Chapter Text
It was a beautiful night in the city. The stars twinkled in the sky above the small restaurant, where the newly engaged couple sat together and ate their food in a peaceful silence, looking up to smile at one another every so often. The man on the left, who was wearing a suit with a name tag that read 'Sky' ate a large steak, while the other man had a nice salmon. It was so wild. The two were engaged down, to be married. This was probably the best day in both of their lives. Nothing could be done to ruin it. It was just two men, in love under the beautiful night sky. And no matter what anyone said about them, that would be enough for them.
BAM! The wall of the restaurant exploded right next to the two, sending ash and brick flying at their table. Nothing hit either of the men, but their table broke in half and their plates smashed on the floor. Through the now broken wall, three figures emerged quickly, hopping over the large piece of wall that now sat on the ground in-between two pieces of table.
"Out of the way, innocent civilians!" The first runner yelled- a small ginger cat wearing a hat and a pair of boots. The second figure didn't say anything- another cat, also wearing boots, though this one was wearing a mask instead of a hat and was black. The last figure followed a bit behind the others, a tiny dog with a dirty sock covering it's body.
"I'm soo sorry," the dog said, stopping on his tracks to observe the damage that the explosion caused. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you two? You two are very cute together by the way, I totally ship- AHHH!" The dog was cut off by a flaming arrow almost hitting him dead in the face.
"Perrito, get a move on!" Puss called out, turning to the dog who was way behind himself and Kitty.
"Sorry, gotta go!" Perrito said hurriedly to the couple, scattering off to go join the other two in their escape from five masked followers, all wielding bow and arrows that were on fire.
Kitty scooped Perrito into her arms as he finally made it to the group and began to run beside Puss, with the large dog in her arms. "Perrito, you gotta stop getting stuck behind like that. You only have one life, and I wouldn't want to see that wolf again." She smirked slightly and turned to Puss, who's face went a little pale.
"We don't talk about the wolf." Puss said quickly, not forgetting to shoot a glare in Kitty's direction, who responded to him with a small laugh, only to turn into scared coughing when a flaming arrow whizzed right past her head.
Puss turned back at the masked attackers, who were gaining distance on the team. He looked around for some sort of way to escape. There was a wagon they could ride out of there, but it was off to the side. Maybe they could turn and fight, but it was too risky. That's when Puss's eyes fell upon the bridge the group were running towards, a drawbridge that was just beginning to be pulled up in an attempt to stop the three. "We must go faster, Amistad! We can lose them at the bridge!"
The others nodded at him in understanding of what he was thinking. Kitty set Perrito down to go faster herself, and Perrito got ready to go full force. Puss glanced back at the men gaining on them, realizing that they would probably catch them before they reached the bridge. He sighed and began to slow down. "Hurry, we're getting close!" Puss yelled to Kitty and Perrito to give the impression he was still running with them. Then he stopped and turned to face down their chasers, pulling out his sword slowly.
The chasers stopped a few feet away from Puss, pointing their weapons at him as they awaited the reason why he suddenly stopped. "You have messed with the wrong cat, hombres, and the wrong cats friends." He pointed his sword forward with a small grin, though the fear in his eyes as the flaming arrows pointed right at his head could not be hidden. "So- Fear me, if you dare. You are in the presence of PUSS IN-" A flaming arrow shot towards Puss, his only protection from immediate death were his quick reflexes, jumping out of the way just in time for the flames to just knick his fur. He let out a guttural meow and landed on his feet, charging at the men.
"Tuez le petit chat!" One of the men yelled, pointing at Puss. The others immediately began shooting at Puss, each arrow getting closer and closer to hitting him than the last.
"I have no idea what you just said-" Puss paused to duck under an arrow that was heading right for his eyes. He then shot back up to a standing position. "But I am not sure it was very nice."
"Nous voulons que tu brûles, Puss in Boots!" The one man yelled again, making it clear he was most likely the head of the little gang. A target.
"I still have no idea what you're sayingg." Puss said with a grin, dodging and weaving the endless fire upon him as he made his way closer to the main attacker. But right as he was about to reach him, one of the men ran forward and kicked Puss at his side, causing him to tumble onto his back with a gasp for air. Puss closed his eyes for a few seconds as he fell to the hard ground, and when he opened his eyes once more and looked up, there was an arrow pointed right at him. He wouldn't have time to dodge this one, it was too close and he was in pain. He heard the sound of the string being pulled back, and he shut his eyes once more.
And the next sounds he heard were a slam and a startled yell. Puss opened his eyes cautiously and immediately noticed that the man, along with the weapon that was aimed at him, were gone. And in his place stood Kitty Softpaws, breathing heavily away from Puss before turning to him. "Are you okay?" She called worriedly, falling to her knees next to Puss and brushing some dirt off his fur.
"Sí, I am alright Kitty." He responded calmly, slowly sitting up.
"Good." Kitty said, helping him get back to his feet as Puss began to see that there were no more conscious attackers, all of them knocked out on the ground. He turned back to Kitty, only to met with a sharp pain to the face as a hand slapped across it. "Que estabas pensando? Are you stupid? Is that it? You really thought we would just leave you behind?" Puss was silent, his eyes turning to the ground so he didn't have to look her in the eyes.
She sighed and her anger faded out. "Just...Don't do that again. Please. We all get away or none of us do. Because-"
"Because we're teeaam FREINDSHIP!" Perrito yelled as he ran up to the two, diving into Puss's arms. Puss laughed and glanced at Kitty, who was trying to hide her forming smile. The name was still extremely stupid, and the two had tried changing it many times, but it had grown on them quite a bit in the last year.
Perrito jumped back down to the ground and turned to look up at Puss. "Are you okay, Puss? You were with us one second and gone the next. Kitty was so worried about you-"
"Was not. I was annoyed by your antics more than anything." Kitty interjected.
"But, we saw you back there in danger and we came to save you! And look, they're not chasing us anymore." Perrito flashed his eyes towards the unconscious men. "Well, it was all Kitty who saved you of course cause she's an amazing fighter, but I was emotional support!"
"Don't sell yourself short on your fighting skills, Perrito. You totally beat up that guy back in the mines." Puss teased, fixing up his hat as he began to scan the area for somewhere to go before the men awoke from their forced slumber.
Perrito thought about it for a second, before he nodded slowly. "Well, yeah I did do that. But that was only because he insulted my besties. I'm not really a fighting guy...I want to make friends. Of course I know sometimes people don't want to be friends, but it's always worth the try at least." He gave a thumbs-up at his last sentence, his innocent smile warming the two cats hearts as always.
As Puss looked around the area, his eyes fell onto a small pathway that lead into the woods. He thought about it, and then turned to the others. "I have somewhere we can lay low for a little bit. It'll be boring, but...Better bored than dead." Puss said with a shrug. The others shrugged to, so Puss began to lead them onward to the path and eventually deep into the woods. The night sky made the path dark, but the moon light made things at least decently bright, at least enough to see.
That fact did not kill Puss's nerves though. As he lead Team Friendship along the winding path, he began to get goosebumps as he heard distant sounds and swore he saw figures in the corners of his eyes. Puss turned his attention deep into the trees and, for just a split second, he swore he saw red eyes looking at him from the darkness. The wolf...It was him. No, no, it couldn't be. His breathing picked up and his fur rose as goosebumps spread across his body. Why now? What did he do?
"Puss, are you okay?" Kitty asked, softly touching Puss's arm as she noticed his sudden change in demenor. Puss glanced at her, before turning back to the trees. Upon looking again, he realized that what he thought were red eyes were actually just two fireflies, flying together before disappering into the trees.
He gulped and nodded his head in response to the question slowly. "Of course I am fine Kitty, I am-" Puss paused as he looked into Kitty's unbelieving eyes and turned away. He thought about it for a few seconds, and he knew he couldn't hide it. With a sigh, he turned back to her. "Sometimes...When it is dark, I see him in the corner of my eyes. The wolf. Death. His face, his sickles, his glowing red eyes." He took a deep breath as he glanced behind himself. "I know he's gone. He left me to live my life on the wishing star. But sometimes I get scared again. What if I've stopped living my life to the fullest and he decides to come back for me. What if my time is up and he comes to take me for good? What if-"
"Puss!" Kitty grabbed his shoulder, stopping him on his tracks and turning him towards her. "Don't worry. He's gone." She reassures him, rubbing her hand against his soft arm. "And if he comes back, he'll have to go through me." She says, a strong confidence in her voice that made Puss feel safe. "And Perrito." She added as an afterthought.
"Huh?" Perrito tilted his head in confusion as to why his name was mentioned.
"Nothing." Kitty said with a small chuckle. Puss smiled, before beginning to walk again. After a few minutes of a deep, yet rather calming silence, the three finally began to see a small wooden cabin appear on the side of the path.
"AH, we are here! I've hidden here many times in my lone thieving days. Come along!" Puss motioned his hand as he pushed the door open and entered the cabin. Perrito ran in quickly after him in excitement to explore the new place, while Kitty was more slow to enter, shutting the door behind her back.
The cabin consisted of four rooms. There was a main area upon entering the cabin, with three doors along the walls. The main room was a living room feeling area, with a dusty blue couch, a broken television, a large rug, a few lamps with dim lightning, and a couple of empty plant pots, the plants that used to be in them probably long dead at this point.
The door on the left lead to a kitchen, with all the essential kitchen materials- A stove, a fridge, a microwave, and a pantry with canned foods inside. The door to the right lead to a bedroom, which had two large beds, definitely made for something human sized. There was also an old crib, though it was very dilapidated. The last door, which was at the end of the main room, lead to a simple small bathroom. A description of what a bathroom looks like would be pointless. It's a bathroom.
After a little bit of exploring and fixing things up a little to make the place feel a little bit more comfortable, the pair made their way into the bedroom and got ready to go to sleep after a long day. Perrito claimed the crib, despite Puss and Kitty arguing for him to use one of the regular beds. Then, the two cats climbed into separate beds, and fell into a deep sleep quickly.
Puss managed to stay up the latest, staring up at the ceiling. He sighed happily as sleep overtook him. This was the life. He was happy. Despite his fear of the wolf still existing deep within, he was happy that they had met. Because if they hadn't, he wouldn't have any of this. He would probably be dead after living a lonely life. And the fact he could look back on his life and smile was enough. And now, it was time for some sweet dreams...
Until Puss suddenly woke up in the dead of night. He had been asleep for at least two hours, so the reason why he was suddenly awake again was confusing his brain. And then he heard it. It was distant, but he knew that tune from anywhere. Distantly, he listened to the familiar whistle that accompanied the wolf's appearance. Puss sat up quickly and tried to find the source of the whistle. Maybe he was asleep right now. Or maybe he was imagining it. Yes, that was it, he was imagining it. He heard about something like this somewhere. A year after heavy fear, it would manifest itself once more in the mind. Puss hoped out of bed and pulled his belt, boots, and hat on. He listened to the sound and tracked it down to coming from inside the cabin.
"You're not real." Puss said quietly to himself, sneaking out of the room to not wake the others. He pushed the door open and looked out, seeing nothing. But the whistling was louder now. He was getting closer. That was when he tracked down the sound to right across from where he stood, in the kitchen. "You're not real." Puss repeated as he slowly made his way towards the kitchen door. Fear filled his body, but he pushed past it. He had to confront this thing. This hallucination. "You are not real!" Puss repeated, louder than before. He charged at the door and kicked it open.
He was immediately met with a large figure leaning over the counter. A long flowing cloak, dancing in the wind. A tail peaking through the back of the cloak. And two ears, ears of a wolf. Puss stumbled back as a small chuckle filled the room, a deep one he recognized too well. His fur stood up on edge. He felt like he was about to panic. The figure turned slowly, looking down at Puss. His long muzzle was in a slight smile, and the glowing red eyes pierced into Puss's soul. Death had returned for him.
"Hello, Gato."