Chapter 16

So I just watched, thinking about all sorts of things while Jaxx ate. Things were so different now from how they were before... I had a hard time understanding it. Maybe if I compared this to a time in the past, it would all make more sense to me. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰... I thought carefully. I decided to compare the current situation to my kittenhood.

I remembered how carefree and happy I was then, living in that dusty old alleyway with Jen and my tiny little sister- not anymore... Sally. I looked at my sister, thinking again of how much things had changed with both me and her. She used to be this sassy, cute little she-kitten - and not much had changed, besides the fact that she was ten times bigger from when she came out of that portal back when I was with my momma.

She had lost a bit of her sassiness, but not much of it. Her pelt was a little more orange, and she had even more black spots overlaying her orange fur. Her eyes had gone from a faded mint green to bright emerald, and they always glowed ever brighter when the sun shone upon them. My, how she has changed... To me, she'll always be that tiny confused little calico kitten that was sitting on the grass as Momma fought the monster, not knowing how great she would be in the future.

That little kitten will always have a place in my heart... but sometimes you have to make room for new memories.

I then thought of the alleyway - and all the memories me and her had made there. One time when I had found a piece of bread in the alleyway from the trash cans when they were full, I had placed it down for later because I had to use the loo. When I was back, I had seen that my bread was gone and then I got mad at Sally, thinking she stole it. I'm pretty sure a rat scurried off with it... That memory still makes me laugh.

I felt a pang of nostalgia and wanted to return to that time - Just to feel it again. I remembered all the nights we would spend curled up next to Jen, looking at the clear night sky and trying to count all the stars. I think Sally counted up to eighteen before she got confused, and I counted up to twenty-six. I remember once, Sally saw a shooting star, and I'll never know what she wished for. I remember the gleam in her eyes reflecting the star's light as she mouthed something, looking at the bright light shooting across the sky.

Whatever it was she wished for, I hope it will come true. 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦... I thought, wondering about all the possibilities of things she could have desired. We and Jen would sleep under the garbage bins, but just close enough to the edge that we could see the night sky. When we couldn't sleep, sometimes me and Sally would come out from under the garbage bin and play a game called 'findy', where one of us would sit somewhere in the darkness of the alleyway until the other could spot them. Sally was better at it than me, surprisingly I never could manage to find her in the darkness even though her pelt and eyes were brighter than mine and you would think that it would stand out more, but it never did.

Jen would scold us if we made too much noise, but sometimes she would join us. I remembered how random her personality was again...

I then thought of Jen. Her grey fur with black stripes never seemed to change, as well as her hazel eyes, they were unchanging. It would be nice to describe her in my mind, but I couldn't. everything she did was so random, it was like she became a whole different cat every few moments. One moment, she would start lecturing us on how we "shouldn't be climbing up so high on the garbage bin, you'll get yourself hurt!" And then the next moment she was teaching how great scrap hunters we would be one day, and that we would leave no scraps for the cruel cats in town. Hahahaha!

She was a good mother - .. caretaker for us while we were with her though, and I mean that. She's the one who named Sally - Sally. And both of us definitely wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for her, saving us helpless kittens from that horse-pull. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨!

Now, it was all playing a recap in my mind. That one day when Jen was looking a bit skinnier... she wanted us to be free from the boundaries she had set, because she knew we were almost full-grown toms and she-cats and we wanted to explore the world for ourselves. I remember that before we left, I almost called her momma when we were exchanging farewells. I had done that a few times before, but I always corrected myself. I probably kept almost calling her that because she was the closest thing to a mother figure I had...

I felt a pang of sadness as I thought about my real Momma. I wished I could've just helped her somehow... but I knew I couldn't have, even if I tried.𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘵... 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

Then me and Sally went into the forest, where we found that old fox den. I spent so long working on it... Sally barely helped, as she was busy sniffing around for wolves. Why would there be wolves? I wasn't even sure if wolves were real! I was sure they were just a myth...

Then, a few weeks later, I attempted to hunt again. That was when Zach and Windy showed up, looking for a den to live in. Sally suggested that they move in with us - at least until they found a den. I gathered materials to make beds for them, while Sally went out to catch some prey. It was about to rain when I helped her bring all the prey in, then I gave that rabbit to the both of them. After that, I passed out from eating that sparrow...

I still don't know what was up with that. I had a vision of Sphynxia and her sister Azziza when that sandstorm came over them... it was painful to replay the vision in my mind as the silhouette of Azziza yowled at Sphynxia to keep running without her as the sandstorm covered Azziza up. I still remember waking up in a sweat after that vision and going outside to chase fireflies to calm down.

I spent the rest of that day wondering if that vision meant something and if I should tell Sally about how she came out of that portal and everything else. A few months later... that was when I finally met Sphynxia. The best cat I've ever met in my life... Any cat that would judge her for not having fur, I would fight to the death. Because she is beautiful, just the way she is, and I would never let anyone hurt her or make her think otherwise. I vowed then to always defend her and remind her of her beauty and value, whatever the situation.

When I first met her, she was scared and defensive, like she couldn't trust any cat. She eventually warmed up to me though, after we talked and she realised I wasn't a threat. It was sad seeing her go - I thought I wouldn't see her again after that, but I did. After that, I helped Sally hunt and she gave me hunting lessons when I caught my first rabbit. I remember how happy I was to finally be of use, to feed my denmates and my sister.

I continued to dwell on what happened with my mother when I was a kitten, realising she was probably dead, and I needed to move on and focus on the vision with Sphynxia. I met Sphynxia again that day, and she led me to her den, a tree. I told her there how I had a vision about her, and then she told me that she also had a vision about me, and how Momma tried to fight off the monster. It still was crazy to me that we both had visions about each other... that just made me think more and more that I and she were meant to be together.

I went hunting the next morning and came back to find that Sally was sick. I got more prey for her and the others after hearing that, wanting to help her somehow. After taking a nap, I went out to the stream to get water, and a loud crash of lightning scared me half to death. I went back inside again, and that was when I found out frogs existed. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦... 𝘖𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

Zach helped her and comforted her while she was sick, giving her loving glances when she wasn't looking. I knew then they would be great mates... and I missed the tiny little calico kitten she once was, all that time ago. The next morning, I went off to hunt again and I heard a loud crash of thunder along with a yowl. I thought it was coming from the den, but it was a yowl from Sphynxia, as her tree den had gotten struck by lightning and was engulfed in flames.

I went back to our den to see that it had caved in from the rain, making the roof of it weak and no longer able to hold itself up anymore. I remember the terror pulsing through my body when Windy cried that Sally was inside the den when it collapsed. I swam into the mud, putting my own life at risk to save hers. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. I saved her from the lump of mud, but she was unconscious and Zach got the mud out of her lungs by pushing on her chest every second.

Right when I thought it was too late to save her, she coughed up mud and she was breathing again. I was sure then and more now that Zach was an important cat to her, saving her life like that. That was when I went to Spirit-Mountain... And I met Zinia and Orb. Zinia was sorry for yelling at me and Sally before she died and scaring us. They told me about the Sky Ridge, and all the unborn kittens, like Rose Blossom, and they told me about the Great I Am.

I went back into the portal to reality, where I was watching as Zach helped Sally wash out her mouth in the stream. Sphynxia came to me and told me her den got struck by lightning, and now she too did not have a home. She helped us all find another one, where we could all live together. It still surprises me how fast she found it... Ignoring a few minor details, that all lead to here. To this moment. I realised I had been daydreaming for a while, and I looked up from my nest to see what everyone else was doing.

"Yeah?" Windy asked, crouched next to Jaxx as he talked to her. "I'm sorry..." She said, looking sympathetic as he looked down with sadness. "I can take care of you, if you want. I'll be your mother." Windy offered with a caring tone as she looked at the sad kitten. 𝘈𝘸𝘸... 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 '𝘴𝘩𝘦' 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬... 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘢𝘹𝘹, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮. That made me think...

Me and Sally weren't blood-related, but we still took good care of each other. We were still siblings in our hearts. I wonder where she came from... where she was before she came out of the portal... what if her real loved ones missed her? Or if she just disappeared out of thin air when she came to our dimension? I felt a pang of sadness as I remembered Momma and her powers and how much I missed her. Everything we did together was so much fun. I would do anything to see her one last time...

I stared at the den floor, feeling sorrowful.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵...

I had an idea.

I closed my eyes, blocking out the noise from my denmates.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵-𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯...

I flung my eyes open, surprised to see I was on top of a huge mountain, snow seeping into my paws. I gasped in the cold air, as the wind blew wildly through my fur, my ears flopping back behind me. I looked around, feeling the shock of the cold and the wind as I felt heat leave my body. I panted the cold air in and out of my lungs, and I felt another presence behind me.

I turned around, fighting against the wind. It was a large, muscular tomcat with mottled brown and white fur, looking at me with care and pride in his focused yellow eyes as his fluffy body sat in the snow. He blinked, his fluffy coat swaying in the strong wind, and pawed at the snow, a gesture of affection. I could feel his warmth radiating toward me, despite the cold. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘖𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘥 - 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴.

"I'm glad you remember how to get here, my son." I blinked in surprise, my mind racing. My mind raced even faster. Could it be? Was this my father? His fur was just like mine, spotted, but the only difference was that his spots were brown and mine were black. I got the black fur from Momma. But I couldn't believe this! I had heard stories of him from my mother, but I never paid any mind to it! I thought I just didn't have one... how is that possible? And this is Sky Ridge... how did he die? And where is Momma?

He continued to look at me with his focused eyes, expecting me to say something. I shuddered in the cold, locking eyes with him.

...

"Father..?" I could barely hear myself through the gusting wind. "It's me, Oreo." He slowly got up, gently walking towards me as he still looked into my eyes. I wanted to run up to him, but I was frozen, unsure what to do. He sat down a few inches in front of me and smiled softly. My ears flattened, with no idea where to even start. "...how did you die?" His smile instantly shifted into a sad smile. He reached out and booped my nose to his, closing his eyes.

"It's a long story. What matters is now you know I'm always with you, just like your mother is. I'm sure you want to see her." I nodded, emotions washing over me and as I was about to burst and ask a million questions, he stood up, beginning to fade away into a bright light. "Wait! I want to see you too!" I yelped, running into the faded pieces of him that had turned bright green and yellow. "Father!" I yowled, trying to grab onto the pieces as they drifted away into nothing.

"Please..." I whimpered, looking around and feeling alone on the cold, snowy mountain. "He's always with you, even when you can't see him, just like I am." I heard a familiar female voice reassure me from behind me. I whipped around again, seeing the cat I thought I'd never see again.

𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢.

Her glowing black and white striped fur ruffled in the wind, with snow speckled on her sleek body. Her misty lilac-blue eyes flowed into black eyelashes, which didn't even seem real. Her long, striped tail curled behind her, while her four legs were strong and straight. Her ears were long and curved, a chip taken out of one of them - but that made her ears look better somehow. Her majestic pelt shone brilliantly along with the snow, which seemed to get even whiter in her presence.

Her chest fur was silky yet short, ruffling in the wind along with her curved ears. Her whiskers were long and thin, curling around her nose as she looked at me with loving eyes. I swallowed - I realised my face was soaked. They were tears - I was sobbing.

Momma... she was real. I wasn't imagining it. All that time ago... How did I still remember? Did she remember me? Did this mean she really was dead? I could've helped her... instead, I just had to stand there, while she was getting killed by that stupid monster! Ugh - it's my fault! I couldn't try-

"Do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is perishing, our inner self is being fixed day by day," She said to me. I looked up at her, my face soaked with tears. I swallowed again, sorrow and grief still flooding inside me. I broke my body's freezing, sprinting towards her with weak legs. I reached her, burying my nose in her snow-cherry blossom-scented fur, trying to breathe in as much as I could just in case she faded away too. Tears flowed down my face as I shut my eyes tight, taking in the smell, presence, and comfort of Momma.

I held her close, wishing I could stay in that moment forever. I could feel that this was the only time I'd be able to feel her warmth in my life. I opened my eyes, looking into her misty lilac eyes as she looked at me with care. I sniffed, letting out another sob as she curled up around me, grooming my fur. I let out purr-trill, feeling a wave of peace wash over me even though I was still sobbing hysterically. I felt so safe - like I could cry forever and nobody would judge me. Not even Momma. She wouldn't judge me.

I whimpered, burying my nose in her fur once again, and shut my eyes tight as I felt her groom my back fur with her raspy tongue. I knew I had to let go but I didn't want to. I breathed in her scent one last time, knowing that I would never forget it. The feeling of her tongue on my fur slowly fade away, and the feeling of peace and warmth left. With a heavy heart, I let go.

"It truly is cool how random plants can cure almost anything, isn't it?" I heard Zach's voice purr. I opened my eyes, and I was in my nest again, and I saw Zach talking to Sally. "Yeah! How does it even work like that?" Sally meowed to him, smiling brightly. I shook myself off, beginning to feel the warmth again that I felt when I embraced Momma on Spirit-Mountain. She and Father are always with me... even when I can't see them.

Anyways... Here is a note to all the cats in my future.

𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦? 𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘴? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 - 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘬𝘺 𝘙𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵-𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.