01x03 - Koneko-tachi to Tsubasa no Ojichan

[bunniefuu]

In a small cave in the forest,

a dragon egg was laid.

And this egg

was hatched by a mother cat who happened
to come to the cave to give birth.

The mother cat treated
the baby dragon like her own,

raising him along with her kittens.

Under the mother cat's love,

the baby dragon and the other kittens
became like real siblings,

growing up healthy and happy together.

However, one day,

the mother cat was summoned
by a human's magic.

She only had time to tell them
to live in peace

and never to fight

before she disappeared.

As time passed,

the baby dragon grew into
a fine adult dragon.

Following the mother cat's instructions,

he considers the forest cats his family

and continues to protect them to this day.

[THE CAT AND THE DRAGON]

[THE KITTENS AND MR. WING]

The forest cats

and Cat-Siths
all call the dragon Mr. Wing.

Every birthing season, many pregnant cats
come to the cave where he lives.

This year, two couples arrived.

One is a young cat
giving birth for the first time.

The other is…

Mr. Wing.

How did you hurt your leg?

I ran into some fur hunters

and was injured by them.

Do you mean humans?

That's why I wanted to come to your place
to give birth again this year.

Uncle?

Humans again? Always humans.

Not for food, but for their fur?

And after I gave them
such a stern warning.

Take this!

How dare you attack a pregnant mother cat.

You shameless scoundrels!

I'll shock the life out of you!

Hey, you lot.

What are you doing here?

Mr. Wing!

You're just in time.

These guys are bad people.

Help us teach them a lesson.

You idiots.

Instead of punishing these humans,

you should care
for the injured mother cat first.

But they really are bad guys.

They said they'd give us forest cats
to the king of some faraway country.

I'm going to scratch their eyes out!

It seems they aren't from
the kingdom near the forest.

All right. Keep up the attack!

Okay!
- No problem!

Wait a minute.

If you k*ll these people,

it might cause a conflict between nations.

That would cause trouble
for the cats living in the town.

Take them to the town near the forest

and let them face proper punishment.

I understand.

It's settled then.

Mr. Wing, are you coming too?

I need to help the mother cat
deliver her kittens.

I see.

Then we'll take care of these guys.

Let's go, villains.

Don't bother struggling.

He's back.

Uncle…

My wife is in labor! What do I do?

What?

Are the contractions starting?

I just felt a bit of pain,

and then my water suddenly broke.

Your leg…

It's already healed.

Wait. Did you use recovery magic?

Yes, I did.

What were you thinking?

That'll make the kittens in the womb
way too energetic.

No wonder they're coming early.

But Uncle, I was worried about her!

Think before you act,
no matter how worried you are.

Well, Uncle,

my stomach suddenly hurts too.

Am I about to give birth?

What? Is it a chain reaction?

What should we do, Uncle?

Calm down and get inside the cave first.

Is she okay? Will she be all right?

Pull yourself together. Stay strong.

How can they focus
if you're all panicking like this?

This year is certainly full of surprises.

They're out!
- They were born safely!

They're so fluffy!

So cute.

They're so tiny.

They're all rolling around.

You guys were just like this a year ago.

But these little ones will grow up fast.

Just like you did.

Really?

Of course.

You'd better train harder
in hunting and magic,

or these little ones
will be laughing at you.

Okay.
- We will.

All right. You lot, time to go hunting.

Yes, sir!
- Okay!

Let's check near the Red Cliff today.

What's a cliff?

You'll see when we get there.

This little one seems
very interested in my claws.

He might become
an excellent hunting cat in the future.

[About 2 months later]

He'll be weaned soon.

And just when they finally learned
to retract their claws while nursing.

I have to prepare food for the kittens.

Can we go hunting too?

Of course. You should go.

The males won't be able
to keep up on their own.

Uncle will watch the kittens,
so don't worry.

Uncle, we're counting on you.

Okay.

Uncle.

Paws.

Here he goes again.

He really likes Mr. Wing's claws.

Standing on his hind legs,
he's almost like a human.

Maybe this one will end up
with a prince or princess one day.

With humans?

The kittens who have gone to humans…

Though they choose
from the very few good humans out there

and become their friends,

it's still like jumping into a fire.

Listen to me.

You must stay and live in the forest.

Are you listening?

Paws…

Seriously.
- Paws.

[ABOUT SIX MONTHS LATER]
All right. Is everyone here?

Today, I'll teach you
hunting techniques and magic.

Okay!
- Okay!

Shapeshift. Cat Form.

This must be the first time
you've seen me like this.

If you can learn
to make your body this small,

you can also make it large.

That's magic.

Mr. Wing.

He's amazing!

He shrank.

He's a cat.

He has wings.

And a tail.

Regarding hunting…

His paws got so small.

He's so soft.

That's enough. Get down now.
I'm trying to talk.

Hunting means catching your prey.

Simply put, you use your claws
and teeth to deliver a fatal blow,

and then you eat it.

But prey won't just let you catch them.

Do you understand?

Very good.

If you were about to be eaten,
you'd run away like you just did, right?

Some will even fight back desperately.

They might even use magic
to counterattack.

When that happens,

magic is your best tool.

He's back to being Mr. Wing.
- He's back to being Mr. Wing.

Next, I'll teach you a spell
passed down for generations,

one that most of our kind are good at.

Electric Shock Magic.

Everyone, come over here.

Did you manage to escape just now?

Yes.

This is our first time
meeting in the forest, isn't it?

Lord Cat-Dragon.

And you're the first human to come
this deep into the forest, Prince.

I've always wanted to visit.

What kind of creature
is talking to Mr. Wing?

That's a human.

A human?

He's the prince of the human kingdom.

He's a friend
of Mom's dad's siblings' friend.

Is he dangerous?

But I'm not trembling looking at him.

Because that human is our friend.

There are all kinds of people
in human society.

Some of them are very scary.

Well, this is…

I didn't expect such a warm welcome.

I'm truly grateful.

He seems pretty cool.

I want to visit a human town someday.

See? Now another kitten
wants to go to a human town.

This is why I wanted
to decline the prince's visit.

Hey, the formation is falling apart.

It's our first time
going this far from home,

so everyone looks so nervous.

You're the only one
who's acting like your usual self.

Everyone, climb up the tree and hide.

Those creatures standing on two legs,

with the flashy appearances,
are adventurers.

They're actually humans.

But they look different
from the prince we saw before.

Humans aren't usually that buff, are they?

He has a huge claw on his hand.

On the other side are the wolves
you'll encounter from time to time.

Humans don't have claws or fangs,

so they use weapons to fight.

That claw-like thing is also a weapon.

I see.

Of course, some of them can use magic.

Really?

So some of them can't use magic?

That's right.

There's a lot of individual variation
among them.

Some possess immense strength,

while others are physically weak
but excel at magic.

Basically, there are all kinds of people.

That's so interesting.

I think it's just strange.

That guy…

He's using magic.
- Lightning Bolt.

He took down two wolves in one go.

That's amazing.

Those adventurers are quite capable.

I'm glad the kids got to see
a real battle like this.

However,

those adventurers

must be veterans
who don't usually come to this forest.

Did you guys see that?

Did you see the guy using magic?

Did you notice how he stored
his mana in that branch?

That must be his tail, right?

His tail. Did you guys see it?

Yes.

We all saw it.

Since their two front paws are free,

they can hold branches or anything else.

And at the end,
the mana stored in the branch

Okay, time for bed.
- let out a blinding light.

You must have seen it, right?

Humans really are…

Time to wake up, little one.

Today is the day
your older brothers leave the nest.

You've all grown enough to be independent.

You can choose the life you like

and live wherever you want.

This is the way the forest cats live.

What do you all want to do next?

I want to visit a human town.

Me too.

I'm going to establish
my own territory near the lake.

Be careful not to get hurt.

If you ever run into trouble,
you can always come back to me.

Okay.
- We will.

Take care, big brothers and sisters.

If anything happens,

we'll rush over to save you.

Okay, we're counting on you.

Be sure to listen to Mr. Wing.

He might be strict,

but it's for your own good.

If you don't study hard,
you'll go hungry once you leave the nest.

Bye.
- Bye.

Safe travels.
- Bye.

All right.

You all need to start preparing
for next year's journey too.

Go practice your hunting.

Okay.
- Okay.

They're so cute.

Can I pet them?

Of course you can.

This brings back memories.

Those kids were this small last year too.

Speaking of last year,

it was such a chaotic mess
when they were being born.

But I'm glad they all grew up healthy.

Now they're the big brothers and sisters.

You must set a good example
for the kittens.

Okay.
- Okay.

Children grow up in the blink of an eye.

Big sister.

Amazing. You've already learned
how to retract your claws.

Big sister, look.

You can hunt?

That's incredible.

They really do grow up
in the blink of an eye.

We can't let them outdo us.

We have to show them
what we're capable of as seniors.

What should we do?

Let's go hunt that guy.

Do you mean that guy?

All right. Let's give it our all.

Let's come up with a plan first.

You all know what you have to do, right?

Yes.
- Yes.

Good. Let's go.

Huh?
- What?

It's a bear! It's a bear!

You guys are amazing!

Are you guys hurt?

We're fine.

Uncle, we defeated the bear!

We all did it together.

Well…

It put up quite a fight,

but we followed the plan,
and it was a huge success.

Kurotama came up with the plan.

Kurotama was the one
who directed everyone.

When you encounter bears or humans,
you must be careful not to be seen.

It's best to run away immediately.

I taught you that, didn't I?

You little…

Idiots!

You silly kittens!
- Fools!

Something terrible could have happened.

You usually don't survive
a fight with a bear!

Don't you ever do that again.

Did you hear?

The kittens from Mr. Wing's group
apparently defeated a bear this year.

What? How did they do that?

Those kids are truly incredible.

I heard seven of them
took it down together.

That's unbelievable.

That's amazing.

Those cats will probably become friends
with human kings one day.

You can choose the life you like

and live wherever you want.

This is the way the forest cats live.

What do you all want to do next?

I want to find a good husband
and come back here to have kittens.

I want to live by the lake
where the reeds grow.

I'm going to establish a territory
far away from here.

There are a lot of tasty mice there.

Well…
- Well…

I want to see the human kingdom.

That's my plan too.

I'm going with you.

As expected, many want to go this year.

What about you?
What are your plans for the future?

Me?

I'm going to be a human adventurer.

What?

A human adventurer?

This kid just said
something quite extraordinary.

I want to be a human adventurer.

I'll travel wherever I want

and go on all sorts of adventures.

What do you mean by human adventurer?

You're a cat.

I've been practicing for a long time.

What?

I plan to get around human towns
in this form.

You really are…

This is bad.
Mr. Wing looks like he's getting angry.

Okay, let's run away before he snaps.

Well then, take care, everyone.

Wait a minute, you guys.

You're going to the human town, right?

I'll go with you.

I want to visit the people
living in town anyway.

Hey, I want to ride on your head.

Sure thing.

Then I want a hug.

I'll take the shoulder.

Bye, big brothers and sisters!
- Bye, big brothers and sisters!

Take care!

You too!

Bye.
- Bye.

I've never seen anyone
leave the nest like that before.

It certainly fits those kids' style.

It's also my first time seeing kittens
set off on a journey like that.

May happiness be with them.

All I can do is pray

that they all live lives
they're satisfied with.

Though the kittens leaving the nest
this year were all troublemakers,

they all went on to live
extraordinary cat lives.

But that's a story for another time.

[THE BLACK CAT AND THE PRINCE]

[YOU'RE RIGHT. I'D BETTER HEAD BACK.]
[SEE YOU, HAIBUCHI.]

[MR. WING NODS GENTLY.]
[HE FLICKS HIS TAIL.]

[JUST AS HE'S ABOUT TO HIT THE GROUND]
[HE FLICKS HIS TAIL AGAIN.]

[IN MR. WING'S CAT FORM]
[HIS WINGS ARE TOO SMALL TO FLY.]

[THOUGH HE FLAPS HIS WINGS ON INSTINCT]
[ONE'S STATE OF MIND MATTERS.]