GS Note: HAHAHA!! Guess what, guess what, guess what? I got another kitten! Six weeks old, blue and of an unknown gender my little kamikaze kitten is currently sleeping in its dog carrier while my big cat is sulking. Hehehe! PLUS, another cat at the barn had four red tabby kittens, only about a week old! Hehe, its name is a mouthful, Blue Q Kamikaze Mors JC Husband, Blue for short.
This story is getting way more raves then I thought. There are only a few more chapters left and as you all begged, it's much longer and edited. Lol, you'll have to forgive me for that, I spell horribly!
Also, all cat behaviour or events or cat personalities are entirely possible, even with Dorothy and Duo. I don't claim to be a huge cat expert or spent a lot of time researching every detail, most of this comes from observing my own two cats, the barn cats and stray cats wandering around. My data comes from 20-odd cats and if you want to pull ideas from here, go for it.
Thanks to those who took the time to review! Shinigami195, Hakumei (lol, I know what you mean, my dad is so allergic too!), WriterofDigimon (don't worry, I'm editing more ^_^ ), Nagasugita Kanashimi (lol, too little kitty stories, ne?), ginhoshi (**blush** that was so nice! Lol, not many people tell off your flamers ^_^ Longer, I swear!) FantasyHilde, Jordan (Duo's breed will come out soon, promise!), Kyra (just read and find out ^_^ ) and Ivy Adrena (awe…that's so sad. We've only had these two cats we've had now and I can't even think about one of them dying!)
NOTE!!!!! Whenever someone goes 'She' with a capital S, it means Noin. I don't know if anyone picked that up.
Neko
Chapter 4
It was a few days later and Duo had finally realised she wasn't going to be getting out of her cage anytime soon. She brooded, worried about what was happening outside the building and also worried about what She was going to do. She didn't come to feed her, She sent the girl called Hilde. From the girl's chatter Duo leaned more about where she was.
"You're kinda special, you know?" Hilde opened the cage and efficiently dodged Duo's angry swipe. "How you have managed to pull a 90 percent on that DNA test amazes me! And you are in great shape! Once you settled down you'll realised just how great this place is! In fact, there are several cats that Miss Noin took from less desirable conditions like you! She got Wufei at a Humane Society after she was abandoned in the streets! Of course, maybe Wufei isn't the best example…"
Duo had yet to meet these cats but she felt like she had known them forever. She knew what ticke doff Wufei the most, was upset Trowa and who was the meanest. It might come in handy. The only good thing she could find was the fact that there was no Dekim. Well, that and the food.
The food.
If there was one thing Duo would miss after she broke out it would be the food. The wet food, the dry food, the crunchy treats, the clean water, the fact she was fed twice a day, the list went on. Perfectly luxury as she thought of it, the only thing missing was…
The door opened. Duo looked out, confused. Hilde had left only half and hour ago and the lights were dimmed. Usually that meant no one would be back for a while and she could sleep. A brown head poked in and her visitor stealthily crept and slunk to the empty cage beside Duo. Heero jumped up effortlessly.
"I have come with a message," the Havana Brown said seriously. "She was talking to Zechs about letting you loose with the other female cats. It is time for your cast to come off and she wants you to exercise. But," he glared at her, "you have to been on good behaviour."
"Hello to you too," Duo smirked. "I haven't seen you in a while. What has it been now?"
"Look, I'm just telling you to behave," Heero said. "This place is a lot better outside of this cage. Trust me."
Duo rolled her eyes and tried to pretend to give in. "Ok, fine, I'll behave. Do you know a way out of this house?"
"Why do you always want to leave?" Heero sat up and asked. "It's nice here and it's so different out there. Or so I hear."
"But I don't like it here," Duo explained, turning patient at the befuddled expression on the male's face. "And I have things waiting for me outside."
"Like what?" Heero said, annoyance seeping into his nasal voice. "What could there possibly be? There is no way out of here so just accept it!"
"I'm not going to accept it!" Duo snapped back. "I'll get out of here with or without your help!"
"Fine!" Heero huffed. "Be stupid. It's no fur off of my back!"
With that, Heero stood up and stalked out of the empty cage and out the door. Duo sighed regretfully. Why couldn't they just see eye to eye? Why did they always have to end talks like this? It was very frustrating. Maybe she would take his advice, about being good that it. It would be nice to get out of that cage.
********
Duo carefully tested her leg on the ground. The white plaster lay in two pieces on the examination table beside her. Her brown coat was shaved on her leg but as she found out, it was already grown back so a light fuzz covered the skin. Duo looked around suspiciously at Her and Hilde beaming down at her. She placed weight on the leg and was surprised when it held. It looked weak and thin but in all due time she knew it would be better. Now her plans for escape were set back a little. There was still time.
"Now miss," She said a little mockingly and sugar sweet. "How about we take you to the girls' rooms and let you get acquainted. Zechs?"
The blonde man grumbled but pulled heavy work gloved on and moved from his spot by the door. Duo hissed and spat as he carefully picked her up around her belly and held her securely on his chest. She held still, tail puffed and teeth bared as Zechs hurried down the hall and up a set of stairs. Hilde hurried and opened a door. Zechs dropped her inside then quickly left, sneezing and cursing. Hilde smiled and shut the door behind Duo, who was crouched on the door, scared and unnerved by the unconventional methods of moving.
She scanned the room quickly. There were two doors on the left and right of her. This room had cages lining the walls, steel barred but comfortable. There were a lot of cages. It was peach with a matching carpet. There was very little decoration. A few fuzzy cat beds were on the floor, water dishes, many bell balls and catnip mice were strewn around. The room was almost empty.
A Siamese cat was the only other cat in the room. She was lazily curled in one of the beds but looked up as the door opened. She looked at Duo with some unease and stood up, her light blue eyes piercing.
"Who are you?" the cat asked haughtily. "Why are you here?"
"Isn't that what everybody asks themselves at one point?" Duo laughed, trying to figure out exactly what this cat wanted and how she was expected to act.
"What is your name?"
"Duo, what's yours?"
"That is of no concern of yours!" the Siamese hissed. "Did She put you in here?"
"Well Zechs did the actually dropping," Duo said ruefully and shifted her weight off her healing leg. It was probably best to humour the poor cat; Duo didn't exactly want to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, maybe these cats would help her… The cat noticed her leg for the first time.
"Oh, you're the new one then. All right, come on and I'll show you where everything is," at that the cat turned and trotted off. Duo tried to follow but ended up doing a humiliating and weak limp. She was thankful when the cat stopped and she could lay down.
This room had a lot of cats in it. They were sleeping on couches, playing with balls, cleaning themselves, fighting and generally being cats. Many of them had bellies swollen with kittens. Duo was shocked at the volume of cats. White ones, grey ones, orange cones, calico, tabby, cream, black-- it made her head spin. There weren't any chocolate ones, though, as she pleasantly noted. It was nice to be different sometimes.
"This is our room," her guide said calmly. "The one we were just in is the room where we go when people come to look at us and where they feed. The other room is locked and I think it's where the kittens are held. I don't know though, I'm never going in that room!"
The Siamese was so fierce in her statement; Duo turned to her a little shocked. "Never? But why? Kittens are great to have, at least I think so."
"Well I don't!" the cat turned her seal pointed nose haughtily in the air. "They're loud, obsessive and they don't stop screaming!"
Duo opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a familiar face. "Don't mind Wufei. She is a bit prejudice as she is currently being chased by almost every male cat in this house."
"Trowa!" Wufei yelled and looked around sharply to see if anyone heard. Trowa just smiled. Duo smiled now that she was on a bit more of a secure ground with these cats. The large light grey striped cat calmly licked her huge paws, seemingly oblivious to her sputtering friend.
***************
The next day Duo found herself surrounded by flocks of young felines all begging for stories of the outside. Most of them had been born in captivity, never seeing the sky beyond their backyards. She ended up sitting on the top of a thin scratching post where they couldn't touch her. Few were brave enough to try and tip it over. Finally, Wufei stood up from her laughing and shooed the worst of the mob away. Deeming it safe, the chocolate cat jumped down.
"Please Miss Duo," one of the cats, a deep blue one pleaded. "I want to know! What was it like, living on the streets? Was it as romantic as everyone says with demon dogs and a dashing tom running out to save you?"
Duo laughed. "There was a dashing tom but I ended up saving his tail more then once too. And romantic? Not a chance! Unless you count being chased down everyday of your life while scourging in people's garbage!"
"Really?" an orange tabby said excitedly. "That's so cool! What about that tom you were talking about? Was he handsome?"
Duo's full audience was back now, all sitting in subdued tones as they curled up on the floor around her. She looked helplessly at Wufei who shrugged her shoulders and bullied a pair of young calicos out of the way to get a comfortable spot. Trowa curled on a couch and gave her a wink of encouragement.
"Um, well where should I begin? Well I suppose my mate was pretty handsome but just don't go telling him that! Stuff like that gets to his head and I just can't live with him! He's more of my best friend then a prince really, he saved my rear then I saved him. I still remember the first time I met him.
"I was young, not even a year old and my mother had just left us. It was the worst storm you can think of, snow, hail, wind, rain, sleet all of it pounding down. I had nothing to sleep in so I wandered around shivering and wet. I was so sure I was going to die that night when this black cat bawled me over and into a deep puddle. I was so mad but of course I wasn't going to go and yell at him! He was much bigger then I was. So I just sat sniffling in that puddle and waited for death.
"Now, out on the streets no one talk to you, no one helps you and useless you're in a gang you're on your own. No cushiony couch to lay on and two square meals a day. So when that black cat came back and apologised for knocking me over—well I just couldn't speak. He seemed really scared at that and he grabbed me up and carried me to his home.
"Home isn't like here at all, it's a box or a dumpster or a balcony. Sometimes you can find an old basement or garage that no one will bother you in, but only sometimes," Duo noticed right away how much the other cats were getting interested in her story. She grinned and started to dive into the story. "He brought me to this warehouse that made some sort of food. I was sick and couldn't move for weeks after the storm! He brought be mice and rats until I got better and grew strong. He taught me everything I know.
"Later I met my archenemy, Dekim. I did something or another to make him mad at me. I think I hunted on what he thought was his territory. He rounded up his gang to chase me down. My buddy I told you about helped me and we both ended up getting on his bad side. The warehouse we lived in had been shut down so food was scarce. We had to hunt outside more often.
"He had this one evil little female in his group, her name was Relena. She just had it out for me and I had no reason why. The night that your Zechs found me she finally got me. I had gotten her across the face pretty bad and she pushed me off a fire escape. I had landed wrong and crack! my leg was broken. My friend was off somewhere else so I was stuck with them myself. Boy, was I in trouble."
Many of the younger cats were tense with excitement. Duo almost smiled at their eager eyes. She wondered how they would react with the unedited version. She waited for the impact of the climax to set her listeners on edge when she saw something in the shadows. Heero's colbat eyes watched her from where he hid in the shadows.
"Um," she stumbled over her words before continuing with confidence. "I was running, injured leg and all when I saw what might be an escape. I clambered up the fire escape on the side of the building before Dekim could see me, conveniently forgetting how I got my broken leg in the first place. I had it all under control and was about to whoop that guy for the last time when that human interfered. He scattered those sorry losers and ruined my chance at killing them once and for all.
"And then they took me into the house and I fought tooth and nail before realising that I was only wearing myself out. I lay silent and still, waiting my time until, boom!" Duo hissed, making many cats jump in fear before giggling nervously and settling down. "I got out. It was a simple matter of digging my claws at the right time. The man dropped me and off I went. Running through halls but I wasn't lost. I knew exactly where I was going, out! But they were right behind me so with my injured leg, I staggered into a seemingly empty room. Desperate to hide, I crawled on my belly under a couch where I waited in tense condition. I heard them pass by the room and I knew everything was safe."
Several of the same excitable cats breathed a sigh of relief. Duo cracked a smile at their trusting natures. They had been house raised and were highly animated in their actions.
"Little did I know, I wasn't alone," she instantly had her audience back. One of them whimpered. "Beside me was a huge, dangerous cat with glowing blue eyes. I was so scared but I hid it well and ferociously asked what he was doing here. He asked me the same, his voice much more threatening then mine. I was almost dead by his hands when the door opened. Little did I know that this menacing cat was to be my savoir. He bravely fought the woman and her man but they tragically over powered him. We were hit and the next thing I knew I woke up in that white room, my leg contained in a cast."
Duo looked out on her captive spectators and looked back to the shadows where Heero had been listening. He was gone. She scanned the room and saw his brown tail glide gracefully out of the side wing into the main room.
"And here I am, you all know the rest. Now, if nobody minds, I need a drink," with that Duo stood up and left quickly before she was swamped by ecstatic females. She ducked into the empty looking main room. She smiled.
"Awe, come on Heero, thought we knew each other better then that," she chuckled as she felt the watchful deep eyes on her back.
"I wasn't threatening," came the muffled reply. "And I wasn't trying to scare you."
"Of course not!" Duo laughed quietly, not wanted to attract attention from the other room. "That was just dramatics for the crowd. I knew you were a nice guy from the moment I saw you!"
Heero's reply was cut off. "Duo? Who are you talking to?" A voice floated from the crowded room next door. Duo turned to see Wufei come and sit in the doorway, looking around curiously. "Well? Who was it?"
"Who?" Duo asked innocently. Wufei glared at him then looked scrupulously around the room. Duo almost rolled her eyes, sometimes Wufei was like a dorm mother. Finally the tan and seal tipped cat turned and left the room. Duo breathed a sigh of relief then frowned a bit at herself. Since when did she care if Wufei caught her doing something against the rules? She shrugged it off and looked for Heero again. He was gone.
*****************
Not too long after, Duo quietly snuck away from her admirers again to get a drink of water. Water was available to them all the time but they were given specially formulated foods once in the morning and once at night. Duo had not gotten one yet because she refused to be caught and put in a cage to eat. As long as she had water she didn't care too much. She stepped in and immedently noticed something was wrong. The door to the third room was open. No more then a crack, but it was unusual. Wufei had called it the Kitten Room. Duo felt herself moving there before she thought. She poked her head cautiously in the door.
The room looked empty. It was slightly dimmed but wasn't dark. The walls were lines with eight high wooden boxes. They were over Duo's head but not so high she couldn't jump in. she heard a soft mewing from inside the box and she felt her heart practically break. Without a second thought, she leapt on to the edge.
She peered over the side with curiosity but was noticed right away. A white long haired mother looked up at her and glared as one of the four white kittens kept on mewing pitifully. Duo didn't take notice but watched miserably as the blind kitten snuggled closer to the mother's belly for warmth.
"What do you want?" was the harsh voice that broke Duo from her overwhelming distress.
Duo ignored her and jumped down into the box. The soft pillows and velvet blankets cushioned her fall. She moved closer, her eyes not leaving the mewing kitten or the edgy mother. The white cat lay tensely but let Duo come close. Duo sniffed the kitten but sighed. It was still crying. She licked its head until it settled down.
"What do you want?" the mother asked again, this time less afraid now that she knew her babies were out of danger but still weary.
"Nothing," Duo sat down then flopped on her side, her leg protesting again. "My name's Duo."
"Dorothy," the mother replied. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a minute then Duo spoke up again.
"Where's the father?"
"Rotting in hell," Dorothy snorted then smiled. "You must be the one She was talking about. The street cat."
Duo rolled her eyes. She was getting quite sick of being called that. What was the point in it? So what if she liked to live beyond the walls? So what if she liked to be free? "Yea, that's me, I guess. Do you know why the door was open?"
"Probably that chattering dolt Hilde," Dorothy began to clean her nails. The kittens curled contentedly against her warm belly, then Dorothy yawned and stretched. "Come on. I'm dying for some intelligent conversation. These babies are good for nothing. I can't wait until they grow up. I swear, this is the last litter she forces me and Quatre into. He cries every time now."
Duo wisely kept quiet as she stood up. the kittens didn't protest as she jumped out of the box. Duo hesitated then followed.
"What about the babies?" Duo asked as Dorothy bypassed the dishes in her own room and left to go over to the other water dishes. "Shouldn't someone watch them?"
"Nothing is going to happen," Dorothy took a long drink from the bowl and sat. She began to clean her claws again. "But I'm not going to go into that room. Trowa will give me another lecture about how she wants her lover's babies taken care up. Ch' she can take care of them herself."
Duo stayed quiet as she examined this very strange cat. Out on the streets, children were your life. The only point of living was to create life. It was a never-ending cycle that ensured survival. She just couldn't believe what the older cat was saying.
"But, they're your children, I mean-" Duo stammered out, confused. Dorothy paused and looked at her with icy blue eyes.
"Do you want them? This is my fifth litter and trust me, they are getting tiresome. I wouldn't even mind going back on the showing ring."
"I can't!" Duo said disbelieving. How was she supposed to care for them? She had no food left, all she could do was comfort them as they died.
"I don't mean you nurse them, blockhead," Dorothy rolled her eyes. "I'm not heartless. But if you want to come in a baby-sit for an hour or two, I'm not going to complain."
"But the door-"
"-isn't the only entrance. Follow me, my dear blind friend and I can show you wonders," Dorothy said in a sarcastic tone but it also seemed like she was having fun trailing a clueless Duo around. The chocolate cat looked around helplessly then shrugged and followed the white cat.
***************
Heero had long found the hidden passages in the old house. It was centuries old with tunnels and cracks in the most remote places. Invisible for a human to see, unlocked hidden doors behind dressers and under covered tables provided useful escapes for animals.
Heero had found the one particular entrance in his room the same year She had taken over. He spent a lot of time exploring and mapping the interior of the house until he could get into any room unnoticed.
When he was resentful of the humans he would often go and destroy something, leaving behind not a wisp of evidence to lead to him. Sometimes he sneaked into the food rooms and tore open bags until the specialised food mixed to badly to be separated. It could ruin hundreds of dollars of food and he would often be isolated for weeks as they scrambled to fix it. It never bother him, though She always seemed horrified when She realised he hadn't eaten in a while.
Other times he would go and leave doors open. It wasn't hard to figure out how to open them, most of the doors had handles that weren't rounded and all he had to do was jumped and grab it until his weigh popped it open. Then he pushed it so only a crack was open so they wouldn't notice immedently. He did that more, it was a lot more fun when they realised they had an extra litter of mixed breed kittens.
Sometimes he sued his powers for good. With great power comes great responsibility, or so he had heard. He helped lovers reunite for a few fun-filled hours, helped mothers find nurse moms, found lost kittens and generally ran a black market of food and toys. He never asked for anything in return either.
He had yet to find something people could give him. He disliked to be around most cats for too long and spied on them feverishly, trying to understand why a lot of them craved companionship. So far, he saw no reason for it. Cats are lone creatures by nature but in a comfortable environment they make friends with each other.
He found mothers and nurse moms often became inseparable but the kittens they raised together were never mentioned again. Toms and queens that mated almost every season could despised each other or look forward to each time.
Heero was different from every other cat there. None had his deep colouring or intense eyes or his titles or his physique. He had always felt alone every since he had come to this house and had accepted that he was a freak of nature, one of a kind. Then that female came, Duo. She was like him. A little loud and stubborn for sure, but she drew him to her. Maybe it was her chocolate coat, those eyes or even just her personality, he was sure he would know her better.
His tail lashed in the tunnel as he watched her move with that longhaired cat Dorothy. Dorothy would help her with the tunnels, then he could follow her around better without having to risk the wrath of den mother Wufei.
***************
Wufei sneezed and looked around suspiciously for someone talking about her. When no one caught her eye, she shrugged and returned to cleaning her tail.
**************
Duo regularly took over Dorothy's kittens. She found it comforting to curl up for hours and do nothing but nuzzle and like the kittens, it took no time for the little white babies to accept her and through Dorothy received disapproving looks from Trowa, no one said anything. One time, she was curled up in the soft blankets, quietly planning her escape, when she heard another calico mother hiss in another box. Immedently, the other mothers popped their heads out to see what the commotion was.
Duo de-tangled herself and looked out too. Sitting in the centre of the room, was Heero. He sat there calmly and blankly gazed at the cats glaring at him. Duo sighed and checked on the kittens. They were sound asleep. She sighed and called Heero softly. He looked at her then casually walked over and jumped in the box with her.
Duo knew Heero was a nice guy but sometimes toms just went crazy without warning. She carefully placed herself between him and the kittens.
"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly as she heard the other cats return to the protesting kittens. "How did you get in?"
"The same way you did," Heero answered calmly, a small smirk on his face. "Through the wall."
"Why?" Duo asked nervously. She was already taking a risk being here if Hilde or She came in but Heero being here with her could get in a lot of trouble. She couldn't be locked up now.
Heero shrugged and looked curiously at the kittens. Duo gulped as he leaned to sniff one of them. He pulled back and smiled. Then without saying another word, he jumped out and took of out the secret passage. Duo jumped on the box and watched him go with shock. What was that for?
Heero couldn't be interested -- Could he?
**************
It was a few days later when Duo felt a chill go through the room. Dorothy was nursing the kittens and she was taking a break. Everyone stopped moving and Wufei looked up from her toy and froze on horror at the figure silhouetted in the door. Even the unflappable Trowa was nervous from her napping place on the couch next to Duo.
The feared figure stepped from the shadows. Several of the braver females hissed at him as he sauntered in the room and over to where Wufei stood frozen and posed in her last attacking position.
"On your back I see," the steel blue male chuckled in a deep voice. "I didn't know you liked it like that."
That made Wufei move. She stood up confidently and glared at the bigger feline. "What do you want Treize? You know you shouldn't be here!"
"Are you so disappointed to be rid of me, my beauty?" the blue cat purred and stuck his nose up to her and nuzzled her.
Wufei hissed and batted his too-curious face with an outstretched paw. Treize recoiled, two bright red marks on his nose. Wufei snickered as he backed off to a safe distance and glared at her before regaining his composure.
"My feisty Siamese princess, one day you'll be mine," Treize smiled undaunted by the mistreatment he had received. He turned to walk out the door but ran into a very solid mass.
The huge German Shepherd looked at the cat curiously. Treize jumped back, his fur prickled and his tail twice the size. The heavy tension in the room broke as the milder cats ran for cover and the older ones laughed at the humiliated display Treize made by hiding behind the slender Wufei. Duo almost ran for safety but hesitated when Trowa yawned and went back to sleep.
She recognised the big dog. He was the one that had found her in the streets right before she had been caught. She had some unfinished business with him. Her ears went flat on her head as she stalked close to him, baring her teeth as the laughter in the room hushed.
"Duo, it's ok-" Wufei was cut off as Duo lashed out with newly sharpened claws and sent the dog out of the room yelping in pain.
"You're the one that led that man to me!" she tried for another go but the dog she remembered as Otto backed out of the wing all together. "You're the on that got me captured!"
"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Otto tried to defend himself but hid his tender nose with both paws. He was lying flat on his stomach and looked up pitifully at the hissing chocolate brown cat. "I was just doing as my Master asked!"
"Oh, you weak slave-" Duo's long insult was abruptly stopped when she suddenly realised where she was. Outside of the wing, in the hall. And no human in sight. She turned to pierce the dog with an impressive glare. "I'll let you go on one condition. You keep you're mouth shut on where I'm gonna go! Understand?"
"Yea, yes!" the dog said, uncurling from his surrendering position. "I get it. Where are you going to go?"
Duo just sneered at him and began to run down a hall, having no clue where she was going. Otto sat at the door watching her go. She paused at the end of the hall and looked down the two halls. They both looked the same. She put out a paw and looked back and forth again before rationalising that they all led somewhere and that somewhere would lead to outside. She took off down the right.