You slowly trudged through the abandoned alleyway looking for a nice place to stay for the night. You looked at the spilling trashcans and scattered debris and couldn't find any place even remotely decent. You sighed letting a single tear fall down your dirt-stained face.

Sure it wasn't the first time you didn't have a place to stay, but you had spent the last three days looking for a new "home" in the abandoned alleyways.

Thinking you could cover more ground looking in hard-to-reach-places, you went into your cat form. You walked around on all fours looking behind the trash cans and finally found a cardboard box that could barely fit a kitten. It would have to do.

You curled up into a ball and fit snugly into the box; it was actually more comfortable than you originally thought. You tried going to sleep, but to many thoughts raced through your mind. Where will I  go tomorrow? Probably the next city over; you never stayed in one place for more than one night. What will I eat? Probably some old meat from some deli. Who will I meet? You chuckled darkly at that. You hoped you didn't run into anyone, especially a human. They never took well to nekos. You heard a dog howl in the distance and shivered. You for sure didn't want to run into any dogs. They would probably try to eat you (a few had even tried before).

As your thoughts wandered, you drifted in and out of sleep, never fully relaxing. You thought you heard more dogs howling, but ignored them being too tired to think strait. Suddenly, your ears began to twitch. Your cat instincts kicked in and you began to stretch and get out of the box. You heard a long, low growl from behind you and froze. You slowly turned your head and were immediately met with dark brown eyes, six of them. Three giant Rottweilers were less than three feet away from you foaming at the mouth, and they looked hungry.

You immediately bolted in the opposite direction trying to escape the hounds. They soon followed always hot on your tail. Alley after alley raced by your vision as the pack barked and bit. You whizzed through the way not caring about anything except to escape the rabid dogs behind you. You turned right and was greeted with a smooth, cement wall. There was no way you could scale that thing. You turned around and saw the pack had cornered you into the wall and were slowly stalking towards their prey: you. Your heart beat faster in your chest as they backed you into the wall. They were closing in. Coming closer. Closer. Closer.

"Hey!" a loud voice rang out. The dogs turned around causing you to bring your attention to what they were looking at. A man with about half a dozen cats surrounding him. In one hand was a long cross shaped staff and wielding it like a weapon.

"If you want to harm that Neko, you have to go through me first." The dogs turned to him and snarled menacingly. The man took an attack stance as the three mutts lunged at his face. He immediately smacked to dogs in the face making them fall back in pain. The other one jumped onto him and began to claw away at his clothes. The cats around him jumped into action and pounced on the remaining Rottweiler. They bit and hissed and scratched at the hound making it whimper in pain while the man beat at the other two.

You were stunned. No one, not even other cats, had ever tried to help you. You were always just cast out and left to die. Hated by felines and humans alike. But here was a group of cats and man here to save you from certain doom.

The fighting began to subside as one dog soon scurried away, then two. Finally, the last hound was gone. All the fighting was over. But wait? Where was the (h/c) cat?

"Hello," the man said slowly in between pants. "Don't worry Neko. You're safe now."

"H-how do you know what I am?!" you piped. You were now hiding scared of the man and his legion of cats. If they could take down a hoard of hounds, what chance did you have against them? 

"I have seen many cats over many years. I am aware of how to tell a Neko from a cat." Curiosity got the best of you and you decided to ask.

"How?"

"Cats can't talk," You like face-pawing for that mistake. He had you there. Knowing your secret was out, you either had to trust the man or think of an escape plan quick.

"Please come out. I promise I won't hurt you."

'Well, he did save me," you thought. 'Maybe I can trust him. At least I can let him see who I really am." Another thought came to you. "Besides, I'll have a better chance defending my self in human form if he does try to attack me."

Silently, you crept out of your hiding place, now transforming into our human form. Rags clothed your frail body while a stained hoodie hid your fuzzy cat ears.

You turned your head afraid to see his look. You saw through the corner of your eye that he looked almost sad.

"Why did you save me?" you almost whispered. No answer. You heard his feet softly clack against the concrete. He now stood in front of you with a hand slightly raised. He brought it towards your face, and you flinched thinking he was going to hit you. But instead, he lifted off your hood exposing your ears. He reached for the top of your head began to pet it. You stiffened at his actions but allowed him to do continue. He began to scratch behind your ear causing you to involuntarily give out a soft purr.

The man slightly smiled. "Why don't you come live with me?" Your eyes widened and you turned to look the man in the face. You finally took in his appearance: a male, about in his late twenties, bright green eyes and olive skin with just a white t-shirt covering his arms. He didn't look half bad.

"N-no! I can't live with you. I have to be on my own! I can't be around anyone!" His expression went blank.

"You will finally be safe," he offered. "No more hunting for food and all the belly rubs you want." His offer did sound good. You looked around and saw all of his cats each one of them smiling at you. They really did look happy. Maybe you could be finally accepted into a family. Into a home.

You nodded to him. "Alright. I guess I can come live with you. It will be nice to actually live somewhere, for once. Thank you..." You stopped realizing you didn't know the nice man's name.

"Heracles."

You nodded. "Thank you, Heracles. This is very kind of you. My name's (Y/N)."

He gave a small but meaningful grin. "Well then, come on (Y/N). We can finally go home now." He started walking with his cats and you followed in step with him. In just a short time, you made a life-saving friend, found a loving home and was saved from the streets, and would never go hungry again. And, for the first time in a long time, you smiled.