Chapter One

"Are you sure about these directions, Baron? I'm not seeing anything from here." An almost ridiculously large cat had to shout to be heard over the wind, being carried to an extraordinary height by a giant crow. The slight figure riding the crow's back answered, keeping a firm grip on the dark feathers.

"The directions were specific enough, Muta. We should be seeing the entrance momentarily."

"How did they mention that the entrance moved so drastically? Muta never could have survived coming out of here if the entrance was up here last time."

"Watch it, Bird brain!"

"Don't give me the bird brain thing again or I might 'accidentally' drop you."

"Could you two fight when we're not on business?" It will be hard enough to help the Cat King if he didn't have to muzzle his two friends first. The scolding worked, for now, and Toto gave a caw of triumph.

"I see the entrance!" True enough, part of a tower could be seen, the rim submerged in the clouds. Flying directly over the top, the crow dropped the white cat he had been holding in his claws.

"Aaugh!" Muta shrieked as he fell through the hole.

"That was a bit rude, Toto." The orange cat on the crow's back slipped off and stood on the rim.

"I told him not to try the bird brain thing." The cat-figure sighed.

"Are you coming in?"

"I'll pass for now, but call if you need me."

"Will do." The light-suited cat slipped down the hole, finding himself at the top of a long staircase. Sighing, he ran down the stairs to where the white cat had landed, resembling a flattened marshmallow.

"I'll pluck out all that chicken's feathers for this," he grumbled as he unsteadily rose to his hind legs. He stared at the open space around him as his friend came down the last steps.

"Something wrong, Muta?"

"Yeah, this tower used to be a lot taller." Walking out of the enclosure, they could see construction still going on by cat workers carrying away large boulders and making repairs to what appeared to be a giant labyrinth, the ground beneath their feet was thick with coarse rocks. This looked like an old work in progress. "The maze is new, too."

"Excuse me; are either of you Baron from the Cat Office?" The two cats turned to see another one, a mixture of light and dark brown fur with red marks over his cheeks. The orange cat tipped his top hat in acknowledgement.

"I am. How may I be of service?"

"I'm Natoru, and I'm here to escort you and your fat friend to the palace."

"What?! Fat!?" Muta raised one paw to hit the brown intruder, but Baron slipped in front of him.

"Then by all means, escort us."

"This way, please." Natoru guided them around the construction site and into an impressive stone castle. The brown cat waved cheerily at the guards, who opened the enormous doors. As they passed through them, Baron couldn't help but notice that the guards were glaring at him.

What was that about?

The cat led them through a few hallways and sets of stairs, all lined with red curtains instead of doors, which appeared to be a rarity here. Natoru eventually pulled open a curtain to reveal an impressive study, with one dark gray cat sitting at a huge desk, staring intently at the map laid out before him.

"Your Majesty, the Cat Bureau has arrived!" Natoru announced importantly. The cat looked up, relief evident in his handsome face, his mismatched eyes brightening.

"Thank you, Natoru. That will be all for now." The brown cat bowed low and exited. The Cat King walked out from behind his desk to shake paws. "Thank heaven you got the message! I don't have a clue on where to start!"

"The beginning would be helpful." The king waved the two cats to the chairs on the other end of the desk, and began his tale as Baron placed his hat aside.

"Well, the trouble started about a month ago. I have a second cousin who has his eye on the throne, and he's willing to drown the kingdom in blood to get it. He's been recruiting cats from everywhere and assembling an army. I thought we could handle them, with the new training program that my army's on, but there have been a few personal attacks on the castle, and I thought it would be prudent to drop the Bureau a line."

"Did this cousin blow up the portal tower? It was a lot taller last time I came here." The king looked up at Muta, amusement evident on his face.

"Oh, no. My father did that shortly before abdicating the throne to me. It's a rather interesting story, but not one that I can afford to repeat right now." A shout of pain came through the window, making the two cats jump out of their chairs, posed for an attack. The king laughs at their antics.

"Don't worry; that's just my war general drilling the new recruits. Her methods are pretty direct."

"Her?"

"Yes, she has greatly improved the quality of my army since coming into the service. She has the most interesting ideas about how to fend off a rebellion." Muta walked over to the window to get a look at the general and freezes, his mouth agape.

"Not what you were expecting, I take it?" The king's mood had greatly improved since the two had entered his study. Baron, curious as to what could make Muta nervous, also walks over to the window. He also froze, to the point where he thought that he might have accidentally changed back to wood, his heart unmoving in his chest.

On the field before them, one figure was criss-crossing in front of a group of green adolescent cats, showing them a fighting routine. No one could have ever denied that the cat in front of the group was a female, with a tight black military uniform that hugged her curves. Curves which by right, should never be on a cat, but were more akin to a human woman's body.

She was a light brown shorthair, except around the ears, where a gloriously long braid of dark chocolate trailed around the girl, moving in time with her body like a second tail, the first being the same color as her medium brown ears. She was twirling around a quarter staff with ease, her movements as smooth as a fish in water. Baron could see that she had fingers that gripped her staff with just the right amount of pressure. After a few more seconds of flipping in the air, she landed perfectly on her feet.

"All right guys, your turn! Show me you have what it takes!" A groan came from the group, but they separated into pairs to start sparring. She started walking between them, correcting their stances and dropping hints about their techniques.

"What did you say her name was?" Muta asked, his face pale beneath the white fur. Lune grinned at them.

"I didn't, but her name is Haru Yoshioka." Muta paled even further, and he looked again at the young lady, who had apparently found one exceptional fighter in the bunch.

"That was very nice, Jin! Please demonstrate that for me again." She raised her quarter staff in anticipation, and the green cat cowered.

"Come on. If you can't handle a confrontation with me, than we painted you green for no reason. Do you want to return home in shame?" This caused the cat to straighten, and he raised his own pole and charged her. She smoothly jumped over his head and swiped at his feet. He jumped just in time, and twirled in the air before bringing down the staff hard. Baron was already on the windowsill when Haru rolled away from the blow and held her opponent's arms behind him, his face in the ground.

"That was well done, Jin! I hope all of you were paying attention to how he twisted his legs in the air, that's a must if you want to have the proper force to take down an enemy." The other cats nodded shakingly, and they resumed the regular training.

"Baron, will you please get down from there?" The orange cat turned to face the king.

"She could have gotten killed!"

"I would be impressed if any of the recruits down there could take her down. You don't need to worry about Haru; she's proven that she can take care of herself." Baron leapt off of the windowpane to face the king.

"How long has she been your war general?"

"About a year, but she's been training my army since she moved here six years ago."

"Where did she learn to fight like that?"

"Well, she really liked kung fu movies before coming here, and she's been getting ideas from the library."

"So she has no formal training?"

"None whatsoever. Impressive for an amateur, isn't she?" Baron nodded, his eyes trailing back to the window, where Muta was still keeping his vigil, his eyes glazing over.

"Haru…" the large cat whispered.