Twiggy

Chapter 11

      "Um, guys, is it just me, or is that a giant light approaching in the distance?" Comet asked. My little sister sounded much more worried than she had a moment before.
      I wanted to say 'I told you so,' and 'you should've listened,' but at that moment I was a little more focused on getting out of this alive.
      Silver Sky was obviously thinking the same as she asked, "What is a thing we could hide under? Something to save us from the comet?"
      I spoke up. "When it was the last comet, we hid under our original den, but the only reason it worked was because it ended up striking to far away to hurt us."
      Comet was nodding. I think she was nervous about this comet. After all, her littermates and mother died in it, just like me. My sister had lost them too, and now we only had each other. Each other, and, well, Silver Sky.
      We all went over this thought in our minds. What could we do? Suddenly Silver Sky meowed. "What if we ran?"
      "Run? Where to, exactly?" I asked.
      "Somewhere far, far away. A place to get away from the comet."
      "What if it stalks us?" Comet asked nervously.
      "It shouldn't," Silver Sky reminded. "It's only a rock. How could it follow us? It doesn't have any ears or eyes, or even a nose. I don't think it even could follow."
      "No, I mean, what if we run the way it's going to fall?"
      Wow, my little sister was becoming smart. Not that she wasn't before, but she's learning stuff now. I'm proud.
       We were both speechless to Comet's question. It was a hard one, and I had no answer. I'm pretty sure that Silver Sky felt the same. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again. I answered instead.
      "Then we're dead."
      Comet let out a whimper, while Silver Sky scolded me. "Don't tell her that! She's only a kit."
      I shook my head. "Yes, she is, a kit who needs to learn the truth."
       Comet shook under her tiny pelt. Her eyes were fixated on the slowly gaining light, her head turning as it made its way to the other side of the sky. "Hey guys, maybe this one is just a warning." She said.
      I looked to where the comet had been. It was gone. How? Why was life so confusing.
      Silver Sky purred. "Well, hopefully that's true, but right now we should get some sleep."
      I widened my eyes in surprise. "You really want to sleep when there could be a comet right around the corner?"
      Silver Sky grunted. "Yes, of course. We'll need all the sleep we can get. It's not like we'll be sleeping when the comets are right on us."
      "But what if the comets come while we're sleeping?" I gasped out. "We'll all die in our nests, and we'll never even know what-"
      "Twiggy, calm yourself. Well put someone on guard."
      I didn't quite process what she was saying and continued. "We'll never even know what happened to us, oh no, I do t want to die when I'm asleep, I can't sleep!"
       "Twiggy," Silver Sky meowed, licking my head. "We'll put someone on guard. Stop worrying."
      I looked at her sternly. "I have the right to worry when I'm about to die!"
     "We won't die!" Silver Sky exclaimed. "Now can you please shut up before you scare Comet anymore?"
      I panted and walked over to my nest. I lay my head down and fell asleep to the soft licks of my beautiful mate.
~~~~~~**********~~~~~~
       "Twiggy, I want to help."
      Was the voice actually saying this to me? My voice in my head? Wait, wasn't this the guy who had scratched me inside out? I narrowed my eyes at the silhouette over the fog.
      "Stop it, Voice." I said, before padding away through the muddy bog.
      "I want to help you, I'm not kidding!"
      Everything went silent. The rain stopped, if only for a moment, and the sucking of mud at my feet was blanked out.
      "And how can I believe you?"
      "I'll catch you mice?"
       "Nope, not good enough."
       "I'll catch you mice, and help you with the comets?"
       "That is a pretty good deal," I said. Just as he started to yowl in happiness before I purred. "But you can't catch mice."
      "Yes I can!"
      "Oh really? How? Have you forgotten one very important thing about you? A thing that stops you from doing that?"
       "Apparently."
      "Well, you're a voice so you can't hunt. You don't have a body."
       "Yeah I do! I have a body! Since I'm a voice, I have the right to go into some cat's body and control the- I'll just shut up now."
      "Good idea." I praised. "Now you get an extra while to live."
      "You love me to much to kill me." He looked up, into the fog, where a light was approaching. "But seriously. I need to help you."
      "Ok, how?"
      "Well, with the comet, there's an ancient curse. Long ago, a cat in your family was doomed by this curse. One day, he did something terribly unforgiving. He came home from hunting with only a mouse and a blackbird.
       "His Mother ordered him the mouse. It was plump and juicy, unlike the blackbird, which was scrawny and feathery. When he didn't do as she said, his mother got him in trouble. She made him hunt for the next moon, with no food.
      "The cat was slowly dying. He was expending all his energy on hunting, and he wasn't getting any food, sleep or love. His mother, on the other paw was enjoying life. She got mice everyday, and sleep every night. All she did was order him around nonstop.
      "Eventually, the cat got tired of being treated like this. It was only a small mistake he had made. He had only been hungry, but his mother had made it into something that seemed much worse.
       "When he came back to his den later that day, he attacked his mother. She asked what he was doing, and he replied with claws. He wanted revenge. He was weaker than a mouse, but he somehow managed to grip her down and give her he death blow. He felt terribly sorry, but there was nothing he could do now.
       "That was when the curse came in. His father came back from a long journey, surprised to see his mate dead with claws in her neck. His son sat there mourning, but his father could see over it. He could see that his son had been the one to kill her.
      "He scolded his son and chased him away. His son went without question. His mother, from the place she went when she died talked to the Cat Ruler. She said her death had been unfair, and he listened. He put a curse on her sons family forever. The curse was terrible. It was to kill all of that family off, no matter what." My voice looked me in the eyes. I - I didn't know he had eyes. "You must break this curse."
      "H- how?"
       "You must die your death in a heroic way, to show that you care. Then the curse will be broken from all your family, forever."