Attack of the 50ft Holiday Cat
Summary: Lina and co. are tasked with taking care of a giant cat terrorizing a town. She scoffs it off as a hoax until they actually see it for themselves. And it's a lot bigger than they thought.
AO3 Link
A/N: Hey @eastofthemoon! I'm your @slayersweek Secret Santas for this year! Have a fic with pic that's about the Slayers gang facing the Yule Cat. Also posted it to AO3 in case you want to read it there. Hope you enjoy it!
“So… Let me get this straight…” Lina murmured as her finger pressed against her forehead. “You want to enlist my services to, and I’m just paraphrasing here, deal with a cat?”
The mayor let out a small chuckle before he answered, “Well… It’s actually a very large cat.”
As an awkward silence filled the room, she stared at the portly man with her mouth twitching. Of all the things to be asked to do, she never thought wrangling a cat would be one of them. Not like she didn’t know the finicky nature of a cat. However, she felt that it was below her skill level. Closing her eyes for a bit, she turned to her companions, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis. “Alright, let’s go then.”
“Wa-Wait! At least allow me to explain!” He exclaimed, panic-stricken across his face. Stopping for a moment, the group all looked at each other before they settled back into place.
Letting out a cough, the mayor leaned more onto the table. “You see, we wouldn’t have much trouble if it were a normal cat or even an abnormal cat. But this thing is giant! A large ferocious beast! It has started coming to town every night for the past three days, and it has been taking people! Of course, it’s usually people wearing their old garments. But my point still stands!”
“Are you sure?” asked Gourry. “It could be like a lost house cat, and it thinks the people are mice it can play with.”
Everyone stared at him in shock. With her eyebrow twitching, Lina pretty much whacked him on the head.
“Anyway… We could really use a high-class sorceress like yourself to stop this monster. Granted, you’re the only one we know of that is here. But we could use your help in this manner.” The mayor gleamed as he looked at her.
She, though, didn’t seem too thrilled. “I don’t know…”
“We’ll double the reward!” he offered, “5000 gold if you stop the cat!”
“Make it triple that! Also, free meals and room to stay in!”
“Huh-Wha-But! But that’s too much!” he said, flabbergasted.
“That’s my offer.” Lina settled back in her chair. “Take it or leave it.”
After some grumbling, he snorted. “Alright, fine! Just take care of that monster!”
With a smirk, she got up, walked over to him, and shook his hand. “Pleasure doing business with you.” She then turned to her companions with a gleam in her eye. “Alright! Let’s go take care of this cat!”
The group cheered while starting to head off. As they left the room, Amelia looked over at Lina and asked, “So… How are we going to catch it anyway?”
“Well, it’s pretty simple if it’s just a cat.” Lina grinned. “We’ll put some fish and toys in a cage. Then when the cat comes and walks into it, we’ll trap it.”
“I don’t know. The mayor says it’s big…” Gourry murmured as he was lost in thought.
“Oh, he’s just exaggerating. It’s probably someone playing a prank, or people got drunk and imagined it. Or even, another monster that looks like a cat,” she said as she stretched her arms over her head. “In any case, we’ll go with a worg-sized cage, at least to be on the safe size.”
As they left the mansion, Zelgadis sighed. “Why do I get the feeling that this is not going to end well?”
---
That night, outside of the town limits, Lina and her friends waited while snow was starting to fall. Not so far from them was a medium-sized cage, filled with treats a cat wouldn’t even resist. It was hidden near a bush with the snow accumulating on it, making it blend into its surroundings better. The only thing they needed to do now was wait for the cat to come. However, Lina found it insufferable with the dropping temperatures.
“S-s-s-so C-c-cold,” she muttered, shivering as she held herself tight. Of all the times an imaginary monstrous cat could attack, why was it during the snowy season?
Noticing her shaking body, Gourry asked, “Do you want me to be close to you? We can be warm together.”
“S-s-sure. W-why n-n-n-not?” He moved closer to her, wrapping his arms over her shoulders. With this gesture, she found herself blushing. She did find herself warmer. Though she wished he did it more subtly, especially with Amelia and Zelgadis nearby.
Speaking of which, Amelia glanced over at Zelgadis as her cheeks turned slightly red. “Are you cold, Mister Zelgadis? Want me to stand close to you too?”
“Don’t worry,” he answered, “The cold never bothered me anyway.” Then, his face got slammed by a bunch of snow, much to his annoyance.
The group continued to wait as the snow started to really come down. Time passed and so far, there was still no giant monster cat to be seen. After a while more of being silent, Gourry finally spoke, “So… How do we know if we caught the cat? We’ve only been told that it’s giant.”
“Gourry…” Lina closed her eyes as she sighed aggravatedly. “I’m still sure that it’s a regular-size cat.”
“Are you sure, Miss Lina?” Amelia asked. “Like I have heard of that there’s a race of big people called Giants. So, why can’t there be giant cats?”
Looking over at her, she raised an eyebrow. “And where did you hear that?”
“Oh, a very old fairy tale that Daddy used to read to me. It’s about a boy who traded his cow for beans, and he climbs up a beanstalk and-!”
“Amelia, Gourry, I’m just going to be clear on this, so you better listen,” she began through gritted teeth. “There are no such things as giant cats!”
“Uhhh… Guys?” Zelgadis finally spoke up. All three looked at him, seeing the uneasiness in his face before turning to where he was staring at. They soon turned pale as in front of them was a cat, a very large cat. It was about as big as a pine tree with a dark fluffy coat and yellow eyes. Seeing it for themselves, they now could say that this was the giant cat that had been terrorizing the town.
“Hey, Lina…” Gourry said, breaking the stunned quietness between them. “I think we’re going to need a bigger cage.”
With a low growl, the giant cat stared down at them as its eyes went into slits. Panicking, Amelia looked over at the others. “Okay, so, why is it staring at us like that?”
After a while of thinking, Lina soon realized. “Damn it! It must be our clothes! The guy said it was taking people with old clothes and we’re wearing the same outfits since the first season!”
“To be fair, I don’t think we have that much variety in dress design.” Zelgadis sighed. He really needed a word with the character artists someday.
Without wasting another minute, the gang ran away as the cat started to chase after them. They didn’t head back to town for fear of being blamed for the unwarranted destruction. Instead, they ran deeper into the forest. The cat, unfortunately, was gaining ground as its stride was larger than theirs. As they were trying to get away, Amelia found herself tripping and landing face first into the snow.
“Oumph!” She lifted herself, the snow dripping off her face. Seeing her friends running back, her worries increased as a large shadow cast over her. She turned with a shaking head to see the large cat staring down at her with a glint in its eye. It leaned down with its mouth open to her trembling form. As she could feel its hot breath closing in, her heart raced as her mind felt the inevitable coming.
Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis all went pale, watching as the cat ate their friend. Both the sorceress and the tall swordsman were stunned. But Zelgadis slowly walked toward it in a scowl. Raising up his hands, he produced a fiery arrow and shouted out, “FLARE ARROW!”
The spell flew towards the monstrous feline who didn’t seem scared by it. It managed to hit yet it remained unaffected by it except for noticing the others. Zelgadis gritted his teeth before shooting a much more powerful Flare Arrow at it. Again, it remained unscathed as it started to run towards the group in a fervor. At this point, he was about to cast a stronger spell. Unfortunately, the cat got close and caught him in his mouth too.
“ZELGADIS!” Lina yelled, reaching out to where he once was. She couldn’t believe it. First, Amelia and now, Zelgadis was gone too. What was worse was that the cat seemed nigh invincible that not even spells could harm it. Her mind was trying to come up with some way of stopping it. But she snapped back to reality when she saw Gourry’s hand in front of her.
“Lina…” he said, taking out his sword, “Get out of here. I’ll try to fight this thing off.”
She watched as he ran at it, letting out a battle cry. Her eyes became wide when she noticed the cat rushed at him as well. Seeing how this would end, she sprinted after him, holding her hand out. “Gourry, wai-!!”
But it was too late. The cat scooped him up into his mouth in one fell swoop. Watching it happen made her heart stop momentarily and her blood ran cold. She still couldn’t believe it. Now all her friends were gone, devoured by the monster.
Her grief didn’t last though as it now started to head towards her. Seeing it approached, she gritted her teeth while her blood slowly started to boil. She gathered her magical power in her hand and started to shoot fireballs at it. Yet just like before, they were ineffective against the monster. It didn’t take long before it loomed over her like a dark shadow.
As it opened its mouth, Lina cursed that this was how she was going to die. Not living a long life or even getting defeated by a Dark Lord but by a stupid cat. Still, it probably wouldn’t be that bad. She would at least get to see her friends again. Lowering its jaw to her, the renowned sorceress closed her eyes and accepted her fate.
---
While the snowfall started to increase in the mountain, the old man continued to shovel it out. He had made a bit of progress from today with a small pathway. But he still had a lot to do if he wanted to get to where the town was. As he continued to shovel, he soon noticed a large black cat heading his way.
“Ahh, there you are, Mittens!” he greeted as the giant cat gleamed. Seeing its cheeks puffed out, he asked, “Do we have more guests today?”
It nodded before hacking out Lina and her crew. They looked disturbed, considering how they were swallowed by the large feline. After some time, they soon realized that they were not dead.
Feeling slightly irritated, Lina grabbed the old man and shook him. “Alright! Tell us what’s going on! Where in the nine hells are we!?”
“Oh, you’re on my farm,” he said in a calm demeanor. “Mittens brought you here as you can see.”
“Hold it, Mittens?” Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.
The old man nodded. “Yes, she’s a very good kitty. My wife raised her when she was a small baby.”
The group tilted their heads, befuddled by his explanation. “Anyway, she seems to have gotten into the habit of taking people and bringing them here. I think it’s because she has noticed how lonely my wife and I have been. We used to come to the village all the time with my wife selling clothes she had made for the season. But lately, we haven’t been making the journey, considering our old age and all. So, she’s been bringing people here. Albeit it’s a rough experience for them.”
“So, you’re saying… That the cat has been kidnapping people because you guys are just LONELY?!” Lina shouted, pretty much done at this point. As he nodded again, she let out an exasperated groan.
Not being fazed by her grumbling, he asked, “Would you like to come inside? My wife would gladly make you some hot chocolate and garments for the season.”
The gang all looked at each other in contemplation before turning back to him and nodding. If anything, it probably would be better than heading back to town at this hour. As they started to make their way to the house, he yelled, “Don’t worry! I’ll have a good pathway set by next morning.”
“Okay! I’ll help after I drink hot chocolate!” Gourry called back, much to his companions’ annoyance. “Wow! I can’t believe Mittens was just taking people so these guys wouldn’t be so lonely. She must be a good kitty.”
“Yea… Good…” Lina sighed, not wanting to explain to him how cats’ morality was different from humans.
“Anyway, I hope he can get the path shoveled,” Amelia murmured, rubbing her hands.
“Well, Mittens could bring us back if we wanted to.”
Slumping, Zelgadis groaned. “I doubt that would go over well.”
“Yeeeaaa…” Lina rubbed her head. “Even if we did manage to convince the cat, the town would not take well to seeing it considering what it has done lately. At best, we should explain what’s been going on, so they don’t get the wrong idea.”
With that said, everyone pretty much agreed. So, they spent the rest of the night there, enjoying their new seasonal outfits and drinking hot chocolate.
