It all started and ended with the she-cat with the beautiful blue gaze. Nothing stood out about her but those sparkling eyes. Her fur was dirty white splattered with grey, her pelt was shaggy and covered in mud, and her body was littered in scars. She was nothing special, yet her eyes still caught his attention.
"Stay away from that freak," his sisters would tell him. "She's not good enough for you," his father would tell him. "She ugly," his brother would tell him. "I don't trust her," his mother would tell him. "She's too low class." "She's a hick." "She's not your type." "She has no family." "She's nothing special." "She's weird." "She's a freak."
Everytime he said something about her, his family would tell him something like that. They didn't like her, but only because of her appearance and how she grew up. Yet, he could not stay away from those blue eyes.
He found her on a cold winter morning, walking over the frozen river. Her stepped were soft, like feathers landing on the ground. It would be that morning that changed his life forever. He called out to her that morning, a simple greeting.
"Hello."
The she-cat stumbled for a moment, mud-splattered fur bristling. Her blue eyes flared with anger before turning soft once more. "'ey there, mister."
Immediately he could hear her accent. It was soft and smooth, yet held a certain gruffness that is normally heard in toms. "I-I've seen you around these parts quite a lot," he said, some-what nervous. "My name is Jericho. Yours?"
"Name's Izzy." The she-cat smiled. "I've seen ya 'roung these parts, too. You're a'part of that snooty family, ain't ya?"
"Yes, ma'am. Well... I wouldn't call them snooty. They're just strict," he explained.
"Whatever. Why don't ya come join me over here?" Izzy skipped around the ice, flying through the air like a bird.
"I-I suppose." Jericho took a hesitant step onto the icy river, before heading over to the leaping cat.
"Just be careful ya don't fall through the-"
Jericho didn't hear the rest of the sentence. With his luck, he fell through the ice and fell into the freezing cold river.
The river current was much faster than he thought it would have been. He was too weak to push against the freezing water. As the darkness cloesd around him, all he was aware of was a jaw clasped around his scruff.
He woke up around the afternoon, water still dripping from his brown pelt. His eyes opened to see the worried blue gaze of Izzy. "I'm glad you're awake. I thought ya wasn't ever gonna get up! I was real worried."
"Thanks," Jericho rasped, shooting the she-cat a smile. "Not many cats would be willing to risk their lives for me."
Izzy licked a white paw. After her swim in the river, her normally mud-covered fur was shining in the sunlight. "It ain't hard to swim in that river. I've been doing it ever since I can remember."
"Thank you, anyways, Miss Izzy. I appreciate you saving my life." After a few moments, when she did not speak, he cleared his throat. "I think you're fur is, uh, very pretty."
Izzy narrowed her blue eyes. "My fur ain't pretty. It's shaggy and too hard to keep clean. The mud ain't bothersome, so I'm fine with it."
"My family would never approve of my pelt being anything but the best. I'll have to admit, I'm jealous." Jericho grinned, and he heard a giggle from Izzy.
"Well that's mighty nice of you, Jer. You don't mind if I call ya Jer, do ya?"
Jericho shook his head. "It has a nice ring to it." He scrambled to his paws, water still dripping from his pelt. His eyes caught the sun, and widened. "I have to go now. My family will be worried." His gaze met Izzy's. "I can meet you here tomorrow, if you're okay with that?"
Izzy gave a crooked smile. "Sure thing. I'll see ya later, Jer." With that, the she-cat glided away.
Jericho smiled and turned. It was love at first sight, and he wasn't afraid to admit it.
For many moons, he met Izzy at the river. It went from ice to warm waters, full of fish. Izzy taught him to swim and fish. He couldn't be happier.
He kept the meetings a secret from his family. They thought he was just hunting, doing work for the family like he was meant to. They were the best moons of his life.
It was one warm summer evening that Jericho had finally decided to admit to Izzy how he felt. "Iz?"
"Yeah, Jer?" Izzy looked at him with her loving blue gaze.
"I've been meaning to tell you something for a very long time. I've felt like this for quite some time, but never have I had to courage to tell you. I-"
Izzy muffled the rest of his sentence with her tail and licked his muzzle. "Jer, I've known ya long 'nough to know that ya would've ruined this moment. Shut up. I love ya, too."
Jericho smiled, his grin having become as crooked as Izzy's, who was finally his mate.
They spent that night by the river, curled around each other.
Jericho was woken up the next morning by a claw raking down his face. He hissed, and immediately sprang to his paws. Izzy was gone, and there was his family, staring his down like a pack of dogs.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded his father.
"Of what?" Jericho asked innocently.
"You sister saw you and that thing together last night. We told you to stay away from her. She is no good," hissed his mother.
"I'm old enough to make my own life decisions!" yowled Jericho, anger boiling inside of him.
"Fine, make your own decision. You have two choices, break up with the freak or we kill her. The choice is yours." His father walked away from him, the rest of his family following.
Jericho just stood there, shock still written on his face. That was how Izzy found him, still staring at the spot where his father demanded he break up with his love.
"Jer? Jer, are ya okay?" Izzy asked.
"Iz... Iz, my love... My father demands that we break up or... or he'll kill you." He sighed. "But I won't let him!" he quickly added.
Izzy was dumbstruck, and he knew it. "I-I... We can't stay here. We'd be in too much danger. They wouldn't dare chase us, would they?"
"I'm not sure." It was true. He wasn't sure. His family was unpredictable. "We can try, and I promise no matter what happens, I'll keep you safe."
Izzy smiled. "I love ya," was all she said.
They ran from Jericho's family. He refused to let her die because of him. For moons they ran and ran, until finally they had to stop running. It was a cool autumn evening that Izzy made them stop.
"Izzy, why are we stopping? We need to keep going!" insisted the brown tom.
"Jer..." Her blue eyes bore deep into his green eyes. "We have to stop. I'm pregnant."
Jericho's jaw dropped. "Th-that's great! They wouldn't dare attack a pregnant she-cat! We'll be safe. We can stop running."
"A-are ya sure?" she asked, voice quivering. "I'm afraid."
"I love you Izzy, and I promise that I will never ever let them touch a single hair on your pelt." The brown tom licked her cheek. "I promise."
Her blue eyes were still strung with worry, but he knew that she trusted him. On their way they continued until they found an abandoned den, which they easily settled into. For moons they lived in that den, Jericho's family never on their minds. It was morning when Izzy let out a yowl of pain.
Jericho shot upwards, green eyes wide with worry. "Iz, what's wrong?"
"I'm kittin', Jer," she told him through clenched teeth. "It-it hurts, Jer. Make the pain stop."
"I-I…" He didn't know what to do. He's never had to deal with something like this before. "Just… Just push, Iz. Push, and it will all be okay."
Izzy nodded, her white-and-grey pelt shuddered from the spasms. Scream after scream, kit after kit, Jericho was there for her. He couched her along, muttering sweet nothings into his mate's ear. When it was done, there were three tiny kits against Izzy's belly.
Jericho gazed fondly at the three kits. Two toms and a she-kit. One of the toms was white, his tail and face splattered with patches of brown fur. The other tom was a pure grey color. The last kit, his sweet daughter, was a tortoiseshell, a mix of white, brown, and grey. He purred, and looked to Izzy with a crooked grin. "They're amazing, almost as beautiful as you."
Izzy smiled. "They'll be as brave as you," she told him, purring.
"Shall we name them?" Jericho asked her, eyes stuck on the kits sleeping bodies.
"Of course we should-"
"Jericho!"
His fur bristled, and he spun towards the den entrance, claws unsheathed. "Dad, get out of here! This is my life, and my choice!"
His father looked at him with blazing green eyes, growling. From over the tom's shoulder, Jericho could clearly see his mother, his sisters, and his brother. "Jericho, you have disgraced this family by having kits with this piece of trash. You are no longer a part of this family. You have two choices. One, you can come with us and forget about that freak forever or two, you can put up a fight and we'll kill all of you."
Jericho growled. "I am disgusted by all of you. I grew up learning that everyone is equal, no matter how they may look, act, or speak. Cats deserve chances. You never even gave Izzy a chance."
"She doesn't deserve a chance. She's filth," his mother hissed.
"She's my mate, and I will defend her to my last breath." With that, Jericho shot forward, meeting his younger brother, who had also charged forward. Claws flashed, and Jericho had ripped out his brother's throat.
He turned on his two sisters who were slashing at him. He shot forward towards one sister, grabbing her throat in his jaw and ripping away. He turned to his other sister with a flash, sending her flying with one hit. She landed, unmoving.
He winced as his mother pinned him to the ground, slashing at his face and belly. Jericho growled and pushed her off with all her strength, his mother flying into the air and hitting the ground with a loud thud. He ran at her and tore at her until she was nothing but a pile of flesh and fur.
He whirled around, blazing eyes searching for his father. He caught sight of him, and he charged blindly towards the tom. Jericho tackled him to the ground, and ripped at him with all his might. With each slash, his father let out a shriek of terror that felt like music to his ears. It wasn't until the screaming ceased that the brown tom stopped attacking his father.
Rage still filled the tabby, his fur splatted with the blood of his family. He was panting heavily. He never knew that he contained such strength, that he was such a killing machine. He felt disgusted.
Jericho turned to Izzy. "It's okay now. We'll never be hurt a-" He stopped abruptly, a look of horror struck across his face.
Izzy's white-and-grey pelt was covered in cuts and her throat was almost completely gone. She panted heavily, unable to lift her head. His three unnamed kits were bloody heaps, unmoving.
Jericho stepped forward slowly, his jaw hanging loosely. "Iz?"
"Jer, is that ya?" Izzy's blue eyes were glazed over, but they were looking at him.
"Yes, my love. It's me. Don't worry; you're going to be all right." Jericho crouched next to his mate and he licked her pelt furiously, trying to get rid of the blood.
"Jer…" As she stared up at him with those blue eyes, the last words to come out of her mouth were, "You promised." Then she was still.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. Izzy, wake up. You have to wake up. I want you- no, I need you. I can't do this alone. I need you here, with me. I need you to be here. I can't lose everything.
"I love you, Izzy. I love you so much, and I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise. I promised you that you would be safe with me, and you weren't. You weren't safe, and I'm so sorry." Jericho dug his face into her fur.
"I promise you that I'll never take on another mate. I will never have interest for another she-cat for as long as I love. I promise." He gave her one more lick before dragging the dead bodies outside.
He buried his family, all of them. He wasted no time, however. In sight were mountains, near enough that is would take less than a moon to travel to, and he knew it. He sighed. "Goodbye Izzy, my love. Even though I leave you here, remember that I will always love you." With that, he took his leave.