Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I only own the OCs; the rest belong to DreamWorks or the Netflix series The Adventures of Puss in Boots. (Rival Argentica, you know who those characters are….) J

A few weeks have passed by since Puss and Kitty's encounter with Bloodsmith, and since that time, no updates have been made regarding the new villain. However, this does not mean there has been a lapse of adventure for Kitty and Puss; there always seems to be some adventure waiting around the corner. Puss always claims being married to Kitty is an adventure in itself, a statement Kitty often finds herself rolling her eyes at. Though, to be completely honest, Kitty in Boots, oh how she loved that name, appreciates the sentiment and is thrilled Puss in Boots aka Mr. Frisky Two Times chose her to settle down with. However, that doesn't stop the tuxedo she-cat from feigning her dislike of such a phrase.

"Oh, isn't that too corny, Puss?" Kitty would complain, her blue eyes sparkling in mischief and humor that somehow makes Puss fall in love all over again.

"If it's corny, Kitty, it's only because you make me speechless, mi reina," Puss would respond with that same glimmer appearing in his emerald eyes.

"Puss," Kitty would sweetly say, leaning in towards his lips as if she is going to kiss him before pulling away. "You're too predictable," would follow, and then the chase began with Kitty running and Puss sprinting after her, their boots echoing off the cobblestone as they play their little game.

Six times out of ten, Kitty would win and Puss would buy her leche to celebrate. They sat on one of the rooves of San Ricardo, drinking glasses of leche and staring up at the stars, with either Puss or Kitty resting on the other's furry shoulder. Four times out of ten, Puss would win, and he would take Kitty on a moonlight walk around San Ricardo, often with both their swords drawn to help defend the city in case of bandits or other threats. Often, they would stay out until the sun came to greet them, and the lovers would retire to their house on the hill in order to rest for the next night on patrol.

Today, the sun beats down on the landscape, scorching nearly everything it touches and sending even the lizards that bathe in the sun's rays under a patch of shade. A figure drenched with sweat appears in the distance, sword hanging limply from the shadow's side. Three taller figures run in front of the lone shadow with tails between their legs, so to speak, as they scramble to escape town.

"And stay out!" Kitty shouts after the intruders who had tried to rob the jeweler- Señor Montoya- and his wife.

Sweat glistens on the tuxedo she-cat's face, and she wants nothing more than to curl up in a ball on her and Puss' bed to sleep off the exhaustion and heat within her bones.

"¡Bravo, señora!" Puss claps, jumping down from the roof of the orphanage with a smile playing at his lips, making his whiskers twitch. "An excellent performance, Kitty," he continues, orange fur visibly soaked with sweat as he appears in front of Kitty's azure eyes.

"And why didn't you help out, Puss?" Kitty inquires, moving close to her lover as she takes in her husband's appearance and confident posture. "You weren't with another lady were you, Mr. Frisky Two Times?" she purrs out his nicknamed reputation as she stokes her tail against his striped back.

"Hmmm…" Puss purrs deeply, his emerald eyes closing at the touch of his Kitty. "No, you are the only one for me, Kitty," the orange tabby barely gets out before he moves to capture Kitty's lips in his own.

She instantly melts into his kiss, a smile appearing on her mouth as Puss moves to passionately embrace her in his arms. Puss wraps his arms around her back, starting to lift Kitty up from the ground as their kiss continues. Both gatos continue kissing, not needing to break for air just yet. Purrs escape their lips, and Puss feels Kitty starting to caress his face with her tantalizingly soft paws, and oh sweet Felina, Puss has never felt happier. And then he starts to feel the scorching sun start to burn the top of his head. Puss instantly drops Kitty to the ground and opens his piercing green eyes to find Kitty wearing his hat and looking for all the world like an innocent child being accused of eating the last cookie out of the cookie jar.

"You make it hard to be mad at you looking like that," he admits, feeling his heart pound violently against his chest from the rush of their kiss and seeing Kitty wearing his hat.

Again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you looking for this?" she grins, twirling the hat between her famous paws while closing the gap between the two of them.

"Sí. It seems as if a beautiful thief has run off with it again," Puss tells her, placing his paws on Kitty's hips while staring into her eyes.

"I see," Kitty remarks, keeping one paw on the hat while wrapping her other paw around Puss' neck. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Ginger," she purrs to him, playfully tugging on his whiskers.

"Flattery used to get me everywhere," Puss reminds, thinking back to all the times he would whisper sentiments and love proposals to her, making the tuxedo she-cat blush.

"True. But, we're married now, Puss," she adds in before continuing. "It's time you tried out some new material. The beautiful thief line is getting old," Kitty jokes, removing herself from his grasp before beginning to walk towards the cantina, Puss' hat still perched atop her head.

"Ah. So, we're playing hard to get, are we, Miss Softpaws?" Puss asks as he falls into step beside her. "Then allow me to take you to lunch," he suggests, leaning in towards her face to brush his whiskers against her face.

"Try again," Kitty smirks as she continues walking. "We've been out to lunch as a couple plenty of times."

"All right. Then, how would you feel about going fishing by the river?" Puss tries once more, thinking as far back as he can remember and not coming up with one good memory regarding a river.

"I'd say that idea sounds agreeable. Let's get some leche and then we'll go, Ginger," Kitty concedes with a smile.

And if Puss and Boots, famed outlaw and hero did a happy dance behind Kitty's back, well that was his business.

They reach the river around noon after ordering a few rounds of leche and sharing an order of nachos for lunch. With the current temperature continuing to soar, the cool water of the river feels like a gift from above, wiping off the sweat and heat from Puss' paws as he soaks them in the rushing water. The ginger tabby soaks his front paws in the river to cool them off before he begins to drench his arms in the refreshing liquid as well. Though it can be said that Puss in Boots does not love getting wet, the water in this case is acting as a coolant to help him alleviate some of the sweat. Therefore, Puss does not mind the water seeping through his fur and helping him release the overall heat from his body. Kitty, meanwhile, stands on the edge of the river, not getting close enough to allow the water to lap at her paws. The swirling water begins to taunt her from the shore, reminding her of a time where the water was lapping at her body, threatening to pull her under. She could still taste the salt in her mouth, could still feel the water weighing down on her and crushing her chest as she continued to sink. The whirlpool threatened to claim her as a part of it, constricting her breath and leaving her sight murky and fuzzy as she began to sink into the darkness that had seemed to want to claim her ever since she was a young kitten. The darkness had always been constant in Kitty's life, as constant and as present as the sun is to the sky. And then….. And then there were hands pulling her to the surface.

Upon hearing Kitty's ragged breathing, Puss shoots out of the water and quickly wraps his arms around her, pulling his wife and love close to his warm chest, whispering soft words in both Spanish and English to try and comfort Kitty.

"Shh. Shh. Estoy aquí. Estoy aquí, Kitty. Tú estás cuidada, mi amor," he comforts in Spanish, his accent already beginning to work its magic as Kitty meets his gaze. "I'm sorry, Kitty. Lo siento. I should not have brought you here. It is the river, is it not? You think of the whirlpool, yes?" Puss switches back into English, knowing Kitty understood the Spanish and he does not need to repeat it in English.

"Sí. Tengo miedo, Puss. Ayúdame," Kitty admits in Spanish, burying her face in Puss' chest. "Por favor, mi amor. I can't face the water," she reveals to him, and Puss begins to stroke the top of her head with his paw.

And that makes Puss' heart drop down in his chest. It isn't that Puss in Boots doesn't have nightmares or fears of his own, keep in mind. Simply, it can be said that he keeps most of these fears and nightmares to himself as not to be entirely open and vulnerable to the world. He had been exiled and on the run for most of his life; therefore, learning to be closed and not share the fears and nightmares had become second nature to Puss. While Puss has definitely made amazing progress in opening up throughout his relationship with Kitty, there are still some fears he has yet to admit to his true love. After a brief pause, Puss returns to comforting Kitty, his emerald eyes locking on her crystal blue ones.

"I know. I know. It's okay. Shh. Shh…. I'll always be here," Puss promises, dropping a kiss to both her cheeks. "The chase after the Golden Goose still scares you some times. I know. I still get scared when I think of what almost happened to you. What almost happened to us…" the ginger tabby pauses, deciding not to go down that road right now with how Kitty is shaking in his arms. "But, we've made it. Together. I may not always know what has hurt you in the past, but I swear by my honor and love for you that nothing will ever hurt you now," Puss promises, relaxing his arms a bit when Kitty tightens her own arms around him.

"I love you," Kitty tells him, resting her head in the crook of his furry shoulder. "Really. I do. We banter a lot, but I hope you know how much I love you, Puss," she continues, looking over his shoulder at the river behind him.

"I love you, too, Kitty. And I know that we banter, but that is our style of love, mi corazón. Your love for me is always shown, and I never doubt it for a second," Puss assures, tossing his own glance at the river to see the water beginning to calm down as the swell decreases. "Hey, do you remember on our honeymoon where we went and walked on the beach? I threw you in the ocean," Puss laughs, and Kitty can't help but smile as she thinks of the fond memory.

"I wanted to hurt you so bad. I got my revenge, though," Kitty smiles, laughing as she remembers his face and reaction. "And I wasn't scared of the water because you didn't give me the time to think of the dangers. You just showed me how fun it could be by throwing me into the water where we could start a water fight with one another. I need to do that again," she admits, thinking through the reason as to why she could not dwell on the bad past she has with water on their honeymoon a few weeks ago. "Is there anything we can do at the river that will make me unafraid of it, Puss?" Kitty inquires, starting to walk over closer to the rushing water, but not too close where she won't start to get the nauseous feeling she has recently had around water of any kind.

"I could teach you how to fish if you would like, mi amor," Puss purrs, bending down near the water in order to splash a few handfuls, ahem, pawfuls of water on Kitty's sweat soaked arms as the sun climbs even higher in the sky and adds even more humidity into the atmosphere around the river.

"Fishing? You know how to fish?" Kitty asks in slight shock, never having pictured Puss as the kind of cat that would know how to fish and instead pictured him as a cat who sustained his life on leche, paella, and other Spanish dishes like they eat at their house on the hill.

"Sí, Kitty. I am a world class fisherman according to my friends back in Far, Far Away!" Puss boasts, puffing his chest out a little bit at the compliment he gives himself.

Okay, so maybe Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona don't say those things about him, but his cousin Ricardo with the fishing boat has definitely called them both world class fishermen before. Puss is 70% sure about this fact. Okay, maybe 60%. Or it could be 45%...

"Teach me," Kitty commands, her blue eyes lighting up at the opportunity of learning a fun new skill that would help her overcome her fear of the water nearby.

And, besides, she was starting to get hungry about now, anyway. Fish would make for a good afternoon snack.

"What?" Puss inquires, not quite sure that he heard his wife and lover quite right.

She voluntarily wanted to get in the river when she feared it no more than a minute ago? That didn't make any sense to Puss, but he figures that she may just want to conquer her fear and get it out of her brain to begin with. That the ginger tabby could understand and begins to think is the case.

"Teach me," she commands in a voice with no room for argument or disagreement.

"Okay," Puss concedes, stressing the o in okay more than a usual person would, making the word pronunciation take about five seconds more.

And with that, Puss puts a smile on his face and prepares to show off his skills to his Kitty, to his love.

A thin, silver fish swims by, its fins flapping through the river as it goes against the current.

"Watch this," Puss grins, taking his boots off his back paws before slinking towards the river.

His orange tail twitches, betraying his excitement and interest in the fish swimming before him. In a flash, Puss lunges forward with his claws outstretched, preparing to feel the sensation of smooth skin between his paws. Instead, the ginger tabby ends up with a face full of water as he misses his prey and falls into the river. He lets out an agitated growl and slaps the water for good measure as he begins to stalk out of the river and head for shore where Kitty waits for him. The tuxedo she-cat in question can't help but to laugh uncontrollably at her lover's failed attempt.

"I thought you claimed to be a world-class fisherman, Puss," Kitty teases, a laugh overcoming her question as she takes in his drenched appearance as he finishes climbing up the riverbank.

"I am!" Puss insists, ringing out water from his tail as he awaits another fish to swim by long enough for him to catch one. "But, I am usually in possession of a fishing pole, Kitty. I've rarely fished with just my bare paws before," he explains, making sure not to slip up and say claws instead of paws.

That would have been very bad, indeed.

"Ah. I see. So, you can't catch one with your paws, Puss?"

Oh, it is becoming a challenge now.

"Sí, señora. I can catch a fish without a fishing pole. Just watch me!"

And with that, Puss places his hat and sword belt on the shore next to his boots, preparing himself to get drenched if it meant he could prove Kitty wrong.

This time, a similar fish swims by, and Puss is quick to react to the other animal this time. Without any hesitation, he leaps forward like, well, a cat chasing a laser pointer, and captures the slippery animal between his paws. A shower of river water is sent up behind him at the impact of his orange padded paws have with the water. His skill was shown; his technique, however, shows room for definite improvement. Wheeling around quickly as not to lose the fish due to his wet paws, Puss has a wide smile on his face and his green eyes light up in recognition of his success.

"Afternoon snack," he grins, holding out the still-flopping fish to his wife, that same confident look in his eyes and the same smirk on his face.

Kitty begins to clap in amazement, only to remember that she is supposed to find his performance mainly mediocre. They are in a self-imposed competition, after all. She begins to sarcastically clap instead, earning her a soft, playful cuff on her ears from the Furry Lover himself as he shakes his ginger pelt free of water.

"In your opinion, maybe," Puss remarks to the situation, reading into the sarcastic clapping that Kitty is doing, other words not needing to be said between the two of them.

Kitty's mouth drops open as she realizes how quickly Puss read into the situation and plan she was trying to pull off, and she instantly stops clapping.

"There you go. Go on, Kitty. Try some," Puss offers, handing her the still-flopping fish as it tries to escape from his paws once more.

He could sink his claws into the fish, but that would damage the skin and meat of the animal, plus if Puss is teaching Kitty how to fish he really doesn't want to make her assume you need claws to get the job done right.

"Thank you, Puss. You know, this is my first whole fish I've had before," Kitty comments, taking the slippery fish from Puss before holding it in her own paws.

"Well, suit yourself with the fish, mi amor," Puss remarks, stretching out his neck and retracting and detracting his claws back and forth about ten times while watching Kitty try the fish he caught.

By the time Puss looks back up, Kitty has already devoured about a fourth of the fish, having never tasted meat so succulent before in her life. She starts to think that she really has missed out on crucial parts of being a cat during her life on the run and the previous life she had with the people who adopted her. The only meat they would ever give her was cubed beef they had left over at the end of each month from their meals.

"Can you catch any more fish, Puss?" Kitty asks between two mouthfuls of fish as she looks at her husband with a sly smile on her face.

Why fish for herself if Puss is just going to go and catch more fish for her? He could get in the river and get soaked and she could remain dry on land. It was a perfect plan!

Puss didn't see the plan that way.

"The river's right there," the ginger tabby says with a smirk, pointing one claw at the body of water in question as he makes his deadpan statement.

"Yes, I am aware. But, I thought you were doing the fishing for us," Kitty tries to convince, taking another piece of fish off and eating it before handing the rest to Puss.

"No, no, no, no," Puss assures, clicking his tongue to the inside of his cheek before taking a bite of fish. "You wanted to learn how to fish, mi corazón. So, take off your boots and get your famously soft paws over there to that river," Puss instructs, a look of triumph on his face as he finishes off the fish and slinks back over to the river himself. "Hurry before all of the fish leave, Kitty."

Not for the first time since their marriage, Kitty begins to wonder how she lets Puss talk her into these sorts of things. She guesses this is what love and devotion do to you. They make you try crazy new things just to make your arrogant partner shut his mouth that he is better at a skill than you, even when, clearly, she beats him in all of their sword-fighting practices.

Kitty sighs in annoyance at both of their stubbornness before she begins to peel her brown leather boots off of her sweat-soaked paws that instantly feel a whole lot cooler when they are not insulated inside the leather interior of her famous boots. She then takes off her sword belt before laying it down on the bank next to her boots and Puss' sword, hat, and boots. Reluctantly, she makes her way down to the river before she submerges her front paws in the water as Puss has instructed her to do.

"This is going to end in disaster," Kitty begins to think to herself, knowing that their little game will probably end in one or both of them being soaked with water by the time fishing lessons are over.

A few fish fly past Kitty's face, jumping out of the water in a fashion akin to dolphins. They whiz past Kitty's and Puss' head, making both felines leap and thrust their paws forward in order to try and catch a few for an afternoon snack and as fishing practice. Puss and Kitty end up headbutting each other multiple times, neither one of them used to having to be this close to one another while attempting to catch another moving animal. Puss eventually manages to snag one of the fish out of the air and while he is putting the flopping creature further up the bank where it cannot slip back into the water, Kitty tries her best to grab a fish. The only problem is that she throws her body around so wildly that her back paws slip off the riverbank and she goes crashing into the water. SPLASH!

The she-cat lands on her stomach in the middle of the water, tossing up showers of water as she impacts with the previously mostly still river. Droplets rain down on Kitty and Puss as the former pops up from under the water and spits out a mouthful of the liquid and the latter slides down from farther up the bank to rest at the river's edge. No fewer than three fish fly by Kitty and end up either smacking their tails into her face or flat out hitting her as they soar around and above her. Puss cannot help but laugh at the situation, and his warm chuckle makes Kitty laugh slightly, too. She then realizes, however, that she still has yet to catch any fish of her own.

"Do you want help?" Puss inquires in that deep, rumbling, Spanish accent of his that could no doubt calm the seas on the stormiest day.

"I don't need help, Puss," Kitty insists, regarding herself as an independent female that can accomplish anything if she puts her mind to it.

"You don't need help, Kitty. You never do," Puss reminds in a tone that lets her know that he still respects and remembers how strong and capable he is. "But, I think you want help where you can learn a new skill, not that you would admit that," the ginger tabby cheekily responds, sliding down the riverbank and meeting Kitty at the precise moment that the tuxedo she-cat pulls herself out of the river and onto the shore.

Kitty agrees to this fact before allowing Puss to show her his techniques for fishing.

Puss places his paws on top of Kitty's having her go through the motions of catching a fish while there are no longer any of their prey around due to the impact of Kitty's body in the river scaring them away for the moment being. Kitty stares at the rushing water and does her best to mimic Puss' movements, receiving praises from the ginger tabby as she continues to work her way through the motions. Eventually, the fish begin to return, so Kitty prepares herself for the fish to come. She doesn't notice the one within her paws until it begins to wiggle and try to feed on her paw as if it is a variety of vegetation. Kitty makes a momentarily startled noise before picking up the fish and throwing it to the other side of the river, making Puss chuckle and his emerald eyes water with tears formed in pure amusement. Kitty is ready for the next one when it comes. As soon as the next fish hits her paws, she leaps into the water after it, scooping up the silver fish in her paws and then swiftly throwing it onto the bank where the other fish Puss has caught are waiting for them to eat when they finish fishing. Puss begins clapping before he leaps down into the water himself, pressing a congratulatory kiss to the back of Kitty's wet head- it still hasn't dried from her fall into the water- before he, too, begins to fish once again. At this point, Kitty realizes there is not much of a point of retiring to the riverbank to wait for a fish again as she will just end up right back in the water. And so, she stays in the middle of the river, feeling the water rush over her black and white fur, taking the heat of the day and the sweat right off of her.

Between the two of them, they throw close to eight more fish back up onto the bank in a matter of twenty minutes, and Kitty and Puss have been laughing and smiling with one another all the way. Then comes the point where Kitty misses her landing of one fish on the bank right after Puss has thrown his latest catch onto the riverbank with the others. Like Puss did when he first missed, Kitty slaps the water, sending a cascade of droplets down on Puss' head, leading the orange furred gato to slap some river water in the direction of his lover, showering her in the cool, refreshing liquid as well. The two of them then begin to chase each other around the river, the water being shallow enough to run in, though deep enough to come to about halfway to both gatos' waist. While chasing Kitty, Puss spots a fish hiding among the rocks and attempts to grab the fish in his paws while continuing to chase after his Kitty. However, the famed outlaw and hero slips in the process of trying to keep his attention on two tasks at once, and he goes under the water in a similar fashion to how Kitty had about half an hour before. Kitty can't help but laugh as she sees Puss start to sit up, wiping water from around his emerald eyes and doing his best to push his ginger fur away from his eyes as he is now drenched to the bones. But, on a hot day like this, the water is such a relief that Puss just laughs along with her, sitting still in the river for a minute to catch his breath before he is back up and happily chasing Kitty through the water once more. Kitty shrieks momentarily before turning on her heels and running in the opposite direction, a joyful smile on her face as she kicks up plenty of water behind her that ends up splashing Puss and making him even more soaked with water as they continue their little game. Puss kicks up enough water as well, and between the two of them, it would appear as if they were kicking up a tiny typhoon or monsoon season within the river on the outskirts of San Ricardo.

In one of their short time outs where both of them have an opportunity to breathe, Puss turns around from running and passes one of his ginger paws through the fur on his head. He catches sight of Kitty in front of him now that he has turned around- somehow, he became the chaser and not the attacker. Puss finds Kitty with a new fish in her hands, eating parts of the meat as if she cannot get enough of her first taste of a food she had never before experienced. And that is enough to put a smile on the Furry Lover's face before a plan formulates in his mind. Puss sneaks up behind her and then lowers himself into a crouch. Before Kitty has a chance to turn around or make any movement at all, Puss launches himself at her, tackling her and pulling her down into the water with him. Somehow, amidst all their fighting to splash one another with water, Kitty ends up on top of Puss, so she flips him on his back before she sits on his chest as he floats down the river. Puss gasps slightly at the sudden extra weight added to his chest before he gets used to and wraps his arms around Kitty's waist to keep her from falling off his chest as they continue to float down the river.

"Have I ever told you how happy you make me?" Puss lazily says, looking up to lock his gaze on Kitty's face as they float near the riverbank.

"I think once or twice," Kitty teases, leaning down to capture his lips in a kiss as she remains sitting on his chest.

"Good. I'm glad you know how much meaning you have brought into my life, mi reina," Puss smiles after the kiss as he begins to pull them towards the riverbank with his paws where they can enjoy their feast of fish.

"You know, I always thought that I was the one who rescued you from the San Ricardo Prison," Kitty speaks up as they near the edge of the river near where the pile of their boots and swords are waiting for them, along with the fish.

"You did," Puss reminds, thinking back to their first instance of saving one another during their quest for the Golden Goose as it has come to be called.

"No. You rescued me," Kitty tells him before she slides off of his chest and swims the rest of the way to shore, noticing how the sun is starting to descend more towards the town of San Ricardo.

They truly have been out here together for quite a long time. It hadn't seemed like hours when they were playing in the water and Kitty was learning how to fish. With a collection of their swords and boots, the two gatos head back for their house, making sure to grab all of the fish in the process.

A few mornings later, Kitty is awakened by a force jumping on the bed and making the mattress sway slightly under the sudden weight being added.

"Puss, what are you—" Kitty starts to ask before the orange furred gato in question cuts her off and begins to formulate his answer.

"People talk; I hear things. We have a mission," Puss excitedly answers, slipping his sword belt on in a hurry as he sits down on the bed next to his sleepy wife.

"What? What are you talking about?" Kitty inquires, not at all sure what he is getting worked up about.

"There's a den of bandits around San Sebastián that are taking and cheating money away from the sailors that come into port," Puss begins to explain, a smile on his face as he excitedly explains the situation to Kitty, complete with hand motions and everything. "We can go and take them out, defeating a threat to the good people of the city and then keep all of their gold and earnings for ourselves!"

"Well, why are we not returning the money to the people, Puss?" Kitty inquires in a confuse tone as she sits up to slip on her own boots, knowing that she would not get back to sleep now with Puss bouncing on the bed and talking up a storm in her ears.

"Because they're sailors, Kitty! Most of them will be gone by now, and I hardly think that the ones left in town would like to admit they were swindled by a den of bandits," Puss remarks, smiling as he begins to walk out of their bedroom and down the stairs where he eagerly awaits for Kitty to come down where they can head out of town. "What do you think? Are you in?" Puss calls up the stairs, impatiently bouncing up and down on the soles of his Corinthian leather boots as he waits for his lover to appear.

"You don't think I'm going to let you have all the fun, do you?" Kitty laughs as she slides down the stair railing and lands at Puss' feet. "It's a mission and it will help out the people of San Sebastián and us as well. Of course, I'm in," she reveals and opens the door to their house before running out and heading for the stables where they keep their trusty horse.

And with that, their new adventure begins, all because of the rumor that Puss heard from the people of San Ricardo this morning while he was making his rounds to make sure the city was safe.

It takes about two days for them to reach San Sebastián from San Ricardo, and in that time Puss and Kitty have been formulating a plan on how they will take out the bandits that are continuing to rob sailors out of their hard-earned money by cheating in a game that the sailors have known how to play since they were around twelve years old.

"Are you ready to enact the plan, Puss?" Kitty grins as they approach the town in the dead of night, the perfect time to execute a well-formulated plan and trick the con artists themselves.

"Of course I am, Kitty. You came up with a very convincing plan, mi amor," Puss remarks from behind her on their horse as they head into town.

With a small kiss, the two gatos climb down from the horse and head into the cantina where the bandits have set up shop, so to speak. The idiota bandits were always the same. It's sad, really, that they think they are the only bandits who gather in the town's main cantina.

Puss and Kitty wink at one another as they prepare to enter the cantina separately as they have planned so as not to attract too much attention. Puss goes into the cantina first per Kitty's plan, and his boots begin to echo on the hardwood floor as he enters the cantina, hat pulled down low over his emerald eyes, hiding the knowing smirk that appears on the famed gato's face. Oh, this is going to be fun. The bandit chief looks up from his drink as he hears new footsteps he doesn't recognize hit the floor, and it is then that Puss in Boots stops in his tracks to wait for the chief to speak to him.

"What are you doing here, gato?" the chief inquires with a slight snarl, chewing on a cigar in the corner of his mouth as his gaze locks on Puss.

Puss pushes his hat away from his eyes, and by now the smirk has disappeared and is replaced with a neutral facial expression so as not to give away his and Kitty's plot.

"I'm simply in search of some leche and heard that the cantina is good for both leche and a game of dice. Was I correct in my source of information?" Puss smoothly says, moving forward a few steps in order to not appear as a threat but also show that he is not afraid to come forward on his own accords.

"Sí, señor. You can find both here," the bandit chief remarks with a lazy grin appearing on his lips as he thinks of the sucker of a cat he has in front of him that will fall prey to his tricks just like the sailors had before him. "Raul, go and fetch our new compadre a glass of leche where we can begin the game," he continues, lighting the cigar and placing it in his mouth while waiting for his right-hand man to return with their guest's glass of leche before they can begin the game.

"And what is the object of this game, pray tell?" Puss inquires, sitting down in the chair being offered to him.

"The rules are quite simple, gato," one of the other bandits remarks, a scar running parallel down his face, crossing over his right eyelid and ending about halfway down his right cheek. "You just have to roll a seven in one turn with the roll of two dice. If you do, you win the round and all of the bets made during the round," he continues, propping one foot up in the empty chair that Puss is sure Kitty will occupy once she comes into the cantina.

"Ah. Excelente. Yo entiendo," Puss smiles, preparing to begin the game as soon as Kitty makes her scheduled appearance.

In three….

Two….

One…

The swinging doors to the cantina open once more, and the tuxedo she-cat known as no other than Kitty Softpaws appears in the doorway, confidently walking forward but with no hat to hide her facial expression. However, Kitty has perfected his neutral, expressionless state of being during her years as the greatest thief in the land, so the bandits are not at all suspicious at the second gato walking into the cantina. At this point, Kitty simply saunters up to the table, knocking the thief's feet out of the previously empty chair and jumps up into the chair before turning to face the bandit chief.

"Hola, señor. I would like to play as well," Kitty grins, her blue eyes taking on the innocent light and look that can convince Puss to do almost anything.

"And so you shall, dear señorita," the bandit chief smiles with a creepy gap-toothed smile as he takes the glass of leche from Raul that was meant for Puss and hands it to Kitty.

"Gracias, señor. Now, I am new at this game of dice and shall need help from one of you at the start," Kitty slyly grins, and one of the bandits named Sancho gladly comes over to help mentor her in the game of dice.

And with that, the game begins, and Kitty and Puss exchange a wink and a smile that go unnoticed by the rather foolish bandits surrounding them.

Unbeknownst to the bandits, both Puss and Kitty are very adept players at this particular dice game and have picked it up in their travels around the world both separately and during their time together. As the rounds of the games continue, the winner changes with each round so as to divert suspicion. The two lovers let the bandits win the first two rounds of the game, and each of the gatos feigns severe disappointment so as not to let the bandits onto their trail and plan. After the first two rounds, though, Puss and Kitty begin to win, and they usually alternate their turns of winning. However, there are times where Kitty and Puss each have turns of the game where one of them wins strings of three or four rounds in a row.

"You know, I think I like this game," Puss remarks to the table as he throws his fourth winning pair of dice on the table as he wins his third straight round in a row, collecting money from all the players of the game, even from Kitty as well.

"Beginner's luck," the bandit chief utters for what must be the tenth time that night, and Kitty cannot help but quietly scoff at the statement.

"Your turn to lead, señorita," Sancho remarks to Kitty, handing her the dice Puss has just rolled to get his seven. "Buena suerte," he whispers in her ear, and Kitty laughs at the feeling of his breath, making Puss growl in annoyance at the stranger trying to put the moves on his wife and partner.

Kitty takes the dice from his rough hands and she blows on them for luck before she rolls the dice. The second die spins around for longer than the first, and everyone's breath hitches in his or her throat as they watch the final die fall down on the table to land on a….

"Seven!" Kitty excitedly cheers, her crystal blue eyes lighting up in excitement. "All right! Yes!" she continues the celebration as she rakes the last of the bandits' coins towards her.

"Partner!" Puss shouts, revealing their connection with one another as he jumps out of his chair and spins Kitty around above his head with a knowing grin on his face as he thinks of exactly how they duped the bandits out of all of their money.

"Tons of gold for you! Hey!" Puss and Kitty start to sing together, each of them scooping up one bag filled with gold from the bottom to the brim. "Tons of gold for me! Hey!" they continue their impromptu song, grabbing another bag of gold apiece and dancing around the cantina together, about to make their escape as they keep an eye on each bandit's movements behind them. "Tons of gold for we! Hey!" Kitty and Puss end, knocking their hips together as they are only three steps away from the door without any opposition thus far.

And then, the whole atmosphere of the cantina changes. A knife embeds itself in the door only inches away from Puss' whiskers, making the ginger furred outlaw jump back in alarm and let out a sharp yowl of surprise.

"Hey! One more roll!" the bandit chief demands, standing up from the table and stalking over towards Puss and Kitty, a dangerous look in his black eyes as he takes in the two infamous cats and the bags of money that they have won.

"Uh, señor…. You're broke! You have nothing to bet with!" Puss shouts out, a confident look on his face as he gestures to the four bags overflowing with money that are in his and Kitty's position at this point in time.

"I have a whole other bag tucked away under the bar. And neither one of you leaves until one of you rolls these dice, Puss in Boots," the bandit chief growls, practically spitting the protector of San Ricardo's name through his gapped teeth.

"This could be our destiny, our fate," Kitty tries to convince her lover, whispering in his ear so as not to allow the others to hear their conversation.

"Kitty, if I believed in fate, I wouldn't be playing with loaded dice!" Puss harshly whispers back to her, reminding her of the two pairs of dice they have been playing with the entire time that look the same as the dice the bandits had to begin with.

"Come back, gato, and I may allow you to walk away with your meager life and that of Kitty Softpaws when I am finished winning back all of my money. All or nothing."

"You have a deal, bandito."

And with that, Puss hands the two bags of money he had been holding over to Kitty to hold while he is playing the bandit chief for the entirety of the money at stake.

The bandit chief erupts in a fit of rage, flipping the table over in pure anger as Puss rolls a seven and he, on the other hand, rolled an eight. The glass cups shatter on the floor, sending up shards of glass into the air that Puss makes sure to avoid as he grabs his sword and gets prepared to use it when the time comes.

"I knew it! Your dice are loaded!" the bandit chief roars, reaching forward to try and grab Puss by the scruff of his neck, but Puss is simply too fast for him and jumps out of the way, brandishing his sword while scanning the room for Kitty.

"Fear me if you dare!" Puss shouts, flipping backwards through the air and landing on one of the nearby tables, his usual cocky smile on his face as he waits for the evening to get even more interesting.

"Jefe, the money is gone!" Sancho shouts as he looks under the table only to find the fifth and final bag of money has gone missing in the final round of dice.

"Idiotas!" the bandit chief accuses his fellow bandits, jumping to strike a blow at Puss with a sword which Puss easily parries. "And where exactly did the money disappear off to, Sancho? No one has a soft enough touch to remove a bag of money from my foot without me noticing!"

"That's what you think," Kitty teases as she reappears from hiding the bag of money from the bandits.

And, to be clear, the bags of money in question are about the size of the Golden Goose's eggs, not that of the coin purse Kitty and Puss both carry around to pay for leche and the like.

That is when the sword fight begins. Sancho goes after Puss, yelling as he swings his sword towards the ginger tabby with malice expressed in his eyes. Puss simply narrows his emerald eyes in a challenge before he slashes forward with his sword, satisfied when he hears a harsh metal clang that tells him he has made vital contact with one of the weakest parts of his opponent's sword. Oh, this would be easier than he thought. Sancho pushes back against Puss' attack, and Puss holds his own sword level to his chest before he strikes forward, catching Sancho off guard and making the young thief's dark eyes go wide as he hears a harsh scratching sound coming from the continuing battle raging on between himself and Puss. And then the younger fighter's sword breaks in two, and he is left to run for the supply the bandit leader keeps in the back on the cantina to try and regroup before Puss in Boots can finish him off. Puss lands one swipe to the back of the young man's legs, bringing him swiftly down to the ground before the orange furred cat goes over to try and regroup with Kitty.

The tuxedo she-cat, meanwhile, has her own paws full with trying to get rid of both Raul and the bandit chief, as both have determined her to be the source of all their trouble for the evening. She quickly parries the attack from Raul, a sharp yell exiting her lips as she places all of her weight and force into the direct hit to Raul's sword, making him stagger backwards momentarily as a numbing shock travels through his body. Puss jumps to occupy the space next to her, and both gatos see a guard approaching the cantina out of the corners of their eyes.

"We'll never get away with this," Puss mumbles under his breath to his Kitty with an expression akin to anxiety written on his face to go along with the statement.

"Yes, we will," Kitty assures him, and a plan overtakes her mind which she plans to put into action as soon as the guard is within earshot of the cantina.

His footsteps come closer, and he opens the doors to the cantina when he hears the distinct sounds of a swordfight occurring within the walls of the cantina.

"What? You gave me loaded dice?" Kitty gasps as she tosses and accusing look at Puss before she pushes past him and hands the guard the offending pairs of dice. "He gave me loaded dice! Guard, arrest him!" she adds in, pointing over to her husband with a smirk on her face that Puss in Boots knows only spells out trouble.

"You dare to impugn my honor? She was the one who was cheating!" Puss defends himself, swiping his sword to push Raul and the bandit chief back down to the ground before he comes over and stand directly in front of the guard and Kitty as he also smirks at the guard before both gatos begin to flip through the air with their swords, thoroughly confusing everyone in the room except one another.

Kitty lands on the windowsill of the second floor with Puss not far away from her, where they begin to swordfight with one another in front of a truly confused crowd of bandits who continues to throw threats and curses after the two boot-wearing cats. The guard begins to move to arrest the bandits, as Kitty had slipped him a miniscule note on the pair of dice that stated that the men were the den of bandits that were stealing money from the sailors that stopped in San Sebastián to resupply and sell their goods. From their perch on the windowsill, Puss shakes a jewel encrusted coin purse that the bandit chief has stolen from a nobleman.

"Did you drop something, señor? Or are you just resting?" Puss taunts the bandit chief as the man lays on the ground with a hand held over his aching head.

Inside the coin pouch lies gold, jewels, and enough silver to buy leche in the whole world over.

"Gracias for your help, mis amigos!" the young guard comments, his green eyes lighting up in appreciation as he rounds up the last few criminals.

"All in a night's work, señor," Kitty bows, and Puss follows her lead before they both jump out of the window and onto the roof where Kitty has stashed all five of the coin bags.

The cool night air smacks against both Kitty's and Puss' fur, and the two lovers quickly gather up the bags of money before racing along the rooftop towards the stables where they have left their trusty steed for the evening during the battle of dice.

Both Puss and Kitty end up laughing hysterically when they land on the horse.

"Did you see the looks on their faces when we kept winning?" Kitty laughs, tucking two heavy bags of coins into the horse's saddlebag where they cannot fall over during their trip back to San Ricardo.

"I was one second away from knocking that Sancho hombre out," Puss grins, but he is entirely honest in his statement.

He had seriously entertained the idea of doing more damage to the impulsive man who kept string at his wife as if she was the most beautiful treasure in the world and that she wasn't married.

"Oh, Puss," Kitty sighs, settling down in front of him on the saddle and rubbing her soft paws over his furry chest. "Is it sad that I can say I could see that happening?" she teases, dropping a kiss to his lips and then pulling on his whiskers.

"Well, he shouldn't have been so close to you and looking entranced by your beauty, mi reina. I am afraid that is no one else's job but mine," Puss grins, resting his head on the top of Kitty's head as he brushes his whiskers along her black and white face. "How about we go somewhere else in search of gold before going back to San Ricardo, eh?" he suggests, that adventurous and mischievous look back in his emerald eyes.

"We could be foolish not to quit while we're ahead," Kitty reminds him, thinking that depending on where they went they could get caught and their bounty could be cashed in.

"Come on, Kitty. What is the worst that could happen? No town can pull one over on us," Puss reminds, pulling the horse's reins and begins to direct the steed towards the doors of the stable.

"This is true. We do have skills, but we do need to be careful. Do you understand me, Puss?" Kitty demands, turning around once again to face her lover.

"Sí. Yo entiendo," Puss responds, a grin of his own on his lips.

"Oh, and Puss?" Kitty speaks up when she turns back around.

"Yes, mi corazón?"

"I have a surprise for you when we get back home to San Ricardo for your birthday."

"I look forward to it."

And those are the last words either of the famed outlaws hear before the world goes dark and they are picked up by two unknown figures with swords and full suits of armor.

Author's Note: And there's Chapter 11! This chapter is dedicated to a very special friend who celebrates her sweet sixteen today (May 24th)! You know who you are! Now, I think that this chapter is shorter than a few of the others I have posted, but this is mainly due to the fact that I am trying to get back into the voices and styles of writing Puss and Kitty's dialogue and interactions. Also, I wanted to get this chapter up where my friend can see this chapter was posted on her birthday (where I live anyway) and enjoy my birthday present for her in the form of Chapter 11 of her favorite story of mine! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates I have given this story. I honestly will try my best to update again as soon as possible now that I am out of school for the summer, but I again have a lot of summer work since in August I will start my senior year of high school and that is one of the hardest years for IB students, just like this last year has been! One IB test done, 6 more to go in the next year! (In addition to an extra AP test I am taking!) Until next time, my dear readers, and please enjoy your morning, evening, or night!