~~~
"My - My clan home?" he stuttered. "Why? Are you done taking care of me?"
"No, no," Cocoa explained. "I ... I mean, you talk about them in your sleep, you seem so committed to being a little fighter... and a hunter even. I thought ... maybe you wanted to live with them again?"
"I .." Goosekit paused. He didn't know what to say. He never really knew the answer to this. Did he want to go? If he did he could see Littleminnow and his littermates .. but he couldn't see Cocoa again.
"You can do whatever you want. I'll make sure to see you again..." Cocoa tried. "I mean, don't you want to see your mother?"
"But you are my mother!"
An awkward silence erupted after he blurted that. She always had been more of a mother figure than Littleminnow. Little never thought twice before scolding them. She didn't comfort or protect them very well, and she did not ever let them go out and play. Even the younger kits were allowed to, but Goosekit had never been three tail-lengths from the nursery until the night of the coyote attack.
"I am your mother?" Cocoa echoed finally. "Clearly I'm not. I stole you ... don't you want to go back? I took you because the others wanted food. Kits were the easiest and fastest option. But when I took you, I found I didn't want to eat you ... I wanted love and care for you."
"So you cared even when others didnt agree and you protected, fed, watered, sheltered, trained, and loved me?"
"Yes, Goosekit. I even learned your crazy language." she laughed.
"Then ..." he looked at her. "Then you are everything a mother could be."
Cocoa looked like she was going to cry but cheer at the same time. She licked his forehead and smiled. "I'll take you one day though. I want you to see them again, they are your blood. "
"We could go, I guess. I want to see my siblings' reactions to surviving a coyote." he joked.
"Then it's settled. I know the way, and I'll take you there. But the question of whether or not you stay you will decide. It isn't my choice. And I'll love you no matter what."
Goosekit had a warm feeling in his heart after her saying that. He cuddled beside his coyote of a mother and fell asleep.
~~~
The morning was kind of abrupt. Cocoa already had his scruff and was taking him through the forest gently. He yawned.
"We are already leaving?" he asked tiredly.
"Yeth," she muffled through his fur. "I thought it woo be a goog way to thart the tourney."
"OK..." he sniffled, only half-awake. He let her carry him, watching the scenery until they passed the Two-leg place. The area smelled slightly of Firecloud and he chuckled silently.
The couple of them kept going. At sunhigh they stopped to catch some prey and get a drink. Cocoa kept glancing at the Two-leg place. They had been passing behind some of the dens, where a few alleyways were set. They saw a scrawny gray tom with a bone in his mouth. When he saw Cocoa he screeched and bolted off.
Cocoa glared at the Two-leg dens as they finally reached the other side of the forest. The entire forest was shaped like a curled-up grub - a 'horseshoe' he heard once. He mapped the places they went and passed in his head in case he would ever want to find his way back to Cocoa's den - which he knew he would.
They reached a river, which Cocoa crossed by hopping across some rocks. The scent of camp filled Goosekit's nose. He inhaled sharply, almost scared. Cocoa stopped dead in her tracks suddenly, staring ahead.
"What's wrong Cocoa?" Goosekit asked, trying to looked up at her.
"I can't do it," she whispered. "I can't just let you go..."
He blinked. "But Cocoa, it's not official that I'll stay..."
"I can't take that chance!" She wailed and leapt back over the river and ran away. It took Goosekit a moment to process the situation. He blinked and snapped back to reality.
"Cocoa no! You promised to take me. I want to see my mother!"
"I thought I was your mother!"
"You are, but not by blood," Goosekit meowed. "Go back! I want to see!"
Cocoa ignored him and kept running. Goosekit felt a surge of annoyance and batted upwards. She ignored that too, making a sharp turn where a tree was.
"COCOA!" he screamed, then reached up and slashed the bridge of her nose on accident. She squealed and dropped him. He fell and crouched into a bush, watching as she skidded to a stop and grabbed her face. She was a bleeding a bit, but turned around in a whirl of fury.
She scanned the area, but Goosekit stayed hidden. He knew it was wrong, he should've known all along. A kitten trusting a coyote? It's like a worm trusting a bird.
She sniffed the area, her eyes slightly bloodshot and wildly darting around the forest floor. She passed right by the bush, brushing it with her fur. She growled and kept searching. "He must be running towards the clan by now," she murmured, and began to trot that way.
Goosekit didn't understand what had just happened. And it happened so fast, her being too over-protective over her fake offspring. But he couldn't help but feel a stab of pity and guilt. She was a living forest creature who loved Goosekit like a mother would.
He slipped out of the bush and shook leaves from his pelt. What now? he thought, looking around. Cocoa was headed towards the camp, so he couldn't go there. He turned towards the Two-leg place, close by now.
My only option now, I'm sure, he sighed, then turned and began to head that way.
He slipped into an alleyway, through an open wooden gate. He stared at the gate's hinges a while, shiny and eye-catching. He had never seen a type of metal in the clan before, nor in the forest with Cocoa.
He crept warily along the hard stone path, cold on his scratched pads. He peeked around the corners of the building and saw Two-leg kits on very small monsters, which were bright colors like pink and green. Two-leg parents laughed and watched them, or talked to each other with their strange deep language.
A few dogs were walking together, being held on strings by another Two-leg. But Goosekit didn't see any cats at first.
Suddenly he heard a soft squeak noise and turned. The gate he had passed through shut mysteriously and clicked, as if locking.
He gasped when he saw the silhouette of a shady cat figure, hopping off the fence and striding slowly towards him. The cat's amber eyes glittered frighteningly in the slit of sunlight that fell into the alley; the rest was shadowy and dull.
"This alley is my territory, and you are in it," he explained in a young yet intimidating voice. Goosekit tried to talk but no words came out of his open maw. He scooted back but he didn't want to be seen by Two-legs or the dogs.
"And I don't take kindly to trespassers." the tom added, flashing his fangs, which glittered like his eyes had, before suddenly, he lifted his haunches and pounced.
~~~
YOU ARE READING
Book One: Dog Borne
Fanfic"It trotted off warily, leaving the kit in the nest, but if Goosekit learned anything in his time, it was that new adventure awaited if you didn't listen - which was a terrible moral but he decided it was an exciting one to live by." Goosekit had...
