"Alright kitty, dinner time.”

    A small figure blazed between Mu Tsu legs as he opened the door. Caught off guard Mu Tsu jerked, tripped and fell backwards, hitting his head on the wall.

    Cu Lon's head snapped up at the commotion, faintly heard from the back. A small cat darted into the room, frantically darting among the tables. Excited shouts, grabbing hands, kicking feet all contributed to a chaotic zig-zag course. The front door opened the sudden blaze of sun- light acted as a beacon to the desperately fleeing animal. Bouncing off the wall the cat made a leap and scrambled across a table top. More shouts a scattering of glass and table ware. One final desperate leap for freedom a hard flung staff smashed the cat out of the air and sent her skidding limply across the floor.

Cu Lon had a moments satisfaction before . . . "No!"

She had time only for that brief protest before half the restaurant crowded around the crumpled cat in morbid curiosity. . .completely blocking her view.

"Aaaaa. Shit, it scratched me!"

Cu Lon's lips tightened slightly as she sensed more than saw the small figure dart through the open door, using the crowd as cover.

    "Ladies and gentlemen . . ."Cu Lon's voice carried over the excited murmuring. "The staff and management of the Nekohanten apologize for this mishap. Please accept our apologies and the gift of a free meal Shan Pu!" Her great- grand-daughter hurried over.

    "Great-grand-mother! What has happened? What was that. . ."

     "Never mind." Cu Lon cut her off. "Please take care of the restaurant. I will be back soon." Retrieving her staff Cu Lon headed to the store room, where she found Mu Tsu picking himself off the floor. Less than three minutes had passed since Akane had bolted from her prison.

"What happened?"

"I don't . . .I don't know." Mu Tsu shook his head to clear it. "I was going in to feed where is she?" Mu Tsu looked around frantically.

    "She has escaped the restaurant. I would like to know how she escaped the cage." Cu Lon went into the store-room, followed closely by Mu Tsu. The Amazon matriarch stared down at the cage . . .at the hidden corner where the metal had been eaten away by stomach acid and the wire mesh bent inward.

"Shit!"

Cu Lon did not let her disgust at Mu Tsu's vulgarity and loss of control show.

 
"What do we do? "  Mu Tsu's query turned into an angry squawk in a sudden splash of cold water. An angry white duck struggled from under a tangle of robes.

"Take this."

Mumuchan snatched the small cell-phone from the air with his bill.

"Fly to the Tendou's. You can move faster in the air and watch more ground. Make sure she does NOT contact anyone. Call me the instant you spot her . I will be right behind you.

"Qrrrrlk?" Mumuchan mumbled around the phone in his bill.

"And how many ducks do you think will be calling me on the phone?" Cu Lon answered testily.

"Arrrqq." Mumuchan acknowledged and flew out of the room and toward the outside door.

    Cu Lon looked again at the cage and allowed a small look of admiration to cross her face. Alone, surrounded by enemies, stripped of her humanity and still she had escaped. It would do her no good though there was only one place she could go.

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"Well, hello kitty." Kuonji Ukyou looked down from cleaning her grill.

"Mrrrrrrrroooooo."

"Sorry, I don't speak cat." Ukyou grinned down at the sad looking little animal. "If you wait a minute I'll try to find you something to eat."

"Ooooooorrrrr." The small cat hopped up on the cold grill and batted at Ukyou's hand.
"Hey, stop that." Ukyou jerked her hand away, laughing. "Give me a minute and I'll play.

"Rrrrrrrooooooooo!"

    The rising howl sent a cold shiver down Ukyou's spine and she backed away from the little cat.   "Now wait a minute kitty . . .uhhh . . .you're not sick 'r anything are you?" She laughed a little. "What am I doin' talking to a cat. It's not like you can understand..."

"Rooo, rooo, rooo." The cat danced up and down on it's hind legs.

". . .me" Ukyou finished weakly. "Uhhh. Wait a sec." She vanished into the back, returning with a pot of steaming water.

"arrrrrruuuuu." The cat hunkered down as the hot water cascaded over it's back.

"Sorry."Ukyou apologized. "It's just there are so many Jusenkyou curses ."

"Rooooooo. Roo, rooo,rooooo."

Ukyou froze. The small cat was staring directly into her eyes, crying frantically.    "Are . . .no that's just silly. Hot water should have She broke off as the cat jumped onto the counter and started clawing the wood.

    "HEY!!! Stop that." She grabbed for the cat and jerked her hand back. Sucking on a clawed hand she glared at the cat. "I'm gonna' make a CAT okonomyaki. You just wait and . . .see?" Ukyou stared at the freshly scarred counter top. It looked like . . .like . . .kanji." Staring at the wood she could see a character. Slowly she traced the strokes of the first character even as the cat busily clawed a second character. "Chi . . .? The kanji for 'know'. . .that didn't make any sense.  "Know' what?"

"Rooollll." The cat gave Ukyou a disgusted look, then went back to work.

"HEY . . .don't get snippy with me. It's not my fault you've got such lousy hand writing." She bent closer, and traced the marks with her finger. "Hmmm. Let's see, a short down stroke and a cross stroke . . .loooong cross stroke . . . Aka??? Maybe " Ukyou went cold. She drew back from the marks as if from a snake. "Akane?"
The cat looked up sharply at Ukyou's hoarse whisper.   "Akane." Stronger this time. "Akane . . .is that you?"

"Mrrrrroooow." The small cat crooned , butting it's head softly against Ukyou's chest.

"My god. What happened? How did this happen?   Does Ranma know? You're supposed to be in Hawaii, at that contest. How did you get here? Are you..."

"Rrrrrrrwwww."

"Oh, yeah. Heh, heh. Ummm. What should . . .hey, what's this?" Ukyou ran her hands through the fur around neko-Akane's neck. "A collar?" Ukyou was silent for a moment. "OK, let me make a call." She picked Akane up in her arms. Grabbing the plate that held her supper she headed for her room. "You wait in here." She placed her supper on the floor. "I hope this is OK. Uhhh, and this is oolong tea. I'll bring you something later if you don't like it." Turning Ukyou hurried from the room, so agitated that she shut the door with a bang that jarred it off it's latch.

************************************************

    Akane felt her muscles turn to jelly and she collapsed in a heap on the floor. SAFE. She was safe. Ukyou would call Ranma. She could smell the warm okonomyaki, but was too tired to eat. Tired. She was so very tired. Ranma would be here soon. He would take care of her. He would take her home. Kasumi. Papa. Nabiki . . .Home . . .The surge of adrenalin was wearing off and she felt her strength drain away. She would just rest for a minute. Just for a . . .
************************************************

    Cautiously Cu Lon approached the Tendou residence. Neon and halogen lights twisted the twilight shadows into nightmare shapes. Her lips tightened as she considered the problem before her. The jangled lighting gave the Tendou girl the advantage, as did her familiarity with the neighborhood. She'd grown up here after all. Her cat-keen vision and hearing were off-set by her unfamiliarity with these new senses and her new body. On her side, Cu Lon had three thousand years of Amazon history and the assistance of a psychopathic Jusekyo cursed Amazon male. Frowning to herself Cu Lon wondered if Mu Tsu should be entered on her side of the ledger or the Tendou's. Gliding through the weirdly shifting shadows Cu Lon extended senses honed by a lifetime of training. Opening herself to the night Cu Lon could feel small creatures, some on four legs, some on six or more skittering through the grass. The whirr of insects came to her and she could pick up the faint odor of oil from a leaky motor cycle engine. Patiently she sorted and classified all the different events occurring in the neighborhood. If . . .no when Akane tried to come home Cu Lon would know . . .would find her stop her. Akane would return to her cage. And this time Cu Lon would stay beside her for the remaining days, until there was no chance of her changing back.

"Rrrrriiiing."

 
Cu Lon jerked startled for the first time in over half a century. She pulled the small phone from her pocket.

************************************************

 

    "Moshi,moshi! Yes . . .yes he's here. Please hold on. Nabiki?" Kasumi called to her sister. "Could you please go get Ranma.? He has a telephone call.

************************************************

    "I think you should come to Ucchans . . .yes . . .right now. No, I don't want to talk about it over the phone. NO, it can't wait. Alright. I'll see you in a minute.

************************************************

    Akane snapped awake suddenly not knowing where she was for a moment. Downstairs came a faint noise . . .feet shuffling . . .the murmur of voices. RANMA! Akane felt her heart pound. Ranma had come for her. Sanity returned a second later. Neko-ken. Cat bad. Akane cat. No Ranma. Well, not inside. He'd have to wait outside, probably. But Nabiki for sure. Maybe Kasumi too. And her Dad. They'd take her home. She would tell them . . .about Cu Lon, Mu Tsu the cage. Akane shuddered uncontrollably. She went to the door and pawed at the edge. She couldn't wait. She'd just peek over the top of the stairs . . .

************************************************

    "So . . .I understand Tendou Akane is here?"

    "I don't know what you're talking about." Ukyou hadn't expected this. She'd thought Cu Lon to be more subtle.

    "I have no interest in playing games. You called me "To tell you I had found your cat. The number was on it's collar."

    Cu Lon stared at Ukyou expressionlessly for a moment. "An interesting addition to your decor." She tapped one incredibly ancient digit against the newly scarred counter top.    Ukyou flushed; with embarrassment or anger, perhaps even she could not tell.

    "I called about your cat." She insisted stubbornly. "I didn't say anything about anything else. Do you want it, or not?"

    "When I got your call, I couldn't decide if you were fiendishly clever, or incredibly ruthless." She speared Ukyou with a glance. "Now I see that you are just silly and stupid."

    "Why you..." Ukyou surged forward, her fists clenched in anger. Cu Lon stood motionless . . .watching her. A faint smile twisted her lips as Ukyou stopped short.

    "Not entirely stupid. Now I think I will retrieve my lost . . ."A faint noise came to her ears. "I was wrong. You are not stupid . . .but perhaps with hard work you may achieve that high plateau."

"Huh?"

    Cu Lon sighed. "Do you have any relatives in China?" At Ukyou's bewildered look she sighed again. "Never mind. I wonder if I should kill you now. You are so inept it would really be a mercy."

    "Hey!" Ukyou backed a step. "I . . .you . . .you can't get away with that . People would . . .Ranma . . ." She took a breath. "Ranma will be here soon. You'd better not . . ."

    "Son-in-law is not coming." Cu Lon headed for the stairs. "I called him after I finished talking to you. At first I thought that you might have been clever . . .having me come here so that I might betray myself in front of son-in-law. However, neither he nor any in that house, are experienced enough to deceive me. As soon as I talked to him I could tell he knew nothing of your scheme." She motioned and Ukyou reluctantly followed the ancient Amazon up the stairs. "And then I thought perhaps you were more ruthless than I believed. That you were going to bargain with me, perhaps even try to extort well, no matter. You showed neither courage nor cleverness. Instead you appear to have acted thoughtlessly and impulsively. You compound that with a clumsy, childish lie; to keep your own hands clean while I did what you would not kill Tendou Akane."

    Ukyou's stumbled as she realized what she'd done. She hadn't wanted Akane dead just out of the way. Just long enough to give her a chance. Numbly she followed Cu Lon up the stairs, stopping at the top as the ancient Amazon opened the door to her room. Her empty room.

    Cu Lon glanced at a the curtains fluttering in front of the closed windows. With her staff she moved the curtains aside to find the source of the faint noise she'd heard earlier. The lower glass pane had been smashed outward. Bending down she could see a tuft of black hair and a brownish stain along one jagged edge.

    "Cats have very acute hearing." With that cryptic remark Cu Lon started out of Ukyou's room.

    "That's it? That's all you have to say? What about . . .what about your cat?"

    "I was afraid when I first received your call." Cu Lon remarked on her way down the stairs.

Ukyou could only stare.

    "Oh, yes. I admit it. I was afraid. You were in an unassailable position. With one call you would be a hero. To Ranma, Akane . . .the clans Saotome and Tendou. All of Nerima would be talking about Kuonji Ukyou. A single word revealing Tendou Akane's plight the treachery of the Amazons. One whisper of what you knew and you would be the most favored person in the Saotome and Tendou households. The Amazons would be swiftly expelled from Japan or destroyed. And, when it was found impossible to restore Tendou Akane to human form Kuonji Ukyou would be close by to offer . . .comfort. I truly expected that I would hear of your nuptials within the year." Cu Lon considered the white faced girl a moment. "It's interesting how a single thoughtless moment can alter your entire life."

    "What . . ." Ukyou swallowed hard. "What are you going to do?"
   

    "I am going to look for my cat."

   "What about me?"

"You do have a problem, don't you?"

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