Author's Note: animal years = human years x2. So a nine-year-old cat would be eighteen in human years.

...

It's cold. So cold. My fur is trembling along with my whole body as I curl up in a ball with my tail wrapped around my skinny body, the knocked-over wheelie bin not providing very much cover from the harsh cold of Danville's winter. The moon is high, but that's all I know about the time of day. All I can do is try to sleep and ignore the rumbling in my stomach.

Because I've been on the streets for ten years, I've gotten used to not getting much to eat, but I haven't had much to eat today even by usual standards. Because it's winter and therefore gets dark sooner, that leaves a smaller window for me to steal the tiny amount of food I always get. It may seem weird that I need daylight in order to steal food, but because of an incident a few winters ago, I don't risk trying to steal anything when it's dark out.

But that just means that my already-small intake of food just gets even smaller, which means that I get a lot closer to starvation during the winter. And considering I'm already battling bitter cold temperatures, it's a wonder one of these winters hasn't already killed me.

"Psst!" I hear a voice hiss.

I open my eyes-with some difficulty because of the cold-and squint out of the wheelie bin. My eyes light up as I recognise the small white cat peering in. "Julia!"

"Anya, you ARE in here!" Julia beams triumphantly. "Come on, I've got something to show you!"

I crawl out of the wheelie bin and out into the snow. My younger friend Julia is almost invisible against the white powder, but what gives her position away every time is her bright blue eyes, which are just a few shades lighter than mine.

"Are you okay?" she asks me, tipping her head on one side. "You look cold."

Visibly and audibly shivering, I scowl. "I AM cold. You just dragged me out into the snow."

Julia winces and shies away. "I-I'm sorry!"

I sigh. Julia is literally half my age, and it definitely shows in how she acts around me. Most of the time, she's like a little sister to me and I a big sister to her, but every now and then I get a glimpse of exactly how intimidated she is by me. And I don't entirely blame her; I'm twice her size, albeit of a similar weight; I've shown no hesitation in killing or maiming for food or shelter in front of her; and my claws and teeth are unusually sharp. I would never even lay a paw on her in a threatening or malicious way, but I'm not sure she's entirely convinced of that.

"What did you want to show me?"

Still slightly hesitant, Julia bounds through the snow towards the alleyway exit. I follow just as quickly. I don't have much energy, but the snow on my paws is too cold for me to walk.

Julia leads me to the alleyway opposite the one we were just in and slips through a hole in the brick wall of a building. I hesitantly follow her through the tunnel until we come out in…

"W-What is THIS?!"

It's a storeroom, filled to the brim with food. The temperature in here is chilly but to me it seems warm compared to the snow outside.

Julia is beaming. "I met a housecat in the park today and he told me about the tunnel in his owner's grocery shop! He said we can only take the things he leaves out for us in the middle of the room."

So we trot over to the centre of the storeroom and find what looks to me like a feast. It's really only a small basket of fish, a bowl of water, and even some cooked eggs, which is something I've never had before.

I seriously want to tuck right in, but of course I have to share with Julia. So we split the food between us and take turns drinking from the water. Honestly, I would have been happy with just ONE fish; that's how starving I was before this meal. This is the first good meal I've had since the last time the butcher shop's previous owners put out food for us, which was about two and a half years ago now.

"Thank you so much," I gasp out when I've finally finished my last fish. "You have no idea how much I needed this."

"More than me, I should think," Julia giggles. "And I was starving."

I sit back on my haunches and start licking my paw. "Is your friend going to do this again?"

"Yep!" Julia beams. "Hey, we should tell everyone about this place!"

I freeze with my tongue still out and stare at her. "Are you MAD?!"

Julia flinches. "W-What? Why not?"

"For starters, this small amount of food was enough to make a difference for us, but the more animals who come in here, the less food everyone's going to get." I shake my head. "And for another thing, WE may have good self-control, but anyone else might try and steal food from the rest of the storeroom, then your friend will get into trouble and we'll never get this again." I look straight into her eyes. "I know you want to share the food with others, but it's best if we keep it just for us, okay? Promise me you won't tell anyone about this, Julia."

"I-I promise," Julia says, clearly trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

I take pity on her and move closer to her, affectionately beginning to lick her ears and the top of her head, where she can't reach very well herself. She purrs and tilts her head up. I've done this many times since I met her four years ago, and I know she loves it because it reminds her of her own mother doing it to her when she was a baby. And I enjoy doing it because it reminds me that I have someone to live and fight for. Sometimes, I forget this and wish I could die, especially during the freezing cold winters. But Julia always inevitably finds me and inadvertently reminds me that I should keep living, for her if nothing else. We're each other's family, and NOTHING can break us apart.

...right?