The Five Giants

011 - Abandoned

Phoenix felt dead. She didn't hear anything around her. She couldn't smell any warm scents of cats around her, though the smell of blood lingered in her nostrils. There wasn't a cool breeze or the warm sun on her ginger pelt. It was just. . . Nothing.

She opened her eyes slowly, the numb and dead feeling leaving her body as confusion swept over. The room - if you could call it that - was nothing. It wasn't black at all, it wasn't darker or lighter. It was like being trapped in a black hole. It was almost as if she was blind in both eyes. Am I dead? She wondered.

Silently, she walked forward. She couldn't feel the ground at her paws but knew it was there. Looking around frantically, she began to call out with a string of hope strained to her cold voice. "Is anyone out there?" She yowled. "God? Is this my judgement? Where are you?" Her voice echoed but it was still silent. No one was there. No one would even care if she was there. Phoenix looked down at her paws, sitting down silently. If she really was dead, she would be there for an eternity. Tears formed in her eyes, blurring her vision. She closed them, attempting to stop them from escaping. Her attempt failed.

"Oh you poor thing." Someone said sympathetically. It was a female voice for sure but she didn't know where it came from. Phoenix looked around as it continued. "You must be terrified. I was too when I first came here."

Phoenix got to her paws, walking in circles. She couldn't smell the cat but could hear their footsteps. The only problem was that she didn't know which direction the noises were coming from. Her hairs stood from her body as she hissed out loud, her claws unsheathing. "Who are you?" She hissed angrily, her ears low. "Show yourself!'

Like a gift, a tall molly who's pelt was bright and golden appeared. Lighter fur circled her neck like a lion's mane. Her teeth appeared from her mouth. Her eyes were bright red and fierce like blood but her gaze was soft and inviting. "I'm not here to harm you, little one." She said softly. "I'm not like them."

Phoenix sheathed her claws, raising her ears and pointing them in the direction of the molly. "What do you mean? Like who?"

"Like your clowder obviously. North-forest cats are the worst, no offence to you."

Phoenix blinked. What was she talking about? She looked the molly up and down, feeling quite offended. "I'm not a North-Forest cat. I'm an East-Forest cat!"

The molly rolled her eyes. "You are what we call a NorthEastern-Forest cat. You may not have been born in the north-east part of the forest but you're half North and half East."

"I-I'm half North?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Your mother is a North-Forest cat. Explains a lot, doesn't it. They don't like animals who aren't perfect. She wanted to get rid of you so now your here."

Phoenix felt a pang of anger. Is that why everyone keeps staring at her? Mixing blood like that isn't a sin for leaders, but is frowned upon. It was normal for leaders to have children with many cats as long as they were faithful to their clowder or gang. However, Phoenix heard that Tigress was illegitimate. It was a sin to have a child knowing that your mate was illegitimate. That angered Phoenix.

"What do you mean? Where are we?" She growled, her voice hard.

"We are nowhere. God abandoned me, just as he's done with you. All because of our sins."

Phoenix blinked. S-Sins? I had to do it! Surely, God understood.

The molly looked down at Phoenix. She raised an eyebrow and smiled. So, that's why Hawk likes you. You're something special. She wanted to say it out loud but didn't. She removed her gaze off Phoenix and chuckled. Phoenix's eyes reminded the molly of her mother, Tigress. They looked alike, except for their pelts of course. It was like Tigress was standing directly in front of her.

The molly shook her head before looking back at Phoenix, who was staring at her paws. She nudged Phoenix's neck with her nose. "So all the cats must dislike you and Flint only sees you as his prey."

Phoenix sighed. "Not all the cats." She grumbled lowly, flicking her tail. "Also, you make it seem as if Flint hates me. I don't even know your name and you act like you know me."

"The name is Sin Where The Cat Bites. I know everything about you Phoenix. Do you really think Honey wants you as his daughter? That Snowy wants the best for you?" She didn't expect a response from Phoenix, which was perfect. She flicked her tail to the side and looked up. "Let me show you something."

Phoenix turned around and suddenly she was back in the forest. Honey stood there in front of Phoenix's inanimate body that was inside the vision. It had to have been after her injury. His gaze was filled with shame as he growled lowly. "So Snake was right? I can't believe it."

Snowy nodded, not looking at his leader. "She's a danger to us all. I wouldn't trust her." He mumbled dryly. "That doesn't mean she shouldn't-"

"We shouldn't keep her alive. I must kill her before she does damage."

The words hurt Phoenix a little. Did Snowy really believe that? Does her father really want her dead? So many thoughts swarmed her head but she wanted to listen to what Snowy had to say.

"Keep her alive. Flint would be pretty sad if we got rid of her." Snowy said in a teasing tone. Phoenix looked baffled. What does Flint have to do with this?

"He better stay away from her." Honey spat, his pale-orange fur bristling. "Or I'll have a long conversation with him."

Phoenix looked up at Sin, confused. "I don't understand? Why Flint?"

Sin shrugged. "You'll understand when your older."

They both fell silent. After a few heartbeats, the location changed and Phoenix looked up. Ahead was Sol and Tigress at the river. Sol stood on a stone as Tigress clawed at what looked like a wooden wall. It was obviously created by humans. Sol hopped across, sniffing it carefully. Shortly after, he found some string and nibbled them. Tigress said something which Phoenix couldn't understand but it was enough to make Sol laugh.

Sol broke off the last few strings that held up the wall. Water came crashing through as it fell. Phoenix couldn't understand what was going on until she heard the screams ahead.

Her heart dropped.

"Why are we doing this again?" Sol asked as they ran upstream.

"Honey asked us to. I guess he wanted Angel to die too since he knew they were leaving together."

So, they tried to kill us? As everything faded to darkness, Phoenix looked down at her paws in shock. Her body shook, feeling overwhelmed. Why would they do something like that? Does Snowy really hate me? Phoenix looked up at Sin, expecting answers as if she could hear her thoughts. After a heartbeat, Sin spoke.

"Honey is not to blame. He was going to hide you so no cat killed you. Tigress lied to Sol so he could help her."

Phoenix nodded slowly. Maybe Sin doesn't want Honey to die yet. Phoenix looked back down and let out a deep growl when Sin continued, her words cold and lifeless.

"Kill them."