The little time they had left before the duel was occupied by intense preparation, with Moushi giving Fievel a few pointers in the way of the sword in-between meditation sessions. Tanya helped cook a big dinner for the boys, and even dug into Mama Mousekewitz's hidden cheese stash to add a little zest to the meal. All too soon, however, it was time, and Moushi, Fievel, and Tanya traveled back to the saloon to await the sunset duel, which had been abandoned by the local mice in fear of the ensuing battle. They didn't have long to wait; Commodore Purrey and his two henchcats had already arrived, and the aristocratic cat was busily polishing his cane, which was actually a Japanese-style sword cane with a finely-honed blade.
Moushi strode up to the dueling grounds with purpose in his step, with Fievel and Tanya following closely behind. His letter-opener, freshly polished and sharpened, hung at the ready at his back, where the swordsmouse could draw it at a moment's notice. Fievel, for his part, had a new wooden sword, carved from a human's toothpick, and was holding it fiercely like it was his lifeline. Tanya couldn't offer much more than moral support, but she carried a case of medical supplies borrowed from the local clinic, in case any of the mice got injured while fighting the commodore cat.
"So you've arrived." Purrey acknowledged the samurai mouse with a smirk and a nod. "You Japanese mice are punctual, if backwards."
"As we agreed, neko." Moushi returned the nod curtly. "Have you prepared to meet your fate?"
"Indeed, I had prepared for my fated victory," Purrey replied, bringing his sword cane up to bear with a bright, reflective gleam from the sunset. "It will be quite pleasurable to use your own swordsmanship against you."
"Then there is nothing more to say." Moushi's eyes grew serious, and his hand grazed the handle of his sword. "I will put an end this, once and for all." He drew his blade, and curled into his traditional Mousengumi sword stance.
Tanya looked over at Fievel, her face flush with worry. "Fievel, shouldn't we do something?" she asked her brother with a slight tremble in her voice. "I feel so helpless..."
"Purrey hasn't done anything dirty yet, so we can't," Fievel told her, keeping his eyes on the two combatants. "It's not right to jump into the middle of a duel, anyway."
"But Fievel..." The mouse girl voice's trailed off as she frowned at her brother.
Fievel grinned at her. "It's fine," he said. "This is Moushi's fight."
Tanya grew quiet at the resolution in Fievel's voice, then turned back towards Moushi and Purrey, her hands clasped together.
The two sword fighters faced each other with blades at the ready, analysing each twitch and breath of their opponent. Their eyes narrowed with the dim light of the sunset, as their muscles tensed in anticipation of the incoming clash. Adding to the tense atmosphere was a single tumbleweed that passed by between Moushi and Purrey, which disappeared behind another building with a whistle of the wind. The sweat poured off their brows, clinging to their fur and making their whiskers sparkle in the setting sun.
"PREPARE!!!" Moushi hollered out, and charged forward with his blade. Purrey's eyes squinted with the flashing movement, and he quickly moved his sword cane to ward off the blow. To Purrey's surprise, he found he had to brace himself against the force of Moushi's attack, sliding backwards along the ground to leave twin streaks of sand in his wake. But soon he regained his poise, and countered with an overhead slash, which Moushi avoided by slipping off to the side.
Commodore Purrey continued to strike out at Moushi Okita, who was weaving in and out of the stabs and swings, using his small size to its utmost advantage. Moushi was here, there, and everywhere, darting about and executing daring sword skills in an attempt to counteract Purrey. With supermouse ability, he flew at the conquerer cat, slashing out and briefly forcing Purrey onto the defensive. Purrey parried again and again, but the foreign warrior kept coming, his letter-opener sword a white flash and a constant threat to his life.
"Wow, he's so strong!" Fievel gasped, his eyes barely able to keep up with the young warrior. "I've never seen a mouse fight a cat before!"
"Yeah, Moushi-san is amazing," Tanya agreed. "And there's such rhythm to his movements. Like a dancer even."
"I wish I could move that fast." Fievel looked down at his wooden sword, feeling envy for Moushi's letter-opener blade.
"I bet you could!" Tanya grinned at Fievel and gave him a wink. "You were almost able to keep up with him back when you two fought each other."
"Yeah, almost!" Fievel rejoined, although he was still smiling.
The mouse siblings turned their attention back to the combatants, who were intensifying their techniques and going for more and more desperate tactics. Purrey was jabbing away at Moushi, using all that he had stolen from Mousengumi swordsmanship against his smaller opponent. But Moushi remained elusive, and was gradually working his way into Purrey's zone, where he would have a clear strike. Purrey growled with frustration, and his strikes became more erratic as he continued to miss the young samurai mouse.
"Hyoh!!" Purrey shouted as he thrust his sword straight at Moushi's skull, missing him by a mere hairsbreath. The sword embedded itself firmly in the ground, and as Purrey tried to yank it back out, Moushi climbed atop the blade itself and rushed along the flat towards the cat's paw. Once he reached Purrey's paw, Moushi leapt up in the air with sword raised, hovering above his opponent's head like a tiny Angel of Death. Purrey gasped at the sudden feat of agility, and looked upwards to find the fierce swordsmouse bearing down on him, too late to do anything to stop him.
"Now you shall taste true Mousengumi swordsmanship!" Moushi called out, and readied his blade. "SANDAN TZUKI!!!"
With lightning speed, Moushi performed three quick stabs with his letter-opener sword directly at Purrey's forehead. All three attacks connected, and Purrey screamed in pain, falling backwards like a sack of lumpy potatoes. As the large cat hit the ground, Moushi sailed elegantly back to earth to land a moment later on bended knee. As he straightened up from his descent, Moushi shook the cat's red blood off his blade in one swift motion, and slowly slid it back into its sheath with a metallic (CHIK!)
"Yes!!" Fievel and Tanya cheered, hugging each other in happiness. "He did it!"
Moushi looked down at his fallen opponent lying on the dirt, with a mix of disgust for his transgressions and grudging respect for the cat's remarkable skills. Purrey returned the look in kind, as he struggled to raise himself on his elbows. His forehead now sported three large cuts, which dripped streams of blood that threatened to flow into his eyes. Although he was still alive, it was clear who the victor of this match was, even without a death to prove it.
"Uuuuagh...!" Purrey growned, wincing with the pain wrought by Moushi's attack. "Well met, young Okita," he conceded, managing to give a conciliatory nod to the samurai mouse. "You are truly the swordsmouse you were rumored to be. As promised, I will leave this town in peace. However, I will still find a measure of victory even in defeat..."
A glimmer of orange flashed from the saloon, and Fievel and Tanya could detect the distinct smell of smoke with their sensitive mouse noses.
"Fire?!" Tanya exclaimed, as she looked over at the saloon. The flame had spread all over the roof, and was now crawling along the building's sides and supports. It engulfed the oil that had been spread throughout the saloon, and soon the entire saloon was a conflagration of chaos, belching out billowing smoke into the dim light of the western sunset. Already the building was starting to collapse, and gave off showers of sparks as each piece fell atop each other, never to serve the needs of cultured theater mice again.
The crafty cat grinned a particularly feline grin, betraying the sinister nature beneath his eloquence. "Say goodbye to your precious saloon," Commodore Purrey taunted, the sparkle in his eye almost as potent as the fire itself. "As I say goodbye to you, dear friends!"
"COWARD!!!" Moushi screamed, and doved at Purrey with sword in hand. But the henchcats were prepared, and intercepted him with their own blades. Cut off from his target, Moushi began fighting them to get to Purrey, but the defeated cat was already fleeing the scene, leaving behind his sword-cane in the process. As for the henchcats, they were not quite as skilled as Purrey, but there were two of them, and the samurai mouse had his hands full contending with both their katanas.
"Moushi-san!" Fievel cried, and rushed forward with sword in hand to help his friend.
"Fievel, stop!" Tanya reached out for her brother. But Fievel was already on a bee-line with the cats, making for the one closest to Moushi.
"Leave him alone!!" the young mouse yelled, swinging down hard at the cat's foot.
The henchcat yowled in pain, allowing Moushi time to edge away from a particular perilous position and adjust his strategy. But the cat's attention was now focused on Fievel, who by now knew enough about swordfighting to raise his sword in defense. However, the henchcat was not cowed by the young kendo trainee, and fierced turned his sword on him. As thanks for the surprise attack, the henchcat swung his katana at Fievel, catching him with the flat and sending him careening backwards into a nearby wall, where he cracked his head on the hard wood.
"Durn amateur," the cat hissed, turning away from the nuisance to face Moushi once more.
Fievel looked up with bleary eyes at the terrible scene, fading fast just as the sunset was. He saw the blurry shapes of Moushi and the henchcats, locked in fierce, hot-blooded combat. Over to this right, Tanya was scrambling toward him, her skirt kicking up with every step as the medical supplies bounced on her hip. "Even after all that, I was so useless..." Fievel said to himself, smiling ironically at his own arrogance.
Then, he blacked out.
- - ***** - -
Fifteen minutes later, the firemice arrived with large buckets of water to put out the blaze, with five mice to each bucket. However, they found they had difficulty trying to contain the large fire, which had engulfed the human-sized saloon and was threatening to spread to other buildings. The real work was done by the human fire department, with their horse-drawn, steam-powered engines and powerful water pumps. Large clouds of steam were billowing upwards as the firemen blasted down the blaze with their hoses, leaving the firemice to mostly stand by and watch as the humans took care of business.
Over by the barber shop, Fievel was huddled in a corner with a small bag of ice on his head, his cap and wooden sword lying abandoned beside him. Sheriff Tiger had arrived, and tended to the needs of his mouse friend while waiting for the firemice and firemen to finish up. Miss Kitty was there as well and taking care of Tanya, who was inconsolable after the loss of her beloved saloon, where both of them had sung their hearts out for the fellas they loved. As for Moushi, he just calmly sipped his tea beside Fievel, acting almost as if nothing had happened at all.
"You look like you're alright, Fief," Tiger said, peering down at the top of the mouse's head. "Got a big ol' lump there, but that'll heal up real quick. Like when that doberman gave me a whack after I broke up that gambling ring. Whooo boy, what a trip!"
"Thanks, Tiger." Fievel offered his friend a wan smile through his pain.
"Guess you're not up for jokes right now, huh?" Tiger said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Not really." The smile disappeared from Fievel's face as he looked down sadly.
Tiger frowned at Fievel's morose response, but grabbed his cowboy head and rose back up. "Well, I'll just leave you alone for a little while," he said, turning away to look at the fire. He sighed, and shook his head. "What a mess..."
As Tiger left to talk to the firemice, Fievel let his frustration reveal itself, and slapped the ground with his hand. "Darn it!" he cursed, growling in a very un-mouselike way and drawing a disapproving glance from Moushi. "I couldn't do anything after all!"
"There is nothing to do about it," Moushi said, taking another sip of his tea. "At least Commodore Purrey is gone from here. We lost a battle, nothing more. There will be others."
"But the saloon is burned down!" Fievel cried, tears forming in his eyes as continued to smack the ground in anger. "After all the work we did to fix it up after the cats left! I'm a failure as a swordsmouse! I..."
Moushi slammed his tea cup to the ground, startling Fievel as it shattered into pieces. "STOP IT!" the samurai snapped, grabbing the younger mouse by the shoulders and shaking him harshly. "A samurai mouse doesn't whine like this! If you call yourself a swordsmouse, then pull yourself together! Learn to fight another day, as we Mousengumi did when we lost to the Imperialist cats in Japan."
"Moushi-san..." Fievel murmured, shocked by Moushi's admission of failure.
"Besides..." Moushi slowly turned away from Fievel and looked back towards the crowd. "If you can't dry your own tears, how will you be able to dry HER tears?"
Fievel looked towards the crowd as well, and gasped as he saw two figures huddled a little ways away from them. Off to the side were Tanya and Miss Kitty, holding onto each other as the flames from the saloon gradually died down behind them. Tanya was weeping into Miss Kitty's dress, while the older girl patted her lightly on the head, offering what comfort she could. Miss Kitty could barely contain her own composure, and periodically wiped the tears from her eyes as they threatened to smear her showgirl makeup.
"Oh Miss Kitty, it's terrible!" Tanya sobbed, clinging bitterly to the folds in the cat's dress. "They destroyed everything, all the costumes, all the sheet music! All my dreams, GONE!!"
"Hush now, sweetheart." Miss Kitty drew Tanya close, and the little mouse did not resist the gesture. "Your dreams are eternal, and will last longer than some old building can. No big, bad bullies can ever take those away from you."
"But we lost too much!" Tanya cried. "I was supposed to sing with Fievel this Friday too! Now we have to build it all over again."
"Then we build it all over again," Miss Kitty said, her teeth gnashing in defiance. "Board by board, piece by piece. You'll sing with your brother again, Tanya. That I promise."
Tanya nodded weakly, as bitter tears rolled down her cheeks.
Fievel turned away from the two ladies, his own tears vanishing into the wind, and his hand curling into a fist. He looked down at his wooden sword, and picked it up again, wiping off the dirt that had accumulated upon it. Standing up, his eyes had a new determination as he faced the saloon, which had turned into a blackened husk of its former self. With Tanya and Miss Kitty in the corner of his eye, his fingers tightened around the sword's haft, gripping it firmly just like a real swordsmouse.
"I'll never let it happen again!" Fievel declared, his jaw set. "Never!"
"No you won't." Moushi stood by his side, and placed a hand on his back. "Because I will be training you."
The mice grew silent, and offered a silent vigil for the two ladies, who continued to cry their eyes out among the destruction of a precious place.
- - ***** - -
The water tower on the edge of town sparkled in the eerie moonlight, giving Tanya a sense of trepidation as she walked underneath it to the place she was supposed to meet Fievelt. The mouse girl tried not to slip on the rocky ledges and thorny outgrowth, and she kept a hand extended in case she needed to grab onto something. The wind was picking up again, and Tanya made sure to hold down her flapping skirt with her other hand so that Fievel wouldn't see, if he had already noticed her. Even though Fievel was her brother, he was her boyfriend as well, and she couldn't help but conduct herself in the manner a lady should when meeting the mouse that she dearly loved.
Moving around the support structure of the water tower, she spied Fievel leaning against a large rock, his wooden sword tucked underneath his arm. The bill of his cap was covering his eyes, giving the boy a shady look that Tanya couldn't help but find unnerving. But when he raised his head, Tanya could see his kind, blue eyes, and she knew she was looking at the same mouse she had known all her life. "Thanks for coming, Tanya," Fievel said, smiling at her with his cute front teeth shining in the moonlight.
"Fievel, what are we doing here?" she asked him, still holding down her skirt as it billowed about her like fierce ocean waves.
Fievel's smile softened, as he regarded the beauty of his older sister with a look that almost resembled reverence. Tanya blushed at Fievel's gaze as she fidgeted in place, but Fievel was turning away, towards the moon that hung over the town. "In one week, I'm leaving Green River," he said, keeping his back to her. "I'm leaving America, and going to Japan, across the sea."
"What?!" Tanya gasped, and took a few steps forward. "Why?"
"Moushi-san said he's gonna train me in swordsmanship," the young mouse explained, bringing up his wooden sword and inspecting the blade as if his very soul was embedded within it. "I'm going to a settlement of Russian mice in Kobe, and Moushi-san will teach me everything I need to become the mouse I want to be. It's the best chance I'll ever have to become a real hero."
"But..." Tanya frowned, and looked down towards the ground. "You're going to leave me?"
Fievel glanced at her, and Tanya thought he looked almost ten years older just then. Like an adult mouse. "I can't let them take anything from you again, Tanya," he said, as he turned around and walked back over to her. "I wasn't strong enough to protect your dream of becoming a singer. So I'm gonna train and train, really hard, and this time, I'll protect ya." He took her hand, and looked into her eyes. "And you'll never have to cry again."
"Oh, but I'm alright!" Tanya laughed nervously, trying to smile for him. "The humans will rebuild the saloon, and we'll get all the nice clothes and costumes back! You don't have to leave just for me." She clasped Fievel's hand, and her demeanor turned serious, almost pleading. "Please, don't leave."
"I'm not leaving forever, Tanya," he giggled, some of his old, childlike charm returning. "Just until I'm a great swordsmouse. I'll write to you everyday, and to Papa, Mama, and Yasha. And when I come back, I'll be the mouse hero that Green River needs."
While still holding her hand, Fievel opened her fingers and placed a small object within them. It was a shiny, metal star bearing the word "SHERIFF," Fievel's most prized possession. "This is the sheriff badge that Wylie Burp gave me," he told her, fingering the gleaming metal with love. "It's my most favorite thing, but I don't deserve it yet. Hold onto it for me until I do, okay?" He winked at her. "Cause I'm gonna be better than ever, just for you!"
Tanya looked down at her little brother, who maybe wasn't so little anymore. He had grown so much since they had first moved to Green River, beginning as a scrappy ragamuffin with a penchant for adventure, and growing into a rising young star of the West. And soon, he was going to be a great samurai swordsmouse, the hope of the West as forged by the East. Fievel was the soul of Green River, the heart of his family, and to his sister, the love of a lifetime.
"Okay," she said, holding onto the sheriff's badge. "I will."
- - ***** - -
The week passed faster than anyone was expecting, and before they knew it, Fievel was on the California coastline, awaiting travel to Japan at one of the ports. Before him, a large steamship was preparing to depart from the docks, with humans and mice lining up by the dozens in order to board. Behind him, his closest family and friends had gathered that day to see him off, including Mama, Papa, Yasha, Tiger, Miss Kitty, Tony, and Bridget. Curiously, Tanya was absent at that moment, which made Fievel wonder if she was upset with his decision after all.
"Gosh, Filly, ya really leavin' us?" Tony exclaimed, spreading his arms for emphasis. "Green River ain't gonna be the same without ya!"
"I really wish you had let me pack you a lunch," Bridget said, adjusting the newborn mouse in her arms. "I can't help but feel as fond of you as my own child."
"Nah, Tiger already gave me some great snacks!" Fievel laughed, patting the full knapsack on his back. "He even found some Italian cheese for me."
"Cause I told 'im where it was!" Tony gripped, folding his arms while Tiger laughed nervously. "Gimme some credit here!"
"Hey, I still had to get it, right?" Tiger shrugged and grinned toothily.
"I just wonder where Tanya went off to." Fievel moped and cast his gaze downward. "I really wanted to see her one last time."
"Don't you worry about that girl," Miss Kitty said, smiling a knowing smile. "She'll never leave you out to dry."
"Oh, but it's so sad to be seeing you go!" Mama sniffled and scrubbed a tear from her eye as she kept Yasha propped up in her other arm. "My little Fievel is finally growing up!"
"Fievel go bye-bye?" Yasha wondered with her little baby voice, looking curiously at her older brother.
Fievel smiled, and stepped back towards his family, taking his Russian cap off his head. Dusting it off, he placed the hat on Yasha's head, nearly drowning the toddler with its large size. "Hey Yasha, hang onto this for me," he requested with a wink. "When I get back, I wanna see ya wearin' it like the big girl I know you'll be!"
Yasha giggled with glee, and picked up the cap to start playing with it. "Tank you!" she said, remembering what Mama taught her to say.
Papa chuckled heartily, and then looked at Fievel as if he were a brand new mouse. "Fievel, I've never been so proud of you," he said, placing a hand on his son's head. "You are taking the first steps to becoming an adult mouse. I only wish...I only wish I could be by your side as you did." As he finished up his speech to Fievel, he choked down a sob, and gritted his teeth to try and contain it.
"Papa, don't cry!" Fievel said, starting to tear up himself.
"I'm okay..." Papa shook off his tears, and his boisterous grin reformed on his face. "Now you show those Japanese swordsmice that you're the real deal!" he burst out, slapping Fievel on the head one last time.
Fievel nodded and, to his credit, sniffled only once. Walking away from his father, he climbed upon the long rope that connected the dock to the ship. Looking back, he found his family and friends giving him teary farewells, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed that Tanya had never shown up. Sighing, he decided to press forward, and turned back towards the deck of the steamship where Moushi awaited him.
"Time to go, Fievel-san," Moushi said, with his hand perched atop his letter-opener sword.
Fievel nodded, and stepped off the rope and onto the steamship.
"Fievel!!" a soft, dulcet voice broke through the commotion of the departure, startling Fievel. The young mouse whirled back towards the shoreline, and gasped as he saw a distant figure running past the Mousekewitz family, nearly bowling over Mama Mousekewitz in the process. Tanya Mousekewitz, wearing a bonnet on her head and a knapsack on her back, was kicking up a storm of sand as she ran towards Fievel with an ecstatic smile on her face. With her skirt blazing and her ponytail trailing, she looked every bit the picture of a young lover questing to reunite with her true love.
"Fievel, I'm coming!" Tanya cried, rushing up the rope to Fievel.
"Tanya!" Fievel's smile erupted like the blast of a six-shooter pistol.
"Hmph!" Miss Kitty snorted with satisfaction, folding her arms and grinning like the cat that caught the canary.
With a tremendous leap, Tanya tackled Fievel, knocking them both onto the deck and sending a few of the other mice skittered away in surprise. Now flat on his back, Fievel found his arms full of Tanya, who was offering him all the love that a big sister and a true lover could give. Tanya beamed at him, and planted a kiss right on his lips, not caring who was watching them. Fievel could not help but kiss her back, entangling his hand in her voluminous hair and laughing with sheer, unbridled happiness.
"Oh, that's so romantic!" Bridget sighed, putting a hand to her increasingly flushed face.
"Hey!" Tony shot a look at her. "Aren't they brotha and sista?"
"Oh Tony, you STILL don't know much about girl mice," she giggled, peering over at him. "Even though we're married!"
Fievel and Tanya just smiled, their eyes only for each other. They did, however, break apart briefly to address Moushi, who was staring at them with his mouth agape. "Oops, sorry Moushi-san!" Tanya said, and grinned up at him from her place atop Fievel.
"Yeah, sorry!" Fievel said, not looking in the least bit sorry.
"Y-Yeah...!" Moushi stammered, then quickly looked away, a brilliant blush on his face. "Western mice, they are so...shameless!" he muttered under his breath, peeking at the two lovers furtively and, perhaps, a bit curiously.
"And Fievel, I think you deserve this," Tanya said, and pulled out a small object from her knapsack. Fievel's eyes widened as he saw the sheriff's badge he had given her just a week ago. Wordlessly, she pinned the badge on the front of his shirt with the same air as a queen knighting a squire. And Moushi just smiled, radiating a quiet, but profound happiness at the love his new friends shared for each other.
Back on the shoreline, Papa smiled and folded his arms. "Finally, they know how much they mean to each other." he said, drawing a glance from Mama.
"You mean you knew all along?" Mama asked. "About Fievel and Tanya?"
"Some things don't need to be spoken about," he told her with a shrewd grin. "Some things just are. They are finally old enough to accept this, and are walking their own path. If they are ready to face the world together, then why should we stand in their way?"
Mama's eyes widened at the sudden wisdom of the mouse patriarch, but soon smiled, and nodded. "Yes, I think so too," she said, looking back toward her children with a soft, bittersweet expression on her face.
Fievel and Tanya climbed to their feet, hand in hand, and stared back at their family and friends. Smiles were on their faces and in their hearts as they took one last look at the people that would be waiting for them. Papa, Mama, Yasha and the rest were waving goodbye, with Tony whooping and hollering and Bridget blowing kisses at the two. The two cats were smiling Cheshire grins, clinging to each other and clasping paws.
As Moushi walked over to them, Fievel and Tanya waved back at the small group. "Buh-bye!" they said, as the ship left port and started churning its way to distant lands. Then, they turned their smiles eastward, towards the rising sun that blanketed them in a wash of deep red and rich orange. They seemed to glow with the light, their eyes sparkling and reflecting all the promise of a new dawn.
On the precipice of a new adventure, Fievel and Tanya knew they would always be at home, no matter if they were in Russia, America, or a distant land. As long as they lived, they would face the future together.
