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Zack shuffled under the bag that had been strapped to his back, trying to make certain that it was comfortable. Once the group began to move out, per Sekhmet’s orders, he nudged Cloud so that the man would know that it is time to move out.
Seferia had been watching Sephiroth from the distance. When he returned, she nodded before she held out his water canister.
“I can see that. You did well, Sephiroth.”
As she heard the call to move on, she bent down to grasp onto one of the eggs. She then waited until everyone left, mostly because she wanted to insure that there were no stragglers. Within five minutes, she started her trek northward along with the rest of the group.
For the first bit of their travels for the day, they followed the Rio Grande’s banks, for it would lead them directly in the North-West path that they required to reach their destination. Thus, within a few hours, the group came across the dilapidated fence that was once used by the United States to keep out immigrants out of the state once known as New Mexico.
On reaching the border, Seferia leaned over to Sephiroth before she softly spoke to him, “Be prepared to run. There may still be a few humans who think that their ‘borders must be protected’ here. It is not common, but we might be shot at.”
Sephiroth was mostly quiet as he took one of the eggs for travelling with. When the group moved on, so did he, staying towards the back with Seferia and behind the rest of the group. He was overheating due to wearing black clothing and sipped water from his water-canteen frequently, only to lose the water again through sweating and respiration.
When he came to the border fence, a discontent frown twisted its way onto his face. He gave Seferia a momentary glance before his attention was back on the fence and the area beyond.
“I’m surprised the humans would still shoot at us…” He sighed. “There’s not many of us left. Surely…”
Seferia looked over at Sephiroth before sadly shaking her head. She sighed as she began to respond to him, “Yes, that would be what one would believe is logical, no? However, humans, by large, are not too logical. I’ve seen them shoot from time to time. We’ll just need to see what happens.”
The dragon then looked up as Sekhmet used her sword to trash apart the fencing enough to provide a sufficient opening for the group. The feline princess promptly continued on her path, showing no fear at all as she passed by the fence.
Soon enough, Seferia passed by the fence as well. For the time being, her attention was on the surrounding hills, for she didn’t want to be caught unawares.
Sephiroth was silent as he crossed through the border fence. He made a slight coughing sound and reached for his water canteen again, drinking the last of it before putting the lid back on, slinging it across his back once again.
He was more concerned about being shot at, or people in his camp movement randomly going down. He was absolutely silent save for his partially-laboured breathing, which was due to being overheated.
All he wanted to do now was get out of danger, and cool down. He knew that would come later in the day, so he remained quiet.
Seferia continued to keep a close eye on her surroundings, though her ears frequently twitched in Sephiroth’s direction. She had noticed his breathing for the last hour or so, and was starting to get concerned. Still, she didn’t want to bother him, so she didn’t mention her concerns yet.
Within a few hundred yards of passing the border, a loud gunshot echoed through the air. Luckily for the group, the shooter was a rather bad shot and only hit the dirt near to Zack’s feet.
Seferia hissed in annoyance as she heard the shot. So, she immediately went to work on trying to find the mind of the shooter so that she could disable him or her into a psychic stupor.
Sephiroth flinched visibly as he heard the sound of the gun go off. He instantly dropped to the ground in the long grass, and then began to crawl along on his belly, an evasive tactic he had learned in the ShinRa army to avoid enemy fire. He reached Zack in just a few moments, and grabbed at his leg, trying to pull him down with him.
“The next one could be lethal,” He hissed. “Get down, all of you!”
Seferia did not show any of the fear that Sephiroth clearly displayed. Instead, she set down her egg then made her way to where she had sensed the shooter. Since she had already trapped the man’s mind in a psychic torment “prison”, he did not manage to fire any shots at her. Instead, she simply walked to his position before she helped herself to his supplies.
Once she had gathered what little food and water, as well as bullets, the man had, she snorted in distaste before she turned around to head back over to the main group.
The dragon then called out, “It is safe. He was only a sole idiot human. We are in no danger.”
“There’s only one?” Sephiroth frowned as he rose to his feet again, and then he dusted himself off. “I’m almost dissapointed.” He dusted whatever dirt he saw off Zack’s back and returned to Seferia, nodding at her.
“Good work,” He said quickly. “You neutralized what could have been a hazard. We should keep moving now so we get to our destination much faster….”
Seferia nodded in agreement as she returned to the egg that she had left behind. As she picked up the egg, she reached out to offer Sephiroth the canteen of water and bag of trail mix that she had plundered off the male.
“It was a relatively simple threat. Human minds are weak, so it takes no time for me to trap them in a waking nightmare.” As she spoke, she glanced back toward the hill where she had left the human. “No matter, we should continue on.”
So, the group continued on, pushing themselves as fast as they can. As they came to the abandoned city of Las Cruces, Sekhmet called for a break. So, she lead the group into what once was a shopping mall before she asked some of the men to fan out and look for supplies.
At this time, Seferia moved even closer to Sephiroth to examine him over. She frowned with concern as she noticed how much sweat was covering his skin.
“Do you mind if I attempt something, Sephiroth?”
“Preserve him for the good of his species… but I would prefer he did not shoot at us again.” Sephiroth frowned as he continued on his way. He was glad that the bullet had not struck anyone.
He continued on his way, seeming discontent as the harsh sun bothered him. He kept quiet though.
Sephiroth raised a brow at Seferia and slowly nodded his head. “You want to attempt something?” He wondered what she would do and was very curious as he stepped over to her, tilting his head. “I want to know what it is first, before I can consent.”
Seferia sighed as she pondered over her plans for a moment. She had taken notice that the black of his coat was overheating him. However, his skin wouldn’t be able to handle the sun. So, she figured that if there was something else, perhaps lighter colored like his hair, covering his skin… Perhaps something like that would keep him from being horribly burnt, while at the same time reflect enough of the sun that it wouldn’t overheat him.
Shaking her head, she grasped onto Sephiroth’s arm before she lead him to the nearest private area, which happened to be a men’s restroom. From there, she pointed to the corner.
“Strip down. I am going to attempt to change your form. However, I cannot promise that the change would preserve your clothing. So, please remove them,” she firmly commanded.
The dragon then leaned against the doorway as she patiently waited for Sephiroth to remove his clothing.
Sephiroth seemed confused as Seferia led him away. He followed her anyway, the confusion only rising further when she led him into a decrepit run-down old men’s restroom. He glanced at the corner, then frowned back at her, wondering what on earth she was planning.
“Strip down…?” He said blankly. “Well…” He shrugged his shoulders and stepped into one of the cubicles to do so. After removing his leather pants, coat, and the rest of his attire, he neatly folded all of it and stepped back out into the open, both hands covering his private area. He felt very exposed and naked right now, and he was, quite literally.
“What are you going to do?”
Once Sephiroth stepped out of the cubicle, Seferia rolled her eyes at his actions. After releasing a deep sigh, she shook her head before she spoke out in the best reassuring tone that she could manage, “You can relax, Sephiroth. We are mated. I have seen your body in the nude before. It is of no consequence if I see it now.”
After speaking, she set the egg that she had been carrying for the day on the ground. Once the dragon was sure that her egg was secure, she moved over to Sephiroth so that she could examine him. After a few moments, she nodded in approval.
“Yes, this should help out… I hope. If it doesn’t, I’ll simply reverse it.”
With that spoken, Seferia’s eyes began to glow as she softly spoke in the ancient draconic tongue of her ancestors. As she spoke, she weaved a spell that would transform Sephiroth into a bipedal feline such as the form that she currently was donning.
Sephiroth simply stood there in all his nakedness and watched to see what Seferia would do, all the while feeling rather awkward.
“Help out? What are you going to do?” Before he could add any more, Seferia was speaking aloud in another language, and then his body began to shift and change. First, his bones warped into their new positions, nearly making him lose his balance. Then all at once, his hair grew in, feeling like fine spikey needles as the hair follicles grew all over him. A tail suddenly instinctively began to sway behind him with his mood, and he glanced down at himself, disorientated from what had just happened.
He stumbled backwards in disbelief and shock, and then he promptly fell backwards, crashing down.
After witnessing Sephiroth stumble backwards, Seferia leapt over to his side before she knelt down next to him so that she could try to push him back up to his feet. Sighing, the dragon looked over him with concern as she attempted to help him back to his feet.
“Well, if you can’t even manage to stand, this will definitely not be much help at all,” she plainly stated.
Sephiroth stumbled on his feet, just trying to orientate himself for now. He stuck his tail straight out behind him and leaned forward, glancing down at himself. He still felt rather itchy and scratched at his coat of silvery fur, still feeling rather confused as he tried to grapple the new form.
“How is this supposed to help me against the heat?” He wondered. “Isn’t fur hotter than skin?”
“It depends on the type of fur,” Seferia explained as she continued to assist Sephiroth in regaining his footing. She had firmly set down her right hand against the small of his back while she had the other hand on his shoulder. “It seems that this form has short and fine silver hair, which is what I was hoping for. Since your fur is light in color, it will reflect most of the sunlight and keep it from burning your skin. And since it is a short, fine texture, it shouldn’t build up as much heat as your coat was.”
The dragon tilted her head to the side as she considered over the change that she had put over Sephiroth. Overall, she was rather confident that she was right about the statements she made. However, Seferia was not fully positive.
Eventually, she spoke out again, “If you do not approve, I can simply change you back.”
Sephiroth leaned forwards as Seferia pushed him in the back, still working out how to balance properly. He nodded in vague approval of the form, frowning at her when she suggested changing him back.
“I’ll try it for a while,” He said quickly. “As long as I can still fit into my clothes.” He paused, looking around. “Where are they, anyway? I suppose we should join the main group again very soon or else they will start to wonder where we are…”
Seferia scanned Sephiroth’s stance over, scrutinizing it for any signs of instability. After a moment, she stepped away from him before she nodded. Still, she circled around him so that she could continue to study him over.
“Well, at least you can stand. However, if you can’t manage walking, this will certainly be a failure,” she commented. “As for your clothing, I believe you left it in that stall.”
She paused in her pacing and looked him up and down again. After a moment, she spoke out to him once more, “As for the fitting, I’d imagine that most of it should fit. Your pants might not reach all of the way. Not to mention, your pants are not made for a tail, but that can be ignored. I don’t imagine your boots will fit. Your feet are digitigrade now.”
Sephiroth picked up his clothing, shaking it out to observe it. The belts still fit him fine, and he discovered that if he wore his pants very low, his tail could poke out over the top of the pants. It wasn’t entirely desirable or comfortable, but under the circumstances it was all he could do.
He poked at his coat, eventually deciding to fling it over his shoulders. He wouldn’t wear it right now.
“So this is going to stop me from being burned from the sun…?” He raised his brows lightly in disbelief. Seferia must have been mad.
Seferia shrugged, not fully certain if her idea would work at all. She had never really had a reason to test this sort of thing before. So, for all she knew, it wouldn’t help at all.
“I cannot say for certain. However, I’ve rarely seen felines get sun burnt. And they are a species that developed in the deserts of Egypt. So, it should work. I think.”
Shrugging once more, Seferia turned her back on Sephiroth before she moved to retrieve her egg. Once she had gathered her egg, she stepped out of the men’s restroom.
Sephiroth watched Seferia go, and then he picked up the clothes that wouldn’t fit. He looked over them for a few moments and shrugged, before he followed her outside.
“Egypt? You think cats came from there? I don’t think so… they had to have come from somewhere else earlier.” He frowned. “Then again, who knows. I’m sure the cats have all kinds of stories to tell about it.”
Seferia flicked her right ear back in Sephiroth’s direction as she heard him speak to her. After a moment, she turned to face him before she shook her head.
“Yes, I am most certain that the species I turned you into came from Egypt. One of the first members of that specific species was known as a goddess to the Egyptians. Her name was Bastet,” Seferia explained. “Bastet was the first of the feline royalty. While she herself wasn’t a goddess, she was still revered as one. Stories say that she was very benevolent.”
With that, Seferia shrugged. “However, who is to say for certain?”
Sephiroth shrugged back. “It doesn’t really matter…” He said as he headed back towards his posessions so he could pack away the clothing he was no longer wearing.
He took the small break time to sit down and poke at his empty water canteen. He would fill it up before they would move out again, but it honestly surprised him how much of it he had taken in since they left in the morning.
“Cats have unusual heritage.” He said finally. “Just like most species.”
Seferia followed behind Sephiroth, though she had no real motive to do such. For the most part, she had nothing better to do, so she felt that staying near to her mate was appropriate. Her eyes frequently roamed over his form as she studied it anew. Overall, the dragon approved of the shape that his body took.
Once Sephiroth spoke, she looked up at him before slowly nodding. “Well, yes. Any species has an interesting origin. However, I do say that the tales of Tiamat and dragons are the most fanciful. I cannot discern which are myth and with are reality, sadly. There are some who believe that I am a direct descendant of Tiamat, though that makes as little since as any. Tiamat has been sealed or dead for millions of years by the time I was born..”
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