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Chapter Text

Within the Great Jura forest, many communities of monsters were at unrest as the balance had been upset when the storm dragon known as Veldora had vanished the month prior with no evidence of where he had gone. When his disappearance had been confirmed, many monsters inside and outside the forest started to fight for territory. One of the tribes that had it the roughest was the Goblins.

They’ve been sieged over and over by a group of direwolves, as with one death of a wolf accounted to ten goblins being killed in return; but an unlikely savouir had been helping a particular group of goblins; but if anyone told that their great protector had been a cat, they would be laughed at, if only they knew the truth.

A small brown cat was laying on the branch of a tree on the outer reaches of the tribe’s home, scars on her body and fluff on her head as she allowed the sunlight to bath her in warmth and slowly heal the damage; her eyes were slightly opened to be every alert, she had heterochromia as she had a blue and yellow eye; her tail lazily hanging off the side of the branch.

Now, any novice adventurer would assume she was just an ordinary wildcat, but monsters and far more experienced adventurers knew better. The cat was known as a dual-creature, the rarest among animals and reputed to be powerful for living a long life, with the skill to evolve into a beast person. No one knows much about them other than that, as they usually vanish after reaching that stage in life.

She was currently at rest after a recent skirmish where the wolves got a good few attacks on her as she protected the goblins, but it had been a diversion to lure her away from the only named goblin in the tribe, Rigur. He had died before she could reach him; at least he had his brother and father with him in those last moments.

A jolt ran down her spine.

Sitting up in panic as she felt this strong, overwhelming force approaching the area, far stronger than what the wolves were capable of producing. It was terrifying to feel something with far more magicules than she had, causing all her fur to stand on end and her pupils to dilate; whatever it was, if it attacked her and the tribe, they would all die. The only spark of hope she can think of is perhaps if she’d ask, maybe they’d help instead.

Her instinct was telling her to prepare for a fight or flight response as she hunched down with an arched back, tail poofing up as the presence was about to come down the path any second. Seeing a shadow, she felt a hiss about to escape, but then her response completely broke as she stared, frozen, confused, and shocked at the overwhelming presence… leaking out from a slime as it bounced along without a care.

It was a simple blue slime just from appearance, but she’d never heard or seen a slime with this sort of aura; the most likely reason was perhaps it was a shapeshifter trying to disguise itself as an innocent and weak slime, but then that wouldn’t explain why they wouldn’t hide their presence.

‘ Heard a human once say ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, ’ The cat thought to herself as her focused never onced wavered, ‘ Is this what they meant? With the aura this strong, the goblins can probably feel it too… ’

Dual-creatures do slowly get the strength and magical energy to start to be able to speak and converse with other creatures. The cat could, but she’s been waiting for someone interesting to talk to. While the goblins were nice, she never knew what to say, and emotions are easier to convey.

The cat was thinking of maybe talking to the slime while on the safety of the branch until her ears twitched as she heard the rushing noise of a semi-large group. The goblins from the village had come, though completely terrified and shaking even as they stand not to far from the slime, Redcap was at the front. It wasn’t an official name, just one the cat thought to herself to remember him; Rigur’s brother.

“S-Strong one,” Recap started to speak after swallowing his fear as best he could, even as his body continued to tremble, his voice slightly stuttering, “D-Do you have business here?”

The cat watched with a little bit of intrigue as the slime looked around in confusion, before it formed a question mark on it’s head with the slime, ‘Well, it’s intelligent, maybe it’s a unique monster ’ on one of the glances the slime had looked up and spotted her, but acted like it didn’t, ‘ And observant too… ’

For a moment, it seemed like the slime was contemplating something after Redcap nodded, before it slowly opened its mouth to speak. Well, speaking was an understatement as its voice was so loud it was echoing through the area; even branches and leaves were shaking from the sheer power. Though the one who had it worst was the cat, whose higher sensitive hearing caused her to jump and slip from the branch, thankfully caught by Redcap, who covered her ears rather than his own; she practically couldn’t hear a thing.

“W-We’re well aware of how s-strong you are, sir!” Redcap took the chance to respond when the slime went quiet, as if taking in the sight before them, “Please, quiet your voice!”

The slime realized it had caused a mistake as it once again started speaking, though in a far quieter tone than before, sounding soft as they spoke, “So, did you need something?”

‘New hearing, ’ The cat thought after Redcap placed her down, her head still spinning as she worked to center herself and not fall to the ground.

Redcap helped her a bit before he faced the slime once again, “W-We sensed a powerful monster, s-so we came here as a precaution.”

The slime looked confused, “I don’t sense anything like that.”

‘Does…the slime not know that they are talking about it? ’ The cat could finally hear normally again as her body wasn’t shaking; she did shake slightly to make her fur go down. She then pointed a paw at the slime. At best, the slime looked surprised she could understand it.

“Surely you jest!” Redcap thought the slime was tricking him as he had a nervous grin on his face, sadness etched on his face as he continued, “Even if you face us in that form, we won’t be fooled! Strong one, having seen your power, we wish to ask a favor.”

Redcap led the other goblins, along with the slime and the cat, back to their village, the cat staying by the slime just in case it suddenly attacked the others. She didn’t know their motives after all. She could also sense that the slime was also keeping an interest in her; perhaps it could actually sense her true power even if she kept it hidden. Neither of them talked to each other.

Redcap led them straight to the central building of the small, the elder’s home; who let them in allowing the slime to sit on a smile pillow for the conversation, while the cat laid on another one so she could stay and listen; she already knew what the goblins would ask; and honestly, she hope they agreed.

The old goblin, the cat didn’t have a nickname for him, as any she could think of sounded disrespectful, especially after all that’s happened, “I am the elder of this village.”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” the slime greeted politely as it rocked its body forward to show a nod. “So, what favour did you want to ask of me?

As they began to explain to the slime about everything, the cat’s curious tick was coming through; interested in knowing what the slime was genuinely thinking. She had the power to delve into other’s minds to see their thoughts or memories, harder to do on stronger beings, unless they weren’t paying attention to her. The other reason she shouldn’t do it is because it was rude, and it might hinder good relations with the goblins.

Sometimes, she hated her curiosity, as her eyes barely stared to shine as she attempted to enter the slime’s mind. But found she was barred, no attempt to enter, just simply barred as if something was preventing her, that wasn’t the slime. But because of this, the slime was alerted as it briefly glanced at her, as if pondering what to do about her.

The cat thought she was going to be punished, or perhaps the goblins would be hurt for what she did, as she was about to speak to apologize, until it felt like she was allowed to peer into the slime’s mind; it also seemed amused from her small panic. The first words she heard in the slime’s mind sealed the deal, whether friend or foe.

‘ Their god? Does he mean Veldora? ’

At the same time, memories flooded into the cat of how they met Veldora and were named Rimuru Tempest, with Veldora also becoming Veldora Tempest. The slime was actually a reincarnation from another world. The cat figured it might be best to dive into those memories a little later.

But what stumped the cat most of all was that Veldora was inside Rimuru, not spiritually, but physically inside Rimuru; she knew why, having seen their deal, but it was still the weirdest thing. She won’t tell the goblins, though; it’s Rimuru’s right whether they wanted to divulge that information or not.

“But I’m just a slime,” Rimuru answered. It was true after all, but after the cat’s small dive into their mind, Rimuru wasn’t anything but just a slime- in her opinion, at least. Clearly, Rimuru was fishing for answers of their own. “I doubt I can do all the things you expect of me.”

The elder just smiled, though he gripped his staff a little tighter as his frail body and gravelly voice shook. “Please, don’t be modest.” A mere slime would not emit such an intense aura. Your aura is more potent than that of the dual-cat.”

‘ Aura? What’s he talking about? I don’t have one of those, ’ Were the thoughts going through Rimuru’s mind, which was now making sense to the cat why they wouldn’t know; being in a cave with just monsters would make it hard to understand, ‘ Great sage change— huh? ’

In the middle of Rimuru asking Great Sage to change their perspective, she actually interrupted them as they asked if they wanted to see through the cat’s sight, as she was giving them permission after hearing their thoughts. Rimuru was initially surprised, but then turned to the cat and nodded in acceptance.

In the next second, it was like Rimuru was looking through the eyes of the cat, who was focused on Rimuru’s body; the cat’s eyes then glowed to reveal Rimuru’s strong and terrifying aura as it seemed to spread out far, even leaving the tent they were in. The cat could sense how embarrassed Rimuru was.

‘ Whoa! I’ve been admitting an aura this whole time! ’ Rimuru’s thoughts also sounded embarrassed and shy as they echoed in the cat’s head, ‘ I feel like I’ve been walking down a major street with my fly open!’

The cat was confused at first. In her head, she wondered what kind of context that was as she dived her mind into it, then learned about the whole joke and how it sometimes happens. Surprisingly enough, it caused her to snicker aloud in the tent, which got the attention of Rimuru and the goblins.

“Wait, can you speak?” Rimuru asked the cat, curious; they only thought she could communicate through thoughts. The goblins around them were wide-eyed and stared, wondering if this would be the first time they would hear the cat speak after she had spent so long around them.

‘ Well, at this point, might as well, ’ The cat thought, and since the mind reading was a connection, Rimuru had heard her thoughts as well. She sighed, and a small grin appeared on her face. “Yes.”

“The Dual-Cat spoke! Today is a blessed day!” The elder had tears in his eyes as he and Redcap bowed,  and the other goblins did so, too.

Rimuru waited a few seconds before asking, “Do you have a name I can call you?”

“No…” The cat shook her head, “I have no name.”

Chapter Text

The Dual-Cat observed at Rimuru sucked in and swalloed the entire fierce aura they had been admitting, acting like it was intended for a test for the goblins; but the cat knew they were embarrassed and hiding the fact. Rimuru then gazed at her as if inspecting her for a second before asking, “They mentioned you also had a large aura? Are you powerful too?”

“Yes…but there’s only so much I can do with the overwhelming numbers I’ve had to face.” The cat hung her head slightly, feeling slightly ashamed she couldn’t do more. She laid her head down on her paws and kept her thoughts to herself for a second as she listened.

Rimuru pondered what she was talking about, feeling bad themselves for bringing up something the cat would rather not, as they looked at the elder, “Does this involve what you wanted to speak about?”

“Ah, as for the favour we wish to ask…” The elder glanced at Rimuru, his hold on his cane unsteady.

The Dual-Cat had heard the same request when she had first come to their defense; she had been simply traveling when she saw a group of Direwolves ravaging against harmless goblins, she knew that she should have ignored it, that this was merely what happened when Veldora vanished, but another part of her had her rush in and desimate those wolves. Well, she now knows what happened to Veldora, but she doesn’t blame Rimuru. They didn’t know what would happen.

Her powers were strong enough to take out Direwolves a few at a time, but her healing power as abbsmal, having to lay in the sunlight for hours on end to recover; using her energy for healing rather than her other skills, the wolves take advantage of this by attacking her here and there so she has to heal constantly.

Even though the cat’s ears were flat against her head, she heard the elder stammer, “There are about a hundred Direwolves in total.”

‘ Wait? ’ The cat raised her head in confusion, also somewhat starting Rimuru from hearing her thoughts again, ‘ How does he know that? ’

Rimuru, after calming down slightly from the jumpcare of the cat’s thoughts, inquired the elder, a bit worried, “How many do we have?”

“Including females and the Dual-Cat,” The elder started slowly, doing quick math in his head as he came to the number. “We have about sixty-one who can fight.”

‘ That’s a pretty devastating difference in strength, ’ Rimuru was thinking, and the cat had to agree with them…until they slumped as they continued, ‘ It’s like an impossible video game.’

‘Video game?’ The cat wondered to herself before shaking her head, even though she was interested, ‘ I’ll ask about what a ‘video game’ is later.’

“So, did that Goblin warrior fight them knowing he couldn’t win?” Rimuru asked softly, trying to be sensitive to the elder.

“No…That warrior gave his life just retrieving the information on the Direwolves for us.” The elder bent his head to the ground in sorrow, and Redcap did the same as his father as tears filled their eyes. “The warrior was my son and his elder brother.”

The cat, however was shocked by the news as she remembered what Rigur had said to her that day, ‘ “Hey, let’s spilt up today and cover more ground”’ that had been a lie it seemed as angry tears filled her eyes as her claws dug into the pillow, the elder and Redcap had told her that the wolves had caused a diversion, ‘ He knew if i figured out what he was doing, i would have stopped him. That stupid idiot!’

Redcap had noticed the cat’s reaction, which he understood she was angry, but he remembered what his brother asked of him, “He wanted to know you shouldn’t blame yourself for his death, it was his choice.”

The cat remained silent for a few seconds. She then murmured sadly as her claws retracted, tail staying still, “...he still shouldn’t have gone alone.”

“I see. Forgive me for asking that,” Rimuru winched slightly as they caused unintentional sadness and pain to them- to the cat most of all, it seemed. Rimuru knew they could have worded that kinder, glancing at the goblins who were peeking through the curtain at the entrance of the hut. Rimuru then focused their attention on the elder, “Elder, tell me one thing.”

Rimuru’s soft words had everyone's focus on them. The Elder lifted his head, and Redcap did the same; the tears slowed. “Yes?”

“What will I get in return for helping this village?” Rimuru asked softly and slowly, knowing the cat was aware they were simply putting on a show. To act the part, “What can you guys give me?”

“W-W will offer you our loyalty!” The Elder answered instantly, pleading in his voice as he eased his head to the floor again to bow, “Please grant us your protection! If you do, we swear our loyalty to you!”

The cat stood suddenly, ears perked up and eyes glaring at the curtain, confusing the others at first as only she could pick up the noise before the others. Until the howl of the Direwolves reached the village, the others could only guess what it meant; it was the signal for the wolves to attack that night. The Elder and Redcap got up and went outside to calm the others.

Meanwhile, Rimuru approached the cat, eager to talk to her about what she had witnessed in their memories, “Excuse me, my skill Great Sage told me you’ve seen some of my memories. I thought you were only going to read my thoughts,” They explained at first, and the cat cringed, ready to apologize, but Rimuru continued, “But you don’t seem bothered by me at all?”

“At..first I simply wanted to know your intentions, as your aura on display was disturbing and thought you were a threat,” The cat explained at first, seeing Rimuru fluster at the comment about the aura, “But, after seeing your thoughts and memories, I can see you’re anything but. So, please.” The cat bowed her head slightly, too, as she asked, “Please protect this village.”

“I was never going to say no to them, and I won’t say no to you either,” Rimuru promised softly before beginning to move across the ground toward the entrance, turning to her slightly,.“You’re still going to help, right?”

The cat stretched as she rose from the pillow, moving to follow Rimuru, a slight grin on her features, “Haven't stopped, and I won’t stop.”

When they left the hut they could see many of the goblins were still panicking, with it even starting to effect the Elder and Redcap as they were slowly beginning to break down, “There’s no need to fear,” Rimuru called out and calmed themall in a second, the cat standing by their side, “We’re going to defeat them.”

“Y-You mean…” The Elder started and slowly trailed off, eyes widening in hope.

“In lieu of the Storm Dragon Veldora, I, Rimuru Tempest, will grant your wish!” Rimuru declared to them all, the cat simply nodding in agreement.

Happiness and gratefulness- that’s what the cat noticed easily when Rimuru spoke those words, as it looked like hope had reignited within the goblins. As they all bowed to the ground, the Elder was clearly the happiest at the fact he didn’t have to lose anyone else. “We are your loyal servants, great Rimuru!”

“Could you all please gather in front of us?” The cat requested of the goblins. As they did so, she glanced at Rimuru, “I know you can read thoughts, but can you communicate by it?”

Rimuru contemplated the question before shaking their body side to side, “I don’t think any of the monsters I consumed in the cave had that ability.”

“Well, it can also be taught, and if I’m right about Great Sage,” The cat murmured and closed her eyes as she focused on Rimuru, until it was like she was speaking right in their mind instead of simply reading thoughts, “ This can help. ”

“Great Sage is truly amazing.” Managing to respond successfully as the cat nodded in approval,  able to hear their words, Rimuru then looked back at the goblin, “ I shouldn’t expect many who can fight the Direwolves. ”

“ Most of the best fighters fell in battle…and personally, I'd rather not see any more of them die,” The cat responded to Rimuru. While  the goblins now looked ready to fight, the fear hadn’t left any of their eyes.

“Everyone,” Rimuru addressed the goblins, “Do you understand our situation?”

Redcap was the first to respond as he stood up straight and saluted, “Yes! We are prepared for a life-or-death battle!”

“No need to get all worked up. Just relax,” Rimuru calmed them all down, unintentionally sounding cool. “Think only about doing the best you can.”

“ Trying to be all cool, huh? ” The cat teased Rimuru as there was a tiny grin on her face, watching as two spots of red appeared on the slime, she had made them blush.

“ I w-wasn’t trying to, it j-just felt right to say, ” Rimuru reasoned despite the blushing, before shaking themselves to focus as they caught onto something the cat said, “ You said most of the fighters died? Then what happened to the others?”

“Seriously wounded but alive, ” The cat answered as she nodded to the tent beside the Elder’s hut, “ They are recovering in there. Why? ”

“ I have an idea that might help them, ” Rimuru let her know, as he then looked to the Elder, “First, take me to where the wounded are.”

The Elder led them to the tent where the wounded goblins were, there were two rows of them all covered in bandages and different wounds having been inflicted by the wolfs; one had been struck hard on the head, another had a deep bite mark on the leg that broke the bone and prevented him from walking, while another was covered in deep gashses that refused to stop bleeding. A bucket of water near each of them, but not much else.

“We did all we could for them,” The Elder whispered softy, his cane quivering with his emotions, “But…”

The cat approached the one that had the gashes. She had saved them in a recent attack, but right now, it seemed like he was still suffering from the pain and maybe thinking death was a better option. The cat’s ears lay flat. “I’m sorry…”

“ That’s deeper than I expected, ” Rimuru moved and inspected each one, stopping at the one the cat was near, “ Did their claws and fangs do that much damage? How are you fine? ”

“ I’m not… ” The cat murmured as she used her paw to part her fur in some locations. While most of the obvious damage had been healed, there were still lots of bite and claw marks underneath her fur, and while faded, the damage done to her slowed her down.

Rimuru seemed to glance at the cat, then back at the wounded goblin while keeping their thoughts a secret for the moment as they wanted to converse with Great Sage privately. In the next second, he pounced onto the goblin and consumed him with the slime, shocking everyone present, even more so when Rimuru spat them back out. With no injuries, not even scars, he had been completely healed, even if the goblin who was healed was confused about what had happened.

Initially, the cat was confused but then recalled the memory of Rimuru having gobbled up many herbs while in the cave, ones that turn into highly effective healing potions; she wasn’t expecting it to be applied like this. Rimuru continued the process, with every single goblin now being fully healed, until Rimuru stopped and glanced at her.

“Would you also like some healing?” Rimuru asked gently, tilting their body slightly as they waited for her answer.

While the method for the healing process was unusual, she would take any chance to finally be fully healed to use her full set of abilities again, nodding, “Please. It will catch the wolves off guard.”

Rimuru nodded before jumping and consuming her in their slime. It was an odd and weird sensation for the cat to be simply floating there, but as the healing potion was thrown and used on her, it was well worth it. She felt her energy return that she hadn’t felt in weeks. Unlike the goblins who Rimuru had spat out, she was the one to jump out, a little glad her fur remained dry regardless. She did a quick run around the tent, much more energized now, looking at Rimuru, “This feels so much better.”

“Y-You are magnificent, Great Rimuru!” The Elder found himself bowing once again, with all the other goblins joining him.

The cat gave a small bow of her head, “What’s next?”

“We’ll build a fence.” Rimuru seemed happy to see all the goblins and the cat healed up. “Fortify the village’s defenses.”

The full moon was high above as the night was setting in; the fence had been built with a few hutted sharpened logs for some extra defense. The goblins were behind the fence, some with bows, others with spears and axes as they readied for the coming battle, one that the cat and Rimuru hoped they could handle by themselves. Rimuru and the cat were standing protectively outside the front gate, ready to face down the wolves when they arrived.

Well, that’s if the wolves can survive the traps before them that they had set up.

“ They’ll be here soon ,” The cat confirmed as her ears twitched, hearing the pack closing in from the distance, the grass crunching beneath their feet, “ Wonder if their leader is still pissed at what I did. ’

At her words, in their head, Rimuru glanced at them, confused. “ Why would their leader be angry with you specifically? ”

Instead of a simple answer, the cat decided to show Rimuru the memory of the incident where she encountered him; she had managed to scratch out his right eye from a sneak attack, forcing him and the pack to back off for a few hours, allowing the goblins to breathe a little.

“ Huh, impressive. No wonder you managed to hold them off for so long,” Rimuru praised her a little, with the words causing the cat’s tail to sway slightly .

The cat hid a smile that was on her face, embarrassed that the praise made her feel happy inside, ears turning as she focused on the hill ahead of them. “ Well, hopefully, this will end tonight. ”

The rustling of bushes was heard in the distance, and it felt like the ground was shaking as a dozen wolves emerged from the forest and on the hill in front of them. They stopped on the hill when they noticed the fence around the village. A scar-eyed wolf, the leader of the pack, stepped forward and laughed.

“What good will such a flimsy fence do?” He laughed and mocked, the rest of the pack joining in.

Another wolf approached the leader, the shape of a star imprinted on his forehead as he stood beside the leader, nudging with his head toward the cat and Rimuru, “Father…”

“Hmm, the bitch who took my eye, figures she’d be here,” The Leader growled at the sight of her, before blinking when noticing Rimuru next to her, “A slime?”

“Turn back now, and we don’t take any action,” Rimuru shouted out their commands to them, warning evident in their voice, “Leave this place at once.”

“Otherwise,” The cat added on, her back arching as her claws dug into the dirt as she glared, her eyes shining in the moonlight, “It will be the last place you see.”

“Insolence! No mere slime or cat can order us around, Direwolves!” The leader howled angrily, his anger spreading to the rest of the pack as he didn’t take their warning seriously, “Trample down that fence! Spill the blood of those lowly Goblins!”

A considerable amount of the pack charged forward as the leader howled to signal the first wave, while he and his son remained still. Rimuru and the cat remained motionless as they watched the wolves bearing down on them. After all, why move if the wolves won’t even reach them?

As a few of them got close, some of them were suddenly sliced and killed as they ran into an invisible force, while the others who ended up tripping were shot dead with arrows from the goblins. Others tried to maneuver around to strike from a different angle, not noticing the discrepancies in a few patches of grass as they ran over them.

The ones who triggered the traps were instantly pierced by purple beams shot up from the ground, killing them while also cauterizing their wounds. The cat smirked, happy to be able to use her full scope of skills and to see the fear on the wolves' faces.

The wolves had been sliced, and their blood revealed thin, shining strings, well no longer shining from the heavy blood dripping from them.

“That’s our skills,” Rimuru commented as they caught the leader’s attention, “Steel Thread.”

“And void burst.” The cat smirked, delighted to see the annoyed look on the leader’s face, her fang glinting in the light. “You remember it. When I first came to defend the goblins~”

“This is your doing?!” The leader growled, his back arching as he was getting lost within his rage, losing sight of his original goal. "Puny monsters like you dare to do this?! I will squash you!”

“Father!” The son had called out, but it was too late, as the leader had begun his own charge towards the pair, with no assistance from his subordinates.

While he was undoubtedly faster than the other wolves as he ran around the bodies, his jaw snapping through the threads with ease, stepping on a patch of grass similar to the ones that caused the void burst, he leapt into the air, but quickly noticed unlike the others that fired beams, this one just flickered out of existence; like it was never there.

Of course, he thought he was still in the clear as he opened his jaws wide as he fell toward the cat and Rimuru before finding himself stopped as he was suspended in mid-air by more thread, but with a different property to it.

“That’s Sticky Thread,” Rimuru confirmed casually. There was a bit of internal fear that it wouldn’t work, but they remembered they took on scarier-looking opponents, so this was a cakewalk.

“And mine’s illusion,” The cat shrugged her shoulders with a swish of her tail, glad to see the leader now on the end of the weak, “Thought a leader can see through things like that~”

The leader growled as he struggled to move, the thread keeping him trapped, “This won’t hold me!”

The cat glanced at Rimuru and, with a nod, said, “End it.”

Rimuru nodded, “Skill: Water Blade!”

A bright blue light glowed inside Rimuru’s body, bubbles rapidly forming together before being blasted out of Rimuru’s mouth in the shape of a large curved blade. It sliced through the leader’s neck with ease, with a huge amount of blood spraying out the back as the body went limp. The head was the first to fall to the ground with a splatter, the rest of the body joining it as the threads dropped the body.

The cat was impressed with that skill, even if her cat instinct told her to stay away from water, as Rimuru approached the body as the other Direwolves growled in anger, “Hear me, Direwolves! Your boss is dead! I’ll give you a choice: submit or die!”

The cat noticed the wolves not reacting to Rimuru’s words as their anger was still palpable. She briefly glanced at the body of the leader, an idea sparking inside her mind, “ Why don’t you use your Predator skill? ”

‘ Oh! Predator! Thanks for reminding me! ’ Rimuru thanked her happily, having the same idea in their mind too.

In an instant, Rimuru dived and engulfed the body, head and all, within their slime before returning to their original size briefly, before the true effects were seen. Black smoke surrounded Rimuru, hiding its form until it dissipated, revealing Rimuru now standing there as a dire wolf, the same appearance as the leader but without the scar. Rimuru gazed at her.

“ Great Sage analyazed the body and abilities, and wolves have Though Communication too, ” Rimuru’s thoughts were now louder and more precise to the cat, the learnt skill making a difference in an instant that the cat didn’t have to strain at all anymore, “ This will make things easier for us! ”

“ That’s good to hear, ” The cat nodded and agreed with a small grin, turning back to see the rest of the pack, though off-put by Rimuru now the shape and look of their leader, “ You still have them to deal with. ”

“Hear me!” I will let you go just this once,” Rimuru yelled out, trying to sound intimidating as their voice remained the same regardless of form, the cat holding back some laughter as she listened. “If you refuse to yield to us. I will allow you to leave this place!”

The cat could sense what Rimuru was about to do as she flattened her ears while ducking her head down to put her paws over her ears as an extra precaution as Rimuru began to use the skill, Menacing Howl. It sent out small shockwaves along with huge gusts of wind, but even so, the wolves began to struggle closer and closer. The goblins behind the cat and Rimuru also had to cover their ears, but it was less effective on them.

The cat, despite flattening and covering her ears, felt pain from the loud noise, but she believed it was worth it as the wolves still crawled forward before laying in front of them, “Our pack yields to you!”

“ Huh?! ” Rimuru was shocked and confused at the outcome as they were silent for a few seconds. “They could have just run away,” Rimuru then noticed the cat and what she was doing.  “ Are you okay? ”

The cat slowly removed her paws as she sat up, letting her ears up as she relaxed, “ It was loud, but I’m fine now. ”

“U-Um,” The Elder asked slowly from behind the fence, he and the others were confused, “”D-Did we win?”

“Yeah, looks that way.” Rimuru changed back into their slime form; there was a brief second the ears and tail remained, but they vanished too. The goblins started cheering out as Rimuru mumbled softly, “It’s good that there’s no need for fighting anymore.”

“Yeah…” The cat smiled as her tail swayed, sure she loved fighting and showing off her skills, but if she was honest, she liked this outcome, “Nothing beats peace.”

‘ This village feels a whole lot smaller with how many there are now,’ The cat thought to herself as she looked out at the crowd of goblins and wolves as she sat next to Rimuru on a stump.

After the relatively quick and easy melee the night before, everyone took the night to rest and let off their nerves, and now they were all gathered in front of Rimuru and the cat. If the pair were honest, they had no clue about what to do next. Well, the cat didn’t, and Rimuru had a slight clue.

“Okay, listen up!” Rimuru called out to the crowd, waiting till they were all focused on them, “So, I’m going to have you all pair up and live together!”

“Pair…” Collectively, both Goblins and Direwolves were confused, “Up?”

“Great, Rimuru.” The Elder looked at them, wanting some clarification. “What does 'pair' mean, exactly?”

“It means to form up into groups of two,” The cat answered for Rimuru; the idea made the most sense to her.

Rimuru and the cat watched the goblins slowly pair up with wolves as at first, there seemed to be even numbers between them, but only a few didn’t have one, Elder included.

“Good! Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend!” Rimuru beamed, happy they followed his plan. Their slime body wavered a little in excitement. “You’re all to work together and get along as friends from now on! Got it?”

“Yes, sir!” Everyone answered enthusiastically.

“Remember to work together and make it work.” The cat smiled and added on.

“So, um. What’s going to be important now is food, shelter, and clothes,” Rimuru continued after her, thinking about all the things needed to survive. “We should form teams to hunt food, build houses, and strengthen the village defenses. We’ll start with...”

The cat noticed that Rimuru had trailed off. She turned her head to them, confused, “You okay?”

“Hey, what are all your names anyway?” Rimuru knew at least the cat didn’t have a name, but had never asked if any of the goblins other than the Elder’s older son, had one.

“We monsters do not normally have names,” The Elder took the time to explain to Rimuru, as the cat groaned internally to herself; she had forgotten to tell them that, at least the Elder is now, “Even without names, we can communicate our thoughts to one another.”

“Oh, really? But it’s more convenient to have names,” Rimuru muttered softly as they looked between the Goblins, the wolves, and the cat; until they came to a decision, “So I’d like to name you all. Is that okay?”

“N-Name us?” The Elder asked, surprised but with excitement behind his voice while everyone else was equally shocked at what Rimuru was proposing. “A- Are you certain?”

Even the cat was surprised, staring at them, “Rimuru, are you sure?”

“S-Sure,” Rimuru answered slowly but sounded confident at least, getting cheers from the crowd.

‘ Sounds confident. Great Sage must have already explained it to them then, so I won’t stop them,’ The cat thought to herself, but her tail had been swaying, showing her true feelings, ‘ I hope I like the name I get. ’

Rimuru planned to name the Goblins first as they had them all in line, with the wolves in a separate line for now. The Elder was right at the front of the line, with Redcap right behind them.

“Okay, we’ll start with you. Hmm, let’s see,” Rimuru had an idea in their mind, but had to ask, “What did you call the son you had died in battle?”

“Rigur.” The Elder answered.

“Rigur, huh? Then you’ll be Rigurd,” Rimuru smiled before announcing, “Rigurd!”

“Thank you so much!” Rigurd cried; happily, a glow flashed over him quick before vanishing, “I am so moved!”

“You’ll inherit your brother’s name,” Rimuru turned to Redcap, “Rigur!”

“ Thank you for that, ” The cat thanked Rimuru before she had a little snicker. “Won’t stop me from calling him Redcap sometimes.”

That got Rigur’s attention as he tilted his head. “Redcap?”

‘ Right…that was only in my thoughts…’ The cat was a little embarrassed as she couldn’t even look at Rigur, with Rimuru now being the one amused. “N-Nevermind, just move on.”

Of course, only two goblins had been named so far, with far so many to go with the likes of Gobata, Gobichi, Gobtsu, Gobte, Gonzo. While the cat was grinning, there was a small sweat droplet as many of the names simply started with Gob; she can’t blame Rimuru. It’s hard to think of unique names for the whole lot.

“Um… We truly do appreciate you giving us all names, but….” Rigurd soon approached Rimuru as they were naming some of the goblins to the side, cheering at the fact they now had names. “We are aware that your magical power is immense, but are you sure it’s all right to give all of us names at once?”

The cat, a little concerned as her eyes glowed as she scanned Rimuru, their magicules levels were still high with plenty to share so currently, it seemed fine.

“Well, I don’t see any problem.” Rimuru just nodded, feeling alright.

Rigurd just sighed, “Well, if you are certain.”

Rimuru faced the line-up again as they continued to name the rest of the goblins until there was none left; then they face the second line, the Direwolves, who were all patiently waiting as all their tails were wagging in the air with joy.

“Oh, Rimuru,” The cat quickly got Rimuru’s attention before they could start naming the wolves, at least knowing one fact about them, “You only need to name the leader, it’s a joint thing for the pack.”

“She is correct,” The Direwolf who sat at the front was the son of the boss, who was apparently holding no grudge.

“That helps a lot,” Rimuru nodded, understanding a little, taking a few seconds before finally coming up with a name, “All right! Your name is Ranga!”

The cat had been keeping her scan of Rimuru’s magicules levels as she knew naming the wolves would cause a considerable dip, trying to share some of her own with them with realizing; mostly because she rather not wait a few days for a name, and it felt like Great sage agreed as it accepted her magicules.

“Hmm,” Then Rimuru finally faced the cat, already having an inkling of a name choice, but she quickly stopped them.

“Before you name me, I need to let you know I’m a Dual-Creature, a Dual-Cat in this case, so whenever we get names, it works differently. Whoever names a dual creature has their souls connected,” She explained as Rimuru was confused at first but listened intently. “Like…if one of us gets hurt, the other will feel it; we can also share our powers.”

“Ooooh, that sounds like it could be helpful for a lot of situations,” Rimuru agreed. From how quickly they did, maybe they didn’t fully understand her. They tilted their body. “Thanks for explaining; I don’t mind if it happens. I’ve already shared my thoughts and memories, so sharing souls isn’t that bad, Catra.”

That…was a lovely name in her opinion, and she is surprised they managed to sneak it in so casually into the conversation, making it feel like she had the name even before they named her. Her whole body glowed for a second before returning to normal, a bright grin on her face…that she completely forgot about the magicules level as it dipped low.

“W-What’s going on? M-My body…” Rimuru seemed to be melting, but they were actually entering a rest mode.

Catra’s body fumbled, struggling to stay awake, already feeling the effects of connecting souls, “W-Well, a nap should be fine.”

Catra collapsed, falling asleep next to Rimuru, who had fallen asleep as well.

Chapter Text

Three days had passed before Catra found herself slowly emerging from the slumber caused by low magicules, finding herself under a cloth to act as a blanket for her. Already, she could feel something different about her body, as she couldn’t feel her usual four legs; instead, it felt like a single pair. She had to relearn how to use her body again as she managed to kick the blanket off of her.

Quickly discovering why her body was so different, she had evolved from a Dual-Cat to a Dual-Beastmen;. However, when that happens, the dual is replaced with Magi if evolution is caused by gaining a name, so she would now be classified as a Magicat. Honestly, she should have expected it when Rimuru had named her, but she had been excited and forgot. Speaking of, Rimuru seemed to remain asleep, but she can sense them waking up soon by the feeling of their soul.

“Wait…” Catra muttered softly as she rubbed her eyes, picking the sleep dust from them, “Why did I wake up before Rimuru?”

“Answer:” A voice echoed inside of Catra’s head, alarming her as her ears stood up, wondering where it was coming from, as it wasn’t Rimuru’s voice. However, at the same time, she didn’t sense any theat from the voice, “Magicule transfer woke you five minutes before Rimuru. Giving you time to wear something.”

“W-wait, are you Rimuru’s skill…Great Sage?” Catra questioned slowly as it felt the most likely answer, though the only response she got was an hmph to indicate yes. “What do you mean?”

As Catra was standing it, it was about the point where she realized what Great Sage had meant. While her new body was now a humanoid shape, she was still covered in her soft fur, her tail swishing behind her while her ears twitched at every sound. It was a new, weird feeling to have arms, but she’d seen how useful they could be, and the bonus of her claws being larger too.

Her new legs felt strong and looked a little muscular, too, perhaps from all the wandering she had done before reaching the forest. But as she looked down, she realized why she needed to get dressed. Due to her evolution into a new form and body, she also acquired other additions, such as breasts that could fit the palm of her hands. She knew how soft they could be…as being a small cat had it’s advantages when picked up.

Her other…asset was covered up by her fur, but she didn’t need to inspect that part of herself anytime soon, especially since Rimuru would be waking up soon. She glanced around the tent and found a small bundle of clothes. Maybe the goblins had seen her changed form and provided her with some to wear.

While she was putting the clothes on, she did notice there were some markings on her arms that could resemble claw marks, but they weren’t; honestly, she wasn’t sure what to make of them and would try and figure it out later. The clothes weren’t much, really, as the top only had a single strap attached to a large piece of cloth that covered her breasts, though it was slightly loose, indicating they were meant to hold bigger.

The cloth tied around her waist was good enough to cover her privates and partway down her legs, but it didn’t take her tail into account, so she would have to keep her tail low to prevent any accidental flashing. She can’t exactly blame them as they had no clothing experts, or any experts of any kind really.

Her ears twitched as she heard movement coming toward the tent, and soon enough a Goblin soon entered. Well, they aren’t really goblins anymore because they were all named, so all the male goblins would now be Hobgoblins, while the female goblins are now Goblinas.

Catra quickly racked her mind. The Goblina who entered was the one named Haruna.

“Oh! You’re awake, Great Catra!” Haruna rushed over in excitement, inspecting the clothes Catra was now wearing, “I’m sorry, but we didn’t have much you could wear.”

Catra blinked at being called ‘Great Catra’ but could assume as they knew her soul was linked with Rimuru they held her to the same regard, “I-It’s better than nothing, thank you, Haruna. When did I change?”

“Sometime yesterday, we made sure to cover with the cloth and kept the males out,” Haruna explained, making Catra thankful, sighing as her tail swayed low. Then, Haruna looked over at Rimuru, “Will the Great Rimuru wake up soon too?”

“Should be.” Catra nodded, though not knowing how Rimuru would react to constantly being called Great Rimuru.

Catra noticed Rimuru slowly regaining their bright blue color, watching their form flatten at first before jumping and becoming their usual shape, “Full Recovery!”

“Oh! Great Rimuru! Good Morning!” Haruna greeted them excitedly, kneeling in front of them; Rimuru was looking confused at her, “You seem to be all better. I’ll go get Elder Rigurd.”

As Haruna left the tent, Catra could hear Rimur’s thoughts again, ‘ Did this village have cute girls in it? ’

“Rimuru,” Catra got their attention, blush hidden from the cute comment. Kneeling beside them as she tilted her head, “Be honest, did Great Sage not explain the concept of being named?”

Rimuru looked at her closely, observing every detail as to give them a hint, before noticing the different colored eyes, “Catra? What happened?”

“At least you remember me….that would have hurt,” Catra sighed in relief, ears relaxing a little. Shaking her head getting back to explain, “When you name a monster, it takes magicules, the named monsters evolve to the next rank. I’m now a dual-beastman; Haruna and the other goblins are now Hobgolbins and Goblinas.”

“That would have been helpful knowledge before all the naming,” Rimuru complained slightly about a deadpan voice. Their slime body shaking looking at her, “Was that why Great Sage said I got a transfer of magicules?”

Catra fidgeted slightly and tapped her claws, not looking at them, “I-I did…didn’t want to wait for you to wake after three days then sleep again. But when you name anyone again, you have more to use.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Rimuru tilted slightly.

“Answer: From the act of linking souls, your magicule count as doubled, ” Great Sage interrupted, causing both to jump. Rimuru noticed and was confused, “ And the ability to use the others skills.”

“I-It’s going to be a bit before I can get used to hearing her in my head,” Catra admitted rubbing her head; Rimuru agreed with her words.

“Great Rimuru! Great Catra! Have you awakened?” Ridgurd’s voice sounded out but heavier and confident than before.

Rimuru’s small slime eyes blinked at being called that twice now, “We’re not going to get used to that quickly either, are we?”

“Me more than you. I get called Catra once before sleeping, wake up, and now I’m ‘Great Catra.’” Catra joked with a small laugh, Rimuru joining her in laughter.

When it comes to evolving, there’s an extreme difference and no differences at all. So when Rigurd entered the tent, Catra could immediately tell it was the first. As Ridgurd just three days ago was a frail old goblin with a walking stick; now, he seemed to have the muscles of a dwarf and towered over her even when standing.

Rimuru couldn’t comprehend it either, “Who are you?!”

“I am Rigurd!” Rigurd grinned happily, smirking as he was happy with his new body.

“I didn’t think when they evolve, the difference would be this big, Catra!” Rimuru sort of shouted but was still shocked, looking towards her.

Catra was blinking at the sight, focusing back on Rimuru, having a sheepish look on her face, “...I guess old ones get younger and stronger too?”

Catra’s ears twitched as something large was sprinting in their direction from outside, quickly ducking down as best she could as the front of the tent burst open, wood and leaves send flying. A large wolf with a horn on its head in the middle of a star symbol walked in.

“Master, allow me to express my utmost joy at your recovery!” The wolf was happily panting with tail wagging excitedly behind it, staring down at Rimur with joy. Also noticing Catra’s new appearance, tilting its head, “Catra looks different as well.”

Direwolves were one of the creatures that didn’t know of dual-creatures existence, so Catra wasn’t really surprised at the response; RImuru looked at the wolf while mumbling, “That Horn…The star on your forehead… You’re Ranga, right?”

“Yes!” Ranga announced happily with his tail picking up speed, starting to cause typhoon-like winds.

Before Catra could be picked up from the fast winds, she had managed to move and latch onto Ranga’s back, knowing he would be the most stable thing. But, in her quickness, she forgot to take into account grabbing Rimuru; as they were sent flying up through the air from the gusts.

Forming like a small twister, Catra will soon learn the meaning of the link soul pain as well.

The pain wasn’t all that terrible as she only got a few scratches when Rimuru had impacted against the ground; because Rimuru was a slime, they just regenerated. However, as it is a race-specific skill Catra doesn’t have the same ability maybe; she’s unwilling to lose an arm to discover.

But her own healing ability had improved as the scratches gradually disappeared while in the sunlight, feeling refreshed not too long after. Catra didn’t always have the skill, though, as she was taught by someone when she had entered the forest the first time.

Anyway, nearly everyone had changed in appearance when evolving, almost, as Gobta didn’t change much at all. Honestly, he didn’t really need to change as he was a friendly guy, a bit stupid sometimes but great all the same. All the Direwolf’s had evolved too, now being called Tempest Wolves; Catra thought that was a badass name.

Also, apparently Ranga can change his size too, which would have been nice when meeting him again that morning. Though, Catra thought it was an excellent entrance for Ranga.

Soon, everyone gathered around the stump again, though Catra couldn’t exactly fit on the stump now; but she did lay on Ranga’s back as his fur was comfy. Ranga didn’t mind either as they were beside the log; Rimuru was waiting for everyone to go quiet.

Catra wondered why they were waiting, peeking into their mind. Apparently wanting to play a joke, only she would get it…well, not much unless she actively looks at the memory.

Once everyone had silenced, Rimuru started speaking, “Right, it took five minutes for all of you to quiet down.”

“ Rimuru ,” Catra’s tail swayed through Ranga’s fur as her chest was resting on his back, glad he was the size like a bed as she sent Rimuru a thought message, “ They wouldn’t know the joke, different world and all. ”

“Great Rimuru, what did you mean by that?” Rigurd wondered while looking at Rimuru; the rest just had blank faces of confusion.

“F-Forget about it,” Two pink spots appeared in the slime, embarrassed their best joke had no effect. Then, focusing their attention on the crowd of goblins and wolves, “As you can see, we’re a huge family now. So to avoid problems, I think we should set some rules.”

‘ Rules are a great thing to have in place ,’ Catra thought to herself, looking at all the confused faces, ears twitching, giving a small yawn, ‘ Depends on the rules, though .’

“There are three rules,” Rimuru announced, forming a small slime hand with three fingers; Catra liked the creativity, “I’d like you to uphold them, at the very least.”

Rule 1: No attacking humans. Catra could simply see that rule as Rimuru was a human in their past life, but maybe Rimuru could explain it in more detail.

Rule 2: No fighting amongst yourselves. It’s a nice rule to have; it makes things harder to progress if you can’t have your own family getting along.

Rule 3: No belittling other races. Catra felt that one, while not on the same scale Rimuru might be explaining, but because of her size where she came from; well, they didn’t think she was strong.

Catra nodded to herself, finding those rules acceptable, though she’d probably accept any rules from Rimuru as they were connected now. Then, knowing there would be some questions watching as Rigur, who still wore his red cap, raised his hand, “Sir!”

“Yes, Rigur-kun?” Rimuru pointed at Rigur.

“Why aren’t we allowed to attack humans?” Rigur asked with a child’s curiosity, willing to follow the rules but wanting it explained.

Rigurd got nervous, thinking Rigur was too question, shouting with a bit of a stutter, “H-Hey, Rigur!”

“Rigurd, it’s fine,” Catra got his attention, helping him calm his nerves, pointing her claw at Rimuru, “It’s alright to be curious. Rimuru would be happy to explain.

“Catra’s right. The reason is simple, it’s because I like humans. That’s it!” Rimuru happily answered, Rigur happily accepted it. Catra raised her eyebrow curious and tiled her head, so Rimuru continued, “Um, so listen…Humans live in groups. If you mess with them, they could retaliate in a big way.”

“Meaning if they came after us insistently, we probably wouldn’t be able to handle them alone.” Catra stretched around on Ranga’s back, resting her chin on his head and between his ears; it was too comfortable on Ranga. Ranga didn’t seem to mind at least, “Besides, working with them works better in the long run.”

“Exactly what I was thinking, Catra,” Rimuru smiled, suspecting that Catra read their thoughts; Catra just sheepishly shrugged her shoulders, not confirming nor denying. Finally, everyone nodded at their words, “Any other questions?”

“Me!” Gobta raised his hand quickly, with Catra and Rimuru facing him, “What did you mean by “no belittling other races”?”

“Well, you’ve all gotten stronger by evolving, right? It means you shouldn’t let that get to your head and push weaker races around,” Rimuru answered Gobta’s question; if Catra had to use a word that this could fit, complacency, “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re better than them. You don’t want them getting stronger themselves and retaliating someday, do you?”

Gobta took a few seconds to understand Rimur’s words, nodding with everyone else, “Yes, sir!”

“That’s about it. Do your best to follow those rules,” Rimuru was happy the rules could be understood by them. Though having to re-enforce those rules themselves could be complicated, thought communicating with Catra, ‘ Can I assign them certain positions? ’

“With how they are basically revering you, yeah, just put someone you trust into the position.” Catra nodded after thinking about it, pointing a claw subtly towards Rigurd.

Rimuru took the hint and suggesting turning towards Rigurd, “Also, Elder Rigurd, I declare you the Goblin Lord. The lord of Goblins! Lead your village well.”

“Yes, sir!” Rigurd knelt down, bowing towards Rimuru, tears of happiness and pride rolling down his face, “I, Rigurd, accept this responsibility on pain of death!”

“Good. I’m counting on you.” Rimuru listened to his words, not having expected him to be so moved, “ I feel a bit terrible. ”

“ You shouldn’t; it’s actually a great honor, even if you’re just dumping the job on him ,” Catra shook her head, sitting up, stretching a little.

After that, Rimuru had assigned all the goblins jobs, with one team assigned to watch the surrounding area, using platforms in large trees to increase their light of sight and range. While another group collected food, with the goblin half to collect fruits from the trees, the wolves hunted animals for meat.

The team delegated to building and clothing wasn’t going so great. Catra was seated on Ranga’s back while Rimur was in her lap; Rimuru had happily accepted it; not knowing their reasons but was happy regardless. They were surveying the construction of a house…or something that was supposed to look like a house.

Rigurd and Rigur looked after this team and were mildly embarrassed at Rimuru’s comment, “That doesn’t look like a house.”

“I can’t exactly blame them; they’ve only had the use of tents before,” Catra was just casually stroking Rimuru’s head, tail swaying behind her. Then, watching the attempt of a house crumbled to the floor, “They aren’t experts at this stuff.”

“This is most embarrassing,” Rigurd rubbed the back of his head, unable to look towards Rimuru after the failure. Rigur felt the same as he bowed his head, “Forgive us.”

“And as for your clothes….” Rimuru trailed off, looking up towards Catra’s face, which she tilted her head in confusion. Rimuru grew flustered, “I-I think they’re a little too revealing! That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but….”

‘ I find it a little too revealing, but Rimuru didn’t sound all too opposed to it .’ Catra thought to herself, confused, cheeks becoming red with ears and tail standing up; Catra figured out where Rimuru’s stare was focused but didn’t attempt to stop them, ‘ Guess they really like boobs .’

“There is no one here with the skill to make them,” Rigur explained to Rimuru, gaining their attention.

“I-If you can’t make them, couldn’t you get them from somewhere?” Rimuru was shocked at the reveal but tried figuring out a solution.

Rigurd rested a hand on his chin, thinking about Rimuru’s suggestion with a slight nod, “There are some with whom we have attempted to trade a few times. Aside from clothing, they are also quite skilled, so they may know how to build houses, too.”

“It is worth a try, as these are probably not going to get anywhere, no offense,” Catra gestured to the crumbled pile of materials, sitting up straight. Then, feeling the shift of her top as it didn’t fit well, bouncing softly in the large cloth, “A-And I r-rather have new clothing already.”

Rimuru seemed to agree, mainly to the first part, as their eyes were trained somewhere, “Who, and where, are they?”

“I think Rigurd is talking about the Dwarves that live in Dwargon.” Catra guessed, purring when she was correct.

“Dwarves!” Rimuru immediately perked up excited as an exclamation form on their head, missing the fact it pressed into Catra’s chest, “You mean the famous masters of metalworking?!”

Catra blinked but then remembered Rimuru’s memories, ‘ It must be exciting to see things they couldn’t witness in their world. ’

“We’ll try going to Dwargon!” Rimuru announced in their excitement as Ranga stood up; Catra held onto his sides as Rimuru was secure in her lap, “Rigurd, can you look after the village while we’re away?”

“Yes, sir! Leave everything to me!” Rigurd showed off his muscles simultaneously, proving he would protect the village.

“This will be fun. I’ve always wanted to go there.” Catra smirked happily, fangs glinting in the sunlight.

Chapter Text

Catra was perched on a tree branch as their small group settled down for the night; it was the second night on their journey to Dwargon. Catra, Rimuru, and Ranga were accompanied by Rigur alongside two other goblins riding on Tempest Wolves; Gobta was part of the group to act as a guide, as he’s the only one being to Dwargon.

Having traveled north alongside the Ameld River, Rimuru had a heart to heart with Ranga to see if he held any grudges for having killed his father; but Ranga held no ill intentions towards them. But another conversation that involved Rigur a day before plagued her mind as she kept thinking back to it.

~

Catra sat beside Rigur as the group rested on a rocky beach beside the river, her ears twitching as she listened to the following stream, loving the beauty of nature surrounding them. Thinking back to the days before she arrived in the forest and all the sights she’s witnessed, but wouldn’t trade her decision to stay at all.

Rimuru was located on her lap, which they were getting used to as Catra simply placed them there whenever they rested, a question in their mind. Then, turning in Catra’s lap and facing Rigur, “Rigur-kun, who gave your brother his name?”

“That’s something I wondered as well. He never told me.” Catra’s tail swayed as she focused on the conversation as well, wondering where the name came from.

“Sir! Mam!” Rigur addressed them both; Catra was still getting used to all the titles. Rigur had twisted in their direction, hands on his knees with respect as he answered, “I’m told he received his name from a passing Demon called Lord Gelmud. He saw promise in him.”

Rimuru was confused at the name, missing Catra’s tense reaction, “Gel…?”

“Gelmud is an officer in one of the Demon lord’s armies,” Catra answered with a slight hiss; she had an encounter with Gelmud before, who insisted on trying to name her. But, escaping his grasp with illusion magic, she didn’t want to link her souls with him, “He tried to name me, but I wouldn’t allow it.”

“Oh…” Rimuru understood Catra’s reasoning based on her explanation when they named her but felt honored that Catra wanted to be named by them instead. But suddenly moved their slime body to look up at Catra, shocked, “One of the demon Lord’s armies? As in more that one Demon Lord?”

“Yeah, but they mostly keep to their own affairs.” Catra shrugged, not feeling too bothered, not knowing if she should explain her connection to at least one of them. 

Rimuru was lost in their own thoughts before their gazed focused on Ranga, silent for a few seconds, “Catra, can you place me down? I want to speak with Ranga.”

“Sure.” Catra smiled, her fangs flashing from the setting sun.

~

‘ I still can’t remember who Gelmud works for. They must be planning something, ’ Catra thought as she looked at her traveling companions all asleep around the fire. Sitting upright on the branch, ‘ I guess I should keep quiet while testing the new skills–’

“Hey, Catra,” Rimuru’s voice startled Catra as she thought they were asleep, nearly falling from the branch as she latched on. Rimuru either didn’t notice or didn’t want to voice it to save her from embarrassment, “Couldn’t sleep either, huh?”

Catra relaxed as she focused on Rimuru, who had joined her on the branch, shaking her head as tail swayed, “We slept for three days; I don’t need rest yet. I was curious about the new skills…as the connected soul is still a new feeling. I only knew cause it was like a biological thought.”

“It feels different for me as well. Though I can tease you a little as you been leaking the same amount of aura when we first met,” Rimuru chuckled slightly, watching the fur on Catra’s cheeks flush red as she managed to mask the aura. Rimuru stayed focused on her, “Since we share skills, you can always as Great Sage. I asked her a little about your skills as well.”

“Oh,” Catra blinked, surprised, “Which ones?”

“Well, I asked about your healing skill and asked her to analyze it to see if we can improve the properties. I want it to be somewhat par with mine,” Rimuru explained as they didn’t want Catra to get injured, having felt it anytime she would. Then, Rimuru bounced a little closer, “She said it might take a few days.”

Catra felt thankful that Rimuru was looking out for her, making happiness bubble inside. Then, having wanted to test it herself, “Great Sage? Am I able to use the Skill: Water Blade?”

“ Answer: Based on magicul levels, it is easy to conjure, ” Great Sage responded immediately; that was another thing for her to slowly get used to. Rimuru was surprised to hear her as well but figured since they were close right now, it was possible, “ However, with the difference of species, its form has changed to suited to you. ”

“So I can cast it, but it would just be different?” Catra surmised, getting a confirming hum as a response, rubbing her chin gently, “Wonder what it looks like?”

Rimuru was also curious as they watched closely, “How about summoning one?”

Catra wondered for a few seconds before holding out her hand, “Skill: Water Blade!”

Glowing energy shone from her hands as the water rose from the nearby river and directed to her hands, her claws gripping a hilt made from water, a blade forming soon after. Aiming it back towards the river felt a tug inside; pulling on it, the blade shot from the hilt and slashed into the river.

Acting as a separate force, it caused a sizeable straight gap through the middle for a few seconds before the water splashed back into place, the water from the blade returned to her hand. Catra was surprised at the power from that single attack, starting to witness precisely how powerful Rimuru was with her soul, “Woah.”

“That was awesome!” Rimuru slime eyes widened at the skill in Catra’s hand, trying to form energy to replicate it. But unfortunately, their attempts were cut short by Great Sage.

“ Answer: This form is unable to replicate the skill’s form, that can only use Water Blade. A humanoid form is required, ” Great Sage's explanation caused Rimuru to pout but understood, “The Skill: Water Blade evolved in Catra’s possession, to Water Sword. ”

“So that’s why it felt different from watching Rimuru do it,” Catra thought, ears twitching, looking at the sleeping goblins and wolves below. But curiosity was far greater than trying not to wake them, “Should we test to see if our other skills have changed?”

“Sounds exciting,” Rimuru agreed with Catra, giving a nervous laugh, “Let’s just move a bit, so we don’t wake or hit them by accident.”

“Gobta.” Rimuru looked towards Gobta as they sat around the warmth of the fire.

It was the third night into their journey, having journeyed quite the distance, made more accessible as the Tempest Wolves were fast as the wind; it could usually take two months, but they’d arrive tomorrow by this rate. So the wolves slept to regain their energy from running all day while the goblins feasted on boar meat.

Catra was once again laying on a tree branch as it was a habit she kept despite evolving; she would continue to do this until they had beds; honestly, she might still nap in them. Biting into her piece, she was excited to learn new tricks and skills alongside Rimuru the night before.

Like the fact she could switch back and forth between her old form, she wouldn’t do it much as she didn’t see much need; that and another reason. She can switch forms; however, her clothes weren’t designed for the process. She wasn’t paying attention when switching back; she ended up kicking Rimuru from being looked at. But she apologized after.

At least she was more aware of her clothes situation now, ensuring her position on the branch wouldn’t reveal anything to them down below.

Gobta, who had been eating, swallowed before looking at Rimuru, “Yes, sir?”

“What is the town we’re heading for like?” Rimuru questioned him, wanting to learn as much information as possible before arriving. Catra’s ears twitched as she listened closely as well.

“W-Well, it’s officially called the “Armed Nation of Dwargon.”, Gobta started describing the best he could. Having not visited in a while, “It’s a beautiful city constructed from a modified natural cave system, and it’s home not only to dwarves, but elves, humans, and lots more.”

“Elves?!” Rimuru excitedly shouted.

Catra didn’t even need to ask as images flashed in her mind of beautiful and captivating elves thanks to Rimuru’s thoughts, involuntary purring at the idea of being carried by one. Willing to transform into her smaller form just to experience it, she bets Rimuru loves their form right now.

‘ I’m not going to interrupt Rimuru’s thoughts, ’ Catra thought to herself as her cheeks were reddened. Tail swaying at the images as her focus on the conversation was lost, ‘ Such pretty elves. ’

Rigur was the one ultimately that brought Rimuru back to their senses, “Great Rimuru?”

“I-Is it okay for monsters like me to enter Dwargon?” Rimuru instantly asked, a bit of red in their slime, freezing slightly. Then, turning to peek up at Catra, “ You didn’t see anything, did you? ”

“ No, ” Catra thought quickly, unable to look at Rimuru.

“ You answered way too quickly! ” Rimuru embarrassedly turned back to Rigur, realizing that Catra saw those images.

“No need to worry,” Rigur answered, unaware of the thought communication between Catra and Rimuru, waving his hand like it was fine, “Dwargon is a neutral free-trade city. All fighting is prohibited by the king.”

“I see…” Rimuru hummed, nodding at his words.

“Rigur, before you continue, did you make it?” Catra interrupted as she gazed at him, curious if he did as she requested.

“Oh, right,” Rigur revealed an eyepatch before tossing it up towards here, “Here you go.”

Rimuru stared at the eyepatch curiously as Catra put it on, covering her left eye, “Why are you wearing an eyepatch?”

“I don’t want to reveal to everyone I’m a dual-beastman,” Catra shrugged a little knowing Rimuru would understand quickly, “And if something happens, they will underestimate me.”

“As long as you hide your aura,” Rimuru teased, watching Catra just hide her face, regretting having made fun of Rimuru’s aura when they first arrived. Then, paying attention to Rigur again, “Please continue.”

“It’s all made possible by the Armed Nation of Dwargon’s immense military might,” Rigur grinned while clenching his fist and flexing his arm, “It’s said that the dwarven army has been undefeated for a thousand years.”

“A thousand years? That’s impressive,” Rimuru was shocked and equally impressed at that accomplishment, voicing his hidden thoughts to Catra, “ No one would be dumb enough to get on that king’s bad side .”

“ Even I wouldn’t want to mess with them, though I was just a small cat before. I’d be interested in having a duel with the king, ” Catra has listened to adventurers along the road, many tales about Dwargon mostly. Then, seeing Rimuru’s shocked reaction as she chuckled nervously, “ I wouldn’t unless I had your permission, of course. ”

“ I don’t even think we’d win, but that’s not why we’re going there in the first place ,” Rimuru sighed at her last response, feeling relieved she wouldn’t fight a king.

“Last time I went there–”

“There won’t be any trouble!” Rigur exclaimed with a bright smile on his face, cutting off Gobta’s quiet mumbling.

“ Hm? I’m pretty sure a huge flag just went up,” Rimuru had heard the beginning of Gobta’s sentence, but thanks to Rigur, he couldn’t hear the rest, asking for Catra’s support, “ Was it just me? ”

Catra has been learning concepts from Rimuru’s old world; the red flag was one of them, “ No, I felt it too.”

“ So that’s where the elves– I mean, the Dwarves are, huh? ” Rimuru quickly reorganized their thoughts learning from the last time Catra could hear, but Catra didn’t stop them, maybe Catra didn’t mind. Losing their thoughts just as quickly, “ I hope some beautiful Elves– I mean, some skilled Dwarves are waiting there for us.”

They stood on the edge of a forest to an open field where a path led straight to Dwargon’s gates. It looked like a fortress that would presumably increase the city's defenses, having not witnessed what it was liked beyond the walls. Yellow banners hung from the top of the stone tower, unable to see the emblem attached.

Catra shook her head before thinking a little, blushing in thought, “ I mean, couldn’t we find elves after we find the skilled dwarfs? ”

“ Brilliant suggestion! I’m glad you’re coming in with us, ” Rimuru felt happiness, sure they trusted Gobta but trusted Catra more. Then, turning and addressing the others, “Gobta and Catra will be accompanying me into Dwargon. I want the rest of you to stay here.”

Rigur seemed like he was unsure when Gobta was mentioned first but was replaced with relief that Catra would be going in as well. But, “Are you sure you want us to stay here?”

“Yeah,” Rimuru bounced up into Catra’s arms, getting held tight so they wouldn’t be dropped, “We don’t want to try too much attention by going in a big group. Gobta will show us the way.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Catra smiled to reassure the group, mostly Rigur and Ranga, who was saddened of staying behind. Then, turning around to start down the path to the gates, “Wait for us here. We shouldn’t take too long. Hopefully.”

Catra added that last part quietly as Gobta quickly caught up to walk beside her, hearing Ranga’s sad howl behind them as a sign of them to be careful. It was about a five to ten minutes walk as they approached, starting to see a line to one of the smaller doorways besides the colossal gate.

Many different races wanted to enter. There were mainly humans, lizardfolk, and half-beast folk from the human appearance but animal parts like ears or tails. Some appeared to be adventurers, and others were traveling merchants; a few might just be here to visit family or friends.

They approached the back of the line to begin the waiting game. Rimuru tilted in her hold, “This is quite a line. They must be strict about checking everyone.”

“At least they don’t have to check me much,” Catra muttered, feeling a little conscious of the little clothing she wore, wishing that would be one of the first things they’d look for. Gobta carried a bag on his back, so that would need to be checked, “Can we please find clothes first?”

“That is one of the main priorities,” Rimuru had a silent glare to people in the line ahead, having noticed the gazes towards Catra. Rimuru might have their fantasies but wouldn’t make ones they trust uncomfortable, “Maybe we can ask them if they have spare clothes lying around? It should be fine, right, Gobta?”

“Y-Yeah, once we’re inside, we can move around as we please,” Gobta nodded at Rimuru’s question, embarrassed as well, “And they do have spare clothes…I lost mine last time.”

“I would ask how, but maybe I won’t.” Catra wondered how he could lose his pants but decided not to question it. But if the dwarves had spare clothes, yay.

“Hey! Hey, hey, hey!” A voice called out as a pair of footsteps approached from behind, alerting the three. Turning around, there were two men, who had scars on their faces and aggressive looks, “What’s a couple of monsters doing here?”

“We’re not inside yet, so we can still kill it,” The second idiot pointed his knife to Rimuru, who was still in Catra’s grasp, “Right?”

“ And there it is! We’re already in trouble! ” Rimuru replied casually to Catra, recalling the conversation about the flag, “ Flag collected! ”

Catra figured the men were trying to be intimidating, but they just looked stupid, “ I mean, they don’t look like they cause much trouble. ”

“Hey, Gobta-Kun,” Rimuru looked at Gobta, who seemed frightened, noticing the people ahead in the line worried and wary backing away, “Did you hear something?”

“Yes, I did,” Gobta answered, terrified, unable to look away from the duo, “I was beaten up here last time I tried to get in, too. It’s the fate of us weak monsters.”

“I mean, you wouldn’t be weak anymore,” Catra’s tail hung low, not loving that Gobta was hurt before, “That was a while ago, right?”

“Hey, weakling monster!” Idiot one glared at them, hating the fact they were being ignored, “Don’t you ignore us!”

“Wait, isn’t a talking slime pretty rare? I bet we could make a fortune off of it!” Idiot two looked towards his partner with an evil smirk, pointing his knife at Catra, “Why don’t you hand it over? Otherwise, we’ll have fun with you instead.”

“ Rimuru, can I kill them? ” Catra asked cheerfully in her mind despite her tight grip and an angry aura pouring out of her.

“ Don’t kill them. We don’t want too much trouble. But, yeah, you can deal with them, ” Rimiru declared to her, gaining Gobta’s attention, “Gobta-Kun, do you remember our first rule?”

“Of course, sir!” Gobta saluted with the fear dissipating for a few seconds, “Rule one: no attacking humans!”

“All right, now,” Rimuru saw the people in the line quickly moving away as if they could sense the confrontation escalating, “Close your eyes and cover your ears.”

Catra placed Rimuru on the ground to stay beside Gobta as she approached the two idiots, “Sorry, we’re you talking to us? Can you repeat that? I don’t pay much attention to idiots.”

The two stared shocked at her, before:

“You’re just a puny, little weakling! Don’t you mess with us!” Idiot one shouted.

“You’re dead now!” Idiot two pointed his dagger towards her, “I was gonna let you live, but you’ve pissed us off!”

“A puny, little weakling? When did you ever think I was weak?” Catra laughed, finding their reactions hilarious, exactly what weaklings would say. Then, flashing her claws menacingly at them, “I could take the both of you down easily.”

“Okay, now you’re dying.” Idiot one had enough as he unsheathed his sword, ready for a fight.

The second idiot looked behind him to where three more people of their group, “You guys get her, too!”

The five of them moved to attack her, the first one simply with his sword, the second slashing with his daggers that form the same slash as a projectile towards her. The third slammed his axe into the ground, causing a tremor of rocks to approach her; the fourth cast a fireball. The last formed a magic barrier around them.

All the attacks were absorbed into her, minus the sword that phased right through, confusing the five of them. Then, clapping was heard from behind the group as the illusion faded; Catra smirked at them, “Cool attacks, my turn.”

Catra’s blue eye glowed brightly, smiling and showing her fangs as she arched her back and flexed her claws, wanting to have used this move when first witnessing it. Then, howling loudly as a burst of wind shot from the ground from the force of her shout, having used the skill menace.

Blasting the magic wall to pieces as they experienced the shout full-on, however, Catra might not have considered the range of the scream as it affected the whole line of people. After a few seconds of the continued shout, Catra realized and quickly deactivated the skill, noticing many people lying on the ground, except for Gobta and Rimuru.

“Ahh,” Catra nervously tapped her claws together at the damage she caused, a sheepish smile as she looked at Rimuru, “Shit.”

“ Results of Menace to follow: 16 fled. 68 became confused. 92 fainted. ” Great sage started listing all the effects Catra caused, making her embarrassed further, “ 34 solids themselves. 1 disrobed of clothing. ”

“ Disrobed of clothing? Who… ” Catra flushed with embarrassment as the flimsy clothes she had been wearing had rocketed off somewhere from the massive blast of wind; only the eyepatch remained. Then, quickly changing into her cat form, “ Start with that first next time! ”

“ Great Sage should have started with that,” Rimuru had tried their best not to look but failed for a few seconds. Then, acting like they saw nothing as Catra approached, “ Maybe it was too much? ”

“Hey! You there!” Dwarf guards had run from the gate to see what caused the commotion, the leader looking at them with confusion, “Huh? A slime and cat?”

Rimuru and Catra looked at each other for a few seconds before both innocently smiled at him. Finding themselves locked in a cell not long after.

Chapter Text

“Maybe Great Sage should have added another casualty report,” Catra murmured, reclining on a bundle of clothes placed on a barrel, currently Rimuru’s cell. Her uncovered eye monitoring the snoring goblin, “One fell asleep. How did Gobta fall asleep to that?”

The three of them patiently waited in the cell, though due to Catra’s and Rimuru’s size and ability to slip through the bars, Rimuru was placed inside a barrel. Catra promised to stay on the lid as she helped explain the situation to the guards; since, as promised, they had given her some clothes.

As some witnesses who watched reported to Kaido, the Captain of the guards of Dwargon, her form changed. It was meant to be an interrogation, but it seemed more like it was a casual conversation as apparently that lot always got into trouble. Kaido seemed to have enjoyed seeing them run in fear.

Rimuru sighed while listening to the noises Gobta made; their muttering echoed inside the small space, “Some guide he turned out to be. He has some nerve to be sleeping now.”

“Well?” Kaido paced calmly beyond the bars, clutching the report in his hands as he patiently waited for more information to be offered.

“Oh, sorry,” Catra bowed her head in apology as she refocused her attention, having momentarily forgotten she was in the middle of a conversation, “I’ve got nothing to add.”

“Well, since you’re a slime, goblin, and….” Kaido trailed off, trying to figure out what to categorize Catra since it isn’t a typical occurrence to obtain the ability to switch forms, having a theory in mind from her eyepatch. Then, shrugging his shoulders to respect her privacy, “And a cat, they probably saw you as easy targets.”

“Catra was only trying to scare them off. I might have done the same after some of their comments,” Rimuru admitted while unintentionally making Catra flustered, making her thankful she can’t be seen at the moment, “We’re very sorry for all the trouble we caused!”

“Well, your confessions match up with the reports of the witnesses,” Kaido agreed while thankful this didn’t take long, moving to grab the keys, “Just this one, I’ll let you three–”

Catra’s ears perked up, hearing frantic sprinting approaching the hallway towards them, “Umm, I think you got something more important to deal with.”

“Captain! We’ve got trouble!” A guard emerged, panting heavily, answering Kaido’s unasked question. Sweat trailed down his face while trying to regain his breath, “There’s an Armorsaurus in the mine!”

“ An Armorsaurus? ” Catra’s heard tales and seen pictures drawn in books but never encountered one in person. Then, conversing with Rimuru as she listened, “ Have you, Rimuru? ”

“ Y-Yeah, but I don’t recommend looking at my memory of it. It’s not a pretty sight ,” Rimuru warned Catra before she could dive into their memories, “ I’ll try and show you later. ”

“What?!” Kaido faced the other guard with shocked alarm, concern washing over him, “Where’s the suppression force?”

“They’re already en route,” The guard responded, clearly pondering his following words. Then, failing as he bleakly continued, “But Garm, his brothers, and Entrapta were deep in the mine gathering magic ore. Entrapa avoided and extracted them without major injuries, but not having reacted quickly as the others were badly hurt!”

Catra sensed the change of emotions coming in waves from Kaido, changing from concern to fear and worry, “Do we have potions?”

“Not enough,” The guard apologized in between his explanation, “We’ve allotted most of them to war preparations.”

“ Rimuru, how much of the potions do you have left? ” Catra wondered, stretching and arching her back, before jumping to the floor. Then, wanting to provide help to Kaido, as he’s treated them nicely, “ We should help him. ”

Rimuru managed to slide the lid off and place it gently on the ground, removing themself from the barrel as a bit of shine was left behind, “ Plenty to spare. I…did collect every herb I saw. But I filled up the whole barrel just in case. ”

Catra and Rimuru quickly squeezed through the gap in the bars and were standing behind Kaido, who hadn't noticed them yet. Catra tilted her head, “Sir.”

“Sir,” Rimuru repeated what Catra said, realizing he wouldn’t focus on them soon. Then, extending a part of their slime to act like a tendril, and tapped him on the back, “Sir.”

“Huh?” Kaido turned around, confused and staring ahead, before noticing them sitting on the ground patiently, “How dare you two leave the cell!?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll hop right back in after,” Catra’s tail swished about while relaxing him, as they planned to keep their promise, “We got something that can help.”

“Yeah, look,” Rimuru faced the cell, used the tendril, and formed it into an arrow, pointing to the barrel. Entirely filled with healing liquid, “You need that, don’t you?”

Kaido inspected it under his gaze as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, “What’s that?”

“Healing potion. The best around!” Rimuru happily explained, “You can drink it or apply it directly!”

“It works wonders, I’ve experienced it before, and it’s amazing!” Catra grinned happily while tilting her head as her ears twitched;, withholding the part where she was inside Rimuru when healed.

Kaido listened to them both carefully while discussing the decision in his mind to trust them or not. His answer was apparent as he pulled out the keys for the cells. The other guard watched on with shock as he unlocked the cell, “Captain! You’re going to trust the word of monsters?”

“We don’t have time!” Kaido ignored his companion’s complaint as he slipped the lid back on, slamming it to keep the potion contained. Then, easily lifting the whole thing over his shoulder, facing him, “Let’s go!”

“Yes, Captain Kaido.” Immediately following his orders as he rushed on ahead.

Kaido turned to Catra and Rimuru for a few seconds; uncertainty was evident, but he didn’t question them, “You two better stay in the cell!”

The pair watched as he disappeared through the doorway and out of sight before they wordlessly slipped back inside the cell. Finally, Rimuru voiced their hidden thoughts, “He was really worried about his subordinates.”

“He was friendly when talking with us, too,” Catra agreed as her tail swayed, strolling to the clothes left behind, “He’d be a good friend to have.”

“He’s a good guy,” Rimuru spoke softly, noticing Catra heading for the clothes. Then, growing embarrassed and swiftly facing away from her, “I won’t look as you get changed.”

‘ Rimuru definitely wants to peek but doesn’t want to disrespect me,’ Catra jumped as she shifted appearances, reaching for the bundle promptly. Then, gripping the waistband of the leather pants as she slid her legs through the holes, fur feeling unconformable as she pulled them up, ‘ But Rimuru isn’t the only one around. At least Gobta is still sleeping…somehow. ’

Using a claw to slice a tiny gap in the back for her tail to slip through to make it fit perfectly. It was obviously designed for humans, but she’d rather this than nothing, ignoring the blue frilly-looking articles as she grabbed a simple shirt. Shivering as it dragged over her breasts as she put it on, before finally sitting when she was finished, “I’m done.”

Rimuru swiveled around carefully in case Catra had said that while putting on the last piece, looking relieved when that wasn’t the case. Changed to shock after a few seconds when noticing the untouched bra and panties on the ground. Sputtering embarrassedly, “H-H-How come you a-aren’t wearing those!”

“Huh?” Catra tiled her head innocently as she eyed the remaining pieces, confused as she viewed them, “But they don’t cover me fully. So why would I pick those?”

“W-Well,” Rimuru wondered how to explain, as Catra knew at least the importance of clothes, but since Catra mainly had been a cat before, she hadn’t needed to. But from their understanding, Catra didn’t know about underwear, “Do…your clothes feel comfortable?”

“Not really…I feel irritated around my chest and….” Catra listed on her fingers before fur flustering as she slowly understood, Tapping her claws shyly, sheepishly asking, “Can you please face away for a few moments?”

Beams of moonlight entered from the barred window, as it had been a few hours of them waiting for Kaido to return, hopefully with encouraging news. Catra now felt relaxed in her clothes after the little mishap, leaning against the wall with Rimuru on her lap; both felt bored.

“A cradle! A diamond! A hand drum! A boat!” Rimuru was passing the time playing with the skill, Sticky Thread, creating objects with precise precision; Rimuru explained that it was a modified Cat Cradle. Catra watched with amazement at the items they formed with the thread, “And now…Tokyo Tower!”

It was the most complex construction Rimuru created with their string, but Rimuru had pulled it off perfectly; of course, Catra searched Rimuru’s memories to see the real thing. Her tail is standing as the image was shown in her mind, eyes sparkling, “I want to try.”

“ Answer: Inaccessible with the base form ,” Great Sage interrupted before Catra could test but wasn’t finished, “ Proposal: Possible while simultaneously activating the skill Body Armour. ”

“I think that’s the first time Great Sage proposed an idea, but she is intelligent,” Rimuru remembered the first moments when hearing Great Sage for the first time, hearing her explanations in vast detail; some parts were hard to understand unless asked to dumb it down. Finally, curiosity caused Rimuru to bounce off Catra’s lap for safety precautions, “Let’s see, “Body Armour!”

Rimuru’s appearance didn’t alter much at first, with just a bit of darker blue covering their form until a few spikes popped out at a few places, making them look like a spike trap. Then, Catra allowed Rimuru to look through her eye to see their own appearance, a hum of delight coming from them, “Ooh, I look like it might hurt to step on me. At least I can still move.”

Catra looked at her own arms as she tried to imagine the effects, before with confidence holding out both arms, “Body Armour!”

A tingling sensation zipped down her arms at the activation as, beginning from the elbow, her fur slowly vanished and was replaced by dark blue scales. Then, racing up through her hands and fingers as they gradually changed, just more of the blue scales, and her claws gained a bit of density.

“Woah…” Catra tapped the scales with one of her claws, feeling how hard they were, “Guess there’s a reason they called it an Armoursarus. Now, let’s try, Sticky Thread!”

Small holes appeared on her scaled palms, and darkness covered the view inside; with a bit of force, some of the thread shot out, causing her to yelp and duck her head. Then, being careful, she intertwined some of the stings between her fingers before trying to create something like Rimuru did.

She couldn’t try anything complex, but she got a shape similar to Rimuru, “Look! I made you!”

“Oooh! That’s impressive, Catra!” Rimuru eyed Catra’s creation with enjoyment but was interested in how a skill’s form is different for each person. Though Body Armor's look on Catra was admittedly cooler, “We should experiment on other skills that I collected, see what we can do together.”

Rimuru’s speech was interrupted by the still snoring Gobta; Catra heard he was a deep sleeper, but not this deep. But the snoring was starting to annoy her ears. Rimuru and Catra looked at each other and approached the sleeping goblin with a silent agreement.

He was wrapped in a cocoon of string a few moments later, hanging from the ceiling and still snoring.

“This guy is a deep sleeper….” Rimuru stared at Gobta, both Catra and Rimuru having unactivated the skill. Of course, Gobta would wake up at some point and question it, and they would say it was punishment, but in truth, they were bored, and it entertained them.

Catra’s ears twitched at movement as a group of dwarfs entered behind Kaido. They weren't soldiers from their outfits, but it was likely Garm and his brothers from their smiles. Catra had assumed that Entrapta would be with them; then again, she wasn’t injured, so she might not make an appearance.

“You saved them,” Kaido spoke; first, his gratitude was evident, “I thank you.”

“I heard you gave us that potion!” The first brother spoke up; they didn’t know which one was Garm, so they wouldn’t guess. But he wore a tank top that showed the tattoo's on his shoulders, “Thank you!”

Rimuru cheerily responded while feeling flustered, “Don’t mention it.”

“My arm was nearly ripped off. Even if I’d survived, I would’ve lost my job,” The second brother answered while pulling back the sleeve of his right arm, revealing no damage whatsoever, “Thank you!”

“Glad to see you’re in one piece then.” Catra grinned while rubbing the fur on her arms.

The third brother was next, but he hummed and nodded instead of speaking. Confusing them, “Say something!”

The brothers chuckled as they expected this type of reaction from the pair, ignoring the upsidedown goblin as they moved to head home, “Really, thank you so much!”

Catra picked Rimuru and held them in her arms as Kaido approached the cell door and unlocked it. Rimuru and Catra looked at each other before Rimuru asked, “Are we free?”

“Naturally.” Kaido smiled at them.

From how late at night, Kaido invited them to stay the night in his home and provided them with food; Rimuru didn’t need food and couldn’t taste it regardless, so they let Catra eat while they explained to Kaido the reason they were in Dwargon. Since Kaido was thankful for them saving the brothers, he decided to introduce them to the best blacksmith he knew tomorrow.

Dwargon was vastly different from the small tribe of goblins they lived with, who only had basic construction of small huts and wooden fences. While Dwargon had perfectly constructed buildings of stone, brick, and other materials, a few had smoke rising from chimneys but perhaps converted to unharmful.

One huge change was while the goblins only had the simple fire to keep things bright at night, Dwargon had technology and electricity as lights shone from bulbs hanging on wipes above the street and flooding out of the windows of buildings. And there were all different types of races enjoying and going about their day.

Catra’s sense of smell was like fireworks when the familiar scent of bread drifted out of a bakery as they walked by.

Rimuru let out a noise of amazement while cuddling into Catra’s arms, “I can tell we’re in dwarven country! It looks so much more civilized than the Goblin Village.”

“Think about it, Rimuru, if we find the right people, we can slowly start to build up the village,” Catra’s soul thrummed at feeling Rimuru’s enjoyment, holding them close as she looked around, “I wouldn’t mind if we get a few recipe books too, I think we had a goblin who wanted to learn. I don’t remember his name, though.”

“We’ll probably remember when we return,” Rimuru answered, still indifferent about food, “We still need to worry about shelter and clothing first.”

“This way,” Kaido stood ahead of them since he was guiding them, waiting for them to catch up, “Don’t get lost, now.”

Kaido approached the storefront of a blacksmith, assuming from the layout of the area and other stores they passed where all the ready and prepared products were upfront to sell, while the actual smithing was done in a building out the back. From some of the items sold, they were excited to meet who Kaido’s recommendation was.

Many forms of armor types were placed delicately on stands, showing exquisite designs integrated into them with the ones with most had a sense of power emanating from them. Shields hung on the walls in different shapes and sizes based on the height of the person or the type they wished to use, one large enough to cover Catra’s height.

Swords were located also hanging on the walls and some of the tables, but the one that caught Catra’s eye immediately was the one whose blade was glowing with energy.

“Wow! Such detailed workmanship!” Rimuru gazed with eagerness, their slime bouncing slightly in Catra’s arms as they turned and looked in every direction. Then, seeing the same sword, Catra couldn’t look away, “What’s up with that sword? Is it actually glowing?!”

“I think it’s a weapon created from Magic ore,” Catra guessed as her eye sparkled, smirking with her fangs showing, “I wonder who made it.”

“Actually, that weapon was made by the guy I'm introducing you to,” Kaido excitedly explained while pointing at it, proud of it, “The blacksmith we’re about to meet.”

Heading out the door in the back to an empty street compared to the bustling one they came from were small rows of buildings with fences keeping them separate, all with different insignias depending on the blacksmith. The one they were going toward was an ax that overlapped a sword in a cross.

“This is the place. I guarantee his skills are top-notch!” Kaido practically promised them as he walked to the door, calling as he got close, “Hey, Bro, you here?”

“Bro?” Rimuru questioned.

Catra snickered as she looked at Kaido, “Bet he was trying to keep quiet and leave it as a big reveal.”

“Hey, Kaido, I’ll let you in.” A girl’s voice sounded out as the door opened; a flash of purple was seen at the edge before vanishing.

A short girl wearing heavy-looking gloves which seemed stained with oil, boots, a bug-eyed looking mask perched on her head; also wearing overalls like pants with a white shirt underneath appeared. The most noticeable feature was her big, long lilac twin-tail hair, which acted like arms fixing an object, as she wrote something on a piece of paper, “He’s still a little busy because of Vesta, it wasn’t nice of him….”

“Thanks, Entrapta. I still intend to find out why he even agreed,” Kaido sighed in annoyance, noticing her trail off when she noticed their guests, “Right, this is Catra and Rimuru.”

“Nice to meet you, Entrapta,” Catra smiled, though she was focused on the fact Entrapta’s hair was moving, perhaps from a skill.

Rimuru formed a hand from a tendril and waved to her, “Hello, Entrapta.”

“Ohhh! I knew I wasn’t going crazy!” Entrapta cheered as her hair sped off and deposited the object somewhere before she bounded forward and embraced them like she had won a reward. Then, laughing as she got out a book that she likely took notes in, writing, “Log. A dream vision finally came true! The slime named by Veldora and dual-beastman connected to the slime appeared!”

That last part from Entrapta came out as a whisper as if only to reveal she knows. But that just left them with one thing in mind, “What?”

Chapter Text

Catra and Rimuru stood still, frozen in place and utterly stumped by Entrapta's words. The workshop's ambient heat and the scent of hot metal hung in the air around them. While it might not take much speculation to guess what Catra was, with her prominent feline features catching the workshop's flickering light, they didn't expect her to know she was linked to Rimuru or that Veldora had named Rimuru. She only whispered that last part, her voice dropping to an excited hush, like a scientist guarding their most fascinating discovery.

"Wait, what? How do you know that?" Rimuru began to question her, feeling as if even Great Sage had been stunned silent by her words. Meanwhile, Catra was more curious about another line she said, her tail twitching with interest. "And what's a dream vision?"

"Oh! That's such a fascinating phenomenon I've been studying!" Entrapta burst out, her magenta eyes sparkling with scientific excitement. "But the data isn't complete yet - we can analyze that variable later. You're here to meet Kaijin, right?" Her prehensile hair, moving with surprising precision and strength, wrapped around the pair like living rope and dragged them inside, much to Kaido's surprise as he quickly followed them in. She happily called out, her voice echoing off the workshop walls, "Kaijin, we've got visitors! More test subjects- I mean, guests!"

“She’s joking about the test subjects,” Kaido quickly interjected, though Catra’s ears twitched as she heard him mumble, “I hope.”

" We need to question what she knows later, right? " Catra spoke to Rimuru in their mind while also questioning how exactly Entrapta's hair defied the laws of physics the way it did.

Rimuru shook in Catra's arms, barely managing to nod, " Agreed ."

Inside, it looked like a typical blacksmith workshop, the air thick with the scent of coal and heated metal. An anvil for shaping ingots into blades dominated the center, its surface marked with countless strikes. A roaring furnace cast dancing orange light across the walls, melting ingots into glowing liquid metal. At the same time, a barrel of water waited nearby for cooling the blades when they needed to be assembled with the other parts. A dwarf was seen at the anvil, his muscled arms swinging a hammer in practiced rhythm against a piece of metal- most likely Kaijin.

However, there was another part of the workshop that looked more advanced, with strange contraptions and devices Catra had never seen before, while Rimuru noticed familiar items scattered across the cluttered desk; it was Entrapta's section, complete with half-finished inventions and scattered tools. Once she released them from her hair's grip, she practically bounced over to her workspace and began tinkering with the items, her hair splitting into multiple tendrils to handle different tools simultaneously while she stayed within earshot of them.

"Hey, Kaido," Kaijin spoke up over his rhythmic hammering, only noticing Kaido at first as Catra and Rimuru were still behind him, "Give me a second."

Kaido nodded, "Sure."

Catra moved from behind him so he could notice their presence too, her movements careful around the hot equipment. With Rimuru speaking up, "Forgive us for interrupting."

"That's my older brother, Kaijin," Kaido confirmed for the pair.

"Wow...He's definitely seems like the tough-as-nails workman type," Rimuru thought as they watched Kaijin move the blade from the anvil over to the heat, the metal glowing a dangerous orange as he maintained the perfect temperature for working.

"And I'm their sister, Entrapta!" Entrapta introduced herself properly this time, as she gave Catra a handshake with surprising strength; Catra could feel the roughness of her hand even through the gloves, likely due to the countless hours of mechanical work. Her smile was bright and infectious as she spoke to them, barely containing her excitement. "Well, technically adopted, but that just makes the whole family dynamic even more fascinating to study!" Her hair subtly extended behind Catra, taking precise measurements of her height and other dimensions when she thought they weren't looking - though both Catra and Rimuru noticed.

" She's the excitable type, but I can tell she's serious about her work. That, and she's pretty ..." Catra started, her heterochromatic eyes following Entrapta's animated movements around the workshop. The thought slipped out before she could catch it, and she felt Rimuru's amused presence ripple through their mental connection like a playful nudge. Her fur bristled slightly as she quickly recollected herself, a faint warmth creeping into her cheeks beneath her fur, " Pretty nice, that is ."

As they waited for Kaijin to finish up with the blade, the rhythmic hammering creating a steady backdrop to their thoughts, the blacksmith's back door creaked open on well-worn hinges. A familiar trio of dwarfs entered, their boots leaving dusty footprints on the wooden floor. They stopped abruptly in their tracks when they noticed Catra and Rimuru, their sudden stillness causing even Kaijin to pause mid-swing. The blacksmith finally turned, his goggles reflecting the forge's glow as he saw his unexpected visitors.

"A slime and..." Kaijin slowly trailed off as he studied Catra through his work-stained goggles, his experienced eyes taking in her feline features. His gaze caught on the eyepatch covering her left eye, and with respectful discretion, he tactfully redirected his attention. He looked toward the three brothers, wiping his calloused hands on his leather pants, "Friends of yours, boys?"

"Kaijin, this is the two we told you about," The first one said. Catra's eyes flickered to the distinctive tattoos that marked him as Garm, the patterns standing out against his skin in the workshop's warm light. The silent one she remembered as Myrd stood slightly apart, while Dord, his arms loaded with fresh planks of wood for the fire, completed the trio.

Dord stepped forward to stack his load near the furnace carefully, the wood clunking softly against the floor as he spoke, "They're the ones that saved us when we were hurt yesterday."

Myrd began making his non-verbal signs, his hands moving in practiced patterns that left Catra and Rimuru watching with curious uncertainty. Before they could voice their confusion, Entrapta chimed in, "Translation: Thank you for saving my brothers," her voice carrying its usual enthusiasm even as she interpreted. Her hair continued to serve multiple purposes, but she managed to bow deeply to Catra and Rimuru, her voice softening with genuine emotion. "Thank you for the healing potion," she said. I feared even though I got them away from danger, they would be unable to do what they love still."

"Don't be like that," Catra interrupted her, her voice carrying a weight of personal experience. Entrapta lifted her head, confusion evident in her wide magenta eyes, "From what we heard, you played a part in saving them too, so don't beat yourself up like that..." Catra's tail twitched slightly as memories flickered behind her eyes, "Trust me, I know what it does to you."

"She's right you know. Though I am happy I get to meet the pair of you," Kaijin set aside his tools with a practiced motion, the metal clicking against the workbench. He moved away from his anvil and settled onto the ground before them, his weathered features softening with gratitude. Catra gently placed Rimuru on the ground in front of her, the slime's blue form catching the workshop's varied lights. Kaijin bowed from his sitting position, his beard nearly touching the floor, "You have my thanks."

“It was nothing really,” Rimuru answered simply as Kaijin lifted back up into a normal sitting position. “Just glad we could help.”

“So, what can I do for you?” Kaijin asked the pair.

“Oooh, Oooh, can i take a guess?” Entrapta eagerly chimed in, even her hair stopped what she was doing as she was practically begging, “I can guarantee I know what they’ll ask, it was in a dream vision after all!”

“Oh? You never talk about your dream visions anymore since you never met the people in them, but you're saying these two were?” Kaijin rubbed his bread, not bothered at all by Entrapta’s interruption, more curious than anything. He glanced at Rimuru and Catra, “But only if the two of them don’t mind. We don’t want to bother them after all.”

Rimuru and Catra glanced at each other and nodded, Rimuru glanced at Entrapta, “We are curious, though before you guess, can you tell us how it works?”

“The best I can guess is that it has something to do with your dreams.” Catra suggested.

"Correct! It’s called Dream-Smither! It's THE MOST FASCINATING skill EVER!" Entrapta's eyes lit up, her hair splitting into multiple tendrils - one grabbing her journal, another adjusting her mask, a third wildly gesturing. "Technically, it's a probabilistic precognitive invention-prediction mechanism! But in simple terms - I get VISIONS! Of people! And the things I could MAKE for them!"

She leaned in dramatically close to Catra and Rimuru, surprised how this simple question got her more excited than they had expected at all, her hair forming an impromptu research diagram in mid-air; leaving Catra dazed but Rimuru fascinated. "BUT - and this is the BRILLIANT part - I can ONLY get these visions if I physically meet the subject! Can you imagine the statistical improbability? It's like a magical data collection algorithm with BUILT-IN limitations!"

Her hair dramatically flipped her journal open, showing complex sketches and barely legible notes. "I learn INCREDIBLE things - which I keep confidential because DATA IS SACRED and SCIENTIFIC ETHICS are IMPORTANT!"

The last part she said with such severe intensity that it contrasted hilariously with her previous manic energy.

Catra was amazed and impressed by her knowledge, despite a brief moment of dizziness from trying to absorb all that information. She found herself speaking before Rimuru could even answer, “Go for it.”

“ Catra? ” Rimuru asked, surprised in their mind. They were about to agree themselves, but Catra beat them to it, a teasing edge in their voice, “ You’re crushing– ”

Catra ended up squeezing Rimuru, a little embarrassed, and it distracted Rimuru from those thoughts.

“Goody! Well, Catra and Rimuru are here looking for help with developing a goblin village the pair are living in!” Entrapta was beginning to start, but Kaijin stopped her.

“I see…I get what’s going on, but I’m sorry, we’re pretty backed up at the moment,” He apologized as Entrapta froze a little frustrated, not by him, but at the situation they are currently stuck with, “Thanks to the impossible order a certain numskull minister put in…”

“Impossible order?” Rimuru questioned.

“We might be going to war soon, so he asked for twenty longswords,” Kaijin started to explain, “By the end of the week, no less. I’m short on materials, so I’ve only made one so far.”

“This is why I told you to refuse,” Entrapta sighed as she remembered the conversation as well, and she had been adamant against the order. “The mines are dry right now; magicules aren’t building up fast enough for new ore.”

 Kaido crossed his arms and stared at his brother. “Why didn’t you refuse him, and why did you ignore our sister?”

“Good point.” Rimuru agreed.

Catra also wanted to know why he didn’t refuse such an order, “I only met Entrapta, and I trust her word over this minister guy.”

“I did tell him that, at first! But then that damned Minister Vesta said…” Kaijin spoke, but stopped as Entrapta flipped to a page in her journal and spoke for him.

“‘My, My! The great Kaijin that everyone calls the best blacksmith around can’t handle such a simple task?’” Entrapta then closed the journal and looked at Kaijin, “I know he also said something about me that I’m not going to repeat, but it was an obvious bait, Kaijin.”

“I can’t understand why you let it slide; i won’t; he had the nerve to say that!” Kaijin clenched his fist as he recalled the memory vividly. Whatever happened, Catra could tell he really wanted to punch the minister. “That Bastard!”

“By the way, you’re talking about how you're short on materials, and Entrapta was talking about the mine dry and not enough magicules?” Catra asked as she was trying to piece together information just from vague statements, tail twitching as she asked, “What exactly were you trying to mine for?”

“It’s a special ore, called Magic ore…which it feels like there could be a better name for it,” Entrapta mumbled probably having serval ideas instead of simply Magic Ore, “It’s what happens when it aborbs Magicules in the surrounding area over time to create it…but i’ve mentioned before, it’s dry right now after…well…”

“And even if we did have the materials, it takes about two weeks to make twenty swords, one and a half with Entrapta’s help,” Kaijin moved back to the anvil to hammer away at the metal. “Yet we have five days to get to the king. Other blacksmiths were also contracted and allotted the work evenly…mostly. And if I can’t, my certification could be revoked, and so could Entrapta’s.”

“Kaijin, we both know that even if I didn’t, I would still be making stuff regardless! I have more than just blacksmithing up my sleeve!” Entrapta said with excitement, her eyes sparkling brightly.

“That really sucks,” Rimuru thought at first, but then he remembered something. “ Wait, magic ore? Don’t I…? ”

Catra, smiling at the thought connection, chimed in, “ Herbs weren’t the only thing you grabbed in that cave, remember? ”

Rimuru and Catra exchanged amused glances before laughter erupted, filling the workshop. It confused all the dwarfs, including Entrapta, who was skimming through her journal with her hair until she found a page that made her eyes light up with joy.

“Old man…” Rimuru paused, laughter fading as they released a vast cluster of magic stones from their slime, forming one massive ore, and placed it on the floor in front of Kaijin. “Can you use this?”

Kaijin stared in disbelief as he processed Rimuru’s words, then exclaimed, “Wait, wait, wait! That’s magic ore! And it’s unbelievably pure!”

Entrapta rolled her eyes playfully, using a piece of her hair to slide Kaijin’s goggles off. “Seriously, those don’t help your eyesight at all! Now, what do you actually see?”

“It’s not just magic ore! It’s already been processed! It’s a cluster of magisteel!” Kaijin couldn’t hide his excitement as he gazed at the cluster.

Catra couldn’t see the difference, but their joy made her happy. “Exactly!”

“I can forge even stronger swords with this! This entire cluster…” Kaijin’s eyes were glued to the cluster before he looked toward Catra and Rimuru. “Y-You’re really going to let me have this? I’ll pay you handsomely!”

Catra knew Rimuru would play hard to get, so she decided to test her negotiation skills. She placed a hand on Rimuru and bowed to Kaijin. “All we really want is your help finding other artisans who’ll come to our village and teach their crafts to the goblins.”

“Yeah, you’d have known that already if you hadn’t interrupted me earlier, Kaijin,” Entrapta teased. She noticed Kaijin’s small sweat drop—not from all the smithing—and the other dwarfs laughed. Entrapta then bowed, her hair cascading down, and added, “And I’d… like to be one of those who helps.”

“Wait, really?” Catra and Rimuru exclaimed in unison, their bond shining through in that moment. Rimuru took the lead. “But what about–”

“Eh, let’s stop there. We’ve learned that when Entrapta sets her mind to something, she’ll move mountains to make it happen,” Kaido interrupted with a chuckle, anticipating their questions. “All we ask is that she keeps in touch with us.”

“Of course! You don’t need to worry about a thing!” Entrapta said enthusiastically, wrapping them all in her hair for a hug. 

Kaijin, smiling gently, turned back to Rimuru and Catra. “Is that really all you want, though?”

“Our main priority right now is the food, shelter, and clothing part—specifically shelter and clothing,” Rimuru explained, breaking down their negotiation points. “I’d also like to get some clothing for future use, along with weapons and armor.”

“I’d like some clothing too…” Catra began to speak, but Entrapta jumped in.

“That transforms with you between forms? Don’t worry! I’m already on that! Dream vision, remember? I just took your height measurements!” Entrapta hummed as she jotted notes in her journal, her smile bright as she dove into her new project. “I’ll ask you for your other measurements later!”

“Either way, that’s easy!” Kaijin smiled as pumped a fist against his chest.

Catra’s curiosity got the better of her, as if they precisely needed magic ore to create the longswords. Her eyes sparkled as she eagerly asked, “Are the longswords you’re making like the one in the shop out front? Can we see it…” Catra could hear precisely how eager she was, but she didn’t know her tail was swaying and eyes dialting until she felt Rimuru’s amusement and, seeing the grins of everyone else, coughing a little, “Is that okay with you?”

Kaijin nodded to Garm who left the blacksmith for a few moments before coming back with the glowing longsword they had seen earlier, Catra was even allowed to hold it as she held the handle in one palm, and the blade in the other, her eyes scanning it, “There’s not even a single mark or discrepancy on it, this is a perfectly forged blade!”

“Oh? Even if I have an untrained eye, I can tell you have real skill, Kaijin,” Rimuru praised, but their focus was currently on Catra. “But, Catra, it looks like you have a trained eye for this sort of thing.”

“I could make a joke of how cat eyes are better, but in truth, I did a lot of traveling before the forest and saw many weapons and could slowly tell things about them,” Catra explained happily. For whatever reason, she always loved weapons. She might have skills, but weapons are awesome, which makes the Skill: Water Sword one of her new favourite skills. As she investigated, her eyes widened even more, “And this sword is designed to evolve and change with the user?! You are one of the best blacksmiths!”

“ That’s incredible! Makes me wish he would come to the village himself . For that to happen, ” Rimuru had an idea and immediately sent their thoughts to Catra, whose eyes widened then grinned as she knelt down to make it easier for Rimuru to reach, “I’m gonna borrow this sword!”

What happened next was a bizarre and amazing thing as Rimuru jumped onto the sword to swallow it and have it analyzed inside themselves with the help of the Great Sage. Of course, only Catra and maybe Entrapta knew the truth. Cause after a few seconds Rimuru ended up spitting out copies of the sword until there was a whole bunch of them.

“Twenty-one longswords made from magisteel clusters!” Rimuru happily announced.

While the dwarfs were still shocked and processing the impossible thing Rimuru pulled off, Entrapta was initially confused, “Why twenty-one? Only twenty was needed.”

“Cause Catra would keep begging to have one of her own,” Rimuru teased before having to bounce out of the way as Catra swiped a claw at them, embarrassed. “You know it’s true!”

“A party?”

A few hours had passed since the incident, and during that time, Kaijin, Entrapta, and the brothers had taken the swords for the delivery to the king, having to get a receipt to show that the work had been done. Catra and Rimuru had remained in the blacksmith as they waited while Kaido had to go back to his job.

“Yeah! We made the delivery on time, thanks to you two!” Kaijin happily explained.

“But you don’t have to do that for us,” Rimuru was starting to say.

“Aw, come on!” Garm called out with a grin, “There’ll be lots of cute elf girls there!”

That was like a trigger in Catra and Rimuru’s souls as the memories of the elves Rimuru was thinking about around the campfire a few nights ago came rushing back; they tried not to show any reaction, for Rimuru it was easier, for Catra her tail was starting to sway and her fur was poofing up.

“Yeah! It’s a place called “Butterflies of the Night”, where girls of all ages, from young to mature, wait on you hand and foot!” Dord added on; Catra was already debating whether she should go as her humanoid form or her cat form, because both had their advantages. And Rimuru was in love with the name of the place.

Wyrd hummed at the end, so Entrapta translated for him, “They also don’t mind if you’re a man or woman, they love all sorts”, To Catra, it seemed like it was meant to hook her in even more, Rimuru had already been caught into agreeing, and that was the final line for her. Entrapta did nod as she grinned, “They are also really friendly and love to hear me talk about my inventions.”

“C’mon Rimuru, Catra. It won’t be a party without you.” Kaijin smiled.

“Sheesh, if you really want us to…” Rimuru sounded reluctant, but Catra knew the truth, “ Catra, I recommend using your cat form.”

“ Okay? Hopefully, I don’t regret it… ” She knew she wouldn’t regret it either way.

Little did she know, Rimuru’s choice was the delightful one.

Chapter Text

“Oh, Kaijin! How nice to see you!”

Were the first words the group heard as they entered the Butterflies of the Night. Kaijin was either a regular here or simply friends with the owner; it could also be due to the fact that he entered the place first. Catra, as Rimuru had recommended, had switched to her cat form and was being held in one of Entrapta’s arms while Rimuru was in the other.

“Welcome!” Ahead of them were several elves with varying sizes and appearances, all cheerfully greeting them.“ Elves! ” Rimuru's excitement was palpable, abandoning all pretense of keeping their thoughts private as they communicated telepathically with Catra. Their gaze lingered on the pretty elf with yellow blonde hair and azure eyes, her green dress barely containing the swell of her chest and stopping daringly halfway down her thighs.

Catra's eyes drifted to another, her skin a shade darker, eyes of vibrant yellow, and hair like black silk, a lovely necklace gracing her neck. Her attire consisted of a red top that lovingly embraced her breasts and a long skirt, daringly split on either side to reveal the curve of her thighs and the full length of her legs. Usually quick with a clever remark, Catra found herself speechless: “ Pretty elves! ”

Rimuru, catching Catra's gaze onto the same elf, felt their thoughts grow even more unrestrained. “ Eros…I mean, elves! ”

“ Eros? ” Catra looked at Rimuru, confused. Before Rimuru could prevent her, she looked into Rimuru’s memories for the meaning of the word, which she did. She got a whole lot of imagery alongside it, making her fur poof up. “ ...Agreed! ”

“Oh, how cute!” The elf in the green dress moved closer, her smile radiant as she noticed Rimuru and Catra nestled in Entrapta's arms. Entrapta, obliging, gently handed Rimuru over. Rimuru was immediately enveloped in a soft, warm embrace against her chest, two faint spots of pink blooming on their slime form, betraying their enjoyment.

While the attention was focused on Rimuru, Entrapta offered Catra to an elf with auburn hair and hazel eyes. This elf wore a pink dress that offered a bit more coverage, though still left the upper curves of her breasts exposed, adorned with strings of pearls. Catra found herself nestled against the elf's ample bosom, her back stroked in a soothing rhythm, eliciting a soft purr, “She’s so adorable!”

“Hey! I had my eye on it first!” Another elf, darker blonde than the first and with emerald eyes, complained as they snatched Rimuru away from the first, hugging Rimuru to her chest.

“ Oh, my god! Her dress is so thin! ” Rimuru voiced to Catra, as the elf wore a pinkish-purple dress with a yellow belt around her waist; Rimuru was pressed right between the soft valley of her breasts.

Catra then found herself cradled in the arms of an elf who was shorter and slightly younger, at least by elf standards. The elf was wearing a cute green dress with sleeves so long they hung over her hands. Catra had to close her eyes against the wave of pleasure as she received scratches right on the head between her ears, twitching with excitement. "She has a cute little eye patch!"

" She has magic fingers! " was all Catra could think as her tail swished from her touch.

"It feels so nice and bouncy!" Catra managed to focus enough to open her eyes and witness Rimuru now being held by the elf that they agreed exuded eros. The elf was playfully testing Rimuru’s elasticity while on her chest, making her breasts bounce up and down slightly.

" My thoughts exactly… " And Rimuru the whole while was enjoying said attention and the feel of the elf’s breasts underneath them.

Though Catra became a little jealous when four of the elves practically surrounded Rimuru, all wanting a turn to hold them, practically smothering them with their breasts, she wanted that same treatment, but honestly, all the petting and scratching she was getting was at least on par.

" So this is what women’s boobs feel like… " Rimuru said in bliss as the blush hadn’t gone away, enjoying the feeling of all their breasts on them, " I’ve never felt them before. This must be paradise! "

" They're amazing, right! Everyone feels different, but they all have a loving, soft feel, right? " Catra agreed with a nod, leaning against the elf that was petting her head. She could tell Rimuru was slightly confused about her wording. " Being a small cat has its advantages – being picked up by many pretty women on my travels. It certainly is paradise! "

" I love being a slime, " was all Rimuru said happily.

“After the way you two resisted coming here, you sure seem to be enjoying yourselves,” Kaijin’s voice cut through all the bliss and wonder Catra and Rimuru were feeling, a smirk on his face.

“Huh? N-No, I wouldn’t say that!” Rimuru argued as they spoke out loud, though it seemed to make the elves even happier when they did.

Catra could focus since the petting had stopped for a second, and since Rimuru was talking aloud, she figured it was fine for her to do so as well, “A-And I technically never agreed or d-disagreed.” Her small words got her more pets from the elf as they found her even more adorable.

“Hmmhmm, and I bet you two weren’t talking to each other secretly about how you actually wanted to come here. I doubt Catra would have switched back to her cat form otherwise,” Entrapta commented with a grin of her own, arms behind her back, hair crossed like they didn’t believe them.

Rimuru and Catra noticed the wide grins shared between Kaijin, the three brothers, and Entrapta, realizing they'd been perfectly called out. All they could do was practically bury their faces into the ample bosoms of the elves holding them, blushes adorning their faces.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s get some drinks!” The elf behind the bar said cheerfully as she clapped her hands together; Catra had a feeling she was the owner.

Soon enough, their group settled into the wraparound booth at the edge of the room. There was enough space for their group and a few of the elves to sit with them, while the others continued to work. Rimuru found themselves on the lap of the elf with the green dress, while Catra was on the elf's lap with the pearl necklace beside them. Entrapta sat on the other side, also wanting to use the opportunity to get Catra’s measurements while in cat form.

Entrapta had a book on the table and was scribbling something down, ignoring her drink for the moment. The elf with the pearl necklace, while scratching Catra’s back, looked over curiously, “What are you working on this time, Entrapta?”

“I’m so glad you asked that, Amber!” Entrapta said cheerfully as she showed her book to Amber, revealing Catra’s humanoid form with many tiny notes, measurements, and diagrams. “Rimuru and Catra were part of a dream vision, so I had to start making something for them! This fascinating piece is for Catra! Clothes that can change with her forms!”

“It’s something I really need…” Catra mumbled with a nod, though her purring made her mumbling sound a little weird.

“Hmm, why would she need clothes that change with…” The elf that had Rimuru on her lap looked over curiously, taking a better look at Catra now. Realizing the eyepatch wasn’t there to hide an injury, but to hide something else, she gasped softly, “Oh! Is she what I think she is?”

Entrapta just grinned as she looked at Catra, patting her head with her hair as Catra tried not to let anything slip, “What do you say, Catra? Is Rosalie correct in her assumption?”

Catra was silent at first, glancing at Rimuru, “ Should I? ”

“ Sure, why not? None of these guys seem bad to me! ” Rimuru reassured her with a slight nod of their slime body, holding a beer cup with a tiny bit of their slime.

Catra thought for a bit longer, then smiled, using one of her paws to catch the string of the eyepatch and tugged it off with her claw, revealing her heterochromia eyes to everyone. The elves’ eyes all seemed to sparkle, while the dwarfs were only slightly shocked, as they had an inkling. Entrapta was giddy, as she didn’t need to hide that information from her brother and friends anymore. The small elf with the long sleeves reached over, stroking Catra’s ears, “She’s a dual creature!”

“Well, technically, I’m a magicat now…” Catra slowly trailed off, not knowing her name.

She simply smiled and said, “Lily.”

“Lily, 'cause Rimuru named me,” Catra smiled as her tail shook back and forth on Amber’s lap, “And it’s the best thing to ever happen to me!”

Rimuru felt happiness inside them as they heard Catra admit that, before slowly getting curious as they used a piece of their slime to borrow Entrapta’s book for a slight second to read it—she didn’t mind them doing so. They briefly glanced over the page before noticing certain measurements, stammering, “E-Entrapta! When d-did you get t-those measurements?!”

The whole group looked confused, especially Catra, as it was about her, after all. But before she had a chance to inquire, Kaijin quickly reached across the table and snatched the book, fear evident on his face even before he read the page, then sighing with a little bit of annoyance, “What did we tell you about that, Entrapta?”

The elf beside Kaijin, the one with the purplish-pink dress, looked over his shoulder, eyes widening a little with a smile, “Oh! I see, but it makes sense if she’s making an outfit for her.”

“Thank you, Jade! One person gets it,” Entrapta grinned as she used her hair to reach and grab the book, gently bringing it back to her side. That is, if Catra didn’t pounce onto the table to pin down the book so she could get the chance to look at it, “C-Catra?”

Catra’s eyes quickly scanned the page and found exactly what they had been discussing: measurements for bust, waist, and hips. And while she was interested in knowing her own measurements, she glanced at Entrapta, not angry at her, as she simply tilted her head, “How?”

“O-Oh!” Entrapta sounded relieved, and so did Kaijin and the brothers, who simply sighed; perhaps this hadn’t been the first time Entrapta had done something like this. Entrapta separated three of the longest, thinnest hairs of hers to show them, “Back at the blacksmith, I had these three wrap around each section so I can get the measurements. I’m pretty accurate when it comes to my own hair, after all.”

“That’s impressive!...and a little scary,” Rimuru admitted, completely impressed, while taking a sip of their drink.

“Honestly, it is, so I don’t mind…but please tell me next time,” Catra asked before gently hopping back onto Amber’s lap for more pats, helping her relax, “Besides, I don’t think Kaijin and the brothers need another scare.”

Kaijin ended up laughing as he held up his cup and had a drink, happy to change the conversation, “Man! It sure threw me for a loop, though! I busted my ass to make that sword, and you made all those copies in seconds!”

“Only because the original you made was so incredible. All I did was analyzie it and used that magisteel cluster to copy it,” Rimuru replied excidelty, though there was a bit of silence around the table after it, “Was I out of line?” Was said outloud, but inside, “ Please don’t tell me I sounded too mean or bland to him .”

“ Maybe only a little because like he said, he made it in a week while you made the rest in seconds…but I don’t think he’ll be too mad, just a little annoyed, and probably mostly at the Vesta guy who caused it, ” Catra answered with her own thoughts to help calm Rimuru slightly, there was a little smile on her face as whiskers twitch, “ Maybe choose your words carefully next time? ”

“ Yeah, you’re right, thank you Catra ,” RImuru thanked as they waited for Kaijin to speak up.

“If i’m being honest, it is a little vexing…” Kaijin responded with a neutral face at first, before grinning and holding his drink up as he looked more determined, “But next time, I’ll make one so amazing that even you won’t be able to copy it! I relish this challenge!”

“Me on the other hand, I have ideas in mind that could use a lot of copying, so you can copy my stuff anytime you want, if you can!” Entrapta grinned as she finally placed down her book and took a drink at the same time as Kaijin.

“That’s the spirit!” Catra and Rimuru found themselves cheering for them at the same time, before Rimuru held out his cup while all the while Catra was feeling slightly warmer, “Refill, please!”

The owner smiled as she walked over with a new bottle, asking, “Can you even taste this?”

“I can’t, but any drink is delicious if a pretty lady pours it for me!” Rimuru responded very smoothly as their drink was poured, “ Since poison Immunity is preventing it from happening. ”

“ Amendment ,” Great Sage’s voice rang out startling both Catra and Rimuru as they jumped slightly, confusing Amber and Rosalie. It had been a bit since the pair had heard Great Sage’s voice, listening as she continued, “ Only Rimuru currently has Poison Immunity, still needing to adjust in Catra’s body who only has Fire Immunity adjusted. Any drink you have effects her still. ”

“ That’s why i’m feeling a little fuzzy and warm…” Catra murmured in their thoughts, giving Rimuru a pleading look for now, “ I’m sorry if this is out of line…but i still want to be sober, I don’t want to get drunk without tasting it .”

“ It’s okay, Catra, I understand…i am looking forward to when you do get it though so we can drink lots together, ” Rimuru easily agreed as they placed their cup onto the table.

For a few minutes everyone happily chatted and drank with each other, the atmosphere was so peaceful and delightful, though Catra couldn’t help feel like they were forgetting something; she shrugged, maybe it will come back to her later.

“Hey, Rimuru, Catra!” The eros elf got both their attentions as they both looked at her curiously from across the table, before making hand gestures that they couldn’t classify, and her words didn’t exactly make it better, “Would you like to try this? I’m very good at it. Everyone says I’m pretty amazing, in fact.”

Rimuru clearly thought it was something from their shocked reaction as the images in their head reached Catra’s, of the Eros elf doing some suggestive actions, while also making suggestive noises; which while Catra didn’t mind in the slightest, she doubts she had meant those things…at least she thinks.

“ C-Catra, she couldn’t poissbily…right? I-Is this the legend I heard about? ” Rimuru stammered in their mind clearly flustered at their own thoughts and images, pourpossfully allowing Catra to see them this time unlike the accidental thoughts back at that campfire, the blush on their slime brighter.

And Catra was in not better position as all her fur had poofed up with tail swishing a lot as her gaze had focused on the hand gestures of rubbing something, with the images not helping her, “ I-I don’t think so…but if she is…w-what do we even do?! ” As they had their private discussion, she had gotten something out.

“Is that orb what I think it is, Jasmine?” Entrapta asked, cutting through all the images in Catra’s and Rimuru’s mind as they focused back on the present.

Within Jasmine’s hands, with a clear blue orb that could fit the shape of her hands, making the hand gestures make sense now, Rimuru while disappointed, also could make sense of it now, “ Oh. She meant fortunetelling. ”

“ Ohh, I’ve never seen it before…that’s still exciting, ” Catra glanced at the orb, murmuring with a small blush, “ We…have dirty minds, don’t we? ”

“ I-I can’t argue that, ” Rimuru responded, embarrassed.

“ Hmm ,” Great Sage hummed in agreement.

“ We weren’t talking to you! ” Rimuru and Catra shouted at Great Sage together after hearing her hum.

“So,” Rimuru spoke up softly to Jasmine, “What kind of reading can you do?”

Jasmine started to ponder in her mind with a smile, “Well…what would you two like?”

But instead of Catra and Rimuru getting to answer, it was Rosalie who seemed more excited than the pair, even though she’s probably seen it happen many times before, “How about the people they are destined to be with?”

That got everyone’s attention as all conversations stopped as they took a second to process what Rosalie was suggesting, with Kaijin stopping in the middle of a drink and Entrapta picking up her book as if ready to take notes, likely thinking they’ll end up making stuff for the destined people too whenever they meet.

Catra’s thoughts were silent as she wondered to herself; she had never actually considered that part of her future, as she had always wandered and explored, then helped the goblins for a while, and now having a name and connected to Rimuru. But with how things might be going, maybe it was time to consider that part of her future, simply hoping it wouldn’t actually change anything about her connection with Rimuru.

Rimuru was having similar thoughts about it, but was more excited and curious about it; it was an exciting aspect to know who they might be destined to be with, after all.

“Oh, good idea!” Jasmine said with a cheerful voice as she placed the orb on the table, no one noticing some more patrons entering the bar as they were having a good time, “Let’s start with Rimuru!”

After a bit of waving her hands over the orb, a light began to shine as a mist pooled inside the orb to begin showing a vision; there were six people, though five of them were children but all seeming sad as they seemed to be saying goodbyes to a pretty girl with long black hair, and maybe black eyes, slightly hard to tell, but she had four dash markings under her left eye.

But then the oddest thing happened, as it seemed like the vision split into two as a crack was in the middle; even stranger still, it showed someone humanoid, but that’s all they could tell because all it showed was the shadow. Rimuru, since this vision was about who they were destined with, asked, “What’s going on?”

“Oooh, I never witnessed this before!” Entrapta started scribbling down notes in her book, a separate page right at the back.

“Sometimes this happens when there might be another you are destined with; it's like an alternative that can change so much, so it shows a shadow,” Jasmine explained. It was a rare occurrence but not unheard of either, and everyone nodded with understanding; either way, Rimuru was turning red.

Kaijin was quick to call out and tease them, “That was a pretty girl. You’re turning red.”

“I-I don’t turn red,” Rimuru mumbled, embarrassed, getting a few laughs, turning it around while looking at Catra’s, “Now it’s Catra’s turn.” Though at the moment, Catra seemed to have a far off look in her eyes and a slight blush, “Catra?”

“H-Huh? Oh, right,” Catra shook her head before smirking, having kept her thoughts hidden from Rimuru, as she looked at Jasmine, “Hit me.”

Once again Jasmine started using the orb and it didn’t take long for it to fill up; like the first, there were six people, though Rimuru seemed shocked as if having seen three of them before, the vision zoomed in on a girl who was dressed in sparkly purple-like clothes, a guy who was an archer based on the bow as he and the girl walked ahead of the others. The last was blonde with bright blue eyes, and the strangest sword ever attached to her back.

But, like Rimuru’s, her vision cracked in two with another shadow of a humanoid shape; it was odd that this rare occurrence happened twice in a short time span, but Catra took into account that both of them were unique, after all. No one noticed Rimuru had gone silent for a few seconds, either.

“She was pretty and fascinating,” Entrapta had focused hard on the vision, her eyes locked onto the sword mostly, “I wonder where she made that?”

As Catra and Rimuru were still silently contemplating what they had seen, Jasmine smiled at the pair of them, “Oh, you’re curious about the girls you’re destined to be with, huh?”

“No fair, cheating on us!” Rosalie joked and teased down to Rimuru underneath her breasts.

Catra received a few gentle scratches on her back from Amber as she was teasing as well, “And right in front of us!”

“Should you really be wasting time in a place like this,” the most snarky and devious-sounding voice cut through the happy atmosphere of the table, as they all looked towards the bar, with two men there, one with a mustache that practically screamed ‘minister’; likely Vesta, “Kaijin.”

“It’s Minister Vesta,” Kaijin murmured, practically giving them the answer.

Entrapta seemed to hide her notebook away out of Vesta’s view, pouting as she crossed her arms, "...of course he had to be here.”

“ So that’s him? ” Rimuru’s voice entered Catra’s head as they both stared at Vesta and his really smug smile. “ He looks pretty stubborn and high-strung. ”

Catra just kept staring, as it was too late for the blindfold anyway to hide what she was, “ His moustache looks so easily removable; can I scratch it off? ”

“ Catra, no, ” Rimuru quickly responded, slightly fearful, hearing a hum of disappointment from Catra.

“Is this a good time to be playing around?” Vesta started to approach the table, his voice smug as he got closer, “I believe the deadline for those longswords is…”

“We just sent them in,” Entrapta interrupted with her own little smug smile.

“If you don’t get them finished in time…” It took Vesta a second to realize what Entrapta had said, eyes wide in shock as he looked between Kaijin and Entrapta, “What? You sent them in?!”

“Yep. All twenty of them,” Kaijin nodded to confirm Entrapta’s words, while Entrapta’s hair pulled out a small piece of paper as she smirked and shoved it in front of Vesta’s face, “Here’s the invoice if you don’t believe us.”

Vesta’s eyes glanced over it briefly, coughing into his hand slightly as if to refocus himself, nearly losing his composure – even though Rimuru and Catra could easily tell. Trying to save face, “Is that so?”

“ Think this guy knowingly gave Kaijin and Entrapta an impossible order? ” Rimuru speculated as they conversed with Catra while Vesta was talking in the background to Kaijin and Entrapta.

Catra focused on Vesta as she used her mind-reading magic; unlike Rimuru, who had Great Sage to alert them (which still ended up better in the long run), Vesta had no defenses. ‘ How did they do the impossible?! This was well-planned out to get their licenses revoked. I have to think of something else! ’ were Vesta’s thoughts. Catra turned and nodded at Rimuru, tail flicking, “ Yeah, you’re right; he did it on purpose. ”

Initially confused about why Catra was so confident, they briefly remembered how their whole mind conversation started with Catra trying to read their mind back at the goblin village the first time, “ Right…I forgot you could do something like that! I could use that too, but I trust you to be able to do it better. ”

“ Thank you, ” Catra thanked softly, with the fur on her cheek slightly poofing, “ But it’s also not hard to see that they all have history…and clearly nothing good with how Kaijin and Entrapta have been acting. ”

“ I get that feeling too, ” Rimuru agreed with a soft nod, turning slightly on Rosalie’s lap to look at Catra directly, “ Another thing we need to ask about later? ”

“ Yes, but at least this topic won’t have to be in secret like the one with Entrapta’s, ” Catra responded with a little giggle in her head, stopping as she noticed that Vesta was turning towards them, “ Oop, looks like he’s going to give us trouble too .”

“I’m more concerned with them!” Vestra referred to Rimuru and Catra, his gaze sharp.

Rimuru, feigning innocence despite knowing Vestra intended to cause trouble, asked, “Huh? Us?”

“Yeah?” Catra tilted her head, a mixture of confusion and a brewing glare in her heterochromatic eyes. “What about us?”

“You shouldn’t bring such a lowly monster and a wild cat into a high-brow establishment like this,” Vestra declared, clearly trying to provoke a reaction, though they refused to take the bait. Catra, however, silently conceded the ‘wild cat’ part, as it reflected her life before. Vestra pulled out a napkin to dab at his mouth, feigning disgust. “It’s making me feel ill.”

" Do Dual-Creatures count as monsters? " Rimuru wondered telepathically, inquiring with Catra.

" People keep fighting over it, " Catra shrugged mentally. " Some think we’re monsters, others just rare creatures…if my kind stopped disappearing when reaching my stage, it would help. ”

“Hey!” Vestra turned his attention to the owner behind the bar, his tone demanding. “Do you allow monsters to be brought in here?”

“They may be monsters, but they seem like a harmless cat and a harmless slime,” she reasoned softly, attempting to defuse the situation.

“What?” Vestra looked unamused at her reasoning. “They are monsters, am I wrong?”

“Well, wrong about one at least,” Entrapta interjected, scooping Catra up from Amber’s lap and holding her protectively. With a flourish of her hair, she gestured to Catra. “Dual-Creatures are some of the most fascinating and rarest animals in the world; even monsters find them fascinating. If that’s so, they aren’t monsters.”

“This is why we never have reasonable debates, Entrapta,” Vestra dismissed her, revealing a complex history between them, perhaps even more complicated than his history with Kaijin. He glared at Catra for a moment, seeming to relent slightly, before turning back to the owner. “Barring that, are you trying to say slimes aren’t monsters?”

“N-No, not in the least,” the owner stammered, retrieving a filled cup from the counter. She approached him cautiously, offering him the drink in an attempt to appease him. “Come, now, Minister. How about a drink? Please, help yourself.”

“Hmph,” Vestra eyed the drink for a moment, a nasty glint appearing in his eye. Catra tried to read his mind, but she barely needed to, as he grabbed the cup. “This is what should be done to monsters!” And with a flick of his wrist, he dumped the contents directly onto Rimuru, eliciting gasps of shock from the others. Catra’s instincts screamed at her to leap at Vestra, but Entrapta held her back firmly. Fortunately, none of the alcohol splashed onto Rosalie.

“Rimuru!” Rosalie cried out in shock, concern etched on her face.

“Don’t worry,” Rimuru reassured everyone, absorbing the wine with ease. Not a trace remained. “I’m okay. Did your dress get wet?”

Rosalie, still stunned, nodded softly. “I-I’m fine…”

" That made me mad, " Rimuru confessed to Catra telepathically. " And as much as I would now love for you to scratch his moustache off, the guy’s a minister. We can’t let our short tempers screw up things for Kaijin, Entrapta, and this bar. ”

“ Fruit wine. Alcohol content: 7%, ” Great Sage analyzed the drink and its composition.

" Uh, Great Sage, I don’t need that info right now, " Rimuru sighed, but blinked in surprise when Great Sage continued.

“ Correction: This info is needed right now, ” Great Sage retorted, a hint of sass in her voice. “ Two words: Poison Immunity. ”

Understanding dawned on Rimuru as they looked towards Catra. She hadn’t responded, and now they knew why: her eyes were slightly dilated, her fur puffed up, and her tail barely twitched, indicating her tipsiness. All Rimuru could think was, “ Oh no. ”

Before Rimuru could fully process Catra’s inebriated state, Kaijin surged to his feet, his face a mask of fury. He punched Vestra squarely in the face, sending him stumbling back. The sudden violence caused several others at the table to rise as well. Kaijin cracked his knuckles, advancing on Vestra. “Vesta! I hope you’re prepared to pay for treating my guests like that!” When Vestra attempted to speak, Kaijin silenced him with a snarl. “Shut up!”

However, before Kaijin could deliver another blow, a sudden blur launched from over his shoulder, barely managing to scratch Vestra’s face and removing half of his mustache. Catra, in her drunken state, had attacked Vestra, but before she could continue, Entrapta’s purple hair wrapped around her body, gently restraining and placating her.

Rimuru sighed in relief as they looked at Entrapta. “Thank you.” Though Entrapta stood her ground, moving closer to Vestra. “Entrapta?”

“You really shouldn’t attack him, you know. You could get in trouble, and they might not let you back to your village and home,” Entrapta lightly scolded Catra, who only huffed with drunken sass. Entrapta examined the scratch marks on Vesta’s face. “Not that deep, and they don’t really look like scratch marks…” Entrapta’s other twin-tail then delivered a swift punch to Vestra’s face, knocking him and his companion to the ground. “More like hair marks.”

Rimuru was silent for a moment, caught off guard by the entire situation, particularly Entrapta’s defense of Catra. “Was that a good idea? Isn’t he a minister? Won’t this mean trouble for you both?”

“Ehh, not like I’ll be living here much longer,” Entrapta said with a soft smile. Her hair then gently placed the drunk Catra atop Rimuru, who quickly curled up on their body. Entrapta then looked at Kaijin. “However…”

Kaijin stood there silently for a few seconds before speaking. “Hey, Rimuru…you were looking for skilled artisans, right?” He slowly turned his head towards them. “Would you settle for me alongside my sister?”

Rimuru was stunned. They and Catra had been contemplating how to bring Kaijin with them, but this opportunity was unexpected. They carefully bounced up and down while keeping Catra settled on them. “We won’t need to settle if we have you two. We’d be thrilled to have you.”

Of course, things can never be that simple.