I – I
In Kakiro's Bush
I – I


Makuuku, the female not-to-be-messed with Angora led me to Kakiro's grand, sweet-smelling waterfront hibiscus bush by the Vadi River. The first feline, Kakiro’s wife Hanira, was trying to wean the kittens of the third royal litter. They were still blind, however she had rat-scraps laying around to accustom the kittens to the smell. “Makuuku, you bring a guest for Kakiro? Well, I warn you, he is not in a meowative mood,” said the cat with a kitten in her mouth. “Oh, cats are not a very meowative species anyway.”
“Thortac! Is that you!” exclaimed the first feline, the blind babies squirming around her chest, trying to find her nipples. “It’s good to hear your meow!” she said, wincing as one of the kittens bit her.
“Likewise, and I see you have finally given birth to the third royal litter! Congratulations! What are you going to name them?” I asked.
“For her, we have decided the name Hanika,” she said, placing a paw on the bald kitten. “His name is Hakiro, and hers is Kakina,” she continued. Hanira stretched her front legs and carried the babies into the cover of a different bush further up the Vadi River. Then she called, “Honey, you have urgent visitors, wake up!” Kakiro yawned, stretched his front and back legs, then sat up. His smooth black coat shone in the bright light of one of the neon beamers illuminating the park. “I’ll deal with it,” he hissed, clearly annoyed. “Yes Makuuku, this better be urgent!” he growled. The black cat then stretched again, and sniffed the air. “Hold on, I smell a familiar cat... I smell Thortac,” he noted.
“See for yourself, Catmander-in-Chief!” meowed Makuuku.
“Oh, General, are you having these illusions again? For every time...”
“I told you to see for your self!” growled Makuuku, her teeth fletching. The obviously moody Kakiro swept passed Makuuku, then looked me straight in the eye. “Darn, Makuuku! I... I...” Kakiro stuttered.
“Oh, Catmander, come back to earth,” I said, tapping a claw into his forehead. He stared at me in disbelief, then with a sudden interest he meowed, “OK, now that I’ve come back to earth, and you into our territory, why don’t you tell me what happened!”
"Well, it's a long story..." I began. "As I reported to you, I found Kartick, a spy from the North Dikmen Pride. I suffered a scratch. The next day, Dr. Nil found me licking my wound, and drove me to her clinic. I was checked, checked with instruments of torture! She stuck needles into me! Then she brought me to her evil sister, the feared Evil Sister where all cats disappear forever! The Lair of No More Return! In fact, it is a shop that sells cats and other small animals to humans. They keep pets in their houses and don’t let them out, and sometimes they even have them declawed! Needless to say, I was sold to humans.”
“Declawed, what do you mean?” asked Kakiro
“Don’t you speak feline, declawed, darn it! They take out a cats claws!”
“Oh my German Shepherd!” hissed Kakiro. “Why?”
Ignoring his question, I went on, “They took me home, fed me this yucky, utterly dry manufactured human rubbish that they call 'cat food', and named me Buster! They called me 'cute' every two minutes, and complained about me laying on their recliner all the time, but geez! Where else was I supposed to lay? I was trapped in their small, warm den, however, I have to give it to them, I was never hungry. Then I escaped when the situation allowed me to, and, well, now I'm back!" I explained.
"Wow,” meowed Kakiro. “I would have never thought... that you would ever reappear, Ambassador Thortac!”
“Honestly, I would have never thought so either,” I said. Then I asked, “What’s going on here? I see Hanira has given birth to the third royal litter!”
“Yes indeed, she was in a lot of pain! You should have heard her complaints! Hakiro’s legs got stuck, and caused Hanira a great deal of agony,” mewed Kakiro. He looked over to his wife. “Poor thing,” he sighed. “I think she’s giving birth to a fourth litter too. Her belly’s round and she is constantly fatigued.”
“Any other news?” I asked.
“Yes, and I hate to have to put you back on duty right away, Thortac, but this is of deepest concern,” warned Kakiro. “Makuuku has reported to me that a Vikisan has sniffed out a scent trail from the Central Cankaya pride. Not only that, but there was mouse blood by the trail.”
“I thought we were allies, and agreed to stay away from each other’s territories!” I growled. My claws extracted from my paws. “That is very true, and that is why I need you to visit Rikhahn, their pride chieftain,” stated Kakiro. Oh, good old Rikhahn, I thought. Making deals with him has always been like pulling claws, and getting him to stick to them was even harder. “But go with Makuuku, I don’t know what they are up to... However, know that our Vikisans have them surrounded!” he added. “Thank you, I’ll pounce right at it,” I meowed. “But hold on! Before I go, tell all cats so that they know what they face if ever caught by Dr. Nil!”
“Not that you have the authority to dish out orders to me, who outranks you, but I will do it, as it is a good idea.”

I left the bush with Makuuku. We walked together through the many human plantations of hibiscus bushes, hedges, and statues. The straight Vadi River always to our left, we snuck out of Vadi, into no-cat’s land.