WHEN we last saw the ferocious felines, they had just entered the mystical realm of The Clockwork on their eponymous island.

AMAZED by the wondrous of the mechanical civilization, our heroes enjoy the respite from the burdens and relax under the watchful synthetic eyes of their hosts.

UNKNOWN to them, a guest, unlike anything they have ever seen before, makes their acquaintance, and can provide them with information they never dreamed possible.

Void Cat focused on the target ahead of her. A green bamboo branch dangled from the ceiling, it slowly swayed in the breeze from the steam vent. Her whiskers twitched and her eyes were motionless, locked on the tip of the furthest leaf.

Sifu spoke to her from behind, “Focus, now. Look at the tip but see everything around you. Focus on everything, and yet nothing. The room, all of it, gives you information. Now, close your eyes and tell me what you see.”

“I see the bamboo, just like I had when my eyes were open,” Void Cat answered.

“What else?” Sifu asked.

“I saw the branch, the steam vent in the back that's making it hotter than the pavement on forty-second street in July. I saw the floor, which is black as night.” Void Cat turned her head side to side, trying to remember. Sifu sighed.

“I asked you to tell me what you see, not what you saw. Try again.” Sifu instructed, then leaned forward and pushed Void Cat off balance, forcing her to regain her footing. The jolt changed her orientation of the room.

“I can’t see what was there anymore, toots…” Void Cat instantly regretted using the slang. Another bamboo pole swung out, hitting her in the front paws. She jumped up, avoiding the collision with her back paws. “I’m sorry, Sifu.”

Without taking a pause, Sifu questioned, “What do you see?”

“I saw…” the bamboo pole hit Void Cat in the head, enough to break her concentration but not hurt her. Her eyes popped open quickly, then she slammed them back shut. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw the form of a dog in her vision.

“I see… the tip of the leaf, floating on the breeze. When the steam settles, it moves left, when it blows it moves right. There is water on the floor ahead of me, its glistening and reflecting the lava lights behind us. There is dust on my whisker. Something is moving in the steam ahead of me. “

“What is moving?” Sifu tested.

“I don’t know, looks like a dog, like one of those other palookas.”

“Ignore the dog, you only see the bamboo leaf, nothing else,” Sifu instructed.

“But, it’s right in front of me!” Void Cat pleaded.

“Then DO SOMETHING!” Sifu demanded.

In one motion, Void Cat launched herself from the floor and pulled the bamboo leaf off the branch with her webbed paw. Spinning around, she saw, in her mind’s eye, the image of the dog beneath her. It stared up at her with glowing green eyes. She knew, given her trajectory, that she would land behind it, and would have to be prepared for the attack when she did. Her mind moved quickly as she sailed through the air, extended her claws, righted herself with her tail, and landed on the warm basalt floor. She spread her toes to control her slide, and with her front paw, swung at the massive dog in front of her. Her right eye opened to see it, a grey wolf, duck out of the way of her paw, and spin to the side. Its long hair flashed through the steam.

“CLOSE YOUR EYES!” Sifu yelled.

Void Cat realized she was being tested on more than just seeing bamboo in her mind’s eye. She was practicing blind fighting, and now she was up against an opponent she knew nothing of. But Sifu knew, and she wasn’t concerned. Void Cat laughed. “So, you’ve given me someone new to play with? Those other tin cans weren’t worth my time, I was beginning to think I was being punished for something!” She spun on her paw, her long tail stabilizing her, and then pivoted back, swinging at the wolf from the opposite side. It, in turn, spun the opposite way, but Void Cat was still able to connect and grabbed the tip of its ear. She spun and flipped onto the wolf’s massive back. It growled in protest.

“Good! Keep going!” Sifu encouraged.

“I don’t know what she’s driving at Mac, I ain’t never seen you before, so I will go easy on you.” Void Cat spoke to the wolf that she was now ostensibly riding.

“Not necessary, thank you,” the wolf replied, its voice gravely and soft.

“I don’t know where you got those super peepers, but they ain’t gonna do you any good when they are pressed against the floor.” Void Cat wrapped her arms around the front legs of the wolf and swung her body below his chest. She exaggerated her tail position, attempting to pull his legs off balance. His leg buckled as she planned, but he was too strong to bring down completely. The pair landed on the floor in a mass of black and grey fur. Void Cat wrapped her arms around his massive frame and pulled as hard as she could, she growled in exertion. The wolf started laughing softly. Void Cat knew that she couldn’t use her claws against him and that she would be okay no matter what happened to her. If this was true one-on-one combat, she would use more lethal techniques than grappling on the floor.

Unwilling to submit, and unable to subdue her assailant, Void Cat pulled her arms in and pulled her chest tight, slipping out from under the wolf. She deftly bounced off the floor, pirouetted off the wall, and jumped onto the bamboo branch.

Sifu stood still, looking at her charge hanging from the ceiling. “Not bad, you could have gotten out faster though. You should have seen that he was significantly larger than you and that a frontal assault would not end well.”

Void Cat hated being critiqued after training. She took it too hard, wanting to not disappoint her teacher. Although secretly, she wanted to be the best, knew she was the best, and was keen to prove it to the rest of the world.

The bamboo leaf finally landed on the floor.