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"Riley! Heard you just put on the list. How's it going so far?"
I turned, and gave my friend a tired look. "Guys have been sniffing me all morning. This necklace really gives me away." I snarled at the small ring on my neck. The ring had a few beads laced onto it; seven in total. Seven men were seriously considering me as a potential... cough. Mate. For life.
Ugh, could life get any worse?
Wisteria counted the beads, and she gave me a suspicious look. "Dang, seven already?" She took a long whiff of my hair. "Hm. Don't blame them. You smell good."
I snatched the locks of orange hair back, and followed that by rolling my eyes. "Not like every other female in the village doesn't."
"Nah, you're probably one of the better catches; you're a pure blood after all."
"Wizzy," I sighed, "you and I both know that most guys are after wild types, not a regular noble girl like me. You're lucky; you're a snow leopard. You're practically the rarest wild."
"Hey, I didn't ask for these uber sexy genes!" She contorted, "But having blue eyes and a white pelt REALLY helps for the boys. I betcha ten bucks I'll have at least twenty boys after my first day!"
I muttered, "Slut," under my breath. Wisteria just laughed.
"You know it, b***h." The two of us laughed.
As our laughter died down, I began to finger my necklace subconsciously. There were seven different colors; each belonging to a specific family/clan. Well, more like clans, since most wild males wouldn't touch a noble pure blood. And if I married and had a child with another noble, my chances of conceiving are slim to none.
Wisteria caught onto my concern. "Riley..."
"Do you think I'll ever be able to have kittens...? If I marry a pure blood..."
"...you'll never have kids, I know," Wizzy rubbed my shoulder. "Look at me, Riley."
I looked into Wizzy's beautiful blue-lavender eyes. Ever since we were kids, I had always been jealous of her eyes. Knowing my family, I'd only get brown or green. Hazel, if I was lucky. But blue wasn't in my clan. Only wilds got blue. Wilds got red or orange or yellow, and we got boring brown. A stunning shade of blue and a soft purple, that made me restless and relaxed at the same time, every time.
Stunning.
Her claws gently bite into my skin. "You're the strongest girl I know. You have the eyes of hundreds of Tabbies on you, and if your aunt's kitten doesn't come through, they will be depending on you to create the next line."
I looked away. She didn't have to rub it in.
"But that's not my point. My point is that you're a beautiful cat, and as you can see," she held my my necklace, "plenty of cats can see that. You'll do fine, no one's going to be mad at you if you can't have a family."
She smiled at me, and her white fangs poked out slightly. I smiled back, giving it my best. But my smile wasn't anything like hers: my fangs were too small.
My family consists of house cats, while Wisteria's... her family had the real deal. Graceful, elegant, beautiful, and most of all, strong wild cats. Her entire family could easily reproduce if they wanted.
But mine? Though we're small in size, nearly ten times weaker, we're worshipped because of our few numbers. It makes me feel bad because her family is forced to protect mine. What a way to get attention. Makes me wonder if our friendship was real.
I try to convince myself otherwise.
"Thanks, Wizzy."
"That's what I'm here for. Besides," I saw a glint in her eyes, and the reflection of what was behind me. My green eyes widened at the sight behind me. My ears were as pointed as arrows aimed at the sky. "I think someone is waiting for me to get lost."
I turn around to meet large yellow-orange eyes. My eyes immediately went to his ears: the only way to see what breed he was. Air left my lungs when I realized he was a wild. But he wasn't just any wild. Standing strong, with the air of an upper noble, was a tiger.
Lions being the king, tigers were the second-in-command. They are very cool and smooth creatures, and they often don't leave their territory; they seldom go onto shared land either. So seeing one here, especially the heir to the Tiger NAME, was a huge shock. Tabbies were very social cats, so why the hell would an ANTI-social cat breed want with her?
"Lord Alexander," Wisteria whispered. Alexander looked at her, and nodded his head in recognition. His fiery eyes returned to me.
"Lady Lily of the Nile," I inwardly gagged. How I hated my name. He went on with the standard request for a smell. "I am here to request a moment of your time."
I merely stared at him, with my mouth dumbly hanging open. Wisteria gave me a hard knock in the back. With a flinch of pain, I gave my standard response: "I accept."
Wisteria giggled slightly as he offered his hand (another standard) and bowed his head for respect. I curtsied, and took his hand. She waved me off as he led me away.
When we were far enough, I heard her call, "DON'T JUMP HIM. WE BOTH KNOW YOU WANT HIS JUNK!"
It took everything I had not to scream back, "YOU WH0RE."
-
In an alternate universe, the world seems so much different. With different status quotes, different ways of running things, the world is just... different. The people are the biggest change. Instead of nationalities, they have breeds of cats. And each breed has a different status in the world.
The highest is the Lion: Prideful, stubborn, yet very protective and social animals, the Lion clan are very majestic and highly honored. They are the kings and queens of everything. Their glow is almost irresistable. They often give the most powerful generations.
Second is the Tiger. Unlike their higherups, the Tiger clan is filled with aloof, and cold creatures. They prefer to be in the corner of teh room, conversing with only those of their kind. Dspite this, the Tigers often have the most beautiful offspring, albeit not the strongest breed.
Exclude these, other cat breeds that are considered, "wild cats," in our world, are considered commoners to the smaller and weaker house cat. Because of their fragile bodies, yet incredible coordination and wit, these house cats are always considered nobles, not matter how rude and vulgar they are. Pure bloods especially are rare in the house cat nobles... they usually products of incest, and thus, have very low chances of conceiving.
Lily of the Nile Tabby, AKA Riley Tabby, is the only heiress to the Tabby clan. They are nobles, (lower-end nobles because of their numbers and commonness) and thus, there is a certain amount of pressure placed upon Riley to marry, and have children. Riley is proud to be a Tabby, but sometimes she pushed over the edge by the pressure.
By her side, one of the infamous Snow Leopards, is Wisteria Snow. She is a wild, a very, very, very rare wild. Her clan only has fifteen members, and when you compare that to the Tabby's 14,000, it's a just change in population. But her clan, despite its few numbers, were hired by the Tabby's to help and protect the clan.
Riley and Wisteria have always been together, and Riley often thinks that Wisteria should have her title, not her. With Wisteria's, Wizzy's, blue eyes and white coat, there is no way to deny the fact that Wizzy was beautiful. And wild cats were an exception to the incest rule, so she was both beautiful, a wild purebred, and fertile.
Lily of the Nile is a purebred. And she is scared of disappointing her entire family.
It is a tradition around the world that eligible females, ones who are able to have children, no matter how small the chances, must wear a ceremonial necklace to both show they are available, and how many suitors there are. Suitors are shown through family colors/designs on beads. Like all girls, Riley became of age, and wore her family's symbolic necklace.
Riley, though a bit plain, received many suitors, but the one that caught every one's eye was one striped bead: the design of the Tigers. It shocked the entire county. Even worse, the color it belonged to was the heir to the head of the Tiger clan.
What could a Tiger want with an ordinary Tabby?
Little did Riley know, that she was being used in something much bigger than trying to become pregnant. In the underground world, she was no longer Lily of the Nile, nor was she Riley Tabby: just a tool for the Tigers to get to their long-awaited throne back into their claws...
 Ukeire · Tue Jun 02, 2009 @ 03:34am · 0 Comments |
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