The Cosmic Battle
Welcome to the beginning of Chapter 5!
Posted below are the announcements from the gathering and as well as the plot for this chapter. You are welcome to post questions and comments at the end. Thanks!
Cenek and Tara were the last of the leaders to arrive at the gathering. No one who had followed them in their trust of the Golden Butterfly seemed willing, or able, to say where they were. Only the Yellow-Shadow had come with them, and she would not speak of it either. Mumbles came hushed through the crowd of cats. Was this the night they would choose to attack? There were many who felt that such an event as inevitable. Soon Alriyel would force those who had not followed him to bow. And if this was indeed his plan, they would not go without a fight.
The murmured tension crackling in the air turned to silence.
They’re here.
And they were not alone. Flanked on either side by the Silvers of Shadow and Air-Tribe, came the Golden Butterfly himself. His fur, patched with many colors, glittered in the fading light. No longer a kit, this cat that strode towards them seemed truly to be a god.
Though surely there were some who would have liked to, no one attacked the Golden Butterfly as he made his way to the front of the crowd. The other leaders exchanged glances, but they too were silent, waiting. A few whispers floated through the ranks of cats.
There he is. I went to see him to ask for a miracle.
I didn’t think he’d be able to, but he healed my scars.
He gave me back my sight.
He helped me say goodbye to my loved one.
I still don’t trust him.
It’s all too good to be true.
It’s all a trick.
”Cats of all tribes.” The Golden Butterfly’s voice rang out. ”I stand before you now, renewed. My sincere thanks go out to those who stood by me and were willing to let me rest under their care while I gathered my strength. Now I must fulfil the purpose I have presented.
I have come, not to profess myself over you, to make war with the cats that make up these great tribes, but to challenge the Spirits. They have kept you from reaching your potential, from expanding the horizons of both your minds and bodies. This world is far too vast and grand for you to stagnate forever.
However, before I do, I wish to give the Spirits the opportunity to bless the kits that have come here today to receive their tattoos, so that they may have a tribe.”
Cenek and Tara exchanged a glance. They had turned their backs on the Spirits in favor of the change the Golden Butterfly promised. The Spirits of Shadow and Air would not possess them now. Nor did they possess the other leaders, not immediately. Instead, as the kits from each tribe took their traditional place in a line before the gathering of cats, their tattoos began simply to appear. One by one, the Spirits of each tribe blessed the kits with a name that only they would hear.
From the Air Spirit came the true name of Starlet (You are Lusa.), Shrike (You are Sekhmet.) and Populus (You are Cain.).
The Earth Spirit reached out to Jackdaw (You are Seven.) and Acacia (You are Tabitha.).
To the Fire Spirit came Ally (You are Marzipan) and Ash (You are Sheena.).
The Light Spirit had chosen Ghost (You are Ryuu.) and Larix (You are Lithium.).
The names the Shadow Spirit whispered belonged to Kylie (You are Sova.), Tern (You are Yin.) and Eren (You are Finnegan.).
And to the Water Spirit went Akarie (You are Mira.), Reuss (You are Roran.) and Cypress (You are Orpheus.).
When they were done blessing the kits, the Spirits of Earth, Fire, Light and Water possessed their respective leaders. Having heeded the Golden Butterfly’s word, they now stood before him in the bodies of their vessels. From the body of Lully, the Water Spirit spoke.
”I speak now on behalf of the Air Spirit and the Shadow Spirit. This has gone on long enough. Long ago the leader of my tribe set in motion a war that claimed the lives of many because she believed that Alriyel would return, and wanted to prevent this. Her methods were flawed, and I regret that I did not revoke her leadership then. We will not make the same mistake again. The Silver-Shadow and Silver-Air have betrayed the Spirits who gave them power. And so we shall take it away.”
From where they stood beside the Golden Butterfly, the tattoos of the Silver-Shadow and Silver-Air began to drain, until all that was left was a gray smile on Cenek’s face and black wings on Tara’s back. The Spirits had exiled them for their crimes.
But before a commotion could ring out, Alriyel lifted his eyes to face the Spirits.
”I cannot allow you to punish these leaders for following me. You hold great power, but you do not use it wisely. I stand before you now, ready, as your equal. What is yours to give and take is mine as well.”
He turned first to face Cenek.
”The Shadow Spirit has stripped you of your powers, but I can give them back. Do you wish to continue leading Shadow-Tribe?”
For a moment Cenek was quiet. Through his normally stoic expression it was clear that he was still grasping at the events that had just unfolded. Gray-Shadow. That’s all he was now. In all his years of life, never had he imagined a moment like this. He’d seen his tattoo in reflections before, from youth it had been blue, then green, yellow, silver, and now… He was glad he couldn’t see it.
But I’m not finished.
This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be the end. He couldn’t hand off his tribe to Sojir like this. It was not her responsibility to rebuild all that he had torn down. Even if it was the right thing to do, he couldn’t.
”Yes.” He said, meeting the gaze of the mysterious cat he had come to call his ally, if nothing else.
”Very well.” The Golden Butterfly nodded. He touched his nose to Cenek’s forehead and his tattoo regained its silver color. Next, he turned to Tara.
”And what of you? Do you wish to continue leading Air-Tribe?”
Ice ran through her veins as the silver color was slowly replaced with black. Surely she had seen this coming? The Spirits wouldn't be approving of someone who went against them, but she'd never expected them to take back her Silver-Tattoo. Tara felt dazed, she didn't even hear what Alriyel had said to Cenek and she took a few moments to register that he had even spoken to her.
"C- continue leading?" she whispered, eyes wide as she stared at her paws. Could she continue? After not only breaking her Tribe in two but after the Spirits themselves revoked her leadership?
"I ... I-Thank you. For the offer, but I-I can't accept it.... Not after what I've done... my Tribe is divided because of my decisions, how can I lead them knowing that I was the one who drove a rift between them? No, the Spirits are right to take away my Silver-Tattoo, I don't deserve to lead them." She dipped her head before Alriyel before continuing, "Thank you, but it would be selfish of me to accept your offer."
Before Cenek or anyone else could protest, she stepped away quietly into the throng of cats. All was silent; no one tried to stop her.
”Do you see?” The Golden Butterfly turned to face the Spirits again. ”There is nothing you can do that I cannot counter. I gave them a choice, and they chose their own paths.”
From the body of Kintsu, the Fire Spirit’s fur stood on end. ”How dare you.” The other leaders were bristling too, their agitation beginning to turn to fury. And perhaps fear. The miracles the Golden Butterfly had granted had been grand to the tribe cats, but they were only that, in the end. Miracles. Now he had presented himself as an equal.
”You do not belong among us.” The Light Spirit spoke calmly. If there were any among them who had the most reason to feel anger towards Alriyel, it was her. But Basil’s elegance was not lost on rage. To those watching, it was difficult to see her as separate from the Spirit that inhabited her body.
”Go home.” She said. ”Go back to the place you came from.”
The Golden Butterfly shook his head. ”You cannot imprison me again.”
”No.” The Earth Spirit said as the body of Alcina took a step forward. ”Because you never left your prison. No one can escape from limbo, not even Alriyel. You are not he. You have stolen his identity for your own purposes, replicated his miracles and turned cats against us. We do not want you in our ranks.”
The cat who had called himself Alriyel’s composure suddenly faltered very slightly, the hairs on his tail and along his spine bristling before calm overcame him once more.
”Would you have taken me seriously if I had presented myself as anyone else? I am a Spirit from the outlands, I come from very far away, but what you have created here is far more promising than anything else I have encountered in my many seasons of travel. The figure of Alriyel still holds such promise. I stand by everything that I have said. Even if I am not the cat who you created, I’ve come now to fulfill the purpose he could not.”
”Let me work with you,” He said. ”This doesn’t have to be the end of the Spirits in Nandryx. It can be your new beginning. Give these tribes the freedom that they deserve. Allow them to prosper the way you know that they can.”
The Spirits shook their heads and repeated in unison, ”You do not belong among us. Go home.”
But the Golden Butterfly was having none of it now. ”Very well.” He said. ”I have done all that I can to discuss this with you peacefully. I will not back down. Perhaps you have underestimated me, because you were able to suppress Alriyel. But I am more powerful than he was. No matter what you do now, you cannot win.”
There was a flash of light, brilliant and white and nearly blinding to all who witnessed it.
It was difficult to say exactly what happened to the body that had contained the Spirit who had called himself Alriyel, a body that had once been perfectly white itself, named Winter by those who bore it. Like a hundred thousand flower petals in the wind, it seemed to break apart. Each individual piece evaporating into a column of light that stretched high and into the atmosphere above. Perhaps even to Eden.
The four Spirits who remained in their physical vessels stared upwards in shock. Light, Fire, Earth, Water, none of them had anything left to say. Then, quite suddenly, they too were gone. Basil, Kintsu, Alcina and Lully were left unharmed, but the silver light in their eyes that signaled the presence of the Spirits was gone.
From the beam of light came a low humming sound, a vibration that shook the earth around them. Sparks began to fly from it, raining down from the sky but not quite reaching the ground. And then, almost as suddenly as it had happened, the beam of light was gone.
But to those who were there to bear witness, it was clear that above and around them, on a plane of existence they could not quite reach, a cosmic battle now raged. The sky now held a tint of rage, and the air around them buzzed with electricity and unseen tension.
Whatever was to happen now, they had no way of knowing. The tribes of Nandryx stood alone in a solemn mass, they could only wait.
It all happened so fast.
Everyone at the gathering had been anticipating something, but they didn't know what.
Somehow the idea that, for the most part, business would go on as usual had stuck with them. They all expected announcements in their usual turn. Perhaps for the Followers of Alriyel to burst in at the last minute to declare war, and as shocking as that would be, they had experienced war before. War among cats was familiar, in a way. And there were still four tribes that had not chosen to follow Alriyel. Somehow, they would persevere.
But when the Golden Butterfly had arrived, the Silvers of Air and Shadow-Tribe in tow, everything had changed immediately. There were no announcements. Tradition as they had known it was thrust unceremoniously out the door.
The Spirits had rushed hastily to grant the kits their tattoos and true names, but that was it.
They denounced the titles of the Silver-Shadow and Silver-Air. Alriyel gave them a choice. The Silver-Shadow took his title back, and Alriyel returned his powers. The Silver-Air did not. She disappeared into the crowd, and no one could move to stop her.
Alriyel had proven that he was at least as powerful as the Spirits themselves.
First there was fear. Alriyel was going to start his war now.
And then confusion.
The cat bearing the name Alriyel is an impostor.
In fact, the "Alriyel" who had been with them for an entire season was not a cat at all.
A Spirit from the outlands who has chosen to take on Alriyel's mission for himself.
He challenged the Spirits and suddenly everything burst into light.
It was as though an ancient seal had been broken. Chaos broke out among the Spirits and on a plane of existence separate from the cats of Nandryx a war began to rage.
Sparks flew even after the disappearance of the Spirits. Although they no longer had any control over this war, they still had each other, and perhaps some would wish to hold those who had followed the Spirit claiming Alriyel's identity accountable. Perhaps they would fight too.
And even those cats who had forsaken their tribes were granted power.
The tattoos of all cats, loners and exiles alike, were suddenly filled with color. For many this did very little good, they could only utilize such skills as they had learned in training, but to exiles of the tribes it was truly a blessing.
The Spirits' war began to affect the physical world of Nandryx.
Snow began to fall. Winter had come early. The flakes were not uncommonly large, the winds not uncommonly strong, but what the storm lacked in ferocity it made up for in consistency. The snow did not stop. Day and night, day and night, while the battle raged on the snow fell.
And then stranger things began to happen. More unsettling things.
Somewhere in Nandryx a cat sought the help of a healer for something minor. A thorn in the paw or a sore shoulder, perhaps. The healer's tattoo flickered to life, and then just as quickly, before any healing could be done, it sputtered out again.
The powers of all cats were returned, but their reliability was faltering.
For the healers especially, it was their worst nightmare. Sometimes an hour at a time would pass in which no tattoos would activate. Sometimes it seemed only to effect those from one tribe, or one area. Sometimes it was sporadic. One cat would be helpless while another standing inches away felt no effects at all.
The tribes struggled to find order. It seemed to them as though the world was falling apart.
An era was ending.
