Mad Father - Chapter 9

I do not own Mad Father. I do not own Warriors. I do not own anything written by Sparrowfeather1.

Chapter 9

Adalia

That strange tom had helped me again… Well, perhaps he wasn't as bad as I thought he was. But can you blame me from running in the beginning? I mean, what ten-moon-old she-cat wouldn't run from such a sight? But, he was hardly the worst thing in this horrid place. Had the curse brought every single patient of Father's back to life? If that was the case, I would have to find my way around, or through, a lot of corpses.

At what seemed like long last, I began my descent down into the pit. The heat from the magma made my fur get an awful, spikey feeling as if it were being singed. I was too far away for it to have any real affect, though. I was lucky in that respect at least.

The winding path seemed to go on forever, and I soon began to marvel and Father's endurance. Whenever I came to visit him, he scaled this path so quickly! Mitzi as well. How were they so… so suited to this place? To them, this was a second home, but to me, this was some kind of alien world complete with the zombie apocalypse! An entire decade seemed to pass before I reached the bottom of that vexatious path. But, once I was finally down there, I wished I had stayed back at the surface.

It was so much hotter down here; swelteringly hot. My breath came in rapid gasps as I struggled to comprehend exactly how Father and Mitzi tolerated it down there. But that wasn't the only thing: stone tools line the walls and were scattered across the floor haphazardly. It was almost as if someone had been searching for something. Despite all this, the most disturbing part, without a doubt, was the fact that Father was nowhere to be found.

"Father?" I called out, my voice feeble in the scorching heat. I was feeling more than clammy, and perhaps even a bit disoriented. When I heard the soft, agonized groan, I was overcome with joy; at least someone else was down here.

I didn't stop to think that it might be a corpse I was about to go rush to greet. I didn't care. Overwhelmed with my sudden… enthusiasm, I rushed forward through the steam to come face-to-face with a disgusting sight. A cat of undeterminable color was staggering toward me. His guts spilled out of a large wound in his side, poking through his exposed ribcage. His eyes, now dull and almost lifeless, were locked on me as he proceeded forward. There seemed to be only one thing on his mind: me.

Stumbling backwards, I placed my paw on one of the discarded tools and slid. Knocked off my paws, I lay there on the ground, almost helpless. Fear had paralyzed me, and even though I could have easily gotten up and fled at the low speed at which my executioner approached, I couldn't. I was too absorbed in my own fright to think properly.

Without warning, the tom let out a mangled cry and collapsed. Trembling, I waited with apprehension to see who would appear in the mist now. To my surprise, Mitzi staggered forward, her legs shaking so violently she could hardly stand.

"Mitzi!" I gasped, scrambling to my paws. I rushed toward her and allowed her to lean on my shoulder until she was steady. "Mitzi, what is going on?" I asked, on the verge of hysteria. Where was Father? Why wasn't he there? "Where is Father?!"

Mitzi collapsed, finally allowing me to see what afflicted her: a massive wound along her left flank. It looked as if someone—or something—had ripped their claws right through the side of her. "She took him…" Mitzi mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper. "She took him from me…"

"Who? Do you mean Father? Who took him?" I fired question after question at her, but couldn't seem to receive any clear answer. She had to be talking about Father—who else would it be?—but who could have taken him? My father wasn't one of those large, robust toms who constantly threw their weight around like they were king of the world, but he was fast. He could easily evade any threat he faced. So why had he been captured? Something had to have surprised him—taken him off guard.

But what?

"I… must… save… Doctor…" Mitzi breathed. Her eyes widened slightly before they closed entirely.

And I was suddenly all alone again.

"Mitzi!" I shouted, tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "Mitzi, please! Please, you've got to get up!"

For a moment, I stood there, panicking and feeling utterly helpless. But then I noticed the faint rise and fall of her flanks.

She's not dead!

Relief flooded me; at least Mitzi was alive, but I still couldn't say the same for Father. Even though a part of me despised her for ruining Mother and Father's relationship, and for taking him away from me when I needed him, she was a familiar face. She was a part of the family whether I liked it or not.

Father brought her home during a thunderstorm. It had happened about five or six moons ago when I was still really young, but I remember it. Mother and I were in my den, and she was telling me a story.

"The cat was named Clary, and she had been given the power of fire. The red-eyed stranger had seen Clary's suffering and knew that all she wanted was help her family rest in peace. You see, Adalia, Clary's family had been wrongly murdered under false pretenses."

"What does 'false pretenses' mean?" I asked.

"Cats thought that they were doing something that they weren't," Mother explained. She always was good at explaining things so I understood them fully. Whenever Father tried to explain something, he was truthful, and blunt, but cryptic at the same time. He used big words that I couldn't understand whenever I asked about something he didn't want me to know. Mother always made sure I knew what she was talking about.

"Oh, okay."

"So, the red-eyed stranger decided to give Clary the power of fire. That way, she could get revenge on those who had killed her family."

There was that word again: revenge.

"'Now,' Clary said triumphantly. 'I will burn those fox-hearts who took my family from me! And, I will burn anyone who gets in my way!' But, things did not turn out the way Clary expected them to. In the end, she lost her temper, and set the entire world ablaze. In the end, she burned everything—all the trees, all the cats, all the animals in the lands. Her flames were even so hot and in such multitude that it dried up all the water. And in the end, Clary was alone. Defeated, and left to die in the lonely world she'd created, she laid down in the ashes of her home and cried.

"The red-eyed stranger returned to her and padded over. His eyes glinted with a strange look that Clary had never seen before… amusement? 'You got what you wanted,' the red-eyed stranger pointed out. 'You should be happy.'

"Clary replied, 'How can I be happy? I destroyed everything I ever loved.'

"The red-eyed stranger chuckled darkly. 'You see what happens when you fight fire with fire?'"

"Monika!"

Our story was cut short as Father's voice sounded from outside the den. Both Mother and I were on our paws in an instant. Mother entered the tunnel first and headed off toward the path that led out toward the mountain. I hung back, my pelt bristling as I heard the distant growling of thunder. I hated storms.

Mother returned a few minutes later with Father trailing behind. A strange, unknown cat was leaning against father's shoulder, panting. The stranger—a she-cat—looked half-dead; every single one of her bones protruded painfully from skin, stretching it tightly over her tiny figure. Her brown tabby pelt was ragged and matted in some places. Her large, green eyes were dull and next to lifeless.

She was an absolute mess.

Father escorted the stranger into his and Mother's den and emerged a few seconds later. "I'll go get some herbs to hopefully treat her. I'll bring a mouse too," he told Mother before rushing off in the direction of the pit.

Ignoring my presence, Mother slid into the den, and I followed. Immediately Mother went over to the stranger and licked her ears. "Hush now, sweetie. You're safe here. What's your name, darling?"

The stranger let out a labored cough before replying: "Mitzi."

Mitzi had lived by herself for many moons. Ever since she was about my age, she had been forced to survive on her own. And, for a while, she did that. She kept herself, fed, watered, and groomed, and even had created a nice home for herself in the forest.

But then came the accident.

Mitzi had been caught by a group of Twolegs who had been barging through the forest for no particular reason. They caught her, and took her to a strange, sterile place that smelled bad. Every day, they would stick needles in her, and one day, they stuck her with one that made her fall asleep.

When she woke up, she felt… different. After making an inquiry with the other cats who had been held captive in that despicable place, she learned that she could no longer had kits. The Twolegs had altered her body to make it impossible.

Mitzi was devastated.

She had always wanted to settle down with a nice tom and have multiple litters, and now that dream would never come true.

After being in that awful place for what seemed like ages, a Twoleg put Mitzi in this strange compartment and took her back to its den. Repulsed by the thought of living with a Twoleg, Mitzi took the first chance she had and ran for it. Luckily enough, she escaped, but there still something not right with her.

It was as if her hunting skills has been altered. She no longer could seem to hunt successfully, and soon found herself starving to death. If Father hadn't found her when she did, she probably would have died.

Mitzi owes her life to Father, I thought, looking down at the poor creature. Now wonder she loves him so much—he saved her life… Maybe she even loves him as much as Mother and I do… I sighed, but found myself feeling a little better. If I ever found Father, and if things ever got back to normal, I suddenly realized, that I wouldn't mind having Mitzi as a mother. Of course, she could never replace Mother, but, I thought that I would have at least been able to tolerate her.

With a heavy heart, I turned away from Father's assistant. I hated to leave her, I truly did, but I knew I had to go. Father still needed me. I glanced over my shoulder at the limp body and closed my eyes sadly. "I'll come back for you, Mitzi," I promised before rushing off to find Father.

A/N: Review?