“Mister, I’m too hungry,” Josh mewled. His tiny mouth had licked as much of the hands as it could and now he was just waiting for them to reach their destination. The tip of the smallest finger brushed against Josh’s mouth and he instinctively opened up and licked it. A lingering taste of salt - likely from sweat - encouraged Josh to close his mouth around the digit and close his eyes. He didn’t dare bite down no matter how much he wanted to; the ground was too far away.

“Kit? What brings you here at this late hour?”

Josh’s head snapped around to look at the new voice. He hadn’t noticed that the human stopped walking and knocked on a door. The person inside was somewhat recognizable! When Polaris rescued Josh, Josh had spent a considerable amount of time recovering in a rebel infirmary with Professor Thomas! In the future he would lose his sight, but right now he looked young and healthy with a pair of reading glasses perched sideways on top of his head and a sweater two sizes too big falling off his shoulders. Professor Thomas was a good friend! Josh had the best luck!

The hands holding him shifted, raising little kitten Josh up a bit, and the professor’s words processed fully. Kit. Kit Morrison. Josh had been found by the future dragon emperor.

His luck was the worst! Sob! He’d be fed to Sasha and slowly digested over 100 days! Dragged through the dirt by Morrison’s two-ton warhorse until his insides fell out! Cry!

“I found this little one in the hallway. His collar caught on a statue and the poor thing just couldn’t get free,” Morrison explained.

“Oh dear,” Professor Thomas said. He looked more relieved than concerned, and Josh felt offended. He was starving! He was in Morrison’s arms! There were plenty enough reasons to be concerned! “Come in, come in. Poor dear looks scared half to death!”

“Do you have any cat food for it?” Morrison asked in a soft voice as he crossed the threshold into Professor Thomas’ somewhat cluttered rooms. “I can practically see his ribs.”

“No, but I should think we can have something brought up from the kitchens,” the professor answered as he cleared one of the chairs in his parlor area. It looked like it might be homework assignments from his students.

“My apologies. I thought you owned a cat,” Kit explained. “Perhaps the vet would be more appropriate.”

“It wouldn’t be amiss, but we can do a preliminary check here. Shall I ask the maids to send some food up while I inform the Duke? He’ll want to make an announcement to try and  locate the owner.”

Morrison thanked Professor Thomas for clearing the seat before saying: “Send one of my knights rather than going yourself. You look half ready to turn in for the night and I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all!” the professor gushed as he cleared off a second chair and moved a colorful diorama from the table. Since Professor Thomas taught children most of his teaching tools looked like toys. “You said ‘his’, so is the little tyke a male?”

There was an awkward moment where Morrison tried to shift Josh around, but being on his back was just too uncomfortable! Wah! Josh didn’t like it at all! His tiny claws gripped Morrison’s shirt as hard as they could in protest.

“Eeeeeeeek!” On his back was better! Josh’s face was so red and he thought he might die when Morrison switched to a tactile confirmation rather than a visual. Those parts are very delicate and very intimate! Young sons of dukes should not go around feeling up wild animals! He looked straight up into that innocent-seeming face and scolded, “Only do that to your wife, idiot! Can’t you tell I’m a boy? Wuwuwu… my innocent body got touched. I’m shameful now. And it’s all your fault! Why’d you have to confirm it that way?”

“Yes, sir,” Morrison answered without even twitching an eye. “Definitely male, and still has his claws.”

“You don’t need to call me ‘sir’ anymore, Kit,” Professor Thomas laughed. “You graduated my class a long time ago.”

“Habit, professor,” Morrison said with a smile. Josh knew it had to be fake. No decent person could smile so innocently after feeling up a cute little kitten!

“Any unusual markings? Something that might help identify him.”

Morrison tried to twist Josh around but Josh stubbornly held on. Even though they were sitting in a chair now, Josh still didn’t trust Morrison not to drop him. He was too hungry and too weak! A drop from here could kill him! Or at least seriously injure him… Josh was very aware of how small he was compared to the future dragon king, and how powerful those big hands were. “You already violated me once!” Josh scolded, “You don’t need to see me that way! I’m saving myself for marriage!” Josh didn’t want to be humiliated further!

“I don’t see any unusual markings. His fur is all black, which isn’t that odd. Most of the barn cats are black. He does have some scars on his back which look old. He won’t let me see his front.” Morrison had the gall to look concerned. Josh had a healthy survival instinct! That’s all it was! And a good sense of propriety.

“It’s not unusual for small animals to fear falling,” Professor Thomas commented as he finished writing out a letter. “I had a student once who owned a tiny robin - little powderpuff of an animal - which wouldn’t leave her pocket. Rescues can be particularly clingy until they feel secure again. It’s no matter. I’m sure we can find something that will set this little one apart from all the other black cats in the area. Let me just get this to the Duke, arrange for some food to be brought up, and then we’ll attempt a simple spell.” He folded the note up and then stepped out into the hallway.

“One of my knights is always near me,” Morrison said to Josh in a coaxing tone. “You’ll have something delicious in your belly soon so be good for just a little longer.”

The professor indeed finished quickly and returned to the table. “I’d like to try something, if you’ll permit me?”

“You said it was a spell?” Morrison asked.

“Yes, one of my friends over at the infirmary taught it to me. She informed me that it’s used for small children who are incapable of voicing their injuries. An animal can’t be that different.”

Morrison nodded his permission, and Professor Thomas approached while rolling up his sleeves and gathering mana in his hands. With a few words and a light touch to aim the spell at the kitten, the professor converted that mana into magic.

A glowing, shadowing version of Josh - similar to a ghost in appearance - leapt out of Josh’s cat body and landed on the table.

“Pretty!” Josh gushed. Josh was relieved to see it remained a cat, and kept his eyes glued to the twitching ears and curling tail.

“Well that seems to have worked nicely!” the professor grinned. “And it seems our little mystery guest enjoys watching himself.” Josh twitched his whiskers and watched the copy-cat on the table do the same. “The next part is a bit tricky for those of us who didn’t study medicine. A bit more mana, a turn of the wrist, small flick, and-“ parts of the ghost started to glow red “-done! Oh dear.”