Forged in Fire

== Disclaimer ==
This is the first story in a much larger series, later in the series it gets quite violent and deals with mental health issues, read at your own digression.
I would really love feedback and things you think I should change.
One last thing, a feline in this story is a cat that walks on two legs, wears clothes, and has aposable thumbs.
Enjoy
== Forged in Fire ==
Before you read this, I must make something clear, this is not a happy story, this is a story of blood, murder, and war. It is a story of guilt, the story of a lover, a killer, and a brother. For too long the story of the Gatra brothers has been shrouded in lies and hate, being told by those who hated them, or loved them too much. I am the only living feline who knows the whole story, and I cannot let my secrets die with me. This book is not a history of the feline-canine war, for the story of the brothers did not end with the war, far from it. I suppose that as I am not ending the story with the war, it would not be right to begin with it either. 
No, the true story of the Gatra brothers begins in a house in the center of a small province named Katust in a kingdom called Felis. Lord Gatra was the lord of the province, appointed for life by the people, and he was a fair judge with a benevolent way of ruling, but this is not his story. The lord had two sons, whom you may or may not know, for this is their story. Rishi was the eldest of the two, a thin, intelligent young feline with a passion for creating complex traps, usually for his brother, Sav, was the younger son. Sav was large for his age, and often relied on his strength to defeat his older brother in their wrestling matches. They did not get along well, and were constantly at each other's throats. 
Our story begins when Rishi was ten and Sav was six, the night after a particularly satisfying day of roughhousing. It was summer, and the heat lay thickly on the lord’s house, making it difficult to sleep. Rishi was creeping through the halls, the thick red carpet muffling his already quiet pawsteps. He was on his way to the kitchen to sneak a snack from the cabinet, when he heard his name.
“They’re getting out of paw,” Hara, the kitten’s mother, said to their father. “Today Rishi trapped Sav in the pond, he would have drowned if  the cook hadn’t found him.”
Rishi snickered softly at the memory of his brother soaking wet. He crept over to the door of his parent’s bedroom, which was slightly open, casting a narrow strip of light across the floor and up the opposite wall.
“What do you think we should do?” That was father.
“We could take a trip to the country house,” Mother suggested. “It would be good for them to get some more space to be away from each other.”
“We can leave at the end of this ten-day, I’ll make the arrangements.”
Rishi, his hunger forgotten, went back to his bedroom, thinking about all of the pranks he could play on Sav at the country house. He could trap him in the woods, or the chicken coop. With that lovely thought in his mind, he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning at breakfast Hara told Rishi and Sav about the trip to the country house. Rishi pretended to be surprised by the announcement, but Sav was filled with genuine excitement, jumping up and down on his chair, knocking his plate of eggs to the floor. 
Rishi could barely wait until the morning came when his mother woke him up to go to the carriage for the ride to the country. The miniature horses stamped in the chill of the morning, the dawn light barely making it over the walls into the courtyard. Bags and boxes were strapped to the roof, ready to depart. 
While Sav slept on his mother’s lap, Rishi looked out the window at the houses and shops lining the cobble streets of the city. It was early, but a few carts and pedestrians occupied the streets. The temple bells rang the Song of Sunrise, which would wake up most felines for the official start of the day. The bells were clear and sweet, each note in tune, and a work of art in and of itself, making the entire ensemble the heavenly chorus it should be. Rishi had been in the temple for holy days, but had never seen the bells, but he wanted to. He tried, but he could never fathom how they were able to ring in such perfect harmony.
The carriage ride to the country house took the whole day, arriving near sunset in the courtyard. Unlike their house in the city, which was for housing whomever was the current lord, and his family, the country house and the surrounding land had been in the Gatra family for generations before the brothers were born. The house had only two stories, the main floor that had the living room, kitchen, and dining room, and the second floor, which consisted of the bedrooms, play rooms, and library. Rishi liked the library, with its large windows and tall, dark bookshelves, which always smelled so good. Rishi also liked the librarian, Wirus, who had been Gatra's librarian and housekeeper for longer than Lord Gatra had been alive.
Wirus opened the door for them, he was an old, dust colored feline with bushy grey eyebrows and a kind face. He always wore a pair of small, gold rimmed glasses, which stayed perfectly balanced on the bridge of his nose. He kept his clothes clean and wrinkle-free, always looking perfectly put together.
“Welcome Lord and Lady Gatra,” He said to the older felines. “And to the two young sirs.” This was directed to Rishi and Sav. “The bedrooms have been made ready for you, and supper is in the dining room.”
Every room in the country house had huge windows, so different from the dark, carpeted halls of the city house. Rishi was happy living in the city, but the country house felt more like home.
The next morning Rishi was woken up by thunder booming outside. Rain streamed down the windows and off of the roof,splattering in the flowerbeds below. He sat on the windowsill, staring out at the soaked, gray fields. He sighed, there would be no outside traps for Sav today. He pulled on a shirt and ran down to the dining room, where his parents were eating breakfast, Sav was still asleep. The rain was quieter here than it was in the bedroom, but it still pounded on the windows, echoing through the dining room.
“What are you going to do today?” His mother asked.
“What?” Rishi hadn’t been listening, he had been staring at the rain outside, thinking about what he could be doing if it had been sunny. “I’m going to go to the library.”
“Wirus will be happy to see you, he said that he’d gotten some new books that he thinks you’ll like.”
Rishi swallowed the rest of his food quickly, ready to go and look at the new books, momentarily forgetting his glumness. He ran up the stairs and into the library, almost knocking over Wirus in the doorway.
“Sorry Wirus,” He said quickly.
“It’s alright Rishi, just be a little more careful next time.”
Wirus called him “young sir” in front of his parents, but always called him Rishi when they were alone together.
“I’m glad you’re here. I got some new books, and I hope you’ll help me read them.”
Rishi nodded. “What books are they?”
The elderly librarian led him through the spaces between the shelves, pulling out some leather-bound volumes with letters in gold or red announcing their titles. The Frozen Kingdom, The Dark Lion, and The Horns of War. The two felines sat at the window, reading tales of warriors and kings, but the young boy found himself distracted from the story by his thoughts, looking at the rain outside.
“You’ve only made it to chapter three, is something wrong?” Wirus asked him, half joking.
“How long has this house been here?” He asked.
“A very long time, I think, since before the Last King.” Rishi thought about that. The last king of Felis had been Queen Shira’s great-grandfather, King Ragus. He had been the last king before a long line of queens. 
“This was one of the last outposts on the way to the great wilderness, under control of your ancestors. Back then Felis was threatened by the creatures of the forests, great elk and weasels that terrorised the felines of the countryside. This land was a place for the farmers and herders of the borders to be safe from the animals of the wilderness.”
“How were they hidden from the animals?”
“The soldiers of the king’s army dug tunnels underneath the ground, a hiding place for all of the felines who had been displaced by the monsters. After the Goddess sent her children to guard Felis from the creatures of the forest there was no more need for the outpost to guard the kingdom, but the king gave this land to your family as a thanks for their service.”
“Are the tunnels still there?” An idea was taking shape in Rishi’s head.
“I suppose they must be, but they’ve surely fallen into disrepair, unstable and dangerous. Thank you for asking the question, I haven’t told that story in years. My husband used to tell it to me.” He said with a sigh.
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“Yes, Barus was the gardener and groundskeeper for your family. As I love and am tied to this house, my husband was to the land it was built on. He worked here for many years before he died, that was before you were born.” The old librarian sighed quietly and smiled then the two went back to their reading, Rishi’s plan becoming complete in his mind.
The rain stopped at about three in the afternoon, leaving the grounds dripping and fragrant with the scents of life. Rishi went outside then, bypassing his usual stops on the search for something specific. He searched for about an hour until he found what he was looking for, a mound in the otherwise smooth field. Grass, moss, and soil had covered the stone bricks so much that one wouldn’t notice it unless they were specifically searching for it, and that is exactly what Rishi was doing. He pulled some of the weeds and dirt away from it and found a wooden trap door, rotten and crumbling from the decades of rain and decay that had worked away at the planks. It was obviously feline-made, the metal handle was still there, and under the rust he could barely make out the faint symbol etched in it. It was a slit-pupiled eye with a scar running through it, the mark of the Last King.   Rishi put his paw on the door and pushed, the rotten wood fell away with barely any effort, revealing a wide, stonelined tunnel, just big enough for two felines to walk side-by-side through it. He smiled.
The following morning was bright and sunny, and the brothers’ parents made them go outside to play. Rishi’s plan was going perfectly. He took Sav to the tunnel opening in the field, pretending to never have seen it before.
“What do you think it is Rishi?” Sav asked, looking up at his brother.
“I think it’s a tunnel,” He said, looking and pretending to inspect it.
“Can we go inside?”
“I don’t know, it might be dangerous.”
“Well I’m not afraid of it,” Sav announced, puffing out his chest.
“How about you explore it, and I’ll tell Mom and Dad where you went.”
“But I want you to come with me.”
“Well if you’re as brave as you say you are you wouldn’t need me to come with you.”
“You should get to explore too.”
“I’ll explore with you to the first bend, then I’ll go and tell Mom and Dad about our awesome discovery,” Rishi suggested.
The two young felines walked into the tunnel, their eyes able to see in black and white in the dark. Rishi turned to leave the tunnel.
“Just stay in here until I come back with Mom and Dad, don’t leave the tunnel until we get back.”
He ran towards the light at the tunnel opening, but a rumbling sound came from above his head, dropping clods of earth on his head. He had just enough time to realise what was happening, turn, and run deeper into the tunnel before the entire ceiling of the tunnel opening fell, blocking off the entrance, leaving the two brothers trapped in the dark. Sav screamed, frozen in place by fear, Rishi pushing him down the tunnel, away from the falling earth. He stood in between the younger feline and the cave in, trying to shield him from the falling debris. 
He waited for the rumbling to stop before breaking out of Sav’s tight hold around his middle, pulling his arms away from him. Rishi was breathing heavily, trying to fill his lungs with the damp, musty air. He felt like his chest was being squeezed, not letting him get a satisfying breath. The light was completely gone, leaving them in fuzzy black and white. Sav was staring at the pile of earth and debris that had trapped them, tears rolling down his face.
“I want Mommy and Daddy,” He whispered, breaking the silence. “I want to go home.”
Rishi looked down at the weeping child, his heart pounding in his ears. Before this he had only ever seen Sav as anything but a nuisance to be avoided, and an annoyance to be taught a lesson. But now, seeing him terrified and helpless, he wanted nothing more than to protect him, and get him out safely.
“We’re going to get out of here,” Rishi said, half believing, half hoping his words were true. “We’re going to go to Mommy and Daddy, but you have to be brave, okay, you have to be brave, and strong, and listen to what I say. Do you understand?” Sav nodded. “Good. We’re going to follow this tunnel, there’s no point in moving the cave-in, it would probably fall again. Yeah, we’ll follow the tunnel, if we come to a fork, we’ll go uphill.”
They started walking, sometimes stumbling over loose stones or cracks in the floor. Every time they came to a fork they took the path that went uphill. After several hours of this sav began to trip more frequently, falling onto his hands and knees more than once. After the fourth time Sav fell he cried, loud wailing that echoed off of the tunnel walls.
“What’s wrong?” Rishi asked, his heart pounding, thinking that something was horribly wrong.
Sav sat up and showed Rishi his knee, which was scraped and bleeding, his pants torn. He didn’t know what to do. He tried to remember what mother did when anyone got a skinned knee at home. He thought he remembered her putting some kind of medicine on it, but he didn’t have any, and the only water he had was the puddles that dripped from the ceiling. He sighed and tore off a piece of his shirt, then dipped it in the water. He tried to put it on Sav’s knee, but he jerked it away before Rishi had even touched it.
“It stings!” He shouted.
“I know.” Rishi said, exasperated. “But it will hurt less once I clean it.” He tried again, but Sav jerked himself away again. Rishi threw down the rag in frustration, then yelled at Sav. “Just let me do this one little thing! Stop whining.”
Sav stopped crying and looked at Rishi in fear. He immediately felt sorry for shouting at him. They were both quiet as he cleaned out the dirt and tied the cloth around Sav’s knee. They walked on for what seemed like a long time, neither of them talking. Finally Rishi stopped. 
“We should go to sleep. It has to be night now.”
Sav sat down as soon as Rishi said this, flopped down really. He curled up next to the wall, his tail tucked over his nose, and fell asleep quickly, but it took Rishi longer to finally drift off. He didn’t remember falling asleep, only waking up to wet paws. He jumped and stood up when he saw the dark water, full of twigs and dirt rising up the tunnel towards the sleeping kittens. He shook Sav awake, calling for him to get up.
“I want to sleep,” He growled. “Leave me alone.”
“Sav, we have to go. Now! We’ll drown here.” 
Finally he opened his eyes, which grew wide at the sight of the water rising rapidly up the tunnel. He stood up and Rishi grabbed his paw to lead him farther up the tunnel. Sav stumbled behind him, struggling to keep up with his brother. Finally Rishi decided that they were far enough away from the water to stop. They both panted hard.
“I’m still tired,” Sav whined. “I want to go back to sleep.”
“I know, but we can’t sleep, the water will keep coming, we can’t let it sneak up on us again.” Sav nodded, but his heart wasn’t in it. Rishi was exhausted too, but they had to keep moving. After a little bit of walking Sav started to cry. “What is it?” Rishi snapped.
“I’m hungry, and my legs are tired.”
“Well I’m hungry too,” Rishi snapped. “But I’m not whining. You’re always complaining, but you don’t do anything about it. You just want everyone else to do the work for you!” He was yelling, his voice echoing off of the stone walls and floor. “I hate you! If you weren’t so annoying I wouldn’t have tried to trap you down here and we wouldn’t be stuck!”
Sav’s lip trembled, tears brimming in his yellow eyes. He turned and ran away up the tunnel. Rishi was too stunned, both at himself and his brother, to follow for a few seconds. But he realised that he needed  to catch up with him. He ran after his brother, but he tripped over a rock and fell, sprawling onto the tunnel floor. By the time he got up and caught his breath Sav was out of sight. 
He soon came to a fork in the tunnel, and he couldn’t tell which way Sav had gone. Rishi opened his mouth and took in the scents of the tunnel, but the damp, musty smell of the tunnel masked any trail Sav would have left. It was probably his imagination, but he thought he could detect a faint smell of fear and anger going down one of the tunnels, so he followed that one.     
His paws dragged on the stones, he was tired, and hungry, and he wished so much that he could take back what he had said. He sat down on the cold ground, trying to cry, but no tears would come. His dry sobs echoed off of the walls, reminding him that he was alone. He had lost Sav’s scent, he wasn’t sure if he had ever had it in the first place. The thick smells of dirt, and old rainwater, and air that had been trapped underground for years crowded into his nostrils, pressing into his mouth until he could think of nothing else. It made him want to gag, to spit out the smells, but his mouth was full of them, full of dirt and water. 
He snapped his head up, he had fallen asleep, it was a dream. He rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t let that happen again. He stood up, stretching his aching muscles, and started walking again. He could hear water dripping, nothing new, but it was louder, like it was echoing around a bigger space. He listened carefully to it, it seemed to be coming from up ahead.
“Help!” 
He could hear yelling from up the tunnel. It was Sav. Rishi started running, not feeling the aches in his legs anymore. “I’m coming!” He called back. 
“Hold on!” 
He ran, not looking where he was going until he almost ran off of a ledge. The tunnel opened into a huge square room, stretching high above him and far below. Other tunnels led off of the room, a hall really. There was a set of niches carved periodically into the stone below Rishi’s feet that made a ladder, but it was only ten rungs down that brown water churned, full of detritus. 
Sav was clinging to a protrusion from one of the walls that might once have been a gargoyle, but had been worn smooth by years of erosion. His claws stuck into the stone, clinging to any little purchase they could find. The water lapped at his feet and tail, threatening to pull him down. He was already soaking wet, and Rishi guessed that he had been in the water and had grabbed onto the gargoyle to escape the waves. 
“Hold on!” He shouted to his brother. “I’m going to swim over and get you!” 
Rishi had swum in lakes and streams, but this water was deeper and more wild than anything he had swum in before. He thought that if he could get Sav to one of the stone ladders they could make it out. He took a deep breath and jumped into the water. It was colder than he had expected, and the currents tugged at him, trying to pull him into the depths. He swam as fast as he could to where Sav clung to the gargoyle. Rishi reached for him, but Sav shrunk away from his paws, shaking his head. 
“I’m sorry Sav.” Rishi pleaded. “I’m so sorry that I said those things, but you need to trust me or we’ll both die.” 
Sav’s eyes grew wide and he let Rishi take him off of the gargoyle. He was heavy, and it took all of Rishi’s strength to keep them both afloat. He kicked towards the ladder. Finally they made it to the ladder and Rishi pushed Sav up high enough to grab the lowest rung. 
He climbed agonizingly slowly, testing each rung before going on, but finally he was high enough for Rishi to start climbing behind him. He saw now why Sav had been so cautious. The rungs were slippery with moss and mud, and they had been worn smooth over the years. Multiple times he slipped and almost fell, but miraculously they both made it to the tunnel opening at the top of the ladder, where they lay panting. When he had caught his breath enough to speak Rishi sat up and hugged Sav. 
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that I got us stuck down here. I’m so so sorry that I said those things. I’m sorry for all of the tricks I played on you. I’m sorry for everything.” Sav hugged him back, squeezing him so tightly that he couldn’t breath.
“I forgive you.” He whispered. “Can you get us home?” He looked up at Rishi, tears sparkling in his yellow eyes.
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “But I will try my best to get us both out of here.” 
When Sav let him out of the hug Rishi took in a deep breath, smelling the same things he had for the whole time they were in the tunnels. But there was something else mixed with it, fresh air and grass, the smells of the world outside. He stood up, following the fresh scents to their source. A collapsed pile of stones with a hole in it not big enough for Rishi to fit, but big enough for Sav. 
“Listen very closely.” He said, panting with excitement. “You need to go through that hole and find someone to help us. You need to tell them to bring tools and bring them back here. Do you understand?”
“But I don’t want to leave you.” Sav cried. “You have to come with me.”
“I can’t fit. But you can, so I need you to do it. You have to be brave and get help.”
“Not without you. I’m not leaving unless you come too.”
“Go! You can finally do some good and you don’t? Why did I ever think you could help.” 
That did it. Sav squeezed through to the outside. Rishi hadn’t meant a word of that, but he had to get Sav to leave, even if it meant he wouldn’t get help for Rishi. Sav would be safe, that’s what mattered. 
Rishi watched Sav’s shape grow smaller through the hole, and when he had disappeared from view Rishi sat down. He curled up in a ball against the wall of the tunnel, and let himself cry. At first it was loud, choking sobs, full of desperation and fear, but it quieted, fading into silent tears streaming down his face. 
The light from the hole turned orange, then faded. The sun had set, leaving Rishi in total darkness once again. He had run out of tears by the time he heard footsteps and voices. 
Someone put their face to the hole and said “Rishi, stand back. We’re going to clear the rubble.” 
Rishi took a few paces back from the wall. He hadn’t expected anyone to come, but they had. Sav had saved him. Shovels and pickaxes clanked against the stone outside, and slowly the hole was widened enough for Rishi to squeeze through. Strong paws pulled him out of the tunnel into the fresh night air. Stars and the moon illuminated his father and mother’s desperate faces looking down at him. But he had barely had time to register that his parents were there before Sav rushed up to him and tackled him in a hug.
“I know you didn’t mean it. Thank you.” He whispered so that no one else could hear, it was just for the two of them to share.
From that day on the two brothers were each other's best friends. They never went anywhere without each other, and they never tried to hurt each other. When they were older they started to map the tunnels, making sure to never go in after it had rained. Once they were allowed out on the grounds again they found a young tree near the place they had come out of the tunnels, and carved their names into its bark. Sav’s shaky six-year-old script next to Rishi’s careful lettering. The tree stands to this day, though no one lives on the grounds of that house anymore. No one has laid eyes on the tree for years, except for the tree’s own spirit. I think it is best that way, just like the whisper, it belongs only to the brothers.
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)
Category:Fantasy
Category:Literature