Just Across the Yard
Chapter 1
Even from inside the protection of the cage she had always know to be home, Moon could feel the rhythmic thump as the car drove up the uneven path, toward the place that would be her "forever home", as other captured strays referred to it. Ever sense the Horrid Day, she had only thought of Tailesses as heartless, unpredictable creatures, therefore she had no desire to live with them, or even be around them, but sometimes she had no control over her own life.
The more she thought about the life she once had, the more anxious she was about what might happen in her new one. As the fur on her back began to stand, she realized she could smell her own fear sent, making her angry at herself for being weak. She turned her neck and began to lick her silver, black-splotched coat back down.
This time will be different. She thought hopefully. Either way I'm getting away first chance I get, but this time I'll make sure I don't get caught. Then the Tailess at the front of the car began to speak. She could barely make out his words because she hadn't been around Tailesses very much lately. She thought back to when she first learned to speak Tailess.
Snowball hid inside of her cage in the dark ally. All she could see was the Tailess trash that surrounded her and the bright light shining in from the entrance to the cave-shaped walls that enclosed her cave-like shelter. She noticed a silhouette moving around at the entrance and assumed it was going to walk past the ally, but it began to move towards her. Her already half standing fur began to rise even more as she pushes herself even further back into the cage. The outline began to look like less of a blob and she discovered it was a cat.
"Well then, aren't you a cute little one. What are you doing out here all alone?" Asked the strange cat kindly. "St-stay back! I may look small but I have the soul of a tiger!" Hissed Snowball, curling back her lip and taking step forward. "Whoa! Calm down there little one, I won't hurt you. Where's your mom, you look way too young to be living on your own?" Questioned the stranger, trying to calm her down.
The obviously male cat finally got close enough for Snowball to see what he looked like. He was an older tortoiseshell cat with silver hairs speckled around his body; he had thick fur and a long bushy tail with a couple scars on his face, back and upper legs. He took a step closer and Snowball backed further into her cage hissing and looking as vicious as she could. The stranger took a few strides back. "Yes, yes your vicious like a tiger, and have the teeth of a saber. I'm shaking in my fur!"
"You really think so?!" Snowball asked happily, standing up, pricking her ears, and twisting her head slightly to the left. "Yeah, you look like a leopard and have the claws of a lion too." Snowball let out a purr and the fur on her back began to rest. "What's your name, I bet it's something terrifying!" Asked the cat playfully. "Not really, my name is Snowball." She said sadly, walking out of her cage to stand in front of the older cat. He was at least twice her size! "Well a terrifying cat like you doesn't deserve a house cat name like that."
"Yeah, but that's what the Tailesses named me, and I don't know what else I can be called."
"Well, I could always give you a different name, but I'd have to get to know you a bit better."
"Really?" She jumped up with joy at the thought. "Yep." Said the cat proudly. "What's your name anyway?" Asked Snowball politely. "I'm Grole, I've been a stray in these parts since I was younger than you, but I was born here, and you obviously are not. Where are you from, anyway?" Asked Grole. "I used to live with Tailesses. They fed me and pet me and played with me and I thought they loved me." Said Snowball staring at the stone below her paws. "Then, one day they left like they did every day, but they never came back. They had done it before but they always had another Tailess come to take care of me. I thought they were going to do that this time to, so I waited and waited, but after a couple of days I got really hungry, and still no one had come. I didn't want to break anything but if I didn't I would starve. So I tried and tried to open the door to the room they always went to when they were going to feed me. Finally after jumping of the counter and falling on the ground for what felt like forever, it opened. I had the worst pain in my leg and my back, but nothing hurt more than the hunger. I opened up the container my food was in and the bag was already opened, it felt so great in my empty stomach. I ate that for the next who-knows-how-long and yet they still never came back. After all that I had eaten all the food in the bag and there was nowhere else to get any, so I left. I went out the small door they had in the back of the house for me and barley managed to jump the fence. Then I remembered my cage." She paused to gesture back at her home. "I couldn't leave without it. So I got my toys and blankets and everything else I could fit. I dragged it out the back door and up the fence and all the way to here. I don't know how long I've been here but all I've eaten is the Tailess scraps they throw in that container over there." She gestured with her tail to the large metal container on the side of the wall near the entrance to the ally. "It doesn't taste very good, but it fills my stomach enough to survive." Snowball ended her story and looked up at Grole. He had a look of empathy on his face.
"You're never going to eat from there again, Snowball, ok? I will teach you how to hunt and fight and live here, and trust me, you'll be safe with me." Snowball already new that Grole was going to take care of her for as long as they both stayed together.
Grole began teaching her that day; he started with hunting, because he could tell she could use a good meal. "Hunting is all about stealth and patience, waiting for the right moment to strike. Take a scent of the air, what can you smell?" He asked
"Um, I think its mouse, or rat; I don't really know the difference." Said Snowball, confused. "That's mouse, without a doubt. Rat smells like rotting food, kind of like what you ate from that dumpster in the ally." Said Grole. "What's a dumpster?" Questioned Snowball. "It's what the Tailesses call that big container you ate there scraps from."
"You understand Tailesses?!" Asked Snowball, wide-eyed. "Well, yeah. I've been around them my whole life, listening to them speak to one another, I never understood them, but one day I was out and about on my normal hunting route and I just over heard actual words. At first I thought it was another cat, but I went to check it out and all I could see were a bunch of Tailesses talking to each other, like any other day, but this time I could understand what they were saying. I only got bits and pieces of their words, but over time I have managed to get better, and now I can understand almost anything they say."
"Wow! Do you think you could teach me one day?!" Questioned Snowball happily. "Well, it depends, I don't even know how I managed to do it, it just kind of happened." Grole looked over at Snowball, who was slouched and staring at the ground, disappointed. "Huh… Well maybe we can try."
"Really?!"
"Yep, think of me as your teacher in the ways of Tailesses, but I'm more fun than a teacher." And with that, a permanent friendship was born, but this was more than just a friendship, Grole became more like family, he would protect Snowball with his life, and as soon as Snowball was old enough, she tried to repay him, even though they both knew she would never be able to give back enough to make up for the amazing deed that stranger pulled off.