Putih stood still at the edge of the beach, her paws rooted to the ground as she watched a boat go by. She could still see the brown tabby curled up on the back of the boat, his gaze onto the horizon where the sun was beaming onto the sky blue waves.
Putih watched the ship shrink with the sunset, and hesitantly turned around, her green eyes still on the paint-peeled off boat where her best friend had been lying on. Wet sand stuck onto her paws, she heavily walked down the beach.
Durian had been her closest friend on the Gili Island. He had loved his land, and yet he still longed for the tall buildings and the dashing cars somewhere beyond the ocean, far, far away from the beautiful island.
"Putih!" A voice echoed in her mind, breaking into her thoughts. Putih stumbled, and her brain snapped back into reality, and the gray clouds in her hazy eyes drifted away.
The brown tabby struggled for freedom in front of her, his claws unsheathed and holding onto the ground. His hind paws scrabbled on the ginger tabby's belly behind him.
"Help!" He breathed, as the ginger tabby tugged on his legs like his life depended on whether Durian would let go of his grip on the rock or not. Durian's expression twisted in pain as he grit his teeth with a low hiss.
Memories came back to Putih, and with a gasp of realization, Putih knew that the brown tabby in front of her was her best friend, the one she had sworn to defend all the time.
Putih instinctively dashed up to her best friend, pounced and locked her teeth in the ginger tabby's scruff, and dug her teeth in with her strength. The ginger tabby screamed in pain as blood welled up around Putih's teeth, coating her fangs scarlet red.
It slashed at Putih's hind legs, screeching with rage as blood dripped steadily from Putih's mouth to the ginger tabby's neck fur.
As the cat screamed, Putih gasped as she let go of the enemy, tugging Durian away to safety. "It's okay, Durian." She whispered as the brown tabby whimpered in shock, his eyes glazed with shock and tears.
She lapped on Durian's fur until the brown tabby shook his head wildly, sending drops of blood across the clearing, splattering onto the streets, but soon disappeared as the mud swallowed the droplets.
Durian leaped up onto his paws, blinking his eyes rapidly, frozen to the ground, but turning his head to the white cat. His eyes softened into gratefulness, and his amber eyes rounded in sympathy.
"What happened to you, Putih?" He murmured, circling around her. He nudged the dirt and the clumps of unidentified objects stuck in her fur with curiosity. She lashed her tail with annoyance, and held up the piece of meat she had left on the ground, now half-coated with the sprays of dust from her kicks.
"I'm okay. More important question: what happened to you?" Putih hissed, gazing at Durian's fur. His short fur was sleek and smoothed, and his belly seemed to be plumper than he used to be long ago.
"I found a great home!" Durian proudly smiled. Putih flicked her ears, cocking her head, confused.
"Jakarta is a great place. You know, tall buildings, like at least 50 times taller than one old market here! And I had an owner. You know, a nice person to take care of you?" Durian pawed the piece of meat that Putih had dropped on the ground yet again, brushing the dust off.
Putih swung her paws , clearing the gray powder in the air. "Oh yeah?" She mewed, jerking her head to the ground and coughing. "Then why'd you leave the city?" She held her paw up to her mouth, and started grooming it, smoothing the fluffed-up fur.
Durian opened his mouth to speak, but turned his amber eyes to the ground, and fiddled with his paws, his tail flicking left and right. "Ah, you see... well..." He murmured, and flattened his ears. Putih smirked, and put her paw down. "Come on, Durian! You can tell me."
Durian whispered: "Well, you see, my human disappeared..." Putih frowned, her right ear flicking impatiently from the brown tabby's slurred words.
In a trice, Duria's expression had turned desperate, and he stared into Putih's eyes, and abruptly whispered: "I need help."
Putih's eyes were blazing with alarm and confusion, and every hair on her pelt pricked up to its end. "What help?" She blurted out, her tail standing straight up behind her. Durian's yellow eyes was wide with thankfulness.
"You see, my human had two little humans, a bit bigger than me. They had these bouts of playing, well, to be specific, wrestling and hissing at each other in the grass." Durian winced, as if he was reminded of his past memories in the human house where the two humans would fight.
"They would roll on the ground, screech intensely, cling onto the trees and shake them as pawfuls of tiny fruits would shatter onto the ground with each grunt of the tiny humans."
Putih shuddered and flattened her ears as she thought of the palm trees and the banana trees disturbed with the screaming of the violent humans destroying the trees without mercy every day.
"One day, they grabbed my bed from under my paws and threw me off, and they started pounding my head with it. My brain still hurts from the pain..." Durian meowed, and drew her paws over her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
Putih sat in front of him, her pricked up fur now smoothed back. "So you escaped, and you need me to help you settle back in?" She murmured, playing with her claws and flicking them back and forth, waiting for Durian to blink up to her happily and meow 'yes'.
Durian's frown did not dissolve into a smile, and he promptly mewed: "No. I need to get back to them."
Putih's eyes widened into surprise. "After they used my bed to pound at me, I hissed at them and raised up my claws. I might have accidentally slashed them." Durian looked onto his paws, and Putih could almost feel the guilt that was pouring from his heart.
"I feel so bad... they kicked me out, and they said that they couldn't have such a kitty like me..." Durian's eyes welled up with tears. Putih's eyes softened, and though she loathed the idea of having a collar squeezing her neck, she sympathically groomed Durian's ears.
"But I'm a good kitty... it was a accident, and... I'm not a bad kitty... Right?" Durian whispered. In a trice, Putih had flown up to her paws, staring down on Durian.
"Come on, let's hear your plan."
YOU ARE READING
Stray Cats
Adventure"Beyond those waters, there's freedom. Nothing can hold you back. So why stay here?" The only land Putih had known was the island. The only land Hitam had known was the city. Stepping out of the familiar grounds was heartbreaking, but they had done...
