The Cats of the Solar System

Chapter 1

"Yo Sun! How's it going?" Betelgeuse's voice called out. Turning around, the Sun sighed heavily. He was hoping to leave the restaurant without being noticed by anyone. Now everyone was looking at him.

The life of a celebrity star cat was exhausting.

"It's going great I suppose," the Sun murmured. He still stood next to the door, ready to leave if trouble arose. With a star cat like Betelgeuse, anything could happen. And it usually was trouble. The red star cat was standing, looking the Sun dead in the eye. His younger brother Rigel was there too, sitting at the booth they were eating at. He was the one who didn't cause any trouble, only found himself in it when Betelgeuse leaves him to face the consequences.

Not today though.

"Son, sit down now before I come over there and make you," Orion ordered, getting up from his seat at the bar. His eyes widening to the size of saucers, Betelgeuse exclaimed, "Dad?! What are you doing here?!"

"Trying to enjoy dinner. What are you doing here trying to start trouble?" Orion growled. The constellation cat put himself between his son and the Sun. Turning towards the celebrity star cat, he murmured, "Go ahead and go. I'll take care of my son." Bowing his head, the Sun meowed gratefully, "Thank you." With that, he left the restaurant.

Padding silently along the sidewalk, the Sun could feel eyes staring at him. He was a star cat, and a celebrity star cat at that. Everywhere he went he gained attention. He was, after all, one of the biggest movie stars in the whole universe. It wasn't hard to see why he had so many fans. He just wished that he could have a little bit of privacy.

Stopping at the edge of the Asteroid Belt highway, the Sun glanced left and right. Asteroids whizzed past him. Watching them roll at blazing speed, the star cat shuddered at the thought of getting hit by one of them. He couldn't even imagine how painful that would be, let alone the serious trauma that would come afterwards.

Seeing how it was safe to cross now, the Sun trotted across the highway. He just made it to the other side safely when he heard a small whimper. The star cat, startled at first, looked around. That's when he saw her.

A tiny planet kitten laying on the side of the road, bleeding heavily from her head.