Chapter 87

“Your wicked schemes end here, Geppei!” A peal of thunder. A large tree erupts into flames, bathing the peak of Mt. Koban in vermilion light. A feline warrior, black as night, stands tall, opposed by an ivory-furred temptress. Sparks dance like petals as two bitter foes glare holes into each other’s souls. “Even one so wicked as you must still possess honor,” says the black cat. “I will allow you to keep it. Draw your claw across your gut and die a gracious death.” His voice is as keen as the edge of his ringing blade, the point of which he aims between his foe’s eyes. A slender black tail trails from the seat of his emblazoned hakama. The white cat glares back for a moment, and then… “Myah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Though caked in blood and sweat, the ivory-coated feline returns cackling laughter, even as her plan to conquer the realm is sure to meet its end at the paw of the black cat before her. “You, the Catwisp Blade, would show mercy to me…?” She pants and gasps. And then her eyes produce a crafty glimmer. “How very foolish!” A blinding flash, like lightning! The black cat, his sight dispossessed, can do nothing to avoid the dagger-like claws bearing down on him! “Your compassion shall be your downfall!!” Swish!! The two combatants pass. For a moment, silence grips the battlefield. And then… Splat! A spray of blood erupts…from the white cat’s shoulder. She cranes her neck behind her for one last look at her killer. “With my dying breath, I curse you, Yokan. You and all nine of your lives…” And then she falls. The black cat turns and examines her vacant expression, leaving his sword unsheathed to soak in her blood. Even as sparks from the immolated tree crackle in her eyes, her long lashes do not flutter. Clang, clang. Thank you for listening. What you have just heard is the first of many acts in the tale of the Catwisp Blade, a story passed down to us by the god Byoshoten. For slaying the wicked Geppei Amakusa, Yokan was crowned the eighth shogun and went on to perform countless other legendary feats. But it is a strange tale, is it not? Even back when felines roamed the earth, nobody ever heard tell of a samurai cat. Today is a day of ceremony, that most holy Day of Cats. By listening to this tale on this day, it is said that one can earn the favor of the catwisps, ensuring a healthy and prosperous year. Now, I would like to continue the tale, but it is rather a strenuous one. Let us take a break and regale ourselves with the story of how this land of feline warriors came to be. Byoshoten teaches us that the land of Japan is divided, into this, the human land, and the Feline Realm, where cat-kind is known to dwell. When Tokyo was ravaged by explosion, cats turned tail on humanity to begin a new life underground. A land where they could live in peace and harmony… And the scriptures state that once, Japan was ruled by tyrannical creatures known as humans and was prosperous. Many ancestors of feline-kind curried favor with them, while others eked out their own lives in the wilderness. They concealed their true intellectual prowess, biding their time for the day they knew would surely come, the day they would finally usurp their masters. It is hard to imagine now what they must have had to endure, do you not think? Eventually, as I’m sure you all know, their patience bore fruit. Clang, clang. Tokyo, the humans’ seat of power, was destroyed by a terrible calamity! A bolt from heaven struck humanity’s grandest idol, rupturing its reactor and spreading the Rust throughout the lands. Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba. One by one, humanity’s cities, raised in arrogance, fell from their hubris. While the humans dropped like flies to the Rust Wind, the ever-sagacious cats were quick to evolve and adapt. For this, feline-kind was granted the power of the catwisps, increasing their intellect, allowing them to walk upright and even to use tools. And now they thrive, deep beneath the earth, in the subterranean empire of Byoma. Or so the legend goes. With a wise ruler like Yokan at the helm, I am sure it must be a wonderful land, do you not think? Quite unlike things around here, I dare say. Though the corrupt Kurokawa was ousted as governor of Imihama, the young and inexperienced Pawoo Nekoyanagi doesn’t seem to be faring a great deal better. Beauty alone does not a leader make. Perhaps she could learn something from our feline shogun. A cat may look at a king, they say, but where do incompetent governors fit in? Oh dear. Now, let us continue to act two. Ten years have passed since that fateful day, and Yokan has become a famed general. But just as he is about to be crowned emperor, the land is stricken by a mysterious plague…