Battle of the Brightest Uplands
"The Unikingdom is what it is to today because of Unicat's hope. Hope was Unicat's secret weapon." - Queen Caticorn
It is that time again, so welcome back to Unikingdom History 101! This section focuses on Queen Unicat the Wise and her handling of the Doom Lords that ultimately lead to the founding of the Unikingdom, and how it lead up to the battle of the Brightest Uplands. This particular battle is one every student in the Unikingdom learns about in their school days.
Background
When Unicat was a kitten, she lived with her mother, Mayor Unitabby, in a small mountain town called Glittering Ridges, named for the cliffs it was built near. Around this time, Master Doom was sending her recruits to destroy the mountain towns as she had let the thrill of hurting the weak to feel powerful get to her head, stripping them of every last shred of hope. Glittering Ridges was unfortunately caught up in these invasions by the Doom Lords, ultimately leading to the Unicat, her mother, and an orphan from another town being lost in the mountains. However, Unicat, unbeknownst to Master Doom, knew that hope was what was strongest, and was able to survive the mountains. She quickly befriended the Action Fighters training in the nearby lush forest who helped evacuate other survivors, and with all of this help, as well as from, managed to build a safe home in the hills for the survivors.
Master Doom, in all her confusion over finding no one to make miserable, sent her oldest recruits, Master Fear and Master Malignance, to scout the area near Golden-Beam Falls. In the winter of 1904, with Doom Lord activity suspected by the gorge, several Action Fighters were sent to guard it. Unicat had sent them, having full control of the hills after Unitabby’s death. While spying on the Action Fighters, the Doom Lords overheard discussions of the foothills, which were supposedly past the gorge. However, Master Malignance, the Doom Lord with the best navigation skills, after days of searching, found an easier way into the hills – they were directly across the Dusty Stretch. Believing she had outsmarted Unicat, Master Doom devised a plan to use the direct route over the Stretch to ambush the pink cat leader of the Uplands, and kill her. No one in the Uplands knew about this route, as nearly everyone, except for the Action Fighters, were either from the mountains, or descended from them. Master Fear also reported Unicat’s plans to formally declare the founding of a kingdom from all the rising infrastructure. This gave Master Doom even more of a reason to attack.
February 6th, 1904 - Main Battle
On the late night of February 6th, Master Doom and her allies were able to cross the Dusty Stretch into the Brightest Uplands, and knew that Unicat’s log home (which Felicorn’s parents had built) was near the hill surrounded by a massive freshwater ditch that had formed as the result of tectonic plate movement and thousands of years worth of rainfall. Unicat and Felicorn were fast asleep together in their home, and the two had also just had a daughter named Tabbycorn a day before. Seeing their slumber as a weak point, Master Doom sent her lowest-ranked, Master Spite, to break into the house through a window, only to wake Unicat’s Action Fighter friend Waspena, who attacked him and pinned him down. Master Doom sent in reinforcements, and it was all of this that woke the cats. With the eyes of her minions locked on her target, Master Doom immediately followed and ordered them to attack. However, Felicorn sprang into battle while Unicat fled with Tabbycorn in her mouth. The house was destroyed in their clash, and it wasn’t long before Felicorn was caught in the river of Doom Lords, who thrust him into the ditch to drown him. Just before he was held underwater, he screeched as loud as a cat physically could to raise the alarm.
Unicat was horrified at her lover’s death, and sprang at the Doom Lords in retaliation for what they had done. As Unicat was locked in her fight, several residents of the hills had heard Felicorn’s screech, and began surrounding the ruthless Doom Lords to stop them from trying to maim Unicat. Others ran to alert more reinforcements of their own, such as when Waspena ordered two residents to alert the Action Fighters in case they were too far to hear the initial call. Zoomer, a stubby capybara, and Mantotter, praying mantis/river otter hybrid, ran to alert the Action Fighters, several of whom had already sprung from their sleep to rush into battle. They included fully-trained fighters (such as Caibuzzard and Kestrelecko), and advanced fighters in-training. When Unicat was freed by Waspena, she also ordered the messengers to alert Dr. Willow Fox, Flufftail, and Pinebadger. The three served as medics in the battle, with Willow as the lead medic. Unicat’s biggest order was for everyone in the hills to work together to protect each other, whether that would be acting as a messenger, treating the wounded, guarding the weakest, or fighting alongside her.
With reinforcements and a hastily-made plan, Unicat’s allies formed a crowded ring surrounding the Doom Lords who had killed Felicorn, and the rest of the Doom Lords who attacked from the outside of the crowd. Unicat’s swarm of allies broke apart when Master Doom fired at them with a beam, striking Waspena and another Action Fighter with enough force to hurl them into one of the bridges, and into a bush. Kestrelecko was unable to continue fighting, as the force of striking the bridge had broken his wing, but Waspena persevered and continued to fight, even though her head had struck the ground so hard she was concussed. Spencer was tasked to hide wherever he could to protect Tabbycorn, so neither of them were found or harmed in the battle.
Unicat and Bluepatch, another cat-unicorn hybrid, chased after two Doom Lords and leapt at them, sinking their claws deep into them and only letting go when they stopped retaliating and instead fled the hills. Unicat and some more of her allies were ready to chase after more Doom Lords, but as she and a resident named Wolfolotl prepared to charge, Master Doom managed to find Unicat in the torrent of combatants, and aimed at her with another one of her powerful beams. Unicat just so happened to be flying when she was struck, and was flung into the ground, injuring her. Master Doom was ecstatic to see Unicat in a seemingly weak spot and was about to come in for the kill, but Unicat only attacked her in retaliation. Though Master Doom almost threw her into the ditch, she just barely missed, and just as Unicat reoriented herself, she surprised everyone with a strength boost. She flung herself at Master Doom, biting her by the neck, unleashing a shockwave, and throwing her back to Frowntown. With their leader defeated, the Doom Lords had no other choice but to retreat, allowing Unicat to declare the battle over.
Aftermath
While Unicat was devastated over the loss of Felicorn, she was praised and thanked for bringing everyone together to fight the way she did. This was ultimately emphasized by the fact that while many were wounded, there were no other fatalities. Unicat had a dream for the Uplands to be a safe kingdom for anyone, and her dream was proven to be achievable. She knew what could rise from the ashes, and how everyone would continue to fight for each other, guided by hope. Therefore, Unicat declared that the paradise everyone fought for is a kingdom that promises happiness to anyone, and that is protected by hope. The triumphant end of the Battle of the Brightest Uplands marked a new beginning – the founding of the Unikingdom. In the same moments where Unicat declared the battle over, she declared the kingdom’s founding.