Lives that Have Been Ripped Away [Graveyard]

“Hey, mousebrain! Kill any wildcats lately?” A taunting voice echoed from high up on the twoleg fence. Silhouettes of a couple cats sat dark against the bright orange sunset on the horizon. Their laughs echoed through the streets of twolegplace. There was a heavy stink of monsters and carrion. The streets were filthy. All of the twolegs that inhabited the area didn’t care much for the area outside of their own nests. This meant that the cats were forced to live in the filth left behind. Those who traveled through the mess usually left with dirty and wet paws. It was an uncomfortable and awful place to live, but that’s what the twolegplace cats had always known.

Bear let out a low growl as the unknown cats mocked him. If they dared to leave the safety of their high place, he could have easily ripped them to shreds. He wasn’t a very forgiving cat. But he was used to the harsh words coming from other cats. Since he had been a young kit, all he had ever known was the individualistic world that every cat here lived in. The law of the land was to fend for yourself and not let others get in the way. Only littermates, mothers and their kits formed loose groups. Even in those cases, it was rare they would always stay together for long. The brown tom squeezed his eyes shut as he momentarily remembered his own kin.

“Bear! Get back here!” A pretty, orange she-cat yowled crossly as he strayed towards the edge of the forest. Next to her was another tiny tom cat. He wasn’t as adventurous as Bear and so the queen appreciated him more. A young Bear muttered crossly to himself as he padded obediently back to his family. The two boys had never known their father. It had always just been them and mother. As he approached, he shot a glare at his younger brother. ‘Stupid Riley, always doing what he’s told. What kind of name is that anyway? It’s a stupid name,’ He thought angrily to himself. Bear liked his name. It was strong and tough, unlike Riley’s. A lot of the time he wished the little orange cat would just disappear. Then maybe mother would love him more.

Riley greeted him happily, glad his brother had returned. The younger tom’s cheery personality only frustrated him further. For brothers, they couldn’t be more opposite. Their mother reached down to clean them off. Traveling past the marshlands made it easy for their paws to become dirty. Neither kits minded much at all, but mother sure did. Riley squealed happily under the repetitive strokes of their mother’s tongue. Bear wriggled uncomfortably under the annoyingly long strokes.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” He kept protesting, but she wouldn’t let up.

Later that night, the trio had settled down underneath one of the trees that dotted the outskirts of the wildcat’s territory. Sunset, their mother, had not wanted to raise her kits in the twolegplace. It was unpleasant and she wanted to give them a better life. But the queen knew the dangers of the forest. Instead of setting out to hide in the prey-rich trees, she skirted the borders and hunted just outside of any other cat’s home. It was an exhausting life, but she had no other option. By day, she hunted and traveled, carrying the kits when their paws no longer were able to handle the journey. During the night, she slept deeply in preparation for the next day. Walking with kits slowed her down a lot. In the few days since they had left twolegplace, not much progress had been made. But they had needed to stop.

The small, brown tom looked at the sleeping figure of his mother. She didn’t move other than they rhythmic rise and fall of her pelt. It would be easy to sneak off. He quivered in excitement as he stared out into the dark line of pine trees. With one small kit claw, he prodded Riley awake.

“Bear, wha-” The other kit started to protest before Bear put a paw over his mouth and hissed for him to be silent.

“We’re going to explore!” At the prospect of an exploration with his older brother, Riley jumped up excitedly and followed after him. The flame, orange tom tried to match Bear pawstep for pawstep. It wasn’t hard. Riley had long legs. He could easily outpace Bear if he tried at all. However, the younger cat looked up to his brother and would simply follow him wherever he went. Silently, the kits crept over an invisible border they didn’t know existed. Within a few steps, their paws were coated in mud. But it didn’t slow them down much.

“Does mother know where we are?” Riley asked after a bit, cocking his head to the side in question. Bear shot back in a hiss for the younger kit to ‘shuttup and just come on’. In his frustration with his brother, he raced ahead breaking through the marsh grasses and leaving Riley behind. When he finally stopped, his sides heaving, a feeling of dread hit him. The other tom wasn’t with him.

“Riley? Riley? Where’d you go?” He called, letting fear creep into his normally bitter voice. Bear shut his eyes and wished that when he opened them there would be the familiar flash of orange fur. There was no such luck. Worry surged through him and he wandered around on unsteady, tiny legs. Riley was nowhere to be found. After a while of searching, he gave up and wandered back to Sunset. A sigh of relief left him when he made it back. Yet, it still wasn’t okay. There was still no sign of Riley.

The memory was as clear as if it had happened yesterday, despite many moons having passed. Riley had never been found. Sunset lost her mind over the loss of her beloved son. Despite his efforts, Bear was never able to comfort her. For moons the queen had refused to leave their shelter under the roots of that tree, waiting as if Riley would show up at any time. He never did. It was no surprise to a young Bear when she had died of starvation. If she hadn’t been a lost cause to him for some time, he probably would have cared more. Over that time, Bear had been forced to teach himself to hunt and fight. Cats would cross near their makeshift camp and it was up to him to fend them off, even at a young age. Sunset’s death had been the event that drove him to return to the disgusting home that his mother had tried to get him out of.

Most of the prey to be found in that area was killed off by the cats of the forest. Bear had never seen them, but he had certainly smelled them. Their stench was different from those of the twolegplace cats. After some time, he had come to assumed they’d killed off his brother. Because of this, he avoided the forest. There was no reason to risk his life by crossing into their territory. Part of him knew he would likely never make it out alive. So, after Sunset had passed, he made his way back. This awful, stinking place was what he called home.

Rumors had spread of him once he returned. The cats of the twolegplace believed he had come from the forest. Some believed it was a lie he’d made up to make himself seem tougher. Others cowered in fear if they thought it to be true. Personally, Bear couldn’t care less what they thought. Either way, the lie kept a lot of cats out of his way. The one truth to it was that he was a cat to be feared. Moons of being alone and looking after himself had made him bitter. Other cats simply became battle practice. His skills had become deadly for not being a forest cat. Bear would rip apart anyone that stood in his way. ‘Less competition,’ He thought to himself, laughing bitterly out loud. The cats on the fence scattered at the sound of his harsh laugh. They probably thought he was crazy. Maybe he was a little crazy, but Bear was always certain of his actions. Nothing was unintentional.

Lately, the twolegplace had become boring for him. With the winter chill setting in, prey had become even more scare. Thankfully, he had been able to eat fairly well by stealing other’s prey, but even so that was running out. Bear would never sink to the level of the housecats. No cat could ever say they caught him begging at a twoleg’s nest. Lately, he had longed for something more. Now, more than ever, the forest called to him. Before, he had cowered in fear at the thought of the trees. But that had changed over time. Bear was faster than most cats, having the long legs both him and Riley had inherited from Sunset. Not only that, but he was deadlier than any cat in the twolegplace. Between having practiced fighting skills and ruthless drive to kill anything that stood in his path, not much could stop him. Now it was time to take to the forest. Nothing there could stop him. Bear would kill any cat that tried to stop him.

“You better watch out forest cats,” The battle-scarred tom snarled darkly as he stalked towards the forest line, “Your home is about to become even more dangerous.”