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The story of how the Rangers got a kitten started with Kim wanting to look at puppies during the Adoption Day at their local pet shop.
Kim had noticed the sign hanging in the pet shop's window as they were walking by on their way to Krispy Kreme, and all but dragged Trini over to the store. "C'mon! We can look at the puppies!" She exclaimed over Trini's groans, and soon they were in the store, being faced with dozens of other people who had the same idea.
Kim immediately went over to the pen marked with a sign that read Puppy Palace, enthralled with the puppies that raced over to great her. Trini on the other hand wasn't so pleased with all the buzz and energy.
The crowds of people, children squealing and just being generally rather obnoxious in their excitement, some more self-entitled than others, calling out about which puppy they want to take home. Paired with the overly rambunctious puppies jumping and barking, yapping, boofing, all the noises proved a little too much for Trini and she found herself backing away from the display unconsciously. She kept backing up until she bumped into a door, causing the bell chime attached to jingle gently. At the noise Trini startled, turning quickly to she just what she'd knocked into. The moment she did, she could practically feel her anxiety slipping away.
It was a clear door, with Kitten Kingdom written on it in multicolored glass paint. Peering past the letters, she could quickly confirm that the sign described the room perfectly. It was most certainly a kingdom, with scratching posts and platforms for the cats to jump on scattered all around the room, and various toys strewn about haphazardly. And of course, there were cats. They were everywhere, sleeping in beds, jumping from place to place, even wrestling with one another on the floor. A soft chuckle escaped Trini's lips as she notified one kitten had fallen asleep in its food bowl, completely curled up in it as if it were the most luxurious bed it'd ever had. Her gaze continued to dart from kitten to cat, until there was a hand on her shoulder and she jumped, whipping her head around and bracing for an enemy. Instead, she found an older looking man, smiling at her contentedly and wearing a name tag that read Gustus.
"Would you like to go in and pet a few of them?" He asked, speaking with a thick Serbian accent, and ignoring the blush that covered Trini's face at the realization she'd been caught staring. "Adoption Day covers kittens too, they just usually don't get as much attention as the puppies. They're attention hogs, the little buggers." He mentioned, casting a playful glare towards the Puppy Palace. "Kittens are much quieter… why I'm assigned to them I suppose. Can't take all the hustle and bustle the puppies bring…" He shrugged his shoulders, and cast a knowing look at Trini. Perhaps he'd seen how violently she reacted to his touch, or maybe he'd noticed her reaction to the noise from the moment she entered the store, but something about the man just seemed all knowing to Trini, and she found herself nodding before she even truly realized.
Gustus' smile broadened and he reached to his side, pulling out a key clasped to his apron and unlocking the door. "We've got to keep it locked," he explained, a thoughtful expression on his face as he reached up momentarily to scratch at his beard. "A few of the bigger cats realized they could open the door if they banded together to push on it, and escaped to torment the pups for a few hours before we were able to round them up again. Not that the dogs didn't deserve it."
By the time Gustus reached his conclusion, Trini was hardly listening. She'd already entered the room and was now staring speechless at the bundles of fluff bounding about the room. A few of the resting cats lifted wary heads at her arrival, before getting comfy again and remaining indifferent, while more playful ones strode towards her, immediately pouncing on her shoelaces. She felt her heart swell and crouched down, tentatively stroking their backs and giggling despite herself when one flopped over in surprise. Gustus watched her for a moment before exiting quietly, knowing she wouldn't get herself into any trouble. It wasn't terribly long ago he was the Yellow Ranger himself, and he knew that the kittens would be in safe hands with any of Zordon's apprentices.
It didn't take Trini but a moment before she was sitting on the ground with the cats, dangling strings for their amusement, and finding her own entertainment in the effort the kittens put out in trying to catch the strings between their paws or in their mouths. The kittens were cute of course, but a cat caught Trini's eye in her peripheral vision.
A muscular body covered in long, dark fur, with golden colored eyes watching her from under the bench along the wall of the room for patrons to sit. The cat was crouched, not quite sitting but not laying down either, just carefully inspecting her from the shadows. Trini turned her body to face her observer, only for the cat to scramble from its place and away to another corner of the room. Frazzled, she returned to playing with the kittens, only for the cat to return to its original spot a few moments later. This time she kept her gaze on the kittens, taking her own observations of the cat without letting it realize her attention was on it. It was older than the kittens for sure, probably an adult cat, but still didn't look to be elderly. It had a wedge shaped head, and large ears with pointed tips protruding from its head. In truth, it was a stunning cat, and Trini couldn't help but wander towards the bench, this time sitting on it as though she hadn't noticed the cat underneath at all.
Within a few minutes, her furry friend had emerged from beneath her and hopped up besides her, sitting on the opposite end of the bench and resumed its staring, this time out in the open. Trini snorted slightly and turned to face the cat, staring back at it with equal intensity. As soon as she did, the cat walked forwards, curling up on her lap suddenly and purring contently, as though they'd been friends for ages. Trini was shocked, but slowly began to stroke the cat's back, its tail flicking in approval.
"See? It's not so bad once you come out of the shadows." Trini murmured, scratching the cat's chin much to its delight, as it lifted its foot to begin scratching at the air near its ear, as though it thought it was doing all the hard work of itching its own ear. This earned a laugh from Trini, and as soon as a large smile broke out on her face, she heard the bell of the door jingle. Upon the jingle of the bell the cat bolted up, and scrambled up Trini's chest to rest on her shoulder, growling softly. She looked up to see Gustus, followed by Kim in the doorway, and in an instant Kim was by her side on the bench, cooing softly to the cat now confidently perched on Trini's shoulder, who was in turn studying Kim the way it had Trini. After a moment's hesitation, it leaned forwards and bumped its head against Kim's hand, asking to be pet, which Kim did with pleasure.
Gustus, on the other hand, was still in the doorway, eyes wide in surprise. "Well I'll be damned, you got the ol' hermit out of its cage." He finally said, shaking his head and laughing in disbelief.
Trini cocked her head in confusion, looking at the cat that was now licking her girlfriend's hand between purrs. They certainly didn't seem like a hermit. "I didn't do anything, they were just watching me and I guess I met their approval." She said with a shrug and a small blush.
The look on Gustus' face was that of complete and utter disbelief. "That's a lot more than approval. He hasn't left his carrier since we got him about a week ago. A Good Samaritan who works at the post office called us in. Some bastard had dumped him in the mail dropbox and left him there for dead." He explained, shaking his head as his fists curled in anger. Trini could feel anger coursing through herself as well at the thought of someone harming the cat, and instinctively found herself laying a protective hand on the cat's back. "From the moment he's been here, he wouldn't let anybody near him. He's not too aggressive or anything, just a few growls but he's never bitten or scratched, expect for when a newbie here tried to forcible pull him out of the crate he refused to leave." With a small gesture of his hand, Gustus pointed out the cat crate in the corner of the room that had a blanket draped over it for the privacy and comfort of the cat.
Trini couldn't help but feel a surge of pride in the fact the cat had chosen her to leave its safety net for. She couldn't imagine anyone just abandoning the little one. Even her own mother would've never kick her out of the house, intolerant to her sexuality as she was. True their relationship was doing far better now that Trini had her own place to live with the Rangers, and it was clear their encounters in small dosages was helping them to get along better, but never would June Gomez put her daughter on the streets. As she looked from Gustus to the cat again, she noticed he was now contently gnawing on Kim's long fingers, and from the giggles leaving Kim's mouth she could tell she too was content with this situation.
Gustus cleared his throat, and a sly look creeped onto his face. "All adoption fees are 50% off today. And you get your first month of pet food free, with all other accessories like beds and toys 75%…" He suggested, shrugging his shoulders in an effort to look nonchalant, though his excitement was practically radiating off of him. It was clear that he was pleased the cat had made a connection, and Trini took into account how it'd honestly just be cruel to leave the cat after he'd bonded so closely to her.
Kim, seeing the hopeful look in Trini's eyes as she turned to face her, shrugged and grinned. "Well, that is a damn good deal. And I've never been one to turn down a sale."
It was clear within a week of the cat's arrival that the cat, appropriately named Shadow, was still picky with whom he shared his affection with. On that list, was Trini, Kim, Billy, the twins, and Mrs. Taylor. According to him, everyone else can, and should, fuck off. This included Zack and Jason, who were none too pleased at the fact their new roommate was clearly less than thrilled at their generally presence.
On one too many occasions, their mighty Black Ranger Zack had shaken Trini awake because, "Shadow's sitting on the counter and I just want some water but the dude just sits there growling and flicking his tail when I step closer". Trini of course denied his claims, no matter how probable they were, because as soon as she rolled out of bed and plodding into the kitchen with Zack in tow, Shadow would flop over onto his side and begin to purr and mew like a little kitten. This would make Trini melt and scoop him up, all the while scowling at Zack for making her doubt her baby's intention for even a second. Zack was sure however, there was a certain smugness in the cat's eyes whenever he was carried in Trini's arms away to the bedroom after these nightly adventures.
Jason suffered from this too, only lessened because Billy was often with him, and Shadow had a certain soft spot for Billy. It was almost as if he was aware of Billy's dislike of being touched without permission, as he'd never just flat out crawl into his lap like he'd do with Kim or Trini, but rather sit besides him, on the couch or simply on the table besides whatever Billy was tinkering on that day. Billy explained his theory that Shadow very well could be aware of his autism, as a cat's cerebral cortex has 300 million neurons (compared to a dog's 160 million) and their brains are actually 90% similar to that of a human's. Billy's sensory disorder was also what got Jason some kitty love despite Shadow's distain, because if Jason happened to be sitting in the only available space near Billy, by proxy Shadow would have to settle for sitting in Jason's lap in order to be near Billy. This is until, Billy would pull Shadow into his own lap, leaving Jason pouting and grumbling.
Shadow meeting Mrs. Taylor was entirely due to his ongoing feud with Zack. Zack had mentioned to his mom the "demon cat" at the Ranger house while visiting her in the nursing home one day, and was stunned to find out his mom had a cat that looked similar to how Zack described Shadow. After spending the entire afternoon listening to his mother retell tales of her old pet, Zack sheepishly asked Trini if they could have Shadow visit his mom as a surprise. In a heartbeat Trini agreed, though she was internally wary that Shadow would possibly react to Mrs. Taylor the same way he did to her son. Her fear was misplaced however, because as soon as she unzipped his carrier in Mrs. Taylor's room, Shadow was off, bounding out of the cage and onto the bed, before calming his demeanor and moving carefully towards Mrs. Taylor, gently settling on her lap and beginning to purr, as though he knew she was fragile. Mrs. Taylor was thrilled, and wasted no time in roasting her son about how the cat liked her more than him. Zack responded with grumbles about how he would never bring the damn cat for a visit again. They wound up bringing him every other week, and the nurses kept a box of treats stocked for him in the break room.
The same treatment went for the twins, as Mateo and Adrien begged Trini to bring Shadow to the Gomez resident for an afternoon to play with him. Once again, Trini was reluctant, worried that two energetic boys would be too much for Shadow. Again, she was proved wrong. Her normally judgey cat wasted no time in playing with the twins, actively hunting the laser pointer she'd given them, or pouncing on the homemade mouse toy the boys had spent the previous afternoon making. Shadow didn't even nip when Mateo grabbed his fur a little too tight, only let out a disgruntled meow before proceeding to rub against his legs once he was put down on the ground again. Trini's parents, were another issue. June couldn't walk into the room without having Shadow growl or hiss at her, which she complained loudly about to Trini any chance she got. "Ese gato es una amenaza", "El mismo diablo está en ese gato", "Ese gato tiene asesinato en sus ojos, lo juro", all statements June had made on the various occasions Trini brought Shadow around. Shadow didn't help his standing by knocking the cross on the wall upside down one evening, the last evening Shadow was invited to the Gomez residence. All following Twin/Cat play dates took place at the Ranger house.
Needless to say, Shadow made a prominent mark on the Rangers, and was a staple in all their hearts, whether he appreciated them or not. But nobody could match Trini's affection for the cat, or Kim's for the matter. While it was obvious Shadow was Trini's baby, usually following right behind her footsteps or riding on her shoulder, he shared a special relationship with Kim. A relationship in which, for the first time in a long time, Kim wasn't the first one in the room when Trini would have a nightmare she woke up screaming from. A certain furball would always beat her to the punch, Ranger powers be damned, and Kim more often than not would find a still obviously shaken Trini clutching Shadow, tears slowing as she stroked his fur. Trini still needed Kim's cuddles to fully calm down of course, but Shadow's presence just helped her calm down all the faster, and after a few of Trini's more violent nightmares, Kim noticed Shadow would spend a lot more time in Trini's room at night, sitting on her dresser and carefully keeping watch over the room, even hopping down to check the windows if a suspicious noise caught his attention, or getting in the bed with Trini if he detected her heart rate increasing. Any animal that was so devoted to her girlfriend's comfort was an amazing one in Kim's book, and in Trini's as well. Even if they went to the pet store to look at puppies that day, Kim was damn sure glad they left with Shadow instead.