Username: Shuurock
Cat Name: Thistle
Gender: Male (afab)
Rank: Trainee
Clan: The PrideAge: 1 hear 5 months
Prompt: Thistle can never forget the dream that brought him into the forest in the first place, on a seemingly normal night he drifted into the darkness of sleep. Then here he was, squirming around in some strange trap, his vision blocked and body bound in something… uncomfortably moist. Thistle wasn’t used to much action, but he was finally able to scratch out a tear in the fabric that held him,which allowed him to wriggle free from his slimy prison. He hit the ground, and after shaking himself off he looked back, the strange sac he saw reminded him of the little house a butterfly lived in before it became, well, a butterfly. He had seen a few of the empty cocoons out the window and in the backyard before, but never one this big.
Thistle slowly turned his head to look at his back, seeing what he had expected, yet had hoped not to find. A pair of insect wings. In surprise, the fur on his neck raised as he jumped at the sight, the wings only startling him more when they reacted to his surprise by flaring themselves wide open. As dazzling as the translucent green wings were, he was more terrified than awestruck.
This fear would soon be subsided, though, as Thistle’s attention was once again captured by something new. A gleam of bright light caught his eye, burning for a split second, but inviting him to look into it’s brilliant splendor. The cat’s eyes widened at the view, just beyond the horizon, a sunset unlike any other he’d seen from his cushioned perch or backyard obscured by neat little house after neat little house. There was a sudden, inexplicable, desire to go towards it. Much to his surprise, it took little more than that thought to set his new wings in motion. At first he was simply being carried, but as he flew, he found a new drive, a new courage within himself, he was able to take control and use the wings not as an attachment, but as an extension of himself. Courage gave way to thrill as he found himself doing daring flips in the air, as dizzying as it was, the freedom was so refreshing, so rejuvenating, that he couldn’t care less.
Mid-flip, Thistle happened to notice a group of cats playing on the beach beneath him, kicking around in the sand and splashing in the water that tickled the shore. The sight of their joy made him feel the same, so he flew down to frolic among them.
After landing and spraying sand onto all the new cats, any hesitation he may have had was stripped of him, and Thistle found himself easily playing and splashing with the new cats. He couldn’t recognize a single face, but what he did recognize was the feeling of familiarity he felt from being around them. Family.
Unfortunately, this happiness could not last, and as we all must, he awoke with a start from his dream.
(500 words)
