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When she was two and a half sweeps old, Nepeta Leijon decided that she was a cat and was going to be treated as such.
She scampered inside of her cave on four legs, rubbed her back against the stalagmites, and gave herself tongue baths just like Pounce did. She was really good at jumping and even better at lying on her back in the moonlight. Her collection of dead squeakbeasts was amazing and impressive and nobody else had a better collection than she did. Pounce told her so and Pounce was always right.
Nepeta's favorite activity was being carried around in Pounce's mouth by the back of her overalls, which had lots of pockets for keeping the things she found when they explored. The best thing she ever found was a broken pocketwatch by the creek. It was beautiful and gold and stuck on one o'clock.
- - -
When she was two and three quarters, Nepeta Leijon started to paint.
Sometimes when it rained outside, the air was cool and thick with moisture inside the cave and the little pools of blood from suppers took a long time to dry. One night, Pounce was so tired from hunting that she fell asleep right after eating. Nepeta listened to her heart for a little while, but wasn't tired at all so she walked over and touched the brownish blood. It was cold and runny, but easy to smear in lines on the floor.
When Pounce woke up, she saw Nepeta curled up on the floor with messy hands and knees. Chargebeasts galloped around her.
- - -
When she was three and a half, Nepeta Leijon made friends.
There were other kids who lived in the forests with their tree-climbing, burrowing, hole-pecking lusii. Being almost-half-all-grown up meant learning how to talk and play without getting into fist fights, dragged away by custodians, covered in mud, scratches, and tears. Nepeta was known for her nails and the fact that she never cried (until she was safe at home). She wasn't very good at being nice. But she tried really hard and practiced telling stories of her adventures to painted faces on the walls and got better.
The first friend she ever made was a girl raised by a dragon egg in a fantastic treehouse.
They chased each other through the tree branches, jumping from one to the next, laughing and screeching as the pink leaves brushed their arms. After hours of chase scenes and pretending to be wild beasts, they sat in front of Pyralspite's egg with Pounce and talked so much that they ran out of breath.
They did this for perigees and perigees and perigees until the day Terezi Pyrope looked into the sun.
- - -
When she was five, Nepeta Leijon fell in love.
Twice.
"Sit!" she commanded and Equius clenched his damp fists in frustration. He had watched her push robot parts across his floor, grunting and digging her toenails into the grooves, until the lopsided pile was sturdy enough for her to scramble up and plant her butt right on top. She was triumphant and glistening and Equius was at a loss for everything. He would have crescent blisters in his palm by morning.
But he climbed up. He sat next to her and watched her eyes widen and his bloodpusher screamed. She wrapped her arms around her knees.
"We don't..." she started and just stared at him. Held eye contact as if breaking the connection would snap something inside of them, maybe even rip a hole right through space. "We don't have to talk. Yet."
Equius nodded and threaded his fingers together. And stared.
Nepeta thought about spilling everything she dreamed about, every wandering wish that strayed to Karkat Vantas and the ruddy thing that she wanted with him. She thought about it, but decided against it. This thing with Equius... it was new and wavering, built on the smoldering ruins of his past with Vriska and she wanted it to work.
- - -
When she was five and three-quarters, Nepeta Leijon had her first fight.
She screamed and tore holes in fabric that Kanaya had given her and smashed the wall sconces on the ground so that the animal fat spilled and caught fire, filling the cave with hellish light. She cried so hard that her voice shredded and her stomach caved in like a black hole. Her face was puffy and green and stung with furious hurt. When the air became blistering hot and impossible to breathe, she ran and ran and ran until she fell on her knees in front of a tree and pounded it until her fists were bloody.
Terezi poked her head out of a window and inhaled. Too faint! She hopped onto the pulley lift and rode it down until she was close enough to sniff who it was.
"Nepeta? What's wrong?"
Nepeta looked up, glaring through her tears, and snarled, "Romance is terrible and I hate it."
Terezi grinned and held out her hand.
- - -
When she was eight, Nepeta Leijon was going to be famous.
"No listen, just listen to me," she said, swaying on her feet. She threw her hands out to catch balance and turned to scan everyone in the room with wide, serious eyes. "I'm gonna write a book. And it's gonna sell a million copies and I'm gonna be invited on TV shows for interviews with Andern Coppre and everyone will be so excited and write me letters."
"Oh yeah?" said a voice. She turned and pointed, tipped, and stepped forward, grinning.
"Yeah. Admit it. 'S brilliant!"
"'S bullshit."
"S'not bullshit, it's brilliant!" she shouted and twirled around, drinking in the sounds of laughter. "Jus' think about it, a diffurent set of all new quadrants where we can do whatefur we want and not have to worry about hate or pity, and everyone's allowed to kiss everyone cause that's what we all want to do anyway, all the quadrants are fur kissing. I know this, it's true, and with new quadrants it's easy, you can just be... be..."
"Happy?"
"Happy! Happy, whoever said that, yes, I would like to," she stumbled with a giggle over stretched legs, "To commemeowrate the correctness of that notion, who. Stand up! Who said it?"
There was a shuffle and rise of whistling, catcalls, and drunken whoops. Nepeta turned around to see Equius standing up slowly, stone-faced and ignoring at all the noise. Her smile nearly spread to her ears.
"Not that we can't be happy in the old quadrants too. If it's done right," she said, mostly to him, but if others overheard... then that was that. He stood still as she stepped toward him, lifting her nimble feet over legs and pillows and empty bottles. She stepped on his toes and looked up. "Hmm?"
Equius nodded and put his hands in his pockets. "If it's done right, yes."
"And are we doing it right?" It was clear she was teasing him, tipsy and blushing olive with slyness and drink.
He shrugged his broad shoulders and breathed through his nose. "You tell me."
"Mmmmmm, I would saaay..." she grabbed his shirtfront and he leaned down to meet her halfway. Anyone who was paying attention cheered, clashing bottles, howling like packbeasts.
"Isn't that sweet," Terezi giggled into Karkat's arm. He grunted back, unusually noncommittal. She pushed herself up and felt a deep part of herself catch fire over at the look on his face; he was transfixed on them. The grin on his face was positively stupid. She almost reached out to touched it to see if what she smelled was real. The spirits rendered the information unreliable. So she told herself.
"Up, up Karkat Vantas," Nepeta said, suddenly above them, "I will not take no for an answer-"
"Fuck off-"
"Nope, no way you're getting out of—Terezi, kick him, thank you—get over here you lump! And kiss him right this instant or I'll be angry at you for days."
"Nepeta-"
"Shut up!"
"Fuck off-" He was totally laughing. Terezi could not believe this.
"Shut up and kiss, catdamnit!"
"Oh my god," Terezi whispered as Karkat Vantas kissed Equius Zahhak. The room was an explosion of noise. Nepeta was the loudest. After the disbelief trickled away, Terezi stumbled over to her and joined in as second.
"The things I do fur love," Nepeta said into Terezi's ear with an exhausted sigh that was not at all tired, and most definitely devious. Terezi turned and buried her nose in the dark chocolate hair behind Nepeta's ear.
"You are incredible," she said and then started giggling when Nepeta pulled her into a dance. Someone had started music and turned on colored lights. Terezi inhaled a dizzying mix of tropical flavors and cackled when she tripped over Nepeta's feet. They whirled and shrieked and jumped and tangled.
They found themselves kissing too.
- - -
When she was eleven, Nepeta Leijon joined a sectarian army to fight a rebellion.
She stood as one among twelve, all scarred and inseparable. Sweeping over the entire length of the hemospectrum, they gathered as figureheads for a greater movement that swelled up slowly, like an iceberg melting for a tidal wave end.
She thought to herself, this is good. We are good. We are great and we are strong and we are true.
- - -
When she was thirteen, Nepeta Leijon didn't sleep.
"Okay, so we've been preparing for god knows how long. Sweeps. Way too many sweeps," General Vantas said. His most trusted personnel sat at the map covered table, leaned against the walls, stood straight with crossed arms. All silent. "And we knew this would come. And we're ready. We're ready for this, because we are all reckless assholes with everything to lose."
No cheers rose to greet his words, no slammed fists of assent, no nods of the head. He spoke to solemn statues, all staring in different directions with minds afire. He paced and the cracks of his bootheels were collective beats of their bloodpushers, unheard but relentless. When he stopped, Nepeta looked up and met his eyes. They were as red as the setting sun and so, so angry. She squeezed the hand laced through hers and Terezi drew in a long breath.
Only a few nights stood between them and the coming war. They spent the hours discussing tactics, issuing orders, and talking. On the last night, there was no discussion, no orders, no talking at all between Terezi Pyrope and Nepeta Leijon.
There was, however, a conversation.
- - -
When she was thirteen, Nepeta Leijon refused to give up.
Smoke made it hard to see and breathe, but she ran as fast as she could with a bullet in her leg and another in her stomach. There was a tank rolling through the pandemonium, driven by screaming trolls that banged their weapons on the metal. It fired blindly, sending up jets of dirt where the shots hit.
She had to get to it. There was no way the artillerazers could target it through the haze and, unlike Her side, they wouldn't risk a stray shot. But she could see it. It was right there.
She had to stop it.
- - -
When she was thirteen, Nepeta Leijon died in battle.
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gallowsCalibrator [GC] opened memo on board YOU C4N 1GNOR3 TH1S 1 GU3SS.
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gallowsCalibrator [GC] changed board name to DO NOT 1GNOR3 TH1S.
GC: OK4Y
GC: Okay
GC: When
GC: When I was three and a half sweeps old, I met Nepeta Leijon.