The Dynast

Eagle was born to a brown-and-white tom named Alphard, and a dark tabby molly named Deadwood.

While Alphard was born of the Halcyon, Deadwood had been the daughter of loners who lived, grim and impoverished, in an outer district of the Twolegplace. She had been brought into the fold by her mate, converted to his Clan’s belief with ease, as she was desperate to find something greater to believe in. Hers had not been an easy life.

And so both StarClan and Alphard became Deadwood’s world, as she trained under him as an apostle and became one of the most devout among the incomers. The two soon became mates once they felt the time was right, and were even more patient when it came to trying for kits, as the pair prioritised their duties over their personal life.

Eventually, they were able to conceive a litter, but Deadwood’s assortion of sickness and injury made the eventual birth difficult, and though five kits were born - a veritable miracle - only one lasted longer than a month. This kit was named Eagle by his mother, who, when it came to naming him, ruminated on the time she had sighted one of the majestic birds perched atop a lone building before she came to the Halcyon, gazing out into the wilderness. She came to interpret the bird, and her sighting of it, as a symbol of perpetual forward motion, freedom, and rising above suffering, and this was the gift bestowed upon her only son.

Eagle was not born into a time of stability within the Halcyon. Life was never completely easy in the Twolegplace, of course, but any semblance of security continued to deteriorate as the Clan fell on difficult times, plagued by external threats and internal doubts. Nonetheless, Eagle’s parents pledged themselves to maintaining the tight, fervent core that kept the Halcyon afloat in this harsh home.

Having no siblings to hold him back or put a damper on his temperament, Eagle developed into a boundlessly social cat, developing rapport not only with the other Cherished, but with the kits’ parents too. Deadwood and Alphard were nurturing parents, but also dutiful citizens, and they took advantage of Eagle’s blooming independence to continue in their specialisations.

In his first few months, confined exclusively to the nursery and under the watchful eyes of guardians, Eagle had little to do but play with his fellow Cherished. As the sun fell beneath the Twoleg nests, his parents would return and engage with him about his day, and in turn he would quiz them about their duties. These evening bonding sessions not only ensured that his relationship with his parents stayed strong in spite of their dedication to spreading the word of StarClan, but was also how Eagle came to know about each and every incomer to the Halcyon, and made it a point to befriend them.

Among his peers, he was a social leader, having a wit and presence that had the other kits looking up to him, rather than as an equal. He gained a quick liking for the sense of power, though was always careful not to go far enough to abuse it. After all, he wanted these cats to like him. He cared about their opinion. And above all, Eagle hated fighting. His mother was a heavily scarred cat, and despite telling him only the most palatable of stories behind them all, he was overtaken by a revulsion for bloodshed, a feeling which eventually matured into a distaste for aggressive conflict, and the desire to end it with words alone. 

Nevertheless, the nursery micropolitics progressed. Soon, a kit a few weeks his senior named Bren declared Eagle to be his best friend. Young Bren was an incomer like his mother, having joined the Halcyon as a very young kit when his parents had nowhere else to go. Oblivious to the kit’s motives and excited to have someone follow him around everywhere, Eagle played along. However, it soon became apparent that Bren was using this newfound relationship as a position. Moreover, it was a position that he used to bully the other kits in Eagle’s name. Eagle soon found he was losing friends due to the cruel actions of another, and angered and confused by the situation, he confronted Bren, firmly asking the kit to leave the others alone, or risk losing Eagle’s friendship.

It was then that Bren’s cruel streak was turned on Eagle. Enticing him outside the colony with the promise of a surprise as an apology for his actions, the young cat pushed Eagle into a deep, hollow Twoleg structure that he could not climb out of, and left him there.

He could have died that day. Using up what little energy he possessed in panicked attempts to clamber out, Eagle lay exhausted amongst the rotting refuse, picked clean of anything edible. The night fell, and rains came, and sodden and shivering, the three-month old cat accepted his fate.

That is, until he felt a warm sensation envelop him. It was fur. Dull-dark brown fur. He opened his eyes, and met the gaze of his mother. “StarClan showed me the way,” she whispered to him. “When I was young, I thought there was no one there. That no one would be there for me when it became cold, and dark, and fearful. And then I met your father.” She nuzzled deeper into her kit. “And I met you. We are all truly blessed by our stars.”

Before Eagle settled into unconsciousness, he heard his mother sigh peacefully. “May it never change.”

The next day, they returned to the colony. Eagle came down with a terrible fever, and was bedridden for a half-moon, but once he had recovered, he was never sick again.

This was Eagle’s first taste of betrayal. But also his first real taste of what would define his adult life: devotion to tradition and family. Everything else, even duty to the stars, would become secondary.

His first step in this direction came when he was old enough to venture outside the nursery under supervision. Almost every day, he would follow his parents around as they practiced their duties, hoping to become an apostle just as dutiful as them. He had come to appreciate the value of family tradition, and aimed to continue their legacy even when they became too frail to work. 

He followed his mother to the most dangerous and impoverished parts of the Twolegplace as she rendered aid, brought food and water, and invited those sick and in danger to rest within the safety of the Halcyon’s land. He followed his father as he met with sick individuals and colonies of cats with tired eyes who thrived off the starry words that fell from his tongue. And through this, Eagle learned that every cat here suffered.

One question grew in Eagle’s mind. Why do we stay? His father had responded simply, saying that they stayed because they always had. It was a notion Eagle inherently understood, because it was important to preserve ways, and who knew how attitudes could change if the decision was made to move? But still, a contradictory seed of doubt took root in his mind. Why would a cat remain where it suffers and starves? He came to the conclusion that only the Halcyon could protect these Twolegplace cats and shelter them from suffering, and doubled his efforts.

But the Halcyon itself was not free from the strife these street cats were plagued by. Conflicts over territory came to their doorstep in waves, as did death and sickness and even infertility, a curse from the Twolegs. This life had not been foreign to Eagle as a kit, but he could see it ever clearer as he matured, and it only got worse. There were times when he would pray to the stars whenever his time was free, that someone would answer the question that had followed him for moons. Why cats remain where there is suffering. Was it enough to simply weather the storm?

Eagle was about to turn fourteen moons when the stars answered. Her name was Novalise, the king’s daughter, and the stars had shown her where they must go, to a land that would no longer invite suffering so long as their faith and duty remained unwavering. It was not an idea that overtook the whole group - the knights especially, becoming accustomed to the defensive shedding of blood, took some time coming around, to Eagle’s distaste. Eagle himself was taken. Swept away, even. His questions had finally been answered, and his people would be able to live as they were supposed to, endlessly pious and free of the strife that plagued these streets.

His whole family knew what they had to do. As the colony began the process of preparation, he and his parents took to the streets, announcing the Halcyon’s intention to undergo a perilous journey to the land promised to them by StarClan, and that those who wish to bask in the same light need only join when the time came. Eagle spoke to dozens of cats in that short time, and watched in confusion as dozens chose to remain. Their lives were here, they said. They did not trust the whims of stars, and they thought there were no promised lands. Though many were swept up by the promise of a better life under StarClan’s guidance, even more simply stayed put, content to put up with territory disputes and twoleg monsters and a lack of faith in anything.

Ultimately, it confused him so deeply that it began to anger him. So be it, he thought, if these cats have no faith, they deserve no better. He would share these thoughts with his parents, and they looked to him with such pity that it made his skin burn. “Be benevolent, son. These cats are hurting, and have the freedom to choose where their lives will go.”

But choices colour who you are… he thought. And a cat that chooses to harm, to deceive, or to simply decay - did they really deserve the same reward as the faithful. Surely his mother could understand that, for she had made the right decision in following Alphard that day. Her faith was the reason Eagle existed at all. But still, they would not be swayed by Eagle’s disillusionment, and he felt the cracks appear that would soon form a gaping chasm between his parents and he.

The day the Halcyon left the Twolegplace behind, Eagle decided to become a knight.

It was something that came as a shock to his parents, but they were not the type to speak against anything Eagle chose to do. After all, he was grown now - so fast, they remarked - and could choose to do as he wished. They didn’t even ask him why, which became another crack in the rift. 

Eagle’s frustrations had grown too much to manage in his parents’ line of work, and he knew he could not continue to do his duty in good faith. After a lot of thought, he decided he would be of most use to the knights. He was a charismatic and friendly cat, with a diplomatic way of socialising that had always proven useful in minimising conflicts in a pinch, and though he had never excelled in mock fighting, he was a sturdy cat who had always been able to take a hit.

All that aside, it just felt right. Eagle had started to think differently about his life going forward. Though he still held family tradition in his heart, he had started to recontextualise just what that meant to him. Alphard had not been ambitious in his life, whereas Deadwood was an outsider. Meanwhile, Eagle had decided he wanted a legacy. He was part of a new generation of Halcyon, those who no longer lived in poor means in the Twolegplace, but of those who would live in the new land, and he needed to set new standards for those who would come after him. And the more he could have an active paw in shaping that future, the happier he would be. He was no longer thinking like the dutiful son, but like the attentive father.

The journey was long, hard, and flipped rapidly between stretches of complete uneventfulness, and exhaustive days where there was no rest from commotion or danger. Within the first moon of the journey, Eagle had found himself a mentor, who had been the only knight willing to show him a few things since his youngling training had been barely sufficient, and long ago. Eagle ended every day exhausted and in pain, but with every day that passed, he felt himself getting stronger, swifter, and most of all more attuned to the world around him. 

The world beyond the Twolegplace felt freer and wider, yes, but it also came with new dangers. Predators, food shortages, inhospitable weather and no shelter to shield from it… every day was a new lesson for Eagle and his peers. Many roamers began to join in their trek, inspired by their tenacity and faith, while others began to fade away through death or doubt. It was a constantly shifting life, with no stable ground, and one in which Eagle fully matured. Months had passed, and he had grown into a large, well-built tom, all but towering over his parents, to the point where looking back at his life in the Twolegplace he saw a cat he no longer recognised. His old life was over for good.

And that was what kept him pushing on for over half a year, where others despaired and pleaded Prophet for answers where she had only the same words: you will see it. He followed only where she led, turning deafened ears to the doubts of others. Her convictions were so deep that he could not accept a reality where he did not believe with all his heart that they would find this new land. He was taken with it.

And then she died. It bit Eagle, cold and fiery and hard. If all behind him and before him was lost, then what was he worth to his world. In those brief hours of horror, it took all of his heart to resist screaming to the stars. What becomes of a cat if he has no future? He had never felt so terrified, so desperate to claw his way to the light. And it made what came the next night feel all the more like a miracle. He had never felt something so fiercely before, and he never did again.

Though she had passed, they followed beneath Prophet’s light. And they made it.

From this point, time passed in a blur as the days, weeks, then months all bled into each other. Establishing a foothold in this land was a lengthy process, and building, scouting, and settling overtook most other commitments as the Halcyon entered a new phase of its existence. It was tough work, but rewarding, and Eagle’s earlier strife was replaced by a clear, resounding sense of purpose. It was time for him to start a family, and continue his work however he could. Everything was as promised.

That’s what they said, anyway. 

Eagle wasn’t wholly convinced.