Journey to the Trinity Tree - Summer event prompts

[Meekins12345]

Username: Meekins12345
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Erastus, Ciqala, Axel, and Scirocco
Link to their pride or group: The Cloud Coalition - A sub-pride of The Pride of Wikimak
Prompt level completion: Level 5
Prompt: June 13th

"We... We failed..."

---

"Another entry in The Adventures of the Strange Portal. Well... I'm not sure what we're going to do now. You see, a lot happened since the last time I had written in here. In order to understand our current situation, I'll have to explain everything that happened just earlier today."

"First of all, we were summoned back up to the surface for, what appeared to be, our final battle. The majority of the decaying creatures on the other side of the field seemed to have prepared their best weaponry and their largest, strongest soldiers. Lined up in rows and ready to battle, both sides got themselves ready. Ciqala and Axel took up the near front as soldiers, while Scirocco and I remained as medics well behind everyone. We were ready to finish this, and all of the other felines looked about ready, as well."

"Only there was just one thing. Our team had spoken of trying to pick up a group of splinters to travel to the other side, to the enemy's ruler, the tree of decay. Their mission was to run over there without being caught and catch that tree on fire, and allow it to burn while everyone was fighting. Some thought it was a good idea, and so a group of splinters were sent out before the battle began. They were to take the long way around, around the battlegrounds and through the forest, into the near middle of it and locate the tree and set it ablaze... little did we know that the opposing team had the exact same idea, but it was aimed at our own tree, not theirs."

"It felt like mere minutes passed by, it all happened so fast. One minute, our troops went out and met the enemy in the middle of the field and they began fighting with all their might. The next minute, both sides seemed to see that their precious trees were on fire. What was originally the sounds of battle cries quickly turned to panicked screams and each side immediately went back to their own trees to try and figure out how to extinguish the fire. It blazed across each of the trees and they howled in pain and agony, a sound that would just about break anyone's heart."

"I was quick to come up with an idea. Since Ciqala had spoken of an oasis not too far from here, in the nearby forests, I had rounded up a group of felines, both lions and cats, and we each got buckets and ran over to the oasis as fast we could. We got water into our buckets and cans and whatever else we really had that could hold water and quickly ran back to our tree only to throw that cool water onto the tree. It seemed to help the tree for only a little while, and unfortunate as it was, we didn't have enough felines to constantly throw water upon our tree. For everyone that ultimately came back to the tree with fresh water was greeted with only more flames that practically licked the water right off the bark."

"Try as we might, we could not get the fire to stop, and eventually the flames grew too large, and the smoke only grew more and more thick with every passing minute. We found ourselves unable to get any closer to the tree, and so were forced to step back, stop our attempts at saving the tree, and ultimately all settled down in the plains, away from the tree to watch it burn... Our attempts at saving the tree had all ended in failure, and this war only ended in the same way the tree did... all in flames. with nary a trace."

"Axel and another band of cats and lions had gone into the forests and plains in search of the splinters, at least the splinter party that had torched the Trinity tree. Unfortunately, though, they were unable to find any of them... Well, they may have found a couple, but they had gotten away before any where able to be caught, and they only ran deeper and deeper into the woods. We've never really explored beyond that point and I don't think many wanted to, since that would only get them potentially lost. So they came back and regrouped with us, and together, we've been watching the tree as it burns... We can see the smoke coming from the opposing side's tree as well. It appears they may have tried the same tactics as us, only to end the same way our own had, in failure."

"It's rather depressing now... We had done so much work for the community that lived under this great tree and we had done much for the tree itself, and yet we still managed to lose not only the war, but the tree as well... To this day, I'm still uncertain as to who had the right idea and who's side was really the righteous one, but... I suppose that doesn't really matter anymore. We've lost the tree, and everything we've been working so hard for... I can only wonder if we'll be able to go back home now... and if we go back home, will we be able to live with ourselves, knowing we failed in a mission we were mostly forced into, but readily accepted?"

"I didn't imagine the outcome to ever be this way... and it's rather sad to know that this was the outcome... It's even sadder knowing that the rain was coming, and it's pouring now, but it was also too late to save the trees... We were too late. We were all too late."

"Now I can only hope and pray that the inhabitants here remain safe and their belongings aren't too badly burned, if the fire moves down into the city. And I hope that they can remain in this place... but if they can't, I hope they can find a safer place to live, too. I only wish I could've done more." (1,012 wc)

[SurgeFire]

Username: SurgeFire
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: lucian, calida, caspian, phoenix
Link to their pride or group: Vallis
Prompt level completion: Level 5
Prompt:

The sky was dark.

Dismal.

Corrupted.

Phoenix stood before the territory of life with a stony-faced expression. This was not how it should have gone at all.... in the pursuit of power neither side was right. Neither side proved better than the other, and it all culminated in the engulfing of both sides in flames.
She was disappointed.
She had advocated for a fairer fight; something that would not cause mass destruction on both ends. What good was it to set absolutely everything on fire; what good was it, to strike down absolutely everything that they had stood for? What good was it to resort to engulfing both sides in flames?
She felt like she had repeated herself over and over, constantly, persistently, almost begging - though she would never phrase it like that - the others to just listen to her, just for once. How there were innocents who did not deserve to die in those flames.
But nobody had listened to her. They were caught up in the heat of the moment, too preoccupied in a master plan, to prove themselves right. They had both failed now, both watched their respective trees go down in flames.

She almost felt ashamed for her fire magic.

But - no. She couldn't dwell on that. She had tried to help and she knew that there was likely no chance she could have ever convinced the others, her allies, to listen. She could not help their deaf ears that her words fell on; she could not make them hear. She was not a miracle-worker.

Phoenix stood on the hill and looked over at the dying flames.
The falling ash. The plumes of smoke. They sprung forth from the fire, illuminating and illustrating the sky to fit the darker tone of the turn of the battle. It was too fitting, too terribly perfect to show their mixed emotions caused by this unnecessary war.
She was not going to feel pity for her own side, or for the other. They had both done their part, and if they were going to dwell on the loss of their trees, that was on them.

As to how she was supposed to keep up hope; it was not as if she had drained hope, it was as if her hope was focused elsewhere.
The damage had been done, she knew. There was no use in fighting further. Whatever goals they had were as lost as the trees of life and decay, burned down in the flames.
She knew in her heart she had to advocate for peace. She had discouraged getting too involved in the conflict and letting the denizens settle it with their own terms of combat, but it seemed as if the cats who had come in from various worlds had gotten themselves carried away... and now, she thought, it was time to make them pay for what they had done - in peace.
Oh, she had no ill will, or vengeance. She just knew that it was right that if they had caused this destruction, it was only right that they fix it. But how...? How was she going to spur that hope, take it from their hearts? How was she going to convince them otherwise?

It was silly of her to assume that she was going to be able to fix this, was it?
Oh well.

She wondered where the other three went. She had forced Calida back to Lucian as Phoenix came closer to the flames; she knew it was far too dangerous for a young cat like her to get so close, in fear that Calida might get hurt or inhale too much smoke.
She didn't want to be responsible for the injury or hurt of yet another innocent cat... and her mind came back to envisioning countless cats falling to the flames, and she shuddered once more.
She was just so, so tired. But she kept her serious expression.

"Phoenix?"

Oh gods damn it, she came to follow me.

"Calida?" Phoenix spoke, suddenly turning back to face the pale ginger spotted tabby cat, her mismatched gaze wide and curious. "I told you to go back."
"I did, I did go back... but I wanted to make sure you were alright..." she spoke somewhat sheepishly, a sharp change from the usually confident demeanor she had. "You were so close to the flames!"
"Did you want to see the fire, too?"

That question seemed to shock Calida for a moment, as if Phoenix truly got her intentions... curiosity had gotten the best of her, hadn't it? Of course Calida cared about Phoenix, as she looked up to her, but it was truly curiosity...
"I was... curious," Calida responded carefully and slowly, considering her words; she didn't want Phoenix to be upset at her... "I was curious why you'd go so far in anyways."
I deal with fire constantly, Phoenix thought once more, slightly irritated. I think I know what I'm doing. You don't.
"Stay the hell away from here, and I'll go back with you. Deal?"

Lucian was... defeated, somewhat.
His goal was taken away from him, just like that. There was no heroism that could be done now; there was nothing he could do that would look better for him, as both sides were engulfed in fire. How could he possibly go from this, knowing there wasn't a good way to fix it?
He considered trying to save something, but it was no use. He was sure it was dangerous and foolish to do so; and Caspian and Calida likely would have wandered off somewhere, perhaps, to somewhere much more dangerous.
Not as if he cared too much about them, of course. But he knew that it was better to come back with the news that everything was set on fire and destroyed, but the cats were safe - than to come back with news of the destruction, including the deaths of two young cats.
He didn't know what to do anymore.


"What... do we do?" Caspian muttered, somewhat scared of their future. "Everything is... gone."
"We'll fix this," Calida spoke up, confidence regained. "We have to."

[1021 words]

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Username: TheSongOfTheStars
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Bryva Hayes Lost Shard Fragment
Link to their pride or group: HOD Dark of Mists
Prompt level completion: 5
Prompt:

1,012 words

The rain comes and Lost Shard can do naught but curse at it. Was this all just a joke?
She stands in the wrecked field, watching as smoke rises higher and higher all around her, reaching up to join the clouds in the overcast sky.
There is nothing to be done, not even the rain can douse these fires of madness.
Lost Shard let the bucket drop from her grip and it hit the ground with a dull ringing thud. She turned her back on the dying trees, her shoulders sinking with the weight of the fight and the seeping exhaustion. She had no idea what was going to happen next.
No, she knew exactly what was going to happen next. She was going to go back to the Swift-7 and take a long, long nap. It was after that she was not sure about. Fix her ship and hope that the navigation would be able to tell her where she was? Hope that her ship was fixable at all? She did not know.
At this point? She really, really does not know.
Slowly, down the muddy path, Lost Shard trudged back to her broken starship, willing her aching limbs to carry her just a bit further, then they could rest.
With fumbling fingers she pulled up the hatch to the ship and slid into the familiar surroundings. For a minute she almost went straight to the floor, but resisted the urge to curl up right there, expending the last ounces of her energy to climb into her bunk. Finally, she collapsed onto the mattress pad and it felt like heaven. She did not bother to unstrap her weapons or change the bandages on her wrist, she was far to spent, and in fact was asleep before she had even properly settled on the bed.
---
Fragment and Bryva tried to make their way deeper into the forests, hoping to escape from the fires and the soldiers, but it did not work out the way they quite wanted. The fires were not much of a problem, Bryva could handle them well enough, especially now that the rain was actively fighting against the flames. But the soldiers proved to be a larger problem then either of them had realized. Random groups of fighters, some of them engaged with each other, still fighting as the battlefield burned down around their ears, others just milling around, some actively fleeing. Neither Bryva or Fragment wanted to tangle with them, even the ones who were running away.
So as they wove their way through the groups and ended up back in the field that stretched between the city and the wilds.
"We can't stay here," Fragment said and Bryva nodded, it was obvious. There were still small fires pock marking the field, the dead laying everywhere, shadows and smoke everywhere.
The air was stinging with the stink.
Picking their way across the field, Bryva found that the last bits of strength in her hurt body were seeping out and she was sagging harder and harder against Fragment.
"You need a break?" he asked, trying to steady her.
"No...no I.." the very words hurt and Bryva had to close her eyes to keep the tears at bay "Yeah I do."
"Okay, okay, let's just find somewhere out of the rain," Fragment paused, his eyes scanning the field, trying to find somewhere that would provide a bit of relief from the elements "What a mess."
"Huh?"
Fragment realized he was muttering "Nothing."
There was a creak and groan of splinters and burning wood and from behind them rose up the broken hulk of one of the soldiers of decay. Slowly it swung its head from side to side, eyes blinking slowly as it cleared away the muck. Then its gaze focused on the two cats like a laser.
"Uh oh," Fragment breathed.
Bryva just sighed.
The soldier charged.
Fragment bolted, instinct pushing him forwards and without thinking he let go of Bryva to leap out of the soldier's way. But the fire cat's feet twisted together as she tried to keep her own balance and she could do nothing as she was trampled down as the beast tracked Fragment's movement.
She screamed and Fragment realized his mistake, but seconds too late.
Realizing he had no choice but to run if he wanted to keep the beast's attention Fragment darted further away from Bryva, leading the heaving, wheezing monster after him.
It was a broken thing though and it soon crumbled back to its knees, leaving Fragment free to race back to Bryva. She was still.
"I'm sorry," he rasped as he got his arms underneath her mud sodden body "I'm so sorry."
He shook beneath her dead weight, but the guilt urged him forwards, until his foot caught on something metallic.
Staggering around the large object he could not figure out what it was exactly, but there was an open hatch that offered refuge from the rain and rogue soldiers and Fragment did not have a lot of options.
He scrambled inside, glancing about, hoping he had not been seen. The place seemed like it was empty, safe enough, for now.
So he knelt down past the circle of gray light that the open hatch let in and carefully as he could, set Bryva down.
She rolled limply, no resistance to the momentum of her own broken body.
She was breathing, but faintly, with a wet ragged edge that concern Fragment more than any of the previous injuries she had received from her fall.
"I'm sorry," he whispered "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I panicked."
But words would not fix anything. So he stood up and quietly as he could, began to rummage through the compartments of the strange structure.
He came up with a weird little object that hummed when he pressed against a knob. He was not sure what it was really, but it turned icy cold after a few seconds, maybe it could help with the swelling. Maybe it would not.
All he could do was hope.

[snapshot]

Username: snapshot
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Mamba
Link to their pride or group: Lions of the Waves
Prompt level completion: 4
Prompt: June 13

[Midnightkitkat]

Username: Midnightkitkat
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Limpet
Link to their pride or group: Vast Marsh
Prompt level completion: 3
Prompt:

[albino polar bear]

Username: albino polar bear
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Kara, Mara & Malcolm
Link to their pride or group: X
Prompt level completion: Level 5
Prompt:

[minifun990]

Username: minifun990
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt:Ladon Melli, Dahlia, Eleri, Jovano and Samena
Link to their pride or group:Mystic Isles
Prompt level completion: 5 (1104 words)
Prompt: June 13th

[wucaian]

Username: wucaian
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Moon
Link to their pride or group: Mountain Pass Pride
Prompt level completion: Lvl. 5 [shaded + complex bg]
Prompt:-June 13-

[Runnersback]

Username:Runnersback
Link to lion(s) involved in prompt:Achilles Letaba
Link to their pride: Realms of L’Oasis Lo
Prompt level completion: Level 5
Prompt:013

[Jantzi01]

Username: Jantzi01
Link to cat(s) or lion(s) involved in prompt: Kosa Helios Virtue
Link to their pride or group: The Ushirikiano Pride Here
Prompt level completion: 5
Prompt:
Here