Wheat

Wheat is a generally calm, taciturn, and withdrawn cat who struggles to express her emotions and desires. Because of this, she spent much of her life feeling like a loner in her own village. She finds it uncomfortable and exhausting to speak with unfamiliar cats, preferring silence over attempting to start a conversation. Some consider her behavior rude, though she never intends to offend anyone. Throughout her childhood, Wheat blamed herself for being unable to make herself useful to the village. Over time, she nearly completely isolated herself.

1. She had been brought to the village as a kitten by the village guide, Ember, and was raised by her foster mother, Irha. From the very beginning, Wheat’s life felt slightly out of place, as if she had been set down in a world she never fully learned how to belong to. Irha cared for her in a practical way, providing what was needed, but she was never truly close to Wheat, and their bond remained distant and quiet. Once Wheat became a student, they gradually stopped speaking altogether. As a student, many things did't go well for her. No matter how hard she tried, she lagged behind the others in nearly everything, training, coordination, even simple tasks that others seemed to learn naturally. The bullying from Shimmer and her group of friends - Honey, Vale, and Dusk, only made things worse, turning every mistake into something sharper and more humiliating. To escape the ridicule, Wheat began spending more and more time outside the village, wandering across their territory and practicing techniques on her own. Though training remained difficult and progress slow, her solitary walks led her to discover many beautiful places she hadn’t known existed. After so much time alone in the mountainous terrain, slipping and falling was no longer a problem for her, her body simply learned to endure. One day, during one of her walks, Wheat discovered a rocky seashore in the north their territory. The feel of the hard stones beneath her paws and the steady rhythm of the waves calmed her in a way nothing else had. She would sit there for long stretches of time, letting her thoughts drift without direction. She began visiting the shore often, there, she noticed small, shining shells washed up by the tide. They were easy to overlook, but once she started paying attention, she began to see them everywhere. This was how she found her hobby. Wheat began collecting shells and stones, carefully selecting the ones that caught her eye, and carrying them to a cliff above the sea where she kept her growing collection. Each piece was unique - some dotted, others striped, some smooth, others rough. Some she gathered simply because they were beautiful in a way she could not explain, while others reminded her of cats from her village, as if each stone held a memory she could keep.

2. Still, her training didn't improve. Practicing alone spared her from mockery, but brought little real progress. One day, while searching the shore, Wheat found a beautiful bright orange shell that gleamed like a jewel against the gray rocks. She took her new find to the cliff where she kept the rest of her collection. The shell stood out so much among all the others with its rich orange color that it immediately reminded her of Honey. That thought surprised her. Honey was one of those who often bullied Wheat for her clumsiness, yet she was also the best among the students - fast, precise, and confident in a way Wheat could not even imitate. Considering it as a kind of sign Wheat began to think about how to approach Honey. At the next training session, Wheat carefully watched Honey. The precision of her movements, concentration and precise strikes were truly amazing. After training, Wheat caught the moment when Honey was alone and gathering all the courage, approached orange cat and called her name. Honey immediately turned to her. There was a moment of silence between them. Orange cat looked at her with a frown, as if her mere presence had spoiled her mood. Finally Honey asked what did Wheat want from her. She opened her mouth but nothing came out, Wheat forgot all the words that she wanted to say to her. Honey continued to stare at her. Finally Wheat was able to squeeze out that she would be very grateful if she help her with training. Honey's indignant look was replaced by surprise, but the next moment she narrowed her eyes looking at Wheat with disbelief.
'"why me?'"
Just as Wheat wanted to answer, their conversation was interrupted by a familiar shout. Shimmer and Dusk approached them, giving Wheat a mocking look. Shimmer asked her what Wheat forgot here and shot one of her jokes, her brother Dusk burst out laughing. Wheat understood that she wouldn't be able to finish their conversation and, turning around, quickly left the training field, to the laughter of an excited group of friends. Honey silently watched her go. The following day, Wheat was practicing in the middle of a small field surrounded on all sides by bushes. She tried the same movement again and again, repeating it until it felt almost automatic, but each attempt ended the same way. After another jump, she swung her paw too late, lost her balance, and fell flat on the ground in an embarrassingly awkward heap. She simply stayed where she had fallen, lying on the ground. The silence held for a while, until a rustle came from the bushes. Wheat turned her head immediately. From between the leaves, an orange cat stepped out and slowly walked toward her. She came straight across the field until she stopped right in front of Wheat. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
"You're landing on the wrong paw" said Honey at last.
"What?"
Without answering, Honey stepped back and shifted into a fighting stance, perfectly aligned and balanced. She looked at Wheat expectantly, as if the explanation should already be obvious. Wheat pushed herself up and stood beside her. Honey began to demonstrate the movement again. She showed and Wheat tried to copy her as closely as she could. At first it was clumsy and frustrating, but Honey didn't lose patience. She simply corrected her again and again, adjusting Wheat's posture with brief, direct comments. Time passed without either of them noticing, until the sun had shifted and both students were exhausted. Without much ceremony, they said goodbye and parted ways. But they met again the next day. And the day after that. Slowly, their meetings stopped feeling like chance encounters or simple training sessions and began to form a rhythm of their own. Between corrections and practice, they started talking more. At first it was small, practical things, technique, timing, mistakes, but over time the conversations drifted into something more personal. Wheat began to see a side of Honey she had never expected. When they were alone, Honey wasn't sharp or mocking. She wasn't the distant, arrogant figure Wheat had once known from the group. Instead, she was direct but honest, sometimes even surprisingly thoughtful. And Wheat found herself not only tolerating her presence, but beginning to enjoy it. Honey could talk for a long time without stopping, jumping from one thought to another, and somehow Wheat never felt the need to interrupt her. Wheat knew Honey kept their meetings a secret from her group of friends. She understood the reason and tried not to talk to Honey when her friends were around. One day, Wheat decided to take Honey away from the usual paths. She brought her to the cliff by the rocky shore. Wheat showed her the collection of shells and stones one piece at a time, explaining where each shell had come from, why she had picked it up. To her surprise, Honey listened very attentively, saying nothing the entire time. For the first time, Wheat felt like she might actually have someone she could call a friend.

3.One evening, Hope ran into the village with terrible news, he and Dusk had been attacked by a pack of dogs, and Dusk was caught before Hope could help him. For a while after that, Honey stopped seeing Wheat, instead spending all her time grieving alongside Shimmer and Vale. Then came an incident on the shore. Shimmer followed Wheat to a cliff above the sea where she kept her collection of shells, bringing Honey and Vale with her. Judging by their expressions, they were not entirely comfortable being there, as if they already expected something to go wrong. Shimmer began insulting Wheat, her words cutting and relentless. Her friends tried to calm her down, speaking in low, uneasy voices, but she ignored them completely. Wheat did not react. She simply stood there, silent, as if refusing to give the words any weight. When Wheat still didn't respond, Shimmer snapped. She began by throwing Wheat' shells into the sea, one by one, watching them disappear into the waves. Then she turned her anger directly toward Wheat herself. At the last moment, Honey stepped between them, trying to stop her and urging her to calm down. But when she mentioned Dusk, Shimmer lost control completely and shoved Honey aside instead. An orange cat fell from the cliff into the cold water below. The drop was not high, and after a few seconds they saw her resurface, coughing and struggling, scrambling for the wet stones along the shoreline. For a moment, everything went still. Shimmer only glared at Wheat, then turned and left the shore without another word. Vale stood frozen for a moment, shaken, before quietly apologizing to Wheat and following after Shimmer. Without hesitation, Wheat dove into the sea. The cold hit her hard, but her thick fur and strong swimming ability carried her through. She reached Honey and helped her back to shore safely. After that day, Honey and Shimmer never spoke again, avoiding each other in the village entirely. And from then on, Honey began spending most of her time with Wheat.

4. With Honey’s help in training, Wheat finally was able to successfully pass the exam and chose the path of a young crafter. Alongside several others, she began studying under Sneit as their mentor. Wheat often noticed sidelong glances from her mentor, but chose to ignore them, focusing instead on mastering her craft. For a while, life became peaceful. Everything changed during one of her walks. She was collecting crafting supplies when she noticed familiar berries hanging from the branches on a ledge above her. She remembered that Spider had recently complained about a shortage of these berries. She placed the bags of rope materials on the ground and began trying to reach them. She stood on her hind legs, leaning against a rock, but she was still too short. Suddenly, she heard rustling from a bush to her right. Wheat turned and saw a white cat who, in a few quick jumps over the stones, climbed onto the ledge where the berries grew. He quickly tore off a couple of branches and jumped back down just as easily. He craned his neck and offered them to her. Standing face to face at the same height, she finally recognized him. It was Silver, the son of her village’s leader. Wheat didn’t know how to respond and simply stared. The silence stretched on. Silver pulled back, muttered something that sounded like an apology, placed the berry branches at Wheat’s paws, and quickly disappeared into the bushes. Still confused after the encounter, she picked up the berries, put them in her bag, and headed back to the village. For the next couple of days, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Something about him had caught her attention. She began to notice that he sometimes looked at her from afar, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking or whether he considered her strange like everyone else. One day, Honey invited her for a walk. They went out to a small field, and while standing on a low hill, Wheat saw Silver below. Before she could turn to ask Honey a question, Honey pushed her off the slope, and she tumbled down the grassy hill. She landed in a soft collision - and when she opened her eyes, she was lying on top of Silver. The awkward situation led to a flustered exchange of apologies, which somehow turned into a walk together. They talked for hours, losing track of time until the sun began to set. When they finally returned to the village, Silver walked Wheat to her den and said goodbye before heading back to his own. After that, they began spending almost all their time together. The days blurred into one another, and for the first time in her life, she felt truly happy. In time, they became mates. Wheat was able to find close and loved ones, those who have become her support and joy in life. She built a family with Silver and was expected a kid from him. But then, Silver became the leader, she knew that he never wanted to have such power, but he couldn't disobey his father's last words. Wheat noticed how he changed after that. He was constantly nervous, didn’t sleep well at night, and once she even saw him crying alone in their den. She tried to support him as much as she could, holding him in her paws and comforting him every night, but his gaze was getting more and more tired. Their neighbors - Home of the Scarlet Aconite continued to press against their borders. After one of the skirmishes between Silver his brother over the escalating war, everything began to happen quickly. That evening, Silver gathered the entire village and announced an attack on the hertts in three days. Everyone in the village began to prepare. When the day of the fight came, Silver went to say goodbye to Wheat. he hugged her and promised to return as soon as possible. They returned later than expected, and Wheat stepped out of the crowd to meet Copper, who was dragging her mate’s lifeless body on. Her grief was heavy and disorienting, like moving through a world that suddenly no longer fits around her. From that moment on the world seemed to freeze around her. Every familiar detail of their life together now feels sharpened by absence, each memory cutting deeper because there is no longer a future to answer it. Not long after, Wheat gave birth, but kitten was stillborn. In a single blow, she lost the family she had dreamed of so much. And no words or support from her friend could ease her grief.

5. As the months passed, the village slowly recovered and returned to its usual rhythm, as if nothing had ever happened. Life went on in the way it always did, tasks resumed, paths were walked, voices returned to normal, but Wheat remained trapped in the moment everything had broken. She barely ate, her body growing thin with neglect, and only occasionally managed to perform her duties as a crafter. Even then, her movements were slow and mechanical, as if she were only going through the motions of being alive. Honey noticed it all and, with quiet concern, gently suggested she take a walk to clear her mind. With little enthusiasm and no real intention of finding relief, Wheat left the village and wandered through the familiar paths of their territory. She passed the cliff where she had first met Silver, the places where they had spent long evenings together sharing warmth and silence, and the clearing where he had once proposed to her to become his mate. Each location struck her like a wound reopening, the memories so vivid they felt almost cruel in their persistence. Driven by a sudden surge of despair, Wheat stepped to the edge of a floating island, staring into the emptiness below. The wind moved around her, indifferent and vast, and for a brief moment she considered letting herself fall, ending her suffering. But at the last moment, a strong gust shifted direction and carried a new scent across her path - dog. The instinctive fear for her village cut through her grief. Without hesitation, she turned away from the edge and followed the trail. The scent grew stronger, sharper, until she came upon a grim sight, a dog caught and already dead in one of the village traps. She forced herself onward, following the faint traces that remained, until she found a narrow opening between rocks. Beyond it lay a small cave, dark and still. Inside, curled tightly against the cold stone, was a lone puppy. He was small enough to be overlooked, trembling with exhaustion and fear. For a long moment, Wheat only watched him, conflicted by everything she knew, by the history of blood between their kind and dogs from home of the Scarlet Aconite, by the memory of Silver falling in battle against them, by the countless losses their village had suffered. She tried to leave but her body stopped as soon as she came out of the cave. There was something stronger in her, something raw and unhealed. The loss of her own child, the hollow space it had left behind, made it impossible for her to turn away from another helpless life. Slowly, she stepped inside the cave and lay down beside him. The puppy flinched at first, but then inched closer as if recognizing warmth. Wheat stayed still. She knew dogs were their enemies. She knew what the village would say, what they would expect of her, what Silver himself would have once believed. Many cats had died by their fangs, and Silver had been one of them. And yet this one was only a child. Not the monsters they see in the heat of battle, not a threat - just something that had survived. She would not let anything happen to him, no matter what it cost her. She named him Tiny. From that day on, she began visiting him as often as she could, bringing food and sitting with him through the long, quiet hours. At first, he was wary, uncertain whether she would stay or leave like everything else in his short life. But slowly, he began to recognize her scent, her presence, the rhythm of her returning. And with each passing day, Tiny was growing older and bigger, while Wheat' anxiety only increased in return.

6. For a long time afterward, Wheat continued disappearing from the village from time to time. Whenever Honey asked where she had been, Wheat became nervous and quickly avoided the question, changing the subject or offering vague answers that didn’t explain much. Eventually, Honey grew tired of the uncertainty and insisted that Wheat stop keeping secrets from her. They had already been through too much together not to trust one another. After a long hesitation, Wheat finally asked Honey to follow her. Without saying anything else, she led her out of the village and across the fields until they reached a quiet field, on the edge of which, beyond the massive rock, was the entrance to the cave. There, Wheat introduced her “adopted” son - Tiny. He was still not as tall as an adult dog, but he had already reached the height of a cat. Honey froze in place, horrified to see a dog standing so close to her. Every instinct told her to step back or run, and she had to gather all her strength just to remain where she was. Wheat quickly explained how it had happened, and insisted that Tiny wasn’t dangerous. Still, Honey struggled to accept what she was hearing. Her heart was racing, and her thoughts were tangled. She asked for time to think before she could give any answer. Without waiting for a response, she turned and left the field, feeling overwhelmed and conflicted. A few days later, Honey returned with her answer. If keeping Wheat’s secret meant making her friend happier, she would do it. From then on, though not very often, Honey sometimes visited Tiny together with Wheat. Each visit became a little easier than the last, and slowly, the tension in her chest began to loosen - though she never quite stopped being careful.

7. At one point, while Wheat was making nets, a kitten approached her and began curiously examining her work. The kitten’s name was Beln, Vale’s daughter. Wheat paused her work and, noticing the child’s interest, began explaining a few simple but interesting facts about the nets as she continued weaving. Beln listened closely, her eyes lighting up with fascination at every new detail, as if each answer opened another question in her mind. Soon, her father called her from a distance. With a quick, cheerful goodbye, the kitten ran off, leaving Wheat alone. After some time, Beln became a student, but she did not stop visiting Wheat whenever she could. She often talked excitedly about the day she would become a full crafter, as if it were the only thing that truly mattered to her. Then, one day, she mentioned shyly that she would really like Wheat to become her mentor. The request caught Wheat off guard. She had never considered herself the best candidate for training young crafters. Her own path had been filled with struggle, mistakes, and slow progress. And yet, she could not bring herself to refuse those bright, expectant eyes looking up at her. After a moment of hesitation, she agreed, but said that if Beln’s father would not mind a mentor like her, she would gladly take her on as a young crafter. The next day, Vale approached Wheat for what he called a “serious conversation”. He looked uneasy at first, as if searching for the right way to begin. Then he admitted that he still felt uncomfortable about everything that had happened between them and the others back in their student days. He said he regretted never stepping in when Shimmer and the others bullied her, and that he should have done more to stop it. Wheat told him she did not hold any grudge against him. The past was the past, and she was glad to leave it there and that she would be happy to teach his daughter once Beln passed her student exam. From that point on, Beln became a quiet bridge between them. Through her training, Wheat and Vale found themselves speaking more often, sharing brief, simple conversations.

8. One day, everything slipped beyond their control when Vale followed Wheat and discovered her secret. He had not meant to get involved at first, but suspicion led him farther than he should have gone. He hid in the bushes and saw how Wheat bring the food to the entrance of the cave, from which a huge dog immediately came out. Shocked and unsettled, he turned immediately and ran back toward the village to report what he had witnessed. Wheat heard him and caught up with him before he could leave the area. She pleaded with him to stay silent. For a moment, there was only desperation between them. Then they argued. Vale refused to listen. He reminded her, sharply and bitterly, that her mate had died because of hertts and their dogs, that trusting one now was nothing but madness. Without waiting for her response, he shoved her aside and continued toward the village. Panic seized Wheat. For a heartbeat she stood frozen, but then she turned and rushed after him. She could not let him return. She could not let the village find out about Tiny. The confrontation that followed was violent and chaotic. They fought, not as enemies at first, but as two terrified cats trying to force their truths onto each other. In the struggle, they lost their footing near the cliff’s edge. The ground gave way beneath them, and both tumbled over. Vale struck the rocks below and lost consciousness instantly. For a long moment, Wheat stood at the edge, staring down in shock and disbelief. Terror took hold of her, not just fear, but the full realization of what would happen if he was found alive, if he told the village. In a choice she would never be able to undo, she acted. She threw him from the edge of a floating island. Afterward, everything inside her went quiet. Guilt came slowly, relentlessly turning into nightmares that followed her through every night when she tried to fall asleep, and every day, when she Beln' worried face. Yet in time, she forced herself to believe it had been necessary. That she had done it to protect her family. That there had been no other choice. But the guilt was still slowly eating away at her from the inside out.

9. But Tiny’s pawprints were eventually noticed. Believing that the dog responsible for Vale’s death had been drawn too close to the village, the village leader - Copper, organized a patrol of defenders to track it down. Wheat learned about the patrol from Honey. Together, they searched the territory, trying to find Tiny first, hoping to reach him before the others did. They moved quickly across familiar ground, following faint traces, at some point, they split up to cover more distance. By the time Wheat reached the area, it was already too late. The patrol had driven Tiny to the edge of a cliff. Wheat burst onto the scene without hesitation and immediately placed herself between them and the dog, shielding him with her body. She confessed everything in a rush, Tiny, how she had found him, what he meant to her, everything she had hidden. Her words came out broken and desperate as she begged them to spare her son, even as she saw disbelief harden in their faces. Copper did not believe her. He looked at her as though she had lost her mind. He ordered to dragged her aside and told the patrol to finish what they had come to do. As one of the cats, Rozer, stepped forward to pull her away, everything happened in a sudden, violent blur. Tiny, who had moments before seemed only frightened and cornered, changed in an instant. Panic turned into instinct. He lunged forward, seized Rozer by the head, and threw him aside with brutal force, leaving deep wounds across his eyes. Rozer collapsed, and the patrol recoiled in shock. They regrouped quickly, shaken but regaining control. Then Hope, the village’s guide, stepped forward. He told Copper that he would deal with the situation himself. The fight began, Wheat fought those she had once called her brothers. In an instant, Hope broke away. He sprinted toward a nearby rock, used it to propel himself forward, and in a single fluid motion leapt at Tiny. He struck him with force, driving him back into a protruding branch. It pierced Tiny's neck and snapped off, leaving the broken end lodged inside him. Tiny staggered, trying to regain his footing. His body tilted to one side, trembling as he struggled to stand, but he could not hold himself up. Slowly, he slipped from the edge of the floating island and fell into the lake below. For a moment, there was only silence. Then grief broke into something sharper. Wheat surged forward, attacking Hope blindly, driven by rage and loss, but Copper moved faster and struck her aside before she could reach him. In the same motion, he seized her by the scruff of the neck and threw her away. Everything seemed to freeze. The last thing she saw was the silhouettes of Hope and Copper standing at the edge above her, before her body struck the cold surface of the water below.