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It was meant to be a simple teleportation spell, hardly anything difficult for an accomplished mage like Hubert. After a conversation with Linhardt about the merits of learning how to warp people across vast distances, Hubert decided to look through the tomes in the library and see if there was a way to learn the spell without already knowing faith magic.
Hubert thought he found the right tome. An old book with the leather cover beginning to peel and an archaic language that Hubert assumed to be similar to the magical tongue of Fódlan.
Hubert thought, as he began drawing the magic circles necessary to transport himself from one end of his room to the other, that there wasn’t anything to worry about. He recited the spell perfectly and-
Minutes later, Hubert realized how wrong he was from the sudden feeling of being smaller, his senses heightened, and the sound of the creaking door seeming louder than normal as a suddenly taller Ferdinand stepped in. Hubert watched as the large grin on Ferdinand’s face was replaced by his eyes widening and, perhaps for once, the redhead being shocked into silence by the sight before him as his mouth hung open in disbelief.
Ferdinand didn’t know what to make of the sight before him.
Before him was a small black cat with… very familiar greenish-yellow eyes and an obvious scowl on its face. The cat was sitting in the middle of a pile of Hubert’s black clothes, which were resting in the center of a magic circle with a fallen book found nearby. Last Ferdinand checked, Hubert didn’t own a cat and it was impossible for the local monastery cats to get into Hubert’s room. In truth, Ferdinand wasn’t even sure if Hubert liked cats (or any animal, he seemed weary around the pegasi and indifferent to horses--the fiend).
That left only one option, one Ferdinand didn’t know what to make of. “H-Hubert? Is… that you?” Ferdinand asked, looking at the cat in disbelief when there was an answering ‘meow.’ “How did this happen?! Am I dreaming? Are you really a-”
He was silenced by a yowl from the cat (Hubert?), who gestured to the tome with his paw and seemed to give it an all too familiar glare.
“Ah yes,” Ferdinand thought. “I suppose that does prove it, after all.”
A pause. Hubert, with all the grace of a normal cat, stepped outside the ring of his fallen clothes and walked over to Ferdinand. He seemed quite determined to leave the room, but Ferdinand picked him up before he could manage to do so.
If someone had told Ferdinand that he would find himself dangling a magically-transformed-into-a-cat version of one of his allies, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Hubert’s attempts at scratching his arms, however, proved this to be a reality.
Ferdinand quickly brought Hubert back to his room in the monastery, hoping to spare the man some embarrassment should anyone else find out about this mishap. Hubert, he’s come to learn, would rather drink poisoned coffee than admit to messing up a spell. There was no other explanation for how Hubert could find himself in this predicament. Ferdinand can’t imagine the strategic value of learning how to transform oneself into a cat, after all.
Setting Hubert down on his bed and shutting the door quickly, Ferdinand got a better look at Hubert’s… new cat state. Ferdinand was right in his initial look -- Hubert was an entirely black cat -- and seemed to be on the smaller side, which Ferdinand found amusing given Hubert’s ability to loom over most people. It was a strange sight, one Ferdinand was getting strangely used to seeing despite the short time.
“Do you… perhaps know how long this,” Ferdinand gestured to Hubert’s new look. “Will be lasting? It would be quite worrisome if our main tactician spent the rest of his life as a cat.”
The comment earned him another glare, which held the same intimidation as if Hubert was a human. It was quite unnerving to say the least. Another pause and Hubert seemed to shuffle his paws nervously.
“Y-You do know how long this will last, right?” Ferdinand asked nervously. The silence from Hubert wasn’t helping. “Well then… this is quite awkward. Let us hope this transformation is not permanent.” That earned him a serious nod from Hubert, but Ferdinand couldn’t help but find it rather cute. While Ferdinand enjoyed the company of dogs more, that didn’t mean he didn’t find cats endearing, too. “Well, until this transformation wears off, I suppose you may stay in my room for the time being!”
He saw Hubert look around the room and didn’t know if he should be offended by the disdainful look on the other’s face or not, or if that was just how cats normally looked.
An hour into their coexistence, Ferdinand was already having some regrets.
Either Hubert took the chance to make his annoyance towards Ferdinand know or, somehow, the spell made it so the person started exhibiting real cat-like tendencies. Regardless, Ferdinand was starting to feel frustrated with Hubert.
It started with Hubert jumping off the bed and hiding underneath the bed. Every time Ferdinand tried walking past Hubert’s hiding spot, the other man (black cat?) would take a swipe at Ferdinand’s ankles. If it wasn’t for Ferdinand wearing metal leg greaves, he was sure that Hubert’s newly acquired claws would’ve done some damage. Ferdinand took it as Hubert’s way of telling him to stop pacing around the room and, being the courteous person that he is, Ferdinand decided to sit at his desk and work on writing some correspondents to their allies in the Empire.
Apparently, Hubert didn’t like that either and jumped up on Ferdinand’s desk--nearly knocking over the ink pot in the process--and sat himself on the corner of his desk. Ferdinand scowled at the cat (other man?), which was met with Hubert licking one of his paws and giving himself a bath. Ferdinand rolled his eyes and went back to his work.
He was nearly finished with his work when he saw Hubert’s paw resting on top of his pile of papers… and then promptly cause all of them to fall to the ground with a flick of his paw.
The noise (most certainly not a shriek) he made and his scrambling to pick all the papers up and reorganize them caused the smuggest look to cross Hubert’s face.
“Very mature.” Ferdinand said, glaring at Hubert and setting the papers in a higher place. Hopefully, Hubert wouldn’t mess with them anymore. It would be quite awkward if someone got the wrong letter because of Hubert’s newly found… catness. “If I did not know any better, I would assume you are jealous that I am not giving you this much attention. Surely you can not be that much of a cat right now?”
He got what could be considered the equivalent to a cat huff from Hubert before he settled down at the top of Ferdinand’s desk, lying in the “bread loaf” position with his ears turned back and seeming quite annoyed.
“Hey Ferdinand! Have you seen Hubert anywhere?”
Ferdinand (and Hubert it seemed) startled at the sudden intrusion into the quiet space. Ferdinand turned away from his work and looked at Caspar, who was standing in the doorway. He looked sweaty and tired, indicating that the younger man had just finished a session in the training yard.
“No, I can not say I have.” Ferdinand answered, silently praying to the Goddess that Caspar wouldn’t notice the “cat” lying at the top of his desk.
“Ah well, too bad. Edelgard’s been looking for him all day, so I thought if anyone else would know it’d be you.” Caspar said, scratching the back of his head.
“Perhaps Hubert is in the-”
“Hey! Is that a cat? When did you get a cat, Ferdinand?!” Caspar interrupted, stepping further into the room and walking over to Ferdinand’s desk. He reached his hand out, intent on petting the top of Hubert’s head. While Ferdinand thought it would be good payback for the rather bratty attitude Hubert had been exhibiting for the last hour, he didn’t want to purposefully make Hubert experience some humiliation while stuck in this form.
“Y-Yes,” Ferdinand said, grabbing Caspar’s wrist before he could rest his hand on Hubert’s head. “I found him outside the greenhouse and he seemed to be under the weather, so I brought him up here.” He hoped that Caspar bought the excuse because otherwise he didn’t know how to explain why he had a cat with him.
“Geez, that’s pretty nice of you!” Caspar said, giving Ferdinand a pat on the back for his supposed good deed. “I remember taking care of a cat back when we were students here, so if you need any help just let me know! I’m right next door!”
“Thank you Caspar,” Ferdinand said, giving his friend a smile. “I will be sure to ask you for any advice should anything comes up.”
“No problem, man! Good luck with that cat! I won’t lie, he’s kind of giving me these… vibes.”
“Vibes?” Ferdinand asked. He tried to keep the nervousness out of his tone.
“Yeah, I don’t know why but something about that glare reminds me of Hubert…” Caspar said, giving the cat a weary look. “They’d be a perfect match, I’m sure.”
“Ah haha yes… definitely.”
Ferdinand left the room and returned with his dinner, an extra helping of meat to give to Hubert should the man (cat? He really needed to figure this out) wanted it. He ate at his desk and placed a chunk of meat on the desk for Hubert (who sniffed at it and gave it a disdainful look). He ate in relative silence as he read a passage from a book he borrowed, but was interrupted by the feeling of… something on his arm.
Putting the book down, he saw that Hubert’s paw was resting on his arm, which quickly retracted when Hubert managed to get Ferdinand’s attention. The chunk of meat was gone, so Ferdinand assumed that Hubert wanted another piece. Reaching over to the plate, he set another piece down in front of Hubert and returned to his reading. Peeking over the book, he watched Hubert sniff the meat again and start to eat it. Despite knowing the cat in front of him was actually Hubert, it was still a cute sight.
Ferdinand watched Hubert finish the piece, licking his lips and lifting his paw again to give it a few licks. It was a really strange thought to find Hubert his cute as a cat, but Ferdinand couldn’t help himself. Trying to hide his smile behind the book, Ferdinand repressed a coo at Hubert trying to paw at Ferdinand’s arm again for more food.
As he placed another piece in front of Hubert, he supposed me must have failed in his endeavour to hide his smile judging by the glare he received from those green-yellow eyes.
Looking outside the window, Ferdinand guessed that it was time to sleep. Tomorrow will be another day of planning for their next move and Ferdinand knew he needed sleep for the report he needed to give to the Professor. “I suppose now would be the best time to get ready for bed.” Ferdinand said, looking over at Hubert. He migrated to the windows, nearly knocking over a vase of flowers he received for his birthday in the process earlier that evening. “I do not know… where you want to sleep, but at the end of my bed is open if you want.”
The disgruntled ‘meow’ he received as an answer didn’t really indicate whether Hubert was taking him up on that offer or not, but Ferdinand supposed that Hubert would make his decision at some point.
Changing into his nightwear and blowing out the candles, Ferdinand settled into the bed and felt the fatigue of the day wash over him. He closed his eyes and started drifting off quickly, wondering if tomorrow Hubert would be back to normal or not.
Vaguely, he heard the sound of something making contact with the floor and felt a dip at the end of the bed, but Ferdinand was already beginning to fall asleep. He felt something slink up the bed and the sound of purring lulled him to sleep.
Ferdinand woke to an empty room, and he checked under the bed to make sure. He didn’t want Hubert’s claws to finally get his defenseless ankles, but didn’t find his companion under it. He looked around the room a little more, trying to be quiet for Caspar’s sake next door, and couldn’t find Hubert anywhere.
Not bothering to get dressed, Ferdinand snuck out of his room and walked passed Caspar’s door to enter Hubert’s room, half expecting to see the man there as a cat and trying to reverse the spell without any help. Instead, he found Hubert (as a man!) getting dressed for the day and pausing his movements to glare at whoever entered his room without permission. The look, however, seemed to soften when he realized it was Ferdinand who entered.
Closing the door behind him, Ferdinand suddenly felt awkward and underdressed in the man’s presence. The silence in the room wasn’t helping matters either, but Ferdinand wouldn’t be deterred. Clearing his throat and standing a little straighter, Ferdinand gave Hubert a small smile, “Good morning!” he said, receiving a nod in return. A good sign, Ferdinand thought. “It is most fortunate to see that your… previous state was not permanent.”
“Indeed,” Hubert responded, face carefully blank. “It would be most unfortunate for ourselves and our enemies if a cat somehow managed to outsmart all of you.”
Ferdinand huffed, smile turning more playful. “Yes, it would be quite embarrassing for all parties involved, would it not?” Internally, Ferdinand was relieved to see the man back to his normal self. Cute as he was as a cat, it would be quite disastrous for the Black Eagle Strike Force if their main tactician was lost due to some strange spell, never mind the state of the Empire.
(Although, the mental image of Hubert trailing faithfully behind Edelgard’s shadow as a cat was quite amusing. No doubt, the man would try to continue his duties to her as a cat if it wasn’t massively inconvenient.)
“Yes quite,” Hubert said, finishing his buttoning and getting off the bed. He turned to Ferdinand then, giving the redhead his full attention. “I must… thank you for your assistance. I can’t imagine what would happen should one of our other companions come across me in that… state.”
“You are quite welcome!” Ferdinand said, chest puffing up a bit. “Though I must say, you were quite the little fiend as a cat. Knocking over someone’s stack of papers is quite rude, you know?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Hubert replied, turning his back to Ferdinand, but the redhead could see the tips of Hubert’s ears pinken a little at the playful chide. “Regardless, do not inform the others of what happened. I’m aware that Lady Edelgard needed my assistance with something yesterday, so I will tell her the truth of what… ailed me.”
Ferdinand nodded, expecting Hubert to tell Edelgard at some point about his brief moment spent as a cat. He could already picture her amused smile and, perhaps, attempts at trying not to tease him on it. Only Edelgard would be allowed to get away with it, everyone else would likely get a nasty glare in response.
Sensing that Ferdinand’s time in the room was beginning to intrude on Hubert’s morning routine, Ferdinand was about to tell the taller man goodbye when a box caught his sight out of the corner of his eye. It looked quite familiar, but Ferdinand couldn’t place his finger on why at the moment.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say that is my-”
“Goodbye Ferdinand,” Hubert said, tone sounding insistent as he moved towards the door. Ferdinand noticed that Hubert grabbed the mysterious box as well, a glare forming on his face. “I will see you later. For tea and coffee, perhaps.”
Brightening up, Ferdinand nodded and gave his goodbyes as well, shutting the door behind him as he left the room. He needed to start preparing for the day as well, perhaps getting a good ride on his horse in the morning before tea (and coffee) with Hubert later and the meeting with the other members of the Black Eagle Strike Force.
Before he entered his room, he saw Caspar leave in his training clothes, getting ready for some early morning training. The younger man have Ferdinand a bright grin and a loud ‘Good morning!’, which Ferdinand returned in equal (but quieter) enthusiasm.
“So, how’s that cat doing? Is it feeling better?” Caspar asked, booming voice echoing down the hallway. He sincerely hoped that none of the others were still asleep, otherwise Caspar had definitely woken them up.
“Oh yes,” Ferdinand answered, smiling all the while. “The cat is doing just fine! I returned him to his friends just now… hopefully he avoids whatever made him sick in the first place.”
His statement was met with Hubert stepping out of the room, like the shadowy figure that he is, and giving Ferdinand a slight glare (which didn’t seem to hold the same hostility that it normally does, for whatever reason). It reminded him of the glare the taller man gave as a cat, and Ferdinand had to keep back his laughter at the image. It was going to be hard to be intimidated by Hubert after experiencing the shadowy man as a cat, even though the attitudes were quite similar at times in Ferdinand’s opinion.