One, Two, Three.

One, Two, Three

One

Aoki-Alpha was doing one of those things that Kari never understood. The two-leg was as close to a lion as Kari had seen in her short life but sometimes she did things that defied understanding. Like now. The two-leg was busy fighting one of the male two-legs. They seemed to do a lot of this in this room made of dead trees. They had little wooden claws in their hands. Well, that Kari understood. The poor two-legs had the misfortune of being born without claws of their own and their teeth were woefully small so it was only sensible that they should make their own substitutes from the world around them. Still the wooden claws were not as good as the metal claws they had set aside before this fight.

Her idle thoughts were dismissed when Aoki-Alpha shouted one of her triumphant war cries. Kari lazily swung her head round and coolly observed the scene. Her Alpha stood on top of the male two-leg, pointing her wooden claw at his throat. Now came the bit the lion could never quite get. Aoki-Alpha let the male up, did that strange bending of back thing the two-legs seemed overly fond of and let him go. No killing, no mating! What was the point? Neither were cubs to be playing while the pride sun basked.

Kari flicked her tail and went back to licking her paws clean when she heard . . .

Two

. . . a growl carried easily through the long grass to the rest of her pride. Other ears heard it too and voices were raised in alarm. She might be the youngest but she was supposed to be the best stalker and she flicked an ear in frustration at the noise giving them away. Better that this be done quickly then, thought Toki as she increased her pace through the tall grass.

A call of one of the fat, lazy but extremely tasty birds from home stopped her in her tracks and she dropped down on to her belly. Aoki-Alpha's order obeyed, Toki began to began to crawl forward slowly. The grass thinned and she paused once again, catching sight of the two-legs they had been sent to hunt. Three of them. They stank of fear and sweat. Each had a long stick with a metal claw on the end and were peering into the field of grass nervously.

Another bird call and Toki responded without thinking, letting loose a roar in response as Aoki-Alpha had asked. One of the two-legs dropped his stick and ran off into the woods behind him screaming. The other two fixed their eyes on Toki's general location. Thus they never saw Aoki-Alpha and Kari sweep in behind them. The two-legs never had a chance.

Toki set off after the one that had fled, stretching her legs into . . .

Three

. . . a run that soon became a charge as Aoki surged forward towards the gaijin filth, katana raised and the girls loping alongside her. There were plenty of other legionnaires in the charge but Aoki's eyes were on her targets. The Legion line slammed into the barbarians. Aoki's first strike opened up a gaijin from hip to shoulder and he fell to be trampled into the dirt by samurai and war cat alike. Her second kill screamed as her katana took his eyes just as Toki ripped out a hamstring with a mighty bite. The two dispatched him just as Aoki felt an impact on her lower back. The unseen gaijin's blow was cut short by a blur of sandy coloured fur as Kari leapt and barrelled him to the ground. She clawed and bit until the screaming stopped. Aoki left her to it and advanced on her next opponent.

. . .

Aoki leant back against her beloved girls and poured another cup of sake. Toki stirred for a moment but soon returned to her sleep, rumbling snores vibrating through the ground. The Matsu knocked back the shot of sake in a single gulp and squinted at her armour beside her. Good couple of nicks in it this time. Beyond her skill to patch so it would be off to the armourers tomorrow. The nicks would have been considerably larger without the girls, but this was how she fought. Three, not two, not one, but three.