smoke & mirrors (hiatus)

P R O L O G U E

.: ♚ :.

FAWNSPLASH was running. There were at least three rogues on her tail— and they were about to get her.

She fled through the open forest, dodging stray branches and leaping over bushes. Her tail brushed the trunk of an oak tree and she winced as she stepped on a pinecone.

The Brook Kingdom's healer was a kind cat, a peaceful cat. She had nothing to do with rogues, and she wanted absolutely nothing to do with rogues. Her asthma was catching up to her as she sprinted away from her pursuers.

She wheezed as she ran, coughing up a storm big enough to tear the forest apart. Her lungs begged for mercy, for one clear breath.

Fawnsplash skidded to a halt, panting. She fell over onto the forest ground, wheezing.
Three rogues looked down on her.

"She's just an old molly, definitely from the Kingdom," said the cat on the far right. "She hasn't been fixed, so there's no way she lives with housefolk."

The cat in the center, a slick calico, scoffed. "I hope so. Tell us, you old thing. Where do you come from?" She gave Fawnsplash a kick to the back.

"Can-can't- can't t-talk," Fawnsplash croaked, rolling over onto her stomach. She erupted into another coughing fit. "As-asthma."

"What's asthma? Can you eat it? Does she need some to stop coughing?" meowed the cat on the left. He wore a serious expression, which was a little concerning to Fawnsplash.

"It's what's causing the coughing, idiot," said the skinny calico in the middle, smacking him in the face with her paw.

"I knew that," said the cat on the right proudly.

"No you didn't, Jasper," the calico meowed with exasperation in her tone. "You can barely find your way home after going away hunt!"

"That only happened once!"

"Twice, Jasper," said the cat on the left, looking down at his paws.

Fawnsplash looked up meekly. "Why did you ch-chase me?" She let out a small cough.

"We wanted to know if you know a rogue called Storm. She's white with ginger tabby patches. Really pretty?"

"I know a Stormfreckle. She looks just like the cat you mentioned. Is she really tall? Muscular?"

"That would be her! Do you know where she is? It's kind of important."

Important? How can Princess Stormfreckle know these cats?

"I can t-take a message to her. She's kind of important in the kingdom," Fawnsplash wheezed.

"She is? She told me she was a peasant..."

"We don't do 'peasants'. Even if we did, s-she certainly wouldn't be one."

"What? But she's my- my friend. Friends don't lie," she spat.

"I'm sorry, but Stormfreckle is in one of the highest ranks in our kingdom. I can't help you with any more."

"Oh yes you can. Tell me what rank she is, exactly," the calico growled.

"Fine. If you want to speak to her in our kingdom, you must call her Princess Stormfreckle, daughter of King Lotusbrook and fourth in line for the throne, sister of Dawncreek and Sunspeck, et cetera."

"I'd have to say all that?" the cat on the left meowed breathlessly, looking dumbfounded.

"No, j-just Princess Stormfreckle, actually. Her sisters call her all of that to annoy her," Fawnsplash explained. Her lungs still ached, but at least she'd stopped coughing.

"Jedi, you really are stupid," Jasper hissed mockingly. "'I'd have to say all that?'"

"Shut up, Jasper!" the cat called Jedi growled.

"Both of you, stop it!" the calico snapped. "I can't believe Storm lied to me."

"Us," Jedi corrected. "Storm lied to us. There are three of us, see?"

"Shut up, you wasp! I knew her the best," the calico molly said warningly, as if she was daring Jedi to correct her again.

"Pardon me asking, but how do you know Princess Stormfreckle?" Fawnsplash meowed, pulling together the energy to stand up at last. "She doesn't usually leave the kingdom."

"She'd sneak out to meet me at midnight. We were best friends— sometimes I'd like to think we were more."

Fawnsplash took a step back, mortified. "That's why she was sneaking— relationships like that are forbidden in the kingdom. If her father caught that, he would have both of you executed. That's why she lied to you as well."

"Why is it forbidden?" the calico asked, looking a little embarrased.

"Our advisor has found that 'homosexual relationships have a 99% chance of getting cats sick with horrid diseases, and sometimes die.' He banned them because he was worried the sickness would spread."

"That's nonsense. My parents were both toms and they managed to raise me. Neither of them have ever gotten more than a cold in my lifetime," Jasper butted in.

Fawnsplash considered this for a few minutes. Come to think of it— Whitehawk, the king's advisor, was constantly banning things he didn't like.

Is there a chance he only banned homosexuality because he doesn't like it? Fawnsplash thought, horrified. That's awful!

"I've got to go— this has changed things. Sorry about Stormfreckle- or er- Storm," Fawnsplash meowed behind her shoulder, jogging towards camp. The rogues called out– but did not pursue her this time.

Maybe the Brook Kingdom is hiding things, Fawnsplash thought to herself as she padded towards her kingdom's borders. Dark things. If Whitehawk banned this on purpose, who knows what else he and the king could be hiding?