Claws and fangs

Shiromaru sat upon a cliff, overlooking the forest beneath him. He caught a whiff of something strange, unordinary. Something didn’t feel right. His senses tingled, his intuition told him to investigate. He leaped off the cliff, sniffing the air for the abnormality. It smelled like magic, but unlike any he had ever smelled before. ‘Witches!’ He barked to himself.

“Barkjutso, canine camouflage!” He spoke softly, landing on the side of the tree and running down it, then pushing off with all four of his paws and making a few spins through the hair, and then landing like a spinning wheel in the bushes, bringing the momentum down to a zero and landing softly, and then disappearing, as if melting into the shadows.

A bunny’s ears twitched somewhere. The sudden huff, woof and a ruff caught his attention. His tail trembled nervously, his gaze darted to his weapon, his purple fur rose up on his neck. He laid perfectly still upon his bed, listening for threats, but the soft sounds of paws on the ground got softer, and then disappeared. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Pheww… thought I’d have to fight, again…” He shuddered. “Nope! Carrot life is right for me”

Shiromaru dashed through the forest skillfully. Avoiding anything that could make sound, staying well hidden in the shadows of the trees and bushes. His nose guided him towards the abnormality. The scent kept getting ever stronger. He paused, taking a good sniff.

“Bunny rabbit” sniff sniff, “hunters, eek… The Barkedo clan is in this area, I could seek their aid.” He considered.

“That… weird smell it’s in the South.” After a moment contemplation he decided. “Ruffht! Barkedo clan will be of aid!”

He looked around.

“Inu-jutsu, swift paws!”

He tapped his paws in uniue gestures swiftly on the ground, and then dashed like an arrow through the forest. Leaping over bushes, jumping from the tree trunks to boost himself like a bullet.

Within the span of 15 minute sprint, he found himself surrounded by the warriors of the Barkedo clan. Shiromaru let out a low growl, and then lowered his posture, his tail twitched side to side.

“Relax! I’m of the Shiba-Inukedo clan!” He then raised his head up to the sky and let out a rhythmic howl, a call for aid. Within a moment his howl was responded to by a half dozen resonating howls. Their leader stepped through the bushes. A sizeable and a rather intimidating dobermann, a massive scar decorated his snout, stretching from the top of his nose to the eyes. It was the co leader of their clan, the famous shadow-stalker Shinra.

“What’s an inu doing here?” He inquired with a low growl. “This is our land.”

Shiromaru bowed his head to Shinra.

“Apologies for the intrusion, I smelled something strange.”

Shinra raised his snout up and sniffed the air.

“Yes… We noticed it. But, did you notice the other… abnormality?”

He inquired of the intruder.

“Huh?” He glanced around. “Ruffting out of the ordinary, yet.” The scar faced dobermann tapped his paw on the ground.

“Look closely.”

Shiromaru’s head lowered to the dobermann’s paw, he watched the shadow gliding over his paw, noticeably fast.

“Huh.” 

“You see, yes?” He inquired.

Shiromaru sniffed the ground. “I do…So fast?”

“We’ve sent a scout to investigate but haven’t heard back. One of ours went to search for the renowned ruroni mercenary. Come, join the pack.”

Shiromaru nodded obediently. “Arf you command, Shinra.”

Off in the distance, on the opposite end of the famously huge forest of the souls, a cat lay upon a rock in the sun, basking in the sun, enjoying its warmth and comfort.

“Mmmmewonderful weather! It’s whiskering me awayyyy.”

The cat sleepily mumbled to itself, drtifing in and out of the dreams, when a sudden shockwave sent him tumbling off the rock.

“Nyan’s that?” He leaped to his feet, claws drawn, tail twitching, eyes focused on the odd shard of light that glistened before him. The shard pulsed, releasing another shockwave. Cliff watched his samurai helmet roll past him, he hissed.

“Heyyy!! Bastard! Whom do you think you’re nyassing with?”

He brought his body back, dug his rear paws into the ground, preparing to leap, to strike, to kill whatever comes from that shard, or the shard itself. His eyes darted to a sun dog that bounced past him, and then returned to the shard. Another pulse, more violent this time, he squinted, when he reopened his eyes the shard was gone, in its place stood a humanoid shape. He leaped at it with all his might.

“Catana draw technique, feline-ryu!”

His claws were swift and the slash was mighty enough to cut concrete. His eyes widened in shock, he let out a frightened, surprised meow, when he found himself held out at an arm’s length by the girl before him.

“OH! MY! GAWD! A KITTY!!” 

His gaze darted to her bare hands, his claws protruded from his soft, touchable paws. He let out an annoyed hiss.

“Lheeettt go!! Spawrd technique, purrfect parry!”

He twisted his body violently trying to break free and slash at her hands. But her instincts were sharp, a trained warrior seemingly. She released him a moment before he had a chance to perform his purrfect parry, and pulled her hands back quickly.

“Now now kitty! No need to be so angry!!!” 

He lowered his posture, his fur stood up like a vicious beast’s. He flashed his fangs at her. She watched him closely, squinting, focusing on nothing but her opponent. He drew and retracted his claws a few times, perfecting his purrsture for the next strike.

“The way of the clawrd, the silent paw-sassin strike!”

He whispered to himself and leaped forth. In that moment she skillfully moved half a step aside to avoid his lethal strike aimed at her neck. When he had landed and turned around, he found himself face to face with the stranger who was on all fours. Her eyes glistened, and her voice was soft and gentle,

“Your nyankedo is fascinating!”

Cliff hissed at her, slowly backing away, back arched, emitting a high pitched meow to scare her away.

“Nyat one step closer.”

“Dawhh kitty! Relaxxxx!!!” She said with a playful pout. “I’ll uh… catch you a fish!?” 

After a brief, distrusting exchange, the girl opted to leave, but she had already caught Cliff’s attention. He followed her at a distance as she, seemingly lost and disoriented, made her way to the river to collect some water, occasionally throwing glances at Cliff. ‘I knew I should’ve studied the way of jutsu not the clawrd.’ When he lost his focus on her for a brief moment by the riverbank, he found a knocked out fish laying upon a rock, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. 

He waited a while, the coast seemed clear, his growling belly forced him to act. He leaped down and began to chow down on the offered meal. When his belly was full and laid upon the rocks by the riverbank, the soothing warmth of the sun and the relaxing sound of the running river made him doze off rather quickly. 

He awoke from strange sounds coming from his throat, purrs. ‘Why am I purring?’ He thought to himself, sleepily reopening his eyes. The pleasant sensation of a humans’ hand gliding thorugh his soft fur sent waves of joy throughout his body.

“Nyooo! This is too purrrrfect….” He wanted to resist, but his body refused to listen to him, he gave in to the witch. 

After a rather lengthy exchange with her, he learned that she’s not from this world, and was sent here by mistake. She’s cursed to consume time of the world she is in.

“And thus why they call me, the Girl That Eats Time.” She chotled playfully. The cat listened, enjoying the pats.

“Nyaaan seee. Soo? What nyaow?”

She shrugged. “I need to leave before I consume the time of the world. Help me, little cat.”

He nodded. “Nyo worries.” 

And thus began their search for a way out for the strange girl by the name of Keyci. The longer she stayed in the world, the faster the time had gotten.

He called for his clan, a dozen caturai were sent to escort their world guest and aid her in her search for a way out. She pointed out that there is something at the heart of the forest that seemingly resonates with her, and such was their course! 

The group of caturai marched through the forest on full alert, well aware of the dangers that lurked in the shadows of this forest.

“The Nyarnkedo clan lives here.” Spoke quietly one of the samurai escorts.

“Nya, who do?” Replied another.

Cliff hissed. “It’s Barkedo you fool! They’re vicious shinobi clan…Cold blooded killers.” Cliff explained and brought his paw to his nose.

“Now hush.” 

A branch snapped behind their column. The caturai were swift on their paws, they drew their claws to defend their guest.

“Who goes there?” Cliff called out, stepping forth toward a paw sticking out from behind a tree. A rabbit paw.

“You’ve been stalking us for a while now. You are no barkedo clan jokey.”

From behind the tree emerged a purple furred rabbit. A mask over his face indicated he was a shinobi too.

“I was tasked to hunt the intruders.”

“Nyaat in your dreams, bun.” Cliff’s voice trailed off as his stance changed. He lowered himself to the ground, slowly creeping toward the bun.

“Bunnin of the night for you! And you’re about to feline my wrath!”

The bun spoke with confidence, face to face with a dozen caturai, and yet his confidence was unwaivered. 

The feline leaped at the bun. “Pawrd technique, feline-ryu!” His claws glistened in the rapidly moving sun. The bunnin grinned confidently and leaped to meet his attacker.

“Hop-kido, bouncing blade!” His body turned midair to avoid the cat’s claws, his paw impacted the side of the cat’s head, denting the helmet on the caturai’s head and sending him tumbling down to the ground. 

The exchange lasted longer than expected, they skillfully exchanged blows while the rest of the caturai chose wisely not to interfere in their battle, for the skill of these two was far above theirs. The exchange ended in a draw when both were out of breath and thoroughly too exhausted to keep going. The bunnin was sent by the Barkedo to halt the intruders, and he succeeded well enough at his task.

“Bark your fluffy butts and listen here, felines.” Said a deep, growling voice of a large dog that stepped over a bush. A massive scar over his snout was clearly recognized as all the caturai instantly prepared for battle.

Hissing, meowing and drawing their claws. The barkedo clas was upon them.

“Nyat happening” Replied one of the felines at the large dog whose fur was as dark as the void. The dog growled, his gaze darted to the human among the cats.

“What’s the primate doing here in the Aniland? We don’t permit their entry! Are you felines breaking the agreement AND intruding on our land?”

He sniffed the air. A smaller dog walked up beside him.

“Shinra, I smell it, it’s her.”

The scarred dog lowered his snout and growled, taking a carefully calculated step, one after another, toward the group of caturai.

“It is her indeed, the disruptor.” 

Keyci watched the scene before her absolutely bewildered by the sight she was seeing. Samurai cats, shinobi dogs, ninja buns.

“What a bizarre world.” She remarked with a wide, excited grin.

“Right right! Relax you lot, I can explain” She began, only to be interrupted by the sudden outbreak of barking from the barkedo clan.

“RUFF! NUFF SAID!” Growls echoed from all around them, coming from within the shadows.

She shrugged. “Well hey! Look! I don’t wanna start any civil wars among your uhh…. Tribes…?” She hesitated for a moment.

“CLANS!” Hissed 1 of the cats.

“Right, right! So… Hear me out.”

The growling grew louder, silencing her, in response the caturai hissed and meowed ever louder, but then a thump on her shoulder almost brought her off balance when Cliff leaped on her shoulder. His claws dug into her denim coat,

“NYAAAALENCE!!!” He screamed.

The scar snouted dog’s gaze drifted to the cat that sat upon the stranger’s shoulder.

“Cliff…” He snarled, baring his fangs, anger in his eyes. “I’ll tear you to..”

The cat raised his paw.

“Later you silly hound! We nyavn’t the time for that, literally.”

The cat insisted. “This stranger eats our time.”

Shinra pulled his head back in a sudden jerk.

“Eh? What nip are you on?”

“I’m nyat! Listen you dumb hound, we can fight to death here and now, half of yours and half of mine will die, and in that time, we’ll lose the flow of our time. The world’s time.”

Cliff insisted, tapping his paw against Keyci’s head.

“This visitor, a guest of ours to the Aniland, is from a different realm. She means no harm, but her curse causes it no matter her intents.”

The cat insisted, glancing at her. A hint of pity could be seen in his eyes. 

“At the heart of the forest something exists that calls for her, guide us you dumb pups. We can settle territorial differences at another time.” He insisted with a loud meow at the end.

Shinra glanced at Shiromaru, and then scanned the group of caturai from right to left. “Think he’s telling the truth?” He spoke in a low growling voice, quietly.

“The time flow is getting weirder by the hour.” Shiromaru insisted. “We should… Go with them.” 

“Rrright. If they lied we’ll tear them up later.” He glanced up at the girl who had been standing quiet, allowing her guide and guardian to do the speaking.

“Ruffly how long do we have?” The scar snouted dog spoke.

She raised her eyebrow.

“Hmmmm… It’s not like I can control it, but by what I feel, the syphoning of your world’s time is accelerating by the minute… Uhh, half a day before it’s irriversible, a full day before it’s cat-astrophic.” She pondered. 

He growled.

“So… you’re a doom bringer? Why don’t we just rip you up!?”

The cats hissed but Keyci, in turn, only chuckled.

“Ohh don’t be naive, my curse will remain until all time of this realm is consumed. It will not perish with my death, such is the curse I carry on me, and the reason my guide sends me to doomed worlds instead of inhabited ones.” 

“Guide?” He inquired.

“Correct, but he seemed to have miscalculated, or someone interferred with him.” She shrugged.

Cliff let out an annoyed meow.

“With us or leave us!” He called out.

“We best get a move on.”

Shinra pondered for a brief moment and then stepped aside.

“But if you lied, the consequences will be dire.” 

The next few hours they spent traversing the dense forest. The Barkedo shinobi spread out far and wide in search of something else that might be out of the ordinary, something that lay at the heart of the forest. Shiromaru returned. He had caught a whiff of scent similar to hers, but worse, deadlier, more intimidating. Scent of shadow and darkness, of encroaching doom. Once there they could see a shadowy figure, aimlessly pacing back and forth, walking on air.

Keyci watched the shadowy figure from the safety of the forest, before kneeling down to give behind the ear scritches to Cliff, and to give Shiromaru a headscratch with her other hand.

“Guess my time has come.” 

“Nyat do you mean?” Cliff said, trying to hold back a purr. Shiromaru happily wagged his tail, not even attempting to hide his excitement.

“Woof will happen now?”

She smirked, carefully taking a grasp of Cliff’s ear and gliding her fingers up, massaging the tip of his ear.

“No woof will happen, only my departure.” 

Shinra watched attentively.

“Who is that?”

She smiled wearily, suppressing tears.

“It’s uhm… My guide, the one who sends me onwards.”

She took a deep shaky breath and stepped out of the shadows; the time of this world was moving noticeably faster now. She walked toward the shadowy figure, with shadows slithering swiftly in her wake. 

His voice echoed, distorted.

“There you are, time eater! We must leave before the time is irreversibly sh…”

But his speech was suddenly interrupted. He glanced down at a dog growling, hanging on his ankle. Its teeth trying to dig into his shadow engulfed flesh.

“Key-shi!!!” The dog spoke between growls.

Keyci covered her mouth as a chill ran down her spine. For the past two decades nobody really called her by name. She was destined to roam doomed, empty worlds, until her curse had consumed the time of the world, bringing it to its end. And here, a dog barely familiar with her was defending her name. A soft push on her back and a tap on her shoulder.

“Nyaaatt happening. You fed me fish.” 

The shadow engulfed figure grinned.

“I see, made some friends haven’t ya? Time… Eater… ”

The figure spoke mockingly, well aware that none of these creatures could harm him in any way.

“Take that mutt!” He kicked with his foot sending Shiromaru flying through the air.

“Pawsivite pressure, feather land!” The dog called out, kicked with his feet in the air and slowed his fall, Keyci caught him.

“Guide, don’t!” She pleaded. 

The guide’s face distorted into an evil grimmace.

“Oh but I will! At last, some company for you!”

She gasped. Her heart pounded. She knew he was about to send her onwards, and that the creatures with her would be brought along.

“RUN!”

She attempted to shake the cat off her shoulder, and to toss the dog out of her hands, but the two refused to move. Cat’s claws sunk into her denim jacket.

“NYAAAT!”

“RUFF!!”

The dog growled, biting into the flap of her jacket, refusing to be thrown. 

Darkness engulfed them. Muffed as if underwater, they heard their respective clans attack the guide with all they had. But it lasted a mere moment, before they found themselves submerged. Upon resurfacing, they were elsewhere, a world with unfamiliar scent and feel. They had moved on.

“No! No…”

Keyci tried to hold back the tears, but the cat simply pressed his head against her, nuzzling and pressingly firmly.

“Nyat to worry.”

“You woofn’t be alone.” The dog continued. 

And just like that, Keyci had acquired two unlikely companions for the rest of her timeless journey.