((
Continuation from "The Arrival" just after "The Awakening" in the second post of William's character profile.))
He wandered into a pub that had the smell of food and booze coming out of it. No one had yet protested to him entering through the gates he had passed nor from entering the bar, so he didn’t think anyone had a problem with his presence. He waved down the bartender and asked for the day’s special. He dug in heartily to his meal of miso soup, noodles, and a little bit of seasoned meat. His meal was followed by a little bit of Sake and a relaxing moment in one of the booths. William couldn’t help but think the whole thing strange. Was he dead? And if so, then was he in heaven? Why was he wearing a black hakama and half of a haori? Where did the swords come from? Why did he have a strong cat tail and ears? These questions and more filled his mind while he tried to enter the trance-like state he had enjoyed earlier in the day before he was robed and armed. He tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible where he sat, but he likely stood out to anyone who was a regular.
He was looking into his second bottle of Sake after trying to answer a few of the questions himself. Naturally, he thought his answers to be incorrect. He was given a few raised eyebrows from some of the others wearing black robes, but none ever seemed to approach him to question who he was.
"Suits me fine," he thought to himself while he picked up the new bottle and poured himself a drink.
While waiting for something he was unsure of, he started examining his new state. The two swords on his arms really were strange, but they did not hinder him in the least or off-set his movements. On the contrary, he hardly felt their weight at all. His tail laid calmly in his lap awaiting his inspection as well.
"This is too w-w-eird..." he shivered at the strange sensation of petting it had brought him. The fur was very soft, and seemed patched with the occasional spot of dark blue. He received a small static shock from merely petting it but nothing that wasn't ignorable.
"Who are you?" a female said before sitting down in front of him. He recognized her as one of the girls that had come into the bar after him. Her tone was slightly hostile but at the same time curious.
"My name's William, and you?" he asked genuinely.
She smiled and looked as if she was going to tell him her name, but she became very serious a split second later.
"Glad you know your name, but seriously, what Squad are you in? You aren't in 10th Squad or I'd remember you."William furrowed his brow,
"Squad?" What the heck was she talking about. Suddenly it became crystal clear to him; the similar uniforms, the swords, the neat and orderly state of the area he had entered, the word Squad. He had to cover up for his mistake or he might be arrested by what he realized was a law enforcer or at least what he thought was a law enforcer. His cheeks flushed and he did his best to act somewhat drunk,
"Oh Squad, right....um, actually, I am 10th Squad. I'm new."She looked him up and down for a moment before she set her hands together.
"Funny, I don't remember the Captain, Vice-Captain, or Seats saying anything about a new recruit. What's the name of our Captain? Surely the officers at the Academy told you our Captain's name before you were dispatched."She watched his every move while he thought of a way out of her question.
"Um, well, you see, I sort of forgot his name. I tend to do tha-HEY!" She was standing in a moment and had reached for her sword.
"You're an intruder and a very bad liar. Guys, help me out here with him." She had spoken to a few guys now standing over by one of the tables. They were coming closer and all had their hands on their sword hilts.
"Look, I don't want any trouble. I...I think I just died, so I'm really not in the mood for a fight." He was now standing and mentally preparing for an unarmed fight despite the two swords on his arms.
"Intruder, I hereby arrest you and will take you into custody. Whether or not I use physical force is up to you. Give up your weapons and come quietly." She took a step closer to him.
"Fine, fine, but I don't know how to remove these....things....they just appeared all of a sudden when I woke up here." He searched the scabbards of the swords, but he did not find and bindings. Instead he started to draw his weapons to remove them.
"Sir, do not draw your weapons. Hand them over in their scabbards and come quietly." She had drawn her weapon at his attempts to remove his weapons from their scabbards.
He looked at the razor sharp sword now before him with wide eyes and said,
"I can't remove them. There aren't any ties and they're too tight to slide-.""Sir remove your weapons now!"He sighed and said,
"Are you deaf? I can't remove them; they're stuck." Upon trying to show the woman that the scabbards were stuck to him, he reached forward and sneezed. At that very moment, something grappled with his stomach. It wasn't the Sake; he could drink several more bottles before he would feel anything. No, something else was wrong.
He fell to his hands and knees as something wrenched inside him.
"Sir stand up this instant!" Her words went unheard by him because of something very painful squeezing at his throat. His fingers suddenly enlarged before his eyes while his feet scraped open his tabi with unusually large claws that he had not previously noticed. He both heard and felt bones cracking all over in his body while muscles stretched and reformed here and there. His face grew into one of a leopard, while his body took on the shape and colors of a black leopard as well.
The transformation finished, giving him a small window of relief before the pain lanced through him again; this time he reverted back to a human form. He had lost consciousness in the pain and was left helpless before a shocked group of onlookers. Several moments of silence passed before she finally said,
"M-men, get this person to the Captain's Office and put him in the strong restraints. The Captain will be interested with this one."Her subordinates did as they were told and disarmed William before they carried him out of the bar toward Evil Wolf's Office. Her fingers ran over the deep scratch marks in the wood where the man had tried to hold on.
"What are you?"((
William is being carried there at the moment.))
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