"The Wanderers welcome you Estacado and Llano, thank you for providing us a great service and saving two of our young, we are forever grateful," Branch finished his speech and looked down from the top of the ledge.

"And we are thankful to you for providing us with shelter and hospitality." Estacado smiled up at him. Static rolled her eyes. Ugh, more cats in the Wanderers is not something we need. Hopefully they won't be staying.

Junco and Oriole both seemed relieved that the two cats were accepted so easily and most of the other cats did not seem to mind. Oriole was almost bouncing, clearly proud of herself for finding the pair. Granite was staring at them with what seemed to be anger but it was hard to tell from the distance. He was sitting on the other side of the ledge, opposite of her.

Night was falling and Branch waved his tail to gather the cats to help bury Amber. Typically it was family that did this duty, but if there were not enough cats related to the dead, close friends would work too. It was always done in silence. Her body was still sitting in the clearing and the warmth from earlier in the day had made it stink. This is going to be a nightmare to bury.

Junco was helping Branch lift the corpse onto Granite's back, father and daughter glaring at each other. She stifled a laugh. They're at each other's throats over kits? Haha. Seems like a meaningless issue to me. Ah well, it doesn't take much to anger non-intelligent cats.

Granite carried her mother's body over to a small rectangle of grass, the size of a cat, marked out by scratches in the earth. He laid her down next to it and began ripping at the dirt and plants with his claws. Junco did the same and, sighing, Static joined them. Working without a break far into the night, the three cats eventually made a hole roughly twice the height of a cat.

I'll never get this out of my claws. Static shook her fur, dislodging roots and clumps of the dry soil. Granite had buried his nose in Amber's scruff, apparently muttering something. Grief shone in his eyes with the moonlight. He stood up and his body shuddered. Junco stood beside him and the two of them pushed her into the hole.

They stared at the hole for what seemed like forever, before making eye contact with each other. Junco glared and began to shove the dirt into the hole furiously. Static did the same, positioning herself to whisper, "Angry at father are you?"

Junco turned to look and shushed her.

"Angry at me too? Why's that?"

"Be quiet! We are supposed to be silent!" Junco whispered with an edge to her voice.

Static shrugged, "Keep your secrets then."

She shifted around to push the dirt next to Granite, who had started the chore on the other side of the hole, "Had a spat with Junco have you?"

Granite growled, "That's none of your business."

"Oh but it is! I can't bear to see my family torn like this."

"Well tell Junco to leave the kits. Let those new cats take them."

"See, she's too attached to those, but..."

"But?"

The hole was almost full by now. I'll have to be fast. "Oh, nothing."

"But what!?" Granite's voice was tight as he tried to stop from being louder than a whisper, "Tell me!"

"Junco said, well..."

"What?!"

    "She said," faking a voice crack, "she said she wanted you to leave, forever. She said she hated you so much and wanted you to..."

   "To what?"

Static could hear the desperation in his voice. This is too easy.

"She said she wanted you to... die." The last word was barely audible but he heard it all the same.

Granite's fur fluffed up and his ears flattened. Claws digging into the dirt he padded away from the filled in hole. "If she wants me to leave, I will. There is nothing for me here now."

One more obstacle out of the way.

Nothing Here for Me Now
By KittyPeep on deviantART (me)