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Today I met a black cat.
He was soo cute! I was wandering around the meringue’s black market, searching for trinkets and valuables to give to my companions on the astral express, and found this cat blinking his big yellow eyes at me! I lost so much time trying to get him to get cuddly with me… it looks like I should buy a book on how to tame wild cats.
…
Today I met another black cat.
It looks like everywhere humans go, cats follow! I know they’re a danger to native wildlife and responsible for the extinction of many lifeforms… but they’re so cute? I really hope some sort of regulation gets enforced though. Anyway, while I was toiling and bartering with the innkeep to let me stay one more night at half the price, I saw it, looking at me like I was the only one in the room. I tried getting closer but he just… ran off? I couldn’t even sleep in that inn that night too, usual rotten luck. Something happened and people were talking and murmuring, but I was shown away by the owner for some reason.
…
Today I encountered yet another black cat! Isn’t it awesome?
When i told this to my companions they were shocked too, too many black cats, kind of suspicious if you think about it! But still not much preoccupying, no traces of weird path powers were on me and not even weird curios, so i’m all safe! Anyway, I met this one near the docks while we were visiting the glass city. The cat was mesmerizing, i didn’t notice how iridescent his black fur was, it looked as if countless gems were powdered on his mane, i would have loved to pet him until he got all puffy, but i didn’t manage to get near it. Oh and the glass city was awesome too, the mourning actors were a bit creepy though. Their masks looked so empty… their expressions so forced… maybe i’m reading too much into it.
…
I met the black cat once again! I didn’t think it would keep happening!
But here we are, writing another entry into my trusty “I met a black cat” diary. So, this time the astral express had to go through emergency repairs, something hit the conductor’s carriage and the train almost flew off the silver rails… I shiver just by thinking about it. The cat was just outside the window this time, illuminating me with its ever big eyes! If I squint hard enough I can even see stars and nebulae inside them, it’s probably the reflection from the external space, but it’s still incredible! I hope to pet it one day, i think it would love my special cat-underface-petting-technique.
…
Well… at least i met the cat today.
This is a tragic period, we all know it. The fall of idrila the beauty shook all of us to the core, and the ascension of xipe leaves me with unease… there’s a deific existence that represents harmony and unity, but why do i feel so scared? But I digress… so, today we had to stop near the support-group headquarters. They've been amassing resources since long ago but now they almost have the monopoly of some really rare materials. I hope they don’t do us dirty, we can’t really afford much right now. Anyway, the cat. I saw its tail swinging wildly, it’s the first time I saw it so agitated. I got worried so I followed it to a weird place, I cannot recall what ensued after that, maybe I fell somewhere? I just know I woke up in my room in the astral express… i should get checked up by pompom.
…
Things aren’t going well i fear… but seeing that cat always makes me feel that it will all be okay!
Today we lost contact with 32 other astral expresses, our numbers are dwindling at a worrisome rate… they shouldn’t even decrease at all, i dont know why i said that, after the “retirement” of sam-3000 it’s all so… weird? The train feels so empty. Anyway, the black cat sat near me.
How could all of this happen?
Seeing an aeon is rare enough, and most people out there wouldn’t even feel a faction of THEIR gaze. But witnessing one of THEM falling? It’s horrifying,
You can directly feel part of THEIR fate, a piece of you shrivels and turns to ashes, the realization that a higher being, a manifestation of the universe’s will, dies just like that is…
Undescribable.
Today not only me, but all the trailblazers saw and felt it. The end of the path for such a colossal entity, and not just any one of THEM, but ours. Akivili fell.
We don’t know the details yet, pom pom’s eyes just turned vitreous, gray, as if the life has been sucked out of them, and the conductor of the astral express i’m boarding doesn't fare better either, you can almost touch the eerie atmosphere, hear the train aching sounds, is it weeping?
Oh yes… the cat.
It almost looks as if it’s guilty… such silly creature, does it sense the oppressing air? Can it feel our emotions and read our behavior? Well, it doesn’t matter, I'm just glad it lets me pet it.
…
The cat is near me today, purring non stop, I wonder why.
Is it trying to cover the sounds of the others discussing? Or maybe it just saw something cute, heh like me, my pink hairs really are nice today. A few weeks ago I was in shambles, looking a bit too similar to a tuskpir.
Anyway, i gotta look the best i can for my discourse. The fate of everyone on the trains’ fate hinges on how that meeting goes today… we need to keep trailblazing, keep the rails working, and hope all of this is just a cruel joke.
It’s been some time since I've seen the black cat. I feel really tired. I've ventured to many warzones, but witnessing it firsthand is even worse somehow. Who would have thought that things could get messier than they were already. Why are we even doing this to ourselves? how does this fit inside of THEIR vision and our mission… tearing each other apart just to get a few scraps more of metal and fuel, to get power, to seize the empty helm…
It can only get better… right?
…
After so long the cat is standing right in front of me.
THEIR black fur is dazzling with sparkles and powdered light, iridescent with colors I couldn't even think were possible.
THEy’RE so beautiful, yet THEY don’t look happy at all, THEIR face is so wrinkled and mournful… they’re so cute, they should be running around and playing with toys…not toiling around and bearing such a sad and weighty fate.
I see it now, I was so naive and ignorant of things back then, but so innocent too, who would write a whole diary dedicated to a black cat.
THEIR right does make me feel better, but … how can I be truly happy when such a stain is corrupting the universe, our silver fleet reduced to one train… even pom pom looks so weary.
And this “cat”... THEY came to see my few last moments. Well so be it, this too is part of history, and will be an unforgettable memory.
I cannot do much at this point, since then my body went under some strange process, my strength is too feeble and my will diluted through time, the thought of the last i saw akivili still haunts me, with a smile so bright, their eyes so big, they looked like a child… yet i’m sure they already knew of what would have happened.
I don't have much time left, but i’m sure that mysterious guy will manage to keep the train from derailing.
Nameless reading this, regard it as my last will.
I will retire from the role of navigator, leaving my seat to Isee.
please, do your best.
As my last act I will give all I have left to the terrified nameless, my song.
-signed, Dolly. Starry cape Singer.
- note of the archiver:
There are many stains throughout this diary’s pages, from coffee stains to tears, but in the last place, after the singer’s signature, there is a golden paw print and a soft tuft of black fur. I suggest it be archived with the diary.