Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Jun 5, 2017 19:00:12 GMT -5
- The Tree of Life -
The Cast:
Makatsa – Tall, willowy she-cat with a bright, red-brown coat, black paws, tail-tip, and ears with white tufts. Forest-green eyes.
Boann – Regal, pure white she-cat with a long, fluffy tail and crystal clear blue eyes. Very tall, large pointed fae-ears.
Captain - Muscular clay colored (grey) tom with three tails, dark, molten orange eyes and "griffin talons" on his front legs.
Frieda (The Healer) – Sloppy, semi-long spotted coat of a dull dusty brown color with large brown eyes just as dark as her pupils. Can’t distinguish between iris and pupil. Her ears are folded inside out at the top and curled backwards. Very long whiskers and tail.
. . .
There she was, waiting again.
She was always waiting these days. Waiting for her friend to return from the forest. Waiting for her to walk through those twisted, arched roots that outlined the entryway to the stronghold that they lived in.
It was a safe place. Like a large, bright bubble amid a sea of unknowns. She had never wandered beyond the walls surrounding her. It was built long before living memory, and had stood as a beacon of safety. The forest, the Kalmera Forest, was filled with dangers, and it was only in strongholds like these that Kalmerans like her could live without fear.
And yet, everyday her friend left the stronghold to explore the forest, and everyday her friend would return, just like the cycle of the sun. She knew her friend would leave, but she also knew she would return. Even if everyone told her not to leave in the first place.
A bright light pierced through a small hole in the sandstone wall and shined into her eyes. She squinted, taking note that the sun was starting to dip behind the Kalmera trees. It was time for her friend to come back.
Her eyes darted to movement in the entryway, and she felt her tail tip twitch excitedly as a familiar shape filled the space.
“Makatsa!” she purred, standing up and walking toward the red-brown she-cat as she emerged from the shadow of the wall.
Makatsa’s eyes immediately found her and she grinned wide. In between her teeth she held a long, vibrant green stem with a colorful blooming flower on the end. The petals were each nearly as big as her head, and it was splattered in multiple colors, some that she couldn’t even name.
Makatsa placed the flower down in front of her paws and laughed. “Hey, Boann! Did ya miss me?”
Boann nodded, touching one of the flower’s large petals with her white paw. “Of course I did. I always miss you when you go,” she said, keeping her eyes on the colorful petals.
Makatsa leaned forward and nuzzled Boann’s ear, eliciting a high pitched giggle from her.
“Makatsa! Quit it!” she gasped, batting her friend away and looking up at her.
Makatsa laughed again, pulling away and nudging the flower toward her. “This is for you. Do you like it? I had to climb up the side of the weeping waterfall to get it!”
Boann’s jaws dropped. “The weeping waterfall? How did you even manage that?” she asked. She had never been there herself, but she knew of the notorious reputation of the falls to cast any climbers down into the chasm below it.
A guilty look entered Makatsa’s forest green eyes. “Well…I didn’t exactly…do it myself,” she admitted, her whiskers twitching.
“You didn’t!” Boann accused, her ears flattening against the back of her skull. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to test out your abilities until you were sure-”
“I am sure, Boann,” Makatsa interrupted, flicking her tail. “I rode a six-eyed beast all the way to the top of the waterfall and he didn’t once turn on me or try to eat me. In fact, I think he enjoyed it?”
Boann wanted to throw something at her. So bad.
“A six-eyed beast, Makatsa? What’s next, a Wither Beast? You know how dangerous they are right?” she hissed. Her friend had recently discovered her unique magical power: the power to control the beasts of the forest.
Makatsa patted Boann’s shoulder with her black tail tip. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not that idiotic. Who would want to tame a Wither Beast anyways? They are uglier than a newborn kit,” she said, walking around her and toward the central network of dens that stretched upward towards the sky.
Boann gasped, amusement lighting her blue gaze despite the churning panic in her gut. “Kittens are not ugly, they are adorable fluff balls!”
Together the two friends climbed the tower of rock, stone, and vines in the center of the stronghold, watching as all the Kalmerans below them grew as small as ants. Makatsa was one of the noble family’s only daughters, and so she had her den situated near the very top.
Boann liked the tease her that she was like a princess, but Makatsa would shoot down the idea with a fierce growl that would silence any other jokes of responsibility and noble purpose.
They entered the large chamber to find a muscular, heavily scarred tom sitting next to the cluster of glowing lights in the center of the den. Around him hung vines covered in vibrant blue and purple flowers with fleeter fairies-annoying pests with fluffy, bear-like faces and thin bodies-floating among the petals and leaves. In the corner was a stockpile of supplies wrapped in giant green leaves. Inside them was an assortment of food and herbal remedies used throughout the day.
“Hey, Cap!” Makatsa greeted the tom, grinning too widely.
Cap’s eyes, a dark molten orange, narrowed in anger at her easy entry. “You snuck out again.”
Makatsa fished a crocoana-a hard, round type of edible seed that grew on some Kalmera trees-from one of the giant leaf wrapped packages and smacked it against the ground, cracking open the outer shell.
“Yes. This is true,” she replied, not denying his accusation as she loudly slurped up the juices inside the crocoana and then began crunching down on the tougher meat inside.
Cap growled, his three tail tips twitching.
Boann walked up to his side, nudging his clay colored shoulder. “You know she does this every day, Captain. Is there really any point in getting upset with her?”
Both Captain and Boann’s eyes darted to Makatsa at the same time as she began slurping once again, licking all around the edges of the crocoana until she was satisfied that she had gotten every delectable morsel out, and then proceeded to toss out the leftovers through one of the windowed holes in the den. It wasn’t until moments later that a loud yowl echoed up through the tower that Boann knew Makatsa had hit someone with the shell.
For a noble, she has no class. Or self-control for that matter.
“She didn’t used to go into the Forest so much,” Captain said, rubbing his unique, talon-like claws on the cave floor. “In fact she used to not go out there at all. It made my job a lot easier back then.”
Captain was Makatsa’s body guard. He was also the captain of the guard of the stronghold, but he began taking special care of Makatsa ever since her family hired him and gave him a home. He had been a low-born Kalmeran; his three tails and raptor front legs giving him the status. But Boann knew he didn’t do it just because it was his job. He cared for Makatsa, and wanted to support her, but she purposefully made it very difficult for him.
For Boann, Makatsa was more than a friend that she cared for and supported. She had known her since they were kits, and she alone knew the giant burden Makatsa had on her shoulders. She was the first natural born cat to ever exist. She had no non-feline traits. She was pure. Completely feline. It was a promise from the creator that the Kalmerans would one day return to the world they had lost and become cats again. At least, that was what most Kalmerans believed. Not everyone believed that Makatsa was special.
But she is. She’s special to me. She’s my moon, and I am her faithful star.
And the only way Boann could see Makatsa ever returning those feelings, those feelings of love, respect, and endearment, was if Boann ventured with her into the forest by her side. Makatsa had wanted her to join for a long time, but Boann had always said no. She used to be terrified of the thought of stepping out into the Kalmera Forest, but the more beautiful things that Makatsa brought back…Boann began to see a small piece of what Makatsa saw. A world worth discovering. A world where they could be free of walls and boundaries…
“Well,” Boann began, looking down at the colorful flower she had carried up with her. “I could go out with her to the forest tomorrow, if that would ease your consciousness, Captain.”
Boann could feel Makatsa’s and Captain’s eyes on her. She didn’t dare meet them. She was afraid they would see the fear and uncertainty in her gaze. She wanted to do this for Makatsa. She wanted to be there for her. She wanted to prove herself. She wouldn’t be afraid anymore.
“Boann…,” Makatsa said quietly. “Are you sure?”
Boann lifted her blue eyes, her tall pointed ears flattening against her skull. “Yes!”
Captain shook his head. “No. No way. I am not letting both of you go out there alone!”
Makatsa’s beautiful eyes were filling up with joy as she continued to stare at Boann. Finally, Boann would come with her. Finally she could show her the true heart of the Kalmera forest!
Boann’s ear tips were starting to turn red. “I-I hope that is ok,” she stuttered.
Captain looked between them. “Are either of you listening to me?”
Makatsa grinned, her green eyes almost turning a shade of yellow-green. “Of course!” She exclaimed excitedly, standing and walking up to Boann. “I can take you out tomorrow morning! There is supposed to be a giant bloom of-”
“Hello!” Captain yelled, stepping between them. “I think this is a bad idea.”
Makatsa turned to him and smirked, laying her thick tail over Boann’s white shoulders. “If you are so concerned, then why don’t you come with us?” She asked him.
Captain pursed his lips, pretending to think on it for a few moments before his face went completely serious. “No. I can’t. I have duties here that-”
“Then it’s decided!” Makatsa cheered. “I will take Boann out to the forest, and you will remain here to cover for me.”
Captain’s jaw dropped. “What? Cover for you again?”
Boann laughed, watching Makatsa and Captain argue with each other for the next few minutes or so before she finally stepped in, putting both at ease and offering a compromise. Makatsa would take a few days to remain in the stronghold after tomorrow to catch up on her duties as a noble family member while Captain remained here to cover for her one more time.
“Boann. I’ll meet you at the exit at dawn. Then we can go out together,” Makatsa told her as Boann was preparing to go to her own den.
Boann nodded in agreement, putting on a brave smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Makatsa’s eyes softened. “There is nothing to be afraid of. I will be with you the whole time. I know the forest better than my own self, so there is no reason to be anxious about tomorrow.”
“You will be with me the whole time,” Boann breathed, repeating Makatsa’s words.
Makatsa laughed, leaning forward and nuzzling her ear.
“Yes. I will always protect you. That’s a promise.”
. . .
Makatsa didn’t show up at dawn like she promised.
Boann assumed she had gotten caught. She didn’t have a perfect record for sneaking out. But it would not stop Boann from doing what she had planned. With or without Makatsa, she would be the one to bring back a gift to her. Makatsa would be the one waiting.
Boann knew enough to stay on the paths that led out of the stronghold. Makatsa had told her many times that they were protected by rune rocks that kept the Kalmera forest and its creatures at bay. As long as she kept to the path, she would be safe.
Boann wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Truthfully she was distracted by the forest around her. The trees were massive, their roots leaping in and out of the earth and tangling together. Their branches and leaves were almost each exclusively unique. Some had giant leaves like the ones in Makatsa’s den, while others had long, weeping stems that brushed the forest floor. She saw a few times a branch whipping out to catch an unsuspecting bug or small animal, flinging them into an opening at the top of their trunks where they would digest them alive.
She had to admit, despite the predatory nature of the trees…it was beautiful.
Finally, Boann heard the distant roar of a waterfall. She knew that the most beautiful flowers grew near them as Makatsa had repeatedly shown her. But to her dismay, it was off of the trail.
Oh come on, Boann. It’s only a few paces away. What could happen?
Boann breathed in deep and walked past the rune rocks, feeling their magic brush softly against her pelt.
She jogged up to the edge of the waterfall, scanning the cliff top until she saw one. A giant, green flower with nine star-shaped petals.
It’s perfect!
Boann crept forward, reaching down and burying her paws underneath the plant so she wouldn’t damage the stem. She tugged, watching the dark earth crumble away as she lifted the flower from its perch.
That was when the wind suddenly picked up.
The Kalmera trees around her hissed loudly like snakes. Their leaves rattling together to a tune she did not know. From the other side of the waterfall came a giant cloud of white, sparkly pearls. They gleamed beautifully in the sunlight, almost like tiny fairies. It made Boann pause as they came spiraling towards her. She breathed in deeply and shut her eyes as they careened into her, flowing around her body like a gentle, warm stream. She laughed out loud, opening her eyes and watching them twirl past her and up into the sky.
“Wow…,” she murmured, saving the moment in her memories so that she could share it with Makatsa when she returned.
Oh, crap. I got to get back before she finds out!
Wait…she’s going to find out anyways…oh well.
Sighing, Boann grasped the green flower in her jaws and turned, making her way back to the stronghold.
. . .
One hour after exposure…
“You idiot! Do you know how worried I was?” Makatsa snarled, shaking Boann’s shoulders with her black paws.
“I’m fine, Makatsa!” Boann rasped, pausing to cough violently.
Makatsa shook her head, patting her back. “Clearly you’re not. Did you inhale something while you were out there? You didn’t step off the path, did you?”
Boann winced, curling her tail close to her chest. “Um…maybe?”
Makatsa sighed loudly, her head flopping back. “Really?” She yowled, surprising a few other Kalmerans who were waiting like they were to see the healer of the stronghold.
“Makatsa, keep your voice down,” Boann scolded her before breaking out in a fit of coughs. It felt like something was tickling the back of her throat.
Makatsa’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Let’s just see what the healer has to say. I'll be back to come get you afterward.”
. . .
Two hours after exposure…
The healer peered down into Boann’s open mouth, murmuring quietly to herself. Boann was sure it was something about the stupidity and arrogance of the high born.
The healer then asked for her to close her mouth. Boann obeyed and watched as the healer vanished behind a curtain of vines, her soft, earthy brown pelt letting off the scent of blooming Kalmeran flowers. It was a sweet smell, with a slight pleasant spice to it that made Boann’s nose burn.
The healer returned with some kind of sticky plaster on her pad. She gestured for Boann to open her mouth again.
“This is going to be uncomfortable,” she said gently to her. “But it is necessary that I feel what is in your throat.”
Boann nodded, her heart hammering abnormally fast in her chest. The tickling feeling was in her gut and rib cage now, and it some parts it burned like hot coals.
With her slimy paw, the healer slowly pushed her paw into the back of Boann’s throat.
Boann choked, nearly biting down, but resisting until she felt the healer grasp something and pull.
Boann coughed violently as the healer removed her paw. There in her grasp was a small, green leaf bud.
The healer’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she looked back at Boann.
“So you did go off the path today?”
Boann was still gasping and reeling from the invasion. “Y-yes. I did…”
The healer shook her head in dismay, placing the bud carefully down onto a giant leaf. “Let me feel your throat and abdomen please.”
Boann nodded, starting to feel nervous as she laid down and let the healer run her paws over her midsection, feeling in places that made Boann wince and gasp. After a few more painful moments, the healer took a step back and sighed.
“I’m afraid Boann…that you have become the incubator for a Kalmera tree.”
Boann shot up out of the nest the healer had prepared for her, Kalmera leaves sticking to her white pelt. “Excuse me?”
The healer’s strange pupil-less eyes showed no sadness or sympathy. Just truth. “You inhaled a Kalmera tree seed when you left the path. The forest only sheds seeds every century or so, so you were very unlucky to be out when you were. It only takes a few hours for the seed to sap the nutrients it needs from your body before it will grow exponentially and expand out from your body-”
“So you’re saying that I’m going to die?” Boann asked, her voice breaking.
The healer nodded. “Painfully, I’m afraid.”
No…no, this is just a dream. A nightmare. This can’t happen.
I need to find Makatsa.
Boann moved to get up and leave, but the healer stopped her.
“Wait! You can’t leave. The seed will expand and grow into a tree at any time now,” she said urgently. “You must be kept in a safe place away from other-!”
But Boann would hear no more of it. She pushed the healer roughly aside and sprinted out of the healer’s sanctuary.
Makatsa. I have to find Makatsa. She would know what to do. She’s probably swallowed hundreds of seeds by now-
You idiot didn’t you hear her? The seeds only come every century. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time-
No! I need Makatsa.
“Makatsa!” Boann screamed, running through the pathways of the stronghold, the Kalmerans around her giving her alarmed looks. None of them stopped to ask if she was ok. None of them cared.
She ran for the tower, but something in her body…something felt…like it was pushing through her skin.
She screamed, collapsing on the ground. She looked behind her and saw a small branch protruding from her lower abdomen, blood flowing like a steady stream into the dirt.
“Boann!”
Boann looked up to see Makatsa running toward her, panic and fear in her gorgeous forest-green eyes. Behind her was an entourage of nobles, and closest to her side was Captain, his face pale and strained.
Makatsa…you came for me…
She screamed again as another branch forced itself out from her body, this time higher up near her shoulder blade. It was becoming hard to breathe.
“Boann! Oh gods, Boann!” Makatsa cried, skidding to a halt next to her. She quickly drew her paws together and began chanting magic, magic that she had never used inside these walls. Magic that she wasn’t allowed to use.
“Makatsa…no, you will…get in trouble,” Boann gasped out, groaning as yet another branch slowly squeezed itself out from between her ribs.
Makatsa’s breathing was fast. Her pelt rippling as the magic flowed from her and into Boann’s body. “Shut up! I’m trying to save you’re pathetic hide!”
Then there was a surge, and multiple leaf covered branches and even a portion of a trunk came bursting out of Boann’s body.
Her scream echoed throughout the Stronghold, casting birds into flight.
Captain lunged forward and pulled Makatsa away before one of the branches could pierce her.
“Back off! There is nothing you can do!”
“No!” Makatsa yelled, kicking and clawing at Captain, drawing blood. “No, I can save her! I can save her!”
Boann smiled as her vision began to go. Makatsa was so strong. So brave and selfless. She could see why she left these walls every day. The forest had truly been…magical.
“Did…you…like the flower I got you?” Boann whispered, blood dripping from her mouth.
Makatsa cried, tears streaming down her face as Captain held her, preventing her from going to her friend who was slowly being torn apart. The sapling was growing rapidly, carrying Boann’s body skyward as roots began to dig into the earth and spread outward.
“Yes! Of course I loved it!” Makatsa said, her head shaking back and forth as she said it. Boann knew it wasn’t worth this sacrifice. But it still made her happy that she got to give her a gift.
“Good. I hope…I hope you will take it with you…when you go…”
Then, the sapling thrust itself fully out of its mother’s womb, murdering her as it did. Her blood splattered the ground and spiraled into the clear blue sky, landing on the pelts of those witnessing her demise. Makatsa didn’t once close her eyes. She watched as her friend was ripped apart, and as a giant Kalmera tree replaced her, its branches quickly sprouting forth and producing buds that became giant green flowers with nine-petals in star shapes. Just like the one that Boann had gotten for her.
Makatsa collapsed onto the ground, her whole body shaking as she beheld the carnage before her. Her friend was gone. The one thing most precious to her in this world. The cat she had loved the most fiercely.
Now she could never show her the heart of the forest.
Captain held her as she began sobbing. A loud, fierce sobbing. It felt like she too would break apart. Piece by piece until something better and more beautiful would emerge. But she knew it would not come to be.
“Boann…why?” she whispered through her tears, feeling her friends blood drip down her shoulders.
. . .
Boann was gone, but the tree remained.
Many wanted it cut down, but Makatsa fiercely protected it. She threatened to bring hordes of beasts to overrun the stronghold if anyone dared try to remove it.
The tree never tried to eat any passerby’s to the amazement of the high-born Kalmerans. Instead it sat, still and quiet, the wind playing with the vibrant green flowers it produced every evening. It was Makatsa who brought it freshly caught meat from beyond the wall. She was the only one the tree would eat from.
And like the cycle of the sun, Makatsa would come each morning to lay a green flower at the foot of the tree, leaving and then only returning at sunset when the tree would bow and leave its own newly grown flower at Makatsa’s paws. A gift. Only for her.
The Tree of Life became its nickname by many living in its shadow, but Makatsa knew its true name. And she would forever treasure it, until the day came that she would leave the walls and her star behind forever.
. . .
Author's Note:
This is a sneak peek into what I've been working on for my other series: THE FOREST OF KALMERA. It will strictly be human characters but there is no reason to explore the themes/ideas/characters in cat form! Let me know what you think below!
Also this is an entry into Tuesday's Challenges even though the word limit was way over. x'D The prompt was to write about an illness. Bonus points if it wasn't contagious!
This is a sneak peek into what I've been working on for my other series: THE FOREST OF KALMERA. It will strictly be human characters but there is no reason to explore the themes/ideas/characters in cat form! Let me know what you think below!
Also this is an entry into Tuesday's Challenges even though the word limit was way over. x'D The prompt was to write about an illness. Bonus points if it wasn't contagious!
So sad. 