kett.
permanently exhausted pigeon
It was a quiet day in the forest, as usual, and Cinder found a spot to lie down on the generous grass, looking at the sunlight flittering through the trees, making the leaves shine and glisten as the wind gently brushed past them.
It felt really good to be able to relax for once, recently having been plagued by horrible visions nearly every day. Cinder never really knew what the source of those manifestations was, but until recently she thought they must’ve been connected to the Cat Moon goddess… However, whenever she tried to ask Her for guidance regarding the atrocities she saw, her calls remained unanswered, which was unusual for the deity, who favored Cinder above every other cat-kin in Cat-gemm. The uncertainty made her isolate herself even more within the forest despite it soon being time for a new Pigeon Race.
She was trying to grasp every detail she could whenever the visions found her. But it was a fool’s quest. Everything was pure carnage, chaos and destruction. And in all of the dreams she had about the future, she perished trying to protect her world. She also became more frightened as she could see some of the natural disasters she foresaw take place – landslides, floods, forest fires… So far, the cat-kin had been able to prevent those from becoming awful tragedies, only thanks to her warnings… But that only meant the worst was yet to come.
The only face she could discern, the only recurring pattern, was a blonde girl with blue eyes… Or were they blue? In some visions, they were yellow… And the girl seemed to be more of a foe than a friend, either imprisoning her in a strange world, or executing her publicly for something called ‘treason’. That was absurd to Cinder. How could anyone consider her visions treason? Was she really to meet someone like that in the near future? And what kind of outcome would that encounter lead to? There were too many questions without answer, and her mind was tired and slow for once, as she simply kept staring at the leaves until sleep found her.
~
~
Cinder was sitting beside the Cat King, who stubbornly decided to uphold the festival despite her advice.
“At least keep everyone on high alert,” she sneered into his ear. “I told you, I didn’t see a single good outcome of holding this festival tonight.”
The king didn’t bother to look her way as he got up from his throne to face the crowd.
“My dear cat-kin!” He began, loudly, pompously. “We have gathered today to celebrate our beloved goddess and to choose another brave soldier who will be bestowed with tremendous power for another century!”
During the speech, Cinder crossed her arms and looked to the side, irritated by the king’s rash behavior.
“With Her blessing and with my permission, I announce that the Pigeon Race shall begin now!” And he waved his hand as the start signal for the cat-kin lined up, ready to participate, dressed in light clothing to be as agile and quick as possible. They all sprung into the forest at once, and the servants opened the huge cage of birds specially kept for the Great Hunt.
“You do not have Her blessing!” Cinder protested as soon as nobody was within hearing range anymore, just her and the King.
“Cinder, I appreciate your counsel, but we cannot cancel a tradition just because you had a bad dream.”
Moments like those made Cinder want to completely pulverize some rulers who thought they knew better. The King had let his pride and power get to his head, completely ignoring the warning signs and disregarding all counsel. She stormed off and went to mingle with the crowd that was excitedly watching the spectacle, their eyes able to see far into the distance, into the forest itself. Cinder was the only one aware this was going to end badly…
Dark clouds soon began looming above the faraway trees, which made the slighted Advisor frown. Just like in the vision… Soon there would be a thunderstorm, and then an earthquake… All cat-kin should’ve been hiding safely right now instead of being sitting ducks, and it drove Cinder mad. Her premonitions were only getting worse, and she shut her eyes tight feeling a headache incoming from all the turmoil.
Even if she wasn’t looking, she could still hear the loud thunder that alarmed the crowd. Of course a species that was half-cat would be scared of loud noises… And soon the bystanders grew agitated. Only more thunder followed as Cinder pressed her hands against her sensitive cat ears, yet she could still hear the cracks of trees. She didn’t need to look to know that lightning had struck the forest. There was little rain, but lightning came after lightning, setting the entire forest on fire, and the scent of smoke made Cinder whimper.
She felt a hand grip her arm and pull her away from the crowd. It was the King.
“You did not tell me there would be a fire!!” He raged blindly, earning a slap across the face from the already high-strung Advisor.
“I did, it’s not my fault you were too busy picking out colors for your robe when I mentioned it!” She growled and for once glanced at the forest. The cats that ventured in were all brave, and proud. Too much so to let lightning scare them… which only meant they had to be driven out by fire.
“Send the…” The King was stuck. Send who? All of the soldiers who could’ve rescued anyone right now were engaged in the Hunt, except for Cinder herself.
The Advisor didn’t need to hear more nonsense from that puppet of a monarch as she blew her whistle, gathering about seventeen full-cats around her.
“We must warn all the half-cats in the forest,” she spoke to the animals which oddly enough nodded in understanding. “Be careful, and tell them Cinder told them to evacuate and find some place safe.”
And so both her and the much smaller cats set out to rescue as many lives as possible. This night turned out to be one of the worst of her life as she found several burnt corpses inside of the forest, and managed to help only around a third of the participants survive. By the time she got them all to safety, the sun was already shining, and the Moon was starting to fade.
“N-no!” Cinder yelped in terror at the distant star.
Once it would be out of sight, the goddess would not interfere anymore. But this time her call was answered. Only to her eyes, the Moon grew larger and larger, until it became the only thing she could see around her, and she felt herself enveloped by the deity’s strength, communicating with her in a strange way, as if the goddess was inside of Cinder’s head herself.
Cinder, you’ve seen more than others about what is to come. This world will only grow weaker, and my powers will soon be rendered useless without our rituals. Tonight was just a drop in the ocean of horrors that will bestow Cat-gemm. You know what must be done, I’m sure you’ve dreamt it. I have only enough strength left to send you to whatever world you desire, once, before I fall into slumber, and my latent travelling powers will stay with you, but without precision. I only need a living sacrifice, and your fate shall be sealed with mine.
As she came down from her trance, she found herself on her knees, only held up slightly by other cat-kin gathered around her worriedly. They’ve all heard the voice too, although not as vividly as Cinder did. More like an echo, or a whisper.
“I’m dying,” Tigger said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “My burns… They’re too much, I won’t make it,” he kept explaining. “I can be your sacrifice, Cinder. Just promise me you’ll do your best to save our world.”
Before the Advisor could protest, her friend already grabbed a short sword and, feeling the blessing of the goddess, took his own life, the blood that flowed out being absorbed by the deity, along with Tigger’s own life force. The shock had Cinder fall in and out of consciousness, as her body was already weakened terribly by the recent events, and surely enough, when she closed her eyes, she heard the voice again.
Where do you want to go?
To… To that girl. The blonde girl I’ve seen in my visions…
It felt really good to be able to relax for once, recently having been plagued by horrible visions nearly every day. Cinder never really knew what the source of those manifestations was, but until recently she thought they must’ve been connected to the Cat Moon goddess… However, whenever she tried to ask Her for guidance regarding the atrocities she saw, her calls remained unanswered, which was unusual for the deity, who favored Cinder above every other cat-kin in Cat-gemm. The uncertainty made her isolate herself even more within the forest despite it soon being time for a new Pigeon Race.
She was trying to grasp every detail she could whenever the visions found her. But it was a fool’s quest. Everything was pure carnage, chaos and destruction. And in all of the dreams she had about the future, she perished trying to protect her world. She also became more frightened as she could see some of the natural disasters she foresaw take place – landslides, floods, forest fires… So far, the cat-kin had been able to prevent those from becoming awful tragedies, only thanks to her warnings… But that only meant the worst was yet to come.
The only face she could discern, the only recurring pattern, was a blonde girl with blue eyes… Or were they blue? In some visions, they were yellow… And the girl seemed to be more of a foe than a friend, either imprisoning her in a strange world, or executing her publicly for something called ‘treason’. That was absurd to Cinder. How could anyone consider her visions treason? Was she really to meet someone like that in the near future? And what kind of outcome would that encounter lead to? There were too many questions without answer, and her mind was tired and slow for once, as she simply kept staring at the leaves until sleep found her.
~
A rip in reality, in the middle of the meadow, East of the Capital. Like a huge gaping wound, but also like a gate, beckoning her to witness horrific tragedies.
She fell into the Moon, and travelled through time and space, landing in a foreign land that didn’t resemble anything she was familiar with.
The blonde girl was staring at her as she threatened to take her life.
Further into the future, further, too far to tell for sure… The middle of a battlefield. Cinder was slowly purring to herself as she lied motionless on the ground, wounded gravely. The blonde crawled her way to her.
“We did it, Cinder! We won! It’s all over now!”
She fell into the Moon, and travelled through time and space, landing in a foreign land that didn’t resemble anything she was familiar with.
The blonde girl was staring at her as she threatened to take her life.
Further into the future, further, too far to tell for sure… The middle of a battlefield. Cinder was slowly purring to herself as she lied motionless on the ground, wounded gravely. The blonde crawled her way to her.
“We did it, Cinder! We won! It’s all over now!”
~
Cinder was sitting beside the Cat King, who stubbornly decided to uphold the festival despite her advice.
“At least keep everyone on high alert,” she sneered into his ear. “I told you, I didn’t see a single good outcome of holding this festival tonight.”
The king didn’t bother to look her way as he got up from his throne to face the crowd.
“My dear cat-kin!” He began, loudly, pompously. “We have gathered today to celebrate our beloved goddess and to choose another brave soldier who will be bestowed with tremendous power for another century!”
During the speech, Cinder crossed her arms and looked to the side, irritated by the king’s rash behavior.
“With Her blessing and with my permission, I announce that the Pigeon Race shall begin now!” And he waved his hand as the start signal for the cat-kin lined up, ready to participate, dressed in light clothing to be as agile and quick as possible. They all sprung into the forest at once, and the servants opened the huge cage of birds specially kept for the Great Hunt.
“You do not have Her blessing!” Cinder protested as soon as nobody was within hearing range anymore, just her and the King.
“Cinder, I appreciate your counsel, but we cannot cancel a tradition just because you had a bad dream.”
Moments like those made Cinder want to completely pulverize some rulers who thought they knew better. The King had let his pride and power get to his head, completely ignoring the warning signs and disregarding all counsel. She stormed off and went to mingle with the crowd that was excitedly watching the spectacle, their eyes able to see far into the distance, into the forest itself. Cinder was the only one aware this was going to end badly…
Dark clouds soon began looming above the faraway trees, which made the slighted Advisor frown. Just like in the vision… Soon there would be a thunderstorm, and then an earthquake… All cat-kin should’ve been hiding safely right now instead of being sitting ducks, and it drove Cinder mad. Her premonitions were only getting worse, and she shut her eyes tight feeling a headache incoming from all the turmoil.
Even if she wasn’t looking, she could still hear the loud thunder that alarmed the crowd. Of course a species that was half-cat would be scared of loud noises… And soon the bystanders grew agitated. Only more thunder followed as Cinder pressed her hands against her sensitive cat ears, yet she could still hear the cracks of trees. She didn’t need to look to know that lightning had struck the forest. There was little rain, but lightning came after lightning, setting the entire forest on fire, and the scent of smoke made Cinder whimper.
She felt a hand grip her arm and pull her away from the crowd. It was the King.
“You did not tell me there would be a fire!!” He raged blindly, earning a slap across the face from the already high-strung Advisor.
“I did, it’s not my fault you were too busy picking out colors for your robe when I mentioned it!” She growled and for once glanced at the forest. The cats that ventured in were all brave, and proud. Too much so to let lightning scare them… which only meant they had to be driven out by fire.
“Send the…” The King was stuck. Send who? All of the soldiers who could’ve rescued anyone right now were engaged in the Hunt, except for Cinder herself.
The Advisor didn’t need to hear more nonsense from that puppet of a monarch as she blew her whistle, gathering about seventeen full-cats around her.
“We must warn all the half-cats in the forest,” she spoke to the animals which oddly enough nodded in understanding. “Be careful, and tell them Cinder told them to evacuate and find some place safe.”
And so both her and the much smaller cats set out to rescue as many lives as possible. This night turned out to be one of the worst of her life as she found several burnt corpses inside of the forest, and managed to help only around a third of the participants survive. By the time she got them all to safety, the sun was already shining, and the Moon was starting to fade.
“N-no!” Cinder yelped in terror at the distant star.
Once it would be out of sight, the goddess would not interfere anymore. But this time her call was answered. Only to her eyes, the Moon grew larger and larger, until it became the only thing she could see around her, and she felt herself enveloped by the deity’s strength, communicating with her in a strange way, as if the goddess was inside of Cinder’s head herself.
Cinder, you’ve seen more than others about what is to come. This world will only grow weaker, and my powers will soon be rendered useless without our rituals. Tonight was just a drop in the ocean of horrors that will bestow Cat-gemm. You know what must be done, I’m sure you’ve dreamt it. I have only enough strength left to send you to whatever world you desire, once, before I fall into slumber, and my latent travelling powers will stay with you, but without precision. I only need a living sacrifice, and your fate shall be sealed with mine.
As she came down from her trance, she found herself on her knees, only held up slightly by other cat-kin gathered around her worriedly. They’ve all heard the voice too, although not as vividly as Cinder did. More like an echo, or a whisper.
“I’m dying,” Tigger said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “My burns… They’re too much, I won’t make it,” he kept explaining. “I can be your sacrifice, Cinder. Just promise me you’ll do your best to save our world.”
Before the Advisor could protest, her friend already grabbed a short sword and, feeling the blessing of the goddess, took his own life, the blood that flowed out being absorbed by the deity, along with Tigger’s own life force. The shock had Cinder fall in and out of consciousness, as her body was already weakened terribly by the recent events, and surely enough, when she closed her eyes, she heard the voice again.
Where do you want to go?
To… To that girl. The blonde girl I’ve seen in my visions…