The Black Cat

Katna was an independent woman and a powerful and fierce warrior of their tribe. She had been trained by none other than Onawa, her father and the best warrior and martial arts trainer, the tribe had ever seen. The tribesmen, at first, tried to dissuade Onawa from training Katna, since she was a girl. However, Onawa silently kept training Katna. When Katna was about thirteen, Onawa entered her in the tribe's annual fighting tournament, that would determine the strongest warrior. The tribe's elders were reluctant at first. They were worried Katna would be seriously injured or worse, if she were made to fight men twice her size and bigger in age; but Onawa took responsibility, and the tribe elders had to relent. Onawa was well liked and respected by the tribe and the elders couldn't dismiss his request. From that day, no one doubted either Onawa or Katna. She had fought with the strength of a lion, speed of the cheetah and stealth of the tiger. The tribe elders termed her 'The Black Cat' from that day. 

With onyx glowing skin, a slender built with rippling muscles, Katna soon caught the eye of the tribe's bachelors. Her mother constantly worried about her, she had been so busy training as a warrior, that she had not learnt any of the household work at all; but she did not say anything to Onawa. Onawa loved his only daughter and wanted her to be more than just an average house wife. Fate, however, had completely different plans.

Late one night, the tribe was attacked by the foreigners, who had recently started arriving to their lands. Katna fought valiantly and ferociously to protect her tribe and land, but the foreigners used the devil's weapons (guns were never seen in those parts and the tribal people called all technology as the devil's weapons). Without touching anyone, the warriors would just aim their weapons and a loud bang would sound, killing the victim in moments. No bow or arrow or swords were used. Soon, the tribe was defeated. The tribe's elders surrendered and all the surviving members of the tribe were held captive. However, the leader of the foreigners had seen Katna fight and was taken aback by the skills and fearlessness of this teenage girl. He asked her to be separted from the group and took her with him. He took her to the city and trained her in their ways. She started dressing like the foreign maids and learnt their ways. 

Katna often wondered what had happened to the rest of her tribe, after she was captured. She had seen her father being shot by the pistol (she had learnt the language of the foreigners in her years of captivity), but her mother must have surely survived. However, there was no way of knowing. She slowly adjusted to her life in the city in her master's mansion and she forgot her warrior days. Katna learnt to read, her mistress wanted Katna to be a sophisticated maid, so that she could show her off in her social circle. When she was about 22, her mistress insisted that she accompany her to her home country. They travelled by sea for over 13 days and reached the mistress's home. It was a huge palace. Katna was surprised to see such extravagance and lavishness. It was all against her tribe's ways of worshipping the nature and being one with it, and she wanted to take a club and destroy all that belonged to the masters. She was a slave now, she reminded herself, whenever such rebellious thoughts crossed her mind. 

The rebellious blood in Katna's veins was, however, impossible to supress. She often remembered how the tribe had fondly called her the black cat. As Katna grew older, she longed to be back in her own country, fending her own land and people. She slowly started whispering these thoughts to her fellow slaves. They were scared at first, even having thoughts of freedom was sacrilege. But, Katna's confidence grew as she started learning more and more about her captors. She motivated more and more slaves to learn to read and write. She also started planning a coup in her mind. Her plan was flawless, and as if Gods heard her prayers, the World War broke out. Taking advantage of the captors pre- occupancy with the war, she gathered all the slaves and attacked the master's loyal guard. They then captured the mistress and made her sign a decree granting them all freedom. They reached the port and captured the crew of a small vessel. They made them run the vessel and returned home after a perilous journey of over fourteen days. 

Back home, Katna and her rebellious friends started an underground movement to free their lands from the clutches of the foreigners. After years of struggle, they finally succeeded. Today, after decades Katna returned to the land of her captors. A flood of memories crossed her mind as she walked, her head held high. She had come back, not as a slave, but as a powerful leader, the Prime Minister of her free country. A powerful, sophisticated and intelligent lady whom the whole world knew as The Black Cat!