Mallow and her trusty companion had to work themselves to the bone to get their precious cargo back to the clans village quickly. Time was of the essence, as the small green tuft of fur on Ruff n’ Tuff’s back had started to breathe heavier, restless as she clutched at the furr of the larger canine. Mallow had not known what was causing her to be this way and the unknown had only made her move faster through the night, hopeful that she could somehow get there in time to save this kit.
By the time the trio had arrived at the river separating the clans village form the clans hunting grounds, The sky would have been pitch black, if not for the large full moon hovering above them. Mallow had traveled all day and into the night, her limbs aching from not taking a single moment to rest up. Ruff n’ Tuff whimpered beside her,prompting a knowing look from Mallow.
“I know, I am tired too, boy. We’re almost there, and then we can rest up.” She nodded her head forwards, stalking slower behind her companion as they made their way across the bridge.
Suddenly Ruff n’ Tuff yelped, stopping in his tracks to shake, the small green kit had her claws in him, her eyes now open in fear as she stared directly at Mallow behind her. She fell to the ground with all the shaking and stood quite wobbly on the ground before she stumbled a bit, feeling weak again as she collapsed. Turning into a squirrel again as she did.
“Oh that's not good, Ruff go get Caulli!! I’ll carry her the rest of the way”
Mallow quickly scooped her up in her mouth and started running towards the medicine den, as Ruff took off towards another building.
- -
The Outsiders. To understand how they came to be you would need to understand how the very world was created. For as long as the trees have grown and the wind has blown, they were here, living in this world that they called home. They didn’t consider themselves outsiders, they didn’t really consider themselves to be anything. Giving one a name, whether personal or as a collective was seen as strange. Instead they opted to call each other by rank, one assigned to them by the god of this world. For the animal that you could transform into was to be your very life, and would dictate the role you would play in the survival of everyone living here.
The world beyond the clan’s territory was vast and mostly covered in bright trees and large mountain regions. The only thing separating them from the rest of the world was their own fear of the unknown, and the warriors of The outsiders who would attack them if they stepped foot too close to their main settlements. The outsiders consider themselves to be the only ones worthy to live here, and anyone else who tries to use this world to their advantage should be killed.
The Main camp the Outsiders considered home was in the middle of a mountainous region, with towers and broken down old buildings littering the lands as far as the eyes could see. There was a panic, as the main warriors of the Outsiders were frantic, looking in every crack and crevice for something, or perhaps someone. A call came from the top of a larger tower, where a bright white figure could be spotted, with two other creatures at their side.
“I want you to find her! You have until dawn or someone will pay! I don’t care what it takes!” The voice was harsh as the echoes of its demand rang out over the encampment, causing the warriors to act and move quicker. They were clearly very afraid.
The white figure moved to turn around, beckoning the two other figures to follow as they all descended the tower and retreated further down a rocky path, towards where they called home.
Deep within the heart of the mountain, there lies a cave of darkness and despair. A place of whispered nightmares, where the very air surrounding it lay thick with a suffocating dread. This was the lair of Hyena, the leader of the Outsiders and a name feared by all who knew it.
Hyena was a stark white cat, her brightness contrasting with the darkness she called her home. Her chilling gaze, the color of bloodied moonlight, held an unsettling intensity that chilled anyone who looked to the bone. With every step she took, the very ground beneath her trembled as if the earth itself also feared her.
Inside her den, the walls were adorned with a macabre tapestry of trophies. Pelts and hides of her vanquished foes draped across the jagged stoney walls, their silent screams of terror forever frozen in time. Various teeth, sharp and rough, were thrown across the floor like an unholy carpet, serving as a testament for those that she had killed. Her paws, clawless yet deadly, were stained crimson, a reminder of her insatiable thirst for death.
The air smelt metallic, the fresh blood still lingering on the ground where her latest kill still lay.
Hyena walked into her den, her clawless paws trailing blood as she made her way to her rocky throne. The two forms who followed her like shadows, danced alongside her one who seemed eerily cheery. They took their spot at her side,the one on the left speaking up after some time.
“Oh I cannot wait to tear into someone when they fail to bring her in! I so love a good bloodshed.” He chirped, earning a look from Hyena herself.
“There will be more than bloodshed if she gets away my dear children….there will be a reckoning.”
- -
When Caulli was abruptly awoken from her slumber by a barking mutt she immediately feared the worst. Thousands of scenarios ran through her mind as she lept up and quickly bolted to her medicine den, praying to all the gods that Tansy was okay. When she entered however, this was nothing like what she was expecting. A slightly injured Mallow was standing trying to calm a very frantic and angry looking little green kit who was backed into the corner, her furr prickled up as she hissed threateningly.
“Get away from me! I am not going backl!” She backed up further, bumping into some things and nearly knocking items off the shelves above her.
“Mallow! Who is this prickly little thing? Is Tansy okay? Where are the others?” She was frantic, trying to both wake up and take in the sight in front of her at the same time.
Mallow, rubbed at the claw marks on the side of her face, her tail flicking in annoyance.
“They are fine, Caulli. Tansy and Verum are okay. They just kept the patrol going.”
Caulli let out a deep breath, starting to calm after hearing that Verum and her beloved Tansy were okay.
“Do not scare me like that.” She warned, collecting herself as she pushed past Mallow to get a better look at the terrified green kit in front of them both.
The kit was now just staring at them, her wide blue eyes a nice contrast against her darker sclera, focused mainly on Caulli.
“Then who is this? Did she come through the portal?” Caulli tried to move closer to her, prompting the kit to again hiss and back up against the wall, her eyes narrowing.
“Fiesty little thing. I’m not going to hurt you, sweet little lily, let me look at your wounds. They must hurt, yes?”
The green kits eyes darted to Mallow, then back to Caulli as an almost puzzled expression crossed her face. For a moment she looked just utterly confused on what was going on, but that expression quickly changed when Mallow spoke up again.
“We found her, she had collapsed near the edge of the forest.” She would then get quiet, leaning closer to caulli as she spoke.
“It’s likely one of theirs, but I couldn’t just leave it to die…”
Caulli looked on with a knowing gaze, took another deep breath and started
“Right! Okay! Mallow, let me give you some ointment for those cuts, and then go get some rest. You must be exhausted. I can handle it from here.” She would go around the other side of the room, gathering a few things to treat Mallows wounds as she spoke.
“Besides, I think that both of us here is making her nervous.” She would smile, hand the items off and nod her head towards the door. “Catch up with them in the morning though, please. I feel better knowing all of you are together.”
Mallow would just nod her head in thanks, eager to get some rest after the very long trip back that she had. She headed out the door after one last look at the kitten, hoping that caulli could work her magic..and that saving her life wouldn’t come back to bite her.
“Alright now just what am I going to do with you, little rose.”
- -
Tansy let out a frustrated noise as they once again tumbled and fell into a rabbit hole. They swore to themselves they were paying attention, but maybe they were just a little off their game.
She immediately tried to get up only to feel a pain shoot up her paw. Great. Another thing to remind her of caulli… And because of the pain now radiating through her as she stood up, her mind immediately wandered to the very first interaction she ever had with her now lover, back to the moment her life changed forever…
Tansy was born on a cold winter morning, to a cat who rejected clan life to become a wanderer. Her mother knew little of the world outside the clans protection, and on a day harsher than most, most of tansy’s family was killed. One by one Tansy watched as her mother and siblings were cut down by a fox, only getting away by being cowardly and hiding away. The aftermath was hard, and knowing nothing and having no one, she was left to just continue on aimlessly.
She wandered around for what felt like days, before coming upon a clearing full of old abandoned two-leg buildings. A place her mother once warned her to never get too close to. She stayed there in a building for awhile, keeping shelter from the weather and taking in everything that happened over the last few days. She was hungry and tired, and above all else angry. Angry at herself for being too cowardly to fight, and angry at the world for taking away the only family she ever had.
She slept restless that night, tossing and turning and waking up at every slightest noise, afraid that something was coming to get her. She was just a kit, and kit’s shouldn’t be alone.
A strange noise awoke Tansy the final time during the soft sunrise of morning. She quietly rose from her resting place and cautiously moved her way from the back of the building to a hole in the wall that lead outside.
At first she saw nothing, her eyes adjusting to the light as she moved out into the open more, trying to get a better look at her surroundings. The strange noise came again, a soft tinkering in the distance, a noise she had never heard before.And before she could let her mind wander another figure appeared in the corner of her eye, the source of the noise.
Tansy quickly darted behind some debris, trying to stay hidden as her reflexes forced her to move. Her curiosity however, was a lot stronger and she peaked over the debris to look over towards where she saw the figure. There, about 60 feet away, was another kit. She stared for a while, too afraid to just approach and instead opted to watch, wondering what the kit was doing in a place like this.
Standing above a puddle, there was a soft calico kit with bright blue eyes and a large pink bow wrapped around her neck. A small bell, jingling softly as she moved was strapped to her neck tie, a symbol of her status as a kittypet. Tansy watched on as the other kit stared into the puddle for some time before jumping into it, falling through and disappearing before her very eyes.
Tansy was immediately flabbergasted, a paw coming up to rub at her eyes to make sure that what she just saw was real…but how? Curiosity continued to control her very movements as she made her way over to the puddle, looking into it only to discover it was just…a normal puddle of water? Disappointment, followed by more confusion. How on earth did that kit just disappear? Maybe she was just seeing things. She went to turn around, to see where the kit might have actually gone when a voice reached her ears from behind.
“I knew I sensed someone watching me! Where are you going?”
Tansy tensed up and turned around quickly, only to be met with the empty twoleg village in front of her.
“Down here!” The voice would call out again, a softness to it followed by an adorably painful giggle.
Tansy turned her head down towards the puddle, seeing her reflection look back towards her.
“Okay funny prank, now where are you really at?” Tansy called out, frustration wearing itself across her face.
“You have to want to see.” The voice called back, too close for comfort.
Tansy’s nose wrinkled up as she turned her gaze back towards the puddle. Okay fine, she would amuse the other kit. She looked at it for several seconds before huffing and turning her gaze back towards the empty clearing in front of her. Something changing in her vision however made her look back towards the puddle immediately after she looked away.
The trees. The trees changed!
Instead of the reflection showing her the plain old green trees, they were now mixed with a soft purple. She squinted her eyes, and instead of seeing her reflection she finally saw the soft calico kit staring right back at her. It was as if she was looking down on her and up at her at the same time, it was very strange. She must have looked amazed because the calico kit let out a small laugh and turned around quickly, her fluffy tail flicking in amusement as she finally said.
“Well come on then! Jump in and join me!”
- -
Tansy should have probably not followed this kit into some strange unknown world, because she was so annoying.
She talked constantly and Tansy couldn’t keep up half the time, just either nodding in agreement or humming as a response. She couldn’t tell if it was because she was hungry or just genuinely did not like her bubbly and friendly, all too trusting personality. Most likely the latter.
“And this is where I usually stay, the others aren’t here right now but I can’t wait to introduce you to them! They are super nice, Acker and Fig have shown me everything cool about this palace and oh! I wanna take you to my favorite spot! Do you like flowers? You probably like flowers, who doesn’t hehehe.” She would lead Tansy into a small hut, surrounded by very strange and alien looking flowers.
“Fig works here, he is really good at making medicine and he’s teaching me how to. Thats why I was outside the puddle! I was gathering some herbs for him. I’m really glad I was or I wouldn’t have met you!”
She pulled her satchel off, placing it down on a wooden table, before turning to Tansy once more, who looked completely out of it.
“What were you doing there anyways?”
- -
Tansy met with the Elder of the village, An all too sweet cat by the name of Fig, who welcomed her in with open arms. He gave her a place to stay and gave Caulli something to do, sensing that Tansy just needed a break. She had gone through a lot and was running on pure adrenaline right now, and it wouldn’t hurt to have something to eat and get some much needed rest afterwards. She wasn’t sure of anything at this point and just went along with it because she really had nothing else to do. And at least this place provided her with some much needed protection and stability. She could stand the calico’s annoyance if it meant having food in her belly at the end of the day.
Tansy got some good rest, awaking in the morning when she felt like it. She emerged from the small hut she was given to live in and made her way towards the center of the town. She was still taking everything in, both amazed and just confused at the same time. Such a strange thing has happened to her. She was just looking around, exploring when she was taken out of her thoughts abruptly as her paw got caught in something and she went tumbling down to the ground, her paw snapping in the process. Pain. Excruciating pain, she wanted to cry out but no sound escaped her.
“Oh there you are! Fig wanted me to come and get you, to show you around…oh? Are you okay?”
Tansy just shook her head, trying to prop herself back up on her good paw, wincing as she put any pressure on the injured one.
“Oh! Come come, I’ll have Caullli patch you up, she’s at the medicine den right now.” Acker would run over, pick her up by the scruff and carry her off towards the den, much to her embarrassment. She hated being picked up like this, but she couldn’t exactly walk right now.
She was placed in the medicine den, as the calico from earlier came bounding up to her, quickly taking in the situation. “Oh gosh! That looks like it hurts, here let me take a look.”
Tansy pulled herself away from the calico, not wanting something so…bouncy to touch her and quite possibly make it worse.
“I think I will wait for the healer…thanks”
Caulli just giggled a bit, a slight smirk appearing on her face as she looked up towards Acker.
“Don’t worry I can handle this, go back to your duties! Thanks for dropping her off, Acker!”
Tansy just looked around, realizing that it was the calico who was meant to patch her up. Oh.
She just silently let her do her work after a while, never once meeting her eyes.
She must have looked like a complete fool and a clutz to her, barely a day here and she had already come back with an injury. It was downright embarrassing.
“I realized I never told you my name…. I’m Cauliflower. Whats your name?”
A bit of a silence before she reluctantly responded.
“Tansy.”
“Tansy! I love that!” She purred as she finally finished wrapping up her paw.
. . . .
“Tansy,Tansy,Tansy~”
- -“Tansy! Tansy snap out of it!”
The hectic voice of Verum rang out, Cauilli’s sweet voice morphing into the panicked voice of her patrol companion. When she came to, she saw Verum transformed, her cougar form poised at the ready as the Eagle circled above them.
“Give me backup! There might be more of them hiding in the bush!”
They were going to confront it and fight. Tansy’s bruised paw be damned. They had no idea how many there was.
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