Chapter Text
“W… where is he?” A shaky and exhausted voice whispered in the darkness.
All around there were signs of a storm in the early morning. The grass was muddy with puddles spread throughout. The sky was dark with light failing to force its way through the clouds to signal the end of rain. In the middle of it all, a barn falling apart at the hinges had water dripping from the entrance and its beaten down holes. The sounds of the long gone storm were the only response to the question the voice received.
Pained, the voice asked again,
“Where is he?” The voice asked slow and sternly once more.
The question was directed at a hunched over shadow in the back of the barn, and the mirage gave a grieving shudder in response.
“I promise I tried...I promise I tried,” the shadow breathed out.
--
Tiny white paws sprinted across a muddy brush. Here, the rain was still going in a light drizzle and it created a flooded path that rippled restlessly alongside the hurried footsteps. Blood followed in the little animal’s wake and the sound of a far out cawing echoed in the trees, scaring all the mice and rabbits inside their burrows.
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“You were supposed to be watching him!” the first voice hissed in grief, “I left him to you! How could this possibly happen? All you had to do was stay inside!”
The Shadow in the barn lifted their head slowly and let their pained blue eyes turn to face the accusations head on.
“I’m going to go looking for him,” they responded in a pained growl. Frustration flooded the blue-eyed shadow’s face, but a solemn feeling consumed them, “I know it looks bad now, but -”
“Do you honestly think he’s survived in this storm?!” The Voice hissed before the response could finish, backing them into a corner, “we could feel the tremors from inside the house, there is flooding well over our feet, and you’re going to go looking for him? For what? So you can bring a corpse back to me and think that’s going to make up for it?”
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The sprinting and panicked paws got suddenly interrupted by a protruding vine in the mud and the little white figure tripped and went tumbling in the mud. He went tumbling in a circle, the dirt and gunk dirtying his bright fur beyond recognition. The loss of breath and blood overwhelmed the small kitten into a dizzied state, but he couldn’t stop moving; above him, the shadows of a bird began to circle and he followed it with his eyes carefully while he tried to think of an escape.
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“You don’t understand,” the blue eyed shadow began to argue, “I need you to trust me...I know it’s hard to grasp, and I can’t explain why, but I have…” the voice hesitated, “I have a gut feeling , our son is alright, so please...please...”
“Our son… our son…,” the voice whispered, “our son… our son…” the voice began to crack into tears, “he’s gone… he’s gone…”
“He’s not - please listen to me, please…”
---
The kitten’s eyes managed to pin its sights on an empty burrow within a tree. Shakily standing, he made his way to the hole watching the shadow of the bird intently… noticing it was coming in slowly to try and snatch him unexpectedly.
The kitten smirked at the bird’s cockiness, fully intending to take advantage of it.
----
The broken down barn was only filled with the sound of wails now, the loud echoes of bawling and yowling suffocated the space. The shadow and two more small kitten figures surrounded the crying voice and sat with them as they grieved. Their body was shaking uncontrollably, and they were entirely and wholly inconsolable.
The blue eyed shadow had given up on trying to convince them now. They simply rested their head on the other’s and did what they could to comfort them.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… it’s my fault...it’s my fault…”
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The kitten was in agonizing pain, but he knew he had one more burst energy in him to get this right. He mockingly hobbled closer and closer to his destination while giving the stalking bird the impression he was going to be an easy snatch. If he ran all the way there he would surely tire himself out and not make it, but if he could be patient... and drag himself to the burrows of the tree while the hawk took its sweet time on perceivably easy prey… then...
The moment the kitten got close to the entrance of the tree, The Hawk decided it was time to swoop in.
Sensing it, the kitten used the last of his energy to sprint and hurl himself into the tree’s burrow. The Hawk, not expecting his prey to be so agile began to dart in faster. Letting out a haunting echoing caw The Hawk prepares to throw all his weight into catching the kitten.
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“It’s my fault…” The Shadow whispered again. The crying from The Voice had worn itself into an exhausted sob, but The Shadow still wanted to be by their side. There was no way their son’s survival could be explained right now, but… but…
I know he’s alright, The Shadow thought to themself, he was raised to survive…He’s definitely survived…somehow, someway he has, and I promise when I find him, this family will be able to live together again.
This family will be able to live together again.
----
By the skin of his tail, The Hawk’s talons barely managed to scrape him and the kitten made way to dive head first into the tree. With a heavy thud into the far back of the trunk, The Hawk uselessly jabbed his beak in and let out an angry caw at losing his prey. Winded and exhausted, the kitten shook his head and pressed his entire body as far into the trunk as he could and hissed at the entrance. The Hawk, simply squinted and backed out slowly, letting its presence linger as if to say this isn’t over . In an instant, he was up in the air, flapping his wings away to rest in the trees above.
The kitten waited until there was no movement, no signs the hawk was coming back in, before he slouched over and collapsed in exhaustion. The blood dripping from his feet and back covered the dirt and leaves beneath him, though he had no mind to clean it. He tried to calm his own labored breathing, and before he knew it, he was blacking out.
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“Our family won’t be able to be together again for a long time,” a red furred and lanky male cat’s voice cracked in pain while he smiled down at a small grey and red kitten wrapped up neatly in leaves like a blanket. It was snowing, and the kitten was sound asleep, comfortable.
In the distance, the sound of yowling cats could be heard echoing through the trees. The sounds were distorted in anger and agony, and it heavily contrasted the sweeter sight of the kitten’s slow breathing as he rested.
Twitching his ear, discomforted by the sound, the older red cat picked the kitten up and tenderly placed him into the bushes.
“The way this place is now will not be yours to inherit,” his face twisted with grief as he watched the sleeping figure, “It can’t be. Not if I can help it... I promise,” the red cat whispered.
Backing away from the bush, the red cat gave a solemn look at the brush before closing his eyes and stalking away. Turning a determined gaze toward the sound of wailing cats, he headed straight out.