Fallacia

Fallacia's Story

TW: This one is also darker than usual, super sorry! But it does have body shaming, child abuse, and abandonment.

"What are these?" Hissed a large thing that was not a cat. Such is Fallacia's earliest memory. "I... I think you know the answer to that." Came a soft voice. A soft smack sounded Falacia felt something wet and cold hit her face. She tried to wipe it away with the back of her hoof and only succeeded in scratching herself on the face. Falacia let out a small whimper as she tried to shake it off, the voices just kept yelling though.

"That- thats a hoof! Of all the Non-cats in the world... I told you to stay away from those blasted soggy horses! Its bad enough that you had unsanctioned kits... but HYBRIDS?!" it snarled. Falacia felt something smack into her and she went tumbling. "I thought I told you to shift!" Hissed another voice, "The one time I needed you to shift THE ONE TIME." "LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU." There was another smacking as well as a wet ripping. A yowl of pain. Fallacia tentatively opened her eyes and looked at her mother laying on the ground. She was supposed to keep them closed, but she was pretty sure it was pointless now. She couldn't see her mother's face, not anymore. There are few faces that aren't gone now. The downside to being immortal is you are not tethered to the world, and therefore can't tether others. She absent mindedly registered that the substance was blood, she couldn't see her mother, yet she could see the gaping wounds clear as day. She couldn't see her grandfather, yet her body trembled nonetheless, she remembered his giant, terrifying form, towering over her tiny, chunky self. She was such a cute kit!

Her mother stumbled up. Her grandfather started to cry. "You were our last hope. Your brother and sister wanted conformity. You understood, only you understood how to keep us wild. The Fae needed you! You were our last hope!" He snarled, going to strike her again, then he stalked out of the room.

Fallacia's mother turned to her, smacking her across the room. "I'll deal with you in the morning." She said with a huff, leaving her kits alone in the blood spattered room. Fallacia tried to play with her siblings, but they all kept their distance from her. They knew better than to displease their mother. In the morning though... Her mother was sweet, and happy. They ate magpie, Fallacia's favorite, and Fallacia got to eat as much as she wanted. Then her mother took her on a long walk and dropped her in the biggest lake she'd ever seen. It was nothing lake she knew, this was, salty, and deep. It stung all her little scratches.

Fallacia isn't sure how long she was in there. True she was still a kit when she came out, but aging was funny like that for creatures like her. After drifting for a long time though, she decided she didn't like lakes anymore, she wanted to go back to the woods, where it was warm. No matter how hard she swam though, she couldn't find any normal trees. Lots of long green leaves, sure. And colorful bushes without leaves. No trees though. One day however, she woke up, and she wasn't in the water.

"Seaweed, Seaweed, Seaweed" the cat says as Fallacia felt the load atop her get lighter. "Crab, Seaweed, Shell, Seaweed, seaweed, kit, Seaweed, Shrimp," Fallacia was lifted out of the pile of long green leaves and placed atop some other long green leaves. Only to have one thrown at her face, as well as food. "Wait, did you just say kit?" Both the cats froze and stared at Fallacia.

Fallacia decided she didn't like the noncats staring at her, it made her uncomfortable, so, she changed her fur to be the same color as the seaweed, bit down on the shrimp and took it with her as she rolled off the pile and started to waddle away. Sense the new cats definitely couldn't see her. It took a moment for the shock of, not only seeing a kit, but seeing a kit change to a seaweed green, to wear off. Once it did though, the cat who hadn't been digging through the pile darted forward and grabbed Fallacia by the scruff, dropping her on the pile of seaweed. "Woah woah woah kit." The noncat yanked the shrimp out of her mouth. Fallacia began to whimper.

"First of all, that's our food." The noncat said around the shrimp, then swallowed it. "However... we could get you lots of food if you want. Way better than that nasty shrimp you were just sucking on. As a matter of fact, I was uh, I was saving yous! From some very nasty shrimp." The cat nodded rapidly and nudged his buddy who nodded along too. The kit stared up at the two, guileless. "Weally?" She asked, confused. That shrimp had tasted really good, if they thought it tasted bad... What kind of food did they normally eat? Both the cats nodded emphatically. "Tank you!" She said running down the pile and tumbling into the leader. Once she was on her feet again she purred and nuzzled against him, which seemed to startle the noncat.

The leader was a black and silver Non-cat that Fallacia came to learn was called an Oni. The goon that had been with him was a vampire. They took Fallacia to a dark place. It was always wet, sticky, and smelled awful, so Fallacia usually made it so she couldn't smell. Problem was when she slept, she slowly shifted back into her natural form, sense she wasn't an adult yet. So she would wake up and have to smell... everything. On top of it all she wasn't allowed to go exploring Something about the water being dangerous and actually being some sort of mud? Fallacia had never heard of dangerous water, but they had pulled her out of the ocean, so she trusted them.

Once they had brought her back and fed her a bunch of yummy fish she had never tried before they figured out just how good she was at shapeshifting. After that, they explained to her how they got their food. Apparently, hunting was out of the question for them. The oni had a leg injury that made it hard for him to be stealthy especially considering his size, and most cats weren't very keen on feeding vampires. So they stole food, taking what piles hunting parties temporarily left behind, and running with it. With Fallacia though... they could do so much more.

They taght her how to watch other creatures, and identify what they would be weak to. Sometimes Fallacia would disguise herself as the most common species of the clan and pretend the vampire was attacking her for blood, the do goodeer clan cats would 'rescue' her and in the night fallacia would take back the Oni as much food as she could carry, while the vampire drank the blood of one of their wounded. Sometimes Fallacia would disguise herself so she looked like the daughter of one cat, but not the daughter of that cat's mate. In the commotion she would make a break with their food. If she didn't bring back the food, the vampire of the Oni would beat her. If she did, she got to eat whatever the Oni didn't eat! And sleep in the comfy spot of their den.

There was other cats in their group, but they didn't talk to Fallacia much. None of them really talked to each other, because of how much they disappeared, a couple of cats would disappear, only to have another two take their place. Fallacia being the exception. She talked to all of them, always smiling, always positive. Sometimes, if they looked really sad, Fallacia would let them have the Oni's scraps instead of her. But even when Fallacia was starving after giving her food up, she never stopped smiling.

Once Fallacia was a little older she noticed it was never pretty cats that joined, usually only big, scary ones, or ones covered in big, nasty scars. One time she even met a Nightmare who couldn't use his back legs. As Fallacia reached apprentice age, [or began looking like an apprentice] she got better, even coming up with her own schemes for food. Unlike the other cats though, she loved it. These tricks were no tool to a means, they were her life, and she adored it. The only time she wasn't smiling, was if she had gone too long without fetching food. She would start to get irritable, and snappy. That didn't happen often though as the better she got, the more often the Oni sent her out. She even got beaten less too. What Fallacia didn't notice though, was as she got older, the Oni seemed to be punishing her less and less, and it was just the vampire doing it.

The Oni would always remember that night. "Guess what I got!" Fallacia sang-songed. She pulled a large dead grouse into the doorway. "You're favorite! Grouse!" The Oni smiled and helped her get the grouse the rest of the way in. The main course inside, Fallacia got the other stuff. The Oni watched as she did so, making sure she didn't need any more help. "Thanks kit." He rumbled, and started tearing into the grouse. Fallacia beamed, "No problem Dad." With that she began separating the food into species, avian, amphibian, and mammal. Completely unaware of the fact the Oni had gone rigid with shock. "...What did you call me?" He asked, staring intently at the kit... who was no longer a kit, not really, more an, adolescent. "I called you Dad! I mean, it's more fitting than boss. Bosses don't care about their employees, but you care about me! You punish me when I'm bad and taught me a bunch of important things about life and stuff. Isn't that what a Dad does?" She asked innocently. The Oni stopped to think, tears slowly formed in his eyes as he looked at the chubby, spotted molly he hadn't had the heart to punish for moons now. He realized, in that moment, that he saw Fallacia as his daughter.

The Oni swallowed, "Hey, kit?" Fallacia perked up, "Yeah Dad?" The oni took a steadying breath, "Do you think uh, do think you could call me 'Father' instead? I, I uh, always liked the sound of that." Fallacia nodded her head enthusiastically. "Sure thing da-Father." She said, trotting up and nuzzling him. The Oni grabbed a finch and pushed it over to her. Fallacia stared at the bird in shock. "But, you haven't eaten yet." she said looking in between him and the bird. Th Oni shrugged. "Its important growing kits like you get lots of food. So don't worry about it okay?" Fallacia looked incredibly worried about it, but after a moment she nodded. "Okay." With that she began eating her finch.

Fallacia was never suspected of great power, thanks to the cats that came in and out of their group having zero experience with kits. Any cat expecting kits usually left, wanting a 'better environment' for their litter. Whatever that meant. They also just figured that the whole kits being fragile thing was overexaggerated, sense they knocked Fallacia around all the time and she healed, eventually. Most of the time it didn't take her more than a day or three to recover. However, one job with the vampire, Father's left hand, had gone particularly arie. They had pretended to be a traveling bat cat and his daughter who needed some food so they could make it back to their clan in time for the bat cat to be there when his mate had their second litter. When they got into camp though, they had been ambushed. Apparently Fallacia had conned this clan before, and they had seen her shift and recognized those bright, blue eyes she still hasn't figured out how to change. Her and the Vampire barely made it out, their injuries thankfully only minor scrapes and bruises. Once they made it back to base camp though, the vampire was particularly brutal, and took Fallacia a whole week to recover.

When Fallacia had recovered enough to move around, she went to the den where her Father called home. He had been letting her sleep next to him on the pile of leaves regardless of if she did well lately, and she wanted to show him she was okay. When she got to the den entrance though, she heard a wet sound, a sound she remembered from when she was a little kit. She heard the vampire scream in pain. "...YOU HEAR ME? NEVER. AGAIN." Her father snarled, the vampire coughed "Never, never again." He repeated hoarsely. "Next time you hurt my daughter, you're gonna wish I was this gentle." Growled her Father. Next thing Fallacia knew, she was watching the vampire stumble out, he look back at the den, eyes flashing. "You're gonna regret this old timer." he mumbled and went on his way, not once noticing Fallacia by the doorway.

After that night, no one laid a paw on Fallacia. Her Father started telling her stories, how the group was formed, how he managed everyone. He taught her how to deal with Vampires and protect Candy golems. How to strike the balance between being loving and being firm as a leader. It didn't take very long for Fallacia to figure out her Father was preparing her to take over one day. "You don't need to do this Father, you're the best leader out there! Way better than those star or sky or whatever protected leaders swith their fancy clan things." She said with complete seriousness. The oni's eyes softened as he gazed down at his daughter. "Thats the thing little fish, it doesn't matter how good you are, death takes everyone at some point, and our Psychopomps have been staring more intently at me lately." Fallacia scrunched her face at him. "Death?"

The oni tilted his head and stared intently down at her. "Yes little fish, death, the big sleep." Fallacia's face scrunched further, "I thought that was called a coma." The oni blinked, then chuckled a deep, hearty chuckle. "I suppose you've never witnessed much death, even we weren't as cruel as to let a kit see that side of things." He chuckled and shook his head again. "Somebody little fish, I will become so old, that my spirit will become too heavy for my body and float out and go to a special place for other spirits without bodies. I might die, because someone causes me to bleed out, making my body too light to keep my spirit. But your father is a tough cat, so it's unlikely it will happen soon. Either way, one day, you will have to lead this little island of misfits. All of us non-cats outcast by even our own kind. Hybrids, nightmares, vampires, psychopomps, mind flayers, and of course cats like me, too injured to be... 'useful'." The oni scoffs and shakes his head, then smiles down at Fallacia. "Little fish, promise me, that when my soul floats away, you'll take care of the misfits?"

Fallacia grins, bobbing her head up and down, "I promise Daddy! I'll take care of all of us misfits!" The oni gives and warm chuckle gently nuzzling his daughter. "Good, now head to bed."

Fallacia was old enough to go on solo missions now. She enjoyed them greatly, it was one step closer to being able to keep her promise to her Father. As she proudly sauntered into camp though, she immediately realized there was something wrong. It wasn't quiet. But, the camp was always quiet, nobody liked to talk to each other, and no creature dare tread on this land. Yet when she came into their territory she heard noises. Screams. She dropped her food and ran, ran straight to her and her father's tree. She was just in time to see the vampire emerge, blood dripping from his elongated fangs, a grin on his face. The vampire looked down at Fallacia. "I would run if I were you little parasite" He snarled and leaped at her, Fallacia wasn't sure what else to do so she ran. She kept running until she was sure she lost that vampire. Then she formed a plan. A very devious plan.

The vampire lived his best life for a year, he was the cream of the crop, the new leader, the conqueror of the old Oni who had gone soft. He got a mate, and the swamp's first litter was born. By the time his first litter was apprentices though everything started going downhill. He was accused of making the gang a clan. His favorite kit died. His mate had a second litter but she died shortly after, as the kits grew one by one terrible things happened to them. He became paranoid, suspicious of everyone. The gang's numbers dwindled as his suspicions grew only next thing he knew his kits- were grown up. One eloped with a clan cat, and didn't tell him, he only found out through a scout that she hadn't just, disappeared. Another revealed their home base to a clan of non-cat hunters, in hopes that, the gang would go extinct so his father could relax. Only for the hunters to kill everyone but the vampire. Then the vampire woke up. His mate was fine, his kits were still tiny, but scared, scared that their papa had been screaming all night. The vampire was glad it was all just a bad nightmare... or was it? When he went back to sleep the nightmare continued right where it left off. Eventually he couldn't tell what was his dream, or nightmare.

Fallacia felt this was a suitable punishment. Of course, she saw to it his kits were okay, even when his mate left him. Eventually though, she got bored of confusing the poor vampire, and left him alone. This is when Fallacia started traveling trying to even things out, and make sure there was a place for all cats. Not just the elves, gargoyles, and Lizard-cats. She did everything she could to keep her promise to her father. Eventually Fallacia discovered a clan so full of hybrids, they'd become new creatures all together. She stayed and hid them from hunters for a century or two, before she got bored and moved on. She went looking for other clans, because the more stable the group of cats was, the easier they were to trick, the more fun to play with.

She couldn't find any though. They'd all devolved into fighting, wars. She hated it, it was so boring and... indelicate. One day though, she found something positively fascinating. Well, more accurately she met a very interesting cat. He had the same magic as her, she knew that she wasn't like other cats, but she had yet to meet someone like her. So she did exactly what you would think Fallacia would do. She shifted into a Manticore kit and began following him around. Seemingly almost dying, and constantly asking questions. The cat, Venatio is what he called himself, an excellent hunter, finally asked if she had any parents, any home or place he could return her to. "Yeees! But I don't know where it is. I just know there's a lot of really, reeeaaaalllllyyyy powerful cats like you there!" She said, beaming up at him. Venatio then began the hunt for other cats like them. He first found Ardeat whom Fallacia let into her little plot. Which he whole heartedly supported, chiding Venatio when he snapped at the 'innocent little manticore'. It wasn't until they found Horama that Venatio became wise to their little game. Upon meeting Horama she immediately asked. "Fallacia why are you disguised as a tiny kit?" At which point Fallacia decided the jig was up and revealed to Venatio she had been messing with him this whole time.

They eventually reformed the pantheon, something that had been explained to Fallacia by the older members. She tried to leave a couple times, as it was pretty boring, but Horama always found her, and asked her to come back. Saying Fallacia had to wait, just a little bit longer. Right when Fallacia was ready to run off and never look back, Venatio announced they were going to help found a clan, something Falalcia was over the moon about. Finally, she would have cats to trick again.