Chapter 3
(Hello guys! SwimyTheSpirit here! I just wanna say to clear up some confusion that the story will switch between adult Nutmeg and kit Nutmeg/Caramel. The present will give hints of what happened in past. So, please tell me if I've made any errors while writing any of the chapters. I've been doing my best trying to check and correct mistakes. So if you see a mistake in one of the chapters, do not hesitate to tell me! Thank you!)
Caramel was surprised when she met her father. Not by her father himself, but by how they met was weird. Speckle had to sneak each kit out secretly. Caramel saw the so called 'housefolk'. They were sleeping on a white puffy thing with brown legs that Speckle explained was a couch. While both Kate and Caramel were nervous about meeting their father, Tawny was bouncing with joy.
"I bet Father is the strongest cat in the world! I hope he can teach me to fight!" The dark brown tortoiseshell tom-kit waved his tiny claws wildly as Speckle set her son on the soft green grass.
Caramel looked around what Speckle called 'the garden' with wonder. There were bright colored plants growing out of the ground. Caramel bounced over to the bright colored plants and raised her paws. She batted at the strange pants, hitting their soft petals. Caramel tried to keep her balance, but fell into a prickly green square. Sharp brown cat claws dug into her fluffy kitten fur.
"Help!" Caramel cried, fall deeper into the square.
Suddenly, Caramel felt something grip her paw in between their teeth. The thing grunted as they pulled Caramel out of the square. The she-cat looked up to see her sister, Kate.
"Really, Caramel?" Kate purred playfully, pulling out one of the brown cat claws with her teeth, "First you try to play with a flower, then you fall into a bush and get all these thorns stuck in your fur. You're truly an idiot!"
Caramel felt both confused and sad at Kate's words, "Flowers? Bushes? Thorns… Am I really an idiot?"
Kate's blue eyes turned to worry, "Of course not! It was… Just a phrase! You shouldn't just play with things you don't know about. But you now understand the dangerous of thorns. Weren't you paying attention to Mother's warnings about them?"
Caramel gave a weak smile. Of course, she didn't pay attention! She was too busy wondering how their father would react upon seeing them. Before the youngest kit could explain, Caramel heard her brother snort.
"Of course she didn't! She hasn't paid attention to anything since she was born!"
Kate turned her gray head. She rolled her eyes, "Tawny, calm yourself. She just opened her eyes a few minutes ago and you seem to be expecting her to understand how to climb a tree or how to turn into a housefolk. She's only a kit, just like you."
Tawny lashed his tail, "You're a kit too, you know!"
Kate blinked calmly, "Of course I am. I never said I wasn't. I'm just saying you're expecting too much from her."
"Well, I want Father to think we are the best kits ever!" Tawny spat, padding slowly up to Kate, "I don't want him to think we're soft housecats! I want him to think we're strong housecats!"
"Where is this coming from?" Kate asked.
Tawny lowered his gaze, "I heard Mama talking… I still had my eyes closed but… She said father hasn't visited her in days. She worries that… He might never come. She says he always believed that strength was the most important things in life."
Kate sighed and rested her tall tip on Tawny's shoulder, "You're only a kit, Tawny. I'm sure that father is just busy, that's all. Now, groom your fur down. You said you wanted to look good in front of Father."
Caramel blinked in surprise. Kate sounded like an adult cat and she seemed really smart too. The kit licked her paw and brushed it past her ears. The brown and white she-cat started to slowly stop listening to her siblings and Mother and began to wonder.
Why has Father been gone for so long? Is he not proud of us!
"Look Caramel! Your father's coming!"
The she-kit noticed her light brown tortoiseshell mother walking up behind her. Her hazel eyes sparkled with joy and excitement. Speckle picked up her youngest kit and dropped her on the soft grass next to her gray sister. Kate licked Caramel's ear and looked forward.
"Look! I can scent him!" Tawny cheered, "He's coming through the fence."
The fence was white and stood tall. There were horizontal holes in the fence, which showed shiny tall cylinders and rubbish laying around. Caramel was shocked when a long legged white tom with a gray underbelly and paws stepped through. His eyes were an amber color and his right ear was torn.
"Hello, my little ones."
His voice was smooth, but it had a certain edge to it that made Caramel feel slightly uncomfortable. She noticed that her father looked like Kate, except Kate's fur was gray and her underbelly and paws were white.
"Wow! Are you really our Father?" Tawny asked with wonder, bouncing up to the white tom.
The tom gave the tom-kit a small smirk, "Of course, my son. My name Cloud."
Speckle blinked in confusion, "But… I thought your name was Simon?"
The kit's father, Cloud, gave Speckle a cold look before padding up to the tortoiseshell mother. He purred and brushed against Speckle's pelt. The she-cat flattened her ears in embarrassment.
"I am a cat of many names, my dear." Cloud purred in Speckle's ear.
Speckle nodded weakly, "O-Of course… Would you like to know your kits' names?"
Cloud was quiet for a moment, but then nodded, "Of course, dear."
Speckle nosed Tawny in front of Cloud. The tom-kit squeaked happily as Cloud's amber gaze turned from boredom to curiosity.
"This is your son, Tawny," Speckle explained, "He's your second born."
Cloud examined Tawny closely. He sniffed the kit's dark brown, tortoiseshell fur and looked at his legs. He mumbled to himself the entire time.
"Dark fur, good for camouflage in the dark. Short legs, but he will be very strong, I can tell."
What is he talking about? Caramel wondered, looking at her big sister.
Kate had her eyes narrowed and lashed her tail back and forth. Cloud looked up and blinked his eyes, "Who is the gray one?"
Before Speckle could reply, Kate flicked her ear angrily, "My name is Kate and I wanna know what you're doing?"
Tawny growled, "Kate! What are you doing?! He's our father! He's just curious!"
Cloud blinked innocently, "I just wanna get to know my kits… Is that a crime?"
Caramel pressed herself against Kate nervously. Cloud looked at her with narrowed eyes, "Who are you?"
"That's the runt of our litter, Caramel," Tawny answered, nudging Cloud softly, "Don't worry about her, though! She's whiny."
Speckle narrowed her hazel eyes and was about to scold her son when Cloud suddenly laughed, "Sibling rivalry already?! This is hilarious!"
Kate glared at Cloud when he said, "How about I show our kits were I live. It's not far."
"I don't know Simo- Cloud," Speckle muttered, shifting her paws back and forth, "What if the housefolk wake up early and notice the kits are gone?"
Cloud padded forward and licked Speckle's ear, "Don't worry. We'll back in a flash, my dear."
The she-cat blinked and then nodded. Kate looked at their mother like she was crazy. So did Caramel.
What is she thinking?! Caramel panicked.
Cloud lifted his head and mewed, "Come on, kits! I'll take you to my nest!"
Tawny scrambled after the tom quickly while Kate tried to reason with her mother.
"Mama, I rather stay here and watch Caramel."
Speckle flicked her ear, "You'll be going with your father and that's final! Now, I need to make sure the housefolk stay asleep!"
Speckle leaped on the window sill and disappeared inside the nest. Caramel pressed herself against Kate.
"I don't trust Cloud…"
Kate nodded, " I don't either… But we can't let Tawny go alone, that idiot… Come on."
The two she-kit jumped through the holes in the fence and landed on small, dark gray stone. The stone was very cold, which made Caramel squeak in surprise. The stone-ground was littered with bits of rock and strange clear stone. Rubbish laid across the ground like the rocks surrounding it. The rubbish had pieces of housefolk items in it, making Caramel quite curious. Kate pulled Caramel back to her side after she tried to sniff a housefolk item. The brown and white she-kit saw that her brother and father were already halfway down the stone-ground pathway.
"This is what we call an alleyway, my boy," Cloud mewed to Tawny, "I rule these alleyways, son. My group and I are… Like a family. We make sure everyone is fed and well defended."
"That sounds amazing!" Tawny squeaked.
Cloud nodded, "Indeed…"
Kate and Caramel started to sprint, making sure they didn't get left behind. Cloud perked his ears and turned his head. Seeing his two daughters, he relaxed.
"Ah, so you've decided to join us. Well, the more the merry I say!"
Tawny frowned at the sight of his siblings but didn't make a comment. The group continued down the 'alleyway' while Cloud continued explaining everything in the area.
"This is a 'trash can', kits. The housefolk throw their rubbish into them. Sometimes my group will eat some food out of them. Oh… Kate, was it…? Don't give me that look. We only eat the good food. The stone we're standing on is what the housefolk call 'pavement'. It's quite harmless, though the flecks that come off it can hurt when you step on it. Now… I'm feeling as if I'm forgetting to tell you something…?"
Suddenly, Caramel felt like something was digging into her paw pad. A sharp pain rushed through her body. Caramel yelped in pain and leaped into the air. Kate quickly sniffed her paw pad and gasped,
"She stepped on a piece of clear stone!"
Cloud rolled his eyes, "That's just glass. It's not a big deal. Just pull it out."
"Yeah, stop acting like a whiny kit!" Tawny snorted.
Kate glared at the two toms and looked down at the clear stone. Caramel whimpered with pain. Why didn't her father care that she was in pain? It really hurt!
Kate gripped the clear stone piece and ripped it out. Caramel squeaked with pain and started to lick the blood away.
"See!" Cloud meowed, "Your fine! C'mon! Let's go!"
While Cloud and Tawny left Caramel behind, Kate stayed with her and helped her clean her wound. After a couple of fierce licks, the bleeding stopped, but Caramel's paw still throbbed.
"We should just go home." Kate mewed.
"But Mama will get mad if we don't bring Tawny home with us!" Caramel whined, "We have to continue."
Kate blinked a couple of times. Sighing in defeat, the two started to walk again. Caramel winced every few pawsteps, but she had to act brave in front of her sister.
Suddenly, she felt the ground rumble and shake underneath her feet. Caramel and Kate glanced at each other before dashing forward. They caught up with Cloud and Tawny. Cloud gave them a curt nod and turned his head back to where he was looking. There was a long black pathway with yellow lines running across it. Across the black pathway laid another alleyway. Next to the alleyway were tall housefolk nests made from red rock. With a loud roar, a silver flash sped across the black pathway. Trembling with fear, Caramel took a few steps back. A red and black flash sped in front of the cats.
I can smell fear scent coming off of Tawny and Kate, but not off of Cloud! Caramel thought Shouldn't he be scared?!
"They is a street or Thunderpath, my kits," Cloud explained, "Housefolk ride in monsters to get from place to place. They are very dangerous and can kill a cat easily."
Cloud turned to face the kits, amber eyes gleaming and mewed, "Are you ready to cross?"