Feathers

Prologue

Feathers looked out of the window. It was raining outside, and he smiled as he watched the rain come down in sheets. He looked up at his human owner and they smiled at him and patted his head. The two-week-old kitten jumped up to sit on the window sill, and he continued to watch it rain for about an hour. Eventually, his ears angled backwards to hear noises coming from a room.

"This cat costs way too much money! I'm sorry, we have a kid too and we also have a house. We can not afford to keep it," a man said with force in his voice.

Feathers's owner turned to the man. "But he's only a few weeks old! We can't just throw him outside! He'll die, and our son will be heartbroken!"

The man shook his head slowly, "We will lose our house, we can't afford to keep the kitten. Ever since you lost your job things have become harder and harder to afford," he then shook his head another time after thinking for a few moments. "We must."

About a week later the kitten was thrown outside and they locked the door on him. "What did I do wrong?" He asked at the closed door with fear in his voice. He looked around him and shivered in fear.

He turned to hear something rustling in the bushes behind him. "He's so small," something whispered from the bushes in the garden. More whispers erupted from the other plants all around Feathers.

The gray-blue striped tabby walked to the bush slowly and silently, still scared. "Hello?" He asked, his voice shaking. He had never met any other cats and didn't know that some could be dangerous. Outside on the streets of California, he had no idea about the evil street cats that would eat small defenseless cats alive.

"Hello, small kitten. I've never seen you before..." A silverish-gray molly trailed off in thought as she looked at Feathers. The cat looked to only be about four months old. Two black toms emerged from the bushes, talking to each other like songbirds.

"I've never seen any other cat before. My owners just threw me outside and I don't think they'll ever let me back in..." Feathers explained while looking at the ground.

"That sounds bad," one of the black cats said. He had green eyes, unlike the other black cat. "You know what though? We'll keep you safe, young kitten. Outside here on the streets, you'd be dead if you weren't in a group or something. Silver started this group we're in. Me and my younger brother, Tetra, joined her when she started it. The key is to stay in high numbers... er, or not just to walk around alone... so the bad and evil cats won't dare challenge you... What's your name anyway?" The black cat asked.

"Feathers." The small bluish-gray tabby mumbled, meeting the gaze of the black cat's green eyes. His own eyes were wide as he thought about what he had said. *But I'll be safe if I stay with them,* Feathers thought with a small sigh of relief.

"Cool. My name is Starling, the other black cat as I said is my brother, Tetra, and as you may have put together what I was saying the gray molly is Silver," Starling smiled again and licked Feathers's head. "Come on, you're probably hungry and tired. I'll show you where we live. Tetra, Silver, can you go catch some food?" He asked and the other cats from the group nodded and disappeared off into the shadows...

Eventually Starling arrived at a building. He led Feathers around it and up onto the roof where there was a big sheet of metal and under it was an old blanket and some old cloths soaked with water. "Welcome to our... humble home. We don't need too much to survive, however, because it's been getting more dangerous, we've been finding cats to get to join us for a few nights, then we have more cats near us and then we both benefit," He explained with a smile as he slid under the sheet of metal and sat down.

Feathers laid down next to Starling. His big eyes closed he started to fall asleep and curled up near the other cat. He was exhausted because he had walked a long way to get where they put their shelter. He didn't have any food which he wasn't used to. He shivered and Starling licked him, purring.

"We're back," Tetra said as he and Silver sat down in the shelter with birds in their jaws. Tetra dropped his and rolled onto his back with a yawn, "Those stupid pigeons took us forever to catch..."

"Tetra's right for once. It's like the birds have been getting smarter," Silver agreed as Feathers started to wake up.

"Well, dig in," Starling purred with a smile to Feathers. He moved his long black tail near the bird and swished it, "we promise, it's definitely safe to eat."

Feathers yawned as he walked over to the pigeon. He sniffed it slowly and looked at it before biting off a small bit of it. It tasted way more flavorful than the milk or cat food that he was used to. He swallowed the chunk of bird in his mouth before biting off a little bit more and purring.

"You like it?" Tetra asked, still stretched on his back with his eyes closed, "It's probably better than anything you've ever been fed. I mean, I don't mind human food, but these pigeons taste better," the black cat continued.

"Oh, I love it. Thank you so much Tetra and Silver," Feathers chirped while still purring. He kept taking bites out of the bird until about a third of it was gone. He had started to feel quite full. He closed his eyes again and curled back up, "Goodnight..." he mumbled before drifting off.

"What have we here? Another group of helpless little cats?" Asked a voice from the shadows of the night. Feathers's eyes fluttered open and he squinted, trying to see where the voice had come from.

"Hello? Who's there? Who are you?" He asked, his voice shaking as he stood up and slid out into the open. Outside the shelter of the metal, he saw three cats in the moonlight. Two of them were white and the one that had been speaking was a dark brown tabby. Feathers gulped but he stood up straight.

"Ah, a young adventurous kitten. I, Lightning, know that Hurricane, Monsoon, and I are starving. You're the perfect eating size," He said as the other cats laughed. Lightning started to laugh as well.

"You can't get me. I'm protected by Starling, Tetra, and Silver," The blue-gray tabby responded boldly. His blue eyes shone in the darkness of the night as they narrowed in determination.

"Haha. Nice try little kit, but we got them. They'll be working for us now, and just to make sure that they'll go with us we'll use you as an example of what happens to cats that don't go as new recruits to our army peacefully," One of the white cats explained with a smile.

Three other cats emerged from the shadows, each of them holding another cat. Tetra was struggling against the cat's grip. Silver looked like she was exhausted and she didn't move a paw, and Starling was... He was winning a battle with another of the cats.

"Don't lay a paw on that kitten, Lightning. He has never bothered you!" Starling exclaimed, still fighting with the other cat until he knocked them out. "Leave. Feathers. Alone." He growled.

"We'll show you what you get for hurting one of our cats. Watch this Feathers cat die!" Lightning exclaimed with a smile and a purr as he jumped onto the large piece of sheet metal to watch the two white cats rip apart the tabby kitten.

Monsoon and Hurricane advanced, and they went for Feather's neck. He was sure that his end was near as his life flashed before his eyes, no wait, it was black! Starling jumped in front of him and saved his life. His new best friend sacrificed himself to save him.

"STARLING!" Tetra and Feathers both yelled as the black cat started to bleed out.

He opened his mouth a final time with a smile and a sparkling look in his eyes to say, "You'll do great things, Feathers. I don't want to die in vain, promise me... Promise me you'll save other cats as I did for you." His green eyes closed peacefully.

"I will. I promise, Starling," Feathers said looking up at the night sky, his wide eyes wet with tears. "I will."

And with that, he, Silver, and Tetra made a run for it.