I never thought death would be this painful. Surely I must be dead, or at the very least, dying. My weak mind forced the heavy lids of my eyes to open. I saw. I saw, and I heard, and I… smelled. I did not think it was possible for anything to have such a beautiful fragrance. "You have will." Someone purred, "A very strong one in fact." There was a man kneeling beside me.
His face was cat-like and his pupils were black slits containing a stripe of light gray. His irises were a vibrant green. He held up his hand in a friendly gesture. "Isaiah." He said, "And you are Ana Maria." I did not care that he knew my name. I had known that someone was following me through the streets at dawn when I would walk to meet my uncle at the prison. Only I had not known then that the stalker was not human.
Isaiah looked up abruptly, and then he ran. He was gone before I could blink, leaving me alone with the pain. I groaned. My body was sore and my muscles were tense. My eyes ached. Oh it was more than an ache it was a burn. My eyes were searing with the pain, now so great I was forced to shut them. It was there for days. Three whole weeks had gone by before it had even started to fade. I had been out in the forest sitting on my favorite branch in my favorite tree leaning against the trunk when it suddenly decreased in fire. After then it had gone down amazingly fast, only acting up when enemies of my kind were near.
I was living in Crater Lake National Park in Oregon when Isaiah found me again. As my creator he was bound to me as I was to him. I did not particularly like him but he seemed fond of me. I traveled with him from time to time and we eventually settled in Missoula, Montana near Lolo National Forest. We always needed to be near the forest. It was a part of our nature as much as it was to purr when we are pleased and to hiss when we are angered. We don't have any laws. Most of our kind keep to themselves or live in hidden clans in the forests of the world.
I had grown particularly fond of a young female living with a clan in Green Mountain National Forest near Bennington, Vermont. She was feline by blood instead of the alternative change from human that had been my fate. Her name was Bast. She was named for the very first Catt in history. The Ancient Egyptians discovered the majesty of the great cat and when they found Bast they revered her as a goddess. They worshiped cats and one Ancient Egyptian pharaoh desired the body of a cat so much that he ordered a monument built. The Sphinx was built and Bast stored all her magic in it. When the humans excavated it her magic flew out and comingled with Catts and giving us our gifts.
The young Bast I know today is full of energy. She contains the gift of Insight. Humans would call it E.S.P. or extra sensory perception. I do not contain a gift. Most human-changers do not contain one so it was no surprise to me. Isaiah contains the gift of Growth. He can affect the way plants grow. He told me that he could convince a plant to uproot itself and walk away. His magic works best with catnip though. The healing plant has been a part of cats for so long it is hard to resist it.
"Ana Maria, stop fiddling with that." Isaiah commanded me. I gently placed my Nazara around my neck. A Nazara is an eye so to speak. It protects us against evils like the Strigoa or vampire. When a Strigoa is near, the Nazara burns. Isaiah stood up for no apparent reason. He gestured to me to do the same. The trees all seemed to straighten up in respect. A woman stepped around a birch and Isaiah bowed. I stood there awkwardly. Isaiah introduced me as "Miss Ana Maria" and her as "Madam Elise Annette Lefevree of the Chevalier Clans in Beaumont-du-loc, France." I'd heard of her before. She was the peace-keeper of the Catt race. At the sixteenth year of awakening she comes to evaluate you and to name your gift if it was not already found. Madam Elise extended her hand towards me and I shook it. Then she ran.
Isaiah looked at me as if saying "follow her". So I ran as well. Her scent took me beyond the forests across a town. It took about a day and suddenly she stopped. We stood at the base of a tall mountain. I dimly remembered it to be Kedi Mountain from my studying with Isaiah. Kedi is the Turkish word for cat. Well named as it is a holy place and I am lucky to be able to climb it every month.
We started climbing and when we finally reached the top I was panting. I had never run so fast in my entire life. I knew though that if I really wanted to I could run faster than a Strigoa. At the very top of the mountain waited a familiar sight. It was the clearing that I had lain in while I was changed; only now there was a star in the middle of the clearing. It shone brightly and a warmth radiated from it that drew me closer. Unconsciously I walked towards the ball of light. "Stop!" Elise commanded me. She bolted in front of me. First you must recite a chant. I looked up from the star surprised. "What chant?" I asked. I'd only ever heard of three chants in our culture.
"La justice et le pouvoir doivent être réunis pour que quoi qu'est juste peut être puissant, et quoi qu'est puissant peut être juste." Elise quoted.
I remembered this from my early years as a cat spawn. Justice and power must be brought together so that what ever is just may be powerful and whatever is powerful may be just.
It was the second most famous of our chants and a prized motto to live by.
I spoke the words and the need to walk in to the light was greater than ever. I started sprinting across the clearing towards the star. Ever Star. The name sprang up in my mind and I knew that it was mine and the star was me. My Ever Star started to pulse with all different kinds of colors as if it could feel it's Being coming closer. Finally I reached my light and I ran into it.
I was over whelmed with the sense of joy and reunion this gave me. Happiness flowed in to me like a never ending river and I heard one word: Savasçi.
It meant Warrior. It was my essence and destiny all put together in one word. The light of Ever Star was sucked in to my Nazara and it radiated warmth against my breast.
After my joy of the Ever Star faded I felt shock. Me? A Warrior? I could barely comprehend what had happened. Warriors are very rare and the Strigoa like to capture them- us, for our blood is said to be the sweetest a Strigoa has ever and ever will taste even though we all smell like cats.
Elise moved closer and pulled me in to an embrace.
"sorry-" I finally managed. "Shh" was all she said. I looked up and saw her caring face. I saw how, when I barely knew her, Elise was ready to do whatever she could to help me. I started crying. I remembered Isaiah, just last week when I had fell and scraped my knee on a rock, he had done everything he could to help heal it, he had even run five miles to find a small amount of catnip.
No one has ever loved me like this before. The thought made me sob even harder. Through out the whole time Elise had been rubbing my back and murmuring things like "you'll be okay" and "it will be fine". After a while my tears ran out and we just sat there together. For no apparent reason I stood up and Elise followed me. We started sprinting down the mountain.
By the time we had gotten to the clearing where we had first met the sun was setting and Isaiah was gone. We made our way to the cottage Isaiah and I shared and found him in the living room watching some show on the television with a mug of catnip tea steaming in one hand and the remote control in the other.
"Can I have some of that?" I immediately asked. Isaiah smiled and said "sure"
"Do you want some?" I asked Elise. She nodded. I walked in to the kitchen and poured the tea. It smelled delicious. I poured very slowly and after I handed one mug to Elise I sat at the table to drink. I knew they were talking about the awakening and I was very interested in what they had to say.
Isaiah spoke first. "What happened?" His voice was filled with concern.
"Savasçi" Elise's voice was simple and worn out but her one word answer was full of meaning. "Oh no" was Isaiah's only response.
I could see in my head his face as he thought of ways to protect me, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.
"We could find some way to restrain her power, make her harder to track..." he trailed off.
"Isaiah, she will be the easiest things any one has ever tried to track. Her fragrance can be scented for miles. She has a star. Vampires will attack around every corner-"
I got up and climbed out the window. I did not want to hear anymore. Is this what my gift brought me? An eternal life running away? Things coming nonstop to claw me apart, drink my blood. I ran fast and far, all the way to my old home Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.I climbed into my favorite tree and sobbed. I cried myself to sleep that night. And the next night, and the next. On my fourth night in Oregon I ran out of tears. On my fifth, someone else was crying. I nimbly leaped from my tree and ran to find the source of the sound.
What I found struck me like a blow to my heart. The same way I saw this drunken human male beat his daughter. She was young, 13 or 14. Her long bronze hair was straight as a stick so familiar that I let out a small gasp of surprise. But what caught my attention most were her eyes. Her irises were a deep green and they held a knowledge far beyond her years. I made my decision there and then, I would change her.
My opportunity came not two days later when her father, the bastard of a man, ran low on alcohol and drove to the nearest town to restock. Only five minutes away and still more than enough time to change her.
I knew she would not look pretty when I saw her. I had recently heard the bastard screaming at her because she dropped her knife. I scrambled through a window and found the girl passed out on the floor . There was a deep gash all down her left arm and blood all over her face. I saw a knife stained red on the floor next to her. I picked up the girl and fled the house. I ran to a small clearing next to a stream concealed by bushes and trees.
Changing Catts is not much different than changing vampires. It starts with a bite to the neck but only the neck, right where the jugular vein is. Catt poison is less prominent but much more powerful than Vampire venom. It does not just affect your senses and speed and strength but it alters the body. We have claws like cats and we have fangs, our faces become more feline. We are attracted to Catnip and we always land on our feet. When you are changing you experience a sense of nothing-ness. You can't remember anything. Its very frightening. Near the end of the change you start to become Aware. You remember who you are. The nothing-ness turns to pain. It feels like spikes are being pressed all over your body. After a day of this only your eyes suffer. They burn for three weeks then all pain recedes.
The girl was losing blood fast. I struggled to find catnip to bind her arm. I needed to change her, now. The decision was made. I had not noticed it before but there was blood streaming from the back of her head. "Come on" I chanted to myself "you can do this i said over and over. I slowly lowered my head to the hollow at the base of her neck and sunk my fangs in to her skin.
She screamed. A blood-curling shriek that tore at my heart. I had done this to protect her. I needed to remind myself of that. She will be fine after her Rebirth, when she is Aware.
"No!" she screamed, "No stop! Don't let me die-"
Silence.
I stood there. my eyes fixed on her still body. I didn't know how to deal with a newly Reborn Catt. But I knew someone who did. I picked up the girl and ran all the way back to the cottage. I don't know why we call it a cottage. Its almost larger than a house. When I arrived it was the time of night when every person and creature should be sleeping so I was surprised when I saw all the lights on in the cottage. When I came in I saw Isaiah sleeping on a chair facing the door. I smiled as I lay the girl on the couch. I nudged Isaiah awake. One eye opened. And closed. Then he jumped up and hugged me with all his strength. I thought I would be ready for his reaction but I was not nearly slammed in to me and we both toppled to the ground. I giggled. For all his years he was just an overprotective big brother. I didn't have to ask to know how he was feeling. Relief and anger. More anger. I flinched. he just stared at me. Then at the girl. "Who is she?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Where is she from?" "Oregon" I replied. "Oregon? What were you doing in Oregon?"
"Taking a break" I say because I didn't want him knowing that I was crying for four days. And I also say, "And waiting to change someone."
"Is that was shes doing here? You gave her Rebirth? Why? What makes you think shes so special?" He was yelling now.
"Her eyes" I answered softly. He went quiet. Recognition flashed across his face. "Alright," He told me. "Give her the third room."
I spent the next few days making her room nicer, buying her clothes, and watching her. Day by day her body was changing. Her hands grew small claws her face became more cat-like. Her left eye grew rings only the supernatural can see. A design stretched up the outer side of her right leg. What was weird about that is the fact that I received one almost identical on my left leg during my own Rebirth.
I knew her change was close to an end. How I knew? Her eyes opened. She saw me and sighed. Her eyes drifted closed. I yearned for her eyes to open, longed to see the beautiful emerald of her gaze. Her heartbeat slowed telling me she was falling into a deep sleep. Her bronze hair reminded me of someone. Father, Renesmee. The two words randomly came to mind. I decided not to think about it as I let myself fall asleep. One word stuck with me. It was so empty that I knew it had nothing to do with me being a changed Catt. The word was Hybrid.