It takes a very lost and foolish storkie to get lost in the caves of endless time. Every instinct screaming out about the danger and the walls pressing in like they themselves breathe in and out in stony times. The stalactites and stalagmites look like teeth, creaking and groaning their growls. It a near on forbidden place to be, if not for the fact that most stay away in the first place.
And yet, it turns out that one is not alone even in this place. Three sets of eyes stare at the newcomer. It has been a long time since they have seen a face that wasn't their own. It has been a longer time since that they have seen one that seemed to be sane.
They had talked about what they would do if they saw a sign of civilisation, of life. They would be calm and refined. They would talk with one another, confident and suave.
It doesn't work out that way. Excitement, isolation, secrets for far too long. They take steps forward, one side attempting to bound forward as if for a hug, bright and energetic. On the other side, dark and brooding attempts to slink down into a stalk. Hunting the newcomer like prey.
In times past they would have been. To Slate anything smaller and weaker than him was to be killed. He was a god, death itself defined. He had towered over the heavens and laughed at mortals and other gods alike. He chose when a fate would be cut short. Shaping civilisations and lives like it was a game. He was undefeatable, and unavoidable.
He used to be.
But then came immortality. Then came the Madness.
Who was death when there was no sentience left to kill. When millions of feline and canine lives snuffed out. When they became something he had no sway over.
Who was Death if he could not kill?
“Slate. Stop that, this is a guest.” Mauve, the central head admonished. Ey controlled the tail, the stillest part, other than a twitch at the tip. They were bossy, strict, and had just been a lowly hyena Before. But they did keep the three of them sane, so Slate relented.
“You too Carmine.” Ey said to the final, but most excited head, who still was attempting to power the body forward with just two paws. It was easy to underestimate her like this, eyes wide and open like a youngster. An excited disposition.
But she was the one who had almost ripped the bodies agreement multiple times. She was convinning and a holder of secrets, ready to bring them up at the worst moment. Tearing into insecurities and bringing up your worst fears. She had caused arguments so great that each of the heads had refused to talk to each other for many years.But they had so many left that communication was unavoidable. So long was infinity, even if it was only partially over.
They had been their only company for so long.
Settled and in agreement once more they approached the new comer. A storkatten. The new species, the one Slate had no control over.
Yet.
“Who are you?” The creature asked. Timid. Cowardly. Weak.
None of the three knew the answer.
They knew who they had been.
Mauve had been strong, unrelenting in eir approach. Ey had found things lost to history, magical artifacts and valuable ingredients. Ey had become rich in that life. Ey was nothing ey could want
For and yet ey always made sure to never become arrogant like Slate. Anything could be lost once more, things could be stolen again.
Ey had never trusted in stability, never had a family that could be trusted or a live that could be lived. Constant movement. Constant surveillance.
And yet, as ey expected it had all come crumbling down. The Madness, taking something that could never be recovered from everyone ey had ever known. Ey survived a while in isolation, looking with desperation for once in eir life. An artifact that could save em from the fate everyone else had suffered.
Ey had succeeded. They suffered a different fate now.
Attached and trapped.Carmine didnt really know how to answer the question either. A name. She had multiple. An appearance, well that too used to change with the moment. Who she needed to trick and manipulate. She was a maid, a princess, a shop keep, a huntress. But what she hunted was secrets and she hoarded them like the rich stored gold. She always wanted to know more, more about others, more about how she could get them to do what she wanted. But she had always been at a disadvantage, small and fragile back then.
She could slip through the cracks, make people underestimate her.
How was she supposed to do that now? Like this? Giant and intimidating.
No more trust blindly given, no more underestimating sweet little Carmine.
They knew What they had been
A lion god fallen from powerA Hyena thief, paranoid and unsettled.A Cat of secrets, never able to be respected.But they werent any of those things anymore.
They had each been desperate. Faced with apocalypse. Faced with The Madness.
A storkie was all three, the size of a lion, the magic of hyenas, and the appearance more cat like.
A storkatten was immune to the madness. Immune to the old gods.
But they didnt mean for it to be like this.
“Who are we?” Mauve repeated.“We are the Last.” Slate intoned.“And we really really want to get out of this god forsaken cave.” Carmine ended.
