"Stupid cat."

Ichi muttered to himself. He hadn't heard a word of Tufts and Danberu's conversation. Ichi could smell a massive herd of cats deep in the caves.

Danberu concluded his important conversation with Tufts that lead him to strategic plan to strike back against the wild bakeneko with the help of Bakeneko Lord Avar. He turned to see how Ichi was taking this all in, but he didn't see him there.

Sometime during the conversation, Ichi had drifted off. Avar caught the Tanuki Lord looking around for Ichi and told him what he saw.

"Your strange human turned into a bird and flew off."

Danberu considered thousands of possibilities, such as the 'cat of balance' being in Ichi's possession according to what Oni said, that once Ichi learned of Avar's true identity that he was now moving to secure his position. Danberu face screwed up in thought as he considered Ichi's next move.

Surely, he was dealing with an unprecedented situation. Ichi's disappearence came at a weird time. Danberu's mind raced like a storm to consider what Ichi could possibly be doing. Ichi's strange little girl Satou had shown up out of nowhere with fox rebels and two tengu prisoners, the two of which appeared to be connected to royalty. Then, Ichi's strange little girl Oni had shown up out of nowhere to relieve their supply issues with his strange magic.

Danberu hadn't considered that this was entirely outside of Ichi's control. Nor did he consider that Ichi was upset over being unable to hit Avar for a mysterious reason.

At the end of Danberu's thinking he could only think to regroup at his fortress. Avar told Tufts he'd be going back with Danberu to plan the next phase of their plan. After all, Avar had agreed to be the lure for the bakeneko herds outside of his fortress. Those who kneeled to his rule would join Tufts in the cave in the mountain north of Danberu's fortress, and those that didn't would be culled to reduce overpopulation.

It was a good plan that, while their would be ample sacrifices, would also spare as much life as possible.

It was also a plan that Ichi didn't hear at all.

At the same time that the reasonable and calm headed Bakeneko Lord, his trusty experienced servant, and the Tanuki Lord were discussing the best possible outcome, Ichi the Lord of Avalon was busy killing bakeneko en masse in the forests below.

Trees fell like leaves in the wind as Ichi's black blade slammed through trees and cats all the same. Moving through the forest as if he was a blur, a camp of bakeneko would be merrily cooking that nights dinner, speaking of life and sharing stories of the future and of what they would name their children, wiping sweat off their brow after a day's hard labor of hunting or fishing.

Then they would all be dead very quickly.

It would be inhumane if they were human.

But they were just stupid cats to Ichi.

Ichi stopped near a stream to drink, taking his black blazer off and tearing off his black necktie. He hadn't noticed, but white energy surrounded his white shirt. The black stick formerly merged with Ichi's heart laid in grass nearby, yet black energy still surrounded Ichi body and sword.

Ichi hadn't noticed the black stick was gone. Like the white stick that he last saw on Scipio's back, the black stick as well was left behind as Ichi charged forward, decapitating an attack herd of cats in one strike. A tinge of white energy spilled across the blade black.