The Freedom of Slavery Ch. 05

"Alza, I have only heard of this phenomenon occurring once, and it was an ama as well. It looks like you are a panther, but you can take on the patterns of any cat species you want. Thank Zorcon that you won't have the royal gold and silver, to try for it would be impossible.

Now I know why your cat was being so secretive, cats love shocking others when they get the chance and this was to be her grand entrance. I am sure she will occasionally give you grief, but she should behave for a while as she has made quite a shocking entrance.

You will have the title of ama calzan, for you now have a cat and it must be acknowledged," the tsarzan said, relieved that he knew what was going on and that it wasn't another disaster like last time.

And with that mystery solved, everyone relaxed with relief and the tsarzan left for the judgment hall. The major shocker was that the tsarzan didn't bother with a formal judgment on her new status; he just stated it like it was now fact and that was final, except for the paperwork and tattoo. Alza was shocked because she could change the pattern of her fur, which apparently was rare among Felanids.

"Masters, I have so many questions now, can I ask them before I get overwhelmed by them?"

"Of course Alza, but I will answer a few questions I think you might have first. One, you are still an ama; you were born human so that will never change. But adding calzan to your title means that others know that you will not always have the best control over your cat, that you will make mistakes in public because of her, and that your punishments will be tempered with how you act while you are fully in control.

You will get a tattoo that will prove this when you have recovered from your transformation, and then we will go to the arena to proclaim your new status before everyone in the den-site. While there, you will be asked to prove you have a cat, and you must switch into cat-form in front of everyone. Normally, before the proclamation you would appear in the judgment hall and switch in front of the tsarzan, with an official judgment ceremony and screening for adaptability in all three forms.

That is what is puzzling us, that it seems like the tsarzan doesn't feel the need to officially judge you," Lezar explained.

"That would be because the ceremony might weaken the mental alteration that she consented to, the tsarzan does not want to risk anything weakening and reversing what he did for at least the next month, to be safe," the Royal Physician told the brothers.

"So, Masters, does this mean my cat is really prominent or powerful, to be speeding up the transformation process?"

"No Alza, it means that your cat is just a larger factor of your personality than the human is, and that now that she has a way to express herself, she is coming as fast as she can without damaging you. You have a rare ability to mask yourself or change your pattern, but if the tsarzan is not worried about it, then we won't be," Kalba answered.

"Well, you got most of my greater worries answered, but Masters, does having a cat modify my normal training as an ama?"

"No, not really. Your cat may insist that it be given a name as well, for private use, and she may be more rebellious than you are comfortable being, but it shouldn't affect the training. We will help you to become more comfortable having a cat and encouraging harmony between you and your cat.

You will get a new form of punishment though, a time-out. If it is your cat that is causing you to act out of character, or you and your cat are fighting over obeying an order and your human side is wanting to behave, then you will be given time in a room or corner to think about what you should do and get control of yourself. That is only given to ama-calzans as an option, which is why it is important that others know your new status," Jahar explained.

"I feel much better knowing about the time-out, thank you Master Jahar. That was a worry of mine, about if my cat was causing mischief and I wasn't able to stop her."

By now, dusk had come and gone, and Alza was ready for her second serving of dinner. Around 5ish, they had given her some fish that tasted like a combination of trout and salmon, as well as a fruit platter. Her hips and stomach had changed to a pretty reverse leopard coat, and the transformation was slowly working its way up her chest.

It was 9ish, and the brothers had started figuring out the shift schedule for the night. Alza was to eat something, fruits and vegetables as well as meat, every couple of hours so her body had enough calories to complete the transformation.

If she felt like her bones ached, she was to have one of the vitamin shakes, as her jaw couldn't crunch bone yet. Gobin would be part of the first shift, along with Ilan, as he wanted to make sure when her heart and lungs changed, that they sounded normal. Lezar and Helius would have the second shift, as Helius had the most medical knowledge after Gobin.

Kalba and Jahar would take the last shift, as Kalba was the best at calming feral cats and Jahar was the best at communicating with them. As they had second shift, Lezar and Helius lay down and went to sleep so that they would be fully alert.

"Masters, I thought Master Helius was the one with best mental communication skills. Why is Master Jahar the best at communicating with feral cats? And what are feral cats?"

"I am closer to my cat than my brothers; my human side is very weak comparatively and doesn't like to make itself known. Feral cats are those of us whose cat is fully in control, and whose human side can not come through.

You may have noticed your cat communicates with you not only through speech, but through images and body language. Feral cats use only images and body language, and my cat is quicker to pick up on these cues than my brothers' cats are," Jahar replied in a whisper.

At that moment, the transformation had reached her breasts, and they disappeared with a collective groan from her still awake Masters, but they watched as teats formed along her stomach.

"I think I could live with these, as long as your hybrid has breasts," Jahar said, his disappointment still evident.

"Master Jahar, these seem to be just as sensitive as my breasts were, and my cat mentions something about trading 2 for 6 while I'm pregnant, though she is being unclear again."

"Don't worry Alza, I know exactly what she means and she better keep her promise."

The corentes on her chest changed in rhythm to that of a cat's at that moment, and Gobin used his focantes to check how her heart and lungs looked. Seeing that they looked fine, he rested easier.

About an hour later, 11ish, Gobin and Ilan fed her a fish-covered salad, with a side of what looked like beef skewers. She had been learning how to purr, as the transformation had reached her neck and the lower part of her face. Her neck and face had taken on a pattern that was what looked like a two-tone of black and lioness cream, and her jaw was taking on the shape of a lion.

Now it was making sense to Alza. Her cat wanted to show her Masters her love of them by imitating each cat as best she could. It seemed that she was a non-patterned panther naturally, but she could imitate other cat patterns. No wonder her cat was being mischievous and mysterious. She was using her grand entrance as such, and showing her devotion as well.

"I am just grateful that my Masters are so patient and understanding about the whole two strangers yet not strangers in the same body trying to find a balance. The tsarzan is a great leader as well, to understand that I as Alza didn't want to make a fuss, but that my cat is captain right now and has other ideas."

By midnight, the transformation was fully complete with her tail being the last thing to form, and Jahar was glad he stayed awake, because her cat was very talkative at the moment. She was showing him lots of scrambled images, quite a few of which were very erotic, when he told her to slow down and tell him what she wanted known one bit at a time so he could talk for her.

"At the moment brothers, she is being a little more demanding than we should tolerate, but I will take care of that in a second. She is willing to tell us her true name though, which is why she isn't being disciplined. But she want to tell the rest of you herself once she has gotten the hang of mind-speech. She is telling us that she will go into heat within the month, and that she wants us to make sure she will have cubs to suckle within 6 months.

She has the ability of empathy, as we knew, and the imitation ability, but she also has the ability to poison through teeth and claws, but she assures me it will only happen if she is threatened. She says she has the potential ability to mind-speak at a distance, but as she has just formed, she needs to learn how to mind-speak. At the moment it is mostly just images and occasional sentences, but she is progressing.

Alza is just fine, if a little stunned and feeling unable to come forth. Our kitty here says that she should stay in this form for a few more hours, but in the morning you should see her in hybrid form, which will have breasts," Jahar interpreted for the still eager cat.

Lezar, who had just woken up, was eager to hear what their kitty had to say for herself, but seeing the tense and overwhelmed look on Jahar's face made him think he should wait.

"Can she understand us talking in normal speech, if she can I will feel better about going to sleep," Gobin asked, ready to get some sleep.

With a yowl of indigence, and her tail twitching with annoyance, she sent him a touch of calm emotion to prove she was not rouge and that he could go to sleep.

"I guess I got my answer, little kitten, but that was very rude. We will talk in the morning about how you should speak to your Masters, if Alza doesn't chew your head off for us."

"Kitten, Gobin was asking you a question as a doctor and a concerned Master. In the morning, when you are in better control of yourself, you will give me three ideas on how to punish you for that. Consider this your first time-out. Now, answer my question nicely, or you can double your punishment: Are you balanced enough for us to sleep without fear of you attacking us or needing another cat for guidance, because Helius and I can stay awake if you need us," Lezar scolded.

"Lezar, our kitty has a very dirty mind when she thinks of punishments, but she says that if you could sleep in a chair by her in case Alza freaks during her shift, she is in enough control not to hurt anyone.

And she is having a hard time stomaching ama protocol, and she may go sailing through the ranks. I don't think she is going to be a calzan for long, she might be a halzan, but I have never heard of an ama-halzan. Will the tsarzan even allow for it?" Jahar said, with a hint of worry.

"We will tackle that in the morning, when Alza is back and we see her hybrid. Once we decide on a plan, I will talk to the tsarzan about what we need to do," Lezar replied with a yawn.

With the knowledge that they could get a full night's sleep without watching for trouble from their new kitty, the brothers settled down for the night.