Pilot
The World of Cats
Chapter 1: The Outcasts
Shesha pulled her hood tighter around her ears as the cold wind howled through the empty alleyway. The city of Felithria bustled beyond the narrow streets, its towering silver buildings shimmering under the twin moons. The scent of roasted fish and fresh bread filled the air, but none of it was for her.
She wasn’t supposed to be here. None of them were.
She glanced at Damien, who walked beside her, hands shoved into his coat pockets. His silver hair was messy, and his sharp golden eyes flickered with the same unease she felt. Like her, he was different.
“Do you think they’ll come after us?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Damien scoffed. “No. They already got what they wanted.”
Shesha’s heart twisted at his words. Their families had cast them out—disowned them for their “defect.” Every cat hybrid in Felithria could shift between human and feline form. Every single one… except them.
The moment she had turned sixteen and failed to transform, her family had called her broken. Useless. An embarrassment to their bloodline. She had begged, cried, tried over and over, but no matter what, her cat form never came. The same had happened to Damien.
Now, they were nothing. Not human. Not cat. Just… lost.
“We’ll be fine,” Damien muttered, though he didn’t sound convinced.
Shesha bit her lip. “Where do we even go?”
He exhaled sharply. “Anywhere but here.”
She glanced up at the glowing neon signs of the city. Felithria wasn’t kind to outcasts. If they stayed, they’d starve—or worse. But outside the city? Beyond the protective walls? There were rumors of something else out there. Wild cats. Beasts that had lost their minds.
But what choice did they have?
Shesha looked at Damien, and for the first time that night, she found a sliver of comfort. They weren’t completely alone.
“We’ll figure it out,” she said, forcing a small smile.
Damien met her gaze and nodded. “Yeah. We will.”
With that, they stepped into the unknown, leaving behind the only home they had ever known.
