I sat there in the container recovering my breath as I tried to process everything. My father handed me a bottle of water which I quickly drank to calm my nerves. “An assassin?” I finally asked.

“Yes. I have many nicknames, but none of them matter much. I work for the Covenant Church,” he replied. I took another sip of water.

“But they killed the cats and…and they have Paladins?” I asked, confused how it all worked.

“They won the wars with their crusades. The mountain cats were cut down. Now we struggle to survive. But that is why I work for them. Guaranteed safety for my family. As for the paladins, well they are slow to react. If a threat gets out of control, or I can’t handle it, they are called in. They also do the follow up sweep. You can consider me and the other assassins the fast reaction force,” my father explained. Or the expendable force I thought. Better to risk a cat assassin than a paladin.

“And me,” Mousethief said as he slid into the container. The ship shuddered and got underway. “Perfect timing like always. Also, the pay is amazing. I am going to retire to a tropical island with a lot of young creatures to tend to my every need.” My father turned to glare at him.

I looked at my father who then turned back to me and shrugged a bit. “He can be annoying, but he is the best support creature one could ask for. The pay is decent. But the hours are long, and the job is dangerous. I love you, my daughter. If you want to do something else, think about it. I really want you to think about it and give me an answer when we reach our destination,” my father said.

I closed my mouth and really thought about what he was saying. “I will think about it. I was thinking about joining the military before all of this,” I said quietly. I didn’t know if I should mention Mes. It had insisted there was a large risk sharing anything about it, but this was my father.

“Right in your footsteps, Tom Cat,” Mousethief said. My father glared at him and flexed his claws. I noticed they gleamed. They were coated in metal. “Alright, just having a bit of fun. Don’t mind me. I am going to inventory the Snake Pendent. Just doing my job, and can be ignored-“

“Thank you for picking up my daughter Mousethief. But let her slowly get used to your antics first?” my father asked in a tired tone.

“Ah, you just had to ask. No problem,” Mousethief said and went to the back of the container where there were several wooden crates.

“He is excitable, and he got to drive. The mouse is a menace in a vehicle,” my father said. I agreed with that one hundred percent.

“I know, he just went woosh, around all those cars. I don’t think he touched the brakes once,” I replied.

“Consider that a lesson. Don’t get in a car or vehicle if you can help it. Almost as bad as guns,” my father said. I wanted to ask about that but was curious what was going to happen.

“So. What is going to happen?” I asked after making up my mind about what I wanted to know more.

“We will be sailing for three days. Get off at the next port. I will finish off some heretics, then go back on the ship to home base for training or for you to be settled some place nice. That is where you need to make your decision,” my father answered.

“I…it sounds cool, but scary. I mean that snake was huge, and you just unraveled it,” I said with a touch of awe. Thinking about how the black smoke just poured out of it. But it was massive and looked like it could have swallowed my father in one bite.

“It was ancestral projection. Not a very good one either. Why a sheep would ever think they would be a good host for a snake spirit is beyond me. Well hopefully he died, otherwise he will be tortured and crucified.” I gulped at that. “That unnerves you daughter?”

“No, just seems a bit much. Why make a point like that? Everyone knows the Covenant Church is in charge,” I answered.

“That my Mittens is how the Covenant Church likes to do things. To forcibly remind creatures so that way it isn’t easily forgotten or ignored. You know that the Covenant Church controls everything, from what is allowed on the media, to the various governments. They control our world and won’t loosen their grip, not even for one second, ever since the crusades purged any real opposition, there have just been remote groups and idiots stirring up trouble,” my father explained.

“So, you deal with these messes all the time?” I asked.

“Yes. I won’t deny the Covenant Church’s oppression and some creatures lash out, but that is no excuse for being an idiot. There are always creatures looking to stir up trouble. And the snake cultists never stop popping up no matter how many I kill. Weeds, weeds all of them,” my father shook his head and I had to suppress a giggle thinking snake cultists as weeds. Weeds filled with EXP and more powers.

“Well, let’s stretch. Stand up,” my father said, and I got up. While I towered over other creatures, my father towered over me with his chin reaching the top of my head. “Paws to hind paws.” I copied my father and bent at the waist.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I was barely able to touch my hind paws. “Hold the position and force your body to sink into the stretch. The key thing to being an assassin and fighting as a cat is being able to dodge. That requires speed, flexibility, and an intuitive sense of combat. Now back up slowly.” I slowly rose back up. “Spread your legs. You want to be able to do a full split.”

I watched my father and tried to copy his full split. His black shorts stretched as his legs spread apart. I couldn’t do a full split. “Don’t worry, just hold the position. Breathe in and out. We can work on flexibility constantly during the trip.”

“But your claws, can’t you just slash creatures up, like that snake spirit?” I asked.

“Projection is the correct term to describe an ancestral spirit that manifested its true form on top of a host. And no. Dodging is far more important than anything else. We are going to keep this position for a while. Being able to do a split is important. Spirits have limited energy and empower creatures far beyond their physical limits. The key to winning those fights is to outlast them. Hence speed, flexibility, and intuition my daughter.”

“So, we are working on training now?” I asked. My father smiled at me.

“Yes. You need enough flexibility, so you don’t hurt yourself. Now slowly lean forward. Use your paws to center yourself, feel your core, and your breathing. As a cat, we have natural intuition that only needs to be trained slightly. Our speed and reaction times are immense.”

“So, you want me to become an assassin?” I asked. He was already giving me a lesson right away and I wanted his approval.

“It is ultimately up to you, my daughter. But one thing you will learn about me is that I hate wasting time. Efficiency is everything. Each movement, each strike, must be perfect. For if anything is lacking you will be wounded. And if you are wounded, you will die. You feel the pressure on your hips?”

“Yes, stay like this?” I asked.

“Yes. We will we doing stretching all three of these days constantly while on the boat.” My eyes went wide at that. “Don’t look so surprised. It is what must be done. Being able to hold uncomfortable positions is the least of the training you will undergo if you decide to stick around. I won’t coddle you, but I also won’t be unfair.”

I considered all of that and slowly nodded. “How did you even get started with all this?” I asked.

“Recruitment once I left the military. That is the standard way. Oh yes, there are other assassins working for the Covenant Church. I have only met a few on some jobs that required support or at headquarters. But we operate independently for the most part.”

“And Mousethief?” I asked.

“Support and logistics. No one creature is good at everything. I handle the killing and fighting and he handles everything else,” my father answered. Could we get someone else to handle the driving?

“Killing creatures…is it hard?” I asked thinking about this career path and how I needed EXP to get more skills and features from Mes.

“Yes and no. Each creature must find their own answer. If you are told to kill, you kill. Adults, children, it doesn’t matter. That is something you must accept. The moment you question our employers they will have no use for you,” my father said.

“No mercy?” I asked.

“The mercy we give is a quick death. I don’t do torture. If someone is going to die, then I do it. No captures either, since it is messy and a headache. I have done two captures, and that was two too many.”

“You can pick?” I asked.

“My dear, I am not some unthinking, uncaring robot. To do this job, you must know your lines. I drew mine a long time ago. The Covenant Church will not ask you to step past them as long as you do not fail. If you fail, you lose the right to disagree, and I don’t fail. That is also why I can bring you with me Mittens,” my father said, and I wanted to look away as my tail twitched and my face grew warm but needed to keep up the pose to try and get to a split. My hips were really hurting. “Breathe.”

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. The ship and container shook. “Just the waves, nothing to worry about,” my father said.

“This is a lot to take in,” I said softly as the weight of today’s events began to catch up to me. My father was an assassin for the Covenant Church. Killing creatures at their bidding. I wanted to laugh a bit at how it had timed up with Mes’ arrival. That was something I needed to ask it.

“That is why I want you to take your time to make a decision. But we can go through lots of stretches up to that point Mittens.”

“Sorry to interrupt this family bonding, but I come bearing fish,” Mousethief said as he entered the container carrying a basket that had a delightful smell of cooked meat. I hadn’t even seen or heard him leave.

“Alright, slowly bring your legs in, and help support your weight with your front paws to get up, keep breathing,” I slowly got up out of the pose. Mousethief had laid out three plates and was dishing up food on each of them from his basket.

“How, did you get by?” I asked Mousethief, wondering when he had left the container.

“Quietly and quickly Miss Mittens. Now eat up before it gets cold.” I picked up a plastic fork and looked for a knife. I then saw my father smiling at me as he lifted a paw and flicked out a single claw. My eyes went wide as he used it to cut the fish.

“You washed them?” I asked.

“Disinfectant, water on a ship is precious and hard to get rid of. Here,” my father said and pulled out a bottle from behind a crate and passed it to me. I carefully applied the disinfectant to my paws and claws. I then began to carefully carve up the fish and vegetables. It was weird using my claws like this.

“Why not use a knife?” I asked out of curiosity. I wouldn’t complain, I could feel my Movement skill taking hold and improving how I cut my fish. I would have never thought the skill could be used so simply.

“Training in precision. Helps with cutting into things or picking locks. Also, a good way to assess if they are still sharp or if I need to have them fixed,” my father answered.

“What is up with the metal coating? Doesn’t it hurt?” I asked as I carefully chewed on a piece of delicious fish.

“It did, but I have become used to it. Using a sword would take years of training, would unbalance me, and not work well with dodging. A cat uses their claws to fight. If you can make it past the basic training, then I will get you a coating. It is a special alloy, long lasting and stays quite sharp. Good against ancestral spirits.”

“It is quite dangerous too,” Mousethief added.

“Thank you for the food Mousethief and picking me up,” I said remembering my manners. He smiled at me, and his whiskers twitched.

“No problem, Miss Mittens. That is what I am here for. Just ask if you need anything. Clothes will have to wait until we get into port unfortunately,” Mousethief said.

“You can handle that. I will sort out the heretics. Their location?” my father asked.

“Already working on it, you know you don’t need to worry about the details with Mousethief on the job,” Mousethief said and winked at me.