Jayhaven Chronicles

“Like all Kings,” Panther began to explain back in the Great Hall, “I am knowledgeable in all guilds. But since I can’t teach all three guilds at once, we will practice things that are guild-neutral.” His gaze swept over them. “I suppose you know that this training will be much more vigorous than you’re used to. I won’t be going light, because I know you’ll be ready for whatever I throw at you.” He nodded forcefully for emphasis. “Understand?”

Rapid, Peak, and Hawk all nodded back. “Yes sir!” All three called back in unison.

Sunbeam rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a boot camp. No need to act like it.”

Rapid once again felt a bit of anger rise in his throat. Why is she being so rude? It’s not like we’ve done anything to upset her already.

Panther gave his assistant a look. “No need for sarcasm, Sunbeam. Now,” His gaze snapped back to the students. “First, I think all three of you should know how the guilds became to be, and about the founding of our city.” He examined their crestfallen expressions and laughed. “I know it sounds boring, but it’s important.”

Panther cleared his throat, and Rapid tried to lay comfortably on the cold stone floors.

“Long ago there were three different nations of cats. The Sun City, The Moon City, and the Star City. Each city specialized in a certain trait, whether it be strength, speed, or smarts. But while the cats were not considered slaves, the might as well have been. Each day was so full of work and strenuous effort that the cats were not even allowed food until they finished their task.

“One day, a cat of the Moon City, Jay, grew tired of the uniform days of the city and decided to leave, taking a few of his close friends. But they were met with apprehension when they expressed desire to break the code, and Jay was forced to battle the head of Moon city, Lumaina. After a long battle, he rendered her unable to fight and escaped into the night with his band of rebels.”

“Wait,” Rapid frowned and twitched his whiskers. “He didn’t kill her, right?”

Panther silenced him with a wave of his tail. “Jay had a ‘no kill policy.’

"Rather foolish when you think about it.” Sunbeam added as she raised her head and gave them an odd look. “What if we hadn’t been able to kill any of the dogs? We would have lost before the fight even started.”

Rapid looked away, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. He knew the king's assistant was right, but no one didn’t expect him to kill all the time, did they?

“After journeying through mountains, swamps, and deserts for sun-cycles upon sun-cycles, they found the perfect place for a camp. And guess what they named it?”

“Jayhaven!” All three students chorused.

“No. They named it, Swamp City.” Panther burst into laughter at his own joke, which earned him a look of disgust from Sunbeam. But Rapid just smiled. At least he didn’t have two stick in the mud trainers.

“Now,” Panther composed himself enough to begin talking again. “Progression at first was very slow, as far as building was concerned.” Panther gestured to Sunbeam, and she dashed into the hallway to the chambers. “But soon, after gathering nearby outsiders to help, things were running like a river.”

The orange she-cat returned with what looked like a small flipbook in her jaws. She dragged an odd mechanism from a few feet away to the center of the room, and tried to place the flipbook inside. After repeatedly failing, Panther reached over to reveal it had been upside down. Rapid let out a snicker, before immediately covering his mouth.

Sunbeam, now looking rather flustered, twirled a winch and the pages of the book began to turn on their own. They showed the advancement of Jayhaven’s structures, from small wooden shacks to quaint brick cottages to buildings with a similar appearance to the ones of modern Jayhaven.

“With the makings of a beautiful new home spread before him, king Jay realized that without a proper government, his bias could get in the way of making decisions. So he gathered up the finest cats in the city to each be the head of a special guild.”

“Ooh ooh!” Peak waved his paw in the air. “I know them! They were Moth, Rose, Blue the first-”

Laughing heartily, Panther silenced him as well. “Yes, I’ve heard from Needle that you are well versed in the history of Jayhaven.” He blinked, and for a second he wore an expression that Rapid couldn’t read. “That will… serve you well.

“These four cats soon became legends, and led the whole of Jayhaven through many wars. And now, well.” Panther gave a lazy shrug. “We have a city!”