The Peace of the Wanderer

Chapter Two: How the Birds Fell Silent

The next morning, Shadow woke up with a start. It took her a minute to comprehend what had happened the previous day, and when she did, she just closed her eyes again, just wanting to go back to sleep.

It was quiet in the hay loft, the only sound being the occasional bray of a donkey, leaving the kitten completely and utterly alone. The normally warm and comfortable straws of hay seemed to dig into her sides, like needles.

Shadow glanced out the opening into the outside world to see rain cascading down from the sky. Only then did she realize that the buzzing in her head was not, in fact, her mind playing games, but the notes of raindrops.

The North Wind seemed to be present at the farm where the cats lived, as it violently blew a cold current of air into the barn. Shadow shuddered from the sudden ruffle of the freezing wind. She groaned as she wearily got to her paws, intending to move to a warmer area shielded by the walls of the building.

The hay crunched gently as she slowly began padding to the corner of the hay loft. She didn't really know or care what she was doing, exactly. Instead, all she could register was warmth beginning to seep into her fur. The sudden change of temperature once again caused the kitten to shiver.

She settled back down onto the hay, curling up in the small corner. She closed her eyes once more, listening to the rain and only the rain as she imagined the droplets washing all of her problems away.

She stayed in that position for what seemed like hours-- accompanied with nothing other than her thoughts and the pitter-patter of the rain. It was strangely comforting to her.

After a while, a poke prodded at her side. Shadow jumped a bit at the sudden touch, jerking her out of her tired doze.

"Ngggh," the kitten groaned, trying to ignore the paw, but it seemed persistent in waking her up.

"What?" Shadow finally growled, opening her eyes to glare at the cat who had awoken her. "What could you possibly want that couldn't have wai- oh."

The kitten sheepishly looked into her mother's deep blue eyes, her ears slightly back in fear of her mother's reaction to her grumpy mutters.

Instead of anger, however, Frost merely looked concerned, much to her daughter's confusion.

"Ar-are you okay?" she asked, wrapping her fluffy white tail around Shadow and gazing down at her gently.

"I'm...scared, mama," she sighed quietly. "But I'll be okay. What about everyone else? And you?"

"None of your siblings have woken up yet," replied Frost. "I saw you blinking every now and then and thought you were just lying there, awake. I didn't know you were almost asleep. I'm sorry."

Shadow giggled as she answered. "That's okay, mama. I was going to wake up soon anyway." She cocked her head slightly as she added, "...But you still didn't say if you were okay or not."

Frost shook her head, seeming rather sad. "I'm fine, little one. I'll get through it. Your father is a very strong-willed cat. If I know him, he'll be too stubborn to be hurt." She forced out a dry laugh.

Shadow saw the sadness in her mother's eyes, and felt a pang of fear come back. She...she was just trying to act all strong and happy and cheerful, but...

Something must've been really bad with her father if Frost was trying to hide her emotions, right? Maybe it was just one of those 'grown-up' things. But at the same time, she felt a twinge of admiration for her mother; here she was, trying to stay all strong and stuff, while her mate was...

Well, somewhere.

From behind Frost, Tiger approached, his face completely blank. He seemed as if he were a living statue, doing nothing but surviving. His eyes didn't give anything away, either. It was almost scary, how he was acting like a robot.