WARNING! Contains swears, gore and some violence. Not recommended for young readers.
Chapter One - History on Thin Pages[]
Two cats padded through a dark tunnel, a dim light far from them. It was too dark to make out any colors. One of the cats was larger and had a thin, long tail, while the other one was small with a stumped tail. Water dripped from the ceiling of the round tunnel, landing on the smooth ground. Creaky noises would ring into the air once and a while.
"Well, Java, you're lucky to have a big brother like me," the larger cat spoke. His voice was deep and half-stern.
"Pffbt, of course... Liechet..." Java responded. The tom's voice was slightly high-pitched. He seemed to be annoyed.
"Heh, your big bro is a genius. I'm the only cat in this dark city that has an 'advanced brain', like you, lil bro."
"Riiiight..."
The two hopped out of the tunnel. Java had black fur with a white muzzle reaching to his belly and brown eyes, while Liechet had gray-brown fur, a pale stripe running from his nose to his tail over his back, a dark tail tip and dark yellow eyes. The room they stood in was very wide. On the walls were shelves with jars, test tubes in their holders, flat-bottomed flasks and other science tools, the majority of the items having something in them.
On the wall in front of them was a circular, metal structure. It had tubes hooked up to it, leading them into the wall. It had a large, circular door on it that could be locked and seemed to be a mirror. There was a meter on it and a strange pump.
"Woah!" Java exclaimed. "This is like a mad genius' laboratory, like the ones from those weird movies!"
"Yes, yes.. But I've got something else to show you," Liechet responded. He padded over to a table, Java slowly following. On it was a book- but its cover was made of... metal. It was a thick, long book. Java pawed at it, only for his big brother to push his paw away.
"This is a priceless piece of technology, Java! Allow me to use this properly."
"But.. It doesn't look priceless!"
Liechet snarled. "This took 50 years to make, passed down from cat to cat. This is highly advanced, built by extremely smart animals with advanced minds. I received this. Now, don't break this piece. History is written in this book."
"What do you mean...?"
Liechet coughed. "Let me explain... This book contains the important pieces of cat history. It goes as far back as cats existed. We started off as gifts from the Gods in Egypt. Soon, cats became civilized. Humans have THEIR history, we have OURS."
Liechet sat on his haunches, reaching up to the small table. He flipped a page open. Small sentences ran down the paper, seemingly endless. The tom flipped a page, looking at a drawing of two cats. They were the same size. One had a long tail and no ear, while the other had a short tail and a missing paw. They had no expressions- no eyes, no mouths, no noses. Just blank faces.
"These two are the cats of battle. Their names are Jenka and Felici. They lived through a war between the south cats and the north cats, or the South Union and the North Union. The majority of the cats died. The short-tailed one is from the north, while the other is from the south. They became friends after the leaders died and the unions collapsed. They died of disease simultaneously."
Liechet stopped for a moment and checked the inside of the machine on the wall, making sure none of the wires inside of it were torn. He then said something to himself and backed out, closing the door. He coughed again, then continued what he was saying.
"Some say history will never be accessed.. But what if we could go back to witness these events, but never change them?"
"That'd be epic!" Java mewed, his tail tip twitching in a bit of excitement.
"I can make that happen."
Chapter Two - Back in Time[]
"R-Really, bro?" Java gasped.
"Of course. Why would I ever lie? Just follow me, I know the way back in time."
"But it's impossible..."
"Shooooosh! It's possible- anything is."
Java sighed, but he was cut off by a loud caw. A crow flew over his head, frantically flapping his wings and cawing.
"Calm it, Flick! What do you want now?" Liechet snarled, causing Flick to land on the ground.
"S-Sir, we need your help. Jayhawker needs you to go back in time. We have to uncover the pieces of the page to uncover the secret of the Ancients. You're the ONLY cat who can do this!"
Liechet turned to Java. "You ready to time travel?"
Java's eyes lit up. "Of course!"
Liechet nodded, turning to a panel on the wall with 10 numbers. He pressed three of them, which Java couldn't see. A loud "hrrrr" noise shot into the air as a hidden door opened. The scientist picked up a blindfold and a pair of goggles. The two walked in, the door closing behind them with a thud noise.
The tom gripped a large, silvery ring-like object in his jaws and put it on the ground. He placed the goggles over his eyes and tied the blindfold around Java's.
"Now hold onto the ring, and you'll be fine. Understand?"
Right before Java had the chance to nod, a bright light flashed. Good thing they had the eye protection on, or they'd be blinded for the rest of their lives. They began to feel.. Odd. Their insides felt like they were flipping, twisting, tangling and turning inside out. They felt like static in a way, their form quickly moving in a glitch-like way, seemingly impossible. After a few seconds, the light ceased to darkness.
Java slipped off the blindfold, shaking. His brother shook the goggles off, letting the ring go. The two shaky cats dug a small hole and placed the ring in it, making a circle on the spot. Liechet planted a stick in the ring's center, the wood pointing to the tree-blocked sky. All around them were trees. A mile ahead of them was a dirt and rock path, leading somewhere.
The two shakily stood up, observing the quiet surroundings. It was a large, large forest with many trees and some rocks poking into the air. They must've been planted there, since it seemed odd for large rocks to slip out of the ground, especially with unnatural sharp tips. What made them disturbing was the very faint bloodstains. Another animal must've been impaled on one of them.
"What is this place...?" Java silently questioned.
"The Pointed Stone Forest, between the North and South Union. It's like a battleground. The rocks are like natural weaponry- two cats lift one, slice its belly open, tear it apart and leave it to die. Honour, the North Union's leader, was impaled on one of these rocks. Her union went after the South Union's leader, Courage, and tore him apart. The other cats were too busy cheering in victory. One of them yowled, but it was too late- Courage was dead. The unions then collapsed. The ones who lived eventually died from their wounds- except for Jenka and Felici. They survived together. It looks like the battle hasn't occurred. The bloodstains must've been from accidents. There are kits that would come out to play here. Many of 'em died, though. Unfortunate..."
Java nodded, padding toward the path with Liechet following. The two went down the path when they got there, seeing that it was quite long. After hunting two rabbits, the two carried on. After following the path, they entered a clearing. In front of them was a brick fort, vines crawling up the walls of it from a tall tree beside it.
"This is the North Union's fort, or Fort Northwind."
Chapter Three - Fort Northwind[]
"Fort Northwind? Is the other union's... fort.. called Fort Southwind? Well, if it is a fort...?" Java asked.
"Correct," Liechet said. "Fort Southwind is quite similar to this. Both forts were abandoned by two enemy armies. The battles ended very quickly with little men to fight on each side. They all died in the end. That's what Jayhawker says when he studied cat history."
A loud growl rung into the air. From behind, two large, long-furred black cats with even darker stripes padded out, their amber eyes gleaming. Around their necks were white scarves with a few dark stains, probably from tripping and getting dirt on it.
"What are you doing here?" One of them snarled, fur bristling. The other one nodded, hostility flaring in his eyes. Liechet coughed before speaking.
"We mean no harm, you two," he calmly said, nodding his head.
"Where are you from?" One of the dark striped cats asked.
"Future. I am Liechet, and this is Java. We come after the deaths of Honour and Courage."
The two cats exchanged looks. "They haven't died."
"They will- I know it. You are history, we are future. Wait and see. The Compass War is nearing now. Prepare quickly."
The two toms gave Liechet an odd look. A prophecy? They almost thought of it in sync. The two nodded, letting them pass. The guards padded behind the fort and started a conversation. With them gone, the brothers slipped through a large gap in the wooden planks covering the door. When they got in, it turned out that there was no door.
The fort was wider than they expected. The first room was very large with barely anything in it, except for a few tilted, broken chairs. The other four rooms weren't too big. One room stood out, though.
There was a room with... metal planks covering the door. It seemed impossible to get into. Scratchy noises came from the room, along with growls and howls of agony. The fort was empty at the moment. They must've gone to train.
"Is the other fort like this?" Java mewed. "I mean... With the noise and all...."
Liechet nodded. "I suppose this is a prisoner room. If Monochrome saw us, she'd be beating us with that metal pipe she has. Her brother is hostile as well... Monochrome and Monotone, the albino siblings. We should hurry up now before they come back. They're the head warriors.. I wouldn't wanna come by the two."
Liechet jumped as a loud banging noises came from the metal. It sounded like claws raking down a chalkboard, screeching noises ringing into the air. A howl or agony shot into the air, another loud bang following. Wheezes came from the room, along with coughs and scratchy growls. A cry rose before quickly being cut off with a slamming noise. The two backed away from the door as blood trickled from a small crack underneath the metal.
"The two are up to their duty, I suppose," Liechet whispered to his brother. "Get back. If they find us, we'll end up like that..."
They backed away from the metal, bumping into something. They whirled around, seeing two tall masses of white fur and... blood. The two turned out to be cats- two felines in particular.
"Monotone and Monochrome!" Liechet yowled, jumping back and hitting the metal.
The two white felines were big, having bloodsoaked long fur. They had identical pinkish-red eyes. Monotone, the smaller one, wore a frown on his face, blood dripping from his jaw. Monochrome, the larger one, had a smile planted on her face.
(Art by me.)
"And what are YOU two doing here?" Monochrome growled, her tail swishing, blood smearing against the cold ground.
Liechet stood up, brushing the dust off himself with his tail. "We have a message."
The two albinos exchanged looks. Monotone growled. "Speak."
"There is a war coming up soon. The South Union is planning to attack. Monotone, Monochrome, you must alert Honour now. Courage will make his way here. Honour will be impaled on a rock, and Courage will be torn apart. Hurry-" Liechet was cut off by a hissing Monochrome.
"Liar! Honour will NOT die!" Her fur began to bristle, anger flaring in her eyes. She swiped, claws unsheathed, but Liechet dodged, dragging his claws across she she's face. His claws cut through the fur and skin, tearing the flesh. She let out a howl, Monotone leaping at the tom. He bit his foreleg, claws tearing out of the she's face, leaving a long scar running across it. She wheezed, her head turning to Java, ignoring Monotone and Liechet's fight.
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