The Tongue Of Cats

Chapter Four

Aspenfrost was lounging in a patch of sunshine, stretching his paws behind him as his tail slowly lashed across the ground. A purr erupted from his throat as the tom gently closed his eyes, shielding them from the blue sky overhead. He let the sounds of the forest overtake him; the twittering of birds became the melody, the harmony was water droplets slipping off leaves from the recent rainstorm, and the accompanying bass line was the steady thrum of his den's electricity collector - a set of solar panels angled upwards only a few fox-lengths away from the den's green walling.

The silence was quickly punctuated by the loud giggles of a twosome of kits; Iriskit and Winterkit, their mews sharp with fear, threw themselves onto their dozing father. Startled, Aspenfrost bolted into a standing position, ears swiveling to absorb the sounds around him. The crackling alarm of his laptop from center of the den was screeching through the forest. Is there a meeting today? he thought with a sigh. A settlement one? I'd rather not get on Skype today.

Aspenfrost shook his pelt, watching his kits tumble onto the ground. "There's a meeting," he told them. "So you two can play in the backyard." With a nod, the pair scampered behind the den and went to play on the various log toys that had been built there.

Melonsong was in front of the TV, scrolling through channels. She glanced up as he entered. "Your laptop is making a loud noise," the she-cat informed him rather plainly.

"I know," he responded lightly. "Probably something to do with work."

"No, it's a settlement notification," Melonfrost responded with a hint of emotion in her tone. She held up her phone, which showed a blinking yellow-and-red banner that read "SETTLEMENT MEETING. URGENT!"

Aspenfrost folded his ears back, grabbing his laptop from the kitchen counter. He padded to the couch, where he settled next to his wife, grabbing a silky blanket and tossing it over their pelts. He opened the laptop, clicking onto the Skype page and opening the call. Inside the chat room, about 80 users had joined, ranging from the lowest of hunters to the most well-trained government agents. They were all on Listen mode, and a single frame, currently showing a pine forest background, served as the main screen of the meeting.

A Twoleg crouched in view of the camera, adjusting it so it showed his entire hairless body. A thin pelt was wrapped around the creature's waist, and another covered his chest. Aspenfrost shuddered; despite the fact he had been born in the Twoleg-run society, he still had the instincts of a feral cat. Those instincts were telling him that this wasn't natural, that cats shouldn't be talking to their original, and most formidable, enemies.

The Twoleg opened his mouth, but all that was audible was a scream-like noise. He let out a sigh, like he was regretting something, and he pressed a button on the small metallic device on his neck so that it glowed green instead of red. "Hello, cats of Landong." The Twoleg's voice was very scrambled and strange sounding, as if the audio had been messed with.

Aspenfrost frowned. Being a cat of the Landong government, he frequently was involved with meeting that involved Twoleg communications. This Twoleg's voice was very rough and unnatural, like clips had been unedited together. Melonsong was listening as well.

"I guess I need to replace my laptop speakers," he remarked, re-focusing back on the video stream. The Twoleg was still talking.

"—we have made a great decision. The cats of Landong will be exterminated, starting with your weakest. There is a corrupt force that has made this faction of cats functionally useless to us." Now, the video stream was frozen on an image of the Twoleg spreading his arms out, eyes half-closed and mouth gaped with speech. An eerie chill stirred in Aspenfrost's body.

The video stream shut off suddenly. The tom shut his laptop, setting it on the coffee table.

"What—what does the Twoleg mean?" asked a shaky voice from behind the couch. Melonsong turned, joined by her husband; they saw the two kits standing on the wooden floor, eyes wide with fear and nervously shifting on their paws.

Melonsong sighed and scooped up the duo of troublemakers, tucking them underneath the blanket. Iriskit opened her muzzle to speak again, but Aspenfrost gently touched her tail to her nose. She quieted. "The Twoleg is just playing a prank, honey," he meowed softly, trying to make his words gentle. "He isn't serious."

"Then why did everyone else have that weird alert? Why would they do that!" Winterkit meowed loudly.

"It's just a prank," responded Melonsong firmly. "Now go to bed." Her tone was sharp and sturdy now; both kits knew not to argue. They slipped out from the blanket and padded toward their rooms.

The two cats waited until they hear the doors shut before turning to each other, fear sparking in both sets of eyes.

"The weakest first," Aspenfrost echoed from the Twoleg's speech. "Does that mean they'll take the kits? They're too young! Why would the Twolegs do such a thing?" He felt his heart threatening to pound out of his chest.

"And my mother," whimpered Melonsong, folding her ears against her skull. "We pay the bills for her retirement home. . . there's no way that elders aren't considered 'weak' as well!" 

Aspenfrost swallowed. "I'm sure the forces of Landong can retaliate whatever the Twolegs throw at us," he responded calmly, swallowing the sob that was threatening to choke his words. "They gave us the technology to fight back, and we will!"

⌁ Written by Rio! ⌁

(With two words edited by Ember)