The Torment • Alternate Reality Book One

Chapter 1- The Premonition

Author's Note: I hope you like my story! Feel free to voice your opinion, ask any questions and point out any mistakes I make.

Saber's POV

"Nia and Ivy kill all of us." I say and fall back onto the couch, not fully believing what Jake just said. "How?" I ask

"They are emotionless, and slit our necks with Darkness. Saber, you die first. Ivy kills you, and that's the last straw for Nia. That's when she fully breaks, and helps Ivy kill the rest of us in her deep grief." Jake explains sadly

"So, if Nia ends up like that, I'm the only way that she can be brought back from the Darkness?" I reply, eyes wide in shock. Jake nods to confirm. "If we get captured, we need to find a way to keep you alive. That's the most important thing." I can't answer, I just walk back upstairs to Nia's room and go to sleep.

Nia's POV

I wake up and look around, glad to be back in my room. I'm glad that my life is just back to normal, and I'm nothing but a cat shapeshifter. I try to wake Saber up, which becomes a harder task than I would have thought. I speak to him, poke him, tickle him, all to no avail. groaning in annoyance, I get out of bed and go into the bathroom to get a cup of cold water to splash on his face, but when I come back, he isn't there.

"Hey beautiful." He whispers in my ear, making me shriek and launch the cup into the air. The water sprays everywhere as Saber laughs, holding his stomach.

"Don't sneak up on me!" I shout, then punch him in the arm, making him whine in pain

"Ow... what was that for?" I have a very strong punch.

"That was for sneaking up on me you little devil." I hiss at him, then go downstairs for breakfast. Everyone is sitting at the table, and I greet them "Hi everyone". They all murmur hello back as I sit down and listen to the conversations, not really paying attention. Saber comes down and kisses me on the cheek before sitting down next to me and holding my hand.

"Hi kitten." He smiles and I grin back.

"Hi Saber, I was actually thinking of going on a run today. Would you want to come with me if I do end up going?" I ask him. He enthusiastically nods and replies

"Yeah, sure. I'd love to." He looks over at Ivy smiling and talking to Wolf. "Should we maybe invite those two lovebirds, or just leave them alone?" I mischievously grin

"Let's leave them alone, they deserve some time to be a couple." I lean over to whisper in his ear "And so do we." Saber and I smile at each other, and he plants a passionate, sweet yet brief kiss onto my lips. Everyone ooohs and I start to blush. I tuck my head into his shoulder in embarrassment yet smiling in amusement.

"Come on, let's go." Saber whispers to me through our mental connection.

"Okay." I murmur back and agree. He leads me outside to the backyard where we both shift. I turn into a panther and he does as well, then we both stride off into the forest. Leaping over roots and fallen logs in our path, we launch ourselves through the dense undergrowth. Throughout most of the run, Saber is following behind me, but at one point, he jumps into the air and pins me to the ground. I yelp in surprise and squirm to try to escape, with no results.

With my tail, I decide to tickle his sides, and he chuckles through the connection.

"That won't work, Nia, but good try. Why don't you try another tactic, see if that works." I smirk and think of the perfect idea. I close my eyes and focus deeply on clearing my mind, and I imagine the perfect cat to change into. But, it takes a lot of self control, and I have to focus on putting my mind into a certain thought process.

I feel my bones shift and my limbs move around and change size, until I am finally shifted into what I wanted. I slip out from under Saber and I start running around, meowing."How did you turn into a leopard kitten?" He asks in shock mentally. I simply giggle and meow cutely while running in circles around him exuberantly.

"I found a way to escape, are you proud of me?" I grin at him, happy that I was able to escape. A scent that I am all to familiar with hits my nose, and I freeze in fear. "Saber, we need to go. Right now." I shift back into a panther and rapidly start running while Saber asks me

"Nia, what's going on? What are we running from?" We charge deeper into the forest as I reply

"I could smell Darkness, and I slightly sensed it as well. It must be the Dark Warriors, and maybe the Dark Hounds as well. I'm not sure. But still, we are probably in danger."

"But what if it was just Inferno?"

"I doubt it, the scent was strong."

"How can you even smell Darkness? How can Darkness have a scent?"

"I don't know, I just can. I don't really understand it either, just trust me." My point is proven when I hear a Dark Hound howl in the distance.

I try to push my legs even farther so I can move quicker, wanting to find a body of water that we can scatter our scent with. Looking over to my side, I check to make sure that Saber is still next to me, which he is. He keeps up easily with me with his longer legs as we continue weaving through the undergrowth.

In the distance, I can just hear the heavy pounding of the Dark Hounds' paws that sound like claps of thunder. Their panting strikes through the air, as well as their putrid scent. It reeks of sweat, dog and Darkness, a disgusting combination.

Suddenly, I hear more pounding to our left and our right. More Dark Hounds, they're trying to capture us between groups of them! As the scent grows closer and closer, I start to panic. The sound of a river rushes in my sensitive ears and I try to go quicker to hopefully throw them off of our scent, but it won't help much, or at all, since they are so close to us.

I hear them get closer and closer. My heart pounds more fiercely as fear grips it in an iron clamp. I pant from exhaustion, since I am pushing my limit for speed and my energy level is decreasing quickly. My head starts to hurt and my vision goes dark, and I collapse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note:

Hi kittens! I hope you liked the chapter and that it was interesting for you! I have a great feeling that this spin-off is going to be fun to write.

Question:
Why do you think Nia collapsed, is it because of exhaustion, or did she get hit in the head? Did someone use magic on her? Who knows?

~Cat Queen