Chapter 4: Our Paths Once Parallel

The clock was ticking down. I could see my window of opportunity closing. Adi was packing things up. I could see it in her eyes. Looking at me hurt knowing she was leaving me behind. I knew I was making her decision more difficult. She loved me like I was her own child and she knew her parents would not treat me well when she left. It was tearing her apart. The way she looked at her acceptance letter in tense silence told me everything. She was debating quitting her dream for me. If only she knew I'd never let that happen. Maybe for just a day I could let her know how smart I am and how much I want her to be happy.

I didn't feel ready to change, but no cat or person ever really is. I noted Rusty was looking more intently at the forest lately. As he described them, his dreams had become more vivid. No longer were they just the vague idea of hunting in the forest, now they had sounds, textures, and required instinctive skill to accomplish the hunt the dream pushed him on. He couldn't hold himself back much longer. This must have been how fate or whatever determines the chance things of life showed it was time for a change, time for him to move on and embark with Rusty on an adventure that he may never return from.

Adi seemed to be having second thoughts on leaving me behind today. She stared at me with such sadness. I could see her taking things out of her moving boxes. I think she had changed her mind, but I wasn't going to let that stand. She had just put a pair of socks on her bed after removing it from a box. I responded by leaping onto her bed and picking up her socks. She watched me, curious, while I leapt into the box she took the socks from and dropped them. With that, I leapt out of the box and grabbed another thing she had removed from the box and repeated the gesture.

Adi cooed at me with tears in her eyes. She spoke in that familiar, yet unintelligible language. Regardless, I knew what she was asking. I leapt onto her bedstand and grabbed the acceptance letter she stared at oh so frequently. Then I brought it to her. This had to be clear enough for her. The tears in her eyes spilled over and she wrapped me in a tight hug. It was uncomfortable, but I'd put up with it for her. I snuggled closely with her that night, but I think we both knew it would be our last one together.

She pampered me more than usual the next morning. When she went to take me outside, I made my move. I meowed to get her attention before pawing at my collar. Confused, she reached down and removed my collar. I nuzzled against her one last time before bounding for the fence. I leapt upon it with as much grace as I could muster and trotted towards Rusty's home. I stopped briefly to look at Adi. She was frozen, staring at me. I gave her one last nod before disappearing from her view. I could faintly hear her sobs and hoped she got my message. This was goodbye.

Rusty was waiting for me in his garden. He seemed caught up in the dramatics of my departure.

"Woah. What's going on with Adi? Why does she have your collar?" He asked, concerned.

"Adi and I now travel different paths, ones that do not meet anymore. We were saying goodbye. I left her my collar as a memento, a token to remember me by." I responded in somewhat of a daze.

I could feel my own heart sting at the idea Adi and I would never see each other again, but it also bloomed with hope. With my departure, nothing was holding her back. I'd given her my blessing for her to chase her dream. I'd been a loyal companion. I'd done everything I could to make the memories we shared of each other sweet, and now it was time to move on. We both had lives to lead and futures to discover. She'd always be something I remembered fondly, but staying together was not meant to be.

I shook out my sentimental thoughts before speaking again. "Rusty. Today is the day we've been preparing for. The signs are there. Your dreams want us to go, and the separating of paths Adi and I just had must also be a sign. I wish we had a bit more time, but I think it is our time to go, but before that, we have to do something about your collar."

Rusty's eyes lit brightly and he bound around excited. This was it. The moment they'd been training for, the day they finally entered the woods. I watched him with cautious optimism. At least I wouldn't be alone for what came next. When Rusty finally settled down, I took the time to try and break his collar. Unfortunately, his was a cheap one, so the material was tougher and was not a breakaway. I damaged it a good bit but had to give up since it was taking too long. Maybe when we settled down somewhere I'd have time to finish breaking it.

Rusty and I leapt onto the fence separating the forest and our homes together. We stared out into the woods with still tension. If I could describe the feeling, it was like when a boulder rested on the very edge of a cliff, just a light bat away from tumbling. I was holding my breath. Then Rusty made the first move. He leapt into the grass below and I followed. While I may be the wise one of the two of us, Rusty was the one who was the leader. I was the type to plan and conspire while Rusty was the one who could take on the unfamiliar head on, so naturally I let him lead.

It wasn't long before we both heard a rustling in the nearby grass. Rusty sunk into a crouch I'd never taught him and slowly approached the source of the noise. Meanwhile, I slinked under another bush and kept my ears pricked and eyes sharp playing lookout. I spotted the creature Rusty was stalking, a mouse. As he prepared to pounce, I heard another rustling, something much bigger than a mouse and it was moving fast. I darted from my hiding place on an intercept course as Rusty spun to face whatever was approaching. A cat, not much older than ourselves, leapt out of the grass, his attack directed at Rusty. I bowled him over with a shoulder check while Rusty made his approach. I had some weight on this attacker. My legs were stubbier and my torso was bulkier making me a very difficult cat to move. The attacker, a grey tom, seemed to also be in the middle to heavy weigh class given all his fur. Rusty on the other hand was lithe and quick. He pushed the attack as I winded up for a charge. After we traded a few scratches, the stranger seemed to have calmed down, grooming himself in front of us.

"Not bad for two kittypets."