Chapter Text
Deep in the heart of the city, where the stone walls are dark with grime and the air smells of trash, lives a group of cats that have banded together for protection against dogs and the humans.
A small silver cat swiftly prowls through the dank water, her ears alert for any sounds around her. Green eyes glinting in the dark. She skirts the edge of a large dumpster before jumping onto a series of boxes to stand at the top and peer into the dump.
She sniffs intently, with a small grimace at the reek, before striking a paw out and catching a rat by its tail. With a shriek the rat hits the concrete below and before it can regain its baring's she's upon it as fast as lightning, with her teeth in its neck.
"Finally caught something I see." She sat down as another cat slide in from a hole in the chain fence opposite her. Her slim body and white-grey coat speckled with dirt and grease, her brown eyes shown in the lamp light.
"Not enough to feed more than one cat, this place is so bad even rats don't want to live here anymore Petals." The silver She-cat sighed sadly as she poked the meager prey, being able to see it's ribs as she moves it.
Petals looks down at the prey as well before standing and jumping up to the dumpster. "We'll find more prey Silver, have faith. Maybe Owl or Thrush caught another bird or two today." She said as she pawed at the dark trash bag, digging through its contents.
Silver sighed as she nodded to her sister, "Let's head back, I don't think we'll find much else here." She picks up her rat by the tail and begins to head back the way she came. Petals let out a mirrow of frustration and wrinkles her nose at her now reeking paw.
"I can't believe the smell of this stuff, how come humans leave this stuff to rot?" She says with frustration as she bounds after her sister.
"Humans do not understand our hardships, they don't hunt for their food like we do, so why should they savor the whole thing?" Silver replies softly, her voice muffled by the rat that swings from her muzzle.
They walk in silence down the dark alleys before slinking into a small hole in the side of an abandoned building.
"Oh Silver, you've brought a rat!" A brown and white she-cat says as she bounds up from a small rubble pile. She greets them both with a lick and brings the rat over to a small pile of food.
"I'm sorry Icey, that's all we could find tonight." Silver says sadly, as she chuffs her paw against the dirty floor.
Icey looks down at the small amount they have gathered before looking up at the other cats lying about. Raven, A black furred tom with grey eyes is sitting beneath an old desk, sorting through a pile of dried leaves. Holly, A black furred she-cat sits with Stripes, a dark grey black striped tom with blue eyes, they talk to each other in hushed tones. Rocky, A mud brown furred tom with grey eyes and two nasty looking scars across his left eye is sharing tongues with Black, a white and grey furred tom with black ears and brown eyes.
"Don't worry dear, Owl and Thrush still haven't come back, and even if they don't bring anything, what we have will do us good." The She-cat mews, "Look we even have a small bird too tonight, Holly caught it." She gives a pleased purr before looking at the entrance as two more cats enter.
Neither of the two cats carry any prey and are limping heavily, the giant brown furred tom with fresh claw marks across his muzzle while the black tom favors one of his hind legs.
"Raven! Thrush and Owl have been hurt!" Icey calls as soon as she see's them, she races over and begins licking Thrush's muzzle to stop the bleeding. Owl gently flops over, his sides heaving as Holly sniffs him over.
"What's happened? Let me see them!" The Grey eyed tom yells as he slips through the other cats and begins inspecting Thrush's muzzle.
"The bleeding as mostly stopped, but these are pretty deep. Stripes, fetch me some cobwebs!" Raven calls as he begins to look over Owl's hind leg. "Your leg is just a pulled muscle, it should heal up just fine within a moon. Holly, get him some food please." Raven says as he moves back over to Thrush and presses the cobwebs onto his muzzle. "This should do it for now, just rest and I'll see what I can find for the pain." Raven says as he marches over to a little area under a broken desk, that has a small hole in the floor to store plants.
Thrush groans before starting to talk, "We were attacked by these other cats, I've never seen cats that mangy and nasty before." He said with pained eyes. "They seemed unhinged almost, they looked like they were starving to death." He said before laying down.
"They stole the rat we caught but not before we gave a good fight, we had to run when more started showing up." Owl said from his place on the floor, lapping tiredly at his front paws before cleaning his ears.
The others stared in disbelief, 'Rabid cats? They weren't safe here then.'
"Icey we shouldn't stay here!" Stripes calls out worriedly from his spot next to Holly and Owl. Others begin to agree and mutter to each other with concern and fear.
Silver looks Icey in the eye, "We can't fight them, they injured two of our best fighters while being so hungry. No telling what they'll do for food." She says with a shake of her head before glancing at the small pile of prey that managed to get, "They may even kill us for the food we have here." She says softly.
Icey looks down at her paws, listening to the other cats talking before getting up and walking over to her small nest on an old office chair. "Black and Rocky, I wish to speak with you two on something." The small she-cat says before sitting just in front of her chair.
A white and grey furred tom with Black ears breaks from the crowd of cats with a Muddy brown furred tom beside him. Rocky turns his head to look over the other cats before continuing, but across his left eye run two scars.
Silver and Petals sit together and silently wash each others pelts, occasionally looking over at the three cats talking with their heads bowed together.
Eventually, Icey breaks away and jumps onto her chair and sits down, Rocky and Black sit on either side as Icey clears her throat and gathers all of the groups attention.
Silver and Petals walk forward and sit with their tails wrapped neatly around their paws, Holly and Stripes help Owl sit up and they turn to look up at Icey. Thrush grunts quietly as he sits up and stares silently up and Raven comes over to sit next to Thrush, turning expectant Grey eyes onto Icey.
Icey regards her small group with solemn blue eyes before addressing them. " I know we've only ever known this place, but If what we have heard about these cats is true, that they are going mad from hunger, then maybe it is time we left and found a better place to call home." She barely finishes before cats are calling out in surprise.
"Where will we go?" Stripes calls out, "We don't know of any other place." He says with sad Blue eyes.
Beside him Holly nods, her grey eyes showing concern. "What about Owl? He can't move yet!" She meows worriedly.
"We won't leave anyone behind, we will wait a few days. But we can't stay too long. We are already losing prey and we don't know how long until we are found here." Icey says before looking down at the two cats sitting below her. "Black and Rocky have both agreed to try and find a better place to stay, I've given them permission to scout around, but to come back within two moons." With that announcement, they other cats again pick up with loud talking and concerned glances but they soon settle down when they realize Icey has turned in her chair and curled up.
Silver and Petals look to at each other before Petals shrugs and goes to the food pile and grabs a small rat to share with Thrush. Meanwhile, Silver goes over to Black and Rocky who have moved to a corner of the Building, with their heads together.
"Where will you go first?" She asks quietly as she sits down in front of them. They look up at her surprised before Black begins to talk, "We were thinking about finding the secret tunnels that lead outside the city." He says with a hushed voice, with a quiver of excitement.
The grey she cat blinks in surprise before tilting her head, "I thought those didn't exist, that they were just old kit tales?" She said with amusement.
The older tom shook his head and looked at Black, "They exist, I've heard stories of others who have apparently traveled them. They say it's how the rats travel but that it's big enough for us to fit too." He mews and straightens up, "And I know a few Cats who owe me, so I think we'll be in luck." He gives a pleased growl, his twin scars crinkle with his eye when he shows his teeth.
Black looks around, "We'll leave once the suns up, and we'll be back as soon as possible, but for now we're going to eat and then sleep." He says before looking Silver in the eye, "You and Petals take care of Icey for us while we're gone, alright?" He says, his tail coming up to lay on her shoulder.
"Of course Black, with our lives." She says with a curt nod of her head and a flash of determination in her green eyes.
Satisfied, Black gives a soft pleased purr before giving her an affectionate lick and continues on to the prey pile, Rocky gives her a pleased nod and follows after him. Silver turns to watch them, stunned at the way things have turned out. She goes over to her little nest she shares with her sister, an old box. She curls up inside and slowly drifts off, dreaming of running through a beautiful green forest during warm season.
Little does she know as she dreams, that this dream is her future.