Lorde

Going to be updated more here: Lorde

By Ginger.

*“Contrary to popular belief, the ancient colonies in the kit-tales didn’t fall and disappear; no, certainly not. They simply found a new, better way of life, and followed that path, making way for the Bound to rise in all its glory.”*
- *Deotis the Loquere, “History of the Bound”*

“Cats of the Bound, the Veliki is dead.”

I stood, frozen in shock as the Fallere sat on the Sharpstone, his face solemn and grave. I could barely process what he had just said. *The Veliki is dead? How?* The Veliki is the strongest cat in the Bound. How could he had died? I glance over to Lorde, my dark-furred friend, whose eyes are wide in shock. I open my mouth to say something, but quickly shut it, turning my green eyes back up to Fallere. *Now is not the time.*

The Loquere surveyed the cats gathered beneath the Sharpstone, his tail swaying back and forth in the wind. His cool river eyes gleamed, illuminating every overgrown crack and crevice of the thick, wild forest. He was silent, letting the murmuring among the colony cats and the lonebound grow before silencing us all with an ear-splitting yowl. All cats, colony or not, immediately fell silent. Fallere glanced at the cats one last time before finally speaking.

“Two days ago, Aatos and three other warriors were out hunting near Rootwood when they were attacked by a bear and killed.” Fallere’s voice rang throughout the hollow, despite his voice being a little more than a quiet mew. I shudder as the words come at me from all sides, each one pressing harder against my pelt. I shrink a bit, deciding to lean on Lorde slightly for support. A bear? I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard they are terrifying, monstrous creatures.

Fallere continued. “I have spoken with Cyril on the subject, and xe has informed me that, to choose a new Veliki, a trial will be conducted.” He paused to swallow. “Each of the four colonies, and the lonebound, will nominate two cats who they feel would make the best Veliki. These cats will then be briefed about trial, and it will shortly commence afterwards.”

Everyone gathered in the hollow, including me, waits, perhaps to glean a sliver of what will go on in the trial, before realizing that Fallere won’t tell us anything. Whatever secrets the maze kept obviously weren’t meant to be public. Sighing, I slowly stand up, watching as Fallere motions to the colony chiefs to speak with them. All cats in the hollow slowly start to make their ways out of the area, causing a tidal wave of shouting and commotion as most try to shove past each other to escape quicker.

“Quany, take the colony back to camp!” The gruff voice of Shen, the golden-furred colony chief, calls out. My gaze immediately darts to Quany, a thin black tom who seems to have no trouble pushing past everyone to get to the front of the group. “Green Colony, follow me!” He commands, his squeaky voice not making it very far over the non-stop chatting of the colony cats. I roll my eyes and start to follow when I suddenly hear a low whisper to my right.

“Amice!” I whirl around to see Lorde standing there. His face beams with excitement, though I think I can also pick out sadness- possibly from the news?- in his yellow eyes. He bounds over to my side, flicking his tail back and forth.

“So, Amice, what did you think about the announcement?” Lorde continues as we walk. “This trial thing sounds so cool!”

I wince at his words. “I’m not sure, I don’t really like the sound of it.” I reply, stiffening my walk with uncertainty. The was so much mystery around the whole thing, and I was definitely intrigued. But what if it turned out to be dangerous? “Plus, we should really be mourning Veliki Aatos instead of talking about it.”

Lorde flicked his ears dismissively. “Hey, it’s fine, I’m sure his spirit won’t get too worked up about it. Besides, everyone else is talking about it, so I'm sure we won't make much of a difference.”

This was true. The Green Colony, best known for being generally quiet and serious, had suddenly come alive with chatter and gossip about the collecting Fallere had called. Whenever I listened, I could catch snatches of conversation, most of them going like; “What is this trial thing really?” or “Now, that the Veliki’s dead, who will be the new one?”

I flatten my ears, giving Lorde an annoyed look. “Alright, alright,” I concede, being nice and letting him win this argument. “I know how much you’ve wanted to be the Veliki, anyways.”

“Wow, was I really that obvious?” Lorde snorts sarcastically, and I laugh.

Ever since the two of us were unbound kits, Lorde had always dreamed of being the Veliki. I’d listen to him talk to me about it all day, with a light yet determined voice that would entertain me for hours. We would play games with the other kits like War and Colony, and Lorde would always find some way to be the leader and the one in charge. Sure, it’d be annoying- but it was also funny to watch him try to act like Endell or Rishon the First.

“Oh, Amice, Quany’s talking. Better listen if you don’t want your ears clawed off.”

My head snaps up at Lorde’s words and I just barely catch Quany saying something about to the colony. I watch as the little black tom squeaks angrily in his snobbish high-and-mighty voice, “By Cyril, you all are giving me a headache! The next cat to say something about the trial will be patrolling the outskirts for the next moon!”

A few cats shut up at this, but most deem it an empty threat (rightfully so- Quany's only a minor advisor and holds no real power) and continue to whisper. I sigh and curl my tail to my side. Lorde starts to say something, but I cut him off.

“Later,” I tell him, swishing my golden tail and continuing on towards camp with the words still ringing strongly in my ears.

*The trial, the trial, the trial…*

⤄

“Now,” Shen’s amber eyes slowly scan over the colony, his expression hardened and unreadable. The golden tom’s short fur was stiff against the whistling wind, as was the rest of his body, which was strange seeing as he was clearly moving. He was walking in slow melodical pawsteps, pacing a small circle as he checked the population of the Green Colony gathered around him before continuing his sentence.

Shen swallowed, his whiskers twitching. He took a deep breath and spoke once more, “Now, comes the vote.”

My stomach churns and I have to stop myself from shivering at the words. Oh, the trial- the unknown of what the horrors that could lie inside this perplexing, unexplained thing leaves my mind reeling at the possibilities. Is it some sort of battle? A fight to the death? Perhaps the chosen are thrown into a pit of wolves and the last to survive wins. Who knows?

I feel Lorde shift beside me, and I look over to see his reaction. He is vastly different than I; he sits tall, his white-colored chest puffed out proudly as he watches Shen. He radiates confidence- arrogance, even.

*What I wouldn’t give to have some of your confidence right now,* I mutter in my head, rolling my eyes and looking back to Shen, who has already continued speaking.

“The way this will work is simple. All the cats of the colony will be given one leaf in which they will etch the name of *one* cat in this colony. Then the names will be counted, and the two top cats will be chosen and sent to Fallere with a guard, where the trial will begin.” Shen flicked his ear. “Is that clear?”

The gathering of cats is silent. Shen nods and turns to the messengers, ordering them to start passing around leaves. I feel my fur start to prickle with anxiety as a small, green maple leaf is passed in front of me, and for a moment a thought crosses my mind.

"What am I thinking?" I say to myself. "Pft, I'd never be chosen." *I have zero leadership qualities, and plus, if I were chosen, I'd probably never be able to become a barkwriter.* I roll my eyes and push the stupid thought of my eyes, turning my attention back to the more important thing at paw. *The vote.* I sigh. Slowly and tentatively, I unsheathe my claws, taking a few moments to decide what name to etch into the leaf.

*Luan? Ayla, maybe?* I sigh. There are so many strong and brave cats in the colony I’m not even sure who to choose. I glance up to see most cats have put their leaves in a quickly growing pile to the left of Shen. Gritting my teeth, I force my gaze back down at the maple leaf.

*Oh, who to choose? Who would be the best Veliki for the Bound?* Then it hits me. Curling my cream tail over my back, I hastily scratch five letters into the leaf, taking no time to snatch it up in my jaws and drop it onto the etchleaf pile.

I sit back down next to Lorde, who is looking much more apprehensive than he was a few minutes ago. I lean over and whisper, “So, who’d you choose?”

“Myself,” Lorde answers simply. Caught off by surprise, my eyes widen, and I let out a small gasp, to which the large brown tabby tom smirks.

“But that’s not aloud!” I hiss underneath my breath when I finally regain my voice. I flatten my ears against my head, glaring at Lorde.

Lorde shrugged. “What? Chief never said it was against the rules, so I figured, ‘Hey, why not?’”

I lash my tail and turn away from him and instead decide to watch the rest of the colony. Quany is being obnoxious as usual, currently trying to convince cats to vote for him, Luan and Lene sit together in the back of the crowd and discuss something I can’t pick out, and most other cats chat about varying things, though usually all relating back to the biggest thing at the moment- the dreaded trial.

I hear the loud *thud* of pawsteps and jerk my gaze back up to Shen. The golden tom’s expression is still quite unreadable, though there is a hint of irritation in his gaze.

“Cats of Green Colony,” Shen announces. “We have spent the last few minutes counting up all the votes, and I have determined the two cats most voted for.”

Immediately, the crowd goes silent. We’re all on edge as we wait for the chief to continue. Who will the two chosen be? Will one of us go on to be the next Veliki of the Bound? I swallow the bile rising in my throat, digging my claws into the ground.

Shen clears his throat to speak, his tail swaying back and forth softly.

“The two cats who have been chosen are Lorde of the guards, and Amice of the hunters.”

*“It is said that after his reign, the system was changed and refined so no cats like him would ever come into power again.”*
*- Leafwriter Rawya, “Legends from the Bound”*

We were immediately escorted to Velik, where Fallere waited. As did the trial.

I was panicking. Why did they choose me? I’m not a good leader? Lorde makes perfect sense, but not me. No, I did not want any part in this trial. My splotchy fur stands on end as I walk alongside Lorde. We both follow Sibley, our escort, in silence; I'm being a scaredy-mouse while he was probably completely calm about the entire thing.

As the tall stone peaks of Velik started to come into view, my eyes widen and I whisper to Lorde, “Oh, I can’t do this, I can’t do this. I’m not even a fighter, much less a leader!”

Lorde glances over at me. “Don’t worry, you’ve got this. They wouldn’t have chosen you for nothing,” He whispers reassuringly in reply. The large tabby gives me a small smile and turns back to face the thick forest ahead.

“Hey, you two!” Sibley suddenly calls over his shoulder, making me jump. “Looks like we’re here.”

My confidence fades with the trees as the area opens up, revealing a giant tower of rocks that seems to reach towards the sky like a cat’s claws. The pile of rocks gleams in the sunlight, making it appear as though it is made of an otherworldly stone. Smaller rocks are scattered around it, each poking up from the ground in a way that one wrong step would leave you without a paw.

Velik. The Veliki’s home.

I swallow, the mere sight of the looming towers enough to spook me. I stiffen my walk, feeling myself slow a bit and fall behind Lorde and Sibley.

*By Cyril, what are you doing?* A small voice whispers in my mind. *If you can’t even stand the sight of den, how will you even stand a chance in the trial?*

Gritting my teeth, I weave my way past the stones littering the ground, finally stopping my king and painful journey next to Lorde. As I sit down, I suddenly notice that more cats are present. There are six others in total: two cats from the Orange Colony, two from the Blue Colony, and two lonebounds. Fallere is nowhere to be seen.

I glance around, hoping to recognize at least one other contender here. *Hm,* I think, studying each cat. *Zephyr, a messenger from Blue Colony, pretty calm and level-headed. Divna, healer from Orange Colony- why would they choose her? There’s only one other healer in their colony! And that cat next to her…*

“Kanak!” I jolt up, immediately bounding forward. I have to stop myself from barreling into the lanky black tom sitting down. Kanak jumps up and whirls around, his fur on end, though he flattens with when he sees me.

“Amice!” Kanak exclaims, beaming. He gives a wave with his tail and pads over.  “I didn’t know you were here! How are you? How’re Sibley and Avel?”

“They’re all doing fine!” I reply, quickly looking over my shoulder. “Sibley was just here, actually, you missed him. He was the escort for us.”

“Darn it,” Kanak sighs, flicking his ear. “oh well. Anyways, who’s joining you from Green Colony? Haven’t seen anyone around from there yet- other than you, of course.” He laughs.

“Uh, I came here with Lorde, actually.” I point over to where Lorde is chatting with the two lonebounds, and in an instant, Kanak’s entire demeanor shifts. His smile fades and I can see his eyes narrow slightly at the dark cat.

“*Him*?" His voice is so sharp I can feel is scratch my throat a bit. I want to ask what was bother Kanak about Lorde, but decide not to, instead mewing evenly, “Yeah. He’s a really good fighter and an amazing leader. Of course the Green Colony chose him.”

Kanak snorts and mutters something under his breath that I can’t catch. I sigh, about to say something in defense of Lorde, when suddenly a voice rings out.

“All cats gathered here, listen to what I’m about to say, as it may very well decide your future. My head whips to the side, as does Kanak’s. Sitting up on one of the highest spires of Velik was the silver Loquere, Fallere.

Fallere surveys the eight cats sitting here. His tail flicks back and forth as he pauses, letting silence fill the landscape. We are all very much on edge by the time she decides to continue.

“You eight have been chosen by your peers,” Fallere explains. “because you have remarkable leadership skills and have proven yourselves to them. Now, you have the chance to prove yourself to me and to Cyril and become the next Veliki of the Bound.”

The first part of the speech alone makes me squirm, though I’m completely unprepared for what she says next.

“The trial will take place over the next day or so. Today you will enter the trial- a giant labyrinth spanning across about a fifth of the Bound. Your task will be to navigate and survive the maze. The first cat to make it to the center will win the trial and be the next Veliki.” Fallere pauses, flicking her ear.

A maze? I feel my mouth gape slightly as I gaze up at the silver cat. That’s not a fight to the death? What? No, this has to be a joke. It can’t be that simple.

I look over to Kanak for help. My tail droops when I see his face completely devoid of any emotion other than confusion. I feel my breathing quicken and look away from him.

*Okay, think logical,* I say in my head. *You’ve always been good at mazes. Remember the ones you’d always do on the barkwrites? Come on, now you can actually use that knowledge! Oh, why was I chosen for this?*

My thoughts were interrupted when a voice sounded to my right.

“Hey, Amice!” It was Lorde, hissing quietly in my ear. I turn to him, ignoring the soft muttering from Kanak.

“Yeah?” I ask, to which he immediately replies, "Amice, come on, we need to discuss our plans.” Lorde glances up at Fallere, who suddenly jumps from the rock and lands gracefully in the middle of the semi-circle of cats. “Plus, it looks like we’re leaving now.

I nod and quickly turn to whisper good-bye to Kanak, before bounding after Lorde as we join a small line of the cats led by Fallere. I wait for a moment in the line, feelings of dread finally catching up to my racing heart and slamming into me. This is it. There’s no turning back. My breathing shallows for just a moment, and out whispers my voice,

“Lorde?”

Lord looks over at me, his face contorted with some strange swirl of emotions I couldn’t possibly decipher. He leans in closer and replies, “Yeah?”

I inhale deeply, a small thought escaping my brain and making me shiver as it makes its way through my throat. “Will I-will we die? Will I die, do you think?”

Lorde contemplates this for a second, staring at me with his glowing yellow eyes. Finally, after a moment or two, he replies, “No, we won’t die. It’s only a maze, after all.”

He offers me a comforting smile which only decreases my worries slightly. I turn to the front of the line as the Loquere calls back, “Follow me” and pads gracefully into the dark stretches of the trees. The cats from Blue Colony and Orange Colony quickly follow, and I suddenly find myself in walking into the darkness with only the brown tabby guard at my side, ready to delve into a deep labyrinth that will decide the fate of the entire Bound.

And I can only repeat to myself, *There’s no turning back.*

 *“Yes, nobody quite knows what goes on inside the trial, and what it did to him. All we know is that eight cats went in, and only the Veliki came out.”*
- *Barkwriter Rawya, “Legends from the Bound”*

 We walked through the undergrowth for what seemed to be forever. I tripped over roots and scraped through bushes as dark trees towered overhead, blocking out all light. *Where are we?* This place is completely unknown to my paws-even the chirping of the birds sounds mysterious and ominous to my tufted ears.
A twig snaps. I jump slightly, swiveling my head wildly as I try and pinpoint where it could’ve come from. I let my hackles fall as I watch Kanak glide out of the bushes, Divna trailing close behind. The black-furred feline twitches his whiskers in amusement, presumably at the surprised look plastered on my face. He glanced back and nodded at Divna, before walking over and saying dryly, “Well, is my brother afraid of the trees now?”

I open my mouth to reply something witty, but nothing comes out but, “Yeah.”

Kanak’s smirk turns into a look of confusion. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

I glance at the party of cats padding ahead. “I’m scared. I-I’m not cut out for this! The Veliki, the sole ruler of the Bound and the most powerful being underneath Cyril? That’s not for me. I’m probably going to die or something, because who know what’s in this maze?"

“Hey.” Kanak’s tail swipes over my mouth, silencing me. He narrows his eyes at me. “Come on, Amice, don’t talk like that. I know you. You’re much smarter and stronger than you say you are! I know you’d make an amazing Veliki.” He gave me a small smile. “And hey, even if you messed up, I’d still be there to help you. Right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I say to him, trying to reassure myself with the words. *I can do this, right?*

“The two from Green Colony, please step forward. My ears perk and Kanak give me a confident grin and steps away, leaving me and Lorde (*When did Lorde appear? He just appeared out of nowhere!)* Standing in front of a small, cold tunnel entrance.

“This is where you’ll enter the underground labyrinth.” Fallere’s chilling, almost unfeeling voice comes out of nowhere and spooks me. I glance between the esteemed tom and Lorde, my fur rising to sharp points.

“Begin soon, so we can move on.” I swallow hard and look to Lorde one last time. His eyes flit in my direction and brushes against my fur as he walks into the abyss in what I can only interpret as a comforting manner. And when his brown fur melts into the darkness, I swallow my doubts, close my eyes, and plunge in after him.

⤄

It was really the distant, savage barking that echoed through the tunnels that made me realize the situation I was truly in.

Lorde and I walk through the small, hollowed out tunnels without so much as a word to each other. He leads in front, exploring each and every twist and turn, while I stay behind, trying not to shudder each time I hear the howling of whatever beast was stuck in the maze with us. It feels like time had become erratic and out of sync with this new, unidentifiable threat. One moment I am on the verge of collapse from the amount of time we’ve been walking, and the next, I’m jittery with energy since I want to get away from the mysterious maze-stalker as fast as I can.

“Hey, Lorde, can we pick up the pace a little?” I say quietly, jerking my head around to look for any oncoming attacks from the shadows that creep up the walls. Lorde jerks his head back and quickly snaps, “No, can’t you see I’m trying to memorize the layout of the maze? If we speed up even a little, we might get lost and starve!”

I jump slightly at the frustration in the tom’s voice. I duck my head and mutter, “Fine, then. Sorry.”

“Hey, come on.” I glance up to see Lorde’s expression has shifted to that of a concerned friend, pausing for a moment to walk beside me. Lorde quickly looks down. “Sorry for snapping at you. I’m just… a bit stressed right now. You probably are too, huh?”

I nod, still a bit annoyed from when he yelled. I swish my tail and send some small rocks flying, watching the brown tom for a moment.

“Hey, why don’t we rest for a moment? We’re both tired, and you’ll see that there’s no real danger around here.” Lorde smirks, stopping and leaning against the wall.

I quickly shake my head. “No, we need to keep moving, come on.” I start to turn around, only to be stopped again.

“Amiceeee, come on.” Lorde has switched to a whining tactic by now, racing in front of me to get me to pause. “I’m tired of mapping out the maze, and I want a break. Please?”

Rolling my eyes, I sigh. “Alright, fine then. But if anything happens to you, it’s not my fault.” I slump against the dirt wall and try to close my eyes for a moment, keeping my ears up and alert for any noises that may indicate danger.

I…

…

“AMICE!”

I suddenly jolt up at the screech to find Lorde roughly shoving me up, his eyes frantically darting around the tunnel.

“Lorde?” I ask, my mind a bit foggy as Lorde begins to practically drag me along down the hall. “What’s going-“

I freeze as an earsplitting howl thunders from directly to my right.

*Nonononononono-* My worst nightmare has come true. This is awful. I look to Lorde, who has already started darting away in panic. I can barely feel my paws hit the ground as I begin to stumble down the tunnel, desperate to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Picking up the pace, I can’t help but jerk my head back. I feel my heart stop as I see three large, dark beasts charging toward us, their teeth glinting from the darkness and their eyes red with fury. Their razor-sharp claws slam against the floor, creating shockwaves of noise almost able to knock me off of my feet. I can almost feel the panic radiating from me as Lorde and I turn sharply around a corner, sprinting down a new tunnel.

“They’re gaining on us!” Lorde yowled, forcing us to run faster. *This can’t be how I die! No, no, no, this is bad.* I can almost feel the beasts’ hot, rotten breath on my heels as we dive around another turn.

Lorde leaps around one last corner, and I follow, my paws outstretched and hoping to finally lose these creatures. I shut my eyes and…

*Snap.*

I don’t have time to clear my mind before my thoughts die, and I am yanked backward toward the beasts. Another *snap* rings out through the caves as one of them crushes my leg between its jaws, swinging me into the wall with all its might. I let out a screech which dissipates into the air, unable to be heard over the creatures.

## All the Important Stuf

Okay, right, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you *might* be a bit confused with all of the terminology and stuff I’ve kinda shoved in here willy-nilly. Now, I bet you’ve probably gotten a good understanding of all the history and terminology of the Bound, but I’m going to place this little appendix-thing here just to help.

### *Terminology of the Bound*

**Barkwrite**

1.    (n) A slice of bark shaved off a tree, commonly used for inscribing things with claws on its surface.

**Bound**

1.    (adj.) One who has sworn their life to upholding Rishon’s code.

2.    (adj.) One who is connected by honor to something or someone.

**Boundless**

1.    (adj.) A cat who has not taken the oath and sworn their life to Rishon’s code.

**Chief**

1.    (n.) A cat who placed in charge of a colony.

**Etchleaf**

1.    (n.) A leaf used to cut simple messages or small words onto them. Commonly seen as a cheaper source of writing material.

**Lonebound**

2.    (n.) A cat who has taken the oath but chooses to live on their own and not reside in any of the colonies.

**Loquere**

1.    (n.) The chosen communicator with the Bound, as well as Cyril and the spirits.

**Veliki**

1.    (n.) The absolute ruler of the Bound, generally chosen through a combination of elections and trials.