Sunshine poured through the holes of the wooden twoleg tree-nest. I yawned, my eyes blinking open. It took a while for them to adjust to the icy sunlight but I could soon see properly.
A small dark ginger she-cat was sitting by the doorway. To the side of her was a golden tabby tom that was curled in a tight ball, still deeply asleep. The ginger she-cat turned, and seeing I was awake, made her way over to me. She was about the same height as me but I could tell that she was a bit older.
"Hi," she mewed. "I'm Lily and that's Ben. We're Lisa's kits." I purred, dipping my head in greeting.
"I'm Bella," I mewed. "I'm Dove's kit." Lily's blue eyes widened and she gasped.
"Bella?" she demanded. "The Bella? Arran's daughter?" I backed away a few paces, slightly confused.
"I guess," I meowed, shrugging. Lily gave a little skip of excitement.
"Wow!" she cried. "I can't believe I've actually met Bella!" I leaped back a few more steps until I was right against the wall. I wasn't that exciting. Was I?
Lily soon stood still, her ears suddenly pricking. Then I could hear it to. Crunching of leaves... The soft pads of paws on snow... The clawing of a cat climbing a tree...
A ginger tabby she-cat heaved herself onto the wooden floor. Lily gave a small sigh of relief and went over to greet the she-cat. I, however, pressed myself even more against the wall, wondering who this muscular she-cat was.
"Lily," the she-cat meowed. "I hope you weren't pestering, Bella." Lily and I both shook our heads. The she-cat, seeing my terrified face, purred in amusement. "I'm Lisa. I'm sure Dove has told you all about me." I shook my head. Lisa tipped her head to one side, looking surprised.
"No?" she asked. "Well, I guess we never properly made up..." I looked over Lisa's shoulder, hoping to catch sight of Dove's silvery tabby fur.
"The others are just coming," Lisa told me. "I can hear them right now." Sure enough, I could hear the desperate scrabbling of paws. Iris's head popped up a moment later. I was surprised to see the grave look on her first. She looked as shocked as if she had just seen a ghost.
"Bella," she meowed, her voice hollow and emotionless. "You'd better come with me." Lisa glanced over at Iris, her mouth opening but Iris shook her head and beckoned for me to follow her.
I leaped down from the tree-nest, landing in a huge pile of snow. I scrabbled out and trudged through the piles towards Iris. She didn't look at me as we walked down the alleyways.
We stopped behind the third row of houses. I gasped. Five bodies lay unmoving in front of me. Three of them I didn't recognize but two I found very, very familiar.
Aisha lay closest to me. Her dark fur that had been spotless last time we had met was now tangled with blood. Drops of scarlet spilt from one of her eyes that were staring blankly up at the sky. Her breaths came out in short ragged breaths, and as I watched they stopped altogether.
Arianna who was sitting over her gave a small sob, lifting her eyes to the cloudless sky.
Dove lay sprawled out furthest away. Her sides were clawed and raw with blood, her long fur matted in a permanent knot. Her chest rose and fell in struggled breaths, her pained blue eyes staring ahead of her. I had never seen her so broken and so un-like the Dove I knew.
Before I realised I had been walking, I was at Dove's side. Dove looked up at me, her silvery eyes dull and lifeless.
"I'm sorry, Bella," she murmured, her voice thick and heavy. I gasped stumbling backwards. That wasn't Dove's voice! Her voice was soft and flowing, just like a river or a bird's song. "I'm sorry for never telling you that we were in hiding or about your father." I stepped closer to her, a small tear trickling down my cheek.
"That wasn't your fault," I whispered. "Nothing was ever your fault." Dove sighed.
"A lot of things are my fault," she meowed in her strange voice. Her head flopped down into the snow, her breathing becoming more forced. I could tell she was on her last breaths.
"Is there anything I can do?" I asked, my voice rough and thick with emotion. I knew before Dove said anything that there was nothing. She was going to die.
"The only thing you could do is to rescue those cats," Dove murmured. "Rescue those poor imprisoned cats. But of course that is too dangerous. They killed Arran and he was the best fighter ever in the world." I lay down next to her, trying to make her warm. But it was no use. Dove was freezing and she'd already lost too much blood.
"Goodbye Bella," she whispered hoarsely. "I love you."
"Bye Mami," I croaked. "I love you too." I watched as Dove's eyes slowly closed, feeling my heart shatter. In a few heartbeats Dove's breathing had stopped altogether and she lay perfectly still in the snow. I lay down next to her, seeking comfort that I couldn't get. I drew in Dove's sent trying to let it soothe me as it did when I was a kit. But it wasn't the same. Her flowery smell was mixed with the heavy smell of blood.
I let out a small wail, burying my head in my mother's soft, silvery fur.
Soon Iris's warm body pressed against my side.
"I'm sorry, Bella," she whispered, her voice heavy with emotion. As I glanced over at her, I could see her eyes shining with tears. I felt sudden surprise that I hadn't shed a single tear. "It was my fault. I could have stopped them." Another wave of grief shook me and I pressed my muzzle into Iris's soft black fur.
"It wasn't your fault," I whispered and Iris nodded gratefully.
The rest of the day past in a blur. I never once left Dove's side. Iris brought me prey and Lily came to keep me company for a while.
I was alone now though. My side was cold, nobody was pressing against me, comforting me. Arianna had left Aisha for the moment but would be coming back soon to sit vigil.
An icy gust of wind hit my side. I was freezing cold and hungry but I wasn't going to leave Dove. I would never ever leave her. She wouldn't have left me so I wouldn't leave her.
My belly was heavy and it felt as if a block of ice had developed inside it. A permanent lump had grown inside my throat so that I found it hard to speak without my voice cracking.
Small flakes began to fall from the sky and pretty soon a sheet of snow covered me like a blanket. I lifted my paw and brushed the snow from Dove's tabby fur. She didn't have to feel the cold. I snuggled even closer to her, breathing in her scent. It was faint but still smelt of warmth and safety.
"Bella!"
I looked up to see Lily racing towards. Her sides were heaving and she gulped in air as if she was drowning. I could tell she had run a long way.
"The twolegs are coming!" Lily cried, gripping my tail and trying to tug me to my paws. "You'd better go!" I shook my head, pulling my tail back and resting it safely under me.
"I'm not going," I told her. "Mami wouldn't leave me." Lily's ears twitched.
"Really, Bella," she meowed, her voice slightly more urgent. "They're coming now." I shrugged.
"Whatever," I meowed. "I'm still not leaving." Lily shot me a pained look before turning around and disappearing over a fence.
Very soon I began to hear the loud thumps of twoleg paws. Two of them rounded the corner and bent down next to me. I ignored them, pressing my face further into Dove's fur.
What happened next was so fast I hadn't time to struggle. One of the twolegs grabbed me and took me off.
The next moment I was shoved into the belly of a monster. It began to move and I felt my stomach lurch. Sooner than it had started the monster stopped and I was being dragged out and into a twoleg nest.
