A warm breeze ruffled the leaves of the small Aspen tree outside of Max's cozy cottage. The moon would be full tomorrow night, and the plethera of various felines would scatter. Max sighed, they hated transforming. Not only would their cats disappear for a few days, the pain their body went through was paralizing. The magic that coursed through Max's veins was knowingly pulsing. They sighed, making their way to the kitchen.
The smallest of the various cats, Tubs, was basking in the sun on the thin windowsill above the kitchen sink. He mewed to Max, wanting attention like always, "You're so cute." They picked up the small feline gently, setting him on their shoulder.
Tubs purred loudly, rubbing him head on Max's ear. They laughed and scratched the cats neck, setting Tubs down again. The cat purred and flicked his tail, then trotted away back to his bathing spot.
Max smiled and walked through the kitchen, clicking their tongue, "Here kitty kitty! Breakfast time!" Lucy, a fat, grumpy she-cat sauntered into the small kitchen. She was always first to eat. Max set down a small dish, "Youre on a diet, big girl." Lucy let out a low grunt, but crouched down and began chowing on the small amount of food. Max huffed, giving a crooked smile to the grouchy cat, then chriped for the rest of the felines, "It's still breakfast time my babies!"
A few more cats padded into the kitchen, "Mist, Dew, and Mountain, my three terrors. Here you go." The triplets sat down, sincronized. Max set down the three bowls, filled with non-diet cat food. Lucy lifted her head, catching the scent of the food. She sat up from her emtpy bowl, hissing at the other three cats.
Max frowned, tapping her with their foot, "Shut up and go catch a mouse or something!" Lucy growled at them, but stood and wondered out of the kitchen, meowing loudly.
They lifted their eyes from the annoyed cat in an effort to find the rest of the felines scattered through the cottage. Max wondered though the short hallways, clicking their tongue. A large tom-cat chriped down at them from one of the many cat shelves throughout the house.
"Hello Alex, " Max set down a food bowl in front of the feline with a smile, "Where is everyone?" They patted the cats head affectionately, then resumed to wonder through the house again. Max found their way into the living room, stopping abruptly.
They let a quiet, ammused chuckle, "There you all are!" The rest of the twelve cats, Crimson, Luna, Salem, Trial, Vexx, Rune and Scarth all sat on the cat shelves decorating the windows. Max tilted their head, wondering over to the window, curious about what all seven of them were watching.
A large crow head popped into view, a glint of mischief showed in it's eyes. Max sighed and set down the rest of the food bowls on the ground, "Come here little beans, it's breakfast time... Still!" Slowly, the felines turned to look at them, jumping down one by one to eat.
They smiled as the cats purred and mewed to them. Max bent down and scratched Vexx's head lightly, "Your welcome!"
They looked back up towards the window, the crow staring back. Max smiled, "Hello Tor, how pleasant to have you here again." They opened the window and Tor hopped inside, ignoring the cats chowing the food on the ground.
"Hi Max. Wren wanted me to bring you this." The crow spoke, holding up his neatly trimmed bird foot, a small jar jingled from a small chain
. Max held out their hand, letting Tor drop the bottle into their palm, "Thanks, but uhh, what is it?"
Tor let out a low caw, almost like a chuckle, "I think Wren said it would help with the pain of transforming, you drink it when your changing."
Max nodded, looking down at the sealed bottle in their hand. It was about the size of a salt shaker, filled with a thick blue liquid. "Wren is very thoughtful, thank her for me will you?" Tor nodded and hopped onto the windowsill, ready to fly off, "Wait!! I have something for her!!" The crow paused and looked back Max, tilting their head. They hurried off into the kitchen and grabbed a small pouch of rosemary that had been drying.
Max scurried back to the living room, Tor waiting patiently. He was Wrens, a close friend and neighbor, familiar. Wren was a very skilled young witch, always eager to help Max with anything. The werewolf smiled and handed the pouch to Tor.
"See you soon?"
Tor nodded and took off out the window, the pouch in claw.
Max sighed and looked back towards the cats still eating in the floor, wondering how they would be able to keep all the cats in the house during their transformation.
Max hated Transforming. They hated it more than anything. Their body wasn't used to the formation even after the 23 years They'd been alive. The overall transformation was supposed to turn a Male/Female into a Male/Female wolf, but since Max was neither and both at the same time, it was excruciatingly painful. The magic in their blood didn't know how to react or adapt to Max's gender.
The thing most Max hated about transforming is all their cats would end up scattered in the forest for the night, afraid of what Max had become. Then, for the next week, they would have to search the woods for all of the missing felines.
Max sighed, shutting the window in the living room, then sauntered back to the kitchen, grabbing more cat food. There were too many cats to count in Max's small cottage, most were friendly and lounged around the house all day. But there were some who just learked in the shadows, clawwing at Max's heals as they walked by.
Entering the kitchen, Max shook their head, letting themself smile. They liked it here. They liked it a lot. Even though there seemed to be something in the forest at night that likes to steal wondering cats, they loved it here.