<span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic">~Pre-War~</span></span></span><br/><br/>It was dark and silent that night, except for intermittent coughing from my brother, Birami. The<span style="font-style: italic">hariyo jvaro</span>had run through the village lately, so the Sikari were a coughing mess. I slowly crawled from my bed of grass, stalking towards the cave entrance. It was new moon that night and the village was black for those not gifted with Talrysia's night vision. I stretched the muscles in my fore paws, blearily waking from the night's rest. My senses steadily accustomed themselves to the waking world while I observed the deathly still village.<br/><br/>Noting an absence in my brother's coughing routine, I softly padded across the stone cold floor and nuzzled my brother's shoulder gently and mewed. He lay against the floor, as cold and stiff as the ground. I meowed again, pushing my head against his back in disbelief. He had to wake up. "Birami, brother, wake up.... Birami...." Frightened, I stepped back from my brother and dashed towards the chief's tent, paws soundlessly pushing off from the ground to gain speed.<br/><br/>In a flurry of paws and fur, I hurdled into my father's cave, breathing hard and jittery. "Birami won't wak-"<br/><br/>I paused mid-sentence, suddenly registering the pool of blood on the ground. "Father Sikari?.... Dad...?" I murmured, looking around in confusion. My father lay in a broken heap of bones and fur, in the center of a puddle of dark red. My mother sat beside him, calmly licking the sticky red blood from her claws and maw. My eyes widened in a mix of astonished horror. Before I could fully process the terrible image before me, an unfamiliar tiger approached me, his eyes glowing dark orange in the night. His left eye must have been torn out in battle I figured, staring at the new figure.<br/><br/>This was almost surreal, like some cruelly realistic night terror a kitten might dream up. The tiger approached me, muscles bunching up under his fur while I cowered. In a swift move, he brought his fore paw up and slammed it into the left side of my head.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">--Morning--</span><br/><br/>I woke to the smell of blood and death. Hariyo jvaro wasn't enough to cause the pain and mrta all around us. I lay in the back of a cave, weak sunlight streaming through the cave entrance and gradually thawing my frozen, stiff carcass.I felt the agonizingly lethargic trickle of blood down my forehead, irritating my fur and making me want to tear at the wound with sharp claws until it stopped itching. The headache tearing through my skull was maddening; I lay still.<br/><br/>The sunlight steadily streamed into the cave, warming me and helping to dull the raging ache in my head. I slowly filled my eyes around the room, instantly wishing I hadn't. The cave was filled with ten to fifteen prisoners, all teens and all members of Sikari. Some of us looked worse off than others. I noticed the absence of coughing and looked to one of the others. "Nayla, what happened? Where are we? Is... Is Birami h-here?"<br/><br/>Nayla gazed back at me with frightened yellow eyes; she blinked. "I'm sorry. Birami's gone... Kaiya, they killed so many. My parents. Your dad and b-brother... They-" she tried to explain in a single hasty breath, her gaze shifting around distrustfully. Then, a loud roar from the front of the cave silenced her. A tiger strode into the cave and I noticed ten or so guards step away from the entrance to grant the large cat his entrance; we were prisoners.<br/><br/>The tiger approached me; I shuddered, pierced with familiarity; this was the same cat that had intruded into my father's cave. I let out an enraged hiss, baring my teeth against the larger cat. He smugly grinned, placing a paw on my side and pushing me into the ground. His claws dug into my fur. I refused to flinch; he wouldn't be given the satisfaction.<br/><br/>The tiger addressed us.<br/><br/>"Henceforth until the end of time, you and your fellows shall be banished from Atma Kabile all its domains. You will be stripped of your clan name, Sikari, and all of the privileges that accompany it. Your exile into the Nightmare Lands is fitting. Never before have I seen such treacherous and cowardly acts. May Sudrysa herself turn from you in shame!"<br/><br/>A whisper ran through our tiny assembly and Nayla began weeping. I lay, stunned more by the tiger's judgement than by his heavy paw pressing into my side. A larger snow leopard got to his feet, beginning to protest our suddenly chosen fate; the tiger leaped from me to him in a swift motion. He tore into the young snow leopard's throat then straightened. Blood dripped from his maw; he strode away from our fallen comrade. "I am Hara'eko Amkha. I grant you the mercy of exile, rather than death. Go now before you lose what scraps of your life and honor remain."<br/><br/>We fled into the Nightmare Lands, the sharp claws of our former clan stinging our backs like a thousand whips.<br/><br/><a class="postlink" href="https://creativefreedomrpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&amp;t=49192&amp;p=341450#p341450">Click Here</a>to access the Plot Thread.