Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Dec 15, 2017 15:54:54 GMT -5
The Last Caller
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Tidecaller
Tidecaller was a project that was inspired by a prompt made by ᴛᴜᴇsᴅᴀʏ for her one-shot contest, so it only seems right to explore that world again with ѕωιƒтƒαℓcση 's one-shot contest! I do plan on actually posting a fan-fiction involving this world here sometime soon, but at the moment the Clans of the Valley series is taking my full attention. I AM WORKING ON SO MANY UPDATES MY BRAIN MIGHT ACTUALLY IMPLODE.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this little short!
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The Last Caller
Total Word Count: 1008
Not the last in line. Not the last to fall in love. Not the last to eat.
Tidecaller was a project that was inspired by a prompt made by ᴛᴜᴇsᴅᴀʏ for her one-shot contest, so it only seems right to explore that world again with ѕωιƒтƒαℓcση 's one-shot contest! I do plan on actually posting a fan-fiction involving this world here sometime soon, but at the moment the Clans of the Valley series is taking my full attention. I AM WORKING ON SO MANY UPDATES MY BRAIN MIGHT ACTUALLY IMPLODE.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this little short!
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The Last Caller
Total Word Count: 1008
Do you know what it’s like to be the last?
Not the last in line. Not the last to fall in love. Not the last to eat.
Not the last one standing on a battlefield.
But the last one of your kind.
No, I don’t think cats will ever go extinct. We will never fade from this world. We will continue to evolve and find ways of surviving in a land dominated by smarter creatures.
I’m talking about the Caller’s…the ones who protect and calm the forces of the natural world.
There were many of us at one time. Rock Caller, Tree Caller, Lava Caller…Tide Caller.
Who knew it would be the Tidecaller who would remain? It’s almost ironic, given the stories of creation describing all life beginning in the oceans. From where we came to where we end…it is all the same.
I know what it is like to be the last.
It is lonely, but on a whole other scale. It’s isolating, alienating and above all…empowering.
I have learned the true colors of this world more so on my own than if I had been surrounded by Callers.
I wonder why that is.
“Grandma! Grandma, I found you!”
I wipe away the grim thoughts and turn to look over my shoulder.
My granddaughter, Ymir, is running through the wide stretch of white sand that leads up to the rocky beach that I am perched on. Her soft, sea-foam grey pelt is full of the white sand, giving her coat a salty look. I smile as she skids to a halt by my side, pushing some of the rounded pebbles into the rolling waves of the sea just now tickling my paws as it ebbs and flows against the rocks.
“Did your father tell you where I was?” I ask her, resting my white tail tip on her head.
She shrugged, biting the inside of her cheek. “Maybe? But I would have found you eventually, Grandma. I know you like coming to the shore. Why is that Grandma?”
I laugh. “Haven’t I told you several times already why I come to the shore?”
Ymir nods, her sea-green eyes sparkling. “Yes, Grandma, you have, but…I still don’t get it,” she sighs, rubbing her paws on the rounded pebbles beneath us.
I tap her forehead with my tail tip. “Then look. Look out to the sea and tell me what you see.”
She looks up, tilting her head to the side as she watches the waves break along the rocks and sand, the sea foam catching on the land, abandoned by the water.
“You tell me you see the Sea God dying, Grandma, but all I see is grey waves and seaweed floating in between,” she says.
I crouch down low, ignoring the way my muscles pinch and protest, and push my head against hers. “You forget, my dearest sea lily, that the sea and the Sea God are one and the same.”
Her eyes widen, her sea green eyes mirrors to my own eyes that used to sparkle in such an excited way when gazing upon the sea.
“The sea used to be bluer than the sky, isn’t that right, Grandma? And you used to ride and command the waves too!” She says, recognition igniting in her voice.
I turn away from her young eyes, looking out to the grey waves and the grey sky. It’s almost as if as I have aged, the sky and the sea have dulled.
What will happen once I am gone?
“Yes, Ymir, that is right. I called upon the Tide and communed with the Gods of this world.”
“Father says you saved us all! You were a hero, Grandma!”
I smile sadly. “Yes, yes I was…”
Ymir takes notice. She buries her nose into my side, wrapping her front legs around one of mine. “You’re still my hero. I told father I want to grow up to be just like you.”
I stand, gently unwrapping my granddaughter’s legs from mine.
“No one will ever be like me. Not anymore,” I say gently, but coldly, returning my eyes to the horizon where even the sun has lost its original brilliance.
“Why not?” Ymir cries, stretching up on her toes. “Father says I can be anything, so I want to be the next Tide-”
“You can’t. I am the last Tidecaller standing.”
She falls silent, but that stubborn set in her chin reminds me so much of myself that I caress the top of her head with my paw, watching her eyes widen upon my face.
“But I am no longer meant to stand,” I tell her, “I am meant to join the Sea God in his domain…maybe I can bring life back to our shores with this last swim.”
“Grandma?”
I leave her on the rocky shore and begin my final descent into the sea.
“Grandma! Wait, take me with you!”
I laugh, both at her request and at how amazing it feels to have the waves crash against me again.
“Not this time, my sea lily. It is Grandma’s turn to journey beyond the shore, but don’t fret. I don’t need rescuing!” I call, gathering up the last seeds of my power and sending them into the waves.
I hear Ymir’s small gasp of wonder behind me as I split the waves in half, creating a clear path into the deeper part of the shore.
And there, ahead of me, someone is waiting.
I feel young again, my limbs strong and my eyes sparkling with my own wonder and excitement.
Another journey begins.
I hold onto the massive walls of water for a few more moments, taking in my last breaths, and turning around to smile back to my granddaughter, who watches with a giant grin on her face. She now sees the Sea God.
I turn and face the cat waiting for me in the sea, and then let go of the waves, feeling them wash over my head, consuming and embracing me with their powerful arms.
Welcome home, Ceto.
