Jillian and the Baset Clan Part 6: Truth is stranger than fiction
Slowly making her way to the meditation chambers, Jillian wasn’t sure if she was seething mad or scared. Probably a little of both. Why did she have to explain her actions to this pompous overstuffed cat….didn’t she prove herself by defeating the red dot….but then again was there a specific way of doing that had passed over her furry grey head. These questions pounded in Jillian’s mind as she entered the chamber, weary of what final challenge lay before her. The sweet aroma of burning catnip reached her nostrils, sending calming waves through her tiny limber body.
Sitting in a tall chair in the center of the room, that had till this point remained unoccupied, sat a wizened cat that wheezed with every breath. Jillian stopped in front of the chair and fell to one knee out of respect for the occupant.
“Rise my child,” The voice wheezed from chair. “We have much to discuss and little time to do it in.”
With a slight nod of her bowed head, Jillian rose and seated herself on one of the many cat beds that circled the perimeter of the chair. Folding her bottom paws across her lap and circling her front paws in front of her, Jillian cleared her mind in preparation for what the grand master would ask her.
As the last thoughts ebbed themselves away, Jillian heard the voice of Grand Master Purr a-lot clearly in head. “Tell me child, in your own words, how did you succeed in conquering the red dot?”
With a clear calm mind, Jillian related to him the events that led her victory over the red dot. After she had finished, the Grand Master was silent for a while, then said, “You have chosen a path that could only been revealed to you by the Mother. Tell me, did you receive any visions relating to the test you undertook?”
With a sigh, Jillian told Grand Master Purr a- lot about the three dreams that had been shown her and of the opening of the her fifth eye.
The Grand Master fell into a lapse of deep meditation and Jillian followed his example. As the grey clouds cleared, she found herself back on the African plane, this time accompanied with a young orange cat. The cat turned to her, “You have passed the tests set before you and yet there is much for you to learn. If you’re ever going to fulfill your destiny as the Promised Cat.
With a flash of bright light, the world around Jillian disappeared and when her eyesight returned to normal, she found herself standing outside of an ancient pyramid that was open for the night. Tourists streamed in and out, meowing, hissing and purring on the cellphones that were glued to their ears. Not quite knowing what to do, Jillian turned around and began the long trek home. As her paws hit the dust, she began to wonder if the last few months had actually taken place.
However when she glanced down at her clothes, she saw that she still wore the dusty ceremonial robe, there was a solid oak staff in her left paw, and a rawhide hand sewn knapsack, slung across her back. Her muscles and instincts were finely tuned, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
Whether the Baset Ninja Clan was real and she had in fact trained with them or it was some kind of fantastic hallucination. Something extraordinary had happened to her and she was not about to waste this opportunity that had been granted to her. It was time to stop fooling around. It was time to start preparing for the storm that she believed was gathering. She as yet did not know the face of the enemy, only a name and that name filled her every thought, it hung on her tongue wanting to escape. But Jillian refused it freedom, she held it in and pondered its meaning, as the swish of her tail directed her paws to her new home.
