Chapter six: New friends in the City

Asteria woke up clutching her mothers' ice-cold body. Shocked, she shook her franticly, tugging franticly at her fur, but Lillypaw remained motionless. Asteria screamed in frustration and clawed at her mother's face.

"Wake up mom!" she wailed, "I am not ready to be without you!" As great shuddering sobs shook her body like tremors, she felt the spike dancing around her neck. Wiping her eyes on the back of her paw, she stared at the spike, her fathers spike.

"Mother's right," Asteria thought, "I have to go back. I need to find my father and the home I never knew."

She looked back at her mothers' body, curled up as though sleeping in the den she had used as an escape from her true life.

"Time to say farewell to both," Asteria thought. Crouching over her body, she licked Lillypaw's cold cheek and whispered, "Goodbye mom, say hello to my brothers in the Heavyside Layer."

With a weak, sad sigh, Asteria then kicked dirt over the den until it was completely covered and her mother could no longer be seen.

"I'll be alright mom," Asteria promised, then she turned and headed along the dirt road in the direction of the city.

* * *

"So this is the city," Asteria thought, licking gum off her paws, "highly over rated."

Asteria had arrived in the city at dusk and had wandered aimlessly for hours, trying to find something, anything. A familiar smell or sight, but so far all she had managed to do was nearly get hit by a bus, been chased up a telephone pole by a dog and get chased by some drunk human teenagers, apparently under the impression that she was a panther.

"Well, if I just keep walking, I should find it, right?" she asked herself, peeling the last strand of gum of her paw. Her stomach gave a low rumble. Asteria began trying to locate even the scrawniest of mice, but the rodents were much smarter in the city then they were in the country and always ran as soon as she even stepped paw into an alley. It didn't help that she was severely drowsy; even though she hadn't run full tilt the way her mother had, she was still almost dead on her paws.

"First food, then a safe place to sleep," she told herself, but she knew she couldn't hunt in her current state. Suddenly she inhaled the strong odor of fish. Her mouth watering, she followed her nose to a garbage can behind a mall.

"Ew," she shuddered. Taking a deep breath, Asteria hooked her back paws on the rim of the can and buried her face into the garbage. A combination of overpowering odors flowed into her nostrils and she felt all sorts of foul things sticking to her fur, but she pushed it all aside, digging down deeper and deeper. Finally, she pulled up a piece of three-day-old salmon and sunk her teeth into it, savoring the succulent pink flesh.

"Dum'ster diven', huh?"

Asteria jumped at the voice. Peeking out of a large dumpster next to her was an orange, black and white calico tom, maybe a few months older than her. He had a strong face and a very mischievous glint in his eyes. He was clinging to a silver watch he had apperantly found.

"Nuthin' good in tha' can, kit," he grinned, speaking with a strong accent "If ya want the gud stuff, ya gatta look in them big ones."

Asteria frowned.

"I am not a kitten," she retorted, "I am nearly an adult and-"

"Jer!" a muffled voice came from deep in the dumpster, "Git down 'ere and 'elp me. I don' know wha' this is, bu' it's spa'kly!"

"Scuse' me kit," the tom disappeared inside the trash.

"Wait!"

Asteria leaped down from the trashcan and scrambled up the side of the dumpster. A minute later, the two cats popped back up, dragging a rhinestone tiara. The toms' companion was an orange, black and white calico queen who, despite being smaller, was identical to the tom. She had a string of pearls dangling around her neck.

"O' i's gorgeous Jerie!" the queen gushed, holding up the tiara so it shone in the moonlight.

"Sorr'e bou' tha' kit," the tom said, "Ma name is Mungojerr'eh an' this is ma sistah, Rumpleteaz'ah."

"I'm Asteria," Asteria smiled.

"Well, wha's a kit like you doin' wanderen' aroun' 'ere alone?" Mungojerrie asked.

This time Asteria scowled.

"Like a said," she said, grinding her teeth, "I am not a kitten, I am eleven months old and I am trying to find my father."

"Youh' fath'a?" Rumpleteazer tore her eyes from the tiara to look at Asteria, "Ya know whe' 'e is?"

"My mother told me he lived in a Junkyard in the city; this belongs to him." She held out the spike around her neck. Mungojerrie eyed it, looked at Rumpleteazer and smirked.

"Ya wouldn't 'appen tuh' know the name of ya fath'a, would'ja?" he asked.

"My mother told me he was called Tugger," Asteria frowned, surprised at his reaction.

Rumpleteazer let out a high pitched, squealing giggle.

"Shush!" Mungojerrie hissed, then turned back to Asteria, "Ya, we know 'im. We visit tha' junkya'd offen; i's like our 'ome."

"Could you show me-" Asteria let out a huge yawn, "Sorry. Could you show me the way to the Junkyard?"

"I's too fa' away fo a kit-" Mungojerrie stopped at Asteria's glare, "Sorr'e, I mean fo' a cat in youh' condition to walk."

"My condition?" Asteria asked.

"Da'lin', youh' dead on ya paws," Rumpleteazer said sympathetically, "Tell ya what? 'Ow 'bout ya stay wi' me an Jer tuh'night? We 'ave a lill' place near Victoria Grove."

"That would be wonderful," Asteria smiled.

With the tiara and watch in paw, the twins leapt out of the dumpster and landed neatly on the ground. Asteria followed, but in her drowsy state, her legs went weak underneath her and she sprawled on the ground.

"Ya okay Asteria?" Mungojerrie asked, running to her side.

"I'm alright," Asteria mumbled, as Mungojerrie helped her up. She brushed off her sleek coat.

"Ya got som'thin' in ya mane," Mungojerrie gently tugged some gunk from her glossy gray mane and his paw skimmed against her neck. Asteria felt an odd sensation pass through her, like an electric current. She smiled at Mungojerrie. He smiled back, then quickly turned back to his sister.

"Le's go, Teaz'ah," he said.

"Ah was wait'n fo' you," she said haughtily.

The trio wound their way through the dank alleyways and filthy streets. Rumpleteazer led the way, but Mungojerrie stuck close to Asteria, as though frightened she would collapse again. Asteria didn't mind though; somehow she already felt close to him, even though they had just met.

They soon entered a street marked Victoria Grove. Rumpleteazer slunk through a gap in a fence and into a small garden shed.

"Aft'ah you," Mungojerrie said, so Asteria entered the shed and was struck dumb. Humans may have abandoned the shed, but it was filled with a wide assortment of random objects that the siblings had collected, most of them shiny. There was also a large stash of food, catnip, and fluffy blankets.

"Wow," was all she could say.

"Not too shabby, eh?" Rumpleteazer grinned, setting the tiara among a heap of jewelry.

"If you'h hungr'e, 'elp you'self tuh anythin' ya want," Mungojerrie told her.

"That's alright," Asteria yawned, curling up on one of the blankets, "I think I'll just . . ." and her eyes drooped shut and a second later, she was snoring softly.

Rumpleteazer turned to her brother.

"Well, she is awful'e cute," she giggled.

"Shush Teaz'ah, you'll wake 'er," he scolded, but he blushed a bright red.