It wasn’t good, let’s just say that. After the kings waged war, a “border” of sorts was put up, dividing the Villages, something that completely abolished the unification that the tribes were built upon.

The war also divided not only the two tribes, but the Godcats as well.

Although the two subspecies hadn’t been super close or anything, they always considered each other as a collective, as equals. But not for much longer.

It began the day after the border was put up. The Godcats were summoned (not to the Chocolate Pavillion this time) to King Electron’s palace. 

What now? Aurora thought.
As all seventeen of them sat down across from the king, he said, “Now, I’m sure that you all know now what the whole, for lack of a better term, deal is with The Orb.”
They nodded, albeit warily.

“Well, that is the reason for which I am proposing an alliance. You all join us Peaks in opposition of Choco and the Ice Cream Sandwiches, and I will let you live. If not, then all I can say is, to the guillotine!” 

Aurora thought this sounded like a joke, but she knew King Electron was dead serious when he said it. If they didn’t cooperate with him, he would kill them. 

What he didn’t know, however, was how tough the Godcats actually were to kill. But, no matter.

None of them said anything for a bit.
Needler was the first to speak. “We shall consider your kind offer. Until then, we will take our leave.”
At that, he and the other six of The Sown left the throne room.

The Rainbow Cats stayed. The ten of them sat there, the king staring them down, daring them to pull something like the others had just done.

They didn’t.

Finally, he exhaled, and said, “If you wish, you may leave.”

They got up.
As Aurora was going to leave, the king pointed to her and said, “You, stay here.”

Reluctantly, she turned back, and exasperatedly asked, “What?”
King Electron glared at her. 

She sighed and said, “I mean, pardon me, your majesty?” 

“Better. Now, I have a deal. You might not like it, but if I’m being honest, you don’t really have another choice.”
The king smiled coldly.

Then, he continued. “I’m not going to sugarcoat the situation, you know how dire it is. That is why we need you to help us. The Ice Cream Sandwiches, they are greedy, they show no mercy. We might lose the war to them, honestly.

But, if you help us, it could help turn the tide. We could emerge victorious, truly crush the Ice Cream Sandwiches. You could help our side, the right side win. Think about it. But, choose wisely. You may leave.”
Aurora stood up, and actually left this time. 

King Electron’s voice called out through the cavernous room. “Oh, and one more thing. If you choose wrong, let’s just say you might not see the next time the sun rises.”

She heard the doors slam shut behind her, and trudged back to the village.

Later that day, the Rainbow Cats found out that The Sown had joined the Ice Cream Sandwiches. As it turned out, King Choco had convinced them to side with his tribe, and now the two subspecies of Godcats were on opposing sides of the war. 

Things only got worse from there, however.

Aurora, Bluespark, Shade and another Godcat named Prism stood in one of the guard towers set up near the border.

“Well, what do we do now?” Shade asked.

Bluespark responded. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know.” 

There was an awkward silence. 

Aurora had been thinking. The voice told me I was the only one who could stop this. But I can’t do it alone.

So she asked the others. She said, “We need to figure out how to end this war, quickly and preferably cleanly, to stop anything really bad from happening.”

“I agree, but how do we do that?” Prism asked. 

The four of them pondered for a moment.

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the air outside, the noise echoing throughout the area. Smoke began to rise from a nearby watchtower, filling the air with the smell of burnt wood. Something was wrong, very wrong.  

Then, a cannon fired in the distance, and a legion of Ice Cream Sandwich soldiers bombarded the wall. Screams and shouts echoed through the battlefield. 

The four of them started throwing all sorts of, uh, curses at the opposing army. 

You know, hexes and spells and whatnot. Like, using their powers?

Well, you get the point.

Then, they were hit. 

A hole had been blown in the side of the guard tower, and the structure was leaning precariously to one side. The wooden supports creaked and groaned, and the smoke intoxicated the atmosphere.

They all rushed to the window to jump out, but the roof collapsed in on itself, and the small hole was blocked. 

Then, the floor fell through, and the Godcats plummeted to the bottom of the structure.

And then, to make things worse, the tower fell over.

The left wall (or was it the right? Aurora couldn’t tell) crashed to the ground. Their screams were echoed with the sounds of splintering wood. 

They tried all they could with their telekinesis and other powers, but the fallen wooden building wouldn’t budge.

They were trapped.

As the four of them sat dejectedly in the ruins of the watchtower, Aurora was thinking. 

How are we going to get out of here? How are we going to survive the battle? How am I supposed to end the war?

The last time any of them had been in a war, things had gone badly.
So badly, in fact, that they had to flee their home, and they ended up here. 

We thought this would be a peaceful place, yet we’re trapped in the middle of a conflict we don’t want to be in. Again.

Suddenly, a spike punctured the wall.

Then another.

And another.

“They’re shooting at us!” Shade yelled. 

Then, a spike hit one of the weaker spots in the walls, and broke through.

Aurora heard a crunch, and saw Prism punctured through the spike. 

She was dead.

Prism’s body was limp, and there was too much blood.

They couldn’t save her. 

Then, the wood of the ruined tower caught on fire. 

The flames roared in Aurora’s ears, the heat sweltering.

As the wood burned away to nothing, she saw Ice Cream Sandwiches through the flickering blaze.

Then, flames licked across Aurora’s back, and then she felt a pain like nothing she had ever felt before.

Her vision began to blur, and the world itself seemed to melt.

Out of nowhere, all the Ice Cream Sandwiches thudded to the ground, their bodies twisted in gruesome, inhumane ways, their mouths frozen in screams of terror.

Then the flames stopped.

The Peaks had saved them. 

Still, she felt herself losing her strength.

“Aurora! Someone help her! Please!” 

Bluespark’s voice sounded distant.

It was also the last thing she heard before slipping into unconsciousness.

Then, Aurora was once again in that mysterious forest. 

This time, a different voice spoke to her.

It was deeper, more menacing. 

All it said was: You will fail. 

Despite only being a few words, they sent a chill down her spine.

Then, she heard: Wake up.

When Aurora came to be, she was lying in a field of grass, with injured Peaks and Godcats all around. 

Her burns had mostly healed (she presumed a Godcat had used healing magic), yet she still wasn’t well.

Ugh, I feel like sh-

A voice interrupted her thoughts.

“She’s awake!”
The other eight remaining Rainbow Cats gathered around.

Where’s Prism? Oh, nevermind…

They bombarded her with questions.

“Are you okay?”
“How did you survive?”
“What happened to you?”
She tried her best to answer their questions at first, but she wasn’t really appreciative of their wonders. 

Thankfully, Bluespark said, “All right everyone, leave her alone!”

The others left.

“Hey, how are you? Nevermind, stupid question.” He sighed.

Aurora forced a smile. “I’ve been better.”

Bluespark sat down beside her in the grass, and they watched the sun go down. The sunsets were beautiful there in the Villages, even when they were at war with each other.

The waning sunlight shone over them, and the fields glowed a warm yellow.  

“Thank you for doing that back there though,” she said.

“You're welcome.”

He turned towards her, and his deep blue eyes twinkled.

“You know something, Bluespark?” Aurora said.

“What?”

She didn't answer. Instead, she kissed him.

                       * * *

The mercenaries were close. They were just a bit farther, and they remained unseen, and if they succeeded, then the King would die.

Electron had his back turned, guarding The Orb.The room was dark.

It was perfect.

He never saw it coming.

Alive one second, dead the next.

The dagger pierced his skin.

His body fell to the ground, and the assassins silently fled.

But not after stealing The Orb.

The King of The Peaks was dead.