Chapter 1 - Homesick

Meow stood on the vast crystal balcony of her quarters. Like the soldiers that she shared the immense crystal building with, she was far from home and had reservations about using that same word to describe the cold, sterile city that she now resided in. While her allegiance lay utmost with the Royal Family, she missed and longed for the planet that she was native to. Mau. On it lived a race of half-human, half-feline beings, with the ability to switch between their human and cat-like forms at will once they reached maturity. Actually, it was the large number of other Mauans living in this city that made it so tolerable. Meow secretly felt reassured every time she saw one of her kin, the familiarity a warm and safe feeling even if she had never met the other Muan before. Although she would have been considered their Princess, her title had gone unused for thousands of years, and now she was as common as an alley cat.

She sniffed the air. It wasn't that her birthright had been denied her, the King and Queen knew she was legitimate Princess, and treated her accordingly. It was the destruction of Mau, her mother, her aunts, her cousin and best friend and all the Mauans remaining on the planet and its moons. Although she was undoubtedly a Princess, in her mind she was a Princess of nothing. Her leather boots whispered across the glass floor as she quietly strode through her chambers and under the marvelously carved doorway into the hall. Made of the same crystal, the hallway echoed the sound of her footsteps, a sombre background melody to Meow's nostalgic memories.

She reached the doorway at the end of the hall and parted the light silk curtain as she stepped through it. In the next room her daughter Rein lay serenely in a small basket lined with purple velvet. The small, black kitten was completely still, as if frozen in time like the crystal city.
"I want to take you home." Meow whispered to her daughter. "I want you to see our castle. Our home." Rein's ear twitched. She yawned and lifted her head, the bell around her neck tinkling softly and her eyes blinking lazily.
"What's wrong, Mama? You're crying." She mewed. Meow slowly wiped the tear from her cheek and smiled at her daughter.
"I'm just homesick, little kitten, I'm sorry to have woken you."
"It's alright, Mama." Rein whispered as she closed her eyes and lay her head on her paws. "But it's nice living here."
"You're right." Meow turned and tiptoed softly out of the room.

Meow strode down the hallway, back to her own quarters. Back in her room, she unlaced her boots and slipped them off, followed by her tunic, made of the same black leather as her boots. She pulled off her white stockings and under shift, and finally her undergarments as she crossed the room to her washroom. The bathtub was large and the water was freezing. Meow immersed herself in the cleansing water, as if desperately trying to wash away her longing for her home planet. In the icy water she felt as though she was going to freeze over, and become part of the cold, lifeless city that was Crystal Tokyo. She wanted so badly for this place to feel like home, but the coldness of the water was chilling her to the core, and she had to get out of the bathtub. Not bothering herself with a towel, she wrapped a flimsy, silk robe around herself and ran her hands through her short, black hair, fluffing it to get the water out. She softly stepped into her bedroom and climbed into her large, fluffy bed where her husband Adam was curled up.
"Where did you go?" He murmured, half-asleep. Meow said nothing as the tears suddenly poured down her cheeks and onto the bed in front of her.
"I want to go home!" She sobbed desperately. Adam put his arms around her.
"I do too. But, my love-" Meow cut him off.
"We don't have a home to go to." Adam smiled at her, desperate not to show the same sadness and longing on his face that Meow felt.
"There's still hope, my love. Stars, and even planets, can be reborn."
Meow closed here eyes, imagining her home planet filled with life. The castle alive with a buzz of voices, the gardens thriving, and her mother. She fell asleep with this image in her mind.

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