Arc XI Chapter 12

Arc XI Chapter 12

XI

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Arc XI Chapter 12

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A lone mountain pass near the border to the snake clan has been chosen and was agreed upon as the assembly area. A military camp of bivouacs and tents rose from nothing as more and more forces assembled. Now that their respective delegations had arrived, the arduous rounds of diplomatic talks had begun under the cover of a large tent. The alliance of threatened clans had been assembled, or rather the alliance of cute threatened clans, a fact that didn't escape Yuki's notice. Much to her delight, it was an alliance consisting mainly of cute and fluffy animals. She wanted to tickle and pat all of them!

The cats sent their representatives. The red pandas sent their representatives. The hedgehogs sent their representatives. The otters sent their representatives. The beavers sent their representatives.The rabbits sent their representatives. The squirrel sent their representatives. The weasels sent their representatives. And last but not least, even the tanuki sent their representatives.

Yuki smiled. They were all so cute and cuddly, not to mention and supremely fuzzy. And yet, they were all united in their purpose to fight an old and common enemy, the evil snake clan. The expansion of the snakes had to be halted at any price until it was too late. Everyone knew what was at risk here and that time was of the essence! Nevertheless, old grievances were not entirely forgotten and prejudices lingered.

A red panda raised his paw, pointing at Katsuki with an accusing tone, “How can we be certain that you won't betray us yet again, Princess Katsuki? After all, it was you and yours who sold us out during the last war! Everyone knows that you cats are a treacherous clan without the slightest sense of honour!”

Katsuki was obviously forced to defend official neko policy, “We aren't!”

The red panda narrowed his eyes, his position irreconcilable. “You are. You are nothing but opportunistic cowards! Your resolve is as weak as your fur’s fluffiness!”

Katsuki pouted, fuming. “Hold your tongue! I won’t allow you to besmirch the honour of the glorious neko clan, you ... Mmmmmm! Mmmmm! Mmmmmmm!”

Yuki intervened, holding Katsuki back, closing her mouth with her fingers, blocking any of her attempts to speak further. These talks were too important to be ruined by individual sentiments. The needs of many were more important than the wounded pride of a single kitten.

All that was left to Katsuki was to mumble and protest, “Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmmmmmm!”

Yuki smiled, taking the word instead. “We do not want to disagree, but you should not forget that the neko clan has hardly profited from our betrayal. Rather the opposite. We have suffered the consequences of our disloyalty. The snake clan backstabbed us at the first best opportunity.”

“...” The red panda grumbled, but her words calmed his mood. “Fair enough ...”

“Sssssss, greetingssss everyone.” An uninvited visitor arrived. It was a snake. Everyone turned, startled by its appearance.

The red panda raised his paw. “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”

Katsuki couldn't believe her ears. Her anger exploded. “So it was you who stole our sacred neko sage scroll!”

The snake smirked. “Correct, we are guilty asssssss charged. It was child'ssssssss play.”

“But how?” Katsuki retorted. “The Neko guard protects the scroll with their lives. How were you able to penetrate our defences?”

The snake grinned. “Well, from what I heard, our agents struck during the grand neko nap fessssstival ...”

“Oh, ... the ... nap ... festival ... ” Katsuki fell profoundly silent.

“The grand neko nap festival?” Yuki tilted her head.

“Yessss, we sssstruck during the yearly fessstival under the cover of ssssslumber. The Neko guard wassssssss ssssssssoundly assssssssleep on their mountainsssss of catnip when we arrived to perform our ssssssecret operation.”

“That ... sounds ... believable.” Katsuki lowered her head in shame, disappearing into the abyss of humiliation. “But in our defence, only the most vile fiend strikes during our sacred nap time. Have no honour?”

“Sssss, we are ssssssssnakes ... What do you expect, Princess Katssssssuki? Prey is besssst enjoyed while assssleeep.”

“...” Yuki was left speechless to the point of despairing. As it turned out, the Neko guard was really beyond useless ... No wonder that Nee-san had placed so little faith into the neko clan and their abilities ... They were truly incompetent ... How was it possible to get a national treasure stolen directly under your nose during nap time ...

“Ssss, anyway, what do you think about our offer, Princess Katssssssssuki? Do you acccccccccept or not?”

Katsuki raised her paw, adopting a thinking posture. “Well, ...”

A simple stern glance from Yuki sufficed to shut down any frivolous thoughts that Katsuki's capricious kitten mind might hold. The message was clear, don't even think about it!

Katsuki merely gulped. “No ... No!!! We decline! The honour of the neko clan cannot be bought!”

The snake emissary narrowed his eyes. “I sssssssee, how unfortunate. I hope you and your fellow catssssssss will come to regret your decissssssssion sssssssssoon. Mark our wordssssssss, you all will pay dearly for oppossssssing usssssssss.”

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