Rise of stars: Part two; Altair’s Tale

CHAPTER ONE

Altair watched as his mother spoke with Bloodmoon. They were having some kind of conversation… about him? Bloodmoon continued to discuss how Altair was important to her rebellion. His mother—Bluemoon—was saying he was too young for this. He knew he was, though not really. He could feel the buzz and fizz of power as it filled his body, running through his veins like bright stars. It was odd that Bluemoon didn’t think he was capable. Weren’t all magic cats this powerful? He shook his head and continued listening to their conversation.

“You can’t take her for the rebellion yet! I know she seems different, but she’s still just a kit!”

“I know, Blue, but she needs training. Four, Shadowform, even I can tell there’s something important about her!”

Altair growled softly. Those words. She, her. He had known ever since he woke up, ever since he had a consciousness, that he was a HE. His name didn’t even need to change. He liked being Altair; he just didn’t ever want to be her.

“What if you come too, Blue? Or we talk to the bright one? I’ve heard the whispers around camp; I KNOW the bright one doesn’t want the kingdom in power anymore. We can all train here, safely.” Bluemoon looked at her sister, nodding in agreement.

“That could work.”

Altair curled up to sleep again as they went to talk to the leader of the Heartfire. He honestly didn't care.

CHAPTER TWO

Altair growled softly as a tail jabbed him in the ribs. “I was already awake,” he said furiously. Bluemoon looked down at him, nudging him up with her nose. “You seemed pretty asleep to me, sweetness. I was waking you up because we need to go outside. The Bright One is going to test us all for magic—again.” She sighed. “At least we’ll get to see your father for once; I’ve missed him so much!”

Altair flopped over. “I didn't have to come last time,” he mumbled. Bluemoon poked him again. “Silly, you know you’re old enough to be tested now.” He unwillingly nodded, rolled back onto his paws, and stood up. He shook his head as he followed his mother out of the den, trying to get used to the bright light. He didn’t get out much. As his vision cleared, he looked around in wonder. The camp… was this beautiful? Blossoming flowers covered almost every rock, and the bright light that had initially made it hard to see was coming through gaps in leaves and rocks. It was so… unlike what he had known, hiding inside the nursery.

He spotted Bloodmoon talking closely with Starlight, the blue cat, and her friends, Four and Shadowform, sitting together by The Bright One. He didn’t trust them. He knew Four hadn’t been back to The Kingdom in years, but he KNEW she had been a princess there. And would a princess try to overthrow her kingdom? He thought once she had said something like how it wasn’t her kingdom once, when one of the other Heartfires had questioned her. But then again, could they trust her words? Shadowform was better, but Altair was still wary. He seemed extremely protective of Four and could be quite scary sometimes. Altair walked behind his mother as she trotted over to Bloodmoon and Starlight. That was okay then.

He sat next to them as the bright one yowled for a meeting. He said that any cats who were positive they had not one trace of magic or already knew their powers could leave, and then told those that were left to line up in front of him. Bloodmoon and Starlight lined up together, and three other young cats he knew bounded over. Seren bounced over to him and bumped her nose with his. “Altair! I missed you after we got too old for the nursery!” Her two brothers, Cirrus and Nimbus, nodded. “You should have come out more to play with us!” Cirrus said, as the two sat next to him.

“Mhm,” Altair mumbled as he ducked his head a little, embarrassed that they were paying attention to him. “Cats of Heartfire being tested for magic, we shall now begin! Listen carefully and do all we say.” A loud voice suddenly boomed across the camp. It was The Bright One once again. “Now, one at a time, Blazecaller tests. There will be a small pile of sticks placed in front of you. Spark them without using a stone or an already existing fire.” Starlight and Bloodmoon brought the sticks in front of them, placing three in front of each of the seventeen cats.

One he didn’t know the name of sparked a large fire further up the line, and then there was nothing until… “Oh!” A little gasp of wonder made him look up. The twigs in front of Nimbus had lit up with a small fire. “I’m… a Blazecaller!” He looked up at The Bright One, who seemed to guess what he was thinking. “No, don’t leave yet. Cats have been known to have more than one power. Now, Blazecallers, light the other twigs. Cats, you will try to put it out with rain or a burst of water, to see if you are Dropletdancers.” Nimbus nodded and began lighting a few other piles, but before he could finish, a huge column of fire engulfed Altair's pile.

He jerked back, but sparks hit his caramel fur anyway. They didn’t hurt. They… didn’t… hurt. He had done that?! The fire died down to normal size, and he looked around. A few cats were looking at him, but most didn’t seem to mind that much. Just another Blazecaller, although a powerful one. Dropletdancer test. Just do the Dropletdancer test. One small raincloud started above Starlight’s twigs. “Hehe, sorry,” they said, embarrassed. “I already knew I was a Dropletdancer; I just was never tested for the other types of magic.”

And then… a small tsunami doused Altair’s fire. “Apparently I’m a water cat too!” he said, trying to laugh it off. Surely that’s it? “Shadowweaver. Make your shadow walk without you.” Altair instantly went running off, followed by Cirrus’ one. More cats were starting to look his way now, but he tried to ignore them. All three? That’s rare. But no cat has FOUR.

The Bright One was now eyeing him with curiosity. “Spaceflipper. Teleport across the camp and back.” Altair watched as Seren easily flicked to the other end of the camp and back beside him, then followed suit. No. No. not five. That's impossible. But it was possible, and it was happening. The Bright One now seemed not to even be watching the other cats. “Airflyer. Create a miniature hurricane.” And he did. “Lightweaver. Make an orb of light in between your paws.” Again, he did. The Bright One shook his head a little. “Impossible,” he murmured, then continued telling the cats what to do. “Now for the last, and the rarest. Formflicker. Turn yourself into another animal, but don’t worry if it’s only an illusion. Formflickers can only truly transform with a Shadowweaver changing their shadow to the correct shape as well.”

Besides Altair, Seren concentrated hard. And suddenly, there was no more Seren. A small white puppy stood next to him, but… something was wrong. The shadow she cast was still that of a cat. Seren turned back, looking joyful. “I can Formflicker!” she exclaimed, almost jumping about with excitement. “Maybe we can work together, Cirrus!” He smiled at her, nodding.

Altair tried to concentrate the same way she had. And… he was no longer him. Large, scaly wings sprouted from his back, and a forked tongue flickered out of his mouth. Four large, clawed feet hit the ground heavily, and he looked down at his shadow, surprised that an illusion felt so real. But… the shadow was that of what he had become. A dragon. Shadowweaver and Formflicker. If I'm both, can I somehow Formflicker properly without a pair?

He carefully turned back to find every cat in the camp staring at him. “That shouldn’t be possible,” said The Bright One quietly. “No cat has EVER had every power.” Bloodmoon stepped in front of him. “I think you’ll be very useful for the rebellion,” she said, smiling. But it didn't seem like such a nice smile anymore. She was a nice cat, but it was like… like he had just become a tool. He wasn’t a person anymore, not in many of the cats around him. He was just a powerful variable to be used to the advantage of all.

His paws began shaking, more and more violently, as Seren rushed over. “Altair? Altair!” She got to him just as he collapsed, covering his face with his paws. He couldn't do this. He couldn’t be the cat everyone needed on their side. He couldn’t help them. He couldn’t be the one everyone was relying on. He couldn’t… He couldn’t… He couldn’t. He found himself repeating the same words over and over, faster and faster. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…”

He felt a warmth beside him and realized Seren was crouching next to him. She nudged his head up with her nose until he was looking straight into her starlit eyes. “You can do this, Altair. I know you can, and I'll be here with you all the way.” He nodded and stood up cautiously with her, still shaking slightly.

“Come on, let's go to the den! You’re allowed in the older kit’s den now, remember?” Altair nodded again and walked to the den with her slowly. As he curled up next to her, he became aware of how different the den was. It was still a similar den, but the sounds coming from around the rest of the base were slightly different, and the space he could sense around him was too.

~~~~~~~~TIMESKIP ~~~~~~

CHAPTER THREE

“Bloodfire. Cats.” Bloodmoon’s voice was flat as Altair tried to explain the new rebellion cats to his aunt. “WHAT'S. WRONG. WITH. BLOODFIRE. CATS?” he hissed at her. He had explained this to her so many times.

“Look, Bloodmoon,” he said much more quietly, “they have nowhere else to go. And the golden cat has a kit with her. I can't leave them, no matter how much you hate Bloodfire cats.” Bloodmoon paused. “A…kit?” Altair nodded, continuing. “Not too young—but yes, a kit.” Bloodmoon hesitated before speaking again. “Then—yes… they can stay for now, but I'll be keeping an eye on them! Even more than I did with the Moonfire group.”

Altair nodded. “That's fine,” he said, walking back over to where the newest cats were standing. “You three? You can stay.” The pretty golden she-cat looked relieved. “Thank goodness. I know my kit seems old enough to be in an older kit den, but… I need to look after him. By the way, I'm Lemon.” Altair smiled at her. “Come, we can go to the kit den together so he can settle in.”

Lemon looked a little worried about this but nodded. “We can try,” she murmured under her breath before calling to her kit, in a voice that sounded like it should only be used for very young kittens. “Lime! Limey, come on! We’re going to see somewhere you can sleep!”

Altair looked at her oddly. Why was she talking to Lime like that? It was… strange to say the least. Suddenly, there was a weird chirruping noise, and a kit came running over. He made a funny, high-pitched brrrup sound and bumped into his mother, jumping up slightly as he followed them to where the older kits' den was. Why wasn’t he talking like a normal cat? He was surely old enough to… Oh well, he’d still show them the older kits' den.

“This is where older kids sleep and play together, without their parents around. There are a couple of free nests over there…and there too,” he pointed at the spaces with his tail. Lime shrank back towards his mother as he saw the large space. “So… where would you like to go, Lime?” Altair directed his next words to the kit, hoping he would choose himself a nest.

Lemon looked awkward as she tried to encourage Lime to go inside. “Uhm… or he could stay with you?” Altair suggested, trying not to let his annoyance show. He didn’t have time for this right now; he thought the kit would go pick a nest and they’d be done.

“Thank you,” Lemon said, then spoke to Lime, “Limey, it’s fine, you can stay with me!” Lime purred and followed them out of the den. “I need to go talk to Seren—and the other cat, do you two know who he is? Are you two okay on your own?” Lemon nodded, then answered, “We’ll be fine—I don’t recognize the other cat, but Bloodfire is huge at the moment, and I don't think we’d all know each other. Oddly, no others here are from there.”

Altair hummed a little to acknowledge that he’d heard, then turned away to find Seren. He spotted her bright silver fur quickly, even though more cats than usual were out. Okay, she's fine then, he thought as he turned again to find the other Bloodfire cat. Got to find out where he’s going to stay. And power testing. So much. to. Do.

He changed his mind. He would talk to Seren first, and she could help him. He walked over to her. “Hi Sery!” She looked up, her large blue eyes lighting up as she saw him. “Altair! You’ve been SO BUSY with all the new people arriving!” He laughed softly. “There were only three of them, you silly!”

She faked an offended expression. “Then why haven’t you come to see ME more?” she said, putting a paw to her chest.

“Awww Seryyyyy. You know there’s other stuff, AND I came to chat with you just yesterday!” She contemplated this for a second, then went back to being happy. “You’re right! As usual!” she purred as she sat next to him. “Do you want me to help with the newest cat? He’s already getting into arguments with Nimbus and Cirrus.”

Altair sighed. “Already? That's a new record. We need to take him for magic testing soon.” Seren seemed like she was about to speak when something stopped her.

“YOU DON’T GET TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO. YOU. DON’T. CONTROL. ME.” The two turned around quickly to see the newest cat, his back arched, hissing furiously at Cirrus, who was trying to cover Butterfly, Bee, and Honey.

“Duck!” Seren said, and although he was confused about why, Altair crouched down next to her. The angry black cat let out a scream, and waves of fire came from around him, hitting the walls around the entry area and scaring everyone in there. He collapsed down panting, and Nimbus ran over.

Altair and Seren started to make their way over, just hearing what Nimbus asked the newest cat. “Flare! Are you okay? What was that?” Seren looked at her brother, then at the black cat, Flare, smirking.

“How on earth has my stupid brother already decided he likes this cat?” Altair nodded, slightly confused by her comment. “He does?” She murmured a yes in reply, beginning to listen to her brother and Flare’s conversation. He realized he wasn’t going to get any more information for a while, so he began to listen as well.

“What happened, Flare?” Nimbus was asking again, more gently. Flare looked away. “Nothing. Nothing…” he said awkwardly. “Flare. Please, please tell me what happened.” Flare looked back at him. “I… I don’t know. I’m sorry… It just happens sometimes.”

Nimbus looked worried. “Does it… hurt you?” Flare looked away again. “No… I don't know… just leave me alone… please?” Nimbus nodded. “Okay… if that's what you want.” Flare glared up at him, and another, much smaller burst of fire came from around him. “I. Am. Sure.” Nimbus walked away quickly, although looking back at Flare every so often.