Ashes of the Fallen

All I had on me were rabbit and wolf jerky, though it was rather tough and dried meat didn't seem like the best nutrient. Well, they were only coding so, I wasn't entirely sure if it really mattered what they ate.

Eh, but this game was notorious for being accurate with even the more minor details, I would be hard-pressed to believe they would skimp on this creature. That would be out of character for the developers.

My gaze wandered to the corpses of the cat and wolf that were still quite fresh, and the thought occurred to me to let them try raw meat. I wouldn't be so cruel as to feed them their mother, but they could at least try some wolf meat, I suppose.

It struck me as poetic justice that the wolf would become sustenance for the kittens, not long after it had attempted to make a meal of the forest cat. The flipside was that this wolf was looking to bring food back to its pups.

Yeah, I didn’t feel like going that far.

I wasn't really bothered by the cat's death anyways, in the end it was a gift to me.

The potential of seven domesticated forest cats that I could possibly breed and sell as pets to players… ah, the opportunity for economic success had blessed me with another appearance. Thanks must be given to the Random Number Generator, for it has been quite kind to me lately.

After a few short steps I found myself cutting off slices of wolf flank for the kittens, it was all I had available at the moment and I was hoping it would suffice. Offering the kittens a slice of raw meat each, they responded well and ate without a fuss, much to my relief. While they indulged in their meal, I decided to browse the internet for player pets in Dragon's Wrath. I was already familiar with beast tamers, as Selene had that proficiency and was currently raising and training Barkley, a wolf-pup that they had found. If a wolf could be trained, a dog or cat must be within the range of potential domestic animals.

As I searched through the various dedicated information hubs that had often served me well, I slowly came to the realization that the majority of the pets found in-game were purchased from breeders. Wild pets were almost unheard of, this early in the game at least. Rather than a light bulb or an exclamation point appearing above my head, I was certain a giant dollar sign was now there.

Though, my eyes and mind weren't exactly clouded by greed.

I wasn't out to steal or rob people blind, instead I would offer reasonable pricing but corner markets that lacked supply. Demand is often manufactured by events, so as long as I kept in front of demand and maintained some control over the supply-side of the business, there was steady income available.

These cute little guys… once they started to breed, I would have the market.

Well, maybe.

They were kind of too cute to think of selling, at least at the moment.

Maybe they could be given out as gifts… that didn't seem too bad.

Pulling up the map, I marked the location I was in and tagged it for future reference. There was little reason to believe that another [Northern Forest Cat] would take up home here, but the chance existed. This was their area, so it wasn't too farfetched to think another female or male cat was within range. I mean, there had to be a male cat at least, seeing as the female was deceased and there were seven kittens.

Looking at the map, I was around seventy miles away from the [Liberated Souls] campsite that Ellieby was at, which was too far to consider a visit by foot. Less than a mile to the west was the mountain range that separated my territory from the elven lands I was in now, and it looked like I was about ten miles from the town I had originally set out for.

Ah, well I still had a long way to go.

One look at the kittens and my gear and there was an obvious issue. I needed a way to carry them with me, and my current bag wouldn't suffice. The cat and wolf pelt were still wet and wouldn't be usable, so that left my traveling pack.

Oh well, long term profits.

Taking my knife and altering my pack, I modified it to resemble more of a wide sling that I could wear across my chest, evenly spreading out the kittens like a bandolier. Picking each one up and placing them inside the sling, by the time I was done I had seven little fluffy and furry balls covering a third of my chest… well at least they were safe and secure.

I was… certainly peculiar looking though.

All these partially stained white furs and now on top of that, I'm wearing a live-kitty bandolier across my chest. I could only hope that I didn't run into anyone. Maybe if I had some aviators to fit the image… then it would simply be pure comedy, that wouldn't be so bad, I thought. Well, the sun was setting, so the likelihood of being discovered was slim, that was good.