Yisu stepped up onto the stage and raised her voice. Despite all the noise of the feast, and the Nekoyami being so small, her voice boomed across the camp. "Welcome! Welcome! Greenies! Pinkies! And everything in between, to another jaw dropping, thigh slapping, belly laughing performance by BEST troupe of actors ever to grace Sincadere -- The Kabuki-Cat Theater Troupe." Yisu had hyping up the performance down to an art by now. "Please! Everyone get comfortable and settle in... as the Kabuki Cats proudly regales you all with the tale of the First Tribe of Orcs in.... " Dun Dun Dun. "...DANCES WITH CHICKENS!" ******ACT 1 SCENE 1****** The fires around the platform go dim as the stage is darkened, and the only thing casting light is a single candle on a miniature writing desk. Yisu, the leader of the Kabuki-Cat Troupe, is writing on a strip of parchment. Above her, a hooded lantern is shining a spotlight down on her by a precariously perched Nekoyami stage-hand. Yisu speaks in a somber tone as she continues to write while occasionally peering up at the stars through the branches hanging over the camp…. “Dear Diary, I arrived to find the Black Tusk Camp… deserted. I am now waiting for the orcs’ return or word from the Empire. Camp is in exceedingly poor condition. Have decided to assign myself clean-up duty beginning tomorrow. Supplies abundant. The forest is everything I dreamed it would be. There can be no place like this on Sincadere. Almost a month and no one has come. The longer this condition persists, the less inclined I am to believe that anyone will…” Yisu stops writing suddenly and looks up at the sound of a group of orc-cats marching in front of her, shouting boisterously and hoisting hastily carved wooden deer above their heads. The cat blinks, then quickly adds. “Oh. Guess they were just out out hunting…to be continued!” While she is writing, another Nekoyami steps quietly behind her out of her field of view, holding a sign above his head and in massive bold letters the sign reads – ‘Its Been 10 Minutes Since Her Arrival In the Camp… >.<’ ~~~~~~~~~ The hooded lantern above closes on Yisu, darkening her writing desk. Light then floods the center of the stage. Off in the shadows, Yisu puts on an elaborate feathered headdress and runs to the center of the stage where five Nekoyami garbed as spirits and seven more wearing orc masks stood waiting with a single dark Nekoyami in all black balanced on clearly uneven stilts. A trio of cats spring from the darkness, paper streamers trailing behind them as they ran counter-clockwise around the group while “Oooooooohing and Meeeeowing” to show the backwards passage of time. ~~~~~~~~~~ Yisu pipes up in a much higher tone than she used during the monologue. “I am...Dances with Chicken. I was a Nekoyami in the olden days, before we were LIBERATED by the Great Dragon! I find a clearing, empty and bountiful. Oh how Blessed I am! There is no such clearing like this on Sincadere!” The Dark Nekoyami on stilts spoke up in an overly villainous, and if asked, dastardly voice, “I am Msch-Enzi!” his name coming out like a sneeze from the cat’s face. I am mean, I am evil! I trample and make sure all Nekoyami do not have a Master or Mistress. Freedom, which is the bane of the Nekoyami, is my weapon. None can stand in my way!!!” He would cackle madly as if drunk with power. The Earth and Fire elemental Nekoyami stepped forward as one. “We five: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Spirit. Are the Elder Ones! We don’t like the Nasty Msch-Enzi! He rolled around and made us. But he is mean.” The Earth and Fire elemental looked to one another then both threw down some powder that filled the stage that had all the Nekoyami coughing till it disappeared. When it cleared, and after a rush of paws on stone, instead of two people, there was one female Elemental spirit that looked like an orc. “We are no longer Earth and Fire, we are Krank-lob-oorz, Krank for short. We are a Dark Mommy and we give birth to the First Tribe.” Fan Fare from behind the stage blares out loudly from cats puffing their cheeks and yowling at the top of their little lungs! One of the seven orc nekoyami step forward: “I am He that Should Not Be Named! I am the Dark Lord,” Msch-Enzil seemed offended, “and I am the Destroyer of all those that have a lightning bolt on their forehead! My brothers and sisters and I make up the first tribe. We have the Iron One '' One of the orc nekoyami bowed. “The Slavelord! The Burning One, and the Thunderer!” Metal wobble sounds came from behind the stage to mimic Thunder. The Nekoyami were of course given the real names of the First Tribe, but they were too hard for the cats to pronounce. They would get titles instead… The one that bowed, who looked oddly like the Great and Glorious Gaboon, the Iron One pointed to Dances with Chicken, “Hark! I see a cat in the clearing we were going to settle! We must beat our fists against our chest and show her we aren’t afraid!” They started to do so at Dances with Chicken, pounding their paws vigorously against their chests while more cats beat drums behind stage. ******ACT 1 SCENE 2****** The lights start to fade on the main stage, and Yisu yanks off her headdress, sending a few feathers flying as she rushes back towards the miniature writing desk. She throws herself at the desk, tumbling head over heels to land her butt right in the seat moments before the spotlight kitty shone his lantern on the monologue stage. Yisu huffed and puffed a few times to catch her breath, picking her brush up to write again…. “Dear Diary, ...There does seem to be a chicken who is intent on the goings on here. He does not seem inclined to be a nuisance however, and has been my only company..if he comes calling tomorrow, I will name him Lunch….. It is the loneliest of times... but I cannot say that I am unhappy without my fellow Nekoyami…Have had my first activities with the Orcs. One came to me and tried to show me around, his name was Brokil. Do not know how many more orcs that will show interest, but I am taking steps for another visitation. Am burying excess Nekoyami dolls before the goblins riot, lest it fall into enemy hands. “ ~~~~~~~~~~ Yisu would stop and look at the crowd expecting gasps. She waited a long awkward ten seconds before shrugging, and snapping her pawed finger. The light went out around her, she was seen putting on the headdress and running to center stage, huffing, only the first Orcs were there, the rest lined the stage in the background while the timey-whimey cats did their circles around the group. Woooweeeewooooo. ~~~~~~~~~~ Yisu spoke up in the same high pitched voice, “I was welcomed into the tribe! I did not have a name then, but they saw me chasing a chicken….” A small nekoyami dressed like a chicken tried to trip her with its beak. She then rolled up some paper and started chasing and whacking at the chicken. The First Tribe watched and whispered amongst themselves, “Ta-Tanka….Ta-Tanka.” The nekoyami stopped chasing the chicken and looked to first orcs, “What does that mean?” She asked. In unison, the orcs spoke with reverence, even the Dark Mommy, “Dances with Chickens….” There was a smaller nekoyami with a goblin mask grinning. He spoke slyly, “I am The Grinning One, ancestor to ALL gobbos. And I want to do lewd things to Dance with Chickens.” Dances with Chickens blushed, bringing a fan to her face. ******ACT 2 SCENE 1****** Yisu was nearly out of breath by the time she ran back to her spot on the monologuing stage, gasping and gulping in air raggedly. She reached up for a moment, wiping sweat from her brow before taking up her brush again to resume her depictions of her own experiences with the orcs. “Dear Diary, A war game is going against this Huts With Many Pebbles and I have asked to go. I sensed that I have made a mistake in doing so but I could not bring myself to take it back. They are my friends and from what little I gather The Huts With Many Pebbles have been very hard on these people. I.. hope I have not overstepped my bounds… On another note….I have been accepted into the camp, and have met the most beautiful of goblins….Mick Dagger” If anyone glanced at her writing desk notes, heart surrounded his name, with Y+M = <3 everywhere on the page. ~~~~~~~~~~ Yisu stood again and blew her new boyfriend, Mick Dagger, a kiss before she put on the headdress, which had a lot less feathers in it from before with its overuse. She ran back on stage, her costume shifting slightly out of place because of all the back and forth. On the stage, the elemental cats, The Elder Ones, stood to one side of the stage looking disapprovingly. The First tribe orcs were on the other side facing them, with Yisu and Msh-enzi standing in the center. Breathless she spoke in the changed high pitched voice, facing the big bad dark nekoyami on stilts. ~~~~~~~~~~ “We of the First Tribe have come to defeat you, Msh-enzi!” Again it sounded like she was sneezing when saying the name. It seems Dances with Chickens was made one of the Tribe of Great Myth. The First Tribe actors all took up very poor kung fu stances, and so did Msh-enzi, as best that he could on stilts. Dances with Chicken rushes past the stilted nekoyami, towards Kronk, the Dark Mommy, who was with her Elder Ones. “Dark Mommy!” implored Yisu, “Your babies are fighting the big bad! We need help!” The scene erupted as the First tribe started doing kungfu. One or two were hoisted up on the rickshaw of a rigging that was precariously placed on the stones of the Black Tusk platform. They swung and spun unspectacularly during the fight. Dances with Chicken charged Msh-enzi with battle rage, or at least pretend battle rage. She was small, but she knew how to bite ankles, and she did that, and bit into wood. As the fight started, the Elder Ones all shook their head as one, and Kronk turned on them with her hand on her hips. “How dare you stand aside while my babies are fighting!” The one known as Spirit spoke, “Not our fight, not our problem.” Dark Mommy responded, “But he is mean! So what he rolled around and gave birth to you. He is mean and bad!” The Elder Ones, once again, just shook their head. Once this interaction had ended, all the First Tribe except the Iron One, the cat miraculously still had his pillow tucked in his clothes to mimic the Great and Glorious Gaboon’s belly, abruptly laid down, as if defeated. “SEE!” Dark Mommy continued, “You hate my babies and let them be defeated.” ******ACT 2 SCENE 2****** Yisu had to hop off stage and chug a glass of water, pouring some of it onto herself to cool off from all the running back and forth between scenes. This was the last time she was gonna fit a story inside a story! She shook her head, sending droplets of water flinging from her fur. Oh no. Someone should have put a splash zone warning for the front row of the audience. No one had warned them they might get wet. Now refreshed, Yisu scurried to her writing desk. The lights on the main stage went dim once more, and a spot-light, wobbling unsteadily shone down upon her. “Dear Diary, “Mick has been teaching me the most delightful orc words! Though..I am confused. The rest of the goblins all snicker and elbow each other when I repeat them. Perhaps I have not been pronouncing them right? Still…. Nothing I have been told about these people is correct. They are not monsters and thieves. They are not the bogeymen they have been made out to be.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Yisu stared for a few moments with longing in her eyes at Mick Dagger, getting lost in her own dreams. She was brought out of it as the hood lantern winked out from around her, and the stage was lit empty of ‘Dances with Chickens’. On the stage, the Slavelord stood, looking confused, along with all the Elder Ones, all looking confused as well. This was not part of the script. Yisu came running on stage and gives a small apologetic bow to the crowd. ~~~~~~~~~~ The Slavelord steps forward and in a loud whisper to carry over the crowd he says, “The Elder Ones like you Dances with Chicken! You will lure each one to you, and I will capture them! They were mean, and left us to be defeated, and they need to be punished.” Yisu’s character nodded and looked like she was a part of a grand conspiracy. Dances with Chicken spoke, addressing the Elder Ones, “I want to give you a gift for being awesome! Come seek me out one by one, cause it is private! I promise it isn’t a trap.” She would add the last. The Elder Ones looked at one another and shrugged, all of them turning their backs to Yisu. One by one they would come to her, and one by one, the Slavelord would put them in chains, the nekoyami playing the part would wrap loose ropes around each Elder Ones wrists. Half the rope ties were falling off. Yisu jumped up and down after the last, her paws curled upward into claws, and said hyper excitedly, “AND ALL WILL FEAR AND RESPECT DANCES WITH CHICKEN!” As if she captured them all by herself. The Grinning One walked up to her, and gave her a saviors kiss through his gobbo mask. Yisu blushed, surprised. Was that in the script? What would Mick think? ******ACT 3 SCENE 1******
This time another Nekoyami had to help Yisu scurry back to her desk, legs starting to wobble from all the running around. She dropped her headdress next to her seat, the lone feather standing strong. Her helper leaned down to whisper in her ear, and suddenly, the cat’s face went red and her mismatched eyes went wide. Oooops! She coughed and quietly pulled the straps of her top back in place, whistling as if nothing had happened when she picked her brush up. “Dear Diary, It was hard to know how to feel. I had never been in a war game before. I have heard that the bunnies do this too, but I have never been inclined to participate in battle till now. This one had not been fought for territory or riches or to make men free. This battle was all ego. It had been fought to preserve MOG…” Another cat slipped behind her to hold up another sign plastered with question marks the moment she mentioned MOG. “ ..it had been fought to test their skills, to build camaraderie amongst the tribe, and secure bragging rights. I felt a pride I had never felt before.” ~~~~~~~~~~ At the end of this monologue, Yisu appeared focused, and purposely didn’t look at her main squeeze this time. She hopped up and sprinted to the stage faster than before, feathers flew everywhere. Her headdress was only just a lone feather at this point. She weezed on stage as the light hit her. She was standing with the First Tribe and Dark Mommy. They were squared off against Msh-enzi. ~~~~~~~~~~ Yisu spoke in that different voice she kept using to denote her Dances with Chickens character, “And so the final battle commenced. I, Dances with Chicken, joined the First Tribe and Dark Mommy to put down ‘The Rolling One’” Her paws came up in quotes, she didn’t want to pronounce Msh-enzi again. “It was a fierce battle but in the end, I….we were victorious” The stage exploded as the actors took kung fu stances, and the same ones as before were hoisted up into the air. Once again, they just swung wildly and twirled in place. But on the ground floor, the action was fierce as the dark cat on stilts was assaulted on all sides. Finally, it was Gaboon cat, errr The Iron One, with his GREAT BELLY OF MIGHT, and Dances with Chicken, who toppled the giant Msh-enzi. The dark nekoyami fell to the ground, in a not so gentle manner, causing some of the nekoyami faces to flash concern, and the mean one was defeated. The Dark Lord! He Who Shall Not Be Named, ran forward exclaiming, “I AM THE DESTROYER!” And he pretended to eat the dying Msh-enzi. In reality, he was checking to see if the other nekoyami was ok. ******ACT 3 SCENE 2****** Yisu had to be carried to her writing desk, disheveled, and plastered with sweat. The light on the main stage went dim. The stage-hand working the hooded lantern wobbled unsteadily, nearly tipping over on the unsteady rigging as the light was turned back towards the small monologue stage. Yisu heaved a sigh as she slumped into her seat. Silence began to stretch, followed by a soft snore before one of the cat’s poked her ribs. Yisu squealed and jerked back awake, snatching her brush up into her paw! She took a deep breath as she prepared her final entry, but not before blowing Mick a quick kiss. “Dear Diary, I thought Mick and I had been discreet but apparently we fooled no one. Henbutt said if the match was accepted, many bird skulls would be presented to me. I.. had never been married before. I don’t know if all brides have the same experience. But..as Henbutt began to speak of what was expected of a goblin wife, my mind began to swim in a way that shut out everything but him. The tiny details of his clothes. The contours of his shape. The glint of cunning in his eyes. The smallness of his feet. I knew that the love between us would be forever.” ~~~~~~~~~~ If hearts could fill her eyes, they would be beating out of her sockets, as she stared lovingly at Mick Dagger, her boyfriend. Once again the spotlight shut out, bringing her back to reality. Yisu raced to the stage, this time making it there before the spotlight kitty hit his cue. Yisu’s fur was drenched with sweat. ~~~~~~~~~~ The stage only had The First Tribe, Dances with Chicken included amongst them, The Dark Mommy, and a final figure with three eyes. Dances with Chickens turned to The Grinning One, an gave him a kiss on his mask, her victory phase. She did a side glance towards Mick Dagger, guilt written on her face, hoping he would understand that actresses had to give kisses during plays to others. She breathed and spoke, “Now First Tribe and Dark Mommy! Make many children, and then go off to the Good Place with all the elf women and men one can have!” The new three eyed orc nekoyami stood forward as Yisu went off stage, hand in hand with The Grinning One. “I am MOG! Mog is good! All Orc babies and gobbo babies shall follow Mog! We will become a great nation of Mog! MOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He would scream out his name in a glorious primal scream. The Gaboon/Iron One cat sat on a throne and nodded, cause all was good. All was Mog. **THE END**** The entire troupe lined up on either side of Yisu, who was still huffing and panting to catch her breath, and bowed while two of the cats held up one giant sign that read -- THE END. Yisu raised her voice one last time. "Thank you all! If ever wish to secure a Kabuki-Cat performance for you own events, you can find us in the Empire! And don't forget to check out our gift shop for Nekoyami Dolls, authenticating Meatgrindah Cards, and Broki's fine soaps and oils!" Cause why wouldn't she miss a chance to plug an advertisement not just for the troupe but their store as well. Comments are closed.
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