Maryanne

Marigold was introduced to the world with three others. Memories were fuzzy and the little kitten didn’t remember much. She was born into weakness, born into illness. She was the smallest of her siblings and the most sick. There were doubts about her survival but she fought on. Her siblings were named Oleander, the pride and joy of their father, Corvo, Kodin, the favorite to their other father, Ryan, and Saffron. They were happy kittens, energetic and playful ones. They listened to the tales of Ryan and followed the training of Corvo. Oleander eventually grew to the size to where she would want to lead little expeditions with her siblings - well, more notably Kodin and Saffron. Marigold was sick, she was weak… and she didn’t go nor was invited. Marigold was different from the very beginning, as she did not have the energy of her siblings. She would sleep and watch and sleep and watch..

The group she was born in was a group of nomads led by a matriarch. Expectations for mollies such as Marigold were high and she did not fill them. Hopes for her were low.

Before she knew it, Marigold’s whole kithood was wasted in a nest. Her littermates were starting to train without her. Though she watched and desired to join, she didn’t feel angry.

She was okay.

Luckily things started to turn around. Marigold could then move but she felt out of place being near her siblings and beginning to play. Perhaps her recovery was too late? But she tried super hard to awkwardly join in and was always the last kitten to join in their games.

Poor little Marigold always came in last and was notorious for messing games up.
But that was okay! Everything was fine because they were together now.

Soon enough, Ryan and Corvo gathered their beloved kittens soon after Marigold began to recover. It was time to start training, but Ryan typically spent the most time training Kodin and not her or the other daughters. Turning around, she'd note that Corvo, though working a lot of the time, took a fondness to Oleander. It was just Saffron and her. And even then, Marigold was typically still left out.

Training was.. Surprisingly well for Marigold. She excelled very well and gained attention witht the nomads even if she didn’t expect it. Though she was small, she was fast and smart. She was a delicate flower but with poisonous thorns.

There came a time when the siblings were able to become working members of the travelling group. However, when Kodin and Marigold passed their assessment and had their ceremony, Oleander was late. Marigold personally didn’t think much of it but it sparked something between Kodin and Oleander. The brother then messed up Oleander on her assessment and had her fail and have to retake it. This also caused the two to try to get the remaining sisters to get on their sides, to which Marigold was not fond of, neither as Saffron.

To make matters worse, Kodin started to dislike the happy family situation, causing him to grow distant and snap at them. Marigold soon found herself distancing herself as well. Instead of being with family, she found herself with the other mollies in the nomadic group and her image grew further. She was fine again, chattering with new friends and Saffron.

But then a plague came.
And it took Corvo.

Corvo’s final wish was for them to find the Door and join the Tribes. Marigold forgot what those were but remembered that Ryan spoke of those before… in stories. Oleander seemed all too ready to leave the nomads and go hunting this Door down, as were the rest of her siblings. Or, well, they were practically being pushed by Oleander.

That was too much for Maryanne to bear.

“No I can’t! I don’t care!” Marigold protested, “These cats are our family! They raised us!”

She couldn’t remember a time where she was unhappy, where she cared so much. They left and that was one of the last things Marigold told her family. They went through the door and never saw them again. She remembered Saffron’s face, in particular leaving. She felt… betrayed. She felt like they didn’t understand when they should have. They lived here all their life but then they..

Marigold watched them leave.
She knew they were unhappy with her, somewhere in her heart told her that.
But it didn’t matter! She would protect this nomadic group with her life if she had to!
They left it. Betrayed them. She, at least, had to remain.

Plague made cats go mad. The life with the nomads made this no different. Several cats perished much like Corvo and some of the long-term members began to follow the pawsteps of Marigold’s family to the door. At some point, she was unsure which took more, death or cowardice. She began to grow very annoyed with the cats who had left their home. Maryanne sat and watched everything with angry eyes, but didn't know that Corvo's once best friend, Vivienne, kept an eye on her. Eventually the two talked and she confessed that she was her surrogate mother. Though they both agreed that this didn't really make them family on a bonding level.

She noticed that the matriarch was soft for allowing so many cats to stay with them only to leave. However Vivienne comforted Marigold as she was the only remaining evidence of Corvo. Marigold liked the comfort and ear of a cat who reminded her of her lost sister, a cat Marigold had convinced herself to despise.

This belief also allowed her to get closer to two of her friends, Florent and Rosemary, who shared the same beliefs. They remained there for her when she would ramble and grumble about how her family brought a harsh force into this nomadic group and was tearing it down.

Despite the tough conditions, Marigold was happy with the friends she held.

She trained hard and became respected with the nomads despite her gripe against the matriarch’s kindness to outsiders. Some rumors even came about that Marigold was destined to be the next, filling her with pride. She didn’t need that family that abandoned her and their home over some illness that reaped many. She was thriving.

When the nomads traveled, they realized that the farther they went, the less likely the disease would attack them. It was still there, of course, and maybe this feeling was mere placebo, but the group agreed that anything was a good attempt at that rate. It would also discourage cats from leaving through the Door. So.. they traveled.

They went far and far.. Florent and Rosemary became mates along the journey and Marigold could not have been more proud. However the journey did have to stop when some cats who called themselves the Colony stopped them. They told the nomads that this was their territory and passing it was a declaration of war. When the elderly matriarch apologized, their ruthless leader told them it was too late and war would be waged, no matter how far they ran to escape.

Unfortunately it was true. They tried to escape the next morning but were ambushed immediately. They were at war now.

Luckily the nomads’ expectations came in luck, as they were strong enough to fight them off. However, their forces and numbers were equal, and the war suddenly became a stressful stalemate. To make matters worse, Rosemary became pregnant with Florent’s kittens. Florent died in the war only days before she found this out. The fire that scorched her being grew bright with the anger that his death brought. The kittens were named Daisy and Florentine and Marigold promised she would die protecting them if need be.

The war raged on for a full year, meaning that eventually Winter of 108 rolled around. War in the snow was harsh and brutal, the plague hitting both sides harder and prey being scarce. In the middle of the Winter, the ruthless leader of the Colony came to the nomads alone.

His name was Vardammon and he asked for a truce given that they leave. A lot of the nomads, Rosemary and Marigold included, were angry at this Vardammon but the matriarch, due to her warm heart, agreed. That next morning they started moving away. Marigold was upset that they didn’t get what they deserved for killing several of their members, but it is what it was.

It was a nice while of peace after that, however it was very short lived.

The nomads were ambushed and, with the advantage being to the Colony, were defeated brutally. Marigold tried to fight off as many as she could, but many cats were killed in cold-blood in front of her very eyes. Many old friends, many cats she grew up with. The ones that stayed by her side..

Soon enough, wounds she sustained from the fight overpowered her and she collapsed.

She soon awoke near two toms tending to her, one black-and-white, the other black with long fur. They were unfamiliar. The weak she-cat hissed at them, to which they backed off.

“Who are you?! Don’t touch me! Where is my family!”
“Oh, hey. Don’t worry you’re safe.”
“Answer me!”

Marigold swore she would attack them if she had even a fraction of the strength in her body to do so. The toms looked at each other, more cats in the background. The larger one looked at her with a frown.

“My name is Huckley, this here is Giles. Back there yonder is Collins, Jolene, Dolly, an’ Jasper. Your groupp was beaten pretty bad, we tried looking for survivors but you’re all we could find.”
“Yeah it’s pretty surprising you’d survive, I reckon. You’re just a wee little thing.”

Huckley stared at Giles for a long second before Marigold raised her voice again, this time sadness in her face.

“Can I look?”

Then the little group moved through the night to the place where the battle took place. Marigold choked looking upon it, noting several pelts she once lived with only a matter of hours prior. She saw the calico pelt of her surrogate mother, the elderly one of the matriarch, but probably the one that crushed her beyond the point of breaking was the brindled pelt of her best friend. She rushed over to her, looking around before falling to her side in grieving cries.

There were the two small bodies of Florentine and Daisy.
She could not protect them.

“I’m sorry.”
“No, we are.”

Huckley moved next to Marigold.

“Our Colony, it wasn’t always like this. In fact, we were a lot like you all, peaceful, accepting.”
“Wh.. what happened?”
“...Plague makes cats go mad. Our tyrant lost his way, that’s why we’re trying to overthrow him. We’ll avenge your family here, I promise.”
“Revenge…”

Huckley and Giles told Marigold all about the Colony and the cat who ran it. Apparently, it was their father and Huckley was destined to lead it next. Vardammon wasn’t always like this, he grew senile and mad with paranoia towards the illness. He was a coward and did everything to protect himself. Some cats would lie to themselves in their colony, coping with the fact their leader was now a tyrant who only saw them as a shield and sword. To the extent he would torture his group? Well, he trained kittens and shoved them into battle much too early, banished cats too old to work, executed the ill, and wanted all outsiders dead as he believed they carried the sickness. There were more details, but Marigold didn’t desire to listen.

When asked her name, Huckley replied that Maryanne fit more, and just called her Maryanne much to her displeasure. Eventually this became simply a joke between the two.

This group of cats were the bud of a rebellion, something that Marigold just ended up going into. She wanted to avenge the nomads. To avoid suspicion, the rebellion met at night and attended the Colony during the day. This made Marigold nocturnal. Despite the change in atmosphere, the she-cat was distant and bitter, sick with grief and rage. Huckley tried to comfort her over and over with failure, up until one day he succeeded.

Marigold became motivated with the award of revenge. Huckley soon became her best friend, before her mate. The rebellion grew and she became more and more involved.

Whether her joining and being a leading member of this band of cats was out of her own desires alone or if she cared about the Colony was unknown, even to her.

But she did know her love for Huckley was true.
And she especially knew when she was pregnant.

She opened up more, telling the rebellion stories that Ryan had once told her many moons prior. They had never heard of the Door and believed it fiction before Marigold told them that her family disappeared through it years prior. When asked about why she didn't go through it too, she replied that she would never put herself in front of her nomadic group like that.

Her bitter and angry heart remained, albeit pacified by these new friends, and it was obvious when she told these stories. She would feel that betrayal all over again, made stronger by the fact that if they had not left, more cats would have been with the nomads and they might have survived. He family... she blamed those cowardly traitors for everything. No matter what had happened, it was their fault. However, the life in front of her distracted her, especially when she had her first and only son, Bernard. He was a perfect mix of her and Huckley, soft short hair, classic tabby markings and black paws, ears, face, and tail. His eyes were a brilliant blue. Marigold’s heart melted.

Of course, Bernard remained with Marigold. The two remained nocturnal. It was nice to have a little one to watch over. They never spoke of the rebellion, nomads, or the Colony to Bernard for it was too much for a kitten’s ears. He was a sweet kitten, a little too trusting. He never asked any questions.

This continued for many moons. One day, Giles did not come to a meeting. When Marigold asked why, Huckley replied bitterly that he was talking about that Door to another cat, which aroused their father’s paranoia. He was questioned, tortured, and killed. Some rebellion members were scared because of this, but Marigold was beyond angry. Her anger and venting was praised and motivated others. This was a group of anger. Sometimes Huckley would come back with cuts, insisting he was okay. It made it worse.

Soon enough, Bernard grew old enough to where he was taller than Marigold. When this happened, the parents decided to tell him about the Colony. He was shocked, but angry on the behalf of his mother and uncle. Marigold saw something she had never seen before: herself. That anger in her son, that was her’s. He fumed, asked what he could do.

It was a mirror. They did this, though, they had to have.

She and the others began to train Bernard, but he never seemed the same. What was once a sweet cat became frenzied with anger. She wondered if it was familiar…

One day Dolly told the others that Vardammon was moving towards the Door, as he grew paranoid of it. Marigold quickly hatched an idea. Why not kick him through the door? A cat like him should be easy for some cats with powers of the elements to handle. With that, Marigold and Bernard secretly followed the group as they moved the way of which Marigold originally came. The memories came back so bitterly and strongly, she was lucky to not have been caught and to have the comfort of her son.

When the Colony hung out around the door, the rebellion became sitting sucks as they didn’t know how to attack. Within this time, Marigold had a little bit of clarity. Looking at the cats who had joined the rebellion, they could simply run away and start a new life. But.. that was a coward’s way out.. Right?

Well, there came a time where Vardammon grew suspicious of Huckley. Huckley never came to the meetings again, not alive, anyways.

Seeing his dead pelt drove Marigold mad. They were to ambush that very next morning. So they did! Marigold would get her revenge for the fallen nomads. The final battle was brutal, cas from the rebellion and cats from the colony dying left and right. It was hard to bear, hard to think. A lot of the cats who she attacked were just blind followers. They didn’t know.. It was as if the matriarch unknowingly turned on them.

But that guilt didn’t last, Marigold was blinded by rage.

Vardammon raked his claws through Bernard, which caused Marigold to charge at him. She pinned him, tearing at his face and throat with her strong claws. Anger coursed through her, knowing her precious son was writhing in pain, dying close by.

In her head, she begged this monster beneath her to stop struggling so she could comfort her son. But then.

He kicked her.
She was thrown off.
When she got up
she saw a door.. and no one else.

Marigold was thrown out into this new world. Once the shock settled down, she began to cry and grieve. She tried desperately to go back through, but it was hopeless. She was lost and her home, her family and friends and the ability to avenge them, was left behind and torn down.

tba.