Chapter 2: Jake

"One dead fish, lay by the river," A cat started.

"One dead fish," Two other cats – by the sound of it – followed on.

"Dead and lonely, smelly and stinky." The first cat went on, waking Skykit up.

"Dead and lonely," The other two repeated. Skykit peered out through tiny, thin, short tree-like things to see three cats singing.

"One dead fish, picked on by the seagulls,"

"Picked on by the seagulls," The other two followed glumly. Skykit was amazed. The leading cat – a kit – had the most amazing voice Skykit had ever heard!

The other two... Well, they were okay. Skykit listened intensely at the really pale grey tom's song.

"So, so, so, so, sad and glum." He sang on. "Sad and glum," The others followed. "Silver and lifeless, motionless and dead,"

"Motionless and dead," The others didn't sound or look like they were having much fun. "One day when the sun grew hot,"

"The sun grew hot,"

"The fish dried up," It was a sad song, yet that kit had a huge grin on his face and a lovely, happy tone when he sang. "Dried up, dried up." The other two followed sadly.

"And then – Oh, hi there," The kit noticed Skykit as he opened his eyes to look around him. "Do you... Like my song?" Skykit didn't hear at first. Then she shook her head and replied, "Um... Um... Yes."

"Well, then, you're not the first." Skykit waited and waited until he started again. He didn't. "Please go on," pleaded Skykit. "Please." The kit glanced at his two companions warily, then shrugged and started again. "And then the sun, was so hot," He sang on, his excellent voice drawing Skykit towards him.

"The sun, the sun,"

"It dried up the sea." The really pale grey tom sang on with his two companions. "Dried up, dried up," His companions sang on too, glumly.

"The beautiful sea." The tom finished. "The sea, the beautiful sea." His companions followed, finishing the song. "So, how'd you like it?" The kit asked Skykit. "It was the best thing I've ever heard," Skykit mewed, her brain confused and weak in how much love she had for the kit's song.

The pale grey tom kit put a huge grin on his face. Then he shook his head and it was just a little smile. "My name's Jake. What's yours?"

Skykit gulped. This kit was a kittypet. She could tell by his name. Her throat dried up. Her flanks suddenly felt heavy, like they were holding two fallen trees on them. Her tongue felt like a desert. But she managed to squeak, "Skykit," without sounding like an elder.

"Skykit? That's an-" Suddenly a thin female Twoleg padded through the long tunnel that separated her and the singing tom's cages. She shrunk back. A huge, muscular, male Twoleg followed behind her. Their pawsteps echoed around the big space. The female Twoleg looked from nest to nest, and suddenly bent down and stuck her finger into the little nest Skykit was in.

She yowled something at the male, and he yowled something in reply. Just as the flap in the front of the little nest opened and the Twoleg reached in to grab Skykit, she hissed and raked the air in a threatening warning.

The Twoleg jumped back and closed the door quickly. She hurriedly padded away. I showed her, Skykit thought, triumphantly.

Soon after the female padded out of the tunnel with a small, frightened-looking black-and-white tom clutched in her paw. She handed over weird-shaped yellow and green leaves to the male Twoleg and disappeared out a flap.

"Good-bye, Patcher," Jake whispered just as the female opened the flap. When they were both gone, Jake oddly finished his sentence. "-odd name."

You could say that with yourself, Skykit thought, but bit back the stinging retort. She didn't want to offend this kit. She wanted to make friends. All of a sudden she noticed the overwhelming weird scent of rogues. She looked around. They were everywhere. Jake was a kittypet; she knew by his name, and the scent that came off him. But his companions were not.

One was a skinny, light brown tom. His teeth were crooked, and the unfriendly stench of death clung to him well. He had very unkempt fur.

The other was an average-sized grey tom. But he had the peculiar scent of the forest, but no ThunderClan, WindClan, ShadowClan or RiverClan scent on him. The little nest next to the three singing kits was filled with a sleek blue-grey tom.

He had unkempt fur and only a stump for an ear. The little nest above them had two cats in it.

One was a ginger tabby tom with green eyes. The other was a small white she-cat with long legs and a nicked ear. Suddenly the muscular male Twoleg from before stomped in. He pulled open the flap of one of the little nest and took out a blue-grey she-cat with a stump for a tail and one long scar down her side and another scar over her eye.

He stomped away, the black pelt he wore thick, but waving around.

"No! No! Help her!" Wailed a small tortoiseshell rogue. Skykit guessed the cat was her relative. A light brown she-cat with darker dapples all over her rested her tail on the she-cat's shoulders. She mumbled something Skykit didn't catch.

"So where do you come from?" Jake asked, snapping her gaze back to the pale grey tom. "Uh... ThunderClan." Skykit stammered. "Oh. I come from 42 Watson Street." Jake replied. Then he turned to his companions and whispered with them. Then they sang again. "If there was love, in my heart," Jake started.

"In my heart," the other two followed. "I would be followed."

"Followed, followed."

"Because of the rays of my affection," Jake sang on, and Skykit's mind rested.

"Of my affection," the other two went on. "And my close, close connection," Jake sang on, his voice touching Skykit. "Close, close, connection." The other two followed glumly. "To the sky, to the sky."

"The sky." His companions repeated quickly. Skykit's heart skipped a beat as she realised what the new song was about. It was about her. But she couldn't make the words form to tell Jake to stop.