Searching for Something New

[Shy]

        Conrad hadn't been to the alleyway since he found his couch, his home.  These streets always felt foreign, but now they felt truly threatening.  He was here partly due to boredom and partly because he was searching for something.  At first he had been looking for a new pillow or blanket, something to put under his couch when it got cold or wet.  Now he was searching for a meal, he'd been here for a while.  Since he'd arrived at the couch he'd been well feed, and wasn't used to going without a meal for long.  He'd grown a bit soft, but the alley helped toughen him up.

        He remembered a nearby garbage can, one that generally had food in it.  Pickings might be thin, especially with other cats searching for a meal, but he didn't care.  A little food would go a long way.  Besides, he might find something interesting.  In the past few weeks he'd also started collecting various items for his den.  First it had been a blanket, and after that he'd kept collecting things.  It was something to keep him busy since he was rarely searching for food.  The mice had grown a bit more cautious, but Conrad had quickly learned new places to find food.  By now he was extremely familiar with his territory and the surrounding areas. 

        Finally he reached the garbage can, trash bags were scattered around it.  Hardly anyone kept up with their trash in these parts.  Some other alley cat had gotten to a few, but he figured it was worth a shot.  As he dug he found a few bones and a scrap of some spicy meat.  It wasn't much, but it helped.  After eating the meager meal, he started back on his quest for a blanket or pillow.  It felt good to be out here, following a goal.  He hadn't had a goal in a while.

        As the tom walked, he regained his confidence, and started to slow down.  Soon he was practically strutting down the alleyways.  His fluffy tail was waving in the air and his hunger was forgotten.  Conrad was still a strong stray, and now he had a purpose again.  It might only be to find a new surface to sleep on, but it lifted his spirits and put a fire back in his heart. 

        Conrad stumbled across a few potential pillows, but they were all gross, overused by other strays.  The few blankets he'd found were more like rags, covered in mud and claw marks.  Perhaps there was another cat, a hostile one.  Conrad would show them!  He was well fed and was itching to teach someone a lesson.  No one would pick on him, he was practically king of the alleyway!  Of course, it didn't compare to his couch, but he still felt like he ruled these streets.

        Eventually he stopped and settled on a decent pillow.  It would work, he decided.  As soon as he took a quick nap, he'd return home.  I should do this more often.  Stretch my legs, find new things.  It certainly couldn't hurt to explore a bit further than his home.  Yes, he'd have to return from time to time.  While he'd never live here, he liked the feeling of danger in the air, and not being afraid.  So he stretched out, marking the pillow as he own.  Conrad was very pleased with this journey, although he wished something more interesting had happened.  Something more exciting that a pillow. Something new.

Lennox

[Lennox]

The fog was thick in the air, it bothered the she-cat, it scared her. The very thin and frail she-cat skulked slowly along the alleyway walls keeping her body pushed as close as she could. The alleyways had become her personal hell for the last few months since escaping her imprisonment. The loneliness was starting to crawl it's way into her brain but she didn't know how to interact with other animals specially cats. Everything frightened her,everything was new. She was a survivor.

River was starving she didn't know how to hunt,many other cats had chased her away from the garbage cans and humans scared her more then other cats they chased her away thinking she had rabies. The she-cat looked worst for wear her once soft curly pelt was missing patches of furs,burn marks, badly healed wounds and scraps covered her entire body. Her ribs were clearly visible and her legs looked frail and knobby on her small frame. She was now missing a patch of ear from a scrap with another stray cat that had sent her running.

The she-cat was becoming oblivious to the things her body shutting starting shut down from starvation and dehydration. Her mind was numb, her legs told her to stop to just die but she didn't she kept walking out of habit out of routine. River had been doing the same thing day after day walk,walk,eat scraps, sleep, rinse and repeat.

She didn't even notice the stubby legged tom laying on the pillow has she continued walking down the dark foggy alleyway. She was desperate for some nutriment and what had caught her eye was the silver trash can with the lid still half on. She sat down recovering what little energy she had left looking up her mind was already in the bin eating everything edible. She was to exhausted to jump to even raise her paws and knock the bin over instead she sat there dreaming of what could possibly be in the bin to eat.

Shy

[Shy]

        Conrad was just about to fall asleep when a cat walked by.  A first he was glad, perhaps he'd get a chance to fight.  It had been a while since he fought with another cat.  But he quickly lost any urge to fight, replaced by horror.  The cat was starving, she looked dead on her paws.  If she wasn't moving he would have thought her dead.  She was covered in scars and burns and missing her fur.  In that moment he felt sick, horrified.  How could she keep moving?  How could a cat survive that?

        He abandoned the pillow and rose to his feet.  Carefully he moved forward, uncertain if she really was there, alive before him.  She looked so small, so alone.  He wanted to help her, to save her.  Any hostility towards strangers disappeared, he would never harm a cat like this.  A cat so close to death he couldn't believe she wasn't.  Even at his worse he'd never been this bad.  What was left of her fur smelled of smoke and blood. 

        "Hello?" Conrad whispered, trying not to startle her.  It looked like the wind could knock her over, he doubted she would survive long without help.  Without his help.  She needed food and water and to rest.  He abandoned his every cat for himself principle, the only thing that mattered was saving this cat.  "Hello?"

Lennox

[Lennox]

She was still staring at the bin when her ear trembled, a slight flick has a voice alerted her. She closed her eyes every instinct told her to turn around a fight but she had nothing left. Her side began to move more rapid has she became even more afraid.

She turned on her frail legs and faced the voice that had alerted her. Her brows furrowed and she let out a raspy hiss her voice cracked having not been used in ages. What little fur she had left stood on end. She attempted to make herself as big as possible wanting to frightened the other cat away.

It suddenly all became to much and her legs gave out she fell to the ground and tried too lift her body again but didn't even have the strength to do that. Her light green eyes fell on the tom "just make it quick" she croaked knowing there wasn't a single thing she could do to stop him. She never thought this would be how her life came to end and the sadness she had been keeping bottled up finally came to a halt she had let her father,mother, and her sister down. The she-cat closed her eyes waiting for the tom to hurt her and end her misery.

Shy

[Shy]

        The she-cat looked even worse up close, Conrad hadn't expected that was possible.  When she hissed at him, he was glad.  For a second he thought she was healthy enough to try to defend herself, but then she fell.  Conrad had seen cats in bad shape before, never this bad, but they had always tried to fight back.  He'd gotten pretty bad himself, but nowhere near the point that he would ask another cat for death.

        "I'm not going to hurt you." He exclaimed, then quickly softened his voice. "I'm here to help you."

        She needed food and water, as soon as possible.  Both were going to be a problem, the alleyway was always lacking both.  With the heat, he doubted there would be any puddles that hadn't evaporated, but he had to try.  A few might exist in the shade.  Food was also going to be a problem, there was an extremely limited supply.  It might take a cat a full day to find a little food here.  She needed lots of food and water, this was the worst place to be. 

         He wished they were back at his home, he'd be able to help here there.  But it was too far, even at his top speed it took him a nearly a quarter of a day to get back.  There was a reason alley cats tended to be thinner and meaner, this wasn't a place for the sick or injured. It seemed impossible to save this cat, but he had to try.

        Conrad searched for a source of water first, she could drink while he searched for food.  Luckily there was a small puddle in the back of the alley, sheltered from the head by shadows.  He raced over and took a small sip, trying to see if it was safe to drink.  It was a bit bitter, but it was as good as they were going to get.

        Quickly he raced back to the she-cat. "Come on." He coaxed, trying to sound soft and encouraging.  It was odd not to be hissing and yelling at another cat. "This way.  There's some water, come drink while I search for some food." Conrad explained, and motioned towards the puddle. "You can lean on me if you need."

Lennox

[Lennox]

The she-cat was skeptical at first not sure if this cat had a motive or not. She stared at the tom the only thing she could do. "Why would you want to help me?" she asked with her croaky voice. She licked her lips the thought of water was driving her crazy.

She was not able to take it anymore with a heavy she attempted to stand only to fall again. River closed her eyes. She needed to get up,she had to. The she-cat gritted her teeth and with a slight hiss she stood on her scrawny knobby legs.

It felt like every step she took boulders were chained to her legs but she kept walking one wobbly paw step after the other until she reached the puddle. She plopped down to weak to hold herself up. Her tongue began to greedily lap at the rather bitter tasting water. Her eyes watched the tom the entire time just waiting for him to attack any moment.

She continued to drink until she felt sick to her stomach not having water for at least two days. She gagged a bit but was able to keep the liquid down. Her large light green eyes turned it's attention to the tom "Thank-you" she meowed feeling quite a lot better but she still knew she had a long recovery a head of her.

The feline jumped when she heard a dog barking from someones backyard. The little water had perked her up and set her back into alert mode. She looked around curiously not remember much about how she had gotten to this alleyway everything had seemed like such a blur before. She was once again terrified of going back out into the world alone again. She still didn't trust the tom but at least he seemed to know what he was doing has she continued to look at the tom suspiciously just waiting for him to do something bad like she expected.

[Shy]

        Conrad was glad that the she-cat seemed cautious and once again alert. It meant she had a chance to survive this.  Of course, it wouldn't be easy to recover, and he doubted she'd regain all her fur, but she had the slightest chance to survive now.  He didn't know how to help her beyond getting her food and water though.  In his short life, he'd never been burned and the injures he'd received hat been treated by humans.  Of course, he'd end up back with those vets soon after, but they'd kept him alive until his escape.

        How had she gotten injured like that?  He'd never seen anything like that.  Sure, he'd seen some cats covered in scars and one or two burns, but they'd all be kicking and ready to claw Conrad.  Conrad shook his head of those thoughts, he needed to focus on the task at hand.  She needed food to heal, and this was the worse place for it.  A rat might do, if she was stronger.  Honestly, he was pretty sure any rat meat would carry enough diseases to kill her in a manner of days.

        "My name's Conrad."  He meowed, trying not to sound worried. It wouldn't help anyone if he freaked out. "I just don't want to see a cat this bad."  It was the simplest explanation he could give her.  "I'm going to go get some food for you.  Just stay here and drink more water."

        He didn't wait to see if she listened, he doubted she'd get far.  Besides, if she didn't want his help, he couldn't force her to save herself.  The best he could do was help her heal by keeping her feed and hydrated.  In the alleyway though, that would be difficult.  He looped over to where he'd found the spicy meat, but there was none left.  The dumpsters were closer, they wouldn't offer him anything.

        As he searched, he came across the faint smell of food.  Conrad raced towards it, not caring where it came from.  Soon he found the source, a food stand on a corner.  His heart dropped, the human had it.  He doubted the human would give him any.  However, surely there were people who were going to buy that food.  Conrad raced over to a bench near the stand, and waited.

        A while later a family came by.  He doubted his plan a little, but he remembered that children tended to drop food, especially when there were distracted.  They also loved to try to grab cats.  If he could distract the child, they might drop the meat.  It was his only chance, the garbage trucks had already come through the alleyways by the time Conrad had found the she-cat.

        Finally the child had the food in their hands, and the family started walking towards Conrad.  He raced out and stopped in front of the child.  It was boy, barely big enough stand.  The child laughed at Conrad, but didn't drop his food.  His parents were looking at Conrad now, talking to each other.  The child lowered his hands, and Conrad lunged at the food.  Luckily the child dropped his food without a fight, and Conrad raced away, as fast as his short legs could take him.  He heard the boy's parents yelling, but it only made him faster.

        He finally arrived back to where the she-cat was.  Conrad felt a little guilty at stealing from a child, but he ignored it.  The family would get the boy more food.  This she-cat needed it now, and he'd had no other options.  He padded to the she-cat and dropped the meat in front of her. It was odd, there was bread covering the meat, which he knocked off after presenting it to her.

        "Eat."

Lennox

[Lennox]

River watched the tom take off into the dark alleyways the feeling on loneliness crept back into her mind. She was starting to hate being alone and for a moment she thought of running after the tom just to see what he was doing. That was when the thought suddenly struck her what if he just left her?

The she-cat tucked herself into a tight ball trying to keep warm if he had left her then this was really the end, this was wear she was going to die. She closed her eyes ready to let sleep take her away. The pain in her stomach from hungry was still nagging at her but she couldn't walk anymore at least the water had help ebb away the pain a bit.

Her large ears sprung up when she heard Conrad's voice again and relive flooded her. She didn't know how long she had been sleeping for it felt like a long time but she was sure it was only a few minutes. The meat he dropped her smelt delicious she had never smelt or seen something like it before. She reached out with her scarred paw cigarette burns trailing all the way up it. "What is this?" the she-cat asked her light green blinking innocently has she looked Conrad in the eyes. She wasn't going to be fuzzy though has she gingerly bent down and took a small bite. The warmth of the meat exploded in her mouth and she couldn't stop eating until every last bit was gone, she even manged to lick up the crumbs from the pavement and even then she still wanted more.

After making sure every morsel was gone the she-cat sat back on her boney haunches finally taking in every detail of the red colored tom. He was strange from the regular thin walking strays cats she seen walking the alleyways the one that had attacked her had been a large muscler tom with such viciousness. Conrad was different he wasn't bad looking just a little funnier looking with short stubby legs. She bit her lip "Your different from the other alley cats, they all wanted to hurt me." she continued to look the orange tom over just happy to have a full stomach for the first time in months.

[Shy]

        Conrad awkwardly licked his chest fur.  The she-cat was staring at him, her eyes and ears seemed so large compared to her tiny, frail body. He didn't know if it was from starvation or not.  Now that the fear and adrenaline had gone, he didn't know what to say or do. Especially when she mentioned other cats chasing her away. If she hadn't been starving he probably would have chased her away too. 

        He shifted on his paws and tried to thing of what to say.  Deep down he knew he shouldn't be so scared to talk to her, he'd saved her life after all.  The important thing was that he helped her, not that he wouldn't have if she wasn't so ill.  There was a difference between being cruel and being strong.  Helping this she-cat didn't make him weak, it made him strong and smart enough to know the difference between scaring off an enemy and condemning a cat to die.

        "Well, I'm not an alley cat for starters."  Conrad meowed, trying to sound casual and lighthearted.  "I'm just a stray, passing through.  Didn't want to see a cat starve to death, that's all."  It was the truth, he was stray passing through the area.  "Do you live in these alleys? They're a dangerous place for a cat, you know.  Not enough food or shelter for everyone."  He was trying to hint at the fact that she should probably leave. 

        "The forest might be a better place.  The only cats who survive here are willing to fight every day for a few scraps of meat."  Of course, Conrad sucked at being subtle, and the thought of her staying here, alone was terrifying.  She'd be dead in a few days.  While he never wanted a quest at his couch, he was weighing his options.  If she was merely a stray or rogue who got lost, he'd get her back to the forest.  If she was an alley cat, he'd have to think of something.  He couldn't leave her here, that was for certain.  No way he'd leave her to die in this rotten alley.

[Lennox]

River stayed silent listening to the tom. Her tail flicked as he hinted towards the fact that the alleyways was not a safe place, she was well aware of that. She wouldn't have chose the life for herself but there was no time to dwell on what she couldn't change.

The she-cat took a deep breath licking at the bald patches along her should "So if your not an alley cat then what are you?" In all honesty the she-cat knew very little about the cat politics being locked away all her life. She knew there was cats who got things that were called homes, she herself had never seen one or really knew what a home was. She also knew there was cats who did not have a home at all and traveled the streets like she does now.

She looked back at Conrad she had no plans of telling him anything about herself but it also didn't mean she couldn't stick around and find out as much as possible about these alleyways. She looked back up from grooming herself realizing she had only answered part of the tom's question and the last think she wanted to do was anger him. First and foremost she didn't have the energy or skills. " I don't live anywhere" she knew it didn't give him much but she couldn't exactly explain to him about her past like it was nothing.

[Shy]

        Well, there went Conrad's plans.  There was no where he could take her, and no way he could leave her. She didn't seem to know how to survive on her own. When she asked where he lived, Conrad ducked his head and groomed his chest fur. There was room for two at his couch, but that didn't mean he wanted a cat to share it with. Truth be told, he was certain if he took her in, he'd have to look after her until she was healed enough to learn how to hunt and fight. It would take months.

        "Oh, I have a nice little piece of land a ways from here." Conrad answered, he was proud of his couch, but he didn't want to make it sound perfect.  "Is there anywhere you'd be safer?  Do you know how to hunt or fight?" If she could survive on her own with a little assistance, that would help. He could find a nice square of forest nearby and help her out until she could survive on her own.  Or, if she was comfortable with humans, he knew of some boxes humans would leave food and water at. They might even take her to the vet. Of course, the vet might put her down, like they did to the cat who attacked Conrad as a kitten.

        However, looking at the she-cat, he figured it wouldn't be smart to ask.  Even from here Conrad could see the scars and burns on her.  It wasn't from a forest fire.  When he had been a housecat, he'd seen a few cats come in with similar burns and cuts.  Some had been to scared to talk, others had screamed about it.  It was the mark of a cruel human.  Some were less cruel, but he knew firsthand that even housecats weren't safe from the wrath of humans.  No, she clearly wasn't a housecat and if she trusted humans, she'd have gone to the before. 

Lennox

[Lennox]

The small she-cat was intrigued as Conrad started talking about his land she had never had land herself and the thought of another having something to call their own interested her. There were parts of her brain that wished she had somewhere to call her own but the other part was afraid to move forward with her life. River was strong-willed and minded, she had a goal, one to live for her parents and sister but she was also scared of what was next for her.

Her nose bunched when he asked if there was anywhere for her to be safe and she began to shift on her legs uncomfortably the thing River wanted to do was sound weak. "I-I" she stopped looked at the alleyway walls and licking her lips "I don't know." River did not know anywhere she could go to be safe the only place she had known was the bad building where the humans had hurt the one that had burned down.

River rose to her paws finally having enough of sitting around now that her tummy had a bit of food and she had quenched her thirst. She was still weak but at least she had enough strength to move, it didn't take much to boost the she-cat she was a small little creature. "Look if you have something better to do I won't be a bother to you anymore" River growled, she wasn't interested in being a burden to anyone.

[Shy]

        At the very least, she had some spunk.  Of course, it was annoying that she growled at Conrad, but she had spunk.  If she didn't, she'd be a lost cause.  No cat could survive if they didn't stand up for themselves.  Still, he wasn't glad she was being fussy after he saved her. "No, I don't have anything better to do."  Conrad replied, trying to keep his voice calm.  Getting angry wouldn't help in this case.

    Now he had to decide.  Should he take her in and nurse her back to health, or leave her to die in the alley.  There were a few places nearby his couch he knew about, but he wasn't sure if that would work.  Honestly, he figured to save her life, she'd need to rest and heal for months.  Plus, she needed to learn how to hunt on her own.

    Conrad could teach her, he was a decent hunter.  Plus his couch was big enough for two.  But it was his couch, he had worked hard to get this far.  He didn't want to share it, not really.  Yet he couldn't leave her here.  There was no way he was leaving her after he went through all the trouble of saving her life once. 

    Perhaps he didn't have to decide now.  It would take a while to get the injured she-cat anywhere near his couch.  During the journey he could decide.  Plus, he might be able to find somewhere for her to go along the way.  "Now, if you want to live, I'll take you away from here.  I'll teach you to hunt, to survive.  It won't be easy, but you'll die here."  He bluntly explained.  No need to sugar-coat the truth.  "Now, if you are coming, I'll need your name."

Lennox