Feles

The largest kitten was the first to open his eyes, and a week after that the other four followed suit. The large tom and Mischa weren't worried at all, as most long haired kittens took a lot longer to gain their senses. The only odd thing was that the large kitten was the only short haired one. Of course Mischa was short haired as well, but she expected at least one more to retain her genes. But either way, she loved them all equally.

The two proud parents decided to name the runt, Rain, as it had rained soon after her birth. They named the second she-kitten, Flip, because she was always rolling over onto her side rapidly. The first born girl was named, Sasha, after Mischa's late sister who used to live with them but had her life taken by a human's unknown. The first tom was named, Storm after his father, but they would simply call him Stormy, so no one got confused.

And as for the last kitten, and the biggest, they named him, Sky because of his bright blue eyes.

The next few days were full of questions and wrestling in the box. Sasha proved to be just as cunning as her namesake, because she always got her siblings to do what she wanted. Well all of them except for Rain, who always stayed close to her mother and picked up on how her mother dealt with her manipulative sibling.

Storm had been on edge since the start of the day, because today was the most important day of their kitten's lives. Today was the day that they had to find a move to their new home. Storm had gone out two days ago, to look for a proper home for their kittens to grow up in and had found it almost immediately. There were trees, a small pond filled with fish, and no dogs! The only thing that unnerved him was the fact that a human often frequented the area. Granted, the human seemed to be quite old and she used a tree branch to walk, but who was to say that she wouldn't call a younger and stronger human to capture them?

Storm had discussed the topic with Mischa, but she had told him to dismiss his worries. Not all humans turned out to be bad, and the old females were especially nice.

So near the end of the day when it was beginning to get dark, and their kittens were beginning to get rowdier and restless, Storm and Mischa gathered them up and herded them down the alley. At some point they would have to take to the street, when the alley ended, but the parents wanted to wait until little to no humans were around.

Storm peeked around the corner of the alley and hissed when he saw a human and its dog, nearby. Before he could duck back into the alley, the dog turned and locked eyes with him. Storm arched his back and hissed as the dog strayed closer to inspect him.

The dog leaned forward to sniff the large grey cat, and Storm swiped the air with his clawed paw. The dog whined softly and retreated back to its owner.

Storm returned to his mate and kittens and together the two parents ushered them forward, until they were standing a few feet away from the dog and human. The dog stared longingly at them, but made no move to come forward.

The group of seven reached the field safely, but to their dismay two cats were already there. Storm yowled in outrage, as he had marked the territory as his just the other day! The two cats, both toms trotted towards them cautiously, sniffing the air near the group but not coming too close. The kittens mewled in fear as they struggled to be hide behind their parents. After awhile the two toms turned and walked off to sit by the pond, their eyes still on the large group.

Storm considered leaving to find another home, but the kittens were too tired so Mischa carried them one by one into the hollow of a tree. Storm stood guard at the bottom, but the two toms didn't seem to be interested anymore, in fact they didn't seem to want to run them out! And it was then that Storm noticed, that he could not smell any territory markings. Everything smelt the same as it had when he first discovered the area.

Day came and the two parents were preparing to leave when one of the toms from before, approached them slowly. Storm arched his back and Mischa released a low growl, but then the tom dropped something in front of them.

It was a piece of fish, and it was still moving. The tom stepped back and sat a little ways away, as the two parents inspected the kill. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it, so Mischa called the kittens to come eat. This would be their very first fish and it was alive as well!

Later on the tom introduced himself as Benni and that he often frequented the field as it was home to any cat who didn't have one already. He confirmed that even after the territory was marked, the next day it held no scent, but that was because the old human wanted to keep it smelling fresh and welcoming.

When asked how he knew so much about the human, by the kittens he told them that he used to be the humans pet, but the human got too old to take care of him.

Storm decided that he liked this cat and the kittens seemed to as well. Mischa still seemed unsure of him as he was an un-mated male cat and that he smelled a bit off, but Storm reassured her that if Benni decided to attack, then he would protect her and the kittens.