why should i worry, why should i care [open ; joining]

Urban had given way to wild landscapes. The wind rustled the dried leaves that still held fast to the tree branches. Those that came loose slowly fell to the ground. The air grew colder. A breeze rustled the thick pelt of the lone tom who trudged through the forested terrain, sending a shiver down his spine. His paws were numb, and his stomach had been empty far longer than he had set out on his journey.

It had been a weary few days of travel, stricken by grief and pressed down by an empty belly and a weak body, but he had to get out of there. She's left her kids to fend for themselves. She hadn't even said goodbye. She'd just thrown them out like a pile of trash and left them in their shed to rot. Kit had been the only one to leave. . Mourning someone who was still alive was a feeling unlike any other. He buried her in his mind and sat vigil over her body during the night, yet the pain still followed him. When he had gathered the courage to leave, he dragged himself away from his sibling - Star, from the little shed they had been so happily living in on the other side of Twolegplace opposite where the clans had settled. That morning, he left with only a couple of beetles he'd found in the dirt to satisfy his rumbling stomach. That was three days ago. He hadn't had anything to eat since then.


Despite the smile that was on his maw, Kit could tell he wasn't going to make it much farther. His head felt fuzzy, and his legs were numb, but he had to put as much distance between his siblings and himself. He couldn't bear to be anywhere near Twolegplace again. His mother had been slowly chipping away at him for what felt like years now. By the time his mom had the bones to leave them his spirit had been broken. He was no longer that kitten who sat back and watched as his mother punished his siblings for existing. He was an empty shell now. Cold, hungry, tired, and nearly on the verge of eternal rest.


He swayed as he walked, growing closer to something strange-smelling. His mind was too warbled to process it, but he had stumbled upon the border of a territory, one that belonged to the great Clans his mother had told them about. "Hah...you made it, kid." he mewed. They were the first words he had spoken in days, his voice was barely above a whisper. As soon as his paws crossed that strongly scented border, he collapsed. His legs just gave out and he plopped down among the old, rotting leaves. His chin hit a small pebble. He tasted blood in his mouth. Kit only registered the fact that he had fallen and that he was too exhausted to get up before he lost consciousness and his body entered that state between life and death.

It felt like he was floating in deep water. There was an angelic voice singing to him from the surface, garbled, but still sweet. His body wouldn't move, he was paralyzed with exhaustion, but he used his remaining energy to peel open his eyelids. They felt like they had been glued shut. Kit saw a blurry figure surrounding him her white and flame-colored fur making her seem like...well...an angel to him. A crooked, slanted, smile grew on his maw, "I'm in StarClan...aren't I?" he mewed. His mother told him about it, how when he passed into the light he would be warm and happy just like he was now. Surely he was dead. No one had ever cared for him as much as this cat. The closest thing he had to the feeling in his heart was to his sister Star and even she hadn't loved him enough to travel with him to the clans.

The scent of the starling traveled to his nose and he instinctively opened his mouth, he had never had such a precious morsel touch his tongue before. He was so used to street rats and twoleg garbage, and the occasional mouse or pigeon. Even then, his older siblings got first pick on grub. But this starling was...divine. It was all his. All his. No one else's. He could almost cry. It took every shred of dignity left in him not to scarf it all down in a matter of seconds. He heard his angel say something to another clan cat but he couldn't hear over the overwhelming sensation of food being in his tummy for the first time in a long time. With a few more bites, he had nearly licked the starling clean of all edible meat and fat.

The feeling of being groomed was unfamiliar to him, at least in this setting, the only time he had ever been groomed was when he did it himself. Kit couldn't remember the last time he was cared for so gently. It only solidified his theory further that Dawnfeather truly was, his angel. "The name's Kit." he mumbled, his voice as rough as the Thunderpath. The midnight-colored kitten glanced up at Dawnfeather, his adoration smothered by a cloud of mischief, "Put 'er there." he got out before he slipped back into a deeper sleep, his paw reaching for Dawnfeather. Kit didn't know what it meant, but his brother had always said that followed by a touch of their paw. Almost like touching noses. After his great journey, it was only natural for him and his body to need rest. The little thing had pushed himself so hard his paws were cracked and threatening to bleed, his nose was as dry as a bone and his ribs ached from the exercise.