It was story time in the digital realms of deviantART, when artists and authors of all ages came together to hear the latest tale of bravery and courage, of loss and depravity, ending in a wondrous joy as the hero or heroine triumphs over evil once again. This time, a cat was telling the story.
The cat in question looked scarred and battled, worse-for-wear and black under her large, hazel eyes. But beneath this damaged look was a fat and jolly tan feline with a solid black lightning bolt embedded in the fur of her back left thigh, who a lot of people thought hadn't changed a bit, despite the eerie blood stains and the messed-up, stressed-up burgundy hair. Her name was Onyx, and she had some wicked mates behind her.
All of her old friends had returned to hear her story, including her best friend Marne, a Sonic-looking turquoise blue cat with chocolate brown hair, Marne's friend Twist, a russet coloured feline with ginger patches, who was from the future, and BluePatch, a shaggy auburn dog wearing a black hoodie with a blueberry coloured patch of fur round one of her eyes, hence her name. There was Rose, a candy-pink feline, Jonno, a grey-and-brown wolf wearing rather awesome red striped arm accessories, Riley, a golden coloured Labrador and Sunny, a rather bubbly small dog with a mark on one eye that looked like a sun. Also, there was Erik, a skinny and handsome blue cat and Martine, a charcoal grey feline with a Pi sign etched into her fur on her left side in black.
"Thankies, all," Onyx said loudly, raising her paws to arouse silence amongst the fursonas surrounding her, "for joining me today, so I may recount the trials and tribulations I have encountered over my time away from deviantART."
A couple of people giggled - she had such a British accent!
"But, before I start, let's go back in time to the simple life, the time we all remember as my OnyxTheCat88 days." Onyx sighed. "Oh, those were the days, eh, those were the days! I had not a single bit of competition in the BOLT's biggest fan race, not a single troll to be found." Onyx smiled with the warm nostalgia. "Life was good, great, shazam! Until…" Onyx lowered her head and her voice dramatically, "… she came.
"She came with the most wicked and evil username that had ever come to cross my path to date, a username which, to this day, still doesn't hold as the truth, and never will - BoltsBiggestFanEVER. The Dark Mist had entered my personal space and mucked up my beautiful, blissful way of life. I was happy, until that worthless pile of competition came along!
"Let us now fast-forward to about three months ago, when The Dark Mist was posing a massive threat to me and my glorious, pent-up reputation as BOLT's biggest fan." Onyx, who had been standing up the whole time, paused to sit and sip the glass of water she had on a table beside her, giving the fursonas a chance to whisper. "I was almost ruined, crushed. I HAD to leave. I had no other option. If she didn't pack her bags, then I had to instead. I saved as many of your pickies as I could into my drive -" she coughed, "- uh, I mean suitcase, yeah, and just got the fuck outta dodge. Couldn't stand another minute being threatened with losing myself!"
"Where did you go?" Twist asked inquisitively, tilting her head to the side.
"To Fanpop…" Onyx hung her head low again, "… where I thought I was still loved. Turns out… I was wrong.
"I returned without a single pleasant comment from anyone. It was all, 'Oh, The Dark Mist's done better, The Dark Mist's superior and you just suck', plus all the names under the freaking sun!" Onyx put her round face into one paw, then muttered, "I was alone. No one was there for me. Not a single person.
"I grew weaker, taking up self-harm, not getting a good night's sleep in weeks, comfort eating and violent imagery, art work, music and literature.
"I left Fanpop a short while after that with a bindle on a stick like in all those movies, with all my close cyber belongings; the old Bonyx pickies and adoring art from all my friends on deviantART, long lost but never forgotten. I kept them close, reminding myself each day there may be a small wave of hope in this sea of black. I'm not drowning, I told myself… I'm not drowning… But it was hard to prove that to myself."
"Did you come straight back here after Fanpop?" BluePatch asked.
"No, I travelled after that. I travelled to a website I cannot and will not say the name of publicly, (IT'S SHEEZYART YOU GUISE) in case The Dark Mist has some sort of spy. Any one of you could be a secret supporter of The Dark Mist…" Onyx narrowed her eyes. "If she joins my other website, I have absolutely nowhere to go where I can just be me! Even now, you are talking to a lie. I'm not myself anymore, I'm something far different. Has no one noticed the difference? No…?" There was a silence. "Good.
"On Christmas Eve, I had a long discussion with my mum about deviantART. I told her all about all the awesome friends I had on there, in amongst the evil and despair, there was light on that site." Onyx then randomly giggled. "Hee heh, that rhymed! Sorry, off subject." Onyx cleared her throat with embarrassment. "After a long talk and a lot of convincing, Mother let me travel back to deviantART again. And well, here we are now."
Onyx stood up as Jonno said, "You're okay now though, right?"
With a long sigh, Onyx let her arms fall to her sides and her head hang. "I don't really know anymore, Jonno. I mean, yeah, I've given up self-harm, but the comfort eating still exists, the aggressive art and music still stands. Point is, The Dark Mist has grown ever stronger in my absence! But…" Onyx stood up straighter, boldly lifting up her head and throwing her chest out, balling her paws into tight fists as she did so.
"I have returned, nevertheless. I may have returned demoralised, broken, dispirited and soulless… but UNDEFEATED!!"
Onyx roared the last word with pride as the crowd cheered, whooped and applauded. "Who has been cruelly taunted and exiled?"
"Onyx!!" The fursonas chanted.
"But who's going to regain power and take control of deviantART again?"
"Onyx!!"
"And who's the biggest BOLT fan…?"
"ONYX!!!" all of Onyx's amazing friends bellowed joyfully, louder than ever. Onyx fell backwards off the stage with a grin, going for a bit of crowd surfing. She could hear her fursona pals groaning with the weight amongst all the cheering, and laughed to herself. She had never felt happier! She was so happy, in fact, she could hear a cat meowing and crying in the distance… Huh?
…
Jess Golden awoke suddenly to see nothing but a black, furry face. The face opened its mouth and another mewl for attention escaped it. It was the black, male Onyx, the real-life Onyx, her pet cat.
"Oh, hello, boy…" Jess said to her cat. "You hungry, little man?" Onyx meowed again and jumped off the bed, waiting patiently by her BOLT covered bedroom door. Jess found herself gazing fondly at the door, staring at one pickie in particular… the digital drawing ShazTheRaz on deviantART did for her, with Bolt and Onyx, Jess's fursona, Onyx, atop a cliff in moonlight. Jess smiled.
"…Who knows? Maybe I'll come back properly after all." With another impatient cry from the real Onyx, Jess looked away from the pickie and down at her cat. "Okay, I'll feed you now. Okay."
