The Cat Fabrication

Anna smiled, leaning against the opposite wall, “It was quite easy, actually. By being their friend, of course.”

She doesn’t know why, but being with Uetum makes her feel at ease. But…

“How do you got past the sentries without a sound?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Uetum said, reading her expression with feline ease. “Uetum’s mana is neutral, nya. So Uetum doesn’t trigger any of the magic wards. I’m like… invisible!” She puffed out her chest proudly, then her expression turned serious, almost reverent.

“But I’m so happy you have the key, Anna-chan. Really.”

Anna’s eyebrow rose. “Of course you will, I will help all the slaves out.”

“Nyaa! Actually… Uetum is an older sister,” she began, “Her precious little sibling is a calico catgirl, patch-furred, with mismatched eyes… endlessly curious. When we were children, Uetum would tuck her tail around her to keep her warm at night, whispering, ‘Don’t worry, Uetum will protect you forever, nya.’”

Her voice cracked. “But when Uetum was taken by the kingdom, they said my little sister, Flavourie, was ‘impure.’ She was torn away from me, sold to slavers.” Uetum looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “She was so small… I still dream of her, crying ‘Big sis, don’t leave me behind nya…’”

She jumped down from the wall and grabbed Anna’s hands, her grip surprisingly strong. “I’ve been searching for her for so long, but I can’t get in. So ANNA! PLEASE SAVE EVERYONE! I know you probably won’t, but… Flavourie might be in there… please…”

“You… you have a little sister?” Anna’s voice was soft. “I never knew that… Why didn’t you tell me sooner? That’s heartbreaking, Uetum. You must’ve carried this pain alone all this time.”

Uetum nodded solemnly, her tail swishing sadly on the ground. “Indeed, nyan… every night, Uetum dreams of feeding her warm milk, braiding her 3 colored hair, protecting her tiny paws…”

Anna felt a strange tightness in her throat, her eyes almost watering. “To fight while holding onto that kind of longing… I don’t even know what to say. So her name is Flavorie? Do you always dreamt of her every night too? Her face, her kindness…”

Uetum suddenly broke her dramatic, tragic pose, scratching her cheek with a claw. “Honestly, Uetum doesn’t know-nyan…” she said, her voice now light and casual. “We’re twenty years apart. Uetum never even saw her before.”

Anna’s brain screeched to a halt. The empathy, the sadness, the connection all evaporated, replaced by a vast, silent, processing void.

“……………”

Her face contorted, her expression shifting from shocked silence to pure, unadulterated rage. She stood up straight.

“What do you mean you never saw her?!” she roared, “YOU JUST MADE ALL OF THAT UP?!”

Uetum smiled, a smug, cat-like tilt of her head. “Nyaa~ but doesn’t it sound tragic? A girl named Flavourie Uetume must exist somewhere, right? So let Uetum act like a caring big sis~ It makes the motivation more compelling!”

“You’re INSANE!” Anna snarled, grabbing the catgirl by the collar of her tunic and shaking her. “I WAS ABOUT TO CRY FOR YOU!!”

Uetum just purred, “Nnnyan~ Anna’s so cute when she’s mad. Pat my head and I’ll stop lying~”

Anna let go, shoving her away.

She took a deep breath, reasserting her control. “Fine. Why are you really here, Uetum?”

The catgirl beamed, her ruse completely forgotten. “Uetum just wanted to see you again! I couldn’t believe someone as cool as Anna-chan is my friend!”

Anna’s eye twitched. “So based on your story, I suppose ‘Uetume’ is your family name, then?” she asked, connecting the dots from the fake name.

Uetum nodded happily. “That’s right!”

“And your real name is…?”

“Nyaa! I won’t tell, nya!” After saying that, Uetum gave Anna one last sly wink before vanishing into the darkness, leaving Anna to ponder what kind of wild force of nature she had just joined.

-ooo-

A hidden gem in the center of the barracks, the lavish chamber was a haven of luxurious carpets and hypocritical Trievon wine.

A group of young beastkin girls, a wolfkin, a foxkin, and a dogkin, were chained along one wall, their fine fur matted with grime, their eyes hollow. They were the Vice-Captain’s personal trophies.

“She has the key.” Olomyar said. He paced back and forth in front of Sir Baltram, who was refilling his goblet so much that wine sloshed onto the expensive rug.

“Destrian just handed it to her,” Olomyar continued, “The key to our entire operation. Years of work, Baltram. Decades of profit. All of it is now at risk because of that sentimental old fool and his pet vampire.”

Baltram took a long, desperate swallow of wine as Olomyar continued, “If she goes down there, if she starts asking questions… if she sees the secondary depot…” His voice rose in panic. “Our entire arrangement with Trievon. The untaxed Glimmerstone shipments. The weapon replicas they send in return. We’ll be executed for treason!”

“Don’t be so panicked, Vice master… I do have a plan.” Baltram said, his eyes meeting with one of the slaves. “What are you looking at?!” He slammed his fist into the ribs of the chained wolfkin girl, who let out a pained whimper and curled into a ball.

“We have to kill her!” Baltram snarled, “Don’t mind it, I will send many of my knights to kill her in the mines. Surely no one will care if a stray vampire has an ‘accident’ down there.” He kicked the cowering foxkin girl again, showing a satisfied smirk on his face as she yelped in pain. “We just say one of the prisoners got loose. Simple.”

Olomyar smiled. “Oh, I see… I agree she must be dealt with,” he purred. “But you’re right… No one will care...”

He walked over to the whimpering dogkin girl, running a single, gloved finger down her cheek. “I will make my plan also… One does not send a pack of hounds to kill a queen. One sets a perfect, inescapable trap.” He met Baltram’s gaze.

“We will let her go into the mine. And we will make sure she never, ever comes out.”