Disclaimer: I don't own The Last of Us.
"Joel, stop! Stop right there!"
Joel froze upon hearing Ellie call urgently to him, as well as feeling her abruptly grabbing his arm. The middle-aged bearded man peered down at the young red-haired girl at his side. His hazel eyes widened as they picked up all the worry that was filling her green ones.
"What's the matter, kiddo?" Joel asked, concerned about his shorty partner. "Everything okay?"
"No, Joel!" Ellie's nasal voice was overflowing with alarm. "Everything is not okay!"
"What d'you mean?"
"What I mean is…" The girl's freckled face went with with alarm. "I can see trouble ahead!"
"Trouble?!" Joel instantly swung around, expecting to an onslaught of dangerous enemies approaching them as he armed himself with his firearms. "Where, Ellie? Where? Is it Infected? Bloaters? Clickers?"
"No, Joel!" Ellie answered with a shake of her head. "It's a kitty!"
All the urgency in Joel's hairy face faded, replaced by astonishment by what the teenager said. "A kitty?!"
"Yeah!" Ellie raised a hand and pointed. "Look!"
Joel turned to where Ellie was diverting his attention. He saw that in front of them was a dead tree standing in the center of the wasteland they were travelling through together. Sitting on one of its bare branches, peering down at them with bright green eyes, was a cat.
"Meow!" it said.
"Oh, Ellie!" Joel chuckled. "Haven't you ever seen a cat in that quarantine zone where you were sheltered? His not dangerous at all!"
"But he's clearly in danger!" Ellie ran over to the foot of the tree, peering worriedly up towards the feline. "Look, Joel! He's stuck!"
"Oh well." Joel shrugged. "That's what happens to cats who go around climbing everywhere! Maybe now he'll think twice about going up where he can't get down-"
"We have to help him!"
"Help him?!" Shock filled Joel's bearded face over what Ellie was saying. "Ellie, we have to get to the Fireflies. We don't have time for this!"
"Sure we do!" Ellie insisted. "We can't just leave the poor little guy up there! He must be so scared! Go on up and get him down!"
"What?!" Joel burst out, taken aback to hear the fourteen-year old barking orders at him. "Ellie, I'm not going going up that tree to get a cat-"
"Do it!" Ellie snapped, turning towards Joel with a threatening glare on her face. "Or I won't let you hear the end of it!"
"Alright, alright!" Joel sighed, not willing to listen to hear Ellie complain on the rest of their journey. "Fine!"
With a defeated slump of his shoulders, Joel approached the tree. He reached up to grab one of the lowest branches, then pulled himself up away from the ground. Ellie observed her guardian proceeding to climb the tree. The cat watched from where it was stuck, meowing softly.
"Take it easy, Joel! You don't want to scare him away! Especially with your big hairy face!"
Joel ignored the insult Ellie had thrown at him as he continued to make his way up the tree. With all the hideous undead creatures that were making a feast of anything that moved, he was the last thing the cat needed to be scared of.
Still, he couldn't help feeling a little warm inside for the moment. Many a time had he climbed the trees in his back yard, stopping at nothing to retrieve Sarah's soccer ball. He smiled to himself at the nostalgic memories. If he could free a ball from a tree to make his one daughter happy, he could do the same for a cat to please his other baby girl.
Soon Joel reached the branch below the one which the feline was sitting in. It freaked as he stood upright on it. He reached his arms up towards the animal, beckoning softly to it with his hands.
"Here, kitty kitty!"
The cat stared at Joel with its green eyes. It didn't move.
"Come on. I'm not gonna hurt you. Come to Joel."
The car flickered its triangular ears and swished it's furry tail, but still didn't move.
"I can't get him to come to me!" Joel called.
"Huh!" Ellie shouted back. "I guess he don't like you! Can't say I blame him!"
Joel rolled his eyes. Trying to save this cat was enough of a hassle without Ellie serving her usual cheek to him. He continued to beckon to the cat, determined not to leave the tree without it.
"Come on, kitty," he urged. "Come on. Come to Papa."
The cat mewed - then suddenly sprung instead off the spot it was on and flung towards Joel. He let off a startled cry as he caught the animal in his arms before stumbling around in the branch. It creaked louder before letting out an enormous crack as it gave way under his feet.
Joel yelled as he plunged down out of the tree, taking the cat down with him. With a wail, Ellie raced out of the way in time before her guardian hit the ground. He landed on his back, letting out a huge thump which was followed by a pained grunt.
"Whoa, Nelly!" Ellie cried, standing over where her guardian had crashed to the ground. "Are you alright?"
"Not really," Joel muttered through gritted teeth. "That fall didn't half hurt…"
"Not you!" Ellie huffed. "I was talking to the cat!"
Joel made a face, staggered that the teenager cared more about the cat's well-being instead of his. He stared up at the animal responsible for what had happened to him. It lay comfortably in his arms, licking its paw, unfazed and unhurt from the fall.
"You alright, little guy?"
The cat's ears flickered upon hearing Ellie's soft voice. It turned towards the young girl before leaping up towards her. A laugh escaped the redhead as the feline cuddled up in her arms, affectionately licking her freckled face.
"You're welcome!" Ellie smiled as she gently scratched behind the cat's ears. "I couldn't just leave you up there!"
The cat purred and nuzzled its head softly under Ellie's chin. It was feeling very happy to have been brought down from the tree - in contrast to the man laying on the ground, who was responsible for bringing it down, and being left with a sore back as a result.
Just them, some soft noises came from nearby. Ellie peered up to see three small furry shapes running towards them. They made a lot of noise as they approached the girl and her guardian, their attention clearly focused on the animal who was with them.
"Oh no," Joel huffed. "Not more cats…"
Ellie beamed and gazed down at her furry friend. "Is this your family."
The cat let off a single sound as if to answer the girl's question. It gave one more lick on her face before turning its furry gaze to the other three felines. They surrounded the young redhead, meowing in their relief to see their companion.
"Alright." Still smiling, Ellie gave the cat a last stroke as she placed it onto its paws before releasing it from her embrace. "Stay safe now. Look after yourselves, guys!"
The furry foursome meowed their thanks and farewells to the redhead. They set off together to go about their business, although the one which had just been reunited with its family paused to look back towards Ellie. The youngster kept her awed gaze on it, her heart melting to see the cat giving her a wink before heading off into the distance with the others.
No sooner had the cars disappeared into the distance than Ellie heard a groan coming from the ground. She turned to see Joel struggling to his feet. He placed a shaky hand against the tree, wobbling as he attempted to regain his balance.
"Well, Joel!" Ellie beamed. "We did it!"
Joel's hairy face scrunched into a frown, mixed with irritation as well as soreness. "We did it, Ellie?!"
"Uh huh! And so after all that drama and tension…" Ellie grinned widely as she pulled out a certain book of hers. "What we need to unwind is some puns!"
Joel let out a loud sigh. He was feeling more grumpy than usual after what Ellie had put him through. There was no way his mood would be improved by her awful jokes.
Ellie flipped through the pages of her book, looking for something appropriate to read aloud after the adventure they'd just had with the cat. Upon finding the perfect joke, she cleared her throat before turning to the unfortunate adult who was about to suffer the quip she was preparing to deliver.
"What do cats like to listen to on the radio?"
"I don't know," Joel muttered, "and I don't care."
"Mews-ic!"
The wasteland was filled with the sound of loud laughter as Ellie burst into hysterics over the joke she read.
All Joel could do was sag his shoulders and let off an unamused huff in his usual gruff manner.
If the teenager he was stuck with wasn't bothering him with her endless questions and ridiculous requests, she was most certainly annoying the cynical man with her lame, terrible jokes.
THE END