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“I always regarded her as an aspect of perfection… every inch of her, from her incredibly cute feline ears wafting in the gentle, warm Japanese summer breeze, all the way down to her feline, black toe claws. Not to mention that she looked even more perfect in that outfit of hers… but what really made me breathless was her way of fighting. She didn’t just “fight”. The word seemed to mean little to her, if not zero, as she preferred the term “banditry.” Fascinating word, really. It always made me chuckle when I heard it. “Banditry”… it’s such a sweet word, tastes so nice. Try rolling it around in your mouth a few times. The sensation that you are left with when you have spoken it is close to orgasmic. Trust me.”

“You probably think I’m some kind of stalker. Well, that is only partially right. You see, I’m not the stereotypical “hide-in-the-darkness-rapist-type”. I’m more of the “I-don’t-really-hate-you-but-I-want-to-see-how-you-swing-that-sword-anyway-type”. Yes, I’m a walking cliché, but I live on, knowing that this cliché-ness will eventually bring me somewhere in life. Who am I? I’m Repta, also known as Motsaenggin, leader of The Spine, an organization of bandits that stalks other bandits in search of potential members. And she… she was the most “potential” candidate I could’ve found. But first, I had to see how she was doing in the field…. personally.”

“She’s caught my scent already… I can feel it in the change of winds. I can already hear the wonderful sound of her graceful legs tripping along the old road leading towards that ancient shrine where I knew she would be hiding. She didn’t really need to. Both she and I knew that she could’ve finished me off back there on that field. But yet, she didn’t. Perhaps she wanted to play a little game of cat and mouse… or was it hide and seek? Not that it mattered, though… I would eventually find her, and then… mine and her own skills would determine the outcome.”

~ * ~ * ~

The young girl grinned to herself as she dashed over the courtyard, her pearly white fangs baring themselves to the darkness of the night that had enshrouded the ancient Miso Shrine, basking in a sickeningly yellow mix of moonlight and bloodied shadows…
Her attacker was so close that she could feel her hot breath in her neck. What was it again? A wolf? A vixen? A demon? And who was the hunter? Who was the prey? Unimportant questions, really… all she had to do was gain the upper hand! Simple as pie. She was a skilled assassin. Finding good hideouts where she could surprise both hunter and prey was one of her finesses. But still, something bothered her…

Her attacker… the silver furred canine that had assaulted her, she… didn’t seem to have any malicious intent. She had left several openings for the winged creature to attack, just to see how much of an opponent she really was, but she seized none of them. She was either incredibly self-confident or trying to make fun of her. Heh… what a funny thought. Did the demon-like assailant expect a fair battle? Or… maybe she was just another death seeker?

The graceful feline kept running, eventually slowing down as she realized she wasn’t being followed anymore. There were no sounds resonating from the mountain behind her, the mountain where she had played and toyed with her opponent, only to be suscepted to a very similar treatment. It bugged her, but she was soon to have her revenge…

~ * ~ * ~

The demonic vixen came to a halt, having lost the scent of her chase. She managed to utter a weak, yet annoyed grunt as she now had to navigate entirely by her own instinct. She closed her eyes, focused… her black, cat-like pupils bathed in the green pools that were her irises being sealed off behind a silver furred eyelid. The scent… where was her scent!? In frustration, the vixen threw herself to her knees, burying her clawed hands in the soft mud she had been running through. She had to locate the feline’s scent… quickly.

…there! The scent of feline! The sweet scent of bloodlust, eagerness and arousal in one perfect package… the vixen licked her lips, now tracking the feline assassin with her little, triangular black nose alone. Blinded by the darkness provided by the nightfall, the vixen fumbled about almost blindly towards the place where she knew she would encounter the black furred little assassin… and eventually get her throat slit by the cat’s katana. But that was just one of three outcomes of the battle. The thought was encouraging. She hurried along.

~ * ~ * ~

To feel safe… is such a perfect feeling. For Kali, that was a somewhat uncommon feeling, even though she knew how to cherish it when she had the chance. And this… this was the perfect opportunity. The warmth of the Miso Shrine would quicken her reflexes and soften up her joints and elbows. This would give her an advantage when her stalker eventually found her. Well, that’s what she thought. Whether it would happen or not, she couldn’t say for sure. But if that did indeed happen… then she knew about one unlucky vixen who would become one head shorter that night…

The cat fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Not only was she exhausted, she was also aroused from the battle with that… vixen. The rude b***h had thrown a bundle of catnip buds at her in the very heat of battle when she had her guard down. Catnip! The absurdity of the very thought made the feline sick. How could that vixen know that catnip had such odd effects on her? True, she was part feline… but if her stalker knew her well enough, she should know she was also partly elven… or…? Did she know….?

Then! The sound of eerie whistling! Her assailant was close… she had to hide! Or… no. She might as well face the vermin. It could be fun. And no matter how the battle might end, Kali knew she had certain… advantages that made all of her male attackers stand by and drool like little babies. Why wouldn’t it work on this dumb canine? With a warrior-like appearance like hers, she had to have a certain liking for he girls, too…

~ * ~ * ~

Whistle, whistle… Repta shaped her mouth like a little “O”, lively tunes and sounds leaving her vulpine muzzle as she entered the Shrine, showing something that many would describe as carelessness. True enough, she was a bit careless. Anyone who knew Kali should know that she wasn’t a girl to be taken lightly, even though she might look innocent and cute. She was NOT a cat you could keep on your lap to cuddle with. And instead of a ball of yarn, she would rather have a human head to play with. Good thing that Repta knew every important detail about this crossbreed assassin. Her bosses were quite skilled at sniffing up personal information. Repta even knew the number of teeth that Kali possessed, and every strand of Kali’s hair told a unique tale that Repta knew perfectly well. This could only be a good thing, now that she was going to see how good Kali was at fighting… or “banditry”.

Walking through the great monastery doors that led to the inner sanctums of the Shrine, Repta started listening. Every drop of evening dew that struck the flagstones under her feet… every single snigger from the bats that flew in and out of the ruined, once-so-proud monument… every single sound could tell her where the feline was hiding. Alas, tonight she had no luck. Kali was skilled in hiding her tracks, and this time was no exception. This greatly annoyed the vixen, and she now sat down on a rock to think things through…

~ * ~ * ~

Kali, on the other hand, wasn’t in as comfortable a situation as the vixen was. She was cramped up in an impossibly narrow crack in the wall, her lithe body entirely pinned amongst the sharp rock surfaces that the crack was composed of. She couldn’t move, she knew that. If she did, the vixen’s finely honed sense of hearing would detect every single step she took, every single sweat drop that ran from her exhausted body and down to the ground. Was she in trouble?

The outfit she wore made it all the more complicated not to make a single sound. She had always liked leather, and she seemed to wear it rather often while hunting for gold, or just about anything she wanted. It had never been a drawback… until now. If she as much as moved her arm, the leather would make little squeaky noises, like a frightened mouse escaping a hungry cat. Kali wanted to growl in frustration, but she didn’t… when would that dumb vixen move!?

~ * ~ * ~

Repta sighed, finally finding the willpower and strength to get back up on her feet in order to descend further into the old, abandoned Shrine. It was a beautiful place for a ruin… the monks that once used to dwell there had left behind wonderful pieces of art hanging around on the cracked stone walls. Old scrolls were scattered along the floor, containing the history of the monks and their proud Shrine. Those scrolls would be of great historical value if they were to be discovered and sold, but Repta wasn’t interested in money. She was interested in finding her chosen prey, and test her for everything she had.

If it weren’t for the situation she was in, Repta would’ve taken her time to acknowledge her beautiful surroundings. She wasn’t entirely mad; she knew how to appreciate art. But under these circumstances, all of her five senses were honed to the extreme… in addition to her sixth sense, a sense that all canines possessed. Even demonic, winged ones… like herself.

A sharp sound behind her made the vixen turn around, veeery slowly, almost painstakingly, her kimono waving in the little wind that was formed as the graceful feline assassin landed behind her. She had been clinging to some old wooden planks that the monks had used to reinforce the temple’s interior. If she had wanted to, she could have sliced Repta’s throat long ago. So she wasn’t really interested in killing…

“You’re a feisty one… showering me with catnip before chasing after me like a mad dog. I’ve seen many stalkers in my life, but you’re certainly the oddest. So, now that we’re both finally facing each other, I say it’s about time we show each other what we’re good for. But wait! Might I inquire your name first, vixen?”
The vixen smiled, offering the feline a paw, the sleeves of her kimono making it impossible to see just how large the demonic vulpine was.
“I’m Repta… nice to meet you, even under these circumstances.”
Kali refused the paw, instead assuming her trademark fighting stance, giving the vixen a sharp nod as a signal that she’d heard her name loud and clear. Repta smiled again, placing two of her clawed fingers upon her lips.
“A katana… you’re going to choose a pointed katana…”
Kali froze. How did she know!? She looked to the katana resting easily on her hips, strapped there with a black belt she took great pride in wearing under her flowing, black robe. There was no way the vixen could have seen it… or was it? She looked at her, carefully drawing the weapon which had claimed so many lives through the passing of years…
“I don’t know how you knew… but this is indeed my weapon of choice. And now, you’re going to see it in action! Trust me… this is the most beautiful dance you will see before you die…”

~ * ~ * ~

Silence… complete and total silence… splinters of metal flying through the air. Dead silent…
Kali stood face-to-face with her opponent, her katana intercepted by the vixen’s own weapon. It was a highly unusual construction… ring-shaped, honed to nigh-perfection and made for an equal mix of both defence and offence. A ring blade. The vixen smiled. Kali didn’t. Instead, she growled, made a low sweep with her oriental sword. Silence again. No metal shards flying… just silence…

“I was actually hoping we could get to know each other a little better first…” the vixen cooed, a clawed paw stroking Kali’s head, almost over-eagerly. The feline felt her fuse starting to burn out, her temper building. The vixen was behind her. Kali grinned… just playing yet! She turned around, slowly, staring the vixen deeply into her eyes.

“Wanna share some childhood memories while sipping from a bottle of sake?” she said jokingly, her voice as cold and piercing as a metal bullet fired at long range against its target. The demonic vixen, either too dumb to understand Kali’s joke or just playing dumb nodded, an idiotic smile creeping along her canine lips.
“Sure! I love sake!”
“You DID understand that I was just messing with your head, no?”
“I did, but your idea was good. I liked it. Besides, chasing you for a day and a half could make a camel thirsty! You must exercise a lot!”

The vixen was awfully cheery. Kali didn’t like her. She didn’t like her at all! Instead of continuing this pointless conversation, she decided to change the subject. She demanded answers… GOOD answers…
“There’s a bar just a couple of blocks away from here. We can discuss matters further over there. I’m the owner, so… the discount could be massive, so to say…”
Kali tried to sound as cheery as the demon, and succeeded at this. The vixen nodded, both as a way of letting Kali know that she had taken her point, plus to make her lead the way. Kali willingly obeyed, sheathing her masterpiece katana before heading towards the exit of the old, dusty shrine…

~ * ~ * ~

“I think I deserve some answers by now…”
Kali’s voice was little more than a chilly whisper, her untrustworthiness towards the vulpine more clear than glass. Repta walked next to her, rolling her ring blade ahead of herself as if it was some sort of child’s toy, the razor-sharp edges reflecting the pale moonlight that showered the two of them in its glory. How she had managed to conceal it until their somewhat… brief battle was beyond what Kali could understand.

“Answers? I don’t have any answers to give you, dear kitty cat. I know as little as you do. The bosses told me to see what you were good for, and… well, I obeyed. That’s what employees do when they are ordered about by their bosses. They obey.”
“That sounds like a bad lie. C’mon, I’ve been doing this for years.”
Repta stopped, looking in Kali’s direction before smiling weakly.
“You read me like an open book, you know… well, it’s hard to explain, but… I work for an organization of renegade assassins and bandits that grows even larger as the days pass by. The reason is because we’re constantly on the prowl for new members. You know… new blood to wash away the old blood with.”

Kali looked at the vixen in sheer disbelief, her beautiful, perfectly marked eyes gazing at the vixen with a slightly more friendly light in them, even though she still had difficulties believing this… demon.
“Suppose what you say is true… why are you guys after me?”
“We’re bandit-stalkers, aaand you’re a bandit. There’s some logic in it, don’t you think?”
“So you already know about my merits, hmm?”
“Merits? I know far more than your merits, little kitty cat. I also know the following… you have a liking for candy and catnip. That is, sugary candy and not sour candy. You despise the latter. You also have a great distrust for humans, and… hmmm, what more… ah, yes… you also have a very short fuse.”

Kali looked at the vixen. The characteristics were fitting, but… they could be pure guesses. She should be careful. This… “demon” didn’t necessarily have to be what she claimed to be. Besides, her story sounded too far out. She didn’t look like a bandit. She looked more like a songstress or exotic dancer. She was actually kind of cute, except from the scar running across one of her eyes.

“Knife accident.”
“Huh?”
“The scar you’re staring at. It’s a knife injury.”
“I wasn’t staring.”
“Yes you were.”
“Were not!”
“Fine. So you weren’t.”
“You’re odd.”
“We all are.”
“…..”

~ * ~ * ~

“Want some more sake?” Kali’s voice bore a more friendly tone now, and it seemed to Repta that she was finally starting to accept her more as a friend than as an opponent. The vixen nodded politely, watching the feline pour another full cup of strong rice wine for her. This bar, this… place was really stylish or “spiffy” as Kali described it. Repta took a little sip from her cup of rice wine, the strong liquid running along her tongue like a snake slithering through the lush foliage of a rainforest. She noticed Kali’s eyes transfixed upon her, looking at her with a questioning gaze.
“You’re staring again…”
“I’m not!”
“It’s okay, I don’t mind… it’s nice to know that my old, dusty body can still be looked upon without being the source of frowning and shrugging…”
“I… wasn’t… staring…!”
“Looking, then. Don’t worry. I appreciate it!”
Repta smiled, and leaned towards Kali to place a gentle peck upon her cheek. The feline was quick to wipe the area where the vixen’s lips had brushed against her cheek.
“What the heck was that for!?”
“Because I’m drunk, and it looked like you needed a kiss.”
“Needed a kiss?”
“Well, since you look at me so much… I kinda thought you liked me, and –“
“HEY! Don’t be TOO optimistic! I don’t like you, I just… don’t hate you either. It’s not often that I sit around drinking sake with my opponents, you know…”
“It could help if you were a bit more… gentle with them. It’s hard to drink without a head.”
“Touché. I expected that one. Listen…”
Kali shuffled somewhat, still trying to retain eye contact with the vixen.
“… I’m not a cold-blooded killer, ‘kay? I’m more of a Robin Hood than a serial killer. I take from the rich, and I give to the poor. Alas, there are no poor people to give it to, so I have a nasty habit of keeping it all to myself. Call it a weakness.”
“What about that whip you have there?”
“You… don’t want to know what I use that for. It’s not suitable.”
“Kali…?”
“What?”
“Are we friends now? Or are we just… semi-friends?”
“I’m not sure. You’re probably a good girl and all, but… I don’t know… you’re so odd. And we just met!”
“So? Is time such an important factor?”

Kali didn’t respond. Instead, she gave the vixen a smile before pushing the bottleneck against her lips to take a huge sip from the bottle of rice wine, eventually managing to empty about a third of it. Well, give or take a few millilitres, but… oh, what the heck, a third then…

“If I get drunk enough, I might let you hug me. Do be aware, however, that it takes a lot in order to get me going. I’m more alcohol tolerant than… something that is highly alcohol tolerant…”
She giggled. Repta giggled, too. What had started out as a little duel had eventually developed into… this! They were laughing like schoolgirls, over something that couldn’t even be called a joke! Eventually, they both succumbed to drunkenness, their laughter gradually dying out as they both fell asleep on the couch they were supposed to share. There were loads of hotels vacant, but none of them seemed to fit either of the two assassin – bandits.

~ * ~ * ~

Part Two; Inanna Awakens

“Have you ever seen such a perfect body ever before…?”
“Are you fantasizing again?”
“Oh, for the love of… she’s lying in a tank filled with jelly. I can say and think whatever I want of her. She’s not even real.”
“Steer yourself. If the boss had heard you now, he would’ve given you the heel in an instant!”
“I don’t have any “boss”. In case you’re referring to the fat beanbag ordering us around all the time, then don’t worry. He’s not at work, and he’s not keeping us under surveillance. Well, all the time, anyways…”
“Whatever, man… my shift is over. Care to lock the doors when you’re done?”
“Sure, sure, whatever… I’m done in ten, anyways…”
“Splendid. See you tomorrow, then.”
“Yeah, I guess… bye.”

The young doctor turned to wave his goodbyes before going back to his research. This wasn’t actually an ideal place to work, but it served its purpose nonetheless. Besides… he couldn’t complain; always being in the presence of young women always brightened his day. Well… technically, it wasn’t really women, but… ONE special woman. And she wasn’t really the talkative type. She was actually very silent… it could have something to do with the various tubes and pipes drilled into her throat and neck, but…

“Too bad I can’t get around to having some fun with you…” the young doctor muttered to himself, stroking a hand through his pathetic excuse for a beard. He examined the tank, resting a palm against it, feeling the warmth that radiated from its contents. The figure within was barely visible, coated in a thick layer of brine, bacteria and algae. One could barely make out the shape of a female… a girl, probably in her mid-twenties, judging from her still apparent curves.

The man laughed, knocking his palms against the thick barrier of glass that kept the tank’s insides from running out across the floor.
“Anyone home?” he said, jokingly, laughing at his own lousy humour.
Of course, he received no response. Instead, he squeezed his face against the tank, chuckling loudly.
“I know you’re home! Are you mad at me for something?”
Again, no response. Lots of laughing. Warmth. Silence. But… this time, it was going to be different. There wouldn’t be any more laughs. Only silence.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, babe… I might let you out for a walk…!”
He laughed again. This was the last time! The last laugh that would trigger the inevitable reaction! A ripple… the doctor turned. Was that the sound of glass cracking? He moistened his lips, and approached the tank again. Had the figure shifted? Nah, just his imagination…
His shift was over. Seven hours at work had taken its toll, it would seem…

~ * ~ * ~

Shift over, everything checked; lights turned off, doors locked, power shut down. This plus pointless scientific research equalled a day’s work. It was time for a pat on the shoulder!
The young doctor chuckled to himself as he padded through the dark corridor, his boots making little tap-tap-tap sounds as he made his way across the shiny, hard surface of the floor.
But, wait! One more thing to do! The doctor sighed sullenly. He had forgotten his files in the main laboratory, and he had to retrieve them. Tomorrow was exam day, and in order to remember it all… he had to practice.

The laboratory was a frightening place after dark, no matter if you were alone or with someone. The young doctor knew this very well, and he wasn’t really a brave man compared to his colleagues. As he picked up the files he needed, his hands were shaking like aspen leaves! But then… then he felt the warmth radiating from the tank in the middle of the room. So pleasant… so arousing…! It made him want to touch it.

Needless to say, he actually did touch the tank, despite the inch-thick layer of dust that had gathered there due to poor cleaning service and care. But the warmth was still there… and the silence when he spoke to it. Even the same old brine, and the bacteria, and… ah, there she was. The same old figure floating in the odd jelly that preserved her comatose young body. But… floating…? Weren’t she attached to the tank itself?

The young man moved closer to inspect the figure… he flinched, his stomach convulsing. That figure… it wasn’t… her! He stumbled, managing to trip and fall backwards, the back of his head crashing into the hard floor below him, making him see a myriad of stars before his vision cleared up once again. The figure floating in the tank… was a human. One of his colleagues. His co-worker, Ivan, who had left him a mere ten minutes ago.

…no more silence. Dripping noises… behind him. He turned around, painfully slowly. He got his wish fulfilled after all; to see the girl that had been floating in the old, dusty tank he loved to touch. But it was also the last thing he saw as the female brought a syringe into his left eye.
He remained alive for three more seconds, all until the enzymes in the syringe were emptied into his bloodstream. Two minutes later, he was floating around in the tank with his colleague.

Experiment No. 613; Inanna… she was a real enigma. No-one knew how old she was, and no-one knew where she came from. Some say she’s got a wide selection of abusive boyfriends who eventually drove her near-insane with sorrow. Others say she’s just lonely because she wants to. The rumours are countless… true rumours, however, are a rarity.

Inanna shrank together in the darkness, leaning against the cold laboratory wall in order to make her muscles function properly again. Entirely naked, vulnerable and born into a new world, Inanna didn’t know where to start, or even where to go. All she knew was that she had to get out of that horrible, dark place… the place where she had been held prisoner in comatose condition for three long, painful years.

Her naked, sleek form… perhaps that was her blessing, and also her curse, like one of the rumours about her claimed. Covered in brine, the poor female finally managed to stand, her legs still a bit shaky, although being able to keep her cold, naked form upright. She had never been this alone… where was everyone? And… who is “everyone”? Did she even have anyone to go to? Her questions were many, and she was frightened, her terror further heightened by the sheer darkness of the room…

She half walked, half tumbled out of the cold, dark room, her ebon-furred body managing to move with a grace that none other than she knew how to perform. She was stiff and uncomfortable, but she had survived worse. At least from what she could remember… which, truth to be told, wasn’t really much. She remembered her name. That was all.

… That and the feeling that she needed someone to be with…

Minute by minute, she started regaining her vision. The fog that had gathered on the inside of her skull seemed to fade away, and she could finally see where she was going. The powerful serum that was still running through her veins crippled her at times, forcing her to her knees in nausea, but she still managed to stumble towards the only point of light in her life; the exit.
And when she opened those two heavy steel doors… after putting so much effort into it… she realized she wore no clothing, and ended up being mocked by some townsfolk. Yeah, just what she needed. More laughing. Why wouldn’t it stop…?

She tumbled back inside the laboratory, slumping against the wall once more, sobbing bitterly. Her cheeks slowly drenched with her salty tears, and she tried her very best to pull her legs closer to her body in a futile effort to warm them up somewhat. But instead of focusing on the burning pain that shot through her body as it tried to rid itself from the powerful drug she had been given, she fell into deep thought…

“…”
She tried to speak, she really did, but despite whatever effort she put into it, her throat was so dry that it felt almost hard. She swallowed hard, and tried again. Good, a whisper. Her vocal chords were still intact. She focused, looking down at her slightly… vulpine legs, all the way down to her toes. She looked at them. Cute toes, really. Typically canine, with relatively short, yet sharp claws on them. But no matter how cute they were, she was facing an almost impossible task; She had to wiggle them.

“… c…ome….on…”
A slight twitch, but nothing more. Another attempt? Sure, why not? Another wiggle, stronger this time. Deep thought… more focus… stronger wiggle. Fine, this shouldn’t be too difficult! Or, so it seemed… This was going to be a time-craving process, and she didn’t exactly have all the time in the world. She had to find her personal file, quickly!

~ * ~ * ~

Part Three; A good hangover, is not a hangover

“Rrrrrhhhh…”
This was the first thing that Repta heard when she woke up that morning, lying muzzle-to-muzzle with her new “friend”, the feline assassin Kali. It wasn’t a purr, but more of a deep, throaty growl. It would’ve seemed unnerving to most people, but Repta merely found it cute. After all, she had a pretty good idea what was hiding behind that tough façade.

“G’morning, kitty cat. Slept well?”
“******** off.. this headache is killing me…”
“I could get you a painkiller, if you’d like. Or rub your head.”
“Rub my head?”
“Okay!”
“I didn’t mean that you were supposed to-“
Kali was cut short as the agile vixen squeezed her round feline head between her warm, furry paws and started kneading, ever so gently, her fingertips working the blood in Kali’s veins into her head in an attempt to stimulate her blood circulation.”

“I’m feeling lightheaded…”
“Try having some water. It usually helps.”
“How much water?”
“Lots…”
“I thought you just said –“
“Sue me, then.”
The vixen smiled, and planted a soft peck on the feline’s nose, causing the assassin to instantly extract her claws. It seemed to be a natural reflex for Kali, always to be on the high, looking for suspicious behaviour and bothersome actions.
“If you do that again, I’ll carve my initials all over your back!”
“Ohhh, grumpy, are we? Have yourself a cup of coffee.”
Kali denied it, and crawled out from the couch where she had been lying in a heap with the white demonic vixen. Repta looked at her, tried to stroke her ear with a soft paw. She was, as expected, snapped at, but she just giggled and diverted her attention towards a note of paper she had written herself.

“Do you know someone named Inanna?”
“Heh… just Inanna? Doesn’t it say anything more…?”
“Inanna… Nakano.”
“Inanna Nakano… no, the name doesn’t sound familiar to me. What do you want with this… Inanna?”
“She’s the next one on my list.”
“You’re using a hit-list now?”
“Always have, always will.”
“Bleh… what does it say about her, then?”
“A loner… always distant from the large crowds, living in her own little word, raised without parents… apparently a scientific experiment of a kind… “

Repta suddenly became very… distant, her eyes falling upon a special spot on the wall where they remained transfixed for a minute or two. Kali looked at the vixen with her cold, evil eyes, trying to retain her tough self-image despite the situation she was in.

“You look completely demented when sitting like that…”
”I know. I just… this Inanna reminds me of…”
“Reminds you of…?”
“…”
“……….?”
“…Never mind. Let’s just find her…”
“Waitwaitwaitwait! What makes you so dead certain that I want to come with you?”
“Hmmm?”
“Okay, understand this; I’m confused as Hell here. First of all, I don’t know you. I don’t know your real profession, I don’t know who you hang out with, and I don’t even know what the heck I’m doing here. Nothing you keep telling me makes sense. You’ve got your statistics, so can I PLEASE get back to living my own life, or do I have to do something in order to get away from you? You’re really… starting to freak-me-out.”
“And… second of all…?”
“There is no second of all.”
“Then why did you-“
“GAH! My point is this; we never met. We don’t know each other! We walk our separate ways from now on, and we never see each other again. Comprende? Capische? Understand?”



Kali crossed her arms in order to prove her point to the vixen, who merely nodded and fumbled with her clawed fingers. Knowing that she had made herself completely clear, she turned and walked towards the old wooden door that led her away from the white vixen with the ring blade. Suddenly, she frowned and looked over her shoulder…
“Hey, Repta…”
“Hmmm?”
“It was fun knowing you. Guess we won’t be seeing each other anytime soon, huh…”
“I guess not. But you can think twice before walking through that door.”

Kali wasn’t exactly sure what to do. This was a situation she hadn’t been in before, caught on a crossroad where she had to make up her mind somewhat… quickly. Being fast in battle was one thing, but when it came to deciding… ahhh, she was so stuck now..! She had to think! What did she have to lose? If she left, she would be a free lady once again. No-one to depend on, no-one to stay be her side and boss her around… in actuality… if she declined this vixen’s offer… she didn’t have… anyone…!

Repta was still looking at the feline standing in the doorway, leaning her head against the edge of the door while thinking about the two choices she had. Kali was a lone soul… a lone soul hiding behind a tough mask and a very strong personality. Repta was certain that Kali could manage all by herself, but… no-one should go around all by themselves all the time…

“I won’t force you into doing anything, Kali… but I think that the two of us have a lot in common. You’re an assassin, I’m an assassin. We’re both loners… two little girls versus the rest of the world. I don’t know about you, but I think that a travelling companion would be really nice. Who knows? It might even be fun.”

“…………….”

“Well, the choice is yours. I won’t say or do anything that makes you feel forced into anything. You’re a free spirit, and I respect that. I know how painful it is to have your wings clipped by someone else, to be bound against your will, and…”

“Hey, that’s quite enough snivelling, Repta. You talk too much, I can’t even hear myself think! I… I’ll follow you-“

“Really!?”

“…for a limited amount of time, ‘kay? I’m waaay too softhearted, and I’m not doing this for my own enjoyment, just so you know! I guess what you’re saying is… true. I haven’t had fun in ages, my job is getting a bit monotone in the long run, so… I’ll give it a shot.”

Repta giggled, and walked towards the gracious feline. Kali merely stood there, gazing at her with her lustrous, beautiful eyes, her red irises glowing dimly in the poor light that shone through the window from the streetlights outside. With her arms stretched out, Repta tenderly pulled the cat into a warm embrace, an embrace that at first made Kali a bit uncomfortable, only to in the end soften her up bit by bit. Before she knew it, her arms were wrapped around the white-furred vixen in a bond that would eventually prove to be unbreakable…

This was the beginning of a new legend…

~ * ~ * ~

Part Four; An escapee!

“Quick! She’s getting away! If we don’t catch her, the boss’ll be furious!”
Inanna shook her head. The police force in this town was a fickle one; just because she had nagged a bike didn’t mean they had to go haywire. There was no doubt that this piece of machinery was worth more than a couple of odd dollars. However, being in her current situation, she needed it more than its original owner. Oh, and speaking of him, he wouldn’t feel more than a light headache once he woke up. Or… so were the odds…

Driving through the streets of Tokyo was a dangerous sport, something that Inanna knew very well despite her lack of memory. Even though the main streets were wide and easy to travel through, there were also a whole lot of other factors she had to worry about. The policemen chasing her were only minor threats to the agile crossbreed, but when it came to the little Asian flower-girls playing in the streets with their dolls, she had to take heed. She wasn’t a very gentle lady, but she wasn’t cruel or cold-hearted, either.

She decided to stick to the alleys, where the policemen had difficulties tracking her. She gained another bonus, too; fewer obstacles to hinder her. She could freely shoot through the dark alleys without having to worry about a thing, something that gave her more time to clear her thoughts. Who was she? Where was she from? And… where was she heading?

Important questions she could not find the answers to all by herself… she had to refresh her memory, but how? Her guess was that she would eventually regain her memories in time, but she didn’t really know how long it would take. A week, a month, a year… she had all the time in the world right now, so it didn’t really matter. What bothered her most, though, was her identity… she had one, but she didn’t know where to find it.

She had been spending a lot of time floating around in a tank filled with foul-smelling goo, perverted scientists and doctors performing several, various experiments her poor body, both in public and… in personal. She didn’t know what they had been doing to her, but she knew one thing for certain; she had to get away from it all as soon as bloody possible!

~ * ~ * ~

The sounds of sirens eventually died away, and Inanna could finally relax. She hit the brakes, and slowly came to a stop, the engine of her vehicle still running, pumping its fumes and gases through those odd metal pipes and out into the nature. Inanna studied the process with half-hearted interest. This seemed so familiar to her… but it didn’t really matter. She couldn’t remember anything except the smell of exhaust. And that was all.

A sting of pain in her left side caused her to flinch and pull up her trench coat a bit, revealing a bleeding wound that she had received somewhere during the chase. Inanna looked upon it as a nearly black drop of blood fell from the cut, slowly falling towards the rocky ground underneath her soft footpads. As it struck the ground, it divided into several other, smaller drops of blood. Those drops didn’t divide when they struck the ground. Instead, they were neatly plastered against it, like a thin layer of red water upon asphalt. It was a mildly interesting thing to watch. Inanna allowed two more drops of blood to repeat the journey towards the ground before getting back onto her motorcycle, continuing her journey into unknown terrain…
Shortly after resuming her journey, Inanna was once again forced to stop. The pain in her left side was getting greater by the minute, and it didn’t last long until her instincts told her to cover it up with something. The problem was, she didn’t have anything to cover it with! She was several miles away from civilization without any water, food or bandages, and she was entirely alone on the highroad that led her towards Kyoto. Why she was heading there, she couldn’t say for sure. All that mattered to her now was getting away from Tokyo…
She started swearing, loud and clear, cursing her bad luck and lack of memory before falling to her knees beside her motorcycle. No-one was there to see her cry… she could do what she wanted now. She had gained the freedom she had craved for so long. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away with a gloved paw. She was too proud to cry, even before herself.

Because of the fact that she lacked the materials she needed to prevent the wound from bleeding any more, she had to improvise. She pulled a small scalpel out of her trench coat, having found it on the laboratory when she escaped. She made sure to stock up on just about everything she needed, even though she forgot about the three most important objects to bring; food, water and medicinal equipment. After a few minutes of work, she had carefully cut apart one of the sleeves on her coat, carefully wrapping the piece of cloth around her waist to hinder the blood from escaping her newly acquired injury. With a sigh of relief, she got back onto her bike, and kept heading for Kyoto.

~ * ~ * ~

Meanwhile, somewhere entirely else, a pair of shadowy characters were plotting around Inanna, one of them holding a tattered sheet of paper while the other moved its finger across the black letters imprinted upon it. Kali and Repta had been sitting up all night at the Bobcat Café, discussing how to capture Inanna when they found her, and what to do with her… Yes, those two would never give up, relentless as they were. Unfortunately, they were also quite stubborn, and neither of them would back down on their opinions…

“I’m telling you, Repta, we should catch her using stealth and stealth and stealth and stealth alone! I could’ve caught her alone if I were to use those tactics! My plan is waterproof! She won’t get away from it! You have my personal guarantee!”
“Your personal guarantee won’t do me any good, Kali, if I don’t see any results. I know you appreciate stealth, but we know very little of this Inanna. For all we know, she might notice us the moment we start moving in on her. I say we spy on her for a week or two to study her behaviour and nature. Once we’ve seen enough, we move in.”
“This chase is getting boring already… I thought you said we were going to have fun…”
“It’s day one. It’s always boring on day one. On day two, that’s when the fun begins.”
“I want to have fun now! I’ve wasted enough of my life sneaking around in dark alleys stabbing people to their deaths… I want to have fun! I want to dance… go to a rave, or something!”
“A rave, you say? Sure, we can do that.”
“…really?”
“Sure. We girls need to have some quality time together, and get to know each other a little better. After all, we’re supposed to be together for a good few weeks onwards, no?”
“Bleh… yeah, guess you’re right…”
Kali disapproved of Repta’s final words, but the part about the rave sounded a little more tempting. She’d always loved staying in motion, using her body for what it was worth. And Kali’s body was worth a LOT. She was an active girl, constantly on the prowl, always doing something that others regarded as entertaining, be it dancing or drinking or just about anything that involved being in motion…!

Repta, however, was quite exactly the opposite of Kali. Dark, distant and rather unwilling to do anything that could threaten her profession, she remained an enigma to the feline, and from the looks of it, it didn’t seem as though she wanted to let Kali know anything more about her. Despite this, she seemed to be a happy and cheery lady, and it even seemed as though she had the same taste for fashion as Kali herself, constantly dressing up in tight-fitting leathery outfits that really showed her bodily proportions…

“So… what now? Rave first and shower later, or vice versa?”
“What about shower now, and then rave, then another shower?”
“It costs us a good few minutes, but… well, alright. Could be fun to hear what you have to say about yourself anyways…”
Repta got up from the chair she was sitting in, stretching her six-foot tall frame until a barely audible pop resonated from her spine, and walked towards the shower, bumping into Kali on her way in.
“Hey! I’m going to shower first!”
“You’re just going to use all the hot water! Let me in first!”
“Not in a thousand years! I go first!”
The discussion ended with both of the girls ending up in the shower at the exact same time. This, of course, was just another example of how stubborn the two of them were. And, of course, as we all know, one discussion leads to another…
“I saw the shampoo bottle first. It’s MINE.”

~ * ~ * ~

“This could all go a lot faster if you would just start to listen to me, Repta…”
“Listen to YOU? Don’t make me laugh! It should be clear to anyone that I’m the tactician of the two of us…”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in five friggin’ minutes!”
“What do you mean, “five minutes”?”
“Well, five minutes ago you said there was enough shampoo in that dumb bottle for the both of us, and-“
“Are you still nagging on that one?”
“You bet your sweet vixen a**! And I’m not going to fall back on it, either!”
“Fine, fine… if this is supposed to work, we’re going to have to work together. You know, as a team…?”
“Oh yeeeah, speaking of that… when am I going to get paid?”
“What on Earth are you talking about?”
“My salary. My wages. My payment. I mean, my services aren’t free, you know…”
“Services? I thought you were doing me a friendly favour!”
“Favour-schmayvour! We’re talking cash here, girl. Cold, hard cash…”
“Very well, I didn’t expect that you would agree to this for free… how much do you want?”
“Six hundred per week. Then I’m satisfied.”
“We’ll make it three hundred.”
“Seven eighty-five.”
“Two fifty.”
“Six hundred, not a penny less…..”
“……………”
“Fine, five fifty, then. No more, no less.”
“Deal. I’ll pay you on Mondays, if that’s okay with you.”
“Oh, sure. Or, wait… Mondays? No. Saturdays are more practical.”
“Fine, Saturdays. Do we have a deal?”
”Sure, sure. Can we go now?”

Happy with the deal she had made with the demonic vixen, Kali eagerly tripped away to the dance, with Repta slowly shuffling after, pondering how on Earth she was supposed to come up with that amount of money while at the same time chasing after her chosen prey; Inanna.
Kali didn’t seem to care much about the vixen’s problems, though. She was starting to have fun! Even arguing with Repta seemed fun as long as she knew she would get paid for it. But somehow… she had taken a mild liking to her, as a friend. Or, so she thought. She felt so odd and at ease when Repta was near. It was as if she… was there for her…!

Kali was abruptly interrupted as she bounded into a robed man smelling strongly of cigarette smoke and alcohol. She didn’t apologize for it, something that the man didn’t seem to like. He grabbed hold of her wrist, and pulled her against him, forcing the feline off her feet as he held her painfully hard by her arm.

“I didn’t hear you say you were sorry!”
“I’m not apologizing to someone like you! Let me go!”

The man didn’t seem willing to listen to the cat, but instead he tightened his grip on her wrist, slowly starting to twist it in an attempt to pin the poor feline’s arm. Kali had endured worse, but it was still painful, and she couldn’t hide her discomfort.

“That hurts! Let me go!”
“Not until you say you’re sorry!”

That was the keyword Repta had been waiting for. She moved in, almost fluidly, tapping the man on the shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. She didn’t. Instead, the man twisted Kali’s arm even more, causing the cat to whimper weakly. This basically killed Repta’s patience, and she nudged her ring blade towards the man’s back, causing him to let the cat go. He turned, only to be blinded by the sun reflecting from the edge of the vixen’s ring blade.

“I assure you, young man, that those streets you’re walking on can be a horrible place to die on. Let’s say I accidentally sliced you apart with this little toy here… and hid you in one of those alleys, under some old cardboard boxes where no-one would search. Do you know how long it would take until someone would find you? No? Well, let me tell you… at first, your body would slowly decompose into near-nothingness, whereupon the cats would begin feasting on your decomposing, rotten body. When they’re done with you, there would be only bones left… and only because you chose to tease my little friend here… don’t you think the prize is a bit high?”

~ * ~ * ~

“I got his credit card!”
“I nicked his cell phone.”
“I got his watch!”
“I nicked his coat.”
“Ewww! Don’t tell me you’re thinking of wearing that thing?”
“No, I gave it to a hobo. It smelled like donkey s**t. And so did he. They were the perfect match.”

The two of them laughed as they made their way towards their destination, giving each other playful nudges and pokes all the way down to the dancing hall. And yet, through everything they had been through, this was only the beginning… many more adventures awaited the two, but what the future would bring… none of them really knew…