ORIGIN

Dovefeather awoke with a gasp.

Pearlescent stone shattered as she clawed apart the paperthin shell, spilling forth into ferns and thorns like a newborn kitten. A sputter, a hiss, as she shivered in flattened, damp curled fur. It took her a moment to come down from the adrenaline and remember, remember. She licked at her fur, tongue rasping over every inch as her chrysalis dried and her pelt was made warm once more. Alive.

Oh Mother, how had it gotten this far? She shivered still, reluctantly working up a purr in the back of her throat until it made every inch of her shake with heat. She rose on to thin limbs, wobbling with the weakness of unused muscles. Her golden eyes blinked, wincing as she stepped out from her shelter deep in the thickest part of the forest's underbrush. The air was fresh, and each breath came more and more easily into her chest.

She padded her way to the All Mother-- her name for the Monarch that stood in the heart of the forest-- and stared up at the huge fungus. Unchanged, thankfully, even after what must have been hundreds of cycles. ... Why me? Why not my sisters? She wondered, as if she had forgotten how to speak. Praise be to you, All Mother. But I don't understand. Does my brother live? Do any of them live? Maybe they rested like she had. She didn't believe it true, not deep down.

Feeling mournful, she bowed her head. Her tail curled about her paws, and she meditated just outside of the All Mother's shade. She did not speak to Dovefeather directly, she never had. There were other ways to know Her will, though, and quietly, the cat tried to reach out to the only family that remained.

In response to her wishes, the light about her shifted slightly, splitting into different colors that drifted about her. She opened her eyes, and tried to trace one of the tints as it drifted in front of her, but the colors were too dim.

She had been sleeping too long.