Ch. 1
What if death isn't the end?
???? POV
It was a warm day with the sun shining brightly, perfect for sunbathing. A small grey feline purrs in content from the windowsill of her home. It had been many moons since the two-legs had taken her into their den, and their den was like a palace. With so many places to climb and sleep in it was any cats dream, and it was all hers
She opened her eyes looking outside as the birds flew past,making her mouth water as she recalled the flavor. Too bad the two-legs got upset when she tried to bring some in for dinner, the wailing of the little ones was enough to cause her to drop her favorite meal.
Besides, the two-legs thought that she was so good at hunting that they brought her so much food that they had to store most of it inside of some magical container that she could not open.
To say the least the two-legs were weird, they didn't even let her discipline their kittens when they were being annoying.
The grey feline flicked her tail as she recalled the memories of the small two-legs. They had greatly frustrated her at first, but after seeing how clumsy the smaller one was she realized she would have to look after the two kits when their parents were not around. Now the kittens always wanted to play with her when they got home to the den.
It wasn't until her sixth moon with the two-legs that they had gotten her the beautiful blue band . She had heard stories from the other felines on how the two-legs took cats and kittens into their dens and gave them strange bands that went around their necks. And with the band came another strange ritual, they would give them a name that belongs only to them, and hers was Nikota.
Nikota's purrs grew louder as she recalled the memories of her home. Closing her eyes once more she enjoys the warmth of the sun as she goes to take another nap for the day.
"This is the life." She says to herself before something impacting the window nearly causing her to to jump off of her napping spot in fright. Her amber eyes shot open to look out the window only to be met by two brown eyes looking back at her in excitement.
"Nikota! Come play!" The slobbering beast whined out to her, causing Her fright to turn to anger. What was It was the Two-legs' called them...that's it, they called them dogs.
"I don't want to play, I want to take a nap!" She hissed hitting the window a few times in frustration with her paw. Her response was not the one she was wanting, the stupid thing's tail started waging faster.
"But it is nice outside, you can nap out here when we are finished playing." He said with a slight tilt of his head, his ear flopping slightly.
'Whiskers! He actually came up with a reason this time." She thought to herself as she realized he wouldn't leave her until she accepted...again.
"...fine but only for a little while." She trilled out to the mutt, letting out a huff of defeat.
The canine, who was now hoping up in down in excitement at having his "best friend" come out to play with him
"Come on! Come on!" He barks to her ecstatically, causing her to hit the window again
"Stop being so loud! you will make the other two-legs upset." She yowled to him with her tail swishing in annoyance. "I will be right out just stop making so much noise."
"Ok..." he says to her as he stops bouncing with his tongue hanging out. "...I love you." His tail continues to wag looking like it might break off if it went any faster. He turns his head towards the sidewalk noticing a couple of two-legs that are walking by the house, running up to them with excitement as they wasted no time to begin petting him. Nikota watches him as he rolls onto his back allowing the two-legs to pet his belly, causing her to lick her paw and rub her face in embarrassment. "...good grief." She meows to herself before hopping down from the window.
As she makes her way to the exit of the den she recalls how she and the brown fur ball had met.
While it wasn't the best of introductions in her defense, the two-legs never told her that "Bucky" wasn't one of them. And she had been terrified of him until around her second moon, she had slipped out past the two-legs and went exploring. Anything to escape the creature she was now living with.
She had stumbled on a small group of three canines that were not of the friendly sort, and she knew that if they had caught her that day that she would have died. They chased her all the way back to the two-leg den barking and nipping at her tail the whole time. Her dread grew even greater when she saw that Bucky was barreling towards her with a look she had never seen on the otherwise docile canine.
The dread was instantly replaced with surprise as he ran past her and tackled the lead dog as she ran under the steps. Her mother had always told her how dangerous canines could be, but she always thought it was a myth considering that the Two-legs kept them so close to their kittens. But that day she saw how dangerous they could really be as they almost literally tore each other apart.
The sounds of the canines fighting drew out the two-legs who after scaring off the strays had rushed Bucky away only for him to come back with him missing hair and with things that the two-legs called stitches.
That night she had asked Bucky why he attacked the other canines as he lay in his bed. He told her that "it is what a pack does." As he tried to hide his pain from her. Not that she would admit it but she felt grateful that night, she even "accidentally" left enough of her wet food for the mutt to eat.
She pushes her head against the small flap that the Two-legs had put into their moving wall for Bucky so he could go outside into the now fenced in yard.
'I don't understand why they must put up such pointless things. Why don't they just mark their territory like everything else?' She thought to herself as she stepped on the grass only to have her thoughts interrupted by a brown blur that almost literally knocked her out of her thoughts.
She jumped in surprise before flattening her ears to her skull shooting daggers at the canine as he wags his tail at her innocently.
"I told you to stop that." She growled at him. "One of these days you are going to run me over you big fur ball."
Bucky lowered his head to where she can easily look him in the eyes.
"But there is no fun in that." He said in a fake whine before crouching into a playful stance. "How about if you can catch me I will stop."
Her tail flicked in annoyance. 'Of course he would choose a game like that.' She thought dryly before lunging towards him only for him to have moved out of her reach. She quickly took off after him, trying to catch the canine, but no matter how hard she tried he always managed to keep away from her paws.
After a while of chasing each other she decided to give up and hopped up onto the fence to take a break. "Are you giving up already?" Bucky says as he sits down, panting as he looks up to her.
Nikota lays on the fence giving him a flat look. "I am not giving up. I am just tired of playing."
"Sure you are." He responded back to her letting out a huff in amusement.
She shakes her head as she looks over the fence, her eyes falling on the black rock. A strange rock that the Two-legs made with some kind of stinky liquid that hardened over time. While it is usually quiet the loud monsters that the two-legs usually ride travel only on the black rock.
Today was unusually quiet there had been no monsters except for when her Two-legs left the den.
Bucky stood up and placed his front paws on the fence looking at the black rock. "It is scary isn't it?" He said letting out a soft whine.
"It isn't scary, you just have to get off of it when any monsters show up." She said looking over to him, her tail swishing and tapping him on the nose "I will prove it to you."
She hops onto the other side of the fence walking through the grass to get to the black rock.
"Nikota! Get back, the Two-legs don't want us near it!" He barks to her as she draws closer.
"It's ok, I will be sure to get to safety if any monsters show up." She calls over her shoulder as she steps onto the black rock, the heat from it's surface seeping into her paw pads. She turned back to Bucky who at this point looks like he is one flea away from a nervous breakdown.
"See nothing to fear" she says as she sits down in the middle of the black rock.
"You should come back, it isn't safe there." He whined back in response, looking down the black rock's length, looking for any sign of a monster coming.
The grey feline walks back to the edge and sits down looking at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "As long as I stay here the monsters can't hurt me. Just wait, I will show you." She purrs to him as a rumble is heard in the distance.
Nikota's ears twitch at the sound before her head pivots to the sound. "Here comes one now." She says as the rumbling turns to a dull roar as a grey shape is seen coming towards the two. As the monster approaches Nikota notices that it is behaving differently than the ones she had seen before. This one instead of staying In between the lines of the black rock was periodically darting to the side before going back to its original spot. As the creature was almost upon them the creature swerved to the left before changing direction suddenly with a loud screech, straight towards Nikota. Her eyes widen as she is given enough time to realize what was happening.
She was horribly wrong.
Her world then begins to rapidly spin as she tumbled across the ground and the monster having been long gone by the time she came to a stop. She faintly heard the sound of Bucky's frantic barking as she lay on her side in the grass, not able to make out what he was saying as everything sounded as if it was inside a deep fog. Her nose was filled with a metallic smell, drowning out any other scents.
She urged herself to get up but her body refused to move as cold fingers of ice began to creep up her spine. Her eyes felt heavy as the world around her began to fade and lose color, and the barking of her canine friend had gone silent. As the last details of her existence slipped further from her grasp she found her eyes too heavy to keep open. So she let her eyes close and embraced the darkness.
As she floats in the darkness there are no smells, no sounds, and no sights to see. She wouldn't be able to see or touch her family. She simply just exists in the void.
As she lay there in silence she began to see a faint light in the distance. The light was small and barely visible. But it filled her with a warmth that seemed to repel the void so she focused on the light wanting to feel more of it she willed her consciousness closer. And the closer she got the more she began to feel more and more of the feeling in her body return.
She gives her paw a test flex and is filled with happiness as she begins to faintly feel the numb appendage. At this point the light had become brighter and took up more of her vision, quickly chasing away the cold darkness as her body became hers to control once more.
When the light had fully taken over her vision she could feel her body in its entirety. It felt different than what she remembered, but she could care less as she felt cold air fill her lungs.
As she took a deep breath through her nose and could smell the grass and dirt beneath her. Her ears picked up the sounds of crickets chirping and the faint hoot of an owl in the distance. Grounding her to her new existence and giving her strength.
slowly her amber eyes flutter open revealing that she lay in a small patch of grass with trees in front of her. Everything was bathed in a pale light. She could see everything clearly and as she lifted her head off the ground she discovered that she was laying in a small round clearing.
She looks up at the source of the light and takes a deep breath as her eyes widen in wonder. Her vision is filled with countless stars in the clear night sky with not a cloud in sight.
But her attention was not on the stars; instead her attention was drawn to the object in the sky. It was the full moon, and she was transfixed on it, it and its waning twin.
This story is dedicated to my little angel Nikota. While you are no longer with me may you fly onward on wings of fire.
I do not own wings of fire this story is entirely for my own amusement
