Disclaimer: Not mine.
Song used: Brainstorm - Kaķēns, kurš atteicās no jūras skolas
Kaķēns, kurš atteicās no Jūras skolas.
(The kitten that refused to go to the Sea School.)
Kaķēns, kurš atteicās no jūras skolas,
Man mūžīgu, mūžīgu draudzību sola.
Kaķēns, kurš atteicās no jūras skolas,
Man mūžīgu, mūžīgu draudzību sola.
(The kitten that refused to go to the Sea school,
Promises me an eternal, eternal friendship.
The kitten that refused to go to the Sea school,
Promises me an eternal, eternal friendship.)
Ryoma held the small and trembling body close to himself. The tears that had started to roll down his cheeks half an hour ago were still falling into the soft fur of his cat, the feline trying to reassure her owner with a weak meow. His hands were keeping the warm body close to himself, wrapped in one of the warm blankets that his mother had knitted some time ago.
He didn't have the courage to keep his eyes closed, but he just couldn't stand looking at the old cat girl that was slowly drifting away from him. The pain that he felt only seemed to get stronger when those big, blue eyes turned to him and yet another weak meow fluttered to his ears.
"Shh… It's going to be alright Karupin. You'll be fine." He whispered to her and ran his fingers through her fur.
The cat didn't seem to hear or feel her owner's touches and voice anymore. She trembled one more time and after releasing the final and loudest meow yet her body grew silent. She was still warm, but no longer did her body show any signs of movement or breathing. She just lied in his arms quietly, those big, blue eyes staring blankly in the far.
It took some moments for Ryoma to understand that she was no longer with him. A painful cry broke from his lips and he buried his nose in her warm, soft fur, a part of him dying together with his cat. He couldn't stop the hot, salty tears and the desperate cries that tore their way out of him. All the memories with her that Ryoma could remember flashed in his mind, tangling together in parts of meaningless pictures and flashes.
A warm hand was placed on his shoulder and squeezed it. Then his trembling body was pulled close to the warm chest of his father and a big, warm palm settled on his head. "Don't worry Ryoma, she just went to a better place. It was her time to go."
Ryoma didn't stop crying for a long time that evening. The small empty part in him continued to hurt for a long, long time.
A/N: While I wrote this, I thought of my own old cat that died yesterday. I was also holding him in my arms when he died on our way to the vet. All the emotions that Ryoma feels are those that I was, and still am, feeling. So, this is my way of letting go of the pain that I am feeling right now. At least, a weak try to make it somewhat easier for me.
In Latvia, when we talk about the Sea school that is mentioned in the song and in the title of this oneshot, is when we talk about drowning new-born kittens. I know this may sound cruel and inhuman, but not all of Latvian people can afford to have their cats fixed (have an operation done to them, so that they can't have babies), so the easiest way to, I'm sorry for saying it this way, dispose of the new-born kittens in to drown them right after their birth. I know that this is inhuman, but maybe its better that they leave this cruel world like that, then live a horrible life on the streets.
I have never done it myself and hope I will never have to.