Obsidian—Chapter 4
It's in the early morning hours two days after Samson and Gibbs are gone that it happens. Obsidian wakes up slowly, not sure what exactly woke him up. He raises his head and sees Fleck sleeping next to him, his head tucked under his paws. Glancing around the room he watches the shadows, waiting for any sudden movement. A full minute passes by and the kitten is almost ready to go back to sleep when he sees it: a long narrow naked tail.
The fur on Obsidian's neck starts to fluff as he silently hisses in his brother's ear. Fleck raises one eyelid and comes to full alert when he sees his brother's agitated state. He follows Obsidian's gaze to the shadows just beside the fireplace. Fleck can feel his own fur start to stand on end and he knows that the two of them are going to battle the intruder, no matter what the cost.
Obsidian looks at his brother and almost purrs with contentment. Fleck is beside him, ready to defend his new home. For a second the kitten wishes that Gibbsgrr was there so that the human could see for himself that Obsidian will do what it takes to protect his home while Gibbsgrr is away.
Both kittens wait until the rat is almost beside the chair they're residing in before pouncing. Several fast paced minutes pass as the kittens fight the rat. Finally Obsidian manages to get a choke-hold on the vermin and sinks his teeth into it. Fleck attacks from the side and at long last the rat is still.
"Yuck, he tastes bad!" Fleck immediately starts cleaning himself, trying to rid himself of the taste of rat. Obsidian tries to follow suit, and howls with pain when he touches his front left paw.
"Sidi? What's wrong? You…you're bleeding! What are we gonna do? When's papa coming back?"
Obsidian gently licks his sore paw; the rat had managed one good bite just before Fleck ended his life. Fleck sits down beside Obsidian and starts washing his fur. Obsidian pants with the exertion it took to lick his paw clean. He blinks as he starts seeing multiple black dots in his vision.
"Fleck, I don't feel too good." He collapses on his side. Fleck finishes washing his brother down before dragging the rat's corpse to the kitchen door. He knows he doesn't have the physical strength to move the rat any further so he leaves it by the door and races back to his brother's side.
Fleck lies down beside his brother not sure what to do now. A few hours pass and Fleck heads outside to take care of his bladder. While he's gone, Laurie returns with the luggage. A quick glance around the room tells her what transpired. She looks around and sees Obsidian lying next to Gibbs favorite recliner. She gently touches the kitten, to see what damage she needs to mend.
A soft mew greets her when she touches him, letting her know that he's alive. She instinctively knows that this little black bundle of fur belongs to Samson. The pain-filled green eyes are distinctive. She runs a hand over the rest of him, making sure that nothing else is hurt. She stares into Obsidian's eyes, making sure that the kitten knows she means him no harm. By keeping the eye contact, she's able to completely heal his wound without his being aware of it.
She puts a finger under Obsidian's chin, lightly scratching the kitten until he purrs. A little paw reaches out and grabs her finger. Obsidian licks her finger, and then nibbles on it.
"Hey, I can make you something that tastes better than my finger." She scoops the kitten up and carries him into the kitchen where she immediately sees the rat's corpse. Obsidian starts hissing at the dead rat, and Laurie smiles.
"It's okay little one, he's dead. You protected your house admirably." She sits him down on the floor while she washes her hands and then proceeds to fry an egg with slices of cheese. She then sets the cooling dish in front of Obsidian. The kitten eats slowly almost as if waiting for someone to come and try taking the food away from him. While he's eating, Laurie picks up the rat and carries it out to the dumpster. She then proceeds to clean the floor until no sign of the rat remains.
Obsidian finishes eating and heads outside. Laurie watches as he heads for the furthest rose bush, the one closest to the tree that Samson had fallen out of not too long ago. After one more quick look around to make sure that the house is in order, she teleports back to Stillwater to pick up Gibbs and Jackson.
Out in the yard, Fleck waits until Obsidian reaches the rose bush before exploding. "What happened? Where have you been? What did she do to you? Your leg is healed!"
Obsidian finds a clean spot to lie down before replying. "She saw what happened and cleaned the house up after healing my leg. I likes her."
Fleck snorts as he cleans his fur. "She fed you, and you like her. I don't see anything special about her; not to mention she likes Gibbsgrr." Fleck pounces on a stray leaf for emphasis.
Obsidian says nothing. He likes the human female, regardless of what Fleck says. His paw isn't hurting anymore and he has a full tummy. He doesn't want to antagonize his brother any further than he already has. Besides, Samson said that Gibbsgrr is good and that should be enough, shouldn't it?
A/N: I realize that two kittens taking on a full grown rat may be farfetched, but hey it could still happen.