Feathers

Chapter 12

It was night time as Talons reached the land outside of the city. She had found a beach where the ocean waves came in up onto the shore and then went back out to the ocean again. It was the most peaceful place that she had been to since she and her sister and mother had been captured by their own father. *My own father took his family hostage and treated us like worthless rats, and then everyone talks like we're getting special privileges.* She thought to herself with a tinge of sadness. She knew that she would never do that to her future family if she was lucky enough to have one.

"What a disappointment of a father." She whispered silently to herself, growling a bit. When she thought of what a father was, she would think of him as a kind cat who cared about all life and helped other struggling felines. She would've never thought that her father would be some ruthless cat who hated everyone and everything and just wanted power more than anything else.

"He doesn't want love, he doesn't want friends, all he wants is power to take over the streets of California. And why does he need to do that though? What is he going to do with a bunch of scrawny, fleabitten, tired cats?" She asked herself out loud not expecting an answer, she didn't get an answer anyway. She sighed and then decided to get up and walk along the shore and see if she found anything good to eat.

As she walked down the shore she felt the water splash upon her paws which were covered in cuts and matted fur. Underneath her paws she also felt the smooth sand that grinded away any dead skin that was on the pads of her hard paws. *I could've had this during my entire life. I could've had this peaceful sea and this calm clear space. Not a home full of tall buildings that smelled of decaying things and streets where cars killed cats every day. But no, I had to live there for over three years and suffer.*

A delicious smell then wafted up to her nose and in front of her she saw a shape that had silver scales along it that reflected the moonlight and the starlight. She decided to go closer and investigate the weird thing further, her nostrils flaring at the attracting aroma.

When she got to where the thing washed up on shore she could sense that it was dying. She was starving but she didn't think that it would be right to kill the helpless creature. Any time she thought of killing anything other than pigeons, she just felt more like her father so she tried to avoid doing so. Instead she gently put her jaws around the slippery shape and carried it down further to the water before dropping it in the waves and watching it swim away. Talons was glad the thing liked water. She then sat down on the wet sands and sighed happily as the waves just touched the tips of her outstretched paws and then lying there she fell asleep soundlessly and calmly. With the ocean waves making a peaceful sound in the background she was able to get a full night of calm sleep for the first time since she and her family had been plucked from their home.

Talons woke up still lying down on the shore and she opened her eyes and looked around. Not another single soul was at the beach where she was and it was a relief. She decided to herself that she could stay at the beach for a while longer before continuing her journey away from the city to find a calm place where she could live carefree, because at a beach she didn't sense a lot of prey which would be a problem. She realized that her pelt was soaked so she shook off the ocean water and then began walking down the shore and looking for food. Her pelt kind of fluffed out but Talons really didn't give a pigeon foot about it. On her way down the shore she saw a small lump of weird ocean plants.

*What is this?* She thought to herself before sniffing the lump and sneezing. It smelled weird and salty but it kind of looked like it could be edible. *It's worth a try.* Talons decided to herself.

The cat ate the seaweed and it didn't taste too bad because it was dried out for the most part, it probably would've been worse if it was still wet. But even then, Talons didn't even have enough paws to count all of the gross things she had actually put in her mouth since she got dragged to the streets. salons then continued padding along the shore for the rest of the day and into the beginning of night. As the sun set, the brown molly got to her paws and then continued to walk the direction opposite of the city. She had laid down and fallen asleep again in the sun around noon. As she walked she wondered to herself how Cloudy and Misty were doing, then she thought to herself, *Why does it matter to me, they don't care about me. I don't care about them. Cloudy won't let me be independent and fight my own battles and my mother lied to me, and my father... I don't even want to accept him as my father. It would be better to not have a father than have a cat like him for a father.* She thought to herself with a small sad sigh. Even though she'd only just left the city she was already lonely. "It'll get better." She told herself, shaking her head as she walked to a forest that she saw in the very far distance.

"It's better than the city already." She said to herself as a breeze whipped the long fur around her face.

*But is it really true? Is this any better than what was in the city? Sure I have freedom but now I'm by myself and it's pretty lonely.*

She let out another sigh before continuing her journey until she encountered another cat who looked like he was looking for something, "Are you good? Do you need to find something?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Have you seen a large group of cats led by a white cat? In the group of cats there would've also been a small blue-gray cat, a silver molly, and a black cat." He explained quickly.

"N-no." Talons replied, tilting her head to the side. She was then kind of interested in the group of cats the male cat was talking about. "Tell me more." She demanded.

The cat nodded his head and sat down before he began speaking about the group of cats, "Long story short these cats are a huge gang- is that the right term? -Going to the city to bring peace to all of the cats. I was offered the chance to go with them but then I rejected it because my mate was carrying kittens. Shortly after though she sent me off and told me that she wanted to go to the city and raise her kittens on the calm streets there so she could also take them to the ocean every day, and then maybe we'd be able to get some different food. I'm wondering where they went because I still want to join them and assist them in bringing peace back to the streets of California, because I'll benefit from it too and it only feels right to help. Do you want to come with me and help them?" He asked after explaining everything.

Talons nodded quickly, "Yes, sure please. I used to live in the city until just a bit ago, like 2 days ago. I left and then came to find peace but now that I know about this I want to come join you and help you on your journey, for revenge of course.. Where did you see them last?" She asked the silver tabby.

"Umm, I'll show you the way." He replied, flicking his tail and walking down south to where his home previously was. "By the way, my name is Moon." He added, his tone friendly and inviting, leaving no room for hostility.

Talons smiled as she followed him down where he was going to a forest. *This is going to be great. I'm going to help save my sister and my mother and get the life that me and the other city cats deserve. And then I'll be the honored one of the family.* She thought to herself smugly. "My name is Talons." She told him with a small smile and a soft purr as they walked. "So, have you ever been to the ocean?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Nope, never. My mate has though and she claims that it's very beautiful especially as the sun sets. She describes it as paradise. She tells me that there at that place there is a nice salty breeze that cools you off on a hot summer's day...You might have already said so, but have you been there before?" He asked her.

The brown molly nodded, "Yes. It's everything that she must have described to you and more. There's warm sands close to there as well and if you go to the right beach there's also no people, no cars, not anything other than yourself and the sea. There's also slimy, sleek, ocean rats with no legs." She added casually.

"A fish?" Moon asked as his tail swished back and forth very quickly and he stopped walking to sit down and lick his whiskers. "I love fish, they're absolutely delicious. Did you eat any of them or were they too fast?" He asked.

Talons hesitated before saying, "I did see a fish but I decided not to kill it and instead I picked it up off of the sands where it was suffering and placed it back in the ocean... That's the right thing to do, yes?" She suddenly asked. *Should I have eaten it?* She thought.

"I mean, I guess you can do that.. But it's not a normal instinct for a cat, although I guess you've been in the city for your whole life... You're in for a ride."