A cat girl sitting by herself

He looked around and spotted a lone cat beastkin sitting by herself. Her ears twitched as she noticed Erik approaching.

"Mind if I sit here, miss?"

The cat girl blinked as she looked up at the bandit. Erik's rather filthy appearance, and the smell of sweat from hours of hiking through the forest, was not particularly pleasant. She scrunched her nose a little, but she nods her head at Erik's question.

"Go ahead," she replied politely.

"Thank you, and sorry about the smell. I have just got here less than an hour ago, so I haven't had time to take a bath"

Erik then pulled a chair across from the beastkin and sat on it. He paid closer attention to her appearance as she grabbed more bits of her food with her fork.

The cat girl had golden yellow eyes and a small pink lips. She was quite beautiful, actually, and her face looked much like a human. But with a couple of triangular furred ears atop of her head and an equally furry tail protruding from her backside, nobody would mistake her for anything but a cat beastkin. If she were a human, she looked to be in her early 20s, perhaps even late teens. The fur on her ears and tail were both black, just like the shoulder length hair she had on her head. Her body was on the short side, at least six inches shorter than Erik. She was also wearing a simple traveling attire, which consisted of a dark green cloak that covered most of her body, and a brown leather corset belt with pockets on it. Erik noticed that her small breasts were hidden below her corset and white undershirt. Erik couldn't see it since her lower body was covered by the table, but she was wearing a brown leather trousers and travelling boots.

While Erik was eyeing her appearance, the cat girl looked at him with an amused expression. She didn't seem to mind Erik ogling at her.

"It's fine, I've smelled much worse before, and at least you're aware about it. You would not believe how many men I've met being so oblivious of their smell," she said before adding, "in fact, that is why I'm sitting in this corner all alone"

Erik gave her a smirk, "and yet you let me sit here, I feel honored"

The cat snorted, "only because you seem to be an interesting fellow"

Erik raised his eyebrows, "you just said I have bad smell, how am I interesting?"

She shrugged, "let's just say I have a good intuition about people"

Erik tilted his head, wondering what she meant by that. The cat girl then put her fork down, having finished her food. She looked at him with a playful gaze.

"You look like a traveler, mind telling me where you're going?"

"Ah well... I don't have a specific destination. Just going deeper into the elves' territory. Perhaps even towards their capital city"

"That's so? What's your purpose of travelling?"

"Nothing much, really. I just want to see the world, know new people, and taste new flavors"

Erik couldn't tell her that he was technically a fugitive from the human kingdom.

"Well, I'll be! Having that kind of fund to blow, are you perhaps a noble or a rich man?"

Erik chuckled, "do I look like one?"

"Not at all! You look more like a bandit that has been terrorizing human villages. Aren't you... Erik?"

The cat purposely hung her sentence before she name dropped the criminal. She smirked as Erik stared at her blankly. He then quickly looked around, confirming that nobody else heard her. He then looked back at the girl in front of her, wearing a much more scary expression on his face.

"So you knew me," he growled in a low tone.

The cat sipped from her mug before answering, "I heard about you before, it was hard not to if you travel a lot around the border. Saw your bounty poster once, but the sketch of your face was very poorly drawn. So I was just half guessing, really... And you just confirmed it yourself"

Erik sighed, cursing himself for falling for such a simple trap, but then again it was better than her yelling out his name loudly in the middle of the tavern.

"Alright, you got me. Now what? Are you going to report me to the guards? Maybe even try to catch me yourself? You're welcomed to try"

Erik spoke in a serious, threatening manner, though it seemed to amuse the cat instead of scaring her. She laughed as she folded her arms below her chest.

"Relax, Erik. If I wanted to do any of that, I wouldn't have confronted you so directly like this. Can't you see I'm just a weak feline girl? I'd never be able to capture you by myself!"

Erik did not miss the sarcastic tone in her voice. She was probably stronger than she looked. He then relaxed a little, and chuckled along with the grinning cat.

"Hah, so what's your plan then? Are you blackmailing me into doing your bidding?"

The girl giggled, setting her arms on the table, her cheeks leaning on her elbows for support, "don't be ridiculous! I don't want to be stabbed in the back by you while I'm sleeping. At least, not that kind of stabbing"

Erik quirked his eyebrow as he caught the meaning of her words. The girl swished her tail mischievously, slowly moving its length across her lips while she's leering at him. But moments later, she straightened her back, pulling away from Erik. The girl put on a more serious air and spoke softly after she cleared her throat.

"Anyway, I have a proposal. Why don't you and I team up for a while? We're both headed to the capital anyway, aren't we? I have my own cart, so you will save on travelling expenses"

Erik considered the offer for a bit, staring at her face in silence. The idea sounded tempting, and she also had an aura of danger around her, and Erik would be lying if he said he didn't find that alluring. However...

"I don't even know your name, kitty. And I don't know your deal"

"Ah! Of course... My name is Midnight, a humble traveling merchant. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Erik"

Erik noticed her stressing on the 'humble' part, "Midnight, huh? I'm guessing you are also not very fond of the guards yourself, am I right?"

"Perhaps... But we shouldn't discuss this here. There are a lot of listening ears in this place. Think about my proposal and come find me in my room later, just knock on the last door," she smirked, standing up from her seat, "also, do wash yourself and change your dirty clothes if you want our meeting to be more... intimate"

The cat left the table before Erik could respond. He watched her go, her swaying hips and her bushy tail as she walked, until she was gone towards the stairs leading to the inn. Erik was still staring past the busy tavern, a mix of thoughts and feelings swirling in his head. He was worried that this was actually a trap, but he also wondered if he would be missing a good opportunity by passing it. When he was still lost in his thought, his food arrived and was served in front of him, along with Lizzy's portion. He decided to put the issue aside and focus on eating for now.