And now for the second entry! It might just change your conviction to vote for the first entry, so read closely!

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The Calling by TheFatRat

https://youtu.be/KR-eV7fHNbM

•••

"Still and silent"

•••

The flowing current jumped from the still pool, and arched through the air, gleaming in the moonlight. A flick of the claw, and it curved gracefully before it could touch the surface of the water, looping upwards in winding spirals.

•••

"Calm before the storm"

•••

An icy cold chill brushed his flank, and his tenuous concentration dissolved into the night air. The name that floated from his throat did the same in a whisp of sound.

•••

"Gold and diamond"

•••

"Monsha." A glint of brilliant, coppery irises as the ethereal form materialized fully. He ran his eyes along the ivory pelage under which lean cords of muscle and sinew rippled, every crystal of starlight frozen on fine hairs standing out starkly to his unnaturally keen sight.

•••

"Jewels behind the throne"

•••

"How dwells fair Andromeda?" he asked.

The Luminary blinked slowly in response and tilted his head, tawny slices of amber deep in his ebony eyes rotating with his movement. The mute tom raised his paw, flexed; milky-white moonstone claws slid into view as he bent his head and drew his tongue over the pristine fur. The nonchalance of his manner was at odds with the sharp curves that shone dangerously.

•••

"Into the night, out of the dark, take to the sky, chasing the stars"

•••

"Ah." He leaned closer. "So you have led Aquila to suspect nothing. Is it time?"

A weighted nod in response.

He rose, and looked, up at the sky. Dark swashes of night painted its canvas. The time had come for the Calling.

•••

"All that we said, all that we are, waiting to fly, this is the start"

•••

It began in his heart, an smooth opal that shone with the iridescence that was his blood. It began with the one beat that was different, the one beat that carried more than blood, the one beat that thrummed through his bones and out into the air and then invaded the whole word. The beat that Called.

•••

"Hide and seek, reason and rhyme, grand and glorious

Living the dream, yours and mine, euphoria"

•••

Their arrival was marked by the twinkling of stars as they came into existence, dotted on the dark expanse above. Pinpricks of light flared, here, there, everywhere, on top of each other, colliding with each other, coming from every corner of the universe, everywhere they'd lain in wait. The world shot into day, overwhelming light driving away the night.

•••

"Hide and seek, reason and rhyme, grand and glorious

Living the dream, yours and mine, euphoria"

•••

Everything shot into motion; the stars had begun to swirl, round and round, increasing in speed with every second. The light expanded, burning with barely contained heat, and then there was an explosion - brightness swarmed, and then suddenly it was gone just as fast.

•••

"Stone and feather

Move outside your head"

•••

Night reigned once more, but now where there had been rocky gray stone, transparent pelts stretched into the distance and countless pairs of eyes roamed the land. The sound was like a million feathers being drawn against each other at once, as fur brushed against fur and innumerable murmurs arose. The sensory output was astonishingly overwhelming, but he was a Luminary.

He was a leader, and he was more than capable of managing them.

•••

"Now or never

Strong in every step"

•••

He advanced, coming to the tip of the ledge upon which he perched. Monsha stepped forwards to stand next to him and dipped his head, allowing permission to speak in place of his inability to do the same. "Hark, Andromeda!" he called. "Hark, Leo!"

•••

"Give me a sign, hitting the mark, take to the sky, chasing the stars"

•••

The voices quieted instantly, and he continued, gazing out at all of them. "You heard the Calling, and you have come. For all of you know the meaning of the Calling. You know it is time. We must take what is ours from the accursed regime of Aquila's Constellation."

•••

"Open your eyes, watching afar, waiting to fly, this is the start"

•••

"They have taken our land. They have taken our honor. They have taken our glory." There was no noise to be heard, but he could see in every eye that stared at him the anger, the agreement.

He lowered his voice. "They have taken our stars."

•••

"Hide and seek, reason and rhyme, grand and glorious"

•••

"And we have come to take them back!" He allowed the words to rip forwards from his throat in a snarl, and the ranks of cats in front of him roared into flight, screaming with rage. Moonlight caught on bared fangs and curved claws.

•••

"Living the dream, yours and mine, euphoria"

•••

Scores of celestial beings hurtled overhead, the noise deafening. The waters of the massive lake he'd been standing at earlier rose in a tremendous wave, with none of the grace, none of the elegance that his spirals had had before, ready to crash down, down, down...

•••

"Hide and seek, reason and rhyme, grand and glorious"

•••

Below the cliff on which they stood slept a silent camp, unwary, unknowing. It would not take more than a few seconds to relieve them of the calm.

•••

"Living the dream, yours and mine"

•••

He shared a grim smile with Monsha. He had come far for this. His Constellation, Monsha's Constellation - they would finally liberate what their enemy had stolen from them.

It would be over very soon. The battle, and his longing.

•••

"Euphoria."

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