Lenky

Lenky couldn't believe his ears. Had Natus just said that Balthazar was his father??? That was way too mind-blowing. That would mean they were... brothers?

"Balthazar. That's the most hideous name I've ever heard. I hate him for this. If he hadn't fallen in love with this cat... Jane, I think, he would never be driven out of the tribe, and none of this would have happened. Plus, he made my mother go insane. She was so heartbroken... His betrayal messed up her senses." Natus blurted out.

"Your... mother?" Lenky asked.

The brown tabby lynx nodded.

"Herba. She was the most beautiful lynx of the tribe, before my father betrayed her. Now, if you go to her den, you'll just see a messy mount of fur crying and destroying everything around it, and screaming for him." Natus's eyes started filling with tears.

Lenky slowly nodded. It must have been too much suffering. He knew the pain Natus had experienced. Losing his mother, then his sister... Lenky knew what Natus was feeling.

"You know, Natus..." The cat started. "I know how you feel"

Natus looked at Lenky, tears already running down his face.

"Y-you do? How?"

"You see, I never met my father." Lenky explained. "He died before I was born."

"Oh. I'm sorry." The lynx replied.

"No, I heard he was a total jerk." Lenky said.

Natus nodded.

"And my mother died when I was 8 months old." The cat continued.

Natus's eyes widened a tiny bit.

"I was bullied as a kit. And I lost my sister." Lenky finished

Natus nodded slowly.

"It must have been really hard." The lynx said, softly.

"Yeah. But we learn to get over it."

Natus looked at Lenky with curiosity.

"I think your story is a lot similar to mine. My father was a total jerk and died, I lost my mother... You said you two came from the humans' lab?"

"That's right." Fang answered.

Natus narrowed his eyes.

"Both my father and the she-cat he fell in love with ran away and were captured by humans... He was killed... She was expecting kits..." Natus looked at Lenky, getting more and more suspicious.

Lenky gulped.

Natus hissed and got up, unsheathing his claws.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" He shouted

Lenky and Fang glanced at each other.

"I guess so." Natus guessed. "What is it?" He hissed

Lenky took a deep breath.

"Yes, Natus." Lenky started "I am Balthazar and Jane's kit. I am your half brother."

Natus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natus sat in front of the healer's den, waiting. The 5 month old kit stood still, hearing the sounds of the loud cries of Adamas, one of his mother's best friends, who was kitting. He was excited to meet the new member of the tribe that would soon be born. The young lynx had no one to play but his 6 month old cousin, Saluky. But the kit was so boring and annoying, that Natus would rather talk to a plant than to play with him.

Suddenly, Natus saw Herba, his mother, emerge from inside the den and look at him.

"Natus. You can come in. The kit is born" She said to him, gently.

Natus smiled with excitement. He nodded, and quickly leaped into the cozy den. His mind flooded with happy thoughts.

Inside the den, Adamas laid on a nest of moss and bracken, with a tiny piece of fur next to her belly. Mus, the kit's father, was by Adamas's side, smiling widely and licking her head with affection. The healer was on a corner of the den, mixing some herbs.

"Is this the kit?" Natus asked, pointing to the small lynx

Adamas and Mus both nodded.

"It's a she-lynx" Mus said

Natus looked at the kitten. She looked so cute. She was deeply asleep, her little chest moving slightly as she breathed.

"What are you gonna call her, Adamas?" Herba asked her friend.

The she-lynx raised her head to look at Herba and answered:

"We thought a little about this, and decided to call her Nebula."

"It's a beautiful name." Herba said.

Natus didn't think so. Something about that name didn't seem right.

"But it doesn't fit her! I think you should call her Pretty! It fits her." The young lynx said

"Natus! Mind your manners!" His mother said.

Mus looked at the kit.

"You know what? I think Natus is right. Nebula means cloud, but she doesn't look like a cloud." He said

"Yes. And 'pretty' would fit her really well." Adamas added.

Herba looked at Natus, not believing the couple had changed their decision because of her young kit.

"But we should change it to 'Bellus'. It does mean 'pretty', but it's better than that. What do you think, honey?" Adamas continued, looking at her mate.

"Whatever you want is good for me." He replied

The couple shared a few licks, and the kit squealed. She opened her small yellow eyes and let out a cute 'mew'.

Natus purred at the sight of the cute little Bellus. He knew she would be a good friend.

"We shall leave you three in peace." Suddenly said Herba

Natus nodded.

They meowed quick "goodbyes" and exited the den.

"Well, it looks like you did it, Natus." Herba said once they were out of the den. "You named a kit."

Natus shrugged.

"I guess..."

Herba gave her kit's head a long lick.

"Now, sweetie, how about you go and find your father, hm? He has to know the new kit is born. I bet he'll be delighted to know his little son named her." The she-lynx said.

Natus chuckled and nodded.

"I think he went hunting." She added

Natus nodded again and gave his mother a lick on the face. Then he started running and leaping playfully to the camp's entrance.

"And be careful, Natus!" Herba yelled from the distance

"I will, mommy, don't worry!" He replied

Natus passed through the tree arch, excited to finally be out of the camp. It's true, he had been on the forest once, but his father had been there with him. This was the first time he would go to the forest alone. And he was sooooo excited.

The young lynx walked through the forest, paying attention to any prey scents. Even being a kit, he knew the tribe needed to be fed. And he could eventually find his father too.

Suddenly, Natus caught a smell.

"Squirrel" He thought.

Natus detected where the scent had come from and crouched. He then spotted the prey, eating a walnut. The lynx started to stalk it, approaching it carefully. When he was a puddle-length from the squirrel, he jumped, striking the animal with his paws and killing it with one fierce bite.

"Yeah! I got it! Dad's gonna be so proud of me." Natus shouted to himself

He picked the prey up and started walking again, sniffing the air. The kit was trying to track down his father.

As soon as Natus caught Balthazar's smell, he started racing towards it. But there was another smell. Something he couldn't identify.

"Dad! Daaaad! Where are you???" He screamed, his voice muffled.

Then he saw something shocking. His jaw opened and he dropped the prey he was holding. A gasp got out of his mouth.

His father and a she-cat. They were snuggling and cuddling, both purring loudly.

"DAD??!??!?!?" He screamed.

Balthazar noticed the young lynx and quickly pulled away from the she-cat

"Son that's not what you think!!!!"

Natus got so shocked he started to run back to the camp, leaving behind the squirrel and a few tears.

Balthazar (still a flashback, one month before)

Balthazar walked through the well-known forest, looking for prey. Adamas, a she-lynx from the tribe, was expecting kits. So he had to find the biggest amount of prey possible for when her kits were born.

He spotted a blackbird on a tree. The bird was eating a seed, not paying attention to anything else.

"Easy catch" Balthazar thought

The lynx started to silently climb the tree, until he reached the branch the bird was. With a gracious leap, he hit the prey with his claws, instantly killing it. He picked up the bird and leaped to the ground.

"I think I should bury this" He thought

The leader quickly dug a hole on the ground, placing the prey in it and covering it with dirt.

"Now for the next one."

Suddenly, a loud cry made Balthazar shiver. It seemed like a sadness scream and a cry for help.

Instinctively, the brown striped lynx made his way towards the sound. Running, he quickly found out where the sound was coming from.

There was a cream colored she-cat. Her paws, muzzle and tail tip were white, and her eyes were a beautiful sky blue.

"She's beautiful" The lynx thought.

The she-cat was crying over a dead cat. Tears ran down her furry face, falling down the dead cat's pelt. Balthazar took another look at the corpse. It was a white she-cat, her fur covered with dirt and torn by bites and bruises.

"Killed by a fox." Balthazar guessed.

Without even thinking, the lynx approached the sobbing she-cat. She didn't seem to notice him. He sat down near her.

She raised her head and looked at the leader. She pictured the sharp claws, the strong jaw and the muscular arms. She seemed to know he could be a danger. But she didn't seem to care.

"Kill me" She said, in cat language. Balthazar could understand it.

"What?" Balthazar asked, surprised.

"Kill me!" The she-cat yelled, tears soaking her muzzle. "To end my suffering."

"I won't. It's against my ways to kill anyone without a reason." He replied

The she-cat nodded, and let her head rest against the white cat's fur. Tears soaked the white pelt, while she sobbed.

"Why are you crying anyway?"

The beautiful feline looked at him with an "are you serious?" face.

"Isn't it obvious? My mother died, you big moron!" She shouted, more tears flowing down her fur.

"Uh... I'm sorry." The lynx tried to apologize.

The cream colored cat gave the white corpse a long, affectionate lick, and started to get up. She started to dig a hole next to the cat.

"What are you doing?"  Balthazar asked.

"Are you sick of the mind? I'm digging a hole to bury her." She spat.

Balthazar was surprised by the she-cat's harsh tone. He started to dig too. His huge, powerful claws took away the dirt quicker than her fragile cat claws.

"And what do you think YOU'RE doing?" She asked, looking at him, the annoyance leaving her voice.

"Helping you." The tribe leader answered, finishing the hole.

He grabbed the dead cat by the neck and placed her gently in the hole.

The cream she-cat gave her mother a last lick and started covering the hole with dirt. When she finished, her legs trembled and she fell on the ground, sobbing loudly.

"I-I... I c-can't... I... I can't b-believe I'll n-never see her a... again!" She cried between her sobs, the tears soaking her muzzle once again.

"That's very sad." Balthazar said.

The lynx looked at the cat. Her fur shined, very well groomed, and her scent was the best he had ever smelled. It's true, he already had a mate, Herba, and a son, Natus, but he didn't really like the she-lynx. Balthazar and Herba had become mates because their parents wanted them too. And, since Balthazar was the future leader at the time, he NEEDED a mate. But the young lynx didn't have a real love interest at the time, so his father picked Herba for him.

Herba, in the other hand, loved Balthazar with her life, and had been really happy to be picked by the future leader's father. She lived happy with Balthazar and Natus.

Balthazar never liked Herba, or any other she-lynxes. But now, looking at this she-cat, he felt something weird happen. A new feeling started to bloom in his heart, warming his body and soothing his mind.

"Is this... love?" The leader thought.

The cream colored she-cat stood crying for a long time. When she stopped, she raised her head, stood up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Balthazar asked.

She looked at him, her face still showing her sadness.

"Hunting. I am hungry. I haven't eaten all day." She answered, a single tear running down her whiskers.

The lynx instantly remembered the black bird from early. He knew it wasn't much to feed a hungry lynx, but it should do for such a skinny she-cat.

"Come with me. I have some prey." He said, starting to walk in the direction of the place he had buried the black bird.

She hesitated a little bit, but followed him.

They started to run in the direction of the prey, Balthazar looking at the beauty of the she-cat. Her blue eyes remembered him of his mother, Caelum. She had been the most beautiful she-lynx he knew. No kidding. She had long cream colored fur and sky blue eyes, just like this she-cat he had just met. Her name meant sky, and it fit her really well.

The memory of Caelum made Balthazar shed a single tear. Her death still chased him in his thoughts. She had died by eating a poisoned mouse. Her last words had been "Love is always stronger, Balthazar. Never forget this..." At the time, he was only a small kit, and didn't understand the meaning of this. Now, looking at the beautiful cream colored she-cat, he knew.

They finally got to the place where the leader had buried the black bird. He dug, removing the dirt and uncovering the prey. The she-cat lowered her head to pick the bird. She placed it beside her and started to eat.

When she finished, she raised her head and looked at the lynx with sparkling eyes.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. What's your name?"

The she-cat licked a small dot of blood next to her mouth.

"Jane. And yours?"

"Perfect name" Balthazar thought

"I'm Balthazar"

She smiled.

Suddenly, they heard a far away scream.

"Balthazar? Where are you?"

Balthazar recognized the voice. It was Herba.

He turned his head to look at Jane.

"I have to go now. It was a pleasure to meet you, Jane." He said, slightly purring.

"The pleasure was all mine." She answered.

Both started to run away in different directions.

Balthazar would really want to meet that she-cat again...