| Chapter 3 It had been several days since Lanom had assembled the 20 cat warriors to discuss I Am Cat Warrior; they met every day shortly after breakfast for a few hours, then adjourned for a midday meal, then continued to discuss the book for several more hours before returning home for the rest of the day. After approximately eight consecutive days of meeting, Lanom and his group of cat men and women had finished reviewing the entire book, from cover to cover. On this day Lanom addressed them. "I congratulate and commend all of you on a job well done," he began, smiling his widest in days. "You have all done wonderful work in the past few days to help us, as a civilization, get back to where we were before the attrocious murder of Rathkanar." He then turned to the leader of the 10 cat women, the young leopardess Hynma. "Hynma, you've walked through the kingdom from time to time, outside of our meetings. What have you noticed about our people?" Hynma stood up. "I have noticed much about our kingdom, Lanom," she said. "People are not so sad as they once were. Little children come out to play again. Lovers walk hand-in-hand again. It is peaceful once more." Lanom smiled. "Thank you, Hynma," he said, prompting her to be seated at the table again. "This is exactly what we were hoping for. But now that our people are happy, we now must find the author of I Am Cat Warrior. It was our idea to give the throne and the crown to whoever wrote this book, for it was he or she who reminds us of our happiness that was once lost. Has anyone of you found any sign of who it might have been?" Daont, a panther and the leader of the cat warrior men, stood up. "Not yet, Lanom," he said. "There is no author mentioned in the book anywhere. No strange markings, no unusual rearrangements of letters. Nothing at all." "I wish that he or she would just come forward," Lanom said. "They must be seeing the joy of all the cat warriors as of late; wouldn't they want to be revered?" At that moment, the doors of the assembly hall swung open. It was Gamer, dressed in his armor, his sword strapped to his back. Lanom sneered. "What are you doing here?" he asked, sternly. "Is there some sort of problem?" Gamer asked, uneased by Lanom's discontent. "I've come to announce the author of I Am Cat Warrior to all of you." Lanom's eyes lit up. "You know who it is?!" he cried, making the halls echo with his booming voice. "Why didn't you come tell us all, let alone all the other cat warriors?" "I would have liked to," Gamer said, "but, alas, you and all of your fellow cat warriors here were too busy deliberating, not allowing time for anything else." Lanom sighed loudly. "Gamer," he began, approaching his fellow guard, "would you please tell us all who wrote the book, so that our curiousity can be eased and our king or queen may be crowned?" "Certainly," he said. His eyes wandered to the right, then to the left. "Me." The whole assembly hall gasped all at once. Lanom stood gaping in front of Gamer, his bottom jaw practically resting on the floor. "YOU wrote this, Gamer??" Lanom asked, almost looking horrified. Gamer slowly backed away, fearing he might be attacked. Lanom approached him slowly. "Gamer--" he began. As Gamer backed away from him, Lanom walked toward him and threw his arms around him, embracing him tightly and affectionately, crying. "I declare that you be our new king. Only such a person as you could display such compassion for his people." Gamer was honored. "You really want me to be your king?" he asked, quite surprised. "Yes, yes," Lanom said, wiping his eyes. "You have brought us happiness in our darkest times, almost as Asmodo did not long ago. Only a cat warrior king can perform that feat." "I accept," he said. The assembly cheered. On that day, in front of the entire kingdom, Lanom crowned Gamer as the new king of the cat warriors. I Am Cat Warrior was now officially accredited to him, and was owned by most every household in the kingdom. Gamer also named Lanom as his second-in-command, and also named Hynma, Daont, and the other 18 men and women to be his royal advisors. A celebration was held all day for his inaugeration. Epilouge |