First her mom dies. Things only go downhill from there. Alongside raising her new siblings, Junco must navigate the now dangerous waters of life as a Wanderer. Death and feelings are the worst kind of problems.
Oriole was always very cheerful, and...
If I had a mouse for every time I buried someone I killed, I would have two mice. That's not a lot but it's interesting that it happened twice. The Wanderers were burying their leader again. This one had lasted just about a moon. Tough job apparently, I think I can handle it though. Static almost laughed but managed to disguise it as a cough.
Snapdragon, Llano, Estacado, Junco, and Blizzard were all digging. The remaining cats. Static was only half digging, putting in the effort whenever anyone looked at her.
Night was falling on the day of Oriole's demise. She had laid on a nest of flowers after they pried the trap off of her. That wasn't fun, it took a lot of work to get her out without mutilating her body. Even more than it already was.
Everyone had spent the day paying their respects and saying their final goodbyes. Junco had stayed with her body for the longest, not leaving her all day.
Estacado and Llano were there a lot too, Oriole had played a big part in raising them. She and Junco had probably loved them more than Amber ever loved me. Lucky mouse brains!
Blizzard had been there longer than she would have liked. She had nobody to talk to, and what did Oriole mean to him anyway? She knew she was being silly, but couldn't help the jealousy. Oriole had Junco, and she was going to have Blizzard. One day.
The hole was done and they pushed her in, flowers and all. Junco was crying as she muttered a few last words. Then they started pushing the dirt in again. This took far less time. After that, the Wanderers, except Junco who was lying by the grave, started to go to their nests.
"Tomorrow we must find a cat to watch as we vote on the next leader," Static called to them all. Where we all vote for me.
Nobody else wants it, and pesky Oriole is dead. She can't ruin it again. I've worked so hard. I got rid of the problems.
When I'm the leader, things will be better. No more soft kittypets, and I'll get rid of anyone who can't handle our life. I'll probably kick out Junco and maybe those kits. I say kick out, it might be more like... pick off.
We won't make any unnecessarily long journeys to visit ancient dead cats. I never understood that. What do they know? They died, they can't be too bright.
Every time we get somewhere new, the territory will need to be checked, ridded of any other cat in the area, through any means. Unless, I suppose, they wanted to join, and weren't weak.
I need to find some cat to replace Snapdragon, healers are important but she is old and feeble. This new cat will need to learn quickly, and learn to fight as well.
Combat training will need to be prioritized, so we can fend off the undesirables or claim new areas. I'll have to do away with the death ceremonies, a waste of time. They might become too common, on the path to a better future.
Better Wanderers.
Everything will be perfect.
Right?
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