Cats of Amari - Version 2

Chapter One

Author's note: I think the pov is omniscient? Because it's a mess with who is narrating haha

Beginning date: December 2018

Jess sat watching the sunset on the horizon. She sighed, breath billowing into the air. The cold stone underneath her seeped with a chill that flowed through her flanks. Her ear flicked to acknowledge Peter as he slipped out from the housefolk's house. "Jess, come on inside." He mewed with a slightly concerned gleam in his eyes that Jess caught with a glance but didn't pay attention to. Instead she looked back to the quickly setting sun, now scarlet streaks in the sky. Peter's skinny frame appeared beside her when she didn't respond. He seemed to immediately understand what was bothering her. Her old kithood friend knew her better than she knew herself. "Look, you know our littermates both were fixed, so we're the only left to... well..." Peter looked away, tail flicking.
"But I don't want to have your kits!" Jess burst, leaping to her paws and baring her teeth in a snarl with a lash of her tail. Peter looked a mixture of surprised and confused for a moment, then his eyes darted to the ground.
"I see," He didn't seem disappointed, as if he had expected this outcome, but rather hurt by how Jess had expressed it. Jess flinched a little.
"Peter, it's not like that, and you know it!" She hissed, stepping closer. "I just don't want to bare kits. I'm--just... I'm not fit for a life like that. I love fighting and..." She sighed in exasperation. "I just don't really want that kind of life." She looked towards the forest that was laid out before them. She was lucky that her twolegs lived on the edge near the forest. "I wanna be out in the forest hunting for my food and fighting foxes, and... well, I haven't had the chance to explore it for myself, so I don't know what else there is."
Peter turned back to her with an interested expression. "Tell me more." But just as he spoke their housefolk called their names.
"Jess!"
"Peter!"
Jess gave Peter a mischievous smile. "I'll tell you all the stories my Papa told me in the morning." They shared an equal smile and both darted inside, racing to their usual sleeping spots. Peter leaped onto his cushion prepared for him each night and Jess climbed to the top perch of the cat tower.
The last of the dying sun peeked through the window and warmed Jess' pelt as she drifted off.

"So you're telling me that, for generations, no cat has ever set paw in the forest and we've been living a pampered lie?" Peter munched on another mouthful of the bland, distasteful food their housefolk gave them. "Just to simplify it." Jess giggled.
"That's what my Papa told me."
"Well, I like a she that believes." Peter flicked his tail-tip and Jess smiled warmly. The two ate in silence for a bit and Jess entered her thoughts. I can't stand being held in this place any longer... She had a desperate need to be out in the forest, free, not living in this trap like a bird in a cage. She couldn't live another day here. She began to panic, thinking of what she might have that she would never be able to achieve here. Her fur itched, her paws beginning to fidget. Finally she spoke up suddenly, and Peter lifted his head.
"I can't stay here any longer. I'm leaving. Today. And I've made up my mind. I can't stand it here! I feel like I'm going insane just sitting here all day!" She sighed, calming herself before speaking again. Peter looked alarmed and, frankly, a little confused. Jess stood. "I'm going. Care to come? Because I will leave, with or without you." Suddenly Peter seemed to grasp the concept and his fur rose as he leaped to his paws with a short yowl. The housefolk glanced at him and one shushed him, shaking her head irritably, before they continued to eat.
"Leave?" Peter gasped. "But this is our home!"
"Home is where you feel free and careless, not burdened and trapped!" Jess shot back. She was about to stomp away when Peter darted forward, blocking her. He reached out a paw to calm her down.
"Home is where the kin is." He said, a soft, kind glimmer in his eyes. Jess shoved his paw back coldly.
"You're not my kin." Anger pulsed through her. How could he be so ignorant? This wasn't life! This was torture! Peter dipped his head.
"Your happiness is what I strive for." The black-and-white tom wasn't angry at all, you could tell as he lifted his head once more. But a hint of hurt flashed in his eyes. Jess sighed, forcing her pelt to lay flat again.
"This is your home, I know. But I belong in the wild. So I'm leaving. Now." She briskly padded around Peter, walking off without another glance at him. She strode away and slipped through the flap in the door, stopping to breathe in the cold, crisp air. Snowflakes were slowly falling, drifting gracefully in the air. Jess began to gingerly leap down the frigid stony steps, her paws tingling from the cold. Quickening her pace with each pawstep, she broke into a run.
Three inches of snow crunched beneath her paws and threatened to sink her. But Jess was determined not to let snow stop her. She heard Peter trudging after her and looked back at him with a small hiss. Why does he have to be so tall? She thought crossly. It wasn't that Jess was short--it was that Peter had longer legs, and was taller than the majority of cats. While the snow devoured almost all of Jess' legs, it only covered a bit over half of Peter's. He leaped through it, letting it sink up only for a bit before leaping again. He had a smug expression on his face as he reached Jess and he laughed a little. Jess lashed her tail, the tip of it getting caught in the snow.
"Having a little trouble there?" Peter joked.
"Shut up." Jess scowled.
"Here," Peter pawed at the snow around her and cleared it away. Of course, it would soon fall into place again, so she had to move quickly. Jess then imitated Peter's leaps, bounding for the edge of the forest. Snow was piled on the branches, which dipped low under its weight. Better than the ground, at least. Just then two of the branches near her stooped even lower under collecting snow, and the snow slid off and piled onto Jess' head and along her back. She could just barely see Peter heading towards her, snickering quietly, and she curled her lip. She shook out her fur as he reached her and snow sprayed all over, some on Peter. But he didn't seem to mind.
"Look, I want to come." Peter brushed his tail along Jess' flank. She blinked at him, then nodded.
"Then let's go."
Peter watched her as she plodded through the snow. In the forest, the snow wasn't as deep, only enough to cover their paws. The orange-and-golden tabby she-cat's pelt was clearly visible against the uncomfortable trailing branches. "So, um, where are we going?" Peter asked, keeping his tone light as not to offend Jess. Anything could make her snap. He had learned that the hard way.
"Papa told me that a small kin lives in an old shed somewhere in the forest. So we're going there." Peter blinked, halting for a moment. Jess kept going.
"You told me that there were no other cats here." Peter said with a hint of suspicion.
"Yeah, well, I lied," Jess responded without even faltering. Peter sighed, breath billowing into a small cloud, and continued after her again. He bit down on his tongue as his claw snagged on something. Jess was obviously amused when she saw a bug caught between his claws.
"See? You're hunting already." She paused. "Well, sort of." She then looked ahead again and continued her onward march. Peter picked the bug out and crunched. It wasn't so bad, but he guessed. Hopefully he wouldn't be confined to only eating that. As he began to walk again, he noticed that the ground beneath them was steadily becoming more and more unstable, turning to a muddy soil after a while. He looked down to see something that looked like a mixture of mud and sand. He glanced up at Jess uncertainly. She was still striding forward.
"This isn't very strong ground..." Peter objected with an unsure tone. Jess stopped and looked back at him, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, please, Peter, it's mud. What's it gonna do, stick between our claws?" She snorted and walked on.
"Jess, I'm serious. Be careful."
"Okay, fine." But Jess clearly wasn't listening to him. Peter took a step forward, but stopped, keeping himself at a fair distance from the strange mud. The snow had decreased as they went on and was beginning to melt a little now, and Peter was glad for that, since he had been able to discover the unreliable ground. He looked back up to Jess, fear fear flashing within him as he realized she was heading straight for the mud.
"Jess!" He called, and Jess stopped, but shook her head.
"Honestly, Peter, you need to relax. It'll be fine." She then began to step around in the mud, searching for any sign of other cats. Peter watched closely, and his pelt shot up in alarm as the mud suddenly began to sink around her rapidly and Jess screeched. He ran towards where Jess was sinking and she looked up at him desperately with a wail. Mud caked her pelt and she was steadily sinking deeper down, the mud covering more and more of her body. Peter searched wildly for something that could help. He was sinking a little, as well, but slower, and it would take longer due to his height.
In his panic Peter was dimly aware of another cat leaping to help. They carried a long branch in their mouth and lowered it into the hole, where Peter saw the cat begin to haul out the branch with Jess clinging onto the other end. As soon as Jess was safe, the three ran to stable ground, where another cat was waiting for them. Peter's shoulders sagged with relief and his heart began slowing down. Beside him Jess was spitting out mud.
"Uughhh..." She groaned. "That's a taste I'll never forget..." A brown tabby tom with the slightest tint of gray on his muzzle replied,
"Next time, I hope ya don't decide to just wander 'round in quicksand unless ya wanna taste more 'o that." Jess' fur spiked at the older tom's words.
"And who are you to tell me that?"
"Oh, just take it. Better advice than what he told you." The other cat, a flame-colored tom around Peter's age--the one who had saved Jess--said. He glanced at Peter through narrowed eyes and Peter returned the stare fiercely. Is he challenging me? Jess then mewed softly to the flame-colored tom,
"Were you the one who saved me?" Peter's pelt heated and the tom introduced himself as Scorch. Jess wouldn't have even gotten in trouble in the first place if she had just listened to him! His heart burned as Jess continually thanked this "Scorch."
"Yeah, well, you wouldn't have fallen if you'd've listened to me." Peter said heatedly, though he tried to keep a calm, steady voice. "And now I think it's time to do that." He grabbed Jess by the scruff and began to drag her. She retaliated and thrashed her head back, scrabbling at the ground covered in now almost fully-melted snow. Suddenly Jess then launched her body backwards. She was ripped from Peter's grip and he stopped dead, watching as she skidded on the ground.
"Peter," She hissed. "Are you jealous?" Peter hesitated.
"What makes you think that?" He said tentatively, raising his chin. Jess shook her head, tail twitching in an irritated motion.
"Peter, it's just obvious. But you have no reason to be upset." She then turned back to Scorch and the other tom. "Now, what's your name?" She flicked her tail towards the oldish brown and black tabby tom, acting as if nothing had happened. The tom dipped his head respectively.
"Name's Tiger."
"I'm Jess." Jess responded.
"Jess?" Tiger's eyes brightened. "It's me, Jake!" Jess seemed startled and suddenly elated at the same time.
"P-Papa?"
"Jess!" Tiger wrapped his neck around Jess', nuzzling her fiercely.
"B-But you died!" Jess pulled away and Tiger's eyes flickered with regret.
"Ah had to fake it. Ah was the one who jumped through the window. Ah was hurt, but Ah ran." Peter blinked and glanced at Jess, then back at Tiger again. Jess looked hurt and angry at the same time, and her words were desperate.
"Why'd you run from us?"
"I---"
"Mom never spoke to us after that!" Jess cried, digging her claws into the earth. Tears were streaming down her face. Peter froze, startled and unsure of what to do. He had helped her through those hard times, but now he didn't know how to react. "You don't know what fox-dung I went through because you decided to--to hightail it to some forest!" Tiger stepped forward again and Jess stepped back in turn, refusing to look at him as she turned her head away.
"Jess, I am so sorry." Tiger apologized. Jess looked down, her head still craned away from Tiger.
"You should be. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're not the hero I thought you were." Tiger hung his head.
"You're right." He said solemnly. "Ah'm not." He looked up again. "But can you ever forgive me?"
"How?" Jess looked back at him reluctantly. Tiger's eyes gleamed and he reached his muzzle forward, resting it on Jess. She visibly flinched a little, but didn't reject it this time.
"Kindness." Tiger said. Jess then broke down again, sobbing and burying her muzzle into Tiger's chest-fur.
"Oh, Papa..." She said in between tears. "I missed you so much." A purr rumbled in Tiger's throat and he nuzzled the top of her head and licked it.
"Ah missed ya too." Peter glanced at Scorch, who seemed disinterested, fluffy amber tail flicking across the ground. Peter huffed and watched his breath form a cloud then disappear before shaking his head.
"Well, guys, I hate to burst your bubble, but Jess and I need to find a place to stay." Tiger looked up and the two pulled away from each other.
"So ya ran away?" Tiger glanced between Peter and Jess. Jess nodded, blinking away tears and regaining her dominant posture. "Well, we live in that shed." Tiger's gaze rested on Jess. "Remember the shed?" He said softly. Peter groaned inwardly. He was growing more anxious with each passing moment as the sun mounted in to the sky. He looked up to see that it was now the middle of the day.
"Well, are we gonna stay there, or...?" He asked impatiently. He usually didn't mind how long things took, but he hated not having proper organization, and they needed to find shelter before dusk. Tiger nodded, giving him a look as if the answer had been obvious.
"Of course."
"We should really get going then." Peter said, his mew sharp with worry.
"What, you worried about a little snow?" Jess teased. She had regained her normally playful and rather rude banter. Peter smiled a little. This is the cat I befriended. This is the cat I fell in love with.