Alastair

he/him

Head Priest of the story who has some interesting ties to the main villain

Growing up, Alastair was always destined for greatness. He was the only son of the village leaders, Dusk and Dawn, and it was always assumed he would take their role once they passed. Born with the name Sunset, he was gifted in academics, hunting, and battle, quite the opposite from the village outcast, Midnight. That didn’t stop him from spending all his time with the dark feline, often sneaking out of his home to meet Midnight when his parents weren’t paying attention. As a child, Alastair was put on a pedestal that seemingly no one could reach. His world came crumbling down when demons attacked his village. He was with Midnight when it happened, and their parents hid them so that they could be safe. After hours of hiding in a safe room, the fighting stopped, and the two young cats ventured to see what had become of their village. What they found, however, was their whole village had been massacred. Soon after the attack ended, officials from the head church of the sector arrived to search for any survivors. They found only Sunset and Midnight, and took the young boys back with them to the church to provide sanctuary.

Once at the church, Sunset and Midnight did what they could to recover what little they had left from their old life, and made a vow to protect each other from there on out.

As the boys got older, they both began research into different topics of interest to them. While Midnight focused on fire magic in the fire sectors, Sunset found an interest in the history of the Sky Sector and their close relationship to the angels. The head priest at the time, Starlight, noticed both of the boy’s interest in the sectors and thought that they would be the best choices for the future head priest. As the boys got deeper into their studies, Sunset began to distance himself from Midnight due to the nature of the dark tom’s research, connecting heavily with demons. Once Starlight revealed his intentions for the two friends, Sunset was eager to please and take the position while Midnight became hesitant. As Starlight’s failing health continued to grow, Sunset put all his time in becoming his successor.

However, one night Midnight asked him to meet by their old home to discuss something very important. It was then that Midnight showed Sunset his research on demons and angels, and all the information contradicted Sunset’s beliefs. Midnight had planned to run away that night, saying he could no longer stay with the church, and begged Sunset to come with him, to fulfill the promise they made together. Sunset was torn, but in the end, he made the decision that was best for him. Midnight never returned to the church, and many assumed he had died.

Soon after Midnight’s disappearance, Starlight died as well and Sunset was awarded the position of head priest. He received the name Alastair from the angels, a sign that they approved of his position enough to grant him a non-nature name. Once he was in power, Alastair did everything he could to prove he was a worthy leader to spread the teachings of the angels. He provided shelter, help, and protection to any village in his sector, and even extended the courtesy to other sectors. Priests in other sectors held a massive respect for him, and soon his word became law and people trusted his judgement. He was always there to provide help in battles for villages raided by demons and took in all the orphans and felines that survived the attacks.

Demon attacks became less frequent under his rule, until word of a pyromaniac who wiped out entire villages with fire all by himself got around. It took Alastair months to find the fiery feline, but it wasn’t due to any of his efforts. He was cornered by the arsonist and instead if a rouge from the Fire Sector, he found his childhood friend, Midnight, as a demon with fire coming off of every part of his body. He introduced himself as Blaze, and said he looked forward to working with him. Alastair did everything he could to track down Blaze, so he could demand an explanation from his old childhood friend. Every time he found a trail though, it led to a burned down church, forest, or village. Blaze only seemed to want to be found on his terms, so Alastair stopped searching. This finally got Blaze’s attention, and the two childhood friends finally had a discussion. What they found though was that the foundation of their relationship had crumbed, reduced to nothing but ash. However, the two seemed to not want to say goodbye, so they made a deal to keep seeing each other.

Years went by and their relationship never seemed to change, except for the meetings that got more recurrent, and the information shared more in-depth. The two cats from opposite sides of this war formed a sort of alliance that no one but them knew about. Alastair would help Blaze with a job while Blaze would look the other way when Alastair dealt with personal business. Their arrangement lasted for a while until two events completely shattered it. Blaze had told Alastair offhandedly about a raid that was going to occur in the Ice Sector in search for one person, but Alastair shared that information with his council which led to the massacre of the entire village. When Alastair’s congregation went to look for a survivor, all they found was a tiny female kitten, named Frostbite. Alastair took pity on her and took her back to the church to help raise her. Blaze was furious when he found out what Alastair did and cut communication with the priest almost immediately. Alastair did not run into the arsonist again until he got word of the sector’s biggest forest being on fire. When they arrived at the scene, Alastair saw Blaze flying above the forest, seemingly looking for something. It was then that a young orange kitten emerged from the flames, completely unharmed. Alastair assumed that the child is what Blaze was looking for and took the young girl back to the church where Blaze could not reach her.

Blaze later confronted Alastair about what took place in the forest fire, trying to brush it off as a job gone wrong and its nothing to be concerned about. When Alastair asked about the kitten found, Blaze because more serious and demanded that she was turned over to him. Alastair knew that no good was to come of it, so he refused to give into Blaze’s demand. This was the final straw in their broken relationship, and the two had no contact after this.