***NO POSTING*** {Character Vault} Harimau Valley

[tigressa]

Crimson stained fur, a delicate face, eyes blown wide open, never to blink again. The one he had trusted the most, his pillar, his strength, his mother. Everything was going down the drain and honestly, he wished it was him instead.

Cassius bowed his head to nudge her face, hope blossoming in his heart. She's alive, she has to be. He was delirious, desperate. She's alive, alive, alive. He repeated it like a mantra in the depths of his mind as if the willpower alone would bring her back. A flash of light. A loud crackling sound in his ears. Lightning, it had struck in front of him, too close to be a coincidence, and in its place stood a being, seemingly made of stardust.

"Now child, don't cry..." Her tone was clear and gentle, though cracking at the edges, her eyes smiling sadly at him. Cassius stood back, eyes wide in disbelief, tears glistening on his auburn cheeks.

"Discover what's within you, Cassie, and you'll see that I'm alright. I'll always be with you in spirit...you see?", she continued, her voice barely a whisper in the Lorinthian wind.

"Will I ever see you again?"

There was no reply at first, only a slight quirk in her lips. A fragile grin.
"Perhaps"

The glow of her spirit began to flicker, her image distorted and twisted beyond recognition. Her eyes locked with his and in that moment, all he could feel was a sense of empowerment, with panic lurking close behind, in the shadows of his mind. It felt like the world was collapsing upon him and perhaps, it really was.

A faded paw reached out suddenly and placed in his palm the crystal pendant that had adorned her neck for many years, passed down upon generations and generations, nudged his cheek and faded from existence. Fragments of light, leftovers from her spirit, glowed brightly in the sky, swirling in the wind, away from him.


"But mother...w-what can I do?" His words were strained, a shiver running up his spine. Tears still pricked at his eyes. Her words had done nothing to comfort him. And now, he was alone in this world. Change happens, his mother always told him. Embrace it. Those once comforting words, uttered back when he only but a pup, only stung more in his bitter heart.

In his haze, he dropped the crystal and it broke into a million tiny shards, each one shimmered of murky red. Something else fell, he could barely make out the words as he squinted. Continue our legacy, Cassie. It was scrawled in cursive across a tiny slip of parchment. He had reached for it when suddenly, he collapsed, his legs void of any feeling . Inky, starry black liquid suddenly spilled out from the fragments, heading for his heart. Tiny comets skidded across the dark space, blinks of light flickering in every direction, like stars on a clear night. He opened his mouth to scream but found that he was mute. The liquid was spinning now, enveloping him in the center, the stars blurring around him. Daggers in his chest, it felt like that, sliding deeper as his need to cry out loud grew stronger. It started to feel as if he would die right there and then. I could see mother again... A smile betrayed his lips. But then as quickly as it appeared, the ink had vanished and he could feel his limbs again. Gingerly, Cassius rose, only to gasp as he saw his reflection in the stardust at his feet. It was utterly surreal. A pelt of black, dotted with stars and ethereal patterns that beat the beauty of the galaxies themselves with black quartz eyes framed by blue, a fine white mist flowing from them.

(I'm procrastinating I homework to write this hnghngn)