The Cat looked around the cabin of the Diamond train.
Even modestly covered as she was with the prestigious black robes of the Advisor---nay---even EMPOWERED as she was with the Princess' Emissary Travel Pass, the people still looked at her with fear and loathing.
Across from her was a dwarven woman with two young children. The woman's guarded eyes never left Jana's face even as she gathered her children into her arms. Beside her, a young couple gripped each other tightly, not daring to look in her direction.
Jana sniffed and looked away. As if that would protect anyone. All it would take would be a swift snap of the whip at her side and their heads would roll on the floor.
At least she didn't have to worry about people sitting next to her. As crowded as the train was, the seats on either side of her were empty. Nobody wanted to sit next to Jana.
This was perfectly fine with her as she was quite tall and the seats were made for people who were slightly larger than dwarves.
As a normal-sized pantheran, Jana normally had to squeeze her majestic limbs into seats that could barely contain her 6'2" frame. Extra space on either side of her meant she could spread out a bit more without having to worry about bumping into people.
Jana was used to this treatment from the people of Ashrya.
Anytime she ventured out of Marble Savanna to do her Advisory duties, it was always the same. At first, she was constantly on guard. She would return glare for glare, growl for growl, hiss for hiss.
But after a while, Jana grew tired of being on guard all the time. After all, the people may not be comfortable being around her, but they were not spoiling for a fight.
They were all travelers just like her and when they were on the trains together, all they wanted to do was to reach their destination and get off. Everyone wanted to show their displeasure at having to share the same cabin with a panthera but nobody wanted to go as far as having to duel with those carmine painted claws of hers.
No one could blame their discomfort. Jana was no slouch. Even as modestly dressed as she was, she still exuded the coiled power of a prowling feline in search of prey. Her eyes were the deep green of a glass bottle with pupils that were so strongly constricted, they were menacing black slits.
Of course, Jana would never tell them that the menacing black slits of her pupils were a natural physical reaction of her pupils to the bright lights all around her. Let them think she was narrowing her pupils into slits of evil intent. It would keep them from bothering her.
With a silent hiss, the Diamond Train slowed to a stop. They were finally at the Diamond Junction. Jana waited till most of the passengers had gotten up to leave before moving to the exit. It was just easier to keep out of their way.
As she emerged from the doorway, Jana caught a flash of a weapon coming to the right side of her head. She instinctively ducked. The weapon banged into the train's doorway, embedding itself deep into the metal of the door.
She rolled from her ducking motion and rose on four limbs. There were at least ten or more of them--all black-furred gorillas.
A flash of weapon came from the left. She rolled to her right, evading the sword. At mid roll, her left hand whisked out the whip from her left hip.
In one fluid motion, she whip-hooked onto the sword sending it flying over her head. With the natural arch of the whip, she impaled it into the nearest gorilla to her right.
He never saw it coming because it was aimed for the space between his eyes.
THUD!!!
The weapon hit, plunging into his head and protruding out the back of his skull.
She whipped again, this time aiming for the one charging directly at her.
CRACK!!!
The whip split his head vertically, down to his neck. He convulsed and fell to the ground trying to hold his head together.
Jana could now count the numbers of gorilla warriors. She had felled two in the space of two seconds. There were still ten more coming at her.
They growled with fury, charging at full speed.
Another snap of the whip took out two on the right. They writhed on the ground, their necks spurting blood.
One more snap of the wrist took out two to her left. They too, keeled over.
Four seconds to take out six gorillas. Not a bad record but she could always improve.
Jana hated blood, but she was female and the most vulnerable spot a man had was his neck. She had learned a long time ago to always go for the jugular. Men tended to protect their groin areas but always left their necks unprotected---more the fool that they were.
Unfortunately, the six remaining gorillas had gotten too close for her to use her whip.
Jana's right arm reached up and pulled the pantheran dao from the scabbard on her back. She crouched down and waited.
In a split second, one of the gorillas charged at her with his broadsword.
Jana did not even bother to use her sword on him. She leaped up with her powerful hind legs and vaulted over his head.
Her carmine red left claw hooked into his throat and ripped out his veins with the motion of her body even as her pantheran dao slashed through the two men standing next to him.
That was one more second in exchange for three more gorillas. There were three left.
The ground was slick with the viscous feel of blood. For most people it was nauseating. For Jana, it fed into her bloodthirst and made her even more vicious.
She didn't hate blood because it was messy and smelly. She hated blood because it made her lose control. But blood was something that Jana had to deal with. As a warrior, she had been trained to stay focused and to stay in control.
She briefly thought about toying with the last three for a bit before ending the show, but then remembered her mission. If she did not hurry, she would be much later than she already was.
It took one final second for Jana to slash the three gorillas into bloody stumps. They fell to the ground unmoving.
For a moment, Jana remained in her crouched position, eyes darting everywhere, looking for any signs of danger. She could see passengers with their bags and luggages standing around with horrified looks in their eyes.
There were even some in warrior armor with their weapons unsheathed, but they also stood petrified in their spots unable to move.
In truth, it had only taken six seconds to eliminate twelve gorilla warriors. The dwarven warriors in charge of keeping the peace at the station would not have been fast enough to even be able to join the fight.
Jana smiled at them in an attempt to be friendly. At least they had thoughts about trying to defend her.
She moved her dao.
The passengers nearest to her flinched and backed away, but then they breathed a shaky sigh of relief. She had merely stooped to wipe the blade on the nearest dead gorilla before returning it to its scabbard on her back.
Jana hated doing that. The best thing to do would have been to take the blade somewhere and wash it with soap and water, and then wipe it dry with a soft cloth.
Merely wiping the blood off in this manner meant she would have to take the scabbard apart and try to clean all the blood and gore that would stick on the inside of the leather scabbard. It was a pain in the arse because it took forever for the scabbard to dry.
It couldn't be helped however. There was no way she could walk through a crowded train depot with a bloody unsheathed blade.
As she made her way to the nearest ladies room, Jana sighed with resignation. She was so very late already, but there was no way she could show up wearing a bloodsoaked Advisor's robe with claws dripping in blood.
Fifteen minutes later, Jana had cleaned up most of the blood from her fur and claws, but the robe was a disaster. It had taken the brunt of the blood and gore coming from the gorilla warriors.
She had dunk it into water and washed it several times. Although cleaned from visible signs of the blood, it reeked of the smell.
There was no way she could wear it. Anyone with half a sense of smell---meaning any hybrid human who was half-beast, would consider her a walking challenge to their very existence.
She reluctantly shoved it into a pouch and carried it on her body.
Pantherans did not make much of a fuss about clothing. The One True Soul had given them a nice warm beautifully decorated fur covering. Why would they need to wear anything more than that?
But the dwarves and Ashryans were not so lucky. Their skins were tender and lacked any protective pelage so they had to have something to cover their skin to protect themselves from the elements.
This in itself was not the issue. After all, no one who had a fur advantage would begrudge the non-furred that minor self-preservation method.
The problem was that once the non-furred became the majority of the population, their insistence on the wearing of clothing, even for those like Jana who truly needed no clothing, became something of a major nuisance.
Still, in an effort to adapt to the non-furred society and to avoid the lecherous stares of all the males around her, Jana had done her best to drape herself in their frippery. It was a chore that she hated to abide to, but with freedom of movement came small sacrifices. Wearing clothes was one of those sacrifices.
The only exception to all of this was the precious Advisor's black robe. This was no mere external covering. It was the sign of the Queen's faith in her ability to represent her people. This, she wore with pride.
Still, she was about to meet the Queen herself. She could not come covered in blood and gore. It was a sign of disrespect, to arrive looking as if she was about to challenge Queen Mira's reign, and of course, nothing could be further from the truth.
Jana clacked her carmine red claws in determination. She would meet the Queen unrobed and beg for forgiveness.