Chapter Text
Yaola gave a present, to every animal and bird, making each one different from the rest. When the fox came, others like the dog, hawk, weasel, particularly the cat...
“Have you seen Nosblelilrah?” Yaola called out, searching for the princess of cats, having spotted a cat that looked like her.
“I am Nosblelilrah, sir. Is there something you need?” She looked up toward Yaola, little tail swishing behind her.
“Ive come to bestow upon you a gift.”
“A gift?”
And then, in a flash, her sight was clearer. Wider. Her ears became hyper-sensitive to even the slightest rustle of leaves. Her claws and teeth became sharp enough to tear through skin like it was nothing. Her feet and toes gained pads, pawpads, muffling the sound of her steps, giving her immense stealth.
Notably, she also gained her fierce desire..
To hunt and slay the children of El-ahrairah.
One particular group of cats was created, similar to a rabbit warren, perhaps comparable to a clan of cats like Windclan or Thunderclan, though.. Different. They shared similar lives to rabbit warrens, numbers comparable to a clan of cats, they even had their own language, and their own religion based upon the sun. They called themselves prrathas.
This group was called The dip, or, the Carrion dip. They lived about where you'd expect in the forest territory, what the clan cats called The carrionplace.
“Hunter, fighter, runner, Princess with a quiet step. Outsmart your prey, and your enemies… And your people will never be destroyed.”
It was a quiet morning. Thethuthinnang stretched, rising out of her little clump of leaves. She isn't feeling too great. Why? Probably just the pain in her back that's been there for about a week. She carefully made her way out into the clearing, past palettes, past boxes, generally ignoring all the other cats, sniffing and observing along the way. The birds in the trees above being practically the only sound made the experience quite peaceful. Her peace was paused by a yowl of her name. She turns her head to see a fluffy, blackpelted mara.
“Thethuthinnang!” Hyzennang called out in greeting, rushing over to her sister. “Howd you sleep? I know you've been having trouble with that recently.”
“Hm. I’m okay, Hyzennang. You needn't worry about me. I must bring up, you seem.. Oddly peppy. Last night you seemed like you'd had a meeting with The black cat of death...” The black and white furred she replied, raising a brow.
“Oh…” Hyzennang steps back, her ears falling lower. “Oh yea. Yea, I dunno, I just felt really odd that Fu-Mrruto. Unwell.. Scared.. Stressed.. I couldn't figure out why. I still have that feeling lingering.”
Thethuthinnang thought about that for a moment. Is this another one of her visions? Yaola's sake. “Well, maybe a nice walk about the territory and a bit of hunting will get your mind off it.”
“That.. That would be nice, actually! Let's go!” Hyzennang mews. Her body language showed she was quite excited about this.
The two cats made their way outside, into the grass and below the trees, rather than in the safety of The dip. Near a pool of water, within a clearing of short grass, absent of many general obstructions, they pick up the scent of a large rabbit. Hyzennang gets into hunting position, body low and eyes locked onto her target. Thethuthinnang is nearby, looking for prey of her own in the overgrowth.
A member of the mriisish pounced onto the rabbit, killing it in an instant. Hyzennang jumps back in surprise, standing back up.
“Hey, that was- That was mine!..” Hyzennang protests. Thethuthinnang makes her way over to the commotion, her blue and brown eyes glaring at The mriisish member.
“Food of such scale is for the Mriisish, outskirter. Now be on your way. There's plenty of other mrunghrah out here...” A black-pelted moro with a white-tipped tail, Toadflax responded, before making his way back to The dip before Thethuthinnang or Hyzennang could say anything.
Thethuthinnang and Hyzennang made their way deeper into the overgrowth, Conversating.
“I really don't understand why the Mriisish is so strict.” Thethuthinnang mews, as she stopped to turn back toward Hyzennang. “The rules they make up, simply for their own gain are ridiculous ... Proot, I tell you.”
“Yea! Like. Can they just get off our backs for ONE second?? For the love of YAOLA!!” Hyzennang hissed.
Hyzennang caught the scent of a squirrel. She sniffed around, eventually locating it. She gets into hunting position once more.. But then.. She smells something new. Something unfamiliar. She stood for a second, sniffing, trying to identify the smell, and she eventually understood what the smell was. Her ears fall lower.
“Thethuthinnang..” Hyzennang shakily meows, trying to get thethuthinnang's attention.
Thethuthinnang's head turns to face Hyzennang, as she wasn't too far away. "Hm?" She trills.
“I think I figured it out..” Hyzennang just stood there, quivering for a minute.
“The forest..”
“It's covered with blood!”
An almost shock sensation was sent throughout her whole body. As though she was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm, a horrible one. One that sends the sound of droplets of rain hitting the ground throughout the entire forest, One that shrouds the whole earth in darkness and gloom..
Her eyes opened up wide, and the forest was painted red in an instant, the paint in question slowly pouring outward, covering everything in crimson. The sounds of dogs barking filled her ears, and covering her vision was the sight of a pack of dogs, running along a specific path. She recognized it very well. It was the path she always took when she went back to The dip after hunting.. Then, it all changed. The sight of cats being torn to shreds, cats she knew from The dip, blood and guts soaring through the air like flocks of birds, screams, pleas for SOMEBODY to help. Even the kittens weren't safe from the absolute mayhem. Throughout it all, the barking persisted. Echoing loudly in the background, along with the sound of growling.
Once she snapped out of it, she looked below her, seeing the tracks of dogs just below her paws. She knew now what was bothering her.
“Oh. Well, I don't see anything. My eyes aren't exactly gifted like yours are, but I do feel as though you're hallucinating, sister of mine.” Thethuthinnang nearly teases, making her way beside Hyzennang, trying to figure out what she could have been seeing.
“No- its- It was all right here! Look below me!” Hyzennang steps back, looking downward.
“Right HERE!” Hyzennang taps her paw on the ground, beside the dog tracks. “This! Here!” Hyzennang sighs. “Let me explain.”
Thethuthinnang looks at Hyzennang, genuinely a little intrigued as to why Hyzennang is freaking out for the fourth time this month.
“I.. I saw so much, It's.. A little hard to explain, but I can try. It- I saw.. A pack of hrufwil. And they were running toward The dip. Thousands of hrufwil. All very large hrufwil. They didn't look like they belonged to men, they didn't have those weird things around their necks like most belonging to men do. Then I saw a bunch of cats from The dip.. Being violently mauled! It-”
“Now, I'll have to stop you there. THOUSANDS? Hrufwil? WILD hrufwil?” Thethuthinnang interrupted Hyzennang.
“Well, I couldn't count exactly how many.. They were all going by so quickly.. I.. I just know it was alot..” Hyzennang pauses, looking towards the ground. After a moment of silence, she looked back up. “I think we should leave.”
Thethuthinnang chokes. “LEAVE?” She found the idea a little humorous. She chuckles, before speaking once again. “No.”
“COME OOONNN! I've been right so many times. Remember the blizzard? Where we all had to hide underground near one of those pferfa camp clan things? If it wasn't for me, we would've all been dead! AND NOT TO MENTION, the flood? The time the weird pferfa clan guys invaded The dip? Now come on, bag of bones, we are telling threarah about this IMMEDIATELY! And if you won't come with me, I'll do it myself!” Hyzennang stomps away. Thethuthinnang is left behind. She then soon chases after Hyzennang, figuring this time around that maybe it's better safe than sorry, even if Threarah wont believe Hyzennang.
And so, then, the two felines tread to the chicken coop within the Carrion dips campgrounds. Inside, is threarah. The chief cat of Carrion dip. Soon enough, Hyzennang and Thethuthinnang stood at the door to the chief's den.
“...Are you sure he's even awake?” Thethuthinnang paused, letting out a yawn. “Thats all he's ever been doing here recently. I don't know how he's even still chief with how old he is.”
A large, black mainecoon, named Hrairthlay, stepped in front of the two maras. His tail is swaying, and the pupils to his yellow eyes are slitted. He is annoyed. This Hrairthlay is known for being a mid-rank in the mriisish, so Thethuthinnang and Hyzennang are accordingly intimidated.
“Now, you two know you can't just waltz into the chief's den uninvited, yes?” Hrairthlay questions, raising a catbrow.
“Look, Hrairthlay. We come here for good reason. It is very important.” Thethuthinnang is the first to protest. She knows her younger sister very well. She knows, and can visually tell, that Hyzennang is scared. Hyzennang isn't very likely to speak up due to this.
Hrairthlay directly faces the two outskirters, sitting down, making himself comfortable. “Like what?” He glances to Hyzennang, his ears pinning. “I see you've brought… A little buddy along. It's not related to her, is it?” Hrairthlay knows Hyzennang just as well as Thethuthinnang does. Well… Primarily for her ‘clairvoyance’. What the cats here call ‘eyaola’. Hrairthlay isn't too fond of Hyzennang for that very reason, as her being eyaola makes him perceive her as crazy.
“It..” Thethuthinnang paused, looking at Hyzennang fearfully. “It is related to Hyzennang, sir.” She looked back up at Hrairthlay. “It is something very big, Hrairthlay. Something that could put the entire prratha in danger if we don't get the chief's attention about it.”
Hrairthlay sighs. Well, not the end of the world if a few minutes of the chief's time is wasted. He thought to himself. “Well… Whatever you say.” He scratches an itch for just a second, before moving out of the way. “C’mon in, then!”
And so the two maras head on into the chicken coop, and soon find the chief they've been so desperate to speak to. He is a grey and white pelted persian cat, with thick, not very well kept fur. He has a lot of prey around him, some half-eaten, some just laying there for no good reason. In fact, he is currently munching on a small mouse. Hes… Not as impressive as you'd expect a chief cat to be.
“Eh.. Hello, sir.” Thethuthinnang initiates the conversation first.
Threarah chews up the final bit of mouse. Loudly. It's a little bit annoying. “Oh!” He gets up from his little catloaf he was originally in, slowly, but surely. “The thought of the thing. That's it, yea?”
“Erm. Actually. Thethuthinnang. Not the thought of the thing!” Hyzennang steps in, giggling. “And I'm Hyzennang! Uhh... We came to… Speak to you.” Her mood visibly shifts. She is now nervous.
“Ah, yes, yes…” Threarah sits down, tucking his tail beside him. “What is it that you wish to speak about?” His ear flicks, and he swats at a fly buzzing next to the aforementioned ear.
“...You.. go ahead, Hyzennang.” Thethuthinnang murmurs.
“Yea, yea!” And Hyzennang responds to Thethuthinnang shortly after. “..Ahem. Uhhh… This is gonna sound crazy, okay? But,” Hyzennang steps a little closer to Threarah. Her tail is low. “Soon. There will be a great danger coming to this prratha. Something that could possibly kill a great amount of the cats living here.” Her eyes locked onto Threarah. “If we do not all leave tonight, then we could risk death tomorrow. Threarah, I BEG. We need to leave, and now!” Thethuthinnang, nearby, nods along.
Threarah doesn't seem phased. “And what would an outskirter know about any ‘Great danger’? You're one of them Eyaolas, ain't you? I don't trust a word from them.” He turns his head away, avoiding Hyzennangs gaze.
Both Thethuthinnang and Hyzennang are thoroughly flabbergasted. “..Excuse me?” Thethuthinnang manages to get out after a few seconds of silence. “Sir. She can quite literally see into the future. She's done it before, and she's been right. You have no reason to turn this down.” Thethuthinnang gets beside Hyzennang.
“Has she?” Threarah questions. He's entirely forgotten about all of those times, it seems. Thethuthinnang groans with annoyance at this. Threarah looks back at the two, and continues on. “Really, I don't remember a thing. Perhaps you're lying to me?” He tilts his head. “Smart, but not smart enough.” He smirks.
Hyzennang and Thethuthinnang are fed up. “Sir, we are not lying! To accuse us of such things right on the spot is just cruel!” Hyzennang spat. Thethuthinnang nods along once again.
“Be on your way, outskirters.” Threarah lays back down. “You are hereby, dismissed.”
And so the maras listen. Do they have anything else they can do? Not exactly. Disobeying their chief is a prime way to become vrooli. The day has become night. The only thing guiding the two cats is the very faint light of the moon. As they exit, they notice a crowd around the chief's den. Hidden from the mriisish's eyes, but there. Listening. They recognize some of the cats. All of them are fellow outskirters.
A brown American wirehair. Hyzenthlay. Definitely a mara, down to the precise definition of the word; ‘svelte, soft-furred, and sophisticated’. Many of the males within this prratha have a great liking for her.
A chestnut Cymric cat. Threathrennelil. She isn't trusted or liked by many of the cats within the prratha. Really, the two never understood why… She was kind, caring, just as much as anyone else within the prratha!
Those were the two cats that stuck out the most to Hyzennang and Thethuthinnang.
Threathrennelil steps up to Hyzennang and Thethuthinnang as theyre walking away. “Hey, hey! Don't go yet!” And so the two maras turn to look at Threathrennelil. Threathrennelil continues, since she's gotten the memo that the two are currently listening. “Uhh.. Where do I start? …Me and some friends would like to talk to you two, as well.”
small timeskip – 5~ minutes later …
Many cats are hidden on the outskirts of the Carrion dip. In a safe, but open place. Not many plants or bushes are there, and there's not many trees obstructing it. The only thing there is grass, dirt, and some smaller flowers. It's theorized by the animals living here (and by the cats) that this was originally a spot men cleared out, but never used for anything, as there are a few footprints from men scattered about. The worry of the chief or mriisish noticing how empty the camp is is out of the question, as mostly everybody is asleep by now.
Hyzennang, Thethuthinnang, and Threathrennelil are in the center of the gathering. “...So,” Threathrennelil began. “Me and a few of my…” She looked around herself. Maybe not hundreds of cats, but definitely not few cats surround her. “Just a few of my friends. Uhh..” She's nervous. “We were listening to your conversation with Threarah. Threarah may not care, but WE care. We don't want to die, either. We have a plan.”
Thethuthinnangs eyes open up wider and her ears perk. Hyzennang leans higher up. They're both equally curious. “..We are listening.” Thethuthinnang replied.
“We, have all decided, that we should escape on our own time. If threarah wont let us leave, then we will leave ourselves!” Threathrennelil seems proud of herself. Excited, perhaps. “...Will you join us?” She smiles softly. “We need… Somecat to lead.”
Hyzennang lights up. “Absolutely!”
Thethuthinnang is surprised. But also equally happy. “Ofcourse.”