Lives: TFSTL Chapter ten

Chapter 10

Frisky’s head was at last clear of heavy thoughts. All he could see was clear whiteness, calmness and peace. But, as inevitable as the rising sun, something strange appeared in his peace.

He could see a group of three cats, sitting calmly on the soft looking floor. The biggest one looked like she was the oldest, and her right eye had a small scar stretching over it. She had pale cream fur and the odd white stripe on her paws and tail. Frisky noticed how thin she looked and guessed that this cat was a spirit, dead from hunger.

Sitting beside her was the smallest cat. He was barely more than a kitten and had very dark grey fur with a white ear tip. He had a long bloody scar across his back and his eyes looked wide, as if the fear of his tragic looking death still haunted him.

The last cat looked like she was aged somewhere between the dark grey kitten and the cream she-cat. She was very pale grey and had bright blue eyes. She was startlingly beautiful and Frisky’s eyes looked at her longer than the other two. She didn’t look like she had any noticeable injuries on her, but when she shuffled her paws, Frisky could see that her back had a sudden and scary looking dip in it.

‘She must have broken her back’

Frisky thought, looking in sorrow at the beautiful cat.

There was a strange feeling of recognition about these cats that he couldn’t quite put is paw on.

“Who are you?”

he said out-loud to the sitting cats.

None of them answered, but the pale grey female gave a weak smile and she began to silently cry.

‘What a strange reaction’

Frisky thought

‘I only asked who they are and she’s crying!’.

The cream coloured cat got up steadily, and padded over on wispy light paws. She looked at the dark grey cat and she too began to cry; Smiling, but crying, pale blue tears trickling down her face.

Frisky was almost scared by how the two females were reacting to him.

“Frisky”

the cream she said

“I cannot stay long. The magic will wear off.”

“Tell me who you are”

Frisky whispered, his voice going horse with fear

“tell me please!”.

“You know who we are”

the cream she soothed to him

“You know us very well. Look deeper than you ever have into your memory, and the answer will be waiting there.”.

The way the cat’s eyes flicked over him was eerily familiar and Frisky closed his eyes and tried to look deep into his memory as the she had told him to. But all he could find were the never ceasing questions that plagued him whenever he tried to answer them.

“You will find the answer in time”

the she cat said when she saw Frisky’s disappointed face

“And when you do, you will know our names. But for now I am here with a message from a lion you know well. At least, you used to well, before your memory was wiped.”.

“What?!”

gasped Frisky

“my memory was wiped?!”.

“Yes. That is why your past as nothing more than a blur.”.

Frisky stared down at the ground with a massive question lifting off his shoulders.

‘So that’s why I can’t remember’

he thought in shock

‘that’s why my past is empty. I need to get the memories back!’.

He looked at the she cat and said

“Do you know how to get my memory back? I need to know!”.

“Hush”

whispered the cream she, her paw resting on his mouth to keep him quiet

“the louder you are the more magic is used. The great Arfed, who I’m sure you will recognise, has sent me with vital information. The only way to get your memory back is to eat an extremely rare kind of herb. It is called the stalina and looks similar to a dandelion.”.

Here she swiped her paw over the cloudy ground to reveal a misty picture of a small, leafy green plant. The leaves were quite sharp, and the tips were bright white, like they had been dipped in snow.

“This is a stalina”

the cream cat explained

“Arfed told me that when you leave bee, turn left, the left again and it will be there, waiting for you to eat.”.

Frisky turned to the cream she cat and said

“Thank you, friend.”

With a small smile. The cream she-cat looked deep into his orange eyes and purred

“I’m more than just a friend, my child.”.

Then, the epiphany hit Frisky like the weight of the world. The creamy she cat was his mother! Sun! He glanced at the very dark grey kitten and the pale grey she-cat and realised that it was Ratt and Moon, his brother and sister.

But as his gazed settled on the young cats, their faces began to blur and fade, the whiteness behind them slowly being replaced by everlasting blackness.

Frisky tried to look at his mother once more but she had disappeared, faded out to nothing.

‘The magic’

Frisky thought desperately

‘The magic is wearing away!’.

“COME BACK!”

he screamed to his family

“DON’T LEAVE ME AGAIN!”.

Then, the falling feeling began as he tumbled down into what seemed nothing but blackness.

He woke up with a gasp, his fur damp with a cold sweat. He panted for a bit and then relaxed his shoulders as he realized he was safe again.

Opening his eyes again he saw that the ball of light on the room’s ceiling was still burning away, swinging ever so slightly on its thin cord.

He looked down at the two sleeping she cats, curled up together in their warm box, golden tabby and tortoiseshell pelts rising and falling with long, steady breaths.

Frisky saw no point in waking them, and he felt enormously tired from his restless dream; almost as if he had never even fallen asleep.

With a small sign, he lowered his head and closed his eyes into an empty, thoughtless sleep.

“Wake up!”

Frisky heard a good 2 hours later

“Wake up, or I’ll start poking you!”.

Frisky sighed at bee’s raucous tones ringing in his ears. He grunted in response but got a large poke in his side with sharp claws.

“I mean properly”

bee nagged

“Grunting is not waking up so come on, UP!”.

Frisky opened his eyes to see bee standing over him, her amber eyes glaring at him and her fur sticking out in all directions.

He picked himself up from the box and gave an almighty stretch, his claws and muscles flexing in the light.

“There”

he said grumpily

“Happy your majesty?!”.

“Very” bee smiled

“Now, Apollo isn’t awake yet and she has to sleep more so her wound can heal and I need someone to groom me.”.

She looked at him with a cheeky grin.

“Fine”

Frisky sighed, rolling his eyes

“I’ll groom you. You’d better not have fleas!”.

“Of course not!”

Bee snapped and she sat down smartly on his paws.

“Ouch!”

Frisky said, licking his paw.

“Well?!”

Bee said in a smart-alec voice

“You just going to sit there or what?”.

Frisky struggled to keep a growl from rising in his throat but had to laugh at bee’s downright rudeness.

He began to smooth down the spiky fur on her head until it was straight and smooth as it was the first time he had laid eyes in her.

As he worked his way down to her dark brown and golden fur on her flank, she laid a paw delicately on his grey one. Frisky paused his licking and looked down at her golden paw, surprise filling his face.

He continued to clean her, but slower and more carefully, his tongue rasping against her silky fur. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, bee gave him a long but light lick across his ears.

This time frisky didn’t stop, but began to lick with far more tenderness and care than he had before.

Bee began to lick the top of his head slowly, her tongue brushing over the curious orange tinted patch of fur between his ears. With their tails entwined, they shared grooming for a long time.

Once Frisky had finished grooming bee, the two sat down carefully beside each other but their flanks not quite reaching each other.

“Thank you Frisky”

Bee said suddenly, her tone surprisingly soft and her eyes gentle

“it’s good to have you around you know.”.

Frisky smiled warmly and the two cats kept their gazes locked on each other for what seemed to Frisky like an eternity.

But then, as if she were embarrassed, Bee stood up promptly and said

“Well, I will wake up Apollo and then I’m taking you for your first hunting lesson. You’d better eat something.”.

She pointed to the pile of rats that Frisky had been too polite to touch. He licked his lips and padded over to the small pile.

The rats smelt fresh and full of tender, fatty meat. As he took a large one from the top of the pile and bit into its tender flesh, his stomach sang at the long awaited chance of a good meal.

Once he had finished he savoured the taste in his mouth, his tongue licking the last traces of the meat off his mouth.

He looked up and saw that Apollo had woken up and was stretching her long back and blinking sleep out of her eyes. Bee was standing by the entrance with her tail swishing back and forth with impatience and looking rather grumpily at the grey tom.

'She's back to her old self'

Frisky thought grouchily

'Oh well.'.

He stood up and trotted over to Bee with his eyes glittering in excitement of going on his first hunt.

"Take you time why don't you"

Bee snapped at him, making him jump

"The rats just wait for us to go and kill them of course so take your time slow paws!".

Frisky glared at her but kept his anger to a minimum so not to set a bitter mood for the hunt.

Bee gave him a strange look as he stayed quiet, almost as if she was expecting him to throw back a remark.

With a grim smile, Frisky swiftly kicked open the manhole door and it swung wide open, the metal clanking against the hard stony wall outside. Bee’s mouth dropped open in surprise, but she soon shut it again.

“Not bad”

she said sniffing in a snobby tone, as she daintily stepped out of the hole into the dark, damp pipe

“You’ve got some good moves in you after all!”.

Frisky gave her a playful hiss and followed her out into the darkness again.

Her scent was strong and easy to follow in the dark as it was the day before. He couldn’t see anything, not even her golden tabby fur that normally glowed in the dark.

Bee kept on at a brisk pace, her paws splashing against the wet surface on the stone floor.

‘Damn it’

she thought

‘Is there nothing he can’t do except for hunt?! He’s just so perfect!’.

She sighed but didn’t slow for fear of knocking the grey tom into the water. Finally she reached the steps, but she was so pre-occupied that she almost ran head first into them and sat down with a heavy thump.

Frisky too was occupied in his own thoughts and didn’t notice the she cat had stopped splashing on the floor and he ran head first into her. The two cats lay in a heap on the damp floor, paws and tails sticking out in odd angles.

“Nice once fuzzy face”

Bee said grouchily in a voice more muffled by fur than normal

“Kill me before you’ve even known me for a day.”.

“Sorry”

he muttered back, bee’s whiskers poking him in the eye

“You just sat down rather suddenly. Odd place for a rest isn’t it?”

Bee laughed nervously and wriggled around trying to get back up again, and her nose pressed against Frisky’s.

Frisky was too taken a back to say anything but Bee looked into his eyes, well where she thought his eyes were, with a much deeper feeling than just friendship.

Frisky gave a little cough and their noses came away from each other with a small smile on each of their faces, but of course, they could not see them. Bee gave herself a little shake and untangled herself from the mess of fur.

“We had better get going.”

she said as Frisky heaved himself up from the damp floor, his fur wet and feeling a little cold. But he wasn’t feeling cold.

That touch of noses had made him feel warm and safe, like he finally belonged somewhere again.

“Yes, let’s get going.”

He said, and he rushed past bee onto the steps.

“I race you!” he called behind him.

“Hey get back here you!”

bee yowled playfully

“I’ll beat you like the slow paws you are!”.

Frisky reached the brightness of the day first, his eyes squinting against the warming sun and Bee raced out of the hole soon after him. She dashed past him on truly fast paws, her legs a mere blur of gold and dark brown as she flashed past on the stony pavement.

Frisky took off, dashing at truly amazing speed as he caught up with the racing she-cat. He gave a massive leap at her and landed squarely on her back making her trip into a messy heap on the ground.

Bee laughed loudly as Frisky lifted his head up, his orange tinted fur ruffled and wild. Amber and orange meet once again as the two cats looked a each other.  

As the two cats locked their gazes once again, they twined their tails and lay on the stony floor, each breath passing over one another in warm clouds of love. It seemed they lay like this forever, but it had to end eventually.

A Car raced passed making Frisky jump and their eyes ripped away from each other.

Bee shook herself and sighed as the grey tom stood up to look at the car that had speeded past them. She bowed her head and looked at her golden paws.

‘He can’t love me’

bee thought sighing, tears of frustration building up in her eyes

‘He can’t even like me! He just wants me as a hunting teacher and a way out, not to be his mate. This idea was stupid. As if he would want to be my mate when I told him how to hunt. If only I’d have kept my big mouth shut and my heart wouldn’t ache like this! I’m a fool.’

Bee couldn’t keep the tears back any more and a single salty tear of pain landed on the stone by her feet, evaporating as fast as her optimism.

Frisky still stared after the car even after it had long vanished into the silver city. His claws dug into the pavement with a sudden rage; not of anger, but of confuesment.

‘How can I love her?’

he thought as he hunched himself up more and more

‘She just offered to help me, she wont want a flea bag like me as her mate! Besides, she probably doesn’t love me anyway.’.

He thought the last part with a bitter regret and he sat down, small and helpless on the road.

‘Love’

he thought again

‘Who knew it could hurt this much?’.

He bowed his head a little more and closed his eyes.

Then, out of the corner of his ear, he heard a horn of a truck. Whipping his head up he saw the huge white truck racing towards him at the speed of light. His face twisted in fear and he stayed rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed on the shiny paintwork.

“FRISKY!!!!”

bee screamed as she saw the truck zooming towards him on big black tires.

Mustering up all her strength, she charged towards her love as the ominous lorry bared down on the two cats.