Everyone's a Catgirl! Bonus Quest: The Blade of Myrun (NSFW)

Note: Thank you, Jack, for commissioning this piece. We get to see things from Myrun's PoV...

Note: This is non-canon.

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As I traded more Bells across the counter than I’d ever dreamed of paying for sugar, I struggled to recall the last time I’d traveled to Shulan. Years before, I believe, when my mother was still alive. There were more homeless kittens and far more aggressive shopkeeps now than I remembered. This one had argued with me for close to half an hour when I’d made an attempt to haggle the price down.

Shulan was one of the only places where I could still buy sugar on San Island—they’d stopped shipping it through Kyrenia ages ago. Unfortunately, that made my journey here more necessity than pleasure, but I still held a few precious memories of my mother’s hand in mine as she pointed out the lanterns and golden carvings.

“Myrun! Look how they sparkle like stars!” Kyrenia’s markets had never held a candle to the lavish buildings and adornments of the capital. “Aren’t they beautiful?” I’d stared in awe as a kitten, yet now, especially in the daylight, they seemed to lose some of their luster.

Even so, when the first cries of panic broke out, my instinct was to protect the city and its lackluster lanterns.

“Defiled at the gates!” a guard screamed over the crowds as she rushed through the busy streets. “Defiled at the gates!”

Gasps, shouts, and the sound of quickened footsteps followed. I summoned my [Combat Mode] and reached for the longsword at my back.

“—Hundreds of them!”

“Where’s Cailu?”

I flinched. I would sooner trust a fluffpuff to stop the Defiled than Cailu. That man could not be trusted. His name spurred my footsteps, and I pushed through the crowds of fleeing girls. A guard with dark hair and cold eyes snared my shoulder just as I made to leave the city.

“You’re not one of ours!” she barked.

I jerked my arm out of her grasp. “I can fight.”

“Are you insane?” She pointed outside and shook her head once. “Do you see what’s out there?”

I followed her finger and felt a shock of cold down my spine. A sprawling sea of black stripes and orange fur circled a tall figure at its center. Hundreds of them. I licked my lips. “Do you have adequate guards for this?”

She hesitated. “We’ll find a way to resolve this.” Her voice cracked, and anxiety sank like a stone in my stomach. “Cailu is here.”

That name again. He’ll forsake you. Just as he did my mother. “Perhaps I am insane. Let me help you.”

“No. You need to seek shelter—”

“Do you see Cailu anywhere?” I snapped. The image of my mother’s thin form crushed beneath a foot the size of a house returned. He hadn’t saved us then. He wouldn’t save us now. I unfastened my green cape and shoved it into the guard’s arms. “Move.”

The guard bundled my cape into a ball, and her hard gaze washed over me from the tips of my ears to my feet, seeming to take my measure in silence. “Fine. Get yourself killed. It’s no hair off my tail.”

I suppressed the rising growl in my chest and ran into the field. I counted five guards spread along the line of tigers nearest the gate, and at least six more farther down. They held the beasts back as best they could with shields and spears. But where one tiger fell, another appeared, rushing the guards with a ferocity and hunger I’d never seen from even the most dangerous Encroacher in my encounters.

The Defiled at the center watched the onslaught with a serene expression that tied knots in my stomach. Her silk robes were of San Island make, and if not for the throng of tigers, she could have been mistaken for a catgirl.

“[Protective Finish],” I murmured, running my hand over the blade of my longsword. A soft glow coated the weapon, and I felt the effect take hold. It was a weapon that had survived for many generations in my family, and I would not let it be tarnished.

Not even if this was to be my final battle.

One tiger managed to slip by the guard nearest me and lunged. I quickly repositioned my feet, counted three heartbeats, then stepped aside and swung upward with all of my might. The blade sliced through the tiger’s throat, carving a clean line into its flesh that was immediately soaked in blood. The beast gurgled its last breath and fell motionless to the ground. I silently thanked Saoirse that I had maximized [Foresight] long before.

One of the guards screamed as three tigers pounced on her at once. I charged to her position, reset my footing, and cried, “[Spinning Slash]!” I stepped forward, turned, and spun in one tight circle with my blade, carving the air around us.

Two seconds passed. Just as I feared that I hadn’t performed the Skill successfully, a powerful gust of wind exploded in an arc, slamming into the tigers and throwing them off of the guard. I grabbed her forearm with my free hand, she clasped her fingers around my bracer, and I helped her to her feet. Her shoulder and bicep were bloody with claw marks, and her hand trembled around my arm.

“Thanks.” Her mouth split into an uneasy smile, and she let go of my arm. “I’m Taylor.”

“Myrun,” I replied.

“Good to have you along, Myrun.” Taylor held her palm above her arm and muttered, “[Stabilize].” The fresh blood stopped pooling, and she rotated her shoulder. “Hope to see you at the end.”

“Me too.” I turned just as one of the tigers recovered, lunged forward, and thrust my blade into its side.

“We must focus the Defiled! Killing its servants will not gain us ground!”

I winced hearing Cailu’s voice dominate the battlefield. How else do we reach her then, you thoughtless roach?

“There are too many tigers!” Taylor called back to him. “We can’t reach it!”

“Then we must focus our attacks!” he barked.

I chanced a look over my shoulder once all three tigers that favored Taylor were slain. A catgirl with dark skin, jet black hair, and twin daggers danced a few feet in front of Cailu, slaying tigers with lightning speed and dangerous proficiency.

An [Assassin]. Did he truly favor a girl from Ichi Island?

On his opposite side was a brunette wearing all black. She held a tall staff with rings that caught the sunlight, and her lips mouthed quick syllables while she stared down the Defiled.

Another guard’s cry pulled my attention away, and I bolted to reach her. A tiger had its teeth sunk deep inside her calf, thrashing its head from side to side. I buried my blade into its stomach and helped the guard free herself from its grip. The muscle was destroyed, and there were no Spells that could keep her fighting from any Class.

I quickly snaked the guard’s arm over my shoulders and urged her to her good leg. “We need to get you back! Can you shield us both?”

“I-I’ll try!” She readied her shield in her left arm, and we marched in tandem as quickly as her wound would allow.

“Matt! Don’t look at her!” a new voice joined the fray and caught my attention as we neared the gate.

“What did I just say?” another catgirl screamed.

I looked to our left and behind Cailu stood a second Party. A second man. I could… We could… I nearly fumbled my steps. Fool! You’re being selfish! Focus!

We reached the gate just as a wave of purple magic sparkled around the Defiled. She raised a languid hand, and the Spell harmlessly bounced off her palm.

“Yomi! Your Spell does not reach her!” Cailu snapped at the brunette with the staff. “Try another method!”

The guard who had first stopped me at the gate ran to meet us, shifting the wounded catgirl’s weight from my shoulders to hers.

“You—” she began.

“Save it for later,” I interrupted and turned back toward the battlefield.

“[Blessed Light]!” an [Acolyte] in Matt’s Party cried.

I was too slow. The brilliant flash struck my vision and blinded me. I murmured a curse under my breath, but by Saoirse’s grace, I was still within Shulan’s walls.

When the Spell’s effects abated, I assessed the fight and checked both men’s locations. Cailu was on one knee, surrounded by a horde of the Defiled’s minions, blocking and slaying any Encroachers that escaped his [Assassin]’s blades. Hiding from the true battle, as was his infuriating nature.

Matt, however, was wondrous to behold. He moved with incredible speed, provoking any tigers that dared challenge his Party members away from them. His gaze never settled on a single one of them, and he forced his way through to where Cailu knelt.

Matt was everything that Cailu should have been.

“Myrun!” Taylor cried.

I snapped out of my awe and ran toward the sound of Taylor’s voice. A renewed army of Encroachers had her surrounded. I summoned my courage and sliced a path through to where Taylor stood. Without a word, we positioned ourselves back-to-back, each one of us facing four separate tigers. Sweat trickled down my brow and back.

“Maya! Maya, stop looking at her! Get away from her!” one of Matt’s number shrieked.

I caught the horrific scene in gruesome stills between protecting myself and Taylor from the tigers. A catgirl waded through the tigers untouched. Waves of fire slaughtered the Encroachers, but never touched their master. Maya’s name was screamed from every mouth in Matt’s Party. The Defiled’s form shifted from two arms to eight, wielding glinting weapons in each hand.

“Every day, you barbarians brutally murder my sweet kittens.” Was that the Defiled? I shivered as her voice crawled down my back. “Please, allow me to show you the same kindness.”

Time seemed to stop as all eyes fell to the Defiled and the catgirl in her embrace. The monster engaged every last weapon in tearing the helpless catgirl apart. My stomach lurched into my throat. I saw my mother’s face on hers as she fell. I fought the tigers in a dizzy rage—I would never grow accustomed to this.

I never wanted to grow accustomed to this.

“Myrun.” My name. My mother’s voice. My wrists laxed and my shoulders dropped. “Myrun, my darling. Come here.”

I looked up, and standing in the middle of the field was… “M-Mom?”

She looked as beautiful as I remembered. Her identical, golden hair was braided back into a bun at the nape of her neck. Her bright green eyes held the same warmth that she always favored me with.

“I’ve missed you so.”

I walked forward. There were no more tigers. No more Defiled. No more Cailu. Just my mother and I, like it had always been.

She opened her arms and smiled. “That’s it, Myrun. I’ll never leave your side again.”

I was halfway to her. I could smell her rose perfume. “You don’t know how badly I’ve needed to see you.” Tears burned my eyes. Nothing else mattered.

“I know, kitten. Everything will be okay.”

“Myrun!” Taylor’s voice echoed far in the distance. “Myrun! I’m sorry!”

Pain blossomed over the back of my head.

The world went dark.

---

Burning trees. Screams. An enormous Defiled plowing through the forests outside of Kyrenia on four column-shaped legs, ripping away trunks and branches to chew between flat, grinding teeth.

“Where’s Cailu?”

“He’s on the other side of the village!”

“He needs to be here!”

“Mama!” I pushed through a crowd that had all but forgotten about me. I caught sight of her, sword at the ready, staring down the Defiled with only two others at her side. “Mama!”

She glanced over her shoulder and screamed, “Myrun! Get back to safety! Now!”

The monster was three steps away.

“Mama! Please!”

Two steps.

“Myrun!”

One.

My eyes snapped open, and I heaved in a breath. Sweat soaked my neck and back, clinging to the sheets as I forced myself to sitting.

“Hey, steady.” The guard who’d stopped me at the gate stood nearby and placed a hand on my shoulder. “No good to make yourself dizzy again.”

I looked around the room. It was one of Shulan’s inns, though which one was impossible to say. At the end of the day, they all looked the same. Luxurious screens, overly gaudy washrooms, beds that could fit three catgirls. So many kittens lived homeless outside, and they had dozens of empty rooms like this.

The tension left my shoulders. “T-the tigers?”

“Gone. The Defiled, too.”

The image of standing back to back with my comrade-in-arms struck me like lightning. “Where’s Taylor?”

“Taylor’s fine. She was here until a little while ago when I told her to get some rest. Poor girl sat up with you for the last twenty-four hours.”

“I was out for that long?”

“You were. And she feels awful.”

“She saved my life.”

“I know. You can remind her later.” The guard set a green bundle on the bed. My cloak. “I washed this up for you.”

I fingered the cloak and smiled. I’d almost forgotten that I so angrily shoved it into her arms. “I never did catch your name.”

“Seraphina. Nice to meet you, Myrun.”

“Likewise.” I found my sword resting against the hearth. The echoes of Kyrenia’s shrieks pierced my ears. My mother’s face floated just outside of reach, rekindled with the Defiled’s Enchantment. I was nine when I lost her, and over a decade later, her death was still fresh in my nightmares. Cailu’s arrival on San Island had dashed my hopes of ever creating a bond like we’d shared with a daughter of my own. I couldn’t come into arm’s reach of him without plunging my sword through his chest. But now…

“I…wanted to thank you. You saved two of my best.” Seraphina patted the side of my bed. “Anyway, rest up before you go. You have this room for another few nights yet.” She turned to leave.

I didn’t need Cailu. Not if I was fast enough. The idle daydreams I’d had when I first laid eyes on Matt prodded me like hundreds of needles. “Wait.”

“Hm?” Seraphina glanced over her shoulder.

“Where’s Matt?”

A tiny smile played at the corner of her mouth. “Taylor said you might ask that.”

I felt the blood rush to my face, but never lowered my gaze. It was now or never.

“I heard he’ll be at the Geisha Inn. The armorsmith’s made it very loudly known that she’s crafting his Party new gear. Even if she has every hand in her shop working at it, you have time.” She pointed to the bed. “And Myrun, you should take some time.”

I wanted to leave immediately. I was losing time and losing my chance. But my head throbbed, and every inch of my body ached. I could feel the waning effects of a healer’s magic, but these were wounds that would take time.

“That’s an order from your captain,” Seraphina snapped. “You aren’t to leave until you’re cleared by the healer.”

I blinked and laughed. “Do you conscript everyone in your guard?”

Seraphina shrugged, and her smile widened. “Only the good ones.”

 “Alright. Just this once.” She was right, and I hated it. Losing consciousness in the middle of Shulan would get me nowhere.

“Call on me if you need anything else. I mean it.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Please wait for me, Matt.

---

Taylor continually came to check on me with hot meals at the ready, and I slept soundly through the next two nights. Saoirse’s grace found me rested and released from the healer on the third day. I quickly bathed, dressed, broke my fast, and made my way to the Geisha.

The hostess bowed as I entered the inn’s restaurant. “Good morning, how may I—”

“Is Matt here?”

She straightened. Her ears flicked forward as her lips pulled into a thin line. “I believe so, yes.”

“Thank you. I can find my way.” I nodded and ignored her sharp murmurs about my manners.

“More! Give us more!” A catgirl with fierce red hair slammed her hand on the table, then waved at the waitress. I recognized her from the fight. The brunette catgirl sat beside her, squinting her eyes at the red head in what could have been either confusion or anger.

Facing away from me at the end of the table, picking at a tray of vegetables, was Matt. My heart raced. This is your chance. Confident. I had to be confident. I steadied myself and approached.

I hesitated for a few seconds, then rested my hand on his shoulder. “Excuse me, Matt?”

Matt turned to look at me, and I held my breath. He was much younger than Cailu, with fetching hazel eyes and a strong jawline. He’d make an excellent sire, if he let me. “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Of course, he wouldn’t have seen me in the field. There was so much going on. I forced a smile. “No, but everyone around here knows you. I’m Myrun.” Remember your manners. I bowed, clasping my hands behind my back.

“Oh, uh, right.” He ran a hand through his hair. There was a curious red streak near his forehead. I wondered if it would carry to his kittens. “How can I help you, Myrun?”

“Hurry up! Yer belaying our contest!” the redhead shrieked.

You mean delaying? I chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s alright. What’s up?”

“Well—” I hesitated. Everything about him was so much different than Cailu. His easy, awkward mannerisms. His language. The way he continually checked over his shoulder to steal glances at his Party. From just those few moments and watching him perform on the battlefield, they spoke volumes of his character. My confidence steeled. “I need your help.”

“Okay. With what?”

“You see, I want a kitten of my own.”

Matt grabbed the mug on his table and drained it. I forced myself to stand still and wait. “Isn’t this Cailu’s area to, uh, take care of?”

I couldn’t hide the disgust on my face. It was the question I’d feared, and if he pressed the issue, there was nothing else I could do. “I hate Cailu.”

“Join the club!” The redhead cackled.

“Cailu the cunt! Cailu the cunt!” A large blue bird at the redhead’s side squawked at the top of its lungs. It teetered on its claws and leaned awkwardly against her shoulder.

“Smart bird.” Is the bird drunk, too? “But no. It can’t be Cailu. Not now, not ever.”

Matt looked at his Party, then back at me. His brow furrowed, and he frowned. I was losing him. I started to panic. I’d shared my bed with plenty of other catgirls—I believed I was adequate enough, even in this situation.

I leaned forward and murmured, “Look. I can make it worth your while.” Heat rose to my throat, and I swallowed it back before it reached my face. That held the same allure as a catfish…

Matt batted me away. “Uh, I’m sure you can. But you don’t have to do that—”

I was losing him. What else could I offer him that was worth something so precious? I shifted my weight completely to one knee, and the weight of my sword shifted with me.

My sword.

I unsheathed the blade and held it forward. “This sword… It has been in my family for generations.” I fought back the swell of emotion in my chest. “It was passed down from mother to daughter for time immemorial.” There was nothing that meant more to me. The final tie to my mother, and my family. I’d lost everything but this. “I’m certain it can help you or one of your companions in your many battles to come.” And if it meant the difference between having my own family and living the rest of my days alone, I would make the same choice a hundred times. “Please, you can have it if you’ll have me.” Matt, please.

A long measure of silence fell over the table. The redhead and her bird stopped shrieking, all eyes turned to me, and I held perfectly still. If Matt wished to dismiss me, he was a few simple words away.

My courage had nearly failed when a gentle voice broke the silence. “Matt, you’re the only one who can help her.” The white-haired girl who had blinded me with her Spell clasped her hands to her chest.

“Well, yeah. But I mean—”

The redhead opened her mouth, slurred an incoherent string of words, and then punctuated it with a wave of her hand and one final, “Go.”

My hopes soared. I hadn’t expected assistance from Matt’s Party.

“Keke?” He looked at the brunette.

Keke grinned and copied the redhead’s wave. “Yeah. We’re right here, Matt.”

Matt nodded, then turned his attention back to me. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

I leapt to my feet and resheathed my sword. “More than anything in this world, sir.” My words poured forth like a freed dam. “Please, anything you want—”

“Alright. Let’s go.” When he stood, I had to look up to meet his gaze. “You don’t have to give me your family’s sword.”

I shook my head. “I insist, sir.”

“Just Matt is fine. Really.”

I followed him up the stairs to the hallway flanked by the inn’s rooms. The sounds from the restaurant faded behind us until they’d diminished entirely. He stopped in front of a door near the end of the hallway.

As I waited for him to take the lead, I watched him. His eyes darted from my face to my arm to the door. It slowly dawned on me that his fear may have little to do with Cailu and more to do with…me. Did I scare him? I bit my lip and weaved my arms beneath his elbow. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Yeah, don’t say that just yet.”

“Why? Is there something the matter?” Another fear surfaced; one I’d never thought possible from the men of Nyarlea. I felt my face flush. “Can you not mate?”

“N-no! That’s not it.” He shook his head and avoided looking at me. His embarrassment made me feel a little better about my own. “Just, ah, new at this.” He opened the door and stepped inside.

“Oh!” I couldn’t help but giggle as I followed him in. He was new to the island and its customs. I had never been with a man before. It was a quip that I returned in kind. “That’s alright! Me, too.”

He closed the door behind me, and I carefully placed the sword in the corner of the room. I freed my hair from its tie and let it fall around my shoulders. As I reached for the knot of my cloak around my neck, Matt stood and watched. “Am I going to have to do this all by myself?” I teased.

“Ah. Sorry.” He shook his head and closed the distance between us. As he slid his hands across my waist and fumbled with the strings of my corset, I wanted to assure him that he was in good company. So I reciprocated, reaching beneath his top to trace the hard lines of his chest. His warmth bled into me, and I wrapped my arms around his back, trailing my fingertips down his spine.

Matt shivered, and I prayed it was a good sign.

I felt my corset come free and Matt sigh beneath my touch. His reaction stoked a flame beneath my skin, and I yearned to explore him further. I pushed myself up to the balls of my feet and traced his collarbone with the tip of my tongue. He hissed in a breath, and I continued upward, moving to my tiptoes to nibble on the edge of his ear. His muscles tensed.

“Just relax,” I whispered. “I promised I’d make it worth your while, didn’t I?”

“You did.” Matt trailed his hand through my hair, fingering my ear as he let it fall.

The heat bubbled over, and my inhibitions vanished. I tossed the corset aside and grabbed the hem of his shirt before yanking it over his head. I licked my lips and drank him in.

“And you said you were new at this,” he said.

“With a man? Yes.” I reached for his belt. Wait, was it not a joke? I hesitated. “Oh… You’re really new at this?”

Matt’s eyes slid to the floor. “Yeah.”

Knowing that I was one of his first was as exciting as it was tantalizing. I failed to suppress a giggle in my throat at the prospect. I wanted to create an experience he would remember, perhaps well enough to come see me again in the future. Despite teasing him, I didn’t mind leading our tryst.

I tugged his belt free and undid the fastenings on his trousers, stripping them down with his undergarments. He still seemed hesitant, so I pressed my chest against his and brushed my fingers over his shoulders. That seemed to elicit a response, and he reached for my pants at last. I shuffled them down my hips with my panties and kicked them off when they reached the floor.

Glancing between his legs, it was clear that his nerves were still getting the best of him. I stroked my tail up the length of his calf, caressed the tops of his thighs, and traced his lower abdomen. As I worked, I gradually received the reaction I wanted.

“Let’s move to the bed?” he asked.

For a moment, I considered that perhaps I’d done something wrong. But it was the first request he’d made of me, and I wasn’t about to squander it. “Of course.”

The beds in the Geisha were just as oversized as those in the Lucky Star, but at least they’d fit us both comfortably. I lay down on the pillows nearest the edge and watched as Matt joined me, moving to kneel between my thighs.

How his muscles moved beneath his skin was incredible to behold—I wished to touch and kiss every inch. It was impossible to feel nervous beneath him, not when the tension building between my legs begged to join his body to mine.

And Matt delivered on my desires. He penetrated me without another word, and we gasped in tandem. I wrapped my legs around his back and my arms around his neck, using his strength as my anchor to work my way down until my hips met his.

I trembled with even the slightest twitch of his body. I moaned and my eyes rolled back. “You feel so good.” I writhed against him, wrapping my tail around his thigh. I needed more. Deeper. “Can you push harder?”

“Yeah. I can.” In the blink of an eye, something changed. Matt’s tone lost its anxious edge, and a corner of his mouth quirked up. He reached behind his neck and grabbed my wrists in one hand, pulling them over his head and pinning them to the bed.

I watched with growing interest as he used his free hand to cup the underside of my thigh and pushed my legs back until my knees touched my stomach. He withdrew his hips and slammed back inside me, penetrating unexplored depths that made me squeal in delight.

I wriggled in his grasp. He clamped down harder and sped his rhythm. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. I hardly recognized the sounds that escaped my throat, or the confident smile on Matt’s face as he repeated the motion again and again. The slick sounds of our joining rang in my ears and compounded on my growing ecstasy.

“I-I’m coming!” I managed between panted breaths and desperate moans.

The most intense convulsions I’d ever experienced pulsed around Matt’s body and made my toes curl. He cried out, and I felt his release with mine. The brilliant lanterns I remembered in Shulan exploded in my vision.

And yet…just as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

Matt withdrew and retrieved his clothes, dressing with a concerning haste. His domineering nature had vanished, replaced by the unsure, hesitant man who had first joined me in the room.

“Matt?” I repositioned myself to my stomach and leaned my face in one palm. “Are you alright?”

“I’m good. Just busy is all.”

I flinched. “Right… Of course.” It was then I realized how badly I wished for him to give me a modicum of attention he offered to his Party. But that wasn’t mine to take. “That’s silly of me to ask.”

I joined him in dressing, and an awkward silence hung in the air. I silently chided myself for my disappointment. He’d given me what I’d asked for. That should have been enough. I tied my cape around my neck and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you, really. I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted this.”

“Yeah. Glad I could help.”

There was still one final promise to keep. I retrieved the sword from the corner of the room and held it toward Matt. “Please take this. I’m sure it will be useful to you later.”

He frowned at the weapon that had followed me my entire life, then accepted it at last. “Alright.” After carefully sliding the longsword into his [Cat Pack], he said, “Take care of yourself, and our”—he paused and shook his head—“be safe, alright?”

And our daughter? I smiled. There was a warmth in his worry. “I’ll protect her with my life. I promise. Safe travels, Matt.”

I left the room alone. After such a swift rendezvous, it felt cold and a little lonely. But… I touched my stomach. She was worth everything to me. More than a longsword. More than the extravagant beds or shimmering lanterns of Shulan.

Thank you, Matt.