“Hello there. Weaver, I assume.”
The white tom in question froze mid-step, hesitantly turning to face Slatenose.
“Owlgaze asked me to speak to you, if you have the time.”
“Oh…” The reply was quiet, Weaver’s head dipping enough that Slatenose felt tempted to ask what he’d done to assume Slatenose meant harm. “Sure. I’m not busy.”
Tap-tap-tap Weaver’s paws moved.
“You’re alright, nobody’s upset.” He soothed, sitting and curling his tail over his paws. “She mentioned you were struggling with the company here, I reckoned I could help if you’d want it?”
“I’m just not much good at it, I’m sorry. It’s just how I am.”
“Maybe that’s true, I don’t know you. But I have to say, I also thought I wasn’t much fit for Clan life before I started living it.”
“It’s just. Nerve wrecking. Being around cats so much.” Slatenose couldn't help but notice how the other's eyes scarcely met his, despite his own slack posture.
“Well, why do you think so?” He probed gently, attempting to seem more comforting by mirroring the slouched posture, as uncomfortable as it felt in what was meant to be a calm conversation.
“It’s easier when I know what someone wants from me.”
“What if nobody wants anything from you?”
“Everyone wants something from others, though.” It seemed to almost work. He thought so anyway. Weaver's retort was sharper than before, more. Sure. Even if it was in the wrong thing.
“Well, what do you want from Owlgaze, then?”
“I… I dunno.” Weaver withered again, hopefully in thought rather than fear this time. Slatenose let himself relax a bit and sit up straighter.
“That’s how Clans work, just about. Everyone hunts for and defends each other, but at the end of the day nobody expects more than someone can give. Whoever you are, you're enough just like that.”
“But this isn’t a Clan. I’ve never even seen a Clan.” Weaver dismissed it with a shake of his head, perhaps more to himselt than Slatenose.
“If you’d like, I’m sure Owlgaze would be happy to have a friend along. We aren’t exactly MoorClan perse, but we still treat each other like Clan cats.”
The invitation was met with silence, enough so that Slatenose could hear the drip of water over by the window.
“Do you just… take in whatever cat you pity?”
“It depends. We don’t have a leader, so really it just depends on if we want someone along, and they want to join us. And I’m sure you’ll be rather welcome already.” He spoke softly, trying not to overstep or make the timid cat feel too pressured.
“I’ll think about it, alright? I’m sure you’re a busy cat, I shouldn’t take more of your time.”
“I’m not doing anything, if that’s your concern. But I’ll leave you be if you’d like the alone time. You can tell Owlgaze your decision if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
Slatenose could take a hint. He left Weaver to his own devices for the time being, not to push too many buttons at once.
Owlgaze certainly lit up when he finally deigned to tell her how the brief conversation went. Not before he felt Weaver had been given time to think, of course. Wouldn't do to have Owlgaze pressing for an immediate answer.
The journey had been long, but uneventful. After a certain point, Kristopher's paws fell into the same invisible pawprints he'd traversed dozens of times, until the road, fences, and houses came flooding across the view ahead.
He always seemed to sleep so much more soundly when he knew home was practically a whisker away.
It wasn't unusual to find cats near the outskirts either, mind you. But he'd scarcely ever seen one desperate enough to chase crows when it wasn't the dead of winter.
"Rough week?" He asked, casual, probing. Safely out of reach in case the yellow cat was the type to swipe first ask questions later.
The tomcat seemed startled, hackles raised for a brief second. Kris had seen it, even if he was only 'supposed' to have seen the confident puff-up that followed it.
"You would not believe, dear. Looked much easier through a window." The tom still stood almost protectively over the catch, as if Kris had anything to envy about a scavenger bird.
"Your folk don't let you outside much?"
"Heavens no. Not intentionally, certainly. Us housecats aren't meant to run loose, I fear."
"You haven't met many housecats, then." He could only laugh at the idea, knowing how many of the local troublemakers spent their nights indoors. "I know the place well if you need help getting home."
"No." The offer was rejected immediately, without even a second thought. "No, thank you, dear. I'd like to take my chances to see the town myself."
"Suit yourself. But they're probably looking for you, you know."
"Most likely. They do love me so. It's not all bad, you know. If you've never had your own."
"Mm. I was on the way home to mine, actually." He half-turned in place, tail flicking to the dead bird under the yellow tabby's chest. "And. Word of advice. Crow does not taste good."
She weaved between mama and mummy like a weasel, crashing down onto the brown leaves that littered the ground. Giggling when they crunched, huffing in disappointment when they didn't. All the while her little tail swung side to side like a metronome, her pouncing and hopping never quite matching the beat.
Whatever the adults were talking about never quite reached her, much too enthralled by everything else. The clouds, the open field, the leaves, the chirping of bugs… The weird giant boulder up on the hill. It was only when they got closer that she realised it was actually a cave. Kind of like one of those stories mama told about fighting off bears when she was younger. Fox hoped she got to fight a bear. Maybe that's why they were here!
Except when she tried to bolt towards the entrance, mummy pulled her over instead.
"Stay close, dear."
She valiantly tried to fight off the hairless paw on her shoulder, but it didn't much work. Which was incredibly unfair, because mama always said she was really big and strong for her age!
"Are we going to fight a bear? I wanna fight a bear. Or, oh, a wolf? What else lives in caves?"
"Some nice cats agreed to let us stay here with them, remember? It'll be warmer in there than the woods."
For a moment she was disappointed. But then she remembered that meeting new cats was loads of fun! Or at least meeting mama and mummy had been very fun!
Mummy gave her another quick squeeze before starting to walk again, but it took everything Fox had in order to avoid barreling passed both her and mama. But she was doing a very very good job at following politely, even with her fur fluffed up.
It was very weird inside the cave. Definitely spooky, and darker than it ever got outside in places. Or maybe those were walls. Were there black rocks like that?
But then it couldn't be rocks because a cat walked out of there! Woah!
"Heyy! Last trip?" The big cat chirped at them. Fox decided he sounded fun. Mama didn't seem to think the same.
But they didn't stop her when she dashed to the new cat, so it was definitely fine.
"Hi! Hi, I'm Fox!"
"Oh? 'Fox', I like that. I'm Fir!" The big brown cat dipped down when he spoke back to her, which she thought was rude. Because she was soo big, she didn't need aany cat to crouch to see her proper.
"What's a Fir?" She puffed her chest out, stretching out her legs to be as big and tall as she could get.
"It's a tree. They have spikes for leaves and they're always bright and green."
"But mama said the cold bites all the leaves off the trees." And everyone knew mama was always right.
"Not these ones, they're special trees. If the cold tries to bite them, they just Jab it!"
"Nobody ever said there was special trees!"
"It's true. There's trees that stay green in winter." Mummy chimed in. Which meant this other brown cat wasn't lying! Wow!
"Mama, have you ever seen a special tree before?"
"Plenty. I've even fought some. Remember that pinecone I gave you? It's a tooth I knocked off it." Mama overcame her grumpiness enough to respond, only grinning when Fox gave her an outraged gasp in response.
"That's not fair! You never told me you can fight trees too! Or that teeth had- trees had teeth."
"It's dangerous knowledge, little Fox." Mama's big paw ruffled Fox's head, making her squeak.
Fir shifted out of the way when mama walked off to the dark area.
"Mummy said there was cats here! Is there more of you?" Fox recovered quickly, stepping in front of Fir again without hesitation.
"Oh, many! You'll probably meet most of them if you stay long enough. But. I'll have you know, I'm the most fun cat here!"
"Nuh-uh." Fox shook her head, despite how proud the Fir cat looked. "Mama is the funnest cat ever."
"Why am I surpriised, you're just a little mini of your mama, eh?" Fir stuck out his tongue, and Fox answered back with the same out of spite.
"Uh-huh! I'm big and strong and I could beat anything up just like mama. I bet I could beat up a tree or a bear!"
As soon as he got the humans to finally open the door, Kristopher got the treatment of a true king. Carted around, lavished in affection and attention, free kibble on demand. The whole works. It was odd how much such nigh timeless beings noticed his time away every time. Had he not seen their kits grow larger over years he'd think them timeless.
But none of that was really the goal in returning, even if the perks were (for the most part) pleasant.
He'd taken the nearest opportunity he could to get loose and plop down next to the heater with the older black tomcat.
"Hey, Mal." He chirped, headbutting gently before picking his own spot right next to him.
"Kris!" Malcolm purred back, leaning over to start grooming him as if an unruly kitten. "It's good to see you're unharmed this time. It's not good for my heart you know."
"The humans can fix anything, it's fiine. Important bit's just getting home." He knew Mal didn't seem all that convinced of it, but Kris at least hadn't yet seen them fail. Like Henry next door, getting his leg up in tip-top shape even after a nasty break like it was no problem.
"Mm, well you picked a good time to be back. Won't freeze your ears off out there for once. Miracle they're still straight." Kristopher cackled when Mal reached them, nipping at the fur at the base to help get rid of any bit of tangles.
"Maybe I just have a knack for finding ways to sleep warm."
He surrendered eventually, in the form of returning the favour of grooming Malcolm at the same time, taking turns telling stories of whatever either had missed over the time apart, like how Mars had found a mate recently or Charlie had gotten reclusive again.
At least until Kristopher's attention snagged onto movement by the cat tree like a burr to fur.
Before, at a glance, he'd thought it was an awkwardly sized plush toy, probably left there by one of the human kits. But evidently it was an actual cat.
"Cody. They brought him a few months ago. He's a bit sensitive, so we can ease him into getting used to you a bit later, okay? Don't crowd him."
"This mean I have a brother?"
"Sure, we can put it that way." Mal chuckled.
It didn't take long to realise the warning had indeed been a very serious one. While Cody seemed to at least tolerate him - answered back when spoken to, didn't shy away from eating together or playing near each other, it was the kits that had proven to be the biggest issue. So much of what Kristopher had learned long ago to filter out and ignore seemed to effect the poor golden-brown cat greatly. The yelling, the running around, the picking up and carting around. All of it spooked Cody.
Kris tried doing what he could, of course, to help. Attracted the attention his way so he'd be the one they messed with when Cody wanted to hide, or ran about underfoot to make the kits slow down a bit when they got too rowdy in the living room.
If nothing else, it did seem to make Cody like him more.
Even a few days later the humans kept the door stubbornly shut, no matter how much he yelled at them. There wasn't much better to do than work on introductions and getting along. Apparently Cody wasn't all that old yet, despite how big of a cat he already was, bigger than Mal easily and twice as broad. At first the shyness had reminded him of Weaver, but Cody came around much quicker, started to initiate. Kris started to tell stories, of course, of all he'd seen out there in his years. It was sad how much Cody's life had been confined behind walls and windows. Even if the idea of needing to look out for dangers and fight for food looked to frighten him. He could learn. Baby steps.
He had plenty of practice hunting toys anyway, Kris saw how good his instincts for it could be whenever one of the humans set out one of those self-moving toys or lead around a dot erratically. Real prey was much more predictable than that.
Kris had convinced Malcolm to bring Cody outside with him on a warmer day, one of the last of its kind.
"It felt so much brighter outside, but it's so cold." The caramel tabby commented as soon as they came back in, shaking each paw in turn. Especially comical to watch for both older cats, since there wasn't any snow outside yet to shake off.
"It'll get colder in the next few months. The humans keep outside warm for us, so don't worry." Malcolm added.
Kristopher countered almost immediately.
"You can get used to it, especially if you go outside a lot. Couldn't be hard with all that thick fur you've got."
"I dunno. Will they let me back inside if we ask?"
"Ohh so you just go to the same places every time, you're not travelling just away all the time."
"The same cycle, yes, if we can help it. If someone breaks off, it makes it easy to find them again."
Huckleberry weaved in and out of the trees with ease on his now near-daily circuit. With the leaves good as gone it wouldn't be long before the first few cats passed through on the way to the winter hideout. Best not to miss them.
Owlgaze kept to her own tradition, staying out in the grass and sun.
He'd always expected more questions now that his family became important to know about, so the only surprise had been how long it took for them to start properly coming through. Especially with how dull the work must seem for the time being.
"So what happens if you come back and someone else lives on your territory?"
"We usually share. Failing that, there's enough of us to be intimidating. I've heard stories of us having had to find new places before, but it hasn't been within my life at least."
"Do you ever fight? With other groups of cats, I mean."
Owlgaze padded along in zigzags not unlike his own, though tighter due to the lack of obstacles. Occasionally he glimpsed her spinning in a circle to avoid getting too ahead.
"We avoid it. No use spilling blood. We can defend ourselves if we must, but foxes and coyotes make themselves more frequent enemies."
"But you seem pretty protective of here, right?"
"The spirits that live here don't want trespassers. I merely do as the Crown would to keep peace with them."
"Jaguarcrown hasn't explained much. Is that like his ancestors that live in the stars?"
"Ah, well. I have no ability to commune with spirits myself. But they don't live in the stars. They live here. That's the danger - if you anger them they can simply retaliate."
"Oh. That's definitely interesting."
The line of questioning continued, morphing topics until Weaver, what with Huckleberry's assignment to keep an eye on him, got naturally brought up. Only for crunching to break the chatter up abruptly as both cats stopped to gauge the sound.
"Pretty sure it's a cat."
Owlgaze mumbled, having crept closer now.
"Saw orange. And stripes. So it couldn't be a fox."
Normally, Huckleberry wouldn't have bothered following this deep into the wood. It wasn't the Crown's or the spirits' domain anymore, but this time he needed to know if the passerby was familiar.
The, apparently, ginger tabby was much faster than he'd hoped. Owlgaze had gotten turned around a few times before they got from just tracks to actually finding the cat responsible.
Unfortunately, as he got closer it was rather clear this wasn't anyone he knew.
"Hello there, traveler." Huckleberry greeted.
"And who the blazes are you two?" The ginger bared teeth immediately, pelt fluffed in a defensive display. Looked quite young.
"We saw you passing by and wanted to ask if you know a large travelling family of cats perhaps. They ought to be migrating through here and I'd awfully appreciate the visit."
"Thank you, then, anyway."
"Aren't you too young to be all on your own?" Owlgaze spoke instead. The ginger balked.
"I'm old enough to not need no mommy and daddy following me around bloody everywhere."
"How old are you then? You look like an apprentice at most." She pressed, almost concerned.
Now, Huckleberry was well aware plenty of cats went on to live on their own at, what, 6 months old? But that had always seemed like far too much of a stretch to himself. He'd rather not think of this young cat meeting his first winter without assured shelter.
"Winter is coming. If you would like a place to stay out of the wind and lack one, we may be of assistance."
"I'm not that bloody helpless, you know." Still, he looked to be considering, posture slowly relaxing and eyes wandering. "But heck, man, if I like it, I'll crash. I like havin options."
"I'll lead the way then. Come along Owlgaze, and..?"
"Carnation, if you gotta know."
It took some convincing, approximately 16 days of it in fact, before Kristopher managed to convince one of the humans to let him outside again. They always got so darn clingy whenever he was gone a while. Still, the important part was that he got out, even if one of the kits watched him a while to make sure he didn't bolt out of the backyard immediately. But they always get bored, as kits wont to do, so the boy vanished indoors before too long.
And Kris jumped the fence not long after. Luckily, Mars' house wasn't exactly that far, so all it really took was finding a spot to lay down and wait. The sun was still pleasant enough, even if the warmth was waning.
The little golden cat crashed into him, and he played as if surprised, 'defending' himself in a violent yet harmless tussle. Maybe Fir really had helped him keep in practice for these.
They were both not far from winded by the time they fully separated.
"Did you really miss me that much? I was barely gone this time." Kris snorted, flopping back down onto his side as Mars settled into a loaf on the cold wood beside him. Twin balls of bushy fresh winter fur.
"Just because a year ain't long for you, doesn't mean it ain't long for the rest of us." Mars huffed, headbutting his shoulder.
"You have a point. I've got like. A whole brother now and, what, a cousin in law?"
"You mean Az? Maybe if you stick around longer than a week you'll meet 'im."
"Well actually I've been home for at least 2 and I still ain't met him."
Before they knew it it was nearly sunset, though by then Mars had gone to get the rest of the family together for a meet up. Well, at least Alexandra and Cooper, since Charlie wasn't one they could quite get ahold of.
The recounting of the whole uniquely weird circumstances he'd found himself in these past months had been especially long. He'd never tended to try to keep it all that brief, and the details jumbled and were added in odd orders. But it was easier than organising his brain beforehand.
"Well, you sure had quite the adventure." Alexandra chirped, sat between her two kits.
"Dude, that's insane." Mars in particular jumped up as soon as he'd been done.
"I know! So I have like. A kingdom now. I mean, I doubt most of 'em are actually gonna stick around. But I know Huckleberry really wanted to. And it's a really neat place, even if it's y'know, a lil drafty, buuuut I do think the place's haunted, though. Crazy thing, I know."
"What makes you say that?" Cooper was still wide-eyed after the whole overwhelmingly dense story to begin with, looked a bit taken aback by the accusation.
"Well, when I was there I just didn't really wanna leave? Like something was keeping me there, not like usual."
"Ooor you just liked it there and wanted to live there. No ghosts required." Mars added.
"Maybe. It seemed a little crazy when I got my head screwed back on straighter. Still, I just get the vibe, y'know."
"I think you really should spend the time at home a bit more, kiddo, it'll do you good." Alexandra leaned in, cuffing him over the ears playfully, though not as rough as he was used to Mars doing.
"Yeah yeah. I know you lot don't believe in ghosts." He rolled his own eyes, leaning back.
"Ghosts or no ghosts, are you going back then or what?" Mars rounded right back onto him instead, butting into his line of sight.
"Well, I do want to. At least to talk to Cam, not leave her hanging. I said I wouldn't be longer than a couple months."
"If you're so scared, maybe you need a knight your Majesty." The title was a tease, and somehow caught him off guard enough that he burst out laughing.
"Yeah, sure, sure. First we'll need to figure out how to knight you, Sir Mars."
