Luffy x Neko!Reader Warm

Chapter 57: Kin

"Now, shift."

You gave the order sternly and your two kits, Ace and Daniel, shut their eyes in concentration, obediently putting on their fur until two black-furred felines sat in front of you, identical except for the slight wave to Ace's fur.

In the six months since Luffy left, they had grown to about the size of a human at nine years, though with your and Law's careful raising, they were better behaved than any human child you'd ever met. Shaking into your pelt, you rose to your paws and padded around them while they sat straight and still, though Ace's tail shivered with excitement. You planted a wide paw directly on it and your kit squeaked, the sound quickly choked off. "Still," you growled.

It was hard enough, raising them without the support of a group- even you had had Sabo, Luffy, and Ace to keep you company- but when Ace's thoughts seemed to wander like butterflies every other heartbeat, it became significantly more difficult to teach him what he needed to know. How to fight as both beast and man, how to track and hunt, how to speak the common tongue and the ancient language of gesture and meow your mother had once taught you, and soon you'd have to take them to the sea, show them how to keep their balance on a deck, how to hoist a sail, feel the shift of the ocean, feel the breeze in their fur and the rain it may carry. There was too much.

You shook your head to clear it. They'd kept still enough. "Good." Releasing Ace's tail, pleased to find it stayed where you'd pressed it, you padded back around into their view. "Now, it's time you learn to grow."

"Big." Daniel meowed uncertainly, dark grey eyes wide. "Daniel is big."

You purred, raising your tail. "Yes, that's the right word. But that's not quite what I mean." You let your awareness of your body spread, listened to your heart until it beat in tune with the endless rhythm of the ground beneath your paws. The mother of your people was the stars, but your father was the earth, and it listened to your call. There was always a slight ache as your spirit grew too big for your form, but eventually the rest of you caught up. Your paws broadened and grew, legs lengthening, shoulders getting broader too, and your kits watched with open jaws as you towered over their heads.

"Big!" Daniel shrieked. "Mama big!!"

They broke rank, rushing forward to weave around your legs with excited squeals, chasing each other, leaping straight up and swiping at the fur on your stomach. You let them play with a deep purr, but eventually you herded them back with your tail and motioned with your whiskers, "Your turn now."

"How?" Ace tipped his head, whiskers shivering while he waved his tail. "Can we all do that? Can papa?"

You blinked sadly. "No, just the cats of the forest mountains had this skill. Now hush. Sit." They obeyed. "Close your eyes and feel the earth beneath you. Let it speak to you and listen when it does. Let it lift your spirit, and the body will follow."

Both of their muzzles wrinkled in confusion and then concentration and they tried to obey your orders. Paws pressed hard against the ground, whiskers shivering, ears pricked, they tried. For a moment, Ace had it. His ears shot up further, the fur on his shoulders raising, and a ripple passed through his body as the earth spoke to him, but he couldn't hold onto it and his eyes, so much darker than his brother's, popped open as he gave a hiss of frustration. "It's hard."

You purred again and rested your large muzzle between Ace's ears. "It is, but you'll learn it soon."

Smoothing down Ace's fur with a lick of your tongue, you nosed him to his paws and turned to do the same to Daniel, only to find him twisted around, scanning the horizon in the direction of the shore. Signalling with your ears to Ace, you swished your tail and Ace's eyes brightened. He lowered himself into a crouch and crept towards his littermate, swiping Daniel's forepaws easily out from under him. Carrying the momentum, pushing Daniel onto his back, Ace planted his forepaws directly on Daniel's shoulders, tail curled with triumph.