In the pine-scented morning, heavy with the sound of birds swooping overhead, bugs singing down below, and all other manner of forest creatures scurrying about, the young life of a kittypet was about to take a cliche turn. It's a beginning we've all heard before.
Feeling trapped in his overly protective life, although certainly one to be envied with towering, fur-less creatures attending to his every need, the tom cat felt the forest calling out to him. During the waking hours as well as his tormented dreams. So it was only natural that after moons of wondering on his side of the fence, he might be curious about life on the other side. To bring into reality the tall tales the other house cats often shared.
Did the strays really eat their young? Did they live in groups with numbers enough to swarm a pack of dogs? Twolegs? They hunted their own food and made their beds beneath hollowed trees and within old fox dens.
To a cat whose view of the world came from behind a fence, it was the most exciting thing he'd ever heard. And with each telling the urge to venture past the safety of his home grew, until the need burned his skin like some incurable itch and set his fur on end. He was burning now.
Against the aged, slender planks an alabaster figure wobbled unsteadily. Attempting to keep his balance as he peered out into the trees, his rust colored eyes a striking contrast against the white of his face. The lines of his body were strained with the combined effort to see, hear, and smell everything beyond but also to keep himself on his perch. So intent on his practice that birds sliced through the air above his ears. Playing in the branches that curled just out of his reach, offering a piece of the forest with its taunting shade.
In the back of his mind he knew they wouldn't be there for long. His nofurs did not enjoy the shade the trees cast over their yard, blocking the sun from the various plants that littered his garden. For as far as he could see, in both directions along his nest, he had noted that the nofurs all seemed to enjoy putting new plants into the ground. Raising and tending to them with more love and care then any child or pet was given. And while he'd never seen his nofurs eating the plants, he could only assume that was why they grew them. Why else would they be useful? Or need so much?
His own garden resembled, what he could only imagine, the underbrush in the woods looked like. Leafy green plants spread wide, reaching out to the stone path they'd laid, with colorful, fluffy petals poking out from between them. They had even dug their own stream and pond, although neither side seemed to go anywhere. Thinking of his garden was likely why he even noticed the rustling sound behind him. His ears swiveling around to catch the sound when the noise became violent. The wooden planks shook, the sound of claws ripped upward with furious speed.
Alarmed and already off balance the kittypet spun around to confront the intruder, claws scrambling to keep himself upright even as his rear legs slipped from the thin perch. Front claws digging ruthlessly in place as the kit attempted to pull himself up, forgetting the shaking and the sounds until another face appeared before his. The glint of teeth and claws caused him to flinch, spit and release his hold.
With a shrill screech he twisted in the air, landing outside his garden with a thud. Painful aftershocks froze him in place, eyes watering as he took a cautious step forward. Peering slowly up at - Rusty!
"Don't look so shocked, Red."
He hadn't realized his mouth had gaped open until that moment, promptly snapping his jaw closed. Now that his fear that a stray was about to have him for lunch was ebbing, the kit felt a sting of annoyance. He'd never made it a secret that he didn't enjoy the older cats company. Rusty, who lived next door, was loud, obnoxious, and to damn crusty for his own good. He was a cat to set in his way and to full of himself to know when he was wrong or when to shut his maw. And the old timer seemed to have a grand old time poking fun at Red.
"You reacted just as I thought you would," the elder rasped with distaste. "And if you react like that with me there isn't anyway you'd last a minute in those woods."
Behind him his tail rose in haughty defiance. Long, bushy and blue, marked with bright cream stripes. The kitten drew his lips back into a sneer. "I could have taken you, old timer. I just didn't know you were there!" His defense sounded lame, even to his own ears, and the cool glint in Rusty's eyes let him know that he thought so too. He felt another burst of anger and spun around, his heartbeat escalating as his anger was quickly followed by fear.
He was outside of his garden. So close to the woods he could literally taste the different, tempting scents that drifted on the summers sizzling breeze. The blue-eared tom didn't want to think that maybe Rusty's taunting was true, he knew deep down he wasn't a coward. And even if he was, surely the strays in the forest could help him grow out of that! He was only five moons, there was plenty enough time for him to change, to improve. He hoped.
"You're all but shaking in your fur, young one. Come back up here," he elder meowed mockingly, his bushy brown tail waving lazily behind him. All Red could think about was pushing him off that fence. But instead of scaling back up to home as he knew he should, he replied scathingly, "Get the bees out of your butt, old timer, and leave me alone."
Rusty's reply was lost on him when he started forward. His steps were short and uncertain as he approached the tree-line, his breath labored as he searched the shadowed world with his dark gaze. There wasn't anycat he could see or smell. But then he wasn't at all certain he would hear or smell someone when his was so nervous inside it was tying him up in knots. Shouldering his way into the brush, feeling the world he knew fall behind, Red was greeted with the stretch of forest he'd never been able to see past the glare of the sun and shadow of the tree-line.
The kits breath evened and the anxiety he'd felt melted away like ice, bringing him a sense of giddy relief and happiness. And his first thought was, 'this isn't anything like my garden'.