Kitty Hero Chronicles

Chapter 5

As she made her way into town, Java was thinking about how she would adapt to life without ever allowing herself to purr again. It was the only option she could think of. Otherwise, she would end up driving away everyone she loved, screaming in pain as they held their ears and ran for their lives.

"Okay," she told herself. "It's not that bad. I didn't really purr a lot before all this happened anyway; it's not like I'm going to really miss it, right?" As Java was considering this, a noise of a different nature caught her attention. She perked her ears up and rotated them in all directions to determine if she could hear it again. When the noise came again, her ears instantly folded back in fear. What she had heard was the scream of another cat; from the cadence and pitch of it, she knew it to be a scream of terror.

At once, Java's instincts kicked in and she began to search the streets for a Dog Patrol officer. She didn't want to get involved. After all, she was only a business owner, not an officially trained patrol dog. Cats weren't enlisted on the force as officers, mainly because of their fragile build. Certain breeds of dogs were much more suited for that line of work: German shepherds, mastiffs, doberman pinschers, and Rottweilers, mostly.

Usually, there was a patrol dog stationed along the streets to help keep the peace on the ground. Java searched for one frantically until she spotted a tall German shepherd at his post on one corner of the town square.

She had to hurry. By the sound of the cry, who knew how much danger the victim was in...and how much more danger they would be in by the time she was able to get help? Looking at the current traffic of dogs blocking her way, there would be no way she could get to the German shepherd in time.

Java tried to find an opening, but bolting through a crowd of K9s wasn't exactly the best option; she herself would likely become a victim. Dogs were usually approachable on their own, but get into a pack of them on a scent trail and Java was liable to lose plenty of fur. Getting herself into a world of hurt wouldn't serve to help either herself or the victim who's cries continued ringing in her ears. Then it came to her.

"The catwalk!" Java said, amazed she hadn't thought of it before.

The catwalk could be accessed via the entrances stationed nearby most shopping venues. The town committee had designed it that way because cats were prone to pampering themselves, so it made the most sense to construct catwalk access points next to market places. Luckily for Java, just a block down from where she stood was the Feline Outlet Mall.

She raced to the entrance, placed her paw on the identification scanner (which could instantly tell if the owner of the paw was feline or otherwise and would thereby admit or deny access), and at once the display read "Access Granted" as the wireframe gate swung open.

Java ran across the catwalk as fast as she could, weaving and bobbing around other cats as she made her way directly over to where the German shepherd stood. She was accustomed to the catwalk, more so than many who simply used it for day to day commuting. Sometimes she wandered its open corridors in her spare time, looking for all the possible shortcuts and intersections just for fun. As she arrived at the German shepherd's post, she was grateful all those excursions had actually paid off.

"Excuse me, down there," Java yelled, her heart now pounding from the journey along the catwalk as well as panic for the unknown victim. "Hello? Officer, can you hear me?" Apparently not, she thought. And why should she expect him to? With all the noise from the traffic below, and the breeze that she suddenly realized was slightly blowing, it was no wonder he hadn't responded.

Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of a solution. It wasn't long before she rested on the only one she could manage. She would have to use her purr. She nearly resisted the thought, but realizing someone's life may be at stake, she was willing to take the risk, even if it exposed her for who she truly was. But she couldn't just open up and start purring as she had before. A blast like that could topple the entire catwalk, not to mention any surrounding buildings. She had to focus it somehow, direct it to a known target; in this case, the German shepherd standing sentry below.