The Rouge Within
Description:
Maple is a pretty calico that lives "The easy life." Looking for a change in life, she moves away from her home and travels to a small town. She wants to find her handsome crush, Flint, in one of the alleys and figures out that looks can be deceiving. Now she is in her dream alley, and her only friend is a former house pet named Sammy. How could things turn into turmoil so quickly?
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Chapter One
Hmph, looks like that stupid house pet ran away. A calico she cat thought, Finally there can be peace around here without them yowling to their human for food.
This calico cat is Maple, she is a stray who scavenges food from trash cans, she has a pretty easy life in the alley.
I wonder what food they have in those bins today... She smacked her lips, I could go with a few pieces of pork or chicken... or... hm, even a steak would be delicious.
She jumped off of the fence she was laying on and tipped over the trash can and saw the scraps tumble out, Let's see, there's some... whatever that is, it smells like food but... it isn't food I would eat! Its all green and has a top like the leaves on a tree, what weird things humans eat! Hm, there's some... oh! There's my favorite, humans call them... burgers!
Maple dragged out the circular meat, "Humans are crazy for throwing out such good food!" She mumbled to herself and took a bite of the greasy food.
Maple licked her lips and bit the last scrap of burger, That was delicious! Usually when there's one piece of that food there's more in there... Maple looked in the trash can a found two other burgers, the burgers were stained with two different weird toppings of some sort. One was red, it sort of looked like blood, but it was really thick, and it wasn't warm like how real blood was, it smelled like something familiar that the humans grew in their gardens. The other had a juice that was thin and greenish, it had a vinegary smell and it tasted great!
She happily ate the two burgers and laid down, licking her pelt, That was a satisfying dinner, She thought happily.
The door of the human house flew open and a female human screeched at her, she was swatting her hands at Maple.
Maple meowed sarcastically to the female human while backing up, "What? Is it because I tipped over your bin? Sorry, I didn't see a sign on it that said, DO NOT TIP OVER!"
The human grabbed a large stick with a prickly bundle of hair looking tuft on the bottom, the human pushed her away and Maple ran to the fence and jumped on top of it, "I'll be back tomorrow!" Maple called. Stupid humans, if its trash to you, then why don't you let me eat it? I'm practically helping the planet and saving the world from being filled with trash! Maple jumped off the white fence and into her alley between one human house and another it was also filled with giant trash bins.
Maple shook her pelt and laid in her bed, which was a pile of old dirty human shirts and pants. She thought of something she never thought before, What would it be like with a mate a kittens? She shook her head, Your a stray! Remember? You're supposed to be alone, that's how you lived your whole life, aren't you committed?
Maple pushed her body deeper into her bed, the dark alley was filled with the smell of rotten human food.
I need to move out of here, She thought, Besides, it gets boring these days.
Maple saw the sun rising high in the sky, I remember one of the traveling strays saying that living in a town is the place to be, there's a lot of food in trash bins, and the only danger is cars and cat catchers, maybe a few humans who try to grab you. Maple thought of living in the town nearby, Maybe I'll find that cat. Maple tried to think of his name, Flint! Thats his name! Maple pictured the handsome gray tom with his greenish eyes sparkling at her when she arrived at the town.
Maple got up, I should start traveling to the town now, She concluded.
She walked out of the dark alley and walked past the house she went to for food, the female and the male human were still cleaning up the mess, Maple snorted in amusement.
Maple saw the small town with flashing lights ahead, she quickened her pace. She walked up a hill on the sidewalk and realized the town was farther away than she thought.
Maple huffed and kept on walking on the sidewalk, she saw the peaks of towers of some sort in the distance, she made an effort and ran as fast as she could. Pain shocked through her body and she tripped, Maple cringed at the pain. She looked at her paw and saw a clear piece of glass sticking out of her paw.
What do I do?! She thought frantically, This can become infected very easily! She felt the blood drip and rush down her paw.
She heard paw steps coming toward her, "Do you need help?" The voice asked.
"Y-No! I don't need help from a stranger!" Maple hissed and turned to the stranger. Maple looked at the cat, Its the house pet that left that human home! "Is that you, Sammy?"
Sammy fluffed out his brown pelt, "Maybe." He said in a joking voice, he meowed more serious, "Let's fix up that paw of yours."
Maple wanted to protest, but felt the wave of pain disappear from her paw.
Sammy meowed, "Now lick it."
"Lick it?" Maple scoffed, "Alright." She licked her pad and got up, "So what are you doing here? Aren't you gonna go home and cry to your humans for food?" She meowed.
"I sure miss my house folk, but they will probably get a new cat soon. So, I really wanted a new life in the town. I'm going to be a clinician!"
"Clinician?" Maple spat, "I thought only females could be a clinician... besides, your probably not smart enough to do it."
"But you're wrong! Anyone can be a clinician, even you, and I already know how to cure coughs and hurt pads like what you just had."
"Hmph, congratulations!" Maple meowed, "You just formed a new type of stupidity of cat kind. A kind of stupidity that can destroy the world!"
Sammy meowed, "Don't worry, at least I'll know something you don't!"
Maple hissed, "Have you seen a gray tom with greenish eyes around here?"
"Yes, I saw him pass by earlier today, if we run quick enough, we'll catch up to him." Sammy meowed, the wind brushed his fur.
"We?!" Maple asked, then thought for a second, "You know what, fine. You can come with." She walked on the sidewalk and hissed over her shoulder, "Just don't get in the way!"
Sammy licked his brown fur and meowed, "Okay then." He padded up to her.
Maple grunted, "Why did you leave your 'house folk'?"
Sammy meowed, "I already told you. I wanted a different life, I want to be a clinician!"
Maple snorted, "There's something you're not telling me.~"
Sammy snorted, "Well, your not my mate or mother, so why would you care?"
Maple stiffened, Mate? She felt a tingling feeling inside her. She pushed the thought away.
Sammy looked uneasy at Maple.
Maple whipped around, "Why would I EVER want to be mates with a fleabag like you?"
Sammy meowed calmly then she thought he would sound, "Let's keep going, that gray cat you were talking about is still ahead."
Maple shook her long pelt and walked ahead, she thought to herself, Why did I feel that feeling when he said 'mate'? It's the same feeling when I think of Flint... maybe it's just the way she cats feel toward toms.
Maple walked on the hard cement, "Hey, 'clinician'? You help people right? Then get me some wet moss."
"What for?" Sammy asked.
Maple smirked, "Wow, I thought clinicians knew all about cures and stuff like that."
"Well, I'm new to this..."
"I never even did any clinical studies. So looks like I have more potential than you."
Sammy meowed, "Fine, I'll get your stupid moss." He walked down the slope to the right.
Maple snorted as Sammy came back with the wet moss, "Huh, lemme guess, in order to get revenge of me, you too that from a poisoned river."
"No! No! I actually took it from a fresh water source, there was a hose next to a human house. I tried to turn it on and there we go. Besides, I would never try to kill any of my patients!"
Maple sniffed, "Okay..." She took the moss and squeezed the water onto her paw pads. The pain soothed and cleaned off the dry and crusty blood. She looked at Sammy, "Be right back. I'm going to get that dandelion over there."
Sammy looked at Maple, "Great way for soothing the pain with the moss, but- dandelions are just useless weeds!"
Maple ignored him and walked down the slop and grabbed the yellow flower-looking weed. She brought it back up to the sidewalk and ripped off the leaves, "What are you doing?" Sammy twitched his tail in irritation.
Maple meowed, "Using herbs, what do you think? I am a stray. I know how to take care of myself." She lapped up the leaves and meowed, "It's a pain killing herb, I'm using it because I don't see any dock around here."
Sammy meowed politely, "I think you'd make a good clinician."
Maple licked her chest fur in embarrassment, "Hah, maybe..." The thought of her helping cats didn't give her a bad feeling, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to be one.
Sammy meowed in interest, "What is dock used for?"
"They are very useful, they can be used for scratches, sore pads, it can also be placed in a cat's bed to ease their wounds." Maple meowed casually.
Sammy nodded, "Interesting..."
Maple chewed the rest of the leaves and licked her lips, "Not the most delicious thing I've ate, but, anything for my stupid pads." She half-joked.
Sammy meowed, "Perhaps, do you know more about herbs that you can tell me?"
Maple snorted, "You just want all the information to yourself don't cha?"
"No... well, maybe a little bit." Sammy confessed, "I just want to be a good clinician."
Maple mewed, "It's fine, believe me, everyone does it. Okay, so, here's what I know." As they walked she talked about herbs, "Alder bark... I believe that is used for tooth aches... honey... is very hard to get but it is used for various things, like... soothing infections, smoke damaged or sore throats, it can also help cats swallow herbal mixtures."
Sammy nodded as he was trying to remember what the herbs were used for, and what formulas he could make with them.
"Juniper berries help with stomach aches, give strength... helps cats with troubles of breathing... I also believe they can calm cats down," she saw the sun starting to set.
"Where did the time go?" Sammy wondered out loud.
Maple looked around for shelter, she couldn't find a place to sleep, "We must keep walking, there's no place for shelter here."
Sammy nodded and they kept walking.
Maple looked everywhere and the only comfortable places were in pet yards, Maple shuddered as she thought of getting captured in a human house.
