like,” she told Grappa and Jellisha. “This meal will be our treat.” There were plenty of options, so the twins were sure to find something that appealed to them.

When they were ready, she brought them to the only table that was singled out by itself at the head of the room, a space that was reserved for Serilda, the Generals, and their invited guests. Serilda sat down and began to eat, keeping an eye on the Exceeds to make sure they were okay with the meal. Between bites she asked them, “So this may be a big question for you guys right now, but… do you have any goals for yourselves? Things you want to with your lives?”

"Character counts most when duty calls."

She probably should have guessed that they wouldn’t know what a birthday was, but honestly it was a little difficult to judge what they did and didn’t know considering that they had quite literally started talking, walking, and flying as soon as they’d hatched. They asked Mythal what a birthday was and Serilda would let him answer, mostly because she was still having to keep herself under control to keep from outright laughing at the sight of the poor man having two cats crawling and clamoring all over him.

They asked many questions during the walk to the mess hall, but the one that stood out the most was when they inquired about the organization the two slayers ran. “The Rune Knights are a group of people that serve our country and enforce its laws,” she told them, trying to keep the explanation as concise as possible to keep from overloading them with information. “Our primary job is to protect people by finding and catching criminals that try to hurt them.” There was a lot more to it than that, of course, but it was the general gist of what they did.

When they got to the cafeteria, it did not take long for the two exceeds to smell what was clearly their preferred food: fish. She wasn’t sure how they knew what fish actually was. Perhaps it was an instinctive thing. Either way, Mythal guided them through the line and helped them get things on their plate while Serilda took care of the bill. “You’re quite welcome,” she told them with a smile as they thanked the two slayers and sat down with them.

Her question about what they wanted to do with their lives was certainly a loaded one, so she didn’t interrupt them at all as they gave it some thought and talked it over with one another. When they described their dream about being the best mages in the world and receiving medals, Serilda chuckled. “That’s certainly a worthwhile dream,” she told them. “I haven’t met many Exceeds, but my understanding is that you are capable of using magic. So if that is something you want to do, I’m sure you can make it happen. You just need to find a place that will help teach you. There are a lot of great wizarding guilds around here. The Rune Knights also have many wizards in their ranks. Mythal and myself are among them. We can help you do some research if you’d like. You certainly don’t have to have any answers today. It’s a big decision.”