"What's your plan this time?"
Sagwa tried not to show her fear as she addressed the one individual in the room she didn't need to persuade. "First of all, keeping the plan secret."
"They don't know what we're saying."
So much for the power of persuasion. "We need to get someplace high," Sagwa said. But she was afraid to take her attention off of the dogs. Their fangs were truly terrifying. It was only the sight of seeing her niece beating a hasty retreat down the hallway that could make her move. She ran after her, listening to the dogs giving chase; and jumped up onto first the seat of a chair, then the back of it, and finally up onto the top of a bookshelf. From their vantage point they looked down at the dogs, stymied by their physical inferiority. Sagwa turned her attention to Song, trying to hear herself over her labored breathing and pounding heart. "Wait a minute. Wait," she mused, pacing the circumference of the surface. "Why are you running?"
"Well, the dogs don't like me either."
Sagwa stopped, peering down at the angry beasts—and it saddened her to see a third one entering the study. Three dogs with an aversion to cats. Boy, it was good to be back. She plopped down into a sitting position, and Song made a face as she watched her aunt draw in the dust.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm thinking."
"Here's a crazy thought; um, why don't we run?"
"We could do that, if it was just the two of us. But it's not," she murmured, and avoided her niece's eyes as she added, "Your parents are here."
"What—here, here? This side?" Song asked nervously, and grew impatient when her aunt was quiet. She leaned down and blew the dust into her fur. "Will you just talk to me?" she demanded, watching her aunt dust herself off.
"Okay... Hmm. Well, your mother went towards Luk-Do's dressing room; if we—" And stopped talking, watching Song hurl herself off the bookshelf and onto a dog's face. "If we wait," Sagwa muttered, and jumped onto the face of another dog. The chosen ones tried shaking them off, whining when the felines dug their claws in. The third dog watched for a moment, unsure of which dog to assist first; then lunged, grabbing Song by the tail. When her futile attempt to kick him only resulted in him grabbing her leg, she curled into a ball and bit his throat. He stumbled back in confused pain, leaving the two cats pitted against two dogs.
"Auntie!" Song screeched, as Sagwa slashed the dog's face.
"Make a run for it!" Sagwa commanded, and raced after her niece.
Humming an upbeat tune, the Cook was crossing the throne room when he thought he saw the shadows begin to sway. He paused for a moment to observe, but all seemed normal. Until the candles began to fall off the chandelier. He stepped out of their path and looked up just in time to see a feline's head disappear. He chuckled. "How did you get up there?" he asked. He looked around, seeking the answer to his question as well as a way to retrieve the cat. Instead, he saw two of the three cats the Magistrate owned, preening on his throne; and the third cat racing down the stairs with a stray. They were closely pursued by two of the Magistrate's vicious new dogs.
The Cook reached out, managing to snag both dogs by their collars. Struggling to hang on, he again looked up at the cat sitting on the chandelier. Feeling like he could trust this human, Siao-Po jumped off the light fixture and onto the throne, then hightailed it after his daughter.
"Shame on both of you. They're just cats," the Cook chided, as he hauled the dogs away. In his absence, the third dog descended the steps. Seeing the Cook headed towards the basement, he picked the opposite direction; and was proven correct when he heard an unfamiliar voice calling out. Wanting only to protect his master from these imposters, the dog followed the voice towards the dressing rooms. His focus was fractured only momentarily when the Cook's wordless shout shattered the night.
Sheegwa recognized the Cook's voice; and no longer overwhelmed by trying to always be there for 77 cats, she was quick to respond. It was one human, after all—her human. So she trotted through the palace, certain that wherever Song was, she was in less distress than the Cook. He needed her more.
But instead of finding her human, she found the two territorial mutts he had lost control of. Her body froze, but her mouth involuntarily began to run. "Oh, wow. Okay. I guess they do know how easy it is to break into this place. But, look, there doesn't need to be any trouble. I only want my daughter. And, hello, look at me; I can't take you on. You're definitely more imposing than the sleeve dogs, I'll give you that."
Suddenly she found herself standing in a line of cats. She looked left to right, seeing Sagwa, Siao-Po, Song, and three cats she had never seen before.
"They don't understand you," one of the strangers said.
"Do they understand Chinese?" Sagwa asked hopefully.
"No. This is the only thing they understand," he responded, and proceeded to hiss at the dogs. Outnumbered by four, the dogs were still happy to fight them. Both species suffered, but soon the cats were awarded with a straight shot to the door. With the dogs distracted, Sagwa turned to Siao-Po and said, "Get them out of here. I'll be fine."
Siao-Po didn't admit it, but he was worried about her as he guided his family to safety. They crawled through the gate. Seeing the fresh injuries, the clan was quick to gather 'round.
"What happened to you?" Dongwa asked.
"The Magistrate got new dogs. Big, awful, mean ones," Song told them. And as the family settled in to wait for Sagwa's triumphant arrival, Wu-Ming looked down from the alley wall, feeling an unaccustomed rush of guilt. Maybe he should have given them a heads-up...
Just as it seemed like their wounds were beginning to heal, Sagwa suddenly scrambled through the gate. She had barely gotten through when the dogs crowded the other side, inches away from tearing her apart. She was banged up the worst, actually reminding them of the time Sheegwa had wanted to cover her wound with a hide. Despite its severity, she stood tall and smiled into the dogs' angry faces. Relieved she hadn't been destroyed like she had feared, Sheegwa embraced her sister.
"Thank you."
"No big deal," Sagwa lied. She turned and moved stiffly to the bench, collapsing underneath it. The sheer exhaustion of battle was too great for her exhausted little body; and not even her insurmountable fear could keep her awake.
Before the night was over, she was pulled into awareness by the soft sound of someone crying. Was it...Mama? Sagwa scrunched up her face, trying to ignore the sounds of the waking world, but could not for long ignore the sounds of a crying parent. She stretched her leaden limbs and opened her eyes, looking down at the various cuts and scrapes; then got to her aching paws and surveyed the alley with tired eyes. Indeed, her mother was crying, and her father was attempting to console her. And they weren't the only ones who were emotional. Yuri, An-Lin, and Ying-Hua were heartbroken; Dongwa paced in a fit of anger and the alley cats actually appeared...compassionate?
Something was very wrong.
Sagwa walked into the heart of activity. "What's wrong?"
"Sheegwa took off, that's what's wrong," Dongwa growled.
Sagwa looked around the alley, observing more than just her sister's absence. Song and Fan were absent as well. As was Wu-Ming—curiously so, as Siao-Po sat alone at the water's edge.
"This is out of the blue," Hun-Hun commented.
"No." Sagwa shook her head, wracking her brain. "This is why they asked for my help."
"My Sheegwa would never do this," Mama wept.
"She's not your Sheegwa anymore, Mama."
"She's right," Siao-Po's gruff voice floated to them. "I heard 'em. She wanted nothing to do with me. Invited Wu-Ming to tag along. Her friend for years. Apparently she trusts him to do what I never would, like find her in a rainstorm, or...catch up to a caravan."
Sagwa quelled the instinct to remind him that Wu-Ming had yet to defeat a raging bull. She didn't want him to feel bad, but she didn't want even more to boost his ego.
"Life was so much simpler when we had humans," Baba mused.
"It wasn't the humans. It was the structure," Siao-Po dismissed. He stood up and turned around. "I've been saying for a long time that we need a pack."
"We're not going there, son," Baba interjected. "You tried and failed."
"I know I did. But she didn't."
Sagwa startled when all eyes suddenly turned to her. Then Siao-Po was suddenly walking up to her. Instinctively, she braced her already battered body for an attack; only appearing unbreakable. Siao-Po stopped in front of her. "You humiliated me," he began. "And by abolishing the pack, you were still undefeated. By default, we look to you."
Sagwa watched him bow in respect. And Baba said nothing. He didn't continue to make his point; he was letting it happen. They were all letting it happen.
Her eyes narrowed. "I abolished the pack for a reason. If you insist on following me..." Her voice wavered and she looked from one pair of trusting eyes to another. "Then this pack will only consist of us. No more members." She looked back at Siao-Po, "I'm not repeating your mistake."
He looked a little insulted, but nodded in compliance. "Fine."
Mama looked up at her mate, then back at her daughter. "Well, Sagwa... Should we look for them?"
Sagwa's eyes shot to hers. And she knew perfectly well that wherever they were, they were together. And she knew perfectly well that Wu-Ming would protect them with his final breath.
She smiled grimly at her mother.
"No."
