TBS :: Fortunata

[Prologue]
    A lithe white she-cat with thick, flowing white fur and fiery amber eyes by the name is Icise fancied herself to be the most beautiful cat in the entire West Region. Her silky fur and her flirty personality were illuminated by the sunlight, but she was especially gorgeous when she wielded her water element in soft rains and through flowing streams. As a crafter she valued beauty, especially her own, and she did all she could to make sure that she stood out among the other drab West Region cats so that she could achieve her dream; to find a handsome tom with whom she could elope. A tom who would protect her from danger, who would listen tto her, who could complement her, and who would brag about her to other cats. Despite short flings she had with the toms of her region the love of her life did not appear until a rogue tom mysteriously appeared on West Region territory with a severe leg injury that prevented him from making his way back to the mountains from which he came.
    He told Icise that his name was "A Mystery" so she took to calling him "Amiss" for short, and because he was out of place in the regions; he was the type of cat who needed to spend time on his own, with the wind running through his fur. Amiss and Icise enjoyed a loving and intense courtship. As his wound began to heal she showed her some of his hunting moves and she crafted him a necklace out of twine as a gift one starry night when she attempted to convince Amiss to stay with her in the West Region. He refused her offer bus accepted the gift and her love, for just one night. Shortly after Amiss found that he was fit enough to leave and so he departed from the West region. There was another cat in his mountain home who recently bore his kittens, and he had a responsibility to protect her from the harsh mountain winter. He told Icise that he had loved her, but that the love was temporary. It had provided him comfort his his time of need but now Icise had to let go and move on and let him do the same. 

[After Birth]
    Fortunata and her sister, Villa, were born bright an early one morning, moons after her mother had last seen the father of her kits. Despite the ease of the birth the two kittens brought their mother little joy, as they simply reminded her of her lost love. For a few days after the birth of her little Icise often refused to eat and provided little milk for Fortunata and Villa, although once Villa opened her eyes and began to admire her mother's beautiful craftwork Icise climbed out of her pit of depression and  gave all the love she could to Villa. She loved Fortunata was well, of course, but Fortunata was slightly harder to manage. She was never interested in her mother's namby-pamby stories of true love, of flowers glistening with dew, of singing softly in the rain, and of beautiful sunny days. What intrigued the little she-cat was the stories that the West region's hunters and warriors brought home every day. Fortunata's heart fluttered as she imagined herself one day stepping into the camp, her chest filled with pride, and a story of great achievement dancing on the tip of her tongue. She was anxious to leave the West Region nursery, to find her element, and to begin training to become a cat with more strength than a lion, but with only one littermate to play with the days passed by slowly, and the waiting was agonizing.
    Finally, in the early fall, the she-kit's paw revealed a teal freckle, indicating that her element was ice. She thanked Andromeda that it wasn't water, like her mother; she did not know how she would live with herself if she was destined to dance around in the rain like a mousebrain!

[Rookieship]
    Shortly after gaining her first ability stone the time came for Fortunata and Villa to move on to the rookie stage of their life. Villa chose to be a crafter, like her mother, and Fortunata chose the prideful path of a Warrior. Her guide was a cat named Ryker; a fire elemental with an equally feisty personality. He pushed his rookie to her limits, but he did so lovingly, always making sure that she was safe from any danger. Ryker told her that if she wanted glory she could easily achieve it, but it would take hard work. Together they focused on her main strength; using brute force. Her large size made it difficult for her to sneak about and her long, awkward legs were no good for running. 
    As Fortunata progressed further in her training she grew father and farther apart from her mother and sister and much closer to Ryker, who became the father that she never had. In the first winter of Fortunata's life she thrived in the snow and she honed her ice-wielding abilities, but the cold was less kind to her sister, Villa. Villa contracted a terrible sickness that weakened her greatly; she was bedridden for most of the cold season and eventually her illness caused her eyesight to fail. With a weakened immune system Villa had to be very careful when it was chilly outside or risk becoming sick again. Icise saw this as a sign, that she and her daughter needed protection, and the only cat she trusted to provide it was Villa's father, who had left to go back to the mountains before he had even known that Icise was pregnant with his kits. Icise believed that is she brought Villa to him, if he saw what they had created together he would protect the two of them, and love her the way she so desperately desired.  So Icise left the regions, taking Villa with her, to undertake the seemingly impossible journey of locating one mysterious tom cat in the mountains. 
    Fortunata was betrayed and left alone, with the only cat to watch over her being her guide, Ryker. He did his best to comfort her but for a while love was not what Fortunata wanted at all; she wanted the affection from others not to come from such a hollow emotion, but from pride in her accomplishments. She began training harder and eventually earned her place as a Warrior of the West region!

[Warrior]
    She was respected for her loyalty to her region, and especially respected by Ryker, who had witnessed all of her accomplishment first hand. Despite the fact that her training was done she continued to spend time with her adoptive father, often patrolling the borders of the West Region together. One day they happened upon a fox and both of them were forced to put their best battle skills to use... But Ryker was older that Fortunata and was weakened by his age. While Fortunata was focusing on  shocking the fox with her ice cold claws it lunged at her old guide and clamped his jaws down on his throat, breaking his spine and killing him instantly. Despite the fact that there was nothing Fortunata could have done she blames himself for Ryker's death and has vowed to never lose another battle!
    For a while she found herself upset by her adoptive father's death, but Fortunata pushed through her sadness and began to focus on doing all that she could for her region. She had few friends for a while, until she met an adventitious she-cat named Cricket who was a searcher rookie! The rank of searcher had never been something that stood out for Fortunata before, her respect being mainly focused on hunters and warriors, but Cricket changed her mind and showed Fortunata that searchers could be just as brave! The two she-cats became best friends through their failed expedition to Mountain Thorn, the largest mountain in the regions! But Cricket wasn't the only cat that Fortunata grew to admire. Gwen, another searcher, also stood out to Fortunata as a valued member of the West region. The she-cat, unlike others, wasn't bothered by Gwen's dark element, as her father was possibly a dark elemental himself, since ice comes from water and dark, or two water elements. 
    Despite how happy forming alliances with other Westerners made her, the one thing that really caused Fortunata's spirits to soar was winning battles! After the death of her guide the first battle that she persevered through was one that occurred when she and the West Region's healer, Cosme, were attacked by a small band of cats, who they guessed must have been the followers, though neither of them were entirely sure. With tooth and claw Fortunata chased the cats away, but only after Cosme, while defiending himself, accidentally killed a tom who had attacked him! Seeing the healer in battle, despite his fear, made Fortunata's respect for him grow immensely. Fortunata's pride in herself also grew, which pushed her to leap into some reckless behavior. She overestimated her skills when she and Caleb, another warrior of the West, defended the part of the Field of Gold that the West Region held claim to from intruders, and Caleb had to stand up for her and save the day. In an effort to protect her region Fortunata also chased a dog into the North Region, where the Northern Ice King, Iorek, found her and showed his mastery of his ice abilities, calling Fortunata a brat!
    Luckily, Fortunata was able to later prove to herself that she was in fact skilled in her elemental abilities when she saved a South Region cat, Mein, from a hostile dog. After learning that his brother was Sairen, the leader of that region, Fortunata taught him some fighting skills in homes that he would spread word of her glory to the South Region. After Cricket had taken to calling Fortunata by her self-proclaimed nickname "Great Fortunata", she decided that, not only would she strive to never loose a fight, but that she would make it a goal to be a renowned warrior throughout all four regions.
    The warrior shared some encounters with other cats from all four regions before, suddenly, the West Region became enveloped in flames! All four regions were suddenly suffering from strange weather patterns, but the way that the flames melted at Fortunata's ice weakened her greatly and hindered her once bloated spirits. She and Cricket shared a deep conversation in which they both decided to give helping the West Region their all, and make the best out of things despite the fact that they were both weakened by the flames. Her goal became even more attainable when Cronan appointed her as leader of the firefighting patrol, where she guided three fire elementals of the West Region; Esmeralda, Caleb, and her newly appointed rookie, Astrid, to fight the fires in the West Region and use them to melt the snow in the North.

[An Enemy]
    Things were looking up for Fortunata until she made the mistake of trespassing on the East Region's territory to feel the sweet sensation of raindrops on her smokey pelt. Only shortly after entering the muddy land she ran into a she-cat named Althea, whose body was covered in scars. At first sight the she-cat believed that this stranger must be a great warrior of the East, and so she took it upon herself to provoke the she-cat, hoping that she would find a fight in which she could prove herself and make a name as the "Great Fortunata" in the East region too.... but things went terribly wrong. Althea, who turned out to simply be a frightened crafter, struck Fortunata's chest with lightning, rendering the Westerner helpless and writhing in the mud. In a fury Fortunata attacked Althea with her ice abilities, but this only furthered Althea's anger and the she-cat struck her again, this time on her sides, leaving permanent scars in her pelt and a scar in her pride as Fortunata ran from the East Region with tears welling in her eyes. 
    After their fight Fortunata stayed in the Neutral Territory over night, not telling any cat where she had gone as she waited for her wounds to heal before returning to the West Region, keeping a prideful smile on her face, but the pain of loosing to a cat with the low rank of her mother struck at Fortunata's heart like a claw. She became somewhat detached from the world around her, and then even more dedicated to making a name for herself. When Cronan announced that the West Region would have to leave their territory and live with the South Region she was crushed, and openly spoke out against the idea briefly before deciding that she would use her time in the South as an opprotunity to, hopefully, show that region that the West was more deserving of the Field of Gold than they ever could be. She journied to the South-Western border with her closest friend, Cricket, leading the way. She had wanted to lead a group of cats to the border, in the same way as he had led the firefighting patrol, but many of the cats who she and Cricket asked to join them eventually split off and made the journey with others. 
    The time that the West Region spent in the South Region was short, though while she was there she did meet a few new cats, including a close friend of her rookie, an eccentric tom named Jharain, who was was not very fond of. It hardly felt like the West Region had even settled in when the South's leader, Sairen, told their region to leave his region. They moved to the West Region, further upsetting Fortunata, who prayed to Andromeda that the West Region would return home soon, and, little did Forunata know it, but staying in the Neutral territory meant that she would soon meet her enemy again.... Althea.
    Rumors of prey theft spread throughout the regions, originating from an unknown source, and the blame was being placed on the East and West Regions, both of which had been forced to evacuate their homes and live in the neutral territory. In order to smooth the issue over the four leaders arranged a gathering to take place underneath the light of the full moon. The warrior took this as an opprotunity to accomplish her goal of making a name for herself, but it didn't go as planned. She spoke out against Iorek and Sairen, the two leaders who had forced the East and West regions to live in the small neutral territory and afterwards found her best friend, Cricket, before spotting a familiar she-cat in the distance, along with the adviser of the East Region. With anger and adrenaline  pulsing through her veins she stormed over to Althea, her best friend by her side. When she spat accusations at the crafter, and mentioned how Althea had even threatened to kill her, no one but Cricket stood by her side, everyone taking the side of the frightened crafter who had struck her with lightning with hardly any cause! In a swirling storm of anger and resentment she lashed out at the Easterner with her claws, piercing the skin on the Easterners chest before storming away in a fury.
    All four leaders gave their announcements and when, lastly, it became Cronan's turn to speak to the regions, he said something that Fortunata would never forget - first, he made a new law, that there should be no violence at gatherings, all because she did what she believed was protecting her region from a reckless electric elemental who had threatened to kill her, and who had spilled the secret about her running away from their battle... On top of that, the position that Fortunata had always wanted, that of the adviser, was given to her younger best friend, Cricket! It was possible that Fortunata may have felt happy for Cricket if the night hadn't been unfolding so poorly, but in her anger she spoke out against her leader, against all the leaders, but her outburst was overshadowed when the gathering became curtained in darkness. 
    Out of the fog emerged a tom as black as night, who leapt onto the leader's rock without much care in the world, but what fascinated Fortunata even more at the time was a tom as tall as a dog named Zoriel, who filled the sky with lightning and then created the electric form of a raging bull! He attacked her, but when other cats came to her aid Fortunata set her sights higher, her eyes narrowing on the image of Kaa, who was seemingly the leader of these cats who he revealed to be bounty hunters of the followers. When the gathering ended Fortunata left with new goals; to prove that she was a brave warrior, to prove her loyalty to the regions, and to make herself known, not only as a brave warrior, but also as a feared adversary of the followers. 

[A New Era]
    After the gathering unfolded Fortunata returned to her region's makeshift camp in the neutral territory where she vowed to work to accomplish her goals, now that her dream of being the adviser was broken. With the followers weighing heavy on her mind she started to push herself to be as great as she could be, often wandering into the West Region's burnt territory in order to build her elemental skills even when in environments where she found herself weakened. For a while she kept herself busy working on her training, even avoiding her closest friend, Cricket. Jealous feelings lingered inside of her, and when Cricket finally approached her she was not empathetic. Cricket tries to tell Fortunata that she needed to act more mature - that she couldn't be so outspoken. Tears came to Fortunata's eyes for the first time in moons before she stormed off into the West Region's territory.
    For quite a few moons Fortunata and Cricket kept their distance, but Fortunata would watch her from a distance. She watched how Cricket took on the role of adviser and started to reslize how boring it seemed. She and Cricket had first bonded over their love of exploration, but managing an entire region of cats prevented her from being able to do that often. Her  time exploring her region's territory allowed her to grow introspective, and she came up with a new dream: to be the leader of the warriors of the West Region. To distinguish herself enough so that she could give orders that would be followed and be looked up to as an expert on combat.
    It was not long after that that Cronan, the long time leader of the West Region, went missing... Meaning it was time for Cricket to take on the role that Fortunata had salivated over for her entire youth. But Fortunata was no longer jealous. For the first time in moons she struck up a conversation with Cricket and apologized to her, telling her not to promote her to adviser despite the fact that they had once promised each other that they would promote the other if given the chance. Although Cricket was having a had time choosing a cat to succeed her, and so she and Fortunata talked about those of the West region and settled on a tom that they believed had what it would take: Renshu. 
    One of the first events that took place under Cricket and Renshu's regiem was a celebration of the winter solstice, which the West region shared with the East. Because there was no snow on the ground Cricket used her nature abilities to create a flurry of white petals. While other cats played games and celbrated Fortunata spent her time talking to Renshu and Freya, trying to make a good impression on the higher ranks. After the celebration was over Fortunata stopped avoiding others so much and grew more social with all of the cats that she vowed to always protect.