Heretics - The Prelude: Neneko, The Cat

Nobody knows for sure when it happened but, Neneko, The Cat, was born in Gaijin-Hinansho, at the green lands of the eastern continent of Azuma-Tao. Bereft of parents or a halfling name to gain her any right with the few and ever troubled wandering clans, the child was taken in by the Mikuri family when they happened to found the infant crying atop the torii of the Mikuri Household. Since nobody could explain how come the baby had climbed up all her way to the uppermost part of the torii, the younglings at the temple fancied she was "the spirit of a cat that wanted to turn human but only managed to become a halfling", thus granting origin to her name in the kokugan tongues of the eastern peoples.

Under the care of the Mikuri, Neneko grew amid the incensed traditions of the miko and the stories from afar brought by the weary gaijin that took haven on the Western Gate of Tomen. Bereft of the patience to be a mystic and always prone to cause mischief due an insatiable curiosity, Neneko found herself most drawn to get in the ranks of Clan Murasaki since an early age, gaining the affection of the now retired Ganryu Udenashi, who eventually agreed to tutor the halfling girl ways of battle that were suittable to her grace and size.

-"Neko wa anata ga meimei sa rete iru, to neko no yō ni tatakaubekidearu."
(A cat you have been branded, and as a cat you ought to fight.)

It was on her 20th anniversary, a date which Neneko awaited so long, that the halfling girl was to offer her services to the Murasaki Clan, but there was a change of heart on her, for certain dreams had been haunting her nights and not even the shrine maidens of the Mikuri Household could tell what the source of such an occurrence was. Dreams about a different life on the distant west, of eyes of jade in a mirror of water, of a dark mind of sinister intent and symmetrical logic, of meaningless words and frantic strands of numbers, and a fate of darkness and utter oblivion. Resolute on finding out the truth, Neneko braves the unknown boarding the ships that aim to the West, hoping to find her answers at the heart of the hume kingdom, the Keep-City Of Ashturias.

-"Jinsei wa nazo-da! Shijo saidai no boken-da!"
(Life's a mystery-da! The biggest adventure ever-da!)
Neneko, The Cat.