VIII
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Arc VIII Chapter 15
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“...” Katsuki suffered from a mild concussion and a severe case of motion sickness. A poor, disoriented kitten. Her poor headsie. Her poor earsies. She couldn't tell left paw from right paw. Her head felt dizzy, and her world kept spinning. The yarn was a trap. The evil portal baited her.
Katsuki collapsed, nearly vomiting, despite such behaviour being unbecoming of her status. Royalty didn't vomit. She rested and licked her wounds.
Her vision cleared up and her concussion faded. Trees, trees, trees greeted her, and a strange blue sky. The sky lacked the natural pastel azure shade she was used to. The blue, the light, the clouds, all felt different. This was not the palace. This wasn't the spirit world.
“...” Katsuki scanned her surroundings and stumbled across a cute little girl. Her silken black hair was lovely, her fluffy cheeks adorable. The girl was human.
Her eyes stared at the mysterious girl, and the girl stared at her. They were both surprised. A human. A real human. Her scrolls taught her about the mysterious species called humans. Every kitten was well advised to study their culture and customs.
Humans were bipedal. Walking on two feet was their primary mode of movement. They had no fur, no tail, no whiskers. Their ears were located temporally, and their pupils were round. Humans neither meowed, nor purred. Such strange creatures.
She had never met a real human before. This was her first time. As the crown princess of the cat clan, she was determined to leave a good impression
“...” Katsuki inflated her chest and approached her master. The girl was undoubtedly sweet, but her new master didn't impress her. The girl looked ... rather normal. Her chakra was neither strong nor powerful ...
Katsuki noticed too late that they weren't alone here. Her gaze wandered off, and her limps stiffened. Petrified, her body refused to move. Another girl stood nearby. Her hime cut, her composure, her bearing emanated pride, grace, dignity, making a little kitten feel very small. Profound darkness filled her cold eyes. It was her who summoned her.
A shiver ran down Katsuki's spine. The girl was scary. Even ancient spirit beasts paled in comparison. Who was this girl?
Katsuki stumbled backwards and ran, but her escape attempt failed miserably. The girl tilted her head and threatened her with a sweet smile. “Where are you going? Don't run, little kitten. Nee-san won't hurt you.”
Katsuki stiffened, panicking. Her feline instincts screamed danger. The girl knew. The girl read her like an open book. In her desperation, Katsuki vanished into the nearest bush.
Katsuki cowered in fear and prayed to the supreme cat gods that the evil princess of darkness wouldn't find her. She was just a small kitten. She was too young and noble to die. Nothing happened until she was grabbed from behind.
The cute girl from before lifted her from behind and gave her a big hug. “Don't be scared, Yuki will protect you from Nee-san.”
The girl named Yuki pouted. “Nee-san, you are such a meanie. You shouldn't scare little defenceless kittens.”
Her Nee-san narrowed her eyes. “Yuki, your kitten is neither little, nor defenceless. The cat is a spirit. Your little kitten could very well be centuries old.”
Yuki protested, tightening her hug.“She isn't dangerous, Nee-san! Look, she is an innocent, fluffy kitten. She would never hurt me, right?”
Katsuki raised her paw in agreement. “Yuki-chyan is right, I would nyever hurt her ...”
...
...
...
Silence reigned, as Katsuki realised her error. She had messed up.
Yuki took a deep breath before bouncing out of joy. “Nee-san! Nee-san! Nee-san, can we keep her! Pleashe, can we keep the talking cat!”
Her Nee-san crossed her arms, redirecting her gaze at her. “We will see, but first I have a little talk with our feline friend. What's your name?”
“...” Katsuki tensed up, traumatised by her previous encounter. The girl was still scary.
Yuki sensed Katsuki's anxiety. Her hands calmed her. “Don't worry, Nee-san isn't evil.”
Yuki let Katsuki down. “Be a good kitten, and you will be fine.”
The girl welcomed her. “Don't be shy, What's your name?”
Katsuki hesitated. Her voice faltered. “Mya nyame is ... Katsuki. I am the crown princess of the cat clan.”
The girl smiled, yet her lips were cold. “Quite a heavy burden for such a young kitten. How old are you, Katsuki-chan?”
“I am ...” Katsuki lowered her head and hid. “I am ... twelve.”
“Oh my, such a young age. A prepubescent kitten. Simply wonderful. ” The girl sighed, massaging her temples. “Katsuki, what does your contract offer?”
Katsuki gulped. “What do you mean?”
The girl grinned. “Your Highness, no contract was signed yet. I didn't summon your kind for personal amusement alone. I want to know, what do you have to offer?”
Katsuki cast her eyes downwards. The answer was little. “We have the neko sage mode, but the secrets of the technique ... were lost.”
The girl sighed again. “Thought so, and yet I will act against better judgement.”
The girl unravelled the scroll and showed her the contract. “Katsuki, you are lucky that Yuki is fond of cats. Place your paw, and I consider our contract binding.”
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Please have neko sage mode in a future chapter and thank you for this chapter
tftc
Reading the comment section is pure comedy gold.
Eh, well-written fanfiction and diverges enough from the source material that it never felt like you ought to just read it instead. The worldbuilding was fantastic and pokes fun at the source material and fills plot holes, it's just... the MC isn't my cup of tea. Too sociopathically evil and uncaring, and that's coming from someone that detests most lawful good or selfless protagonists and actively prefers neutral bordering on evil MCs. If she didn't lose her family early on, it might have turned out much better, but as-is she always felt too cruel, too uncaring, and too broken to be a fun protagonist to read. This is a mainly taste problem, because aside from that, the whole thing was very well-written.
Still did a good job on the world. I've always found that the most enjoyable aspect of exploring movie/anime/etc. worlds is having a unique take on that world. It's what makes some lord god space novels so compelling. As an example, there was one where the MC winds up in Matrix world. Humans developed a slanted technology tree developing toward increased automation of all aspects, and increasingly realistic VR, all the while the overall education level became lower and lower as they lived the majority of their lives online and labor became increasingly filled with robots. Anywho, turns out, humanity had to evacuate Earth in a hurry, with the paltry time and little educated manpower, they, along with the machines, built sleeper ships with a hastily repurposed VR game that everyone entered - the Matrix, which exists mainly to gradually restore humanity's knowledge and technology through repeated 'reincarnations' while also preventing the mind from atrophying. The 'One' turns out to be player one, ala the user, the oracle is an NPC, and the whole machine war nonsense is the plot of the video game. The whole reason One's abilities work in the 'real world' is because it fundamentally isn't real either. Meanwhile, Agent Smith is either a destabilizing bug, or a virus, I don't quite remember.
Sigh, another case of I should have written her as a male character. So depressing.
@Assurbanipal_II
I don't think it would have mattered. While I might prefer female leads, my rationale behind it is that female leads tend to be written to be more emotional, both positive and negative and I find the emotional aspect to be the most engaging part of fiction. Fundamentally the primary purpose behind fiction is to evoke emotion, engage, and interest the reader, and this objective is much harder to accomplish with a protagonist that is not easily empathizable or emotional, like a serial killer or sociopath. Of course, if you portray a relatively normal person's descent into depravity, a la The Sinner's Queen, or a gradual transformation of a state of mind from human -> non-human, things can be entirely different.
I think, fundamentally, the most important thing, in my mind, is for the protagonist to care about someone and something, to have soft spots and 'weaknesses' even if they're a ruthless monster. Even villains, can and should have friends. Assholes like the protagonist in Warlock of the Magus World are abjectly awful, because nothing they do has any meaning - they don't cherish anyone, they don't like anyone, and they just senselessly pursue greater power using the cruelest of means, even though it feels purposeless to do so. Eventually they'd ascend to the peak - but to what end? They have nothing - no true friends, no family, no love interest, and the whole adventure feels cold and empty as a result. Contrast to Against the Gods, as flawed as it is, it's extremely popular for a reason. YC is such a likeable protagonist because he's such an emotionally-driven character and does things that the reader WANTS him to do, even if it's crazy or suicidal. He doesn't calculate everything, he does stupid sh*t all the time, and he constantly makes numerous questionable moral decisions because he cares about his harem, friends, and family more than literally anything else or anyone.
@Cookiesndip Summary, write a male character, otherwise you won't be accepted. Noted.
@Assurbanipal_II It's just personal preference. Personally, I've recently been enjoying characters with an arrogant personality.
@Spageto