Way of the Slugcat

Love and War

"Wait, you met Looks to the Moon? In person!?" Thorns was beside himself with shock. How on earth could the inhabitants of her can be so careless as to let a rodent within the iterator's chamber? It was a good thing that Night meant no harm. "I had no idea iterators could even do something like that!" He continued, pointing at the white square above Night's head. "So it gave you consciousness? Or, should I say, sentience?"
"Sentience is the correct word." Night answered. "And yes, I met Moon in person. She was very kind to me... she told me things, Thorns."
"What kinds of things?"
"She... gave me a mission. A purpose that she herself would never be able to fulfill. You do know why iterators were created, yes?"
Thorns sighed. Oh, he knew alright. He knew all too much. Iterators, the massive, sentient computers in the sky created to find a possible solution to an impossible problem. Easy ascension. He and his siblings were taught that the only way to truly die, involving a bath in void fluid, was sometimes incapable of crossing one out entirely. If they had yet to break free of their earthly desires, their spirit became trapped between the realms of heaven and earth, forced to spend all eternity observing the lands they once inhabited. Echoes, they were called. Some referred to them as ghosts. Regardless, both names had the same definition.
Thorns did not know why his peers thought to create the iterators. Even the greatest of minds could not deliver the people a solution. Eventually, even they turned to the void for a chance to escape. In his mind, the iterators were nothing more than boxes that spewed oceans of water onto the unsuspecting earth. Although, if one helped Night gain sentience, he supposed that not all of them were bad...
"I do know why they were created, yes." Thorns nodded.
"Then you must know how difficult a task it was. Moon stated that she ran hundreds upon thousands of calculations every cycle, all for them to end in errors and question marks. She realized that her creators still had a way out, even if it was less ideal. She knew that even if all of her systems failed, if she were to crash down upon the earth and become nothing more than a pile of scrap metal, her parents would still have an option of escape. That fact, however, did not apply to all other life. That is what she realized, and that is what she told me."
"But, and please take no offense to this, why did she tell you? You were but a simple rodent at that time."
The black slugcat sat back on his haunches. A pensive look fell over him. He bit his lip and stared up at the ceiling, his milky white eyes looking back into the past, thinking.
"...I think... I think it was because she sought a companion. Someone who would listen to her troubles. At first, at least. It was only after we started to talk that she assigned me a mission. Me being a slugcat, I was much more familiar with the fauna than she was. I could effectively communicate with them as well. It was my job to be a farrier of sorts, helping the wildlife below find their way to eternal peace. I would, however, need to be trained. That is why I spent so much time with Moon... we grew close, against her better judgment."
"Against her better judgment? She wanted a friend, did she not?"
"She did. We both did. I am surprised that you aren't familiar with this tether..."
"...oh." Thorns' cheeks turned red. How could he have forgotten about that one?
"Yes. The five natural urges- anger, greed, kinship, gluttony, and survival- all must be shed in order to attain ascension without risk. Kinship is the most... unfortunate... of the five. It is still an earthly tether, though. Nothing we can do about that."
"I suppose not. So by training you, Moon accidentally-"
"Introduced me to a new tether."
"And that is why you cannot see her anymore?"
"Well, no. Not exactly. Neither Moon nor myself regret our friendship. It got her through a tough time. It was when her parents left her can for ascension that the problems started. With no straits left to repair her, machinery has gotten increasingly dangerous overtime. By the time she asked me to leave for good, her can had started leaning at a thirty-degree angle. It did not help that she and her neighbor were not on the best of terms. Now, I cannot even get up to her. I'm not even sure if she still has consciousness."
"Night, I am so-"
"Do not apologize to me!" Night snapped. His ears flattened onto his back as he turned away. "I needed that to happen. I don't need a friend. I never did and never will. And neither do you!"
"Wait, but I thought that-"
"That we were kin? No. No, we are not. I help you ascend and I go off to another assignment. We are temporary partners, not friends."
"Then why did you not say anything earlier!?"
"I slipped up! For a couple of cycles, I even forgot! You called me 'friend' and I accepted it. I shouldn't have!"
Thorns felt his blood boiling. Night really had the guts to preach to him about friendship!? Before Moon, he had no one! Thorns had a family, neighbors and acquaintances, work friends even! He had lost them all, every single one, to the void. Night knew nothing of the pain of loss or the benefit of having someone to lean on. He knew nothing of kinship, so how dare he speak about it in such a negative manner!
Calm yourself! His mind yelled. Why are you so angry? It accomplishes nothing. If Night wishes to complain about his tether, then let him. He will realize one day that he knows not of which he speaks. Let him learn. Just go to sleep.
Just go to sleep.
"Fine." Thorns huffed. The statement was both an answer to himself and an end to Night's rambling. He could not help but feel his heart burn as he turned his back to the black slugcat. He would need to work on that...
No sound came from the other end of the shelter. Thorns was thankful for that. He needed silence to think. For hours, he pondered to himself, listening to the distant taps of falling rain. Kinship, while a tether, was also a positive thing in life. It assists those in dark places and pulls them up into the light. How could something like that be bad? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe the Elders had been wrong. Maybe, Thorns could find a way to make it work.

Friendship
A tether?