By: Icewish
Intro: Winter[]
It was a cold winter morning when Dream kitted in the Valley of Cherry Blossoms. She was with her mate, Ty. His warm, soft fur comforted her. They were all alone, and had nothing but each other. It took a very long time, and a heart made for patentice, but all that waiting paid off. Dream gave birth to a snow white she-cat with saphire blue eyes. "What shall we name her?" said the kit's mother. "In hornor of her white pelt, and this winter's day, how about Snowfall?" said the kit's father. "Yes, that is perfect," said her mother...
Chapter 1: Spring[]
I awoke to a freash spring time breeze. "Mama, may I go outside to play?" I asked. Our den was nice and all, it was perfectly dry and covered in a soft layer of dust, but I had always felt the need to explore. "Yes you may, but don't stray too far from our den," replied my mother. I bounded off woth out a reply. A pink flower fell from the cherry trees above. My father always told me that when the cherry trees sprout flowers that it is spring time, when they turn green and produce fruit that it was summer, then when there leaves start to fall it is autumn, and when they turn bare that it is the time of winter, when I was born. I had never seen the trees turn green or drop leaves, but I have the faintest memory of them striped of there leaves and flowers, like dark brown talons in the white valley. I picked up the pretty pink flower. It was as soft as velevet and smelled sweet. I heard a rusling noise. I followed it, but I was unsure if this was "too far" from our den. I saw a dark gray tail poke out from the green bushes. I leaped on it and fell on top of a dark gray tomcat. He was only about my age, but he was a lot taller. I jumped back in shock. "Who are you?" I asked. He stared at me with dark, dark amber eyes. "Iacet," he awnserd. He had a very strange accent, I had never heard anyone talk like him before. "What is yours?" he asked. "Snowfall," I replied. "Snowfall?" he asked. "Yes, my name is Snowfall," I replied. "Snowfall... I have never heard such a name before..." he said. "My mother and father said it was because I was born on a snowy winters day, and my pelt matched the sceanery so they named me Snowfall," I said. "Where do you come from?" he asked. "The Valley of Cherry Blossoms," I awnsered. "Where are you from?" "Ancra de Umbras Cecidi," he replied. I had no idea where that was, nor what it ment. He smiled and started running. "Can't catch me!" he called. "Oh yes I can!" I shouted back. We played for the rest of the day untill the sky turned dark. The pink blossoms of the cherry trees added a purple hue to the background. Iacet sighed and said "I must go." "Can't you stay here?" I asked. "No, but it was nice meeting you," he replied. He turned and started to pad off. He stoped for a moment and said "Do not speak of me, okay." and vanished into the dence undergrowth. I nodded, but I knew he could not see me. I ran home to my mother and father. My fathr had just come back from hunting and gave me a mouse. "Eat, you must be hungry from a day of play," he purred. I sat down to eat. "Did you do anything exciting, sweety?" asked my mother. "No, I just chased the falling cherry blossoms," I replied...
Ever day from then on I went to meet Iacet. For me, everyday was perfect. Peaceful, enjoyable, and free of worries. Or at least it was, untill the summer thirteen months after I met him.
Chapter 2: Summer[]
I heard my parents talking in another room in our den. "Dream," my father started. "You know how savage they are, there is no hope of anyone being spared." "But what if we surrender? If we promice to stop running?" replied my mother. "No, we must move," he awnsered. They padded outside their room. My mother came over to me. "Snowfall," she started. "Things, things are going to happen shortly that you will not understand," she continued in in a soothing voice. "Quick! There scent is getting closer! They are comming!" yowled my father. "And nither does your father..." she sobbed. "W-What things?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Look, I want you to run away from this place as fast as you can, and don't look back," she said, choking on her tears. My father yanked us both outside and started running, but my mother and I did not follow. "Why aren'y you running? Mov-" a tall, feirce looking black cat leaped out of the bushes and knocked my father over. "Donec nunc fugiens, Ty," he hissed. "No!" I screached. "Run!" my mother yelled. I paniced at first then broke out into a run. More cats filled the Valley of Cherry Blossoms. I counted seven before I was too far to count any more. I ran all night, but I always felt a cold, evil stare burn into my pelt. I stoped at a medow with many streams running through it. "Hey," called a voice. I turned around to see Iacet. "I saw you running, what happened?" he asked. Tears came to my eyes. "T-There was a band of cats. A-And, they killed my parents. My mother told me to run, and I did. But I do not know what became of them," I replied. He wraped his long, dark gray tail around me. "I am sorry," he said. "But it is not your fault," I replied. He looked down, for what reason I do not know. I remember that he told me one night when we were kits that his mother died giving birth to him and his father left him soon after. Maybe that is what he was thinking of? Iacet helped me find a new place to live and he caught a mouse for me to eat. He stayed with me for several days, but then he said he had to leave. On the day he left, he bid me farewell. Once he passed out of sight a velvet soft, pink cherry blossem blew in from the valley I grew up in. Memories flooded my mind and I found myself breaking down into tears, all alone.
Chapter 3: Autumn[]
I continued to live in the Valley of Crystal Streams. I hunted, I slept, I drank water, all I had to do, but nothing ever diferent. I know I shouldn't complain. Other cats have it much worse than me, like Iacet. Who knows where he is now. Alone, cold, hungry. Here I am warm, well feed, but I am still alone. When the season of autumn came around, I saw my love again. I ran outside to meet him. "Where have you been?" I asked him. "That's not important," he said. "How have you been?" "The same, nothing around here changes," I replied. I remembered the Valley of Cherry Blossoms. How the land would go from white, to pink, to green, to ornge, and then back again. But here everything stayed a light green. The trees, the grass, if the sky could I bet it would turn green as well. Green isn't a bad color, but after you've seen it day and night over and over again, it gets dull, like how a rose withers in the frost. That night we went hunting and shared our catch in my den. After we ate he took me outside. "I want to show you something," he said. We ran to this place. A place filled with crystal clear water, lit by silver moonlight. As if the pool was not beutiful enough, Iacet swam behind a waterfall. I followed him. We took me to this cave. Its walls were cvered in a glossy crystal cover. Light splintered off the walls in a firey red dance. Breath taking. "Do you like it?" he asked. "Yes," I replied. We stayed there for a while, and then exited once the night gew too late. Iacet stayed with me for several days. One morning, Iacet and I padded outside our den to warm our pelts. I heard a rusting in the bushes. "Prince?" said a small, tabby tom as he poked his head out of the bushes. We jumped to our paws. "Prince! We have been looking all over for you! We need to get you back home!" said the little tom. Iacet turned to me and said "I have never seen this cat before in my life." "What are you talking about, Prince Iacet! I'm your servant, Perseus," replied the cat. "Percy, get the heck out of here," muttered Iacet. "So you know this cat?" I asked, confused. "Um," said Iacet. "And why is he calling you Prince?" I asked. He stayed quitet. The tom looked at me as if he just noticed me. "That's the daughtor of the traitor of our tribe! What are you doing with her!" shouted the tom. "Traitor? Tribe? Iacet what is he talking about?" I hissed. Iacet would not speak. "Good thing your father killed that traitor Ty, and his mate," continued the tom. "Percy!" shouted Iacet to make him stop talking. "Your father killed my parents and you didn't tell me?" I hissed, enraged. "Snowy, I can explane," he said. "I trusted you can you stabed me in the back!" I yowled. I ran off into the forest, too angry to talk any more. "Snowfall, please!" he said. He started chasing after me. I ran as fast as I could but he caught up to me. "Get away from me!" I hissed. "Snowy, I didn't mean to hurt you," he said. "What do you mean I didn't mean to hurt you?" I shouted. "Your name means lies!" His eyes narrowed to slits. "And I though you cared about me instead of treating me like a monster, like everyone else," he hissed. He padded off, not looking back.
Chapter 4: Winter[]
Weeks passed after the fight with Iacet. The days grew shorter and colder. I left the Valley of Crystal Streams once the weather grew too cold and the water turned to ice. I found myself in a dence, dark forest. The sun couldn't reach the forest floor. As much as I hated that place, I had to stay. My belly was heavy with kits, Iacet's kits. Was I too hard on him? But then again he did not tell me who he realy was... I made my home by a small stream of water. It seemed safe enough, put pain and worry blew through the very wind of this place. It echoed through the branches and leaves of trees, a mournful, sorrowful cry. This place seemed so different from the Valley of Cherry Blossoms and the Valley of Crystal Streams. The shadows on the ground looked like pitch black ghosts. I soon started to call this place, the Valley of Fallen Shadows. I kitted the night of the new moon, but it was so dark, moonlight couldn't penatrate the barrier of dark leaves that it wouldn't matter if there was a moon or not. I gave birth to two kits, one tom and one she-cat. The tom was a dark gray in color and had drak, dark amber eyes that were almost red, like Iacet. The she-cat was a very pale gray, like my mother, and had bright green eyes, like my father. I named the she-cat, Promitte, promise, and the tom, Verum, truth. I hope it will lift the curse that I have felt every day...
Chapter 5: Spring[]
We stayed in the Valley of Fallen Shadows, as much as I hated it. I was too scared to move, my kits were still so small. "Momma," said Promitte, her brother at her side. "Who was our father?" I sat there, stunned. "Your father is someone," I started. "Someone I will never forget." Verum tilted his head to the side. "But who is he? What was he like? Were is he now?" asked the little tom. "It's best not to trouble your mind now," I replied. I heard rusling in the bushes. "Strange cats on our territory?" hissed a black she-cat. We cats surrounded us. "W-who are you?" I shouted, panicing. My kits stared wide-eyed in shock and ran behind me. "Oh look what we have here," said a dark brown tabby she-cat. She steped out of the grop and walked up to me. "A queen and her kits," she said. "Please, you must understand!" I pleaded. "Of course I do..." She smiled. "Take 'em back to camp, let's see wht the king does with them," she then said Two cats grabed my kits by their scruffs. "Mommy!" they cried. "No!" I shouted. The she-cat his me over the head and knocked me unconsius...
I awoke in a dungon, my paws chained to the floor. My kits were next to me, eyes closed, but Verum's ears were bleeding. "Get up," hissed a gray tabby tom. We tossed a small rock at me. "I said get up!" he then hissed. I rose to my paws and padded up to the dungen bars. My paws were still chained, so it was very difficult to walk. He opened up the gate and broke my chains. He took me outside the dungen along with my kits. We followed him down the long dark hallway. He shoved me and my kits in a small room. "Dimitte me deus..." muttered the tom. He left the room. I ran to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. "Hey! Open this door!" I shouted. I heard barking. A huge dog came out from the shadows. It's bared teeth yellow, and its black pelt matted with dirt and blood. My kits whimpered. "Stay away!" I hissed at the dog. It kept snarling as it inched closer. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for death. "Mali, malae canis!" hissed a voice. The dog whimpered and I opened my eyes. "Percy?" I said. "Yes, Madam Snowfall. Prince Iacet sent me after you," he awnsered. I narrowed my eyes. "And why doesn't this oh so brave Prince come down here himself?" I asked him, with sarcasm in my voice. "Why that's simple, he's been locked away in his quarters by his father, the king," awnsered Percy. We heard pawsteps in the distance. "Quick! We must leave!" said Percy. He opened the door and we ran outside. My kits grew tired, so we picked each of them up by the scruff and carried them. We were almost outside of the massive chain of tunnels in whitch my kits and I were imprisoned. "Stop right there!" hissed the she-cat from earlyer. She and her patrol leaped infront of the only entrance. "Please! Have you know compassion for the life of a queen and her kits?" I asked. "Of sure I did, then your father ripped it right out of me!" she snarled. Everyone paused for a brief moment. Then the she-cat said "Your father, was my brother. When I gained power in our tribe, he wanted that power. He killed my kits and ran away with, that, that Dream." "If you were truly my father's sister then you know he would do no such thing!" I hissed back. She lunged at me, but I doged her attack. Percy helped me fight then off, but there were far too many. "Traitor!" hissed a white tom at Percy. "You know very well how evil our king is. He killed your mate and sent her defender to the dungens, Adrastos," replied Percy. "You know nothing, servant!" hissed back Adrastos. "Would Bella say the same?" said Percy. Adrastos stood there. In a state of shock, pain, and greif. He fled from the hallway. We started running, both me and my kits were exausted. The cats followed us. Percy's eyes grew wider "No! Stop! There herding us to-" The doors closed behind us, and we were traped in a large, dark room. "The throne room," muttered Percy. Dark, evil amber eyes peared out from the darkness. A tall, black tom slid out from the shadows. The same cat who killed my parents. "Oh look at this. Two traitors. Did my love-struck send you here, Percy?" said the tom. "No! Um, I mean yes... But I would have came to rescue her anyway! It's not right to kill for no reason!" hissed back Percy. My kits cowered behind my leg. "Step aside," he hissed as be knocked Percy over. "I'll make this quick," he said as he rose his paw up for the killing blow to end my life. "No!" hissed a voice. A dark gray tom leaped on him. "Iacet!" I said, in a state of shock, joy, and anger. "Take the kits and run!" he shouted. "No!" I screamed. I was tired of running. I have been running from this monster almost my whole life. I will fight! "How did you escape?" hissed Iacet's father. "Thanks to me," said another voice. Adrastos padded out from the huge doors that were sealed shut only moments ago. "How'd you do it?" asked Verum, still trembling in fear. "I picked the lock," he replied as he lunged at Iacet's father. He and Iacet was knocked to the side. I charged at the tom, leaving my kits with Percy. I slashed at his side and at his face. He tried to slit my throat, but I doged his attack. Adrastos rose to his paws again and helped me fight, but a long, bloody wound was carved down his chest and side. He colapsed to the ground, bleeding his life out. I knocked the tom over. Iacet pinned him down. He helped me to deliver the killing blow. The tyrant king's last words were "Proditores," traitors. But it was he who was the traitor.
Epilogue: Summer[]
Iacet and I left the Valley of Fallen Shadows back to the Valley of Cherry Blossoms. He left Perceus in charge, and he lead his trie back to its former glory. Adrastos died from his injuries. His dieing words were "At least I can see Bella again." When we arived back to my birth place, the trees were green, all ecept one, silk soft flower. It fell to my paws. I picked it up, and let the breeze catch it. It drifted away, and all my worries seemed to lift off my shoulders...
The End...
Translation[]
(I used Google Translate, the phrases I used may not be very accurate)
Donec nunc fugiens, Ty = No more running now, Ty
Ancra de Umbras Cecidi = The Valley of Fallen Shadows
Iacet = Lies
Promitte = Promise
Verum = Truth
Dimitte me Deus = God forgive me
Mali, malae canis = Bad, bad dog
Gallery[]
Snowfall- Kit