Ni-hao! This is part one of "Fateful Day," the beginning of the Arcana Saga.

Author's note: The Arcana name is from taken from the Tarot Cards, which have been attributed to Lokii in these stories. The Arcana deal with fate or taking destiny into your own hands. Since most the Tarot Cards Lokii draws are the Major Arcana, it deals mostly with fate.  There is a slight change to Feral in appearance and attitude. He is still his normal self with a bit of a darker side I wished they'd gave him in the series. I'll let the story describe his appearance.

Summary: Feral is back from his absence and is given the chance to destroy the SWAT Kats. But, he doesn't know he has that chance. Callie struggles with Kandi, and the SWAT Kats are...bored.

As always, send any comments, questions, or flames to AkaneKitty@aol.com. Enjoy!
Ja ne,
AkaneKitty


*******************
The Arcana Saga

"Fateful Day: Part 1"


It had been some time since Katra's initial statement. Citywide, everything has been eerily quiet. No one trying to take over the city, no one trying to kidnap the Deputy Mayor, or even high scale bank robberies. The SWAT Kats, usually seen daily, haven't been seen as often, save for some routine patrols.

At Enforcer Headquarters, however, it has been far from quiet. During the lull in activity, Feral has been quietly revamping his troops, which meant a new Lt. Commander and the infusion of female troops. While Steele hadn't gone away, the inclusion of Lt. Commander Phynix AppleWhite gave Feral some piece of mind. At least the Enforcers wouldn't dissolve into chaos if he had to leave.

"Leave." Sitting alone in his office, looking at countless crime statistics, Feral regards the rogue thought.

"Leave," Feral thinks again, his pen pausing in mid air. "Could I actually leave this place?"

Feral swivels his chair to see out his big bay windows. He sees MegaKat City's beautiful skyline, the grand clock tower, and the remains of MegaKat
Towers(which were in the process of being torn down).

Lovely as it may be, this was not home for Feral. Home was back west with his family.

But. . .

"Why do I stay?" Feral presses the tips of his paws together. "I don't need the frustration. . ."

"I could have taken that promotion to be an Admiral, but that's just a desk job. I hate desk jobs. . ."

Feral looks out his window again to see the City's skyline and involuntarily reaches for the locket hidden beneath his uniform. "Who am I kidding. I know exactly why I stay. I know why I won't leave."

A light knock on the door breaks Feral out of his reverie. "Come in."

Feral hears the door open and close, but there are no footsteps to follow it. Feral smiles. There was only one kat that could do it. "Nice to see you again, oniisama."

"How did you know it was me?"

"I'll give you two reasons. One: You never wear shoes. Two: You're a light-boned kat." Feral swivels his chair back to the front.

Standing before the desk, with a paw on his hip, is Feral's "Big Brother", Commander Ascott Clawson. He was a smallish, dark brown kat(He could ride piggy back on Feral. And still does), and a powerful fighter. He was dressed in the black, high collared uniform of the Special Ops, a highly specialized military group.  Although Ascott was a few years older than Feral, they had deep bond since their high school years.

"I see you have female Enforcers," Clawson says slyly, "Did top brass finally remove that restriction on your record?"

"I supposed so," Feral snorts. "They figure that I'm too old to do any damage. . .Have a seat."

"You've also grown your hair back, too!" Clawson continues, taking a seat in one of Feral's overstuffed chairs. "I haven't seen you like this since you were Joe Cabreti in the Boonies!"

"Has it been that long?" Feral runs a paw through his black hair, which is now at his waist. "It's funny. I think it's grown longer than I had originally. . . So, what brings you here, Clawson? Work or pleasure?"

"Both. Top brass assigned the Special Ops to this area."

"Regarding Katra?" Feral asks. Clawson nods. "Well, the only thing I can tell you is that she's been quiet."

"That makes it harder for us."

"True." Feral pauses, looking into Clawson's face. "But, your look tells me there is something more you want to tell me."

"Yes." The smaller kat nods. "I have a favor to ask, friend to friend."

"Shoot."

Clawson looks straight into the eyes of Feral. "I want my son back."


**************


"You should see my new assistant, Annie," Callie says, straightening some papers on her desk. "She's really professional. Unlike the Mayor's new girlfriend, but that's off the record."

"Where did she come from?" Ann asks, regretting her decision not to bring Johnny along.

"The golf course. The one day I don't go, she pops up! You know my apathy towards golf...Huh?"

Callie looks up to see her assistant come through her office door, carrying a watering can.

"Oh, Briggs-sama. Good day." Anshi pauses at the door.

"Hi, Anshi! Come in." Callie motions to her. "Anshi, I'd like you to meet Ann Gora. She's a reporter from Kat's Eye News."

"How do you do, Gora-san." Anshi slightly bows.

"Fine, thank you."

"Oh, Anshi?" Callie stands up from her desk.

"Hai?"

"You went away to lunch instead of staying in today. Any reason?"

"Hai. My big brother lives here and I was catching up with him."

"Oh."

"May I water the roses?"

"Sure. You don't need permission for that."

As Anshi walks over to the windows, Ann asks, "Roses?"

"Yeah. You didn't notice them? They're on the windowsill."

Ann walks over to them. "Oh! I see why I didn't see them. They haven't bloomed yet. Nice colors. . ."

"Briggs-sama, you have a meeting with Sinian-san this afternoon," Anshi says, continuing to water the roses.

"Ok. And you're coming with me, Anshi."

"Hai, Briggs-sama."

"Oh! Can I come, too?"

Callie flinches as she turns to see who came to her door. Kandi was leaning on the door frame, filing her nails. Wearing her latest fur tight red suit, Kandi slowly straightens up, tucking the nail file out of sight.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Callie snaps.

Kandi smiles.

"I would think you would have a better attitude about your boss's girlfriend, Callie."

"I don't recall telling you that you can call me by first name!"

"Tut, tut." Kandi walks into the office, seeing she has Annie's rapt attention. "Manxy thinks it would be nice to see the museum. You wouldn't dare
rebuke him, would you?"

"I can't go against him, but I can have security escort you from my office!" Callie points toward the door. "Get out!"

"If you insist." Kandi turns on her heel and slowly walks towards the door.  Before exiting, Kandi turns her head sideways towards Callie. "By the way, I would love to see the Commander. I hear he's quite cute. If you could arrange that, I'd appreciate it very much."

Kandi finally walks out the office, and Callie is smoldering.

Annie though, is kicking herself. "*Why didn't I bring Johnny today of all days!? I would have had the greatest scoop of the century!*"


*************


"Jake, hand me a wrench."

"Sure." Jake reaches into a nearby toolbox for one and hands it to Chance.

"Thanks." Chance disappears back under the hood, reaching for an elusive lug nut.

After taking a seat on the upturned trash can, Jake is silent for awhile.  Swinging his feet to and fro, Jake reflects on the monotonous routine that he and Chance had sunk into: Fixing cars, fixing cars, and fixing more cars. Burke and Murray hadn't helped, either.

"Hey."

Jake looks up. "Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" Chance's head was still under the hood.

"This bites, that's what wrong."

"Huh?"

"Callie hasn't called in a while, Feral is absent from the scene, and the SWAT Kats have been regulated to garage detail." Jake hops off the garbage can.  "This is boring, and it sucks!"

"Maybe the bad guys got tired of our city." Chance pulls his head out the bowels of the car, and slams the hood shut.

Jake cracks a smile. "I doubt it."

"Say, why don't we take the TurboKat out of mothballs and take a spin around the city? That outta lift your spirits."

Jake's smile grows even broader. "All right. Just make sure you fly straight."

"Don't worry about my flying." Chance walks towards the underground hangar. "T-Bone is an ace!"

"Really?" Jake asks innocently. "I seem to recall this 'T-Bone' losing to this particular sergeant. . ."

Jake barely ducks a flying wrench.


************

"I know my son was wrong to be defiant with you," Clawson was saying, "But, I doubt he or Furlong will pay off any of that debt."

"Hmm. . ."

"Hitomi really misses him. Azure, too." Clawson kind of slumps in his chair. "And, on top of that, our Dragon year is coming up and I want it to be
special."

"This would have something to do with Phoebe, right?" Feral asks.

"She misses him the most." Clawson nods. "And, besides, the dueling for her is finished, and her mother is growing antsy."

". . ."

"So, all I'm asking, Ulysses, is to forgive the debt. No more, no less."

Cringing, Feral gets up from his desk and starts to pace. Thinking of that night brings up bitter memories.

"Bro?"

Feral looks at an expectant Clawson. "To be honest, oniisama, I have been thinking about that lately myself."

"And?"

"I'll think about it." Feral stops pacing to look at his friend.

"Thanks."

"In the meantime, why don't you and Hitomi join me for dinner tonight? I'd like to catch up on old times."

"Sure!"

"And, you can join me when I go to the museum later on today. It's time I make my grand debut to the masses. . ."