"Could I have a word with Grum, Blaze?" Little Dragon glanced from the black queen to her mate, who lay lazily on his back on the grass, the sun on his face.
Smiling gratefully at the Siamese queen, Blaze nodded, rising to her feet smoothly and leaving the two to talk about the miracle of the previous day.
"Grum, I have to know what you think happened yesterday? I mean, you came back from the dead... what do you think of it?"
Shrugging as much as he could, he smiled lazily at her, running a silvery-black paw through his headfur. "I guess I used one of my nine lives. We're cats, so I s'pose that's what it was. Why?"
Little Dragon rocked back on her heels. That explained the simplicity of it all. Of course, there was that tradition that cats had nine lives - but then there was always the tradition of cats falling on their feet, which she knew just wasn't true at all.
"Why so serious?" Grimacing, the wounded silver tom leaned up on his elbows, staring at her severe, sober face, a sickening feeling creeping into his stomach, a grim shiver running the length of his spine.
"I hate to have to tell you this." She murmured, twisting her brown hands together uneasily. "But you almost died. I don't mean like one-of-nine-lives-died... I mean dead - as in finito, gone, rest in peace..."
"Huh?"
Sighing, Little Dragon quietly explained. "If I hadn't managed to get enough energy from the planet, you wouldn't have been resurrected. You would still be dead. We don't have nine lives. It's a myth."
"Why? It wasn't that serious an injury, was it?" He protested uneasily, his head starting to throb unbearably.
Closing her eyes briefly, Little Dragon inhaled a slow breath. "It was a test." She murmured. "A test of character - to see if we could cope..."
"A test?"
"It didn't work." She gritted her teeth angrily, feeling foolish at how easily Charumcah had manipulated her. "Everyone was too shocked to reacte... it all seemed so surreal, that no one realised what had happened... that you could have stayed dead."
"You mean someones experimenting on us? Like guinea-pigs? We're like a mini-zoo for some sycophant?" Lurching upward, Grumbuskin sank down, clutching his ribs with a groan. "Why in the hell would anyone do that?"
"That's not it." She falteringly tried to explain. "He wants to see that we're strong - resilient enough to survive."
"How can we survive?" Grumbuskin muttered angrily. "There's too few of us. We need more... how can we form a good tribe if there are only seven of us? Tell your precious shadow to send more and he'll see just how resilient and tough we can be."
"You want me to pick another fight with him?" Casting the silver tabby a sheepish grin, the queen rubbed her neck awkwardly. "He was kinda pissed that I decided to argue with him yesterday..."
"Blaze told me about the storm he put on the tower." Grumbuskin remarked. "He's a touchy bugger, whoever he is. Is he for us or against us, Dragon? Can you at least tell me that?"
"He's for us... he's the last of his kind and has chosen us to replenish the planet."
"Oh, that's reassuring." The silver tom rolled his green eyes. "So he just does random murders to test that we're strong and yet, only gives us a tribe of seven... sensible chap... very sensible."
"At least you're alive, Grum." Dragon reminded him with a shy smile. "I could have let him have you. Just think, you'd never have seen your kitten or anything."
Squeezing her paw, he forced back the tears that rose at that thought. "And I'm grateful for that, Dragon." He mumbled, blinking. "I owe you so much."
"Don't you get sappy on me." She wagged a stern finger at him. "I have to have your promise that you won't tell the others though!"
"Then why did you tell me?"
Shrugging, she grinned. "Just to warn you to behave. I might not like you so much next time." She paused, glancing at the sky. "And I wanted to know what you would suggest as something to make us stronger - you said others - that's all I needed to know."
She stood up, shaking some tufts of grass off her fur, brushing her hands over her hips.
"Dragon?" She looked down with a smile. "Will he send more? I mean, you said he wanted to know what would make us stronger. Will he give us more for our tribe?"
Scratching her jaw with a sigh, she shook her head. "I don't know." She replied honestly. "He's got a mind of his own and I just can't tell... but we can hope."
"Hope..." Nodding, he grinned. "That's the truth!"
*
Carefully leaping over McDuff's outstretched legs, Little Dragon landed silently beside Bill Bailey, laying down beside him.
"Do I want to know what that was about?" He murmured sleepily, pulling her arms around his waist as her face buried against the thick fur of his back, nuzzling between his well-defined shoulder blades.
Licking his shoulder gently, she smiled. "I doubt it. It wasn't anything interesting at all."
"That's what they all say." He mumbled, rolling over and drawing her against his chest, their legs tangling around one another. Kissing the top of her head tenderly, he yawned, her fur rippling under his breath.
Nipping his chin playfully, she grinned naughtily up at him, her slim hands sliding down his firm body.
"Don't you ever get tired?" He groaned, pushing her off and rolling onto his side, feigning annoyance as her arms snaked around him again, her lips scattering kisses across his back and shoulders.
"Not really." She took his hands in hers and rose to her feet, pulling him with her, ignoring his reluctant complaining and leading him up the stairway to Blaze and Grumbuskin's deserted sleeping quarters. "I got a new game I want to show you."
"A... new game?" His ears pricked up eagerly.
Winking over her shoulder, she scampered lightly up the stairs, leaving him staring delightedly after her. Bill Bailey's feet barely touched a step as he sped after her, a Cheshire grin spread across his face.
*
Sitting outside in the sun, Blaze was content to watch Grumbuskin sleep as she continued to work on her little papoose, sewing delicate little stones onto it, to brighten the dull, tan-coloured leather.
Rubbing her back, she sighed. In the heat of the summer, the pregnancy was agonising, the heat driving her almost insane. Stretching, she rubbed her rounded belly, acknowledging the soft kick from within with a smile.
"One of these day, ya little critter." She murmured, firmly tapping the other side of her bump and promptly receiving another kick in return. "One of these days, I'm going to hold you in my arms and tell you to stop kicking me."
As if responding, the kitten kicked consecutively three times before rolling under her paws and kicking a different position.
"Cheeky beastie." Smiling, she stood up, walking towards the tower. Her remaining pieces for the papoose were upstairs and she wanted to finish it as soon as she could. Also, she decided that she needed a little shelter from the blazing sun, as she walked in the door.
"How's Grumbuskin?" McDuff inquired from the shadows as she blinked, accustoming her eyes to the dark interior of the building.
Smiling over at the older tom, she shrugged expressively. "He's still got aches and pains all over, claims to be having some trouble walking anywhere and has decided he needs constant supervision, but other than that, he seems to be fine."
Nodding, he raised an eyebrow. "How are you doing?"
With a weak smile, she rubbed her belly again. "I'm okay. A little tired... can't wait for it all to be over. Its just so hot..."
With a sympathetic smile, he stood up. "Do you need anything to drink? I'm going down to the river and I could get you some cool water if you want some."
"I'd appreciate that." She moved up the stairs slowly, one hand pressed supportively against the base of her back, a grimace of pain crossing her face.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she doubled over with a gasp, clutching her stomach, her face contorted with pain.
Sitting up beneath the blanket, Bill Bailey and Little Dragon looked sheepishly at one another, then back at the groaning black queen.
"Er...sorry Blaze..." Bill began, trying to hide the flush that gleamed through his fur. "We thought you were outsi..."
"Get Grumbuskin and Griddlebone." Little Dragon whispered to her mate, pulling herself up and running to Blaze's side. "Tell them its important..."
Blinking in confusion, the tom nodded, running down the stairs, wondering why Blaze had over-reacted so badly to seeing him and Dragon together.
*
"It hurts... God, Grid, it hurts so bad!! Make it stop... make it stop..." Her claws sinking into the thick hide, Blaze arched her back with an agonised moan as another wracking pain ran through her body.
"I wish I could, Blaze." The white queen knelt grimly between Blaze's knees, watching carefully for the first sign of the kitten.
"You're doin' great, sweetheart." Grumbuskin's lips pressed against her thick fur, his eyes brimming with tears at the pain he had brought on his lover. "You're gonna be fine... I'm so proud of you... so proud, darlin'..."
With a sob of pain, she sank back against his chest, her breath escaping in ragged pants. "I can't do more... I can't... too painful..."
Griddlebone met Grumbuskin's green eyes anxiously. It had been a long labour already and the black queen was tiring fast, her sweat-soaked fur slicked against her body, her hands shaking from sheer effort and pain.
"You have to do it, Blaze...you have to get through this...if you don't you and the kitten will die." There was no escaping the facts and Griddlebone only hoped they would push enough sense in past the haze of pain that was cocooning the black queen.
Nodding, gritting her teeth, with a supreme effort of will, she pulled herself together. With a firm smile, Grumbuskin grasped her paws, holding them tightly.
"We're going to do this together, you hear?"
Nodding painfully, she squeezed his hand in acknowledgement, a grim smile flitting across her taut face as she took a deep breath. "You got it. My pain is your pain..."
"Now wait a minute!" He began to protest, faltering off with a yell of pain and she gripped his hand tighter and tighter, her eyes pressed shut as the pain increased, her entire body tensing in readiness.
Simultaneously, Blaze released and ear-splitting shriek, doubling over and there was a dull, ripping sound – then silence.
The silence lasted less than five seconds as there was an indignant little splutter and a weak, mewling wail.
"It's a girl!" Griddlebone whispered, hot tears in her eyes. "A beautiful little girl." Lifting the kitten, she gently wiped her clean, then tenderly laid her on her mother's soft black stomach, before ushering Little Dragon out of the room to leave the couple alone.
"It's a girl... it's a girl!" Grumbuskin repeated in a reverent, hushed tone, his eyes aglow with amazement. "I'm a daddy... oh, God...Blaze...you're the most incredible queen in the whole wide world!"
"Couldn't have done it without you." She murmured, kissing him weakly.
Helping her sit up, he held both of them close, gazing down at the little bundle his mate rocked gently in her arms. "She's so beautiful, just like her mother..."
Blaze touched the small feline face tentatively, barely able to believe it. This was her kitten, her own little daughter, her and Grumbuskin's.
"What are gonna call her?" She asked, touching the downy black fur gently. Black fur – she noticed – that was striped with silver on the tiny arms, legs and face.
Touching the silver and red flame on the kitten's chest, he smiled as she mewled in protest, her paws curling into her mother's thick fur. "Shes the new hope for the tribe." He murmured, running a finger across the soft headfur.
"There speaks the Star Wars buff." Blaze chuckled, butting his chin with the top of her head. "But that's not a bad suggestion." She added after a pause.
"What?"
Smiling, Blaze kissed the little cheek. "Hope." She looked from the closed eyes of her kitten to the proud green eyes of the kitten's father.
Nodding, he smiled dazzlingly. "I like it." Curling around them both, he pulled them closer to his body, carefully enveloping them in a warm embrace. "My Blaze and my little daughter, Hope."
Safe in her parents arms, unaware of the life that lay ahead of her, Hope yawned and mewled, curling in a mass of fluffy black and silver-striped fur. The combination of her parents. Their hope for a new life.