Inside the mystic forest of Illapa, flickers of light would appear for only the briefest moment before fading. The humans using their technology were able to see this light show from 9000 miles but couldn't find their conductors. Tales of Forest have been in the mortal realm for eons, adventures going to the "forbidden realm" to retrieve the energy it gives; however, very few get close enough to even interact with the barrier. Tales are split; some believe a horrendous monster guards the barrier, while others claim it's nothing more than a cat. Anyone who tries getting close wakes up in the bed as if they never left. The light the humans were seeing was from two Cheshire cats. "This is Art if I ever seen it," the senior feline heads weaving from point to point to keep an eye on the two combatants.
"I can't see anything, Grandpa, what's happening," the eager kitten says as she frustratingly looks at the ever-growing smile on her grandfather's face. "Focus, dear Ino, you have to focus." Ino stars intently in the distance but is just too slow. For every spark of light she does catch, she missed 5 more, until her perception paid off and she saw, "WOW." Her face was stunned; she couldn't believe what she was witnessing. Knel, the hero of the current age for her species, the Cheshire that could fend off multiple waves of lower demons when the crack reopened, the man who single-handedly squashed the rebellion of Orcus and his Cheshire army when they tried to break the barrier. Ino couldn't believe the one man Armanda is
being put on defense; who could do this?
Moments before the fight.
Knels fur with each movement sounding like a thunderstorm, the old warrior stretches while facing his opponent. The young and talented Tales stands before him, undaunted by his master presences. "So you want to try this again, do you, Sunny? Wasn't it just three months ago you challenged, or maybe four?"
"It was two." Tales says in a monotonous voice.
"Whoops, I'm sorry, you know the memories start to fade after the first couple of eons. I'm just surprised you healed fast. Not many of our people can take a gutting, but I guess that's why you have the highest scores of all recruits in the history of all time. Are you ready?" the master asked, his voice calm with an exciting hum that rippled through the sound waves. No answer, no hesitation. Before the lids of the eye could close, the young one vanished, and Master followed suite. To any other eye, accept that of the Cheshire, and some gods seeing this spectacular fight would be impossible. Two beings that weave in out of being and nothingness clashing on multiple planes of existence at once. Even being of their own race would have trouble following this fight, not due to the paradox but due to the speed at which they moved. Each clash caused a clap of lighting to appear, drawing the attention of spectators. A big cat jumps through the tree line to get to the commotion, clutching two small arms. "Grandpaaaaa, why'd you do that?"
"Sorry, Ino, I know you were playing with your friends, but I couldn't miss this, and I think you like it to." The old cat puts his kitten down along with a device.
"What's that?" the little one wonders,
"simply documenting, that's all. This temporal scanner will allow me to calculate how fast they are going and possibly predict their movements." The kitten, still confused, saw a spark of light and wondered what it was, as it was different in color than the usual color of light that the forest gives off. She asked the old cat question after question, yet no answer. He's in a trance, amazed at what he's viewing, until he hears a ding that rips him out of it. He looks down at the scanner, which cures tiers of enjoyment. "There, monster, eight times the speed of light... monster, that's the only way to describe them." They clahsed ferociously, claws met fur ending in bloody paws, tails were snapping bones, and the energy from the strikes lit up the nightsky so much often it looked as daytime. Before a heartbeat could fist, these warriors had already exchanged thounds of blows, but little by little, the young one was gaining his edge. Imbuing his left claw with dark matter, Tales increases his speed, creating 30 clones of himself all with the power to kill. Knel dispatched the first couple; the old master was running energy through his joints, increasing his reaction, and once he killed the last one, he wondered where the real one was. In the moment of hesitation, Tales burst out the ground under Knel, "smart, he thought," while giving his arm to the young tiger. In what seem to be instantaneously, as Tales cut Knles arm, Knels cut his own arm as well, severing it so the dake matter doesn't spread. Seeing this tale showed an emotion—happy. The grin on his face when he knew he just needed one more attack. The young tiger finally pounced, so fast the electricity surrounding him was stuck in place. "It's over," he exclaimed. The clash comes with one final flash, and when darkness creeps back over the light, before the smoke settles, all you have here is "Enough."
Both master and student stand there, one laughing, the other silent. "You win, young tiger, congratulations." Knel tells the pissed tiger. "What was that? Why'd you stop? You could keep going."
"Yes, and so can you. That doesn't mean we should, though, especially since the winner is clear."
"You didn't go all out at the start like last time, why?" Tales shouts in anger.
"Simply put, it's because I didn't want you to take all my nine lives and I didn't want to take some of yours either." The anger Tales faced transformed to shock. He unclenches his paw, gets on one knee, and recites the code. "You cannot surpass what you cannot see until you surpass what you can." The old tiger places his paw on Tales head, giving him the mark of Bast. "You are the champion of our people, Illapa and Bast. Watch over and protect you; serve them well and yourself well."
End