Ay?e walked off towards the Dikmen side of Vadi, crossing the Vadi River at the bridge. The sun was descending behind Dikmen’s hill, and rush hour traffic was at its peak. The last four or so hours were spent practicing and testing our communication skills with Ay?e. The deathpass hissed as cars raced by on it. Sometimes, it would come to a flurry of honks and revving engines too. I noticed a mew behind me. When I turned around, I saw black Kakiro standing there. “Thortac, come to my bush.” I followed him to his cozy retreat on the right side of the Vadi River. Hanira was back at her evening job of caring for her kittens. “Honey, Hanika’s eyes have opened!”
“Oh, is she the first one?”
“Yes, Hakiro and Kakina are still blind. Their eyes should open soon too, though.” I stayed back slightly as it was a family conversation and I was not part of Kakiro’s family. “What are you waiting for, Thortac? Let’s go!” I scurried behind Kakiro, who was running over to his bush. “There is still something I wanted to tell you, but I thought I would wait for you to refresh a day.” Kakiro took a deep breath. He bore an expression of fear and anxiety as he continued, “We are on the brink of war, Thortac. The North Dikmen Pride had declared war on us the day after you attacked Kartick.”
“Was I gone already?”
“Yes, you were. I called Makuuku and you for advice, but you seemed to be missing, so I moved the conference a day. Then I noticed you were gone-and a great search was started, as you are a very important cat in a war, seeing how you lead the Foreign Ministry. After a week, expert hunters found your trail leading towards Dr. Nil’s lab. Thinking you would never return, I hired Hanikoko, under the condition that he is to give up his position if you were ever to return. He was no replacement, however. I didn’t enjoy working with him a great deal. I also didn’t like his ideas about how this war was to go. He thought that we should surrender the west side of Vadi, arguing that we could defend the eastern one easier due to the fact that it is impossible to flank because of the deathpass on one side, and the Vadi River on the other. I personally saw it as a very bad idea because the Dikmen cats would live there because of its riches. It would come to constant clashes on the bridges and would cut our rodent population in half. I disagreed and declared neutrality, thus making it illegal by the South Ankara Alliance to attack a pride. It also meant however, that we had to by law stop recruiting Vikisans and were not allowed to make deals or sign any treaties. But now, I am going to change that policy. We hereby officially declare war on the North Dikmen Pride, as of now. I will send this message via messenger to Gargan, their Chieftain.” Kakiro sighed, a grave expression on his face. “If I am to be injured in combat badly enough, or if by some chance I should actually die, you will take over my position as pride chieftain.”
“I am honored, Kakiro. But cat warfare isn’t about killing the opponent, it’s about driving the enemy back or pinning the enemy until they surrender. We are not vicious as humans are when it comes to war.” There was a pause as neither of us knew what else to say. “I will inform a messenger now,” said Kakiro. With that, he strode off to Muhka, the chief messenger. I laid down on the soft dirt under the bush, and fell asleep.

* * *

II - 1
Love in the enemies turf
II – 1



A foreign smell brought me from my catnap. It was dark out already, and the neon beamers were switched on. I looked around, but saw nothing suspicious. A cool breeze brought the smell back. A pheromone! It said, “Kakiro, so you have decided to declare war on us, according to my spy! Well, you will notice that something precious is missing, and if you do not surrender all of your territories, that precious thing will remain missing. Sincerely yours, my...friend! Gargan.” Alarmed, I searched Kakiro’s turf for anything valuable missing. Thoughts kept racing through my head, and my heart thumped up into my neck. My claws were driven out as far as possible. Could it have been a lie?-no, pheromones don’t lie. What could he have taken? Why does he so urgently want our pride? A sudden thought gripped me. I searched around, but found it to be gone. I breathed in, then howled, “HANIRA!” The glass-shattering call echoed between the apartment buildings three times, then faded into the night. I sniffed for any signs of the kittens, but they too were gone. I did however read another pheromone...by Hanira herself; “Kakiro, the evil fighters of the North Dikmen have captured me and the kittens-I do not know where they are heading with me, but whatever you do, don’t let them influence any decisions you make just because of me... I love you, I love you a lot, and remember-the pride takes first priority, then the kittens, then me. Don’t forget that I love you... Hanira.” I darted past all bushes, other cats doing their business, and scampered as fast as I could towards Muhka’s grounds, on which rested a small pine tree. Kakiro was talking to him about the procedure of the message delivery. “Kakiro! Hurry! Hanira and the kittens...” I gasped for breath. On Kakiro’s face was written an expression that read, “Bring it on!” I paused, then in a more serious tone mewed, “...Have been abducted by Gargan and his cats!-both left a pheromone you should read.”

* * *