Username: ArtMajor
Cat Name: Zephyr (formerly Fillian)
Gender: Male
Rank: Champion of Empas
Clan: The Elysian FieldsAge: 21y
Partner:ArrikanezPrompt: “when’s he coming back dad?”
Zephyr’s tail curled protectively over Smoke-furred kit, as Fae stepped gently across the room.
Zephyr smiled sadly at his son, gently licking the top of his head. “Do you remember the story I told you?” He said, voice quiet as Fae tucked herself at his side. “With the two adventurers?”
Smoke-furred nodded, his voice quiet as he answered “the one with the dragon and the unicorn, like Fae and Flare!”
“Exactly that one” Zephyr turned his head to look out through the window at the city of Elysium. “Two great creatures, who loved each other and travelled through the worlds together.”
“But one day…they found a new world. One that twisted them horribly so”
He could still remember too. When he had been Fillian. In the worlds where humans were the majority and so that is what they were. When radiation didn’t course through the air, and magic was allowed to sneak through dimensional cracks.
Sean and he had been reckless then. But then…with Sean’s disease looming over their shoulder, how could they not?
Zephyr could still remember leaping through world after world. Meeting Fae and Flare. Taking care of them and each other. And then little Kari. He’d been just a baby back them. Of course, in many ways he still was. But becoming a cat in this irradiated world has grown him mentally. He now seemed a 12 year old, instead of the 5 he really was. Not that he remembered his time in the other worlds. He was far too young to develop memories when Fillian, Sean, and he had gotten trapped.
And trapped they were. The horrible radiation this world had gone through. It took all of their magic to shift into feline form, stripping away their multi-dimensional abilities, and stopping what little healing factor Sean held.
They’d been found by the city cats easily enough. Gotten “sorted” and forbidden from making contact with each other. But rules had never stopped Fillian and Sean.
Just when they had found a rhythm, of course that’s when things took a turn for the worse. Sean’s illness grew worse. He needed healing, of a strength this world didn’t have. What it did have though, was a chance. A chance to get in with the royals, and divert healing to developing something that would save Sean’s life.
“The unicorn promised to win the game, in order to save the dragons life” Zephyr said, forcing his paws to remain still as he recounted the memories.
“But he didn’t know how hard it would be. Snakes, wolves, deadly creatures fought him, to keep him from victory. But when all hope seemed lost, the unicorn summoned a great burst of magic, killing his foes”
That had been three months ago. The last time Zephyr had felt his magic. He’d learned, after getting cleaned of the blood in his fur and the terror in his eyes, that the moment hed felt the burst, that across the city, Sean had been taken by a seizure and died.
Zephyr took a shuddering breath, the weight of his new laurel crown heavy on his head. “But the unicorn learned that magic comes at a cost. The dragon had given his life to save the unicorns.” A single tear slipped through Zephyrs eyes. Then another, and soon, a whole river was streaming down his cheeks. He used his tail to nudge Smoke-furred closer to him, the kitten moments from sleep. “And so, the unicorn promised to protect the dragons hoard. His great treasure, for as long as he lived”
“But what about dad?” Smoke-furred whimpered, even as his eyes dropped further shut. “Your dad was a ferocious dragon,” Zephyr said “the grandest of them all” his throat choked, and he rested his head atop Smoke-furred as he spoke “and he gave up all his magic to keep the two of us alive and together. His greatest treasure, his hoard, whole and complete.”
Smoke-furred’s weight shifted, and Zephyr knew that he’d fallen asleep. The weight on his back told him that Fae was in a similar state. Zephyr lifted a paw to try and wipe st the tears, remembering how his beloved had always protected the two of them. Even when Kari was theirs for but a day, he’d been so protective. And that bond had only grown over the years.
Zephyr lifted his head to the window again, hoping the stars would provide him some form of comfort. As his head started to turn, a black spark, like a bit of lightning burst through his apartment. He turned to stare at it, breath caught in his throat.
The spark crackled again, then burst into a rift, a galaxy weaving between its openings.
“FILLIAN!”
There, standing as a cat with Flare perched on his back, a circus tent in the distance on a red painted sky, alive, staring at Fillian, his mouth still open from where he’d shouted-
-was Sean.
