King

 luna --  angelus  --  stranger 

king

prequel to luna, angelus, and stranger

enjoy <3

fans

sign here if you're a fan!

king

preface

Regal kingdoms ruled over all. The flightless - and the fliers.

There was no difference, Fratz knew. As a prince, he had his job - rule over his fliers as soon as Uki passed away. Find a way to reproduce without getting to attached to his chosen one - which was Tipo.

Tipo wasn't bad, he knew, but she was close - almost like she was bordering on the forbidden concept.

He couldn't totally blame her, somehow.

A flightless.

A flier.

She was a flier - but she had no marking. No white spots on her fur. Not even her tailtip was white. Her eyes were a deep green, her pelt a deep, cinnamon brown. Was she actually a flier? Fratz wasn't sure now.

Uki had decided to spare her, as she said she was born from two fliers that had vanished. She wasn't totally wrong - a pair of fliers had gone missing. Fratz didn't believe that she was their child, though - as I should.

Once she'd said something to him about her dramatic witnessing of her parents' deaths. He wasn't too keen to listening - she was annoying and stubborn, and he had no idea how Uki had seen anything good in her. The aging leader of their group was starting to lose his sanity, in Fratz's opinion.

Tipo was a brave one, though, and he did respect that. She led missions to spy on the flightless and make sure there was nothing going on. She would go hunting on her own and make sure everyone was fed before she ate. She was strong-willed, and had a well-built reputation - it was only a matter of time before she carried his kits, as most group said.

She kept her duties until she did carry his kits - and the rule was that none could interfere on a prince's chosen one unless they were in serious pain or injury. Which means no help for her, he remembered, his heart skipping.

She kept going. Fratz kept trying to convince her that she wasn't respecting her kits - leaving herself to go hungry some nights, her extreme missions that she kept doing despite the growth of her belly.

She didn't listen much, and he became more and more aware that she wasn't going to stop unless he made her.

"Tipo! Stop!" He watched her call a patrol together. "Tipo, please, don't do this." He knew everyone had watched her stomach grow - it now hung under her, swaying as he watched her shake. "Please. You're going to end up killing them."

She shook her head. "I won't. If they start to come, I'll come home. I'll be okay."

She did return safe, but not without a few serious scratches.

This time the healers were allowed to see her. She wasn't too keen about them prodding her stomach - she left them with a few scratches. Fratz was worried about her, watching her keep doing risky things. Please, Tipo.

His worry only grew when she went hungry again. This was her seventh time since she had known about her kits - and she was really letting herself go. He could see her ribs poke out despite the now heavy hang of her belly. "Tipo, can we talk?"

She wasn't keen about discussing, but he knew he had to. "Tipo, you need to stop letting yourself go." She stared at him in disbelief afterward.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want you to die, and I don't want our kits to die." She was still in disbelief - he could see it in her eyes. "And..."

He didn't want to admit it. He'd seen it in her eyes, the way they sunk. The joy she felt when she had noticed it. He couldn't deny it - he was feeling it a bit as well.

"Tipo." Her eyes relaxed, despite their disbelieving look. "Tipo, I-I-"

"I don't care if you do." She said it before he could even get the words out. "I don't like thinking about it, but... I love you too."

They both went silent afterwards, in a bit of shock. Fratz thought that she'd let herself go because she didn't want to bear her kits safely. But she did it because she didn't want to look like she was letting her guard down.

The two still sat silently, until the sun burned his eyes, and she was complaining of pains in her stomach. Rushing was no option - and he knew it, as she walked slowly, complaining every few minutes that she wasn't going to make it alright.

"Fratz, it's getting worse," she said, moaning now. "Fratz, I can't make it back."

He knew it was too late, at that very moment.

"Look, look, look! She's got your fur, and a white spot!"

"He's got my silver fur, look!"

Both were stillborn, as he feared. She wailed for what seemed like forever.

"Look, she's got blue-gray fur! It's like my silver fur with a touch of blue eyes!" He didn't have blue eyes, he knew.

Something was wrong, and she didn't respond.

I will name her...

one

Angelus would do a almost anything if he could get away from his place.

He was a flier, according to everything he knew. White paws stuck out from his deep, chocolate brown fur. He was a child of the leader, and worked as his second-in-command, as his father's mate had died giving birth to him. Fratz told him that he had his mother's ambition.

Angelus didn't like that.

Some spoke of how Fratz had modified the rules of his group after his special one died. Said that he was a maniac, changing it, promoting a foreign concept - love.

Angelus didn't like that either.

''But I have to do it. He - he needs me to do it.'' "Ash, Nami, Pax. Let's go."

His three closest friends. Often spoken of as some of the best spies out there.

Ash was a light gray, her eyes a deep amber, her white tabby markings making her rather vivid in the bushes. She had a torn ear and a marking on her fur, the latter being a constant reminder of what she used to be - an experiment. She wasn't too keen to speak on it, Angelus knew, but he was curious to hear the rest of her story, as her marking was in the shape of a snake, and gave her fur a much darker tone.

Nami was gray-brown, her eyes green, her white spots being in her tailtip and front paws. A purebred flier, she had the perfect qualities of a spy. Swift. Quiet. Stealthy. Angelus almost hated her, because she was so pure. She was hardened out, had no room for any mutual feelings - which of course was another addition to being purebred, as she could not feel the feeling of love. Most of the others in their group were like her - she couldn't be bothered with love, as it was foreign and unwelcome.

Angelus wasn't too happy with her.

Moving on.

Pax was the last one. Similar to Nami in terms of his markings, the copper-colored tom was shy and quiet - and jumpy. He wasn't the best, but he had started to lose some of his jumpiness. Angelus remembered a time when he had almost gotten him and Ash killed when he jumped at the sound of a she-cat talking. Poor Pax had gotten absolutely terrified, but Angelus did know that he wasn't perfect. Which is good.

Angelus almost forgot about the experience. Almost.

Of course, he couldn't think about it now.

"Pax, you stay with me. Ash, Nami, you guys go over there." He flicked his tail to point to a bush. These were traditional - their enemies were hardly ever aware of them watching their every move. Angelus knew almost everyone's names. He just didn't know a few - like the blue-gray she-cat down there, and that calico near her. Who're they?

Pax poked his head in the bush. "What are we looking for?"

"Any sign that they plan to do trouble," Angelus sighed. "If we overhear anything violent, we need to tell Fratz immediately."

Moonstone. The leader's name rang in his mind as he watched the black-flecked, gray-furred she-cat step out. "Who's this, Luna?"

''Luna. That's the blue-gray one.'' He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't hear the calico's name.

Moonstone was indecisive, from what he knew. "Okay." She seemed as though she had made up her mind. "She can stay."

Luna. She looked overjoyed, thanking Moonstone. "I'll make sure she settles in okay, and I'll make sure she and I go out sometime to explore the territory."

"Don't get too attached, Luna." Moonstone was a tough leader - like Fratz was. "She's only here temporarily. She'll be gone within six months."

''Six months. That's how long she could be a threat.''

"I won't. I promise." Has she done this before?

"Don't break it, Luna." She nodded, said something to the calico, and started to show the latter around camp.

Angelus had made up his mind. "Pax, c'mon." He could spot Ash and Nami nearby. "We have to talk about this with Fratz."

Something definitely wasn't working right in him.

two

Luna wasn't going to deny the fact that she saw brown fur while she was talking with Moonstone. If she was honest, she was surprised the leader hadn't seen it as well - or, at least, sent someone outside.

She would've gone by herself if she wasn't showing her stranger around.

"So, while you're here, you're going to see some weird stuff." She would tell Moonstone about the fliers later.

"What kind of weird stuff?" This stranger knew what to ask.

"Other cats with markings different than ours. You're lucky to be accepted here, given all the white on your fur." She was nervous - the white made her stranger pop out like a snowy white hare in the forest. "Some have been known to be blessed by angels. That's mostly the others."

"Angels?"

"Spirits. Reminiscent of the old residents. Stranger names than ours; they have like 'Emberflight' and 'Splashheart' and stuff." She wasn't an expert, of course, but given as she was one who knew - healer tales, she remembered - about them, she might as well tell the stories.

Before she could even let the name flash in her head, she asked her stranger, "Can I just call you Stranger? It sounds more interesting than..." Her voice tapered off, not daring to speak. "...y-y'know, your name."

The calico's tail smacked her on the shoulder. "Sure. Stranger's sort of an interesting name anyway. More interesting than my... other one."

She was playing along. That's... good. "Great. Let's keep moving."

"So, the old residents were in all these weird groups. They had a weird code and stuff, but it's different now. We all pass freely, even though we're all protective of our territory. Every cat has the right to defend themselves, not necessarily for their group. We have little mentorship, and we're expected to learn everything on our own. Those are the general rules here." She knew the last one was enforced strictly - she'd seen Moonstone snarl at someone for teaching a younger member about battle moves.

Stranger wasn't all impressed, Luna could tell. "That's it? There's no other rules?"

"Well..." The latter took a breath, her mind in a riot. "...not exactly. There are others that we enforce. Love is foreign. Mates can't get too attached and are based upon how they cooperate together. Little can be done for me if I somehow get injured, given as Moonstone trusts me as her successor." ''Even though I have no idea why. I'm just a fool - everyone says otherwise, but I don't show it all.'' She was calm and collected on the outside - her eyes kept her emotions hidden. Inside, however, she always felt alone, lackluster, and overwhelmed. She was expected to do so much... and all of her would get out eventually.

"What about if you get seriously hurt?"

"That's when the healers can step in. Also if I somehow happen to carry kits, which I doubt I will for a long time, but even that gets rare." She's heard the stories of Fratz, the opposing leader. Rumor had it that he secretly loved his mate. Sometimes mentioned how she totally let herself go.

Luna suspected something else, but - she wouldn't dare let the words enter. "If you're looking for a recent example of how limited the treatment is for pregnant queens - you can listen to the stories about Fratz's mate. She completely let herself go once she carried kits - even though she held her leader's successor." That was also a general rule - most of the time, the firstborn kit would take the place of their parent. She assumed it would go unspoken with Stranger, given her implication.