"Pssst!"

The obese mouse, fittingly called Daita stirred in his sleep on the dirty straw, but he didn't wake.

Toshubi grumbled and picked a small pebble, then threw it at the opulent major of the little village. Who was currently sitting in the prison-basement of what could best be called a town hall. Finally he awoke. Toshubi saw it coming, he was going to scream, 'please don't scream'. He thought and cringed.

"Hah! .... what?!? Who? What are you doing here?"

At least he had the decency to lower his voice.

"I'm tempted to ask you that, Daita-san. Last time I saw you, you were upstairs, gobbling down your villages produce. I'm gone two nights and the place had been swarmed by feline soldiers."

"They came in the evening ..." the big one said panting. "They were travelling through and staid overnight. But their officer in charge questioned my authority in this village. I tried to faint cooperation but he must have suspected something. Most have left but they left a dozen or so behind."

"Did they happen to send a messenger anywhere?"

"Yes, they said they wanted to get me replaced. He went by horse along the road."

"That message never reached its destination." Toshubi told him with a nasty grin "If anyone asks those soldiers have been sent back to their base by another commander and you are officially in charge of the village."

The white mouse left it at that. One of the villagers would free the fat bastard in the morning. He just hoped the soldiers hadn't killed anyone before they left.

Two guards at the back of the town hall would never awake from their sleep anymore, but there were two posted at the front, and whoever was left in charge upstairs. The death-white mouse in his dark clothes hushed up the dirty stairs like a shadow through darkness. The ground floor sported no one, the first floor however was lit. He could see silhouettes thrown by candle light against the rice paper walls. Feline silhouettes. How many were there? He listened for a while. They were talking about who was going to get promoted next. He counted three voices. Two silhouettes, the third, the officer in charge would be sitting on the other side.

By the time the mouse crashed through the rice paper wall he already knew where his victims were sitting. One lost his head before he even got to turn.  The second at least reached for his sword by the time Toshubi's blade stabbed him in the neck. There was one left. The sergeant in charge.

"GUARDS!!!!" he had yelled, but not taken his eyes of Toshubi.

He had to admit the veteran was in his position of charge rightfully. The feline kept his nerves and didn't even flinch at the death of his subordinates. His voice had been loud, but composed, commanding, not panicked.  The sergeant had stood up in fluent motion and drawn his blade. Just something in his eyes was a tiny bit too confident. Toshubi had that tingling in his neck that something was amiss. He leaped forward into a front roll the same moment the guard that had kept silent until now lashed out with his blade. In mid movement the attacker tried to adjust his strike. The blade caught the mouse's black garment then kissed his shoulder, almost out of reach. It felt like getting whipped.

Toshubi rolled, then caught the blade of the sergeant with his own while kicking at his knees. His feet connected with a crack and the feline collapsed to one knee, but he didn't loose his balance. The mouse warrior had to defend himself against a stabbing motion of the sergeants katana, he answered with a cut to his lower arm. The katana dropped to the ground just as Toshubi jumped sideways and stabbed upwards blindly. His blade severed the neck of the remaining guard, while his blade cut the empty air where Toshubi would have been.  But there were sounds from the stairs, the two from the front gate.

"Careful, he is good!" the sergeant warned his remaining soldiers, composed despite his bleeding arm stump. His other paw reached for his wakizashi.  Although he was too slow and collapsed with a gurgling sound, his attempt reminded Toshubi to never underestimate injured opponents.

The remaining two guards had no chance. Although they attempted to work together, they were grunts with insufficient training. Killing them left a sour aftertaste in Toshubi's mouth. He told himself it didn't matter that they were barely old enough to be soldiers. They were the enemy after all.

Only now he noticed that he was bleeding. The blade had connected with his shoulder and left a clean throbbing cut. He'd have to bandage himself he realized. But first he had to make sure he hadn't missed any other feline soldiers. This wasn't supposed to happen, it almost hurt more than the injury.

...

The village was small and insignificant, neither economically nor strategically of importance, and too far away from anything important to justify military presence. Usually the felines were fine with overseers in places like this that reported to them. In this case the overseer was a turn cloak major who had accepted the new feline lords almost more quickly as their invasion had come. He also was corrupt and played into his own pockets wherever he could. That hadn't changed with the new leadership, he betrayed the new leaders as much as his old ones.

Under the current circumstances however it was the best thing that could happen to this little village, deep within the occupied territories. Up the hill was a little temple, and for a few calm days it was Toshubi's hiding place.

His, and his daughter's.

Jessica closed the door to the sauna as Toshubi knelt next to the fire box and carefully removed the vest to his ninja togs. Toshubi winced and let out a soft hiss as the small gash ripped open some of its scab as he extended his left arm backward to remove the vest. Jessica listened at the door, making sure that no one else was coming. Once she felt comfortable the coast was clear, she turned to her adopted father.

Toshubi was looking over at her.

"Jessica, take a look and see how deep it is and if there is any dirt in it."

Toshubi set the vest to his ninja togs to his right, along with his dagger.  Jessica let out a sigh and walked over.

"Try and hold still." She said. "This may sting a little."

Jessica gently squeezed the long edges of the cut together to open up the wound so it could show her how deep into the tissue it went. Toshubi tensed up a bit and a soft grunt escaped through his clenched teeth as the wound opened.  A few weeks ago, Jessica wouldn't have been able to stomach what she was doing right now. Jessica peered into the four inch long, half inch deep sword slice into Toshubi's back. It ran just an inch to the left of the spine and extended slightly downward across the shoulder blade. Jessica looked closely inside for any dirt or signs of poison. It seemed clean despite the fresh blood that she had to keep dabbing away with a cloth.

"Looks like somfurrie tried to decapitate you, and from the looks of it...  They almost succeeded." Said Jessica. "If you keep taking these risks, one day they just might succeed."

Jessica's voice was cool and void of her usual dose of emotion.

"It doesn't look too bad, but I'm going to stitch it up anyway. Knowing your level of daily activity, you'll only keep tearing it open."

Jessica let go of the wound and reaches for her backpack getting out her small sewing kit and a small bottle of sake.

Toshubi could feel her blue eyes burning at the back of his head.

"Jessica, you were warned what you may have to deal with by tagging along with me. But..."

"But this is something you have to do! Yeah I know, you've told me this a thousand times before." Jessica butted in. She poured the sake into the open cut and Toshubi's face winced with pain.

"Easy." Toshubi scolded back at the calf.

"Don't be such a baby." Jessica fired back.

Both furries sat quietly as Jessica started the delicate procedure of sewing the small gash closed.

"I don't want you to die daddy." Jessica thought to herself. "I worry about you every time you go away. I worry if you will ever return to me. You are not as worthless or disposable as you think you are."

Jessica started her second stitch, the needle  punching through Toshubi's skin causing another small trickle of blood that smeared on her thumb and fingers.  The thread lightly tugged and jerked as it was pulled through his skin.

"You matter to me. Doesn't that count for anything?" Jessica continued in her thoughts to her guardian. "You say you care about me, that you want me to live a long and full life... But I want you to be IN that life you want for me. I never knew my real father, he left before I was born. He never even told my mother "Goodbye." when he left. He didn't want the shame of having a calf out of wedlock."

Jessica began the knot that would hold her handiwork together.

"You didn't have to take up the responsibility of being my dad, but you did.  Have you no idea what that means to me? I love you dad, please don't leave me alone in this world."

Jessica took the knife from her backpack and cut the excess thread from the suture.

"Th-there, good as n-new." Jessica sniffed as she fought back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

Toshubi turned to face her, he could see she was upset.

"What would I do without you sweetheart?" Toshubi said softly to her and did his best to give her a smile through the pain in his shoulder. "Everything will be alright."

Jessica looked into his eyes, hoping to see some sort of guarantee to that last statement.

"Daddy!" Jessica sobbed as she threw her arms around Toshubi, forgetting all about the freshly sealed slash in his left shoulder and buried her face into his right shoulder. Toshubi's eyes widened with surprise and agony as white hot pain erupted through his shoulder. Toshubi clenched his teeth and groaned softly. Once the pain died down a bit, he wrapped his arms around the little calf and patted her on the back.

"Shhhh. It's ok." Toshubi said softly and held her, letting her cry. They would have to move soon, but for now there was time for this.


...

In his mind Toshubi pondered where that small army that had frightened the villagers was heading. It looked suspiciously like one of those "punishment operations", but if this village had been their target, there would have been nothing left but smoking ruins and burned corpses in them.

Lately the feline government seemed to have adopted these punishment sorties as part of their military training to harden young soldiers for the heat of battle.  The idea seemed to be, once they had laid fire to the huts of farmers wifes and children and listened to their screams burning alive, the heat of battle wouldn't frighten them anymore.

There was also the added bonus of identifying any soldiers who dared to refuse orders and hesitate killing on command, when it came to slaughtering civilians. It was way more convenient dealing with those "deserters" in the presence of harmless opponents than in the midst of a real battle.

Either way he'd have to find out whichever village this soldiers were heading to, and reach it first. And they had a full day head start.

Little surprising, fat Daita was back on his 'throne' by the time Toshubi arrived there.

Toshubi had sent Jessica with two monks who were travelling west to visit another temple. These were save havens, since even the felines mostly left them alone - as long as the monasteries paid their required tribute. A couple of rogue commanders still tried to rob temples of their valuables occasionally, even though there was little to gain there. Toshubi had prevented one of those attacks in a permanent manner, since then the monks had been very very helpful to him a number of times. He just couldn't risk them further with his own presence, but Jessica was save with them.  Momentarily.

Saver than on a mission like this.

Toshubi demanded a horse from Daita, and he got one. It was a farmers work horse, used to pull carts, not ride races, but it was a healthy beast and the major seemed happy to have the mouse assassin gone. There was no trace that feline soldiers had ever been here anymore. He was sure the village would have a nice cover story, yet Daita still paled when Toshubi handed him the message that messenger had failed to deliver. With trembling hands the major held it into the candle flame and didn't let go until the parchment had all gone up in tiny flakes of burnt rice paper.

A few minutes later he was on his way, glad that the horse fell into a steady trot on its own.

By afternoon he saw traces where the small army had camped overnight. He was closing in on them. All he'd have to do was ride the night through.

But in the dusk his heart sank. There was this ominous scent in the air of fire and burnt wood. He left his mount in between trees and went on foot to see without being seen. It was a village. Or what was left of it. Smoldering ruins next to a small lake. Even the fishing boats had been burned. There were no guards though, the place was deserted.

Part of him wanted to make a detour around the place. Too strong was the painful memory of his own village in flames. His loved ones burnt alive. But he had to see the traces, had to find out which way the troops had gone, and when.

The ashes were hot and still smoldering. In some places a red glow and even a few flickering flames on collapsed embers told him that he was just a few hours behind them who had done this. There was something to the smoke scent though which was peculiar. It smelled almost nice. Of burnt wood and bamboo.  Not of burnt flesh and fur which was a smell he knew much too well.

Of course there were a few dead bodies, killed by sword strike then pulled into a pile on the village square. But there were only five of them and all had been armed males. One even still wore remains of samurai style armor, likely handed down from his grandfathers. Whoever had lived here had given the felines a fight.  And they had their families evacuated in time. This was getting interesting, he was glad now that he had come.

Toshubi wondered whether he should continue on horse back or on foot. The latter wold be saver as he got closer to the army, but slower. He might not reach where the felines were heading before them, and he didn't know if they would stop for another night, now hat they were facing opposition of some kind.

In the end he kept on horse back, and followed the muddy road through the moon lit night. It led up into the foothills of some mountains. He had covered a few miles when his ears picked up a noise in the woods. 'Scout!' he thought.  'Must have seen me.'

In a fluent motion he was off his horse and hushed from shadow to shadow between the trees. Then he heard a voice. "He's armed, go tell the others, I think he's coming here..." 

Two furs were standing next to a tree, at least one of them had obviously been climbing on. The other was now running away. That wasn't good. He followed as quickly as he could, willing to bring the messenger down silently. Toshubi pounced him and dragged him to the ground, about to break his neck when he realized it was a mouse.  And just a boy, too. The little scout looked at him with scared wide eyes. A look he had occasionally seen in felines too when they saw him.

The other scout had heard something and came over. "Jiro, you OK? What..." he drew a blade. But he two was just a boy, and a mouse as well. And judging by their weapons they weren't playing in the woods, these were rebel scouts.  'Somebody must have organized some sort of resistance', he realized.

Toshubi let go of the boy on the ground and made a step back. These weren't his enemies. Jiro scampered to his feet, his hand on the hilt of a dagger.  "Who are you?" the other one asked. Apparently the older. They looked a lot like brothers.

"I'm on your side. I'm hunting the feline army." he answered.

"The felines have camped up on the hill next to the old castle ruin. You must come with us, we can't let you go there." the older one said.

'Might as well.' Toshubi thought. 'I need to talk to their leader.'

The boys had the forethought to bring Toshubi's horse along as well. It wouldn't have been good if the animal had wandered along on its own and ended up warning the felines. They made him walk ahead, holding his beast by the reins. He heard them whisper to each other.

'Did you see his mon?' ... 'I don't know that one.' ... 'I think it might be...' ... 'No way, really? You think he'd help us?'

Toshubi smirked. If even boys in this backwater rebellion had heard of him, then maybe the remaining days of the feline empires reign here were indeed numbered.

The rebel camp was almost invisible. The tents, made from fur and leaves were well camouflaged and they had just one fire, shielded by trees and undergrowth. He didn't see the glow but he could smell it.

Toshubi was surprised to see so many females and children among them. All of them armed, some with makeshift weapons like spears and bows and daggers that looked suspiciously like they once started their career as cooking knifes. But they had swords as well and military equipment. He counted about ten mice who were decently equipped, but the way they camped there were likely twice as much he hadn't seen.

The scouts brought him right into what looked like a funeral procession.  Several mice brought in five bodies on stretchers. He recognized the dead, they were the ones from the burnt village. Non of the rebels said a word, not even to introduce his arrival. All just watched a single female clad in leather protection, who knelt next to the one fighter who had worn the old samurai armor.

She was crying. "You stupid fool..." she sobbed "I told you not to stay back and fight them, I told you ...  Why did you do this? ..."

Toshubi studied the face of the dead mouse. He was old. Pain and agony had left him in death, made room for an almost peaceful serene look that contrasted with the gaping wound in his belly and his slashed throat. He looked pale in the flickering light of the fire. And he was her father, there was no doubt. Had he been the leader of the rebellion? Then it had indeed been foolish to stay back in the village, even if it gave fleeing villagers more time to get to safety. Who would protect them now?

Nobody came to comfort the daughter. They all stood in respectful distance and staid silent. By then Toshubi realized that the old samurai hadn't been the leader of this troop at all.

It was her.

He studied her more carefully.  She was young for that position, and despite her slender built, she seemed well trained. Her face showed a certain somberness, and although some of it certainly came from morning over her dead father he assumed it was as much her personality.

The female knelt for another minute, then rose.

"We need to bring them to our people's camp in the mountain for a proper burial. We owe that to them. But not tonight, we can't risk that while the soldiers are still here." she announced in commanding tone. "Who is this?" she had spotted Toshubi.

"We found this warrior following the felines on the road. He's sneaky, he saw us and caught me when I wanted to make a report."

Toshubi silently complimented the boy on making such a truthful report despite his obvious embarrassment.

"Well done for bringing him here Ishiro. Go back and continue scouting, we need to know if the felines send messengers on the road. Jiro, you too."

"Yes, mom." he answered and they scattered back into the forest. Toshubi rose an eyebrow.

"I assume I have to thank you for not harming them." the female addressed Toshubi. "I am Yumiko, daughter of Ishikawa Hiroto. He died today defending his village against these butchers. And they are gonna pay for that. May we have your name?"

Toshubi bowed to her, then introduced himself with his full name, Toshubi Tetchibana he said with stern voice, wondering how she'd react. Yumiko gave him a smile, if she was surprised by his name she didn't let on, but more likely she had guessed who he was already. He didn't know whether he should feel flattered or worried by his reputation.

"You are planning an attack on the felines?" he half asked half stated.

"They are superior in numbers and better armed. But we cannot afford them reaching the mountains, they would cause a bloodbath among those too old or too young to fight. However we think most of them are young recruits with little battle experience. They don't know they will face organized resistance."

Toshubi nodded, approving the reasoning. "They are led by very seasoned veterans and ruthless drill sergeants though."

Yumiko nodded. "It would be easier if we could somehow take out the leaders and render them headless prior to the attack."

Then she smiled at him in a disarming way. "I had planned to lead a surprise attack with the best of my warriors, and kill their commanding officers, then have the others attack when the camp gets in disarray. However, someone more skilled could sneak in and do the deed with a much greater chance of making it out alive."

She could have put it in different words Toshubi thought bitter. Like 'if you are not helping us, we are all gonna die tonight, me first.' That plan of hers was desperate. Granted they'd likely take a huge number of felines out before they were killed. They might even be lucky win the battle and get them all, but either way there wouldn't be many survivors. And whoever led that spear thrust attack had no survival chance at all. Even if she was skilled, she'd likely get cut to pieces before she even reached the officer in charge.

"I'll have to scout the feline camp." He answered.

"There's an old castle ruin with a still standing watchtower. They have someone for lookout on the top, and they have set a perimeter with watchmen around their camp at the edge of the forest, twelve soldiers in pairs of two.  They seem to cycle them every two hours." She answered, obviously she already had someone watching the camp closely.

He nodded, slightly impressed. "We can take out the watches silently on one side of the camp, just after they got replaced. Then I'll sneak into camp and try to do as much as I can. It will get noticed at some point, I'll cause a diversion. Maybe a fire or something, you will know. How many do you have under arms?"

"Around forty, including the kids. They have around fifty recruits and again around ten seasoned tigers in charge of them."

It would be a bloodbath. Either way. Toshubi hated it.

But he had no choice.

...

Some of Yumiko's fighters certainly were experienced in guerilla warfare.  Toshubi noticed how they were taking out the pair of guards who were watching the camp's perimeter. He had been worried that they would be able to give alarm but the mice had apparently done something like this before.  The tigers certainly would have had a very hard time giving alarm with slit throats. 

The next group was more tricky since they were sitting on an exposed rock on open ground. They would have been a nice target for archers, but not without screaming. So Toshubi sneaked close, sliding through the grass almost like a serpent. It took him nearly a minute to reach them.

They were talking to each other.

"Those rebels in the village sure put a fierce fight, I thought this was still a kind of training mission."

"Heh. I guess not all the bullshit they put on us is completely wro*ghhhhk*"

Before the other soldier, staring at his dieing companion, could respond, Toshubi had jumped up, blade drawn and slashed it across his neck.

The feline's head rolled over the ground. His eyes stared at Toshubi in disbelieve, and his mouth made a futile attempt to form words. Or maybe screams. Toshubi didn't want to know, he looked back to where his partners were coming, so he didn't see the young feline soldiers head die silently.

The last pair of guards on this side were again easy. There was enough cover and the recruits didn't pay attention. He left them to the rebels and made his way to the actual camp, hidden in shadows so the guards on the tower wouldn't see him.

Those had to be removed first, they would warn of the attack on the camp.

Toshubi got lucky. Instead of both standing on the top, one had come down a makeshift ladder to the tower to relief himself on the castle ruins. No one noticed that the sound of him peeing had turned into that of blood pouring.

The other expected his companion to come back up the ladder, not Toshubi.  Then he was surprised at the utter lack of feeling in his body after the assassin had snapped his neck. Toshubi gently lowered his limb body against the stone wall, careful not to make any noise. Then left him there to die.

There were five big tents. At this time of night most recruits were asleep except those who had just finished their guard shift. Toshubi sneaked into the first tent under the canvas in the back, then identified the drill sergeant who slept exposed in the far end. Toshubi covered the open mouth of the soldier with his paw and closed it at the same time his other hand crushed into the sergeants throat. It made a cracking sound as his Adam's apple collapsed, then a few wheezes that sounded like silent snoring. The soldiers hands rose up to free his face, but soon later he started trembling and then finally laid still.

Next tent.

The solider showed his back to Toshubi. He had to be even more silent, two soldiers near the tent entrance were talking instead of sleeping. Likely they had had the previous shift, it was too early to get ready for the next one.

Toshubi used his dagger and made a small incision into the back of the sergeants neck. The soldier woke up instantly, but his body didn't. Instead of standing up and fight the attacker like he wanted, his well rained body just trembled a bit and then stopped breathing. Toshubi had already left the same way he had come.

The next sergeant died a similar way, except he was laying on his back, so Toshubi stuck the dagger through his throat all the way down into the spine.  Very effective. No noise, no movement. Just wide open eyes and a look of terror.

It was the last tent that was a problem. The sergeant wasn't asleep, he was talking. "I should have you beheaded right away. Falling asleep during guard duty! And you'll get punished, too for not reporting this immediately. Follow me, all of you"

Toshubi glanced after the group of five soldiers, leading a sixth towards the castle ruin, bound. If they went inside they would see the corpses of the tower guards, that wasn't good.

"No, please, I wasn't asleep, I was just dozing a little bit. I wasn't really asleep." the soldier pleaded.

"On your knees, recruit!" the sergeant ordered. "You, behead him. Do it with one clean strike."

Toshubi wasn't sure who looked paler, the soldier to be beheaded or the one ordered to do the deed. "Please, let me do it, they are friends." one of the others tried to intervene.

"Silence. This was an order. You follow orders or you both die."

The soldier trembled. "I am WAITING..." the sergeant said in a dangerously impatient tone.

"Do it!" the soldier on the ground finally said with a pleading look to his friend, tears in his eyes. He'd rather die than be cause to their both death.

The second drew his sword. The tip of the blade was trembling, reflecting moon light in shimmers.

The two recruits stared at each other wordlessly. Toshubi had rarely seen so much sorrow in felines soldiers eyes.

Then he struck. The cut was aimed well, it severed the soldiers head cleanly.  His body trembled a bit and made a wheeze, then slumped forward.

The other soldier trembled too and couldn't take his gaze of the bleeding, dieing comrade.

"Well done. Your sentence is reduced to twenty days of quarter rations and double duties. You got away easy this time, don't let that ever happen again!"

Then the sergeant and the other three soldiers left on their way back to the tent. The one staid behind, on his knees next to his dead comrade and sobbed.

Toshubi ground his teeth as he sneaked back to the tent.  There was no time to ponder over the cruel ways of the felines. This time he got lucky.  While the soldiers went back inside, the sergeant who had just ordered the execution of one of his recruits went out to the commanders tent.  How convenient, that was Toshubi's next destination too.

First though he had to place the now dead sergeants body to the side of a tent so no one would see him. He had no clue why there were no guards in front of the officers tent, but he didn't complain. Inside was light and someone was speaking.

"Sir, they likely retreated into the mountains. Maybe instead of following we should make an example with one of the other villages in the lower valleys.  This is a training mission after all, I'm not sure we are ready to face organized rebels in such territory."

"Your concern is duly noted, but we can't do that. If we burn any more villages now, the remaining would just hide in the mountains too. We need to eradicate the survivors first, to show them that fleeing their villages can't save them. Then we will burn another village or two for psychological effect.  Look at the bright side, our recruits actually gain some real combat experience too."

"You are right Sir, of course Sir. Please excuse my insubordination."

"You are officers in training, you are allowed to think for yourself, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Voicing your concerns can prevent a superior from making mistakes if they are justified and teach you your own mistakes if they are not. We should get some sleep though, tomorrow will be a long day. See that the guards are cycled, would you?"

"Yes Sir."

The young officer-in-training left the tent no two feet next to Toshubi. He didn't get far, although his head reached a bit further. This time Toshubi didn't bother moving the corpse, he flicked the blade clean of blood, then entered the tent, sword still drawn.

"What else is i.." the commander turned pale and stopped in midsentence as he spotted Toshubi. "

INTRUDER! Arrgh!"

The commanding officer stared at the sword in his chest, his own half drawn but he didn't have the strength to complete the movement. Toshubi yanked his blade free and let him slump to the ground.

In the back of the tent four other officers had been sleeping. They were all awake now and stumbling for their weapons. Two were dressed in full combat armor they had been sleeping in, while two others were in undergarments and had nothing but their blades for defense.

Toshubi took the torch that was lighting the tents inside and threw it lazily towards the tent entrance. The canvas took fire immediately, for the moment trapping everyone inside.  Then he slashed at the first of the awakened officers. The one wearing armor.

Being half asleep slowed ones reflexes. With his training the soldier should have been able to deflect the blow that hit his head and turned his feline snout into a bleeding grimace.

Toshubi heard a slicing, ripping sound. Unlike the two other officers who were now also attacking him, the fourth one had sliced open the back wall of the tent with his sword and crawled through. That wasn't good. But at least the fire should have given the rebels a nice sign for attack. Now was the time.

The assassin tried to still reach the fleeing one, but one of the others blocked his way, trying to slice him. Toshubi dodged the strike and slashed at the officers groin, then as he collapsed with a painful wheeze, he turned towards the last attacker.

This one was a skilled sword fighter. He deflected Toshubi's counter and made a second strike aimed at the mouse's temple, roaring some insults at him.

Toshubi let himself fall and roll, then kicked at the officers knee. It swiped the tigers paws from under him, and he fell just as the mouse came back to his feet. But the cat still held on to his blade and blocked Toshubi's death blow, snarling.

Toshubi thrust his foot into the felines face and heard a cracking sound. The blade in the feline's hands went weak. Toshubi stuck his own blade down into the feline's chest and he died with a gurgling sound. The entire fight hadn't taken longer than a few seconds.

"ALARM! The camp is under attack. Form a defense line! ALARM!!!!"

It was time to get out of there, things would get ugly in a few seconds.  Toshubi regretted not having been able to get the last officer, even though it was only a young and inexperienced one, likely the son of some aristocracy, he just had done the right thing twice in a row.

By the time Toshubi left the tent through the same gap in the back canvas, the officer was standing by the next tents entrance, watching Toshubi, blade drawn.  The first soldiers already left their tents. Some had slept in armor.  The time for stealth was over.

Toshubi ran the other way to the old castle ruin where he saw one group of rebels emerge from the darkness. They nearly stumbled over the feline soldier who hadn't left his dead friend he had been forced to kill. The tiger didn't even try to defend himself. Toshubi thought maybe he was better off like that.

From behind him he heard shouting and the noise of blades hitting armor.  The mice were upon the camp from two sides at once, and just in time. He joined their ranks for the moment, hoping he would be able to save some of their lives.

On the other side of the camp, Yumiko had engaged the soldiers emerging from the farthest tent. It soon turned into a fight over the tent entrance, the soldiers there were as disorganized as they had been planned to be. Toshubi just wished that last officer hadn't escaped him. They would have been able to enter the tents with force and kill them all in their sleep without even an alarm sound. But that would have been too easy.

On Toshubi's side of the emerging battlefield, they soon faced organized resistance. The officer had ordered the recruits from the first tent to form a defense line between the burning command tent and the rest of the camp. It was blocking the mice approach. Attacking the heavily armored soldiers was tricky for the lightly armed mice. The defenders didn't move or advance, they stood their ground, giving their comrades time to get their armor ready as well.

Toshubi tried to flank them, while they were busy defending themselves against the more agile attackers. So far none had fallen on either side.

He was going to change that. The blaze from the burning tent put the entire scene into a demonic flickering light that reflected from Toshubi's eyes in the same colours. He came from no where and his blade slashed across the feline's throat. Then he already went for the next.

Meanwhile the young officer was rallying his troops from the other tents.  Every second gave his side more fight capable strength, but he also saw that his soldiers were being slaughtered. Yumiko's rebels turned the entrance of the fifth tent into a bloodbath. Some of her fighters had entered the tent and carried the fight inside while she was now facing a similar although less organized defense line on the fourth tent.

And there were no sergeants to call the troops to order. The officer simply announced the most awake recruits to be commanders of their group, then ordered them to defend the remaining tents until all soldiers were at least battle ready. The first tent was meanwhile empty and the three surviving defenders fell back, pressed by a group of rebel mouse warriors.

Only now Toshubi realized two of these warriors were more or less kids, and one was a girl. She had gotten a cut on her upper arm that was bleeding but she was fighting like any of the soldiers did.

Then another tent went up in flames. One of Yumiko's fighters had started throwing torches. And then arrows started hailing down on the rallying felines in the center. Yumiko's archers had taken position on the third side of the camp. The last side was the castle ruin and a steep cliff behind it

"Fall back! Fall back to the castle!" the officer tried to manage an organized retreat, abandoning the tents and the few soldiers who hadn't made it outside.

Around ten of the felines had fallen during the short battle so far. Most of them on Yumiko's side, plus the two Toshubi had taken out. The screams from the burning tent told him another feline hadn't made it out in time. He flinched. Yumiko had lost a few of hers as well. She herself was fine and gave Toshubi a smile, full of confidence and battle heat, like a goddess of war.

Then they pressed on the retreating soldiers. Some had left without their armor, their back to the castle ruin and the cliff, their front facing the rebels. Arrows started raining on them once more as the rebels closed in.  Only a hand full of the felines had managed to get their bows. Screams sounded where the arrows found their way through armor and skin.

The crumbling walls of the ruin offered little cover to the felines, but it was better than none. One of their archers climbed the tower and tried to keep the mice rebels at distance. But it was clear he didn't have many arrows left.

The remaining feline soldiers formed a shield wall as best as they could against the rebel's arrows. For a minute there seemed to be a stalemate, with nothing but arrows flying back and forth, then a scream sounded as the feline's archer fell, an arrow in his neck. It was met with a victorious cheer from the rebel mice.

When they approached closer, a single figure stood up above the wall, paws held high and empty. It was the officer.

A boy with a bow started drawing at him, but Toshubi put his hand on his arm and made him lower his weapon. "I think he wants to talk to us." he said.



"I come unarmed. I want to talk!" the young feline officer yelled across the short distance, then started walking despite the many half drawn bows pointing at him. The rest of the feline recruits waited in agitated silence.

He bowed to the small group of rebels, who looked at him with a mixture of hatred and mistrust. "My name is Hayabusa, Yamato. I'm now in charge of the...  this recruits. Please let us stop this slaughtering, I'd like to discuss the terms of our surrender."


Yumiko shot a disdainful glance at the young officer. "Assuming we simply let you go, could you guarantee us no further attacks on our villages?"

Yamato lowered his gaze. "I can only speak of myself and these recruits. I fear if news of this reaches command they are certain to launch a retaliation strike in force, no matter what."

"I thank you for your honesty. I assumed no less. It means however, news of this must never reach your command."

Yamato nodded gravely. He knew what that meant. Then he did something that surprised Toshubi.

"I'm sorry." he said and looked up. At first Toshubi thought he was going to do something drastic, he felt like he had to apologise in advance. Something like drawing a hidden, poisoned weapon. But the feline's face spoke a different language. He was actually apologising for what he had done. What his troops had done.  What his nation had done.

This wasn't right. He could also see the conflict in Yumiko's eyes as she faced the officer. There was a long moment of silence.


"I can't accept your terms." Yamato finally said, even though no actual terms had been stated. "I'm a soldier, if I must die, I want at least have a fighting chance. I owe that to these recruits."

He stood up wand walked the short distance back to the stone ruins. The soldiers let him through, then closed their shield wall again.


This all felt like a bad dream.


Then Yumiko made a step forward and called out to the twenty or so mice that had assembled.

"Today is the day we let the butchers pay for their crimes."

"Today is the day of vengeance for the crops and villages they have burned, for the cripples and the babies they have slain, and for the many thousand of our people they have enslaved."

"Today is the day of reckoning, of justice. They never showed mercy, now we can't afford to make prisoners. This day your grandchildren will talk of, because it is today that we shatter the joke the feline empire put upon us."

"Today we will prevail, and they will fall, by your swords and spears, and never rise again!"

Each shout was met with a cheerful cry from the assembled rebel warriors. Half of them were kids, but they joined in with even more fury. Then came the command.

"Attack!"

Toshubi joined the cheer of her group of soldiers as they stormed the hill.

Yumiko stormed too, but something was wrong. She was stumbling, fell behind.

Screams sounded from the top. A small group of archers had used the time to bypass the castle in the shadow of the night, climbed the walls on the other side and were now raining arrows on the feline soldiers back. They were children, but the soldiers still died. And then the rebels were upon them from the front and the fight went ugly. Mouse against tiger, but the mice had the determination and the experience of guerilla fighters, and the tigers were all but recruits with little more than basic training. They were too slow and their armor too cumbersome to be effective against the quick and lightly armed mice.  Blood was flowing on both sides but the felines were getting slaughtered, their archers out of arrows, fighting for nothing but their lives.

Toshubi helped among their ranks, aided to break the initial defense. His sword fell two tigers who had tried to block the entrance through the broken wall. Then the mice were through and in the defenders back and he looked behind.

Yumiko knelt on the ground and stared at her chest. Only when he got closer he could see that she had been hit. Between her breast stuck the black shaft of an arrow. It moved with her as she breathed.

Toshubi knelt next to her. She shook her head at him "Go, help them fight, I'm gonna be OK." she said. Her voice was trembling.

It was a lie. He could see it when he saw the feathered tail of the arrow. It twitched. It twitched with her heartbeat. And she knew that he knew when he stayed and put an arm around her shoulders. She looked at him tears in her eyes.

"I don't wanna die." she said with a hint of stubbornness and fear. "I can't afford to die. I have to take care of my boys, and of my people. Who's gonna lead them?"

She tried to get up, but the strain sent a piercing pain through her and she went back on her knees. Toshubi wished he could tell her it'd be alright, but it wasn't. If they tried to remove the arrow she'd bleed to death in seconds, if they left it in she'd likely have but a few minutes more.

"It's weird." she said, almost giggling. "I never thought it'd be like this.  It doesn't even hurt much. Its just so unfair. I want to live!"

There was nothing he could answer to that. "Hold me! Help me, please, I want to see my boys win." she asked, desperately. And he helped her up. It was weird as she said. Mortally wounded, yet she didn't even bleed and could almost walk on her own.

The fight had been fierce, quick and ugly. Now all but three felines were dead. Those were grouped in the corner of the wall, under the tower and were holding the rebels at bay. It was the officer and two of his recruits who were standing back to back, cornered.

Toshubi helped Yumiko over the fallen soldiers and the rubble of the ruin. The tents in the camp had burned to the ground, only the full moon lit the scene now. The situation was tied, calm for a second.

Yamato saw Yumiko and what condition she was in. His breath went wheezing, he had received a strike to his belly and was bleeding from that and other wounds, but he hadn't stopped fighting. He chuckled.

"Now we are both dead. And none of us is any wiser." he said, a painful tribute to the gods of irony. "It's almost morning, why don't we stop the fighting and wait for the sun to rise. It's the last sunrise we'll ever see."

Yumiko shook her head. She coughed and held on to Toshubi for a second, her face a grimace of pain. "The sun will never rise again for the feline empire.  And not for you either. It's over."

The feline laughed. "What difference does it make. Come on, bring it on, this has lasted too long already."


Yumiko sat down where she was. Toshubi helped her lower herself gently, then stepped forward, blade drawn.

It was not a fair fight. He made one attack and one of the recruits didn't parade it in time. He grabbed his belly, a deep cut in it, then collapsed.

The second recruit had an even quicker death. Sho-men, a strike to the head. A basic attack strike he should easily have been able to defend against with his training, but had failed as well.

Then there was only the officer. He faced Toshubi in a one on one combat, and attacked.

Toshubi had no problems deflecting the blade in the moonlight. A quick cut to the officers wrist and his blade flew away into the dirt.

Yamato drew his second, shorter blade with his left. He even drew it in time to block Toshubi's next strike. The reflexes of a young well trained officer.  But the mouse's next move was beyond what military training covered. A front roll, then a strike upwards, through the belly into Yamato's heart.

The tiger let go of his weapon and stared at Toshubi, then attempted a smile.  "I just hope this gives you a few weeks to get them to safety. Or this was all for ... Nothing ..." he said. A shiver went through him, then his gaze broke and he collapsed.


"Go, tend to the wounded, bring them to the camp." Yumiko ordered her troop of mice away with a voice of command. "But tell my boys to come here."

They followed the order. Most hadn't even realized what mortal condition she was in, but even the ones who did respected her command unquestioned.

Then Toshubi and the rebel leader were alone. Amidst dead felines and a few mouse rebels who hadn't made it. Toshubi didn't want to look too close, afraid he'd see young boys and girls slain and in their blood.

"I'm sorry." he told her.

She answered with a smile. "No, don't be. I would have died here today either way. I have to thank you for making us win.  My people see another day, they can go in the mountains and hide. Not ten armies can ever find us there in the heights. There's caves and some passes where one boy could hold up an entire army alone.

Crickets sounded and the first grey light of dawn showed itself in the east.

"I didn't know one could live that long with an arrow to the heart." she said, matter of factly. "Do you think ..."

"Mom!  Mom?" the two rebel boys climbed over the rubble and approached the two. "Mom are you OK?" Ishiro asked.

Yumiko gulped, tears in her eyes. "I fear I'm not. Come here, will you?"

Toshubi made a few steps to the other end of the ruin and left he boys alone with their mother. It was cruel to have to say goodbye to your loved ones like thus, but maybe better than never getting the chance.

The sun was approaching the horizon, the east was getting brighter.

"No, I KNOW you can do this. You have learned enough. Satoichi will lead the ascent into the mountains. He knows all the ways there, he will teach them to you. Take care of each other, and of our friends. Promise me that."

The boys were crying.

The sun was sending its first few rays over from the far sea, bright and blinding to the eye, even though the land was still grey, the whole sky was being lit on fire.

Eventually Yumiko sent her boys away, tears in her eyes. "And don't you dare linger. Help the others, there are wounded, help Keiko treat them. There mustn't be any more deaths." she stared at her boys, once more all rebel commander. But once they were gone she started sobbing. It was time for Toshubi to return to her side.

"I can't have them see me die. I just can't." she whimpered.

"It's OK." Toshubi said. Come to think of it, if he was to die he'd prefer if Jessica didn't have to see it either. That wasn't a pleasant thought, but then again he didn't plan to die anytime soon. "Let's watch the sunrise, its beautiful."

She nodded and looked at his eyes.

"I don't even feel weak." she said, sniffling. "If I pull that stupid arrow out, I'd pour myself out like a ripped water bag, but with it in, I might last for days until I die from inflammation. I don't want that."

He didn't like where he thought that she was going with that. Her face looked desperate.

"There's a third option." she seemed embarrassed to ask.

"I haven't had anyone touch me since the feline's killed Ishiro and Jiro's father... Toshubi-san, would you grant me a last wish?"

The arrow in her chest twitched faster.

Toshubi blushed. It was a request he couldn't deny her. He just felt so dirty that he even felt attracted to a mortally wounded female, like this.

He was as gentle as he could to open her leather armor. Tight fitting leather leggings which were bound together in her back. She gasped as he touched her armor in between her legs and around her thighs. Her legs were slender and beautiful despite her strength. It was such a waste that she was about to die, he wanted to cry. Instead he gently lifted her hip, so he could pull her garments down.

"Just cut them off." she asked. "I won't need them anymore."

He sliced through her pants, until the leather gave way to reveal her fur and what was in between her fur. She was moist, wet, urging.

"Touch me!" she commanded more than asked, and he obliged, brushed the fur on the back side of his hands across her nethers. She held on to her chest, still covered by the same tight leather armor that had failed to protect her, and gasped. Almost gently she brushed her hand over the deadly shaft that protruded from between her breasts and twitched with her racing heartbeat. Her breath went faster.

She was dripping with wetness, and her thighs emitted a heat that was breathtaking. Eventually she bent forward and started to nestle Toshubi's garments. He was a male, he wouldn't have been able to restrain himself even if he wanted. He already was as rock hard as his sword tip.

Yumiko freed that tip from its binding clothes, then she pushed him on his back on the pebbles. She lowered herself slowly, keeping herself upright, until her moist sex touched his tip. He gasped and so did she.

"We don't have to do this, ... I don't want you to die..." Toshubi said.

"Shut up." the rebel leader said, in a flash of anger. "Do you think I want to die?"

She then thrust herself unto him, a bit fiercer than she had planned to.  Yumiko let out a squeak, more of surprise than of pain, as she hilted the assassin. He groaned, closing his eyes for a moment.

Shivering she lifted herself of him, then lowered herself again. Her whole body trembled. Then she tarted to move her hip back and forth until she found a rhythm. One hand on his belly, the other on her own chest, feeling for her wounded heart pound through her leather armor. Little moans escaped her as she started riding him, stronger and fiercer, until she thought her chest would burst from the dull throbbing pain every heartbeat caused.

Toshubi watched her with open eyes. Her mouth was open, her face painful bliss. The arrow no longer just twitched, it jerked, pounded in her chest as she thrust herself unto him again and again. It was painful to watch, almost as if his own heart was pierced, knowing that it couldn't last, that she was doomed. He wished so much he could save her. Instead he felt his own loins approach his peak.

Then she screamed and arched backwards, her hand clasped into Toshubi's belly fur. Her hip gripped around the mouse assassin's shaft and pulled on him, squeezed him in rippling sensations, and then he came himself, spurted his load deep into her belly with no chance of holding it back.

Her other hand clenched around the arrow shaft until her knuckles were white and pushed it inwards into her own chest. It didn't move much, just an inch, as she pressed, teeth clenched still flooded with her orgasm, then she let go with another scream.  Another trembling shiver went through her and her hips kept milking the last drop of cum from his.

Yumiko however stared with open eyes into the rising sun. "It's so beautiful..." she whispered.

She had let go of the arrow shaft, and it was no longer twitching. A single drop of red was rinsing down from where it had pierced her tight armor. Only her breath made it rise slowly. "...So beautiful..."

She had tears in her eyes.

Toshubi grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her down unto him. He felt another shiver run through her body. Her gaze seemed broken, he couldn't tell whether she could still hear him.

"I'll miss you" he said. Then he kissed her. A last tremble went through her, and her hands grasped around is shoulder, sent a stinging pain through him as she touched the still not healed, stitched up wound and pulled him towards her tightly.

And then she filled his lungs with her last breath.

It was a weird feeling. He had never felt anything like that. As if she was giving him a part of herself that way, a part of her spirit maybe. Definitely her love.

He relaxed, and so did she, but there was no more live in her, her gaze broken, her chest still. Her loins still hot, yet empty.

Toshubi let her slide down next to him, gently, tears in his eyes. An empty hull what had been the most alive being in the world a few seconds ago. He covered her with what he could find around. Bits of her garments and from other dead rebels.  Eventually he carried her down the mountain to the camp.


The rebels received her body wordlessly, hadn't asked a single question about what had happened. Soon later he was on his way again. Alone.  But his daughter was waiting for him at a nearby monastery.


And in some strange way, up in the harsh inland mountain area, maybe he'd have two sons waiting too.