The Booted Cat
Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away from home, there lived a poor miller who had three sons. One day, the miller passed away due to old age, leaving his most prized possessions to his three sons. The oldest son was given the mill, the middle son was given the mule, and the youngest of the three, a young man named Shikamaru Nara, was given his father's cat. She was a little white cat named Haruhi and she was very clever as well as mischievous.
After his father's burial, Shikamaru decided to leave the farm and go out into the world to start a new life on his own. He took the cat, Haruhi with him and to be honest, he was far less than pleased with his new pet. He thought that the cat would never help him get anywhere in life, but little did he know that he would be proven wrong.
As they made their way down the path, Haruhi tried to comfort her new owner by rubbing her face against his leg."Please don't look so disappointed, Master," Haruhi said, touching the young man's shoulder with her paw. "I'll be sure to get you everything you'll ever want. You'll see."
"You? How can you get me everything I want?" Shikamaru asked. "You're just a cat.""Master, trust me, please. True I am a cat, but I have a plan and it's a really good one too. Now, I'll need a few things."
"Like what?"
"Like a burlap sack, a scarf, and a pair of boots."
"Why? What do you need with those things for?"
"It's part of my plan. Do you seriously want to question it, Master? Do you want me to explain it to you? Before you know it, I'll start rambling and you don't want that, do you?"
Letting out an annoyed sigh in response, Shikamaru reluctantly gave the cat his scarf and his old boots as well as a sack and before he knew it, the cat had already run off into the forest. She laid the sack in the middle of the path with some carrots inside. She was using them as bait. Haruhi then hid in the bushes as she waited for any little creature to come around and take the bait. It took a few minutes, but finally, her patience was rewarded.
Two rabbits unknowingly hopped into the opening of the sack to take a little nibble of the carrots. And she pounced onto the sack, causing it to close and capture the rabbits. With the sack of rabbits in tow, Haruhi made her way to the castle to present her catch to Daimyo Inoichi Yamanaka, all according to plan. The Daimyo was reading a book to himself when the little cat came to call.
"Lord Daimyo, a cat is approaching and she wishes to speak with you," a clumsy messenger said as he barged into the throne room to tell his master the news.
"A cat? Speak with me?" The Daimyo asked, confused.
"Yes, and this cat wears boots, Your Excellency," the messenger said.
"Boots? Oh my. Then surely this must be a creature of substance. Bring this cat before me," the Daimyo ordered.
And soon, Haruhi appeared before the Daimyo with her sack. She bowed low before saying, "I am very humbled to be in your presence, My Lord."
"What is the meaning of this, young feline? Why have you requested an audience with me?" the man asked.
"Your Excellency, I've come on behalf of my master, the Koshaku. He has told me to present you with a gift," Haruhi said as she gave the sack to the Daimyo.
The Daimyo opened the sack to see the two rabbits squirming around inside. He let out a cry of surprise and looked back at the white cat with wide eyes.
"Do you like it?" Haruhi asked.
"Oh yes, I do. Thank you very much. Tell this Koshaku that I accept his gift and also tell him that I say thank you," the Daimyo said.
"Of course, Your Excellency," Haruhi said before she made her leave.
Over the next few days, Haruhi had gone out into the wild, capturing animals of all kinds and presenting them to the Daimyo as gifts from the Koshaku. One day, there was a baby dragon, another day a katsura tree sapling, and another day, a beautiful gemstone in the shape of a heart.
And finally, it was time for Haruhi to play out the next part of her plan. She asked the Daimyo and his daughter, the Princess, to come to the castle of the Koshaku for a holiday weekend. A few hours before the two royals could make it, however, Haruhi asked Shikamaru to take a bath in the river under the bridge that the royal carriage would be going on.
"Why are we doing this again?" Shikamaru asked.
"It's part of my plan, Master. The Daimyo and the Princess will be here any minute, so be ready," Haruhi said, seeing the carriage in sight.
"The Daimyo and the Princess?! Haruhi, what did you do?!" Shikamaru demanded.
Instead of answering her master's question, Haruhi ran away from the riverbank while crying out, "Help! Help me! Somebody, help!!"
That made the royal carriage stop in the middle of the path and the Daimyo looked out the window to see Haruhi running towards him while screaming and shouting in a distressed manner.
"Haruhi? Are you alright? Whatever is the matter?" he asked.
"Your Excellency, fair Princess. I have horrible news. My master the Koshaku, was taking a swim in the river when he was robbed by a gang of thugs!!" Haruhi cried.
"Oh, dear! We must help him! Come, my dear," the Daimyo said as he climbed out.
"Yes, Father," the Princess said, following her father outside.
The white cat led the two royals to the riverbank and she showed them Shikamaru Nara, or the Koshaku as Haruhi called him.
"My Lord, milady, the Koshaku," she said.
"How do you do?" The Daimyo asked politely.
"Hello, Lord Daimyo. It's such an honor, i-i-i-it truly is," Shikamaru said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Koshaku-Sama. I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time. My name is Ino Yamanaka by the way," The Princess said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Princess," The young man said.
"Your Excellency, my master's clothes and carriage have been stolen," Haruhi lied.
"Don't fret, Haruhi. I shall have the tailors set arrangements at once. And your master shall ride with me and the Princess. It will be a pleasure to continue the journey together," the Daimyo said. "Won't you care to join us?"
"Oh. I'm afraid not, Your Excellency. I must prepare the Koshaku Castle for your arrival," Haruhi said.
"Very well. Go on ahead. I suppose we'll meet you there soon."
Haruhi then continued running down the path, while passing by many farmers. She told every one of them that when the Daimyo passes by and he asks who the land belongs to, they were to answer, 'It belongs to the Koshaku.' When the Daimyo came by in the carriage, he was told that the land belonged to Shikamaru. He was greatly impressed as well as his daughter, Ino. Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder what that little cat could be up to.
Meanwhile, Haruhi had finally made it to the most difficult part of her plan: confronting and defeating a horrible Demon. This demon was the richest and most evil creature in the land and Haruhi knew she had to get his castle. As the little cat approached the castle, she couldn't help but feel even the tiniest bit nervous. What should she say? What should she do? When she came to the main door, it suddenly flew open and Haruhi slowly walked inside.
As she walked through the foyer, she heard a deep, booming voice say, "Who goes there?"
Her voice wavering, the terrified cat called, "It is I, Haruhi, a servant to the Koshaku. I'm looking for the owner of this manor."
And just when Haruhi thought it couldn't get any scarier, she was suddenly blinded by an immediate flash of bright white light. And when her vision was in focus, she looked up to see the owner of the manor. It was a griffon wearing black rags and he looked down at the cat at his feet. She had a look of terror in her eyes.
"You're just a cat," he said.
"I'm looking for a demon," Haruhi said, trying her best not to scream in fright.
"You're looking at him. What do you want?"
"I've heard rumors about you."
"What rumors?"
"Well, rumors of you and your great magical powers, of course. What kind of powers do you have anyway?"
"What kind of powers do I have? Ha! I have so many you can't even count them all! I can turn myself as well as other things invisible. I can shapeshift, and I can even alter reality itself!!"
"Well, that sounds fine and dandy. But I'm more interested in your shape-shifting ability. I hear that you can turn into very large creatures. Like, a lion perhaps?"
"You mean like this?"
In a flash, the Demon transformed into a large, ferocious lion. Haruhi screamed, jumped up, and clung onto one of the tapestries with her little claws. But before any harm could be done, the Demon had turned back into himself.
In a flash, the Demon transformed into a large, ferocious lion. Haruhi screamed, jumped up, and clung onto one of the tapestries with her little claws. But before any harm could be done, the Demon had turned back into himself.
"Wow. That was impressive," Haruhi said.
"Why, thank you," the Demon said, bowing.
"Hey, can you turn into anything else?" she asked.
"You want more, eh? If you like that, try this on for size," he said.
That was when the Demon transformed into a colossal elephant. Haruhi let out another frightened cry as she hid under the carpet of the foyer. She peeked her head out to see that the Demon was once again back to his original form.
"Did you like that, my dear?" he asked.
"Uh...yeah. I did," Haruhi said as she crawled out from under the rug. Then, she came up with an idea. "Is that the best you've got?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" The Demon asked angrily.
"Nothing, nothing at all. But I just thought of something. Sure you can turn into big things. Anyone with powers like yours can do stuff like that. But have you ever tried turning into something REALLY hard? Like a small animal? A little mouse for example? But don't worry about it. It's okay. I get it if you're too scared to do it."
"Scared? Me?! That's it, pussycat!! Do you want to see a mouse?! I'll show you a mouse!!"
And in a bright flash just like before, the Demon suddenly disappeared, and in his place was a tiny brown mouse. Haruhi stared for a moment, then she smiled slyly.
"Looks like you proved me wrong, Demon," she said smugly.
That was when Haruhi crept towards the brown rodent, pounced on him and she gobbled him up. Soon enough, the Daimyo, Princess Ino, and Shikamaru arrived at the castle where they were greeted by Haruhi.
"Welcome, everyone, to the marvelous castle of the Koshaku," she announced before giving a bow.
And soon enough, Shikamaru Nara and Princess Ino Yamanaka were married. Haruhi stayed in the castle as a hero and a personal guard. The Demon was never seen in the kingdom ever again. And they all lived happily ever after.