Chapter Text
Amity was curled up on her perch from atop the bookshelf when the door in the kitchen burst open. It was her new owner, an annoying human she and her siblings had the misfortune of being found by. She watched as he brought in a large cardboard box into the room, his movements rushed, almost panicked. Amity huffed, and turned her head away from the human. She was grateful that he had the kindness to take in three runaway cats, but she couldn't help but miss the silence of her old home. And judging by her owner's loud curses coming from his mouth, this box he was carrying was the center of all the noise he was making. She turned to see what all the fuss was about when there was a strange squeak that reached Amity’s ears. Her owner's voice was filled with relief and as Amity watched the scene unfold before her, she grew even more curious. It seemed like hours before her owner got up from his place on the floor and left the room, going to another part of the house.
Amity saw this as her chance to see what all the fuss was about. She leaped down from her perch and slowly made her way to the box. She could smell water and the stench of stagnant mud. She wrinkled up her nose at the scent. She could hear small squeaks. That pricked her ears. They didn’t sound like the mice she caught, no. These squeaks sounded like a puppy whimpering but not quite. She tried standing on her hind legs and peering over the edge, but the box was too tall. So she jumped up onto the couch and peered down into the box. Looking back up at her was a pair of fearful brown eyes. Amity tilted her head. The animal in the box looked something like a cat, but it was long like one of those sausage dogs. Instead of elegant pointed ears, there were small but cute rounded ears. And the creature's tail was thick and sturdy compared to Amity’s tail.
Amity tilted her head in confusion at the sight before her. This wasn’t a cat, or even a dog for that matter.
“What are you?” Amity said with a tilt of her head.
"I'm an otter," the animal said with a smile. "I haven't seen an animal like you around the river."
"I'm a cat," Amity said. "So you're from the river?"
"Yep," the otter chirped. "Well, I lived there with my mami until I got separated from her."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Amity said.
"Well it's thanks to that two legger that I'm alive. If he didn't find me stuck in the mud, I don’t know what would have happened."
"Mittens, we have a guest,” the human said as he walked into the room.
“Your name is Mittens?” the otter said.
“No, my name is Amity, not Mittens,” Amity said with a growl. Amity noticed the otter was cowering in the corner of the box. “Oh, I’m sorry if I scared you. It’s just my siblings also tease me with that name and it bothers me.”
“Oh,” the otter said. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s alright, you wouldn’t have known anyway.” Amity was pensive for a moment as she watched the human kneel down with a towel and started cleaning off the mud that coated the otter’s fur. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Luz,” the otter said.
The days after this strange meeting were quite the change up for Amity. As Luz settled into her new home, she would try to follow the kitten everywhere she went. It was strange at first, and though her two siblings, Edric and Emira found the new addition to the household to be quite amusing, Amity still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of this new member who always wanted to play with her. It also didn’t help that Luz would bounce in place with a stupidly cute grin on her face either.
One day Amity sat on the windowsill staring out into the back yard. She remembered how she would do this back at her old home. She would daydream about all the possible adventures she would have outside. It was an odd feeling, being stuck behind glass, never to set a single paw on the green grass that went on for miles as far as Amity could see. Now that she was here in a new home, the forest beyond the yard called to her in a very similar way. What was there? Was that where Luz was from? How big is a river?
“Whatcha doing, Amity?” Luz said as she scrambled up the windowsill to Amity’s side.
“Oh, nothing,” Amity said. “Just daydreaming.”
“Oh?” Luz tilted her head, “What about?”
“Just normal things I guess. Like what’s beyond those trees, or what the human does all day besides talking to a box.” Amity shrugged and she wrapped her tail around her paws.
Luz was quiet for a moment as she looked out the window.
“Would you like to see?” Luz said.
Amity met her eyes. There was that familiar glow of excitement and something else Amity couldn’t quite place, and for some reason it made her heart flutter.
“See what?” Amity couldn’t help but smile.
“The forest, silly.” Luz stuck out her tongue. “You’re always in here moping around, so why not go on an adventure?”
“I don’t know,” Amity said, her ears pinned back. “What if we get lost?”
“Oh don’t be such a scaredy cat, pun intended,” Luz said as she jumped from the window sill. “We won’t go far enough to get lost.” With that she turned and scampered towards the cat door, her nails clicking on the hardwood floor.
“Wait,” Amity called after her. She jumped down and followed the energetic otter. Luz was already waiting for her by the door, and she was bouncing in place.
“So, are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?” Luz’s eyes were bright, and the fluttering in Amity’s chest increased tenfold.
“After you,” Amity said, and they both jumped through the flap.
Edric and Emira were sleeping on the patio table, though Amity and Luz paid them no heed. They wandered through the grass and Amity relished the soft feeling of the grass beneath her paws. She never got to do this back at the manor. The sunlight also felt much warmer on her back out here than it streaming through a window.
The two bounded over to the fence before they exchanged a look before they slipped between the boards. Right away Amity noticed the forest was a lot cooler than the open space of the yard, and it was a lot fresher. The two bounded through the undergrowth, each taking turns on trying to pounce on each other. Amity hid behind a tree stump as Luz stood on her hind legs trying to get a good view of the forest around her. Amity saw this as her chance and leaped out from behind her hiding place and tackled the unsuspecting otter.
“Gotcha!” Amity laughed as Luz squirmed trying to escape before the otter gave up. They both started laughing, and Amity felt warm inside when she met Luz’s smiling face.
“Amity?” Luz said.
“Yeah?”
“This might sound kind of weird but, you have really pretty eyes.” Luz looked away for a moment. Amity buried her head into Luz’s neck, a loud uncontrollable purr escaping her.
“Thank you,” Amity said. “Your eyes are pretty too.”
It was at this moment that Amity thought the forest was one of the most magical places she had ever been. And when it came time for the two to return home, Amity couldn’t help but feel like she was bringing part of that magic back with her as she walked with her newfound companion.
Later that night as Amity was curled up in her bed, she was roused from her dosing as she heard the familiar pawsteps of Luz who was now standing on the edge of her bed. Luz looked at her then shyly to the floor.
“Amity?” Luz said.
“Hm?”
“Can I snuggle with you?” Luz said.
There was a beat of silence before Amity answered.
“Yes, you can… snuggle with me. Yep.” She averted her eyes, and the tip of her tail twitched anxiously, but that went unnoticed by Luz who crawled into the bed with her. It felt so warm, and Amity couldn’t help but start to purr as Luz snuggled into her side. Amity rested her head on top of Luz’s and dozed off.
