Sunlight glinted through the colorful never-melting ice that covered the wall of the rundown two-leg den. Basking in the light was a she-cat with four kits curled up at her belly. She was extraordinarily beautiful and had a motherly aura about her, but there was a scar on her forehead that starkly resembled a star.
“My Queen,” one of the cats guarding the entrance to the den announced suddenly, “the trial-goers have returned from their fasting.”
The she-cat looked up, her blue-violet eyes gleaming. “Oh? Bring them in, then. I just simply must speak with them.” Her voice was silky and melodic. “Hurry now, I’m feeling impatient today.”
It took less than a few heartbeats for the newcomers to arrive in the den. Three were rocking on their paws, looking delirious, but the last one didn’t seem too bothered.
“Welcome, welcome!” The she-cat stood and gently stepped out of her nest. Though the kits squirmed at the sudden loss of warmth, they didn’t wake. “I’m your Queen, but you can of course call me Glacier.” She peered closely at the four cats and purred. “Three of you have passed! One, though…”
The tom who wasn’t wavering suddenly looked startled. “What?”
Glacier gave the tom a light laugh. “You already know!” Her voice suddenly became serious. “You ate when you were supposed to be fasting. A quarter moon with only water, no prey. But you didn’t follow that rule.”
The three other cats gave the last one a venomous look, but he curled his lip and growled out, “How could you possibly know?”
“I know everything that happens in my hive, dear trial goer,” Glacier said calmly. “And you’ve failed.”
With a deep growl, the tom stood taller. “It’s a rat-brained test! Why should I starve myself while you sit here and stuff your face? Look at you, you hardly look like you’ve broken a sweat in moons. Do you let all the other cats do your work? Is that why your only scar is that pathetic little leadership mark?”
The tom’s words clearly infuriated the guard standing behind them, but Glacier raised her tail like a flag and silenced them. It was true that, compared to the other cats in the colony, she was thicker in form and not covered in a myriad of scars. “Is that what you think?” Her voice was the same calm and melodic tone, but there was something suddenly menacing about it. “I’ll tell you what, cutie pie! If you can kill me in a fight, you’ll be the new leader. How does that sound?”
A smarter cat would have seen the eager gleam in the eyes of the guard cats. A smarter cat would have realized the proposition was insane. A smarter cat would have just said no.
The tom laughed and stepped forward, his eyes flashing with excitement. “Finally! Fighting is why I came here. I just have to beat a fatty like you and I can be the leader? Ha!”
As Glacier stood still and watched with calm, friendly eyes, the tom gave a yowling war cry and lunged at her. The fight was over in an instant. Before the tom even made contact, Glacier’s body slammed into him. He hit the ground hard and then the she-cat’s teeth were in his throat. There was a terrible shrripp and the tom was dead, a chunk of his throat flesh held in Glacier’s mouth. She dropped it and motioned to a waiting cat who hurried over and began to clean the blood off with hurried licks.
“Oh, how awful.” Glacier giggled lightly at the three remaining newcomers, who were watching in shock. “I suppose cats don’t think I’m capable of fighting!” As the cleaning cat finished his job and retreated, Glacier moved closer to the trio. “See, my lack of scars isn’t because of a lack of fighting. I simply do not get injured in a fight.” She drew up to one of the cats and looked down at them before asking, “Do you think I’m capable of fighting?”
With a startled squeak, the tom nodded hurriedly. “That’s great!” Glacier cooed. “And we have three new cats for my colony to celebrate! Come sit near my nest, yes that one over there!” She purred as she returned to her nest, stepping over the dead body like it wasn’t there. “Today we feast. Tomorrow, your work shall begin.”