| "Reconstruction" Chapter 1 "What will we do now, you ask?" Lanom blared, discontent with the stupid question Gamer had just asked him. "We die, of course." "That is nonsense!" Gamer shouted. "We once lived without central power; we can do it again until we find someone else to lead us." Lanom sighed, raising his hand to his head. "Our people are sad," he whispered sadly. "They need to be content, the way they always have been. Without happiness and love, we will all die. In times like this, cat warriors must be reminded of compassion." Indeed, the entire cat warrior kingdom was in shock from the assassination of Rathkanar by seven unnamed individuals that people collectively referred to as "Rathkanar's Black Seven." None of them ever revealed his or her identity, and now the people all lived in fear. Something had to be done, and fast. The kingdom slept one more night without a ruler or a guiding light. The following morning Lanom awoke to see a small, thick book on his nighttable, next to his candles that lit his room. What's this? he wondered, picking up the tome. He read the title: I Am Cat Warrior. Lanom opened the book, hoping to find the signature of an author of some sort, but there was nothing there, only a 300-page book. Lanom analyzed the content of the book; contained inside were all of the customs, laws, and roles of cat warriors. He did not know what to make of the book, except that he needed to find out who wrote it, and, more importantly, when it was written. That day, Lanom walked through the village, asking who was responsible for I Am Cat Warrior. All through the morning, Lanom couldn't open his eyes without seeing at least one person reading from it. He saw small groups of adolescent men and women reading passages from it, as well as little children being educated on it. Lanom approached a few young cat women who sat under some trees reading the book. The laughed hysterically as they read. "Good morning," he said, holding up the book. "Do you happen to know who wrote this book? I found it next to my bed this morning." Through her laughter, a young tigress spoke up. "I'm sorry," she giggled. "I don't know who wrote it; it seems everyone has the same book." How did every household get this? Lanom wondered. "What's so funny, anyway?" he asked, intently. The tigress handed him the book. "Read page 104," she said. "It's hysterical; I can't stop laughing at it." Lanom flipped to the page and read to himself: 'To win the heart of a cat woman a cat warrior must have a strong will within his own to protect it. Therefore, it is not uncommon for two cat warrior men to love the same woman. Should this happen, they must resolve it in an honorable fashion; simply put, they must fight each other to win the woman for themselves. The two men, who may be friends, arrange for a fight to take place between the two of them while the woman watches from a short distance, so she is not struck inadvertently in the struggle. Both cat warriors fight each other with no weapons but their bodies, until one gives up. He may do this by saying "I give up" or raising his hands up in surrender. At that point, the victor congratulates the loser on a good match and encourages him to grow stronger of heart. To show that no bad feelings are kept against the other man, the victor and loser each bandage each other's injuries. After this, the victor has officially won the woman he loves for himself, and the disputes between the cat warriors end in mutual respect.' That's a horrible thing, Lanom thought. Why would we want to fight over a woman? That's just silly; painful, too. "Isn't that just the funniest thing you've read in your life?" the tigress laughed. "Soon men will be fighting over us in bed." All the girls fell down laughing. They thought it was absolutely ridiculous and that no one would ever do that. Lanom then bid the wildly-laughing girls a grim farewell. All day long, Lanom read I Am Cat Warrior; he could not understand what the purpose was. In the book were things like how men and women were to conduct themselves, as well as how little children should act during lessons at the grammar school. He also found a section on "proper bedroom etiquette" that made him laugh, and a short section on "the perfect cat warrior man and the perfect cat woman, and the ever-loveable cat child." It seemed, however, that the book was simply a form of entertainment. He read page after page of what he considered nonsense; a book that told of how cat warriors should be was silly. He went to bed that evening, unsure of what to do. A few weeks passed, and people still seemed to be reading I Am Cat Warrior rather religiously, even though cat warriors had no religion. Lanom awoke the morning of the cat warrior day of independence. He not awaken by his own instinct, but instead by the sound of singing and music. What is happening out there? he wondered, dressing himself and going to his window. Lanom looked out upon the middle of the village. Outside all the cat warriors were joyous and celebratory. But it wasn't the sort of celebration that there had once been; instead of people dressed in their normal clothing, all the cat warriors wore extravagant (and, in some cases, extroverted) types of clothing; some of the cat women wore masks and were scantly clad in light, revealing clothing, while the men wore their finest armor and satin capes. Little children were dressed nice and entertained the townsfolk with music and humor. There was much to eat and drink, and the kingdom looked and felt content. Lanom couldn't believe what he was seeing. He quickly dressed himself in nice clothing and headed outside. When he reached the center of the village, he found that many of his fellow guards were dressed as gentlemen. They all sat around with their women in their arms. "Good day," one of the guards said. "Good morning," Lanom said, looking at him. The guard, a black panther man named Tran, was wearing chain mail and a wine-colored cape of satin. "Why is everyone dressed up like you are?" "Haven't you been doing your reading?" Tran laughed. "In I Am Cat Warrior, a cat warrior dresses up nice for celebrations, whether you're a man or woman. And women still wear Nola berry vines on their heads in a crown." Lanom nearly lost his patience. "Why is everyone reading this book?" he snarled. "We are ruled by a king!" "Not so, my brother," Tran said. "This book has made us all happy, and it is common belief that once we discover the one who wrote it, we shall make him king, or if it is a woman, we will make her our queen." Lanom was fuming. "It's a book!" he crowed. "The whole kingdom is going to perish!" He stormed away in disgust; no one saw him at the celebration for the rest of the day. Chapter 2 |