Wonton and Vodka padded side by side through the alleys. She had long ago learned that it was safer to move across the city this way in order to avoid the pound peoples. Vodka apparently knew this as well. Their destination was Sunset Boulevard on the other side of the town, where the human "Kiku" lived with his mate. Her companion estimated that it would be about a three day walk going by the city streets, four to five by alleyway. Wonton just wanted to get to her kittens, but she couldn't do that if she was in the pound, she couldn't risk being reckless.

While Wonton had been a rather reserved cat, especially towards strangers, Vodka seemed eager to become friends with the burmese. Not wanting to be rude, Wonton kept their conversation short and polite, trying not to drag them out, but he was persistent in inquiring about her life.

"So where do you live?" The brown fluff ball asked.

"On Yellowtail drive." She answered.

"Oh, your people live in one of the old apartment buildings, da?" He guessed.

"No. I'm an alley cat, aru."

Vodka paused in his steps for a split second, caught off guard by her statement.

"Really...? That must be hard, da? Having kittens and all." He chuckled, try to clear up the suddenly depressing atmosphere.

"Yeah, well it's my life. And I have been doing just fine raising my kids, aru." She retorted, a little angry.

"I'm sure you're a great mother." Said Vodka. The sincerity of his voice made the burmese become flustered and her anger drained.

"Uh-well, o-of course! I'd do anything for my kits." She stuttered in the beginning, but her voice became soft as she thought of her kittens. Little rebellious Hong, playful and adventurous Mei, and her shy but responsible Tama. She was proud of every single one of them. Oh how she missed them. "They're my world." She whispered softly.

Vodka looked down at the smaller cat as they walked side by side. The small smile on her face told him everything about her love for her kittens and her abilities as a mom. This somehow warmed his heart with a strange unknown feeling.

The two felines had been walking for about half the day and more. With the winter sun setting, temperatures were quickly dropping. They needed to find a place to sleep fast. Wonton had never been to this part of town, so she didn't know where to go. The other, however, was a wanderer and sometimes traveled across the city to hang out with his friends, like Aristotle. The closest place he knew was an abandoned house on the corner of May and Oak. It was old and falling apart, but it would shelter them from the cold. A few humans were gathered in one of the rooms, huddling and sharing food. They recognize Vodka immediately and motioned for him to join them. He complied and curled in an old man's lap, who preceded to pet his fur. They didn't notice Wonton until the comfortable cat meowed towards the door.

"Ooh, is this your little girlfriend, Travis?" One of them asked. She got up and knelt down, offering a hand to Wonton. The nervous cat backed away at first, but came closer when the human showed her no intent of harm. The human picked her up and walked back to her previous spot. "She's a beauty Travis." She noted.

"Who's Travis?" Wonton asked.

"That's what they call me. Travis the traveler they say." Vodka answered her question.

She giggled at the silliness of his nickname. "Do you come her often?"

"Are you flirting with me?" He joked.

"J-just answer the question, aru!" The black cat blushed.

It was Vodka's turn to giggle. "I like to stop by every once in awhile to check up on Mark and Peg. They've been living here along with some others for the past year, but lately they've said that they almost have enough green to move, whatever that means."

Wonton nodded, she knew what it meant, but she'll let Vodka stay ignorant. There was a place she stayed at for a while when her owner first abandoned her. It was an abandoned warehouse overtaken by homeless cats. Small family's were built within the community, and everyone was led by one cat who was way stronger than the rest. It was more like we were his servants, and if we didn't follow him, we would be punished. Wonton left because she didn't want to raise a family in that kind of place. Of course leaving didn't take human 'green' and Mark and Peg's situation didn't sound as violent, but it wasn't that easy to get out of that place. Especially when you were the boss's favorite.

"Ton.."

"Wonton..."

"Wonton!"

Practically jumping out of her pelt, the burmese was surprised to see that the other cat was right in her face.

"Huh?" She stumbled.

"You spaced out. Your okay, da?" He asked concerned.

"Shì de, I'm just fine." Wonton replied. The brown cat frowned but let it go. He went and curled next to the man. She decided to stick next to the woman throughout the night. Unbeknownst to her, Vodka watched her as she fell asleep and into the night. The woman and Wonton were both began to shiver. The two males had the same idea and curled up against them. Giving her forehead a tender lick, the tom cat fell asleep curled up with her, purring.

.

The car came to a stop in a driveway of what seemed to be a really nice one story house. The three frightened kits were put into a carrier before they were pulled out of the car so they would run away. The larger man carried them in and set them down on in the first room they entered. Once Kiku closed the front door, the door of their cage was open. Refusing to come out, Hercules had to pull them out one by one. They attacked his hand but he ignored it and pulled out the kittens with a gentle touch.

But all three were still unsure of their surroundings and bolted under the nearest chair. The brunette sighed and called out to nowhere in particular. "Aristotle! We have company!"

Slowly but surely a fluffy white and dark grey feline made his way from his sleeping place by the fire. He meowed at his owner, as if asking what it was he wanted. Hercules pointed to the chair they were hiding under and nodded. The fat cat nodded also and walked over to the seat. Leaning down he peered under at the three new comers.

"Hello, my name is Aristotle. What is yours?" He started, not knowing what else to do.

Tama looked at him suspiciously and backed away some more. This cat only seemed to be staring at him for some reason.

"What do we do?" Whispered Mei. Hong kept quiet but glared at the large cat, as if he was their foe. So Tama decided to speak for them.

"Konichiwa Aristotle-san, my name is Tama. These are my litter mates, Mei, and Hong." He greeted.

"Tama..." He echoed, much to the other's discomfort. "It is nice to meet you.. why don't you three come out and I could show you around." He offered slowly, still not breaking eye contact with the bobtail.

"Thank you but we are not supposed to be here." Tama told him.

Aristotle hummed. "Would you like to talk about it?" He offered again.

"No thank you." He said again, a little more strongly this time.

He was worried for himself and his siblings if they were staying in a place with a cat like him. Something just wasn't quite right about how he acted.

As night fell upon the city and the creeping shadows enveloped the household. The three switched to using their night vision to explore. Now that the two humans and their cat were asleep, they were free to roam. They stocked together at first, but gradually spread apart to explore different area's of the house. Tama found the fire place in an open room down the hall. The fire was still partially lit and provided some warmth. Tama thought of taking a nap, but a basket of yarn caught his attention. He shook his head, he didn't want to get to comfortable here, for he wouldn't be staying long and he had to act responsible as the oldest of the litter. But his inner kitten led him to climb into the basket and pull out a dark blue ball of yarn. He chased it around and rolled around, thus entangling himself in the string.

From the corner of the room by the entrance, Aristotle watched in delight to see that Tama indeed had a playful side to his usual serious self. Something about the cat entranced him, like fate had brought them together. He wanted to go and talk to him, but he didn't know how to approach him, so he just sat there, staring as the young cat played himself out, and fell asleep by the fire. One by one, the siblings found each other and fell asleep by the dying fire. Aristotle padded up and lied down next to Tama. It had been a while since he had the chance to speak with another cat.

Maybe Vodka would stop by for a visit soon.

Nightmares plagued Wonton's dreams, except when she woke up she was still in one. Feeling slight pressure on her side, the black cat looked over, much to her surprise, to see her traveling companion curled up next to her. When had he moved?

Deciding to get up, Wonton walked out onto the back porch and looked up at the gibbous moon, it was almost full. The sight of the pale orb made her think of a song her mother would sing to her, and that she would sing to her kittens.

Ni Wèn wo ài ni

Yôu duo shen

Wo ài ni you ji fen

Wo de qíng ye zhen

"That's a pretty song." A quiet voice interrupted. Wonton turned around and saw Vodka walking towards her. "What's it called?"

"Aiyah! How long have you been there, aru?" She exclaimed.

Vodka grinned and sat down next to her. "Not long. What were you singing?" He asked again.

Wonton looked at the moon and gave a sad smile. "It's a song jia mu sang to me as a kit, and I sing it to my kittens now. It's called 'the moon represents my heart'." She explained sadly.

"Jia mu? Who's that?" The friendly giant wondered out loud.

"It means 'my mother' in chinese." Wonton further elaborated.

Vodka nodded his head in understanding. They sat in a comfortable silence until Wonton found she had unconsciously started to sing again. When she stopped, Vodka encouraged her to continue.

Wo de ài ye zhen

Yuèliàng diàbiao wo de xin

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Hope you enjoyed another chapter, I was just so eager to write this that I updated early. Hope you stay tuned! Sorry I couldn't get all the accent marks, my tablet doesn't provide all of them.

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Translations yay!

The moon represents my heart -

Ni Wèn wo ài ni - You ask me how

Yôu duo shen - deep I love you

Wo ài ni you ji fen - How much my love is

Wo de qíng ye zhen - My affection is real

Wo de ài ye zhen - My love is real

Yuèliàng diàbiao wo de xin - The moon represents my heart

Chinese

Shì de - Yes

Aiyah - *sigh, oh man, blah

Jia mu - (when referring to) My mother

Japanese

Konichiwa - Hello, Good afternoon

Russian

Da - Yes