At the top of the staircase, a cat sauntered out.
"Meow, meow, purrr. (Newbie, the human world is full of danger. Join our Cat Kingdom Troupe, and we shall keep you safe.)"
She looked down at Amber from above. Her face and ears bore scars big and small from battles.
Troupe... Such a familiar word. Amber tilted her head but couldn't figure out why.
"Meow, meow, purr? (So...the long-haired blue cat who brought me here, is she also from the Cat Kingdom?)" Amber found herself asking in the same language.
"Purr, meow! Purr, meow! (Of course, she's the strongest warrior in our kingdom—Cat One!)"
Upon hearing her name, the large blue cat emerged from the group and cheerfully waved her paw at Amber.
"Meow. (Then, I'll join.)"
Amber answered without hesitation.
"Meow, meow meow. (Good. From now on, you can call me Boss Cat.)"
Around here, the Cat Kingdom Troupe is a vast underground organization of cats.
Cats Two and Three, who Amber had encountered earlier, were also strays picked up by Cat One and raised in the Cat Kingdom's sanctuary for kittens—that cardboard box in the corner, its official name being the "Cardboard Cat Castle."
Nobody had told Amber these strange details, but they came into her head all the same.
Amber shook her head, clearing away these thoughts, and focused on playing with a magical mouse puppet. This was a daily training routine for the warriors of the Cat Kingdom.
"Meow meow, meow. (Don't let your limbs grow rusty.)"
Boss Cat would remind her warriors daily:
"Purr...meow, meow! Meow! Meow meow! (Soon, we'll face a great battle. We shall liberate our brethren at the cafe!)"
That's right. The mission: Liberate the cats inside the cat cafe.
This was Amber's first mission after she joined the Cat Kingdom. It also served as a test given to her by Cat One the big blue cat after she applied to join her team.
Cat Two was already on the team, but Amber was determined to not fall behind Cat Three, who only ever thought about games. She swatted her paw against the mouse's tail and watched with satisfaction as her ranking rose above Cat Three's.
To her surprise, that single act seemed to change more than just the ranking.
The entire training ground began to shake. Above the field, a giant, featureless human face appeared.
"Purr! Meow meow, meow! Purr! (No! The humans from the cafe have acted first—we've been discovered!)"
Boss Cat's voice came to her from afar.
Amber's eyes flew open, her heart pounding as she glanced up at the sky—
No human face.
And she...was not a cat.
After all, Amber knew how cats communicate—with glances, scents, and body language instead of "talking" back and forth with meows.
Only humans spoke.
"The Cat Kingdom Troupe, the Cardboard Cat Castle, Cats One, Two, Three, and Boss Cat... Was it all just a dream?"
The starlight had no answer for Amber. She closed her eyes, hoping she'd find out the truth someday.