“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Meowed an unfamiliar molly’s voice.
“Wha? I - I wasn’t-”
“Fufu.. It almost looked like you liked her.” The she cat cut him off.
“I’ve never even spoken to her.” the tom spat back. Stripes recognized the voice, it belonged to Burn. The molly must’ve been the yellow long furred cat that gave soothing licks to her head. Stripes was comforted by the blackness that surrounded her but she pushed her eyes open, blinking hard to focus her vision.
“She’s awake!” Burn exclaimed, nearly startled out of his fur. She looked around at her surroundings, only Burn and the molly were there. Stripes finally got a proper look at her, she was gorgeous - prettier than even Prim. Her fur almost glowed, it looked as if the sun gave this cat life itself. And her eyes, beautiful blue orbs that appeared to have the entire sky living inside them. They were beautiful, if not unnatural. The molly must’ve noticed Stripe’s wonder because she pawed closer, “Sapphires.” she said quietly, Stripes did not know of that word and yet no word could better describe the color of this queen’s eyes.
“What?” Stripes asked quietly for an explanation and the yellow she cat was clearly happy to oblige.
“That’s what I was named,” she breathed, “Sapphirecharmer. A mouthful, I know.” she laughed, “But luckily I am no longer known as that. I was given the name Shinemight, although everyone calls me Shine.” She sat in front of Stripes as the calico walked beside her.
“And I’m Burnpaw, but call me Burn.” He stood with a hint of pride in his turquoise eyes. Their names meant a lot to them, and it showed. She eyed them both for a moment. Burn was quite a handsome tom, a couple of light scars laid on his chest but his fur shined pridefully over to them. It was clear to Stripes why these cats were so wonderful looking - they were happy.
It's amazing how their happiness made them appear as the most beautiful cats Stripes had ever seen, while she was just a miserable piece of matted gray fur. She straightened herself out. Not daring to stand with the wounds on her side, belly and back but she tried to have confidence. “My name is Stripes.” she said, “Uhm.. thank you for before..” she said pointing her head towards her wounds.
“Ah, yes. It’s not a problem.” Shine purred.
“That reminds me.” said Burn as he stood and turned. Crawling in between two of the bushes.
Stripes glanced around, she made the right assumption before, although everything clearly looked naturally living, nothing looked naturally placed. Like a nofur architect who willed the plants into their current position. “What is this place..?” she asked, half to herself but Shine was more than willing to speak up.
“It was created by Forpire,” she explained, “They’re an empire that can manipulate any living thing in the forest.”
Stripes stared at her in confusion, “That sounds like a tale they’d tell a kit.” she explained to Shine, skeptically squinting her eyes.
But the yellow she cat just laid beside her and comfortingly groomed Stripes, “Were you raised by nofurs?” she asked.
“No,” Stripes responded, “I was born a stray.”
Shine nodded and continued grooming, Stripes couldn’t help but grooming back, so she craned her neck and licked Shine’s long fur. It must've been moons since Stripes last groomed another cat, the feeling soothed her and made her unexplainably happier than she’d been for a long time.
Stripes pricked her ears at the sound of Burn returning with the large, dark gray dog-beast that worked on her wounds. “How are you feeling?” he greeted with a dip of his head.
Stripes glanced at her wounds, “I-It doesn’t hurt to bad.” she admitted, “But I don’t think I can move.” She felt how stiff her body had become as she glanced at the injuries.
“That’s fine.” he spoke reassuringly, “We don’t want to reopen the cuts.” he took a few massive steps towards her as he analyzed the wounds.
“Um,” she started, unsure of how to word this in order to be polite, “What um, what are you?” she asked. The dog-beast stepped back towards her face, lying himself down next to Shine.
“Where are my manors? My name is Spiderear and I am a wolf.” He replied, “Flame, the one who brought you here, is also a wolf.” he continued, “We’re basically wild dogs.” he said almost like Stripes should’ve known that already. Stripes nodded, attempting to understand.
Shine flicked her tail to gain Stripes’ attention, “Have you heard of the tale of the cat’s ancestors?” she asked.
“Like tigers and lions?” Stripes questioned.
“Yes,” Shine confirmed, “Wolves are to dogs as lions are to us.”
That made sense, Stripes nodded, “Where are the others?” she asked, curiosity giving her energy.
“Out hunting,” Burn explained, “They’ll be back soon.” Unlike the others who laid beside Stripes, Burn sat tall. He let in a sniff which was followed by his ears perking up and the turning of his head, “I think I smell them now..” and within a moment, the large she wolf stepped into the clearing being followed by the husky and the red creature.
The carried prey in their mouths, the red creature and the husky each had a long eared creature - a rabbit, Stripes had only seen one once long ago, and Flame had two plump mice. They set the food down into a pile that already contained a squirrel and another mouse, then came over to where the others lay. “How is she doing?” the she wolf asked.
“She’s fine,” Spider confirmed, “She just needs rest, she’s lost a lot of blood.”
Flame nodded, turning her eyes to meet Stripes, “I’m glad you’re alright.”
Stripes dipped her head, unable to meet the beast’s eyes herself, “Thank you for.. Saving me..” Something about Flame intimidated her. Yes, she was bigger and stronger than Stripes but there was some other hint of power that made Stripes feel uneasy.
“It’s fine,” she showed joy in her voice, “I’m glad we could perhaps have another member.”
“Member?” Stripes echoed.
Flame breathed in, sitting as if she were about to tell a long story. “There are many blessed groups. They help the world with their gifts and live under the notion of always caring for others.” she spoke, “Not to say that wars don’t break out, but they generally try to keep peace.”
Stripes nodded at the words, resting her head in her paws before Flame continued, “The strongest groups of the ground are Forpire, Seapire, and Windpire. These three empires work together to help others in need. Earthpire is powerful as well, having a paw dipped in each one of these empires, allowing Earthpire members to have the powers of all three as well as a few more but they are generally weaker due to them being on their own. They all get their powers from the strongest empire of all, Nightpire, an empire that contains the spirits of every empire and camp alike.” Flame adjusted her front paws, “Speaking of camps, that is what we are, Firecamp. Camps are groups of predators who form together in hopes of one day being an empire. So while there are several other empires, there are hundreds of camps.” She finished the speech she had clearly prepared before.
Stripes nodded slowly. “That sounds like something out of an old queen’s tale.” she said somewhat in awe.
“Yes,” Flame explained, “but all tales come from some truth.. I hope you agree to join us.”
Stripes shut her eyes, thinking about what to do. She had no place to return and she did owe these creatures her life.. ‘Firecamp..’ she thought, the words repeated in her mind. All these creatures seemed happy, maybe Stripes could be happy too.
She didn’t hesitate. “I’ll join.” Stripes spoke with confidence but quickly withdrew, “If.. If you’ll have me.”
Every creature’s eyes went straight to Flame who relaxed her shoulders and spoke, “We would love for you to join.”
For the first time, Stripes peered into her eyes… They were a deep red. Beautiful, like flowers, gratefulness shown from them. “You’ll need a new name.” Flames spoke, “You may have noticed we take great pride in our names.” she paused, “I am Flameheart for my eyes as red as flame and a great deal of passion in my heart. This is Redlight,” she turned her head towards the red creature, “She is a fox, red is a common fur color for them, but the light that shows within her is brighter than the stars.” Red pridefully nodded towards her leader, “That is Shinemight,” Flame continued, “Her fur shines like a fiery sun but what truly impressive is that she has the might of an entire kingdom.” Shine stood up to walk over to her leader to sit beside her.
“Burnpaw has his name due to his powerful paws, strong enough to travel through the entire woods without much rest.” Stripes glanced over to see his paws, all were black but one red forepaw that looked as though a flame danced around it, they did seem bigger than the average cat’s. He looked just as prideful as his fellow campmates, “Ashfur,” she continued, “He received his name due to his brilliant pelt that allows him to hide in the night as if he were no more than a pile of ash, making him an excellent hunter.” The mostly black husky straightened himself out hearing the praise. “And-”
“Spiderear.” The wolf cut in, “I do not belong to this camp, but if you must know, I’m called this because my ears have white on the tips which just happens to look like spiderwebs.” Stripes suspected that he was downplaying his own name, but no creature spoke up to properly say why he was called that so Stripes simply accepted it.
Flame sighed, “Spider belongs to Monstercamp.” she explained, “We do not have a healer here so he travels to both of our camps to take care of us.. And your current name is?”
The gray tabby was taken aback, their names had so much meaning, and she was the oddball. Clearly in need of a replacement, “Stripes” she started, “due to the stripes in my fur...”
There was a bit of mischief in Flames eyes, “Those are not stripes.” Stripes looks back at her side, obviously confused but she stayed quiet, awaiting an explanation. “Those are streaks of charred ash that hit your fur when you escaped an evil fire.” she barked with assurance, “A fire both beautiful and powerful and those streaks are a sign of your survival.” she straightened herself, “From this day onward, you will be known to all who see you and Streakpelt, the cat who survived evil itself.”
Streak was astonished at the Flame’s explanation. ‘It was like she lived my past.’ she thought in awe.
“Will you take this name?” Flame dipped her head to ask her.
Pride spread through Streak at the thought of it. “Yes.” she purred, happily accepting her new life.
Comments (0)
See all