ColdStar's Life - Part 2

    Icey had woken up and heard voices in another room in the house, and to make it worse, she had heard a new voice with them too. When the sound of the catflap had been heard she had leaped up to the window to see what the strange kitties were doing.

    She had seen the large white cat, now accompanied by a small white cat with red rings, leaping over the fence and out into the forest. The other five cats had raced to catch up, each in turn leaping up and over the fence. She had watched them leaving when the blue tabby she-cat had looked at her again.

    Icey ducked, but she did not flee this time. She was not afraid of all the cats anymore, just the big white one and his new friend. She peered out at the blue kitty just enough to see as she turned and leaped down to the other side of the fence.

    ''I wonder what the kitties are doing?'' Icey mewed to herself as the blue kitty disappeared on the other side of the fence. ''What could they possibly want to do in the forest?''

    Icey suddenly heard a rumble from her stomach and felt a hollow ache. ''Ugh...'' she groaned.

    She leaped down from the windowsill and up onto the bed, over the past few weeks her strength and agility had boosted. She padded up to the male owner and pawed his side, ''Feed me!''she mewed. When he gave no response, she padded over to the female owner, ''Why won't you feed me?'' she wailed.

    Icey looked in between her owners for a moment, then dashed down to the end of the bed and leaped off. She dashed down the hallway angrily and into the kitchen where the food was normally at. The food bowl was empty. She pawed at the food bag next to it, it had already been opened and the contents inside eaten by the other cats. She clawed the hole open larger, then squeezed inside looking for any piece of the kibble.

    She found a few pellets of cat food and gulped them up happily, but it was not enough. She needed more, for she hadn't eaten at all in several days. When she was sure the bag was empty, she squeezed back out of the hole. ''Where did the twolegs keep their kibble...?'' she wondered aloud.

    She paced around the kitchen, trying to remember. ''Maybe they were in those cabinets...?'' she leaped onto the counter and stood up on her back legs underneath a cabinet, then reached out with her paw and pawed at the cabinet door. ''How do they open these things!'' she exclaimed angrily.

    After awhile of pawing at the door she had finally managed to open it. She leaped into the cabinet and looked at the contents inside. There were some flat white paper things, obviously not edible. She also found some more paper things, but they were kind of cone shaped but without the tops. Then there was a box with bright vivid colors on it and some of the twoleg's language written down on it.

    Icey continued to rummage around the cabinet, but found nothing edible. She leaped out of the cabinet in frustration, hunger gnawing at her belly. She padded, annoyed, out of the kitchen and into the living room. She glanced at the door. ''Maybe.... I should go outside, to the forest like those cats did. Maybe there is food in there...?'' she wondered.

    Icey padded up to the door and stared at it curiously for a moment, then she pushed the catflap open and padded outside.

         *          *          *

    Misty landed on the grass with a soft thump, she didn't have time to look around at her surroundings because all her siblings were gone. The only trace was a tuft of Snowy's fur on a bush, with her and her siblings, including the cat Red, scent leading down that direction. Misty was off in a blur, rushing down the scent trail trying to catch up to her siblings. Soon she saw Cold's identical tail pushing through the bushes just up ahead, and Misty gave off a quick burst of speed to catch up. She leaped over the bush and landed almost on top of her twin, who let out a small squeak of surprise.

    "Oh, it's just you Misty. I thought you were some wild animal!'' Cold mewed when she realized it was only her sister.

    Misty continued padding when she mewed, ''Yeah, just me. I'm not a fox.''

    Cold giggled, ''if you were i'd be crow food.''

    Misty questioned, ''Crow food?''

    Cold replied simply, ''Because crows eat the dead things.''

    ''Oh.'' Misty meowed, still not completely understanding where the phrase had come from. ''I guess that makes sense.'' because, in a way, it did make some sort of sense.

    Cold nodded then said, ''We should hurry up, the others are leaving us behind.'' Then she took off at a running pace to catch up with the others.

    Misty followed her twin and they raced through the bushes until they caught sight of their siblings again. They slowed down and kept a trotting pace, walking side-by-side just behind them. Misty and Cold used to never get along when their owners were alive, but the crisis seemed to have brought them close together. Now they seemed inseparable.

    Soon the small band of cats reached a large clearing in the woods. It was soft and covered lightly with dirt. A stream ran down through the edge of the clearing, it gurgled softly and a watery scent came up from it.

    ''What's that scent?'' Cold asked curiously as she peered into the stream. Some small fish swam close to the shore. ''Fish? They smell like that?''

    Misty padded up next to Cold and said, ''I suppose they do.''

    Crystal, Snowy, and Clawz joined them at the streams edge and they all were commenting on how pretty it was, a frog, the scents, and much more.

    Fang padded up behind them and hissed, ''We're not here to enjoy the scenery, kitties.'' He flicked them with his tail annoyed.

    "What are we supposed to do then? There's nothing else to do here.'' Clawz asked.

    Fang snapped, ''You get supplies to make a bed! Go hunt! There's plenty to do!'' His intense gaze swept among the cats yet again, and he ordered, ''Cold, Misty, Clawz, go with Red and get some bedding. Snowy and Crystal, you'll come with me to hunt. I'll give you a lesson.'' He turned around and padded away and vanished into the forest.

    Snowy and Crystal dashed off after him, not wanting to be left behind. Misty, Cold, and Clawz all walked hesitantly over to where Red stood. He was staring at them intently, seeming to examine them as they walked closer. He was no bigger than Misty, even though he must have been about fifteen moons older than them, at least. Possibly even older, they couldn't really tell due to his tiny size.

    ''Uh... Red? Fang, uh... He told us to come and collect bedding with you...'' Clawz mewed, unsure of how much he trusted Red.

    Red continued to stare at them for a moment then responded, ''Very well. Follow me.'' With a swish of his tail he lead them over to the stream and instructed, ''Cold, you grab as many of the reeds that you can carry. Just grip them at the bottom, then yank. They come out easy enough.'' He turned to Clawz and Misty. ''You two go over there,'' he flicked with his tail at a nearby tree covered in moss, ''and collect some of that moss. Nice, long strands are best. Get the water out of them by squeezing. I'm going to go over there and gather some twigs. You all got this?'' When no one resisted he meowed, ''Good. Get to work.'' Then he padded over to the forest and began pulling the ferns out of the ground and setting them down in a pile.

    Clawz and Misty padded over to the tree just as Cold had gripped one of the reeds and was tugging it out of the ground. They reached the tree and stared at the moss, not entirely sure how to get it off without shredding it to pieces. ''Okay let's....'' Clawz began, but couldn't seem to figure it out.

    "I think I got it!'' Misty meowed. She padded up to the moss and started clawing at it, then pulled out a reasonably large piece. ''Try like that.'' Misty smiled at her brother as he started to cut the moss, when suddenly there was a shriek coming from the stream.

    ''Eep! Help!'' came the voice of Cold.

    Misty and Clawz ran over to see Cold tumbling around in the water, none of the kits knew how to swim. '

    ''Help! Help me! Please!'' her head ducked under the water than bobbed back up a few feet down the shore. Her paws were churning madly, trying to find something to hold onto in the water, but there was nothing.

    Misty dashed down the stream, following her twin as she was swept further and further away from their makeshift camp. ''Cold! Cold! Keep your head up!'' Misty cried, what was she going to do if Cold were to drown? She would be lost without her sister.

    Red appeared down the stream where Cold was originally at, he had been drawn to the stream by the noise of the commotion.

    Misty tried to keep up with Cold's bobbing head as she was swept down the stream, but the water was too fast. The day before they had came to the forest it had rained, and now that there was extra water in the stream, it was going faster than Misty's feet could run. Soon Cold was nowhere in sight, dragged down the stream faster than Misty could run. ''No...'' Misty choked out the words as she lost sight of her twin.

    Clawz and Red soon appeared at her side, looking out into the stream for any sign of Cold. Red meowed, ''She must have been swept further downstream.'' then he turned and padded back to the camp.

    ''Aren't you going to do anything?'' Misty yelled as she chased after Red. ''You were supposed to be watching us and you let her get washed away!''

    ''Eh.'' was Red's only response. After that he did not respond to any of the questions or demands that Misty or Clawz threw at him.

    Soon they were back at the camp. Fang, Snowy, and Crystal were already there. A small pile of prey had formed in the middle of the clearing. There were three mice, a sparrow, two voles, and a squirrel.

 Fang glanced over at the returning cats, then did a double take. ''Where's Cold?'' he asked, confused by her absence. ''And where is all of the bedding? You should have had more by now.'' a slight growl was added to that last part, his annoyance showing.

    Red dipped his head slightly, ''Cold was swept away by the stream. We went to go look for her but the waters were too fast.'' He looked up and Fang and continued, ''she is gone. Down the stream, probably drowned.''

    ''Shame.'' Fang mewed. ''She seemed like she would have been a use.''

    Misty hissed, ''Use? She was our sister! Family! She is more than a use!''

    Fang calmly meowed, ''Family does not matter. It never did. Use is all that mattered this whole time. Red here, is of great use. The reason why he is allowed to tag along.''

   Red raised his head up a bit as if happy by the praise that he was useful. He was taking this all wrong, Fang was just using the poor cat. But that was not their problem.

   Misty snarled, ''How could you say that? I knew you were mean and self-centered Fang, but really?''

   Fang lashed his tail and growled, ''Well, if you think that, then get out!''

   Misty snapped, ''Good! I will!''

   ''Any of you other softies want to go with her? Any of you think I'm not fit to be a leader?'' He growled. ''If so, then go! Now!''

   All three of the remaining kits exchanged worried glances, then slowly Snowy stepped to the edge of the clearing where Misty stood alone. ''I would rather follow Misty than you.''

    Crystal followed Snowy, her tail wrapped around her legs nervously as she glanced fearfully at Fang. When she reached her two sisters, however, she raised her tail up and glared at Fang. Finally able to get away from him.

    Fang looked at Clawz, the only cat remaining on his side of the clearing. ''Want to go join your idiotic sisters? Want to die? They don't know how to survive! Stay here and you'll learn and you'll live.'' he hissed.

    Clawz looked up at him, his black eyes glaring. ''I would rather die with them than stay with you!'' He held his tail straight up, his ears angled forwards, and standing tall as he walked past Fang. Not giving him so much as a glance.

    Fang glared at them for a moment. ''Fine, you guys want to die? So be it! Go die in a hole for all I care! Red,'' Fang turned to his friend, ''get them.''

    Misty took off running, her three remaining siblings following her close behind. ''This way!'' she screeched, darting away from the stream and into the thick ferns.

    They all scrambled into the ferns, but the strange thing was, they did not hear the sound of anyone chasing them. Where were they at? Fang had ordered Red to chase them, but perhaps he hadn't?