One Year Later:
"Well, what 'ave we 'ere?" the large man said, plucking the tiny ginger tabby tom from the can he'd been hiding in. Adrianus squirmed and spit and hissed, but it only served to amuse his captor.
" 'Ey now! Easy there, lil' gov!" he said, still clutching the kitten by his scruff. Adrianus finally opened his mouth and let out a heartfelt wail just as a blur of fur, fangs and claws (namely, me) came whizzing past the man's face. Startled, he dropped the kitten, who was quickly retrived by a brown tom with ginger stripes. Within a matter of moments, the whole lot of us had disappeared, along with the majority of his ham sandwich. The poor man merely scratched his head and stared at his empty plate with bewilderment.
"Kaden! Valeda! Fanchet! We're back!" I cried cheerfully as I stalked into the drainpipe I had moved them to a few days prior. Adrianus, still looking rather terrified, followed right on my heels with Roque following shortly after carrying the prized ham in his mouth.
"It's about time! We were starting to worry. " Kaden said softly. I smiled at my younger brother, the second oldest of our litter. Although his coat was the plainest, merely a deep brown devoid of markings, he was the sweetest.
"Speak for yourself!" Fanchet snorted, stretching her legs before deigning to join us. Fanchet had siamese markings, but with a dull red instead of the usual brown to mark her legs, ears, and tail. She was the third born and easily the most solitary of us all, although she loved our family dearly.
"Oh, like you weren't pacing like the rest of us!" Valeda laughed, rubbing her black and white striped face against her sister's. Valeda was the 5th born, almost the baby. She was painfully curious about everything, and braver than even I would care to admit.
"Mmmm...ham! You did great, Adri!" Roque mumbled, his mouth full of the spoils of the day. Roque was all brown with ginger stripes and a temper that often put the two of us at odds. He just couldn't stand that I was the oldest, and thus in charge.
"Thanks...although I've never been so scared in my life! Good thing you caught me or I'd be limping right now." Adrianus said quietly. Now this was the baby of my not-so-little family. Our mother had always been more distant towards him than the rest of us...not that she was particularly loving to any of her kits. I always thought she had been cruel when she named him, for although he was a bright ginger tabby...his name meant "dark." My mother always said he looked like our father, whom she claimed was an evil creature.
Personally, I felt both our parents were cruel and evil. Him for doing whatever he did to make mother hate us all, and her for abandoning us when we were hardly old enough to fend for ourselves. I had taken over as the Protecter and Guardian of the family, and thanks to my excellent mousing skills, I was usually the only one to ever go hungry. It didn't matter if I was thinner than most, so long as my family remained healthy and happy.
"Hey, Aurora...aren't you eating?" Kaden asked, offering me a bit of ham.
"Maybe a bit later. Right now there's something we really need to discuss." The serious tone of my voice commanded everyone's attention...even Roque's.
"I've been seeing pollicles in the area. Just yesterday I smelled one right outside our alley. It's not safe here anymore, and as easy as it's been for us to snatch food...I think we should move." A heavy silence greeted my statement.
"Where could we move to? Do you have any places in mind?" Fanchet asked.
"There's a junkyard a little over a mile away from here. I know that's a long way, but it's secluded and I haven't seen anything other than the occasional rat there. From what I've seen, there appears to be plenty of good places for shelter, and as I said, lots of rats so we won't go hungry. I'd like to try it, but if you kits would preferr to look elsewhere, I won't force it." I replied.
"I'd like to go. It'll be an adventure!" Valeda squealed happily.
"You've led us right every time, so far, Aurora. I'll trust your judgement." Kaden said thoughtfully.
"Why not? Not like there's anything exciting to do around this dump anyway!" Roque supplied.
"I don't know if Adrianus could make it all that way. He's only a little kitten." Fanchet said, shooting her baby brother a concerned look.
"I'm not sure myself if I'm strong enough, but I'll try if Aurora really thinks it's not safe." Adrianus admitted. I smiled as I surveyed my siblings, loving them all the more for putting so much faith in me.
"Alright then. Tomorrow, we move to the junkyard!"