"WARRIORS", CATUSAPIENS, AND THE WORLD(s) OF TALKING ANIMALS (by codagian standards)
(NOTE: descriptions copy-pasted from DA where i normally/originally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )
[also, another rather old yet still good piece of work; actually definitely a couple years old since i can recognise that iconic crayola coloring pencils instead of the fancy faber castells)
so....time to add warriors and other erin hunter books to the strangeworld bestiary.
all of erin hunter's books take place in the exact same type of universe, and the exact same planet of earth (earth-4amar-22003W). before the pukanis actually visited the planet, they run a check to see what sentient life is on there. even if they know for sure what exactly they are, its still worth running a check to see if they'res other lifeform that have that sentience. and boy, there was. lots and lots of it.
as it turns out, all members of amniota (reptiles, birds and mammals) were 100% sentient, and the other animals that arent come pretty damn close (akin to that of parrots and possibly chimps). from what the pukanis have experience on many other earths, it seems that humans on untouched universes often have a difficult time adjusting to the idea of other sentient lifeforms, especially things from other universe. so given that nearly an entire clade of animals on there own home planet is just as intelligent as them, the humans (or twolegs, if we go by Warriors), are already a Contact At End (C.A.E.) situation, only making contact when their world ends and are at high risk of extinction. the animals, on the other hand, seem more easier to make contact with. this is mainly because there have been many case where different species were able to communicate with eachother, and even team up to deal with bigger threats. it also helped that the pukanis are able to turn into any sentient lifeforms on the planet to make things easier. [provided they have an external source that allows them to shift into said sophont species; one of many things that i'm working on...]
the planet also seems to be rife with paranormal activity, mainly with the afterlife. it seems that each group's afterlife exist in there own in-universe dimension only accessible when they are either asleep, unconscious, or are a spirit form. the only thing that doesn't have to be either one of those to enter said "afterlife" are the pukanis and other interdimesional beings, but even then they tend to leave those things alone (after all, the afterlife is a tricky subject to deal with whether it exist or not in a universe/dimension).
now, "talking animal" universes aren't a new thing. a talking animal universe (TA) is often classified as a universe in which the dominate species is an animal that, well, cant talk. these animals, apart from the talking part, don't differ to much from there normal, non-sentient counterpart in other universes. what make this one special is how many talking animal species there are. usual, its only one or two species, or if you're lucky maybe three. this universe? about 20,000 species capable of talking.
ok, now that i've established a universe and setting, i can now talk about the "catusapiens".
catusapiens have been around as long as man has been breeding domestic felines. despite the fact that normal cats in the wild are territorial and typically solitary, there are many catusapien societies,each with there own ways of life.
there are two types of catusapien lifestyles (note-these are the terms the cats use)
the first one on the left is a traditional catusapien, also known as warriors. these cats live in there own societies, mainly either clans or tribes (which while are two different types of groups have some similarities), ran by a leader and contains many members within various ranks and roles in the group. these cats almost always have a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and rely on the land to live and thrive. they usually have a set of teritories if there are multiple clan or tribe living next to eachother. there names are sort of "primitive" and always derived from nature.
kittypets are catusapiens that live a "modern" lifestyle. this name, while used for cats that are the pets to twolegs, is also used for cats that live in a modern codagian society. these cat were either living with twolegs already or where warriors that chose the easier, more relaxed world to live in. many wear clothing or some form of wearable accessories like collars, capes, scarves, etc. while many live like normal people, there are many places where kittypets can live like their traditional warrior lives, but they're often designed so that they still have the kittypet comforts but still have the warrior experience, mainly the clan life, ranks and duties. while most are legal and open to many, there are some who are of course, more like gangs or cults doing illegal activities in the city, and will gatekeep the everloving shit out of newcomers.
