The Forgotten Winds Prompts

At first, there was nothing in Antiquis Aetheres. Time never passed, the area was barren. There was simply a large stone near the centre, carved similarly to a sun dial, but the shadow never changed, and the point moved with the wind, but the small patch of red earth and stone was the only thing so far nestled amongst the clouds, suspended by nothing.

The first to appear was a blue tabby, fur still drenched from swimming too far out into the ocean, lungs still filled with fluids rather than air. His chest heaved and he gave a raspy cough, periwinkle eyes glazed over, the sclera still red from the salt he couldn't get through. His legs quivered as he tried to stand and flex his legs, but he was floating amidst the clouds. 

"Eh, put me down." He rasped, and the winds obeyed, carrying him toward the sundial. He coughed, water dribbling from his muzzle as his paws touched the earth. He looked around, realizing he was the only one there and reared up on his hind legs. The wind seemed to dry his thick whispy pelt, though not entirely. His front paws touched the sundial, and energy coursed through him.

The tomcat gasped, eyes glazing over as his lungs filled with air, his pelt dried, and his eyes cleared. His limbs seemed to flow with new life as if electrified water ripped through his veins. He looked around, watching as patches of earth grew out of nothing. The sundial was no longer the only thing suspended in the blue sky.  The blue tabby dropped down on all fours, and glanced around at himself, realizing that his once furless tail now had some sort of blue fire rippling from it. Or, was that water?

"Nereus." He muttered, realizing his new name. He couldn't seem to remember his old one as he padded away from the sundial. His steps were silent as he watched the earth mould and shape in front of his eyes. Giant stones grew from nothing, creating part of what he could only assume to be a semi-circle, almost as if the rock was a wall of uneven stones, calling to him.

He listened, following it and finding a pathway up. The trail looked as if it took thousands of years of water flowing to cause this, but it happened in moments without a drop. 

He continued on, his fur prickling with unease. He reached a carved out cave, stalactites and stalagmites reaching for each other. Nereus continued on until his paws touched something cool. Looking down he stared into his own reflection atop some sort of semi-solid glass. He wrinkled his nose.

He finished exploring the cave, finding a small exit out the back, and realizing that the stone was indeed a wall to his own domain. Below him was an endless beach, ran alongside with the most serene ocean he'd ever seen. He felt a shiver rush through him, heavy churning water forcing him downward, but in another moment it was gone, and Nereus couldn't understand what he had been afraid about. He had forgotten.

Nereus remained there for years, or millennia, he had lost track of time being there. But one morning as he awoke with the sun, Nereus heard another voice. 'Hello? Where am I?' Curious, he rose to his paws and scaled his trail down. 

He wandered to the sundial, soon realizing there was a smaller, brown and white tomcat wandering around the dial. His fur was matted and covered in dust, and his tail and chest looked almost smooshed. Nereus took a deep breath. "Put your paws on the dial." He told the strange new cat, who now by the looks of it seemed almost transparent. 

The cat obeyed, rearing up and placing his paws on the dial, and immediately grew solid. His fur smoothed and grew shiny, and the dust seemed to fall around his paws. Two large stones found his shoulders, looking almost like battle armour. The cat, though still confused, puffed out his deep chest proudly.

"Volos!" He yowled, startling Nereus. The blue tom smiled.

"Welcome, these are the Antiquis Aetheres." Nereus meowed. His gaze was calm as the words seemed to flow off of his tongue, he didn't even comprehend knowing the name of this place. He had done much thinking while alone all that time, realizing that cats were chosen to come here after they died, chosen to represent something. He was water, this cat was... stone? "Hopefully there will be more of us soon." 

The rock underneath Volos shifted, and a new addition to the wall moulded from Nereus', adding onto the semi-circle that surrounded the pair of cats. Volos' eyes widened in curiosity as he ran forward toward the stone. His steps left cracks and divots and Nereus' ears flattened. He seemed much more powerful than himself, and while the blue tabby had learnt to control his new powers of water in his habitat behind his cave, he was still unaware of how strong they were. Volos seemed comfortable immediately, and Nereus didn't want to admit that it concerned him. 

He decided against following the brown cat, instead, he went back to his own abode, perched up and watching the reflective glass and waiting patiently for the next cat to be chosen. He wondered if he, himself had a say in who was picked, but decided against asking that sort of question for now. He breathed a deep sigh, listing to the wind and the hollers of excitement coming from his new neighbour.