Silver
As soon as she left the interior , Silver slunk to the back of the shed to take the remaining prey. She dug a hole and dumped all of the carcasses down and kicked over dirt to hide it. When he knew, he would understand. Her memories had too her ear more than she needed to know because there was an extra memory in all the chaos: there was another cat at the corner of her sight when she was in herself talking to the stranger she had once known. Why did she not remember his name? Was it known after something? A flower perhaps? Maybe a species of oak that she didn't know? He had never mentioned his name in any of the dreams she had. Was that because they were close or was it because.. it wasn't a dream? No, it had to be one. She had to stop being so unsure. Whatever happened, if he died then she would be haunted with that forever. His leg didn't heal when he was knocked out the last night, the opposite happened; She managed to stop the bleeding after a few minutes. The swelling had started ever. His leg would heal right? What if it never did? How would she forgive herself?
These thoughts haunted her as she sprang onto a nearby sapling that was nearly the height of the shed. Her paws were stiff but usable and she was easily able to jump onto the roof. The sun shone there often in the afternoon, heating up so it was warm and comfy for a nap, when she didn't want to lay in her nest. Her mouse from yesterday that she had put up there awaited her, not hot nor cold. A perfect meal for thinking things through. Lately, she felt that her peace had been disturbed. Wasn't the perfect life forever? Why happen now?
A while later, as she stretched and started taking small bites of the grey striped corpse, she pondered about the tom she remembered. Did he know about her dreams? He certainly looked friendly enough to her. His fighting and hunting skills were not yet shown but once he had hopefully healed she could decide to get closer or distance herself away. After all, it had been ages since she even remembered talking to any creature, for the prey had long stopped listening in fear that she might eat them after. The falcons up in the sky did not help her, sometimes catching her prey in their talons only for her to bat the feathered animal down to take the scrawny piece of skin in winter. The seasons were not cold, but sometimes harsh water happened like blizzards. Why could she remember so much? The answer came to her in the blink of an eye. She had never thought to why the phenomenons were happening, only expecting because this was how life was. This was her story. She had a part to play if only she knew what it was. If she had to stay with the tom the rest of her life she needed to make the best of it and hopefully find others. This was the only other cat that she knew, even barely it counted to at least an acquaintance. Would it be worth it though?
As she finished the last of the mouse, sucking its long tail into her mouth she scented a pack of deer somewhere to the west, where the sun was slowly sinking, making her shadow elongate as she leaned elegantly down the shed and onto the grass. The scent was fresh and drifted towards her like flowers towards strange insects she had seen hovering near the centre, wings buzzing but vibrating much faster than a bird's. It could also stay stationary in the air, unlike the eagles. They looked motionless but as they spotted prey they suddenly dropped like rain, silently scooping up a brown or black hare and soaring up again, towards the east. All of them always went there, and she didn't have enough time to ask herself why. There seemed to be less trees but after nearly dying to a holly bush she decided not to venture too far out, even with her injuries feeling surprisingly much better after two hours of eating one piece of prey.
The deer trotted here and there, daintily picking grass and slowly chewing them before it travelled down their long throats. Why were deer here? The last time this happened they had been so long from the shed that she had not been able to drag a doe back in an entire day. At least this time the herd was much closer. The leader was so intent on finding fresh grass that even if one of them raised their heads they did not care if danger was here, only scooping up huge mouthfuls of weeds and glaring at her daintily, as if to say 'come at me' to anything who could count as a threat.
Silver circled the herd, not bothering to draw them in because they were at this point going to be so full that they could be on the verge of collapsing onto their food in a coma. If she took the small stag on the right it could last them at least a day.. but the bigger stage and does seemed to be less observant. All she had to do was wait until one of them wandered off from the main group and she could slay it away from the others, making the deer think that they were trying to find another patch of grass because the area they were in had lost plenty of grass in such a short time. Soon, plenty of insects and worms were gobbled up by the herbivores as they munched on, oblivious to the fact that now they were eating dirt. One smarter stag lifted his head and started wandering elsewhere, away from the shed. His pelt was short, brown and spotted with white flecks like the leaves overhead that gave off a sweet smell that she couldn't picture. His antlers were curved and perfectly asymmetrical, curving slightly at the tips. As he wandered, his kin stayed behind and began munching on his patch of dirt. When he was far enough, silver leaped and dragged hee claws along his flank. The stag cried out and bellowed but it was too late; she had already sunk her teeth deep into his neck and blood was already streaming out, bubbling and frothing into the short grass and staining it dark red. The others, now in the distance looked around, suddenly alert. The young deer huddled in the center as the remaining stags guarded the foes in a protective ring.
She would leave them there, to eventually settle back into feeding, relaxed but warily observing the forest around them. This way they would be paranoid when they died, giving the meat more flavor. As she dragged the stag back to the shed, long shadows cast upon the silhouette of Sunset waiting outside. His energy level seemed to be higher and he leaned against the walls, on three paws. The fourth was raised up slightly and she recognized that one as the broken bone. As she came closer, she could see his amber eyes light up at the sight of such a massive stag. Blood trailed down the bites and dripped onto the grass, making a blood path towards the depths of the forest. It would be nearly impossible to see in darkness and in daylight the sun shone on the forest so the blood would dry quickly. What point was to clean it? It wasn't like someone hated them, if they did why weren't they already kidnapped or something? She knew that Sunset probably knew of her past because he looked at her always with those questioning eyes that had secrets swirling in their depths.
'I got food' she called towards him, and he limped over to help drag her prey into the shed. It barely fit and took up a third of the space. The blood had stopped but the carcass was still warm. Too hungry to care, they both started taking huge bites out of the meat, savoring the juiciness and how the blood improved the bland taste. A few mouthfuls later, Sunset turned to Silver. 'Where did you find him?' He asked with wonder in his voice. 'There's this patch of green with less trees, a group of—about at least a dozen I guess, they were just eating. Um.. normally they would have cantered away from me but this time they kept on eating so I lured one away because at this point they were just eating grass.' She replied, not meeting his gaze.
'Oh yeah— by the way, what's your name, if you have one?'
'My names Silver. Or at least that's my nickname. I can't remember my real one,'
Ah— silvest- I mean silver. Cool name! My name is[he paused for a second] Sunset.
At last, when they were full and warm from their ears to the tip of their tails, Silver stretched out on her nest and curled up, not bothering to check on the Tom so called Sunset. If he was able to limp any distance and even stand up that meant he had more energy. She heard him collapse into a makeshift nest and fall asleep instantly, snoring a few seconds later. It took her longer to sleep, because she was still adjusting from another presence in the shed all of a sudden. How long had it been since she had seen another cat besides in her dream?
As night fell and she shadows disappeared one by one, the moon cast glimmering beams of light onto the shed once more, only this time it was different. It seemed to be shuddering like a cloud drifting over a meek winter sun.. but this shouldn't be happening. Why was the floor now shaking? The walls trembled around her and Sunset stretched, rolled over and kept snoring, his tail curling in around him as he settled back down. The trembling stopped after a while, and the moon was high in the sky when she padded out, muscles feeling less sore as time passed. The deer were gone and the color of the moon's light was grayish white rather than another color she had seen before. What was it? What was it called?
Tonight, the moon was huge, with grey spotted here and there around the surface. It was a full circle rather than the night before, when it looked like an oval. A ladybug with black dots on its back scuttled by. Eating some small things that looked like caterpillars but without hair. The rest of the ladybug was the color of the light before. Suddenly, the color came again to her vision as the moon dazzled her clearing eerie, bloodlike, red.
That was the color she was trying to remember. Did someone say that? Sunset had never mentioned it before. Nor had any other creature. Why was this tone so new to her? She had seen this before, after the dreams. Of sunset. His pelt wasn't red though, so was this trying to tell her something?
Another memory covered her vision, blurry at the edges like the ones before but the centre was clear. She was looking through her own eyes, but her legs were stumpy and the hues and tones of the world around her seemed brighter than usual, the greens brighter and the new color she now remembered, red vibrant compared to the slightly faded brownish she had seen in the forest. Thundering paw steps hit her ears, and she mewed, a high-pitched noise as a cat, adult by the looks of it padded over to her. 'Little one', she crooned, 'are you hungry? Mommy's got some prey for you. Repeat after me, preyyy. It's what you call the food I get outside. You always love the traditional mouse, dont you.' Silver tried to yowl, but her vocal cords were again blocked. Instead, the voice that escaped from her unwilling mouth was high pitched like her mew. 'I love [struggles to say word] prey! Mice is so yummy.' 'Then come on! I got some just for you, my little silvest-'
The memory disappeared for a second, then reformed. 'Silver! It's over here, by the hard bowls.' The she-cat's voice called out further away, she had padded some way in, and only now did she realize that she was at.. a door and whoever the cat was, she was inside living with the humans. Only the stuff inside seemed old, with the sofa not glass like she expected. Why was she here? A rough voice called out, muffled by more doors inside the home. Another one responded, coming from a door far in a corridor. How did she know these words? She had never been inside a human residence. Last time she was outside and it had looked a lot different. She turned around and saw the forest she was in at the present. How was this here? After exploring for so long she did not remember ever seeing this place, let alone inhabiting it.
'Come on, the prey is gonna be cold and I have to lick it warm. You know I don't like to do that!' The cat called as the sound of teeth sinking into flesh found her ears. Her paws were clumsy as she staggered into the human place. There were heaps of boxes piled everywhere, with only the sofa unoccupied by them. The she-cat, Silver now noticed that had the same pelt as her except her eyes were bright violet while hers were light. Silver had to look high up to meet her gaze. Now she could control her own mouth. 'Why can I see red now? Who are you? Where am I? Why didn't I find this place before?' This had never happened in her memories. The last few times it was as if she was a viewer, trapped inside the body of herself from who knows how long ago.
Now, the she-cat stared up at her with astonished eyes. 'Why, I'm your mother, Autumn 'I.. what?' Silver's eyes open wide as she registered the news. 'You're.. you're my mother?' 'Yes dear, said her mother, Autumn sadly, 'are you having a recollection?'
'I-I'm in the forest right now..' Silver said cautiously, 'is this-a normal memory? Do you know anything? Are you really my mother?'
'Im so sorry.. this shouldn't have happened.. you see, you're in your past self's body. You always had themes moments where you were-sort of not with us. Not dead, necessarily but in a coma which you seemed like you were seeing something we weren't. Now I understand why. Oh, and call me Gloria. That's my nickname.
'I have one last question, moth-Gloria. Why is the sky red?' Silver stared pleadingly at her mother.
'There is a prophecy, you aren't supposed to know about this yet. If you can see red, you are and will be in grave danger. I will come on the third night of the waning moon.'
Gloria yowled, a long and shrill yowl and grabbed Silver by the scruff. 'You must go!' She hissed, 'They are going to come…' and she looked like she was having the same moment as Silver as she gazed at her but as if seeing through, as if she was becoming transparent, no longer in that world-
As she turned around, a glowing red shadow grew from the ground, inky and swirling. 'RUN!' Her mother yelled before slamming the door. Silver streaked past the shadow, still turning as it realized it wouldn't take two spirits tonight. Silver's paws were already short for running and she nearly tripped over small stones three times as the forest looked closer and closer, as the shadow's darkness poured out behind it as it glided silently towards her. It singed her on her back leg. A hot flash just as she plunged into the forest, careening this way and that. The shadow disappeared into the air, vanishing as if it never existed but the burn on the back of her hind leg was still present.
Silver was yanked back into her present body as the red light slowly faded into a pearly white. Her back leg did not hurt but a mark was there, red like blood, a reminder. How was this happening? Memories were not supposed to give her scars of any kind, let alone signs of danger. Was Gloria right? She certainly looked like Silver in pelt color and eyes, though they were much darker and brighter at once. If she was in danger, then she should stay here. The forest had not suffered for the entire time she was here. Why now? Besides, if that experience was real her mother would come to her on the third night of the waning. Did that mean three nights from now? The sooner the better, even if she didn't know her mother still existed or if she was mad at her. What about her dad? Where was he?
She hoped Gloria would explain to her in more than vague detail when she arrived. Sunset was still sleeping, unperturbed by her vision/memory mixture. Too tired to care tonight, she crawled into her own nest again and finally fell asleep. Her dreams were of a dark figure standing before her, humanoid but not with something in their hand. A glowing red ball surrounded their black robes as she was forced to drift towards them, paws flailing helplessly. A rough claw extended from one of their paws and they pulled it over her neck.
'When the color of blood stains your paws, the nights will grow haunted and days ablaze with light. No one is safe. You aren't supposed to be here. Nor is your companion. For the first time, you have changed fate by simply- existing. Your presence has alerted one of the holy dark to join you. The one you truly trust? Lies- all lies. You will understand someday, but for now you just carry out your duty, to be able to stop the parallel split. It will happen in thirty moons.
'Moons?' Despite her fear, she found herself questioning the cloaked figure. 'Days in your language.' They replied back.
'Prepare, or your entire world will cascade into chaos and the two fates will collide and spin around and around, distorting reality and other versions of the world.'
'To achieve this, you will need to make a deadly sacrifice. It may take what you most cherished.'
'Would you choose your love of your life, or the life you once lived?'
'For before.. or never after?