Title: Marron: A Story of Oniyuri-hime
By: Meganekko
Rated: G
Fandom: N/A – Original
Pairing: None
Notes: This is an original short story about a side character in one of my original story ideas.
Story Summary: This is a brief history of Oniyuri-hime, the Queen of Cats, and what happened on her fifteenth birthday. (In Japanese folklore, 15 is the age that cats become nekomata, a type of cat yokai.)
Comments allowed: Critique, questions, etc.

The red tabby was the fourth born in a litter of six to a stray mother cat. Her father wasn’t there for her birth, but what tom ever was? Her mother stayed with the litter until they were weaned. She taught them as much as she possibly could before convincing herself they were ready to go off on their own. She left them in the middle of the night, already expecting another litter from various toms.

When the kittens awoke and found themselves alone, they waited for their mother until nightfall. The red kitten, along with her siblings, had a suspicion that their mother didn’t intend to return, but they continued to wait for a few more days. It became apparent that their mother had gone and had no intention of coming back. They talked amongst themselves and decided to part ways. The red kitten was the only one who chose to remain in the neighborhood of their birth. The others had notions of adventures and finding better places to call home.

The kitten wasn’t even a year before a young neighborhood girl found her. The young girl didn’t try to take the kitten home immediately. The kitten was, after all, feral. But after several visits with fish crackers and saucers of cream, it wasn’t long before the kitten trusted the girl. (Food is always an excellent way to earn a cat’s affections, you know.)

After the necessary visit to the vet to check the kitten’s health, the kitten was brought to her new home. The young girl decided to name her new pet Marron because of her brown eyes.

Marron lived with the girl for 15 years before her life changed forever.

On the evening of her 15th birthday, Marron was visited by a strange cat. It came through the window, walking on its hind legs. Marron noticed it had a forked tail, too, which was an unnerving sight to the old feline.

“Come,” it said. “It’s time to go.”

“Go? Go where?” the old cat asked with a twitch of her tail.

“To the Cat Kingdom, of course!” the strange visitor replied, sounding somewhat shocked by Marron’s question. “Where you will learn about your new powers,” it explained further.

The Cat Kingdom? Her new powers? What was this cat talking about?

The stranger seemed to have read her thoughts, for it said, “You’re no longer a normal cat. You can’t stay here.” Marron guessed that it noticed the weird look she gave it because it followed with “Haven’t you noticed your tail?”

Marron’s ears twitched and she immediately looked behind her. She yelped and looked frantically back at the other cat. “It’s forked! Just like yours!” Her forked tail puffed with fright.

The strange cat couldn’t seem to understand her surprise. “Well, of course it has! You are 15 years old today,” it said nonchalantly.

“What does being 15 years old have to do with this?” Marron shrieked.

“Come, come. Try not to be so surprised please,” the other cat sighed. “A cat of 15 years becomes a nekomata—though some have turned as late as 20,” it explained.

Marron had no idea what this cat was talking about. She was staring at it, wide-eyed, with her tail as frizzy as it could be. Her claws were dug deep into the fabric of her mistress’ bed.

“Look, this really isn’t the time or place to have this discussion,” the other cat sighed, its tail twitching with annoyance. “Just come with me to the Cat Kingdom and everything will be explained there.”

Marron decided that she didn’t like this messenger from the Kingdom of Cats. It was hardly helpful, or willing to offer any sort of comfort. But Marron knew she couldn’t stay now, not with her tail being split.

“Is there a way that we can make my mistress think that I just didn’t run away?” Marron asked with resignation.

“Of course we can!” the cat answered with apparent glee. “Just give me some of your fur.”

“My f—?” An indignant yowl ripped from Marron’s mouth as the other cat ripped a paw full of fur from her side.

“There! That should be enough,” the cat grinned. Marron’s ears rested flat against her head as she glared at her rude visitor. It didn’t seem to pay any mind to her blatant offense.

“Now you are going to blow on this,” the Cat Kingdom ambassador said, presenting a little cat-like figure made from Marron’s fur.

Marron, with her ears still pushed back, huffed on the figure. It began to grow before her eyes, taking the form of a sleeping cat that looked exactly like her. Marron’s eyes grew wide again and she jumped back.

“There’s no need to be alarmed,” the other cat said.

Marron sniffed at the fake and noticed something, her ears perking forward. “It’s not breathing.”

“Of course it isn’t.”

Marron looked down sadly at the figure. “She’ll think I died?”

“Well”—the cat actually seemed somewhat taken aback by her question—“yes.”

“I see,” Marron replied softly. Marron took one last look around the room, saying a silent goodbye and whispering a soft apology to her mistress.

“Ready?” the ambassador asked, sounding restless.

“Yes,” Marron replied.

“OK! Let’s go!” The cat’s energy annoyed her, but she followed it out the window and into the warm night.

Lovely piece! I like the plot twist in which Marron is taken to the Cat Kingdom not immediately when she was born, but when she was 15 years old.

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Thanks, Moonstone! The Cat Kingdom is part of the Great Kaibutsu Kingdom in my story, so all the cats in the kingdom are monster or spirit cats (i.e., nekomata, bakeneko, maneki-neko). Normal kitties aren't allowed.

I added the info and tagged my story.