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[ THE VILLAGE OF CATS ]
I strode across a great bridge leading to the out of the way and rich little town they called the 'Village of Cats'. In recent years, it came to be officially renamed that, out of the amusing quirks it had. The abnormal population of housecats that dominated the streets and roofs, and the local populace's infatuations with the cats. There was cat deco on the walls, paintings of cats that must had taken quite a lot of work to make. There was a cafe here known as the 'Catfe'. People even sometimes could be seen wearing cat ears apart of their rural costume. They had an obsession with cats that could, from a certain point of view, be seen as unhealthy even. But overall, it was a... cutesy place. Quite fun.
Most people didn't question my appearance as I walked through the village. In fact, one person even asked me where to get "accessories" like my Qilin horn... I simply told them I bought it at a shop in the Heavenly Capital.
There were cats of all varieties here. Every color in the book of cats. But the most abundant of them all were the black cats with yellowed eyes. I could feel them staring at me as I walked between the wedge of two shops near the riverside.
The village was cloaked in a bluish mist that flowed from the small mountains and hills that ran all the way back to the Dao range the Capital sat on. Unsurprisingly, because the village was situated between two rivers, fish was the source of income, and the village was dominated by fishermen.
I was just walking to the riverside when I stopped to notice a... really, REALLY fat black cat with a white underbelly on its coat that jingled with a bell collar sitting there on the road below, staring up at me, twisting its head in a quizzical fashion. I wondered what about me was so interesting to this fat cat.
And then I was taken aback when it spoke in a feminine voice.
[FAT CAT] "Nyaaa. You're not wearing fancy getup, arghye'? Your horn's quite the real deal, now innit, ya codding horsey you. Tryna' pull the wool under my eyes. Nyehehehe! A foolish deed. Ya oughta know, a cat's eye is the keenest of eyes. I see through your disguise. Ya may fool the culchies, but you'll not fool me."
'A... A... talking cat...?!'
[FAT CAT] "Not just any cat."
'...Cat Goddess...?'
