She still remembered the smell of her mother's milk and the warmth of her siblings cuddled next to her; fighting for the same milk source, she remembered her litter-mates climbing all over her, she remembered the rough feeling of her mother's tongue running over her head and cleaning up her face after she'd finished nursing. But there had always been a cold chill in the air; a chilly draft that floated around them. There had always been the scent of fear radiating off their mother, it increased each and every time she returned from hunting. It wasn't until she felt one of her siblings' bodies disappear from next to her did she understand. At the time, her eyes were just barely opening her world was a blurry blob.
It was a vague memory, but the she-cat could just barely recall what looked like a cat running out of the shelter with her sibling. Pretty soon, she and her brother had been the only ones left in the nest. Their mother never left their side until they had begun to walk and run, by that time her body had deteriorated tremendously. The she-cat remembered seeing the queen's ribs, her hip bones jutting out along with her shoulder blades, she recalled the faded and tired, but proud, expression on their mother's face when they had began to run and play. Had the queen always been that thin? She couldn't remember, but she did know that she awoke one day to see her mother padding into their home with a dead mouse. She seemed to be worn out and the second she'd reached them; she had collapsed. The pretty she-cat remembered that their mother had been having bad luck catching anything to eat there recently. It seemed like their lives were at stake before she returned with the bony mouse.
Yes, it had been thin, but it was enough to silence her and her brother's stomachs for a least a few hours. Hope had been long lost after a few more unsuccessful hunts... That is, until a young tabby tom a well-fed belly, and sparkling amber eyes had entered their nest. The calico remembered trying to wake her starved mother up to tell her a stranger had come; she never woke up. "Your mother has passed, young ones..." The tom's syrupy voice would never leave her mind, "I promise I won't hurt you," the tom's voice was gentle as he spoke, "I have come to bring you back to your home. Your Clan." Silence. "There will be food there. Lots of food." What was a Clan? They hadn't understood it at first, but they grudgingly followed the tom.
If it meant food... Then they would gladly obey. Their stomachs rumbled at the thought of digging into some freshly killed prey, ripping the skin off and gulping it down, they could already taste the warm blood on their taste-buds. The young calico remembered following the tom into a clearing, her paws aching from the amount of walking she had done to get there, and she would never forget how many eyes and turned to look at her and her brother. A tom with graying fur had approached and nudged them into a den where they applied chewed up herbs and cobwebs to their wounds, then gave them a tasty meal once they were done with the treatment. In no time, she had been up and running around; already making new friends with the other cats. She was sent to a den called the nursery when she got better and she was adopted by a light grey she-cat who had kits around her age.
Her brother, however, never seemed to get better. He had looked like he was fading away... Just like their mother. The calico didn't remember what the medicine cat had said, but she did recall him mentioning that she'd just barely avoided catching the contagious illness from her brother. According to the tom whom had saved their lives, it had been the same sickness that killed their mother.
But didn't she die from starvation? The calico shook her head, the she-cat had been an alley cat. A stray, clanless cat, there were probably many things wrong with her. Who knows how many diseases she carried. She couldn't help but to feel sorrow when she remembered the lifeless body of her mother. Next, was the dead body of her brother. She wasn't allowed to sit vigil when he was buried. According to the Clan's medicine cat; that was more than likely a good thing. She would have never seen him the same again.
"Hey! Are you awake?"
The calico shifted her hazel eyes and her vision cleared, snapping her back into reality. She rose to her paws and gave the tom at the den entrance a brief nodded before lifting herself up and onto her paws; she gave her pelt a quick shake and padded into the clearing. Today was a new today; she had to put the past behind her. Of course, she would never forget her dear brother, Jaykit, or her sweet and loving mother. She wouldn't let their deaths stop her; she had friends all around her, she had friends who were close enough to be called siblings. She was right where she belonged.