AN: Okay so… I really shouldn't be starting another story because people are still waiting for an update that's, like, more than six months late, but I was reading Warriors fiction on several different sites and I realized something. Not a single person who wrote for Warriors made anything about the cats learning about humans, or badgers, or dogs, or advancing. Not one that isn't crack anyway. And it pissed me off! There are some really creative people here. How am I the only one to do this?
Warning: This story will deal with some heavy subjects such as slavery, views on religion and afterlife, religion vs. science, sexuality, and interspecies romance. This is in M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Warriors series.
"Anne! Breakfast!" The call woke me from my dream, the tall podium and flashing camera lights fading away… I blinked blearily, still not all there, before a yawn ripped from my mouth. That woke me up, and I stood, stretching my back and feeling it pop in a few places before I set off for the kitchen.
My paws pattered against the wood floors and I caught the scent of cooking beef. Making my way into the kitchen, I hopped onto the table and waited at the plate already waiting for me. A tortilla sat on it, and my owner, Amrita Hayward, hummed at me in greeting, stuffing another bite of her burrito into her mouth. The juice from the meat dripped onto her green pajama top and she drowsily wiped it off.
I looked around the room, trying to see if anyone else had woken up. The wood floor was worn as usual, and the table wasn't in a much better state. The walls were painted a dark blue, an attempt to hide the water damage from any guests the family may have. The washer and dryer in the back of the room near the back door had piles of dry clothes on them, to be folded and put away later. Not a single other human besides Amrita and one of her fathers was awake.
Her father, a tall white man who I'd been told was in his early forties that had black hair and brown eyes, glanced at me from the stove, gesturing to the food, and I meowed "Eggs, beef, salsa and cheese please!" I struggled to make the words correctly, and he looked to my owner in confusion. I winced, knowing I'd butchered it.
"She said she wants beef, eggs, cheese, and salsa." She said. Her father nodded and came over, grabbing my plate. He scooped the contents onto the tortilla and rolled it up, bringing it back to me.
"Good morning." He said, smiling, before heading back and fixing his own plate along with a cup of instant coffee that he left on the counter, before sitting down and eating his own food.
"Thank you! And good morning to you too." I said. Struggling to get the words to form with my barbed tongue I hoped I hadn't butchered it too bad this time. I'd been trying to learn one of the human languages, English. While I could read fluently I couldn't speak very well because of my barbed tongue, and the way my throat was. Greeting were one of the few things I could get. My owner turned to me, swallowing her food.
"Your pronunciation needs a little work but otherwise that was good. Try to curl your tongue more." She said. I nodded and turned back to my food. The lack of their second father getting up became apparent. He was usually the first up.
"Where's your other father?" I asked. Amrita glanced up from her food before taking a bite.
"He's at work. He's working days now, remember?" She said. I nodded my head. I lowered my head and began to eat, licking my muzzle to keep it clean. From the hallway of the small house I could hear the rest of the humans begin to get up. They shuffled into the kitchen slowly, rubbing their eyes and popping their necks.
My owner's older brother, Theo, a tan boy of 16 with dark blonde hair and dark brown eyes began making his breakfast burrito while her younger sister Georgette, a white girl of 14 years with blonde hair and blue eyes, moved to the fridge for a piece of fruit. Then the eldest brother Ziron, a white boy of 18 with black hair and dark blue eyes, came in, already on his 3DS. Her mother, a white woman of 40 with black short hair and blue eyes, came in last, grabbing a cup of coffee already made for her and leaning against the counter. She took a large drink, pausing for a few seconds before opening her eyes and taking a deep breath.
Smiling, she began speaking in that chipper way of hers. "Sooo, before I go back to sleep I'm telling you we're moving at the end of the week! Eugene left us a home in his will!" Georgette coughed on the fruit she was chewing and Theo froze. Ziron paused his game and put it down on the washer before looking at her, arms crossed. Amrita set her burrito down and pushed her plate away.
"What?" I turned to my owner, concerned.
She looked down at me, her head resting on clasped fingers. "You know how Uncle Eugene died last month?" She asked. I nodded my head.
"Yeah. You guys said he died from something called a heart attack." I said. She nodded.
"Well, apparently he gave us his house in his will. You know, the riding stables? Of course, that means we're moving out. We're going there at the end of the week." She said.
"I got that." I began. "But why is everyone so upset about it?"
She brushed her black hair behind her ear, moving her brown hand to rest on my back. While she rubbed my back she explained.
"You remember that we're all psychic right?" She asked. I nodded.
"You can talk to animals, your mom can see the future, Theo can see ghosts, Georgette can make things grow, and Ziron can talk to technology. Really, your two fathers are the only ones who aren't psychic, but they do come from psychic backgrounds." I said. My eyes closed as she dug her fingers into my spine and I arched into her palm. Oh that was nice… A screech from Georgette promptly ruined any relaxation I had.
"Are you kidding me? Do you know how long it took me to grow those trees? How long it took me to clear the grass out back?!" She screamed. Amrita sighed and Georgette glared at her. "And you can shut up Dr. Doolittle!"
"Yes, well, even though this house is falling apart it's still our home. Georgette has her garden in the back, Ziron is the head of the technology club at school, even though this was his last year there, Theo is friends with the ghost of that one kid who was murdered on Amity Road forever ago, and I have you and the animals in the park." She continued. I frowned as the arguing quieted down. The kids had accepted they were moving. Stretching, I moved away from her and pushed my plate to her. She picked it up and put it in the sink, cle3aring off her own plate before leaving the room. "I'm going to the park, Ma!" She called back as she headed to the front door.
"You are not going anywhere in your night clothes! Change into something at least half way decent before you leave the house. And don't forget your phone!" Her mother called back. Chuckling, I hopped onto the arm of the brown couch next to the door and turned to face her.
"Well? Go get your stuff and change! Oh, and don't forget the books! Cesar and I have been reading Plague by Michael Grant and we'd like to finish it please!" I said. She sighed, running her hand through her birds nest hair before going off to her room.
"Fine!" She said. "I'll bring some more basket materials too. You and Lady have been going gaga over crafting since I introduced it. And pick out a collar! I don't care which color." I nodded and hopped off the couch, heading to the wall where my collars and leashes were hung just low enough so I could reach them.
"And brush your hair!" Her mother called from the kitchen.
"Okay Mom!"
-Line Break-
We walked through the city, weaving around people and animals, benches and spark trees. The tall buildings rose high above us, shining in the morning sun. Chatter from the twolegs filled the air as they went on their way to wherever they wished. The smells of unlimited amounts of prey tickled my nose. How had the human race gotten this far?
Well, I knew how. I'd watched Mankind on the History channel so many times that Amrita could almost tell me every line word for word. They were everything they wanted to be. If they weren't, they became it. Warriors, inventors, predators, and anything else they chose. Of course, opposable thumbs helped too. The real question was would my species ever be able to get this far? My throat tightened and a spark of sadness pierced my heart, tightening my chest.
I shook myself and continued walking, my leash rubbing against my yellow collar every once and a while making the tags jingle. I already knew the answer to that question, and it was no. The entirety of the human race was intelligent, even if Amrita said that was debatable, unlike mine. The majority of other cats I had talked to in cities besides this one were just animals.
They didn't think, didn't wonder. They just responded to instinct like birds and mice. Heck, a lot of the cats in this town weren't either. At least, they weren't in the shelter where the Hayward family picked me up. Where Amrita bought me. Cats like myself came in small numbers. Around thirty to a city, if I was lucky. Around thirty or none at all anyway…
Luckily, my town was one of the ones that had the thirty. The cats who could talk were fine, mostly. They didn't really… do anything. I mean, they didn't learn anything. Besides opening a door anyway. What I really mean is they never wondered. They never looked at something and thought, "What is it?" And if they did that thought usually ended in, "Well, it's not my problem. It's the housefolk's."
One I knew did occasionally wonder though. A friend of mine, a white Persian by the name of Lady, attested to this. She'd sometimes drop by when Cesar and I were having our lessons in the park, ask a few questions and leave. Sometimes she'd participate in an activity if it caught her interest, but nothing more than that. Really, it was a miracle that she'd stayed as long as she did for the baskets and doll making. She'd been coming by for a week, but I'm was pretty sure she'd leave for a month after she lost interest.
No, she was content to laze away with her house folk, growing fat on canned fish and staying warm on welcoming laps…
"Anne." The voice caught my attention and I jumped, realizing that my claws were unsheathed. Putting them back where they belonged, I then looked up to Amrita. She tilted her head to the park entrance, a large stone arch separating the warm concrete from the cool grass. A few people were taking early morning jogs, and a few others were walking their dogs. "We're here. Let's find Cesar and begin class."
I nodded my head as we walked in, and Amrita knelt down to undo my purple leash. I stretched, and went on my way. Amrita went off to set up in our usual spot by the artificial stream, as was the routine.
I walked through the groves of trees, straying off the path pretty early on. Cesar lived in a burrow under a large oak tree pretty far into the park. We'd all worked together to make it when he lost his other home about three years ago. Shuddering at the thought of humans bursting into my home I shook the thought from my mind. Cesar didn't have to worry about the pound anymore. He was good with the humans now. The way eventually got darker from the shade of the trees, it being summer and all, and I spotted Cesar's home.
The large oak tree was leaning so far to the ground that some of its branches where touching it, but it still stood. Lush green leaves covered the branches, and from the roots I could see the burrow. It used to be a small thing, barely enough space for Cesar when we made it, but he'd gradually made it bigger. It could fit me, him, and Lady now. Along with his pups of course.
I padded over to the sloped entrance and peered inside, brushing aside the hanging moss that had grown into a canopy. Sunlight poured into the burrow from a hole in the tree high above the ground portion. Amrita had drilled it in when Cesar had complained about not being able to read in bed in the early mornings. She then had to add a shield to keep water out when it rained and he complained about that.
A pile of books, covered in simple brown cloth to keep moisture out, took up half the burrow and the cool ground was covered with a thick purple comforter. Several tightly weaved baskets were in the far back, holding different herb bundles. A dead squirrel, probably from the previous night, laid on the ground near me and I sniffed in distaste. If he was going to keep leftovers he should at least bury them. It was summer, the heat was not gonna help keep it fresh. Looking to the back of the burrow, I saw the comforter rising and falling slowly. He was still asleep! The rising of all the little bodies made me grin though.
Padding gently into the warm space I made sure to remain as quiet as possible. A giggle reared up but I forced it down and padded the nearest lump. It yipped and I purred at it gently. With a shake a tiny head peered out from under the comforter. It smiled, a small pink tongue lolling out, and I smiled back.
"Hey, Whistle, wanna help me wake your siblings so we can jump on your dad?" I growled. The small poodle puppy perked up and nodded, moving back under the cover and rousing his siblings from sleep. While human languages were hard dog wasn't. Cesar being the only other person willing to talk to me besides Amrita when I was younger ensured I learned quickly.
Whistle's head popped up from under the cover along with his seven siblings. All of them were from different mothers. German shepherds, Rottweilers, French poodles, seven mothers for seven puppies. They grinned, showing off their tiny white fangs, and I smiled back. Leaning close to them I whispered, "Okay. On the count of three we're going to jump on your dad to wake him up. He's late for breakfast and class."
They scurried out from under the blanket and got behind me. I lowered myself into a crouch and the pups copied me. I stalked forward, exaggerating the way I moved and a pup, Leo the German shepherd, giggled before she was shushed. I stopped just in front of Cesar. "One… Two… Three!"
We all jumped onto the Rottweiler at once and he yelped in surprise, turning from off his back to get to his feet.
"What the- Hey! What do you think you're doing? Get off!" He shouted, rolling over and shaking to try to get us off. I had wrapped myself around the back of his neck and his pups jumped back onto him every time they fell off.
"No can do you giant! You, good dog, have made us all late. Do you, or do you not, want your kids to learn to read?" I teased. He crawled out of the den on his belly, all of us still clinging to him.
"FuuuuUUUUU!"
"Stupid Balinese turning my own kin against me. Waking me up early in the morning." César continued his complaining as he cleaned up the burrow. I flicked my tail when he glanced at me and he bared his teeth.
"Oh my, so scary! Marcus, save me from your dad! He's gonna eat me!" I shouted. The Rottweiler puppy jumped in front of me and growled low in his throat.
"I won't let you eat Aunt Anne!" He squeaked. I swear these puppies are so cute. Just… so cute. Cesar turned his snout up and looked down at Marcus before snorting and turning his head. He finished folding up the comforter, nudging it over to the corner of the room with his nose.
"With a strong dog like that protecting you Anne you're not worth the effort. I'll find someone else to eat. Like… Jess!" Cesar jumped on the pit bull puppy and threw her into the air. A startled bark left her jaw before Cesar gently caught her and set her down. All of the pups gathered around him and started pawing at him, running around and under his legs to trip him up.
I interrupted before they could get too excited. "Okay everyone, that's enough. We're already late for class. Let's get a move on!" I said, nudging another pit bull mix, Donovan, away from the group.
"Awwww!"
"Do we have to?"
"But I wanna play more!"
"To bad, so sad, now we gotta leave." Cesar yawned. He stretched his body and shook his head before taking off down the route we took to the stream. "Race ya there!" He shouted back.
Jumping over a large hill, we rushed down to the stream on the other side. Sunlight poured over the grassy area and I was careful not to get caught in the mud.
Amrita was waiting on us, a few picnic blankets spread out to keep us dry and comfortable. Her computer was open, a video paused on the screen, on the far left corner of the blanket. Basket and paint supplies were on the far right corner and near the middle was a pile of meat. Caesar's and the pups breakfast probably. To the bottom right were a few children's books for the pups. Learning to read was essential when you lived in a human's world. Her green backpack was the only other thing there, right beside her in the middle.
"Hey guys." She said. "Hope you're ready to pick up where we left off. Do you remember where Caesar?" Caesar walked over to the meat and sat down heavily. It seemed to disappear down his throat and he belched.
"Breakfast first Ami. I'm starving. Could eat another dog right now…" He mumbled. I rolled my eyes good naturedly and went over to the supplies. Hopefully Lady would show up and help me, but I'd be fine if she didn't.
"Mamma!" The pups had finally caught up with us and were jumping on Amrita's lap. Because Cesar took all the sapient puppies away from their mothers shortly after they were born they didn't really have a mother figure. Amrita ended up being that figure because she was there for them and nursed them with bottles. Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Cesar was very close to her, treated her like a mate. Even though he knew it'd never happen.
Shaking the memories from my head, I paid more attention to what I was doing. Didn't want to screw up this time. My previous attempts to weave had left the supplies I used frayed and useless but I figured out what I'd been doing wrong. Cat paws weren't as dexterous as human hands, but that didn't mean I couldn't move my toes individually. It was just more time consuming and I had to use my claws to grab anything.
Choosing purple willow stalks this time, I set to work. My claws wouldn't be able to shred this as easily as the reed I'd used before, but it'd be harder to use. Rooting through the pile I found eight thick shoots. I lined them all up to see their lengths. Now came one of the hard parts.
I took a ruler out of the pile and laid it up against the shoots. I'd need to cut thirty centimeters so I could make a base. Once I found the length I held each shoot down with one paw and made a small scratch in it so I could see where I needed to cut. I took one reed and went to get the scissors. The children's scissors were easiest for me to use because of the long part they had. An orange pair sat to the side and I grabbed it.
Putting the reed in between the blades of the scissors, I tried to line the mark I made up with the blade. I couldn't exactly hold the blade so I had to stand it up against the ground instead. Once I lined the mark up I stood the scissors up on its side. I placed one of my paws on the long side of the scissors the side I kept on the ground, and the other on the small side. I pushed the small side down and the reed was cut, right where I wanted it to be.
I sighed in relief. It had taken me weeks just to get that down! The amount of times the cut had been slanted or in the wrong spot because I couldn't keep my paws steady… I shook myself and began to cut the rest of the reeds. In the background I could hear Amrita talking to Caesar, the video belting out a calm theme song. Cosmos, I realized. We weren't studying astronomy the day before yesterday though. Why was she? Oh.
We were leaving soon. Right. She was probably trying to soften the blow by putting up his favorite subject. I glanced over to them and saw Amrita whispering quietly, holding Cesar's face in her hands. The pups had all gathered on her lap. Cesar was whining, crying the only way a dog could.
"Now listen to me Cesar. Don't let anyone take your pack. You protect them and you stay away from people. You know how to grow medicine so you won't have to worry about sickness. Go to the country if your pack gets big enough. Find me if you absolutely need to. All you need to do is follow Hare Hill road until you find the stables. And for the love of everything Cesar teach your kids. Teach them everything because I won't be here to. Don't let your species become a dead end." She murmured soothingly.
"Okay…" Cesar yelped as best he could in English. "Okay!"
"Now let's get on with this lesson. Figured you should learn a little more about astronomy. And I was hoping we could review how to tell direction from star position before I leave the park."
I turned my head away, having had enough of the scene. Behind me, among the pups' cries, I heard a whispered confession. I brought the blades of the scissors down.
AN: And that's all she wrote. For a first chapter anyway. So, to review, because I put a lot of info.
Anne: A Balinese cat who can speak limited English and can read. Is the pet of Amrita Hayward.
Amrita: Twoleg that can speak to animals. Anne's owner and the one who taught her. 15 years old.
Georgette: Amrita's younger twoleg sister who can grow plants. 14 years old.
Ziron: Amrita's older twoleg brother who can speak to tech. 18 years old.
Theo: Amrita's older twoleg brother who can see spirits. 16 years old.
Caesar: A Rottweiler dog with seven pups. Best friend of Anne. Treats Amrita like a mate.
Lady: A Persian who is friends with Anna. Occasionally joins her lessons.
Mother: Twoleg mother of Amrita, Theo, Ziron, and Georgette. In a polyamorous relationship.
Intelligence is a recessive trait in dogs and cats. Only 1 animal is born sapient in a litter. There are around thirty or less sapient animals of a species per city.
That… looks to be everything. Okay, now that this chapter is posted I want to see everyone's reactions. Drop a review and tell me what you think. And if you have an idea of something that should be covered leave it in the reviews. I'll see if I can drop it in. If you like this story try and write one of your own.