Twiggy

Chapter 13

      The next morning we got ready. We were all extremely excited about the fact of warm things. We had already moved our nests together, and we're going to aim for getting two of these . . . blankets.
      We walked away from the nest and into the howling wind. My fur blew all over and I growled at it.
      We walked across snowy landscape, trees blowing in the wind. Snow lashed at our bodies, making us go slower.
      After walking for what seemed like forever, we arrived at the dump. It was kept fairly snow-free, and a large rumbling monster continually swept past, blowing snow out of the dump. There were large piles of everything.
      I passed over to a pile full of large box things. They were lined with plastic on the inside, and I could smell what seemed like stale food, even though there was nothing in it. Many of them had puddles of water at the bottom of them. Comet investigated a large tub on the other side of the pile. 
      Silver Sky was looking at all the different piles from where she stood on top of a tall metal thing with opening doors- one of the things that smelled like old food of some sort. Her eyes squinted in the light and they suddenly brightened. "Guys, I think I found something!"
      She pointed with her tail to a somewhat large and wooden building. It had an opening in one wall. They probably kept stuff there to give to other people. . . .
      I meowed. "Hey, do you guys think that maybe they give stuff to other people here?"
      Silver Sky shrugged. "I don't know. What makes you think that?"
      "Well, why else would they want to keep it dry in there?" Comet pointed out.
      We all agreed on going to the shed. We walked around the edge of the clearing- we didn't want to get caught by the monster- and went through the small opening.
      Inside was a wide array of human supplies. In the corner there was a few people chatting happily, and with them was a bundle of items. Indeed, there was a soft looking blanket on a shelf beside them.
      The person behind the shelf held out his hand, and the person on the other side offered some green flappy stuff. Then the guy left with his new items.
      The person who had taken the green stuff rested on a spinning sit-place with his eyes closed. His foot rested on the wooden shelf in front of him and he purred.
      We crept to the shelf, which supplied a large and fluffy blue blanket in a coating of some sort. It looked glorious.
      The human stirred and we hid in the shelf. As he walked to go somewhere, I pawed the blanket off the shelf and started dragging it. "Come on guys," I hissed through gritted teeth.
      They grabbed it too, and we dragged it out of the building. We were soon out of the dump, and after a long trudge in the deep snow we made it home.
      "Ok, let's get this stuff off." Silver Sky meowed, her eyes sparkling.
      I nodded, and pounced onto the plastic costing, ripping it off. Inside, a fluffy blanket fell loose on to our nests. Comet sighed in pleasure.
      It was darkening outside, and we decided to test our new bed. I crept into my nest and immediately felt more comfy. I assumed it would heat up the longer we stayed there. I pulled the edges over my body and prepared for a nice sleep, with the heat of my family and of the new blanket.
~~~~~~***********~~~~~~
      "Did you forget about me?" The Voice asked, quavering with unhappiness. "I thought you were different, I really, really did."
     "I don't want to die." I replied simply.
      "Well, errr, maybe you don't have to."
      "Since when?"
      "Since I said so." The Voice was just being his usual blunt self. I shouldn't be surprised. I hid my face, not wanting the Voice to see my anguished face, but I guess he knew.
      "I really wish it didn't have to be this way," he said. "But isn't that what you wanted?"
      This time I actually was surprised. "When did I want to die?"
      "When your Mother died."
      I considered what the Voice had said and realized that it was actually sort of true. I had wanted to die when she did, but now I had a family again. "I changed my mind."
      The Voice huffed. "Ok, I'll see what I can do. I'll talk to my leader- maybe he can help."
      I dipped my head and woke.
~~~~~~**********~~~~~~
      The blanket around me felt cozy and warm. My fur was puffed up. Comet and Silver Sky lay close by, their chests rumbling with purrs of content.
      They both had their eyes cracked open and they were both watching me. "Hi, Twiggy." Silver Sky greeted, while licking her dainty silver paw.
      "Yeah, hi Twiggy." Comet seemed to agree.
      "Hi Comet, Silver Sky." I grumbled.
      Comet snuggled her head into the fluffy blanket. "This is sooooo cozy." She announced. "I'm so glad we got it, it's warm and oh so great to keep us that way."
      Suddenly, the wind howled in the den's direction and I caught a whiff of something. Badger. I lifted my nose and padded away from the warm nest, smelling the cold wind that now carried the musky scent.
      Silver Sky seemed to realize, because she meowed. "There's a smell. It's badger."
      I nodded in agreement. Comet looked awestruck. "Hey guys! I've never seen a badger! Do you think it'll want to be our friend?"
      "Errr . . . probably not."
      We all paused to consider the options. There were only a few- we could choose to run outside and attack, or we could huddle inside and hope the badger didn't get a scent of us. Hope that it got bored of our territory and left.
      "I think we should fight." Comet suggested.
      Silver Sky meowed. "No, Comet you are definitely for sure not going to be doing any fighting, be-"
      "But why?"
      "Because badgers are extremely dangerous and could kill you with one paw."
      Comet's eyes widened. "Woah." Then she scampered back to the nest and curled into a ball. Me and Silver Sky faced each other.
      "Let's go," I meowed. Silver Sky agreed and I ordered Comet to stay in her nest. I can only hope she'll listen.
~~~~~~**********~~~~~~
      We had been tracking the badger for a long while. It seemed to be keeping to the edge of our territory, but you can never be sure with dangerous creatures like them.
       We rounded a corner and suddenly, a large shape loomed above us. It was black and white with large blunt claws and an even larger mouth. A mouth with teeth.
      Silver Sky yelped in surprise, while I unsheathed my claws. I hurtled forward, throwing a heavy blow at the badger's shoulder. It connected, but the badger hardly made a sound.
      I lured the badger in a line as Silver Sky crept behind it. As the badger was about to lunge for me, she jumped onto it and it made a grunt of surprise, trying to buck Silver Sky off. I laughed as the badger started to twist and turn, trying to see just who exactly was slashing at him from above.
      The badger made a move for Silver Sky, twisting his neck around to bite her, but she jumped out of the way just in time and the badger's teeth sank into his own back. A stream of blood began to creep out of its thick fur.
      I jumped at its face as it pulled its teeth away and clawed at its eyes. It grunted with pain as I scored red lines into its face.
      "Cats, one, badger zero!" I yowled, but as I spoke, the badger lifted a paw and started at me, as if he was telling me to say good-bye before I was dead.
      I dragged myself to the side quickly, and suddenly a sharp pain was felt in my leg. The badger's paw had landed on my leg!
      Silver Sky gave a hiss of fury and began to blow at the badger's face with all her might, claws unsheathed. I lay helplessly on the ground, wishing I could help. The badger finally gave up, giving one last grunt before lumbering off into the woods.
      "Are you ok?" Silver Sky asked as she came over to me.
      "I don't know. My leg. . . . " blood was trickling out of the claw punctures  that went deep into my leg.
      "I think I heard something snap, Twiggy, we need to get home!" Silver Sky said, worry clearly showing in her voice.
      "I'll be fine. . . . " I tried to be strong.
      "How can I get you home," Silver Sky said, ignoring me. "You can't walk- you're leg is too hurt. I would go get Comet to come help, but then if the badger came back, you'd be alone! No I can't do that. Can you stand at all?"
      "I might be able too. . . . I'm not quite sure."
      I hobbled on three legs, careful not to let the injured one touch the ground. Silver Sky walked beside me. Ileaned against her, hoping she could support my weight. Luckily, she could. I limped beside her, on our way home.