Upside down in the air and the Ancestral Snake Spirit almost upon me. I felt the shadow of death loom over me. This was it, everything I had worked for was going to end like this. Ripped apart by a snake. I refused to let that happen! I killed other creatures. They didn’t kill me.

Twisting around in the air, I pushed my body and spine to the very limit to rotate my body. To reorient myself to be facing the snake. To move in between the fangs. I remembered to take a deep breath. Its tongue darted out as a could of poison enveloped me.

My claws shredded the tongue as the mouth snapped shut. I felt something stir within my body as the poison was all around me. I didn’t have time for that, as my claws slashed out in every possible direction, shredding the inside of the snake’s mouth. I needed to damage the Ancestral Spirit enough so that I would be freed. Black smoke poured out from the wounds. The snake slammed into a wall or the floor, fully pushing me inside its mouth.

I couldn’t see and I didn’t dare breathe as the black smoke and poison pushed down upon me. The inside of the snake pressed down on me, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I wasn’t going to give up! My claws kept digging into whatever they could touch.

Just as I was about to black out, I collapsed to the ground. It took every ounce of will power and the skill itself not to immediately gasp for air. I could tell that would have been incredibly dangerous. Instead, I rolled across the floor for a bit, until I felt it was safe to breathe.

I sucked in air and forced myself to get to my feet. All those sparring sessions where my father forced me to get up no matter what, were ingrained in my head. I had to get up. I had to keep fighting. The rat Bloodtooth lay on the ground dead. His body and robe partially melted. The fox Vilefang was next to the cat Faststrike who was bleeding heavily from his head and missing an ear.

“Impossible!” Vilefang hissed out. I could smell their fear. I steadied my breathing. Even as my vision blurred and pain wracked my body. They were doing to die. Every single creature was going to die.

“My name is Mittens, but you can call me Murder Mittens when I send you to your snake deity and let it know, I am coming for it,” I said to intimidate them while walking over. I could smell their fear. I had no idea how I was alive from the poison. Probably Mes, but right now, I was going to kill some creatures. I could feel my blood pulsing under my skin with every heartbeat.

I raced forward. “Go!” Vilefang said and jumped into my path. I was exhausted, hurting, and it was hard to see, but none of that mattered now. I could feel the blood rushing through me and pounding in my ears. I had to kill them. Everything was going to die! Faststrike scrambled up the stairs. He would not escape for long.

I struck out deflecting her daggers and then gripping her arms with my paws. I squeezed down. “Ahhhh!” Vilefang wailed in pain as my claws dug into her and I twisted. While the Snake Ancestral Spirit might grant the power of scales and some flexibility, it could only go so far and Vilefang was exhausted and now in great pain. She dropped both her daggers.

I pulled with all my might. Her left arm was ripped off at the shoulder and I let her other arm go. She went spinning away, as I tossed the bloody arm away. I raced over and my claws darted out several times, leaving an unrecognizable mass for her head. Her screams had stopped. I distantly noted the HMG had stopped firing.

No one was escaping. They tried to kill me. They had to die. They were all going to die. I raced up the stairs, blood dripping from my claws. I could see Faststrike nearing the top. He wasn’t going to escape. Everything hurt, but I didn’t care. He had to die.

As I neared the top of the stairs, I could hear him speaking. “Master, we must flee! She killed them both. Even after Bloodtooth summoned Jörmungandr!”

“Till next time Warrior’s Shadow!” I burst out of the stairway as a saw another cat unleash a massive cloud of poison.

“Mittens!” I spun towards my father claws at the ready, breathing heavily. My father. I felt my world spin, and he quickly took me in his arms as my injuries caught up with me.

“Fat-“ I tried to speak, but could only cough.

“Hush, Mittens. You did good,” my father as he carried me away. My head was spinning, and darkness claimed me.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

***-***

I woke with a gasp. “Mittens,” my father was there at my side. I tried to speak but my throat was soar and dry. “Here, drink slowly.” He held up a glass to my mouth and carefully lapped up some water with my tongue.

“You have been asleep for over a day. We are almost back to the port,” my father said, and I could feel the shaking of the container. He pulled the glass of water away. “You experienced heavy poisoning. We injected you with anti-venom and force fed you two tablets of activated charcoal.”

That was the standard procedure if exposed to poison. “Thankfully, it doesn’t look like you inhaled too much, only exposure on your fur.” That was when I realized I was naked, with only a blanket covering me. This was so embarrassing.

“I had to remove your clothes, since they had the taint of poison on them.” My father smiled at me and then he hugged me gently. “I am so proud of you Mittens. You scared me half to death,” he said. He let me go after a minute.

“Here, drink some more water,” he said and I drank. I would need lots of water to help flush out the poison. “You are safe now Mittens.” I drank some more water. “Just relax and rest. It is important you don’t push yourself right now.”

“High Apostate?” I asked with a scratchy voice.

“That…that was Bastet. I have fought her twice before, she escaped both times. Unlike the others, she doesn’t use the Ancestral Snake Spirit as a crutch. She can match me.” My eyes went wide at that. She could match my father.

“It doesn’t help that she likes to drag around a bunch of Apostates with her to use as distractions and to sacrifice them. You did a good job killing two of them and heavily wounding a third.” My father let out a long sigh after he had said that.

“You were in a blood rage Mittens,” he finally said. I didn’t even know. “I am concerned. You almost attacked me. If you weren’t so exhausted and injured, you would have. You need to focus on calming exercises.” I felt calm, but I was too tired to argue with my father right now and just gave a slight nod. He then gave me more water.

“I used to worry about how you would do Mittens. But after that battle, you can clearly handle yourself. I can’t say how proud of you I am, or how impressed. I already washed your fur off of any lingering poison. So, after you rest some more, your clothes are at the foot of your bed. I want you to rest here and not do anything.” He pulled the water away and I felt tired.

“We are going back to the Island. After a poisoning you need to be looked at. Doctor Sharpeyes is a master of poisons and will be able to confirm there are no lingering effects. Also, you will be going with Southpaw for your next assignment.”

That was good. I smiled thinking about all the creatures I had killed. “Rest up and remain calm. Missions aren’t going anywhere. Your health is far more important. Otherwise, you will burn yourself out Mittens.” I felt embarrassed as I thought about how I had declared myself Murder Mittens. Everything after I had been swallowed was a haze.

I wanted to check the Interface, but I was exhausted, even after having just woken up. I drifted in and out of sleep as the container shook as the truck continued.

Eventually, I woke up fully and had to go to the bathroom. I slowly got out of bed. I was unsteady on my paws. After dealing with that, I came back out and got changed. I slowly made my way to the front of the container, which was no longer shaking. I felt as weak as a kitten. Mousethief was sitting at the table with my father.

I could see my father restrain himself from getting up and helping me. I was grateful he had enough respect for me not to treat me like an invalid while I could walk. I sat down, my breathing a bit heavy and everything felt sore.

“Let me just get you some fish,” Mousethief said and left.

“How are you feeling Mittens?” my father asked me.

“Sore, but better than before.”

“Any blood when you used the bathroom,” he asked.

“No,” I replied, and he let out a sigh and relaxed.

“That is good. That means your organs aren’t decaying. The most dangerous time period has passed.”

“I come bearing food. Not perfectly fresh, but still warm,” Mousethief said as he laid out two cooked fish in front of me.

“Eat up, I already ate,” my father said. I quickly demolished the food, and more water was provided. After I finished my food, I stretched out my arms.

“Come on, let’s stretch,” my father said, and I nodded. We got up from the table and began to stretch. “Head alright? Any lingering issues?”

“No. Just sore. And breathing is a bit rough, but I don’t feel that bad. Can see fine and only a slight headache,” I replied.

“That’s very good. You can never be too careful with poison. Thankfully we had the supplies to treat you right away, otherwise it could have been worse,” he said. It was a good thing we brought the container on the truck.

As I stretched, I realized how brazen and overconfident I had been. If Faststrike had attacked with Vilefang, I might have lost in the end. It was humbling. Even with Mes helping me, I had almost lost. But more importantly I had lived to fight another day.

It was a shame that Faststrike had gotten away. At least I had taken one of his ears. He would not be forgetting me any time soon. Then there was the High Apostate Bastet my father had talked about. He had failed to kill her, but I would make sure to finish the job. I felt the rush of blood inside of me and had to force myself to calm down.

My father had been right. Once I had given into a blood rage, it came far more easily now. That was a problem I would have to deal with long term. I couldn’t afford to go feral. I winced as I thought about how I had killed Vilefang. That had been a bit much even for me. I would need to take care and make sure I was in full control of myself going forward.