It looked, as if it were guarding something.
Well, I couldn't see anything in the surroundings.
Leaning over and inspecting the corpse of the cat, it was a [Northern Forest Cat]. That made a bit more sense, especially in context. It was a Skogkatt after all… hah. To think, the developers even put in the Scandinavian house cat, but more in the form of its ancestral heritage and the one from lore. The kind of cat that pulled Freyja's chariot… to think they would be roaming the forests here.
"Too bad little guy, you would have been a fun pet," I said to the cat, as I pulled out my skinning knife. "Sorry buddy, can't let the goods go to waste."
A few minutes had passed as I finished skinning the cat and started to work on the wolf's pelt when I heard some soft mewing in the distance. At first, I thought it was all in my mind as I had been daydreaming while semi-focused on the task at hand.
Then the sounds came again.
"Ah," I muttered to myself. "I get it now."
Everything made sense, there were kittens.
Ceasing my skinning of the wolf, I sat still while listening for the next noise as I fixated my view in the direction of the prior mews. Another soft noise followed, of a slightly different tone than before but from the same direction.
I stood up, lowering my gaze to a patch of long grass at the base of a tree that had rather large roots growing out in a V-shape. Walking towards the location, I was standing nearly on top of it but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The noise though, was certainly there.
The sounds of kittens moving about, barely audible but there nonetheless, I had found them. Crouching down, I parted the grass that was blocking the tree trunk and almost choked on the cuteness that was in front of me.
"Oh man," I said while cracking a smile. "Jackpot."
There was a small den, completely hidden from sight, recessed into the tree trunk and protected from nearly all sides by the roots and tall grass. To think such a nook was here. The sight though, was one that melted hearts… even one as corrupted as mine.
Seven of the cutest, fluffiest looking balls of fur were snuggled up together, gnawing on each other's paws as if they were waiting for their mother to bring them food. They were awfully large for their apparent age, but damn, they were cute.
They were waiting for their mother.
I looked at the pelt I had finished skinning, the one lying next to the wolf, then back at the kittens that seemed to be staring at me with their pleading eyes. I guess, I was their mother's replacement now.
They were hungry.
Well I didn't exactly have fresh milk… if that was even what wild kittens needed.
All I had on me were rabbit and wolf jerky, though it was rather tough and dried meat didn't seem like the best nutrient. Well, they were only coding so, I wasn't entirely sure if it really mattered what they ate.
Eh, but this game was notorious for being accurate with even the more minor details, I would be hard-pressed to believe they would skimp on this creature. That would be out of character for the developers.
My gaze wandered to the corpses of the cat and wolf that were still quite fresh, and the thought occurred to me to let them try raw meat. I wouldn't be so cruel as to feed them their mother, but they could at least try some wolf meat, I suppose.
It struck me as poetic justice that the wolf would become sustenance for the kittens, not long after it had attempted to make a meal of the forest cat. The flipside was that this wolf was looking to bring food back to its pups.
Yeah, I didn’t feel like going that far.
I wasn't really bothered by the cat's death anyways, in the end it was a gift to me.
The potential of seven domesticated forest cats that I could possibly breed and sell as pets to players… ah, the opportunity for economic success had blessed me with another appearance. Thanks must be given to the Random Number Generator, for it has been quite kind to me lately.
After a few short steps I found myself cutting off slices of wolf flank for the kittens, it was all I had available at the moment and I was hoping it would suffice. Offering the kittens a slice of raw meat each, they responded well and ate without a fuss, much to my relief. While they indulged in their meal, I decided to browse the internet for player pets in Dragon's Wrath. I was already familiar with beast tamers, as Selene had that proficiency and was currently raising and training Barkley, a wolf-pup that they had found. If a wolf could be trained, a dog or cat must be within the range of potential domestic animals.
As I searched through the various dedicated information hubs that had often served me well, I slowly came to the realization that the majority of the pets found in-game were purchased from breeders. Wild pets were almost unheard of, this early in the game at least. Rather than a light bulb or an exclamation point appearing above my head, I was certain a giant dollar sign was now there.
Though, my eyes and mind weren't exactly clouded by greed.
I wasn't out to steal or rob people blind, instead I would offer reasonable pricing but corner markets that lacked supply. Demand is often manufactured by events, so as long as I kept in front of demand and maintained some control over the supply-side of the business, there was steady income available.
These cute little guys… once they started to breed, I would have the market.
Well, maybe.
They were kind of too cute to think of selling, at least at the moment.
Maybe they could be given out as gifts… that didn't seem too bad.
Pulling up the map, I marked the location I was in and tagged it for future reference. There was little reason to believe that another [Northern Forest Cat] would take up home here, but the chance existed. This was their area, so it wasn't too farfetched to think another female or male cat was within range. I mean, there had to be a male cat at least, seeing as the female was deceased and there were seven kittens.
Looking at the map, I was around seventy miles away from the [Liberated Souls] campsite that Ellieby was at, which was too far to consider a visit by foot. Less than a mile to the west was the mountain range that separated my territory from the elven lands I was in now, and it looked like I was about ten miles from the town I had originally set out for.
Ah, well I still had a long way to go.
One look at the kittens and my gear and there was an obvious issue. I needed a way to carry them with me, and my current bag wouldn't suffice. The cat and wolf pelt were still wet and wouldn't be usable, so that left my traveling pack.
Oh well, long term profits.
Taking my knife and altering my pack, I modified it to resemble more of a wide sling that I could wear across my chest, evenly spreading out the kittens like a bandolier. Picking each one up and placing them inside the sling, by the time I was done I had seven little fluffy and furry balls covering a third of my chest… well at least they were safe and secure.
I was… certainly peculiar looking though.
All these partially stained white furs and now on top of that, I'm wearing a live-kitty bandolier across my chest. I could only hope that I didn't run into anyone. Maybe if I had some aviators to fit the image… then it would simply be pure comedy, that wouldn't be so bad, I thought. Well, the sun was setting, so the likelihood of being discovered was slim, that was good.
By nightfall, I had finally arrived at the outskirts of the town and could see a large fire burning in the distance. The town square with its large bonfire was a bit unrealistic but it added to the aesthetics and served as a gathering spot for players. Much like the small bonfires in the Northern Triangle Villages, this one wasn't too different.
Heading straight into the inn, I made my way to the counter where I found a middle-aged male working the night shift.