Chance's mouth fell open as Felicia blew the thick wooden beam a kiss, then watched as it split in two, and she sauntered back over to where he stood with Sarah.
Sarah watched intently as Felicia severed the balance beam with just her paw, and when Felicia returned to them, she exclaimed, "That was awesome, Miss Harrison!"
Felicia crouched down so she was at the same level as Sarah and asked, "Why thank you, and what is your and your pet's names, little one?"
"My name is Sarah, and this is Inferno. When I am older, will I be able to do that, too?" Sarah responded with her own question.
"Certainly you could, with the right training, of course. Would you like to become a Martial Artist like I am?" Felicia inquired.
"Yes! After all, I want to be like my heroine, Empress, when I grow up," Sarah answered.
Felicia rose to her full height, flipped her ponytail over her right shoulder so it rested against her back, then said, "Empress? I might be able to convince you to make me your hero, little one. Empress is cool, and she has these great magical powers. However, when it comes to protecting the ones you care about, all you need is a tiny little weapon and a good flick of the wrist." As she spoke, Felicia withdrew a small throwing star from a little hidden pouch in her shirt and flicked her wrist, launching the star into a neighboring tree. Then she walked over to retrieve the star.
Both Sarah and Chance watched as Felicia threw the throwing star into the tree, then came back to them, twirling the star on her finger. Chance then said, "Quite impressive, Felicia, but reckless. You can't go around throwing weaponry to impress a child!"
"You were the one who wanted a demonstration of my abilities, Mr. Furlong," Felicia said. "I was only giving you what you wanted!" She put the star back in her shirt, then planted her paws on her hips.
"Can you two stop bickering?" Sarah yelled, then turned to face Chance and said, "Caliber and Empress would have not have asked her to join SWAT if they didn't think she could do the job." After she finished talking to Chance, she turned to Felicia and said, "And you, you could have accidentally hurt someone throwing that thing. I do have to admit, it was cool, though. You both need to learn how to get along if we are going to be a family!"
Both Felicia and Chance looked at each other each other after Sarah scolded them. They both turned their heads to look back at Sarah. Felicia then dropped to her knees, put both of her paws on Sarah's shoulders, and said, "You are right, little one. If we are going to be a family, as you say, we will need to get along with each other, no matter how pig-headed some toms may be." She then jumped into the air, performed a back flip, and landed on her feet before she asked, "Would you like to see my dojo? It's not that far from here, and I think you will like it there."
"As long as Chance doesn't mind, I would like to see your dojo," Sara replied.
Felicia turned to look at Chance again, noticed his mouth was agape, and said, "You are welcome to come along too, Mr. Furlong. Although, you might want to close your mouth first."
Sarah giggled, took Felicia's outstretched paw in hers, and left the playground, leaving Chance standing there for a brief second before he did his best to catch up to the two she-cats.
The three of them walked slowly along the main street of MegaKat City, so Chance didn't have to strain his injured leg, until they reached a building with a torii gate spanning the front entrance. Felicia withdrew her key from a pocket in her shorts, then said, "Welcome to my dojo." She put the key into the lock and gave it a turn to the right. The lock made a loud click before she pushed the door open and said, "Please come inside."
They entered a small foyer that had a foot locker with individual compartments for shoes.
"Please take off your shoes and put on a pair of slippers," Felicia said as she removed her sneakers and placed them in one of the cubbies. She quickly looked at her watch, noticed the time, and said, "My master and his wife have most likely returned from their errand by now. I'm sure they would like to meet you both. Come in and feel free to look around while I get some tea." She them left them to their own devices as she headed upstairs to fetch the aforementioned tea..
Chance and Sarah entered the main area of the dojo, and the first thing they noticed was the flooring. The floor was made of several long, lacquered maple boards. The walls were painted in a deep red and had several racks against them that held bow staffs of varying lengths, a few with wooden swords, as well as a bunch of practice dummies positioned neatly in a corner of the room. The ceilings were high and had old-looking wood trusses spaced at equal lengths. Suspended from the trusses were climbing ropes, as well as large lanterns that illuminated the room. Located on another wall stood a trophy case that was completely filled with all sorts of awards from competitions the students had participated in.
They walked over to the case and looked through the glass at the pictures of students participating in various competitions.
"That looks like Felicia, Chance," Sarah said as she pointed to a particular photo.
Chance moved his head to look at the photo Sarah was pointing to. It was a photo of a girl with her paws wrapped tightly around her opponent's forearm as she flipped him over her back. There was no mistaking the student for anyone else but Felicia. He let a whistle of appreciation leave his lips.
"Thank you, Mr. Furlong. Being only seventeen at the time, I was amazed that I was able to flip my opponent over my shoulder like that," Felicia said as she put a tray down that held a tea pot and five small ceramic cups. "My master and his wife will be down in a minute. May I pour you both a cup of tea while you wait?"
"Yes, please," Sarah responded.
"You really are a polite little girl, Sarah. Your mother must be very proud of you," Felicia said.
As Felicia poured the tea, Chance limped over to them and asked, "What made you want to become a nurse when you are very apt at martial arts?"
"Martial arts and nursing weren't my first choices at all. I wanted to take up the family business, but my mother wouldn't hear of it. She and my father argued about the fact that I was spending all my time in the metal shop alongside him and my grandfather. Finally, after about a week, we all reached a compromise that I could live with. I admit, I thought I would hate nursing. However, I was wrong.
"When I graduated nursing school, I interned at MegaKat General and was assigned to work with Dr. Feldman. He took one look at the very green nurse who was assigned to him and let out a huge belly laugh. I asked him what was so funny, and he responded 'Felicia, I have seen that spark in your eyes in only one other nurse before. She is now the head nurse of this hospital.' He also told me he had spoken to my father about me wanting to work in the shop, and he commended me for being so passionate about a career that no other she-cat he knew would even think about. Dr. Feldman also congratulated me on recently being awarded my black belt. He then said he was going to have to watch his step around me, because I would physically harm him if he stepped out of line. Dr. Feldman made my internship fun, as well as very educational, and with his guidance, I mastered nursing much like I mastered martial arts." She then heard the faint footfalls of her master and Natsume on the stairs and said, "My master and his wife are on the way down. Please show them the respect they deserve and bow to them when I do, ok?"
Yoso hit the bottom stair first, then held out his right paw for Natsume to take.
As her foot touched the stair, Natsume took her husband's paw in her left, and they crossed the floor of the dojo to Felicia and her guests.
Felicia motioned for Chance and Sarah to bow as she said, "Welcome back, master."
Both Chance and Sarah bowed at Felicia's request. However, Inferno noticed the emerald-colored dragon woven into Natsume's sweatshirt, and left Sarah's shoulder to inspect it further.
"Inferno! What do you think you are doing? Get back here now!" Sarah yelled.
As soon as Inferno took flight, Felicia ran over to one of the racks and grabbed a very sharp sword, then started to run back to protect Natsume from Sarah's pet.
Yoso was also surprised by Inferno's actions, but he also took the time to observe the peaceful way Inferno flew over towards his wife. Out of the corner of his eye, Yoso saw Felicia grab the sword and run over to them, and held up his right paw, telling Felicia to stop.
Felicia skidded to a halt at her master's command, but held her sword at the ready.
"It's alright, child. I sense this creature means me no harm. He can approach." Natsume was well-versed in mythology and the supernatural from years of reading and research she had done on the subject, so she was not fazed to see a green lizard flying through the air towards her. As Inferno got closer to her, she extended her left arm and hoped the creature would land on it.
Inferno did exactly as Natsume desired and landed on her arm, then walked up to her shoulder and leaned into her.
"My, aren't you affectionate," Natsume said. "I know your name, but what are you?"
As Sarah walked over to Natsume, she said, "This little guy is my dragon."
Natsume slowly lifted her left paw to Inferno's snout and gave him a light tickle under his chin, then asked, "You wouldn't hurt me or anyone else, would you?"
Inferno cooed as Natsume tickled him, brought himself closer to her neck, and draped his tail over her shoulders.
"I didn't think so," Natsume said before she turned her head to face Sarah and asked, "Where did you find such a wonderful companion, little one?"
"I was at my friend's antique shop when a fancy ornament caught my eye. I asked if I could hold it, and she let me as long as I was careful. That was when Inferno hatched," Sarah answered.
"I have never read anything like that in my books. You must be very special to have a dragon hatch for you. What is your name?" Natsume asked.
"It's Sarah, and you are very pretty," Sarah answered.
"Why thank you, Sarah," Natsume responded as she blushed ever so slightly. "This is my loving husband, Yoso, Sarah."
"Pleased to meet you, Sarah, and you are quite beautiful yourself," Yoso said. Sarah bowed to Yoso, then Yoso said, "There is no reason for you to bow to us, Sarah. Any friends of Felicia's are friends of ours." He then turned to Felicia and asked, "Since you are dressed for a workout, care to spar with me as a demonstration of real martial arts, and not that fake stuff shown in the movies? And this time, we can see if you are as good with your new sword as you are with a practice sword."
Felicia smiled at her master and said, "Hai, master." She then walked back to the racks of weaponry, replaced the sword she was holding, bowed in respect, and quickly sprinted upstairs to get her own sword.
Yoso turned his attention to Chance, then asked, "Are you Sarah's father?"
"No, I'm just her friend and guardian for the afternoon," Chance responded.
Yoso studied Chance for a minute and realized he had seen him somewhere before. Then his memory came back to him, and he said, "You are Chance Furlong. You worked on my car several times. However, I have seen you somewhere else. On the news, perhaps. There are not many in the city with your striping and your body type."
Chance started to get nervous since Yoso was obviously very smart, and since he had been on the news as T-Bone several times, he knew it wouldn't be too long before Yoso put two and two together.
Felicia returned with her sword at her hip, stood in front of her master, and said, "I am ready, master. Shall we begin?"
"You have me at a severe disadvantage at the moment, Felicia. If I sparred with you now, Natsume would be burying me. I think I need to even the odds just a hair. I'll be right back," Yoso said before he turned and headed towards a small closet he kept locked. Yoso withdrew a key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and opened the door. He turned on the lights to reveal a second shrine hidden in the closet. He fell to his knees, slapped his paws together, and said a prayer of respect to the shrine. "Father, please give me the strength, the courage, and the wisdom needed to use your sword." He opened his eyes and looked at the photo of his parents in the center of the shrine, then said, "Thank you, father and mother. I love you both, eternally." Upon finishing paying his respects to his parents, he reached into the shrine, wrapped his right paw around an old scabbard, and withdrew it before returning to the main section of the dojo.
As her master walked back to them, Felicia said, "Master, I have been your student for over seventeen years, and I have never seen the inside of that closet." She looked a little bashful, but determined as she asked, "What do you have hidden in there that is so valuable, you feel you need to hide it from your students?"
Yoso dropped to his knees and put the scabbard in his lap before resting his paws on it. He then replied, "Inside that closet is a shrine to my late parents. The reason I hide it from everyone is my parents were killed as part of a yakuza hit. They were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. I only wanted to have a place where I could mourn for my parents that was mine alone."
"Yoso, dear, I loved your parents too. I so wanted to mourn their loss, but since they are buried back in Japan, I could not. If I had known you have this shrine, I would have mourned their loss with you," Natsume said.
"Forgive me for being selfish, my love," Yoso said.
Natsume went to him and fell to her knees. She wrapped her arms around her husband and said, "Yoso, I loved your parents like my own, and I miss them as much as you do. Please, let me mourn with you?"
"I apologize, Natsume. I had no idea you were hurting as much as I am. If you don't mind seeing your husband cry, then you can mourn along with me," Yoso replied.
Natsume smiled and said, "I don't mind at all, my husband. Actually, I will be crying right along with you."
Yoso wrapped his arms around his wife and rested his head on her right shoulder. He then said, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Natsume responded before she kissed his cheek. "Now don't you have a demonstration to perform with Felicia?"
"You're right," Yoso said as he stood. He walked to the center of the dojo, withdrew his sword from the scabbard, and ordered, "Felicia, to me!"
"Hai, master," Felicia responded and confidently walked over to Yoso. She turned ever so slightly away from him, opened up her stance, bent her knees, and positioned her paws. Her left paw was placed firmly on the hilt of the sword and the other on the scabbard, waiting for the correct time to unsheathe her deadly blade.
Yoso took a very similar fighting stance, narrowed his eyes as he studied his opponent, then yelled, "Fight!"
Felicia swiftly withdrew her blade and charged her master. She thrust her blade at his heart once she was in striking distance. However, he was just a hair quicker, and dodged an attack that might have easily killed him.
"Nice attack, my student, although your timing was just a hair off. I guess you need to practice with that new sword of yours before you use it in a real fight," Yoso said.
Felicia heard her master, and before Yoso could turn around and attack, she planted her left foot, spun on her toes, and went on the attack herself. She drew her blade over her left shoulder, then swiftly swung.
Yoso heard the telltale sound of Felicia's sword slicing through the air and ducked. However, as the blade passed over his head, his braid fell prey to it, losing a good seven inches of its length.
All three of the spectators watched as Yoso and Felicia participated in their very deadly dance. After seeing Yoso's braid fall victim to Felicia's blade, they knew Yoso and Felicia were not acting, but seriously going after each other with each attack.
Chance leaned over to Natsume and asked, "Should they be using real swords?"
"It's fine, Chance," Natsume said. "They have done this many times before, although my husband has never lost his hair before."
Yoso did a backflip and swung his sword at Felicia, but she had been watching him, so she was fully prepared. She brought her sword up over her head, and with her left paw still holding the hilt, she rested the non-lethal edge of the blade against her right palm.
Yoso's sword connected with Felicia's, and sparks flew from the blades scraping against each other. Then Felicia made her move. She quickly moved her right paw back under her left and drew her sword right across Yoso's chest with just enough force to slice his shirt open.
Yoso landed on his feet and knew he had been beaten as soon as he felt the cool air hit his fur. He looked down at his bare chest, then said, "That was one of my favorite shirts, Felicia."
Felicia put her sword back into its scabbard as she triumphantly stood there with the toes and heels of her feet touching and her head held high. She then spun around on her left heel and walked back to her master. Felicia bowed to him, then said, "That was one heck of a workout, master. You might be older than I am, but you can still move."
"You make me proud, daughter," Yoso said. "When you first came here, your steps were hesitant, your movements unsure. In time, you became graceful and confident with your movements as you improved and honed your hidden skills. Look at you now. Every step you take embodies confidence. You have surpassed every one of your class mates and teachers, including me, and on top of that, you took to handling your sword like a duck to water. You use it so well, it's like an extension of your arm. Seeing you fighting today was breathtaking. Natsume and I made a very wise decision in giving this dojo to you. Felicia, my dear, you are going to make an excellent sensei, and your students are going to love learning from you."
Felicia hugged her master, then said, "I promise to teach my students everything I have learned, and make you proud, master."
"You have already made me proud of you, Felicia," Yoso said. "I have one more gift for you." He started to lead Felicia out of the dojo and back onto the street, then said, "Come with me. I promise you will love it."
They exited the dojo followed by Natsume, Chance, and Sarah, and walked to the storefront just to the right of the dojo. Across the plate glass windows was a large white sign with big blue letters saying 'SOLD'.
Felicia turned to Yoso and asked, "What is this, master?"
Yoso turned his head to her and answered, "You have been begging me for years to expand the dojo so we could accommodate more students. I finally saved up enough money for the down payment on this space, so I bought it and put it in your name, Felicia. This store is now yours to do with as you see fit!" He went over to Natsume, who had a set of keys dangling from her fingers, took them from her, and handed them to Felicia.
Felicia took the keys from Natsume and walked over to the front door of the shop. She inserted one of the keys into the lock and gave it a firm twist, then pushed the door open before entering. Despite the layer of dust covering every square inch of the store, Felicia discovered that the storefront was quite expansive. The front windows let in a very large amount of natural light, the walls were not damaged in the least, although they could use a fresh coat of paint, and the ten-foot dropped ceiling was only missing a few tiles. As she looked around, dust flying up in little clouds around her feet, she asked, "I don't recall this place ever being open. What was here?"
"If I remember correctly, this used to be a tap studio over twenty years ago, Felicia," Yoso said.
Felicia wracked her brain to come up with something she could do with the space. She walked over to the wall that separated the dojo from the store and rapped her knuckles against the wall. The wall felt like solid rock, which made her think twice about possibly taking out the wall and simply expanding the dojo into the new space. Then she had another idea. She backed away from the wall to the center of the room, took a few steps back towards the front glass, and then took off running. After a few running steps, she bent forward, planted her paws on the floor, did a handspring, launched herself into the air, flipped around, and landed on her feet. Felicia wiped the dust from her paws as she walked back over to Chance and then asked, "Can you get in touch with Lisa? I have an idea that I am sure she is going to love."
End of Chapter