Welcome to Life of Cat, or LOC as I will often call it. This is a rewrite of another story still open on my profile. If you would like to read it feel free. but know it's a product of the writer I was two years ago. I've really improved since then and hope you like this story. The updates will be less often in the start of this story and will probably pick up once I start school, cause I'll have more access to a computer and in general. Hope you enjoy!
-Tragedy
Prologue:
Dark. Too dark. She was trapped. No way out. No way to see around her. She growled, clawing through the floor and thrashing about. Surely there must be some exit. Light has to be found even in the darkest places, right? But alas, nothing was found. Hours and hours of poking and prodding. Hours of crying and eventually the cold realization found her. She was trapped, indefinitely. No way out. No cat to talk to. Nothing.
She cursed, blaming her luck, her love, her idiotic spawn. Of course it would be the ones she raised to be the death of her. Of course they would send her to her doom. But...it wasn't both of them. Just one. The one she had planned on casting aside. Again, she cursed. Blaming her luck, her love, and her idiotic plans. How brilliant they had seemed, but how stupid they were now.
"My dear, I didn't think you could die."
Her eyes narrowed, hours she had spent in this void of a place. Only now had someone thought to find her? "Death is relative. I'm still alive, just not...living."
A laugh from the cat who found her, "However, you are in fact dead, my dear." A flash of ginger fur, before it disappeared, "Death fits you, Opin. And not just because you're a murderer,"
She scoffed. Cursed silently. Death couldn't look like this. She had heard of StarClan, and the Place of No Stars. Surely, with all of the cats who had seen their dead ancestors, the tales couldn't be a lie? "Where am I? Which afterlife is this?" More and more questions surfaced. Questions she should have asked when she was alive. Questions that really made no sense now...
"You really don't know?" Another laugh. She could tell she was going to really hate this cat, "This is an entirely new world, my dear. A world StarClan likes to call the ShadowLands. Though we like to call it Purgatory."
"Who's we?"
"All the cats who have no way of redemption, those banned from interacting with the living world. We are trapped here in this darkness, with no lights to guide us and no one to talk to. Until now, of course." The start of a maniacal laugh, "And you, my dear, Opin. You will help us become free. As the Prophecy says, The one with eyes of frost with help set the world aflame."
It was...interesting. Interesting enough for Opin to go along with this strange cat's plans. It was a long conversation. A process which she missed all too much. Her kits prevented her from scheming, and now that she was dead she didn't have to worry about that anymore. Such a lovely life, being dead. The two cats talked for days, coming up with plans and improving on ones that no longer seemed necessary with new ideas popping up to the surface. They were never satisfied with their plan, but they would never be. It was a risk, with many different outcomes. But first, came the initiation.
"We must find light, my dear." The tom whispered as they woke from an indeterminable amount of sleep, "Light is the only way to grasp our surroundings." A pause, without a laugh for once, "The only plausible way to get it is to go to the living world. Though it seems impossible, my associate may have found a solution to this problem."
"Wait. First I must know something." It had been days, possibly moons since they met, "Your name, what is it?"
A laugh, "You surprise me yet again, my dear. Of all the things you could care about I would've least expected my name." More laughter.
Opin growled, "Enough with this laughing nonsense. I need your name, nevermind my reasons to have it."
The laughing halted, "As you wish, my dear. My name is Speck." Silence followed, meant to be an agreement. Speck continued with his associate's device to bring light to Purgatory, "The first step is to find a cat's dream. I've heard of cats in Purgatoy stumbling upon dreams and bringing light to where they step. It's supposedly quite difficult, but might be our only option. For us to accomplish this my dear, we must stick together. As closely as possible so we don't confuse ourselves. I've wandered around here for countless seasons upon countless seasons trying to grab hold of my bearings, but it seems Purgatory shifts every once in a while. Everything twists and turns where you think it didn't, and drops into great chasms where there once were steep hills."
"So...there is no predicting the terrain of these ShadowLands, and we must happen to stumble upon some cat's dreams?" Opin growled. This place would get on her nerves for however long she had to stay, "We'd better go then."
Suddenly she felt the brush of another cat's fur against her. She tensed, until Speck's voice followed, "Well then, my dear, we stick together until the dream hits us."
And so they went, walking through the dark void they lived in. They bumped into obstacles and told themselves it was just a tree or a bush. Sometimes blood was drawn by what they told themselves were thorns or sharp branches. They walked for what they thought were moons. Never sleeping, continuously searching. Occasionally they saw a flash of light and ran towards it, but it disappeared once they got close. They lost each other a couple of times, And were forced to stall their search until they found each other again. They never once gave up the hope that a dream would be found to give them the light they needed. Or at least, Speck never did,
"We've wandered all over this forsaken place, Speck!" Opin growled, wincing at the sudden hoarseness of her voice. They had been so concentrated on finding their light they forgot to talk to each other, "We'll never find a dream, we'll never get enough light to escape."
"Mr dear, Opin, you mustn't give up hope." A paw was awkwardly placed on her shoulder, a sign of comfort. Idiotic, "We have seen the light, we just can't reach it. Everything will play its part. Remember the prophecy I told you about? The one with eyes of frost will help set the world aflame."
"What does that even mean!" Opin growled, "I can't possibly believe that's the only part of the prophecy, so why don't you give me the full story?"
A sigh, followed by small laughter, "Fine, my dear. I suppose my secrets won't help us proceed with our plans. The prophecy, in full:
"The time has come for fate to be undone.
"The angel will arrive on wings of black death. Let the nettle's thorns beside him. Let the blazing flame guide him. Let the night's wind heal him.
"The one with eyes of frost will help set the world aflame. Beware of her anger. Beware of her revenge.
"The demon will arrive with claws of dark steel. Let the frost slowly burn him. Let the fire slowly freeze him.
"The time has come for fate to be undone. The angel, the demon, and the frost will fight until the very last breath."
Opin closed her eyes, trying to understand. According to Speck, she was the one with eyes of frost. But how could he know what her eyes looked like? How could he have known her name when they first met? Questions, more than before, more than ever, ran through her head. As she opened her mouth to speak, she felt the ground jerk underneath her. A sudden flash of light entered her vision, and she saw the world around her for the first time. It was nothing like she expected, there were hardly any trees or brush. Barely any grass. Simply hard gray...something. The only thing that stood out was an opening to a cave behind them.
"Well, my dear, it seems we've found a dream."
And they were thrown into the light.
