After a short while of staring at the fish Pepper began to shift how she was sitting. Blacky looked over at the tortoiseshell and asked, "Are you getting bored Pepper?"

The smaller she-cat shook her head. "No Blacky. I am just making sure I don't get stiff. Getting stiff won't help us walk back when I have to go home."

Blacky nodded and looked at Flower who seemed amused by this conversation. The black she-cat glared causing the other to laugh. "And just what is so funny Flower?"

"Everything. Pepper is bored but in denial and you are just accepting it," the orange tabby laughed. Pepper whined how she wasn't bored and just getting stiff even though it was obvious now that she was bored. Blacky's pelt bristled but she didn't argue because it was true and because she was embarrassed to have believed Pepper's lie. Blacky looked around to distract herself as Flower and Pepper began to argue.

The building with the fish tank in the window was small. All the buildings were small in fact. The only buildings that were bigger than the others were the old building Pepper lived in and Shade's barn. Those buildings were on the outskirts of the town though so it make sense they were bigger. The town had no fences but did have plenty of buildings for pets to be watched while the owners were away. Blacky never understood the attachment cats made to twolegs. Those cats became fat and lazy and ate food that looked just plain nasty! The wet food looked worse than the dry food as well. A freshly caught mouse was preferable. Heck even a squirrel, which Blacky did not enjoy, was better than the food cats with twolegs ate.

Blacky looked around with her green eyes at the surrounding buildings. They were all white and pale blue with clear windows. Most windows were open since this day was nice and cool. Blacky always preferred it when the weather was cooler. Having a black pelt made her hot if she was in the sun too long. Besides watching the leaves change from the varying shades of green to the shades of red, orange, yellow, and even some browns. Another bonus was that when the twolegs left at the time they took their pesky dogs. The problem was that it meant the cats owned by twolegs left as well. Many of them were nice and had some very interesting stories about what happened when they weren't here. Admittedly most of the stories were boring but at certain times throughout the moons strange things happened.

Strange things never really bothered Blacky because she didn't believe in them. Heck the only story she really believed was the one about the wild cats. She had seen some of them from a distance and they looked terrifying. Their pelts were matted and filthy. Their claws sharp and eyes evil looking. The scariest thing was the number of scars they had. They must be always fighting and hungry with how thin they were. Some had patches of fur missing and there were others that had fresh blood on their pelts. Terrifying. Blacky hoped she would never have to deal with them ever in her life.

She sighed deeply as she realized that she was starting to retreat into her thoughts. She couldn't be doing that now. She looked at her friends and saw that they were now playfully gossiping and mocking other cats. Blacky then looked around and saw a fluffy white pelt in the distance heading toward them. After a moment the pale green eyes locked onto them and Blacky growled in annoyance.

Flower and Pepper looked over and sighed. The three she-cats braced themselves for whatever the tom wanted. As he walked up he grinned, "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Ms. Flower I am glad see you are still keeping Ms. Pepper as your friend. Ms. Pepper I certainly hope your father knows you are out here." He looked at them as he spoke in a mostly innocent way but when he looked at Blacky a gleam appeared in his eyes. "And my, my, my. Ms. Blacky. You are still hanging out with these two? I thought the last time we talked you agreed that you would better yourself?"

Flower and Pepper's pelt bristled. Blacky glared, "Do you think me a liar? I am not like that and you know it."

He chuckled, "I meant no offense. However I am reasonably concerned. Your father made sure I would look out for you."

Flower asked, "Why can't you just leave her alone though? She is full grown and can care for herself Icicle."

Icicle's green eyes showed his annoyance at the orange tabby's inquiry but he replied smoothly, "I am not one to go back against my promises. And you three know a cat is grown once they are twelve moons old. Ms. Blacky is only eleven."

"I will be twelve moons in five days." Blacky protested. She hated how Icicle was such a stickler for all the rules. The cats in the town had rules about training, if anyone even did it, and for maturity. Training always started at five moons. The mentor, usually a parent or another adult, would show them how to get into proper attack and hunting stances. After one moon of that the cat then had physical training until they were nine moons. No cat was declared an adult until twelve moons because then they will either leave to become a house cat, become a wanderer, stay with the town cats, or get kidnapped by the wild cats.

Blacky was staying with the town cats because it was the safest option for her and also because after a she-cat was over twelve moons old she was safer from being kidnapped by the forest cats. Icicle only enforced the rules regularly because he had a sister who was taken when they were almost eight moons old. Icicle was the older brother of Blacky's father so when her father died seven moons ago Icicle took over her care. She honestly appreciated everything he did for her but it could sometimes be overwhelming.

"Blacky I know that but I only want what's best for you. If your father were here he would give everything, even his own life as often as necessary, for you." Icicle explained to her somberly. Blacky sighed in defeat. She knew it was true and couldnt deny it.

"Alright. But Pepper and Flower are the only cats arond here I trust aside from you." She explained.

"You can trust Shade. He would never hurt anyone here." Pepper grinned and surprised everyone.

Flower asked, "But how can we trust someone we rarely see because he is always hiding away and doing whatever Ice wants him to do?"

Icicle replied, "You can't. Trust is to be earned. Ms. Blacky please understand this. Do not trust anyone unless you know they will give their life for yours and those you care for."


Well this was kinda longer than I thought. This is just world building. Next few chapters might be more of that or plot stuff. I don't know yet.

Please be sure to comment or PM for anything you want to ask or say! I will reply either by PM or at the bottom of the next chapter.