Rain poured down from outside the living room window, as Samuel stretched himself out across his housefolk's warm lap. The golden tabby's tail twitched beside him, as the gentle paw brushed the fur along his back. Sam was tired after a long day of chasing mice out in the backyard and playing around with the flying feather with the elderly housefolk. His purrs seemed to be nestling her into a tired state as well, judging from the slowing down strokes.

The light from the talking box was dim, yet illuminated the four other cats laid about the sofa. Right beside Sam was the pale ginger she-cat of Sandy, joined by her identical parallel Nala. Both curled up leaning against the housefolk, nuzzling and reaching out to knead her lap. Sandy was always a bit annoying, pushy to be completely honest, whenever Samuel was in their owner's gentle limbs being held up high above the rest.

Loki was the furthest away of the group, the black tom nearly blending into the shadow of the arm. His bright green eyes hidden beneath his lids, tail twitching beside his front paw as he seemed to be dreaming. A few tail lengths away were where Bruce laid, a large dark brown tabby most noted for his spiked collar. He was the one to be sitting up straight and be staring intensely up at the talking box, unable to understand what was being said entirely.

But the talking box's presentation was over, and Samuel let out a long yawn as the housefolk patted his back to tell him to get off. As the golden tabby leapt down to the floor and watched his owner rises up. He would let her take a moment alone in the bedroom, before he would be let in to curl up on her lap or lay under one of her bent knees. For now though he would sit down at the front of the door, and wait for her to open it again.

"Well, did you have a good sleep sweet prince?" Bruce's meow was firm as the tabby crept down the hall, towering over the golden tom as he arrived beside him. Sam didn't even acknowledge the tom's presence as he straightened up, not holding his breath as he looked up at the shiny handle his owner always used to get inside. "Say, what nice collar you've got isn't it, new am I right?" the other tom's voice had no genuine curiosity.

"Our housefolk just got it for me today, thank you for noticing." Samuel says pawing at the blue collar around his neck, the soft little bell ringing with its movement. Before he turned his full attention back to the door as he waited. "You're obviously enamored by it I know, how about you go scurry off to talk all about it to sweet Nala? I am sure she'd love to hear all about it." He just wanted to shake off the dark brown tabby for a while.

Bruce's nostrils flared, as his amber eyes narrowed. "So that you can just gloat about it to everyone, I think you can praise yourself just enough on your own. Your majesty!" he growled with his ears falling back and his head lowering towards the ground, sharp claws extended from his paws ready to strike.

"Now, now Brucy… you wouldn't want to hurt our Housefolk's favorite housecat now would you?" Samuel teased with a raised eye brow as the door opened and Bruce dropped all signs of aggression, as the golden tabby pranced inside to be picked up before the door closed. As Samuel was lifted up high to look outside the window, just beyond the garden fence and into the woods one time before he would turn in for the night.

As his owner lay down on the soft bed, Samuel circled around the bed and crawled into his housefolk's knee. His owner's sleepy and loving words soothed him off to sleep, as his purring helped sooth her down to do the same as well. Samuel looked one last time up at the sleepy moon peering through the window above him, its light bathing the room to allow him to see all around him one last time before he passed into the dream world.

…

"Oh puh-lease Samuel could you not this morning." Groaned Sandy as the pale ginger she-cat looked up from her bowl. "I for one do not care about some stupid dream you had last night, so if you could just eat your nibble and let me eat mine. That would be much appreciated here, thank you very much." She flicked her tail once before turning back to her meal, ears flat in annoyance as Samuel looked down from the kitchen table at her.

"It's true though, last night I caught a HUGE animal in my dream. And when I got back, I got first pickings before the rest of you could eat." Samuel meowed excitedly; he could still feel the energy and power in his bones. "I doubt I could do that in reality, but it just goes to show that I was meant to be better than all of you." He glowered in the thought and feeling, his tail rising high up into the air as he relished in the thought.

"Rat dung Samuel, you couldn't even catch a mouse inside here." Loki mocked with an eye roll, his tail swishing back and forth behind him. "There is no way you'd be able to hunt anything in your lifetime, even if it counted on you doing so. So if you could lay off on the implications, I'd rather not lose my lunch before we head outside for a while." His mumbling done the black tom cleaned his bowl before turning to head out through the cat-flap.

Samuel finished his meal and let the housefolk stroke his back; he knew she couldn't understand what they said like they can't fully understand her. But she was still so gentle, and her touch was comforting. Before he turned back to follow Bruce out the flap lastly, exiting the den and entering the garden outside. "That mouse was just lucky, Loki I am sure I could catch a wild one with my eyes closed."

"Hunting in the woods with your lumbering spoiled weight?" Bruce joked with a hard laugh, "don't make me laugh, the mouse would hear you coming from a mile away, and be at its den within a few short moments without making a double check." The dark brown tabby shoved Samuel's side with his front paw, causing the golden tom to stumble sideways momentarily.

"Oh like you would fare any better, you'd be as loud as a twoleg stomping through the forest." Samuel mocked back with a shove of his own. "I can be quiet enough if I want to be, caught Nala by surprise plenty of times before. If you doubt I can, I'd happily prove you wrong anytime, anyplace." Samuel challenged with the swish of his tail, puffing out his chest proudly as he curled his nostrils to seem tough.

"You what now, I am not that loud moving around the place." Bruce retorted with the swish of his tail, eyes narrowing as he glared down at the golden tabby before they lit up briefly. "Well if you are so sure about your skill, how about you prove it tonight? A full night of hunting, and bring back everything you catch tonight and you would win." The dark brown tabby challenged with a grin as he looked in the others' direction for confirmation.

"Fine, tonight I will prove to you that I am a great hunter, prepare to eat all of your laughs housecats." Samuel challenged glaring at all the mocking grins and flared nostrils. "Tonight I will bring home a great feast to have on the prey of the wild, and you will all be much nicer to me from then on. For I am better, fairer, and smarter than all of you combined." Samuel announced with his chin up high and his chest out.

"And if you fail, then you will shut up for a full week. Understood?" Bruce ordered with a firm meow, nonnegotiable on the term as his eyes seemed to glow brighter. His thoughts unreadable but he seemed to be excited by something as he turned to look once more at the others with a proud grin and eyes fully open.

"We have an agreement." Samuel answered as he turned to leap up onto the fence looking out into the woods, tail wrapping around his paws as his den mates huddled together around Bruce behind him, whispering in hushed voices behind the golden tabby's back rather excitedly. Sun tilted his head towards the rising sun up over the tops of the trees, which shielded the ground beneath them from its warm and light. Only ever letting broken spots of rays to shine through the branches, come that night it would be even darker under the cold blue moon.

For now however, Samuel just turned back to the den and jumped inside and into the warm arms of his owner. She stroked him lovingly as she carried him to knit something on her favorite rocking chair over in the corner. His green eyes shut as he settled in nicely and drifted off to a near sleep like state for just now, getting his energy set up to show the others later.