LIBERI FATALIS: The Therianthrope Chronicles

by Eddie-E

A crossover between Ace Combat, Katmandu and another, surprise famous furry comic. A Japanese scientist during the onset of World War II in Europe devises a groundbreaking theory of evolution whose effects will resonate not only on Earth but also throughout the universe for centuries to come. Rated M for language and mature situations.

28. WOMEN OF HONOR (PART 1)

ACT XXVIII: WOMEN OF HONOR (PART I)

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A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

Eleanor Roosevelt

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Unknown date, AD 2299/1748, Somewhere in the Plains Region, Desert area, possibly near the border between the Kingdom of Thracia and the Hinowa Empire, unknown hour (probably midnight)

A cluster of men, all of them male, was sitting near an apparent campfire, resting in a desert region of the plains. It was a relatively large group, almost an army, of approximately 40 to 50 men, and all armed with different types of primitive weapons.

Like most of the inhabitants of that unknown planet, all those men sitting there were humanoid felines, with a notable difference that anyone could notice at a glance: they were all large beings, based on wild felines, such as lions, jaguars, panthers, cougars, etc., which made them look quite intimidating to anyone brave enough to confront them head on.

And that fear was more than justified. Those men were raiders, men devoted basically to robbing, raping and murdering wherever they passed on their way, and showing no mercy to their victims. Even in the known historical archives, there is not much information about the origins of those bandits, with the only exception of the personal background of their leader, which would play a very important role in the subsequent events in the history of that planet that day.

The only thing that is known is that, before everything that would happen later, they already had an infamous reputation of having assaulted more than fifty villages, leaving in their wake hundreds of corpses, and an equal number of people raped by those cold-blooded thugs who were dedicated to spread fear in several places of that planet.

But that day did not seem to have been a lucky one for those criminals. Many of the members of that army seemed to be wounded, some apparently from what appeared to be stab wounds, and everything seemed to indicate that those men had barely made it out of some previous battle with their lives.

And that was the topic of discussion for the leader of that band of criminals, who was busy devouring a piece of dried meat along with some beer to run the food down his throat. The leader was an anthropomorphic cougar, who wore a helmet on his head and whose fur and hair were similar to those of any being of his own species. He was not exactly a kind or patient person, and he knew better than anyone that he and his men did had a very bad day, which they wished they could forget.

But at the same time, he also had other things to complain about, something he made known aloud.

-"Damn it!"- The leader cursed, while chewing his meat. -"Such bad luck for us to face a bunch of those stuck-up bushi from Hinowa!"-

Another of the men, who appeared to be a humanoid lynx, approached their leader and did not hesitate to agree with his words, knowing that many of his men had sustained injuries of differing degrees of severity. There were even some who had lost one of their arms or even their tails.

-"Right, Commander. We were lucky to get out of that damned hellhole of a country with most of us alive, if it weren't for the fact that I came up with the idea of going up through the mountains to throw their warriors off the scent and enter the Plains region. Those bushi don't normally venture into these lands in peacetime, from what I've heard along the way."-

-"That's true, but now we are in a place we don't know at all, and we don't even know if this region is inhabited or not."- The lynx man replied. -"We will be lucky if we find some kind of edible herb to survive in this place."-

-"Nah, that's one of the things that bugs me about this whole sitch, to be honest!"- The bandit chief continued with his rant. -"And all for what? To end up chasing that weird furless idiot we found on the road and tried to capture, only to have him slip out of our claws?"-

-"Are you referring to that man whose name was... Nokuchi... Natsuchi... or whatever the hell he called himself, Commander?"-

-"Yes, that one!"- The leader barked aloud about the man he and his ragtag band were chasing days ago.

-"To be honest, we would have been paid a lot for him in many places. We've never seen anyone like that weird fellow dressed in various colored clothes, who has no fur, and who has various strange trinkets that we've never seen before, and surely many would have wished to have him as a slave, or at least as an oddity in their homes."-

-"You are right about that, especially this strange knife that we managed to take away when we first captured that guy..."-

The commander shows his subordinate the knife he managed to take from the man they captured at the beginning, but who managed to escape from their grasp and who was the reason why the bandits entered Hinowan territory, only to be attacked by the imperial armed forces of that nation.

The knife that that humanoid being had in his hands was a type of knife that he and his army of bandits had never seen in their lives, not even as a military weapon of common use: It was a sharp weapon made of a metal that they had never seen before and that had several unusual features that made that weapon incredibly strange for the standards of that world.

For one thing, the knife had a kind of saw on the blade's spine, which made that mysterious weapon truly unique, since those warriors, no matter how savage they were, could not imagine anyone using a weapon that seemed to have been made precisely to cause as much damage as possible, even if the knife was intended primarily for hunting.

Anyone reading this will have realized that that knife was the same knife, or an imitation thereof, used in a famous series of action movies from the late 20th and early 21st century, something that, for obvious reasons, went under the radar of those alien beings. For them, that weapon was something that they had never seen before, and that evidently was something very dangerous for them, and if it were not for the fact that they managed to take that knife from his original user, it was certain that he could have killed or wounded some of the members of the bandit gang with it.

And that's not to mention several strange things that man found on that blade, which he would explain in depth later.

-"I wonder what kind of crazy person would put a saw on a knife?"- The commander continued to look carefully at the knife as he turned it over in his hand to see it thoroughly. -"I don't even want to imagine what kind of strange creatures or enemies he and his kind must face on a daily basis to use something as dangerous as this."-

-"I must assume that you never saw such a weapon when you were in the Romalian army, right, Commander?"- The lynx man asked at his senior.

-"Of course not! Who would ever think of putting a saw on a knife in the first place, huh?"- The former military man said at his junior. -"Even my compatriots would not be so deranged as to create something like this blade!"-

And the cougar man continued with his observations about the alien-made knife.

-"If I had to figure out what this weapon was used for, surely that warrior used it to gut large animals or people with it.."- The commander could only think of the worst possible use of that weapon when he saw the dangerous design of that knife of alien origin.

-"For all the good that weapon did that furrless man, after all."- The commander's subordinate pondered with some sarcasm. -"We were able to take that blade out of his hands when we captured him, and if it weren't that we caught him by surprise, we might have lost one or two of our men, if it weren't for the fact that that man chose to escape as soon as he managed to untie himself from his ropes, instead of trying to get his things back."-

-"Yes, and we've been chasing him for a moon, not to say we've been across a country and a half, and we haven't been able to capture him."- The commander continued. -"Although, judging by the wounds we managed to inflict on him, I don't think he could have survived for more than 30 days..."-

-"Yes, but it was your decision to have us chase that strange man, just to end up in Hinowa and almost get killed by their bushi..."- The subordinate replied, with an air of self-conceit. -"If you ask me, I would have simply let the man go and avoided entering through Hinowan territory, and thus..."

The commander, who did not like to be second-guessed in his decisions, no matter how foolish they were, pointed the alien knife at his subordinate in a threatening manner, letting him know that he would not tolerate his authority being questioned at all...

-"Listen, you idiot, if you don't like the way I go, I can start trying this knife on you and get your stinky guts out of your stomach!"- The cougar man pointed the knife very near of his junior's own muzzle, while hissing loudly, causing the latter to recoil in fear as he saw that his boss was serious about using the knife on him. -"is that clear to you!?"-

-"Ye..yes, commander!"- The look of horror on the minion's face was fast turning into one of subservience as he saw the knife appearing very close to his nose.

-"Well, that's how I like it..."- The commander replied after putting the man who dared to challenge him in his place.

Before the discussion could continue, another of the bandits working under that man's command quickly rushed up to his superior in order to speak to him immediately. The man seemed to have something very urgent to say to his boss, as judging by the expression on his face.

-"Forgive me for having to interrupt you, Commander Arn, but I think there is something you should know, sir."-

The commander who answered to that name quickly turned his attention to the other subordinate who wished to speak with him, and the man responded with a certain annoyance, after having threatened another of his underlings with that cinematic knife.

-"What's wrong?"-

-"We found blood stains, most likely from the furless man who answers to the name of Noguchi, as well as parts of his clothing, but I don't think you want to know this, sir."-

The feline commander, seeing that there seemed to be a problem regarding the man they were hunting for, could not hide his displeasure that things were not going his way.

-"And what's the problem?"-

-"Uh... well..."- The underling stuttered a bit. -"The bloodstains lead to a more or less large river that lies west of here, and looking at the current, it is likely that he fell into it and the stream could have washed him, or what is left of him, downstream..."-

This was, for several reasons, bad news for Arn and his band of outlaws. The fact that the man they were looking for had been washed downstream meant that, sooner or later, he or his body would be found by someone else, most likely by the inhabitants of some resident village or tribe in the region, which meant that they would have to face off against any of its inhabitants if they were to find their prey.

And judging from the fact that they had managed to severely injure their target when he escaped from their clutches, the chance that they could find the man they were seeking alive was close to zero.

-"DAMN IT!"- The cougar man roared in rage. -"That man will most likely be dead by the time we find him!"-

All the members of the bandit gang knew exactly what that meant, and it was the fact that all their search for that strange man had been in vain, not to mention the fact that many members of the gang had been wounded by the Hinowan bushi before they could escape from that eastern country with their lives, and that it was basically a miracle that they had not suffered any losses to regret, although some of the outlaws had suffered mutilations.

The other subordinate, upon hearing this, could not help but ask his leader what would happen next.

-"In that case, should we go back the way we came, Commander? Considering that we can't go back through Hinowa, I would suggest we go back through Thracia instead, and..."-

For some reason, the mere mention of the name of the other neighboring kingdom, Thracia, made Arn's blood boil with fury at the minion who was foolish enough to suggest such an idea.

-"There's NO way in hell would I think about going to THAT place!"- The commander berated his underling for having proposed the option of returning via Thracia. -"If the warriors of that eastern kingdom are terrible, the Thracians are equal or even worse than the Hinowans, and they will surely use our hides as rugs if they manage to take us alive. And I say this because I fought against those bastards when I was a member of the Romalian army, and I know very well what their warriors are capable of, especially with those who fall into their hands!"-

The two subordinates in front of Commander Arn, who had never been in a professional army in comparison to their leader, could only listen with some trepidation to the words he spoke about the Thracians. After all, being an ex-soldier himself, Arn knew better than anyone what his enemies could do to him and his men if they were caught in Thracian territory doing anything.

-"That sounds like a return via Thracia is out of the question, right?"- The lynx man replied at his leader.

-"Do I need to repeat it again?"- Arn retorted back with some scornful sarcasm.

-"Uh... no, sir!"-

-"Then what we will do next is that, as soon as we heal our wounds and rest tonight, we will leave here at sunrise and head downriver in search of that furless man."- The feline leader explained his next course of action. -"If we don't find him, or if we find him dead, then we can catch some of the tribesmen in this region instead, and sell them as slaves, if we are lucky, so that we don't end up empty-handed."-

-"Well, that sounds like a good idea, Commander."- The other underling agreed with his boss.

-"Yeah, me too."- The other man followed suit.

And after a brief pause, Arn gave his last order of the day to his men.

-"In that case, it's settled..."-

Immediately afterwards, the commander leading that band of outlaws loudly spoke to his cronies, to let them all know what they would be up to the next day.

-"All right, everyone, listen up and keep your ears up, because I need to tell you something!"-

And then, Arn explained to them what his plan was regarding the search for the man who had escaped them earlier and his other plans he had in mind.

-"Tomorrow we'll go out downriver to find that man by the name of "Nokuchi" or whatever his name is, and if we don't find him alive, should we find him at all, then we'll capture whoever we find, so we don't end up with nothing on our hands! Do you agree with me, comrades?!"-

Even though they knew that Arn's plan sounded crazy, considering what they went through that day against the Hinowan warriors, they also knew they had little choice in the matter, so they had no choice but to accept his plan, even though they knew they were in unknown territory, and did not know what they would be up against on their way.

On the other hand, many of them knew that most of the inhabitants of the plains region were apparently primitive, and that they would probably not have much trouble facing them, considering that they had better weapons and techniques than the natives of that part of the unknown planet.

And so, the men under the command of Commander Arn rested that night, so that the next day they could ride down the river in search of their prey, or any prey they might find on their way, in order to sell any prisoner as a slave and obtain something to make a living.

Little did they know that things would start to take an unexpected turn for them in the next few days...

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), Mother Sanna's tent (Inside), 02:15 PM (earlier afternoon)

As they had agreed the day before, Mother Sanna, together with Akane Araki, was starting to prepare okonomiyaki, the typical food of Osaka cuisine, the city where the human was from, with the help of most of the women of the tribe, some of whom were working outside the old woman's teepee.

On the other hand, inside the tent, were some of the women who were trusted by Sanna, among them, besides Akane, since she was the one who knew the recipe, were the old woman's slave, Liska, along with Kayce and her younger sister-cousin Kebec. Along with them were Kayce's only daughter, Meelia, and Panka, Pynda's younger sister, the latter two being the only minors inside the teepee.

Each of the women had a specific job in the preparation of that Japanese dish: Akane and Liska were in charge of grinding the corn kernels to prepare the flour needed to cook the okonomiyaki, while Kayce and Kebec were dedicated to peeling yams; on the other hand, Panka and Meelia, being children, took charge of doing the less heavy parts for them, such as peeling the peas, which would be used as a garnish. The other women outside the teepee performed other chores, such as grinding ginger, collecting seaweed from the river, chopping meat, among other tasks.

Some of the exotic ingredients that were not available to the tribesmen, such as mayonnaise, tempura, soy sauce and others, were provided by Akane, who kept them in her backpack, which contained many ingredients for cooking out in the open when necessary, a necessity due to her occupation as a Space Ranger.

-"Well, looks like Akane's okonomiyaki is starting to look good..."- The old feline lady said as she saw how all the ingredients of that Japanese dish are starting to cook in a metal cooking griddle she had in her home.

-"It seems so, grandmother."- Akane replied, standing at the side of the grill to ensure that the okonomiyaki was cooking perfectly.

-"But I never imagined that something so relatively simple would require so many ingredients, including some very rare ones that you alone have, Akane."- Sanna asked to the human, on regards to the ingredients of that Earth dish.

-"Well... where I come from, there are many people who like dishes with many ingredients, and the okonomiyaki is one of them. And that's because this dish is relatively ordinary as far as the number of ingredients goes."- The human replied with a deadpan tone.

-"Huh?"- The old woman responded in disbelief. -"Don't tell me that there are other dishes from the local cuisine of your homeland that have more ingredients than this?"-

-"Yes."- Akane responded, with the same tone.

Mother Sanna could not believe that the inhabitants of Akane's homeland used to eat a lot, compared to the inhabitants of that tribe, who used to eat only what was necessary for their own survival, since food was not always plentiful every day, even in the best days of hunting and harvesting, which also explained why Akane was relatively plump, compared to her feline neighbors.

But the old woman, out of respect for Akane, preferred not to say anything when she saw her human protégée, only rolling her eyes in mocking derision when she saw that Akane had no problem herself in overeating, at least as far as her own food was concerned, since the guest only ate her own food and not that of her alien hosts, partly out of consideration for their resources, and partly because Akane was somewhat reluctant to try much of their food, for reasons that have already been explained before.

Unfortunately, Kebec, who was listening to the conversation with a certain mischievous interest, while still peeling the yams, could not help but make a nasty crack about Akane and her weight, upon hearing that comment about Earth's culinary culture.

-"Well, at least you can tell that our guest likes to eat a lot, just like the others of her kind..."-

The old woman glared furiously at the young white-furred maiden when Sanna heard the scathing dig at the human's plumpness.

-"That's not of your business, Kebec!"- Mother Sanna yelled at the free woman. -"Just get on with your work and stop picking on others! Understand?"-

Kebec, though with a defiant tone, merely opted not to escalate the matter, and simply made out that she was obeying the venerable healer in her own way.

-"All right, all right, I understand that..."-

On the other hand, Akane was visibly annoyed, but she too did not prefer to answer the bully. She had already had enough trouble that day with her violent behavior when Kayce made an insensitive comment about her sexuality, and the human felt that now everyone else in the tribe was labeling her as a troublemaker due to the soldier's tendency to respond with name-calling and swearing to anything she found objectionable, much to the annoyance of her own hosts.

The only thing the human of African origin could do at that moment was to prepare the okonomiyaki and ignore all those insults, even if she knew that one way or another she would not have tolerated them in other circumstances, but the current situation between Akane and the other people in the village who were not Mother Sanna or Liska was already too strained for the human to want to make it even worse.

As for the aforementioned slave, Liska couldn't help but look at Akane with a certain sense of pity. She knew that the human woman was not having a good time that day, and Akane could only remain silent and avoid saying anything that might worsen the other tribesmen's opinion about the African-Japanese woman. She had already made things serious enough with that outburst she did moments before when her sexuality was called into question, and Akane didn't want to give her hosts any more reasons to take any action against her.

Thus, in this way, the young ginger-furred feline maiden cautiously stepped closer to the human, and without getting any nearer than she should, Liska talked to Akane in a somewhat pained way because of the unusually silent attitude of her friend from another world.

-"Akane... I understand very well how you feel, my friend, and I think you have the right not to speak to us more than necessary if you feel upset..."-

The human went on with her work, without saying a further word, and apparently ignoring her friend who was to her right at the time.

-"...but, if you wish... We can talk to the mistress, Rial and I with you in the evening after he returns from hunting so that we can come to an agreement and avoid future problems."-

The girl continued with her pleas to Akane, who continued without saying a word, while she could only continue working with a visibly sad and bitter look on her face.

-"I wouldn't want something bad to happen to you if you keep fighting with everyone who disagrees with you, you know... so, please, Akane, allow us to talk to you so we can settle all these misunderstandings and fights, will you?"-

Suddenly and without warning, Akane straightened her right arm, and in a heartwarming way, she hugged Liska with it, which caused the slave to be awestruck at seeing the touching gesture of her human friend.

-"What are you doing, Aka-?"

Then, Akane used her arm for Liska to place her head on her friend's shoulders; the young maiden quickly understood what her friend wanted her to do by doing that, and once she put her head on the human's shoulders, the young feline alien girl started to purr placidly on them, feeling that Akane only wanted to be cared for by the person she considered as her friend...

-"I love you, sweetie..."- Akane said with a soft voice. -"You are one of my best friends I could ever have... and forgive me if I have caused you any trouble with my short temper..."-

The slave did not hesitate to respond in kind, moved when she saw that her human friend had embraced her warmly because she wanted to apologize.

-"I love you too... Akane."-

Meanwhile, Kayce, who was watching the scene, equally moved by Akane's gesture of love for her best friend, also approached the human slowly but firmly. She, and with more justification, wanted to apologize to the Earth soldier, because Kayce was the one who had made that bad taste joke about Akane's preferences in people, believing that Akane would laugh or make some sarcastic comment about it, when in fact it was the opposite, provoking the unusual anger of that human woman. She just wanted to apologize, and make Akane see that she was also to blame for the soldier lashing out in anger like that.

-"Hey, Akane... I'm really sorry about what happened earlier... had I known you were going to get angry like that, I wouldn't have said that joke about you and Liska... I just wanted you to laugh a little... but... I think I just made things worse..."- Kayce said at Akane, visibly pained and trying to apologize to the foreign woman from Earth.

The human, on the other hand, seeing her other friend, who was to her left, rather gloomy, with her ears down, and not to say fairly downcast, did not hesitate to respond to her apology.

-"No, Kayce dear... please don't say that... I'm the one who should be apologizing to you and others for what happened, not you."- The black woman replied, quite sad. -"I should not have reacted to your joke in that way, and I am only causing undue grief to you and everyone in this tribe..."-

And then...

-"Please... forgive me, girls... all right?"- Akane continued, this time with her voice almost cracking due to her sadness and shame.

After a brief silence, Kayce responded to the human's apology.

-"I think we are both to blame... don't you think so... Akane?"-

And immediately afterwards, Akane stretched out her left arm, and she also embraced the young brown-furred feline maiden in an equally affectionate manner, not without first saying a few words of tenderness to her.

-"I love you, too, Kayce dear... You are also my best friend, and I'm so sorry for troubling you..."-

-"Me too... Akane."-

And just like her other friend, Kayce began to purr affectionately at Akane's side, trying to comfort the human in the way she noticed that the foreigner seemed to enjoy being comforted by her alien friends, but the latter did not hesitate to show their affection for Akane, and the black woman from Earth also enjoyed that they showed their affection for the female soldier in a way that, although it might have seemed corny or ridiculous if another human did it in similar circumstances, for those humanoid felines it was their way of showing their love for those they considered as their friends or family.

On the other hand, Mother Sanna was visibly touched by how her slave and Kayce had made up with Akane, bringing a smile to the human who until a few moments ago was in a sour disposition after that misunderstanding regarding her sexuality.

But on the other hand, the old woman knew there were other things to do that day, something she let the three women know on the spot.

-"Girls, I'm so glad you've made up with each other, and that you're getting along so well now, but... don't you think we have a job to do at this time?"-

Akane, Liska, and Kayce quickly turned their attention on the revered old woman, as she was right about not spending too much time on other matters...

-"Oh... that's right... I forgot about that... hehehehe!"- Akane said, quite ashamed.

-"Yeah, we should finish to prepare the okonomiyaki before sundown..."- Liska followed suit.

-"True, and we don't have all day to do it, because we have to fix a lot of food for the whole village."- Kayce did the same, with a hurried tone.

-"Well, in that case, keep that good work, is that clear, girls?"- Sanna said at those three women, including the human.

-"Yes, sir!"- Akane, Liska and Kayce retorted loudly at the old feline woman; Akane did even more louder than her alien friends due to her military backgrounds.

While Akane resumed with her work of preparing the okonomiyaki, mainly cooking it on the metal griddle, Sanna approached the African-Japanese woman squarely to have a word with her in the same way the human's other two friends did with her, this time on her own terms...

-"Akane,"- The old healer addressed at the woman from Japan. -"can I talk to you, if you don't mind?"-

-"Sure, of course, grandmother."- Akane replied, while still mixing the okonomiyaki on the griddle. -"What is it?"-

-"I just want to tell you that we want to talk to you tonight to put an end to your fights with everyone, especially with my grandson, Rial."- Sanna addressed at Akane, with a slow, but serious tone. -"I understand perfectly well that you don't like him, and that Rial is not the nicest person in the world either, but I think that if we all talk together, we can come to an agreement, and put an end to your quarrels with him."-

After a few seconds of silence, the Earth woman responded to the suggestion to make peace with Rial, Mother Sanna's grandson, in a rather neutral manner.

-"Well... I guess it wouldn't do me any harm to talk to him, especially if you and Liska are mediating the whole thing, right?"-

-"Exactly, and if you have no objection, Kayce could also join us in the talk."-

-"Of course not! She can come too, if she wants to."- The human agreed with the old lady about her Kayce joining them in the night talk between Akane and Rial. -"After all, I also caused her distress with my short temper."-

-"Well, in that case, when we finish eating, and as soon as Rial comes back from hunting, I'll ask him to come so we can have that talk. Is that all right with you, Akane dear?"-

Seeing the worried face of the old woman, the human from Osaka knew that this was the perfect opportunity to make many things clear with Rial, and thus avoid more problems with him, and therefore with the rest of the Highland tribe. She knew she could be on a tightrope if things continued to be tense between her and the warrior, and the last thing Akane wanted was for her feline hosts to change their minds about allowing Akane to live with them... or worse.

-"I figure I don't have a choice in the matter, do I?"-

-"I just don't want things to escalate between you and us..."- Sanna said at Akane, with a somewhat more severe tone that time. -"That's my only warning on the matter, darling."-

Akane frowned a bit because that was what she was afraid of, and therefore she could not refuse that mediation proposal.

-"Fine... sigh... I accept your idea."- The human replied at old feline lady. -"I will talk to Rial tonight as you propose..."-

Sanna breathed a sigh of relief that Akane agreed to finally have a serious talk with her grandson to put an end to the mutual disagreements between them.

-"I am glad you say that, Akane."- The old woman replied with a smile in her muzzle.

On the other hand, there was one person inside the teepee who was not happy with the whole situation. Kebec, who hated both Liska and Akane, the former for being a slave and the latter for being a meddlesome foreigner, not to mention the fact that she was a human woman of African origin, could not help but look at the whole scene with a mixture of annoyance and envy, and she did not hesitate to make her opinion known in the most scathing fashion possible...

-"My, Akane, I thought you didn't like people saying you like women, and you've two girls by your side."- The white-furred girl said at Akane, Liska and her own sister-cousin Kayce with the intention of shaming them in the worst way she could think of at the time. -"You really are a heartthrob, indeed..."-

What she never imagined when she said that was that not only Akane, but also all the women present in the teepee, including the little girls like Panka and Meelia, looked at the adult with visible anger, causing a visible shock on the feline maiden.

-"Hey, why is everybody looking at me like that, huh?"- Kebec asked aloud to all the people inside the tent.

It was obvious that no one was going to let Kebec get away with that homophobic insult towards the human and her two friends, and even Kayce, who was already quite annoyed with her younger sister for that argument she had had minutes before, let her know in the strongest terms what she thought of her own relative's antagonistic and negative attitude.

-"Kebec, do this world a big favor, and shut your mouth for once, will you?"-

The bully did not know what to say about it, seeing that everyone present in the teepee looked at Kebec with contempt, seeing that she seemed to be more than willing to sow discord among all those present in the place, especially with Akane.

But to her surprise, Akane did not respond to the bully's insult, limiting herself to look at her angrily, in order to let her know, without escalating the conflict, her annoyance for that situation, and thus not giving Kebec more reasons to hate her.

Seeing that she had the opinion of all the women, including the little girls, against her, Kebec could only gulp and make up some excuse to save face...

-"All right, all right, I'm not going to say anything else! Is that fine with you, girls?"-

Afterwards, Kayce, still angry with her, did not hesitate to give her younger sister a taste of her own medicine...

-"As they say, a woman looks nice when she keeps her mouth shut, especially those who only talk nonsense..."-

Seeing that Kayce had basically repaid her insult with something worse, Kebec was unable to say anything more, and she just gazed at the ground, visibly crestfallen and wagging her tail in dismay, seeing that all the opinion of the women present in the teepee had turned against her.

-"Hey, Kayce, I didn't know you were also capable of such insults..."- Liska giggled a bit after seeing how her friend humillated her younger sister-cousin in such brutal way.

-"Well..."- The brown-furred feline girl replied with some pride. -"as the older sister, someone has to put that woman in her place."-

At this, all the other women inside the teepee could not help but giggle mischievously, with Akane, the human woman, merely smiling discreetly. On the other hand, Kebec could not hide her irritation at seeing that she was being humiliated in front of everyone, and her attempts to save face only made her look like a fool, as she tried to work, while ignoring the people around her.

Leaving the bully aside, the women continued to work on cooking the okonomiyaki, while the human continued to verify that the oriental dish was cooking on the metal plate, while she mixed the ingredients of that exotic food.

As Akane continued cooking, Panka approached the female Earth soldier with a basket full of peas, which would be used as part of the meal.

-"Here are the peas you need, Miss Akane."-

The woman from Osaka looked at the basket, and saw that there were enough peas for the okonomiyaki batters she was cooking on the griddle, and she tenderly thanked the girl.

-"Oh, thanks, Panka sweetie!"- The human replied at the alien girl. -"I'm going to need these right now."-

-"Heheheh... you're welcome!"- The little feline girl replied at her foreign friend.

While Akane was still cooking, she noticed something unusual at that moment, and she, in an unusual move, thought to ask her alien friends a few questions, beginning with Panka first...

-"By the way, Panka, has your big brother still not returned from the stream with Rial?"-

The little girl couldn't help but look at her human friend with some mild curiosity, for she knew that Akane hated her older brother and his other brother-cousin, something she politely let her know.

-"Why do you ask, Miss Akane?"-

The woman from Japan took a few seconds to respond...

-"Well, because they're taking so long, and I think he and Rial were supposed to go hunting, weren't they?"-

Upon Akane's question, Liska, rather than Panka, decided to answer her friend instead.

-"Rial usually takes his time bathing, just like the rest of us."- The slave girl, and Rial's mate, responded to the black woman's question. -"I think you already knew that, didn't you, Akane?"-

The Space Ranger was slow to respond, realizing that there was a reason why her feline friends were taking so long to take a bath, something she mentioned aloud.

-"Oh, yeah, I forgot that you guys need more time to bathe, since you guys have so much fur!"-

Akane facepalmed in naughty shame, since she had forgotten that vital detail about her alien hosts. Since they were basically humanoid felines, they needed to shower more often than Akane, who only needed to do so when necessary. This was partly because personal hygiene was considered sacred to them, and was something they took very seriously. This was quite understandable as well, considering that they lived in a dusty environment, which caused dirt, dust, and insects to become trapped in their fur on a daily basis, and that caused them to have to continually clean themselves in any way they could.

Akane could not, likewise, avoid snickering under her breath at the fact that these felines took baths continuously, compared to their non-anthropomorphic ancestors.

-"If I had to explain to my friends on Earth that these cats bathe more times than Dirk Struan, they'd probably think I'd gone crazy."-

Akane made the comparison with the protagonist of the novel "Tai-Pan", written by James Clavell in the mid-20th century in 1966. The protagonist was a British merchant and the titular Tai-Pan, who was infamous, at least for the British culture of that time, exactly in the 19th century, for taking several baths a day, something he learned from the Chinese.

The only difference between the case of the character in the novel and the felines was that at least the aliens had a good reason to take baths continuously, because it was not the same to live on a ship or in a pagoda, as it happened in the aforementioned novel, than to live in a teepee in the middle of the desert.

-"Something wrong, Akane?"- Liska asked her human friend, after she saw Akane was quiet for a few seconds.

-"Uh?"- The African-Japanese soldier answered in an absent-minded manner, as she was still thinking about that last point. -"What?"-

-"I was asking if there was something wrong with that. You don't normally ask about Rial, unless it's to make fun of him."-

-"Nah, it's nothing... I was just noticing that he and Pyndan were taking a long time in the stream, that's all."- The human responded in a neutral way.

-"Either way,"- Mother Sanna quickly addressed everyone in the teepee, regarding Akane's point on her grandson taking too much time on bathing. -"I just hope they don't take any longer, so that at least they don't go hunting with their empty stomachs..."-

-"Well, at least there's enough okonomiyaki for both of them to take with them so they can grab a bite to eat on the road."- The human said, looking at all the okonomiyaki that had already been prepared up to that point.

-"You're right, Akane."- the old lady gazed at the Japanese dish that the foreigner was still cooking in the griddle. -"I just hope they don't take too long to pick up their food, and don't go hunting without tasting some of this. It would be a shame for them not to try this."-

Akane couldn't help but smile a little, but at the same time, she avoided making another nefarious comment about the old woman's grandson, and she simply said the following.

-"I guess you're right about that..."- The human responded with a sardonic smile in her face. -"but at the same time, we also have to fix food for everyone in the village as well..."-

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), White River, unknown hour (earlier afternoon)

While all this was going on in the village, on the other hand, the two cousin-brothers, Rial and Pyndan, were busy at the river, while the former was bathing in the warm waters of the stream, with the latter just looking at him from the edge playfully.

During the bath, Rial was humming a song in a rather sentimental way, something that his other companion could not help but comment on, for reasons he would mention later.

-"Hey, you look happier than usual, Rial."- Pyndan said, while he was sitting on the bank of the river, chewing an ear of wheat in his mouth in a trivial manner.

-"What makes you say that?"- The black-furred warrior responded with some curiosity.

-"Uh..."- The other young white-furred man responded, after a brief pause in order to think his reply. -"normally you would just take a bath, without saying anything else, and now I see you even singing while you do it, something you didn't do before."-

Rial, on the other hand, was busy wetting his long white hair, and so it took him a while to answer his relative's question.

-"Well, you can say I'm more or less in a good mood... as long as Akane doesn't sour me on it first."-

-"I think I sympathize with you about that woman... giggle "- Pyndan agreed with Rial about Akane and her adversarial personality directed to both of them.

-"But that aside, it's safe to say that I feel really good... and I don't have much to complain about."- The young warrior replied, with a naughty smile in his face.

-"Considering your relationship with Liska, I don't blame you for feeling this way."-

-"You could say that has helped me a little, admittedly."- Rial agreed.

-"It shows, you are more than happy today, and you are even singing a song while taking a bath."- Pyndan noticed that his comrade-in-arms was still humming a song in a jovial manner.

-"Oh, you mean Bakamitai?"- Rial responded.

-"Bah-kah-mee-WHAT?"- The white-furred feline retorted with some incredulity after hearing the Japanese name of the song from the video game Ryu ga Gotoku aka Yakuza. -"If I'm not mistaken, is that a Hinowan word?"-

-"Yeah."- The other warrior replied. -"That is the name of a song that Liska likes to sing, and she learned that song from Akane."-

Pyndan didn't know which was stranger: that Rial was singing a song in Hinowan (Japanese), or that he was singing a song that came from Akane's mouth, whom he personally hated.

-"I thought you didn't like Akane."-

-"Yes, but I can't control what Liska learns from her, and besides, the song is catchy, so I couldn't help but learn it, even if I don't understand the lyrics very well."-

-"And..."- Pyndan did another question about that song from that Japanese videogame. -"Do you know what that song says?"-

-"Well... according to Liska, the song is about a woman who leaves her mate, and the latter starts drinking to forget his wife, without success."-

Upon learning what that song in Japanese was about, Pyndan couldn't help but smile mischievously, unable to imagine at the same time how Akane could possibly know the lyrics of such a song with a relatively depressing matter.

-"Knowing Akane, I have to imagine that she must not have much luck with men to sing such a song... heheh!"-

-"Right."- The black-furred young man agreed with his other brother-cousin, also with a bit of derision towards Akane.

Then, Rial changed the subject to another, related one.

"And as for wives..."- The young man in the river continued with his chat. -"you should get one when you still can, Pyndan."-

-"Thanks, but I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, if you mean getting me a bed slave like Liska."- The other young man with white-fur responded with some hesitation at that apparently controversial question, considering how both him and his other brother kidnapped Rial's now-mate, something that still weighed heavily on them.

-"I didn't mean that, you idiot!"-

Rial responded with some vexation when Pyndan seemed to imply that his brother was suggesting the idea of doing the same thing again with another woman. Seeing the young dark-furred feline warrior's angry response, Pyndan was surprised to hear that his other comrade-in-arms did not seem too happy to hear about the subject of Liska's kidnapping again, even as a joke. But at the same time, he also decided not to delve any further into the subject, for Pyndan knew that the matter weighed considerably on his conscience as well.

-"Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that..."- Rial apologized after seen his brother's shocked expression at his yelling.

-"Don't worry, I'm not angry with you..."-

And then, the white-furred warrior let out a sigh and explained his position on the matter.

"...in fact... sigh... I'm as angry with myself as surely you must be..."-

After a brief seconds of awkward pause, Rial could only respond in a sorrowful manner, seeing that they had both done something terrible that even they could not forgive themselves for, no matter how hard they tried to spin the situation in a positive light.

-"You are right on that... maybe... we are a couple of fools... after all..."- The feline warrior only lowered his head in sorrowful dismay, while putting his hands in his face for the same reason.

-"I agreed with you, brother..."- Pyndan did the same, except he looked at the sky, feeling himself quite sad and depressed.

Meanwhile, Rial was still bathing in the river, trying not to think about that whole episode of the past which was very embarrassing for both of them. Minutes later, and once he had finished cleaning himself thoroughly, the young warrior decided to discuss another topic of vital importance with Pyndan.

-"By the way, and leaving aside all the wives and marriage thing, I heard that the chief wants us to go hunting in separate groups this time, right?"-

-"I really don't know. I had heard from Kasil that the chief wants to change the way the groups are organized, maybe to have better chances of finding game to hunt and thus not waste so much time going from one place to another, if the other party is not so lucky in catching something."- Pyndan replied to his comrade-in-arms' concern.

Meanwhile, Rial emerged from the river after finishing his bath and began to dress carefully, while he commented on his opinion regarding the hunting parties and the way they would be organized on that day.

-"If you ask my opinion, I don't think it's a bad idea to split our numbers so we have a better chance of finding something to hunt. But..."-

Immediately after, the young dark-furred humanoid feline finished dressing, and he began to pick up his personal belongings that he had left by the side of the river.

-"...I have a gut feeling that at the same time it could be dangerous if something bad were to happen to either us or the village..."-

-"I can't help but agree with you."- Rial's other cousin-brother followed his opinion wholeheartly. -"The chief possibly wants all the village warriors to go hunting, leaving only him and the Seneschal as the only males capable of fighting if something bad should happen in our absence."-

-"And I don't think that only two people can defend the whole tribe in case of a surprise enemy attack."-

Once Rial finished dressing, he took his belongings and was about to return to the village, but not before finishing the conversation with Pyndan about some issues he needed to clarify.

-"I think the best thing to do is to discuss the issue with the chief and let him say what his idea is, don't you think?"-

-"I guess you are right."-

-"And by the way, and moving on a bit, aren't you going to take a bath too?"-

-"Uh, no, but thanks to asking anyway."- The white-furred young man replied. -"I already took a bath in the morning."-

-"Well, then, let's pack up our things and go back to the village, shall we?"- Rial retorted with a smile in his face.

-"giggle... Sure, whatever you say, brother."- The other young warrior also replied in a joyful way.

And so, Rial and Pyndan, with their belongings on their backs, returned to the village without further discussion, in order to prepare themselves to go hunting that day.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/11th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), Outside Chief Pownetkee's tent, 03:00 PM (mid-afternoon)

The vast majority of the males capable of fighting were gathered in front of the tribal chief's teepee, and they were planning to go hunting that sunny afternoon. It was quite a large group, and they were all chatting among themselves on different subjects as time passed.

The reason why nothing seemed to be happening at the moment was that the group was waiting for certain two persons to come to whom they were impatiently awaiting their presence.

And those two persons made their presence felt immediately when they noticed that their comrades-in-arms were waiting for them to arrive.

-"Hey, it's about time you two showed up!"- Kasil, Kebec's mate, commented somewhat angrily to Rial and Pyndan when they were two steps away from him, as they had taken too long to arrive.

-"Uh, We are really sorry, but Rial took a long time to bathe himself in the stream, and that's why we're a little late."- Pyndan apologized to his other hunting partner in a humble manner.

Rial, seeing that his relative was excusing his tardiness without his being asked, looked somewhat annoyed at Pyndan, and countered him for speaking on his behalf.

-"Hey, you don't need to apologize for me, I can do it on my own, understood?"-

-"All right, I'm sorry, I just wanted to spare you some trouble with the rest of the hunters."- The young white-furred warrior could only reply in a resigned fashion, seeing that his partner was not taking being defended by his relative very well.

Once all the warriors who were going on the hunt had assembled, it was only a matter of time before Pownetkee, the chief of the Highland tribe, showed up, as he was still inside his home arranging some things on his own.

And minutes later, the man who led the tribe appeared on the scene, causing the other warriors, who were chatting quietly among themselves, to fall silent on the spot at the sight of their leader in front of them.

-"Well, it's good to see you all reunited here..."- Pownetkee said to all the tribe warriors, while, at the same time, he was smoking his pipe with some ease.

Immediately afterwards, the chief looked at all the warriors closely, making sure that they were all in attendance...

-"...and from what I see, all of you are in high spirits to go hunting."-

At that comment, all the men who were going out on the hunt immediately fell silent, because they took the hint that their leader made when he saw that they were all talking without paying much attention to him at first.

-"We are sorry we didn't hear you at first, chief."- Kasil responded, quite worried that the leader of the tribe could be upset due to their behavior a few seconds ago.

-"Don't worry, I'm not upset; I was just stating that you were all in a good mood to go out this day."- Pownetkee replied with a wide, sly smile in his muzzle.

The young Siamese-looking feline warrior sighed in relief.

-"Well, putting aside the silly talk, I need to let all of you know where you are going to go hunting, and how the hunting parties will be organized today."- The chief cut to the chase and explained what his orders would be for the hunt. -"According to what I have learned from my contacts, there are two known huge herds of herndorns that have been spotted near our village. One of them is to the northwest, near the Hinowan border, and the other is downstream, near the mountains to the southeast. For this hunting expedition, I will divide our warriors into two hunting parties, which will go looking for quarry in these two areas..."-

At the news that confirmed the rumors about splitting their forces into two groups, Rial raised his hand for a word with his chief and asked for an explanation of the sudden change in the way they normally went out hunting.

-"You want to speak to me, Rial?"- Pownetkee said at the young black-furred warrior.

-"Yes, chief."- Rial then discussed his concerns to the veteran man. -"Why should we go in separate groups instead of just going in one group as we always do? I think it would be safer for us if we were all together in case of any unforeseen situation."-

-"Well, that's a good question."- The tribe chief explained his decision. -"The reason I decided that you should be in separate parties is, as you know, Towakota, one of our best warriors, along with other warriors and traders from our tribe, are on a bartering trip to Tianchao, and our food supplies are starting to run low for the winter. We cannot afford the luxury that, if we do not find game to hunt in one region, we have to make an extra effort to go to another area to hunt, and it would be both exhausting and even dangerous for you and the whole tribe, so, to increase our chances, it would be more convenient for two groups to go out hunting, instead of just one."-

Pyndan also raised his hand to speak to the chief as well...

-"Do you want to say something on the matter, Pyndan?"-

-"Well, yes, sir."- The white-furred feline warrior also had his own set of concerns about the chief's idea on hunting on separated parties. -"Although I think your idea is a good one, I am also worried that something might happen if the village were to be attacked in our absence if we all leave at the same time. Wouldn't it be better to leave some warriors here, just in case?"-

-"I don't think it is necessary."- Pownetkee rejected Pyndan's idea on leaving a small garrison to protect the village in the case of an surprise enemy attack. -"As per my connections, there are no reports of bandits in the Plains region or any kind of threat that would endanger our tribe, including rival tribes or other neighboring countries, such as Hinowa or Thracia..."-

Suddenly, the older feline man emptied his pipe in a silent fashion, and, after a brief pause, he resumed his conversation, this time with a somewhat hunched way.

-"...through I have heard rumors that the emperor of Hinowa is seriously ill, and that could affect us in one way or another."-

The warriors, upon hearing that part about the state of health of the ruler of the neighboring empire, could not help but be surprised, for they knew that a possible death could have serious consequences, both for the inhabitants of their realm and for those of other nations bordering the eastern empire of Hinowa.

But there was someone who didn't seem to grasp why the news about the health of the emperor of Hinowa was bad news for everyone...

-"Sorry to be nosy, chief, but why should we care if something were to happen to the emperor of Hinowa? I don't think it's something we should care about, given how troublesome the Hinowans are at times, and especially their bushi warriors when they venture into our lands."-

The question was asked by a warrior named Arba, who was Kayce's husband. He was a feline with light brown fur, similar to that of his daughter Meelia, and was about the same height as his wife.

Upon hearing that question, the chief of the Highland tribe answered the warrior's doubt in the most explanatory and sincere way possible.

-"That has a good explanation, Arba; even though I don't have all the specific details, this is what I know from what my sources have told me about the political situation in Hinowa, and what I have been able to find out on my own."-

Then, Chief Pownetkee squatted down on the ground, and with a stick, he drew some pictures on the ground for illustrating to all the warriors what he needed to explain about the political situation of their eastern neighbors.

-"Technically speaking, there are two families that, for as long as Hinowa has existed, have been disputing the imperial throne for many turns of the seasons. The family that currently rules Hinowa is the Minamoto clan, whose leader is the current emperor, Masakado Minamoto..."-

Afterwards, the chief drew more pictures on the dirt, illustrating the other family fighting for the power of the neighboring empire.

-"...and the other family who also had a claim for the Hinowan throne is the Taira clan, led by the daimyo of Ayuchi province, Yoshitomo Taira."-

All the warriors of the tribe were watching, equally crouched on the ground, their leader as he visually explained the political situation of that neighboring kingdom from the east, but there were some, like Kasil, who did not understand the point behind all this, and needed to know more details about it.

-"Well, I find all this interesting. But, what does all this talk about the political situation in Hinowa mean for us in the end, chief?"-

-"Here's the interesting part."- The feline chief continued, while pointing to his drawings in the ground. -"Lord Yoshitomo is the foreign minister of Hinowa, a position that almost all members of the Taira clan have held for a long time, as opposed to the Minamoto clan, whose members have been members of the family that rules the empire since time immemorial. While I do not know the reasons why the Taira clan is now trying to exert pressure to become the new ruling family, I can say that there is a split between those who support the Minamoto, along with any heirs that may emerge from that clan, and those who support the Taira."-

-"A split, you say"- Rial asked.

-"Yes."- Pownetkee continued. -"And this is where the most controversial part of the whole thing begins. The Minamoto clan has only three heirs who can inherit the throne. I don't know their identities, but I have heard rumors that one of Emperor Masakado's two youngest daughters could be the next heir when he dies."-

-"So this all boils down to no one wants a woman to be an empress, right, chief?"- Pyndan asked after he saw the whole picture of the political mayhem in the neighboring empire.

-"Indeed."- The chief replied. -"Especially considering that the youngest of Emperor Masakado's daughters is only six."-

-"And why can't that emperor simply put a male prince in his place?"- Rial asked about the obvious part of the whole thing. -"You said that Emperor Masakado has three children, two of the youngest are female. That means the eldest is a male, so why can't he be the next emperor?"-

-"As I said before, I do not know all the details, as much of this information I am explaining to you is considered classified in Hinowa, and if it were to become public knowledge inside the empire, the consequences would be terrible for all involved, especially for those who know about it. And I think some of you know that the Hinowans do not take kindly to whistleblowers. I heard from one of my handlers that a spy who was working for the Thracians was executed by being cooked alive with boiling oil..."-

The warriors made a sign of revulsion on their faces when they learned of the Hinowan method of execution used against the informers, for, even for that time, it was too cruel and brutal for the Native warriors' taste.

-"And I thought that dying on the gallows was horrible..."- Pyndan said, being seriously disgusted after hearing the way how that spy died.

After that awkward pause, Pownetkee continued with his explanation about Hinowa.

-"Well, keeping on the subject of the emperor and his children, he certainly has a male son, but, for some reason, he cannot be the emperor, so, in order for the Minamoto clan to continue to rule, it is likely that some of the women will take his place."- The chief continued with his explanation about the Hinowan imperial family. -"And that is one of the reasons why a conflict could break out between the two clans if Emperor Masakado were to pass away."-

-"Well, we already know who could inherit the position of emperor from the Minamoto clan's side, so we must assume that this Yoshitomo fellow would be interested in becoming the new emperor, right, chief?"- Kasil asked about the head of the Taira clan.

-"In this case, it would not be so, Kasil."- The chief replied his warrior's question about Yoshitomo. -"Lord Yoshitomo is already somewhat old; in fact, he is much older than I am, and the rules of succession in the empire indicate that only a young person can become emperor. It also doesn't help that Yoshitomo is a widower and he doesn't have any children, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have a candidate who could become the representative of the Taira clan to succeed Emperor Masakado..."-

-"And... do you know who might be that candidate representing the Taira, chief?"- Arba asked.

The chief tried to do some memory recall, and quickly replied.

-"As I understand it, Lord Yoshitomo has a protégé named Kojiro Akechi."- The tribal leader responded. -"He is currently the leader of the armies of the Ayuchi province. I had the opportunity to meet him once when he came to this tribe some turns of the seasons ago as a representative of Hinowa after he was promoted to commander by Lord Yoshitomo, a few days after I became chief of the tribe, in order to do business with me. I can say that Commander Akechi is a very charismatic young man, and appreciated by his men, but at the same time, it was noticeable that he had more ambitions than just being a military commander. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Yoshitomo chose him as his protégé and the representative of the Taira clan on his behalf..."-

All that talk about Hinowa and its domestic political climate had ignored the elephant in the room, something Kasil was quick to point out to Chief Pownetkee right away.

-"Well, all this information about the Hinowans and their imperial family sounds very intriguing, but there's just one thing we'd like to know: How does our neighbor's family problems affect us in the end?"-

-"As you may know, Hinowa sells us steel to make our weapons and everyday utensils, while we sell them meat, leathers, handicrafts and other products. If there were to be a civil war within the empire between the Minamoto and the Taira, in the "best" case scenario, the tribes of the Plains region would not be able to buy more steel from the Hinowans, as they would most likely use it in their probable war, which would affect us in the medium or short term depending on how long their conflict lasts..."-

-"And..."- Pyndan asked, knowing that the chief said about probable scenarios. -"What would be the worst case scenario, chief?"-

The feline chief crossed his arms, sighed a bit, and then, he replied the white-furred warrior with some tone of notorious worry in his muzzle...

-"In the worst scenario... there is a risk that their war could escalate to our region, and that we would be forced to side with one of the two clans, should it come to that..."-

There was a total silence on the scene as all the warriors of the Highland tribe heard about the possibility that not only their tribe but other tribes in the region might be forced to get involved in a possible civil war between the two antagonistic clans disputing the power of the neighboring empire of Hinowa. They all knew that there was a very brutal disparity between the military might of that eastern empire, which had more advanced weapons and techniques, with those of the tribes of the Plains region, and in the event that a possible war in Hinowa spilled outside the imperial borders, the bloodshed among the native inhabitants of the region would be on a scale they had never seen in their lives.

Minutes later, Rial, gulping nervously, could only gasp as he said the following...

-"...I just hope we don't have to be involved in other people's family affairs... and having to take sides with either of those two clans..."

But there was another person who wanted to know about another possible player in a possible internal conflict in Hinowa...

-"Chief, excuse me if this may sound a bit insensitive,"- Kasil questioned the leader of the tribe. -"but if a civil war were to break out in Hinowa, wouldn't we be better off buying our steel from the Thracians? They sell us steel too, don't they?"-

-"Yes, but the Thracians sell their steel at higher prices than the Hinowans, and if a war were to break out in Hinowa and drag on for a long time, we would have to pay the kingdom of Thracia triple what we normally pay..."-

Chief Pownetkee then crossed his arms, and he started smoking from his pipe in a nervous way...

-"...that would put us in severe economic hardship, and even cause the Thracians to become more involved in the internal affairs of our tribes. Thracia is a kingdom with an expansionist mentality, and they could use us as pawns in case of a possible internal conflict in Hinowa to cause a major turmoil both in our eastern neighbors and in this region, in order to conquer both of us..."-

Afterwards, the chief drew more pictures on the soil to illustrate more points in his talk about the external political climate in the region.

-"And we still do not know how the other kingdoms close to Hinowa, besides Thracia, would react, especially the empire of Tianchao, the kingdom of Koryo, the desert kingdoms of Uruk and Baharabia, and above all, the empire of Romalia, which is said to be as or more expansionist than the Thracians themselves..."-

After a brief pause, Arba, Kayce's husband, asked another question.

-"And do you know anything about those other kingdoms, chief?"-

-"No."- The feline tribe leader responded. -"I have informants who provide me with tidings concerning Hinowa, Thracia, and Tianchao, which are the kingdoms with which we trade. Apart from them, I know nothing else, other than their names, and some rumors about those realms..."-

All those present in that part of the village knew that the political situation around them was not exactly favorable for them, and the reason why their chief was explaining all that to them was to raise their awareness of the risks they could run in the near future, in the event that things, either with their imperial neighbor or with other neighboring kingdoms, were to change for the worse.

But Pownetkee, seeing that his warriors seemed to be starting to worry too much about all those problems that, for the moment, were alien to them, decided that it was time to concentrate on other more important matters to deal with than worrying about what might happen in the near or distant future, whichever came first.

-"Well, I think we'd better leave all this for another day, we have to worry better about your hunting mission than all this political charade about our neighbors."-

-"sigh... I guess we can agree on that, chief."- Pyndan agreed wholeheartly with his leader.

-"In that case, now is not the time to waste any more time, and I want you all to start packing your gear for the hunt, as well as the food you'll be taking with you for the time you'll be away,"- The, the chief looked at his warriors. -"is that clear, gentlemen?"-

-"YES, SIR!"- All the young feline warriors replied at the same time with noticeable enthusiasm, despite the news they had received about what was happening in the neighboring kingdoms.

-"In that case, I wish you luck on my behalf, and may the gods protect you."-

And without wasting any more time, all the warriors left the scene towards their respective homes, in order to start preparing to leave the village as soon as possible. Despite the gloomy tidings they had received, this had not dampened their enthusiasm to go hunting in the slightest, for they knew that there was nothing to indicate that things would change from one moment to the next, at least for the time being.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), Mother Sanna's tent (Inside), 03:40 PM (mid-afternoon)

Meanwhile, all the women of the tribe, including the human Akane, continued to cook and prepare the okonomiyaki, especially the food that the warriors would take to eat during their absence while they went hunting.

Regarding this last point, Akane was packing that typical dish of Japanese cuisine in wooden boxes that Sanna had prepared beforehand the night before so that it would not get mixed with other food or with the quarry that the hunters would take back home. It should be noted that the wooden boxes were relatively small, and looked like the typical boxes where Japanese lunches, known as "obento", are traditionally served, so that people can take something to eat at work, or in this case, when going hunting.

And with respect to the obento boxes, Mother Sanna could not help but comment to Akane on the practicality of those boxes for bringing food in them.

-"It was a good idea of yours to put those boxes together to carry the okonomiyaki we are preparing, Akane dear."- The old Siamese-like feline lady said at the human soldier from Japan. -"Not only does nothing go to waste, but they are also very practical to take with you when you go out of the village."-

-"Oh, thank you, grandmother."- Akane responded with some pride at the old woman's flattery. -"I thought it would be more practical to carry that food in those boxes, considering how smooth and creamy the okonomiyaki is, and thus prevent it from spilling out if it were carried in a cloth bag instead."-

-"Well, you are right, and it was also your idea that the boxes also had wooden spoons so that the hunters could use them."-

-"At least they won't have problems when it comes to eating and they won't have to eat their okonomiyaki with their hands."- The human soldier replied.

But while the two women were still discussing the food, two people suddenly entered the old woman's teepee...

-"And... speaking of the devils..."- Akane commented cynically as she saw that Pyndan and Rial had entered the teepee, most likely to pick up the food they would take with them for the hunt.

The two young warriors decided to ignore the human's harsh words, and went straight to talk to their grandmother, who had a few words to say to both of them at that moment.

-"You two took a long time to show up. What happened?"- Mother Sanna addressed with some annoyance to her younger ones.

-"Well... I took a while to take a bath, and besides that, the chief wanted to talk to us about some political issues that are going on outside the village..."- Rial responded to his grandmother, while rolling his eyes a bit.

The old alien woman seemed to understand what her grandson was talking about, but she preferred to discuss it with Rial with a low voice, in order to prevent the women from finding out that something bad was brewing outside the village, and thus prevent panic from spreading within it.

-"I guess it was about what's going on with the emperor of Hinowa, right?"- Sanna asked her grandson in lower voice about the issue regarding the health problems with the oriental emperor.

-"Yes."- The young black-furred young man replied in the same low tone. -"What the chief said is quite worrying, and I am concerned that if things worsen there, it could affect us sooner or later..."-

-"I already know that, and that's why it's best that we should not say anything about this to anyone else in the village."- Sanna replied, also as worried as her grandson. -"I wouldn't want everyone to panic if they found out about this."-

-"Well... that's for sure, grandmother."-

As Rial and his grandmother continued to talk secretly behind her back, Akane Araki quickly noticed, thanks to her military background, which included lip-reading, that something wasn't right about the behavior of her two alien hosts. Unfortunately, because her back was turned, Akane could not know exactly what the old woman and her grandson were talking about, although the African-Japanese woman could deduce that what they were talking about was not exactly good...

-"From their faces, it seems that something bad is brewing around here, but they don't want to say it out loud to avoid panic among the whole tribe. If only I could see their faces to read their lips..."-

Meanwhile, meanwhile, Liska, the human's slave friend, watched as Akane looked visibly worried, as well as seeing how she was trying to look behind her back without anyone else noticing, something she noticed.

-"Something wrong, Akane?"-

Akane, upon being called to attention, tried to pretend that she was distracted...

-"Uh? Me?"- The black woman then looked at her alien friend, and then, she pointed her finger to herself.

-"Yes, I was talking to you."- Liska addressed to Akane, while packing some okonomiyaki in one of the wooden boxes her mistress did a night before. -"You seem a little worried."-

-"Uh, it's nothing... I was just thinking about some things that were flashing through my head, that's all..."-

-"I understand, but you seem a little anxious for some reason..."-

-"Yeah, I know that, you don't have to tell me, sweetie."- the human replied in an annoyed tone. -"That's a private matter that only concerns me, got it?"-

Seeing that the human had no desire to tell her friend what was going through her mind, Liska simply continued with her work, but not before making a remark.

-"Fine, whatever you say, but at least be a little nicer, will you?"-

On the other hand, Pyndan, Rial's comrade-in-arms and brother-cousin, noticed that they were both short of time and that it was time to leave the village.

-"Hey, Rial, I don't want to interrupt you, but we have to leave before it grows dark, not to mention what our other hunting companions are going to say..."-

Both Sanna, the old woman, and her grandson noticed that they had talked too much, and that she could not take up any more of his time.

-"Oh, that's right, sorry, heheheh!"- The young warrior apologized that he had let the time slip by. -"In that case, I think we need to leave now."-

-"Very well."- The old woman also understood that her grandson had to leave, and she did not drag the chat out any longer either. -"But before you go..."-

Mother Sanna pointed with her finger to the wooden obento boxes containing the okonomiyaki that they would eat during the days away from the village and that were ready to pick up.

-"...please take some of the okonomiyaki that we prepared for the whole tribe, so that at least they don't leave without tasting it."- The old feline lady said at her grandson. -"And you should thank Akane for this."-

Rial rolled his eyes at the name of that human woman whom he apparently despised, but at the same time, he could not afford to make any aggressive comments, as he did not have the time or inclination to engage in name-calling with Akane.

-"Yeah, I understand that, grandmother."- The black-furred feline replied in a very sly way.

Due to her position as Rial's mate, Liska was the first to give him one of the wooden boxes containing the Japanese dish that all the women of the village, along with Akane, had prepared a few hours earlier.

-"I hope you like the okonomiyaki we prepared, dear."- The young ginger-furred slave girl said at her mate, as she handled one of those boxes to him. -"...and have a good hunting trip."-

-"Oh, thank you!"-

Immediately afterwards, Rial noticed that the wooden box contained more okonomiyaki than he thought he could eat during the trip, something he quickly brought to his mate's attention.

-"Hey, Liska, I think you put a lot of Akane's strange food in this box..."- The feline Native-like warrior said in a rather curious manner.

-"Well, that's because we made enough food, not only for you and the other warriors, but also for the whole tribe, and besides, your grandmother thought it would be good for you to have enough okonomiyaki to eat on the road."-

-"Oh, I see..."-

But Akane couldn't help but make one last dig about Rial and the food she and the other women had prepared, except that she said it in Japanese, partly because of how vulgar it was, and partly to keep other people, including the little girls and people Akane hated, like Kebec and Brocia, from knowing what the human was saying in her language.

-"(うちが用意したお好み焼きで窒息しないように、カルピスを用意しておいてわ、 ロミオくん。) Hope you bring a bottle of Calpis on hand to avoid choking yourself on the okonomiyaki that I also fixed, Romeo-kun."-

Even though Liska and Mother Sanna, her mistress, were the only people who understood Akane's language, what neither of the two women knew was that the reference to the famous Japanese drink made with milk and lactic acid was, at least in Japan, a very vulgar reference that, out of respect for the people who are reading this, we will not describe verbatim, although many people may already know what Akane was implying with it.

Despite them, the young slave could deduce that Akane was using vulgar language in a coded way, for the only times Akane said something in "Hinowan" (Japanese), it was to say something that did not exist in the local language, or when she felt like using obscene language.

-"(でぶーん、 お前は本当に救いようのないですよ、明音さん。。。) sigh... you are really hopeless, Akane-san..."- Liska said to Akane in the human's own language for the same reasons Akane did it first, while facepalming in shame after hearing that vulgar phrase the human said it in Japanese.

The human, somewhat cynically, only shrugged her shoulders, and replied to her slave friend in a wry manner, also in Japanese.

-"(まあ、しょうがないよ、リスカちゃん。) Well, it can't be helped, Liska-chan."- Akane said at her feline friend with a naughty smile painted in her face.

Rial, who was listening to what Akane was saying in Japanese, could only ask his grandmother, who also spoke the language of the human guest, about what Akane had said.

-"May I ask what Akane said, grandmother?"-

Even without fully knowing the context of the human's obscene comment, Sanna could only deduce, based on the attitude that her slave Liska reacted to hearing that phrase in Akane's human language, that it was not a good thing, and that it was obviously a covert insult to her grandson. Afterwards, the old woman, visibly upset, could only reply the following to her relative.

-"I don't think you'd want to know that, dear."-

The young feline warrior could only roll his eyes, as he more or less imagined that Akane had insulted him in Hinowan, but at the same time, he had no time or desire to engage in another dispute with the human.

-"I imagine so, grandmother."-

On the other hand, and leaving aside Sanna, Liska, Rial, and Akane, Panka, Pyndan's younger sister, had also prepared one of the wooden boxes with okonomiyaki for her older brother, and immediately gave it to him.

-"I also prepared a box with okonomiyaki for you, big brother."-

The little kitten girl gave the box to her older brother, who received it warmly when he saw that his little sister had taken the trouble to pack the food on her own, instead of asking Mother Sanna for that.

-"Oh, thank you, Panka!"- The young white-furred alien man said to his closest relative. Then, he smelled the delicious aroma of that earthly dish from Japan wafting from the box. -"By the way, it smells delicious."-

-"Heheh..."- Panka smiled to her older brother. -"Miss Akane really help us with it, and Meelia and I also helped with preparing some of the ingredients."-

-"Oh, I see."- The warrior said with a smile to his little sister.

Meanwhile, Sanna knew that their talk was taking longer than it should, and that the young warriors had to leave the village to go hunting, so she decided to speed things up as quickly as possible.

-"Well, I don't want you to waste any more time, so I will give the other warriors their respective boxes, so that they don't leave the village without tasting some of Akane's local food."- The feline old woman said at both young men. -"I'm going to need a little help carrying all those boxes containing the okonomiyaki, and delivering them to the other men in the village..."-

-"I can help, grandmother."-

Akane offered to help the old woman, mostly because she did not want the old woman to carry those boxes, which were relatively heavy for a woman of Sanna's age to carry on her own.

-"Will you help me with those boxes, Akane dear?"-

-"Well, it would be in bad taste if I didn't help you and left you to do all the work by yourself, grandmother."-

-"Oh, thank you, Akane!"-

-"You are welcome."- The human soldier answered at the feline woman.

The old woman couldn't help but thank the human for taking the trouble to help her with that task, even if Akane had other ulterior motives for doing so, something she was pondering in her head at that moment.

-"At least I don't want this old lady and the others to scold me for basically insulting her grandson with that rude expletive to his face."-

-"I can help too, mistress!"- Liska also offered to help her owner along with Akane.

-"Well, the more people that do this, the faster this will go, and the sooner the hunters can leave the village, so you two can start carrying those boxes as soon as possible."-

-"Yes, sir!"- Both the feline slave and the human woman said at the same time, as they both began to carry the boxes with the okomiyaki to hand them out to the other warriors who would be going hunting that day.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), Mother Sanna's tent (Outside), 04:39 PM (late afternoon)

All the warriors of the tribe were ready to leave the village to go hunting, already mounted on their riding lizards to leave at any moment. Meanwhile Mother Sanna, along with Liska, Akane and some of the wives of the departing warriors, were handing them the wooden obento boxes containing the okonomiyaki that the women had been preparing all afternoon, with the help of the human woman, of course.

Some of the hunters could not help but congratulate their relatives for the unusual food that they would take with them to eat on the road, due to the delicious okonomiyaki aroma emanating from the boxes.

-"Mmmmmh... So this is the famous okono-whatever-it's-called that your friend Akane was helping you girls prepare for the whole tribe."- Arba, Kayce's husband, said after his wife handled him his own box. -"It really smells delicious..."-

-"Yes, Akane helped us prepare it, and you should try it when you can, darling..."-

-"I'll try it when I start to feel hungry, I promise, this smells too good just not to eat it. "-

And then, the young warrior was preparing to leave, while he indicated to his riding beast that they would begin to walk out of the village.

-"Well, in that case, I'll be on my way. Please take care of yourself, Kayce, and wish me luck."-

-"You be careful too, honey..."-

And then, Kayce gave a fond farewell kiss on his mate's cheek; immediately, his daughter Meelia also had a few words to say for her father.

-"Take care of yourself too, father."-

-"You too, sweetheart, and don't make your mother suffer too much, will you?"- Meelia's father said goodbye to his little one. -"I promise I'll bring lots of meat to eat in the next few days."-

-"Understood, father."- The little feline girl also said goodbye to his father.

Meanwhile, Panka was doing exactly the same with her older brother, Pyndan, who was also about to leave the village, although in her case, she merely bade farewell to her brother, as she had already given him the food a few minutes before.

-"Take care of yourself out there, big brother, and don't take too many risks..."-

-"Yes, don't worry, Panka, I promise I'll be fine, I won't be alone when we're out hunting."-

The young white-furred warrior stepped down from his steed, and placed a small farewell kiss on the cheek of his younger sister, something that caused joy in the girl to see that her only brother had taken the trouble to make that gesture of affection towards her.

-"Please take care of yourself, my little sister, and don't cause any trouble for grandmother, Akane, or Liska."-

-"Heheheh!... I'm not that playful, big brother!"- The little kitten girl responded to her brother with noticeable delight.

-"All right, I was just kidding..."- And then, the warrior was ready to leave the hamlet. -"See you later then, and take care of yourself, huh?"-

And finally, Mother Sanna, Liska, and Akane were also in front of Rial and his riding lizard, as the three women prepared to say goodbye to the young black-furred warrior.

Although in the case of the human woman, she didn't have much choice in the matter when it came to her relationship with Rial, since she had to deliver the boxes with okonomiyaki to the other hunters in order to help the old woman and the other women of the tribe, and if it had been up to Akane, she wouldn't have bothered to be there to see him off.

But to her misfortune, she had to, if only out of politeness...

-"Well, I'm leaving now, please take care of yourselves, especially you, grandmother."-

-"You be careful out there too, Rial."- The old feline woman said at her grandson. -"I know you're a good hunter, but it's never good to be overconfident anyway."-

-"Yes, I know that, grandmother, don't worry about it."- The young warrior said, while saddling his lizard in the meantime. -"I promise I will be careful."-

Liska, Rial's mate, also had her own words to say to him before he set off on his outbound journey.

-"Please come back soon, dear..."-

-"I will. And I promise I'll bring plenty of meat for everyone, you can be sure of that."- Rial replied with a tone somewhere between arrogance and confidence.

-"I hope so..."-

Immediately after, the young slave girl kissed the alien warrior's lips passionately for a few seconds. Meanwhile, Akane could only watch that scene with a certain amount of displeasure, if not even envy, considering that the human had no one else to even kiss to begin with...

-"Shit... If this is cynicism, then I don't know what the fuck this is..."- The human of African origin said to herself in her mind as she watched Liska and Rial kissing passionately, unable to avoid describing her contempt for that warrior in the harshest language she could conceive of.

-"I love you, Rial."- The slave girl gave her final farewell.

-"I love you too, my dear girl..."- The feline man replied with a very passionate voice.

Then, and finally it was Akane Araki's turn to say goodbye to Rial, if only she was doing it more out of courtesy and deference to her Native-like hosts than anything else. As she looked at Rial, she did so by crossing her arms in a defiant manner, lifting her chin and looking at the black-furred feline warrior with long white hair with a more than seemingly angry look, waiting for the moment to say something that could spite Rial's spirit before he would leave the village.

Regarding this, both Mother Sanna and Liska watched with trepidation as Akane seemed ready to insult Rial one more time before leaving. Faced with that prospect, the young slave girl went over to the human, and immediately afterwards, Liska held Akane's arm, in order to let her know that she was not going to tolerate another insult to her own mate...

-"Please, Akane... don't say any more nonsense..."- The girl said at the human with a low, but firm, voice.

Seeing the worried and angry face of her alien friend, the African-Japanese woman decided that she was not going to make things worse with another insult, and she, instead, preferred to say goodbye to Rial in a more nonchalant way, but without losing any hint that, whatever was going to happen to the young warrior in his hunting expedition, was neither the concern nor the interest of the human.

-"See you later, and be careful out there."- Akane said goodbye to the warrior, while she kept her eyes closed, and continued in her same condescending stance towards him, without even smiling. -"Personally I would hate to see your grandmother and Liska cry if something were to happen to you..."-

Rial understood Akane's words and their context, and the young hunter, likewise, responded to the human in kind.

-"I know. You don't have to worry about me as well..."-

But in addition to the above, he threw in something else about his hated guest.

-"...but, my thoughts about you aside, your okonomiyaki smells delicious..."- The warrior responded with a somewhat unusual smile towards Akane when he gave his opinion about her food.

Akane was surprised to hear that, for she expected some insult or derogatory remark to her, but the human never expected a compliment from Rial, much less about her food. Faced with that, the human, with some reticence, only managed to say the following.

-"W...well, then..."- Akane shrugged her shoulders afterwards. -"...enjoy it... and that's all I'll say."-

-"Thank you, Akane."-

Immediately after, Pyndan's voice was heard at Rial's side, trying to draw the latter's attention right away.

-"Hey, Rial, we have to leave now, I hope you're all set to go!"-

-"Understood, I'll be right there!"-

And with nothing more to add, the young warrior said goodbye to the three women in front of him.

-"Well, I'm leaving now, so wish me luck, and I hope to return home with plenty of good meat to eat."-

-"You take care of yourself too, and have a safe journey."- Mother Sanna finall gave her final farewell to her grandson.

-"I will, grandmother."-

The young feline warrior finally saddled and mounted his riding lizard and said to his steed:

-"All right, let's go!"-

Before all the village warriors left the village, Chief Pownetkee, who was behind them far away, gave his final farewell as a good luck gesture.

-"I wish you luck in your hunting trip, young warriors, and may the gods protect you."-

Minutes later, all the warriors left the tribe's village for their respective hunting grounds, leaving only the women, children, and some men who were too young to go hunting with the adults, such as Garreth, Chief Pownetkee's son.

For obvious reasons, the women, especially those who were the wives of the warriors who went hunting, were visibly saddened to see how their relatives had left the village, knowing that, even if they were good hunters, there was always the risk that something bad would happen to them.

After all, that unknown world was not especially amicable to those who were not prepared beforehand, and death was a constant reminder to them in case any of them were to fail, and this went double for their families, considering that none of them would be in the village in case something were to happen within it.

-"It's always sad to see them out hunting, isn't it, girls?"- Sanna, the old feline healer, said at both Liska, Rial's mate and bed slave, and Akane, the latter's human friend.

-"sigh... I suppose so, my mistress."- The young slave girl said with sad tone in her voice, knowing that her beloved would be away from the village for quite some time.

But Akane, in her typical unconcerned attitude, did not seem to attach much importance to the fact that all the warriors were out hunting, and given that she did not sympathize with two of them, Rial and Pyndan, the last thing she cared about was their well-being.

-"Bah! I don't know why you are worried about those two."- Akane said in a loud voice, as she shrugged her shoulders indifferently and referring to Rial and Pyndan. -"They're supposed to be good hunters, not a couple of rookies, aren't they? Besides, it's not like they run the risk of being eaten by some... bloodthirsty monster out there, or being crushed by a herndorn... or anything like that."-

At that callous comment that the human made about those two warriors, who were the relatives of Liska and her mistress, both women looked at Akane in a very angry way, which caused the African-Japanese woman to felt cowed for a short moment...

-"Hey, you two, why are you looking at me like that, huh?"-

The old woman looked at Akane, and did not hesitate to give her reasons for looking at her like that...

-"And you still have the nerve to ask, stupid girl."

...which was also followed by her own slave, which also faced Akane in her own particular way...

-"Akane, Rial is my mate, whether you like it or not, and I can no longer stand for you to insult him around my face, do you understand?"- Liska scolded Akane, while putting her hands in her waist and facing the human woman in a very determinated manner.

Seeing that she had the opinion of both women against her for having said that comment in bad taste, the human had no choice but to offer an apology, however insincere it might have been to her.

-"All right, you two win..."- Akane replied with a certain tone of exasperation and rolling her eyes, making it obvious that she was not being genuine what she was saying. -"I am sorry for being so mean with them, will ya?"-

Mother Sanna looked at Akane again, but this time in a more conciliatory attitude, and she addressed the human, with a calmer and more maternal voice towards the foreigner.

-"Akane, as I said moments ago, you and Rial can settle your differences when he returns home, and I can mediate to make that happen. In the meantime, try to be more civil, will you, Miss Araki?"-

The sardonic tone with which Mother Sanna addressed Akane, especially when the old woman addressed the human by her family name with honorifics, instead of just calling her "Akane", as she always did, indicated that the black woman knew that she could not afford to insult the woman's family again, unless she wanted to face a more serious problem with adverse effects for her, so she could only respond in the affirmative.

-"sigh... understood... grandmother."-

Once that discussion was settled, the old woman raised the tone of her voice and told the other women that there were other things to do that day, now that all the warriors, who were the husbands and relatives of these women, had already left the village.

-"All right, girls, it's time to move on! We still have a lot of okonomiyaki to make, so we can't waste any more time, understood?"- Sanna said aloud, while clapping her hands in order to make herself heard.

-"Yes, grandmother!"- All the women replied at the same time, as they all returned to the old woman's teepee to continue preparing the okonomiyaki for the whole tribe.

On the other hand, Akane Araki couldn't help but curse again, this time to herself, in Japanese, as she felt that things were not going her way, and it only seemed that she was being scolded from all sides, not to mention the drama she made hours ago with Kayce because of that misunderstanding regarding her sexuality, which reinforced the image that many people in the tribe had of her.

-"(くそー、今日はうちの日やない！) FUCK! This is NOT my damn day!"-

Liska, who was walking beside Akane, could not help but respond to Akane, also in her language, perhaps to tease the human a little.

-"(口うるさいからそうなるんですよ、明音さん。) That's what you get for having a big mouth, Akane-san..."- The young slave girl said to her human friend in her own language and with a certain tone of mockery as she watched Akane curse aloud in Japanese as things seemed to turn out badly for her.

Akane Araki, meanwhile, did not find it funny to be lectured in Japanese by her friend.

-"(うるさい！) OH, SHUT UP!"-

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), Outside White River Village (Hill), 05:00 PM (late afternoon)

While all this was going on in the village, what no one seemed to realize at the time was that someone was watching the movements of the local inhabitants from a very remote part of the area through a monocular telescope.

The village was being observed from a hill about a kilometer away by a large group of men who had a certain interest in that particular settlement...

-"Commander, the trail of that furless man reaches the vicinity of that village, being that place the first inhabited hamlet we have found."-

And that group of men were those who were under the command of Commander Arn, the Romalian leader of that band of raiders, slavers and murderers who had been several years threatening several villages and towns of many neighboring kingdoms. He and his men had been chasing a strange-looking man for several days, who, had he been captured, they would have received a very large monetary reward if they had sold him as a slave, for the simple fact that he was completely different from the inhabitants that dwelled on that unknown planet.

At this point, and from what has already been described here, the strange-looking man Arn and his murderous entourage were chasing was none other than Private Keisuke Noguchi, the other human from the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force who was seemingly the other survivor from the destruction of the JS Asuka along with Sergeant Akane Araki, who was his immediate superior, and whose body was found months ago when it was brought down the river and was located by Kayce, Akane's friend, as she was taking a bath.

-"Is there anything else we should know about that village?"- The commander asked his subordinate, who had the telescope to spy on the village from the hill.

-"From what I could see, I saw a group of men leaving the village."- The underling replied at his boss. -"It is very possible that they are their warriors, and it is possible that they have gone hunting."-

-"And who stayed in the village? I must assume that only the women, children and the elderly stayed there..."-

-"Please wait a second, Commander..."- The subordinate replied, as he once again turned his telescope to look out over the village.

While the spy watched the village with his instrument from afar, the foreigner noticed that several women and children were leaving the teepee owned by Mother Sanna, because the food was ready and all the people in the village were gathering to taste the okonomiyaki that all the women, with Akane's help, had been preparing for hours. This helped the spy to know the make-up of the inhabitants within the tribe they intended to assault.

-"Well, all I see are women, several girls, a boy or two, some old people, and a relatively young looking man, who, judging by his clothes, is probably their holy man or seneschal."-

-"Is that all you see?"- Arn replied curiously.

The minion continued to watch the village, while answering the question posed by his leader.

-"From what I can see from here, yes, and it looks like they are preparing to e-."-

But before the man could continue with his answer, there was something that seemed to call the bandit's attention in an outstanding way, to the extent that his surprise was noticeable when his tail began to wag back and forth in a sign of surprise and uneasiness. This did not go unnoticed by Arn, who did not hesitate to ask him...

-"What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"- The commander said aloud to his spying underling. -"Is there something fishy going on in that village?"-

-"I think you'd like to see this with your own eyes, Commander."-

Arn jumped down from his riding lizard, and immediately went to the place where the spy was observing the village from that point.

-"Give me that!"-

And then, the bandit leader took the telescope from the hands of his junior spy, and looked carefully at the White River village, to find out what was going on there.

What he saw with his own eyes was something that even he did not expect to find by any chance...

-"Holy... GODS!"- The feline commander reacted in surprise as he confirmed for himself what his scout had observed minutes before.

One of the men close to Arn, upon hearing the surprised and dumbfounded reaction of his leader, along with the other men who were behind him passively observing what was happening, could not help but ask what was happening to justify such a behavior.

-"Excuse me, Commander, but what is going on in that village?"-

The former Romalian commander, upon hearing this question, stopped looking at the village, turned around, and addressed the rest of his forces to explain to them what he had seen.

-"Do you remember the furless man named "Nokuchi" that we have been chasing for a country and a half?"-

The question caused some disbelief among the bandits, for that was what Arn and his fellow men had been doing for several months, and they didn't understand why their leader was stating the obvious.

-"Yeah, right, that's why we're here, isn't it?"- One of them replied to his leader with incredulity. -"Did you find him, Commander?"-

-"No, but I think we have found something better than him..."-

All the other bandits, except the spy next to Arn, responded with a collective "Uh?" when they heard the answer their leader gave them.

-"If you don't believe me, you can see for yourselves, gentlemen..."-

And so, the commander lent the telescope to several of his men, who took turns looking at what their leader was trying to explain with those words regarding what he saw in the village from afar.

And for more than obvious reasons, the bandits quickly understood the reason for their leader's surprise: They realized that, among the natives of that village, there lived a woman who was of the same unknown race to which the man they had been hunting for many months, Keisuke Noguchi, belonged.

In this case, it was the aforementioned Akane Araki.

-"But look at the size of THAT woman!"- One of the bandits gasped at seeing Akane from afar. -"Not only does she look like that man, but she's also taller than he was!"-

-"Yeah, but her skin is darker than that man's."- Another of Arn's men responded after noticing the color of the human woman's skin, since he never imagined that there were people of the same species with different skin colors, just as they had different colors in their furs.

-"And judging by her girth and what she's doing now, she must be either a cook, or a slave to them."- Yet another bandid said as well.

It was obvious that the bandits had not only found a decent village that they could plunder, but basically they had also achieved the equivalent of winning the jackpot: finding another human being they could capture and then enslave, given the fame and fortune they could get if they managed to capture Akane alive.

But now came the most important question: How to capture that woman and also attack that village without any danger to themselves? Even without the warriors that protected that village in the Plains region, attacking it just like that would have been suicidal without any previous plan, something that would be mentioned later.

-"Do you think it would be good for us to start hitting the village now, Commander?"-

-"Are you insane?"- Arn roared angrily when he heard that idea from one of his underlings next to him. -"If we strike first, it is likely that they or that woman either will escape first, or that they will fight back!"-

-"But how do you figure they can defend themselves if all their warriors are out of the village, sir?"-

-"Even if there are no men to defend these women, that doesn't mean they can't defend them in some way, and we can't risk losing men if something goes wrong."-

-"So, do you have any plans in mind, Commander?"- The minion who did all the previous questions addressed to his leader.

-"Yes, actually."- Arn stood up from his standing position as well as the rest of his men, as he said those words. -"The best thing to do now would be to continue observing the village in the meantime, so that we can know the right time to target them."-

And so, the bandit leader stood in the middle of the hill where his group was positioned, and gave different orders to his men.

-"All right, I want everyone to keep watching the village and report back to me anything interesting that is happening there. When I give the signal, we will attack it as quickly as possible to end this safely. Is that clear?"-

-"YES, SIR!"-

And so, all the foreign bandits remained at their positions, carefully watching the Highland tribe's village from that ridge in order to know when would be the perfect opportunity to raid it.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), White River Village (Communal Area), 05:30 PM (late afternoon)

While this was happening in the distance, all the villagers had gathered in its communal area to eat the okonomiyaki that all the women of the tribe, along with Akane, who was the person who suggested to prepare that typical dish from the cuisine of her hometown, Osaka, had been preparing for several hours.

The delicious aroma of the okonomiyaki permeated the area, where all the villagers waited their turn to taste the foreign food, while Akane herself, with the help of her friend Liska, personally served the dish to each of the villagers, much for their liking.

And one of the first people to taste the okonomiyaki was Chief Pownetkee, along with the Seneschal, who were more than delighted to try that dish from Earth.

-"Here's the okonomiyaki, chief. I hope you like it."- Akane addressed to his senior, while handling to him a bowl full of okonomiyaki to the tribal leader.

The chief began to sniff his bowl curiously, and it was noticeable that the taste of that typical Japanese food was something completely different from anything he had tasted before.

-"Hmmm... your okonomiyaki has a delicious aroma..."- The feline man said after smelling his bowl.

And seconds later, the chief used the spoon he was holding in his hand, and took a bite of that oriental dish. Akane quickly noticed that man was really savoring the okonomiyaki as he had never enjoyed it before in his life.

-"...and it tastes delicious."- Pownetkee congratulated the human woman on regards of that alien dish.

Akane, obviously, was more than happy that her hosts were enjoying that human food, when she had her concerns about whether those humanoid felines could even enjoy something as elaborate as okonomiyaki. And that's if one take into account that Akane, along with the rest of the other women in the village, had to improvise a bit to prepare it, due to the lack of some classic ingredients, such as Worcestershire sauce, seaweed, beni shōga (Japanese pickles), or shrimp.

-"Glad you loved the okonomiyaki, chief."-

-"Yes, it tastes very different from anything I've tasted before. I never imagined that eating something mixed with cornmeal and different meats and vegetables would be so delicious."- The tribal leader pointed out the thinks he loved about that Japanese dish.

-"Well, you're right about that, sir, and okonomiyaki is a well-known dish in my hometown, not to mention that I love to eat it from time to time."-

But the tribal chief was not the only authority in the tribe who was enjoying the okonomiyaki as never before in his life...

-"Hey, Akane, you should pass me the okonomiyaki recipe one of these days, will you?"- The Seneschal said to the African-Japanese woman, sporting a huge smile in his face as he devoured his meal with gusto.

-"Yes, don't worry, sir, I'll give it to you later."- The human replied with some hilarity, seeing how that man with an apparently calm nature enjoyed that Japanese dish as much as anyone else.

The adults were not the only ones enjoying the okonomiyaki as well: Gareth, Chief Pownetkee's only son, was also enjoying the meal, as he gobbled down the dish that Liska had served him in his bowl a few minutes earlier.

-"Hmmm! I've never tasted anything as delicious as this before!"- The Calico-like feline boy said at the slave girl, while eating the Osakan dish -"So this is the traditional food from Miss Akane's place of origin?"-

-"Supposedly so."- Liska said at the boy. -"But I'm glad you loved it, Gareth."-

-"Thank you very much for this food, Miss Liska."-

-"Hehehe! You are welcome."- The girl replied with a smile in her muzzle, while the boy keep eating his food.

All the villagers were enjoying, with great pleasure and without exception, that dish from Earth, Akane Araki's home world, for they had never tasted anything containing grilled cornmeal mixed with vegetables and meat, and mixed with other toppings that Akane included from the ingredients she had on hand in her backpack with supplies, such as mayonnaise and soy sauce.

But if there was someone who was happier to see all those people eating her food, it was Akane herself, who watched happily as those felines devoured the okonomiyaki without any inconvenience. This was remarkable, considering that the human had her worries that those alien beings would not have wanted or had problems eating that food, but fortunately, everything seemed to be progressing smoothly and no one was having an issue eating that human food.

And as the African-born woman watched with delight as her furry friends ate their meals in peace and serenity, Liska walked closer to Akane to strike up a conversation with her.

-"Everyone seems to be enjoying your dish, don't they, Akane?"- The slave girl talked to Akane, also as happy as her human friend.

-"I guess so, everyone is enjoying the okonomiyaki very much."- The soldier from Earth replied. -"But I never, ever imagined they would love it."-

-"Well, you have to admit that your food always tastes good, and your okomiyaki is no exception..."-

-"giggle... Well, thanks for that compliment, dear."- Akane replied at Liska, while the human put her own hands on her waist in pride. -"Making food was part of my job as a professional explorer, and making a good meal always helps to boost anyone's morale."-

-"Really, Akane?"- The ginger-furred girl said to Akane with some curiority. -"I guess you were cooking for other men..."-

That implication about preparing food for men as if it had been Akane's duty as a woman did not go unnoticed by the human soldier from Japan, and she retorted to her alien friend in irritation.

-"HELL NO!"- Akane replied aloud. -"If I cooked for them, it was because I liked it, and because I was the only person who knew how to make a good meal, and I would rather starve to death than serve a bad meal, not because I am a woman!"-

Seeing the angry face of her human friend, the young slave saw that she had said something sensitive about her, and Liska had to offer an apology.

-"I'm sorry for saying that, Akane..."-

Akane had forgotten that, for what she regarded as something trivial, in that tribe it was a communal obligation for women, so the human apologized again for that outburst when she quickly realized what she had said at that moment.

-"No, I'm the one who has to apologize."- Akane replied with a sorrowful tone. -"I forgot that the women of this tribe are obliged to serve food to their families, and especially to the men, by tribal tradition."-

-"sigh... Don't worry, I'm not angry with you..."- Liska retorted back to the human, also with a thoughtful tone. -"But I admit that some of your ways are very strange to me, Akane."-

-"Yeah, I know that, dear, and I really have a big mouth..."-

-"Well..."- The feline girl said with giggling a bit. -"I think we all know that."-

-"And I certainly don't blame you and your people for thinking about me in that way."- Akane humbly admited her flaws as a person.

But Liska was not the only person who had something to say to Akane...

-"Well, Akane, I must admit that, despite your flaws, you are an excellent cook."- Mother Sanna also congratulated the human woman, in her own particular way. -"In fact, I'd say you're the best cook I've ever met in my life."-

Akane couldn't help but smile when she saw that the old woman was congratulating Akane, not only for her idea of preparing okonomiyaki, but also for being a good cook, which caused the African-Japanese woman to smile when she saw herself congratulated in that way.

-"Oh, thank you very much for your words too, grandmother!"-

-"But I think I will repeat this again, Akane dear:"- Sanna said to Akane with a somewhat more serious tone. -"You need to do something to control that bad temper of yours."-

At being admonished in that vein, the human simply sighed for a few moments, tucked her hands inside her pants pockets, and then, she responded in a more humble manner.

-"Yeah, I know... and I'm very sorry that sometimes I have to raise my voice like that, like a few moments ago, grandmother."- Akane explained herself about her explosive personality. -"As you know, all this is new to me, and there are many things that either bother me or scare me, because I do not fully understand the traditions of this tribe, and that is why I snap quite easily at what I cannot solve by my own means."-

-"Yes, I understand perfectly. I don't blame you either if you feel you can't return to your home, Akane. And I feel that's also the reason why you're acting that way."- The old feline lady tried to reassure her human counterpart after seeing her quite wistful face.

-"Well... sigh... I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the case..."- The black woman retorted back.

-"Still,"- Sanna then changed to a more conciliatory voice to the human soldier from Japan. -"if there is anything we can do to help you return home, we will be willing to help you, Akane."-

Seeing that the old woman was offering to help Akane so that she could return to her world, even though the human knew that it would be impossible for her alien hosts to do something like that, she could not help but be grateful for that gesture, however futile it might have been at that moment and in those conditions in which Akane found herself.

-"Thank you, grandmother."- The human said with a candid smile in her face. -"I really appreciate your help on this..."-

And then, Akane Araki added a little more to her talk.

-"...and if this reassures you, I will talk to your grandson when he returns to the village, and settle our quarrels for good."-

When she saw that Akane was willing to talk peacefully with Rial, Liska could not help but join in the conversation, as she was the latter's mate.

-"At least it's good to know that you're willing to talk to him without the two of you trying to insult each other and even saying what you're each going to die of..."-

The human smiled awkwardly, rolled her eyes, and after saying nothing more for a few seconds, Akane gave an answer to her slave friend.

-"Yeah, I know that, sweetie... Sorry for having you to endure all the crap I've said to Rial."-

-"No problem on my part, Akane."- Liska replied at her human friend with the same reassuring tone as her mistress did. -"I think that's something you and he should work out, for the sake of everyone in the tribe."-

-"Well, thank you anyway for not being bitter at me for that, Liska sweetie."- Akane replied as well.

The three women laughed happily among themselves, seeing that there were no hard feelings about the human's shortcomings. The fact that Akane admitted that she was not perfect and that she had an aggressive nature was at least a step forward for all of them.

-"Well, I think we should keep working with the food, ladies, because..."- Akane said afterwards

And at that instant, Akane's stomach began to growl in such a way that the old woman and her slave could not help but hear that noise...

-"...I'm already starting to feel hungry, and we're going to be the last to eat when everyone else finishes first."-

Akane was referring precisely to the fact that, being the women of the tribe the people who were preparing the food, they would be the last people to eat it, once all the other members of the Highland tribe had eaten it first, much to the annoyance of the human.

-"I'm not surprised why you're so fat, Akane dear."- Mother Sanna replied to Akane when she mentioned the situation, while the old woman put her finger on the human's belly in mockery of Akane's complaint about when they could eat.

Under different circumstances, that would have made Akane erupt in rage at being reminded that she was fat, but, in view of the fact that the old woman was doing it mostly to indicate a character flaw of the human, rather than to be mocking to her, the female soldier decided to simply ignore the insult and just acknowledge that the healer was right, albeit with a certain sardonic tone.

-"Yeah, right, I already know that, grandmother."- The African-Japanese woman replied, as she looked into the air, and tried to ignore that the old alien woman was simply teasing her in a silly way in order to cause a reaction in her, while Sanna was still poking her belly.

But before Akane, Sanna and Liska could continue their cheerful talk, a female voice was heard next to them...

-"Hey you there!"- Kayce's voice was heard aloud. -"Now that you're talking about the okonomiyaki, I think we're going to need some help with this."-

Hearing the young maiden's voice, the three women walked over to her to find out what her problem was which she needed to address with them.

-"What's wrong, Kayce?"- Liska asked first.

-"If we are going to eat at the end, I think we will need more water to prepare more okonomiyaki, as we are running out of dough."-

-"In that case, I will go to the stream to fetch more water..."- The slave offered to go to the river and bring more liquid to make more food for the women cooking the okonomiyaki.

But for some reason, Kayce did not seem to agree with Liska's idea...

-"No, I will go to the stream instead."-

The young blonde-haired slave was surprised that Kayce, a free woman, volunteered herself to do a job that Liska, a slave, was expected to do, something the latter noted.

-"But that's my job, you don't have to do that."-

-"And so what? I can do that too."- The young brown-furred girl replied with tone of irkness in her voice. -"Besides, I need to walk, because I've been sitting for hours peeling those yams, and I need to breathe some fresh air as well."-

The slave could not have agreed more, knowing that Kayce had no objection to doing a manual labor on her own.

-"Well, I guess you're right about that."-

At that instant, Kayce headed to the Mother Sanna's teepee, grabbed a bag to carry water from there, and she set out to head to the river.

-"In that case, I will head to the stream to bring that water. I hope I won't be too long."-

-"Be very careful out there, my dear."- The old woman warned the young maiden, worried that she would go alone to the river to procure the water.

-"Same here, Kayce."- Akane, the human, also shared her worries with Sanna. -"Wouldn't you like me to tag along with you, just in case?"-

-"Oh, please, what could happen to me?"- The young housewife replied with a certain nonchalance, trying not to think too much of the fact that she was going to the river alone. -"Besides, it's not like it's going to take me long, since the stream is less than five minutes away."-

-"Yes, but try not to take too long there, please."- The old woman said at the girl.

And without another word to add, the young lady started walking towards the river.

-"Very well, in that case, I'll be on my way. I'll be right back!"- Kayce waved goodbye to the other women and went straight to the White River to fetch water for the okonomiyaki.

-"See ya, Kayce, and take care!"- Akane waved her feline friend goodbye as well.

And so, Kayce headed to the river as fast as she could, in order to bring more water, trying to ignore some of the concerns that Akane, Liska and the old woman had about the idea of that woman doing that job.

But what Kayce didn't know was that things would suddenly start to change, not only for her, but for everyone else in the village...

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), Outside White River Village (Hill), 05:35 PM (late afternoon)

While this was happening in the village, the bandits under the command of Commander Arn continued to carefully observe the place, trying to ascertain its weaknesses and any other information that could help or hinder the bandits from taking over the place and assaulting its inhabitants.

-"Well, there doesn't seem to be much to worry about in that village."- One of the bandits said after giving a second look at the hamlet. -"The place seems to be defenseless, its inhabitants are unarmed, and almost all the people living there are women, children, and the only men we should be concerned about are probably the village chief and his holy man or Seneschal."-

-"And what about the dark-skinned furless woman?"- Arn asked at his scout.

-"I don't think she is a person we should be worried about too, as she doesn't seem to be dangerous, although what I can see is that she is wearing the same clothes as the other furless man named "Nokuchi" that we have been chasing for several moons now."-

-"Could that man is or was that man her friend?"-

-"I don't know, Commander. It is likely that either she may be wearing his clothes, or she may have been a slave of that man, or she may be one of the villagers, or possibly for some other reason that we don't know about."- The scout explained. -"In any case, it is almost certain that she has some relationship with the man we are looking for."-

But before the commander and his scout went on to talk about the village and Akane, the human woman related to the late Noguchi in general, one of the bandit chief's men wished to speak to his leader urgently.

-"Um... Commander... eh... sorry for bothering you, but... I need to ask you something, sir."-

The man asking this question was a humanoid feline with the appearance of a tiger, who also had a mohawked, black-colored hair and wore a patch over his right eye, denoting his one-eyed status.

-"What do you want, Brutus?"- The man replied to the aforementioned character, with a certain irritated expression as he was interrupted in his work.

-"Uh... well... I need to go to the stream to... you know... to relieve myself..."-

The commander, seeing that the river was a ten minute walk from the village they were going to attack, and the village itself was another fifteen minutes walk from the hill where they were standing, saw no problem with his subordinate being able to separate from his group so that he could do his business.

-"All right, you can go, but when you hear us, just come and help us with the job, understood?"-

-"Yes, sir."-

And so, the tiger man named Brutus went straight to the White River, leaving the rest of the bandits behind on their own business. The scout questioned his chief for allowing one of his men to break away from his party in that way, fearing that his presence in the river might give away the presence of the gang in the vicinity of the village.

-"Sir, not to question your wisdom, but, do you think it's a good idea to let Brutus go to the stream by himself with no one to chaperone him?"-

-"If he is smart enough, he will know how to take care of himself."-

-"I say this for the following reason..."-

The scout gave the telescope to the commander, and the first thing the bandit leader noticed was that a woman from the village seemed to be going to the river at the same time Brutus was, which meant many things.

-"Do you think it would be a good idea to stop him and bring him back, sir?"-

-"Nah, what the hell can that girl do to Brutus?"- Arn shrugged his shoulders. -"And if he doesn't goof up, Brutus will know how to be discreet, if you know what I mean..."-

The man quickly understood what his leader meant by that, but even so, it did not give him any peace of mind, because of the risk that Brutus would accidentally cause the whole plan they had in mind to raid the village to collapse. But, as the saying goes, "what the boss says goes", the scout was not in a position to question his leader's orders further, and could only respond in a submissive manner.

-"sigh... as you command, sir."-

That thorny matter aside, Arn rose from his place where he sat on the hill watching the village from afar, and immediately after, he addressed all his men in the most pointed fashion he could think of at the time.

-"All right folks, listen up! I have already decided how we will go about attacking that village."- The feline Romalian commander said aloud to all his gang. -"We will divide into two parties; I will lead the party that will attack the village, while Vorin, my second in command, will chase their warriors and attack them to prevent them from returning to help."-

At the idea proposed by their leader, all the other members of the bandits from Romalia under the command of that former military man began to debate among themselves about the plan proposed by their leader. Minutes later, Vorin himself, the man who would lead the second squad that would attack the warriors who left the village to hunt, also had his own doubts about his leader's idea, which he immediately expressed to Arn.

-"Uh, commander, I have some doubts about your plan..."- Vorin, who was a humanoid cheetah with blond hair, and being somewhat short compared with the rest of Arn's men, addressed his leader in a quite concerned tone.

-"Well, what is it, Vorin?"-

-"I don't want to contradict you, sir, but don't you think it would be more advisable for all of us to strike the village first, and then wait there for the warriors to return, or chase them once we have control of it?"-

-"If we do that as you say, it would take us many days to try to deal with those warriors, if they are smart enough not to attack us head on, and they could possibly ask for help from a neighboring tribe, and we could have a bigger problem to deal with later, so the first thing would be to tackle that village below, and their warriors as well, and finish this before dawn. "-

-"And what if something were to go wrong, sir?"- Vorin continued to question his leader.

-"Come on, you're not going to tell me that a group of women, children, a strange furless woman from who-knows-where, and their leader and holy man are going to be a danger to us?"- The commander replied, already irritated that his second-in-command did not seem to concur with his planning.

Seeing that his leader was beginning to feel annoyed at being contradicted, Vorin could not help but simply agree with Arn's idea, even if he had his doubts about his leader's wisdom in carrying out that plan to assault that Native village.

-"Well... I suppose not, sir."- The blond-haired cheetah man replied in a flappy way to his boss. -"though it is their warriors that worry me more than the villagers..."-

-"That is why you will lead the group that will attack these warriors."- The Romalian commander then explained how the war parties will be organized. -"You will command twenty-nine men to engage them, while I will take the remaining eighteen, plus Brutus and me when he returns from the stream, to raid the village. Does my idea sound good to you, Vorin?"-

After a few seconds of silence, Arn's second-in-command, even though he had his own fears about the plan, could only reluctantly accept the order given to him by his leader, knowing that something could possibly go wrong. But he didn't have the power to make his boss change his mind, so he could only obey him unquestioningly.

-"As you decide, commander."-

With this decided, the Romalian leader, already mounted on his riding lizard, and addressing the rest of his men, who were also preparing to get on their own rides, explained aloud to them what would be his plan to follow, and how the raiding parties would be split up to attack the White River village and consequently, the Highland tribe as well.

-"Alright, here is how the attack groups will be divided: eighteen men and Brutus will follow me to attack the village, while Vorin and twenty-nine others will track down the warriors who went hunting and prevent them from returning to the village or calling for help."-

Noting that only 20 people would raid the hamlet, considering its size, while Vorin and his other party will be using 30, one of the men under the command of the Romalian commander quickly questioned such a strange move.

-"Excuse me commander, don't you think it would be more convenient for you to bring more men with you, just in case?"-

-"In that village there are only women, children and people who I don't think can stand up to us..."-

And immediately after, the commander shrugged his shoulders in indifference and arrogance at the concern made by his subordinate about the idea that his leader would only take twenty bandits under his command, believing that the military and technological superiority alone of those warriors coming from Romalia would be enough to conquer that humble village, and then explaining his rationale for not bringing more soldiers with him.

-"...and besides, it is a primitive tribe, and we have better weapons. What danger could they possibly pose, uh?"-

All the bandits whispered among themselves in response to their leader's answer, and although most of them agreed with the plan proposed by their commander, there were others, like the aforementioned Vorin, who thought that the plan was a very ill-conceived idea, for the simple reason that there were more than thirty people, including Akane, living in the village, and in case things could go wrong, those humble natives, as primitive as they were, could offer a fierce resistance that could complicate their plans at any moment.

But unfortunately, the plans were already written in stone, and it only remained for them to fulfill them in their entirety, and hope that everything went well.

-"One other thing I would like to add, Commander."- Another of Arn's cronies asked to his leader.

-"What would it be?"-

-"What do you want us to do with the dark-skinned furless woman who lives in that village, sir?"- The man asked, on regards of the human woman from Japan. -"I suppose you want us to take her alive, right?"-

-"Of course we want her alive, that's what we're here for after all!"- And then, Arn's tone of voice became more ominous, for the reasons he would mention next. -"You all have permission to do with the other inhabitants whatever you want, but only kill those who oppose you... but DO NOT KILL OR HURT THAT WOMAN TOO MUCH FOR ANY REASON. That woman will bring us fame and fortune if we sell her for a good price in some slave market, and we will not receive anything for her as a corpse..."-

And then, Arn drew his sword that he had at his waist, and pointed it straight at his men in a threatening manner, hinting at what would happen to anyone who accidentally or simply sadistically ended up killing Akane...

-"And if any of you lousy maggots disobey my order... I will personally, and with this blade, to turn any of your furs into rugs to wipe my feet with them!"-

Faced with that threat, all the soldiers immediately gulped. They knew that, although their commander was usually a friendly person with them, when he was in a bad mood he was even capable of killing anyone who stood in his way, and even more so when someone disobeyed a direct order from him, so they all agreed with the directives given by their leader without further questioning.

-"YES, SIR!"-

-"Very good."-

Then, some minutes later, all the bandits, already saddled, were ready to attack the village, and were only waiting for their leader's word to act as planned.

-"When I give the order, we will proceed to raid the place, while Vorin's party will go after the warriors as I indicated. I hope this goes as planned."-

And immediately afterwards, Arn silently waved his hands, indicating that the attack on the village would begin immediately, while the riders descended the hill slowly, mainly for their protection and to avoid being detected with the naked eye from afar.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), White River, 05:40 PM (late afternoon)

Meanwhile, Kayce was at the river fetching water so that the other women of the village could continue to prepare more okonomiyaki, especially for themselves once the whole village had finished eating their meal first. Once she had filled her bag with enough water for cooking, the young brown-furred girl was ready to return to the village without lingering any longer.

But before she could stand up and walk back, she heard a strange noise coming from behind her. At that sound, Kayce moved her ears in the direction of where she thought the sound was coming from...

-"That's strange... I thought I heard something unusual behind me..."- The girl said in a lower voice.

When she turned her head, there was nothing out of the ordinary around her. The alien girl made a sound that sounded like it could have been an "sigh."

-"Oh my, I thought some wild animal was watching me."-

Seeing that it was nothing to worry about, she started walking back to the village, knowing that the women of the tribe were waiting for her for the water which they would need to cook more okonomiyaki.

But the moment she passed sideways through a clump of tall bushes to her left, Kayce again heard more noises, which became more intense. She could not see what was behind those plants, and the feline girl had no time to worry about it, since she was running out of time, yet the young maiden did not hesitate to think that it might be some wild animal that might be hiding out there, minding its own business...

-"I'd better get out of here and go back to the village; I don't like the sound coming from those bushes..."-

As she walked away from the bushes, Kayce sensed that those strange sounds were following her, but she didn't think much of it at first either, although this didn't stop her from starting to worry in some way...

...and the last thing she could remember, before Kayce lost consciousness, was that a huge hand appeared out of nowhere, clamped over her muzzle, and then shoved her violently into the bushes...

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), White River Village (Communal Area), 06:00 PM (dawn)

While this was going on, all the members of the Highland tribe were happily enjoying the okonomiyaki that the women, with the help of Akane Araki, were preparing for the local inhabitants, oblivious to what was taking place around them.

All of them, without exception, were chatting and discussing the delicious taste of that earthly food from Japan, which had a different look from any other food they had tried before. This made the human woman very happy, and she was pleased to see her feline hosts enjoying their meal with pleasure.

But at that moment, the African-Japanese woman, who was busy serving food to others at the time, felt a strange sensation in her body. It was as if a negative feeling was running down her back, foreboding as if an impending threat was about to occur...

However, as much as she looked around, Akane saw absolutely nothing that was out of the norm, neither near her nor far away.

-"Why do I feel like something bad is coming this way?"- The human wondered to herself in her own mind, as she felt that negative sensation flowing around her body.

Akane continued to look around, completely motionless, trying to determine where the dark energy was coming from. This was beginning to frustrate the human, who didn't understand why she was aware of it, and why none of her feline friends seemed to notice anything unusual in their surroundings either.

-"Shit, why am I getting all that bad vibe, huh?"-

And then, she stared at the sky, suspecting that there might be some impending threat coming from there. Considering that the Asuka, the JSSDF spaceship in which she was traveling, was destroyed by mysterious drones that came out of nowhere, and that on the day that tragedy struck, they were sweeping the area where Akane's escape pod had crashed in the desert looking for survivors, the African-Japanese woman began to fear that those cursed machines were looking for her, and any other humans, in the Plains region.

And what worried her most was that her alien friends would become involved in a matter that was none of their business...

-"The worst thing that could happen would be if those fucking drones showed up here to finish with me..."

And then...

-"Akane..."-

-"...and I wouldn't want my furry friends to end up in the crossfire of those machines if that happens..."-

And...

-"Akane..."-

-"And if this were not enough, the weapons I have available would not be enough to defend this village from an army of killing machines coming from space. If that were to happen..."-

At that moment, Akane felt a tug on her clothes, and a female voice next to her, who was yelling at her at that instant...

-"AKANE, ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!"-

-"Uh, WHAT?"-

When Akane looked to see who was yelling at her, the first thing the human noticed was her friend, the young slave girl named Liska, who was staring at her with a look that mixed irritation with concern...

-"What's wrong with you, Akane?"- The slave girl asked to her Earth friend. -"You just stood there, doing nothing."-

When she realized that she was standing there in the middle of the communal area, while some members of the tribe watched the female soldier with some amusement, Akane tried to explain to her friend what had happened to her.

-"Uh... nothing."- the human replied, clearly embarrassed. -"What happened was that... I felt something strange."-

-"What do you mean with strange, Akane?"- Liska retorted at her aloud.

-"Do you, by any chance, feel anything unusual, as if something bad is going to happen?"- The human unironically asked to her feline friend about the same feelling she felt minutes ago.

Liska glanced at Akane with some disbelief, thinking that there was something wrong with her human friend, and she responded with some annoyance, suspecting that the human was not feeling well as a result of working hard since the beginning of the day.

-"sigh... Maybe you should rest a little, Akane..."- The ginger-furred girl said at her human friend with a worried tone. -"you've been working most of the day, and I think it would be better if you sat down and relaxed yourself for a while."-

Akane reflected in that moment, and couldn't help but think that her friend might be right. After all, she had been working non-stop for most of the day, including helping Liska and Kayce tan leathers, so the African-Japanese woman hadn't had a single minute's rest since she had left her bed that day, and perhaps she should take her advice seriously.

-"I guess you're right, honey."- The black woman reluctantly admitted that the reason for those strange vibes could be due to fatigue, which she herself was afraid to say at first look. -"I didn't realize I've been working all day without a break..."-

-"At least I have to admit that you really like to work."-

-"Where I come from it is pretty normal for people to work a lot, and so it is not unusual for us to do several things in the same day."- Akane explained to Liska about Japanese work ethic in simpler terms. -"In fact, that's something expected of someone who works on a team, as in my case, who worked as a explorer, just as it was with my friend, Keisuke Noguchi."-

-"I see..."- The feline girl said at her human friend. -"But still, you should rest a bit, Akane. I think I can cover you for a while, as you relax."-

Akane smiled in a cheerful manner to see her alien friend concerned about the human's health, and she was willing to follow her advice.

-"giggle... Thank you for caring about me, little kitty."-

-"Heheh! You are welcome too, Akane."- Liska replied with also a smile to Akane as well.

But before the human could take that well-deserved rest, Mother Sanna's voice was suddenly heard, as she walked over to where Liska and Akane were standing in the communal area of the village. For some reason, her voice sounded somehow uneasy, as if something was disquieting the old woman.

-"Liska, Akane..."- The old feline lady said at the two young women, still with a concerned tone. -"Don't you two know if Kayce has returned from the stream?"-

Both the human soldier and the feline slave gave a negative nod to that question...

-"Uh, no."- Akane replied at her.

-"Me neither, my mistress."- Liska followed suit as well.

Afterwards, the old woman asked the same question to the other women who were still preparing the food, and they also answered in the negative too, which meant that Kayce had not yet returned to the village since she left to fetch more water for cooking some more okonomiyaki.

-"That's strange... she's not normally the kind of person who would take a long time to do a duty, let alone something related to the village..."- Sanna explained, with a pretty worried expression in her face. -"I just hope nothing bad had happened to her on the road..."-

Meanwhile, Kebec, Kayce's younger sister-cousin, who was working on peeling off corn, barged into the conversation in a rude manner, perhaps to give her point of view on why Kayce had not returned... and considering that she was still angry with her sister, the bully did not shy away from giving her opinion on what had happened in a vulgar fashion.

-"Hah... Possibly she went to the latrine to relieve herself, and for some reason, she fell to its very bottom..."-

The profane response given by the bully regarding her older sister-cousin caused Liska to respond in kind, for she could not believe that Kebec would address her own family in such a cruel manner.

-"You should at least have more concern for your own sister, Kebec!"- The slave girl angrily said at the white-furred maiden. -"She is your own family, and I feel you should care about her; and I don't like you speaking about her like that !"-

Kebec, who was in no mood to take scolding from anyone, much less from a slave like Liska, snapped back at her in a haughty manner...

-"And who asked you to pry into my affairs, you meddling slave? It's you and your foreign friend's fault that she acted that way to begin with!"-

-"Oh, yeah?"- Liska challenged Kebec, ready to pick a fight with her if necessary, clenching her fists on Kebec.

Meanwhile, Akane, who was watching all this, just looked at the sky, rolled her eyes, and sighed in dismay at the verbal fight between her friend and the bullying free woman.

-"Crap... here we go again."-

But before the bickering could escalate any further, Mother Sanna quickly stepped in, and stopped the dispute before the two women came to blows...

-"You two, stop arguing right now!"- The old lady yelled at both girls. -"Now this is not the time for that nonsense!"-

At the sound of the venerable old woman's voice, Liska and Kebec quickly fell silent, neither of them saying anything more. This went twofold for the former, for Liska did not want to be seen before the whole tribe as a slave who disobeyed her mistress with impunity. Kebec also had her reasons for not escalating the argument anymore, even if it was only to avoid more unnecessary conflicts than she already had that day.

And after both women remained silent, the old woman added something else.

-"Kayce hasn't been back for quite some time, and that's starting to worry me. It would be good if someone went to the stream to look for her..."-

At this, Sanna's young slave offered to go in search for Kayce without further thought.

-"If you wish, mistress, I can go and look for her..."-

But for reasons that would be mentioned shortly, and before Liska's mistress could reply, Akane Araki offered to go in her place instead.

-"Uh, I think it would be better if I went to the stream to look for her, just in case."-

The other three women, especially Sanna, were surprised to see the human volunteering to go in search of Kayce instead of her friend. Even if Akane seemed to be the perfect person for the job, normally she preferred to stay out of tribal affairs, but for some reason, she was the first to agree to do so, something that Sanna, the old woman, asked the female soldier.

-"Would you volunteer to do that, Akane dear?"-

-"Well, she's my friend too, and I might be able to look her up quicker, being the tallest person in the tribe and all."-

At the reason Akane gave for offering to go to the river, Liska glanced at the human, and could not agree more with her regarding what the African-Japanese woman said about her height, and how it would help her in her work, as Akane was a woman who averaged over 1.85 meters in height, when most of the humanoid felines that lived in the village averaged between 1.60 to 1.80, which made the woman from Japan a giant among them.

-"I guess you're right about that, Akane. You're as big as a tree..."- The ginger-furred girl said at her soldier friend.

And the black human woman did not hesitate to respond naughtily to her alien friend's comment.

-"Heh... is that a compliment or an insult, sweetie?"-

-"I mean that as a compliment, Akane."-

-"Well, thank you, Liska, but this is the first time someone compares me to a tree."- The soldier from Earth retorted with some tone of hilarity. -"Where I come from, and at least when I was a kid, other people likened me to worse things."-

-"Like what kind of things, if I may ask?"- The orange tabby girl asked with curiosity at the human.

-"Well..."- Akane hesitated to answer her friend's question, because she feared that her friend, and Kebec, who was in earshot of the conversation, would learn the racist insults she experienced when the human was a child in her early years in Japan. -"I can only tell you that being compared to a tree is nothing compared to the insults I was called when I was a little girl."-

-"Oh, I see..."- And so, the slave preferred not to delve any further into the matter, out of respect for her friend.

-"That aside,"- Mother Sanna asked to the human. -"can you go and find Kayce, Akane?"-

-"No problem, grandmother."- The black woman agreed on searching Kebec's older sister-cousin, rather than Liska. -"I'll go find her right away, I just hope she's all right."-

-"Oh, thank you, Akane!"- The old feline lady said aloud at the female Space Ranger from Earth. -"Just be careful out there."-

-"Hey, don't worry, grandmother, I know how to take care of myself."- Akane waved goodbye at both Liska and Sanna. -"I'm a explorer for a reason."-

And so, Akane Araki went in search of Kayce, first starting to walk towards the south side of the village. Liska, on the other hand, looked attentively at the human, as she questioned her mistress about the idea of letting her human friend go to do that job, instead of doing it herself.

-"Do you think it's a good idea to let Akane be the one to go find Kayce, mistress?"-

-"Of course it is."- The old healer explained her reasons for allowing the human to do that job. -"Akane is tall, strong, and her appearance is very intimidating and unusual. If something were to happen, I doubt very much that any wild animal or assailant would dare to harm her should it come to that."-

-"sigh..."- Liska then facepalmed in fear. -"...knowing her very well as she is, I just hope she doesn't make things worse if such a thing were to happen..."-

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), White River Village (Latrine area), 06:15 PM (dawn)

The first place Akane went to look for her friend was in the village latrines, absurd as the idea was, considering that it was Kayce's sister who had mentioned the possibility that she might have accidentally fallen into one of them, even if it was by way of a vulgar insult.

But the human, as much as she hated Kebec, couldn't rule out that possibility, even if it was just to be more sure that Kayce didn't have an accident there.

But before she entered the area, Akane came across two children playing ball with each other who were ten steps away from the latrines. If they had saw the young maiden in that place, they could probably know something...

-"Hey, kids, didn't you two see Miss Kayce in the latrines, by any chance?"- The human soldier asked to them.

Upon seeing the African-Japanese woman, the children, who were not used to seeing or even talking to Akane, were visibly surprised to be asked a question by the foreigner.

-"Oh, you mean, Meelia's mother, Miss Akane?"- One of the kids asked to the Earth woman.

-"Yes, I mean her, kittens..."-

At the question posed by Akane, the children stopped playing, and after doing some memory recall, they eventually provided an answer to the human woman.

-"Uh, no, Miss Akane, we haven't seen her."- And then, the other feline child addressed to his other playmate. -"Have you seen her, by any chance?"-

The other boy shook his head, indicating that he had not seen anything unusual.

-"No, I haven't seen her either..."-

Seeing that the children knew nothing, the human offered her thanks for their trouble.

-"I see."- Then, Akane waved goodbye to them. -"Anyway, thank you very much for your help, kids!"-

-"You are welcome too, Miss Akane!"- The two boys also did the same on the human woman.

Leaving the children behind, the human headed straight for the communal latrines that all members of the tribe, including Akane, had to use.

The latrines, as was to be expected in a primitive society such as the one the human lived in, were basically holes dug in the ground where people had to relieve themselves, and to clean themselves, the inhabitants used leaves from the nearby trees around them.

Needless to say, the smell of stench in that place was really intense, as the tribespeople, being anthropomorphic felines, shared many of the same qualities and defects as their feral ancestors, including the fact that their organic waste smelled just as pestilent. Being them of human size, the smell was twice as intense and nauseating, something that Akane, who had more than experience in having to deal with having to do her organic needs in the open field as a Space Ranger, was still not used to, which even she did not hesitate to express it to herself.

-"I don't think I'll ever get used to the smell of shit and cat piss in this place, no matter how long I live in this space cat den..."- Akane said it to herself in Japanese, mainly to prevent anyone, especially the children she spoke to first, from catching on to what she said.

And seeing that Kayce was not there using the latrines, and after ruling out, to her own misfortune, having to endure the foul odors that hovered around her first, that the young maiden had not accidentally fallen into one of these, the human of African origin decided to return to her tent, this time more relieved to no longer have to be in that smelly place.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), Akane's tent, 06:24 PM (dawn)

Once at home, the human went directly to a biometrically locked trunk, where she kept many of her most dangerous belongings, mainly firearms, and most of her ancient Japanese weapons, such as her katanas, knives, shurikens, and other human weapons that Akane kept there to prevent any inhabitant of that alienplanet from touching them without her consent.

The reason she went to her tent to do just that was for two reasons: The first was that she had a strange feeling that she was being watched, even if she didn't know the exact reason, and who might be looking at her, and the second was to procure a self-defense weapon to take with her to the river in case it was necessary to use it in a worst-case scenario.

The first weapon she took out of that trunk was another kunai, as the one she normally used was in the possession of Chief Pownetkee. Then, she took out another weapon, this time a firearm: a Taurus Raging Bull Model 444 revolver of .44 caliber.

It was revolver with a six-shot capacity, weighing 0.81 kg, and standing at 27 cm inches long, 10 cm wide and 21.33 cm tall. It was a very powerful gun, with a reputation for its accuracy and its power, as it is fully capable of firing its rounds with speed, accuracy, and efficiency. It was designed by the Brazilian firearms manufacturer Taurus International and is modeled after one their revolvers, the PT-22. The Raging Bull, being similar in appearance to the Colt Peacemaker from the Wild West era, was a very good self-defense weapon, and so it was Akane's weapon choice for the moment.

But still, even Akane, who had no objection to using such weapons, began to notice that it was a bit overkill to bring such a powerful revolver, which was normally used to hunt African buffaloes, or very large or dangerous animals, such as bears, tigers or elephants, with her. And this is for a good reason, due to the sort of ammunition the human loaded into the revolver's cylinder: RIP rounds.

The RIP (acronym for Radically Invasive Projectile) bullets were designed to be used with high-powered guns like the Raging Bull and the like. Such kind of ammunitions were designed to have a high level of penetration as well as being equally lethal when hitting either vital organs or body cavities, such as the heart. It has a kill radius of three feet and has an effective range of around 30 meters when fired from a handgun using .44 caliber ammunition. In short, the RIP rounds were very powerful, hollow-point bullets that were incredibly lethal, especially against large targets.

And that gun was her jewel in the crown, along with her other revolver, the Desert Eagle, for both were antiques from the 20th and 21st centuries, and both guns and their respective ammunition had cost Akane a good deal of money. The Desert Eagle cost the African-Japanese woman approximately 5,000 dollars (570,000 yen), while the Raging Bull she carried with her at that time went for about 7,000 dollars (795,000 yen). On the other hand, the RIP bullets, which, due to their very nature, have been banned for civilian and military use since the end of World War III, cost her about $200 per box, and Akane had to acquire them in an... unofficial way... so to say, outside of Japan.

But, considering that she lived on a planet where dinosaurs, or dinosaur-like reptiles, dwelled, not to mention any other unknown enemies she might encounter, bringing a weapon and its ammo of such massive caliber was a way to ensure that she would not be easily overpowered, even in the worst case scenario.

Seeing the type of gun she was going to carry with her, the female soldier smiled with a certain degree of irony, due to the power of such a weapon.

-"Eat your heart out, Clint Eastwood..."-

Akane couldn't help but think of the legendary American movie actor, who appeared in many westerns, and his famous role as Harry Callahan, the infamous cop who used borderline illegal methods to pursue criminals, and with equally large guns...

...except that the gun the black woman was carrying was bigger than any pistol Eastwood used in his storied career.

But even she couldn't help but notice the irony of her, who hated westerns, using a gun out of one of those movies she loathed so much, and one of oversized caliber and with equally massive ammunition, to top it all off.

And if that wasn't enough, the fact that she lived in what appeared to be a tribe very similar to Native Americans from those same movies was also a point that the human didn't overlook.

-"I hope, for my sake and for the sake of whatever poor son of a bitch I end up turning into Swiss cheese with this, that I never have to use this shit against anyone."-

And so, with no more time to waste, Akane left her home with her weapons hidden in her clothes and body, and headed for the White River in search of her friend, hoping that she would be fine.

---

September 19th, AD 2299/18th day of the Autumn Equinox, 1748 (summer season), White River, 06:35 PM (dawn)

Once at the river, Akane Araki went in search of her friend Kayce, who should be near that place looking for water to take to the village. But, as much as she checked everywhere, there was not the slightest trace of the young brown-furred damsel in the area.

-"Hey, Kayce! Where are you?"-

Akane repeated the same cry several times, believing that her alien friend might be nearby, but in spite of this, the human received no response, nor had she seen any sign of Kayce anywhere in the vicinity of the river.

-"Fuck, where has that little girl gone to?"- Akane said to herself in Japanese.

Seeing that she hadn't found any clues about her friend anywhere, Akane headed to the river, looking for any leads that might point to her feline friend's whereabouts somewhere. Once there, the first thing the female Earth soldier from Japan did was to look for Kayce's footprints near the river, to find out if she had not been swept away by the river current in an accident or by some wild animal that might have attacked her while that girl was fetching water.

-"There are no footprints of her here, nor are there any traces of her clothes... or her blood."-

Thus, Akane decided to walk downstream in search of any clue as to her friend's whereabouts, believing that Kayce had possibly gone the same way, either in search of water, or in the event that she had been attacked by something or someone else.

-"sigh... Crap... I just hope that little kitten is still alive if I ever find her..."- Akane lamented on the way as she found nothing about Kayce during her search, contemplating the worst scenario possible.

But her search turned up a very important clue: The human found what appeared to be footprints of sandals that were near the river, and by the size and shape, they were still relatively fresh, not to say that they corresponded to those of a person of the size and weight that Kayce was at that time.

Moreover, those footprints seemed to be heading towards the village, and considering that all the tribe's inhabitants were gathered together eating okonomiyaki, there was only one person who could have gone to the river at that time.

And with that thought, the female human soldier went upwards back to the village in search of her non-human friend, following the trail of footprints left by her on her trip.

Those footprints suddenly stalled in what appeared to be some tall bushes, which caught Akane's attention, for that meant that Kayce had possibly strayed off course in that area, or something had happened to her that caused her to disappear.

-"Uh?"-

Akane said as she saw something strange that she saw three steps away from that woman. As she advanced to that place of interest, the human saw something that caught her attention that was lying on the ground, in front of the bushes...

-"What's that?"-

And when she picked up the object lying on the ground, Akane Araki recognized, to her surprise and horror, what it was.

It was the bag for carrying water that Kayce brought with her.

And if that wasn't enough, the Earth woman saw some footprints that were in front of the bushes, along with a very large earthen ditch, which meant that Kayce was dragged, possibly against her will, into those bushes. The other footprints resembled those of something or someone very large, possibly a bipedal being, and whatever it was, it must have been large enough to subdue her non-human friend and drag her to wherever it had taken her.

-"Oh, no, no, no..."-

Imagining the worst, Akane drew her kunai from her belt, and carried it in her right hand, as she advanced into the bushes in order to find her friend, assuming that nothing dreadful had happened to her. Whatever had befallen Kayce, that meant that someone or something might have attacked her, and the human needed to have a weapon at hand to defend herself from whatever might await her.

After passing through the bushes, the African-Japanese soldier broke into what appeared to be a clearing surrounded by bushes, which had only green and brown grass in it. At first, the human saw nothing out of the ordinary, except for a few birds, and some lizards crawling on the ground...

...but that suddenly changed when she saw a female humanoid form, lying on the ground face up, already five feet away from Akane...

-"No... please... no... it can't be!"-

To the human's misfortune, the person lying on the ground, in the middle of that clearing, was the unconscious body of her friend...

-"KAYCE!"-

Akane yelled in pain after seeing her body, figuring that the worst she imagined had occurred. And without wasting a moment more of time, the black woman quickly ran to where the body of her alien friend was still lying in the clearing, still attempting to find out what had befallen her.

Before Akane could touch Ka's body and determine if she still had any vital signs, the Space Ranger noticed that there was a small pool of blood visible between her friend's legs, as well as a spot of her blood on her crotch.

For that human woman who had learned, for obvious reasons, to distinguish that kind of wounds during her military training at the academy, besides other reasons, it led her to the worst conclusion that she never expected in her whole life to be a witness, and much less in someone who was dear to Akane's heart...

All indications were that her friend Kayce was raped by someone.

-"No... please... this can't be happening... god, please, why... no... no... no..."-

Akane fell to her knees on the ground, crying with rage and pain as she saw that a friend of hers had been raped with impunity, and possibly could have been killed as well. And it didn't matter that Akane had been trained to deal with such circumstances: None of it helped her to face the fact that she had to deal with a rape right under her nose, and she could do nothing to stop it.

And if that were not enough, all this also had a personal dimension for the human, which also brought back the worst possible images in that tragic event.

-"Who did this?... WHO THE FUCK DID THIS TO HER?"-

But before she could continue to grieve over what had been done to her feline friend...

-"HMGGGGGGGGGGGMMM!"-

...Akane suddenly felt a hand covering her mouth, while someone violently wrapped his arms around her in an effort to restrain her.

The strength of that hold, plus the sensation that the African-Japanese woman felt at that moment, meant that her aggressor, most likely the person who raped Kayce, was the one who was trying to do the same with the human woman.

And while Akane made fruitless intents to free herself from that bear hug, a voice speaking in a language that the human vaguely recognized, but could not understand, echoed in her ear...

-"(Hoc est, mi felix dies! Oportet te esse mulierem sine pullis bulla loquitur de!) This is my fortunate day! You must be the woman without fur the boss was talking about!"-

Two things were absolutely certain about the person who intended to rape her as well: The assailant was not a member of the Highland tribe, and most importantly, the rapist was not of the same feline species that she had normally encountered to date, at least with respect to her hosts.

-"Who the hell is this monster?"- Akane wondered in panic to herself, while trying to find a way to free herself from that powerful hug.

And quickly remembering what she had learned, both in the Self-Defense Forces and in the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū dojo on Earth, Akane Araki quickly took momentum, and bent her waist, so that her weight shifted forward, causing her attacker, not expecting that the woman knew how to defend herself, to fall off guard and be lifted violently from the ground.

-"(Quid...!) What the...!"- The sexual agressor yelled in his language aloud.

Once with the rapist on her back, the soldier grabbed one of her aggressor's arms, and without a second thought, Akane slam him with a violent judo thrown that caused the assailant to fall head first to the ground.

The sexual aggressor, seeing that the woman he intended to outrage knew how to defend herself better than many men he had faced in the past, decided to cut to the chase, and quickly, the huge feline warrior drew from his waist what seemed to be a steel sword, with which he intended to kill the human, without caring that his boss wanted Akane alive in the first place. The fact that the human female had humiliated and injured him in such a considerable way caused the warrior to forget all reason, and regardless of the consequences, he was ready to strike back against the black woman.

-"(Nescio quid sunt eu unde tibi, venit, sed, Si non potest obtinere mea hospitii a te, et dabo te occidere, cum hoc gladio!)"- I don't know who you are and where do you come from, but If can't obtain my fun from you, I will kill you with this sword!"-

Akane expected anything at that moment, but facing someone armed with a sword was a sudden shift for her, as all the warriors she had met up to that point used knives, tomahawks, arrows and similar weapons, even if she knew that, due to the existence of the Hinowa Empire, she could have expected someone wielding a katana as well.

But that didn't worried Akane at that moment, as her main concern was to trying to staying alive, and quickly, the human made a gesture with her right hand, trying to provoke that foreign warrior so he could attempt to strike her first.

-"(かかってこいや！)" Bring it on!"- Akane teased the warrior in Japanese.

The alien warrior, being provoked in this way by the human woman, let out a fierce scream that sounded more like a roar, and ran violently in Akane's direction, in order to be the first to strike the first blow.

On the other hand, the Space Ranger, who at that moment had no weapons at hand other than her revolver, which she had holstered on another part of her body, and her kunai, which she dropped to the ground the moment she was assaulted by the rapist, quickly managed to anticipate the movement of her attacker's arm, knowing that, by the very nature of her enemy's body, he would not be able to move fast enough to hurt her, not to mention the fact that the warrior's movements were quite clumsy, since the man had probably never faced anyone better than him.

At the moment the swordsman tried to launch a sword blow against Akane, the human managed to evade the attack without much trouble, and immediately after, the woman, making use of her experience in mixed martial arts, intercepted the arm where the feline warrior had his sword...

-"(もらった！) GOT YA!"-

...and effectively, the African-born woman performed an armlock to the attacker, who was a humanoid tiger, which was intense enough to cause pain to her opponent. The man, who had never in his life encountered anyone he could not kill, hurt or rape, was now in a state of shock and disbelief; that woman of unknown origin and appearance, seemingly a fat woman with no apparent fighting fitness, turned out to be a more dangerous adversary than any man he had ever faced.

Once she had the rapist in her hands, who was already on the ground, trying unsuccessfully to wrestle the human woman off him, Akane stood behind the body of her enemy, and swiftly enough, she clamped both hands on the man's head. At that critical moment, the human, as a product of sheer desperation, only wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible, and she was aware that one of the two would not walk out of that place alive, and she also saw that what she was about to do was something that she would have rather never had to resort to even in the direst of times...

-"(ごめんなさい。) Sorry for this."-

CRACK

The last thing the feline warrior heard in his life was the crunching of the vertebrae in his neck, the result of the fierce twist that Akane Araki made on his enemy's head. Immediately after, the lifeless body of the warrior fell to the ground, while the human soldier immediately stepped back, trying to step away from the corpse of the person she had killed with her own Akane caught her breath and got up from the ground, the earth woman saw the corpse of the warrior she had killed, trying to determine who exactly was the person she had confronted seconds before.

The first thing she noticed was that the man was one-eyed in his right eye, had black mohawk-style hair, and his coat was brindle orange. Judging by his appearance, he did not appear to be a humanoid feline resembling a domestic cat, like the other inhabitants of the Highland tribe, but a tiger, which meant that there were other feline breeds inhabiting that planet.

But that was the least of it, as Akane then looked down at her own hands, horrified to see that she had killed another person with them.

Although she was a soldier specifically trained to use lethal force if necessary, in her entire military career she had never had to resort to the extreme of killing another living being, and the worst she had done before was to have beaten up the occasional assailant, the end result being that the latter ended up in the hospital.

The fact that she used to live in a society where there had been no more wars for centuries, violent crimes involving lethal weapons were relatively rare and rapes were even more uncommon occurrences, the fact that she had gone so far as to kill another person, even if the rapist may have deserved to die at her hands for having laid his claws on her friend, did not obviate the fact that she had done something terrible, however heroic it may have been.

-"Oh... god... why did I have to do this?"-

Akane wailed at that moment, as she was breathing heavily, and with tears in her eyes, seeing how she used her hands to break that unknown warrior's neck.

What she did not know, and never knew later, was that the warrior she had ended with her own hands was Brutus, one of Commander Arn's men, who had gone to the river to relieve himself, and upon seeing Kayce in the river when she was on her way back to the village, the vicious outlaw grabbed her with his hands and then he abused her within those bushes.

As for her Kayce herself, Akane knew that there would be another chance to regret herself about that warrior, and the most important thing was to know if her feline friend was still alive...

-"Oh, no... Kayce!"-

The African-Japanese Space Ranger cursed, as she jumped up from the ground, and quickly ran to her friend's unconscious and bloodied body already lying on the dirt, Akane thinking that her friend might have already breathed her last while the human was fighting to the death against that tiger man.

The first thing Akane did, with Ka held in her hands, was to check her friend's pulse, by first putting her index and middle fingers on her alien friend's wrist, and then doing the same on her neck. Then, she put her head on Ka's chest, trying to listen to her heartbeat...

-"Her pulse... it's rather weak... I must do something to bring her back to consciousness!"-

And so, the human began to press lightly on her friend's heart, in order to get it to pump blood back into the rest of the young maiden's body, and quickly, she applied cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR, better known as "mouth-to-mouth breathing") so that she would have oxygen to breathe.

Meanwhile, Akane, who had never done anything like this in her life, except when she practiced it all in Japan during her years at the military academy as part of her Space Ranger training, was on the verge of tears, thinking that Kayce was about to die at her hands...

-"Come on, Kayce dear, please snap out of this, for fuck's sake, I don't want you to die! What am I going to tell everyone in the tribe if I let you die, especially your daughter and the rest of your family, huh?"- Akane mumbled in sheer despair. -"PLEASE... PLEASE ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!"-

And suddenly, the young brown-furred alien girl quickly convulsed, as she received the first aids provided by her human friend...

-"(おねがい。。。ケイスちゃん。。。もうしっかりしてよ。。。) Please... Kayce-chan... please resist..."-

...and the first thing she heard was the voice of Akane wailing in Japanese, who was still trying to bring Kayce back to life at any cost...

-"Aka...ne..."- The feline girl barely managed to say something from her mouth. -"It's that... you?"-

Immediately after, Kayce started coughing, trying to try to talk more. Meanwhile, Akane, seeing that her friend was regaining consciousness, began to shed tears of joy that her friend was still alive.

-"Akane..."- Kayce repeated again, after seeing her human friend's grieving face. -"What... happened...?"-

The human from Japan, seeing that her friend could still speak, only managed to say the following, this time in her friend's language, but still crying, upon seeing the terrible condition in which Kayce, who had been raped and brutally beaten by Brutus, whom Akane had killed minutes before, was in...

-"sob... Shhh... don't talk anymore... sob... you're still very weak... sob... but I'm glad you're alive... sob... my dear friend..."-

But the moment the young maiden tried to stand up from the spot, she let out a loud, pained mewl, the product of the sexual assault she had suffered on her body. Akane, all of a sudden, hugged her friend, trying to comfort her in the best way she could.

-"Please, Kayce... don't stand up... sob... you're still too injured to rise up on your own."-

-"My body... hurts a lot... MEOW!"- The humanoid feline girl yelled in pain.

But in that instant, Akane Araki knew that she, her friend and even the entire tribe where they lived could be in imminent danger. Since the rapist had a sword, that meant that he must have belonged to some enemy gang or army that might be roaming the area, and that Kayce had the misfortune to be in his way for some reason.

If that was the case, the most prudent thing for both of them was to return to the village so that Kayce could be taken care of immediately, and inform Chief Pownetkee, so that he could take action and do something to defend the village. But first of all, Akane had to verify that her friend had not suffered any fractures or internal injuries that could put her in danger when bringing her to the village.

The first thing she did was to touch various parts of Kayce's body, with the exception of her head and groin, to find out where it might hurt, to see if there were any internal injuries that could put her in danger. Kayce, for obvious reasons, did not understand at first why her human friend was touching her like that...

-"What are you... doing, Akane?"- The alien victimized girl said, still in intense pain. -"Why are you touching me... all over my body?"-

-"Shh... stay still, little kitty girl..."- The black woman reassured her friend. -"I need to know if you don't have any broken bones... If something pains you when I touch you, please let me know..."-

The young maiden quickly understood the indications of her human friend, and she, even with some pain, consented to be examined by Akane, in order to verify if she had no internal or external injuries that could hinder her to be taken to the village.

-"I see... understood."-

After touching her for a few minutes, Akane managed to verify that, apart from some bruises and the injuries Kayce suffered in her groin as a result of the rape, she had no significant internal injuries or fractures.

-"Well... it looks like you don't have anything serious, sweetie."- Akane said at her feline friend, while wiping her own tears. -"Now I'm going to take you back to the village, and let the chief know what happened."-

Kayce, who was still too weak to speak, merely nodded that she had no problem with the female Earth soldier carrying her back to her family home.

Quickly, Akane crouched down to her friend's height, with her back to her, and then the human explained what she was going to do.

-"All right, honey, I'm going to need you to hold on to my back as tight as you can."- The African-Japanese soldier explained. -"Try not to let go and I'll hold on tight too; and don't climb up too fast so you don't hurt yourself any more than you already are."-

Without further ado, Kayce climbed onto Akane's back, and she held onto her as tightly as she could. What she could not avoid, due to her instinct to avoid falling off the human's back, and having no more strength than she had, the young feline girl used her claws on her hands to grab onto Akane's shoulders, causing Akane to scream in pain.

-"HYAGGG! Watch out for those claws, will you? You're hurting my shoulders with them!"-

-"I'm sorry... Akane... I don't have much strength right now..."- Kayce apologized to her human friend, still in pain.

The human, knowing that her friend was trying to hold on to her as best she could, in view of her pitiful situation she avoided trying to make a big deal out of the incident, and confined her efforts to taking her back to the village as best she could.

-"It's alright, little kitty, don't worry, just hold on tight to my neck and everything will be fine."- Akane retorted back, with a tearful smile at her friend. -"I'll take care of the rest... Let's go!"-

With Kayce in her back, the two women made their way out from the bushes, and the woman went uphill, in order to return to the village as fast as her feet would allow...

But when the human and her alien friend were only less than twenty steps away from the village, they both heard the scream of a woman coming directly from there... and Akane realized that was not normal by any means...

-"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"-

Immediately after, the human heard even more screams and cries of women and children coming from the village, and finally, the foreigner heard the last thing she would have wished to hear on that already tragic day...

-"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"-

Those words confirmed Akane Araki's worst fears about the rapist she killed near the river: that man was not alone, and his cronies were on their way to the village to attack and plunder it, to the disgrace of both the human and the villagers.

Meanwhile, Kayce, who barely had enough strength to hold onto her human friend's back, managed to hear what was going on around her and asked Akane with some trepidation.

-"What's... going on... in the village... Akane?"-

But, Akane, who was enraged and horrified by the sudden turn of events taking place in the Native village where she was residing at the time, could only curse her bad luck in Japanese in the loudest way she could, as she ran in the direction of the village, with her still wounded friend at her back.

-"(ちくしょー！) OH, SHIT!"-

And then, Akane, using the native language, just gave Kayce the quickest answer she could think of at the time, while she kept rushing as fast as she could.

-"There is no time for explanations, honey, we have to make it to the village whatever it takes!"-

-"Is there... something wrong over there?"- The alien girl still managed to ask Akane, even in her injured state.

-"I don't know, dammit, I'll explain it to you when we reach my teepee, for now hang in there, honey!"-

And without further ado, Akane, with Kayce wounded behind her, continued on her way to the village, not caring about the risks facing her. But at the same time, the human woman could not leave Kayce and the rest of her friends she had met there at the mercy of whoever was raiding the White River village, and she was willing to do whatever it took to help them, even if it meant risking her own life.

END OF ACT XXVIII