Chapter 79- epilogue part 2

Years since the Exodus

Kushanku, Kira, Nyarth and Satoshi were now fully grown, adult Nekomata, their tails completely divided into two separate branches, indicative of their adulthood. Kushanku had become more and more skilled at flying by spinning his two tails like a propeller, and for longer periods now that his tail branches were longer as well, while Satoshi had honed in his telekinetic skills better. Ryn and Nyarth had also honed their agile jumping skills far better and all four of them had become skilled fighters and medics. The others in their closest circle of friends such as their adopted brother Sandstorm and also Alexandrite, Padparadchsa "Paddy", Cyril the Hippogriff, Desdemona the Griffin, Dahlia the Jackalope, Snowwing the Skavader, Azula the Kiriness, and Link the Peryton who were also grown up were also skilled in their respective areas though a few of them had coupled up to have offspring as mentioned in the previous chapter.

One day, while the evacuated Narnians continued to live their lives in their towns and villages in the Archenland Mountains, a small group of young kits and cubs darted through the fields, running playfully and giggling through a small garden of green grass and metal trees where Goldbert and his Alicanto clan lived. Kushanku and company pursued their offspring as they continued to chase each other and play fight in the Alicanto clan's home garden of metal trees.

"Careful, kids," called Kushanku as he and his beautiful wife, Alexandrite, rushed in with Satoshi and his wife Paddy, Ryn and her Bakeneko husband Nyanonix who was one of the friends of Dionaea the Manticore who had also matured and had started a family of her own with a male Manticore like many of the others of her generation; Nyarth and his wife Kagayaku, a beautiful female Regular Talking Cat with ginger and brown-striped fur, and also Sandstorm who was now an adult male Cheetah resembling his father Dashiell and was married to a female Cheetah named Campanula, as the young Nekomata, Cheetah cubs, and Nekomata/Bakeneko and Nekomata/Talking Cat hybrids played near one of the money coin trees with some of the Alicanto Birds perched in it, feasting on the coins that grew on the branches and gazing at the playing Cats. Sandstorm and Campanula had become proud parents of two cubs and they were the adopted cousins to Kushanku and his siblings' kits but despite this status and their vast difference in species, the two cubs were like biological cousins to Kushanku and his siblings' kits, similar to how Sandstorm was like a biological brother to Kushanku, Nyarth, Satoshi and Ryn. However, the Cheetah was also a close friend of Alexandrite and Paddy and their family including Desdemona and the others, and also Nyanoix the Bakeneko, and Kagayaku the Talking Cat. Together, the five couples were like one big family.

As with other Nekomata when young, the kits of Kushanku, Alexandrite, Satoshi, Paddy, Nyarth and Kagayaku resembled the kittens of Regular Talking Cats when born and very young and as they grew, their tail began to split from the tip down. Currently, the kits only had a forked tail but when they matured into adult Nekomata, their tail will be completely divided into two separate appendages. Kushanku and Alexandrite's four kits, Aka, Kiiro, Midori and Ao, possessed a combination of traits of their father and mother. All four had the grey head and neck of their father but the fluffy white Persian cat-like tails which they got from their mother. All four had metallic body fur with Aka's being metallic red; Kiiro's being metallic yellow; Midori's being metallic green and lime green, and Ao's being metallic aqua blue, dark blue but also had some patches of metallic purple as well. It was uncertain if any of them had inherited Kushanku's ability to fly by spinning their tail branches but they were still too young for any confirmation to be determined. However, the son, Ao, did display a hint of telekinesis as he was sometimes able to move small objects like pencils a short distance without handling them with his paws, but his telekinetic strength was still weak and developing.

Satoshi and Padparadchsa's three daughters, Merida, Sunstone and Moonstone, had quite different appearances between each other. Sunstone had fiery colours consisting of red, orange, yellow, neon yellow and neon orange with her fur resembling flames and a sun-like marking on her chest while Moonstone was mostly white with a smattering of metallic blue, aqua, icy blue and silver thrown over her pelage (pelt or coat). She had an icy aspect to her pelage and she had a silvery crescent-moon-shaped marking on her chest. Unlike Jadis the Devil Woman and White Witch, Moonstone's icy beauty was not one bit marked with ANY spot of any alluringly seductive, wicked and vain-saturated traits, and her appearance did not remind Kushanku or pretty much anyone else of the Devil Woman who had caused them so much trouble for more than three decades before the Exodus. Merida, however, resembled a spitting image of her uncle Kushanku and had the majority of his traits including his grey furred head and neck and powder blue metallic body fur. However, she did not have his white and expressive head hair but she appeared to have inherited her uncle's ability to propeller-tail fly though it was only for a few seconds for her tail was only partly divided. Ryn and Nyaonix's kits, Neelix and Fleur, were half Nekomata and half Bakeneko and were dubbed 'Bakomata' due to their mother Ryn being a Nekomata and their father Nyaonix, a Bakeneko. The two hybrids resembled the Nekomata species to a very great extent, including the bipedality and the magical abilities (Nyanoix possessing telekinesis) but their tails did not split completely as they aged. Due to their heritage, Neelix and Fleur's tails were only split at the tips. When they become adults, their tails will only be partially split half way down and they will resemble young Nekomata even though they were adults. However, their magical abilities will be as well developed as any full-blooded Nekomata or Bakeneko. Nekomata/Talking Cat and Bakeneko/Talking Cat hybrids, such as Amethyst, the daughter of Nyarth and Kagayaku who was the former, on the other hand, however, will have weaker magical abilities due to Regular Talking Cats not possessing any innate magical abilities, though these kinds of hybrids will still be able to walk on their hind feet and in the case of the Nekomata-Cat hybrids, have a partially split tail as an adult as well. Amethyst will develop these traits when she aged.

Neelix and Fleur had inherited their father's telekinesis ability though again, it was very weak due to their age but as they grew; their telekinesis will develop and get stronger. Finally, Nyarth and Kagayaku's daughter, Amethyst, resembled a tabby cat but because her mother was a Regular Talking Cat, the metallic patches of fur was less in her than her cousins. Her metallic fur patches were metallic purples and pinks while the rest of her pelage was like that of a tabby cat and ginger cat. One of her ears was metallic purple, however. Amethyst had inherited her father's ability to leap between objects in a cluttered environment but she also had very small amount of telekinesis developing, though this will be far weaker than her full-blooded Magical Cat cousins. Sandstorm and Campanula's two cubs both resembled regular Cheetah cubs and the cubs of our world's cheetahs. These two, which were both sons, were still learning to hone their speedy running abilities and were only capable of a few seconds' bursts of speed, indicated when they playfully chased down Neelix as he dove out of the way, giggling.

As the kits and cubs continued to play with their parents pursuing them, the Alicanto Birds looking on from the trees with smiles on their beaks and some Fairies, Tengu, Brownies and Dwarves accompanying them, one of the kits of Satoshi and Paddy, Merida, sneaked away from the other kits and cubs and sat under a silvery money-coin tree as some Alicanto pecked at the coin-fruits and chatted. Kushanku, after spotting his niece leave the other kits and sit under the tree, decided to break away from the other adults as they continued to play with their kits, Sandstorm shouting, "Just wait till I catch you, Ao," when Ao, Kushanku's only son, splashed water on the Cheetah from a large leaf, laughing mischievously with a chase between him and his adopted Cheetah uncle ensuing. Flashing a smile at his son as he rushed off with his adopted Cheetah brother in hot pursuit, Kushanku turned his attention to Merida and sat beside her.

"Are you alright, Merida?" asked the uncle when Merida picked up a daisy flower and began to fiddle with it.

"Uncle Kushanku," squeaked Merida in a low voice, "Will we see Mr Troodon again?" I've been thinking about him a lot lately. So have my sisters Sunstone and Moonstone. Also, when will we see the land of Narnia you and the other grownups keep telling us about, as well as Gandalf and Kyukon?"

Kushanku, a small smile forming on his muzzle sat beside his niece and put a paw on her back.

"My niece Merida," said the proud uncle as well as father, "Regarding your first question, I can only say that Troodon has decided to live as a hermit in an undisclosed location, far away from us, to get away from his troublesome family..." Kushanku paused as he felt a wave of guilt grip him, "But based on what his mother Ena and Curupira mentor Cedrus have told me, we're to respect his decision to move away from us like they have to do. To answer your second question, when we will see Narnia again is in Aslan's timing. Only Aslan knows when the Golden Age Prophecy will come true. It might not be in your adopted Cheetah cousins' lifetime, but it especially might not be in your uncle Sandstorm's lifetime, for Cheetahs can only live for around 70 years or so, sometimes but rarely longer, compared to the 200 to 250 years, sometimes longer, that we Nekomata, Bakeneko and the hybrid of the two species have in our lifespan..."

Merida flashed her uncle a saddened gaze as he continued.

"And lastly, in regards to your third question, we might see Kyukon again but Gandalf, I'm afraid that's no longer possible."

Disappointment took over Merida and she lowered her face and ears. Kushanku smiled, put a paw to her chin and lifted her gaze to his.

"Listen, what Gandalf has done for me, your mother, your aunts and uncles, and everyone else here today was beyond-brave," He said gently and with admiration for the Kitsune species father, "He was honestly one of the bravest Talking Beasts that I and the others have ever met and known, alongside your late grandfather Frosty and grandmother Ferntail. If it wasn't for Gandalf, his brave intervention against the Witch, and his eventual sacrifice to allow us to escape to safety, we wouldn't have likely made it to Archenland and out of the evil Witch's reach, and you and your sisters, cousins and the other kids wouldn't be here today, just like how it wouldn't have been for my father and mother, your grandparents', sacrifice. In the same way, I, along with your uncle Nyarth, father Satoshi and aunt Ryn, wouldn't be here today which again would apply to you being born too. All this, even though there were extremely difficult times involved alongside heart-wrenching losses, like that of Gandalf the great Kitsune and the father of the Kistune species, was Aslan's doing and we have a lot to thank the Great Lion Above All Lions for getting as many of us Narnians to safety and away from the Witch and her tyrannical reign."

Kushanku then turned sombre as thoughts for those who had chosen to remain behind flashed in his mind, "As for those who had chosen to remain behind in our Eternally Winter-stricken land and home of Narnia, such as Kyukon and her group who I hope are still alive, they will be lookouts for the Golden Age Prophecy which will bring with it the Dawn of Spring and the Winter Revolution. But in the meantime, we're to stay here until the Dawn of Spring comes."

Merida perked up slightly and managed a small smile. Then she got up with Kushanku and the pair ran off after the others.

As Merida rejoined her sisters and cousins as they continued to playfully elude their parents/uncles/aunts, Alexandrite came in and nuzzled her cheek against Kushanku's shoulder with Kushanku putting an arm around her.

"At least our darling little kits, cubs and the rest of the new additions to our families are safe from the Witch's frigid hands, eh, my charming Nekomata tom (male cat)?" cooed Alexandrite as she relished her husband's embrace. Kushanku rested his cheek on Alexandrite's crown.

"Yes, absolutely, dear," he romantically cooed back, "Especially those that have had breeding trouble such as the Okuri-Inu and the Alicanto," he flashed a glance back at the thriving Alicanto flock as they continued to feast on the metal trees' 'fruit', play and chat with each other and their friends, among them the Fairies and the other varieties of Talking Birds, among them Cumulonimbus the Thunderbird who was accompanied with a mate and a chick, as well as Blaze the Phoenix who also had a wife and two chicks (Elemental Birds could only breed once every few years, so the sight of Phoenix, Tunderbird and Roc chicks was very rare). The two Elemental Birds flashed Kushanku and Alexandrite a smile before resuming their conversation with some of the Alicanto, some of them being parents with chicks. Kushanku had also heard that Brina, the Ice Roc, had also paired up with a male Roc and has had a daughter with him. Things certainly were thriving for the migrants from Narnia and they had little worry about facing torture from the Witch, one of which was being forced selection into the Arena of Death for the tyrant and her cronies' sickening and bloodthirstily sadistic entertainment. For those who had been part of the Witch's cronies and had managed to escape the evil Devil Woman and her cronies, such as Nyaonix, Ryn's Bakeneko husband, and Dionaea the Manticore and also Ahhuayo the Ahuizotl, Teal'c the Kamataichi, and Nanu the Wolf, many of whom had also become family males and females with Nanu becoming the proud father of three Wolf cubs with a female Wolf who was also a rebel against the Witch and from her cronies, their life with the Witch as her followers and underlings had been put behind them and they continued to live with their new allies in Archenland while they wait for the Golden Age Prophecy. Then Alexandrite spoke lovingly to Kushanku.

"Kushanku, dear?" she said.

"Yes, my beautiful crystal?" asked Kushanku lovingly. Alexandrite formed a loving smile and placed her paw on her belly. Kushanku smiled and placed his paw over hers and stroked her belly as well. Alexandrite's tummy was slightly larger than it was and it only meant one thing. Together, the couple continued to watch as their extended family and their four kits, or rather their first litter of them, Aka, Kiiro, Midori and Ao, continue to play and chase each other with Merida playing tag with them.

Meanwhile

Back in the frigid land of Narnia still under the Devil Woman's evil, tyrannical rule, the Narnians that had chosen to remain behind continued their difficult lives. Amongst them were Gandalf and Kyukon's helpers as they continued to live in their new base. The conservationists of Narnia's endemic flora and fauna continued to look after the specimens that will be the ancestors of the new population of the plants and animals of the country once the Dawn of Spring arrived with the Golden Age Prophecy while everyone else continued to keep an eye out for said Prophecy and its initial signs in partnership with Asgard, Martian and their clans of Moon Men who will be examining Narnia from the sky with the Star People, Aurora Sprites and the other celestial creatures such as the other species part of the Moon's communities like the Moon Viscacha, and also the Asgard Sky City Cloudbirds led by Stratus.

Kyukon's group was still in a state of grief over the loss of Gandalf but despite this, Kyukon had decided to hand over her role as Kitsune Chronicler to her chosen heirs, Alstroemeria and her husband Hagrid, now both nine-tailed Foxes like her and the deceased Gandalf, complete with the shining ivory gold and metallic yellow fur. When Alstroemeria gained her ninth and final tail, she underwent a beautiful transformation that would be breathtaking to watch. Unlike Amanita's illegitimate transformation into a nine-tailed Fox (she was still by the Witch's side serving as her second-in-command and enforcer of her Mistress' evil rules) by the Witch which had beauty saturated with a sinister theme, Alstroemeria's transformation into a nine-tailed Fox had genuine beauty. A golden sunny yellow wave had coursed through Alstroemeria which changed her red and metallic fur which she had had all through her extremely long life, to the lush ivory and metallic yellow pelt characteristic of all matured, nine-tailed Kitsune. Then as soon as Alstroemeria had become nine-tailed, Kyukon had handed over her role as Chronicler to her and Hagrid and they gladly took over. After this, Kyukon went into semi-retirement though she will still be around to give advice and help see in the Golden Age Prophecy and along with it, the Dawn of Spring and the Winter Revolution.

Conclusion

The Eternal Winter continued with Jadis's reign over Narnia for another 60 or so Narnian years, and once, some of the migrant Narnians had tried taking back their land too prematurely by waging war against Jadis, only to be horribly overpowered and squelched with many fatalities resulting. Amongst these fatalities were Guinan's uncle and Tumnus's father and sadly, Nyarth, one of Kushanku's brothers who like a number of other Narnians who had lost patience in waiting for the Golden Age Prophecy to arrive, had returned to Narnia against orders to stay in Arcenland to try and take back their land only to meet a gruesome demise at the hands of the Witch and her cronies. This left Amethyst without a father while her Talking Cat mother Kagayaku, had ended up widowed. Before leaving, Nyarth had had frequent falling out sessions with his Talking Cat wife about returning to Narnia despite it still being the Eternal Winter and eventually left, meeting his demise in the process. This news devastated Kishanku and the others in his family and despite the grief over losing one of their closest members of the family, they continued to live in Archenland with the other, equally devastated Narnians who had also lost those that had tried taking back their country only to meet either a gruesome demise or be turned to stone by the Witch. And because Kagayaku had sunken into a heartbroken depression, Amethyst was put under the care of Obsidian who was wife to a male Wampus Cat and mother to two cubs (Thundersparx had chosen not to pair up and have Raiju cubs while Milky Way had paired up with a male Pegasus and had a foal with him). But eventually, when the Year 1000 came round, the initial signs of the Golden Age Prophecy finally arrived with one young human girl accidentally finding her way into the magical land of Narnia through a magical wooden box portal where she crossed paths with Guinan's cousin. And from there, the rest was history.