She was shorter now, her legs and tail fluffier as the world suddenly seemed brighter as her less mature eyes brightened and the world seemed too dense, in a way that she had not seen for so long. Finally. Amber’s paws felt the soft wild grass once more and the real world outside of their given boundaries. How free was it to gaze upon the rolls of hills stretched out below her, ancient oaks and tiny saplings alike billowing by the wind as if a drop of water was slowly rippling from the centre, forming a chain reaction as the breeze travelled across her face. The air was cool and refreshing though not as cold as she thought. She did miss this body, for this was where she could finally take a real breath in and savour the fact that she was alive. The more important reason of why she was here was because of Silver’s survival. She did not know how fast time passed here but the blue daffodil had to be here somewhere. This was the only flower hills she knew about it and there did seem to be a speck of blue, somewhere in the distance. It was among a patch of pinks and yellows, their petals intertwined so much from overpopulation and eventual wind course growth that it was nearly impossible to distinguish one flower from another. At least this time the remedy was easy to spot, compared to the other ones from long ago. When it had been the honeysuckle vine without its flowers compared to the normal ones, hanging vertically from a cave’s ceiling her eyes had nearly strained so much that she would had a mild case of myopic disorder syndrome from only identifying the first vine out of five draped concealed within the tangles.. Amber did not want to go back to those days.
She raced towards the blue speck, the dot slowly growing bigger as she passed flowers of all shapes and sizes. Surprisingly, there were no insects scuttling around unlike the territory of crimson frond’s which usually had bees buzzing around at the centre of a giant tree with a stump so wide three cats could stretch out and still not wrap their bodies around the base. No trees were here, however as her stumpy legs begun to tire from the excursion. Why did she have to be so young, as her loved ones were slowly dying on the other side of her mind? She had to make it, for the sake of all the factions even if they were so divided, spread on the only patch of land that they had left, so little compared to a millennium ago. The forests and mountains had slowly disappeared, the shadows corrupting vast stretches of land until there was nothing left but withered, black ash instead of the lush plants that had taken decades to grow since the wildfire had scorched them all.
The crimson frond was a small part of the main forest woods tribe that included many other plant groups that were spread in the densest parts of the forest. Being the one nearest to the wild border , she had always been able to be the first to detect any problems that could potentially harm the forest. That had been nearly a century ago, but it seemed that leaders had an extended life. The head of the most powerful tribe, Hyperspace, was called Distant Stars, with their base camp a mystery still to this day. Only whispers of the name was passed among generations of cats everywhere if they were under the protection of the Shield-paws who roamed all around the borders. Only Silver’s place in the forest had been newly penetrated by some force, possibly of the instability that had started when she had first regained consciousness. Why could she remember so much? Each time, when she was in this form it took her great willpower to concentrate on one thing at a time. Maybe, it was worth it after the shadows that had nearly taken everything she knew away from her. No-she knew too much. Why now?
An agonising, pained yowl pierced her other body, somewhere in one of the other parallels and her vision violently shattered between the two cats she was as the world flashed white and green, white and green, whit and- black spots began dancing over her eyes, figures she couldn’t make out dancing though her mind itself. No, that meant half her time was up, and it seemed so long ago that everything was finally alright, after the fire had blazed devastation across their lives. She had to keep moving, even though she could barely see and once every few seconds she could hear Sunset screaming ‘no, don’t fight me, I’m only trying to help- no, hold on to my life string? What are you doing stop writhing please I’m just trying to help you!’ Even in her state of agony, Amber’s body sighed. Sunningset really did care. Did he know what she knew? It was too late, even now to tell him for the future couldn’t be changed, however slow or fast the journey ended. It was up to silver to take the burden and go find him, the one who was an actual equal.
She had reached the flower now, Amber’s body barely stooping to pick up the sky blue daffodil in her jaws. Her vision was shifting so badly that it was all just flashes if colour now, and she struggled to pass the flower to her other consciousness. Once it was safely tucked in her mind, her body collapsed, Amber’s vitality slowly fading. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Didn’t her body have at least a few more minutes? It had been so long since she had been back here… she did miss being so free. It was time to go now, or Maple’s consciousness would die along with amber’s body. Maybe, one day after the omen she would somehow be alive and look for this body, and give it a proper burial if it hadn’t decomposed already. If she didn’t go now, she would lose everything.
As amber’s figure collapsed, maple ripped her mind out of her and returned to Catanaria, ejecting the flower onto the moss that was now soaked with silver’s blood. Sunset materialised in front of her, yowling desperately at a bloody mess of fur and limbs. Silver appeared unconscious, her limbs occasionally twitching and causing more blood to spill out a huge slice from her muzzle all the way to her hind paw, which looked completely inflamed because it was spewing yellow, foul smelling pus along with the blood every time her heart beat.. The minor scratches were sewn up with sunset’s shaky paws and her ears suddenly began to work. Sunset was screaming something at her.. why was he so worried? She had the cure. But of course he didn’t know, for he didn’t see everything when they were in the cave.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
No.. Silver would be okay but she had to be treated with the flower before any permanent damage was caused. She really did know too much. Maybe she needed to take the amnesia again, for she had seen cats like her suffer knowing their own deaths because of the foresight. But this had to be different. She wouldn’t allow herself to be in any danger unless it was needed for the prophecy, which was probably already inaccurate because of the split that of course Glinda made. She was at the battlefield probably now. She’d be late, maple thought as adrenaline coursed through her body and her power surged to the surface though it was supposed to be hidden at all times. No. She had to save it. For the battle that was to come of course. She stretched her jaws wide in a yawn, the air cooling her warm body until she felt more alert as sunset picked up the flower. “Chew it into a poultice” sycamore commanded sunset, and he did so, the putrid taste reflected on his face as he chewed the petals. Even with the refreshing air, Maple still felt oddly sick, as if her vitals were failing her. Maybe her other body had influenced her mind more than she thought it could, because now she was also falling asleep, into what she hoped wouldn’t be the soft whisper of death creeping up on her. She fell into its embrace, which felt warm and soothing as she slowly sank into the darkness.
The two figures watching her blinked in confusion as another cat arrived at their premise, one of silver’s friends maybe. They would be prone to end up here many times to come. The two sat, as still as a statue as they waited for her to wake up. She, too had a visitors pass. She was here because she had become fully aware of the prophecy and they needed to- cleanse her memory of that knowledge, for it would be a burden as time passed. She had also missed her last few shots when she attended the meeting. Sunset spat out the poultice, far, far away, distant in their sight. “Focus,” the rough voice of the cat on the left whispered to the smaller shape on the right. The newcomer stirred, then opened her eyes groggily. She was here now, with them though her physical body lay on the stone, too warm already as the first stage of mind paralysis hit her. “The prophecy is already so messed up because of Glinda and everything else, I don’t even know if what we spoke to Silvester was true before-“ “hush.” The larger figure silenced her with a wave of his bushy tail.” “We dare not utter her full name, even if it was the one she used to go by in the presence of another.” Indeed, maple’s spirit sat up slowly, gazing at the figures not in awe, but recognition. You.. you cats must have talked to silver about the prophecy! Why am I here though? I know it must have been disturbed somehow, but I can’t be dying! I need to help her fulfil it! Wait-no WHAT—“
The sleek figure of the cat Maple knew so long ago immediately sent her mind to pummel her’s, cleansing every shard of memory about the prophecy that she knew about. It was too dangerous, even in the place where no paw stepped except theirs. Her companion dragged her mind off her’s, and she did not resist for it was done. Maple now had no memory of everything to do with helping the omen, or Glinda’s act. She collapsed, sinking onto the nothingness of the floor and remained still, her chest barely rising as the paralysis continued even as her memories disappeared. Though the tom was livid, his pelt spiking up to twice his size and urge to leap on her, he only sent his anger through the mental and emotional bond that connected them as the seers. *what is wrong with you, you piece of filth?* he hissed through the connection, for it was too dangerous to utter words in case the wipe was not yet perfectly completed, though her skills were legendary. *it isn’t my fault I wiped her! You knew she knew too much, and yet she knew about the other link! It had to be done. I know it had. You trust me, don’t you?* she was equally outraged, but the two of them eventually fell into a mental silence as maple remained on the floor that decided, at that moment to liquify into black sludge. She sank through it like water, and finally went back to her physical body. Sunset was doing something else now, and it seemed like Silver was awake, but none of that was felt by the two. Majestic, crystalline wings spouted from their backs as they slowly ascended to get away from the deadly liquid. The tom’s wings were constantly blazing the colour of fire and kindling, his feathers sharp and tough as chiselled diamond whilst the smaller she-cat beat rippling soft feathers, though if one touched the plume they would instantly fade away into nothingness.
“We shall not speak of this again, in any way. Let us return to another reality, where we shall surely be probed.” The queen said.
“And they won’t find this, this shard of memory?”
“I’ll hide it. They always underestimate the power of the mind, don’t they?”
“Of course.”
They swiftly soared high, high above the filth, and when it seemed that there was no possible way out, vanished, without a trace, leaving the black depths smoothly gurgling once in a while to eventually solidify again, much, much later. Nothing would appear wrong to any of the other cats, though the cosmos had blurred for a moment as maple’s memories seemed to reform in the air.
There was only a silence so thick it was almost palpable, the shadows swarming all around the gap that the two cats had made, covering it with dense layers of blackness.
Sunset
Maple looked as if she was trying to speak in another language, her mouth moving with mom sound emitting. Then, her legs buckled and she collapsed onto the stone floor. Her eyes rolled then her body suddenly warmed up so fast the cool air melted into puddles of clear water which pooled near her figure. What was he supposed to do with that poultice? He now had three cats all lying on the stone cavern, all in critical condition.
