She didn't know. She didn't know I saw her. She didn't know I saw what she did to my papa. She didn't know I saw what she did to my brothers and sisters. And she most certainly didn't know I was going to do what I did.
I didn't understand how things changed so quickly. For a long time, everything was just fine. I was happy. Mama and Papa were happy. My littermates were happy. Everyone was happy.
Mama and Papa like to move around a lot. But after Mama had us, they had to stay in one place until we were old enough to travel with them. We lived in a pretty flower field. Mama and Papa decided to name us based on the flowers we lived near. My sisters were named Clover and Violet. My brothers were named Aster and Lavender. And I was named Heather.
Papa was usually the one to go out to hunt for Mama so she could make enough milk to feed me and my littermates, but sometimes they hunted together. They never strayed too far from us, though.
One day, however, a golden tabby tom appeared. He wore a strange red thing around his neck, and the golden berry attached to it made a pretty sound that I can't describe. He looked friendly, but Mama and Papa didn't want him near our home, or near us. I didn't understand, but the next thing I new Papa began attacking the golden tom. But... Mama didn't attack him, too. She just kept staring at him for some reason.
It didn't take long for the golden tom to run away. Mama offered to chase him off and make sure he made it to... I think she said
Twolegplace? Papa tried to persuade her not to go, but she went anyway, and Papa was left to care for me and my littermates until she returned later that evening. She said she had successfully chased away the...
kittypet, I think she called him.
Ever since that day, Mama had been acting very strange. She offered to hunt by herself much more often, and she was hardly home to feed me or my littermates her milk. We were forced to learn how to eat prey early. Papa would chew up a mouse or squirrel into a pulp and we would suckle on it. Occasionally he would bring home rabbit; rabbit is probably my favorite prey.
The other strange thing is that Mama would be gone for nearly the whole day when she went out to hunt, and often times she would come home without any prey. She always smelled funny, too, but I couldn't place it. Papa would get angry at her whenever she came home, and the two would growl and hiss at each other. I didn't bother hearing what they were saying.
Then whenever Mama would leave, she wouldn't return until the next morning. Papa would get even angrier at her, and after several days of leaving and returning the next morning... Mama and Papa got into another fight. But this time... Mama attacked Papa. It was so scary seeing her hurt him. She looked very angry, and Papa was growing scared. After that, Mama left to hunt again, and she didn't come back.
I wanted to know where she went. So the night after of Mama leaving for good, I decided to follow her scent. I was able to walk well enough, and I followed her scent to the edge of the forest where a tall white thing stood. It stretched in both directions as far as I could see. It was white like snow, but it felt like smooth trees.
I heard a voice further down the white trees, and I recognized Mama's voice. I was so excited to see Mama again! So I ran down the white trees and I found her standing in front of the same golden tom who had showed up days ago. Mama was speaking so softly and kindly, not the way she spoke to Papa anymore. She nuzzled the golden tom, and she was purring. I didn't want Mama to see me just yet, so I decided to listen for a little.
"I love you so much," Mama purred to the golden tom.
"I want to be with you forever.""I love you, too, Buttercup," the golden tom replied with a sad frown,
"but I can't be with you, you know this. What about Cosmos and your kits?""What about them?" Mama retorted. I was confused. I knew the golden tom was talking about me and Papa and my littermates. Didn't Mama want us anymore?
The golden tom began speaking again.
"Buttercup, you already have a mate and kits. You have a family. I can't take that away from you.""But I want to be with you!" Mama cried.
"I don't want to be with Cosmos anymore, he's too aggressive.""And your kits?""We could have better kits! Clover's too clingy, Violet never does as she's told, Aster's too much like his father, Lavender argued all the time, and Heather... Stars, where do I begin with that little furball? She's too scared to do anything! She doesn't come out of the nest and she hardly stops squealing! She's so needy! They're all too needy!"My heart broke. How could Mama say that about me? How could she say that about my littermates? Is that really how she felt about us? Is that why she didn't come back home?
"Buttercup, they're kits, of course they're going to be that way," the golden tom insisted.
"Look, I'm sorry, but you have a family and I can't be with you when you're with them." He looked at Mama for a long time, his emerald-green eyes shining with sadness, and then he turned to walk away. He slipped into a strange white thing into a large red stone den of some sort.
Mama growled softly, and I heard her hiss under her breath,
"Then I'll just have to fix that..." Then she turned and leaped through a space in the white trees and ran into the forest. She didn't even see me hiding in the grass.
I was scared, I didn't know what to do. Where was Mama going? What was she going to fix? ...Maybe the golden tom can help me.
I slipped through the space in the white trees where Mama just fled through and I raced into the neatly-cut grass and flowers along a path of colorful pebbles. When I was next to the white thing I squealed as loud as I could.
It didn't take long for the golden tom’s head to poke back out through the white thing. He stared at me in stunned silence for a few moments before slipping out and approaching me. Then he smiled and purred gently.
"Well, hello there, little one. What's your name?""I'm Heather," I squeaked.
"What were you and Mama talking about?"His eyes widened in shock.
"You're Buttercup’s kit?""No, I'm Mama's kit!" I had just said that! Didn't he know anything?
"Right, you're your mother's kit. But is she the orange and white cat with the blue eyes?""Mm-hmm! You were talking to her just now. What were you two talking about?"The golden tom began to look very uncomfortable.
"Well, now, I... I don't know if it's something you should know about, little one." He then began to look around.
"Say, where is your mother anyway? She was just here a few moments ago.""She ran off after you left," I replied.
"I heard her say she was going to fix something. Do you know what it is?"The golden tom’s eyes widened in horror this time. He broke off into a run towards the white trees, then skidded to a halt and turned to me, narrowing his eyes urgently.
"Heather, you have to follow me. You have to show me where your nest is."I blinked in frightened confusion.
"B-But Mama said I should never lead strangers to our nest.""Your mother knows me, so I'm no stranger to her. Let’s go, Heather, we don't have much time at all!"Still frightened, I raced up to him and tried to clamber through the hole in the white trees again. I heard the golden tom huff impatiently behind me before he grasped my scruff and placed me on his back. He told me to hang on, and then he raced through the hole and into the forest. I directed him through the trees and bushes until finally we reached our nest, but when we got there I detected a very strange scent in the air. It smelled a lot like Papa and my littermates, as well as Mama, but it also smelled yucky.
The golden tom quickly pushed me off his back to the ground with his muzzle, then pushed me under a bush to hide. He stepped in front of the bush I hid under, and I had to peek around his legs to see what was happening. That was when I saw Mama padding out from behind the dense ferns where we made our nest. She looked very strange. She had a lot of red stuff matted all over her, but most of it was on her paws and muzzle. She had a scary look in her eyes, one I had never seen in any cat before.
But... Where was Papa? Where were my littermates? Why didn't they follow Mama out to greet the golden tom?
"Cheeto!" Buttercup meowed in a mix of surprise and glee. She sounded out of breath.
"Cheeto, I didn't expect you to come! Well, now you and I can finally be together, just as we both wanted!""Buttercup..." Cheeto choked out, staring wide-eyed at Mama. He began to tremble heavily.
"What... What did you do?""Why, I got rid of the problem, of course," Mama replied with a wicked grin. I softly whimpered at the look she gave Cheeto.
"You said you couldn't be with me because of my mate and kits, so I fixed everything. Now you and I can be together.""You... You killed them!"My world felt like it had completely stopped. I knew of the concept of death, as Mama and Papa would have to kill mice and squirrels and birds and other prey in order to eat them. When someone dies, they can never come back. Mama had killed Papa and my littermates. She killed them, and they were never going to come back. They were gone forever.
I didn't even realize until it was too late that I was whining in despair, and I saw Mama angle her ears towards the bush I hid under behind Cheeto.
"What was that?"Cheeto growled lowly as he turned sideways, using his entire body to block the bush from her.
Buttercup’s pupils seemed to contract. She looked... so very different. Like... as if she was absolutely
furious. But a wide grin still played her blood-stained face.
"Oh, I see. That's why I couldn't find Heather when I killed the kits. She went off to warn you. That's how you knew to come look for me. Well, now, I can't just have my little kit keep me from my one true love, can I?""Don't you dare harm this innocent kit, Buttercup!" Cheeto spat at Mama, his fluffy fur bushing up aggressively. He then side-glanced down at me through the leaves and thorns of the bush, hissing,
"Run!"I didn't need to be told twice. I shot out from under the bush and ran deep into the forest as fast as my tiny legs could carry me. I heard Mama yowling my name from behind me, and I looked behind me to see her dashing towards me with teeth bared and eyes narrowed. I squealed and flopped over on my side, legs flailing and fur bushed, as if I had any hope at all of fighting her off.
Suddenly, Cheeto pounced on Mama from behind and dug his claws into her shoulders, pinning her down, when she was just a few tail-lengths away from me.
"Run, Heather! Run and don't look back!" he screeched.
Whimpering with fear and despair, I turned around and resumed running into the forest. I heard Mama howling with fury and calling out my name again, ordering me to stop, but I did as Cheeto said and didn’t look back. I kept running, even when I heard Mama and Cheeto yowling and spitting in rage and pain. I knew Cheeto didn't have a chance of winning against Mama. My whimpering turned into whining.
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I lost track of time. All I knew is the sun had risen and fallen again at least once since I fled from Mama. I knew Cheeto ended up fighting her to keep her away from me as I ran away, and I knew that he didn't win. Mama was a very strong and powerful cat when it came to fighting. After all, he was able to kill Papa.
I began to whine brokenly again. My papa and littermates were dead, my mama wanted to kill me, and the only other cat I knew and called friend had been killed as well. I didn't have friends. I didn't have family. I was completely alone.
My stomach began to rumble loudly. When was the last time I had eaten? I couldn't even remember anymore. I felt weak. All that running really wore me out, and my hunger and thirst weren't doing me any favors either. I hardly got the chance to sleep, either. I was too afraid of waking up to find Mama standing over me, getting ready to kill me. I was so tired. So, so tired...
My legs couldn't keep me up anymore. I huffed as I collapsed on my side. It seemed I was going to die of starvation anyway. Mama didn't have to worry about tracking me down anymore. But... I didn't want to die. I wanted to live. I wanted to know what it was like to feel loved again. I wanted to feel safe and protected. I wanted to know how to defend myself should Mama ever find her way back to me again.
I just wanted my family back.
The soft padding of pawsteps drawing closer and closer startled me to full alert before I could drift off into much-needed sleep. Was that Mama? Had she found me after all? I whimpered brokenly. I didn't want to die.
But the cat who had padded out of the bushes and ferns wasn't Mama. It wasn't even a she-cat. He was a large, broad golden tom, but he didn't look at all like Cheeto. He did have tabby stripes and green eyes, but his fur wasn't fluffy, and he had a nick in one of his ears and many battle scars.
The large tom spotted me almost immediately, and he approached me slowly. I whined in fear and struggled to stand back up, but my legs just wouldn't work anymore. I had no way to escape if he decided to attack.
But... he didn't. He just looked down at me. I dared to look back up at him, and I saw nothing but warmth and sympathy in his green eyes. He lowered his muzzle to my head, and he rasped his tongue once across my head. His breath felt very warm against my cold ears. I instantly felt safe around this tom. I struggled to inch myself closer to his large paws, wanting to soak in more of his comforting warmth.
The tom nuzzled me gently, then raised his head and looked around. He parted his lips to drink in the air, and I was guessing he was trying to look for Mama. Well, hopefully Mama wasn't anywhere near here. After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached his paw, and I nuzzled my face into the soft fur. The tom looked back down at me when he felt my cold touch, and he lowered his head to me again to nuzzle me. I felt a purr rising in my throat, and it broke free.
The tom then spoke in a deep, yet soothing voice.
"Do not worry, little one. I will take care of you now. You will be safe in ThunderClan." He gently grasped my scruff and lifted me up off the ground, then he turned around and padded back into heart of the forest where he came from.
I sighed softly and, finally feeling perfectly safe, allowed myself to succumb to sleep. I was going to be safe. I was going to be protect. I was going to have a family again.
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(OOC: I hope it was alright with you that I included Leopardclaw in the story, RainyHeart, and I most certainly hope I got his character right. Anyway, this was a story I had wanted to write for such a long time, and I'm glad I finally got around to finishing it!)[/color]
