Post by bird on May 4, 2018 1:59:33 GMT
"Hey! Sky! Look here! Look!"
Sky had awoken to a grinning Cloudy, standing over a bird she'd caught. The bird's neck was bent in the exact wrong way, and Cloudy pushed it toward her. "I got you a bird!" The thing wasn't mangled, but it made her sick in some way. Still, she pulled it toward her, taking a bite of it. Cloudy was immediately sitting next to her, looking at her with wide, expectant eyes.
Spitting out the feathers, Sky smiled a bit back at Cloudy, pushing the rest of the bird toward her. "Here, you have some. I know you haven't been eating much, Cloudy. You deserve to eat, you know."
"No! You need to eat. You're the sick one, remember? I don't know how to help you with herbs, so I gotta help you by getting you food," Cloudy protested, shoving it back into the resting Sky's face. Sky sighed, silent for a second, before she dug into the bird while Cloudy watched. Her paws tapped on the wooden ground, as she was getting bored already at Sky's slow eating.
Cloudy got up and began to pace, back and forth on the old apartment's floor, while Sky finished up her bird. The feathers were everywhere, and Sky began to arrange them into a pile. Cloudy jumped up on one of the decaying chairs, then up onto the table next to the window, gazing out at the sky and the birds above. The beautiful blue of the sky, dappled by clouds, made her long for something. She didn't know what.
"You're so hyperactive," a voice broke Cloudy out of her spacing out. "You need to calm down. I was just eating a bird, it didn't require you pacing and jumping around."
"You can't control me," Cloudy answered, sitting down on the table she'd jumped up on.
"I'm older than you," Sky reminded her, and Cloudy sighed loudly.
"Just because you're older doesn't mean you get to order me around! Mama always said-"
"Mama's gone, Cloudy."
That shut Cloudy up, and she silently glared at the sky, unable to express how that comment made her feel. Their mother had always been there for them, and once she'd died and they'd been thrown out of their twolegs' house, nothing had ever been the same afterwards. Sky stood from the blanket she'd been curled up on, leaving the bones and the feathers of the bird on the floor next to it, and walked over to the table Cloudy was stood on. She jumped up to it (first jumping on the chair, then onto the table), and sat next to Cloudy.
"I'm sorry," she said, "it wasn't right of me to say that."
"...you should be."
"You're right."
There was silence for a while as the two cats sat on the table, gazing out the cracked window to the sky and the clouds and the birds above.
"Sky, I've been thinking... I wanna explore the world. I think, once you're over your sickness, I'm gonna leave and go try to find those clans that the cats around here talk about. They hunt birds and mice there. You wouldn't have to survive on scraps from the twoleg trash. You should come with me."
"...you know I can't, Cloudy." She didn't elaborate on that, but Cloudy knew fairly well what she meant. She was used to this place. After leaving the twoleg den, it'd taken her so long to adjust that she could never adjust to moving again. It just wasn't possible.
"Are you gonna miss me?"
"Of course I am, but this is your choice. You need to follow your own path, and I'll follow mine. Even if that separates us, I'll always be your sister, and if you need me, you know where to find me."
---
Harestrike woke up, blinking her eyes and glancing around. Those words echoed in her head. "You need to follow your own path, and I'll follow mine."
She couldn't help but miss her sister, but if she was happy following her path, maybe it wasn't so bad that they were apart.
Sky had awoken to a grinning Cloudy, standing over a bird she'd caught. The bird's neck was bent in the exact wrong way, and Cloudy pushed it toward her. "I got you a bird!" The thing wasn't mangled, but it made her sick in some way. Still, she pulled it toward her, taking a bite of it. Cloudy was immediately sitting next to her, looking at her with wide, expectant eyes.
Spitting out the feathers, Sky smiled a bit back at Cloudy, pushing the rest of the bird toward her. "Here, you have some. I know you haven't been eating much, Cloudy. You deserve to eat, you know."
"No! You need to eat. You're the sick one, remember? I don't know how to help you with herbs, so I gotta help you by getting you food," Cloudy protested, shoving it back into the resting Sky's face. Sky sighed, silent for a second, before she dug into the bird while Cloudy watched. Her paws tapped on the wooden ground, as she was getting bored already at Sky's slow eating.
Cloudy got up and began to pace, back and forth on the old apartment's floor, while Sky finished up her bird. The feathers were everywhere, and Sky began to arrange them into a pile. Cloudy jumped up on one of the decaying chairs, then up onto the table next to the window, gazing out at the sky and the birds above. The beautiful blue of the sky, dappled by clouds, made her long for something. She didn't know what.
"You're so hyperactive," a voice broke Cloudy out of her spacing out. "You need to calm down. I was just eating a bird, it didn't require you pacing and jumping around."
"You can't control me," Cloudy answered, sitting down on the table she'd jumped up on.
"I'm older than you," Sky reminded her, and Cloudy sighed loudly.
"Just because you're older doesn't mean you get to order me around! Mama always said-"
"Mama's gone, Cloudy."
That shut Cloudy up, and she silently glared at the sky, unable to express how that comment made her feel. Their mother had always been there for them, and once she'd died and they'd been thrown out of their twolegs' house, nothing had ever been the same afterwards. Sky stood from the blanket she'd been curled up on, leaving the bones and the feathers of the bird on the floor next to it, and walked over to the table Cloudy was stood on. She jumped up to it (first jumping on the chair, then onto the table), and sat next to Cloudy.
"I'm sorry," she said, "it wasn't right of me to say that."
"...you should be."
"You're right."
There was silence for a while as the two cats sat on the table, gazing out the cracked window to the sky and the clouds and the birds above.
"Sky, I've been thinking... I wanna explore the world. I think, once you're over your sickness, I'm gonna leave and go try to find those clans that the cats around here talk about. They hunt birds and mice there. You wouldn't have to survive on scraps from the twoleg trash. You should come with me."
"...you know I can't, Cloudy." She didn't elaborate on that, but Cloudy knew fairly well what she meant. She was used to this place. After leaving the twoleg den, it'd taken her so long to adjust that she could never adjust to moving again. It just wasn't possible.
"Are you gonna miss me?"
"Of course I am, but this is your choice. You need to follow your own path, and I'll follow mine. Even if that separates us, I'll always be your sister, and if you need me, you know where to find me."
---
Harestrike woke up, blinking her eyes and glancing around. Those words echoed in her head. "You need to follow your own path, and I'll follow mine."
She couldn't help but miss her sister, but if she was happy following her path, maybe it wasn't so bad that they were apart.
