Chapter Six

Storytelling

Fox and I took turns hunting. At first, I was nervous about leaving my sister with a tom I had just met. So nervous that I hid and watched him a couple of times, to see what he did. But the tom simply lay down beside Wren and occasionally licked her wounds.

"Where'd you two come from, anyway?" Fox meowed once as I was returning with a large rabbit I had caught trying to hide under a twoleg platform. He was stretched out in a patch of sunlight, a taillength away from Wren. I dropped the rabbit in front of him.

"A monster graveyard," I meowed as I sat down beside him.

His green eyes widened. "Why would you want to be in a monster graveyard? The only one I've heard about is filled with horrible, vicious, killer ca-"
"We were born there."

"Oh... so... why'd you leave, then?"

I quickly explained everything that had happened to me and Wren after our first meeting with Bear. I told him about our parents' deaths, our living with Bear and changing our names, our escape from the graveyard, leaving Bear with the twolegs, and finally the moon we had spent walking aimlessly.

Fox swallowed a mouthful of rabbit. "So you don't know where you're going, then?"

"We just trying to get away," I meowed. I bit off a piece of rabbit, chewed, and swallowed. "What about you, Fox?"

"Me? I... well... my father was a kittypet. My mother was a rogue. Apparently they met while my father was out exploring. I was born with two sisters and a brother. They all died. First my youngest sister, Snow, got sick. Then Wolf, my brother, picked a fight with a couple of older rogues and was killed. Then Blossom, my other sister, was killed when a twoleg threw a rock at her. My mother thought she was cursed... she drove me out, saying that she'd rather imagine that I survived then see how I'd die."

"Fox... I'm sorry."

He shrugged and grabbed another mouthful of rabbit before continuing, "That was many moons ago, and I'm still here. So I guess there was no curse... or maybe there was, and it's stuck to my mother instead of following me. I don't know. I hope I'm not cursed..."

I glanced at Wren, "I think, Fox, if you were cursed, you wouldn't have made it in time to help me save Wren."

"Hey, that's true." He leaned over a head-butted my shoulder gently. "Thanks, Shatter."

(***)

The next time I returned from hunting I was carrying a small bird. I could hardly see due to feathers in my face, so I found my way back mostly by memory. When I dropped the bird, I could see Fox curled up, fast asleep. And beside him...

A dent in the grass where Wren should have been.

"Wr-"

Suddenly I was pushed over and felt paws on my side. "I win, Shatter."

"Wren? What are you doing? You should be resting." I got to my feet. "Do you feel all right? How are your cuts?"

"I'm fine, Shatter. I'm just hungry, that's all..." she glanced at the bird. "Oh, thanks, Shatter." She lay down and began to gnaw away at the bird. "So," she meowed in between bites. "Who's he?" she pointed at Fox with her tail. "I woke up and saw him, and I scented you, so I knew you and him were together, somehow. So... who is he?"

"His name's Fox," I explained. "He helped me fight off those two dogs that attacked you."

"Two? I remember one..." she shuddered. "It picked me up..."

I nodded. "The other one was much smaller, luckily. I chased that one off myself. But I did something to my shoulder... almost felt like I was ripping open my scars. And, well... I needed help with the second dog. Fox showed up, and I guess it didn't want to fight both of us at once."

"Your shoulder?"

"I'm all right, now. It was just really sharp pain for a little while." I looked over at Fox. "I should wake him up, so he can meet you."

"Do you have to?" Wren meowed. "He's quite cute curled up like that."

I glanced at her for a moment, and then meowed loudly. "Fox!"

Fox jerked his head up. "What? What's goin- oh... hello."

"Hello," Wren purred in reply.

"So you're... you're all right?"

"Fine, thanks to you, I hear."

"I fought the dog too, Wren." I meowed.

"Yes, Shatter. I know."