• Their Deaths | A Stars 3400 Tryout | DNP

[Thani]

Aisling • Goddess of Dreams

Cats present in this story:
Aisling - Goddess of Dreams
Anima- The tower keeper
Pandora- Creator of the gods.
Alador- God of the Earth
Harvey- Goddess of Nature
Araceli- Goddess of the sky
Folores- Former goddess of Wisdom

Word # 3000/3000

[Thani]

Aisling's Dream state was beautiful. Simply breathtaking.
It was unfortunate that no other soul could ever bare witness to it.
Even when invading ones dreams, she couldn't just simply recreate it.

Pillowy clouds lined ones vision, a mesh of blues and purple danced amongst themselves in perfect harmony.
A small settlement was nestled between the clouds, rising up into the clouded sky, spiraling in a mess of marble and stone.
Her base of operations.
Stepping into the marbled structure the first thing you'd notice is the scent of oranges, Aisling's favorite.
Sitting in the corner of the main room, a stoned off fireplace, surrounded on either side with bookshelves. On the shelves there were books, each one with a name scrawled on the front with lovely handwriting. Details of the dreams she's created over the years.

Despite her ability to create beautiful dreams for others, she was unable to actually dream herself. She never minded, however, she would almost prefer no one poking around in her head. So it was no surprise that when her dreamscape began changing before her very eyes, she had no idea why or how. What was once a beautiful cacophony of blues and purples turned to blacks and reds, an ominous color scheme. However Aisling did not feel uneasy in the slightest. She moved from her marbled structure to get a better grasp on just what could be going on. That was when she saw a tree.

Off in the distance, a tangled mess of roots gnawed at the clouds, the branches flowing up and disappearing amongst the red and black smoke. At the base of the tree something caught her eye, a figure. She tried to focus on it, but she couldn't quite make out what, or who it was. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks, almost sending her spiraling down into her clouded visage. Pandora. And she was asking for help.

[Thani]

There were only two others she could go to with this, Harvey and Anima. Harvey being out of the question, given her nature, Aisling decided on the latter. Anima was the best choice regardless because she considered the two of them to be friends. Her, Anima, Hestor and Oleris often hung out together in the tower's lower parts. She would go to Anima, and see if he had any ideas about what this dream might mean- and why Pandora was calling out to her.

Aisling ascended the steps to Anima's Tower, her thoughts racing. She had no idea how she would bring this up to Anima, just that she absolutely had to. She couldn't do this on her own, she wouldn't even know where to start.
"You wanted to see me?"

"Something is happening, Anima." Aisling would start, beckoning the older tom to follow her away from any prying ears.
"It's Pandora, I think shes calling out to me in my dreams." She whispered, prompting Anima to pull her inside the tower further, into a room behind his throne.

"Aisling this isn't something to joke about. Are you sure it was Pandora? I mean you've never even SEEN her before?"

"I know that's why I've come to you. I'm not sure how I know it was her I just...know."

Anima looked distraught for a moment, before a wave of emotions cascaded down his face. Aisling noticed this, she knew him too well to know something is wrong.
"Aisling. I'm going to tell you this once, alright?" Anima started, turning to look her dead in the eyes.

"Pandora is dead. I don't know what you saw but it wasn't her. You can't let such obvious tricks be your downfall, friend. Now leave me, I have an audience with Alador soon."

"yes, yes..of course. I should have known better....I'll leave you."

"And Aisling."

"Yes?"

"Best not to bring this up with anyone else. We don't want them worrying for no reason."

"Of course, Sir."

She also knew him well enough to know that that was absolutely strange.

[Thani]

Anima never left the tower. He couldn't otherwise it would cease to exist. This was known by pretty much everyone as common knowledge.
So If Aisling was going to have to investigate the tower without Anima knowing, she was going to have to be smart about it.
She knew something was off, with the way he quickly dismissed her dream about Pandora. He's always taken her seriously in the past, so to be weird about this dream, she knew he was hiding something. And if he was hiding something it had to be inside the tower.

Aisling had power over dreams, this was known, but she also had power over sleep itself. She didn't use it as often, but she would have to make an exception this time. The next night after Anima and Alador had their meeting, Aisling snuck into the tower and put Anima into a deep sleep. There was no backing out now.


The tower was a maze the further you got up, there were millions upon millions of books lining the walls, seemingly neverending. Aisling ascended the stairs with a mission, determination plastered to her face. She was not going to give up until she found whatever was hidden here. Whatever Anima was hiding about Pandora, she deserved to know. They all did.

[Thani]

It felt like days climbing this neverending tower, but in reality it was only an hour or two. Aisling was beginning to think that there was nothing hidden inside, until she noticed something strange from the corner of her eye. A small glint in the wall, almost as if there was light coming from the other side. She let out a sigh, thankful she didn't miss it otherwise who knows how long she'd be climbing still.
She placed her paw on the wall and gently pushed but nothing happened. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
So instead she decided to look at the books that were lining the wall where the hidden entrance was.
She read them aloud as she went book by book.

"Folores...Flint....Verity..." She paused before reading the last one. "Harvey?" It was more a question than a statement, she failed to understand how Harvey had anything in common with the three names before her.

She had to know.
She plucked the book with Harvey's name on it out of the shelf and heard a click. Of course.
Aisling set the book down on the ground for now, before moving to open the hidden door in the wall.
When she entered she was surprised to see that it looked almost the same as every other floor in this tower. Almost.
In the center of the room, surrounded by candlelight, a giant red book with golden lettering lay closed.
"So that was where the light was coming from..."

Aisling moved over towards the book, curiously eyeing the outside of it before placing a paw on it. It radiated with warmth and a feeling that she couldn't quite describe...all she knew was that it was not a good feeling.

"What in the hells is this......"

[Thani]

The giant red book lay unopened, as an uncertain yet curious pair of blue and brown eyes glazed over it's cover.
'This is a bad idea'
And not seconds after her thought, her paws reached forward and opened the book to a random page.

Scrawled, uneven and messy handwriting littered the page. Its contents seemed to be notes on a day long since passed, perhaps Anima's own recollection of the past?

She turned the page again to reveal a pivotal moment in history, this time drawn out in a messy scribble of color. It was almost unrecognizable at first who was depicted, until a small blue charm was seen drawn at her side.
It depicted Folores, just entering the dark forest, possibly days before she would die and never return.

"Why would Anima draw this...?"
She placed a paw on the picture, as if mourning the drawing in place of her dear Folores.
Moving her paw away she noticed a small number in the upper right corner. 'Entry 100'

Curious ever more now, she turned the page again to reveal yet another sketch, this time of something that had not yet happened.
"What is this...?" It was a drawing of herself, almost eerily similar to the one of Folores, walking into the dark forest alone.
"But iv'e never....?" She would say to herself, puzzled as she looked over the drawing carefully to see if there was anything she missed. 'Entry 101' Was scrawled in the top right of the page.

Feeling a little uneasy now, she hesitantly flipped to the next page and almost gasped at what she saw scribbled there.
'Entry 102' Was slapped in the top right corner and two figures were seen fighting and clawing at each other. Aisling's only clue as to who they were, were the distinct eye color of a very well known she-cat, Harvey. The other one was difficult to make out, but the hollow eyes with no color...she didn't know why she knew but she did. It was meant to portray Araceli.






Ref used

[Thani]

Days had passed and Aisling was mentally at war with herself on what she should do.
She wanted to give her long time friend the benefit of the doubt however she could not help but feel like he was actually doing what she feared.
Anima was writing the deaths of their fellow gods.
but why?

Did this sudden appearance of Pandora in her dreams have something to do with this?
Was she calling out for help because her precious children were dying..and she was too weak to intervene?
"Thats it...I have to tell someone"
No
She couldn't
Imagine the chaos? What if telling someone indirectly sped up the process of bringing to fruition what Anima had drawn and wrote?
She would have to think of a way to do this without letting anyone know what was happening. And there was only one person she knew who would help her without asking too many questions; Alador, the god of the Earth.

[Thani]

Aisling noticed the past few days Alador had an audience with Anima.
She heard little rumors being spread about that he was going to make an expedition through the forbidden forest, and was in the process of choosing the guides to accompany him, since he did not have one yet assigned.
It was strange timing sure, since there had rarely been any reason to go out to the other side of the forest but she decided that as soon as he was done with the meeting today she would ask him for the favor.

"Alador! I need to speak with you!"
Aisling would call out to the tom cat, seeing his descend the stairs of the tower, coming back to the common area.

"I can't speak now Aisling, not to you. I have to head out now, time is of the essence."
Alador responded, pushing past the now confused she-cat.

"What did Anima say to you? Why do you have to leave?"
She wanted answers, surely now she knew that this was no mere coincidence. This had something to do with what she had told Anima about Pandora.

Alador stopped for a moment, his face twisted with concern before he turned to look at Aisling.
"I cannot say anything Aisling, but please, whatever you are thinking, forget it. It's being taken care of."
And with that, he was off. Likely to head out into the forest, where she could not follow.

- - -

It was difficult for Aisling to do her job, she couldn't help but feel like Alador was somehow in on whatever Anima was doing.
Part off her wished she never went into the tower, never discovered what she did. It was very difficult to avoid Anima too. Considering the two of them were friends. Or could she even say that now?
Other people noticed her acting strange as well, her normal behaviours and schedule were strangely off.

"Are you doing okay, Aisling? Hestor and I noticed you've been a little quiet lately. If there's anything you need to talk about, we are here for you." Harvey would say to her, placing a pink paw on her shoulder.

If only it were that simple. If only she could talk to them about how she was feeling. If only she could out Anima for what he was doing and have things be resolved.

"Your Aura is off, Aisling...are you getting enough sleep?" A concerned Araceli would poke at Aisling, her wash awash with worry.

"I'm fine, Ara, just a lot on my mind recently is all."

"All this stress isn't good for you, you know. If you ever need someone to talk to, Ai , you know where to find me."

Araceli was so sweet.
So utterly and completely compassionate.
So how then?
How on earth could Anima draw to will Araceli murdering her lover-her life, Harvey?
It made no sense.

"Aisling dear! Want to come for a swim?" Nozomi would shout, her fur beneath the water shimmering like scales on a fish.
"The water is really nice today!"

"Not now, Nozomi, I'm not really feeling up to it."

"Oh~? What's the matter, love? You doing alright?"

"I feel bad,Nozomi, I have this...secret. And I can't tell anyone otherwise something bad might happen."

Nozomi pulled herself up out of the water and sat next to Aisling, cocking her head to the side as she asked -
"Well." She took a deep breath "Is this secret something that can be prevented? Is there anything to gain from telling someone?"

Aisling thought for a moment, before shaking her head..
"No..no...it's not...ugh"
She sounded frustrated, hanging her head to look into the pool of water.
"Nevermind, Nozomi, I'll be fine. Thanks."

"Well..alright Darlin'....don't beat yourself up so much about it. I'm sure it'll all be okay!"
And with that Nozomi gave Aisling a quick paw tot he shoulder before diving back into the water.

I'm not so sure.........'

"Aisling"
She froze.
"Iv'e been hearing you aren't feeling too well. Come to my tower, we need to talk." Anima's ghostly voice came from behind her.
She absolutely panicked.

[Thani]

Aisling once again found herself walking up the steps up towards the towers entrance. Anima's ghost walked slowly ahead of her, his reddish tail dragging along the ground behind him. They were eerily quiet as they made their way towards a private room, Aisling was afraid Anima could hear her heart beating. His ghost disappeared as his fully fleshed form regained consciousness.

"I'm sure you already know that I've sent out a patrol." He started, standing up and pacing the room as he spoke to her.

Aisling awkwardly stood still in front of the door as she listened.

"I let Alador know of your dreams and he agreed to travel beyond the forest to seek out Pandora."

Aisling was a little surprised he actually was telling her this.

"If Pandora is even really there, we will soon find out. Although I doubt it, I have noticed you’ve been...ill at ease lately" He would turn to look at her now, his face stern.

"And if it would relieve your stress to know your dreams are just that- I had to have something done."

"If this was all it was why was Alador so vague earlier?" She wanted to believe him but the way Alador acted earlier....Anima was not telling the whole story.
'He's not your friend anymore, Aisling' She had to mentally remind herself of this as she awaited his answer.

"I told him I wished to bring it up with you myself. Somewhere private. We can't have people overhearing and having fear spread."
He answered simply, almost perfectly.

"I see...."

"Fear. Panic...these are things we wish to avoid here in our little paradise. Don't you agree, Aisling?" He looked directly at her now, his eyes piercing deeply into her own.

"O-of course.." She felt ill. There was no way he knew what she saw right? There couldn't have been.

"Now relax, friend. Alador will return soon and put this rumour to rest. I only hope your dream remains only that. You may leave."

She couldn't get out of there fast enough.

- - -

Aisling knew two things. Anima somehow knew she saw the book and she could not trust Alador.
They were in on it together, that much was clear. She didn't quite understand the reason or even the details of it but she didn't have to.
They were plotting the deaths of her friends, and trying to stop Pandora while she was weak.
'Pandora!'
She is the only one who could stop this and Anima knew that. Thats why he was sending Alador to find her.
Aisling pieced more of it together as she quickly ran through her dream state, towards her sanctuary.
She grabbed a small bag and began tossing things inside of it. She would have to hurry, considering Alador had gotten a head start.

And as night began to fall over Pandora, blanketing it in a soft darkness, everyone was comfortably lay in their beds, awaiting the morning sun. Everyone but Aisling.
In the northernmost quadrant of the Tower's view, a cloaked she-cat ran towards the entrance of the forest, alone, without a guide. From the tower Anima watched, a knowing look on his face as he backed from one of the many windows and into the center of the room. He lay a paw over the book a small smile playing at his lips before he slammed it closed.
And in the valley below, Aisling stood, face to face with an ever growing darkness.

As if fate itself placed her there, a perfect mirror image to the drawing Anima had done the weeks before.
One thought was present in her mind.

She would rather face the hell she knew than the Heaven she didn't.