Rapunzel "Blizzard." A long haired sandy-gray she-cat said weakly. "Please. We need food."
"Squirrel..." Her mate, a black and white tom with equally long fur began. "The only prey nearby are the rabbits that that strange kittypet guards." Squirrel looked at him steadily with her pale yellow-green eyes.
"Alright." Blizzard acquiesed. "I'll be back before moonhigh." The emaciated tomcat left her in their den under a log-pile to venture into twolegplace. The caged rabbit was unused to cats as a threat and died easily under Blizzard's claws but a quiet, cold voice stopped him taking a second.
"What do you think you're doing here?" The tomcat who spoke was a small cat with thin gray hair that faded to baldness on his belly and face. His claws didn't sheathe completely "Please, my mate is pregnant and we're both starving. We need food."
"So you thought you'd just come and steal from me. I'll let you take the rabbit, for a price."
"What do you want? I'll give anything, just let me feed my family."
"My choice of your kits."
"What?"
"If you're starving with just two mouths to feed, how do you expect to keep a litter of kits alive? I'll trade my rabbit for your kitten, or you can leave empty-jawed."
"Alright, alright, I'll let you take one." Blizzard promised.
"Of my choice." The kittypet clarified before standing aside for Blizzard to carry the rabbit back to Squirrel.
********* Three Months Later *********
A cool breeze swirled into the log pile so Blizzard adjusted his tail to better cover the three tiny kits curled up between him and Squirrel.
"May I come in, Blizzard?" A quiet voice asked politely. A cold trickle of fear slid down Blizzard's chest and settled in his belly as he recognized the cat.
"Hmm? Who's here?" Squirrel asked, waking up to look at the kittypet. "Oh, you're the cat who guards the rabbits. Thank you so much for the rabbit last season. You saved our lives."
The stranger gave her an amused look before catching Blizzard's eye. "I do nothing for free. Your mate promised me payment for my rabbit."
"Payment? What does he mean, Blizzard."
"Er, Squirrel, I was thinking that this is a hard life." Blizzard began explaining with much difficulty. "And, if we go through a rough time like we did last spring, one or more of our kits could starve."
"I'd sooner starve than leave any of our kits without." Squirrel stated coldly, wrapping her tail around them in such a way as to pull them away from their father. "I'd expect you to do the same."
"I needed to bring back food or I'd have lost all four of you." Blizzard begged. "And I could only do that by making a deal with him."
"So you offered our kits!" The beautiful little calico with the bi-colored nose began mewling as Squirrel's voice rose.
"Only one! He only asked for one."
"Do you think that makes it any better? Exactly which of our daughters did you intend on separating from her sisters?" The light golden she-kit with black residual tabby markings joined her sister and the larger gray-furred she-kit started up a moment later.
"That will be my choice." The gray tom interrupted smoothly. "And I'm taking her." He let his tailtip rest gently on the golden kitten's head and she stilled under his touch. Squirrel's paw shot forward and she smacked his tail away from her second-born daughter, drawing blood as she did.
"No way in this world or the next am I letting you steal my daughter from me." She growled low in her throat. "They are mine and I'll fight to your death to protect them."
"I made a deal, Squirrel." Blizzard reminded her gently. "I can't take it back now."
"You may have said some stupid words but I never made any such promise."
"That kitten will be mine," The kittypet threatened. "No matter how many bodies I need to step over." He let his eyes fall to the wailing calico. With a fearsome snarl, Squirrel launched herself at the much smaller cat but he vanished and she landed on dirt and pine needles. Her fur standing on end, Squirrel stood protectively over her litter and glared around, trying to find her enemy again.
********* Two Months Later *********
"Wake up, Sunflower. Calaban, come on. Mom and dad are asleep. We can go practice hunting."
"I think I'll take watch today, Rapunzel." The calico she-cat, Calaban, decided quietly. "I was up late last night stalking moths."
"I'll come." Sunflower, Calaban's golden sister stated as she stood. Together the tawny kitten and the gray kitten snuck away from their parents and deeper into the forest.
Three lost mice and an almost-caught thrush later, Calaban found her sisters and brought them back to camp.
"Where were you?" Squirrel questioned them sharply.
"Just over the rise." Sunflower answered readily. "We were just playing."
"You know that you're not to leave our sight."
"Of course mother, it won't happen again." Rapunzel promised.
"Good. Now then, you've reached your second month so your father and I have decided that you can begin learning to hunt. Blizzard will take you out one at a time today while I watch over the other two. Never leave his sight. Understood?"
"Yes, mother." The three kits chorused.
"Good. Calaban, you're going out first. Do watch over her closely, Blizzard."
"Naturally, Squirrel." Blizzard said with a hint of coolness.
The black and white tom left their camp with Calaban close beside him and Squirrel settled down to groom, keeping an eye on the other two kittens as they started up a game.
"Hello Squirrel." A scary-looking new cat spoke in a quiet voice. Rapunzel and Sunflower hid behind Squirrel as her fur lifted in threat to the newcomer.
"How dare you come back here?"
"I just thought you'd want to be warned that a fox is stalking Blizzard and your colorful daughter."
"And why did you not help them?" She challenged, walking foward until her nose was just a whiskerlength from his.
"Me? I'm far too small to fight a fox. I'd make as nice a mouthful for a fox as any one of your kits." Squirrel's tail trembled in uncertainty before she jumped and turned to find Blizzard and Calaban.
"Do not leave camp!" Squirrel yowled back to Sunflower and Rapunzel.
"Sunflower, have your parents told you anything of me?"
"How did you know my name?" Sunflower asked, crouching low. "They never said told us about any cat like you."
"That's a disappointment. Did they at least speak of their near starvation the season before you were born?"
"Dad mentioned it once but Mom got upset and told him not to say anything." Rapunzel answered.
"Of course." He said, closing his eyes for a moment. "Squirrel would have died and the three of you in her belly if I hadn't allowed Blizzard to take one of the rabbits I tend. At the time he promised me payment but when I came to collect, Squirrel refused me."
"What kind of payment did he promise?" Sunflower asked.
"You."
"Me? Dad would never try to give me away. He loves me!"
"He does, and he wanted you to live. He didn't even know you yet, you weren't born, but he risked his life to steal from me. I let him live and bring the rabbit to Squirrel at the price of letting me raise one of his kits as my own. I chose you."
"If Dad made such a promise, then you do deserve your payment." Rapunzel spoke, looking down. As she continued, she raised her head and held him in place with her pale green eyes. "I'll go with you and in return, you'll never bother my family again."
"Deal. Allow me to show you your new home."
"Don't go, Rapunzel." Sunflower breathed, running up to stand close to her sister. "It was me he wanted, stay here and take care of our family."
"You can do that as well as I can. This is my promise now, Sunflower. I won't go back on my word. Goodbye." With that, Rapunzel followed the kittypet away and they were soon lost to Sunflower's eyes.
"Where are your rabbits?" Rapunzel asked as her new guardian brought her to a twoleg nest.
"My humans sold them a couple months ago and changed houses. They did however, put a flap in their entrance so that I can come and go on my own schedule." He held the flap open with a paw to show her the way it worked before slipping through. Rapunzel poked it with her own paw a couple times before entering.
"Wait here." The tom instructed before creeping deeper into the building cautiously. He came back several heartbeats later much more relaxed. "Regrettably I do have enemies that would love to catch me unawares. It is for this reason that I wanted another cat to share my home and it is why I don't readily give my name. I have to leave often on errands and I'd like you to lock the door behind me and only open it at my voice."
"How do I lock and unlock it?"
"You lock it by pulling this metal claw down and swinging it through this hoop." He demonstrated as he spoke, stretching out a mostly hairless leg to claw the metal object down and guiding it into the hoop. "This way the flap will catch before a cat can fit through. To unlock it, you tug the claw out again and lift it back into its resting place."
"Okay, I think I understand."
"You can practice at it later, for now you should see the rest of your new home."
"Wait, can I know your name? I know you don't like giving it away but if I'm going to live with you I should have something to call you."
"Other cats have given me many names but the one I guard is Rumpelstiltskin. Understand that in telling you this I am trusting you to never allow anyone else this information."
"I understand. I'll keep your secret Rumpelstiltskin."
"Thank you. Now will you see our home?"
"Of course." Rapunzel followed Rumpelstiltskin as he led her through the kitchen where the humans leave food for them, past the stairs going up into the human resting place, into the machine room where the humans keep piles of outer pelts that make nice beds, through a room filled with sheep-pelt and a strange device that changes the sheep-pelt into a type of toy, in the water room where the litter box stays and the humans occasionally try forcing Rumpelstiltskin to swim, and through a climbing room filled with shelves that held all sizes of rectangular objects that opened to easily torn white leave before going back out into the front room.
"I'd like you to remain in the house most if not all of the time. I need to be able to rely on you to be here to let me in."
"I just want to be able to go outside at least once every three days so I can hunt. I know that kittypets don't need to hunt but I want to learn how just in case something happens and I end up not living with twolegs."
"Even if you do learn, the humans don't want us bringing prey into the house. Do want you want with it so long as the humans don't see it."
"Okay, thank you, they won't see them."
********* One Year Later *********
"I'm going out Rapunzel." Rumpelstiltskin called. "I expect to be back very late tonight or early tomorrow."
"Okay, have fun." Rapunzel responded, entering the front room.
"Remember to not let anyone inside except for me." Rumpelstiltskin reminded her sharply as her scent thickened the air.
"I know. I'll open the door for no one."
"And don't go outside while I'm gone either."
"Yes, Rumpelstiltskin."
Rumpelstiltskin hesitated a moment longer before leaving but Rapunzel locked the door behind him as she always had before and sat on the windowsill to watch him leave. After the small tom was out of sight, Rapunzel heard one of the humans sweeping the kitchen floor and jumped down to rescue any of her toys that might have gotten mixed in with the dust. A few hours later the humans also left the house and Rapunzel found herself with little to do and abnormally restless. Therefore, she was almost glad when she heard pawsteps outside in the rose garden. Rapunzel raced through the house to jump up onto the windowsill looking out into the back yard and was shocked at the sheer beauty of the strange tomcat standing out there. He had short, thick fur that was the gray of a rain-soaked stone with thin almost brown stripes that thickened to black bands on his legs and tail. His throat and belly paled to a misty white and his eyes were as blue and clear as a summer sky. He looked up at Rapunzel and her breath caught in her throat.
"May I come in, fair lady?" He yowled up at her.
"I was told not to let anyone through the door." She answered.
"Your words say no but your voice speaks of longing." He observed. "If I cannot come in, then you must come out here."
"Oh no sir, I musn't leave my home while my guardian is out."
"Well, if I cannot enter the door and you can't leave the nest, then I'll have to find a different way in." He launched himself at the tallest rosebush and clawed his way up, sending torn rose petals fluttering down behind him and avoiding the thick thorns.
The sun was close to setting as Rapunzel and her new friend lay next to each other and looked at the stars through the open window.
"My guardian said that he'd be back late tonight." Rapunzel informed him contentedly.
"Your guardian is male? What's his name?"
"Oh, he has a few names. I never know which one to tell other cats."
"Well which one do you call him?"
"I call him 'guardian'." Rapunzel dodged coyly.
"You really won't tell me? Why?"
"He's here!" Rapunzel said in shock as she heard Rumpelstiltskin approach the cat door. "He said he'd be late. I have to go let him in."
"Rapunzel!" Rumpelstiltskin yowled from the front door. "Come let me in." Rapunzel jumped back down to the carpet and ran through the house to unlock the flap. Rumpelstiltskin entered and sniffed at the air.
"You've had a guest." He accused.
"We only stayed near the rose window. He didn't come in more than a few pawsteps." Rapunzel defended herself.
"I'm sure. Is he still here? I'd like to speak to your visitor."
"I left him on the windowsill."
"Go on up to the top floor. I'll come get you before he leaves so you can say good night."
"Thank you, R. I promise you, this is a one-time only mistake."
"I know, my daughter. Now go on upstairs. I won't be long." Rapunzel rubbed her cheek against Rumpelstiltskin's before following his order. Rumpelstiltskin went to the spinning room and saw the plain gray tabby looking out into the yard.
"Hello." Rumpelstiltskin said quietly. The tom spun around quickly, waving his tail to maintain balance.
"I take it you're Runzel's guardian?"
"Her name is Rapunzel, not Runzel." Rumpelstiltskin corrected, jumping up next to him.
"You're an ugly little creature. No wonder Rapunzel sought elsewhere for a companion."
"You tore my roses." Rumpelstiltskin observed, looking down at the garden.
"Well you sure weren't going to." Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes for a moment in irritation at the other tom's misunderstanding.
"I was referring to my roses." Rumpelstiltskin waved his tail at the ripped rose petals on the grass.
"You know what, I think I'm going to take this place and Rapunzel as my own. And you'll just have to leave." The tomcat challenged, his fur lifting slightly.
Rumpelstiltskin breathed a soft sigh and stood up also. With a quick motion, Rumpelstiltskin swept the tom's front paws to the side and shoved his shoulders the other way with his muzzle. The tom yowled in shock as he tumbled out the window and crashed onto the rose bushes. He screamed with pain as the rose's long thorns scratched his eyes.
"What happened?" Rapunzel asked, rushing into the room. "I heard a scream."
"Your friend attacked me but had trouble keeping his balance on such a narrow perch. He fell into the roses and I'm afraid he may have gotten hurt quite badly." Rumpelstiltskin explained. Rapunzel landed on the sill next to him and looked down at her mate.
"He attacked you? Why?"
"Don't you want to see if he's okay?"
"Depends on the reason he attacked you."
"He wanted the house and you. He wanted to be the only tom in your life."
"So to claim what I was once willing to give him, he attacked my only friend."
Rumpelstiltskin remained silent so that Rapunzel would make her decision on her own. Rapunzel turned and jumped back down into the house, leaving the stranger whimpering in the roses. Rumpelstiltskin watched Rapunzel leave before landing gently in the grass outside. He walked up next to the injured tom and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Rapunzel has denied any suggestion to help you. She was willing to leave you here alone but I really don't want you messing up my rose garden. My friend and former mentor will come to take you far from here before the morning sun rises." Rumpelstiltskin returned to the house long enough to tell Rapunzel that he'd be gone for a short while before leaving again.
Rumpelstiltskin returned less than an hour later with a silvery-furred gray fox behind him.
"This is our intruder, Belyaev. Will you take him?"
"What will you offer me in return?"
"Other than an easy meal?"
"I don't eat anything that big. Something else."
"What do you want?"
"A name. The name of one of your enemies."
********* Four Days Later *********
"Rumpelstiltskin?" Rapunzel asked as she approached him.
"Yes?"
"I think I should leave."
"What? Why?" He asked, standing to address her properly.
"Because of what happened with that tom. He was the first cat I met other than you since I left my family and a handsome pelt was all it took for me to let him in. I'm far too naive of this world and the only way to rectify that is to go out and see some of it."
"You're very wise for your age, my daughter." Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "I don't want to lose you but if you truly think that that's best, I won't stop you."
"Thank you. I'll never forget all you've done for me. Father." Rumpelstiltskin's ears straightened up tall in surprise at this formerly unused term. Then Rapunzel ducked through the flap and was gone.
********* Thirteen Months Later *********
"Dew, Lily, keep up dears." Rapunzel called to the two young cats following her.
"We're coming, Mama." The fluffy gray tomkit responded as he and his dark tabby sister bounced forward to play around Rapunzel's paws.
"Where are we going, Mom?" Lily, the tabby, asked.
"We're going to go visit the cat who raised me." Rapunzel answered.
"Help." A weak voice called hoarsely.
"Where are you?" Rapunzel asked, searching for the tom who spoke.
"Here, under the leaves." Dew ran over to a pile of leaves that had blown up next to an old stump. "Look, you can see his tail."
With Lily and Dew helping her, Rapunzel quickly dug the leaves off the emaciated gray tabby tom.
"Please, who are you?" The tom asked, too weak to lift his head from his paws. "My eyes failed me over a year ago."
"My name is Rapunzel. My kittens, Dew and Lily, are here with me."
"Rapunzel?" He asked, his fur beginning to bristle slightly. "No, you can't be Rapunzel. I've been walking for a year to escape from Rapunzel."
"Are you the tom who climbed my rose bush to gain entry into my home a year and a month ago?" Rapunzel asked, shocked.
"No." He moaned. "I fled for a year! How did I end up back here?"
"You must have gone in a circle." Rapunzel pointed out quietly.
"Do you know him, Mama?" Dew asked, looking up at his mother's face.
"No." She answered clearly. "But we can't leave him to starve. Come, let's take him to the city with us. We can find him some humans to feed and shelter him."
Lily and Dew pushed under the tom's shoulders and helped him stand unsteadily. After he was standing, Rapunzel took Dew's place and they walked slowly into the city. Rapunzel guided them to the nearest house and brought her one-time mate up onto the porch before sending Dew and Lily away to hide nearby.
"Humans!" Rapunzel yowled at the door. "Humans, we need help!" One of the large, furless mammals opened the door and made a noise at the sight before her. She bent down to pick up the tom and used a paw to gesture Rapunzel inside.
"No, thank you. I just needed to find him some help." Rapunzel explained. Then she backed off a little ways before turning and joining her kits at the edge of the yard. The three resumed their journey together and Rapunzel found the house she was raised in before the sun rose halfway through the sky.
"This is where I grew up." She stated, memories washing through her fur like rain. She breathed in deeply before taking a step into the yard. "Let's see if he's home." After the first step, Rapunzel strode forward confidently right up to the cat door. She tapped it gently with her paw but the flap remained still.
"Are you here, R?" Rapunzel called. Inside, the metal claw clicked against the hoop as someone unlocked the door and a sleek-furred black tom with a pointed face and deep golden eyes stepped halfway out.
"Who are you?" He asked. "Why are you here?"
"My name is Rapunzel. I was raised in this house by a small thin-furred tom who went by R. Who are you?"
"James." The black tom answered shortly. "A cat of that description is training me here."
"Do you know where he is?"
"Out."
"Very well. May I wait out in the rose garden? I know he doesn't like having anyone inside save for those few he invites."
"I'll let him know when he returns."
"Thank you." Rapunzel led the kittens around the house and settled down underneath a rosebush to wait. She closed her eyes for a nap while Lily and Dew played and when she woke, the sun was nearing the horizon and her kits were laying next to her. It was several minutes longer before Rumpelstiltskin jumped down from the window and landed in front of her.
"Hello R. It's been quite a while."
"Rapunzel, I didn't think you'd come back."
"I wanted my kits to meet the tom who raised me. May I give them your name?"
"They can know me as Captain Elizabeth Bonny."
"But that doesn't have an r in it." Lily observed.
"No, it doesn't. But I have a few enemies so I must be careful with my name."
"Do we have to guard our names too, Mama?" Dew asked her.
"No love, you and Lily have no enemies." Rapunzel answered, then she lifted her head to address her surrogate father. "Captain Bonny, these are my kits; Lily, and Dew."
"The tom inside said you were training him. What for?" Dew asked Rumpelstiltskin.
"Rapunzel once gave me a very good reason for house cats to know how to hunt. I'm teaching him how to do so."
"It's more than just that, Captain." Rapunzel corrected. "Unless of course, I am terribly mistaken. I'm not protecting my kits in a bubble, safe from the world."
Rumpelstiltskin inclined his head in acknowledgement of her will. "My former mentor, a gray fox named Belyaev seems to be getting in contact with some of the enemies I mentioned so I want to train some cats loyal to me."
"Teach me to fight." Rapunzel offered. "You know you have my loyalty."
"You have your own kittens to raise. And James Hook knows me as Captain Elizabeth."
"Then train all three of us. Dew and Lily are as worthy of trust as I am."
"You are kind, my daughter. I trust you understand why I mentioned my name a moment ago."
"I do. You also referred to me as daughter. If he is as you fear, that itself was a mistake. We should all learn how to fight eventually anyway and I wouldn't make a good teacher as I am."
"Very well, I'll train you. And your kits if they so desire it."
"Yeah!" Dew exclaimed.
"I'm going to be the best fighter!" Lily boasted.