smoke & mirrors (hiatus)

◤ foreword ◥

Hello, and welcome to Smoke & Mirrors.

Warning: This story has a couple themes that could make people uncomfortable, such as: extreme LGBT+ discrimination & graphic descriptions of blood, gore, death, and spiders.

Side note: I would like to mention here that when I say "extreme LGBT+ discrimination" I mean it. The high ranks in the Clan are extreme homophobes. It kills me to write, but it has a purpose later in the story. If you think that due to the homophobic parts of this story, this story would make you uncomfortable, please don't read it. I really don't want to offend anyone.

Alsooooo, the main character is very gay. Like 100% gay. It's awesome, so don't you dare make homophobic comments. Just because the king and advisor make snide comments does NOT mean you can. Lay down one homophobic comment on my story and you will be blocked. Not just by me, I promise

Take note that these cats' minds are crazily developed and they have a massive vocabulary. They know words like heterosexual and how genetics work. They're crazy smart. They know how to build houses and use currency. They have a monarchy. So nobody better come crying to me about how it's impossible for cats to build houses or be able to figure out the square root of 73.

Some useful background knowledge:
This story might have some confusing components, so let me explain. These cats are very smart. Maybe even smarter than me. Scratch that: definitely smarter than me. Here is the order of the monarchy.

King, queen, heirs, healer, advisor, elite warriors, warriors, construction leader, construction workers, trainers, trainees, nursing queens, kits, elders.

The king rules the kingdom and the male heirs can challenge him to a battle for the throne. If he loses the battle (gets killed), the winning heir steps up to the throne and his mate becomes the queen. The female heirs are basically only for having kits (more male heirs), which is pretty sexist, not gonna lie. You will see in the story that the princesses are pretty badass and trying to get themselves more of a purpose, like being able to challenge the king themselves, or escape for a better life.
The healer is a medic cat that has the job of taking care of the entire kingdom.
The advisor is a cat that gives advice to the king and queen. They are very close to the royal family and know everything that goes on in the kingdom. They are the only cat that is allowed to banish things from the kingdom, making them pretty powerful.
The elite warriors are the team of cats that fights in every battle. They are handpicked by the king, queen, and advisor and protect them from threats. They are usually very smart and strong and work together in battles.
Warriors are simply plain old fighters.
The construction leader organizes all building that goes on in the kingdom. He or she is paid a pretty penny for this job, and can be challenged by any construction worker to take the spot. The construction leader is usually pretty strong as well, and definitely smart.
Construction workers are simply cats that work on buildings with the construction leader.
Trainers train the apprentices (trainees). They are average cats that do not work in construction and are not warriors.
Trainees are kits that are taken in to begin training at 12 moons old. They then find out what job they are suited for (warrior, construction, trainer) and then train for another 12 moons and are given their true name.
Nursery queens are exactly what they sound like- she-cats/mollies raising kittens, or just helping out with raising kittens.
Kits are cats under 12 moons old (obviously.)
Elders are cats that have retired from their previous duties (obviously).

Here's a playlist for this story, if you're interested in hearing it. More will be added as the story continues.

Little Pistol — Mother Mother
Youth — Daughter
Some Nights — Fun.
Warriors — Imagine Dragons
The Valley — The Oh Hellos

I hope you enjoy reading Smoke & Mirrors!