Brook lay curled up in a small, pink and white nest next to the gently crackling fireplace, the warmth of the fire making her nest even more comfortable. She grunted and snuggled down further into the soft cushion of the nest - but then she heard voices. Curious, she pricked her ears.
"..don't want to wake her.." came the soft voice of her mother, Elita.
"..when will we tell her?.." her father, Cian, now.
"..Brook.." her name was mentioned multiple times. They were talking about her!
She sat bolt upright, staring with narrowed eyes into the guilty faces of her parents.
"You were talking about me."
The couple exchanged glances before her father spoke.
"No, we weren't, Brook. We were talking about Sugar. She still hasn't come home."
Distracted from the conversation she'd heard merely seconds ago, the young tabby she-cat jumped up from her nest.
"I'll go find her!" she announced and, without waiting for a reply, she ran across the room and dived through the flap.
It didn't take long to find Sugar. She was sitting on next door's fence, talking to a Roxy, the black tom who lived next door.
Brook trotted across the fence with ease until she was standing right beside Sugar.
"Heyy, Sugar!"
The white she-cat nearly jumped out of her fur. She spun around to face her sister, pink eyes angry.
"Brook! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she exclaimed. She turned back to face Roxy, and Brook couldn't help noticing that her eyes noticably softened when they met his green ones.
"Sorry about my sister. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
He smiled and Brook smirked when he leaned forward and touched his nose to hers.
"Yep. See you, Sugar."
As the two sisters were padding back to their house, Brook could practically feel the happiness radiating from Sugar. When they reached their garden, she turned around, grinning. "So.. are you and Roxy mates yet?"
Sugar giggled like a kit and lashed her tail against Brook's flank. "None of your business!"
When the other she-cat went inside, Brook couldn't help but sigh. Roxy was the only tom close to her and Sugar's age who lived near them - and it was clear he had already fallen for Sugar. It was a pity. She had always wanted to have a mate, but now that seemed impossible.
She pushed through the flap to see Sugar already curled up in her nest. Her parents were nowhere to be seen.
Yawning, she curled up in her own nest to continue the rest that was unfortunately interrupted earlier that day. As she fell asleep, she caught a glimpse of her mother padding into the room through her half-closed eyelids, but then she fell asleep.
The next morning, Brook awoke to a room, empty to everyone but a Twoleg kit. The kit never paid much attention to the cats, and it allowed Brook to stroll over to the flap without trouble. She sat down and began to groom herself next to the flap, but then she heard voices.
Elita, Cian and Sugar's voices, to be precise.
Curious, she pushed against the flap slightly to hear more.
"Sugar, we're going to tell you a secret. You see, we are your parents..."
At this, Brook pushed a bit too hard, and fell through the flap.
"..but we aren't Brook's parents."
Brook felt like her entire body was frozen. She was shocked.
Elita and Cian.. all this time?
She looked up to see her family - no, her fake family - staring down at her, a mixture of anger and other emotions Brook couldn't recognize in their eyes.
"Brook.." Cian began, but Elita finished, "..it's not what it seems!"
Growling, Brook stood up, staring at her parents coldly. "I can't believe you'd do this to me!"
Both looked down at their paws, but Sugar stared on. "Brook.. I'm so sorry."
But she wasn't listening. She simply ran. Past Sugar, Cian and Elita, past the shrubs, flowers and trees she'd grown up with, grown accustomed to seeing. She didn't stop until she was at the fence at the bottom of the garden. Then, without looking back, without thinking, she jumped over the fence and ran into the forest.
Brook didn't know how far she'd ran before she finally stopped for a break. She collapsed on the forest floor and stared up at the pale blue sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds, like a kit's fur. Like Sugar's fur. She sighed. She was missing them already. She sighed again, and then noticed the terrible smell around her. She looked down cautiously and realized, she had landed in some mud!
Growling, she jumped out of the mud with a satisfying 'squelch' and stalked off. She tried to shake the mud off, but it was caked onto her brown fur tightly.
Looks like I'm going to have to lick it off.
She shuddered at the mere thought. It was only then that she noticed the voices nearby. Instinctively, she jumped up a tree and crouched down on one of it's higher branches, looking down at the newcomers carefully. Two toms, one black and one a dark ginger, stomped into the clearing. Both looked scarily strong and angry.
They must be some of the rogues Cian used to tell me and Sugar about..
Brook waited until they were safely out of sight before jumping back down from the tree.
I suppose I'll need to find somewhere to stay the night.
She made her way further into the forest before finally finding a small hollow tree in the middle of the forest. She gathered moss, feathers, heather, anything soft that she thought would make a comfortable nest similar to her lovely one back in the Twoleg den. It was almost the middle of the night when Brook finished making the nest, but it was just as comfortable as her old nest in most ways, and she settled down in it willingly.
She stared out at the stars as thoughts buzzed around her head, reminding her of all she had done today, and all she would do tomorrow. All by herself. The stars danced high up in the dark night's sky, carefree and happy. It would be wonderful to be able to go asleep during the day, and dance through the night without a worry or fear. She fell asleep thinking that, the silver starlight shining down on her pale tabby pelt.
Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to the people who followed this before I posted this chapter :)!
I tried to make this chapter interesting, but believe me, it will become a lot more interesting as I carry on. I've got practically the whole story planned out :P
But thanks so much for reading the first chapter of this book! I'll update as soon as I can!
