The distant chime of a twoleg timepiece had echoed through the garden, as it would the whole twolegplace. It had always rung at midday, but Mira had not been ready to get out of her makeshift nest. The leaves that had been plucked from the great oak tree they slept under were deceptively soft and had made her ignore the dozens of scratches and bruises she had received the prior night. Paired with fresh moss from the oak's base and the sounds of the twoleg complex muffled by all the greenery, Mira had felt she could've slept here the rest of her life.
She stood gently, trying not to wake Calat. The orange tabby tom had shared his nest with her. A pair of cats—mates, and the two who had attacked her on her arrival—were sharing a low-hanging branch on the oak while a third slept higher up. Makeshift nests held the other four, each having room to splay their legs out or roll over. Mira looked through the gaps in the garden canopy. Without the twoleg lights she was accustomed to sleeping under, she realized she had, in fact, slept through the whole morning.
"Did you sleep well?" Calat whispered as he blinked his eyes awake. "I hope it was not too much worse than the soft twoleg beds."
"Actually, I prefer this," Mira purred.
"And your injuries?"
"I hardly feel them—" Mira winced when he poked a deep bite mark on her neck and a bruise on her thigh. "Well not when you go off poking them."
"They could use more oak salve. I'll make some for you."
The tom scrambled up empty branches for undisturbed oak leaves. Last night, Calat had rubbed Mira with the sticky but soothing paste after her fight while telling of their ancestors, the Star Covenant, and living stars. Mira shuttered with delight the moment she thought about those. Too many of her strange dreams and visions were explained by this, and the group had taken a cautious interest in them. The way they described such supernatural things made so much sense.
"I'm sure the twoleg-thing has better medicine than we could ever muster," the tabby tom said as he returned to her side, "Unless you're going back now?"
Mira gratefully dipped her head. "No. I want to learn more. The Star Covenant, silverpelt, the Stars, too. Oh, especially the Stars!"
The young molly tempered her kit-like excitement when she realized she woke up the others. But none looked particularly upset. The mates that gave her most of her injuries even looked apologetic. She sighed with contentment no one was bothered anymore by her colorless eyes. Mira felt comfortable in a way she never could around Proxima's drones and unknowingly purred at Calat, looking away in embarrassment when he realized it.
"Actually, now we have questions for you," Calat said. "Like what was that huge earthquake? Drones have been tearing up soil and making way more noise ever since."
"What about this twolegplace?" The tom of the mates asked. "If we are to set up a Star Covenant branch here, we should know more about where we are staying."
The group nodded before his mate leapt from the tree. "What about the twoleg-thing herself? She seemed to be everywhere at once when she made that speech a couple rotations ago. How is that possible? She certainly looked like a twoleg, but twolegs didn't have orange fur."
That seemed to be the most pressing question, as the other seven nodded in agreement.
"She's… actually, I don't know much about Proxima," Mira said. "If I remember correctly, she said she's an ape and an ape is a kind of twoleg. Or is it the other way around…? Anyway, she comes and goes in her own way. Every twoleg object I've ever seen move is because of her. And she said she lives somewhere beyond the sky."
"That is the domain of the Stars, silverpelt," another warrior-rah said. "How is that possible?"
"She says it's just called space. It's filled with many stars, like the sun, and its where the ringworld is. The twoleg homeworld is somewhere out there, too, as are many other worlds they claim. The twolegs built this one like a ring to make it bigger than those places and easier to manage. But I wish they would've built a moon, too. Moons are so pretty."
"Our ancestors called rotations 'moons,' and used their waxing and waning to tell time." Calat, even more curious, edged closer to Mira.
"Proxima showed me pictures of it!" Mira exclaimed, her stumpy tail wiggling. "I'm sure she'll be happy to teach you—"
"Shh. Something approaches," one of the warrior-rah said. The eight cats readied themselves and circled around Mira. She immediately settled when she recognized the monotone sound of a hovering drone. Then many more flooded her ears. They were making enough noise to deliberately block the cats' hearing.
Several disk-shaped drones burst through the tree canopy and buzzed close. Calat said something inaudible with the noise, but the cats loosened their encirclement of Mira. One of the drones extended a shiny probe that made a crackling noise above that of the drones themselves. The probe shocked the tom and retracted before he could even yowl. Every hair on his body was on end and his mouth was locked between shock and anger.
"Proxima, stop!" Mira shouted. "They're friends!"
A couple more drones gave the others a taste of what Calat received. As the rest of the branch fled, he looked back at Mira. She mouthed how sorry she was and was glad he seemed to understand. In his hesitance, he was shocked again before leaving with his branchmates. Certain the garden was empty, the drones returned to their quiet hum and dispersed. One remained and scanned Mira top to bottom with an aggressive blue light.
"What was that for?" Mira shouted, her ears still ringing.
"What were you doing with these feral cats?" Proxima's voice said over the drone's speakers.
"We were talking."
"I detect some of their skin flakes and saliva in your fur."
"We were talking!" The blue light disappeared and the drone left the oak garden. Mira reluctantly followed but circled around it, unable to spot the Star Covenant cats. "Now you scared them off."
"They will return so long as I do not disturb their beds. None of their DNA patterns are registered with the Cortex BioLabs. Could they be a transient pack—"
"Are you even listening to me?" Mira snapped.
"I thought this the most effective way to free you," Proxima said, no change in her tone. "What did they want with you? Was it your eyes?"
"I went to them when they told me to stay away, but we worked it all out. I was learning from them."
"You learn from me." More of Proxima's accent came through as her voice spoke up. "What could a group of feral cats teach you that I cannot? Aside from feline mannerisms, I suppose?"
Mira hesitated at first, her heart beginning to race with excitement over everything she'd learned from the Star Covenant cats. "First it was about their order, or clan, or something. They told me it spans the whole ringworld. And about their belief in something called StarClan, a mysterious afterlife for cats that exists in space…! Well, when I put it like that…."
"An order of cats following a unified faith?" Proxima mused. "Curious, if true, but meaningless. Unlike twolegs, cats do not produce inspired works of art or follow rigid social regimes. What use would they have for a religion?"
"I think it's interesting," Mira said meekly.
"Faith did not help the inhabitants of Skhul Terra. It will not help you." The drone had finished its scans and hovered away. "It looks like they rubbed oak leaves into your wounds. I think you should stay away from other ferals for a while. Especially these strange ones."
A yellow line had appeared in the stone walkway outside the garden, expecting Mira to follow. The wounds beneath her black fur had begun to sting again. Thankfully, the garden had appeared as pristine as ever. Leaves had still been gently strewn across the ground and the mighty oak itself had stood unflinching through it all. Its natural presence had contradicted the much grander but artificial horizon of the ringworld. Mira had never thought about her place, but she felt her new information would help her figure it out. Everything had now felt more natural than she knew it was. And, she had thought, perhaps it was.
"Calat," Mira had hummed as she followed the line. "Maybe he can come with me!"
O O O
"I expect you to recover, not help."
Vo's surly, red eyes towered over Mira. Her ears didn't even make it to the dog's knees. "I'm done with that," Mira assured. "You won't let me scavenge and I can't hunt anymore. At least let me do this?"
Vo was all black, except for her brown snout, forepaws, and two dots just above her eyes. It made her look even sharper than her extremely short fur and angular ears already did. Her muscles inadvertently bulged through it all and made her look ready to strike anyone and anything at a moment's notice.
"These horses are notoriously rude. Do you know barn-speak?" Mira nodded, holding back her intimidation as the dog's fangs bore every time she spoke. "What can you do to convince them?"
"I've been to more of the ringworld than anyone," Mira said. "Maybe I can convince them there's better and safer places to run around." Vo stared past Mira for a while in the direction Dee and Kev had gone earlier. "I set out to help others in the first place. You said this was the last time you were trying."
Vo nodded and walked away. "Fine. Eat first. It's two hours' travel and we can't slow down for your infirmity."
A few gray hairs near Vo's nose were the only indication she was just a bit younger than Dee. Mira stood where she had and admired the view of the brilliant morning light on a static ocean. Just for a little while, though, so she wouldn't be caught up in her lost memories. She caught up with Vo near the pack's temporary camp. Mira had been the only one secluded in the beachside twoleg property. The other dozen or so dogs and wolves were held up in equipment storage nests on the other side of the hills secluding the beach. Some were nursing injuries about as old as hers. Mira buried her thoughts further in half a rabbit, finally able to refuse the fortified foods left for her recovery.
After the others were given their tasks and Kev was left in charge, Vo called for Dee and the three set off. Despite Mira struggling to keep pace with the dogs' longer strides, she repeatedly refused Dee's offers to carry her. It kept her mind occupied and she knew she'd have to grow used to it eventually. As they left the hills and the remote twolegplace, the beach gave way to a steppe of beautifully waving grass that barely went past Mira's knees. The breeze replaced salty scents with rich soil pounded flat.
As the invisible sun grew higher and the light more hazel, Mira grew tired. Dee commented about overworking herself that morning and didn't accept her refusal to be carried. Even with the steppe's decreased gravity, she couldn't keep walking. Dee was describing their various attempts trying to move the herd of horses from the unknown dangers the Shattered District posed, but was quickly distracted with Mira's additions.
"They call them bands?" Dee said, his eyes focusing on some distant objects.
"They border some of the ringworld's districts. The twolegs stored communication equipment and other things here," Mira said, sliding from his back at their arrival. "That's why we're slightly lighter here. They did that to make it easier to move things."
"When you describe it like that, it's all so simple." He leaned down to whisper. "Much simpler than how Vo described it. Don't tell her I said that."
Mira noticed Vo's ear was swiveled back, anyway, but sensed no hostility. The brown and black dog seemed much more focused on a thundering herd of horses approaching much faster than any animal she'd ever seen. They galloped from blobs in the distance to corralling them in mere heartbeats. Mira shrieked back at the masses of swift and heavy hooves pounding hard enough to feel like an earthquake. Their swift circling made them appear like blurs and their aroma overpowered everything else.
Dee was growling as two came to a stop in front of Vo, a massive all-white stallion and a smaller mare with a brown face and legs and a lightly shaded body. One of her legs was deformed at the knee, but it didn't seem to affect her. She whistled, pinning Mira's ears back and bringing the rest to a stop.
"Well look what we have here?" the bay dun mare whinnied with a thick accent on each word. "You go deaf during the fight? I said stay, away, and for good!"
The others neighed mockingly but spread out a bit to give Mira a clearer view of her blank surroundings.
"Sandy Beach," Vo nodded politely.
"I preferred the scruffy lil' bird, but I'll settle for the new kitty." She bent her neck to meet Vo's gaze with her own. "Only reason I don't chase you off right now. You know how much Marshmallow here hates that mutt."
"I can hear everything you're saying," Dee growled.
Sandy Beach mockingly bared her flat teeth towards him. "Oh don't worry, honey. Only Marshmallow hates you. To me you're just the big ol' bundle of sunshine with enough happy for her shrewdness." She waved a hoof towards Vo. "Go on. Let's get this over with."
"This is the last time you'll hear it," Vo said, narrowing her eyes.
"You threatenin' us, dober-miss? Again?" Marshmallow's stomp rattled the ground beneath Mira. "Don't know if you remember, but you and your pups ain't got the numbers to make us do anything."
"I didn't forget," Dee growled. "You almost killed us. After we were just trying to help."
"You call bringing a mess o' dogs on our land, chasing us to who-knows-where helping?"
"If Sandy Beach was as smart as Vo, there wouldn't have been a fight."
"With how much you and dober-miss bump uglies I'm surprised she ain't got any of your go-lucky stupidity and you ain't got none of her sense!"
Dee snapped at the stallion's leg with anger Mira didn't know he was capable of. Vo held him back from landing the blow or being kicked, growling intensely enough for him to fold his tail between his legs.
"Marshmallow, you shut up and stay shut up!" Sandy Beach neighed, pushing him back with her neck. Another sharp whistle quieted the herd. "That mouth of yours is why there was even a fight. Sheesh! Sick of you three already. Who are you, kitty cat?" She waved a hoof to Mira.
"Mira," the senior molly said, dipping her head. "I was left with them by Proxima to recover from my injuries."
"Be a sweetheart for once and give our friend a step-stool. Can barely see her way down there." Sandy Beach motioned Marshmallow forward. The white stallion walked to the middle of the group and laid down. Mira, careful not to use her claws, tried to scramble up his short and sweaty fur with no luck. "Use your claws, honey. He won't feel 'em." Mira tried again with her claws, but still couldn't make it. Dee pushed her up and onto the stallion's back the rest of the way. "I see. Don't push yourself too hard, then."
Mira did a quick turnaround. She was surrounded by a few dozen horses, about twice as many as Vo's pack. A few were juveniles, but most were a mix of young and middle-aged with Sandy Beach and Marshmallow being the oldest. The bay dun's square-shaped pupils reminded her of Lilii Borea, a thought she was both eager and guilty to dispel.
"You one of those chimeras, honey?" Sandy Beach gave her space again. "Eyes look pretty people to me."
"People?" Mira said, speaking loud like Vo.
"Right. Everyone's got a different word for that. Doggies call 'em masters, birdies got too many words, don't kitties say two-legged?"
"Twolegs," Mira said.
"Twolegs, hmm." Sandy Beach raised her voice again. "Why'd you decide to tag along with these troublemakers? Two chimeras over one ain't changin' my mind."
"Maybe not. But I've been places Vo has never seen. I know how dangerous the ringworld is becoming."
"Is that where you got them leggies from?" Sandy Beach stomped her deformed leg a few times. "I know a bad leg when I see one. Or four."
"I'm covered in scars from my travels, even with Proxima helping me along—" Sandy Beach threw her head back and laughed with many of the others. "What's funny about that?" Mira growled.
"Oh no, honey, we ain't laughing at you," the bay dun mare said, quieting the others. "The thought of that chimpan-zee-or-whatever helpin' anyone. How are you gonna tell everyone the world is done for and only you can save it? Sounds like bull to me."
"It isn't. The bands around the ringworld might be safe for now, but it's only a matter of time before you experience a great lapse, or the Shattered District expands." Mira pointed to the massive pieces of the ringworld floating on the western horizon. "There aren't any drones out here. No one can help you if things go wrong."
"I don't remember askin'," Sandy Beach snorted. "Besides, things are good here. I was born with a bad leg and I can still run the steppe."
Mira thought for a while as the horses conversed among themselves. Vo and Dee showed no signs of wanting to intervene—with Dee and Marshmallow still giving each other nasty looks. They ended up on all the companions she'd had during her travels, hoping one would help her right now.
"Do you know of a lynx named Lilii Borea?" Mira said, barely thinking about it.
"Hmm," Sandy Beach said. "Now why does that sound so familiar?"
"The big cat?" Marshmallow said. "You know, real sad for some reason? Had kittens some time?"
"Oh right! "Sure I know. What about her?"
"Kits?" Mira said. "Lilii Borea couldn't have. Not in her condition."
"She seemed fine to me," Marshmallow said. "On the outside, at least. Had some new lines and people scribblings on her thighs, though. Complained about drones followin' her."
"She couldn't have. This is the same Lilii Borea? A chimera with a goat's eyes?"
"The very same. Last we saw her she had two growin' kittens instead of three—that's when she was all sad." Some of the others nodded to confirm Marshmallow's words. "We thought she might've lost one."
Mira's heart pounded at the thought there was another gap in her memories. She ran through every trace of the lynx in her mind and began putting the pieces together. Vo and Dee looked at each other, Dee looking worried. Part of her wished there was a gap, though, and that Lilii Borea had somehow beaten her death sentence. Taking a deep breath, she regained her composure.
"It's just a misunderstanding," Mira sighed. "I was referring to her kit of the same name. Anyway, did you see a flash of light in the sky about four rotations ago?"
"Yep, that I do remember," Sandy Beach nodded. "Along with red spirals, for some reason. Thought the people-thing was up to no good again."
"Proxima saved her life and brought her back here. But that was also me, trying to break the Shattered District away."
"Oh, so that little pony show Vo put on when we first met was real? You're that kitty?"
Mira nodded. "If Vo ever mentioned a chimera helping Proxima disconnect the Shattered District, then yes." She gazed at the massive floating shards in the distance again. "If it's successfully broken away, this place might not be safe anymore. It's too close."
"Hey now, scarin' us won't work."
"I'm not trying to scare you. I promise."
"Then what are you tryin' to say, honey? That we should leave because you might do something that might hurt us? I told Vo here I ain't leaving and that's that."
The senior molly looked at the young faces surrounding her. A few looked at her inquisitively instead of waiting for their matriarch to speak. Mira focused on the youngest, a yearling with a bad ear, and let her mind hang on the missing cat from her dreams.
"Sandy Beach, have you ever been a parent?" Mira asked gently.
"I wish," Marshmallow snorted.
"Read the room, idiot," Sandy Beach lightly hit him on the nose. "You mean—" Mira nodded, ears dropping. "My condolences for yours. For me it's a never have, never will. But let me guess. Spare the little ones and all that?"
"At least give them a choice," Mira said. "I wanted to leave my kit behind for his own safety, and maybe he'd still be alive if I did. But maybe he would've never forgiven me."
"You don't know what'll happen if we stay."
"That's right. Detaching the Shattered District could be less destructive than Proxima thinks. But don't you at least want the choice to take that risk?"
"Pfft," Marshmallow snorted. "If we just keep you, you can't do nothin' against us."
"No," Sandy Beach snorted, a slight harshness in her words folding his ears back. "That ain't right."
"Then what?"
"Damn it. Maybe they just pick for themselves?"
"You serious!?"
"I don't know. Maybe I was just waitin' for the right critter to say it, but I've been thinking a while. I don't want my scare to rub off on everyone, you know?"
Marshmallow gave her a questioning side-eye, but dropped it realizing she was lost in thought. He motioned Mira to slide from his back and she did so. She scrambled out the way while he rejoined the matriarch's side.
"Alright, honey. You win," Sandy Beach smiled. "Least I won't have to look at dober-miss's ugly mug no more." She lifted her head and neighed to get the circled crowds attention, pinning Mira's ears with the shrill sound. "Here's what's gonna happen! All of you… are gonna make a choice to stay here or go with Vo's pack. I'm staying. Now get! Let the real grown-ups talk."
The other horses dutifully ran out of earshot, breaking off into groups to graze and talk amongst themselves. Marshmallow had stayed by Sandy Beach's side, though. Dee licked Mira's face, tail wagging and paws impatiently tapping the ground. Vo didn't so much as twitch, waiting for the pair to speak again. Sandy Beach finally dropped the hardened face of a leader and let her exhaustion come through. She longingly glanced at Marshmallow.
"I'm stayin' where you stay until you finally kick me out." The white stallion planted his hooves. Sandy Beach gave him a friendly push. Mira smiled. They reminded her of Farstrider.
"What is it, dober-miss?" Sandy Beach said, staring at the dog. "No burning questions in that people-brain of yours?"
Vo sighed, but didn't relax. "What made you come around?"
The matriarch stepped forward and tapped her malformed leg. Mira took a long look at it. The bone had grown wrong, twisting the skin around it at her knee. "She's got at least three more problems than me. And all that talk about her kitty-foal makes me seem real selfish for keepin' everyone like this. My mama had me near the beach when the people left. Without them, my leg was stuck like this. Without her, I was too scared to leave…. I'm free here, dober-miss. I can run and graze and be happy. Out there I can barely stand."
"What if I could help?" Mira said without thinking. "I know Proxima. If I contact her, I promise to tell her about your situation."
Marshmallow's eyes brightened, but Sandy Beach looked skeptical. "I don't want you making promises you can't keep. That one ain't fair to Marshmallow."
"I haven't seen or heard from her in three rotations, so no promises. But she's saved me from the brink of death twice and found these for me." Mira shook her legs, indulging in how much lighter she felt here. "I'm sure she can find a way to help."
The bay dun matriarch stared at the ground for a while, fixated on a hoofprint from long ago. Mira patiently waited, but felt a surge of energy that she hadn't felt since her fight with Dombaystar, energy she knew she'd never feel naturally again. It began mixing with the thoughts of the shadowy cat haunting her dreams night after night. The name she knew but didn't want to say.
"Thank you kindly," Sandy Beach finally said, snapping her from her spiral. "Before you go, try running it out."
"Running what out?" Mira said anxiously.
"I know nerves. Instinct and all that. Out here, you can run to n' from anything you like. For a while, at least."
The black molly closed her eyes for a moment, trying to dispel the thoughts invading her mind, but to no avail. They were here to stay, at least until Mira indulged them. So she brought forward the loudest one and took off between Marshmallow's legs.
Sandy Beach reared up and neighed. "Haha! Look at 'er go!"
Mira sprinted as fast as she could, happy for the return of her speed and strength, running faster than she ever had before. But it was short-lived. Even her thoughts of Farstrider, of curling up with him in a warm nest and never having to travel again, swapping stories of history and journeys' past, faded against the weight of her ever-present shadow. It's yellow eyes seemed to spark joy disproportionate to the sadness they invoked. It never led and never trailed off, like a fawn scampering after its mother. No matter how many times she banked and skidded to a halt, she could never shake it off. Some of the now distant horses were looking in her direction while others watched a pair of Vo's pack arrive. Mira wanted to make good on her word. It didn't matter who, or what, followed her along the way.