Walter cocks his head slightly and starts forward instinctively, but the cat has already flung herself into the burning shell of the dressmaker's shop. His brow furrows beneath the mask, unable to fathom why an animal would do something so against its basic survival instincts.
Then she returns, leaping out from what used to be a window, and he knows.
He sees the limp bundle of smoke-blackened fur, and he knows.
He hears the wail still coming from inside the building, and he knows.
She sets her beloved scrap down just inside the alley she first appeared from, pausing only to give it a rough lick before turning away and practically flying back through the window.
He just stares for a moment at the smoky building, then wheels around and strides to the mouth of the alley. Crouching stiffly, Walter picks up the kitten in one gloved hand and is relieved to note that it is breathing. He stands and glances around before grabbing a pizza box from a dumpster. The tiny bundle is placed gently on the brown cardboard.
He is sliding his back down the brick to sit when the cat appears once more, another swinging ball of fluff clenched in her jaws. She g ives Walter a sideways glance as she sets it down, briefly sniffing the other kitten as if to make sure he hasn't hurt it. Then she's off again.
He notices that she limps slightly.
The second kitten seems fine as well, so he merely sits, eyes fixed on the heat-wavering window.
This time, when she leaps out, there is a tuft of fur missing from her tail.
She doesn't seem to have noticed, not with a third bundle hanging beneath her chin. The cat is all business, placing her baby on the box and whisking around to trot back into the blaze.
By the time she returns again, yet another kitten dangling and mewling helplessly from her jaws, her whiskers appear to have been singed off. The fur on her back is blackened, and she sets her feet down gingerly as she walks, a little more slowly, towards the fiery window.
Still, she holds her head high as she leaps inside.
Unfortunately, she doesn't return.
Notes: I am so sorry that it has been so long since I updated anything. I've been feeling down lately, and more in the mood to write angsty poetry than angsty fan fiction. :P Also, school, and homework. Ugh. But I hope to start writing every day, at least a little.