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Dairun Cates · 05-27-2016, 10:48 PM

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Ah yes. The Cat...

To understand his story, we must go back to the very beginning; far before most in this story were even born.

For the majority of written history, the war between Pirates and Ninjas has been a blood bath. The two sides fought eternally; taking no prisoners. Villages were burned. Families were destroyed. Great cities were reduced to ash in the span of a night's battle. No one was safe from the war. Eventually, people grew tired of the constant fighting and began forsaking the way of the Pirate and the Ninja. These people, believing in a middle path or no path at all, called themselves the Wanderers. By growing large enough, the Pirates and Ninjas were forced to form peace treaties and cease fires or threaten being overwhelmed by the Wanderers. With the Wanderers as an anchor to society, proper economic trade was allowed to grow and the rare exchange of ideas (stolen or given willingly) between the Pirate and Ninja nations led to an age of technological boom and enlightenment that would last a millennia.

However, this peace was shaky from the very beginning. The Pirate and Ninja nations never really knew proper friendship or alliance, just a begrudging respect at best. Sure. There was peace between individuals, but the tensions were never forgotten. Several members of the Pirates and Ninjas continued to study their crafts and prepare for the time when the war would resume, and they would take their place in the side of their army. Of course, border skirmishes were not unheard of, and while the general tone of the ceasefire caused people to take prisoners more often than lives, collateral damage was inevitable.

Four years before the loss of the Takara and the restart of the Great War, the Slender Cat's family was marked as "collateral damage" in one such dispute.

The Slender Cat was a young Wanderer boy who, after the loss of his family, was forced to turn to the streets, begging, petty theft, and, eventually, the only person that would take him in and give him a proper home, the Master of the Evadinja School of Ninjutsu, Ebon Flow. There was no love between him and his employer. Especially, when, four years after joining his city, the Master was one of the influential figures in restarting the war. The relationship was one of begrudging convenience and mutual necessity. Ebon Flow needed a spy, and the Slender Cat needed food and shelter. There was no love lost between the two of them. Master Ebon considered the Slender Cat brash and impudent. The Slender Cat considered him a stick in the mud at best and a tyrant at worst. Still, it was a professional relationship, and it worked fine for the Slender Cat for the time being.

The Slender Cat stuck to non-violent jobs. After the violent loss of his family, he just couldn't stomach a mercenary's work. His jobs were only that of information brokering, spying, errands, and the very occasional theft. He was good at what he did though, and he was even better at getting out of sticky situations unharmed if he needed to. After all, that's why they called him the Slender Cat. He was agile, stuck to back alleys and odd perches, and could slip out of even the tightest situations.

The Slender Cat...

It had a decent ring to it. No matter which society or faction of the war you belonged to, they were all obsessed with professional nicknames of some kind or fashion. So, he could've done a lot worse for himself. He could've been the Scraggly Urchin or the Prince of Rats or "Hey you! Come back here with my Cabbage!". At least "The Slender Cat" sounded threatening without sounding like a low life. It just always struck him weird. He got his nickname much earlier than most, and as such, he had now spent more time hearing that name than his real name. In a sense, the 10 year-old that lost his family those 14 years ago was all but dead and gone. He didn't feel like an imposter any more, but occasionally these thoughts would come creeping back in. They only stayed for a short bit though. After all, at least he was lucky enough to find his identity. He'd much rather be shoved into a role he was ill-suited for early than to be ignored by society almost entirely like some people he knew.

The sun was starting to set. For most, this meant that the day was ending, but this particular day was just beginning for the Slender Cat. He climbed down from the top of the stone wall that he had been resting on top of, and dusted himself off. Master Ebon had some new tasks for him, and wanted the Slender Cat to meet him just after sunset. Master Ebon said it was important. A reasonable and loyal servant would have headed out right now, but the Slender Cat liked to make him sweat; keep the master waiting a bit just to remind him that he didn't own people. So, the way he figured. He had a good half hour to an hour to kill first. The only real problem was...

>How would he spend his free time?