"The Star Covenant is already here. Isn't there a safer way in?" an old tom said.
"The doors will open when I approach. And I don't think they'd ambush us out here with—" Mira's voice had trailed off with an ear to the hazel sky. A boom too short to be thunder had echoed through the clearing and the surrounding forest. "Everyone get down!"
The dozens and dozens of cats had leaned against the stairs they had walked up. Moments later, an ear-splitting crash had sent a violent shockwave through the pine forest. Distant trees near the impact had been tossed into the air several times their height. The blast of wind from the shockwave had nearly knocked them all from their paws. The old tom's face had been filled with terror, but Mira had to focus on leading everyone inside.
The perfectly square clearing did, indeed, have no statues, fountains, or bushes large enough for a Star Covenant group to ambush them from. Everyone could pick up their hasty scent markings, even with the dust from the blasts, but none were patrolling the area. Mira thought about an earlier suggestion and making a run for the trapezoidal twoleg nests recessed into the ground nearby. She decided it would only delay the inevitable confrontation and give the Star Covenant time to reinforce.
"Hydran, is everyone okay?" Mira shouted.
"Yes," the old tom said, shaking his cream-colored fur.
"Okay, let's go before another one hits," Mira shouted to the group. She sprinted down the gray path that ran through the center of the square clearing towards a enormous black spire towering over the trees and devoid of any crevices. Hydran led the cats after her, suddenly certain Mira was making the right choice. She made it to the see-through doors while the group, mostly elders boxing in a group of older kits and surrounded themselves by fit adults, was nearly halfway there. As they quickly slid open, another boom echoed through the sky. "Down. Get down!"
The group huddled together and fell to their bellies. This blast was closer than the last, sending trees near the clearing flying and knocking several elders from their paws. Mira sighed in relief they hadn't been blown away. Afte recovering from the deafening blast, the group rose and ran through the doors Mira stood in the way of. Two tall, black rectangles were mounted nearby, shining a red dot on all who entered as well as her. She knew it wasn't Proxima's doing and was glad the structure had not decided to lock them out. But Mira wondered just how far she could push her luck when most of their journey had been so rough.
When the last of them entered, Mira stayed in the way of the doors despite a few angry beeps. The air was fresh and sterile without a hint of the blasts but heavily laced with more Star Covenant markings. Broken furniture and trash littered the smooth floor. Many of the poorly hidden cameras and chatter holes sprang to life on their entrance, babbling incomprehensible twoleg-speak. Red warning lights flashed along the wall with nearby screens displaying well-marked maps.
"Is everyone okay?" Mira said to Hydran.
"Yes," he said, shaking off more dust. "We're dividing into who's fit to fight or not. Does this place always spring to life like this?"
Mira nodded. "If a twoleg with high enough clearance enters, it can. The Star Covenant must've found something to get them inside."
"There will be a fight after all," Hydran sighed. "We should head out soon."
"You're not staying with the other elders?"
He snorted. "Hah! I may be old, but I've had my fair share of fights with the other Yonder tribes before the Star Covenant came along. But you are relatively young, so you will remain in charge. We've lost many, but we would've never made it without you and the twoleg—I mean Proxima, guiding us." He dipped his head as low as his shaky paws could manage. "Thank you for believing this crazy old tom and his visions."
Mira, taken aback by the gesture, bowed back. They both looked over the divided tribe. Fit adults and young cats were in one group with elders and older kits in another, larger one. A queen with three newborns was also with the group of elders. Most hadn't groomed their fur and were still covered in dust and mud, but they looked ready to fight. In front was an all-white molly with blue eyes and one of her ears facing the pair. Her dark-rimmed eyes exposed a terrible exhaustion her stance couldn't hide.
Hydran glanced at Mira. "Leea, I want you to stay behind. Guard the elders and—"
"What?" the young molly spat. "The leaders should lead into battle. Both of them."
"If things don't go well for us, someone needs to take what's left of us and run."
"You think because I lost my kit—"
"My decision has nothing to do with Aza." Hydran's firm voice broke Leea's aggression. I respect your willingness to throw yourself into danger for them, but this isn't up for debate. You're hurt."
The old tom ran his paw along Leea's flank until she faltered on legs shakier than any elder cat's. She shot Hydran an angry glance, but knew the point he was making. Her belly was still plump, teats poking through short fur and a hint of milk overpowering her other scents. But her lopsided stance and tough breathing gave away the real reason he wanted her to stay behind. She flattened one of her ears and looked away from the old tom.
"It's for the best," Mira added. "The mud you swallowed from the river needs to pass before you're back to normal. Your tribe will need its leaders."
Leea held a growl. She looked at the elders, specifically at the other young queen and the two bundles of fur riding her back. She lingered on the group of older kits, focusing on a dark brown adolescent molly whispering to a tom-kit near her age. Her own amber eyes carried the same sadness as Leea's. As she broke from the older kits and joined those leaving to fight, the young leader settled down.
"Okay," Leea sighed, swiveling her good ear towards Mira. "But you come back if you're injured, Hydran. Same goes for you, Hosta." The adolescent molly nodded nervously, taking a spot in the back of the group. "You let Mira lead us through this for a reason. She knows more."
Hydran nodded towards his co-leader. "I promise, no heroics."
Mira motioned Leea to stand where she stood. "These doors won't open without proper clearance, but they won't close if something living is in the way. If things go bad, the rest of Yonder Five can still escape."
Leea nodded, sitting in the way of the large, see-through doors, and letting Mira join Hydran in leading the party of cats deeper into the twoleg nest. They took the moment to limber up and shake their fur out. Some even mentioned the names of those who didn't make it to watch over them. The elders and young ones didn't wish them luck or cheer them on for fear of alerting any prying ears, but the fiery resolve of the tribe was with all of them.
The lobby ended with two black doors closing off the rest of the twoleg nest. They parted at Mira's approach and revealed a pair of large cats with triple claw marks on their flanks. The warrior-rah bore their fangs but fled when they saw the rest of the group. Mira sprinted after the tom and tackled him. Several of the Yonder Five cats caught the molly. Mira rolled onto her back and delivered a powerful kick to the tom's abdomen. He forced himself up after being caught off guard, but faltered when he heard his partner grunting between blows from the others.
"Stop! I surrender. We both do."
Mira waved off the tribe cats. The warrior-rah ran to his partner and embraced her, licking away fresh blood from her scratches. "You moron," The molly seethed through grunts. "You should have fled."
"They are a tribe of nonbelievers. There is no predicting them. They could have killed you!" Mira wanted to protest, but there was no use. They had already disobeyed the instructions of the Star Covenant and entered the twoleg nest they had claimed a quarter-rotation ago. She tried intimidating him with her strength, but her eyes did so first. "There is no color in her eyes…. My Stars, she's a chimera. A demon has seized control of Yonder Five!"
Some of the tribe cats tried protesting, but Hydran calmed them. Mira growled, putting on her most intimidating face at the injured molly. "How did you get in here? And where are the rest of you?"
"We found a device on the bones of a twoleg long ago," the tom scrambled to say. "A-And we are held up in a big room with lots of screens and buttons and lights. We are smaller than your group. I swear!"
Red dots began shining through the walls and ceiling. The others glanced around at the strange sight, but Mira mulled the tom's words. The Star Covenant had found the control center and were held up there, right where she needed to go. A fight was unavoidable, sadly. "Go back to the front entrance and wait in earshot of our cats there."
The grateful warrior-rah nodded and helped his partner into the lobby. As they continued on, Mira went to work devising a plan. She knew she needed to press the button Proxima would mark, and the red lights on the walls meant she was watching. But all she really knew was they outnumbered the Star Covenant. She didn't know how the inexperienced cats would fare versus the elite warrior-rah and could only hope they were just as untried as them, and herself, in battle.
Blank, white walls occasionally lit up with red dots whenever Mira passed into a new hallway. Light emanating from nowhere and the sterile, recycled air threw off some of the tribe cats' senses. Many of the hexagonal doors lining the wall stayed defiantly shut at her passing, but an octagonal intersection was her destination according to a red line along the wall.
The moment she rounded the corner to the leftmost path, she was tackled by a pair of hissing cats. They managed to bite her nose before being pushed away. Hydran was also tackled, but he was as experienced as he said and easily rolled away from being pinned. The group faced down a dozen warrior-rah. Their flanks were turned sideways and they hissed as a group, trying to scare the tribe away.
"Don't fight alone," Mira shouted, "and don't linger. Warrior-rah are tough."
A flurry of hisses and tackles followed her orders. Mira leapt onto the first warrior-rah in reach, a small tom of apprentice age, and kicked him into a wall. Another his age ran down the hall and took a right—their destination wasn't far. A pair of warrior-rah tackled her and bit at the back of her neck. Mira hissed and thrashed one of them off while the other was removed by Hydran. He screeched when the assailant turned to him and slashed his flank, blood staining his cream-colored fur.
"Hydran!" Hosta rushed to his side and helped him up.
"I guess I pushed it," Hydran grunted. "This looks over, at least."
The warrior-rah were forming up and retreating. One of them hissed specifically at Mira, carrying the unconscious adolescent she had pushed into a wall. Mira's heart sank and was only partially relieved by seeing him groggily wake. But she knew that wasn't it for them. The cat who left had yowled from his place at the end of the hall, which had ended the fight. They had failed to scare the tribe away, and now needed to fight them off in one large battle.
The tribe gathered around their injured leader, none looking more worried than Hosta. He was shakier than usual on his paws, but seemed okay. She wanted to ask Proxima to be sure, but remembered she could not respond, only watch until Mira completed her task.
"I can make it back on my own," Hydran said. "Mira will need all the help she can get to beat the Star Covenant. Remember, their envoys said they had called for reinforcements before we left camp. They could show up at any time. We must win before they do."
The tribe seemed reluctant to let him go, especially Hosta. But he nudged her back towards the others and nodded, limping back down the hall. The blood wasn't pooling or dripping; Mira was glad the warrior-rah didn't try for killing blows with him. But she wouldn't know if they'd keep that up now that they proved force was their only means of winning. Reaching the end of the trail Proxima had marked, there was no more time to plan. Three claw marks were carved into the wall as a final ward against intruders.
The doors opened to a massive den with several identical doors on each hexagonal side. Panels of silverwood lit by overhead lights replaced the featureless walls. The floor was the same gray stone forming the path outside, undirtied by destruction and instead by papers and dormant drones. At the center of the room was a hexagonal column covered in screens, the ceiling it attached to far out of view. An ornate panel filled with buttons surrounded its base. A pair of cats were perched on it above a wall of hissing warrior-rah.
"That one!" An all-black molly around Leea's age hissed at Mira, as if offended a chimera shared her looks. It was the first cat Mira had seen in a while that was bigger than herself. "Do not let the chimera touch anything here. She has some kind of relationship with the twoleg-thing."
As if on command, all the lights and panels shut down. A red light blinked steadily from behind the two elevated cats before everything roared back to life. The timing was both perfect and terrible; Now the Star Covenant knew what to defend while Mira knew what button to press. The cats who fought joined their equals in the line and slowly backed off when they saw the true scope of the tribe's numbers, outnumbering them two to one.
"Mossy, it doesn't have to end like this." The other perched cat, a tom around Mira's age with tan fur and a brown-tipped tail, stepped forward. "My name is Farstrider. I am from the Ammit main branch of the Star Covenant. I don't know what your relationship is with the twoleg-thing, but we can surely come to a conclusion without bloodshed."
"What!?" Mossy's broad chest flexed harder. "They will simply hide in the forest if allowed to leave. The whole point of sending envoys was to keep them away with the inevitable prey shortage, and the envoys have not returned. Explain that, Farstrider."
"The envoys could have gotten lost or—"
"Do not give me that dirt when the proof is right in front of you. A chimera leads Yonder Five. She must have caught and killed the envoys before they could reach us. Why else would they be so defiant of all wards and warnings?"
"Our reinforcements should have arrived by now. Perhaps it's best to wait for—"
The tom was cut off as dozens more cats ran down the hall. It was several of the elder cats, claws out and fangs bore. "There are dozens more warrior-rah outside," one said in a huff. "But Leea moved from the doors and they slammed shut. They can't get in!"
Mira sighed, relieved they had managed to beat the Star Covenant here by so little but so soundly. They would have to win and allow Proxima control of the twoleg nest to retain their leverage, however. The elder cats guarded the door to ensure no warrior-rah could escape, now outnumbering them three to one. They hissed and snarled as they packed into a defensive circle, the Yonder cats making no moves to surround them.
"It means nothing!" Mossy spat, hissing especially at Mira. "As long as she cannot invoke the twoleg-thing, they will be trapped and defeated. It all ends with her."
"Haven't you heard a word I said?" Farstrider pleaded.
"That chimera hunts and kills my mate and takes over a tribe to finish the job here, and you want me to sit back?" Mossy swiped at Farstrider until he fell from the console. Some of the warrior-rah looked back with concern. "Main branch or not, you are just a wanderer. I am the herald of this branch. I give the orders. Warrior-rah, attack!"
A flurry of hisses and scraping claws echoed throughout the den. Yonder Five cats grappled their warrior-rah adversaries best they could to let anyone get attacks in. Mira couldn't see any side taking an immediate advantage, so she darted towards the center of the den. She barely dodged the jaws of a fierce young tom. He had little room to maneuver around his fighting branch-mates, so Mira overpowered him quick and stepped on his belly. She felt guilty hearing the painful yowl under her weight, but she moved on. One of the Yonder cats was caught in the jaws of a warrior-rah while another raked deep into his back. Mira crashed into the attacker's side and forced it to drop the tribe cat. The assailant crumpled to the floor while the other was driven off by a trio fronted by Hosta.
"Thank you, Mira," the grateful tribe cat coughed, blood trickling down his side. "We are opening a path for you to get to the pillar. Go."
Hosta motioned forward and helped her injured tribemate to safety. Mira slinked through the fights, pained to avoid struggling Yonder Five cats, and reached a clear path to the pillar. Before she could leap onto the twoleg control panels, she was tripped and dragged away. Farstrider scratched the back of her neck, making her yowl in pain from the compounded injury before darting out of reach. His eyes looked almost apologetic at the act.
"Please call the tribe off." Farstrider was barely audible above the battle. "I'm not much of a warrior, but I do not wish to hurt you."
"Let me press that button and this fight ends," Mira retorted.
"I won't cause a rift between Mossy and her branch. She's the herald here, not me."
"Hydran had a vision. He predicted the attacks from the star-monsters. It's why we're really here, not because of prey."
Farstrider's eyes widened in astonishment. A loud yowl, though, reminded him where he was and he charged Mira. She hoped her words would get him to reconsider, but now she had no choice. Farstrider pounced and hooked his claws into Mira's shoulders. She used his momentum to throw him overhead. Before he could stand, she had him pinned and raked his belly hard. He managed to bite her shoulder before she kicked him away. She was glad he hobbled off to lick his wounds instead of continuing a fight he couldn't win.
Mira approached the pillar, leaping onto one of the seats and onto the console. The tilted console was covered in see-through panels and slick screens, leaving little grip for her claws. From her new perch, she could see how the battle was going. A trio of elders were grappling a large warrior-rah while a younger cat was clawing anywhere it could manage. Near the entrance, a warrior-rah cornered a pair of injured tribe cats. They were panting and bleeding, but far from submitting.
The adolescent Mira had thrown into a wall was fighting Hosta, clawing her several times for every one he took. Her heart fluttered with fear watching Hosta being pummeled. Mira had especially grown attached to her during the journey and knew her to be too quiet for battle and too grief-stricken to think straight during one. Mira wanted to run to her, but she kept herself planted on the console. Pressing the button would end her fight, all the fighting. Thankfully, the Star Covenant youth backed down when he saw how bad Hosta was hurting, inside and out, and sat in front of her to ward off others. Mira knew if all the warrior-rah were like him, there would be no dead cats at the end of this.
Swiveling around, Mira locked onto the glow of the red button behind the pillar. It was the only part of the central console shining. All she had to do was walk to the other side of the pillar and Proxima could take control of the spire. Mossy crept from behind the pillar, though. She was dotted in the blood of others, making Mira thankful she hadn't decided to stay in the fight.
"My mate led the envoy party to Yonder Five's camp." Mossy was halfway between growling and begging, shuddering Mira from head to tail. "What did you do to him?"
Mira's heart sank as she remembered the state of the rusty tabby tom's body when she found it and realized what had killed him. Her ears fell, which made Mossy's do the same. "I'm sorry. He didn't make it."
For a few heartbeats, Mossy just looked crushed. But it became a storm of anger barely contained by a vicious leer. "Because you murdered him."
"What? No, he was killed by poisonous rain. Him and his escorts—"
"Lies, lies, lies!" The large molly nearly smacked Mira from the console entirely. "Chimeras cannot be trusted."
"Yonder Five cats died, too. We didn't see it coming." Mira staggered to her paws. This cat would be tough.
"You caught up to Firepine and killed him so he would not warn us of your coming. So you could corner us, invoke the twoleg-thing, take our prey, and kill us all!"
Now Mossy's anger frightened Mira. "Don't do this. We can stop—"
"You will pay many times over for what you have done, demon!"
With a mighty leap, Mossy closed the gap between the two. Mira barely rolled out of the way while keeping her balance on the slick console. She kicked, but the herald jumped out of range. Mira spun to meet her fangs. She matched Mossy when she reared up, but the herald was stronger and rolled her over instead. Claws raked the side of her face. She hissed and clawed Mossy's belly the moment she stood over her. She barely made a scratch and took several hits in kind, but Mira was right where she wanted to be: between Mossy and the button.
Mira turned tail for the button. Mossy snatched her out of the air mid-leap, fangs punching through her hind leg and dragging her backwards. Mira kicked until she landed a deep cut on the herald's face. It only made her bite harder. The threat of another kick in the same spot made her let go. Mira faced Mossy and held back painful grunts. Warm blood oozed down her neck. Now without her speed, she would have to defeat the Star Covenant herald.
She felt no anger towards Mossy, but tapped into all the emotions she felt from the heat of battle and charged on her bad leg. Mossy spun around and kicked, but Mira launched herself into the air to pounce directly on her back. She gravely underestimated the herald's agility. Mossy reared up, hooked Mira mid-air, and slammed her against the central column. A dormant screen shattered at the impact. Mira could barely tell up from down or if the blood in the air was hers or what lingered, but she managed to glimpse two forming groups of cats below. The battle was slowing.
Mira wailed as Mossy hooked the back of her neck, sapping her strength by aggravating her injury again, and slammed her into the console. She was rolled over before she could react and pinned. Mossy rested her thighs between Mira's legs to avoid being kicked and spread her forelegs against hers, threatening to break them both. Before Mira could get a word out, Mossy had a powerful foreleg pressing against her neck.
"You thought you could kill me like you killed my mate!?" Mossy's eyes were full of rage and sadness, unknown which to let take over. "Now you die."
Mira felt air being pushed from her chest as Mossy squeezed. She swiped and struggled, but it only made the herald angry. Mira rolled her head back to see, upside-down, that any remaining clashes had ended. The tribe cats and warrior-rah were loosely separated by a few pointing at her.
"Mossy, it's over." Farstrider was just a ball of tan fur to Mira as she fought for air. "No one's fighting anymore." The herald ignored him and glared straight into Mira's eyes. "She's beaten."
"Stay out of this, wanderer!" Mossy hissed. "This demon's life is not yours to spare."
"They're all watching you."
"Good. They can learn chimeras can be killed like any other animal."
Farstrider looked into Mira's begging eyes, a paw reaching out for anyone to help her. His neck fur bristled and he bore his fangs. He leapt on Mossy's back and pulled her from Mira's neck. While she sucked in precious air, the herald had already thrown the smaller tom from her back and onto the floor. Warrior-rah immediately moved to help and restrain him.
"I didn't kill your mate," Mira gasped. "I've never killed any cat."
Mossy didn't say a word. She hooked Mira's neck and slammed her into the console, again rolling her over and choking her. She didn't even have to rest between her paws. Mira had no more strength to fight back with.
"Stop, please!" Hosta ran past the warrior-rah and towards the central pillar. "She's telling the truth. She can prove it!" Hosta was blocked from leaping onto the console by a pair of warrior-rah, but they looked like they were questioning their own actions.
Mira had both paws hooked into Mossy's forepaw, trying in vain to pull it from her neck. "I didn't… I swear…"
"Mossy, enough!" Farstrider hissed from below. "She's beaten. You never taught your cats anything like this…. I believe she didn't kill Firepine."
"Traitor." The warrior-rah nervously regrouped while the Yonder cats grew ever more restless. They were moments away from rushing the herald and restarting the battle all over again. But the deeper Mossy looked into Mira's eyes, the more she softened. Between the anger and the sadness, sympathy arose. Before Mira lost consciousness, Mossy let her go and stood between her and the glowing button.
A collective tension dissipated as Mira sputtered her way back to her senses. Both sides were still parted, but they were comfortable tending to their injuries. Farstrider broke from the warrior-rah and leapt onto the console, keeping his distance from both mollies.
"Twoleg creations like you have no ancestors or family to swear on." Mossy was containing the last of her anger, but wouldn't lash out again. "But your life is a poor substitute for closure."
"Proxima has heard everything we've said and done here," Mira said, her breathy voice scratchy. "I promise the moment I press that button, she'll show you what happened to Firepine."
Mossy looked uneasy, but let Mira limp towards the back of the hexagonal pillar and press the glowing button. Alarms blared for mere heartbeats before subsiding. The den dimmed before harsh lights beamed around from the walls. From hidden doors emerged several chrome security drones, each as tall as a twoleg and nearly silent. The rumbling masses intimidated both sides, but they rolled behind the Yonder Five cats and shined dozens of red dots onto the warrior-rah. One made its way to Mira.
"Proxima won't hurt you. Show Mossy what happened to her mate that night." The security drones backed off, now extending arms to treat the worst injuries from both sides. Mira's other words, however, were ignored as a pair of mechanical arms lifted her from the console and stiffened her sides, wrapping her neck in soft wraps that pulsed ice-cold. "Proxima," Mira growled, "I promised her."
While Mira was being tended to, a massive holographic screen appeared above the console. The slightly blurry view was the foundation of an incomplete twoleg complex. Three toms were perched asleep on a silver support beam high off the ground. What started as a few drops became a torrent of rain in mere heartbeats. They awoke with a screech from the rust-colored tom—the one Mossy focused on—to take cover. One of them looked up and yowled in pain as he fell from his perch. The other two sprinted for cover.
The screen cut to a new view. Firepine's other escort collapsed into a puddle yowling in pain. The view changed again to deeper inside an unfinished twoleg structure. There were some silverwood plates covering the support beams this time, enough to provide shelter from the rain. It was close to where the tribe had spent that night. Firepine started wheezing and fell to his side. He managed to drag himself to the driest spot before going limp.
Mossy had already leapt from the console and buried her face in her paws. Farstrider comforted her while the other warrior-rah dipped their heads to their fallen branch-mates. Mira cautiously approached, the loss feeling eerily like others from long ago. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for." Certainty returned to Mossy's voice. "You were telling the truth."
The view clicked one more time, showing the place Yonder Five had sheltered the worst of the rain from. Mira was sitting close to Firepine's body, which she had taken with her. A row of rapidly decaying tribe cats lay dead outside, about to be covered with a shiny blanket. Some of the tribe cats, reminded of the dreadful night not too long ago, were comforted by the warrior-rah.
"You stood vigil for him." Mossy couldn't believe what she was saying.
"I've followed what I could of StarClan all my life," Mira said. "I buried him, as well. I can show you where."
Mossy shook her head, ears slowly rising. "Firepine is with StarClan. I will speak to him in my prayers when they return, not at a grave…. Thank you. I am truly grateful for what you did for him. But this does not resolve our reason for keeping you away. With the attacks from the sky, prey will inevitably be scared off or wiped out. And bringing just Yonder Five has more than doubled the number of cats who will need to live off this land."
"About that," Mira came forward, "Proxima told me the twolegs that once occupied this area had a no-hazard policy."
"No-hazard policy?" Mossy tilted her head.
"It means this place was to be always secure, and anything that posed a danger to the twolegs was removed. That included predator animals."
"Hmm. Is this why we have not seen anything larger than a fox since moving here?"
Mira nodded, relieved the Star Covenant leader believed her, now. "The twolegs supposedly used to manage the animal population here. I'm sure it's not that simple, but Proxima can explain more." The drones stopped moving for a while. Some of the cats were in the middle of being treated when they did. "Proxima?"
It started as a slight jolt rough enough to make all the cats' ears perk up. Then a great rumble nearly knocked everyone off their paws. Some panicked and others hollered at the supposed earthquake, but Mira knew what it really was. It didn't stop her from falling over with some of the others and groaning at the loud vibrations rattling her head. The screen that showed the fate of the Star Covenant's party now showed a far-away image of the ringworld. Part of the outside had a narrow, blue band of fire surrounding it. Mira sighed in relief, both at the shaking being over and at accomplishing the journey's goal.
"What was that?" Farstrider said, helping Mossy to her paws.
"The ringworld moving," Mira responded.
Many of the cats were still staring at the screen. It was their first time seeing their world from the outside. But they seemed more focused on the surrounding sky and empty center. Some murmured amongst themselves while others seemed mesmerized. Both groups unknowingly mingled with each other and the sterilized air made it impossible to identify anyone by scent.
Mossy commanded some of her cats to head to the lobby and explain to her reinforcements waiting outside what had happened. Farstrider went with them, taking an orange band from under a stack of papers. Mira lingered on his calm eyes for as long as he lingered on hers. Her fur grew warm. She looked forward to seeing him later. Mira told some of the elders to inform the others waiting in the lobby, telling Hosta to go with them. She nodded gratefully and was accompanied by the adolescent tom who had bested her and was now apologizing for it.
"Helping Proxima move the ringworld is why I was coming here in the first place," Mira said as she approached Mossy. "So much more came out of it."
"That is an understatement," Mossy said. Sadness lingered in her voice, but she hid it behind her commanding façade. "I moved our branch here because of the paths the twolegs built to and from it. It makes it easier for Covenant wanderers like Farstrider to navigate."
"A worldwide and ancient network of cats in communication with each other." One of the security drones—many still wary of them—rolled towards Mira and Mossy. "Perhaps I underestimated your word on this Star Covenant, Mira."
Mira couldn't help but feel a bit irritated at Proxima's lightheartedness. She had accomplished what she was sent to this twoleg nest to do, but she hardly showed interest throughout the whole trip. The way she had brushed off any warning, word, or tale of the Star Covenant her whole life suddenly made her seem her guardian didn't care for cats or her journey. Just her objectives. But Mira didn't let this ruffle her fur.
She was still riding on the success of bringing Yonder Five to this place. That she could identify the spire from Hydran's vision and help them across seemingly impossible obstacles. She knew Hosta would be the first of the tribe's cats to believe in StarClan, if only for the closure it gave her regarding her mother. Even Leea, who had questioned her every step, seemed to warm up to her. She did not blame her suspicion because she knew she loved her tribemates more than anyone. And she hoped the young molly would see her kit again when Mira brought StarClan back by saving the ringworld.
Mossy raised an ear and called for silence. "I have not heard a single strike since the fighting started."
"Moving the ringworld likely threw the assailant off aim," Proxima's voice was loud through the drone's hidden chatter holes. "I have reason to believe a chimera has somehow reached space and taken over the armada the government left in orbit. Star-monsters, as cats say. I suppose it was not as scuttled as they recorded."
Many of the Star Covenant cats began murmuring amongst themselves. The tribe cats seemed lost to whatever it was, and so was Mira.
A shutter crept across Mossy's fur. "There is a rumor of an outsider the Ammit main branch promoted to leadership of a branch on the outskirts of their district. Because he could communicate with the stars, supposedly. We have heard nothing of it since."
"I thought the Star Covenant was in communication across the ringworld," Mira said.
"Some distances are too vast to deliver news at any practical pace. But the silence from Ammit's main branch on the matter is older than I am. I hoped Farstrider would have news on the matter, since that is his home, but even he does not know."
"It sounds like that outsider was nothing but trouble."
"Worse. Prevailing rumor is that outsider was a chimera and wiped out the branch himself. I thought it was just a story used to scare kits into being wary of strangers."
"Something like this is very plausible," Proxima interrupted. "I want to discuss this rumor with you later as a possible corroboration with my theory."
"Um, sure?" Mossy didn't know what to make of Proxima's words. Even Mira had trouble discerning what Proxima meant sometimes and wondered how, in all their rotations of travel, she had never adjusted her tone for cats. "For now, though, I want to rest. I want to say goodbye to Firepine in peace. And this air is bothering me."
"Me, too," Mira said. "I never understood why the twolegs kept things so sterile."
As if on command, the tightly-shut doors spread around the walls hissed open. The air stopped flowing in such a predictable and cold way. Mira could once again smell things, glad the scent of blood in the air had been pulled away. Lights flickered to a dim and matched what would have been sunlight. Mira also knew what this meant and was glad there would, at least, be shelter for the tribe.
"I have decommissioned this command center," Proxima said. "Animals can come and go as they please, now."
"I believe we can negotiate in good faith." Mira and Mossy turned to see Hydran approach on his own paws, helping an embarrassed Leea around despite his own injuries. "Leea overdid it hissing at the reinforcements outside."
"I'm just glad it didn't come to a fight," she said, keeping her good ear towards Mossy. "They would've been in trouble."
Hydran shook his head and let her stumble on her own paws, as if to both joke with her and humble her in front of the Covenant herald. "Hosta told me everything. I am relieved no one was lost, on either side."
"Yeah." Mossy gave Mira one last apologetic look. "Our cats will overhunt and feast with you as our guests. I would be grateful to discuss terms of your permanent residence, and extend the same to the remaining Yonder tribes."
"I'd like that."
Mira nodded at the trio as they talked. Now the task was truly done, with Hydran and Leea in charge of Yonder Five again. She yawned as she left the den followed by one of the lumbering security drones. The other cats still seemed wary of them, especially the warrior-rah, but Mira knew they would only linger with her presence. Several of the Star Covenant's reinforcements darted down the hall with tribe cats, all nodding to Mira as they passed.
"You spent more time with them than I thought," Proxima's voice was low through the drone's chatter holes, "We can leave as soon as you recover."
"I thought you'd be able to do more than move the ringworld from a place like this," Mira said.
"Each command center is different, with different permissions. Moving the ringworld is already a very high-clearance request, just as releasing a district border or folding to another star system would be. The shattered section of the ringworld other animals call the Shattered District may be our remaining obstacle. For now, take a week to recover from your injuries. A fortified meal is waiting for you outside."
"Actually, wild prey tastes better."
"You only need to hunt in places drones lack permission to enter. This is no longer one of them."
"I know, but I think I might start hunting from now on."
"Eat at least one fortified meal. Your injuries were more severe than I thought."
"Well, it was a real furball. But no one was seriously hurt."
"You were. I was about to release a nerve agent into the room the moment you pressed the button. But, with how much this Star Covenant may know about the orbital assailant, I am glad I did not."
"What?" Mira had stopped, prompting the drone to do the same.
"Your chimeric blood makes you immune to that class of chemicals, and I would have resuscitated the Yonder Five tribe cats before they succumbed. I do not enjoy violence."
Proxima had continued the drone on its course as if nothing had changed. Not even a follow up. It'd made Mira even more annoyed with her, how nonchalant she'd been about possibly murdering scores of cats. But she'd been unable to feel fury. She was exhausted of fury and felt the battle had been enough of it for one lifetime. But she'd always known what Proxima was capable of and at least defaulted to Mira in matters regarding cats, no matter how chaotic it became.
Mira focused on how she would spend the rest of her night, after sleeping off the rest of the day. She had said a quick prayer for Mossy and Firepine, hoping his loss would be the last any of them would face for a long time. Her pelt had warmed at the thought of spending time with Farstrider, even if he was just a fun night or a good conversation. Most of all, though, Mira had thought of Leea's tenacity despite losing her kit just a day prior. She had admired Leea's strength as both a leader and a mother. That thought had lingered the longest.
O O O
The euphoria Mira awoke with vanished when she felt the sting of a flexible needle pulled from the length of her spine. She assumed the drone doing it to be a menacing-looking thing with many sharp and weird appendages, poking and prodding her while she had been unconscious. She looked up and found it was, in fact, real with "arms" of varying lengths and materials covered in shades of red. It reeked of blood, dirty fur, and bile, all of which she assumed were hers. The mechanism was obscured in a white mist dissipating her scent from it. She was on a plush surface that uncomfortably cradled her every little movement.
When Mira's eyes adjusted with the gentle light, she was greeted by the perfectly groove-less white walls of a twoleg den. She was raised off the ground, about half the height of a twoleg, on a soft bed sized for twoleg adults. Dozens of identical ones joined hers to form a half circle, with several more spread out evenly across the den, each with its own raised screen. Only the one next to Mira's bed was on, though, displaying everything she thought a twoleg would need to know about her insides. She couldn't understand any of it, aside from the graphic that showed her bones, several in her chest and legs highlighted green. She noticed her leg sleeves were gone and so was the fur around them. Then pain started to creep in.
The senior molly tried to stand, only managing to sit up and lift her head properly. The pain, thankfully, stayed tolerable. Mira dragged herself to the edge of her bed and looked at the floor. Aside from twoleg scribblings, it was completely transparent. She could make out the edges of the ringworld, the greens, browns, and blues of its landmasses and oceans. The shadow squares that brought night to the surface were out of view. Most prominent were the hundreds of floating and disjointed pieces that made up the Shattered District. It shined brilliantly refracted colors while simultaneously sucking away every bit of light around it.
Mira had seen it many times through screens, but this time it seemed real. As if she was actually floating above it all. Excitement crept over her for a heartbeat as she looked up, but instead of a rare view of the sun, she saw a matte-gray ceiling that somehow emitted light. The menacing-looking drone that had stabbed her spine was hanging from it, its many appendages curled around its body. It wasn't so creepy now that she could see it for what it was.
"Mira? You're awake." The voice came from hidden chatter holes. "Can you answer me?" Now she was certain it was Proxima's. "Are you okay?"
"Okay enough." Mira thought her voice sounded as weak as a newborn kit's, a thought that upset her. "What happened?"
"Acute radiation sickness." Proxima's voice lacked its usual assurance. "Undetectable gamma rays are leaking from the fragments of the Shattered District. The location I mistook for a command center was just a museum. An EV suit would have never been enough…. If hazard drones could not enter that place safely, I should not have sent you. I am so sorry I put you through that."
Mira was taken aback by the defeat in Proxima's voice. "My blood saved me, though, right?"
"Yes, but barely. I managed to take over this ship and rescue you, but I… every word, every plea you made, I heard, but could say nothing back." Bits of strength were returning to her legs, but Proxima's disjointed words made Mira uneasy. She looked around to take her mind from it, the den just as empty as when she looked the first time. "I turned the air recyclers off," Proxima continued, "to make things feel more natural."
Mira weakly opened her mouth to taste the air. Aside from her own blood, the dirty fur didn't smell or look like her own. It was much shorter and white instead of black. Her eyes widened and she swallowed a heartbeat. "Lilii Borea! Is she okay?"
Proxima stayed silent for a moment. "No. She made it back to the starting point, thankfully, but she is just as vulnerable to sickness as an ordinary lynx. I did what I could for her here and sent her back to the Sasquatch District, back to her surviving family, where she will spend what remains of her life infirmed."
Mira dipped her head—realizing how much thinner her fur felt—and said a prayer for Lilii Borea. She waited for a few moments for an answer, her memories of Fleetheart and Dovewhisker coming back to her. Neither seemed to respond, but she swore she saw a flicker of pale light in her peripheral vision. After spinning around to confirm nothing, Mira thanked StarClan, anyway, for watching over them both.
A drone floated from underneath her bed and deposited four gray woven pelts at her paws. A red triangle on each told Mira these were not the same leg sleeves she'd grown accustomed to. A dozen rotations of tiny scratches, stretching, and her scent were gone, leaving perfectly sterile things that might've been up to twoleg standards but not a cat's. She began the slow process of putting them on, anyway, sliding the first one over her foreleg.
"Your old mesh braces were too contaminated to salvage," Proxima said. "These are sized the same but more capable. The microchips required to operate them were inserted into your knees before I woke you. They can augment your muscles, letting you react faster and move with more power than any cat naturally could. Imagine gaining the strength and speed of a medium-sized dog. In your legs, at least."
"That's really possible?" Mira said, wincing as the sleeve began molding to the shape of her foreleg.
"It is. But doing so will irreparably damage your already crippled legs, making it impossible to walk even with braces. That is why I would only do such a thing at your request. Other than that, these new braces function identically to your old ones."
After Mira put on all four sleeves, they simultaneously molded to the shape of her muscles and vibrated. Mira happily stood with no more than some stiffness in her legs. She was also relieved to hear some assurance return to Proxima's voice as they left more somber topics behind. "Before you go over what's next, how long has it been?" Mira said. "I know twolegplaces are always super clean, but I only barely knew Lilii Borea was here."
"You were in and out of death for a while and never conscious. Lilii Borea was here for two days. For you, it has been two weeks."
"That long!?" Mira mewed, strength returning to her voice.
"That long." The menacing-looking drone, now pristine and scent-free, descended from the ceiling and loosely surrounded her with its limbs, shining lights near her eyes and prodding her legs. "Sorry, but this physical will only take a minute…. I tried contacting Farstrider while you were unconscious, but I could not find him between monitoring you and this place. He does not appear to have reached his branch yet."
"It's very far and Star Covenant paths are tricky at best," Mira said, holding back her irritation with the grabby drone. "I expected he would be gone for several rotations. But where exactly is 'this place?'"
"We are in orbit above Skhul Terra. I used the same method Dombaystar used to reach space, but it was the last place I wanted to treat you."
The momentary excitement of being above the sky was popped, a shudder creeping down her neck. "Right. His territory."
"While you stayed with the Yonder Five tribe, after that fight, I managed to lock him out of targeting the surface with the armada. But my failure to dispatch him then gave him time to restore and intertwine himself with its remaining warships—not unlike myself with Skhul Terra's communication network. But it gave me an idea."
To Mira's relief, the drone returned to the ceiling and blanketed itself again in a silent cloud of white mist. "Oh?"
"The government destroyed as many of their weapons as they could during the evacuation. They assumed, wrongly, the remainder of their warships would be consumed by Ajax. You have witnessed the power of their haphazard use. Coordinated, they could destroy the Shattered District outright."
Mira remembered the twoleg lightning that tossed whole trees into the air. "I don't want us hurting anyone near there."
"I can organize a proper, if slow, evacuation of those areas. To make any of this possible, however, Dombaystar must be killed. And I am unable to do so."
Mira thought of Proxima's many warnings since they had encountered his branch's den and strange shrine to Fleetheart. His part-twoleg brain made him just as smart as Proxima, but psychotic. Rush's tale—whose fate still saddened her—taught her how dangerous Dombaystar was even without his intelligence. He was responsible for inadvertently wiping out most of the Yonder tribes and forcing Yonder Five to move in the first place. Despite his negative impact on so many lives, Mira had never killed another cat before. But he was different.
"I'm guessing that's why you told me about my new leg braces," Mira said, leaping from the twoleg bed.
"Proxima-Dombay is dangerous, and I will hardly be able to help you," Proxima spoke up.
"I set out to finish what we started. Besides, things will be safer without him." Mira shuddered at her own words. She had never met Dombaystar and had never expected to. All her anger towards him came from meeting the cats whose lives he ruined. Part of her wanted to reason with him, but she knew this was the way things had to move forward. That, if it were Dombaystar's life weighted against the ringworld, she wouldn't think twice about it.
Two parts of the wall separated and revealed a wide hallway split in several directions outside the den. "The first task will be to board the vessel he resides on. But, before we do that, I want you to tell me if you are okay. If your mind feels okay?"
Mira was blindsided by the sudden shift in topic. She figured she would ask while being examined, but Proxima's tone felt much more intimate, as if she were asking something deeply personal. She felt she would never get used to her guardian's new tone, but she thought about it. Nothing immediately came to mind, so she let the question go as easily as her answer came. "No. Why?"
"I was just wondering. Forget I asked." A red line emitted from the floor down one of the halls. Mira couldn't shake the feeling Proxima was hiding something from someone, or from herself. She hoped there wouldn't be any more secrets like Lilii Borea's abduction.
As Mira departed the den, she never looked back to see a translucent cat sniffing where she once laid. The ghost cat's stunning white fur was dull, even in the well-lit den, as if light was passing through her fur instead of reflecting from it. She had a scowl on her face and her long tail lashed from side to side. And there wasn't a single star in her pelt.