Neko Monogatari

Chapter 5- The Decision

The cat princess didn't react when the giant mouse lunged at the group; it was Oliver who called out his familiar to block Hickory Dock's attack, receiving damage in the process and being thrown a few steps away, landing with a loud thud. Oliver felt a sharp pain in his back as the familiar touched the ground.

"Oliver!" Cloe called out to him, not leaving her father's side, "Are you alright?!"

Oliver nodded quickly before managing to cast a Fireball spell. The flame burst on one of Hickory Dock's legs, but from the looks of it, the damage was minimal.

"That hardly did anything!" Cloe cried out, "I wish daddy hadn't passed out, he knows a spell that could put that rat in place!"

"No time for that, Cat-girl!" Drippy cried out, "Look out!"

"You know, I still remember the humiliation you made me go through all those years ago!" Hickory hissed at the cat princess, "Because of you, I couldn't sit for two weeks!"

"I was two years old!" Cloe exclaimed, "I don't even remember what happened!"

She couldn't continue as the mouse lunged once more, but once again, Oliver's familiar took the attack again, inflicting more damage to both it and Oliver. Cloe grew worried as Oliver clenched his teeth in pain. She didn't imagine how many health points he had lost because of her.

She wanted to help, but at the same time she didn't want to leave her father. However, when Hickory Dock started charging up an attack on his giant scepter, she made up her mind and, giving her father one last glance, got on her feet quickly and attempted to summon her familiar, but it refused to come out for some reason. Hickory Dock attempted to unleash his attack, but the scepter didn't launch a spark; the giant mouse shook it to make it work, but it exploded close to his face and he fell to the ground, dizzy.

"Ha ha!" Drippy laughed, "The furry fool's only gone and tripped himself up! Now's youer chance to give him a good hiding, you two!"

"How can I when Furry doesn't come out!" Cloe cried out in frustration as she saw Oliver's familiar rush next to the fallen mouse and started whacking him with his sword.

"You need to concentrate, Cat-girl!"

"I'm concentrating!"

Hickory Dock finally regained his senses and knocked Oliver's familiar with his tail; Cloe closed her eyes shut and called her familiar from within her being, not noticing Hickory Dock had targeted her.

"Any last words, kitty cat?" he grinned maliciously as he leaned in closer to her.

"Cloe!" Oliver sent his familiar after the mouse, but he looked back and swished his tail in circles at a fast pace, and Oliver's familiar stopped in its track and small stars appeared above its head as it started to spin around dizzily.

"Now, where were we?"

Cloe started to sweat, hearing as Hickory Dock got closer and closer to her.

Furry, come out now! I need you!

"Bye bye, Kitty cat!" Hickory lunged at Cloe…

NOW!

The purple rat was sent against the ground as Furry emerged from her chest and tackled him headfirst. With a wave of relief washing over her, the cat princess mentally ordered the familiar to charge at the purple mouse. As Hickory fell to the ground, a golden orb of energy emerged from the mouse's body.

"The orb!" Drippy pointed at the golden sphere as it started floating towards the ground, "It's for a special attack! Grab it before it vanishes!"

Furry rushed to grab the golden sphere and was enveloped in a golden light just as Hickory Dock got back to his feet. After a while, a sphere of wind surrounded the familiar, and after a while unleashed it on the mouse; Hickory Dock was struck by a swirl of wind and lighting.

"Finish him off, Ollie boy!" Drippy cried out, "One hit and he's done!"

Oliver sent his familiar after the mouse and, using one of its special attacks, he slashed Hickory with its short sword inflicting damage. Upon receiving the last hit, the purple mouse collapsed, and remained motionless. However, before anyone could do anything about it, he got back on his feet and dashed through a waterfall into the well.

"You dirty rats!" he shouted as he fled, "I'll get you next time!"

Drippy spoke, "Knickers! He got away! And he got another stupid catchphrase in before he left and all!"

"Never mind that, Mr. Drippy." Oliver exclaimed, "What about King Tom?"

"Daddy!" After recalling Furry, Cloe rushed to her father's side once again and tried to shook him awake, "Please, don't leave me! You promised you would never leave me!"

"Is he alright?" Oliver asked in worry as he and his fairy companion walked closer.

To the trio's relief, the cat king opened his eyes barely and turned to look at his tear-eyed daughter, "Cloe… You're…. Here…"

"Daddy!" Cloe wrapped her arms around her father once again.

"Come on, Kingface!" Drippy spoke, "Pull youerself together!"

"One's wand…" King Tom whispered weakly, "One retrieved it from the villain who… purloined it… Mmmyugh…"

Saying this, the monarch fell into unconsciousness once again.

"Daddy!" Cloe cried in desperation.

"Your Meowjesty!" Oliver gasped in horror

"Knickers! Knickers, knickers, knickers!" Drippy yelped, "Your Meowjesty! Your Meowjesty!"

The cat princess sat outside her father's bedchambers, hugging her knees and hiding her face in her arms. Oliver and Drippy were next to her, trying to cheer her up, but to no avail. After defeating Hickory Dock, the trio barely managed to carry the fallen cat king out from the sewers and take him back to the palace. A few guards had taken him to his bedchambers so Maora could check on him, and she was still inside. Cloe couldn't help but feel guilty; her father had been struck because she distracted him just as he was taking care of things himself.

"Don't worry, Cloe," Oliver's gentle voice reached her ears, "Your father will be alright."

"Yeah, he's as strong as the old oak Olli-boy and I met not long ago."

"It was my fault…" she whispered in an almost inaudible tone, "It's my fault daddy was hurt…"

"Don't say that!" Oliver spoke, louder this time, "Don't be so hard on yourself! There was nothing you could have done!"

"If I hadn't been there in the first place, daddy wouldn't have let his guard down!" Cloe cried in despair, "This all happened because of me!"

Finally, after a while, the doors opened and Maora slowly walked out of King Tom's bedchambers; the trio immediately ran to her side to ask her about the cat king's condition.

"How's daddy, Maora?!" Cloe was the first to ask, and the old woman put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, dear," she spoke softly, "He'll be alright, he just needs some rest, that's all. In a few hours, he'll be back on his feet, but right now I think you should let him sleep."

Oliver, Drippy and Cloe sighed in relief, but Cloe was still worried.

"Oliver, Drippy, can I talk to you?" she said to her two companions, and the trio walked away from the doors as Maora went back inside.

"What is it?" Oliver inquired.

"Listen, guys… I haven't thought about this much for a long time, but I've always wanted to see the world, and I need to learn how to fight. My father could have been injures back at the well, and I couldn't protect him. He's not the only one willing to give his life protecting someone he loves…" Cloe sighed sadly, "… I want to go with you."

"Are you sure, Cat-girl?" Drippy inquired, seriously for the first time, "I mean, I don't want any trouble with your father. Besides, he'd be pretty mad at you, and us as an extension."

"I don't want to separate you from your family, Cloe," Oliver looked down, "I mean, you and you father only have each other."

"I know, but…" Cloe looked away, "I mean, I had to leave the nest sooner or later, right?"

"But I thought you weren't allowed to leave Ding Dong Dell."

"You're right in that, I need disguise at least to get out of town."

Drippy grinned, "And I know just where to get it, Cat-girl."

"Oh, hoot!" the owl lady from the Hootique gasped as Cloe entered her shop, accompanied by the boy and fairy from before, "Princess Cloe, I'm so honored to receive you. What is it you need?"

"Cat-girl needs some clothing," Drippy explained, "Decent clothing, she needs to pass unseen by the guards."

"Unseen by the guards? Why would the princess need to pass unseen? She has done nothing wrong, hoot!"

"I know, miss…" Cloe blushed, "I just need to go out of town."

"Oh, dear… Hoo, let me think now…" the owl lady looked at the ceiling in thought, "Ah! Now I come to think of it, there's a set of cloths of your size somewhere in here, I think…"

"Roughly cat-made, is it? And cheap, I shouldn't doubt," Drippy said, "We'll take it!"

"This way, your Meowjesty," the owl lady led Cloe to the back shop.

Olive and Drippy had to wait about half-an hour before Cloe had changed her clothing; when she was done, the cat princess walked back from the backshop, and Drippy almost opened his mouth agape at how she looked. She was wearing a sleeveless plain pink vest, with a long yellow skirt that covered both her tail and legs, but her waist was visible. She had a lilac scarf around her neck, which she could use to hide most of her face when going out of town, and the pink vest had light pink trimming. It made her look rather pretty.

"So, how do I look?" Cloe asked as she twirled around.

"Ohh, there's trendy!" Drippy said as he hopped around the cat princess, "You look pretty, Cat-girl!"

The owl lady walked back to the counter, "It hoots you down to the ground, your Meowjesty."

Cloe couldn't help but blush, "T-Thanks, I guess… It's the first time I use this kind of clothing. How much do I owe you?"

"Hoo! For those old things? Don't be silly, your Meowjesty. You'd be doing me a hooge favor just taking them off my hands!"

"Really? You're sure, miss?"

"Really, princess! Think nothing of it!"

"Thank you very much, miss!" Cloe cried in excitement before turning around to look at Oliver, "We should go back to the palace. I need to do one more thing before we go, and I think you still need your wand, don't you?"

Oliver nodded, "I do, in fact. I just hope the King is alright."

The cat king smiled as his three months old kitten sucked the warm milk that would sustain her fragile life from the bottle, snuggling deeply into his embrace as she did so. She had opened her eyes a few weeks ago, which turned out to be a strong aqua blue like his. Her tabby marking was starting to gain a little bit of color, but it would be a while before it gained its full coloring.

Even for her age, she was a very smart kitten. She knew how to make her emotions noticed to her father, and the cat ruler had hoped she would soon say her first word, but it seemed all she thought about right then was eat and sleep… almost like him when he was her age. Apparently, he passed it down unto her.

When she was done eating and her father put the now-empty bottle on his night desk, Cloe set her aqua blue eyes on her father's; the kitten smiled at her father and reached her little paws out for him. King Tom couldn't help but chuckle softly as he started tickling his daughter's nose playfully, like she liked; Cloe started giggling as she struggled and attempted to catch her father's paw.

"Your Meowjesty," Maora's voice reached both their ears.

King Tom didn't get his eyes off Cloe as he spoke, "Come on in."

Maora walked into the cat monarch's bed chambers and watched the kitten still playing with her father's paw, and she felt bad for having to interrupt them, "Sorry for interrupting, but the ambassador from Hamelin wishes to speak to you."

"Alright," King Tom replied somberly, out of sudden losing his playful touch. However, when Cloe noticed the tension in the atmosphere, she grasped her father's tunic and didn't let go; eventually, King Tom attempted to hand her over to Maora, but Cloe started whimpering and the grasp on her father's tunic grew tighter. Finally, realizing his daughter would not budge, Tom looked up at Maora with an awkward smile "Would you mind telling the ambassador one can't attend him? It seems Cloe wants one to stay with her."

Maora smiled as she bowed her head and walked out of the bedchambers; Cloe finally released the cat king's tunic and pressed her paws against his chest.

Tom smiled down at his kitten and caressed her cheek with his finger, making her purr in delight, "Don't worry, my little pumpkin. One's staying with you a little longer…" his smile faded slightly, "Too bad your mommy can't see you now… She would have loved you as much as one does."

Cloe noticed her father was sad and started twitching her ears and flicking her tail to cheer him up; that always made him smile. King Tom chuckled as he held Cloe close to his chest.

"Sometimes one thinks you're the only one who notices when one's in a bad mood, my little pumpkin." He whispered to her in an almost inaudible tone.

Cloe let out a big yawn, her eyes started to shutter and, resting her head against her father's chest, fell asleep.

"My little one…" the cat king covered his daughter with her pink blanket, "One will never leave you, I promise."

King Tom finally started to open his eyes, and realized he was back on his bedchambers, on his bed, to be more precise. Maora was inside placing a cup of tea on his night desk; twitching his ears, King Tom let out a yawn and sat up on his bed, just to feel an almost excruciating pain on his head. Maora walked closer to him as he rested once again.

"How are you feeling, Tom?" she asked.

"What… what happened, Maora?" he replied, rubbing his head, "One can't remember what happened…" His eyes went open like plates in shock, "Where's Cloe?!"

"She's alright," Maora sighed, "She went out a few minutes ago, I think she'll be back soon. She was very worried about you, you know."

King Tom relaxed his muscles and he accommodated himself in his bed, "That's wonderful… but you haven't answered one's first question."

"Well, Cloe and her friends brought you back from the sewers after fighting Hickory Dock."

"Fighting?!" Maora was astonished when the cat king jumped to his feet, not caring if his head hurt, as soon as he was done talking, "Is she alright?!"

"She is, Tom. If she wasn't, she would be in her room resting."

Coincidentally, Cloe entered the room, "Maora, how is-?"

"CLOE!" Tom rushed towards his daughter and wrapped his arms around her tightly, again almost crushing her, "You're alright!" The cat king then started checking her for any major injuries, "Did that Hickory Dock hurt you? If he did, One's going to turn him into a carpet!"

All Cloe did was to embrace her father tightly, "Daddy! I thought for a minute you were gone!"

King Tom returned the embrace, "One promised you one would never leave you, remember?" He noticed his daughter's change in her attire, "Why are you dressed like that, my little pumpkin?

Cloe gulped, trying to come up with an excuse, "I… Well, my dress was all dirty from the sewers so I went to the Hootique to change my clothing."

"Anyway, where are the fairy and the young wizard? One still must thank them for saving one's life back there."

"They're waiting for you in the throne room, daddy. You shouldn't make them wait any longer, they were worried about you as well."

Tom nodded, "Alright. See you later, Cloe."

As her father left for his throne room, Maora got closer to the cat princess, sensing that she was up to something, again. However, this time, she had a clue to what she was thinking to do.

"So you have decided…?" she whispered into her ear.

Cloe looked down and closed her eyes, "Yes."