Soon after I left Jacky and his pixel screen behind, I got lost again. It started to rain, and in no time I was soaked and freezing. I crawled under a parked car and spent the night there, hoping I wouldn't freeze to death. The next few days- no weeks, I lived from rats and garbage. I got thinner and thinner, and at the end I could barely catch the smallest mouse. I had my own little shelter inside of an old, tipped trashcan. It smelled horrible, but it was safe.

When the 16th day arrived, I decided that I couldn't be out for much longer before I would pass out from hunger or get eaten by a stray dog or something. I stretched, hissing softly from the pain in my sore muscles, got up and peeked out from my can. No dogs or humans in sight...good. I quickly walked around a corner and climbed onto a wooden fence for better view. I seemed to be in a small neighborhood. I sniffed the air and noticed I was not alone! In one of the gardens, there was a striped cat with white paws, grooming themselves on the grass. I jumped down carefully and approached them. 

"E-Excuse me?". "Hmm? CAT! CAT IN THE GARDEN!" The tabby jumped up and meowed loudly. "I'm sorry!", I replied while walking backwards. "I-I just wanted to ask if you have a-any leftover food!". "Leftover food?? Honey, I don't leave scraps behind, I always finish my bowl like a good cat" they answered before making a confused face. "Wait...if I'm a cat and you're a cat...why was I yelling at you again?" I let out an amused purr and replied "Beats me! What's your name by the way?". "Cuddles! But my owner also calls me Furball, Little Monster, Kitty, Bitch, Dumbo, Mutt, Fluffy and Hugs. I'm...not even sure if my name is actually Cuddles. What's yours?". "I don't have a name, or at least not anymore", I said while straightening my shoulders proudly, "The name my mother gave me was Poppet, but now that I'm a stray I don't have a name anymore" Cuddles purred, "You can have one of my names then, I don't need that many anyways"

I was about to explain how it didn't work like that, but I was cut off by the door of the house opening and revealing a short, chubby girl. Thinking she might yell at me because I was on her territory, I quickly ran for the fence and jumped up, but soon realized I was too weak to get up that high again. I let out a long, scared meow while I kept jumping. "Who's that Cuddles? Did you make a friend?" the girl said while petting the tabby. "I have no clue what you said, but you mentioned my name" Cuddles replied while headbumping her hand. I eventually gave up jumping and hid underneath two bikes, the girl's gaze following me. "Can you not get out?" She said in a childish voice while crouching down and holding out her hand. "C'mere kitty, I won't hurt you little furball!". "Don't hurt me my foot! You look like someone who hoards cats in her free time!". "Aww he has such a cute meow!" she simply replied while getting up and taking a step inside again. "Mom! There's a stray cat outside! He looks wounded and lost!". "I'm not a 'he' and I'm not wounded! Just hungry and...okay, lost!" I hissed in response, looking around for a different way out. "Okay thanks mom!" The girl said before walking into the garden, approaching me. I hissed and backed up against the fence, my heart beating fast. "I won't hurt you kitty, I promise" Her voice sounded softer, more serious and calming. I gulped, looking up at her with big eyes.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

The girl simply smiled and reached out to me, holding her fingers in front of my face. I carefully sniffed her hand, looking up at her for reassurance. "Don't you dare grab me or I'll scratch you", I said softly before rubbing my head against her hand. She squealed softly in response and started petting me all over. Even though I still wasn't trusting her fully, she did know how to pet a cat. Her hands were small and very soft, carefully running through my dirty fur. "Do you wanna come inside furball? We have food and warmth there!" Well duh, you live in a house. "On one condition: no sudden movements or I'll bite you, capiche?" I stepped forward, raising my tail in approval of her offer. "Come on! Follow me kitty!" I rolled my eyes and cautiously followed her inside, Cuddles coming right after me. "It seems like my owner likes you!" She said, purring. "She has taken other stray cats inside before, but it never ended up well". "I see...well I hope I'm not one of them" I meowed softly, looking around a little.

The living room looked nice. Some couches, a large window, small kitchen- I could live here! I sniffed the air and soon discovered a bowl of cat food. My mouth began to water as I automatically started going towards it. I was snapped out of my hungry trance thanks to a paw slapping my head, followed by a hiss: "That's my food!" Cuddles said angrily. My ears folded down as I pressed my body to the floor. "I'm s-sorry, I'm just extremely hungry". "Then ask the humans! They'll do anything for a cat!" she replied, looking proud. I folded my ears down, looking irritated and a little uneasy. "I don't beg for food, it's pathetic". "Fine, then starve" Cuddles replied with a grin before starting to eat.

I started drooling again, starting to knead with my front paws. How to get food without asking for it...Violence? No, that'll just get me kicked out. Stealing? Well I can't open a can with my teeth or claws, trust me I've tried. Cuteness maybe? I looked at the girl who was talking to her mother. I approached her and rolled onto my back, mewling softly and looking up with big eyes. She noticed me and squealed from happiness. I cringed from the inside, but managed to keep up my act while asking: "Can dis wittle kitty have sum fwood pwetty pwease?" Jesus, I'm disgusting myself. She smiled brightly and responded: "Do you want a snack? Does kitty want some num-nums?". 'Yes please, before I vomit out all my insides from this cringe I've brought upon myself' I thought, but I just nodded and meowed again.

She giggled and walked to the kitchen, opening a can of cat food and dumping the insides into a bowl. I got back on all fours, impatiently waiting for the bowl to be put down so I could finally eat. Cuddles noticed what was going on, and immediately started grinding against her legs and meowing. "No Mutt, that's not for you!" The girl gently pushed her aside with one foot before putting the bowl down in front of me. I was about to dunk my snout into the mushy goodness, but Cuddles was faster. "Hey! She put that down for me!" I hissed at her. "So?" She replied with her mouth full, "It's still my house and my owner". I nearly slapped her away from my bowl when the girl took action, picking up Cuddles and carrying her away to the stairs while talking gibberish. I sighed. Humans.

I quickly started gobbling up the food, barely chewing. I licked the bowl completely clean, making sure I didn't leave anything edible behind that could still fill my stomach. I took a deep breath and yawned, starting to wash my snout. After I cleaned myself thoroughly, I started exploring the living room. I soon found a cage in the corner, which was smelling awful. Why didn't I notice it sooner? Must've been the hunger. I carefully sniffed the metal bars before jumping backwards when something suddenly moved. "I-I surrender!". "Surrender? Is there a war?" An old but squeaky voice replied. I took one step forward again, stretching out my neck to see what was talking. "W-Whom am I speaking with if I may ask?". "The name's Nibbles!" The creature replied, hopping forwards so I could see them.

It was a rabbit.

Seriously? I spent more than two weeks on the streets, and I got scared by a freaking rabbit?? Great, just great. "You alright there chap?". "I guess so. Sooo your name is Nibbles? Does your owner not have a feeling for creative names or...?". "Oi! Don't talk about her like that! Common names can have a lot of meaning!" He hopped around a little before continuing: "And this is exactly why she kicks stray cats out after a while! Judging her all the time, pheh! You should be ashamed of yourself!". I lowered my head, realizing I was indeed kind of rude to her in the beginning. "My apologies for what I said...but what do you mean by 'kick out'?". "Well, she has a hard time saying 'no' y'know. So when a forlorn animal appears in her garden, she wants to take care of 'em. But ya see, not all cats are nice. There have been some already who scratched and bit her every time she got near them. She still got the scars on her arms and legs, the poor thing." I shuddered, being very grateful those cats were gone now. "I think I'll just...um...go tell her I mean no harm". "You betcha!" Nibbles replied before hopping into his little plastic house thingy.

I took a deep breath and started climbing up the stairs. I looked around the small hallway until I heard something weird. It was something like...panting? But it wasn't warm up here, nor did I hear someone exercising. I slowly moved towards the door from which the sound was coming from, and gently nudged it open.

There was the girl, sitting on the ground, holding her head and shaking violently.

I folded my ears back and slowly approached her. "Umm...are you alright there? Is this a normal thing humans do?" She didn't respond, nor give any indication she saw me. Maybe she was in trance or something? Or maybe this was some weird way of sleeping...I don't know, I'm a cat! But my gut told me something wasn't right. I did the most logical thing I could think of: trying to make her snap out of whatever this was. I gently put my paw on her arm, feeling her stiffen under my touch. "Hey...it's alright, I'm not going to scratch you" I meowed softly, stretching my body and starting to lick one of her hands. I kept going like this for about ten minutes, meowing softly at her from time to time, until she finally stopped shaking. I sat down on the ground and looked up at her with visible worry written on my face. She forced a smile through the tears that had formed in her eyes before picking me up and hugging her close. It was uncomfortable, but I purred anyways to reassure her it was alright.

I think I should stay here for a while.