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Eggceptional Get Away: Leif

Well this was a fine situation to be stuck in. Leif was stuck... Somewhere. They weren't 100% sure. They had visited some kind of barn... There was a flash of light. Then for some reason they took a nap. Weren't really sure why... But now that they were awake they had no idea where they were. It was completely dark and so cramped that they could barely move at all. That was a little frustrating to say the least. Leif squirmed a bit and pushed against the edges trying to find anyway out. There was none. After about a minute of struggling Leif gave an annoyed grunt and stopped moving. They did their best to cross their arms in annoyance while they came to a rest and tried to think of a what to do.

As they waited they could hear voices. Whatever prison they were contained in was thick enough to muffle the voices, but it was clear multiple people were close by. Leif paused and strained their ears to try to listen but they couldn't make out the words. They considered trying to call out for help. There was the simple fact they had no idea who those people were. For all they knew they could be the people responsible. Yet... At the same time it wasn't like they had any other option. So... Leif tried to shout at the top of their lungs.

And were surprised when a tiny little squeak came out instead. That wasn't right.

Yet it had apparently been enough to get the attention of whoever was talking. Suddenly the entire room went quiet, Leif could hear a scraping noise then they suddenly felt as if they had been lifted into the air. They bumped against the inside of their prison as they heard another voice. This time it was close enough to just barely be audible.

"I think I saw it move!" A female voice said. "It must be close to hatching!"

Hatching? What?" Leif wasn't sure they liked the sound of that. But it was pretty clear that they were in some kind of container that someone had picked up Based on what they had just said... And the tiny squeak Leif had just made when they tried to shout. Well... They had a sneaking suspicion they weren't going to be too happy with what was going on. They didn't have too much time to focus though before there was a tapping noise coming from above their head. It was rather loud and annoying and Leif tried to move one of their arms to knock back against the tapping to tell them to stop.

They hadn't expected their prison to break.

The combined tapping from outside and Leif pushing from inside was enough to completely shatter the roof of their prison. Light flooded over them causing them temporarily go blind. While they couldn't see there was a large amount of excitement and cheering throughout the entire room. Leif couldn't quite see yet... But they could hear a number of things being said.

"Whoa! It really did hatch!" The female voice he had heard earlier said.

"Huh... I would have guessed it was a dragon egg from the size." A masculine voice spoke.

"I know! I never would have expected a cat!" A boyish voice gave a shout.

A... Cat? What?

As Leif's vision cleared from the suddenly light they became aware of a number of things. One of them was that they were currently being held in the air by an incredibly large red haired woman and there was a mass of giant people all around them! No wait... They weren't big! Leif was freaking small! And the red haired woman was holding them by whatever container had imprisoned them... But looking down it was obvious Leif had just come out of! They were sitting in an egg shell! Leif had just hatched from an egg! How was that even possible!?

They looked down at their own body! They had small paws with short little retractable claws, soft brown fur, a thin tail, and triangular ears atop their head! They were a cat! Some kind of small bipedal cat judging from their body! But how was that possible! And what kind of cat hatched from an egg!?

"He looks a little alarmed." The red haired girl spoke. She looked young, probably in her twenties. She was dressed flowing silver and blue dress with a pointed hat atop her head that had a moon dangling from one end.

"Well give it a break Luna. It was just born, the little thing probably has no idea what's going on." The masculine voice spoke. He looked older, a brown haired man who showed the first signs of graying. He was surprisingly muscular, easily taller than everyone else in the room, and wore a long overcoat fur trimmed overcoat over a skin tight shirt.

"Hey! Hey Luna!" The boyish voice spoke. This one came from a long haired child who couldn't be older than twelve. They wore a pair of shorts, tied to their waist by a sash, a vest without a shirt and a bandanna tied around their neck. "Don't hog em! I want to hold the kitty too!" The child lurched forward reaching a hand for Leif.

"Hey cut it out Jaidyn you'll scare them!" Luna protested as she jerked Leif forcefully away.

"Mew!" Leif squeaked, not enjoying being thrown around. They tried to pry themselves from Luna's grasp. They were more successful than they expected! Suddenly a pair of feathered wings sprouted from Leif's back and they flew up into the air near the room's ceiling away from the humans.

"It can fly!?" Jaidyn gave a shout.

"M-Meow!?" Leif was also in disbelief that they could fly. Their body was so small and fragile... They were pretty sure they wouldn't even be able to stand up on two legs and walk around without falling over! The sudden ability to soar through the air had caught them off guard! And yet their wings carried them effortlessly. They weren't even sure how they were controlling them, or how they were strong enough. The wings just worked as if they were magic! And Leif realized they could control where they wanted to fly with ease! After a few seconds of floating against the top of the ceiling in panic they slowly lowered their altitude to be just a few feet above everyone's heads and started flying in short circles. This gave them time to better survey their surroundings to try to figure out where they were.

This place looked like a giant hall for some kind of business or... No more like a social gathering. Based on the archaic sense of architecture including wooden floors (that weren't the cleanest), plain walls, a lot of old rickety tables, and an upstairs area with an aged barrister. Leif's first guess would have been that this was some kind of hunting lodge. It would explain why everything here looked so old. It was like stumbling back into some kind of Elizabethan area. However there weren't any trophies around. There was however a massive bulletin board completely covered in yellow and white parchments.

"Mreooow." Leif complained. It was official. They had no idea where they were. And these people inside this place. Were they cosplayers or something?

"Come on! Come down here!" The kid that was apparently named Jaidyn was jumping up and down making grabbing motions at Leif. Leif just fixed them with the most deadpan judgmental stare that they could muster. Unfortunately, being a newborn kitten meant it was just adorable and the kid reacted accordingly. "Look look it's looking at me!"

"Flint can you make Jaidyn calm down!" Luna whined. "They're scaring our new cat."

"Mrowl mew!" Leif objected to being called their cat.

"See!" Luna took Leif's protest as a sign of agreement. This only annoyed the kitten more.

These idiots were fawning over Leif as if they were some kind of helpless child. Regardless of what Leif's physical appearance currently suggested... They weren't some dumb baby and they couldn't stand the way these people were acting. Right now Leif was pretty sure they were the smartest person in this room. That made it absolutely infuriating they couldn't talk to give these people a piece of their mind. For now they gave a hefty sigh, and slowly floated down to a table. As soon as they landed their wings vanished. Sadly... This meant their ability to move also ceased to exist. Their legs weren't strong enough to support them yet and Leif immediately found themselves falling onto their own bottom atop the table.

"Mrrrrr." Leif growled. The not being able to walk thing was also a bother. At least they were pretty sure they had gotten a feeling for how their wings worked. That would make getting around a little easier for now at least.

"He landed!" Luna made a dive for where Leif.

"Let me hold him next!" Jaidyn demanded and tried to shove Luna out of the way.

"Will you two calm down?" Flint growled as he stood up from his chair and slammed his foot onto the ground. Immediately there was a bright flash of light... Then Leif could hardly believe what they were seeing. Large hands made out of stone had burst straight out of the wooden floors! There were four total, and they grabbed both Luna and Jaidyn's legs causing them to fall flat on their faces.

What kind of magic had Leif just witnessed? Leif crawled to the edge of the table to take a look, their eyes wide with wonder as they started at the hands. They were clearly made out of stone, but moved just as easy as any normal hand would. Having done their job and tripped up the two loud ones the hands released them and sunk back into the floor. There were still visible holes where they had come from.

"That was a little uncalled for!" Jaidyn shouted.

"You could have really hurt us!" Luna whined.

"And you two are likely to scare the poor thing half to death if you keep acting up like this." Flint shook his head and took a seat. "Good grief, why am I always having to babysit you?"

"Mewwww..." Leif's curiosity was killing them. They summoned their own wings again and quickly flew over to where Flint was sitting. Leif had assumes these people were just fashionably challenged idiots. The idea they had magical powers hadn't occurred to them. Magic probably offered some explanation to Leif's current situation... Though they doubted these three knew the answer. Still... Leif wanted to see that trick Flint had done again if only to get an idea of how it worked.

"Eh? Seems I've caught the little guy's attention." Flint's lips curved into a very slight smile.

"That's no fair! You don't even like it!" Jaidyn whined. "You've done nothing but sit over there and be grumpy the entire time."

"I never said I didn't like the little kitty." Flint gave a weary sigh. "I just don't feel the need to shout my every thought to the entire neighborhood."

"I think it just reacted to his magic." Luna held a finger to her chin while considering something. "It's got to be some kind of magical creature. It's clearly using a spell when it brings out those wings."

"Oh oh!" Jaidyn jumped up and down. "Then will it react to my magic! I know how to cast spells too!" He grinned. "Around here I'm known as the Savage Beast Wizard."

"No one calls you that." Luna replied flatly.

"Do too!" Jaidyn growled. "And it's because I can do this!" As Jaidyn shouted they held their hands out away from them. A moment later their arms were covered in sharp scales and their hands were tipped with claws. "Pretty nifty right?" They asked. "And if I keep it up soon I'll be able to do my feet too! Or maybe even give myself a tail."

Leif couldn't help but let out a laugh at this. Jaidyn was so proud over turning his hands into little claws. They were only able to change one body type. Meanwhile, here was Leif, an adult otter who thanks to some kind of magic now had the body of infantile kitten. Clearly they could assume the kid wasn't responsible for their current state. Didn't seem to have the talent.

"Looks like even the cat can see you're a joke." Luna teased as she shoved Jaidyn aside. She then looked down at Leif. "I'm sure you're dying to see what a proper wizard looks like."

"Mrow." Leif gave her a deadpan look. Yes, they were curious as to her magic. But they could do without the patronizing tones. They didn't need to treat them like a child! Sure... In some ways Leif was like a newborn infant. Obviously, there was the fact they were one physically... But that wasn't important. They were clearly in a new place, possibly a new world, and they understood nothing about it. Everything was new and confusing. However, unlike a normal child Leif was able to rationally think and examine their surroundings. In fact, they might be the only one here who could make that claim. This left them in an awkward position. They did want to see Luna's magic as well, if only to get more information about how things worked. At the same time... They didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

Leif decided the best thing to do was to cross their arms and look away. They were fairly certain this excitable girl was going to show off anyway. They could be dismissive and get what they wanted.

"Don't be like that!" Luna pleaded seeming to take the bait immediately. "I promise it's much cooler than just growing some claws!" As she spoke she took a step back... And was suddenly spinning a glowing silver staff in the air that Leif was fairly certain she did not possess a few seconds ago. She struck the tip of the staff into the ground and a silver blade grew from the top of the staff transforming it into a scythe.

"Careful spinning that thing." Flint growled and moved one of his arms to cover Leif as if to shield them. "If you're going to swing your toy around like that make something without any pointy bits."

"It's not a toy!" Luna huffed. "As the Pale Moonlight Wizard I can force light to take a physical form and shape it how I want! I can literally construct it into anything I want."

"That's a lot of steps to get basically the same effect as me." Jaidyn muttered.

"It's not the same effect!" Luna shouted. "You grew out your fingernails! I made an elegant weapon!"

"They're both spells that let you cut things." Jaidyn muttered. "Mine's just faster and more practical. That's why I'm Silver Valor's number one wizard!"

"Number one pipsqueak maybe." Luna muttered. "Like you come any close to outranking me."

"ENOUGH!" Flint shouted. "You're both apprentice wizards to the guild and of the same rank. And if you don't learn to work together you're going to be stuck there a long time."

Leif's head was spinning trying to keep up. They had gotten quite a bit of information. Something about a guild... Leif would assume Silver Valor was the name of it. As far as they could tell all three people were members... Well Luna and Jaidyn were apprentices. It seemed Flint was the only who qualified as a full-fledged members. They still weren't sure what they actually did here... But they suspected that giant bulletin board had a few hints. That would bear some investigating. For now they made a decision.

"Mew!" Leif summoned their wings and took to the air again. They didn't fly far this time. Just to the top of Flint's head before flopping down there and coming to a rest.

"No fair it likes you!" Luna seemed in disbelief.

"Well what do you know?" Flint chuckled.

Leif would consider like a strong word... But Flint seemed the most responsible at the moment. Or at least the least infuriating. If they were going to play the role as some kind of team pet or something they would at least choose the person that would remember to feed them. Besides, sticking close to Flint just seemed like it'd be better for their health in the long run.

"But I was the one who found the egg!" Jaidyn whined.

"But I was the one who had enough to buy it from those two weird merchants!" Luna protested.

Leif snapped their head to pay attention at that. They had been bought? Come to think of it... There had been two people in the barn when they walked into it. Was it the same two? Perhaps if they were patient and hung around here for awhile they might get some answers. If nothing else... Seeing what a wizard's guild did might be kind of fun. Now that they had calmed down a bit they had to admit being able to fly was exciting.

"Calm down, nobody gets to own them." Flint reached down and ruffled both of the other wizard's heads. "If you haven't noticed yet the little guy has been reacting to almost everything we've said. I don't think this is a house pet. And based on the fact it can clearly use magic, I'd say it's more likely you're looking at a future guild mate."

"M-mew!?" Leif's eyes widened. It was possible that this Flint was a little sharper than they had guessed.

"But... They're still going to need some taking care of while they're this young." Flint grinned. "Tell you what... The floor needs to be swept, the kitchen pots scrubbed, the windows cleaned and the yard raked. We'll say whoever can get the most chores done before sundown gets to be in charge of feeding them."

"You're trying to trick us into doing chores?" Luna sounded indigent.

"Be upset! Gives me time to get a head start!" Jaidyn grinned as they ran off.

"H-hey wait a second!" Luna took off after them.

"Mew..." Leif was fairly certain they could feed themselves... But they had to admit it was funny how easily Flint had manipulated the two.

"Guess that gives us some peace and quiet for awhile." Flint leaned back in his chair and tried to look upward at the tiny cat on his head. "So I guess you need a name huh?"

"Mew!" Leif objected that they already had a name. It was Leif.

"Mews it is then." Flint nodded. "Well Mews. Welcome to Silver Valor."

Mews was only able to roll their eyes in frustration at this.

The End