While the Cat's Away... [Attn: Drin Johan Albaer]

[Bella]

Natlya left her latest small unit battle tactics class, rolling her shoulders and stretching her arms. She had never been a big fan of lessons in the classrooms, but now that she actually liked working in the yards, she liked them even less. Sitting so still for so long made her body feel tight, even though she was pretty sure it was just a mental trick.

Now she needed to loosen up, mental trick or not, and she headed from the classrooms and toward the yards. She emerged from the building into the light, passing under a covered passageway as she did.

There were others milling about, some coming from class like she was and others coming in, or walking down the passage. She seemed to be the only one that heard...the noise. The senses she had been working so hard to cultivate seemed to pay off and she stopped where she was, turning slowly and waiting for it again.

Mew.

With the noise around them, however, she wasn't sure how well she could distinguish its source. She made a guess and began moving slowly toward it. She paused, waiting again. She noticed a Drin standing beside her, watching her. "Did you hear that?" she asked, unconcerned if he thought her nuts.

[Cat]

Johan

He was late. Not that that was anything new. He seemed to have made it a thing to be late to all his classes, though he didn’t know how or why. It just seemed to happen. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was avoiding them, though that was, in fact, the truth of it, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it. He was dreading the day that the teachers found out that he couldn’t actually understand what was being written on the board in front of him or read what was in the books, because that would mean bye-bye to his all his hopes and dreams. You couldn’t have a Warder student who couldn’t read, could you? And there was no chance of him learning now. He was too old… or that was what his father had told him, and he’d been eleven, then. He was much older now.

Johan was, then, practically dragging his feet as he made his way to his next lesson, doing everything he could to draw the walk out so that he would, with any luck, be one of the last to arrive in the vain hope that he could slip in unnoticed and remain so.

It seemed that he wasn’t the only one trying to delay the inevitable classes, and he found himself watching a Ji’val. He jumped slightly when she suddenly spoke to him, eyes flicking up to meet hers.

“I’m sorry? H-hear what-?”

[Bella]

That actually answered the question, but since it became another question, it begged reply.

She tried to split her attention between her ears and her mouth. "That noise..." She frowned. "It sounded like...some kind of animal, I think? But what animal would be here in the warder yards?" Of all the places for an animal to be, this one definitely struck her as the least wise. All the pointy things and angry people swinging them...

Mew.

"There!" she exclaimed. "Did you hear it that time? Where is it coming from?" Natlya didn't look at him as she started walking down the passageway, moving in the opposite direction that she'd been heading before because that was where she thought the noise was coming from.

Mew.

She moved to the Tower wall, walking along it and looking for any crevice that a creature may be hiding in.

[Cat]

Johan

It sounded like some kind of animal? No. Nope. Not happening. Johan hadn’t heard a thing, but if it was some kind of animal then he was mostly definitely not getting involved. No way, no how, no… But she was gone before he even had the chance to reply, and he somehow found her trailing in her wake. He couldn’t just disappear, could he? It’d be rude, and he didn’t want to make that sort of impression on anyone.

His steps, though, were reluctant, and he kept his distance from the wall somewhat. Just in case. For all he knew, some lion could come leaping over it. He’d found out that one of the Accepted kept birds of prey, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that a Green kept a lion and that it had somehow managed to escape, and that that was the sound that the Ji’val was hearing right no-

Mew.

Johan froze, finally hearing it, his eyes darting about as he attempted to catch sight of whatever had made it, though he still made sure not to get too close to the wall.

“I… I think it’s a cat,” he finally said somewhat tentatively, although, in his mind, a cat wasn’t much better than a lion. It still had claws and teeth.

[Bella]

"Sounds like," Nat agreed, half-distracted while still trying to track the sound. It was definitely coming from the wall, but she didn't see any crevices or openings down low for an animal to hide in. It didn't escape her notice that the Drin--who was apparently following her, perhaps to help her look--didn't sound...thrilled by the idea.

Nat stopped and listened again, growing disconcerted that she couldn't easily find the source of one damn little noise.

Mew.

Finally, she blinked and looked up. "Oh, come on..." she muttered. There were several small ventilation windows in the stone face. She moved back until she had a better view of each one, and there it was...a small, unhappy looking cat. "How in the name of the Creator did you bloody get up there?!" she asked rhetorically, since the Drin wouldn't know and the cat couldn't say.

"Come here," she waved at him, since he was still there. She looked him over. He wasn't much bigger than her, but since she'd slimmed down a lot in her years since coming here, there was that. "Give me a boost. Just long enough to scruff him, okay?" She had some experience with stray cats from her time on the streets and thieving, after all.

[Cat]

Johan

Johan didn’t know or care just how the cat had got there. The main thing was that it was there, and that the Ji’val in front of him had decided that she was going to play the role of hero, and that, somehow, somewhere along the line, he’d got swept up in the whole bloody thing without exactly knowing how. Curiosity killed the cat? Ha! More like the cat killed curiosity, or, more precisely, him. You could die from infected scratch marks, after all, and cats did have very sharp claws.

For a moment, he thought again about simply bailing, but he still had absolutely no intention of becoming known as the cowardly Drin. Just getting through his lessons was hard enough. He didn’t need anything else thrown in to make the situation worse. It didn’t stop him from looking for an escape, though. Perhaps the Tower had somehow managed to catch fire and they needed all the help they could get to put the fire out-? But, alas, the glass of the Tower simply continued to merrily twinkle away in the sunlight, and he couldn’t help but silently curse under his breath.

Pushing a hand through his hair, Johan took a quick, deep breath, summoning his courage as he moved towards the Ji’val and the wall. He made himself smile. He wasn’t going to look nervous, even if he was, and he made sure not to look at the cat. He’d heard somewhere that you were never supposed to make eye contact with any animal; that they viewed it as a threat, and he most definitely did not want to be seen as that.

“Are you sure you don’t want to give me a boost?” The words were said, jokingly, even as he cupped his hands together to form a step. “Just… try to be quick. I’m sure it’s scared and stressed.”

The quicker it was done, the quicker he could get away.

[Bella]

"I'll be quick," she assured him. Although he was doing fairly well to hide his feelings, Nat did have an eye for reading people and could tell as much that he was very far from thrilled with her drafting him into her service. But, frankly, she didn't care. If that cat could have gotten down on its own, it would have by now. Natlya was sure of it.

She would not be responsible for a feline skeleton in that window.

Moving forward, she set the two of her boot in his clutched hands. With a new type of grace she'd not possessed when joining the Tower, she lifted herself up. She had to balance for a moment, but clutched the edge of the sill with one hand to take a little of the pressure off of the Drin while she used her other hand to grab the cat's skin at the back of his neck.

The thing--skinny and orange--let out a little yowl at first, but then curled up and froze, just like if its mama kitty had grabbed it. She had a good grip and hurried to step back and out of the Drin's hands. She brought the cat to her chest, where it clung to her and pressed its nose against her shoulder.

"Goodness," she exclaimed, wincing as its claws dug into her shoulder but it didn't try to leave. "How long have you been up there?" She knew it wouldn't answer, but she asked anyways.

[Cat]

Johan

As soon as the cat was safe, Johan took a step back, once again putting a fair amount of space between them. Just in case. After all, he didn’t know how the thing would react. If it was hurt or frightened it could very well lash out in order to protect itself. He’d do the same in its place… not that he was likely to get stuck up a wall anytime soon.

Despite his apparent desire to leave, Johan made no move to do so, but instead peered at the cat, taking in its condition. It looked thoroughly sorry for itself, and looked like it was clinging to the Ji’val for its dear life. He felt a small stab of pity for it, before he quickly stamped down on those feelings. This was nothing to do with him, but, again, he stayed where he was. It was a tatty looking thing, more of a rat than a cat, and “It looks like it’s been there for some time.”

He winced ever so slightly, realising that he’d just answered a question that had probably been rhetorical.

“Maybe,” he said hurriedly, “we should get it something to eat and drink. Maybe even get an Aes Sedai to look at it.” Though, of course, he had no idea if Aes Sedai could Heal animals, or even if the cat was hurt. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

[Bella]

Although she couldn't be sure, Nat thought the cat was young. Maybe not much older than a kitten, although a very malnourished animal could appear young because it's small. Still, it was the sense of it that she had. It clung to her and she felt its mouth moving against her shoulder, as if it was trying to nurse from her shirt.

"That's a good idea," she agreed easily. "I know some Yellows know veterinary medicine, usually helping with the stable animals, but they should be able to check out a cat. Just Delving it could tell us what it needs."

After a moment, she realized that she was petting the cat. It was an instinctive thing that she didn't even know she was doing until she was already doing it. A feeble little purr came from the creature's throat as she did so, making a pitiful vibration in its chest as it held on to her and she started walking. "Fortunately, every trainee and Gaidin knows their way to the infirmary," she quipped softly.

As they entered the hallway, Nat realized she didn't even know who this young man was. "I'm Natlya, by the way."

[Cat]

Johan

Once again, Johan was given the choice as to whether to follow or quietly sneak away. Well, there wasn’t really much of a choice, and he, if a little reluctantly, fell into step slightly behind and to the side of the Ji’val, his eyes on the cat, getting ready to jump away if it should make some sudden move. Of all the things he had thought that he would end up doing at the Tower, this was most definitely not one of them. Hopefully he wouldn’t get into trouble when he eventually made his way to his class. He wondered if he’d be able to tell the truth and get away with it. Sorry I’m late, I was rescuing a cat… It didn’t exactly sound believable, but he supposed he could worry about that later.

He gave a quick smile in response to the Ji’val – Natlya’s - words, although, truth be told, he himself did everything he could do avoid going to the infirmary. The One Power was still incredibly new to him and the idea of being Healed was a daunting one. He had enough experience dealing with cuts, bruises, and scrapes to not be particularly bothered by them.

“I’m Johan,” he said finally, trying to settle his nerves about having to meet another channeler. So long as they didn’t turn out to be Elia Sedai, he was sure he’d be fine. “Johan Albaer. I haven’t been here long so you might have to direct me…”