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Once upon a time, in a place called Vigil's Keep, there was a stray kitten. The poor little thing was cold, hungry and lonely but no one of the humans around the Keep seemed to notice, even if he meowed desperately for hours trying to catch someone's attention.
But then a young woman saw the cat and, taken from piety alone, crouched on the ground with a smile, scooped up the kitten and took him in her arms, keeping him warm while moving toward the kitchens, where a bowl of milk was already been placed on the floor. The girl, apparently the boss around the place, left the kitten with the cooks, telling him to be good and wait for her.
The milk was delicious and the room was warm, so the kitten - Oh, I forgot! The kitten was the cutest tabby ever! - stretched his little limbs and dozed off next to the fireplace, purring happily.
After a while the woman who saved him went back, and this time she was not alone. With her there was a strange man with golden hair and brown eyes, dressed with a robe that the kitten saw immediately as a jumping playground.
When the man saw the kitten he clapped his hands and cooed, crouching to give him a scratch under his chin. Oh, those hands! For the tabby that was love at first sight and he mewled, arching his back as if he wanted to convince the men to continue petting him. The human spoke to the kitten, introducing himself as Anders and telling him how cute he was, how he would like to keep him close forever.
Have you ever seen an human asking a cat the permission to become his friend? Well, that was exactly what this Anders fellow did. Strange, right? But he was no common man, he was a very powerful healer with a heart as big as the biggest castle ever existed.
From that day on the two friends become inseparable, the human kept his furry friend close even when going on dangerous quests in the Deep Roads - safely tuck in his backpack or pockets of course! While the mage did everything he could to protect his cat, the latter displayed a brave and smart soul, scratching and biting everything that went too close to his human for his own comfort.
Anyway, this is how the lovely human-cat relationship between Anders and Ser Pounce-a-lot began. The rest of the story? Oh, they lived happily for a while, sure. But no, I’m not telling you now. This is a story for another time.