Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

Wildcat

Tabbie rolled out the first of the maps. Like everything in the village, the paper was hand-made; the lines and words were drafted on with goose feather quill, even the brown ink was made from an infusion of green walnut seeds. She hit a gnarled claw at a spot marked village. "We are here." 

The map was not particularly packed with features. But still, Tabbie was proud of her attempt to draw an accurate representation of their corner of the planet Skye. She continued looking over to their guest, "and this is where you are from." She pointed to a cross marked 'aged' with the numbers' 32951', "The aged colony."

Tiger nodded, he had only been clear of the place by weeks and yet the harsh memories seemed distant.

Reiko moved to point at the map, but Tabbie slapped his large hand aside. "My map. Hands off!" And proceeded to point at the position Reiko had began to indicate.

"Here is penal settlement 155. It's on the ground level and where we criminals are supposed to live. But, few dwell there; only those who do not play well with others and are fit and skilled enough to survive the forest floor."

"Dangerous folk," admitted Reiko, we need them.

"Not now!" snapped Tabbie.

Tiger raised his hand tentatively at the bossy woman, indicating that he had a question. Tabbie gave him permission to speak, "I thought this was the penal settlement? No?"

Reiko was about to reply, but Tabbie cut him off. "No, that place is for criminals. We here, about one hundred of us, are not criminals. We are just poor folk, children too, trying to survive the best we can.

"It's true that most of us, those not born here, were sent down as criminals. If you look at the real people behind our so-called crimes, then, uou will see the true stories."

"But what of the thieves and murderers they send here?" Tiger insisted.

Ahem. Reiko cleared his throat, but the warning was too late.

"Thieves are not evil! Damn it!" A lump of saliva jumped from her thin, cracked lips and landed on the map as the woman snapped. She pushed back a lock of fine grey hair that had fallen over her eyes.

Reiko moved his hand back to the map indicating the blob of spit, "look you've marked a new spot. Shall we name it?"

She slapped him back again, "Hands off!" Then, regaining her composure, continued. "Let me explain. I am a thief, I have been for many, many years. Out there, in the colonies"--she waved her hand indicating the vast depths of space---"if you ain't got the means to live, then you have to make the means. If you only take what you need for you and yours, and it's not hurting anyone, then It's about survival, not evil."

"A fair point," conceded Tiger (even if he didn't agree), "But the murderers? I've sent a few down here myself over the years, and I can tell you, for most of them, the label 'evil' certainly applies."

"True," admitted Tabbie, "they come. But, if they don't possess the inclination to integrate into our peaceful way of life. then we call them out pretty quickly. Isn't that right Dear?"

"Yes," confirmed Reiko, "We introduce them to Ugly Boy." 

"But for most, survival is a great motivator, and besides, some find friends and family here; they find the type of care that they never seen before. Some find that they are no longer just fighting for themselves, but fighting for the rest of us too.

"Don't you worry Tiger, you'll find no murderers here. Even if some of us were once killers, now, they are kin."

Moving on, Tabbie pointed to another cross on the map. Its position was such that, if you added lines between it and the points 155 and 32951 you would notice an equilateral triangle. "Tree huggers".  She referred to the Tuath Dé, but the way she said their words made it clear that these were the enemy. "We need to take out the druids."

Tabbie needed a moment, so Reiko explained,  "When  she first landed on the planet, the KSD* dropped her several miles from 155. She had no map, no weapon, only the sketchiest of directions."

"You know," continued to Tiger, tThe place is not just called the dark forest because of the gloom.  You were lucky that your first encounter was with a Baar, Tabbie's was with the druids, the ones that would hunt the new arrivals for sport alone. 

"So, she was ambushed, assaulted and left for dead. Only years of living rough and looking out for herself gave her the edge to survive. Wildcat we called her, before she got all old an crusty."

Tabbie pinned him with her eyes, but didn't bite.

"Honestly, you should have seen the way she could wield the club..."

Unsatisfied with the way that Reiko was conveying the story, Tabbie took over, "They called me Wildcat because my real name is Felix Silvestris, I was from the Bombini Tribe."

Tiger's eyes widened an he sat up. For many years as the head of the Atripliceae family, Tiger was well connected with and aware of the secrets of the kingdom's eminent families, "You are the daughter of Felis lunensis? You ran away, well, it must be over a hundred years ago now."

"Lunen, yes. She was my mother. And I didn't run away. But, that story is for another time."  

Tiger looked at the women with fresh eyes, not only was she p-I but i-I also, a rare duplo  enhancement inherited from the both parents.

"I was already here when the brute there was sent down by the KSD also. My, was he an unruley fellow when he landed. They gave me the job of taming the beast. Then, we were still on the ground, so we decided to raise the village and then wait for you. Tiger Tiger, the great general who will bring us back into the world of the living."

"I don't know, admitted Tiger. You've got it pretty good here, by the looks of it. Why would you want to rejoin the kingdom? Really, is it necessary?"

Reiko nodded, "Agreed. We can see your point and, after Zoro came to us, we debated the same thing for the longest time; when he asked us to form a base of operations in a rebellion against the Terminatio Die, we initially said 'No', even when it meant that we would regaining access to the gefresh procedure and become young again. 

"But we considered. And, the galaxy is big and full of beauty. Why should that beauty be denided to us? Besides, Wildcat needs revenge against the druids."

Tabbie added, "When we attack, I want to draw first blood."

*Kingdom Security Division