Chapter 1: The Storm
It was a cold, rainy night when I first prowled around the enormous house on the ocean cliff face. I didn't really notice the building at first. It was just like any other structure I had seen before. Of course, that was before I discovered the occupants.
My fur was soaked through to the skin, and I really needed to find a dry patch of land so I could clean myself. I looked like a completely black kitten instead of my normal gray fur with black tabby stripes. Seeking shelter under the ledge in front of the door, I had barely begun washing my paws when three small, blue figures dashed towards me.
Immediately, I froze, not knowing what they were going to do, but fortunately, they didn't see me. The first one to the door opened it with the other two following swiftly inside. Seeing my chance to get even drier, I sprang through the slowly closing door and hid in a corner. Shaking out my fur, I proceeded to wash my paws again.
Then, I heard a voice say,
"Kids, did you remove your shoes before you came inside?"
The fact that we cats can understand the human language was known to no one but our own kind. So, I merely listened as I tried to dry my fur.
"Yes, Mom!" came the reply of three voices, the three that let me inside, I assumed.
"Alright, it's time for dinner, then," the voice of the one called 'Mom' said. "Wash up, and fetch the rest of your sisters and brother."
In a matter of minutes, the entire house was shaking, or at least the floor was, when a troop of blue figures dashed down the stairs far to my right. Two, tall, green figures strode more slowly than the others downstairs and followed the rest into a room on my far left.
Being the curious kitten I was, I decided to explore this room. Partially, the factor was that there was a very delectable scent coming from that room, and I wanted to figure out what it was coming from.
Padding my way slowly towards the entryway, I peeked inside the room, my small whiskers twitching as I smelled and examined the room. 'What is that wonderfully, delicious smell coming from in there?' I thought to myself.
Then, it suddenly hit me. The scent was fish. Licking my lips with my little tongue, I padded inside the room and saw an enormous table with many tall figures sitting around it. The tallest green figure and the tallest blue figure sat on opposite heads of the table while the seats on the long ends were filled with other blue figures of various sizes and the other green figure. All of them were spooning something from inside bowls in front of them. I assumed this was fish soup, since I saw no other delicacies on the table.
"More soup anyone?" I heard Mom ask.
"I'll have another bowl," the shorter green figure said as he handed his bowl to her.
"There you go, Cello," Mom told him, giving the one called 'Cello' the bowl back.
Suddenly, I heard a small splash as I looked under the table to see a small amount of soup was spilled on the floor. Looking up, I discovered that the smallest of the three who let me inside was frowning at the mess. Then, her eyes turned and met mine. I had never seen eyes so green on a human, but it was apparent that this family wasn't human. She smiled at me and glanced around the table before scooping something from her bowl and 'accidentally' dropping it on the floor, too.
The scent tickled my nose as I knew it was a fairly good-sized piece of fish among the soup. Glancing back at the one who dropped the fish, I saw her still smiling at me, so I assumed it was safe. Moving slowly and quietly along the floor until I was near the soup and fish, I sniffed it cautiously before taking a small bite. It was so good. I gulped down the rest before starting to lap up the soup.
Instantly, I felt a hand touch my back. At first, I jumped in shock from being touched without sensing it. Normally, we cats are very good at that, but this was the first time I ever felt a human or nonhuman hand on me. Then, the hand ran along my back gently. It was a new feeling, but I liked the attention. I assumed the hand was the one of the girl who gave me fish, and so I started purring for this nice girl.
Then, another small hand touched my back along with the other. Glancing up, I saw the second girl that looked just like the first holding a piece of fish down close to the floor. My eyes widened at the food presented before me, but still, I knew I had to remain cautious. Not all people were nice. Taking the fish into my mouth slowly, I gulped it down, too, while the two girls still petted me.
Within a moment, both stopped in giving me attention as one asked,
"Mom, why can't we have…well, a pet?"
'What's a pet?' I asked myself before I remembered what my mother told me about pets. 'Ah, yes, creatures that choose to live with people for no real reason. They have names, unlike wild animals.'
"Calliope, we've tried different pets, but you and your brothers and sisters can't seem to take care of any animal we've tried," Mom said to the girl called Calliope, the one on my left. "First, it was a bird, then, a puppy, then, a rabbit, a duck, a mouse, and a fish. All of those have either been returned to the pet store or…sent to the next dimension."
"Maybe we haven't found the right pet yet, Mom," the girl on my right suggested.
"What else can we try, Clarinette?" Mom inquired. "The pet stores refuse to sell us anymore pets because we've brought so many back."
"What about a…a kitten?" Calliope suggested, somewhat cautiously as far as I could tell.
Mom was silent for a moment, apparently thinking this over. Taking this time to think myself, I moved further under the table between the girls, Calliope and Clarinette. 'I suppose it would be nice to have a family to take care of me. And this family would be better than most others I've seen,' I thought to myself.
"Kira, we've tried pets, and none of them seemed to connect with all of the kids," a deep, resounding voice stated. Shrinking away from the direction of that voice, my ears swiveled around towards that direction. Glancing that way, I saw the feet of the tallest green person. Then, Mom, also called 'Kira', declared,
"But, Piccolo, there's nothing wrong with one more animal. And a kitten would practically raise itself."
The green figure called 'Piccolo' sighed before saying,
"I have no qualms with our family having a pet. But, where will we get a cat? You said before, Kira, none of the pet stores will give us service."
Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands scoop me up off the floor, and before I could even try to squirm away, my whole body had emerged over the table top. Looking around in surprise, I noticed every eye was upon me. Then, my eyes went to Piccolo as the green figure glared at me, asking,
"Calliope, where did that mangy thing come from?"
I guessed that Calliope was the one holding me up for everyone to see and she replied,
"I guess she came inside when Zenith, Clarinette, and I came into the house out of the storm."
"It looks filthy," Piccolo remarked. I blinked in irritation because I normally didn't look like this. I was caught off-guard by the sudden storm and wanted shelter to clean myself up.
"Daddy!" Calliope cried in my defense. "She can't help that she got caught in the storm. She's just a little soaked, but I'm sure she's really pretty when she's dry."
At that moment, I decided to begin cleaning myself while Calliope held me in her hands. However, while I did so, I chose to continue listening to their conversation as the family discussed me.
"Piccolo, you did ask to know where we'd get a kitten from," Kira told Piccolo. "We've practically been given one. Why not keep her for now?"
Flicking my eyes over towards Piccolo, I saw him frown at me again before he looked over at Kira and back at me. Then, his shoulders heaved up and down with a sigh as he said,
"Fine, we'll keep the cat. But, if something goes wrong, out it goes."
"Thank you, Daddy!" Calliope exclaimed. "You'll see, all of us will love and take care of…uh…Tiny!"
"'Tiny'?" Cello questioned as he gave Calliope a perplexed look. 'Yes, Tiny, indeed,' I thought to myself. 'I suppose that's my name now. Not half bad since it was thought up by a child about my own age in people years.'
"That's her name, Cello," Calliope said as she patted my head.
"Well, Calliope, why don't you go and dry Tiny," Kira suggested. "Then, I'll get another bowl of soup for her."
Upon hearing those words, I knew I was going to like Kira as I immediately began purring in Calliope's hands. She smiled down at me before turning to Clarinette and asking,
"Sis, how do you suppose we dry her off safely?"
"Hmmm, I think that if we just place her on a blanket and towel dry her, Tiny will be able to dry completely," Clarinette suggested.
"Works for me," Calliope told her sister as she turned and asked the boy on her other side, "Zenith, can you get me a towel and blanket?"
"Why do I have to get it?" the one called Zenith asked.
"Look at Tiny, Zenith," Calliope said, holding me up to him. "She looks so cold, and don't you want to be the one to get her dry and looking cute?"
Staring at me with his dark green eyes that matched his sisters' eyes, Zenith frowned a little like Piccolo. Smiling to myself, I knew something that would catch him off-guard. Opening my mouth slightly, a small meow escaped my throat. Instantly, I saw Zenith's eyes widen as he sighed,
"Okay, hang on, and I'll get the towel and blanket."
"Thank you, Zenith," Calliope told him with a smile as I continued purring.